WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The latest government report shows most of the newly planted Kansas winter wheat crop is faring well so far.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service rates 6 percent of the wheat crop in excellent condition and 56 percent as good. About 35 percent is in fair condition and just 3 percent is rated as poor.

About 92 percent of the wheat crop has emerged.

Growers in the state have now harvested 96 percent of the corn, 81 percent of the sorghum and 92 percent of the soybeans.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will decide whether homeowners who declare bankruptcy can void a second mortgage if the home’s market value has dropped below the amount they owe on their first mortgage.

The justices said Monday they will consider two appeals from Bank of America Corp., which asserts that bankrupt homeowners should not be able to “strip off” a second loan even if they are underwater on primary loans.

In both appeals, bankruptcy courts allowed Florida homeowners to nullify second loans held by Bank of America. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, but Bank of America says the rulings conflict with other appeals courts and Supreme Court precedent.

Hundreds of homeowners have moved to void underwater second mortgages since the 11th Circuit endorsed the practice two years ago.

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — District court clerks in two north-central Kansas counties are accepting applications for marriage licenses from same-sex couples but not approving them.

Court Administrator Todd Heitschmidt said Monday that Chief District Judge Jerome Hellmer has directed that no action be taken on such applications in Ottawa and Saline counties until the Kansas Supreme Court decides whether gay marriages can go forward.

Ottawa and Saline counties make up the 28th Judicial District. Heitschmidt said Saline county received four applications last week from same-sex couples.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that gay marriages could go forward while the federal courts review a lawsuit over the denial of marriage licenses to lesbian couples in Douglas and Sedgwick County.

But the Kansas Supreme Court has yet to rule on its own gay-marriage case.

TOM RAUM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal watchdog agency overseeing the nation’s pension protection system reported Monday that it’s running a $62 billion deficit — almost double last year’s shortfall — mostly due to the poor financial condition of a few large multi-employer pension plans.

Despite a strengthening U.S. economy, plans that now protect the pensions of up to 1 million workers and retirees “are likely to run out of money” in the next 10 years, the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation said in a report.

Overall, the agency insures the retirement pension benefits for more than 41 million individuals in private defined-benefit pension plans; 401(k) retirement accounts are not included.

Agency officials called for Congress to enact legislation submitted by President Barack Obama designed to shore up the program’s finances.

Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said fixing the problem is vital to the retirement security of the nation’s middle-class.

The report said that multi-employer plans, which are collectively bargained retirement plans maintained by more than one employer, are most at risk of failing. Multi-employer plans cover more than 10 million people in over 1,400 plans, the agency said.

“The deficit in our multi-employer program has increased dramatically because of ongoing financial challenges in a minority” of those plans, said Alice C. Maroni, acting director of the agency.

The agency’s $62 billion deficit for fiscal 2014, which ended September 30, is up from $36 billion from the year before.

The size of the deficit matches a projection the agency made in June.

PBGC officials who briefed reporters on the report declined to publicly identify any of the at-risk pension plans it deems most likely to fail unless helped.

Monday’s report showed that the deficit in the agency’s multi-employer insurance program increased by $8.3 billion in the past year to $42.4 billion. At the same time, the financial condition of the single-employer program improved over the same period, posting a $19.4 deficit for 2014, down from $27.4 in 2013.

Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, called the multi-employer insurance program “a ticking time bomb that will inflict a lot of pain on workers, employers, taxpayers and retirees if Congress fails to act.”

He said congressional leaders have been trying to reach consensus on a package for months so far to no avail.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita church has married 14 gay and lesbian couples on the steps of a historic courthouse building downtown.

About 100 people attended the ceremony Monday evening by the First Metropolitan Community Church outside the old Sedgwick County courthouse.

Among the couples were Scott and Raymond Tholl (TOLL) of Wichita, who’ve been together 12 years.

Scott Tholl said they wanted to be part of something historic.

The ceremony was briefly interrupted by a heckler who shouted, “God said, ‘No.'” Several men removed the heckler and the crowd shouted, “God said, ‘Yes.”

