WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Two men have been charged in the fatal shooting death of a Wichita concrete company worker.

The Wichita Eagle reports  40-year-old Deon Nolan Hale, and 33-year-old Donnie Lalonde are charged with first-degree premeditated murder in the death last week of of Efren Antonio Villarreal-Alvarado, a 44-year-old employee of Santana Concrete.

Hale and Lalonde also each face a count of aggravated robbery in connection with the death. It’s unclear if the defendants have lawyers.

Co-workers found Villarreal-Alvarado alive with a gunshot wound to his chest when they arrived at the concrete company Friday morning. He was in his truck in the business’s parking lot.

Bond for each man was set at $1.5 million in the case. They are due back in court March 12.

Salina, Kans. –Salina police have arrested Megan Wells, 21, of Abilene in connection with the April 2013 murder of Kristin Tyler.

Wells is being held on charges of Conspiracy to Commit 1st Degree Murder. Her bond is $1,000,000.

Earlier, Joel Heil, 25, and Dane Deweese, 33, were arrested in this case.

Tyler was missing for two weeks before her body was found May 9 off Interstate 135 in rural Saline County.

The Saline County Sheriff’s Office and the Salina Police Department say they are still investigating the case.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Senate has given first-round approval to a bill increasing the state’s limits on some damages in lawsuits but makes other changes in evidence rules.

The Senate’s voice vote Wednesday advanced the bill to a final vote Thursday, when approval would send the measure to the House.

The bill is partly a response to a 2012 Kansas Supreme Court ruling in a medical malpractice lawsuit. The court upheld the state’s $250,000 limit on non-economic damages such as pain and suffering in personal injury lawsuits.

But the court also suggested that the limit might not remain constitutional because of inflation. The bill would boost the cap to $300,000 in July and $350,000 in July 2022.

The increase is tied to changes in evidence rules sought by business groups.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republicans in the Kansas Senate have blocked a proposal from Democrats to require all legislative party caucus meetings to be open to the public.

The GOP-dominated Senate voted 30-8 on Wednesday against a proposal from Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat. Only one Republican, Carolyn McGinn of Sedgwick, supported his measure.

The Kansas Open Meetings Act generally requires government meetings to be open to the public. But it has an exception for the Legislature, so that Republicans and Democrats in each chamber can close their daily caucus meetings.

The meetings are rarely closed, though Senate Republicans have done so at least twice over the past decade. Hensley said all caucus meetings should be open.

But Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce of Hutchinson said the current system works well.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Some military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress who are convicted of low-level crimes could be ordered by Kansas courts to receive treatment as a condition of their sentence.

A bill advancing Wednesday in the Kansas House would allow veterans who meet strict criteria to receive treatment for their mental illness, provided the sentence for their crime doesn’t require time in prison.

The bill’s aimed at helping veterans who are coping with PTSD and other mental illness as a result of their combat service. The treatment would be ordered at the time of the court conviction or before sentencing to veterans who have received a general or honorable military discharge.

Supporters say the measure is a first step in helping veterans address their mental health needs and seek proper treatment.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two creatures dating to the period when Kansas was a vast ocean are a step closer to receiving designation as the state’s official fossils.

The measure, which received tentative approval Wednesday on a 93-23 vote, would name the tylosaurus and the pteranodon (TEAR-un-don) as the official fossils, joining the western meadowlark, ornate box turtle and bison as official state animals and reptiles.

The tylosaurus was a large sea creature that hunted the ocean that covered Kansas more than 80 million years ago. While it patrolled the waters, the pteranodon roamed the skies. Fossils have been found in the chalk hills in western Kansas. Examples of the tylosaurus are on display at museums in Hays and Lawrence.

A juvenile tylosaurus is scheduled to be on display Thursday at the Statehouse.

LAWRENCE (AP) — A problem that caused repeated Amber Alert notifications in the Lawrence area last week has been fixed.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Lawrence-area cellphone users heard repeated Amber Alert notifications last week when a 10-year-old Missouri girl was reported missing. But they only received one audible alert Tuesday after a missing Texas teen was thought to be traveling in Kansas.

An official from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says the multiple audible alerts last week were a glitch that’s been repaired.

The alerts are shared through a system called Wireless Emergency Alert, which replaced a text message service that required cellphone users to register online and make an adjustment on the phone itself.

The new system sends alerts to all wireless users in an affected area.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger says a state House bill aimed at allowing Kansas to opt out of the federal health care overhaul could jeopardize Medicare funding for seniors.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports the bill would allow Kansas to join a compact of states to take control of health care policy within their borders. The measure is before the full House and is backed by the Kansas Chamber and Republican elected officials critical of the Affordable Care Act.

Praeger says House Bill 2553 would place federal funding for all health care services and health plans under the control of the Kansas Legislature and governor.

She says that if state revenues then fall short the funds for Medicare and other health programs could be used to support other state functions.