WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas judge has rejected a request to video record DNA testing of biological evidence in a capital murder case, but said he might allow a defense expert to monitor the tests.

The Wichita Eagle reports District Judge Jeff Goering said Friday he would make a final ruling in two weeks. He gave prosecutors until then to gather evidence to show why a defense expert should not be allowed into the lab.

The testing is related to the November shooting deaths of Melissa and Roger Bluml of Valley Center. Prosecutors say swabs from some items would be tested for DNA, but the swabs would be consumed in the process.

The Blumls’ adopted son, his biological mother and two of his former high school classmates are charged in the case.

A Saturday morning car accident temporarily closed a portion of the intersection at 9th and Crawford in Salina.

There were at least 2 vehicles involved and a third vehicle was damaged while it was parked in a drive way off of 9th Street.

Two people were transported to the hospital for treatment of injuries. Names of those involved have not been released.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office says it is working with the county coroner to determine the identity and cause of death of a man whose body was found lying on the street southeast of Topeka.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports emergency responders were called at 4:37 a.m. Saturday to a subdivision on a report there was a man in the street.

He was declared dead at the scene.

The sheriff’s office didn’t immediately release any information about the man, including how old he might be.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Authorities in south-central Kansas say they are seeing more burglaries at rural elevators, where thieves are mostly stealing tools and other equipment.

Dustin Cooke, an investigator with the Kingman County Sheriff’s Office, says at least 15 burglaries reported in recent months at elevators from the Colorado border to Kingman County have involved the theft of tire changers.

Reno County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Steve Lutz says no one has been arrested in any of the burglaries, and none of the stolen items have been recovered.

Authorities told The Hutchinson News they believe the thieves are stealing the items to resell, possibly to get money for drugs.

They are urging elevator operators to improve security and take other steps to make the thefts more difficult.

WALTON, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas school that once was on the brink of closure has found new life as an agriculture-themed charter school.

Students at the Walton 21st Century Rural Life Center now learn through projects that range from selling eggs to showing pigs at the county fair.

The farm curriculum has been replicated elsewhere, including urban environments in Chicago and Philadelphia.

The Walton school is located in a farming community of 235 people. It had barely 80 students when the school district decided to transform the kindergarten to fourth-grade building as an agriculture-focused charter school.

Since making the switch in 2007, enrollment was grown to 183 students. Parents frequently call the school, eager to nab a spot for their children. One of the waiting list’s latest additions was a 3-week-old baby.

Phil Cauthon
KHI News Service

TOPEKA — A bill that would triple the tax on cigarettes was introduced this week in the House Health and Human Services Committee.

House Bill 2672 would raise the tax from $.79 to $2.29 per pack. It would also increase the tax on other tobacco products from 10 percent to 78 percent.

Rep. Don Hill, an Emporia Republican who introduced the bill, said there were several compelling reasons for raising tobacco taxes.

“Increasing the cost of a commodity logically leads to reduced use and the consequent health benefits,” Hill said. “There’s also the reality that Kansas is well below the national average in terms of our tax rate on tobacco products. And then couple that with the fact that we’re broke.”

“The fact that we’re broke creates a plausible scenario toward the path of there being interest in the bill at some point in time,” he said. “But I have low expectation that the bill will do anything over the near term.”

Kansas’ cigarette tax is among the lowest in the U.S. The national average is $1.46 per pack.

If the cigarette tax were raised by $1.50, it would add over $100 million to annual state revenue while reducing smoking and the financial impact on the health system caused by sick smokers, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Kansas has not raised its cigarette tax since 2002, and has not raised the tax on other tobacco products since the 1970s.

In 2010, then-Gov. Mark Parkinson supported raising the cigarette tax by 55 cents to $1.34 per pack, which was then the national average. But the Legislature left that tax alone while raising the general sales tax.

Last year, a Senate committee held a hearing on a different tobacco tax increase proposal, but did not vote on the bill.

Linda DeCoursey, executive director of the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition, said a $1.50 increase in the cigarette tax would prevent 33,500 Kansas kids from becoming smokers and 27,800 adults would quit.

“When it comes to balancing budgets, voters prefer raising tobacco taxes to other tax increases or cutting crucial programs such as education,” DeCoursey said. “How many reasons do we need to raise the tobacco tax? Saving lives, helping to state’s budget deficit…it is a definite win-win-win for Kansas.”