WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities in southern Kansas’ Sedgwick County say human remains have been found in a farm field just outside of Wichita’s city limits.

Sheriff’s Lt. Lin Dehning says the remains were found shortly before 3:30 p.m. Monday by the property owner while he was mowing.

Dehning says that it’s too early to tell the age and gender of the person whose remains were found, or whether any foul play was involved.

Dehning says the effort to identify the remains continues.

No additional details were available.

RENO COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities investigating an injury accident in Reno County.

Just after 2a.m. Monday deputies were dispatched to an accident involving a vehicle and pedestrian on Kansas 96 at Kent Road, according to the Reno County Sheriff’s Department.

Upon arrival deputies found a man identified as Daniel Earl Newburn, 30, Hutchinson, lying in the center of Kansas 96.

He had been walking across the highway when he was struck by a vehicle traveling south on K-96.

The driver identified as Edward Syres, Hutchinson, stated that he did not see the man in the roadway until it was too late. The driver attempted to swerve to miss him but struck him with the front driver side of the vehicle.

K-96 north and south were both shut down to allow for Life Team to land. They flew the victim to Wesley Medical Center.

Both the driver and his passenger were wearing their seat belts during the time of the accident. Neither of them sustained any injuries and were able to drive the vehicle from the scene of the accident.

Officials had no new information on Newburn’s condition late Monday.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Former NBA player Drew Gooden has graduated from the University of Kansas, 14 years after leaving early to play professional basketball.

The Kansas City Star  reports the 35-year-old graduated Sunday after completing his bachelor’s degree in communication studies.

The forward left school as a junior in 2002, and was chosen fourth overall in that year’s draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. He last played for the Washington Wizards in 2015-16. He averaged 11 points and 7 rebounds per game during his career.

Gooden says finishing his degree “is something I said I’d do and something I really wanted to do.” Gooden says he’s looking into getting his master’s degree and plans to send a copy of his diploma to former university head coach Roy Williams.

Several athletics department officials greeted Gooden on Sunday, including head basketball coach Bill Self. Some of his former college teammates also attended.

By SAM ZEFF

When Kansas lawmakers started this legislative session in January, most agreed that comity was back, partnerships would be forged and work would get done.

That was then and this is now.

A trio of challenges remain as the Legislature on Sunday passed the 90-day mark in its session: a budget, a tax plan and a school funding formula.

But school funding is a special problem because anything the Legislature comes up with must pass muster with the Kansas Supreme Court. Educators and many lawmakers hoped most of the work on a new school funding plan would be done by now or even before first adjournment a month ago.

“I think I was optimistic at first adjournment,” says Democratic Rep. Brett Parker, a freshman legislator from Overland Park who teaches in the Olathe school district. “The last week was a little disheartening.”

Disheartening because the K-12 Budget Committee, which has been working all session on a plan, has yet to kick out a bill. Chairman Larry Campbell, a Republican from Olathe, promised a bill before the Legislature’s three-week break in April.

The committee twice has failed to pass out a bill since lawmakers returned May 1, with its latest attempt failing Friday. Campbell again promises a completed bill and vote Monday.

But school funding has a long, hard road ahead.

In its current form, the plan would add $750 million in new money over five years. Many, but not all, members of the committee think that would be enough to satisfy the high court.

The measure also restores much of the old formula that was scrapped for the block grant scheme that the courts found unconstitutional.

After the bill leaves committee, it will head to the House floor where a long and perhaps contentious debate awaits it. Some members are expected to try to get more money to school districts sooner.

For example, while many educators and lawmakers seem mostly content with an additional $750 million, they think the state Supreme Court would have trouble with the five-year time frame. Debate may focus on providing that extra money over two or three years.

The House as a whole generally is seen as a bit more progressive than the K-12 Committee.

“If we get it on the floor, there’s a strong coalition to get a bill that’s acceptable” to moderates and Democrats, says Parker.

Indeed, Jeff King, a lawyer and former senator from Independence hired to advise the Legislature, has said the justices will see more money as better.

King also has stressed that whatever amount the Legislature provides, it might be more important to make sure it’s backed by a reliable funding stream.

“Funding that occurs today, next year, two years is more certain by definition than funding that occurs in five or six years,” King told the K-12 Committee in early May.

That’s something he also has said to state Senators who are writing a funding plan. So far they’ve made little progress and seem to be waiting for a final House bill to come over.

However, Senate leaders have suggested that the Legislature could put a lot less money into the formula and still have it gain the court’s approval.

Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning from Overland Park floated an idea Friday that would add more than $150 million in the first year and then increase every year according to the Midwest Consumer Price Index.

Denning also has suggested a surcharge on utility bills that would raise about $150 million a year.

But that reliable source of funding King has talked so much about has so far been elusive.

“I have not seen a tax plan, or heard of a tax plan, that is that robust,” Sen. John Skubal, a Republican from Overland Park, said on the Statehouse Blend Kansas podcast. “We have to have a source to make these payments.”

A couple of other sources also have been suggested, including tax increases on tobacco and alcohol.

That doesn’t sit well with many senators, including Republican Sen. John Doll from Garden City.

“Any time you take a subset of people and put the burden of them funding education, I can’t support that,” he said on Statehouse Blend Kansas.

Sam Zeff covers education for KCUR.org and the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @SamZeff.