WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A judge has determined that a Wichita man will stand trial on a charge stemming from a toddler found with a dead octopus lodged in his throat.

KSN-TV reports Matthew Gallagher waived his right to a preliminary hearing Thursday. He was charged with aggravated endangerment of a child after the 2-year-old was found with the small octopus in his throat.

The trial’s scheduled for October 3.

The criminal complaint alleges that Gallagher “unlawfully and recklessly” caused or allowed the 2-year-old boy “to be placed in a situation in which the child’s life, body or health” is at risk.

Police have said the boy’s mother told investigators she returned home from work April 5 and found Gallagher performing CPR on her son. The boy was later released from the hospital.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Officials have denied parole for a man convicted in the 1989 death of a Kansas City, Kansas, police officer.

The Kansas Prisoner Review Board has ruled that 47-year-old Darryl L. Lewis will have to wait three years before he can seek parole again.

Lewis was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Officer Jeff Young, and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. Lewis was driving a stolen car and trying to elude arrest when he struck and critically injured Young in November 1988.

Young was in coma until he died on August 1, 1989.

The Kansas City Star reports that the parole board said in its decision that Lewis needs to avoid any disciplinary reports.

NEW YORK (AP) — Cable and telecom industry groups want a federal appeals court to reconsider its ruling on net neutrality.

The Wireless Association, an industry trade group also known as CTIA, and other groups are petitioning for the case to be reheard by all of the court’s judges.

Last month, a three-judge panel from the court upheld the government’s “net neutrality” rules, preserving regulations that force internet providers to treat all online traffic equally.

The 2-1 ruling was a huge victory for the Obama administration and the consumer groups and internet companies that have pushed net neutrality for years.

The Federal Communications Commission’s rules block internet service providers from favoring their own services and disadvantaging others; blocking other sites and apps; and creating “fast lanes” for services that pay for the privilege.

PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — A man has been ordered to stand trial in the 2014 shooting death of a Pittsburg State University student.

The Pittsburg Morning Sun reports (https://j.mp/2aAWsCZ ) that Bryan Bridges was ordered Thursday to stand trial for the murder of Taylor Thomas, a 20-year-old junior when he was killed in October 2014. Authorities say he was killed during a robbery.

District Court Judge Kurtis I. Loy bound Bridges over for trial on several charges, including first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping. The trial has been scheduled to begin Nov. 28.

Three other men have entered pleas in the case.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on a judge’s ruling on Kansas’ two-tiered voting system (all times local):

4:30 p.m. A county judge has ruled that Kansas must count potentially thousands of votes in state and local races from people who’ve registered without providing citizenship documents.

Shawnee County District Judge Larry Hendricks issued a temporary order Friday to block a rule from Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. The order came four days before Tuesday’s primary election.

The rule applies to people registering to vote at state motor vehicle offices without documenting their U.S. citizenship as required by a 2013 state law.

A federal judge ruled in May that federal law allowed them to vote in federal races, but Kobach’s rule said their votes in state and local contests would not be counted.

___

2 p.m.

A Kansas judge will consider whether to allow election officials to toss out potentially thousands of votes in state and local races from people who’ve registered without meeting a requirement to document their U.S. citizenship.

Shawnee County District Judge Larry Hendricks was having a hearing Friday on a request from the American Civil Liberties Union to block an administrative rule from Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. The hearing comes only four days before Tuesday’s primary election.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of three prospective voters earlier this month, a week after a state board allowed Kobach to impose the rule temporarily — through the November election — without a public hearing. It applies to people who register to vote at state motor vehicle offices without providing proof of their U.S. citizenship as required by a 2013 state law.

The affected voters are to receive provisional ballots to be reviewed later, and county election officials are directed to count only their votes for federal offices, not state and local ones. Ahead of the primary, about 17,600 people registered at motor vehicle offices without providing citizenship papers, and the rule could apply to 50,000 people in November.

RENO COUNTY— A Kansas man who waived his preliminary hearing in the fatal stabbing of a Hutchinson man was sentenced Friday to 7-years and six months in prison.

Kevin Wayne Ginn Jr., 34, was convicted in the stabbing death of 24-year-old Deshamus Diron Luckey during a large disturbance just after 2 a.m. New Years Day in the area of 8th and Madison Street in Hutchinson.

He was originally charged with voluntary manslaughter, but in March, the state amended the complaint to second-degree murder and added counts of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated battery.

Ginn entered a plea to one count of involuntary manslaughter with the other charges dropped as part of the agreement.

SALINE COUNTY – Two people were injured in an accident just before 1:30 p.m. on Friday in Saline County.

