LANSING, Kan. (AP) — There have been two more reports of violence among inmates at the Lansing Correctional Facility.

Jeremy Barclay, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Corrections, told The Topeka Capital-Journal

that a Lansing guard suffered a concussion and two other guards suffered more minor injuries Tuesday while subduing an uncooperative inmate. Barclay also says an inmate fight last week resulted in no injuries.

Barclay says staff at the facility are on edge after incidents of inmate-on-guard violence on three consecutive days last month.

Those incidents led the Kansas Organization of State Employees to call for more corrections funding and staff, saying inmates were becoming rebellious.

Barclay said Wednesday that “staffing patterns are fine” at Lansing.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran plans to support former corporate executive Robert McDonald’s nomination as secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Kansas Republican announced his backing for McDonald after meeting with him Wednesday in the senator’s Washington office. Moran is a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

McDonald is a former Army Ranger who was forced out as CEO of consumer products giant Proctor & Gamble last year. Democratic President Barack Obama nominated him to head the Department of Veterans Affairs after revelations of widespread treatment delays and falsified records to cover up months-long waits for appointments.

Moran says he was impressed with McDonald’s candor and commitment to veterans. The senator says he believes McDonald is ready to take on challenges that include dismantling the VA’s bureaucracy.

Hutch Post

NORTH NEWTON, Kan. – Harvey County authorities were busy Wednesday morning with a motor-home fire on Kansas 15, under the Interstate 135 overpass.

Traffic was diverted on Kansas 15 and north bound traffic was shut down on the interstate. Flames were reaching the top of the over pass.

Authorities said oxygen tanks inside the vehicle exploded creating a difficult fire to put out.

Harvey County Sheriff Townsend Walton said that they owner of the motor-home had just filled his tanks, so there were 100-gallons of fuel as well as some propane on board. He says the owner was on the interstate and heard a popping noise so pulled off onto Kansas 15.

The vehicle’s engine then died and they rolled to where the fire occurred. The owner then opened the hood of the vehicle and that’s when the flames started.

Everyone on board was able to escape the home and there were no injuries. The sheriff thought there may have been as many as three people on board.

Authorities had cleared the roads just after noon.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police are warning residents of a scammer who’s claiming to be retrieving recalled vehicles.

Lt. Dan East told The Wichita Eagle two recent incidents involved a suspect who may have been the same person. He says the man walked into a Wichita public schools office and said he was with a local car dealership and had come to pick up a vehicle for a safety recall service.

The man provided a vehicle identification number and tag number but left after district employees questioned him further.

A man also walked into the American Red Cross offices in Wichita the next day with a similar story. That time he left with a 2014 Dodge van with Red Cross decals.

Police say manufacturers will contact vehicle owners directly about recalls.

MANHATTAN- Anthony Nichols of Kansas City appeared in Riley County District Court on Wednesday in a preliminary hearing on first-degree murder charges.

Nichols is charged with the death of John Burroughs, 68, Manhattan on September 8, 2013.

The first witness was Elizabeth Hartman, a crime scene technician with the Riley County Police Department. She testified that the autopsy of Burroughs indicated he had been killed by a gunshot wound and numerous stab wounds.

She also testified that a revolver possibly used in the shooting was found on the back deck of Nichol’s residence.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation confirmed that the bullet fragments found in Burroughs came from the revolver.

A second witness Christina Love, Manhattan, told the court she accompanied Nichols to Burroughs residence on the night of the crime and said she heard a sound that resembled a gunshot.

Her testimony also tied Nichols to a second homicide of Anthony Nixon, 37, of Junction City. Nixon died after being shot at the intersection of Tenth and Webster in Junction City.

Nichols is facing charges in Geary County in Nixon’s death.

The judge set the arraignment in the case for July 28.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Topeka Zoo has euthanized a 24-year-old giraffe that had been sick for a while.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Jesse the giraffe was euthanized Wednesday. The zoo reported its failing health in late March. The zoo says the giraffe suffered from laminitis, a disease that causes tenderness and inflammation in the hooves.

Zoo director Brendan Wiley said in a release the zoo carefully weighed its options and saw no opportunity for the giraffe’s health to improve.

Wiley says the animal, which stood higher than 16 feet and weighed 1,800 pounds, was a favorite at the zoo, where he was born in April 1990.

The zoo says Jesse fathered seven giraffes.

NEW YORK (AP) — Apple will pay up to $400 million to compensate consumers ensnared in a plot to raise the prices of digital books unless the company overturns a court decision attesting to its pivotal role in the collusion.

The terms of the settlement disclosed in a Wednesday court filing came a month after attorney suing Apple notified U.S. District Judge Denise Cote that an agreement had been reached to avert a trial.

Lawsuits filed on behalf of digital book buyers had been seeking damages of up to $840 million for a price-fixing scheme that Cote ruled had been orchestrated by Apple Inc.

Apple is appealing Cote’s decision. The Cupertino, California, company won’t have to pay the $400 million settlement if it prevails.

Five major book publishers previously reached settlements totaling $166 million.