TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas voter says he wants to cast his ballot for the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate who is trying to get his name removed from the ballot.

An attorney for 57-year-old David Orel of Kansas City, Kansas, asked the state Supreme Court on Monday for permission to file friend-of-the court arguments as the justices consider a petition from Democrat Chad Taylor. The court is hearing Taylor’s case Tuesday.

Orel’s filing said removing Taylor from the ballot would divest him of his right to vote for his chosen candidate against three-term Republican Sen. Pat Roberts.

Taylor dropped out of the race at the urging of some Democrats who see independent candidate Greg Orman as the stronger rival for Roberts and don’t want to split the anti-Roberts vote.

 

MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s effort to identify potentially dangerous space rocks has taken a hit.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Texas Gov. Rick Perry is scheduled to be in Wichita next week to raise money for Gov. Sam Brownback’s re-election campaign.

The Wichita Eagle reports Perry is to attend a reception Sept. 24 at a bank office that formerly housed the Carnegie Library. An invitation on Brownback’s campaign website requests donations of $500 to $4,000 for Brownback and his running mate, Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer.

The two Republican governors have had a close relationship for years.

Both are former state agriculture secretaries, and Brownback endorsed Perry’s 2012 campaign for the GOP nomination for president. Brownback also attended a Houston prayer rally hosted by Perry in August 2011.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri appeals court panel has rewritten the ballot summary for a proposed constitutional amendment dealing with early voting.
At issue is an item on the November ballot that would authorize a no-excuses-needed early voting period for future general elections, but limit it only to business hours on weekdays.

In its ruling Monday, the appeals court panel said the summary prepared by the Legislature was misleading because it didn’t mention the early period would occur only if the Legislature and governor provide funding. The appeals court ordered additional wording to be added to the ballot summary that voters will see.
The legal challenge to the measure had been brought by an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a St. Louis civil rights leader.

OSAGE COUNTY- A Kansas woman was killed in an accident just after 7 a.m. on Monday in Osage County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Dodge Grand Caravan driven by Bradley John Ruppert, 34, Garnet was eastbound on Kansas 268 just east of Kansas 368 when it crossed the centerline and collided with a 2002 Toyota Camry driven by Dawnette Sue Hoerner, 52, Quenemo, that was westbound.

Hoerner was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics.

Ruppert was transported to KU Medical Center.

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

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Missouri’s top education official said Monday she will resign at the end of this year.

State Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro announced her departure Monday. She has served as head of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education since 2009.

Over the past year, state legislators and some officials have criticized Nicastro for her handling of high-profile issues.

An audit released last month faulted the department’s process for hiring a consultant for a potential overhaul of the Kansas City School District. Some state lawmakers also have been upset with the way the department has handled a student-transfer law for unaccredited districts in the St. Louis area.

During Nicastro’s tenure, the department implemented the Common Core educational standards, which some lawmakers oppose. It also adopted a new school accreditation system.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka police have released the name of an 85-year-old motorcycle rider who was killed in a chain-reaction crash.

The man was identified Monday as Harold Eulert, of Topeka.

Eulert was riding a motorcycle on a Topeka bridge Friday afternoon when it was hit from behind by a pickup truck. The impact pushed the motorcycle into another truck.

Eulert was critically injured and died at a Topeka hospital.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – A northern Missouri couple was sentenced to federal prison after the woman was accused of embezzling nearly $4 million from a company where she worked and she and her husband filed false income tax returns.

Federal prosecutors said 61-year-old Donna Preszler was sentenced Monday to five years and 10 months in prison without parole. Her husband, 64-year-old Terrance Preszler, was sentenced to three years without parole.

The couple, formerly from Chillicothe, also was ordered to pay more than $4 million in restitution to Burdg, Dunham & Associates Construction Corp. and $1.2 million to the Internal Revenue Service. They also must forfeit a nearly $4 million money judgment, vehicles, several trust accounts and two residential lots.

Donna Preszler was an accounts manager at the construction firm in Hamilton.

SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, Associated Press

CORRALES, N.M. (AP) — The head of the Environmental Protection Agency says she’s not backing down on her agency’s efforts to implement a new rule that would assert regulatory authority over many of the nation’s streams and wetlands despite criticisms that it amounts to a federal water grab.

KIRKSVILLE (AP) – A Missouri man was charged with animal abuse on accusations of stabbing a pit bull to death.

The Kirksville Daily Express reported that 29-year-old Jeffrey Lynn Vance of Kirksville was jailed on the felony charge.

Thursday night, police found the dog lying in a pool of blood with what appeared to be a stab wound to the neck. Police said Vance was intoxicated and covered in blood.

Police said Vance told them the dog bit him and he stabbed it in response. The dog was a service dog, assisting Vance with an undisclosed medical condition.

The dog died later at a veterinary care center.