SALINA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ three largest universities have been selected by the Federal Aviation Administration to be a part of a team that will help integrate unmanned aerial systems into the nation’s airspace.

The Salina Journal (http://bit.ly/1HiNd3o ) reports Kansas State University, the University of Kansas and Wichita State University have been named members of the FAA’s Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems. According to a news release, the center will focus on research, education and training for the systems that are also known as drones.

The news release says research areas will initially include detect-and-avoid technology; low-altitude operations safety; control and communications; spectrum management; and compatibility with air traffic control operations.

PARK CITY- A Kansas man was injured in an accident before 5 p.m. on Wednesday in Sedgwick County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Dodge Dakota driven by Robinson, Tyler Drew Robinson, 21, Newton, was southbound on Interstate 135 south of 61st Street in Park City.

The vehicle rear-ended a 2001 Chevy Malibu driven by Keenan Ray Kaufman, 30, Newton.

Kaufman was transported to Wesley Medical Center. Robinson and two small children in the Malibu were not injured.

All were properly restrained at the time of the accident according to the KHP.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A bill approved by the Kansas Senate would require legislators to sign off on the state’s plan for complying with a federal rule aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

The chamber voted 35-1 on Wednesday to approve the latest version of the bill. If the House approves it, the measure would go to the governor to sign.

The bill allows the secretary of health and environment to draft a plan for complying with the new rule from the federal Environmental Protection Agency. States that do not draft their own plans will have a federal plan imposed on them.

Kansas’ plan could include agreements with utilities to lower carbon emissions, but an 11-member legislative committee would have to approve it before the state submits it to the EPA.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today helped introduce a bill to protect consumers from energy rate hikes due to burdensome and costly Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that would attempt to dramatically cut carbon emissions of existing power plants.

“The Administration’s plans to reduce emissions will increase the cost of energy for consumers as existing power plants close or spend millions to comply with EPA’s proposed rules on emissions,” Roberts said. “The bill introduced today will protect consumers and states from paying the price of this regulatory agenda which in the end, will do very little to affect global temperatures.”

Senator Roberts is an original cosponsor of the Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act (ARENA) introduced by U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).

The EPA’s proposed rules are part of the Administration’s attempts to go around the Congress and enact the President’s “Clean Power Plan” through executive order and executive action under the Clean Air Act.

The ARENA bill prevents states from being forced to adopt EPA’s plans under the Clean Air Act that would negatively affect economic growth, competitiveness and jobs in the state; negatively affect the reliability of the State’s electricity system; or negatively affect the State’s electricity ratepayers, including low-income ratepayers, by causing electricity rate increases. The bill would prevent the EPA from withholding highway funds from any states for noncompliance with the Clean Power Plan.

For more on the bill go here.

Estimates by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have found that these proposed rules, part of the President’s “Clean Power Plan,” will cost 224,000 U.S. jobs on average every year through 2030. These regulations would also increase electricity costs by $289 billion and lower households’ disposable income by $586 billion through that same period.

“Kansans are still struggling in the Obama economy and can’t afford this agenda-driven EPA overreach,” Roberts said. “Worse still, by the Obama Administration’s own admission, these regulations and any unilateral action by the United States would have a negligible impact on global temperatures. As long as large developing countries like Russia, China, India, and Brazil continue increasing their carbon emission on an annual basis, anything we do will be inconsequential. This proposal amounts to all pain and no gain.”

The bill is also co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), and Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Dan Coats (R-Ind.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.).

Senator Roberts is an outspoken advocate for the elimination of ridiculous and burdensome regulations issued by the agenda-driven Obama Administration. From the School Lunch Program to health care, Roberts has fought executive overreach and won. Roberts is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and is a senior member of the Senate Committee on Finance and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Government rules to clarify which streams, tributaries and wetlands should be protected from development and pollution are fueling political anger in the country’s heartland.

The Environmental Protection Agency rules proposed last year have become a top issue of concern for many farmers and landowners who call them overreach. The EPA says its water rules simply clarify and don’t expand what smaller bodies of water are regulated under the Clean Water Act.

Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1732, the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015 by a vote of 261 to 155. This legislation, cosponsored by Congressman Tim Huelskamp (KS-01), would stop the burdensome Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule from being implemented. The White House has threatened to veto the legislation.

EPA officials have acknowledged they may not have written the proposal clearly enough, and said final rules expected in the coming months will better define which waters would fall under the law.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court says it will decide whether a voter-approved ordinance in Wichita lessening criminal penalties for marijuana possession is legal.

The court ruled Wednesday that it will retain jurisdiction under its authority to hear issues of sufficient public concern. It kept in place a stay of district court proceedings.

It also noted that Wichita has already agreed that enactment of the ordinance should be put on hold until the courts rule.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt contends the ordinance is void because it conflicts with state law.

The ordinance imposes up to a $50 fine for first-time possession of a small amount of pot. State law deems it a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

Oral arguments will be in September.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Senate has agreed to a compromise moving local elections to the fall in odd-numbered years.

The chamber voted 22-13 on Wednesday to accept the changes. The bill will go to the governor if it is approved by the House.

The bill also would cancel the state’s presidential primaries and bar general election candidates from dropping out of a race unless experiencing “severe medical hardship.”

Legislators have canceled the past five primaries because of their cost, opting for caucuses funded by the Republican and Democratic parties.

Republican Sen. Carolyn McGinn of Sedgwick says she opposes the changes because they would force elected school board members to take office in the middle of fiscal years. She says that would disrupt the budgeting process.

ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, AP Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will test a new unlimited shipping service for online shoppers this summer that will be priced below Amazon’s widely popular $99 per year Prime service.

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the shipping subscription service will cost customers $50 a year.

Products will arrive in three days or less.

Ravi Jariwali, a Wal-Mart spokesman, says the service will be available by invitation only for now and it will offer more than one million top-selling items, from toys to electronic gadgets. Wal-Mart’s online site sells more than seven million products.

The offering is in response to increasing demands from customers who are looking for predictable and affordable shipping.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A new study says spring heat poses a greater danger to winter wheat crops than early freezes in the fall.

Researchers at Kansas State University examined results from experimental field trials and matched that data with weather information at those sites. The data spanned from 1985 through 2013 in 11 locations.

The research found that a 1-degree increase in heat in the spring would decrease yields by 7 percent.

Agricultural economist Andrew Barkley says researchers expect new wheat varieties to be more heat resistant in the future. He says that is the take-home message of this study.

He says damage from hotter temperatures can be partially offset with more precipitation. Hot, dry springs would mean higher losses.

The research is being published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

KANSAS CITY- Three people were injured in an accident just before 1 p.m. on Wednesday in Wyandotte County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1997 Toyota Paseo driven by Christopher Jacob Frisbie, 20, Merriam, was southbound on 18th Street in Kansas City.

The vehicle failed to yield and struck a westbound 2009 Dodge Charger driven by Max Allen Sybrant II, 35, Kansas City, that was clearing the intersection of 18th and Quindaro.

The impact pushed them into a 1999 Acura TL driven by Kenisha Bell Taylor, 27, Kansas City.

Frisbie, Sybrant II, and Taylor were transported to KU Medical Center.

All were properly restrained at the time of the accident according to the KHP.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  The chairmen of the Kansas House Education Committee and the State Board of Education are urging local school districts to teach financial literacy.

Republican state Rep. Ron Highland of Wamego and GOP state board member Jim McNiece of Wichita signed a joint letter Wednesday to local school board presidents and superintendents.

Their letter said financial literacy is an essential part of a sound education.

The House Education Committee had hearing earlier this year on a bill to require students to pass a financial literacy course in 11th or 12th grade to graduate from high school.

But Highland and McNiece said in their letter that they’re urging districts to teach financial literacy instead of seeking a mandate. They said the state board and the House committee would monitor districts’ efforts.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators and State Board of Education members are launching a campaign to encourage public schools to teach students financial literacy.

State school board members and members of the Kansas House Education Committee were having a ceremony Wednesday at the Statehouse.

They planned to sign a letter urging schools to teach financial literacy.

School Board President Jim McNiece and Education Committee Chairman Ron Highland were leading the event. McNiece is a Wichita Republican and Highland is a Wamego Republican.