(AP) — Police say gunfire erupted at a Denver park today, wounding two people and sending tens of thousands gathered for an annual pot celebration fleeing the area.

A crowd of marijuana smokers expected to swell to 80,000 had gathered at the park to mark the counterculture holiday known as 4/20 on the first celebration since Colorado and Washington made pot legal for recreational use. The shooting happened at about 5 p.m. and shortly after pot smokers shared hugs and joints in a mass 4:20 p.m. smoke-out.

A police spokesman says both of the shooting victims were taken to a hospital with injuries that did not appear to be life-threating.

Witnesses say they heard three or more shots which quickly dispelled the festive atmosphere, with police swarming the scene.

Aerial footage shows the massive crowd frantically running from the park.

A sizable police force on motorcycles and horses had been watching the celebration. But officers didn’t arrest people for smoking in public, which is still illegal.

Kansas lawmakers have eliminated the state’s mandatory 30-day waiting period on adoption requests, saying the limbo period can be heart-wrenching for the prospective parents.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Gov. Sam Brownback signed the measure to remove the waiting period, which was highlighted in a reality television series called “The Baby Wait” on Logo TV.

In that show a Wisconsin couple wanted to adopt a Kansas couple’s twin newborns and expressed fear during the 30-day wait that the biological parents would change their minds.

The new law allows a court hearing anytime within 60 days of someone filing an adoption petition.

Topeka adoption attorney Allan Hazlett says the new law means an adoption could now theoretically be finalized before the baby is even a day old.

U.S. Senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran introduced legislation this week to protect Kansans from the threat of dangerous natural gas explosions by allowing states to monitor underground natural gas storage in the absence of federal action.

“It’s been over 10 years since we lost two lives to a gas explosion in Hutchison, and the federal government is still nowhere to be found.” Roberts said. “This threat is real. Our first priority is to protect Kansans from harm. We need strong oversight in the storage of natural gas reserves, and in the absence of federal leadership the state must be allowed to step up and protect its people. Inaction opens the door for a real tragedy, so we must act and put our faith in the people on the ground to protect their families, friends and neighbors.”

“This legislation fills a void by allowing states to step in when the federal government fails to monitor natural gas storage sites,” Sen. Moran said. “Our country’s citizens should be protected from the threat of explosions, and this common-sense approach puts safety first.”

At issue is a 2009 District Court ruling that determined Kansas, through the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC), could not monitor its own storage fields if the gas in those facilities is in interstate transportation.

In the four years since the ruling, the state has been barred from inspecting storage sites, and the federal government, specifically the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has failed to act.

In Kansas, there are 11 interstate underground storage sites containing over 270 billion cubic feet of gas.

Senator Roberts and Moran’s legislation will allow states to monitor the wellbores in interstate underground gas storage facilities. A state’s inspection plan may be approved by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Authorities say their investigation is continuing into the shooting of a former military school employee who received death threats after news accounts publicly revealed his deposition testimony.

Saline County sheriff’s detective Jim Hughes told The Associated Press on Friday the investigation into the shooting of Jon Koop hasn’t determined whether the incident is related to an AP story about the abuse lawsuit filed by 11 ex-cadets against St. John’s Military School.

Koop told the Salina Journal that he began receiving death threats after AP’s story featuring his testimony that he knew of students at the Salina boarding school who were held down and branded against their will.

Koop has not returned repeated phone messages from AP seeking comment.

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed a bill into law Friday that will produce consistency and savings in the operation of Kansas highways. House Bill 2234, which takes effect July 1, makes the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) secretary the director of operations of the Kansas Turnpike Authority (KTA).

“While there will still be two transportation agencies in Kansas, this new law sets up a new structure that will improve efficiency and reduce the duplication of resources and efforts that now exist in the operation of the state’s highway systems,” Gov. Brownback said. “As he has done since joining my administration, KDOT Secretary Mike King will identify ways in which the turnpike and state highway system can be operated more efficiently through resource sharing.”

Sec. King said teams from KDOT and KTA will look for savings through the consolidation and reduction of assets such as land and buildings, and in the sharing of resources in areas such as technology and engineering services.

“Kansans have come to expect good highways whether they are traveling on the state system or the turnpike, and there is nothing about this operational arrangement that will change that,” Sec. King said. “It is unlikely travelers on the turnpike will notice any changes as a result of the legislation.”

King said toll revenues, which have always been used to improve and maintain the turnpike, will continue to be used exclusively for those purposes.

Governor Brownback also signed House Bill 2253 into law Friday. The new law prohibits certain abortions related to the gender of the unborn child, revises the general and late-term abortion statutes, and declares that the life of each human being begins at fertilization. ,

The Governor has signed a total of 116 bills into law during the 2013 Legislative Session.

Home Based Business Fair is today (April 20th!)   Lots of vendors including homemade soaps, jewelry, handbags, tupperware, food, quilts and much more!  Make sure you stop in and check it out!

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The American Civil Liberties Union is objecting to a southwest Kansas district’s plans to allow a pro-creationism group into its schools to talk to students about dinosaurs.

Members of the Creation Truth Foundation are to speak next week during student assemblies in Hugoton schools and in the evening at public gatherings. The ACLU said Friday it wants the district to call off the school assemblies.

Foundation instructor Matt Miles says creationism would only be discussed during events conducted outside the school day.

Superintendent Mark Crawford says he isn’t canceling the assemblies. He says the group won’t be allowed to promote the evening events during the school events.

But ACLU attorney Doug Bonney says the chance for constitutional violations is high, given the Oklahoma-based foundation’s mission of promoting Christianity.