TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas House panel has canceled a debate a bill to freeze renewable energy mandates for utility companies.

The House Energy and Environment Committee had been scheduled to vote on the measure Wednesday. The panel did not say why it canceled its meeting.

Kansas law requires that 10 percent of the electricity generated by utilities come from renewable energy sources, such as wind.

That figure is set to rise to 15 percent in 2016 and 20 percent in 2020. The bill would eliminate those future requirements.

The Kansas Chamber of Commerce and conservative think tanks contend the government should not set such mandates on businesses.

The Kansas Farm Bureau and renewable energy groups argue that the bill would remove an incentive for further investments in renewable energy.

CANDICE CHOI, AP Food Industry Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks is joining the national conversation about race in the latest sign that corporations are trying to tie their brands to big social issues.

The coffee chain known for its Frappuccinos says it will elaborate on the plans at its annual shareholder meeting Wednesday in Seattle. Already, workers at its U.S. stores have been told to write “Race Together” on cups and the company plans to start publishing “conversation guides” on the topic.

The decision has sparked a backlash on social media, with people saying it’s opportunistic for a coffee chain to try and inject itself into such an important issue. But it comes as corporate executives say customers are drawn to companies that project some sort of feel-good image or embrace positions on social causes.

At the annual meeting for Yum Brands Inc., the company that owns KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, CEO Greg Creed said in December that fast-food chains must to evolve from being perceived as “impersonal and industrial” to being able to “demonstrate that we do care.”

Laura Ries, a branding consultant based in Atlanta, said that addressing big important, issues of the day has also become a way for companies to make themselves a part of the conversation. Otherwise, nobody is sitting around on Twitter discussing brands, she said.

Dove soap has generated widespread praise for its campaign celebrating “Real Beauty” by featuring women who don’t look like the typical models. Always, which makes products for women, also got praise for an ad that ran during the Super Bowl seeking to empower young girls. But those were messages that had ties to the products.

People, however, don’t associate their morning coffee with race.

“There’s nothing wrong with talking about race relations,” Ries said. “But is it something people naturally associate with Starbucks? It’s not.”

Inserting itself into national issues is not new territory for Starbucks. In late 2012, the chain asked workers to write “Come together” on cups to send a message to lawmakers about stalled budget negotiations.

And in 2013, the chain placed newspaper ads saying that firearms were not welcome in its cafes after they became the site of gun rallies. But the company stopped short of an outright ban.

CEO Howard Schultz said at the time that Starbucks was neither for nor against guns, underscoring that even a company that wants a voice in national conversations, it must avoid alienating customers, regardless of their political or social views.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka has no more legal obstacles to issuing bonds to buy Heartland Park.

City attorney Chad Sublet said Tuesday that the city can legally issue the bonds since the Kansas Court of Appeals found a petition to force a public vote on the bonds was invalid.

However, City Manager Jim Colson said a new council seated after the April election will consider the issue and public meetings could be held before the bond sales are authorized.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports  that in recent months, lawyers for the city and the racetrack operator said the track could close soon if a petition drive to stop the sale went to a public vote.

Races are scheduled to start April 4.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former Topeka hospital employee says in a federal civil rights lawsuit that she was taunted and bullied at work because of her race.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reported in a story published Tuesday that Pamela Banks, who is black, filed the lawsuit in a Kansas federal court last month against the St. Francis Health Center. She’s seeking damages and backpay.

St. Francis has declined to answer the newspaper’s questions about the claims.

Banks says she complained to managers about a hostile environment, but that they dismissed the complaints without an investigation.

Banks was an employee of a health services company that placed her in St. Francis in 2012. She says the company removed her from St. Francis in 2014 after St. Francis refused to take action.

NEW YORK (AP) — Kraft Foods is recalling 242,000 cases of original flavor Kraft Macaroni & Cheese because some of the boxes contain small pieces of metal.

The boxes have “best when used by” dates ranging from Sept. 18, 2015 through Oct. 11, 2015 and are marked with the code “C2.” They were sold throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico, and in some countries in the Caribbean and South America.

The recall covers 7.25 ounce boxes that were sold individually and in packs of three, four and five.

Kraft Foods Group Inc. says it is aware of eight incidents of consumers finding metal in the boxes, but hasn’t been informed of any injuries. It says consumers shouldn’t eat the macaroni and should return it to the store where it was purchased for a full refund.