MERIDEN, Kan. (AP) — The owner of a Topeka-area auto body and restoration shop says it was “brutal” watching his business burn, knowing that six classic cars inside the building were destroyed.

High Torque Racing Auto Body and Paint in Meriden was destroyed in the fire early Wednesday.

The company owner, Mike Garrison, said the fire destroyed a 1967 Buick GS-400 convertible, one of only 421 ever built. Other cars included a ’69 Camaro convertible Restomod, a 1957 Chevy and a 1972 convertible.

Garrison says he hopes his insurance is enough to cover a claim that could reach $1 million. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

He says he plans to rebuild the Meriden business.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Two teenagers were each sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison for beating a man with a baseball bat and stealing about $20, two guns and some food.

The man, Horace Johnson, was beaten in May of last year in his Wichita home and remains in a coma. Police say a relative found him unconscious on the floor, likely two days after he was attacked.

The family went to the home after police found Johnson’s car abandoned and couldn’t reach him.

District Attorney Marc Bennett says 16-year-old Jalen Oliver and 17-year-old Matthew Florez-Duran broke into Johnson’s home, robbed him and beat him in the head with the bat several times.

The teenagers were prosecuted as adults for attempted first-degree murder.

Florez-Duran was sentenced Wednesday. Oliver was sentenced two weeks ago.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement are investigating a robbery and asking for help to identify a suspect.

Just before 9p.m. Tuesday, deputies received a call of a robbery at the Viking BP, 4700 NW Hunters Ridge in Topeka, according to Sgt. Todd Staulbaumer.

Upon arrival deputies were told a white male, approximately 6-foot1, thin build, early 20’s, dressed in black with his face covered, entered the store and demanded money.

No weapon was displayed. The subject left the store and fled to the northeast.   A K-9 officer checked the area but lost the trail in the Hunters Ridge Apartment Complex parking lot.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007 or Detective Kevin Kasl 785-251-2248

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal Tuesday morning shooting and have identified the teen victim.

Just before 2:30a.m. police were dispatched to a shooting call in the 1600 Block of South Estelle in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson. When officers arrived they located an 18-year-old girl identified Wednesday as Myranda Keck.with a single gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Davidson.

The teen’s 40-year-old mother and her 18-year-old boyfriend were also in the vehicle. Investigators determined the three had just arrived home and parked the car in the street when an unknown suspect drove by and fired multiple shots that hit the teen. The mother and boyfriend were not injured.

Police don’t have a description of the suspects or their vehicle.

This is the fourth homicide in Wichita this year. Anyone with information is asked to call police.

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SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal Tuesday morning shooting.

Just before 2:30a.m. police were dispatched to a shooting call in the 1600 Block of South Estelle in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson. When officers arrived they located an 18-year-old girl with a single gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Davidson.

The teen’s 40-year-old mother and her 18-year-old boyfriend were also in the vehicle.  Investigators determined the three had just arrived home and parked the car in the street when an unknown suspect drove by and fired multiple shots that hit the teen.  The mother and boyfriend were not injured.

Police don’t have a description of the suspects or their vehicle.

This is the fourth homicide in Wichita this year. Anyone with information is asked to call police.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Jeff Colyer called Wednesday for an amendment to the Kansas Constitution to protect the state’s abortion restrictions and told legislators he doesn’t support increasing taxes to provide more funding for public schools.

During his first major policy speech, the new Republican also said he plans to issue executive orders to lower the cost of obtaining state records and make more information about agency meetings and operations available online.

Colyer discussed public school funding, abortion, transparency and other issues during an address to a joint session of the Kansas House and Senate that was widely seen as a follow-up to the State of the State address last month by former GOP Gov. Sam Brownback. Colyer, formerly lieutenant governor, replaced Brownback when Brownback resigned last week to become U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.

“These are times that set history for the next century,” Colyer told legislators. “I believe our best days are ahead of us.”

Colyer and lawmakers must respond to a Kansas Supreme Court mandate to increase spending on public schools. The court ruled in October that the more than $4 billion a year the state provides in aid to its 286 school districts is insufficient under the state constitution, even with an increase approved last year.

Brownback proposed phasing in an additional $513 million increase in aid over five years, relying only on growth in state revenues to cover the cost. Many Republican legislators considered the plan financially reckless, arguing that the state won’t be able to sustain the extra spending without a tax increase or deep cuts elsewhere in the budget.

Many legislators went into Wednesday’s speech looking for Colyer to outline a detailed position on school funding. He said he will sign legislation that phases in an increase in spending on schools “that doesn’t increase the tax burden on Kansas families.”

His call for a state constitutional amendment on abortion is a response to another case before the Kansas Supreme Court. Two abortion providers are challenging a 2015 state law that enacted the nation’s first ban on a common second-trimester procedure that critics call “dismemberment abortion.” A trial court judge ruled that the state constitution protects abortion rights independently of the U.S. Constitution — creating the possibility that state courts could strike down restrictions that the federal courts permit.

“This is violence against basic facts,” Colyer said. “This cannot stand.”

Colyer told reporters last week that he would roll out proposals designed to make state government more open, without providing specifics. Lawmakers already are working on a raft of proposals to strengthen lobbying, ethics and open-government laws, including one bill reviewed by a committee Wednesday that would require all legislative committee meetings to televised, starting in 2020.

The governor scheduled a Thursday news conference to formally issue his executive orders on transparency.

He said one would allow Kansas residents and groups seeking government documents to obtain the first 100 pages free, while another would limit officials’ use of private email when doing state business. Colyer also plans to establish a website where information about government meetings and associated documents will be posted and to set performance goals for state agencies, with data their progress available to the public.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer is expected to outline proposals for making state government more transparent during an address to the Legislature, and lawmakers are hoping he also spells out where he stands on public school funding.

The new Republican governor was scheduled to speak Wednesday afternoon to a joint session of the House and Senate. His first major policy speech is widely viewed as his follow-up to the State of the State address from former GOP Gov. Sam Brownback last month.

Colyer, formerly lieutenant governor, replaced Brownback last week when Brownback resigned to become U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. Lawmakers are hoping for “more than just simple platitudes,” said state Rep. Melissa Rooker, a moderate Fairway Republican.

Senate President Susan Wagle, a conservative Wichita Republican, added: “Everyone is going to want to know exactly where he stands on school finance.”

Colyer told reporters last week that he would roll out proposals designed to make state government more open, without providing specifics. Lawmakers already are working on a raft of proposals to strengthen lobbying, ethics and open-government laws.

But Colyer and lawmakers also must respond to a Kansas Supreme Court mandate to increase spending on public schools. The court ruled in October that the more than $4 billion a year the state provides in aid to its 286 school districts is insufficient under the state constitution, even with an increase approved last year.

Brownback proposed phasing in an additional $513 million increase in aid over five years, relying only on growth in state revenues to cover the cost. Many Republican legislators considered the plan financially reckless, arguing that the state won’t be able to sustain the extra spending without a tax increase or deep cuts elsewhere in the budget.

“We have been delivered a budget that’s underwater in two years, and, so if he’d like to make corrections to that, we’d be very appreciative,” Wagle said.

Democratic state Rep. John Alcala, of Topeka, said he’s looking for signs that Colyer is willing to work with Democrats on issues such as school funding and expanding the state’s Medicaid program to provide health coverage to up to 180,000 more poor adults. Colyer has opposed Medicaid expansion.

“I have my doubts because he’s been a bystander, locked in step with Brownback for a long period of time,” Alcala said.t