TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has partnered with federal agencies to try and ensure the security of the state’s voter database, as the FBI investigates security breaches in other states.

Kansas director of elections Bryan Caskey says he participated in a conference call last week with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and election officials from other states “about threats that had been collected at the national level concerning election systems.”

The Wichita Eagle reports that security breaches occurred earlier this summer in Arizona as well as in Illinois, when a hacker was able to see information on data about 200,000 registered voters.

According to Caskey, Kansas uses the same software vendor as Arizona for its voter database, but it has at least one significant layer of security above what Arizona has.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Federal labor authorities say a concrete company owned by members of a polygamous group is putting underage laborers to work for long hours in hazardous conditions with little pay on job sites around the country.

U.S. Department of Labor lawyers say in a case filed Tuesday that Utah-based Phaze Concrete put at least two boys ages 12 and 14 to work on job sites during school hours.

Investigators said they believe the company has pulled more teens from the group’s home base along the Utah-Arizona border during the last decade. Prosecutors say Phaze used child labor on jobs for companies like Scheels All Sports in Kansas, Wal-Mart in Missouri and Hobby Lobby in Nebraska.

Those companies did not immediately return messages seeking comment. A lawyer for Phaze, Blake Hamilton, said Wednesday the company hasn’t yet been served with the lawsuit and he couldn’t comment on the allegations.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has narrowed a lawsuit filed by a former employee of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office who claims she was fired for refusing to attend a bible study.

But Topeka attorney Gary Laughlin said Wednesday that U.S. District Judge Sam Crow’s order allows Courtney Canfield to pursue her most important religious discrimination claim.

Crow’s order Tuesday dismissed three of the lawsuit’s four claims.

Canfield worked in the secretary of state’s office for 9½ months in 2013 and alleges in the lawsuit that Assistant Secretary of State Eric Rucker ousted because she “just doesn’t go to church.”

Kobach has called the lawsuit baseless. His office has said Canfield was terminated over job performance issues. Kobach did not immediately a telephone message seeking comment Wednesday.

By The Associated Press

East Carolina is out of the Big 12’s expansion derby.

School officials said Wednesday they have been told by the league that it’s no longer considering the Pirates for membership. School spokesman Tom McClellan says Commissioner Bob Bowlsby notified Chancellor Cecil Staton of the league’s decision Tuesday by phone.

Athletic director Jeff Compher says it’s “obviously not the decision we were hoping for,” but expressed satisfaction that “we were able to tell our story to not only the Big 12, but the entire nation.”

East Carolina is beginning its third season in the American Athletic Conference after winning two Conference USA championships in football in the 2000s.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback is making a point of soliciting opinions and ideas from educators, parents and others on school funding.

Brownback had a news conference Wednesday to call for ideas and announce that he’s urging groups and individuals to email their comments or proposals. He also sent a letter to more than 50 school districts and organizations.

Brownback is asking people to submit their comments by Nov. 30.

 

The time for education reform is now. I invite educators to join me in building a new funding system. #ksleg #ksed pic.twitter.com/N1Ac2YPJSN

— Sam Brownback (@govsambrownback) August 31, 2016

 

The Republican governor and the GOP-controlled Legislature expect to write a new school funding formula next year.

A group of Kansas school administrators has been working for months on a plan and unveiled its outlines Wednesday during a forum.

The proposal would strip local school districts of their taxing powers and set a single statewide property tax for schools.

 

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A group of Kansas school administrators has outlined a school funding plan that is a radical departure from past policy.

The plan outlined Wednesday would do away with a system of allowing districts to raise extra money beyond what the state provides. Instead the state would have a single property tax that, along with state aid, would cover districts’ operating costs.

It was drafted by about 30 administrators and presented during a Kansas Association of School Boards forum. Kansas lawmakers in 2015 junked a per-pupil funding formula in favor of stable block grants for districts.

Under the proposed funding system, local districts would no longer set their own property tax levies for schools. The plan also would return the state to a per-pupil funding system.

The Republican governor was joined at his event by Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson and State Board of Education Chairman Jim McNiece.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – Gov. Sam Brownback is preparing to outline his plans for soliciting opinions from Kansas educators about how to rewrite the state’s school funding laws.

Brownback was having a Wednesday afternoon news conference as dozens of local education officials gathered in Topeka for a forum on school funding sponsored by the Kansas Association of School Boards.

The GOP-dominated Legislature’s leaders anticipate writing a new school funding formula next year.

The Kansas Supreme Court plans to hear arguments from attorneys Sept. 21 on whether the state’s $4 billion-plus in annual aid to public schools is adequate. The court is considering a lawsuit filed by four districts in 2010.

HUTCHINSON – Just after 2 p.m. on Wednesday the jury in the trial for a Kansas teen accused of the murder of his mother and sister found Sam Vonachen guilty on all counts including First Degree Murder, Attempted Murder and Aggravated Arson.

Vonachen used gasoline to ignite his family’s Hutchinson home in September 2013 when he was 14. The blaze killed 11-year-old Audrey Vonachen and their mother, 47-year-old Karla Jo Vonachen. His father escaped.

Sentencing in the case is scheduled for September 30.

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HUTCHINSON- The trial for a Kansas teen accused of the murder of his mother and sister is now in the hands of the jury.

Just before 11 a.m. on Wednesday, the jury got the case against Samuel Vonachen after both sides gave closing arguments.

The state again argued that this was a premeditated act with the defendant waiting for his parents and sister to go to bed, then went to the garage and grabbed a gas can and poured gas in a U shape around the stairs twice and set it on fire.

The state believes it was premeditated because Vanochen took the time to bring personal belongings out prior to setting the fire, including his base guitar and a blanket.

The defense argues that Vanochen suffered mental disease and defect. Attorneys showed the jury a video of Vanochen allegedly having a conversation with himself, but also asking an officer while in a police vehicle if anyone was hurt in the fire. They claim he suffered with disassociation disorder at the time the fire was set.

Prior to the closing the two sides argued over jury instructions and the defense argued for a reconsideration of a judgment of acquittal, which was denied.

They also asked for dismissal of the case claiming prosecutorial misconduct. Judge Trish Rose again denied the request.