Kansas GOP Leaders Endorse Rubio
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) _ Republican presidential caucuses in Kansas are shaping up as a three-way race between Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. Hundreds of GOP activists mingled yesterday with elected officials at the state GOP's biggest annual convention. Governor Sam Brownback and U.S. Senator Pat Roberts endorsed Rubio,the senator from Florida. But Republican activists said Trump, the billionaire New York businessman, and Cruz, a Texas senator, already enjoyed solid support when Rubio picked up his endorsements. Trump won the South Carolina primary yesterday. Presidential caucuses for both parties will be held in Kansas on March 5th.
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Kahrs to Serve on GOP National Committee
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) _ Kansas Republicans have elected a state legislator from Wichita to fill one of the state's three seats on the GOP National Committee. The party's state committee picked Representative Mark Kahrs over veteran Shawnee activist Chad Bettes on a 103-79 vote Saturday. Kahrs said he'll push to overhaul the national party to make it more responsive to grassroots activists. The other Kansans on the national committee are state GOP Chairman Kelly Arnold and longtime Republican activist Helen Van Etten of Topeka.
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Consumer Counsel Selected for Ratepayers Board
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ The Kansas agency that represents residential and small-business customers in utility cases has hired a new consumer counsel. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the Citizens' Utility Ratepayers Board unanimously hired a new counsel on Friday. The person's name was not released but is expected to be made public on Wednesday.
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Kansas Last in HPV Vaccinations
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ The University of Kansas Cancer Center is joining nearly 70 other cancer centers in sounding an alarm about the high number of children not getting the HPV vaccine. The Kansas City Star reports Kansas is last in the nation in the percentage of girls who have received the vaccine, which protects against a virus that causes cancer. The Centers for Disease Control says Missouri isn't far behind, and both states also rank low in the number of boys who are vaccinated.
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Brisco sentenced in Death of Carnival Worker
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) _ A Hutchinson man was sentenced to 15 years and two months in prison for killing a carnival worker at the Kansas State Fair. Michael Brisco Junior was sentenced Friday for six felonies, including reckless involuntary manslaughter. Brisco pleaded guilty last month in the September 2013 shooting death of 26-year-old Sem Adrien of Chicago.
