BOSTON (AP) — President Barack Obama spent his Labor Day courting labor unions.

Obama was met with resounding applause at a major union rally in Boston when he said he’d signed an executive order aboard Air Force One requiring federal contractors to give paid sick leave to their employees.

The Labor Day gesture to workers’ groups comes as Obama works to smooth over tensions with the labor movement over his trade agenda. Major unions are opposing Obama’s push for sweeping new trade deals with Asia and Europe, with some threatening to work against Democrats who voted to support those talks in Congress.

Under the executive order, employees working on federal contracts gain the right to a minimum of one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours they work. Stretched out over 12 months, that’s up to seven days per year.

Business groups have argued that Obama’s order would make it harder for small businesses to retain federal contractors and could hinder economic growth.

BRONSON- Eight people were injured in an accident just before 6p.m. on Labor Day in Bourbon County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan driven by Marsh, Esther M. Marsh, 69, Bronson, was southbound on Kansas 3. The vehicle failed to yield at a stop sign.

It entered U.S. 54 and struck an eastbound 2015 Dodge Grand Caravan driven by Brian Ray Stewart, 36, Bronson.

A private vehicle transported Marsh, Stewart and passengers in the 2015 Dodge Megan N. Stewart, 35, and five children, ranging in age from 10 months to 12 years, to Mercy Hospital.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 60-year-old man convicted of killing a Topeka woman in 1973 is up for parole.

The Kansas Prisoner Review Board is considering parole for James Elder, who was convicted of second-degree murder in the July 1973 slaying in Topeka of 23-year-old Barbara Butler. She was stabbed 23 times.

Elder was sentenced in Shawnee County to 15 years to life in prison.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Kansas has considered parole for Elder 19 times before. The state paroled Elder in 2005 but returned him to prison for violating parole in 2007. Elder then was considered for parole but denied in 2007 and 2012.

The board will accept public comments about the possible parole of any of 40 eligible inmates, including Elder on Sept. 18 in the Topeka Municipal Court chambers.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — The Better Business Bureau wants consumers to be cautious when making purchases at state fairs.

The Topeka Capital Journal reports the Better Business Bureau says it’s calling on the public to “exercise smart consumerism.”

The Kansas State Fair, along with the exhibits and contests, starts Friday and lasts for 10 days at the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson.

The Better Business Bureau says the Federal Trade Commission’s “cooling-off rule,” which lets consumers change their mind about purchases within three days, doesn’t apply to the state fair if the value of the item is less than $25, the goods and services aren’t primarily for personal, family or household purposes and if the purchase is of insurance, securities or real estate, motor vehicles or arts and crafts.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Data from a research center at Wichita State University shows economic misery was up slightly for Kansas in the second quarter of this year.

Data compiled by the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University shows the misery index for the state went from 4.44 in the first quarter to 4.46 in the second quarter because of a small increase in the unemployment rate.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports a lower number indicates greater economic comfort. The index measures changes in housing prices, inflation and unemployment.

Pattie Bradley, a senior research economist at CEDBR, says the theory is that people’s economic contentment is generally determined by whether they have jobs, if inflation is hurting their paychecks and how the value if their home is being affected.

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — Former Kansas Gov. John Carlin is among the speakers at a Kansas State lecture series.

The Manhattan Mercury reports Carlin is scheduled to speak Thursday at Kansas State Salina’s College Center on education in Kansas.

The presentation is part of the campus’s 50th anniversary celebration, which began last spring and wraps up with events Sept. 9-11. The Civic Lecture Series is free and open to the public.

Carlin was elected Kansas governor in 1979 and served until 1987. He’s a visiting professor and executive- in- residence with the university’s political science department and Staley School of Leadership Studies.

WICHITA- A Pittsburg, Kan., man was sentenced Thursday to 136 months in federal prison on federal firearms and drug charges, according to U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom.

James D. Russian, 57, Pittsburg, Kan., was convicted June 17 on one count of unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction, one count of unlawful possession of ammunition after a felony conviction, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

During trial, prosecutors presented evidence that on March 27, 2013, Russian led police on a car chase from Barton County, Mo., to Crawford County, Kan., when they tried to stop him to investigate a report he threatened two people with a machete and a gun.

Russian abandoned his car and hid in a wooded area before he was arrested. Investigators found marijuana, firearms and ammunition in his possession. Because of a prior felony conviction, Russian was prohibited by federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition.