WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Security officers have found a loaded handgun in a carry-on bag at Wichita’s Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport.

Local media outlets report a .380 caliber Smith & Wesson Bodyguard firearm was found loaded with six rounds on Monday. Wichita Airport Police took the weapon and interviewed the passenger, who was allowed to continue on his flight.

The Transportation Security Administration says firearms are allowed in checked bags, if declared to the airline and properly packed in a locked, hard-sided container. TSA can levy a civil penalty of up to $11,000 against a passenger who brings a firearm through a security checkpoint.

This is the third firearm discovered during a checkpoint security screening at the Eisenhower National Airport this year.

PARSONS – A Kansas teenager was injured in an accident just after 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Labette County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2012 Nissan Altima driven by Andrea K. Palumbo, 19, Frontenac, was eastbound on U.S. 400.

The vehicle hydroplaned causing it to veer into the westbound lanes and hit a 2012 Nissan passenger vehicle driven by John J. Bellmyer, 27, Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Palumbo was transported to Labette Health.
Bellmyer was not injured.
They were not wearing seat belts according to the KHP.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Scrap thieves who do more than $5,000 worth of damage when stealing valuable metals would face jail time under a bill before the Kansas House.

The chamber was set to vote Wednesday on the measure, which also would create a system to track scrap through dealers.

Supporters of the bill say tougher penalties are needed because scrap thieves often do thousands of dollars in damage to worksites and agricultural equipment. Farm organizations testified that the damage frequently hurts crops and cattle because it can take days or weeks to repair.

Some lawmakers expressed concern that the bill could increase the state’s already overcapacity prison population by 20 to 57 prisoners by 2025.

The bill has been approved by the Senate.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Seven elementary schools will receive over $300,000 in grants to help tackle absenteeism.

The Wichita Eagle  reports a grant from the United Way to Communities in Schools of Wichita/Sedgwick County will be used to establish a network of coordinators, mentors and volunteers to decrease chronic absenteeism in the primary grades.

Harry Street, Dodge Literacy Magnet, Franklin, Gardiner, Payne and Stanley elementary schools will get the grant next school year.

Schools define chronic absenteeism as missing 10 percent or more of school time, and this includes all absences, excused or unexcused.

According to district records, 16.8 percent of Wichita students were considered chronically absent last school year.

DICKINSON COUNTY- A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 9 p.m. on Tuesday in Dickinson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Pontiac G6 driven by Justin Lee Keen, 25, Clay Center, was northbound on Kansas 15 three miles north of the Kansas 18 Junction.

The vehicle left the road, vaulted a field entrance and flipped 3 times front to back. The driver was ejected out the back window.

Keen was transported to Salina Regional Medical Center.
He was not wearing a seat belt according to the KHP.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas House committee is working on a plan to raise the state’s sales tax and boost income taxes for some business owners to help balance the state budget.

The Taxation Committee was convening Wednesday to consider revenue-raising proposals.

The state faces a projected budget shortfall of $406 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1 after lawmakers cut income taxes in 2012 and 2013 to stimulate the economy.

The plan before the House committee would raise the sales tax to 6.5 percent from 6.15 percent but drop the rate on food to 5.9 percent. It also would increase cigarette and gasoline taxes.

It also would raise $23 million during the next fiscal year by taxing some income earned by business owners that was exempted in 2012.

SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government hopes to reverse America’s declining honeybee and monarch butterfly populations by making more federal land bee-friendly, spending more on research and considering reductions in pesticide use.

Scientists say bees — crucial to pollinate many crops — have been hurt by a combination of declining nutrition, mites, disease and pesticides.

The plan calls for restoring 7 million acres of bee habitat in the next five years. Numerous federal agencies will have to find ways to grow plants on federal lands that provide better food for bees.

The administration proposes spending $82.5 million on honeybee research in the upcoming budget year, up $34 million from now.

The Environmental Protection Agency will step up studies into the safety of widely used neonicotinoid pesticides, which have been temporarily banned in Europe.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has signed a bill clarifying the legality of fantasy leagues.

Brownback’s office announced he signed the bill into law Tuesday, along with seven other measures.

The legality of fantasy sports leagues has been in dispute because the Kansas Constitution allows only the state to administer games fitting a broad definition of a lottery.

The state’s gambling regulator announced in August that it viewed fantasy sports as illegal lotteries, though there have been no known prosecutions.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt released an opinion in April saying legislators could legalize fantasy sports leagues by declaring that the outcomes depend upon the knowledge and skill of the players.

The bill passed with large majorities in each chamber.