LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas students will spend less time taking tests under recently announced changes.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the Kansas State Department of Education is reducing the total required material to be assessed by 60 percent next school year. Education officials said the changes follow conversations with superintendents, principals, teachers and advocacy groups during the latest round of testing.

Education department official Beth Fultz says there were concerns that students were “spending a lot of time out of class taking tests.”

The changes are possible because of revisions made to the federal education law. The revisions give more authority to states and local school boards, including how state assessments are administered and their results used.

More details about the testing changes will be made after school starts in August.

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A woman accused of attempting to hide a gun used to kill a Salina teen has been sentenced to probation.

The Salina Journal reports that 22-year-old Mexico citizen Azucena Garcia-Ferniza was sentenced to a year and a half of probation but will remain in custody while her immigration status is reviewed.

She was convicted earlier of charges accusing her of hiding a gun belonging to her boyfriend, Macio D. Palacio Jr., after Palacio had been taken into custody for the murder of 17-year-old Allie Saum. Saum was struck and killed when Palacio fired into a truck she was in.

Palacio has been sentenced to at least 50 years in prison after being convicted in Saum’s death.

The judge also ordered Garcia-Ferniza to pay court costs and other fees.

ELLSWORTH COUNTY – One person was injured in an accident just before noon on Saturday in Ellsworth County,

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2013 Toyota truck driven by Matthew Blaine Haring, 44, Olathe, was westbound on Interstate 70 just west of 12th Road.

The vehicle left the roadway and hit a culvert on the right side of the road.

One passenger Samuel Grayson Harting, 9, Olathe, was transported to Ellsworth County Medical Center.

The driver, one adult and two other children were not injured.

All were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Hundreds of mourners gathered for the funeral for a Kansas City, Kansas, police captain shot to death on duty.

Kansas City, Kansas, police Capt. Robert Melton was fatally shot Tuesday by a suspect fleeing law enforcement. A 20-year-old man, Jamaal Lewis, is charged with capital murder in Melton’s death. Melton was 46.

The Kansas City Star reports people began showing up at Children’s Mercy Park after sunrise for the service, which began at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Military veterans also lined the street holding American flags.

Police Chief Terry Zeigler struggled to make it through his tribute to Melton, who he said was committed to the force. Zeigler said Melton’s family would always be part of the department.

Police officers also attended from other states, including Oklahoma and Texas.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A three-time Paralympics gold medalist from Wichita wants whoever stole the gold ring he received during the 2004 Athens Paralympics to return the ring.

Nick Taylor’s ring and other items were stolen during a robbery at his Wichita home earlier this month. He told The Wichita Eagle (https://j.mp/2ao10wu ) the ring is a symbol of his first Paralympics tennis championship.

Of the three gold Paralympics tennis medals – in Athens, London and Beijing – his first in Athens is special because it’s among few things he has that mark that high point in his life.

Wichita police spokeswoman Sgt. Nikki Woodrow says the robbery investigation is still open and phone calls and Crime Stoppers tips about the incident are welcomed.

Taylor says he’d just like the thief to return the ring.

HUTCHINSON— A Kansas woman was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison for her role in the strangulation death of a Hutchinson woman.

Jamie Hatfield, 27, was given the sentence Friday afternoon in Reno County District Court.

Hatfield entered a guilty plea to intentional second-degree murder in the strangulation death of 38­year­old Mary Ann Arnett in June of 2015.

Arnett’s body was found in a dry creek bed near Nickerson. She was strangled with a cell phone cord according to autopsy reports.

Arnett’s family members of were present, but did not speak during the hearing.

Prosecutors say both Hatfield and Jonathan Perser­Wilson were involved in Arnett’s death.

Perser-Wilson was shot and killed by police during a confrontation the day after Arnett’s body was found.

Arnett and Hatfield had previously dated, but when Arnett’s body was found, Hatfield was in a relationship with Wilson.

 

SHAWNEE COUNTY Law enforcement authorities in Shawnee County are investigating a fatal shooting.

Just after 2 a.m. on Saturday first responders were dispatched to Southwest 34^th and Gage in Topeka for a one-vehicle accident. Police found a Kia Optima had hit a building, according to a media release.

The driver, the only occupant of the vehicle, was unresponsive. Emergency medical staff determined he had suffered a gunshot wound. The man was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The name of the victim has not been released. The case is being investigated as a homicide, according to police.

Authorities asked that anyone with information on the incident to contact police.

By Andy Marso

As the 2016 Kansas legislative session was winding down in May, Sen. Jake LaTurner sat for an interview on a bench just outside the Old Supreme Court chamber. The first-term Republican from Pittsburg was still about a half-year away from facing his first re-election challenge.

