HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man who is serving more than 20 years for multiple burglaries and thefts has pleaded no contest to aggravated escape for walking away from prison in August.

The Hutchinson News reports 45-year-old Mark Lucas entered his plea Tuesday and will be sentenced in January.

Lucas was discovered missing after a 12:30 p.m. head count at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility on Aug. 3. He was captured three days later in Topeka.

Lucas claimed at a June hearing that he walked away because his daughter was suicidal and he was trying to help her.

He was convicted in five separate cases in Shawnee County in 2012 on multiple counts of aggravated burglary and theft. He also served prison time in 1994 for aggravated burglary and in 2003 for theft.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas judge has ordered an Oklahoma paving company to pay a $100,000 penalty for deceiving consumers in its door-to-door sales.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said Tuesday a default judgment was entered this week in Shawnee County District Court against Will J. Harrison Jr. Harrison did business as Wester Construction and Will Harrison Paving.

Judge Rebecca Crotty found that the company violated Kansas consumer protection laws. She also ordered the company to pay slightly more than $13,000 in restitution to two Kansas residents.

Schmidt says consumers should be especially cautious of door-to-door home repair salespeople claiming to offer good deals.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and Democratic challenger Paul Davis are making funding for Kansas public schools a key issue as their hotly contested race nears its end.

Davis was rallying Tuesday evening with teachers at the Statehouse after kicking off a 30-stop campaign tour through eastern Kansas with an event in Iola in southeast Kansas.

Brownback’s allies were circulating a report from the Kansas Legislature’s nonpartisan research staff showing that total per-pupil spending on public schools has risen almost 5 percent since the 2010-11 school year, when Brownback took office.

Critics contend such comparisons are misleading because they don’t focus on funds for schools’ daily operating budgets and the totals aren’t adjusted for inflation.

The election is Nov. 4, and the race appears to be a toss-up.

MICHAEL MAROT, AP Sports Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — College athletes are graduating at better rates than non-athletes, according to new statistics released Tuesday by the NCAA.

The annual report shows 84 percent of freshmen players who entered school in 2007-08 earned degrees within six years. That’s a 2 percentage point increase over the previous one-year record high, set in 2006-07. The four-year average is 82 percent, also a record.

NCAA President Mark Emmert notes the one-year numbers improved in nearly every demographic, too. He calls it the best academic performance since the NCAA started tracking numbers with the 1995-96 freshmen.

Critics complain the numbers are skewed because athletes have more access to academic help than traditional students and scholarship athletes do not face the same financial burdens that force other students to drop out of school.

Great Bend Post

GREAT BEND- Law enforcement authorities in Barton County arrested three suspects just after 8 p.m. on Monday for selling marijuana near McArthur Lake.

In excess of one pound of marijuana was located at the scene. Marijuana estimated value in excess of $4,000.00. A fourth known suspect fled the scene on foot and is still at large.

An investigation continues.

Anyone with narcotic information is asked to call the Great Bend Police Department Detective Division or Crime Stoppers at 620-792-1300.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has set a new hearing on the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

A court notice filed Tuesday shows the hearing on the ACLU’s request for an order forcing Kansas to allow gay marriages is set for 2:30 p.m. Friday before U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree in Kansas City, Kansas.

The ACLU filed the lawsuit for two lesbian couples denied marriage licenses in Douglas and Sedgwick counties after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear appeals from five other states seeking to preserve bans on gay marriage.

The ACLU is seeking a temporary injunction that would bring Kansas into line with a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals precedent set in other cases.

JC Post

JUNCTION CITY- A Kansas woman was arrested on Interstate 70 just after 1 a.m. on Tuesday in Geary County.

The Geary County Sheriff’s Department reported that deputies stopped Cheryl Lynn Lund, Lawrence, on Interstate 70 about six miles east of Junction City on suspicion of being a pedestrian on the interstate.

Further investigation revealed Lund was westbound on the interstate at 11:50 p.m. when her Toyota Camry left the road, struck a KDOT sign, continued west into a ditch, and struck a concrete culvert. The accident caused the deployment of the air bags and major damage to the vehicle.

The Junction City Fire Department responded to the accident and evaluated Lund who declined treatment. No injuries were reported.

As a result of the investigation the Sheriff’s Department arrested Lund on suspicion of Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, Driving While Suspended, Interference With Law Enforcement, Failure to Report an Accident, Improper Driving on the Roadway, and Refusal of Preliminary Breath Test.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Records from the Kansas attorney general’s office show taxpayers spent more than $34,000 in legal fees for the secretary of state’s failed effort to force Kansas Democrats to field a candidate for U.S. Senate.

Secretary of State Kris Kobach told The Wichita Eagle that’s not a lot of money, in litigation terms.

The state paid Wichita-based Hinkle Law Firm $34,627 to defend Kobach against a lawsuit brought by Democrat Chad Taylor, who withdrew from the Senate race.

The Kansas Supreme Court rejected Kobach’s argument that Taylor should remain on the ballot because he did not declare himself incapable of serving, if elected.

The state also retained Hinkle when it tried to intervene in a lawsuit to force the Democratic Party to name a replacement candidate, which also failed.