WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Most Kansas farmers are now finished with this year’s winter wheat harvest.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday that 90 percent of wheat has been cut. That is behind the 96 percent that would be normal for this late in the season.

Some farmers who sprayed herbicides to kill weeds infestations are waiting for the weeds to die before finishing the harvest.

The agency’s weekly snapshot rated corn condition in the state as 8 percent poor to very poor, 30 percent fair, 49 percent good and 13 percent excellent.

Sorghum condition was rated as 5 percent poor, 31 percent fair, 55 percent good and 9 percent excellent.

Soybeans are also doing well in Kansas with the latest update showing only 3 percent in poor or very poor condition.

 

TOPEKA – A public hearing on the proposed permanent gun signage regulations has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Sept. 17, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said in a news release Monday.

The hearing will be in the second floor auditorium of Memorial Hall, 120 SW 10th Ave., Topeka.

Last month, Attorney General Schmidt released his proposed regulations for signage that may be used to restrict the carrying of firearms – open, concealed or both – into buildings, in compliance with a new law passed by the Kansas Legislature earlier this year. Temporary regulations adopting these signage rules were approved by the State Rules and Regulations Board and took effect July 1.

State law requires a 60-day comment period and a public hearing before the regulations become permanent.

The proposed regulations are available at http://1.usa.gov/1tFyBof. Members of the public may submit comments on the proposed regulations on the website, by email to ksagcc@ag.ks.gov or by mail to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, 120 SW 10th Ave., 2nd Floor, Topeka, KS 66612.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 42-year-old Neosho County woman has been sentenced to about a year in federal prison for embezzling more than $278,000 from a bank branch and two customers.

The office of U.S. Attorney for Kansas said in a release Monday that Sherrie Landell of Erie, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement by a bank employee and admitted that from September 2007 to May 2013 she embezzled from Exchange State Bank. She worked at the bank’s branch in St. Paul, Kansas.

Landell’s also accused of fraudulently altering the bank’s records to conceal the crime.

The prosecutor’s office says the shortage was discovered during a bank regulatory exam and subsequent audit in 2013.

 

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) A lawmaker-led effort challenging national education standards that evolved into a softer approach to revise Missouri’s student achievement goals has won the backing of Gov. Jay Nixon.

The Democratic governor on Monday signed legislation that tasks groups of parents and educators with writing new standards to replace Common Core. For now, the contentious federal effort remains in place.

The Republican-led Legislature has fought the standards since state education officials adopted the benchmarks in 2010. Politicians in Indiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina have scrapped the Common Core amid similar concerns about overreaching federal programs.

Advisory groups will develop new school standards in Missouri for English, math, science and history to be put in place by 2016. The State Board of Education will hold several public hearings on the proposed changes.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Board of Pharmacy wants an ingredient used in prescription cough syrup to be tracked by the state because it’s being abused.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Debra Billingsley, executive secretary of the board of pharmacy, told lawmakers Monday that promethazine with codeine syrup is being increasingly abused as a recreational drug, particularly by high school students. She says when it’s mixed with soda or candy the mixture is often called by several slang names, including purple drank and sizzurp.

If it’s added to the Kansas Tracking and Reporting of Controlled Substances program, promethazine with codeine would join dozens of substances that pharmacists track and law enforcement can access with a search warrant.

Billingsley says officials recommended tracking the substance because of how quickly the mixture is selling.

COLUMBIA/JEFFERSON CITY- Governor Nixon vetoed a bill Monday that would have allowed faculty to carry concealed guns in public schools.

Under the legislation, districts would have been allowed to designate teachers or administrators as “school protection officers.” The faculty members would be required to go through special training before they could carry the weapons in school.

With numerous school shootings in past years, supporters argued the legislation would help teachers protect their students from armed intruders.

Opponents worried children could gain access to a teacher’s weapon, arming a student who otherwise might have not had access to a gun. Others questioned whether teachers would have sufficient training to really protect students.

The bill could still pass if lawmakers decide to override Nixon’s veto with a two-thirds majority.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police in Kansas City, Kansas, have identified a 53-year-old woman who died in a recent house fire.

Police on Monday said Carole Young died at a hospital after firefighters found her Thursday night inside the burning home.

The Kansas City Star reports that fire officials haven’t said how the fire started. The blaze caused about $35,000 in damage to the house and its contents.

 

KANSAS CITY- A Kansas cement truck driver was injured in an accident just before 10:30 a.m. on Monday in Wyandotte County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1996 Chevy pickup pulling a flatbed trailer and driven by Michael Wayne Smith, 30, Harrisonville, Mississippi, was westbound on the ramp from Interstate 70 to Central Street.

The Chevy merged onto Central and made an unsafe lane change to the left and failed to yield to a westbound cement truck driven by Ricky V. Stone, 55, Louisburg. The cement truck struck the side of the pickup and overturned.

Stone was transported to KU Medical Center for treatment. Smith was not injured.

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

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missourians with epilepsy that cannot be effectively treated by conventional means will now be able to use a cannabis extract under legislation signed into law Monday by Gov. Jay Nixon.

The legislation was sponsored by St. Louis County Republican Eric Schmitt, a state senator whose 9-year-old son has the central nervous system disorder.

Patients wanting to use marijuana oil containing the chemical cannabidiol will be required to register with the state health department and also have a neurologist vouch that the patient’s epilepsy hasn’t responded to at least three other treatments. The extract known as CBD contains little of the related marijuana compounds favored by recreational users.

In a separate action, Nixon also signed legislation allowing terminally ill patients to use investigational drugs not yet approved by the federal government.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A 4-year-old boy who died after falling from the third floor of a downtown Springfield building has been identified.
Police says Monday that Ashton J. Twibell died at a Springfield hospital.

Police spokeswoman Lisa Cox says preliminary reports indicate the boy pushed a screen out of an open window on the third floor of Lofts of Seville on Sunday night, and then fell.
Police are reviewing the case to see if further investigation is needed.