A western Kansas school bus crash sent four people to the hospital on Monday.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol Ronald A. Sherraden of Garden City was driving a school bus eastbound on Annie Scheer Road in Finney County and failed to yield at a stop sign at U83.

The bus was struck by a 2003 Dodge Dakota pickup driven by fifty-three year old John W. Browning of Ulysses, who was traveling northbound on U83.

Thirty-six students were on the bus. Sherraden and two students, Roxanna Saenz age 13 and Maria Peregrino age 9 were transported to St. Catherine’s Hospital. Browning was also transported to the hospital in Garden City.

(AP) — Congress has approved a 10-year extension of a ban on plastic firearms that can evade metal detectors and X-ray machines. But it has defeated gun-control advocates’ push for tougher restrictions.

The Senate used a voice vote Monday to renew the ban. The House did the same last week, so it now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.

Republicans blocked a proposal by New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer. He wanted to require that plastic guns have an undetachable part made of metal.

Some plastic guns follow the law by including a metal piece that can be detached.

Democrats say 3-D printers that can produce plastic guns make tighter restrictions necessary. Republicans say Schumer’s idea should be studied.

Unless Congress acted, the prohibition would have expired at midnight.

(AP) — Lawrence police have found a body they believe to be that of a missing 23-year-old University of Kansas student from Peru.

Gianfranco Villagomez-Saldana, an industrial design student from Lima, Peru, was last seen walking near 9th and Michigan streets in Lawrence about 2:30 a.m. Saturday. His girlfriend reported him missing Saturday.

Lawrence Police Department spokesman Trent McKinley says police found a body Monday afternoon that they believe is that of Villagomez-Saldana.

McKinley said in an emailed statement that preliminary information does not indicate foul play was involved in the death. The cause of death has not been released. McKinley says an autopsy and further investigation is planned.

(AP) — Lawrence police are searching for a 23-year-old University of Kansas student from Peru who hasn’t been seen since early Saturday.

Gianfranco Villagomez, an industrial design student from Lima, Peru, was last seen walking near 9th and Michigan streets in Lawrence about 2:30 a.m. Saturday.

His girlfriend, Donna Jo Harkrider, reported him missing about Saturday.

Villagomez is about 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds. He has dark brown eyes, black hair and glasses. He was last seen wearing a blue shirt with a KU Jayhawk logo on it, a long sleeve gray shirt, a black jacket, jeans and white tennis shoes.

(AP) — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says its third-highest administrator no longer works at the agency.

KBI spokesman Mark Malick says that Kyle Smith, deputy director, “is no longer employed by the KBI.” Malick is a special agent-in-charge at the KBI.

Malick says the KBI’s human resources office issued a notice Nov. 26 that Smith no longer worked at the agency. It’s unclear if Smith resigned or was terminated. Malick said he could not discuss the circumstances of Smith’s departure because it’s a personnel matter.

Smith had been deputy director for the KBI since Sept. 2, 2011. While deputy director of the KBI, Smith also served as an assistant Kansas attorney general.

(AP) — Wichita-based Koch Industries Inc. has completed its $7.2 billion purchase of an Illinois company that makes electronic components and cables.
Koch says it is paying $38.50 per Molex Inc. share in cash, plus 18 cents per share, representing a pro-rata portion of the regular quarterly cash dividend.
Molex will keep its headquarters in Lisle, Ill., and will retain its current name and management team. The boards of both companies approved the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of the year.

Koch is run by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch. Charles Koch says Molex matches up well with his company’s “culture and core capabilities.”
Koch owns a variety of businesses, including the paper and paper products maker Georgia-Pacific, and has annual sales of $115 billion.

U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, has reaffirmed his demand that U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius be forthright about the true costs of implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance Exchange. Six weeks have passed since Sen. Moran requested that HHS answer specific questions about the cost to taxpayers, but HHS has yet to respond to the Senator’s questions.

“On October 24, 2013, I asked the Department for a specific accounting of the funds spent on the federal Exchange established by the ACA. Incredibly, six entire weeks have passed without any answers,” Sen. Moran said. “This silence is unacceptable. The Department must be accountable for its use of taxpayer funds – especially when these funds have and continue to be spent without the consent of the Appropriations Committee. It is extremely important that we have a full understanding of the costs associated with implementing the federal Exchange, addressing the technical ‘glitches’ that have plagued the system for months, and the cost effects of the numerous delays relating to the ACA’s implementation.”

Sen. Moran is committed to making certain the Obama Administration is held accountable for its use of taxpayer dollars, especially considering the systemic problems plaguing the ACA website, healthcare.gov.

“Since passage of the ACA, this Subcommittee has not held one hearing on the implementation of the law and its associated costs,” Sen. Moran continued. “It is imperative that we hold one now, so we can get an understanding of the costs of this law now and into the future.”

12Noon (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court is considering whether a defendant’s minimum 50-year sentence for premeditated first-degree murder should stand.

The court heard arguments Monday in the case of Matthew Astorga. It was the second appeal of a “Hard 50” sentence since legislators rewrote the law this fall in response to a June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kansas previously allowed judges to sentence people convicted of premeditated first-degree murder to 50 years before they can seek parole. But the nation’s highest court ruled that juries should decide if a defendant gets that sentence.

Astorga was sentenced for a 2008 shooting death in Leavenworth County. His lawyers argue the changes made by the Legislature amount to creating a new crime and punishment and are unconstitutional.

(AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court is taking up an appeal of a minimum 50-year sentence imposed on a man convicted of premeditated first-degree murder.

The case of Matthew Astorga on Monday’s docket is the second appeal of a so-called “Hard 50” sentence since legislators rewrote the law this fall in response to a June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kansas previously allowed judges to sentence people convicted of premeditated first-degree murder to 50 years before they can seek parole. But the nation’s highest court ruled that juries should have the final say on the facts triggering mandatory minimum sentences.

Astorga was sentenced for a 2008 shooting death in Leavenworth County. His lawyers argue the changes made by the Legislature amount to creating a new crime and punishment and are unconstitutional.

1p.m. Monday   (AP) — Wichita fire officials say a space heater plugged into an extension cord is the likely cause of a fire that killed an elderly man.

A man in his 80s died in the house fire Sunday in east Wichita.

Fire investigators say the victim and his son tried to put the fire out by themselves before trying to leave the house. The son was able to escape.

This is the 11th fire death in Wichita this year. Last year, the city had five fire deaths.

 Sunday  5p.m.(AP) — Fire officials are investigating the cause of a house fire in Wichita that killed an elderly man.

Firefighters found the man’s body Sunday while fighting the blaze in east Wichita.

Fire Capt. Stu Bevis says the man’s son was in the yard of the house when firefighters arrived. The man told officials he tried to rescue his father but the heat and smoke became too dangerous.

It was the 10th fire death in Wichita this year. Last year, the city had five fire deaths.

(AP) — A southeast Kansas school superintendent says he was shocked to learn Gov. Sam Brownback was going to use welfare funds for a program aimed at raising fourth-grade reading scores.

Brownback recently announced a plan to take $12 million from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program to pay for the initiative in southeast Kansas.

The administration has said the program is an appropriate use of TANF funds because studies show girls who read at grade level are less likely to become unwed mothers.

But Erie-Galesburg Superintendent Steve Woolf says it’s morally wrong to take food from people in need to pay for the program.

Woolf’s district wasn’t included in the program, but he says even if it had been he would have turned it down.