OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A central Florida couple is on their way to Kansas to mourn their son, a pilot killed in a small plane crash at a flight training facility.

Mark Goldstein died Thursday when his twin-engine plane crashed just after takeoff at the Flight Safety International Learning Center at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport. Three people inside a flight simulator when the plane crashed also died.

Ingrid and Don Goldstein of Ocala were driving to Kansas this weekend. Ingrid Goldstein told the Ocala Star-Banner that her 53-year-old son was a gifted and decorated pilot and air traffic controller.

She said her son was, “the kindest, nicest man.”

The National Transportation Safety Board says Mark Goldstein worked as an air traffic controller for 24 years at the Wichita control tower before retiring this year.

JOHN HANNA, AP Political Writer

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is struggling to persuade Kansas voters that the bold tax cuts he championed have fueled an economic comeback.

Brownback points to the state’s low unemployment rate and tens of thousands of new private-sector jobs created since he became governor in January 2011.

But his race against Democratic challenger Paul Davis remains close going into Tuesday’s election.

Federal statistics show that the rate of private-sector job growth in Kansas lagged behind the nation’s during Brownback’s first term. It also has slowed since the first income tax cuts he pushed took effect in 2013.

State credit ratings have been downgraded, and a budget shortfall is forecast for mid-2016.

The reformer’s reputation Brownback won in national conservative circles through tax-cutting doesn’t impress some voters.

CHICAGO (AP) — The tightrope is waiting for Nik Wallenda in Chicago.

The 35-year-old high-wire artist plans to perform two nail-biting walks that will be televised around the world Sunday.

The Discovery Channel will use a 10-second delay for the broadcast, allowing producers to cut away if Wallenda falls. He plans to perform the walks without a net or harness.

First, Wallenda will walk uphill at a 15-degree angle from the west Marina City tower to the top of a skyscraper on the other side of the Chicago River. Next, he’ll walk between the two Marina City towers wearing a blindfold.

Steven Dahlman lives in the east Marina City tower. He says his neighbors are a little worried, but excited to be “in the middle of a world event.”

JC Post

MANHATTAN- Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder apologized Saturday night for endorsing Senator Pat Roberts for re-election in a television advertisement.

The commercial includes video of Snyder being asked who he will support in the U.S. Senate race, and he responds that it will be his good friend Pat Roberts. In the video Snyder also said, “Pat’s a dear friend and a great friend of the State of Kansas. I care about him a great deal. I think his track record speaks for itself.  He is as good as it gets for the State of Kansas. He is an extremely hard worker. He’s an honest individual. I’m certainly going to vote for my friend Pat. He genuinely cares for the people of the State of Kansas.”

See the commercial here

During his postgame press conference after the 48-14 Kansas State win over Oklahoma State, Snyder was asked about the television commercial. “I made a mistake. I’m not going to delve into exactly how everything happened, but I made a mistake and I’ve embarrassed our university. That’s my responsibility. That was my error.” Snyder also added, “That’s my fault. Nobody else’s.”

Later in the press conference the coach was questioned on the topic further, and stated bluntly that he had already spoken about the issue. He apologized again, said that he had made a mistake, had hurt the University, and that he accepted responsibility for it.

Related: FHSU’s Hammond offers statement on Kansas GOP mailer.

When asked if he wanted the television ad removed by the Roberts campaign Snyder responded in the affirmative by saying “yes” two times.

According to media reports K-State President Kirk Schulz told colleagues in an email on Friday that the Roberts campaign refused a request by University officials  to have the ad removed, that Snyder had been unaware the video footage was going to be used in such a fashion, and was apologetic for the issues that resulted. But the Roberts campaign disagreed on whether they had been contacted by the University. The email was initially published on the political site Daily Kos, and the Kansas City Star was able to confirm the authenticity of the email through one of the named recipients.

In the Friday edition of an internal publication, K-State Today, Schulz issued a reminder about university policy. “As we get closer to election day, I’ve been getting some questions about university political activities. I just want to remind everyone that Kansas State University does not endorse political candidates, and employees do not speak for the university when they endorse candidates. Employees should also avoid using their university-affiliation in any endorsements or statements.”

By Andy Marso
KHI News Service

TOPEKA — Political action committees run by the state’s dentists, chiropractors and optometrists donated a total of $4,000 in the last few months to support the campaign of Ken Selzer, the Republican candidate for Kansas insurance commissioner.

Ten other medically related PACs stayed out of that race, while the Kansas Independent Pharmacy PAC gave to both Selzer and his Democratic opponent, Dennis Anderson.

Selzer is an accountant with Aon Benfield, a reinsurance company. Anderson is a co-founder of A.D. Banker & Company, which provides continuing education to insurance agents. Neither has served in state government.

The insurance commissioner’s race is the only one of the six statewide elected offices that does not feature an incumbent this year, as Republican Sandy Praeger is not seeking re-election.
Kevin Robertson, executive director of the Kansas Dental Association, said it was a little more difficult to vet Selzer and Anderson than candidates in other races because they don’t have a voting record or history in office. But the dental PAC officials decided to donate $1,000 to Selzer’s campaign because they anticipate he will tend to support health care providers rather than insurance companies.

“As far as taking our side on insurance issues,” Robertson said, “I don’t think it’s any shock that providers and insurance companies kind of have a love-hate relationship.”

Robertson noted that the dental PAC did not give a maximum donation to either candidate and said he would not be worried if Anderson prevails.

“I’m sure he’ll be just fine if he were to win,” Robertson said. “We don’t really have a lot of concerns either way.”

The Kansas Optometric PAC gave $2,000 and the Kansas Chiropractors Association PAC gave $1,000 to Selzer’s campaign. The Kansas Independent Pharmacy PAC gave $500 each to Anderson and Selzer.

Gary Robbins, executive director of the Kansas Optometric Association, said both Anderson and Selzer are “nice guys,” but some of the optometric PAC board members had met Selzer and were impressed by him.

“Our people were a little more comfortable with Ken,” Robbins said. “They thought he had a little more experience.”

In total, the state’s medical PACs spent about $233,000 in the run-up to Tuesday’s general election, which was almost double their primary spending. The bulk of the money went to donations for the state’s 125 House races, and most of it went to support incumbents or those running unopposed.

Andy Marso is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say the bodies of all four victims have been removed from a Wichita flight training facility that was hit by a small plane this week.

The Wichita Eagle (http://bit.ly/1uirRxr) reports that Fire Marshal Brad Crisp said the body of the pilot was removed Saturday from the roof of the building at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport.

The bodies of the other three victims who were inside a flight simulator when the twin-engine plane hit Thursday were pulled from the rubble a day earlier.

Crisp says the removal of the pilot’s body was made more difficult because of the crumbling structure, which caught on fire after the crash.

National Transportation Safety Board officials say the cockpit voice recorder has been recovered but it’s unclear whether a flight data recorder survived.

MARTHA MENDOZA, AP National Writer

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Medical experts studying the spread of Ebola say the American public should expect more people infected with the disease to arrive here from West Africa before the end of the year.

Scientists have made educated guesses about future U.S. infections based on data models that weigh hundreds of variables, including daily new infections in West Africa, airline traffic worldwide and transmission possibilities.

This week, several top infectious-disease experts ran simulations for The Associated Press that predicted as few as one or two additional infections by the end of December to a worst-case scenario of 130.

Dr. David Relman is a professor of infectious disease, microbiology and immunology at Stanford University’s medical school. He says it’s possible that every major city will see at least a handful of cases.