WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has sided with an anti-abortion group that challenged a key birth control provision of the Obama administration’s health care overhaul.

March for Life sued the Obama administration last year over a requirement that health insurers cover the cost of contraceptive services.

The organization said the requirement violated its strongly held position against abortion. The group holds an annual march in Washington.

Religious organizations are exempt from the requirement. But in a ruling Monday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said groups did not need to voice religious objections to challenge the requirement.

Alliance Defending Freedom, whose lawyers represented March for Life, said Leon’s decision was the first to side with an organization that opposed the contraceptive mandate on moral rather than religious grounds.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A government survey has found that there are more than 23.7 million acres of farmland rented out by landlords in Kansas.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported the number Monday in its first survey of landowners since 1999.

Their survey, conducted last year, also found that there are 83,776 landlords owned farmland in Kansas. But only 14,359 of those were actually farmers, the majority of them are non-farming landlords.

Cropland made up for 65 percent of all farmland rented, while 33 percent was rented for pastures. The rest of the land was used for forests and other uses.

The agency also reported that landowners expect to transfer 5.04 million acres to other owners in the next five years.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Insurance Department is considering whether insurance agents need more training.

Currently, the state’s insurance agents are required to complete 12 hours of education every other year. Most states require 24 hours for insurance agents.

The Wichita Eagle reports the department wants to complete a study of the question in the fall and present recommendations to the Legislature in January.

The Legislature has considered five bills in the last four years to raise the minimum education standard but none became law.

Clark Shultz, director of government and public affairs for the department, says it has not taken a stance on the issue before but wants to reach a conclusion about whether the state’s requirement is adequate before the next legislative session.

 

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — The latest on the trial of a white supremacist charged with capital murder for the deaths of three people at two Jewish sites in the Kansas City area (all times local):

6:10 p.m.

A white supremacist has given jurors a Nazi salute after they convicted him of capital murder and other charges for killing three people at two suburban Kansas City Jewish sites.

It took the jury of seven men and five women just over two hours to find Frazier Glenn Miller guilty of one count of capital murder, three counts of attempted murder and assault and weapons charges.

After the verdict was announced, Miller, said: “The fat lady just sang.” As jurors were filing out of the courtroom, he raised his right arm in the Nazi salute and told them: “You probably won’t sleep tonight.”

He faces the death penalty. Sentencing proceedings are scheduled to begin Tuesday.

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OLATHE, Kan. (AP) —A jury has convicted a white supremacist of killing three people at Kansas City-area Jewish sites last year.

Jurors returned their verdict Monday against Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., who admitted that he killed the three in April 2014, but argued that he was compelled to do it because Jewish people are trying to wipe out the white race. None of the victims was Jewish.

Miller had been representing himself after firing his lawyers in May.

Prosecutors had begun their case against Miller by quoting him after the shootings saying he hated Jews and asking how many did he get. They rested their case Thursday, barely four days into the trial. Proceedings moved swiftly because Miller asked witnesses very few questions.

MANHATTAN – A Kansas man will serve 24 months probation in connection with an aggravated arson case.

On Monday, Riley County Judge John F. Bosch approved a dispositional departure in the sentencing process and followed a plea agreement by Gene Pixler, 52, of Manhattan, and the Prosecution.

Pixler was arrested at the Riley County Police Department on April 20, after an investigation into a report for aggravated arson and criminal damage to property. The incident occurred in the early morning hours of January 31 at the Manhattan Emergency Shelter.

Only minor damage was reported and no injuries were listed to anyone inside as a result of this incident.

According to the Manhattan Fire Department total damage was estimated at $125 for content and property loss.

Along with his probation, Pixler was ordered to continue with a drug and alcohol treatment program through Pawnee Mental Health and additional treatment he is receiving.

He was also ordered to pay $169 restitution to the Manhattan Emergency Shelter.

SALINE COUNTY- Burning tires were responsible for a fire that destroyed a semi’s trailer on Interstate 70 just before 3 p.m. on Sunday in Saline County.

Saline County Sheriff Glen Kochanowski said that a 1993 Kenworth semi driven by Robin R. Reeve, 63, LaSalle, CO, was eastbound near Brookville Road.

Reeve said he felt shaking. He looked in his mirror and saw the right front tires of the trailer come halfway off and the trailer started sliding.

By the time Reeve was able to stop the semi, the tires and trailer were on fire. He attempted to put the fire out with a fire extinguisher, but the fire was too intense.

Firefighters with Saline County Rural Fire District #3 were able extinguish the fire on the trailer as well as a few small grass fires that were ignited by the trailer.

The trailer, which was carrying 50,000 pounds of aluminum shavings from a machine shop, was destroyed and the fire burned through the sides and rear door of the vehicle.

NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market is closing out its worst month in more than three years on a down note.

Stocks fell broadly in Monday trading, with the exception of energy shares, which reversed an early slump after the price of crude oil surged.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index ended August down 6.3 percent, its worst showing since May 2012. Investors have been worried about slowing growth in China and elsewhere and looming interest rate hikes in the U.S.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 114 points, or 0.7 percent, to 16,528.

The S&P 500 fell 16 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,972. The Nasdaq composite slid 52 points, or 1.1 percent, to 4,776.

Oil surged 9 percent on news that U.S. production has been lower than estimated.