Law enforcement officers at the scene reported a GMC Tahoe driven by Kaila Vlahopoulos, 21, a student in McPherson from Texas, was northbound on Interstate 135 just north of Magnolia Road.

The vehicle traveled into the median and rolled.

Vlahopoulos was transported to Salina Regional Health Center with non-life threatening injuries, according to authorities.

A passenger in the vehicle also suffered minor injuries.

The accident remains under investigation.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A federal inmate has been charged with killing a man connected to the 2014 shooting death of a Kansas bride.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that 27-year-old Cortez Tyrell Timley was charged Wednesday with premeditated first-degree murder in the June 2014 shooting death of 26-year-old Jermel Robbins Sr. He doesn’t yet have an attorney.

Three weeks earlier, 42-year-old Tiffany Davenport-Ray was killed as she headed to her wedding reception when shots were fired from a sport utility vehicle in which three men were riding. Two men were convicted previously, and Robbins name surfaced as the third SUV occupant during their trials.

Timley pleaded guilty last year to a federal charge of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. The offense occurred the same day Robbins was killed.

By Abigail Wilson

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently awarded Kansas more than $350,000 to support efforts to protect Kansans from Zika virus, a mosquito-borne disease. The money also will go toward eliminating adverse health outcomes that can result from Zika infection, including severe birth defects.

Now, state agencies are working to identify and monitor the two species of mosquito that transmit the Zika virus.

Mosquito season went into full swing when early rains and warm temperatures started the population with a bang this spring. But with rising concerns of Zika virus in the United States, the itchy welts that come from mosquito bites are no longer just annoying. They’re scary.

Trapping mosquitoes

In an effort to lessen fears and keep track of the prevalence of the tiny flying bugs, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, along with specialists from the University of Kansas, conduct mosquito surveillance each year. Researchers trap and count the insects and identify them by species.

Christopher Rogers, with the Kansas Biological Survey, is one of the researchers tasked with mosquito monitoring in Kansas.

Just off the sidewalk at Chisholm Creek Park in Wichita near the Great Plains Nature Center, Rogers stands next to an interesting contraption. It looks a little like black paint bucket with a long, skinny bird feeder hanging from it. And while seemingly simple, this mosquito trap is a key piece of the puzzle for Kansans hoping to avoid mosquito-borne illnesses.

Of the 50 species of mosquitoes in the state, Rogers said only about half bite.

“And of those species that do bite, only the female bites, and she only bites when she needs to lay eggs,” he said.

In order to find someone or something to bite, the female mosquitoes look for our breath — or, more specifically, the carbon dioxide that we breathe out. Rogers’ trap simulates that using a bucket filled with dry ice, which puts off the gas as it melts.

The hanging contraption also has a small light near the top, which serves the same purpose that a lighthouse does for ships at sea. As the mosquitoes fly toward the carbon dioxide, they see the light and think it’s body heat. That’s how they identify their next meal, which, thankfully, this time, is not a person.

“They fly in,” Rogers said, pointing at the trap. “And inside of here is a fan, which sucks the mosquitoes down into the sleeve cage.”

The sleeve cage is exactly what it sounds like: a sheath of tightly woven netting that traps the mosquitoes. Rogers said it can hold anywhere from a few dozen to 7,000 mosquitoes, which he then puts on dry ice to knock them out so he can get to work identifying the insects down to a species level.

He says different varieties are distinguishable by the arrangement of veins in their fragile wings or the patterns found in scales, spines and hairs on their tiny bodies. The species he’s looking for are varieties of the Aedes mosquito: Aedes aegypti, which is native to Africa, and Aedes albopictus, which comes from Asia.

“These are the two that we’re most concerned about because they have the potential to carry the Zika virus,” Rogers said. “These are the two species that are carrying Zika virus in Central and South America, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and whatnot.”

If either Aedes variety is found in one of Rogers’ traps, its body is sent to a KDHE laboratory.

“We look for the DNA of the virus in the mosquitoes. That way we can tell if the mosquitoes are actually transmitting the disease,” he said.

Eight cases in Kansas

The state of Kansas has been doing this kind of work — trapping, counting and identifying mosquitoes — for years in order to keep tabs on other mosquito-borne diseases like West Nile virus, which first showed up in the state in 2002. Rogers’ work helps state agencies like the KDHE determine where certain species of the insect are found and how dense the population is.

“By knowing what species of mosquitoes are coming into the traps, we can direct Sedgwick County in their efforts to control the mosquito larvae, and they know where to go look for habitat where the larvae may be coming from,” he said.

