TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday upheld the conviction and sentence for a 32-year-old Pratt County man convicted of aggravated criminal sodomy.

Dashaun Howling challenged his conviction by attacking the district court’s admission of videotaped testimony of the child, testimony about that interview and the sufficiency of the evidence. But, the state high court ruled in favor of the district court’s decision to admit the evidence. The court rejected Howling’s argument that the evidence presented was insufficient to support the conviction.

He was originally charged with rape and aggravated criminal sodomy based on allegations made by his then 4-year-old daughter. It happened when the child spent the night with Howling on June 20, 2015.

A jury found him guilty of the sodomy count, but not guilty of the rape charge.

He’s serving the life sentence out of state, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections website.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas prosecutor has charged a man with premeditated first-degree murder in the stabbing death of another man in Topeka.

Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay announced the charge Friday against 40-year-old Andrew Timothy Evans. Evans is being held in the Shawnee County Jail on a $1 million bond in the Sept. 1 death of 41-year-old Raymond Lee Smith.

Police say Smith was found suffering from life-threatening injuries in a Topeka house. He was pronounced dead by medical personnel.

Topeka, KS. – The Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team comprised of members from multiple Kansas agencies was released from its deployment in North Carolina Saturday morning and is now traveling home after assisting in Hurricane Dorian response efforts. The team was expected back in Kansas Sunday afternoon, according to a media release from the State Fire Marshal.

Initially, Kansas Task Force 1 (KS-TF1) rostered a team of 42 first responders from across the Kansas to assist with operations in Florida as catastrophic Hurricane Dorian made its way toward the east coast of the US. However, after the storm turned north, and continued to barrel toward the Carolinas, they were requested for deployment in North Carolina. The team left Kansas last Monday for Florida, arrived in Florida on Tuesday, and by Thursday, they were headed to North Carolina.

“I am so proud of the quick, selfless response of our Kansas task force,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “It is reassuring to know that when disaster strikes, we have individuals who are ready, at a moment’s notice, to give their valuable time and expertise, not only in our own state, but wherever the call is needed. Multiple agencies gave up time and resources to assist our fellow states of Florida and North Carolina. It was a successful effort, and I am relieved that everyone has returned home safely.”

Agencies who deployed individuals/equipment included: Chanute Fire Department, City of Winfield, Coffeyville Fire Department, Derby Fire Department, Johnson County MED-ACT, Junction City Fire Department, Kansas City Kansas Fire Department, Kansas Task Force K9, Lawrence Fire Department, Manhattan Fire Department, Mission Township Fire Department, Olathe Fire Department, Office of the State Fire Marshal, Pittsburg Fire Department, Salina Fire Department, Shawnee County Fire District 4, Shawnee Fire Department, and Wichita Fire Department.

TOPEKA – – Despite the Legislature’s temporary reduction of the application fee for new concealed carry licenses, the number of Kansans applying continued to decline in 2019 fiscal year,  according to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

Between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019, the attorney general’s Concealed Carry Licensing Unit received 3,841 new applications. The figures represent a more than 21 percent decrease from the prior fiscal year and the lowest number of applications received in a fiscal year since the licensing program began in 2006.

Last year, the application fee for new licenses was reduced for one fiscal year from $132.50 to $112. Effective July 1, 2019, that new-license fee returned to $132.50. The cost for license renewals remains unchanged at $25. Renewal applications submitted after expiration do increase to $40. Licenses six months or more past expiration without submitting a renewal application are considered permanently expired and must reapply in order to regain their license.

While the number of new applications has waned, most Kansans who already have licenses are choosing to keep their licenses active. The Concealed Carry Licensing Unit received more than 16,400 renewal applications during the 2019 fiscal year.

Licenses are still required in most states, and Kansas licenses are currently recognized in 40 states. Currently, more than 82,300 Kansans have active concealed carry licenses.

“Many Kansans continue to recognize the benefits of obtaining a license, including our reciprocity agreements with other states,” Schmidt said. “We continue to work with other states to ensure Kansas licenses are recognized.”

