Kansas GOP Committee Selects Convention Delegates
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Secretary of State Kris Kobach, State Treasurer Ron Estes and an anti-abortion leader will be part of the Kansas delegation to the Republican National Convention this summer. The GOP State Committee yesterday (SAT) selected the last 25 of the state's 40 delegates to the convention in July in Cleveland. Kobach was the most prominent elected official in Kansas to endorse presumed GOP nominee Donald Trump before the state's March 5 caucuses. Texas Senator Ted Cruz won the caucuses decisively and will have 24 of the state's delegates; nine are pledged for Trump, six for Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and one for Ohio Governor John Kasich. Estes endorsed Rubio. The delegation also will include Executive Director Mary Kay Culp of Kansans for Life. It's the most influential anti-abortion group at the Statehouse.
========
KCK Detective Remembered as Hero During Funeral
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 39-year-old Kansas City, Kansas, detective fatally shot this week has been remembered by friends and colleagues as a hero. Detective Brad Lancaster died Monday after he was shot when he responded to a call. Hundreds attended Lancaster's funeral service yesterday (SAT), which included remarks by Mayor Mark Holland and Police Chief Terry Zeigler, who said Lancaster was a hero and loving father who led a life of service. Tributes also included a rendition of "Amazing Grace," sung by an officer who had tears streaming down his face. Lancaster was a U.S. Air Force veteran and leaves a wife and two daughters. Curtis Ayers, of Tonganoxie, is charged with capital murder in Lancaster's death. Ayers was taken into custody after he was shot and wounded by authorities in Kansas City, Missouri.
==========
New Kansas Law Will Specifically Ban Abortions by Midwives
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas will specifically prohibit nurse-midwives from performing abortions or administering abortion-inducing drugs, starting next year. Republican Gov. Sam Brownback signed a bill Friday that includes the prohibition while rewriting laws regulating multiple health care professions. The changes will allow nurse-midwives to practice independently within a limited scope of care starting next year instead of requiring an agreement with a licensed physician. The changes also establish new rules for acupuncture. The anti-abortion group Kansans for Life pushed for the language prohibiting midwives from terminating pregnancies. Some legislators noted that the scope of care allowed independent midwives already was limited to services associated with normal, uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries. But Kansans for Life said the language still was broad enough that abortion providers could argue that it covered ending pregnancies.
==========
KU Senate Forms Free Speech Committee
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas Senate is organizing a committee to research and propose a policy to uphold freedom of speech at the school. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the committee, which was recently approved, will form this summer and work through the next academic year. The committee was proposed by outgoing University Senate President Mike Williams, an associate professor of journalism. He says those on campus sometimes face challenges in expressing themselves freely, and the free exchange of ideas is the bedrock of academic freedom. The university is facing several difficult subjects, such as racial discrimination and a new law that will allow guns on campus beginning next year.
==========
Suspect Dies During Police Pursuit in SE Kansas
PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — A suspect being pursued by police in southeast Kansas died after the vehicle he was in crashed. The Kansas Highway Patrol says the chase began early yesterday (SAT) in Pittsburg. The patrol says the vehicle being pursued was fleeing police officers when his SUV left the roadway and struck a utility pole and chain link fence. The driver was ejected. KSN-TV reports authorities haven't said why police were pursuing the man.