So, that begs the question everyone seems to be asking: Is it just a matter of time before Zika virus does show up in Kansas?

“Zika virus has shown up in Kansas in people who went to other places, got the virus and came here,” Rogers said. “Because there are people here who have Zika — and there’s very few — these mosquitoes, all they have to do is go and bite that person and now they’ve got the virus. So far, these people are doing everything in their power not to get bitten by these mosquitoes.”

Eight cases of Zika have been confirmed in Kansas, and none of those originated in the United States. In fact, according to the KDHE, there have been no local transmissions of the virus in the continental United States.

Rogers said the countries that have been inundated with cases of Zika virus tend to be tropical places where mosquitoes are out year-round. One thing in Kansas’ favor is the colder winter weather.

“As soon as winter comes, they’re all dead,” he said. “All that’s left behind is their eggs. Now, as far as we know, so far all the data shows that the mosquitoes are not passing the virus to their eggs.”

So that’s a good thing. But, Rogers said, next year, it will start over again.

“If Zika virus does show up in the mosquitoes in Kansas, it’s going to reset every single year,” he said. “And it’s probably not going to be as huge a problem as we’re seeing in more tropical areas. We don’t know. We honestly don’t know what we’re up against yet.”

But there are ways to reduce the chances of getting Zika virus, like using DEET, staying covered and avoiding places where mosquitoes are likely to be in large numbers, and especially where they breed.

Rogers said that doesn’t only mean roadside ditches and stagnant ponds. The species of mosquito that can carry Zika, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, actually nest in trees with rotten hollows or pockets between limbs that can hold water.

Aedes aegypti has mainly been found along the Kansas-Missouri border and as far west of that as Topeka, he said. Aedes albopictus has been found in Sedgwick County for quite some time. But according to the KDHE, the precise range of both species is unknown, and just because the mosquitoes are here, that doesn’t mean they’re transmitting Zika to Kansans.

“I’m running traps all across the state to figure out where it lives, why it’s there, how did it get there,” Rogers said.

And with that data, the KDHE should be able to assess potential threat levels should Zika virus ever show up in mosquitoes in Kansas.

— Abigail Wilson is a reporter for KMUW.

SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a suspect for alleged car theft.

Just after 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, police stopped a 2007 Buick Lacrosse, driven by Roderick Payton, 32, Galveston, TX, in the 1600 block of South Ohio, according to Salina Police Captain Mike Sweeney.

Payton got out of the car and fled on foot. He was taken into custody in the 900 block of East Cloud a short time later.

The Buick was stolen from a 24-year-old woman from Texas City, Texas, according to Sweeney.

Payton was booked into the Saline County Jail on requested charges of possession of stolen property, fleeing and eluding law enforcement, and interference with a law enforcement officer.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that state law allows Gov. Sam Brownback to decide when he will fill a vacant district magistrate position.

Three 26th District judges asked the court in July to require Brownback to appoint a judge in that district within 90 days of learning of the vacancy. They argued state law requires five magistrate judges to serve the six-county district.

Brownback wants to wait until after the August election to appoint a replacement for Judge Tommy Webb of Haskell County, who retired in February.

The justices ruled unanimously Friday that wording of state law gives the governor discretion to exceed the 90-day deadline.

Justices Dan Biles and Caleb Stegall were not part of the decision. They were replaced by Senior Judges Michael Malone and David Stutzman.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas man has been charged with killing a woman in a Missouri apartment where officers found three children hiding under a blanket.

Thirty-one-year-old Derrick Williams, of Kansas City, Kansas, is charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with second-degree murder in the death of 32-year-old Denise Gayle. He’s also charged with three counts each of armed criminal action and endangering the welfare of a child. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.

Court records say officers responding to a report of gunfire and screams found a naked Williams outside the apartment. The records say that Williams told police they would find a dead woman inside the building and that he killed her.

One of the children found hiding in the apartment told police, “He killed my mom.”

DETROIT (AP) — Combi USA is recalling more than 39,000 car seats because they can transmit too much force to a child’s chest in a crash.

The recall covers certain Coccoro Convertible Child Restraints with a model number of 8220. They were manufactured from Jan. 1, 2009 to June 29, 2016.

Government documents say the problem happens when the seats are installed in a forward-facing position and secured only with a vehicle lap belt.

The problem was discovered in government tests. Combi says in the documents that there is little to no risk in real-world crashes. It has no reports of injuries.

Combi will notify owners and send them a cover for the bottom of the seat that reduces the force on children’s chests. Distribution of the covers started on July 11.