WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama health care law’s requirement that Americans get insurance coverage is now pinned as a target of Republican lawmakers. They are looking to end the individual mandate to help pay for deep tax cuts.

Senate Republicans showed Tuesday they’re intent on scrapping the Affordable Care Act’s insurance mandate, and the idea was endorsed by scores of GOP lawmakers in the House.

The surprise renewal of the failed effort to eliminate the law’s mandate came a day after President Donald Trump renewed pressure on Republican lawmakers to include the repeal in their sweeping legislation to revamp the tax system.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an armed robbery and asking for helping to find a suspect.

Just after 9:30p.m., a man reported he was walking in the alley in the 1200 Block of SW Western in Topeka, according to Lt. Steve Roth.

A man identified as a black wearing a gray Steelers hoodie and gray pants approached the victim. The suspect pointed a handgun and took the victim’s wallet and phone then fled the area.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the Topeka Police.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A Kansas City man has been charged with fatally shooting two men within days of each other.

Thirty-one-year-old Jerome Roberson was charged Monday with two counts of second-degree murder and armed criminal action. He’s accused in the Oct. 28 death of 29-year-old Brandan Ray Brown at a trailer park in Independence and the Nov. 2 death of Michael Cantwell in a vehicle in Kansas City. Court records say the homicides had witnesses.

Police had asked the public for help locating Roberson before he was arrested Saturday night at a home in Kansas City. He is jailed in Jackson County. Prosecutors have sought $500,000 bond in each case.

No attorney is listed for Roberson in online court records.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has seen a 42 percent increase over the past five years in the number of children removed from homes in which a parent is using drugs.

The state Department for Children and Families reported Tuesday that the number of cases in which a child was removed and substance abuse was a contributing factor grew to more than 1,850 during the fiscal year ending in June. Five years ago, it was about 1,300.

The department reported the data amid questions from a legislative task force about why the number of children in foster care has grown steadily in recent years.

Some lawmakers see a potential tie between the increase and tougher rules for state cash assistance. Department officials said the agency’s internal data does not suggest much of a link.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri sheriff is urging residents to stop “enabling” panhandlers, saying they are abandoning donated items such as coats and heading off to “buy beer” after they have “enough cash.”

The Springfield News-Leader reports that Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott turned to Facebook on Sunday after finding some blankets, a coat and food left on a Springfield street. He says his self-described “rant” is about panhandling, not homeless people. The post included photos of a box of graham crackers and bag filled with clothes.

The post had generated more than 3,700 shares and hundreds of comments as of Tuesday morning.

While some supported the sheriff, many homeless advocates weren’t pleased. Hearts for the Homeless founder Devery Mills told the News-Leader that the post was “not by any stretch professional.”

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – Two years after protests over racial discrimination rocked the University of Missouri-Columbia, participants at a forum said the campus has changed but education efforts must continue.

Missouri System President Mun Choi, Board of Curators Chairman Maurice Graham and other officials were among about 200 people attending the forum Monday sponsored by the Department of Black Studies.

Stephanie Shonekan, chairwoman of the department, said the forum highlighted progress made since the 2015 protests led to the resignation of former President Tim Wolfe and Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin and drew national attention to the school.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports Shonekan said even Choi’s presence was progress. Wolfe angered many protesters for his slow response to their concerns and for ignoring them when they blocked his car during a Homecoming parade.

OLATHE – A Kansas woman has been ordered  to repay more than $6,000 to the Kansas Medicaid program after being found guilty of Medicaid fraud,  according to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

Constance L. Ferreira, 61, pleaded guilty in August to one felony count of making a false claim to the Medicaid program. Johnson County District Court Judge Timothy P. McCarthy last week ordered Ferreira to repay $6,460.14 to the Kansas Medicaid Program.

Judge McCarthy also sentenced her to 12 months of probation with an underlying sentence of nine months in the Kansas Department of Corrections. Convictions such as this one may also result in a period during which the defendant is prohibited from being paid wages through a government health care program.

Ferreira was a personal care attendant to a disabled Medicaid eligible beneficiary. An investigation revealed that Ferreira billed Medicaid for services she claimed she provided to him in the home while he was in the hospital or in rehabilitation 89 times for a total of 760 hours. The crimes occurred between January 2012 and January 2016.

MANHATTAN — Classes were cancelled at Kansas State University Tuesday afternoon. A large crowd of students, faculty and staff wore purple and joined together for a unity walk and rally to reject discrimination on the university campus.

Watch replay of the event here.

Student body president Jack Ayres and Darrell Reese, president of the Black Student Union, hosted the event. University President Richard Myers discussed steps to help the community move forward and unite.

The event comes after a noose and racist flyers were found on the campus in recent months. Last month, a 21-year-old black man defaced his own car with racist graffiti in what he described as a Halloween prank that got out of hand.