CANDICE CHOI, AP Food Industry Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Chipotle is asking customers not to bring guns into its stores after it says gun rights advocates recently brought military-style assault rifles into one of its restaurants.

The Denver-based company notes that it has traditionally complied with local laws regarding open and concealed firearms.

But in a statement Monday, the company said that “the display of firearms in our restaurants has now created an environment that is potentially intimidating or uncomfortable for many of our customers.”

A Chipotle spokesman didn’t immediately respond when asked if it was an outright ban.

Last year, Starbucks told customers that guns were no longer welcome in its cafes after it had to close a store to avoid a demonstration by gun rights advocates. The Seattle-based coffee chain stopped short of a ban.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Officials of a Topeka school district say a teenager who died in a traffic accident had received his diploma just hours earlier.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Ronnie Graham was alone in his pickup truck when it struck a tree on a residential street around 3:30 a.m. Monday. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Graham had just finished his senior year at Seaman High School in Topeka. The school held its graduation ceremony on Sunday afternoon at the Kansas Expocentre.

Seaman High School recently lost two other students to traffic accidents. Eighteen-year-old senior Emma Jo Pisocki and her father were killed in a head-on crash in Ottawa County in April, and 15-year-old Alayna Hutchinson died in February when the vehicle she was driving wrecked in Topeka.

Hutch Post

HUTCHINSON — A Nickerson man charged with crimes associated with inappropriate touching of his autistic step-daughter and distributing pornographic images of her was bound over for trial Monday by Judge Joe McCarville.

Shanon Patrick Williams is charged with aggravated indecent liberties with a child, indecent liberties with a child and three counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

He was arrested after the Reno County Sheriff’s Department assisted Homeland Security officers with the Wichita Missing and Exploited Child Unit in serving a search warrant on Williams’ residence. Officers seized his computers, as well as a camera allegedly used to take some of the pictures. Agent Mark Larkin with Homeland Security was on the stand Monday where he told of getting a tip about images of a child and after an investigation led to the home in Nickerson.

Williams is accused of taking pictures of his step-daughter, who was 13 and 14 at the time. Some of the photos included lewd close-ups of the child — some with clothing, but most without.

Also on the stand Monday was Jennifer Wright with the Wichita Missing and Exploited Child Unit, a part of the Wichita Police Department. She testified about the investigation and the discovery of the photo images police said they found on his computer.

They discovered through their investigation there were 250 email strings with conversations in 30 to 35 countries. There were indications, police said, Williams was trying trade the photos for other pornography.

The crimes were alleged to have occurred between September 2011 and July 2013.

Williams is scheduled to be arraigned June 9.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Changes are in store for the Kansas teacher licensure process under a new state law aimed at making it easier for people without education degrees to get into classrooms.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports legislators passed the measure as education officials sought to increase the available pool of teachers in science, math, engineering and technology.

The law takes effect July 1. It will allow people with bachelor’s degrees and significant work experience in the designated fields to teach in secondary schools.

The Kansas Department of Education was already in the midst of retooling the licensure process when the law was passed. The State Board of Education will review proposed rules and regulations in the coming month to implement the new state law.

WASHINGTON–Rep. Huelskamp talked VA Accountability on FOX News over the weekend.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A man arrested after a rash of highway shootings in the two-state Kansas City area has pleaded not guilty to 20 felony counts.

WDAF-TV reports 27-year-old Mohammed Whitaker, of Grandview, entered the pleas Monday in Jackson County Circuit Court in Kansas City, Missouri.

Prosecutors allege Whitaker opened fire on 10 vehicles from behind the wheel of his car in March and April in Kansas City, Blue Springs and Lee’s Summit. Three people were injured.

Investigators also suspected the same shooter in an incident in Leawood, Kansas, but Whitaker is charged only in Missouri incidents.

The 20 counts include 10 each of unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action. Whitaker remains held on $1 million bond.

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Burger King is scrapping its 40-year-old “Have It Your Way” slogan in favor of the more personal “Be Your Way.”

The chain says the new tag line will roll out across its marketing in the U.S., including in a TV ad that will begin airing Monday night. The line made its first appearance in an online video last month.

Burger King says that the new motto is intended to remind people that “they can and should live how they want anytime. It’s ok to not be perfect … Self expression is most important and it’s our differences that make us individuals instead of robots.”

It may seem odd for a fast-food company to champion individuality, but Burger King isn’t the only one trying to project a hip attitude to gain favor with customers. Since 2012, Taco Bell has been touting its “Live Mas” slogan, which means “live more” in Spanish. Executives at the Mexican food chain say they’ve made it a mantra in how they operate the company.

Starbucks and Chipotle have also gained popularity in part by cultivating decidedly non-corporate images.

Fernando Machado, Burger King’s senior vice president of global brand management, noted in an interview that “Have It Your Way” focuses on only the transaction — the ability to customize a burger. By contrast, he said “Be Your Way” is about making a connection with a person’s greater lifestyle.

“We want to evolve from just being the functional side of things to having a much stronger emotional appeal,” said Machado, who joined the company in March.

The new slogan was developed with ad agency David, a unit of WPP.

Machado noted that Burger King hasn’t been actively using the “Have It Your Way” slogan for some time in the U.S. The company, which is based in Miami, Florida, also will stop using its more recent “Taste Is King” motto.

It’s the latest change for Burger King, which has been undergoing a series of marketing and menu changes under new management. The chain was bought by investment firm 3G Capital in late 2010, then taken public again in 2012. Soon after, 3G replaced the chain’s CEO and early this year, Axel Schwan was appointed as global chief marketing officer.

In the latest quarter, Burger King said sales at U.S. restaurants open at least a year edged up 0.1 percent. The company said that results were hurt by bad weather. But Burger King Worldwide Inc. and rival McDonald’s Corp. have been struggling to boost domestic sales for more than a year now.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The investigation into $10 million in missing deposits from the former Parsons-Pittsburg Credit Union has focused on a fired employee believed to have gambled with the credit union’s money.

Documents filed last week in federal court reveal the magnitude of losses that led the Kansas Department of Credit Unions in January to place the credit union into conservatorship. Golden Plains Credit Union of Garden City assumed its operations in March.

An FBI affidavit says the majority of the missing deposits were diverted from credit union accounts to accounts controlled by the suspect. According to the affidavit, records showed the suspect spent more than $190,000 at casinos in Oklahoma and Missouri between mid-January and early March.

The Associated Press is not identifying the ex-worker because no criminal charges have been filed.

SALINA — The Kansas Fire Marshal’s Office will assist the Salina Fire Department in trying to determine the source of a deadly explosion early Monday afternoon in a pickup in Jerry Ivey Park, just east of Salina South High School.

Salina Police Capt. Mike Sweeney said the explosion occurred just before 12:30 p.m. When emergency crews arrived, they found a critically injured man next to the pickup. The man later died, according to Sweeney.

The explosion occurred inside the cab of the pickup. Sweeney said Jerry Ivey Park will remain closed until the investigation is complete.

The administration at Salina South made the decision to keep students in the building.

Sweeney did not know if additional information will be released Monday.

Check Hays Post for more information as it becomes available.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State lottery officials say a $2 million winning ticket was sold to a player in northeast Kansas during the weekend Powerball drawing.

Officials declined to say Monday exactly where the ticket was drawn. The lottery’s northeast Kansas zone covers 21 counties.

The winning ticket matched the first five numbers drawn Saturday, which were 23-32-39-47-49. The Powerball was 22. The player also purchased a Power Play option which doubled the prize from $1 million to $2 million.

No ticket sold matched all the numbers in drawing. The jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing will be an estimated $114 million.