JULIE PACE, AP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) — Administration sources say that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is resigning from President Barack Obama’s Cabinet.

Hagel, a former Republican senator, has served as Pentagon chief since early 2013. Obama is expected to announce the resignation Monday.

The official insisted on anonymity because this person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly ahead of Obama’s official announcement.

A senior defense official said that Hagel submitted his resignation letter to Obama on Monday morning and the president accepted it. Hagel agreed to remain in office until his successor is confirmed by the Senate, the official said.

The official says that both Habel and Obama “determined that it was time for new leadership in the Pentagon.” The official adds that they had been discussing the matter over a period of several weeks.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State universities in Kansas are seeking to hike their room and board rates for the upcoming school year.

The Kansas Board of Regents is expected to approve the increases in December. There was a first reading of the proposals last week.

At the University of Kansas, a typical rate for a residence hall double-room and a middle-of-the-road meal plan, called the “Crimson Flex,” would increase an average of 2.9 percent, for a total of $9,324. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that costs could vary depending on the type of room and meal plan.

Other universities in the Regents system are proposing similar increases, ranging from 2.7 percent at Fort Hays State University to an average 5 percent increase at Emporia State University.

LUCAS, Kan. (AP) — A toilet-shaped restroom in a small north-central Kansas town has placed second in a national contest.

The Wichita Eagle reports that the honor was bestowed upon the Grassroots Art Center’s Bowl Plaza in Lucas last Wednesday, which was World Toilet Day. The public restrooms at Longwood Gardens in Philadelphia were voted No. 1.

The competition is sponsored by Cintas, a company that designs restrooms. The finalists in the “Top 10” best restrooms in the nation contest were named in September, and people could vote for their favorites.

The Lucas facility got its start in 2008 when the town’s approximately 400 residents banded together because there was a need for a public restroom. It took them four years to raise money and design the facility.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The interim director of the Kansas Association of State Employees says state correctional officers are being put at risk because of critical staffing shortages in state prisons.

The Lawrence Journal-World (http://bit.ly/1ACBJ6Q ) reports that Rebecca Proctor testified last week before the Joint Committee on Pensions, Investments and Benefits. The legislative committee may consider legislation to standardize the pension benefits of Corrections Department employees.

Proctor told the committee about inmates attacking guards and said all the adult facilities are short-staffed. She says that lawmakers should address wages before looking at pension benefits.

Department of Corrections spokesman Jeremy Barclay confirmed that job vacancy rates in the state prison system range from 10 to 15 percent at each facility. He says low wages and dangerous working conditions are a big part of the problem.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A legislative committee is looking into changing the way municipal elections are conducted in Kansas to boost turnout.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that in Kansas, city and school board races are held on a completely different cycle from federal and state races.

Over the last five years, no fewer than 10 municipal election bills have been offered in the Legislature. Some have proposed merging the municipal races with state and federal races in even-numbered years, while others have proposed holding them in November of odd-numbered years.

So far, none of those proposals has passed, but lawmakers did agree at the end of the 2014 session to have an interim committee study the issue and make a report to be considered in 2015.

The committee got to work Friday.

ERIKA NIEDOWSKI, Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The federal government shelled out billions of dollars to get health insurance marketplaces going in the 14 states that opted to run their own. Now they must act like true marketplaces and start paying for themselves.

Under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, state-run health insurance exchanges need to be financially self-sustaining starting in January. Some appear to be on that path, while others have unclear funding models or even none at all.

Rhode Island, for example, received high marks for the smooth rollout of HealthSource RI amid last year’s stumbles by the federal government.

But the state doesn’t have a way to pay for the exchange’s long-term operations, and some lawmakers in the state General Assembly have suggested shifting to the federal exchange.

LISA RATHKE, Associated Press

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A decades-long national decline in the number of hunters has prompted states to tap into a new group of hunters — people who demand locally produced food, but don’t know the first thing about getting a deer.

Numerous books and blogs on the topic have surfaced, and state wildlife departments are offering introductory deer hunting classes in urban areas to recruit newbies who want to bag their own wild, local meat.

A national survey published last year found the motivation for hunting meat has nearly doubled from 16 percent in 2006 to 35 percent in 2011.

Tovah Cerulli had been a vegetarian and vegan, but turned to hunting because he says there is a direct connection to his hunted meat that he can’t get from store-bought food.