House members have approved a bill that would reinstate happy hour at Kansas bars, restaurants and clubs.

The vote Wednesday was 80-41, sending the bill to the Senate, which has already approved a similar measure.

The intent is to repeal a law that prohibits businesses that sell alcoholic drinks from setting different prices at different times of the day. The ban on happy hour dates to 1985 when legislators worried about increasing alcohol abuse.

Legislators are considering more than a dozen liquor bills this year to loosen state laws that dictate who can sell beer, wine and hard liquor and under what conditions.

A House committee reviewed a proposal Tuesday that eventually would allow grocery and convenience stores to sell full-strength beer and wine.

By John P. Tretbar ~ St. Joseph Post

Scientists at the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory posted this video one of the most powerful solar flares Thursday, an X5.4-class flare.

X-class flares are major events that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms.

It appears that right after the large X5.4 flare another slightly lower, X1 flare (5 times smaller) occurred. You can clearly see a wave going across the Sun.

They are still gathering data and the Space Weather Forecast Lab will be having updates available soon.

The Smoky Hills Vineyards and Winery north of Salina has been sold.

The owners of the 20-year-old winery declined to say who bought the winery, or discuss any future plans for the land.

The winery was sold through an online auction that ended Feb. 29.

Real estate agent Curt Marshall says three buyers purchased the 8.73-acre winery and three adjoining tracts about 40 miles north of Salina.

Online bidding on the names of the wines, production methods and other intellectual property will end March 16.

Norm Jennings and his wife have run the winery since his father, co-founder Steve Jennings, died in a tractor accident in 2005. The couple announced last March they planned to sell the operation to begin a career in lay ministry.

Budget cuts announced by the Department of Defense will cost the Kansas Air National Guard about more than 25 employees.

The state’s adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Lee Tafanelli, said the 184th Intelligence Wing in Wichita will lose 23 full-time positions and two part-time positions. Two part-time positions with the 190th Air Refueling Wing in Topeka will also be cut.

Tafanelli said in a news release Tuesday that the state had expected to lose some jobs after the budget cuts were announced.

The Department of Defense announced earlier this year it would cut $487 billion over the next 10 years.

The Kansas National Guard has 5,300 Army Guard members, 2,200 Air Guard members, 36 armories and two air wings.

A 25-year-old Marysville woman has been sentenced to nearly 15-years in prison for second-degree intentional murder and aggravated assault on Tuesday.

Amanda Baynton was sentenced in Marshall County District Court by Judge John L. Weingart to 178-months in the Kansas Department of Corrections. The crimes occurred on June 8, 2011, resulting in the death of her husband, Derek Bjorn Baynton. She entered a no contest to the charges on January 25.

Assistant Attorney General Amy Hanley prosecuted the case with the assistance of Marshall County Attorney Laura Johnson-McNish. The case was investigated by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Marysville and Blue Rapids Police departments.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is planning a rally in northeast Kansas ahead of the state’s GOP caucuses.

The former Pennsylvania senator scheduled his event for Wednesday afternoon at Harvest Graphics, a printing and business communications firm in the Kansas City suburb of Lenexa.

Kansas Republicans will be caucusing Saturday at 96 locations around the state to vote for their preferred nominee for president. The results will determine how the Kansas GOP allocates its 40 delegates to the Republican National Convention.

Two other Republican hopefuls – former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Congressman Ron Paul – have scheduled multiple Kansas events on Friday. Gingrich also plans to attend caucuses on Saturday in Wichita and Hutchinson.