SALINE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a convicted Kansas felon for alleged child sex crimes.

Just after 11p.m. Saturday, police responded to report from a parent involving inappropriate behavior with a 31-year-old man and two children under the age of 10 at a Salina home, according to police Sgt. James Feldman.

Police arrested Charles Ferris Jr., of Salina for the alleged crime of aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

Ferris has previous convictions in Saline County for theft, burglary and criminal trespass.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities arrested a man for alleged battery of a police horse.

According to officer Charley Davidson, police arrested a 36-year-old man at the end of Riverfest activities in Wichita Saturday night.  As crowds were leaving police arrested the man in the 300 Block of west Douglas after he slapped a mounted unit horse in the nose.

The man was booked on requested charges of battery of a police animal, according to Davidson. The horse was not injured.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A state board says a Kansas congressman’s title will appear on the Republican primary ballot to distinguish him from a challenger with the same first and last names.

The State Objections Board decided Monday that GOP voters in the 4th District in the Wichita area will choose between Rep. Ron Estes and Ron M. Estes. Both are from Wichita.

The secretary of state’s office devised the plan. But Democratic candidate Laura Lombard objected and said the listing would give the congressman an unfair advantage in the Aug. 7 primary.

But the all-GOP board led by Secretary of State Kris Kobach concluded that trying to distinguish the candidates by middle initials still would prove too confusing to voters.

The challenger did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

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MCPHERSON, Kan. — Around 12:25 a.m. Monday, McPherson Police were dispatched to the Mustang Mobile Home Park on the report of gunshots being fired. When they arrived on the scene, officers located the body of a deceased white male who suffered apparent gunshot wounds. His body was found in an empty lot.

The KBI is now assisting McPherson Police with the investigation.

An autopsy on the man is expected to happen at the Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center in Wichita.

No additional information has been released and no arrest has been made.

Anyone with information is asked to call McPherson Police.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A new government report shows the winter wheat harvest has begun in Kansas amid poor prospects for much of this season’s crop.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday that 2 percent of the wheat in the state has been cut. About 29 percent of the wheat in Kansas is now mature.

The agency pegged 47 percent of the crop as poor to very poor condition, while 37 percent rated as fair. About 15 percent is in good and 1 percent in excellent shape.

Much of the wheat ready for harvest is in south central Kansas where 64 percent has matured. Southeastern Kansas is close behind at 61 percent maturity. But wheat is also rapidly ripening in central Kansas as well with 42 percent of the crop at maturity.

MANHATTAN, KAN. – Law enforcement authorities have investigated reports of an attempted abduction.

Just before 9:30 p.m. Saturday, a story was posted on a Manhattan man’s personal Facebook page claiming there was an attempted child abduction at the Wal-Mart in Manhattan, Kansas. The post, which contained a picture of a woman and her license plate, was shared over 11,000 times.

In a media release, the Riley County Police Department would like to assure the citizens that we take all incidents like this seriously. We heard from several concerned citizens questioning the situation and our response. After a thorough investigation, it was determined the claims made were unsubstantiated and the attempted abduction did not occur. The woman pictured in the post did not commit any crimes and was wrongly labeled as a suspect by the poster.

After showing video evidence to the alleged victims, they wanted to do the right thing and apologize for the unnecessary hysteria caused by the post.

“”Several days ago my wife and her sister were shopping with our two sons at Walmart,” Joshua Hatley said. “In the course of their shopping, my sister in law claimed there was an incident involving another woman attempting to abduct our youngest child. As a result of the circumstances at the time, we believed this to be true, as my wife did not see the events unfold with her own eyes. This was shared as a warning post on Facebook, and quickly went viral.

 We have remained on top of this issue, and after conferring with detectives at RCPD and viewing security footage from the event, we have determined there was never any real danger to our sons, or the general public, and that our relative misrepresented what truly happened to us, and to management.

The woman involved, and her family, are completely innocent and we would like to apologize to them. We believed there was real danger present, and did what we thought was necessary to help mitigate the issue. We are truly sorry for any damage that may have been caused by this event, and we hope you understand that there was no malicious or ill intent behind our actions; we only wished to make sure children were safe from a perceived threat. We have spoken with an attorney and learned that we are unable to pursue anything legally, and that the victim must do this. If you choose to do so, we will fully support you in accumulating any evidence we have access to, and we are incredibly sorry for anything negative that has happened as a result of this.”

