GALVA —A fast moving thunderstorm brought wind damage to portions of central Kansas Wednesday evening. Wind gusts were estimated at 60 to 80 miles-per-hour. The most severe damage was in Galva in McPherson County.

Wind blew over a train west of Galva around 6:20 p.m.  There are reports of roof damage in several areas of McPherson County.

There are many reports of power lines down, along with tree damage. Several reports of hail were also received.

A command post was set up at the Galva fire station to handle storm damage reports.

The storm moved northeast in Dickinson County. Wind gusts there were reported up to 65 miles-per-hour and golf ball size hail.

Tree damage was reported around Carlton and there is a report of a home 6 miles southeast of Abilene where windows were knocked out by wind or hail.

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says there’s no need to tell owners of recalled General Motors cars to stop driving them.

He says in a letter to senators that government engineers have found that if owners follow GM’s advice, there’s little safety risk to driving the cars.

GM is recalling 2.6 million small cars worldwide to replace ignition switches that suddenly can slip out of the run position and shut off the engine. That can knock out power-assisted steering and cause crashes. It also disables the air bags. GM says at least 13 people have died in crashes from the problem.

GM is urging owners to remove everything from their keychains. Foxx says that until the switches are replaced, the safety risk is “sufficiently mitigated” by an empty key ring.

STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has voted to hold a former Internal Revenue Service official in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify at a pair of committee hearings about her role in the agency’s tea party controversy.

Lois Lerner directed the IRS division that processes applications for tax-exempt status. A year ago, Lerner publicly disclosed that agents had improperly singled out tea party applications for extra, sometimes burdensome scrutiny.

An inspector general’s report blamed poor management but found no evidence of a political conspiracy. Many Republicans in Congress believe otherwise.

House Democrats say Wednesday’s vote was little more than an election-year ploy to fire up the GOP base.

6:30 p.m. UPDATE  MANHATTAN—-Riley County Police have confirmed an arrest has been made in connection with Wednesday’s shooting in Manhattan. Officer Matt Droge also reported that Life Flight transported the gunshot victim for treatment.

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Little Apple Post

MANHATTAN — One person has been hospitalized after a Wednesday afternoon shooting at a gas station in Manhattan.

According to Riley County police spokesman Mat Droge, authorities received the call of shots fired at 1:04 p.m. at a Conoco station at the corner of Kimball Avenue and Tuttle Creek.

One person was transported to Mercy Regional Hospital via a personal vehicle.

Droge said it is believed the shooting was an isolated incident, but expected additional details to be released later Wednesday.

ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge in Wichita has refused to stay his order for federal election officials to immediately enforce Kansas and Arizona laws requiring new voters to document their U.S. citizenship.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated five counties of south-central Kansas as disaster areas because of production losses caused by drought.

Sen. Jerry Moran said Wednesday the agency has declared Butler, Kingman, Reno, Sedgwick and Harvey counties as primary disaster areas. The designation lets farmers and ranchers seek federal assistance.

The declaration also makes producers in 12 contiguous counties eligible for help. Those counties are Barber, Chase, Cowley, Elk, Greenwood, Harper, McPherson, Marion, Pratt, Rice, Stafford and Sumner.

Moran says farmers and ranchers in the 17 counties may receive federal disaster help such as the emergency loan program and the supplemental revenue assistance payment program.

3:30 p.m. UPDATE  The Salina Fire Marshal says the cause of the fire was accidental. An electrical problem with a garage freezer on an extension cord was responsible for starting the Wednesday morning fire.

The man injured in the blaze was flown to a Wichita hospital in critical condition.

One of two dogs inside the home at the time of the fire died.

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Salina Post

SALINA — One person was injured in a house fire in southwest Salina late Wednesday morning.

Salina Fire Marshal Roger Williams said fire crews were dispatched to 160 Florida at approximately 11 a.m. Upon arrival, they found the residence was fully engulfed in flames.

A man in the home at the time of the fire was found outside when crews arrived. He was transported to Salina Regional Health Center with burns on his face, hands and back.

One of the two dogs in the home was located.

BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. (AP) — The Small Business Administration is offering loan assistance to companies in southeast Kansas, northeast Oklahoma and southwest Missouri damaged by a tornado and violent weather on April 27.

The Kansas Division of Emergency Management says it was notified Wednesday that the state was granted an SBA disaster declaration for Cherokee County and adjacent counties. Dozens of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed in the Cherokee County town of Baxter Springs by an EF2 tornado that also hit Quapaw, Oklahoma.

Officials say the declaration also covers Crawford and Labette counties in Kansas, Jasper and Newton counties in Missouri, and Craig and Ottawa counties in Oklahoma.

SBA loans are the primary form of federal assistance to repair and rebuild non-farm private businesses of any size following disasters.

DENVER (AP) — Nine people have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver as part of a national crackdown on synthetic drugs.

Federal officials said Wednesday that the nine people are from various states and some are also facing state charges. It wasn’t immediately clear whether they have been arrested yet or whether they have lawyers.

Among those indicted is John Gilbert Bowen of Las Vegas. Investigators say he ran a business which sent synthetic drugs to Wisconsin, Nebraska, Alaska, Ohio, Georgia and Illinois as well Colorado.

Synthetic marijuana has been linked to outbreaks of illness in Colorado and elsewhere. While real marijuana is legal in Colorado, synthetic marijuana blends marketed under names such as K2, Spice and Blaze are not.