RENO COUNTY— After Wednesday preliminary hearing, a Kansas man will face trial for two counts of aggravated assault and criminal threat.

Police say on June 25, Benito Montalbo, 30, got into a confrontation with two individuals after one of them allegedly told him to slow down as he was driving by in Nickerson.

Montalbo allegedly pulled a knife and threatened others with it. He’s also alleged to have threatened to come back later with a gun.

He’s been on corrections for drug-related charges, as well as driving while suspended.

He is scheduled for arraignment on the charges next week.

BROWN COUNTY- A Kansas man was sentenced to 14 years in prison on Wednesday for his conviction on 14 misdemeanor counts of harassment.

A Brown County judge suspended all but 18 months of the sentence.

On November 2, Gary Vigil, Highland, pleaded no contest on to 14 misdemeanor counts of harassment by telecommunications device.

Investigators from the Hiawatha Police say Vigil harassed numerous victims across the country. Some of the calls involved impersonating family members and calling people to ask for help.

Vigil was arrested in July.

Magistrate Roy Roper ordered the maximum, one-year sentence on each of the 14 counts. A defense lawyer asked for probation, but Judge Roper insisted that Vigil serve 18 months of the sentence before being released on probation. He must serve 24 months probation after his release, according to court records.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to eight years and four months in prison in the fatal shooting death of a Wichita concrete company worker.

The Wichita Eagle reports that 43-year-old Deon Nolan Hale was sentenced Wednesday for voluntary manslaughter in the death of Efren Antonio Villarreal-Alvarado.

Authorities have said robbery motivated the February 2014 shooting of the 43-year-old as he sat in his truck.

The sentence imposed was the maximum allowable. But the victim’s ex-wife, Dawn Villarreal, said it was too short and that “the system as failed us.” Another man, Donnie Lalonde, was sentenced previously to 24 years in the killing.

The homicide conviction is the second for Hale, who also goes by Auriel Huntstwobears. The first was second-degree reckless murder for a 1997 killing in Douglas County.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Records show a Sedgwick County payment of over half a million dollars that didn’t reach the intended company has triggered a fraud investigation.

The county made a payment of about $566,000 to Wichita construction company Cornejo & Sons on Oct. 7. Sedgwick County spokeswoman Kate Flavin says the payment went through an automated clearing house, but never reached Cornejo.

County staff didn’t realize what happened until Oct. 25.

The county sent another check to Cornejo & Sons on Oct. 26, which was cashed.

The newspaper says deputy chief financial officer Rick Durham reported to the sheriff the county was a victim of theft by deception.

It’s unclear where the first payment went, and county officials wouldn’t say if the money has been recovered.

The company declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Topeka Zoo is celebrating the birth of a Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the sloth named Newt was born Wednesday morning. Zoo staff hasn’t determined Newt’s gender.

Zoo director Brendan Wiley says it’s difficult to know a newborn sloth’s gender without a physical examination, and staff plans to not disturb Newt and the mother unless there is a medical concern.

Newt is offspring number fourteen of its mother 26-year-old Jackie.

Hoffmann’s Two-toed sloths are native to a small area of Central and South America. They are threatened by deforestation.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Police say four people were involved in a standoff with officers at a Kansas City house linked to a robbery suspect who was fatally shot by an officer.

Police say the man was killed Wednesday afternoon as he reached for a gun. He was a suspect in several robberies and told police he was armed and ready for a shootout if officers tried to arrest him.

Officers later converged on a nearby home where the man was earlier seen. Six occupants voluntarily left the house, but four more held out for six hours. Police say all 10 were eventually taken into custody for questioning.

Police have not explained the connection between the dead suspect and the occupants of the house. They have released no details of possible charges against any of the 10 who were questioned.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A former Haskell Indian Nations University student accused of rape has pleaded no contest to a lesser charge.

Jared Wheeler entered the plea to aggravated battery last week and faces a maximum of less than three years in prison.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports Wheeler originally was charged with two counts of rape and one count of aggravated criminal sodomy.

Wheeler and another former Haskell student, Galen Satoe, were charged with raping a 19-year-old freshman in a dormitory room in November 2014.

Mistrials were declared in both men’s trials this summer after juries could not agree on a verdict.

Satoe still faces trial in February on two counts of rape and a count of aiding and abetting attempted rape.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas hit its new, more pessimistic revenue projections for November, with tax collections exceeding estimates by $1.4 million.

But the report Thursday from the state Department of Revenue did not significantly alter the state’s gloomy budget picture. It still faces a projected shortfall of more than $345 million for the current fiscal year that began July 1.

The state expected to collect $399.9 million in taxes in November and collected $401.3 million. The surplus was 0.3 percent.

It was the first monthly report on tax collections since officials slashed the state’s official revenue projections three weeks ago to reflect their pessimism about the economy.

Tax collections last met expectations in April after forecasters issued the previous revenue projections. They’ve fallen short of expectations 10 of the past 12 months.