During an interview with Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet The Press” today, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) discussed several aspects of the Ebola outbreak, including his support for a temporary suspension of travel visas for passengers in Ebola-stricken countries and the Obama Administration’s handling of the response.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and his challenger Paul Davis will meet for back-to-back debates this week in Wichita amid a close race as the election nears.

The two candidates will face off for a televised debate Monday at the KWCH studios in Wichita, followed on Tuesday by another debate before the Kansas Association of Broadcasters meeting.

Tuesday’s debate will be broadest LIVE on St. Joseph Post at 1:15 p.m.

Recent independent polling shows the race has tightened in Brownback’s favor.

Davis is wooing moderate Republicans and unaffiliated voters worried about tax cuts enacted at Brownback’s urging. The cuts dropped the state’s top personal income tax rate by 26 percent and exempted the owners of 191,000 businesses from income taxes altogether.

Brownback contends the reductions are boosting the economy, but the Legislature’s nonpartisan research staff predicts a $260 million budget shortfall by July 2016.

KANSAS CITY- A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 6 p.m. on Sunday in Wyandotte County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2009 Toyota van driven by

Bryce L. Hinde, 20, Fulton and a 2014 Ford passenger car driven by Christopher A. Shepherd, 37, St. Peters, Mo., were both southbound on Interstate 435 at the Missouri River

A large truck wheel came from the northbound lanes to the southbound striking both vehicles.

Hinde was transported to Providence Med Center. Shepherd was not injured.

The KHP reported both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan isn’t just endorsing politicians now.

The 2012 GOP nominee for vice president is throwing his support behind the Kansas City Royals. Ryan was in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park last Friday to stump for Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts in the three-term incumbent’s tight re-election race against independent Greg Orman.

During the campaign stop, Ryan joked that he was “going to endorse the Royals” as well.

The Royals are headed to the World Series after winning a record eight straight games in the postseason. Ryan said that with the Milwaukee Brewers defeated, he was “happy for the Royals.”

 

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Another Republican Missouri candidate has received a big check from mega-donor Rex Sinquefield.

Missouri Ethics Commission records show that Sinquefield recently gave $100,000 to state Sen. Will Kraus. The Republican lawmaker from Lee’s Summit is seeking to challenge Democratic Secretary of State Jason Kander in the 2016 elections.

Sinquefield also has been helping other Republicans looking to run on the statewide ballot two years from now. He has given $800,000 to gubernatorial candidate Catherine Hanaway and $250,000 each to attorney general candidate Sen. Kurt Schaefer and state treasurer candidate Sen. Eric Schmitt.

Sinquefield is a retired investment firm founder who has backed initiatives to cut Missouri’s income taxes and revamp laws governing public school teachers.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Police say two women have been arrested after dozens of Rams fans and Ferguson protesters clashed outside the Edward Jones Dome.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that one protester tried to jab a Rams fan with a pole bearing an upside down American flag on Sunday afternoon, after the Rams beat the Seattle Seahawks.

The scuffle broke out when fans argued with the protesters who had been yelling and chanting about the killing of Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old, by a white police officer.

Police said two women were arrested and two people were injured in the clashes.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Washburn University has received a $1.4 million donation for athletic scholarships.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the money comes from the estate of Dorothy Reichart. Her late husband, Jerry Reichart, was a standout lineman on the WU football team, earning all-conference honors in 1949. He was inducted into the Washburn Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987.

About 20 years ago, the Jerry W. Reichart Athletic Scholarship Fund was created. With the latest gift, the fund now totals nearly $2 million.

Dorothy Reichart’s sister, Nancy Erwin, was on hand Saturday at Washburn for the check presentation. She said her sister and brother-in-law loved Washburn and sports.

Washburn University Foundation president JuliAnn Mazachek said the gift “creates a meaningful, lasting legacy” for the couple.

 

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Sen. Pat Roberts and Gov. Sam Brownback are raising gay marriage as an issue to help paint their challengers as too liberal for GOP-leaning Kansas in the final weeks of tough re-election races.

Both publicly declared their continued support for the state constitution’s gay-marriage ban after U.S. Supreme Court decisions earlier this month suggested it isn’t likely to withstand a legal challenge.

Roberts’ campaign sent a mailing last week to 300,000 voters, criticizing independent candidate Greg Orman.

Orman has said government should not prohibit same-sex couples from getting married.

Brownback raised the issue without prompting last week during an interview with The Associated Press about his race with Democratic challenger Paul Davis.

Davis voted as a legislator against proposals to add the gay-marriage ban to the state constitution.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — An auditorium that was designed by architects-in-training at the University of Kansas has opened on the Lawrence campus.

The Lawrence Journal-World  reports that the first lecture was conducted Friday at the Forum at Marvin Hall. The School of Architecture, Design and Planning is housed inside the hall, which previously didn’t have an auditorium. Lecture classes took place across the campus.

The privately funded addition was a project of Studio 804, a not-for-profit corporation and a design/build class.

The auditorium features exterior walls that are made of glass, with a naturally ventilated facade using cedar louvers. The addition’s new roof is supported by timber-frame trusses, as is used in the original building. At the back of the room is a green wall of live plants.