TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The state is now distributing about 20,000 tax refunds that were frozen for two weeks at the end of the last fiscal year.

With the new fiscal year beginning July 1, the Kansas Department Revenue sent 19,091 refunds to the Kansas Department of Administration for payment.

Jeannine Koranda, spokeswoman for the revenue department, says most Kansans who didn’t get their refunds should have received them by now or will receive them soon.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the 20,000 returns were put on a “work list” because of edits or errors. Koranda stressed that the number of returns on the list changes because her department receives tax returns well after the April 15 deadline.

She says the department received more than 130,000 returns since May 15.

 

PATRICK WHITTLE, Associated Press

CAMDEN, Maine (AP) — A retired Kansas schoolteacher accused of pushing his wife off a cliff in Maine is going on trial on attempted murder charges.

Jury selection begins Monday in Rockland in the case of 71-year-old Charles Black, who now lives in Salt Lake City. He is also charged with two counts of elevated aggravated assault and three counts of aggravated assault.

Prosecutors say Charles Black tried to kill Lisa Black by hitting her on the head with a rock before pushing her off Maiden Cliff in Camden Hills State Park in April 2011. Law enforcement officials say there was a dispute over a $4 million inheritance from Lisa’s father.

Lisa Black survived after falling a short distance and sought help. Black is banned from staying in town during the trial. The Blacks are former Johnson County, Kansas, teachers.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Two Missouri cities placed in the top 10 on a real estate information company’s list of cities with the most abandoned homes, but a Kansas community was at the top of the heap.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch  reports the Kansas City metropolitan area qualified for fourth place in the RealtyTrac list with 305 vacated foreclosures, or 36 percent of its foreclosed properties.

St. Louis is right behind at fifth place, with 847 of 2,500 foreclosed properties being vacant, or 34 percent.

Wichita, Kansas, had the highest rate at 49 percent, with 146 abandoned homes in foreclosure.

Portland, Oregon, was second on the list.

 

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – It’s decision day for seven bills pending before Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon.

Monday is the deadline for Nixon to take action on bills that were passed by the Legislature earlier this year. He can veto them, sign them or allow them to take effect without his signature.

One of the remaining bills would allow specially trained teachers and administrators to carry concealed guns in public schools. Nixon has previously expressed reservations about the legislation.

Another measure seeks to expand access to experimental drugs for certain patients.

Nixon also must decide on a bill that could put Missouri on a path toward ditching the Common Core educational standards. The bill would create a committee charged recommending new student achievement benchmarks.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — One Kansas parent has reached a deal to avoid trial for stealing thousands of dollars from a Topeka elementary school’s parent-teacher organization, and her husband is working to land a similar agreement.

The Topeka Capital-Journal  reports Ben and Jamie Chestnut face a total of five felony charges accusing them of stealing $5,000 from the Avondale West Parent-Teacher Organization.

Jamie Chestnut has agreed to pay restitution and follow a number of other stipulations for two counts of forgery and one count of theft by deception.

Ben Chestnut, the group’s former treasurer, is seeking a similar agreement on charges of theft by deception and making false information.

The revelation in April 2013 that the money was missing from the PTO’s bank account nearly derailed year-end plans for a carnival.

 

GENEVA (AP) — Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli says it is buying U.S. manufacturer Russell Stover Candies, Inc., for an undisclosed sum.

Lindt CEO Ernst Tanner said Monday that the purchase provides “a unique opportunity for us to expand our North American chocolate business.” The company says the deal will make it the No. 3 chocolate manufacturer in North America.

Russell Stover, which also owns the Whitman’s brand, is based in Kansas City, Missouri, and has four factories — in Kansas, Texas and Colorado.

It has about 2,700 employees and annual sales of around $500 million.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City is on track for its lowest annual homicide rate in more than 40 years.

The Kansas City Star reports (http://bit.ly/1sRZUHU ) that there have been 34 homicides in the first six months of the year. Police say killings are down 31 percent from last year and the city is on pace for its lowest annual homicide total since 1967.

Police Chief Darryl Forté says he is satisfied with the progress but the death count is still too high.

The drop follows sweeping reorganization within the department and new community efforts to deter violence.

Kansas City, Kansas has the same number of homicides as it did at this point last year. There have been 16 reported.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Site selection officials for the 2016 Republican National Convention were impressed with Kansas City’s ability to raise nearly $20 million in cash commitments, but documents show a lack of luxury suites at the Sprint Center for high-dollar donors played a big role in the decision to go elsewhere.

Kansas City pledged up to $7 million to add a dozen suites to the downtown venue and provide millions of dollars in other incentives, but Republicans chose Cleveland to host their convention.

The Kansas City Star examined more than 5,000 pages of convention-related documents providing details of the effort to bring the GOP convention to the city. Among its findings were that taxpayers put up more than $250,000 for the recruitment effort, while Kansas pledged $3.3 million toward the event.

 

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Businesses that stand to benefit have begun pouring millions of dollars into a Missouri campaign for a transportation sales tax.

During the past six weeks, the campaign committee for the Aug. 5 ballot measure has received more than $2.3 million in contributions in large chunks ranging from $7,500 to $160,000 at a time.

The money is akin to an investment for many contributors. That’s because if voters approve the tax, the donors could get some of the money through contracts awarded by the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The proposal is projected by lawmakers to generate $540 million annually.

Highway contractors have contributed the most to the campaign. But significant amounts also have come from labor unions, engineering firms, equipment dealers and concrete and asphalt producers.