Governor Warns Against Burning
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Governor Sam Brownback is warning Kansas residents against lighting outdoor fires because of the state's severe drought. But he told reporters yesterday he's not ready to impose a statewide ban on burning. All 105 Kansas counties are now covered by a drought disaster declaration, and 67 have imposed burning bans.
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Rancher Sues Beef Group
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas rancher has filed suit claiming the National Cattlemen's Beef Association is improperly using "beef checkoff" funds to influence government action and policy. The federal lawsuit by Michael Callicrate names the U.S. Agriculture Department, the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board and three other defendants. The filing was announced yesterday in Kansas City, Missouri.
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Police Testify in Walmart Parking Lot Case
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas police officer says a 7-year-old girl found bound in the parking lot of a Kansas Walmart told police she was hitting her siblings and asked to be tied up and blindfolded. Officer James Miller testified yesterday during a preliminary hearing for Deborah and Adolfo Gomez Junior, an Illinois couple who were arrested in June after two of their children were found tied up outside the family's SUV.
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Emporia Mother Sentenced in Infant Murder
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — An Emporia woman has been sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison after being found guilty earlier of putting her newborn son in a trash bin. KVOE-AM reports that Lyon County District Judge Merlin Wheeler yesterday sentenced 26-year-old Christina Devine to 155 months in prison. She was convicted in July of attempted first-degree murder.