TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislative committees are preparing to consider proposals for closing a projected $279 million shortfall in the state’s current budget.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Ron Ryckman Jr. says the panel will begin hearings Wednesday on budget-balancing legislation.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee has scheduled debates on budget-balancing proposals for Wednesday and Thursday.

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposals include diverting funds for highway projects and public pensions to general government programs.

The state also faces an additional budget shortfall of $436 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The shortfalls arose after lawmakers aggressively cut personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback’s urging to boost the state economy. The governor has since proposed slowing down future income tax cuts and increasing tobacco and alcohol taxes.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A University of Kansas law student has filed for a seat on the Lawrence City Commission.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Cori Viola says her time as a clerk for the nonprofit advocacy group Kansas Appleseed helped bring to light some issues she thinks the commission ought to change.

At issue is a city ordinance that requires people convicted in Municipal Court to pay a little more than $72 per day for jail time. She says that for poverty-stricken defendants, the requirement often just makes it more difficult for them to improve their situations.

The 23-year-old has lived in Lawrence for six years, while receiving her undergraduate degrees and working on her law degree. She says the City Commission could benefit from having a younger voice and new perspectives.

LENEXA- A Missouri teenager was injured in an accident just after 4:30 p.m. on Sunday in Johnson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Honda Civic driven by Austin Aaron Ward,18, Archie, Mo.,
was traveling westbound on Interstate 435 at 101st Terrace.

For an unknown reason the vehicle went off the roadway into the north ditch and struck a building.

Ward was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center.

The KHP reported he was not wearing a seat belt.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – The death of a handcuffed Iowa suspect who went overboard as a Missouri State Highway Patrol boat was transporting him is getting a fresh look from a special prosecutor.

The Kansas City Star reports that Amanda Grellner acknowledged she is reviewing the case after receiving new information. Four months ago, she declined to press charges against Missouri Highway Patrol trooper Anthony Piercy. Her decision came after a coroner’s inquest found 20-year-old Brandon Ellingson’s May 31 death in the Lake of the Ozarks to be an accident.

The patrol has re-interviewed witnesses in recent weeks for the review. Grellner would not elaborate on what aspects she is reviewing and said she couldn’t comment publicly about specifics of the investigation.

CAPE GIRARDEAU (AP) – Suicide claims more lives in Missouri than homicides and DWI accidents combined.

The Southeast Missourian reports that data released Thursday by the American Association of Suicidology shows Missouri had a suicide rate of 15.9 per 100,000 people in 2012. This ranks the state 18th in the nation and higher than the national average of 13 suicides per 100,000 people.

And the numbers are climbing. Data from the Missouri Institute of Mental Health show a steady increase in suicide rates since 2000, nationally and statewide.

Licensed professional counselor Michael Hester says having a conversation about the reality of having suicidal thoughts can lead to help. It also is a signal to distressed people that someone cares.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Topeka school district is working with several historically black colleges and universities in Texas to make its teaching staff more diverse.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the district hopes to seal formal affiliations with Wiley College, Jarvis Christian College, Texas College, Huston-Tillotson University and Texas Southern University.

Marie Carter, of the district’s human resources department, said the goal is mutual recruiting. The Topeka district plans to hold a minority college fair next fall, with representatives from the colleges, to connect students with more post-secondary options and potentially scholarships.

The idea is that many college students return to their hometowns to teach once they’ve completed their studies. Topeka district administrators are hoping the collaboration could lead to more minority candidates for teaching jobs in Topeka.

MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Herding cattle. Counting fish. Taking an animal’s temperature. Applying pesticides.

The president of the National Farmers Union says that when it comes to drones, “your imagination can go pretty wild in terms of what would be possible.”

This month, the Federal Aviation Administration issued the first permit for agricultural use of unmanned aerial vehicles. An Idaho-based business will use a lightweight, fixed-wing drone to survey fields of crops.

Drone technology can make farmers more efficient by helping them locate problem spots in vast fields or ranchlands.

Increased efficiency could mean lower costs for consumers and less impact on the environment if farmers used fewer chemicals because drones showed them exactly where to spray.

The Federal Aviation Administration has been working for years on rules permitting commercial use of small drones.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a fire at a Kansas City, Kansas, apartment complex has killed a 69-year-old woman.

KSHB-TV  reports that the fire happened early Sunday. Investigators said a man and a woman lived inside the fourplex. The woman was removed from an upstairs bedroom but died of her injuries. Her name wasn’t immediately released. A man escaped the fire before crews arrived with non-life-threatening burns to his back and feet. One firefighter also sustained minor injuries while battling the blaze.

Damage is estimated at $80,000.

WESTPHALIA (AP) – Landowners are raising concerns about a proposal to transform a stretch of unused rail into a 145-mile, cross-state biking and hiking trail.

The Jefferson City News-Tribune reports that privacy was one issue raised during a meeting last week in Westphalia. Leslie Holloway, of the Missouri Farm Bureau, said other worries include access to land for livestock and biosecurity.

The Rock Island Corridor rail line has not had train traffic since 1981. If converted, the new trail would stretch from Windsor in the west to the Franklin County town of Beaufort.

Authorization to convert the railway is pending approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation Surface Board. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources plans to schedule more public forums for Missouri residents as trail discussions continue.