ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Fisher-Price Little People are facing off against little green army men for a spot in the National Toy Hall of Fame.

The classic figures are among 12 finalists for the class of 2014 to be announced Thursday.

Also in the running are: paper airplanes, American Girl dolls, the game Operation, pots and pans, bubbles, My Little Pony, Rubik’s Cube, Slip ‘N Slide, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the toy trucks sold each holiday shopping season at Hess gas stations.

Anyone can nominate a toy but a national committee of history, toy and education experts votes in the winners.

Inductees have to be widely recognized, proven to be more than a passing fad and foster learning, creativity or discovery through play.

TOPEKA- A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Shawnee County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported Ford F 250 driven by Kenneth L. Johnson, 74 Topeka was travelling westbound on U.S. 24 just west of Button Road in the passing lane.

Traffic slowed in front of the truck. The driver applied the brakes, swerved to the right, overturned and slid on its roof until it came to rest on the driver’s side door.

Johnson was transported to Stormont Vail.
The KHP reported he was properly restrained at the time of the accident.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has indefinitely postponed a hearing on a gay-marriage case because of a federal judge’s order in a separate lawsuit barring the state from enforcing its ban on same-sex marriage.

The Kansas court issued an order Wednesday, a day before arguments from attorneys on a petition filed by Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

The court told the parties it wants to hear from them by Nov. 15 on whether it should continue to bar counties from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples and postpone Schmidt’s case until a federal lawsuit is resolved.

In the federal case, U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree ruled Tuesday that the state could not enforce its gay-marriage ban but stayed his decision to allow the state to appeal. The state did that Wednesday.

United States Attorney

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas City, Kan., man was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in federal prison for selling stolen firearms, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

Joshua S. Bailes, 32, Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of stolen firearms. In his plea, he admitted that on Aug. 16, 2012, he and two co-defendants sold a total of four firearms to undercover agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. On Aug. 21, 2012, Bailes and one co-defendant sold a total of 17 firearms to undercover ATF agents. It was determined later that the firearms were stolen. Among the firearms Bailes sold were handguns, rifles and shotguns. At the time of the crime, Bailes was prohibited from possessing firearms because he was a prior convicted felon.

Co-defendant Richard Fisher was sentenced to 15 years. Co-defendant Vincent Leuzinger was sentenced to 70 months.

Grissom commended the ATF and Assistant U.S. Attorney Terra Morehead for their work on the case.

JOHN HANNA, AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has narrowly won re-election even though exit polling suggested a majority of voters were skeptical of the personal income tax cuts he championed.

Exit polling conducted for The Associated Press and television networks showed Wednesday that 53 percent of the voters surveyed believed the cuts mostly hurt the state and 41 percent said they mostly helped.

The survey of 2,027 voters was conducted by Edison Research and had a margin of error of 4 percent. Earlier, preliminary exit polling data — involving fewer voters — had suggested a more favorable opinion of the tax cuts.

Legislators enacted the tax cuts at Brownback’s urging. He argued during the campaign that they were boosting the economy.

Democratic challenger Paul Davis said they wrecked the state’s finances.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is standing by his pledge to act on his own to reduce deportations and improve border security by the end of the year. Obama says he will take his own steps despite election results that gave Republicans control of Congress.

He says he prefers congressional action but that he has shown patience and has tried to work in a bipartisan fashion.

Obama says if Congress acts, his executive actions will go away. Republicans say any action will poison relations with the White House.

Obama angered Latinos and immigration advocacy groups earlier this year when he delayed any executive action until after the election. Any action Obama takes will likely reduce the number of deportations and grant work permits to millions of immigrants illegally in the United States.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is appealing a federal judge’s order that the state must allow same-sex couples to marry pending the outcome of a lawsuit challenging the state’s ban.

The state attorney general’s office filed a notice of appeal Wednesday. The filing came one day after U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree issued a preliminary injunction barring the state from enforcing its same-sex marriage ban as of 5 p.m. on Nov. 11. The enforcement delay was designed to give the state time to appeal.

The American Civil Liberties Union had sued to overturn Kansas’ ban after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear appeals from five states seeking to save their gay marriage bans. Among them were Oklahoma and Utah, which are in the same appeals court circuit as Kansas.