SCOTT McFETRIDGE, Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Food banks nationwide are dealing with rising demand despite the growing economy, leading some charities to reduce the amount they offer each family.

U.S. food banks are expected to give away about 4 billion pounds of food this year. Feeding America, the nation’s primary food bank network, says that’s more than double the amount provided a decade ago.

The group gave away 3.8 billion in 2013.

Food bank reliance exploded when the economy tanked in 2008, but groups say demand still rises each year.

Some economists say the increased demand is surprising because the economy is growing and unemployment has been cut nearly in half since the recession.

But many people who have found jobs are working only part-time or for low wages, and others have stopped looking for work.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A 48-year-old northeast Kansas man accused of killing a disabled 65-year-old in his care has rejected a plea offer from prosecutors.

The Lawrence Journal-World  reports Ronald Eugene Heskett claims the Sept. 12, 2014, death of Vance Moulton was the result of an assisted suicide, not murder.

Prosecutors say the health aide from Eudora killed Moulton, who had cerebral palsy and limited mobility, for financial reasons.

Moulton was found dead in his Lawrence residence with a towel around his neck.

Assistant prosecutor Eve Kemple told a judge on Friday that she had offered Heskett the chance to plead guilty to murder in exchange for the opportunity to argue mitigating factors at sentencing.

Heskett instead opted to try his case before a jury. His trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 14.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka will make a third attempt at banning public nudity when city officials consider a proposed ordinance next week.

The draft of a new ordinance banning public nudity was made available Thursday. It lists two exceptions to the ban: mothers breastfeeding, and children under the age of 10.

The Topeka Capital Journal reports that Topeka’s proposal was prompted recently by concerns about a local man who walks nude on the area’s Shunga Trail and in other public areas.

Topeka previously attempted in 2005 and 2014 to enact bans on public nudity.

Under the new draft ordinance that will be considered at the council meeting next week, public nudity would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a fine of between $1 and $499.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas City, Kansas, man has been convicted of killing his girlfriend’s friend when she tried to intervene in the couple’s fight.

The Wyandotte County prosecutor’s office announced Friday that 30-year-old Donald R. Haygood was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder in the 2011 shooting death of Demetria Mill. Witnesses testified that Mill was holding up a cell phone to call 911 and the bullet went through the phone.

Haygood later was arrested after an 11-hour standoff.

Sentencing is set for Oct. 2.

SALINA -Former U. S. Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker, who represented Kansas in Washington D. C. for more than 20 years, will be the keynote speaker at the 2015 Sunflower Fair.

Kassebaum Baker will speak on Tues., Sept. 22 at Salina’s Bicentennial Center, 800 the Midway. The former U.S. Senator’s participation was announced today in a media release by the North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging (NC-FH AAA).

Kassebaum Baker’s presentation is part of the Agency’s celebration recognizing the 50th anniversaries of Medicare, Medicaid and The Older Americans Act.

Kansans may register for the Sunflower Fair by calling 1-800-432-2703 or by going to www.ncfhaaa.com. Cost for the all-day event is $20 for those registering before Sept. 11. Registrations may also be mailed to the Area Agency on Aging at 401 Houston St., Manhattan, KS 66502. Major event sponsors are Salina Regional Health Center, Eagle Communications and the Flint Hills Foundation for Older Kansans.

Kassebaum Baker took office in December 1978. She served on many prominent committees, including Commerce, Budget, Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Science and Transportation, and the Special Committee on Aging. When Republicans took control of the Senate in 1980, Kassebaum Baker exchanged her seat on the Banking Committee for one on the prestigious Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In 1985, shechaired the Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Aviation and also chaired the Select Committee on Ethics.

Beginning in the 101st Congress in 1989, Kassebaum Baker served on the Labor and Human Resources Committee, the committee with oversight of Medicare, Medicaid and The Older Americans Act.When the Republican Party recaptured the Senate in 1994, her seniority in the 104th Congress made her chair of the committee. Her chairmanship of Labor and Human Resources marked the first time a woman had chaired a major standing Senate committee and the first time that any woman headed a Senate panel since Margaret Chase Smith chaired the Senate Special Committee on Rates and Compensation of Certain Officers and Employees in 1954.

“We are delighted that Senator Kassebaum Baker will share her perspectives with us at our Sunflower Fair this year as we celebrate our Agency’s 40th anniversary and 50 years of The Older Americans Act,” said Jay Rowh, Chair of the North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging Board of Directors. “Her leadership, her focus on national health care priorities and her long-standing work and concern for care of elders and disabled Americans brings context to our celebration of the important anniversaries we have this year,” he said.

“We make the Sunflower Fair a wonderful day of useful information and fun, said Julie Govert Walter, NC-FH AAA Executive Director. “Besides Senator Kassebaum’s participation, our celebration will feature 70 exhibits, 12 workshops and the Kansas Lions Mobile Screening Unit and more. We invite seniors, caregivers—and all who plan to celebrate more happy birthdays—to come for a great time!”

COLONY – A Kansas teenager was injured in an accident just before 5p.m. on Friday in Anderson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1996 Ford F-150 driven by Andrew William Benjamin, 27, Colony, was southbound on Maple Street in Colony.

The truck collided with a 1995 Ford F150 driven by Travis Codi Vermillion, 18, Kincaid, that was westbound on 4th Street.

Vermillion was transported to Anderson County Hospital. Benjamin was not injured.

The drivers were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas delegation demurred when it came to what was likely the most interesting audience question of a congressional summit hosted by business leaders.

Is the Islamic State or Russia more of a threat to the United States today?

After a long silence Friday by the three Republicans, Rep. Tim Huelskamp took a stab at it. He said Fort Riley, which in his congressional district, is on the front lines of the fight against the Islamic State and so it is first on his mind.

Rep. Mike Pompeo told them no one answered the question because it is “a bit of a parlor game.” He cited threats from China, Syria and radical Islamic extremism in every state, including Kansas.

Rep. Lynn Jenkins attacked the Obama administration over national security funding.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today released the following statement regarding reports of the administration’s efforts to transfer detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas:

“We have received reports of President Obama’s attempt to shut down Guantanamo Bay, which once again reflects another egregious overstep by this administration. Congress has consistently stopped Obama by law from moving a single detainee to the U.S. I shut down this administration’s nominee for Secretary of the Army in 2009 to prevent moving any detainees to Kansas and will do it again if necessary. Not on my watch will any terrorist be placed in Kansas.”

Senator Roberts has avidly fought the Obama Administration’s efforts to transfer Guantanamo detainees to the mainland, particularly to Ft. Leavenworth. In 2009, he fought the administration, including placing legislative holds on nominees, and successfully prevented the administration’s plan to consider housing detainees at Ft. Leavenworth.

Senator Roberts has also cosponsored S. 165, The Detaining Terrorists to Protect America Act that prohibits for two years the transfer to the United States of detainees designated medium- or high-risk. It would also ban transfers to Yemen, where dozens of the 127 remaining Guantanamo detainees are from.