TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Allies of Democrat Paul Davis are criticizing a new television ad in the Kansas governor’s race highlighting Davis’ presence at a strip club near Coffeyville during a 1998 meth raid.

Davis’ backers had a teleconference Friday to decry the Republican Governors Association ad. Davis’ campaign labeled it a “disgusting” smear.

The RGA and Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s re-election campaign did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. The RGA began running ads about the 1998 incident Sept. 30.

The new, 30-second spot features a flashing neon strip-club sign and a close up of a dancer’s stiletto heels.

At the time of the incident, Davis’ law firm represented the strip club’s owner. Davis was not arrested in the meth raid, but an officer reported finding him in a back room with a nearly naked woman.

KANSAS CITY – The death of an 8-year-old Kansas City boy following a severe asthma attack has been classified as a homicide.

The Kansas City Star reports the Jackson County medical examiner cited lack of medical treatment as a contributing factor in the late August death of Tyler Lane.

No charges have been filed as detectives continue to investigate.

Kansas City police were called to Children’s Mercy Hospital on Aug. 15, a day after Tyler was admitted. A police report said the boy had suffered a severe asthma attack and was hospitalized with suspected brain hemorrhaging.

A social worker told police Tyler had been sent home from school a few days earlier because of asthma attacks and told not to return until he had medication for asthma.

JOHN HANNA, AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has blocked the state’s most populous county from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, hours after the first one was issued under an order from a lower-court judge.

The Supreme Court issued a three-page order in response to a petition filed by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt. The high court said it acted for “statewide consistency.”

The Supreme Court set a hearing for Nov. 6.

Schmidt argued that the chief district court judge in Johnson County exceeded his authority in ordering clerks and other judges to approve marriage applications from gay couples, despite a ban on gay marriage in the state constitution.

Judge Kevin Moriarty issued his order after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear appeals from five other states seeking to preserve their bans.

ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, AP Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Sears Holdings Corp. is announcing a data breach at its Kmart stores that started in early September.

The parent company, which also operates Sears stores, says that Kmart’s information technology team detected the breach on Thursday. Sears immediately launched a full investigation and is working with a leading security firm.

Kmart was able to quickly remove the malware but the chain believes that certain debit and credit cards numbers have been compromised. The company couldn’t disclose how many cards were affected.

The data theft at Kmart is the latest in a string of breaches that have hit several big retailers, including Target and Home Depot.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit against Kansas’ ban on same-sex marriage on behalf of two couples who were denied marriage licenses this week.

The lawsuit filed Friday challenges a state law against gay marriage and a provision added to the state constitution in 2005 prohibiting same-sex marriages.

The defendants are court clerks in Douglas and Sedgwick counties, along with the secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The agency furnishes marriage license forms and keeps marriage records.

The couples in the lawsuit are Kail Marie and Michelle Brown, of Lecompton, and Kerry Wilks and Donna DiTrani of Wichita.

A Johnson County court office issued a same-sex marriage license Friday, but Attorney General Derek Schmidt asked the Kansas Supreme Court to block such actions.

PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — The death of a college student in southeast Kansas is being investigated as a homicide.

The Joplin Globe reports  an autopsy showed that 20-year-old Taylor C. Thomas died of a single gunshot wound. He was a junior at Pittsburg State University majoring in mechanical engineering technology.

Officers responding to a disturbance call at an off-campus home where Thomas lived found him wounded around 2 a.m. Thursday. He was pronounced dead at Via Christi Hospital.

Pittsburg police said Friday the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, campus police and the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department have joined the investigation. No arrests have been made.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police in Wichita have arrested a suspect in the rape of a 100-year-old woman during a break-in at her home.

The Wichita Eagle reports the 35-year-old man was being held Friday in the Sedgwick County Jail on suspicion of rape and aggravated burglary.

Police have not released the man’s name. But jail and court records list him as a Wichita resident multiple convictions for burglary and theft.

The woman, who lives alone, told police she was awakened the night of Sept. 29 by two intruders. She walked to a neighbor’s house around 7:15 a.m. the next day to say there were still people in the home.

Police Capt. Troy Livingston described the victim as a strong and brave woman who is being cared for by her family.

 

IM SALTER, Associated Press
JEFF ROBERSON, Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A government forecast shows Kansas is expected to harvest 592 million bushels of corn this fall while setting a record yield for bushels cut per acre.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Friday this year’s corn crop in Kansas is shaping up to be 17 percent larger than a year ago. A record yield is forecast of 160 bushels per acre, or 33 bushels per acre more than last year.

Anticipated production of most other fall crops in Kansas is also higher than a year ago.

A forecast of 188 million bushels for grain sorghum is up 14 percent. Soybean production of 148 million bushels is up 13 percent. Cotton production of 55,000 bales is up 34 percent.

But anticipated sunflower production of 77.6 million pounds is down 5 percent.