OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A man who pleaded guilty to vandalizing an Olathe cemetery on Christmas was sentenced to 50 hours of community service and ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation.

42-year-old Alex Deason was also ordered Friday to pay $7,781 in restitution for damages. Deason pleaded guilty in March to criminal desecration at the Olathe Memorial Cemetery.

Authorities said Deason knocked over and vandalized headstones, some of which dated back to the 1800s.

At his sentencing hearing, Deason apologized and said he would like to write a letter to each family whose gravestones he damaged.

Deason has been ordered to have no contact with the Olathe Memorial Cemetery.

By JOHN HANNA

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators have pushed a tax relief proposal through the Kansas Legislature, ignoring predictions from Gov. Laura Kelly’s fellow Democrats that she will veto it, just as she did with a larger plan.

The House voted 83-41late Saturday night to approve a billdesigned to offer relief to individuals and businesses that have been paying more in state income taxes because of changes in federal tax laws at the end of 2017. The House’s vote came two days after the Senate approved it, so the measure is headed to Kelly’s desk. Republican leaders in the GOP-controlled Legislature appeared to have the two-thirds majorities necessary in both chambers to override a veto, something they couldn’t say with the first tax bill.

“Kansas should not take more of their money based on something the federal government did,” said House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., a conservative Kansas City-area Republican. “It’s the people’s money.”

The bill would save taxpayers roughly $90 million during the budget year beginning in July and about $240 million over three years. It’s less than half the size of a GOP tax relief plan that Kelly vetoed in late March, partly because it doesn’t attempt to make its changes apply retroactively.

Kelly issued a statement early Sunday calling for a comprehensive review of the state’s tax system. Her staff would say only that she will review the measure.

Kelly likewise refused to say beforehand that she would vetothe first tax bill. But she criticized that measure as a return to a tax-cutting experiment under former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback that made Kansas nationally notorious because of persistent budget woes that followed.

Bipartisan legislative majorities repealed mostof the Brownback tax cuts in 2017, and Kelly ran successfullylast year against Brownback’s political legacy. Democrats argued that enacting the GOP’s smaller tax relief bill also would lead to budget problems within a few years, and Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, said it was “destined for a veto.”

“We can’t afford it,” said Sen. Tom Holland, a Democrat from northeast Kansas. “We need to buy ourselves some time and just see what’s going on with our economy right now.”

Republican leaders have argued that failing to act represents a tax increase.

“It’s very important to us that we make sure that businesses and individuals keep that money in their pockets, rather than having it go to the state of Kansas for bigger, bloated government,” said Senate President Susan Wagle, a conservative Wichita Republican.

Like other states, Kansas faced revising its income tax code because it is tied to the federal tax code. The federal tax changeschampioned by President Donald Trump lowered rates but also included provisions that raised money for Kansas, in part by discouraging individual filers from claiming itemized deductions.

The measure would allow individuals to itemize on their state tax returns even if they do not itemize on their federal returns. The bill also cuts taxes for corporations, particularly large firms with operations outside the U.S.

The measure also includes provisions aimed at helping the state collect more taxes from internet sales and start dropping the state’s 6.5% sales tax on groceries.

Kelly had promised during her campaign last year to lower the sales tax on groceries. Democrats scoffed at the incremental amount — less than 1 percentage point, or $1 on a $100 grocery bill, in 2021.

“I can hear the conversations at home: ‘Honey, the Kansas Legislature has given us a tax break. What are you going to spend your quarter on this week?'” said Rep. Boog Highberger, a Lawrence Democrat.

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating after a dog was killed following an attack.

Just before 3p.m. Saturday, police responded to a report of a vicious dog attack in the 3400 block of SW 37^th Street in Topeka, according to Lt. John Trimble.

At the scene, police discovered that a vicious dog had attacked several juveniles. The children’s father came out to investigate the screaming and commotion and was also bitten by the vicious dog.

Officers were trying to contain the dog and called for an Animal Control Officer to assist in capturing the dog. Before Animal Control could arrive at the scene, the dog attacked a Topeka officer, according to Trimble.

The officer fired his department issued handgun one time, striking and killing the dog before the dog could injure anyone else. One person sustained minor injuries from the incident.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s effort to expand Medicaid in Kansas this year died Saturday when enough moderate Republicans bowed to the wishes of the GOP-controlled Legislature’s conservative leaders and ended an impasse that had tied up the state budget.

The House voted 79-45in favor of an $18.4 billion spending blueprint for state government for the budget year beginning in July. Democrats and moderate Republicans held the budget hostageFriday and much of Saturday, hoping to force the Senate to vote on an expansion planpassed by the House and favored by Kelly. Republican leaders did not budge on putting off actionuntil next year and kept meeting with GOP moderates throughout the day to bring them back to the fold.

It helped them that the budget was a good one for Kelly, fellow Democrats and the GOP moderate, providing extra money for higher education and pay raises for state employees, though her administration had problems with how it allocated extra dollars for prisons.

Expansion supporters initially were willing to risk those gains to fulfill Kelly’s goal of expanding Medicaid health coverage to an additional 150,000 Kansas residents now. Some became more nervous as the day wore on, though, particularly with the Senate’s top Republicans determined to wait until next year.

Top GOP senators strongly opposed the House’s expansion bill. Rep. Don Hineman, a moderate Republican from western Kansas in the center of ongoing talks with GOP leaders, said he was reassured by public promises from Senate leaders that a bill would be drafted later this year and considered early next year, though Kelly’s office urged them to keep blocking the budget.

“Their message was, ‘Hold tough. We think we can get this,'” Hineman said. “Enough of us disagreed with that or became uncomfortable enough that the votes were there to adopt the budget.”

Kelly’s election last year raised hopes that Kansas would join 36 other states that have expanded Medicaid or seen voters pass ballot initiatives. But like North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, two other Democrats, a GOP-controlled legislature can thwart expansion plans.

“For many of our neighbors struggling with illness or disability, time is something they do not have,” Kelly said in a statement after the House’s budget vote. “Due to the failure tonight, thousands of Kansans will go without health care for another year.”

Republicans leaders argue that the expansion plan Kelly backed would be more expensive for the state than her administration projected — $34 million in net costs for the state in its first full year. They also contend that lawmakers need more time to get the details right, control health care costs, and consider work requirements for people covered by the expansion.

GOP leaders also said their focus during the impasse was in getting a budget passed, so that state government could operate past June and lawmakers could wrap up their business for the year. The spending blueprint contained more spending — a 6.5 percent over the current budget year — than many conservatives wanted, GOP leaders said.

“Our ultimate goal was to make sure that we funded core government and that our schools were funded,” said House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., a conservative Kansas City-area Republican.

The budget bill went next to the Senate, where the expected favorable vote would send the measure to Kelly. The House budget vote also cleared the way for it to vote on a GOP tax billdesigned to provide relief to individuals and businesses paying more in state income taxes because of changes in federal tax laws at the end of 2017.

Democrats did not hide their bitter disappointment.

“We all stayed and a bunch of you strayed,” said Rep. Tim Hodge, a Wichita-area Democrat. “I can’t believe we can’t stay solid for a few hours.”

During the budget vote, Democrats briefly played rocker Tom Petty’s song, “I Won’t Back Down” as GOP leaders held the roll open for more than 90 minutes to get the last necessary yes votes — and then nearly all Republicans jumped aboard.

“They had everything going for themselves,” said Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat. “They had all the momentum and they just can’t put up with the pressure.”

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