NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials are telling people to avoid eating romaine lettuce because of an E. coli outbreak that has sickened 32 people in 11 states.

The Food and Drug Administration says it’s working with officials in Canada, where people are also being warned to stay away from romaine lettuce. The strain identified is different than the one linked to romaine earlier this year, but it appears similar to one linked to leafy greens last year.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb says the agency doesn’t yet have enough information to request suppliers issue a recall. But he says suppliers can help by withdrawing romaine products until the contamination can be identified.

No deaths have been reported. The last illness was reported on Oct. 31.

Most E. coli bacteria are not harmful, but some produce toxins that can cause severe illness.

Outbreak Alert: Do not eat any romaine lettuce, including whole heads and hearts, chopped, organic and salad mixes with romaine until we learn more. If you don’t know if it’s romaine or can’t confirm the source, don’t eat it. https://t.co/NrFOIxG8hx pic.twitter.com/FuzkHv4bd3

— CDC (@CDCgov) November 20, 2018

WICHITA (AP) — Authorities say they have located and recovered 18 missing children who ran away from foster homes in Kansas.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in a news release Tuesday that the joint effort last week to find runaways from the Kansas Foster Care Program involved more than 100 federal, state and local law enforcement officers.

It focused on Sedgwick, Johnson and Wyandotte counties although the effort ultimately spanned several other Kansas counties and generated leads forwarded to other states.

Operation Hope was led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, the Office of Inspector General and Office of Investigations.

The KBI says law enforcement officials sought to ensure the well-being of the foster children and to identify waste, fraud and abuse occurring within the state’s foster care program.

LEAVENWORTH (AP) — A white county official in Kansas has resigned under pressure after saying at a meeting that he belongs to “the master race.”

Louis Klemp said in the letter submitted Tuesday resigning his seat on the Leavenworth County Commission that the remark was “well-meaning” and “not racially motivated.”

Klemp cited the master race — the Nazi ideology of Aryan supremacy — last week while responding to a presentation by a black official, Triveece Penelton.

Klemp was appointed to fill a Republican vacancy in the county just west of Kansas City. He said he was identifying a similarity in their appearance, noting both have a space between their teeth. Penelton said in a statement that the comment was “unbelievably inappropriate.”

Kansas Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer was among those to demand Klemp’s resignation.

NEW: Here is a copy of the resignation letter sent by Mr. Klemp to Leavenworth County Commissioners. pic.twitter.com/RI6qVdjv4o

— Caroline Sweeney (@CarolineKCTV5) November 20, 2018

TOPEKA – A Topeka man pleaded guilty Tuesday to robbing a local credit union, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.

Robert Charles Frazier, 63, Topeka, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of robbery. In his plea, he admitted that on Aug. 20, 2018, he robbed the Azura Credit Union at 1129 S. Kansas Ave., Topeka. He told a teller, “This is a robbery. Give me your twenties, fifties and hundreds.” After receiving the money, he left the building and sat down on a nearby wall. An off-duty Topeka police officer working security arrested him.

Sentencing is set for Feb. 26. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of five years in federal prison. McAllister commended the Topeka Police Department and the FBI for their work on the case.

TOPEKA (AP) — A Florida nonprofit recently awarded a four-year grant for family preservation services in Kansas has been under intense scrutiny in its home state.

Eckerd Connects, which administers foster care in the Tampa Bay area, will serve much of Kansas starting next year. The announcement was made earlier this month by the Kansas Department for Children and Families.

But the Kansas City Star reports that Eckerd has been plagued by problems such as foster children roaming unsupervised while skipping school, young people staying in different homes night after night, even children dying of abuse or neglect.

Eckerd says it already provides some services in Kansas through a partnership with the Department of Corrections.

It says states across the country are facing similar challenges with placing foster care children.

DENVER (AP) — One person was killed and four others were wounded in a shooting on a downtown Denver street Monday, but it was unclear what caused the violence and no one had been arrested, authorities said.

The shooting occurred in a neighborhood of new apartment buildings, restaurants and bars near the Colorado Rockies’ stadium just as the evening rush hour was getting underway.

Police spokesman Doug Schepman said investigators did not know whether more than one shooter was involved and had no descriptions of any suspects.

A witness told The Denver Post he saw a man holding a handgun in both hands fire into a group of indigent people, and someone in the group fired back.

“Oh my God, oh my God,” Hisam Derani said. “I saw him approach the crowd.”

Derani said he was returning home from work when he heard about six gunshots. He said he saw one or two shots fired before he ducked.

He said a gunman got into a car, slammed the door and drove away.

Derani says police interviewed him and later asked him if a man they had detained as a potential suspect was the shooter, but Derani said he was not.

Schepman said investigators did not yet know what led to the shooting.

“It’s too early in the investigation right now to be able to say exactly what happened here and why,” he said. Investigators were interviewing witnesses and looking for video.

The wounded victims were taken to Denver Health medical center. Schepman said they were considered to be in critical condition because they had been shot but their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
Hospital spokesman Simon Crittle said he did not know their conditions.

Authorities released conflicting numbers of the wounded in the first few hours after the shooting, first saying it was four, then three, then four again. Schepman said uncertainty in the immediate aftermath of the shooting caused the varying reports.

Police said witnesses had told officers they saw a potential sixth victim, a woman who was wounded in the leg, but investigators had not been able to confirm that.

TOPEKA (AP) — Room is running out for names on the memorial honoring Kansas law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, so it will soon be expanded.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Gov. Jeff Colyer and Attorney General Derek Schmidt were among those announcing expansion plans on Monday. The project is expected to cost $500,000, funded with private donations. Organizers have already raised about $425,000.

The memorial is outside the Kansas Statehouse. It includes the names of 281 officers, with room for 39 more. Plans call for adding a second concentric ring of memorial markers outside the existing monument so that additional names can be added in future years.

The memorial was dedicated in 1987 and includes the names of officers who have died in the line of duty since 1866.