TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — About 170 Kansas National Guard from a battalion based in Iola will deploy next year to west Africa to help fight Ebola.

The state announced Sunday that soldiers from the 891st Engineer Battalion Headquarters will help build medical facilities in west Africa. They will leave next spring and be deployed for about six months, with the possibility of serving up to a year. It’s part of a national effort called Operation United Assistance.

Kansas Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Lee Tafanell says the state will do all it can to ensure the soldiers’ safety. That will include training in protocols and preventative measures against the deadly disease.

The soldiers will begin training next month in Kansas and will receive more training at their mobilization station before they go to west Africa.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita State University officials will hold a campus safety forum after a woman was beaten, sexually assaulted and set on fire near campus.

An open forum will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday to address students’ concerns.

Firefighters were responding to a grass fire when they found the 36-year-old woman. Police say she suffered severe burns all over her body and lacerations on her head. She was taken to an area hospital in critical condition.

Police are investigating. No arrests have been reported. The university released the following statement.

“We join the community in being horrified about the sexual assault that Wichita Police reported in Fairmount Park, near 16th and Gentry, on Saturday, Nov. 15.

Our concern is for the victim and for the safety and security of the community south of campus, which includes WSU students and employees as residents.

Students and members of the campus community are invited to an open forum on safety issues from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, in the CAC Theater.

Wade Robinson, vice president for Student Affairs, and members of campus and city law enforcement will be available to answer questions, provide an update, provide campus and off-campus safety information and talk about personal safety measures individuals can take.

WSU Police have increased patrols on university properties south of 17th Street, closest to the scene of the crime. They are also working with Wichita Police investigators.

We encourage anyone with information on the crime to call 911, Crimestoppers at 267-2111, or the Wichita Police investigations section at 268-4181.

The WSU Police Department issues alerts when there is crime near campus, whether or not a student or employee is involved. Wichita State works closely with city police and city government on safety issues in the campus area.”

ANTHONY, Kan. (AP) — Four more earthquakes were reported in south-central Kansas during the weekend. No serious injuries or damage was reported.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the largest quake was a 3.8-magnitude earthquake that was centered northwest of Anthony in Harper County early Saturday. Two 3.1-magnitude quakes hit just northeast of Antony on Sunday, one about 3 a.m. and the other about 8:30 p.m.

A 2.4-magnitude earthquake was reported early Sunday near Bluff City, also in Harper County.

The state has recorded more than 90 earthquakes this year, most in the south-central region. The most severe, with a 4.8-magnitude, was centered near Conway Springs last week.

 

KIMBERLY HEFLING, AP Education Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of foreign exchange students studying at U.S. colleges and universities is at a record high, with nearly a third coming from China.

The Institute of International Education, in partnership with the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, says nearly 900,000 international students are in the United States.

The group says the number of Chinese students in the U.S. increased by nearly 17 percent. The other top countries of origin were India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Canada.

At the same time, a record number of Americans are studying abroad, although their stints overseas tend to be shorter and there are far fewer American students who participate than foreign ones. The United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, France and China were the leading destinations for U.S. students.

DETROIT (AP) — The lawyer hired by General Motors to compensate victims of crashes caused by faulty ignition switches is giving people another month to file claims.

Kenneth Feinberg announced Sunday night that the deadline has been extended until Jan. 31, 2015.

GM came under fire last week because the family of a Connecticut woman who died in a crash had not been notified by the company, even though GM linked her death to the faulty switches years ago.

Feinberg says in a statement that the extension is being done out of an abundance of caution. He says notices about the compensation fund have been sent to nearly 4 ½ million current and prior owners of Chevrolet Cobalts and other affected small cars.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The number of homeless children in the U.S. has surged in recent years to an all-time high.

A comprehensive state-by-state report by the National Center on Family Homelessness says one child in every 30 is homeless. It blames the problem on the lack of affordable housing and the impacts of pervasive domestic violence.

The new report calculates that nearly 2.5 million children in America were homeless at some point last year.

The number is based on the Department of Education’s latest count of 1.3 million homeless children in public schools, supplemented by estimates of homeless pre-school children not counted by the DOE.

The problem is especially severe in California, which has one-eighth of the U.S. population, but accounts for more than one-fifth of the homeless children — that’s nearly 527,000 homeless kids.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — An avowed white supremacist charged with killing three people outside two suburban Kansas City Jewish facilities says he was surprised none of the victims were Jewish.

Seventy-three-year-old F. Glenn Miller Jr., of Aurora, Missouri, talked to The Kansas City Star in a series of phone calls last week.

Miller is jailed in Johnson County on a charge of capital murder in the attacks outside a Jewish community center and a nearby retirement home on April 13, the eve of Passover. A preliminary hearing that was scheduled for last week was delayed so Frazier could undergo a mental evaluation.

Miller has emphysema and said he decided to carry out the attacks because it was something he wanted to do before he died and his health was failing.