HARVEYVILLE, Kan. (AP) -- Volunteers have been swarming the small town of Harveyville since an EF2 tornado struck the northeastern Kansas town Tuesday night. Now, officials in the Wabaunsee County town are asking general volunteers to take the weekend off and give residents a couple of days to rest and evaluate their needs. The United Way issued an advisory Friday afternoon on the town's behalf saying volunteers for general cleanup work won't be needed or accepted Saturday or Sunday.
Meanwhile, officials say the best way to help Harveyville and other communities in the 19 counties hit by the week's violent storms is to donate money to nonprofit relief groups. A new donations website - www.KSReady.org - shows how and where to donate to relief organizations helping Kansas communities.
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OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) -- The last of three northeastern Kansas facilities that make up the so-called Education and Research Triangle opened its doors Friday. Governor Sam Brownback was among the speakers during the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the $23 million building that expands the University of Kansas' Edwards Campus by more than half. The campus is located in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park.
Called the Business, Engineering, Science and Technology Building, the 75,000-square-foot facility was financed through an eighth-cent sales tax increase approved by Johnson County voters in 2008 in a bid to boost the area's efforts to become a leader in life sciences.
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SCOTT CITY, Kan. (AP) -- A western Kansas woman is going to prison for the abuse death of her 3-month-old son. Twenty-eight year old Marilyn Fay Hoffman, of Scott City, was sentenced Friday to nearly 15 years for second-degree intentional murder and one count of child abuse.
Hoffman has been jailed since her arrest in July 2010 after the infant, Xavier Hoffman, died at a Wichita hospital where he was being treated for extensive injuries. Hoffman was initially charged with first-degree murder, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge last July in Scott County District Court.