(AP) — After months of delay, Wichita police are testing a new electronic ticketing system.

The police began using the eCitation program Tuesday in some of their vehicles, which allows them to forego the usual written tickets.

Wichita police officials say the new system will improve officer safety, save money and reduce problems caused by illegible tickets.

The system was originally approved last May and had been scheduled to be in place by the end of 2012 but several glitches with the program delayed it.

The department will test the system for two weeks. If it works, it will be installed in all 175 police cars.

It cost about $500,000 to install, with an annual maintenance fee of $51,300.

(AP) — The Nemaha County sheriff says a 14-year-old boy died after an accident at Centralia City Lake.

The sheriff says in a news release that the teen was riding a tube being pulled by a boat Monday evening when he was thrown from the tube.

The teenager, whose name is not being released, was later pronounced dead at the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital.

An investigation is continuing but the sheriff says foul play is not suspected.

Congressman Tim Huelskamp  filed several amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with the House Rules Committee today. Two amendments in particular have bearing on the case of Master Sergeant Nathan Sommers. The longtime member of the U.S. Army band is awaiting court martial. It appears Sgt. Sommers “is facing retribution and punishment from the military for having anti-Obama bumper stickers on his car, reading books written by conservative authors like Mark Levin and David Limbaugh, and serving Chick-fil-A sandwiches at his promotion party.”

One amendment would restrain the Army from conducting its court martial of Sgt. Sommers unless and until the Army first files a report for the Congress to review. “At the end of subtitle I of title V, add the following: ‘SEC. 5__ . REPORT. The Secretary of the Army shall provide to Congress a report on activities with respect to Master Sergeant Nathan Sommers not less than 90 days prior to taking any further disciplinary or administrative action against that individual.’”

Another amendment would unblock the courthouse door so that service members whose First Amendment rights have been violated by the Federal government can seek redress like any other American. “Add at the end of subtitle D of title VI the following: SEC. 634. AUTHORIZING BIVENS SUITS BY SERVICE MEMBERS FOR FIRST AMENDMENT VIOLATIONS. For a violation of First Amendment rights, a service member shall have the same right as a non-service member to sue and recover under the theory enunciated in Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971).”

Congressman Huelskamp made the following statement:

“It appears Army Master Sergeant Nathan Sommers has been targeted for harassment and retaliation by several soldiers and superior officers because of his Judeo-Christian religious views, as well as his conservative political views. The Obama regime’s radical secularization, intolerance and downright hostility toward traditional and conservative views is creating a tyrannical culture of political correctness in the military. Sgt. Sommers is the poster child for an increasingly pervasive pattern of persecution. Vigilant oversight and new legislation are necessary for Congress to protect the First Amendment rights of service members with disfavored religious beliefs (e.g., Orthodox Jews, Catholics, and evangelical Protestants) and/or disfavored political views (e.g., Republicans, Tea Party supporters, and Libertarians).”

(AP) – U.S. employers advertised fewer jobs in April, but overall hiring rose and the number of people quitting their jobs increased.

The Labor Department says job openings fell 3 percent to a seasonally adjusted 3.75 million.

Total hiring jumped nearly 5 percent to 4.4 million. And the number of people quitting their jobs increased 7.2 percent to 2.25 million.

More hiring and quits are a sign of a dynamic job market. Most workers quit jobs when they have a new position or are confident they can find one. More quits are therefore a good sign.

The job market is very competitive for those looking for work. There were 3.1 open jobs, on average, for each unemployed worker in April. The ratio is 2 to 1 in a healthy economy.

A 38 year old man was killed in a Barton County motorcycle accident on Monday night. According to the Barton County Sheriff’s office

“US 56 Highway was closed for about an hour between Ellinwood and Great Bend Monday evening while Sheriff’s officers were investigating a fatal motor vehicle accident involving a single motorcycle.  At about 9:12 PM Sheriff’s Officers responded to a location just east of Great Bend between Fort Zarah and the US 56 and K156 junction.

Investigation at the scene indicates the 2006 Harley-Davidson Sportster  driven by Daniel J Otipoby, 38 of Ellinwood was eastbound on US 56 when a deer crossed in the path of and was struck by the motorcycle. Otipoby was ejected from the motorcycle landing in the westbound traffic lane. Both the operator and the motorcycle traveled several hundred feet down the highway after the point of impact. Otipoby was transported to Great Bend Regional Hospital. Shortly after his arrival he was pronounced deceased.

The accident is currently under investigation by the Barton County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office was assisted by Great Bend Fire and EMS, The Great Bend Police Department and the Ellinwood Police Department.”

(AP) — A former Kansas sheriff serving a 27-year sentence for sex crimes involving a 13-year-old child wants his conviction set aside.

Attorneys for James Bloom argued during a Reno County hearing Monday that his former attorneys provided ineffective counsel before his 2006 trial. Bloom claimed they did not tell him the maximum sentence he could receive if he was convicted of rape and aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

Bloom was an instructor at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center and former Trego County sheriff.

His former attorneys testified Monday that they discussed possible sentences for each of six plea agreements offered by the prosecution.

The Hutchinson News reports Judge Trish Rose took the case under advisement and said she would issue a ruling later.

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