If you ever experience a situation where you feel you or your child is in danger, please call 911 immediately. Child abductions and attempts should be reported directly to police. Sharing stories on social media that are not verified can cause undue hardship for the people labeled as suspects who may have done nothing wrong. RCPD prides itself on our relationship with the citizens we serve in-person and on our social pages. We will continue to build relationships with our community through open, transparent release of information and exchange.

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RILEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities have investigated reports of an attempted abduction.

Riley County Police reported they were aware of a post on Facebook being shared about an attempted abduction at the Walmart in Manhattan.

RCPD was never notified of the incident but was sent the Facebook post by several concerned citizens. The Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to the post by Walmart.

They investigated the claims and found the reports to be unsubstantiated.

Police reported, “we understand the fear that can be caused by reports of unknown people trying to snatch children.

We wanted to let the public know that the claims were unfounded. If you ever do experience a situation like what was described, please call law enforcement immediately. Child abduction is not a joking matter and should be reported directly to police and deputies.

Also, remember that in our social media driven world, that sharing stories on social media that are not verified can cause undue hardship for the people labeled as suspects who may have done nothing wrong.”

TOPEKA – A federal district court has prohibited the federal government from implementing the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule in Kansas, according to Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

The WOTUS rule, which sought to vastly expand the definition of “waters of the United States” to include ditches, ponds, and wetlands in order to more aggressively regulate private land use under the authority of the federal Clean Water Act, has faced numerous legal challenges since it was finalized by the Obama Administration in 2015. Kansas filed a lawsuit seeking to block the implementation of the rule the day after it was announced, but the litigation was delayed by a legal dispute over jurisdiction that ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Earlier this year, Kansas won the jurisdiction argument in the Supreme Court, but in the interim the Trump Administration assumed office and announced it was delaying WOTUS until 2020 with the intention to revise it.

Still, in light of multiple challenges by supporters of the 2015 rule to block the Trump Administration plans to change the rule, Kansas pressed ahead with its lawsuit.

“This injunction ensures that the Obama-era WOTUS rule will not be implemented in Kansas,” Schmidt said. “Even if the federal government changes its mind or if other courts reject the government’s decision to delay WOTUS until 2020, Kansas will be protected. This injunction brings certainty to farmers, ranchers, small businesses, and other private property owners.”

In entering the injunction, Federal District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood rejected the federal government’s assertion that its delay of WOTUS until 2020 made the injunction unnecessary.

“[I]f the WOTUS Rule becomes effective before a final decision on the merits is rendered, farmers, homeowners, and small businesses will need to devote time and expense to obtaining federal permits—all to comply with a rule that is likely to be invalidated,” she wrote.

By STEPHAN BISAHA

The three top Democratic candidates for governor debated in Wichita on Friday evening.

Laura Kelly, Carl Brewer and Josh Svaty participated at the event held in The Lux apartment building and venue space in downtown Wichita.

About halfway through the debate, Brewer said Kansas should look into requiring businesses that receive incentives from the state to provide equal pay for women and minorities.

“If you’re investing my dollars, are you doing it in a fair and equitable way where everyone has a fair opportunity to grow?” Brewer said. “We must go out and create an environment that’s welcoming to everyone.”

When the question of concealed carry came up, Kelly said that while she voted for constitutional carry in 2015, that law has now gone too far. Kelly said she has since worked to roll back what she called “loose ends” from the bill by voting to ban guns on school campuses and in public hospitals.

Svaty criticized Kelly for her initial vote.

“We lost common sense with Kansas gun laws when constitutional carry passed,” Svaty said. “We should have stopped this when we had the chance in 2015, and we needed Democrats that knew that then.”

One of the biggest cheers of the night came when Kelly responded to moderator Brett Harris’ question on how to make sure underrepresented groups, such as minorities and single women, have an equal opportunity to vote.

“Beat Kris Kobach,” Kelly said.

Stephan Bisaha reports on education for the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @SteveBisaha. Kansas