The ceremony came less than a week after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request from the state to continue enforcing its ban on gay marriage while a lawsuit challenging it is reviewed by the federal courts.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today voted for bipartisan child care legislation that gives low-income working parents greater access to quality child care. The Senate approved the bill, S. 1086, the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act, with a vote of 88-1. The bill now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

“The Child Care and Development grant program helps low income parents pay for child care while they work or receive employment training,” Roberts said. “We improved the program by giving greater power to the states to ensure federal dollars are being spent wisely, while at the same time making sure children are in safe environments that free their parents to become productive members of the workforce.”

The bill requires states to spend a bulk of federal funds, no less than 70 percent, directly on child care for low-income families. It also protects the health and safety of children by requiring states to ensure child care providers receiving funds are qualified, trained, regularly inspected, and undergo criminal background checks.

States are also encouraged to make information on various providers available to parents to encourage parental choice. The bill also prohibits the federal government from interfering, mandating or placing any conditions on state decisions concerning early learning and development guidelines.

In 2012, this combined funding helped an average of nearly 20,000 Kansas children per month receive child care because of the vouchers awarded through CCDBG.

Senator Roberts supported the bill in the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee of which he is a member.

BRANDON BAILEY, AP Technology Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal regulators say a respected Internet company failed to check whether commercial websites and mobile apps bearing its seal of approval were indeed meeting its standards for protecting users’ privacy and customers’ data.

The company known as TRUSTe must pay $200,000 to settle a complaint alleging deceptive practices brought by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC says the San Francisco company failed to conduct annual reviews of websites and apps that displayed the TRUSTe privacy seal. The commission also says the company let websites describe TRUSTe as a nonprofit service even after it became a for-profit business.

TRUSTe says it regrets not living up to its own standards. It says it conducted reviews in most cases, and has now fixed the problems identified by the FTC.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has two substitutes participating in its discussions about allowing gay marriage in the state.

Court spokeswoman Lisa Taylor said Monday that retired Douglas County District Judge Michael Malone and retiring Linn County District Judge Richard Smith are sitting with the court.

The court is reviewing a petition from Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt seeking to block counties from issuing gay marriage licenses until a final U.S. Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of state gay-marriage bans.

The Kansas Supreme Court has seven members, but one spot is vacant because the new Justice Caleb Stegall doesn’t take his seat until Dec. 5. Malone is taking his spot.

Justice Lee Johnson removed himself from the case, without stating a reason. Smith is filling in for him.

TOM KRISHER, AP Auto Writer

DETROIT (AP) — Honda is quietly offering to replace potentially defective air bag parts across the U.S., even though its latest recall only covers cars in 13 high-humidity states and territories.

The replacement program for owners concerned about their safety was revealed in documents posted recently by U.S. safety regulators. Customers outside the recall areas won’t be notified.

Honda says it’s trying to take care of customers but is not expanding the recall nationwide.

The company announced in November that it would recall about 2.8 million 2001 to 2006 Hondas and Acuras to replace air bag inflators made by Takata Corp. They can explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister and sending shrapnel into the passenger compartment.

At least five deaths worldwide have been linked to the faulty inflators.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Attorneys for a Kansas man accused with plotting a suicide bombing at a Wichita airport are asking a judge to order the government to disclose whether mass surveillance first led authorities to the avionics technician.

The U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment Monday on the latest court filing in the case of Terry Loewen, an avionics technician facing terrorism-related charges. Loewen has been jailed since his December arrest for allegedly trying to bring a van filled with inert explosives onto the tarmac at Mid-Continent Airport.

His attorneys argued in a court filing Friday that prosecutors have given them no evidence indicating how Loewen first came to the attention of the FBI.

The dispute is important because the defense wants to suppress evidence obtained or derived from any unlawful electronic surveillance.

EL DORADO, Kan. (AP) — Three south-central Kansas counties are denying applications for marriage licenses from same-sex couples.

Chief District Court Judge David Ricke said in a statement Monday that Butler, Elk and Greenwood counties will keep complying with a ban on gay marriage in Kansas law and the state constitution.

The counties make up the 13th Judicial District. Ricke says the district will continue to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples until he is convinced it falls under a binding court order that “clearly and unequivocally” requires its district court clerks to issue them.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused last week to allow the state to keep enforcing its ban while a federal lawsuit proceeds. The lawsuit was filed over the refusal of Douglas and Sedgwick counties to issue same-sex marriage licenses.