TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt plans to have a public hearing in September on new regulations for signs that businesses and groups must post if they want to ban guns from their premises.

The hearing is set for Sept. 17 in the building near the Kansas Statehouse that houses the attorney general’s office.

A state law that took effect this month makes the open carrying of guns legal across the state. But businesses and groups still can ban both concealed and unconcealed guns from their premises if they post signs.

The new rules create signs for barring both concealed and unconcealed guns, allowing both, or allowing one and not the other.

Schmidt’s office said the hearing isn’t until September to provide 60 days for public comments.

 

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.) urged the U.S. Department of Education today to require in forthcoming rules implementing the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination (SaVE) Act that colleges and universities inform sexual assault survivors of the availability of sexual assault nurse examiners on campus and in nearby communities. McCaskill and Udall wrote that this information would ensure that sexual assault survivors have increased access to information about the services and support they need.

“If readily available and adequately trained, forensic nurses can serve as a critical resource for those seeking justice and starting the healing process. These nurses can ensure greater reliability of forensic evidence, as well as offer information, treatment and referrals for any health concerns of a survivor,” McCaskill and Udall wrote in the letter. “And, as one of the first people to make contact with a survivor following an assault, forensic nurses can provide a safe environment to encourage survivors to seek other necessary services — whether it be educational, legal or otherwise. Acknowledging that college campuses face increased risks for sexual violence, increasing access to forensic nurses within these communities would provide sexual assault survivors with the information and tools they need to recover and seek justice.”

McCaskill and Udall have fought to ensure Americans have ready access to emergency medical personnel trained in conducting sexual assault forensic examinations.

To read the Udall-McCaskill letter, click HERE

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The 2014 Kansas wheat harvest is finally almost over.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday that 95 percent of the wheat is now in the bin. Usually by this late in the year, all the wheat has been cut.

All the recent rains have helped the spring-planted crops in Kansas.

Corn is rated as 15 percent excellent, 49 percent good and 29 percent fair. Just 7 percent got a poor or very poor rating.

For sorghum, the agency reports 10 percent in excellent, 55 percent in good and 31 percent in fair condition. Just 4 percent got a poor rating.

Soybeans in Kansas are doing even better with 10 percent in excellent, 57 percent in good 31 percent in fair condition. Only 2 percent got a poor mark.

 

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A conservative Republican super PAC seeking to unseat U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp is spending more than $108,500 in the Republican primary race for the sprawling 1st Congressional District of western and central Kansas.

A filing with the Federal Elections Commission Monday shows the Now or Never PAC out of Kansas City, Missouri, is putting money into mailers and other advertising against him.

Huelskamp is a tea party favorite known for his criticism of the GOP leadership in Washington. He is seeking a third two-year term.

He is challenged in the GOP primary by Alan LaPolice, a Clyde farmer and educator.

The PAC money is the latest blow to Huelskamp’s re-election bid to this agricultural district. The Kansas Farm Bureau and the Kansas Livestock Association have also refused to endorse him.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) today addressed more than 12,000 members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) of the United States and its Auxiliaries during the 115th VFW National Convention in St. Louis, Mo.

Blunt serves as a member of the defense authorizing and appropriations committees.

Click here to listen to Senator Blunt’s remarks.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Former Republican congresswoman Jan Meyers has formally endorsed Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s re-election, six days after being listed among GOP moderates endorsing his Democratic challenger.

Brownback’s campaign released a statement Monday from Meyers saying that she’s pleased with Brownback’s efforts to reduce the state’s personal income taxes. She also said it’s important for Republicans to rally around the governor.

Last week, the campaign of Democratic challenger Paul Davis announced the formation of a new group called Republicans for Kansas Values and listed more than 100 names of mostly former GOP office holders who had endorsed Davis. The list included Meyers, who represented the Kansas City-area 3rd Congressional District from 1985 to 1997.

But Meyers said the next day that she would never publicly endorse a Democrat.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Washington-area group backing tea party challenger Milton Wolf’s bid to unseat Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts is spending more than $423,000 on radio and television ads ahead of the Republican primary.

The ads from a political action committee tied to the Senate Conservatives Fund also are mixing with the candidates’ own statewide spots.

Senate Conservatives Fund President Ken Cuccinelli said Monday that Wolf remains the underdog against three-term incumbent Roberts but the fund believes Wolf can win.

Wolf is broadcasting his own television ad, noting that the senator’s official residence in Dodge City is rented space in a home owned by supporters. The conservative group’s ad hits similar themes.

Roberts’ campaign began a television ad last week blasting Wolf for repeatedly not voting in local elections and state primaries.

PATRICK WHITTLE, Associated Press

ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) — A former Maine man has been convicted of bashing his wife’s head with a rock and pushing her off a cliff in disputes over an affair and inheritance money.

ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) — A Maine jury is deliberating the fate of a man accused of bashing his wife’s head with a rock and pushing her off a cliff.

Authorities say Charles Black hit 55-year-old Lisa Zahn with the rock before pushing her off Maiden Cliff in Camden in 2011. Both survived after tumbling 800 feet down the mountainside.

Prosecutors say Black and Zahn were having a dispute over how Black spent some of Zahn’s inheritance.

But Black’s attorney made the case Monday that the details surrounding their falls are too fuzzy to convict Black. Prosecutors say investigators found Zahn’s blood on Black’s jacket and shoes.

The 71-year-old Black is charged with attempted murder, two counts of elevated aggravated assault and three counts of aggravated assault.

The Blacks are former Johnson County teachers.