WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Officials of a Wichita nature center say Bobbie the bobcat is back home after vandals cut a hole into in his cage.

According to Great Plains Nature Center director Jim Mason, someone took wire cutters and sliced a gap into Bobbie’s cage at Central Riverside Park’s Kansas Wildlife Exhibit early Thursday. A park visitor contacted authorities after seeing the bobcat out of his cage.

Mason said the 18-year-old Bobbie, who has lived at the exhibit for his entire life, was eventually found in some shrubbery within feet of his cage Thursday. According to Mason, the exhibit’s alarms did not operate properly during the vandalism and have since been fixed.

The Wichita Animal Shelter is asking for help from anyone who may have seen the vandalism.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City man has been charged with making and selling an illegal weapon after police say they discovered 185 homemade and commercial fireworks in his home.

According to court documents, Kansas City police arrested 30-year-old James E. Dunlap Tuesday. Authorities say an undercover detective went to Dunlap’s home and purchased three devices from the suspect. After an arrest was made, detectives found 182 more devices at the home.

Court documents say officers in the police department’s media relations unit had learned about two Facebook profile accounts that showed Dunlap advertising the explosives for sale.

It is not immediately clear if Dunlap has an attorney.

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) — An Independence woman has been arrested after authorities say she solicited a hit man to kill her former son-in-law over a custody dispute involving her grandchildren.

According to court documents, Teresa Owen appeared in federal court Wednesday and was ordered to be held without bond.

The affidavit said an unidentified person told Independence police he had received an envelope from Owen containing $100 and a note providing the name and address of the intended victim.

The affidavit says that at a second meeting with an undercover Kansas City officer, Owen, 61, provided $200 and photographs of her son-in-law. Authorities say she told the officer her son-in-law was blocking her from seeing her grandchildren, and reiterated that she wanted to go through with the plan.

It is not immediately clear if she has an attorney.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man has been charged in the death of a 13-month-old girl.

Michael John Guerrero was initially charged with attempted second-degree murder. But the charge was amended to first-degree murder after the girl’s death early Thursday. Guerrero, 26, has been jailed in Shawnee County since his arrest Wednesday. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.

Police said the girl was in “medical distress” when emergency responders began treating her Monday. She later was flown to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. Police said it was determined that her injuries were the result of “criminal action.”

The girl’s name wasn’t immediately released, pending notification of relatives.

HAZELWOOD, Mo. (AP) — The Army Corps of Engineers says it has found low-level radiological contamination at three sites along Coldwater Creek in St. Louis County.

The Post-Dispatch reports that they include two municipal parks and property owned by the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

The Corps hopes to clean up the parks over the next four months. It stresses that the waste is buried under several inches of soil and doesn’t present an immediate threat to public health.

The contamination was found as part of an ongoing Corps program to clean up leftover waste from the county’s early nuclear weapons program.

Some people who grew up along the creek in years past believe health ailments, including cancer, are caused by the radioactive material.

A very large motorcycle ride will impact Kansas City traffic Friday morning.

The Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association is holding a national convention in Kansas City through Saturday. At 9 a.m. Friday, they will embark on a group motorcycle ride from the Hilton Hotel at 8801 N.W. 112th Street and travel to the Liberty Memorial World War I Museum.

Approximately 3,000 riders will participate.

The Kansas City Missouri Police Department, with help from the MoDOT, the Platte and Jackson County sheriff’s departments and the Missouri State Highway Patrol will provide traffic control. The route will use Cookingham Road to 169 Highway, 169 Highway south to the downtown loop, and then south on I-35 to the Broadway exit.

“Motorists should expect to be re-routed around these stretches of roads and highways for a considerable period of time,” said Sgt. Grant Ruark of the KCPD’s Traffic Division. “We intend to give motorists alternative roadways to use without having them backed up in traffic, but they should know that with this size of an event, delays and detours are likely.”

Alternate routes such as Interstates 29 and 435, North Oak Trafficway and Broadway Boulevard on the Missouri side and Interstate 635 and 7th Street Trafficway on the Kansas side will offer motorists outlets around the event.

For more information about this event, please visit www.combatvet.org.