A legislative change in 2015 allows eligible Kansans to carry concealed without a license. Schmidt also encouraged all Kansans who intend to carry firearms to pursue training opportunities whether or not required by law. He reminded all Kansans who choose to carry firearms to comply with properly posted signage and all applicable laws.

More information on the concealed carry licensing program is available on the attorney general’s website at www.ag.ks.gov/concealed-carry.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials on Friday again urged people to stop vaping until they figure out why some are coming down with serious breathing illnesses.

Officials have identified about 450 possible cases, including as many as five deaths, in 33 states. The count includes newly reported deaths in California, Indiana and Minnesota.

No single vaping device, liquid or ingredient has been tied to all the illnesses, officials said. Many of the sickened — but not all — were people who said they had been vaping THC, the chemical that gives marijuana its high. Many are teens.

Health officials have only been counting certain lung illnesses in which the person had vaped within three months. Doctors say the illnesses resemble an inhalation injury, with the body apparently reacting to a caustic substance that someone breathed in. Symptoms have included shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pain and vomiting.

The illnesses have all surfaced this year, and the number has been growing quickly in the last month as more states have begun investigations. A week ago, U.S. officials pegged the number at 215 possible cases in 25 states.

It’s unclear whether such illnesses were happening before this year.

“We’re all wondering if this is new or just newly recognized,” Dr. Dana Meaney-Delman of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters Friday.

An Illinois health official, Dr. Jennifer Layden, said officials there don’t know when such illnesses first began, but she said there has been a marked increase since spring.

Deaths previously were reported in Illinois and Oregon .

Indiana officials said the person who died there was an adult, but they didn’t say when it happened or release other details. Health officials in Los Angeles said they were investigating a vaping death as well. And Minnesota health officials said that state’s first known vaping-related death was a person over 65 years with a history of lung problems who had vaped illicit THC products and died in August.

Recent attention has been focused on devices, liquids, refill pods and cartridges that are not sold in stores.

New York state has focused its investigation on an ingredient called Vitamin E acetate, which has been used to thicken marijuana vape juice but is considered dangerous if heated and inhaled. State investigators have found the substance in 13 cartridges collected from eight patients. In several cases, the ingredient made up more than half of the liquid in the cartridge.

CDC officials said they are looking at several ingredients, including Vitamin E acetate. But Meaney-Delman added that no single factor has been seen in every case.

Also Friday, the New England Journal of Medicine released a series of articles that give medical details about cases reported in Illinois, Wisconsin and Utah.

An article on 53 illnesses in Illinois and Wisconsin noted that nearly one-fifth of the cases were people who said they vaped nicotine and not anything that contained THC or CBD oil.

For that reason, doctors and health officials are continuing to suggest people stay away from all vaping products until the investigation establishes exactly what’s at the root of the illnesses.

Meaney-Delman said avoiding vaping is “the primary means of preventing this severe lung disease.”

It’s not yet clear what impact the recent illnesses are having on vaping rates, but some health officials are hoping more Americans will become wary.

There’s been a split among public health experts about the value of vaping nicotine. Some argue e-cigarettes are not as lethal as conventional cigarettes and can be a valuable aide to smokers trying to kick the habit.

But others say studies have not established that adult smokers who try vaping end up quitting smoking long term. And they fear that kids who might never have picked up cigarettes are taking up vaping.

The National Association of County and City Health Officials “has long been cautious about endorsing e-cigarettes even before the recent spate of illnesses, because little scientific evidence exists to show that e-cigarettes and other nicotine delivery devices are effective cessation devices,” spokeswoman Adriane Casalotti said in a statement.

The states reporting vaping-related lung illnesses to the CDC are Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A man has been charged with breaking into the Islamic Center of Lawrence last month and stealing two donations boxes.

Amadou Oury Bah, 32,  was charged Thursday with burglary, theft and criminal damage to property. Police said previously that the donation boxes contained between $1,000 and $2,000 in cash.

Police previously asked for help identifying the break-in suspect, who was captured on surveillance video. Bah was arrested last week in Omaha, Nebraska, and is jailed on $15,000 bond.