WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A new government report shows the Kansas winter wheat crop is faring mostly well so far this winter. Cattle and sheep are also mostly in good shape.

The report released Monday by the National Agricultural Statistics Service comes after a month in which temperatures averaged six to eight degrees above normal across the eastern half of Kansas. Temperatures were closer to normal in the western half of the state in December.

Winter wheat condition is rated as 8 percent excellent and 46 percent good. About 38 percent is rated fair, 7 percent as poor and 1 percent as very poor.

Cattle and calf statewide are rated 6 percent in excellent and 63 percent in good condition, with 30 percent rated as fair. Just 1 percent are in poor condition.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Sedgwick County commissioners will try for the second time to sell or lease the former Judge Riddel Boys Ranch.

The county commission closed the home for troubled boys in 2014 after a dispute with the Legislature over funding to operate it.

The ranch provided educational and other social service programs for troubled juvenile boys.

County officials said Tuesday they will write a request for proposals for real estate developers and nonprofits to determine interest in the 38-acre property near Goddard.

The Wichita Eagle reports the county tried before to lease the ranch but did not receive any proposals. The property has sewer and air-conditioning problems and might not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The county hopes to have a draft request done by mid-February.

MANHATTAN -A Kansas man found guilty in November of attempted First-Degree murder and battery had his sentencing delayed on Tuesday.

A motion to continue the sentencing for Samuel Dartez, 31, Manhattan, was granted by Judge Stutzman Tuesday in Riley County District Court.

The defense requested the continuance for Samuel Dartez, 31, Manhattan, while they await a report from a psychologist, which could affect the sentencing.

Dartez refused to come out of his cell at the Riley County Detention Center Tuesday morning, failing to appear in person.

After granting the continuance Judge Stutzman explained that because the case was continued and they did not move forward with the sentencing, he will address Dartez’s absence when he next appears in court at 9 a.m. on January 29th.

Dartez was arrested on November 13, 2014, after the Riley County Police Department received a 911 call in reference to a domestic violence incident in the 600 block of Yuma Street in Manhattan.

A 27 year old woman was found at the Manhattan Public Library with multiple puncture wounds to her neck and face.

Later that day, Dartez was stopped by authorities in Morris County and after a standoff he was taken into custody. He was found guilty on November 19, following a four-day jury trial.

ATCHISON COUNTY -A Kansas boy has been released from the hospital after being hit by a truck Monday afternoon.

Atchison Police Chief Mike Wilson said the accident took place around 2:50 p.m. at the intersection of 5th Street and Santa Fe Monday as the 12-year-old boy was walking home from school.

He was hit making his way east on the crosswalk by a 2000 Chevy Pick up driven by John Van Dyke, 55, Atchison traveling southbound on 5th Street.

The boy was flown to a Kansas City hospital for treatment but has since been released.

Van Dyke was issued a municipal court citation for failure to exercise due care regarding pedestrians.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Conservative Republican legislators are preparing to push for huge changes in Kansas’ education system.

And other lawmakers warned Tuesday that a coming debate over funding could center on proposals they see as hostile to public K-12 schools.

Proposal under consideration include junking current standardized testing for students, turning over some school services to private companies and forgoing federal dollars to avoid federal education requirements.

A joint legislative committee set up to study what students should be learning and the best way to fund schools met briefly Tuesday to review a draft report from its Republican chairman. The report calls for overhauling how the state distributes more than $4 billion in aid annually to its 286 local school districts.

The committee tabled the report until at least later this month.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two counties are asking the state to reimburse them for legal expenses caused by sexually violent predators.

The fees stem from cases where the individuals challenge their confinement to the state’s Sexual Predator Treatment Program at Larned State Hospital.

Counties where the patients’ case originated must pay the legal costs. But in the past, the Attorney General’s office reimbursed the counties through a state fund. However, lawmakers didn’t appropriate any money for the fund during the current fiscal year.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports representatives from McPherson and Butler counties asked a legislative committee on Monday to reimburse their costs.

The committee can only recommend to the full Legislature whether to appropriate the funds to the counties.

GEARY COUNTY- A woman from Milford died in an accident just before 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday in Geary County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Chevy Impala driven by Gina M. Wertz, 31, Milford, was eastbound on 12th Street just east of Milford.

The driver failed to yield right of way at stop sign at U.S. 77.

A 2003 Toyota Tacoma driven by Cory I. Pettit, 39, Clay Center, that was southbound on U.S. 77, hit the Impala on the driver’s side.

Wertz was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics.

Pettit was transported to the Geary County Hospital.

Wertz was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
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GEARY COUNTY- The Critical Highway Accident Response Team from the Kansas Highway Patrol is responding to a fatal, two-vehicle crash on U.S. 77 near the Milford turnoff.

One person died in the accident just after 7a.m. on Tuesday and another was transported to Geary County Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to Geary County Emergency Management Director Garry Berges.

“We’re diverting traffic through Milford due to a fatality accident at the intersection,” said Berges.

Drivers using U.S. 77 are being diverted through the City of Milford, and then back either north or south.

Check Hays Post for additional details as they become available.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt is gathering data from local law enforcement agencies in an effort to measure the impact of Colorado-purchased marijuana on the state.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Schmidt has sent more than 500 survey forms requesting information to county and district attorneys, as well as police departments. He said he would make the survey results public when they are compiled later this year.

According to Schmidt, there are numerous accounts of marijuana being illegally brought into the state from Colorado. He says his goal is to get a clear picture of what’s happening in the state so “policymakers can make informed decisions.”

Kansas law still prohibits the possession or distribution of marijuana.