PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. (AP) — A Prairie Village couple is pleading for the return of their stolen 26-foot-long vintage Airstream trailer.

The Kansas City Star reports  the 1962 Airstream Overlander belonged to Catie Ebert’s grandfather. She had spent about six years and thousands of dollars restoring it. The trailer also contained family historical documents and pictures, including her grandparents’ Airstream membership numbers.

She and her husband, Clint, left the trailer overnight outside a Kansas City, Kansas, business recently where they had just had counter tops installed. The next morning it was gone.

Ebert and her husband have taken to social media, hoping someone might spot the trailer and call police. The trailer had a Texas tag of 5DF284.

DAVID PITT, Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Bird flu that’s devastated Midwestern farms likely spread by several means, including on machinery and workers, by rodents and possibly even by the wind.

That’s according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released Monday. The agency studied genetic properties of virus samples on more than 80 turkey and chicken farms.

USDA scientists say wild birds introduced the virus onto farms, but it appears the virus spread in other ways once there. The scientists found lapses in biosecurity on farms and environmental factors likely contributed to the spread of the disease.

More than 49 million birds died or were euthanized in 15 states this spring as the virus spread from the Pacific Northwest into Midwest farms. It’s the nation’s worst outbreak of bird flu.

KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Bake sales? So 20th century. This summer, thousands of young people will attend camps and academic programs thanks to online crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

Donors can help middle schoolers learn computer programming in Pennsylvania, support a leadership academy for Virginia teens or send children of incarcerated California parents to sleepaway camp.

There are no statistics for the number of children and teens whose summer activities are being financed through crowdfunding, but Kelsea Little of GoFundMe says fundraising for summer camps is skyrocketing on the site.

Amy Sarisky contributed toward a GoFundMe campaign for New York City high school sophomore Lissette Barretto to attend a summer program at Stanford University.

She says she is happy to make an impact on a young person’s life.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The family of a Wichita man killed by police wants $5 million from the city.

Authorities have said that police shot and killed 26-year-old Icarus Randolph on July 4 when he came toward officers with a knife and after a Taser failed to stop him. District Attorney Marc Bennett announced Friday that no charges will be filed against police in Randolph’s death.

The Wichita Eagle reports Randolph’s family filed the claim for $5 million on June 2. A claim is required before a lawsuit can be filed.

The newspaper obtained the information under a Kansas Open Records request. The city didn’t release a copy of the claim document, which spells out the family’s position.

Lee Barnett, the lawyer bringing the claim for Randolph’s family, said the family isn’t commenting.

By DAN MARGOLIES
A whistleblower lawsuit alleging a Kansas oncologist provided medically unnecessary services is the second suit to question his practices, according to The Wichita Eagle.

The newspaper reported on Sunday that Viran Roger Holden, the former chair of the Mercy Clinic oncology department in Springfield, Missouri, claims he was fired after raising questions about Greg Nanney, a cancer doctor who now works for Central Care Cancer Center in Newton and Great Bend, Kansas, and in Bolivar, Missouri.

Nanney formerly worked at Mercy Clinic, which used to be known as St. John’s Clinic. Before that, he practiced in rural areas in Kansas and at Hutchinson Clinic, according to The Eagle.

Holden’s lawsuit says that both Nanney and Steven Braun, a radiation oncologist who worked with Nanney and remains employed by Mercy, treated patients “in a manner that would maximize reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid, while disregarding well-established national cancer treatment guidelines,” The Eagle reported.

The newspaper said Nanney did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Holden’s complaint says Mercy told him it was firing him for cause after it questioned him about a relationship he had with a co-worker and about two prescriptions he wrote for a patient three years earlier.

A previous lawsuit was filed against Mercy Clinic by Hyewon “Helen” Kim, a radiation oncologist who was the hospital’s medical director. Kim alleged that Nanney was let go by the clinic in July 2012 because of “substandard care to patients, and jeopardizing their safety,” according to The Eagle.

Kim’s lawsuit alleges that Kim observed several violations by Nanney and Braun of medical standards affecting patient safety, including concurrent chemoradiation therapy, “which resulted in financial gain” for the clinic, the newspaper reported.

Mercy has denied Kim’s allegations in court documents.

Holden, who gave deposition testimony in Kim’s lawsuit, says Mercy placed him on administrative leave a little more than a month after he was deposed and subsequently fired him.

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

SALINA – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a burglary at the Flying J Travel Plaza on North Ohio in Salina.

Police arrested a man and woman early Sunday morning after being caught in the process of taking items from a construction storage unit at the location.

Police say Lenn Farley, 26, Warrior Alabama, was found inside the storage unit and Jennifer Kirwin, 36, Manhattan, was found outside near the unit.

Officers found the pair in possession of a Flying J reward cards, a $25 pair of pliers, and a drain cover.

Kirwin was arrested and charged with burglary. Farley was charged with burglary, theft, and obstruction for resisting arrest.

BENTLEY, Kan. (AP) — Heavy rain has caused flash flooding north of Wichita, forcing several road closings.

The Wichita Eagle reports  that up to 7 inches of rain fell overnight in northern Sedgwick County and in Harvey County. The National Weather Service has issued flood warnings for all or parts of Chase, Marion and Harvey counties.

Lon Buller, emergency management director for Harvey County, says it’s been a challenge to get barricades up for all the roads closed by water. No injuries have been reported, but a rural Sedgwick County resident has been marooned in his home.

James “Woody” Woodall’s property southeast of Bentley is surrounded by water. He says all his chickens have drowned, and there’s about a foot of water in his garage. But he says he’s staying put for now.

PAOLA, Kan. (AP) — An eastern Kansas man has died after falling from a golf cart.

The Miami County Sheriff’s Office says Michael Thomas Everhart of Paola died from a head injury Sunday after he fell off the golf cart, which he was riding with three other adults. The Kansas City Star reports his 30th birthday would have been Monday.

The sheriff’s office says Everhart was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

The incident is under investigation.