TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has seen faster growth among unaffiliated voters than among Republicans and Democrats.

The secretary of state’s office said Thursday that Kansas has a record 1.81 million registered voters for next week’s presidential election. The figure is 2.3 percent higher than the 1.77 million voters for the last presidential election in 2012.

The GOP remains the state’s largest party. It has more than 805,000 voters, or 44.4 percent. GOP numbers grew by 1.9 percent in four years.

Democrats have 449,000 voters, or 24.8 percent. Their numbers grew 0.7 percent.

Kansas has 542,000 unaffiliated voters, or 29.9 percent of the total. Their numbers grew 3.9 percent.

Libertarians had the biggest surge with their numbers up 36.2 percent. But with 15,500 voters, they’re still less than 1 percent of the total.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed expanding the use a new version of a popular weed killer on genetically modified crops.

Environmentalists are outraged with the proposal to increase the number of states that could use Enlist Duo from 15 to 34. The weed killer is a combination of glyphosate and an updated version of an older herbicide named 2,4-D.

They note the EPA took steps to withdraw approval of Enlist in 2015 after receiving new information. But the EPA said in a statement this week that a review found Enlist doesn’t “show any increased toxicity to plants.”

A senior attorney with the Center for Food Safety accused the EPA of “capitulation to the agrichemical industry.”

The Dow Chemical Company said in a statement Thursday that the company is “pleased.”

PAWNEE, Okla. (AP) — Oil and natural gas regulators in Oklahoma are ordering the operators of 70 disposal wells to either shut them down or reduce disposal volumes after a 4.5 magnitude earthquake shook northern Oklahoma and was felt across Kansas and adjacent states.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission said Thursday the new guidelines affect 38 disposal wells within 15 miles of the quake’s epicenter that are under its jurisdiction and another 32 wells under the sole jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The earthquake was recorded Tuesday night in the Pawnee area, where a record-setting 5.8 magnitude quake struck two months ago. The commission says 15 wells included in its latest directive were ordered closed following the Sept. 3 quake.

Scientists have linked Oklahoma’s increase in earthquakes to the underground disposal of wastewater from oil and gas production.

WICHITA -The U.S. Figure Skating Midwestern and Pacific Coast Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships will be hosted at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita January 24-28 of 2018.

The competitors are scheduled to hold practices at the Wichita Ice Center, 505 West Maple, in Wichita.

Hundreds of figure skaters from across the country are expected to participate.

More details will be released soon.

 

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Secretary of State Kris Kobach is predicting that a record number of Kansas voters will cast ballots in Tuesday’s election.

Kobach said Thursday that he is projecting that more than 1.3 million of the state’s 1.8 million registered voters will participate. He said heavy advance voting is a sign.

He is forecasting a 72 percent turnout. It would be the highest percentage since the 74.7 percent seen in 1996, when Kansas had far fewer registered voters.

Kobach said high interest in this year’s presidential race is driving turnout. The Republican secretary of state was an early supporter of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and believes Trump is attracting new voters.

Kansas Democratic Party Executive Director Heather Scanlon said Trump is also turning out people to vote against him.

OTTAWA COUNTY – A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just after 10a.m. on Thursday in Ottawa County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Freightliner semi driven by Kyle Lee Wolfe, 21, Minneapolis, was eastbound on Volunteer Road five miles east of Delphos.

The driver failed to yield and struck a 2016 Ford passenger car driven by Kendra Ann Lawson, 24, Salina, that was northbound on U.S.81.

Lawson was transported to Salina Regional Medical Center.

Wolfe was not injured.
Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

By JIM MCLEAN

New campaign finance reports are calling into question Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s insistence that he’s not involved in an effort to oust several Kansas Supreme Court justices.

Reports filed this week show that Brownback’s Road Map PAC contributed $65,000 to Kansans for Life in September and October, bringing the total since the first of the year to $110,300.

The contributions from the governor’s political action committee are by far the largest given to the nonprofit anti-abortion organization helping to spearhead an effort to defeat four of the five Kansas Supreme Court justices up for retention in next week’s election.

Brownback said the donations are not evidence that he has gone back on his pledge to stay out of the retention fight.

“I’ve helped and given some funds to Kansans for Life over multiple campaign cycles,” he said.

Questioned by reporters at an event Tuesday in Topeka, Brownback said he intended his contributions to be used for “pro-life causes,” not the retention battle.

But others say the donations and PAC money spent on consultant salaries show that the governor and others close to him are deeply involved in the anti-retention campaign.

“What’s important is not to listen to his words but to look at his actions,” said Ryan Wright, the executive director of Kansans for Fair Courts, a nonprofit advocacy organization working to retain the justices.

The Kansans for Life donations and payments to former members of his campaign now working on the ouster effort demonstrate Brownback’s commitment to its objectives, Wright said. “We know this governor has been raising money for anti-retention efforts,” Wright said. “If you look at the actions, that tells you everything you need to know.”

As a 501 (c)(4) organization, Kansans for Life isn’t obligated to disclose how it is spending the money contributed by Brownback’s PAC. But Mary Kay Culp, the organization’s executive director, told the Wichita Eagle that the funds would be used for the anti-retention campaign, which is being waged under the banner “Better Judges for Kansas”.

Anti-abortion advocates oppose the retention of Chief Justice Lawton Nuss, Justice Marla Luckert, Justice Dan Biles and Justice Carol Beier because they fear they will vote to uphold a lower court decision to block implementation of a law banning the common second trimester procedure of dilation and evacuation that opponents refer to as “dismemberment” abortion.

Voter guides being distributed by Kansans for Life and several other organizations in churches across the state instruct parishioners to vote “no” on those four justices and “yes” on Justice Caleb Stegall, who was appointed by Brownback in 2014.

Another advocacy group, Kansans for Justice, is calling for the ouster of the same four justices but for different reasons. The group represents the families of murder victims upset by the court’s decisions to overturn death sentences. It had spent nearly $280,000 on television ads as of last week, according to the Center for Public Integrity.

Kansans for Fair Courts, Wright’s group, had spent almost $223,000.

Jim McLean is executive editor of KHI News Service, which is a partner in a statewide collaboration covering elections in Kansas. Follow Jim on Twitter @jmckhi.