TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A leading bond-rating company says projected funding shortfalls and a recent court ruling that Kansas must spend more on its public schools appear to be creating growing budget problems.

Standard & Poor’s said Friday in a release that Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan to address a $279 million shortfall in the current budget doesn’t “appear to significantly address the mismatch between recurring revenues and expenditures.” Under the plan, a shortfall for the next fiscal year — previously projected at $436 million — would grow to $648 million.

The release noted that the state has been spending down reserves and said that “indicates credit stress.”

Standard and Poor’s downgraded Kansas’ credit rating in August to AA from AA+. The budget gaps arose after aggressive personal income tax cuts.

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — An estimated 100 cattle drowned when they fell through the ice on a reservoir that straddles the South Dakota-Nebraska border.

Mike Carlow tells the Rapid City Journal that he’s never seen anything like it in his 40 years of ranching. South Dakota Stockgrowers Association President Bob Fortune also says such incidents involving a large number of cattle are rare.

Carlow’s theory is that a windstorm pushed the cattle to seek shelter behind a tree line near the reservoir, and too many of them ventured onto the ice at the same time.

The cattle belonged to Mike Carlow and his brother, Pat Carlow. They ranch on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. They estimate their loss at about $300,000. Mike Carlow says the cattle were not insured.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The family of a Topeka man who was killed before having his tattoos cut off and teeth pulled is angry and stunned that the killer will be released on parole.

The family of 33-year-old Charles Duty, who died in 1992, was notified Wednesday that Kenneth Cook has been granted parole. A specific date for his release has not been determined.

Cook, now 59, is serving a 15-year to life sentence for Duty’s killing. Investigators say Cook killed Duty while he slept, then cut off his tattoos, pulled his teeth and threw his body in the river.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Cook’s original “Hard 40” sentence and a first-degree murder conviction were overturned. He was retried and given a sentence making him eligible for parole after 15 years.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Civic leaders are asking for anyone with information in the fatal drive-by shooting of a 7-month-old boy in Kansas City, Kansas, to come forward.

The Kansas City Star reports police have received only one tip, but it was information that investigators say didn’t advance the case.

The police chief says detectives investigating the death of JaQuail Mansaw are hampered by a lack of information.

The boy died on Monday from his injuries after police say a shooter drove by the residence and fired several shots late Sunday into the home. A motive hasn’t been released in the shooting.

Unified Government Commissioner Gayle Townsend held a news conference Thursday asking for the public’s help in discovering who killed JaQuail.

The boy’s parents held a candlelight vigil on Thursday to honor his memory.

Thursday, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) spoke at the National Press Club launch of the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba, a new agribusiness coalition seeking an immediate end of the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba. Sen. Moran has long fought to change the unilateral U.S. sanctions and regulations that restrict the ability of American farmers and ranchers to sell their products to Cuba.

COLUMBUS – A Baxter Springs man was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison for manufacturing methamphetamine, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said in a media release.

Calvin E. Richards, 55, was sentenced to 120 months in the Kansas Department of Corrections by Judge Kurtis I. Loy in Cherokee County District Court. Richards pleaded guilty to the crime in August 2014. The crime occurred in February 2014.

The charge stemmed from an investigation by the Baxter Springs Police Department, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Assistant Attorneys General Steve Wilhoft and Lyndzie Carter of Schmidt’s office prosecuted the case.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Parole has been granted to an inmate convicted of killing a Topeka man and removing his tattoos and teeth to prevent identification.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that a date for Kenneth Cook’s release hasn’t been set. Kansas Department of Corrections spokesman Jeremy Barclay says a release plan must be put in place first. Cook was convicted of the 1992 killing of 33-year-old Charles Duty, whose body was found in the Wakarus River. Duty’s prescription drugs were stolen.

Cook’s initial sentence left him ineligible for parole for 40 years. But the Kansas Supreme Court found that post-death mutilation doesn’t warrant a “Hard 40” sentence. Later the first-degree murder sentence also was overturned, and Cook was retried for second-degree murder. His final sentence made him eligible for parole after 15 years.