HENRY C. JACKSON, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture says farmers and ranchers who suffered heavy livestock and grazing losses due to extreme weather in the past three years have been quick to take advantage of newly available disaster relief funds.

The agency said in a progress report released Wednesday that it has distributed more than $1 billion in relief funds — a little less than half the overall amount predicted in the recently passed farm bill — in just over three months.

The USDA says it has processed and delivered more than 106,000 payments to farmers in 40 states as of July 2.

The agency estimates it will spend $2.5 billion overall on disaster relief cases from 2011 to 2014.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Republican congressman from the sprawling 1st Congressional District of western and central Kansas has lost the support of the state’s two major farm groups in the GOP primary.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas health officials say a person from the Kansas City area has died of a rare infection caused by an amoeba that lives in freshwater lakes and rivers.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said Friday it’s only the state’s second known case of a person contracting primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, or “PAM.”

The agency identified the person who died as a resident of Johnson County but did not give other details. Officials said the person had been exposed to several bodies of fresh water in Kansas.

PAM is typically contracted when the amoeba enters the nose of someone diving or swimming underwater and travels to the brain.

The infection is not contagious among people. It cannot be contracted from a properly maintained swimming pool.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), along with U.S. Representatives Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.), Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.), Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) and Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), have requested that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) postpone Friday’s scheduled vote on reforms proposed by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to E-Rate – a program intended to support communications services for schools and libraries nationwide. Sen. Moran recently penned a column in The Wichita Eagle along with FCC member Ajit Pai, a Kansas native, outlining their serious concerns that the E-Rate program – which is meant to close the digital divide – is actually making it worse for rural schools. Sen. Moran and Commissioner Pai have proposed commonsense reforms, including simplifying the application process and providing certainty to schools, which could fix that.

Please find the full text of the letter to Chairman Wheeler below:

Chairman Wheeler,

We write to express concerns about the E-Rate modernization plan that will soon be considered by the Commission. We share the goal of providing every American student an opportunity to obtain a 21st Century education, including access to broadband, but we are concerned the plan you have put forward warrants further deliberation.

When the E-Rate modernization plan was first proposed, the Commission touted the plan as a bipartisan effort to make commonsense changes to the program for the first time in 18 years. As the public has learned more about the FCC’s plan, significant bipartisan opposition to the plan has emerged. There is great benefit to simplifying the application process, transitioning the fund to support modern technology, and making certain both rural and urban schools can benefit while providing Americans the most value for their dollar. We are concerned the plan falls short on these goals.

American students deserve the tools necessary to compete in the digital economy for next-generation jobs. While modernizing the E-Rate program is critical to helping achieve that goal, the underlying policy is too important to quickly rush to a vote. We urge you to delay the vote on the E-Rate modernization plan so that the Commission can make certain the proposed changes will serve all American students in the most efficient and effective manner possible.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A northeast Kansas man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of a woman whose car was hit by his vehicle during a police chase.

Christopher Stewart, of Kansas City, Kansas, was initially charged with first-degree murder for the Feb. 17 collision. The Wyandotte County district attorney’s office says he pleaded guilty to the reduced charge and to eluding a police officer on Friday.

Authorities said Stewart was fleeing from police when he ran a stop sign and collided with a car driven by 62-year-old Graciela Olivas, pushing it into a ditch. The Kansas City, Kansas, woman died later at a hospital.

Police had begun chasing Stewart’s vehicle after seeing him commit two traffic violations while leaving an area of the city known for drug activity.

HUTCHINSON – At approximately 10 a.m. Friday, two correctional officers at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility Central Unit were battered by an inmate while in the Disciplinary Administrator’s office.

Officials say both guards were taken by facility staff to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center for treatment.

The inmate was taken into custody and placed in the Administrative Segregation unit pending investigation.

No names of those injured, nor the inmate involved was released by prison officials. Prison officials said that “due to the ongoing investigation, no other information is available at this time.”