But he already could anticipate one issue that would be big for his campaign. “Highway 69 is always an issue in the elections,” LaTurner said.

“If you’re a Republican, a Democrat, an independent, whatever your party affiliation is, you better be a supporter of Highway 69.” U.S. Highway 69 connects southeast Kansas to Kansas City.

Earlier this year, the Kansas Department of Transportation was scheduled to expand the 20-mile stretch between Pittsburg and Fort Scott to four lanes with a median — something locals have desired for years.

Then, in April, that project was among 25 delayed by the department due to highway fund sweeps that Gov. Sam Brownback and Republican legislators have used to balance the budget the last several years.

A portion of the U.S. 69 expansion has since been reinstated after LaTurner protested. But two-thirds of it remains in limbo, along with dozens of other road projects across the state.

That could make re-election bids rockier, especially for Republicans associated with Brownback and his budgets. The state has had to cut many areas since the governor spearheaded large income tax reductions in 2012.

Pittsburg State University was among them, but the school’s president, Steven Scott, said the public outcry went to a higher level when U.S. 69 landed on the chopping block. “When it was the road being cut, that was a totally different thing,” Scott said.

“It’s like it just touched everybody in the community because virtually everybody at some point is going to head up in that direction.”

Those who use the road are concerned about safety, Scott said. A 17-year-old high school student who planned to attend Pittsburg State died in a head-on collision north of town earlier this year.

Brownback’s campaign promise 

This isn’t the first time U.S. 69 has factored into an election.

Brownback went to southeast Kansas just a month before the general election in 2014 to reassure voters the expansion to four lanes was going to happen.

He was seeking re-election against Paul Davis, a Democrat who had warned that Brownback was more committed to income tax cuts than highway projects and other budget priorities.

Brownback won the race, but has swept increasing amounts from the highway fund every year since to keep the state general fund balanced. KDOT was still able to keep up with its scheduled projects for a while.

Interest rates were very low and gas prices also fell. But as the fund sweeps passed $1 billion, something had to give, and U.S. 69 was among the projects that did — at least for a while.

After the delays were announced in April, LaTurner sent an open letter to Brownback decrying the inclusion of U.S. 69 and asking that it be reinstated.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Democrat from Topeka, predicted that Brownback would try to help LaTurner, who has been generally supportive of the governor’s tax policies.

Weeks later, the governor announced that KDOT had freed up $25 million to put the U.S. 69 expansion back on the schedule and said the contract would go up for bids in October, a month before the election. Still, that’s only about one-third of the money the state will need to complete the project.

And more than 20 others are still on hold, including one in Hensley’s district. “If the governor chooses to approve the continuation of the project on 69 Highway, then he should do the same thing for Highway 31,” Hensley said.

“Unless in fact he’s just going to cherry-pick and choose to engage in political favoritism here, where he would, you know, help Jake LaTurner, who’s a Republican and wouldn’t help me, being a Democrat.”

Hensley said the Democrats would still use the highway delays as campaign fodder. To do so in southeast Kansas, they’ll have to prove they’ve restored trust there.

A party official was caught bad-mouthing the region in an online chatroom just before the last election, in what Hensley called “a very unfortunate incident.”

Wilma Herman, who has lived in Pittsburg for more than 50 years, said the residents of the state’s most economically-depressed region feel little love from anyone in Topeka.

“It just seems like this corner of the state is kind of forgotten,” Herman said. “Like we don’t exist. We do a lot of things for other people. That just kinda hurts.”

A highway rescue? 

The governor’s spokeswoman told the Topeka Capital-Journal that he was following through on the assurances he made in 2014 by freeing the $25 million to start the U.S. 69 expansion. But some in southeast Kansas remain skeptical that the money will materialize.

Melody Brennon, who works at an area school, noted that during a recent special session, prominent legislators suggested using that money to satisfy a school finance court ruling.

The Legislature ultimately tapped other sources. But given the state’s precarious fiscal position, and the on-again/off-again history of the U.S. 69 expansion,

Brennon said she won’t believe it’s really happening until the shovels hit the dirt. “There’s money, then there’s not, then all of a sudden there’s money,” Brennon said.

“If you can find $25 million, how about funding our schools too?” Destry Brown, the superintendent of schools in Pittsburg, also said voters need to broaden their focus beyond U.S. 69 to the overall budgetary policies that pulled the money for that project and the others.

“The reason they were cut is because the state’s broke,” Destry said.

“Why is the state broke? Because the tax plan that they’ve got in place can’t support the state. They can’t pay their bills.”

It remains to be seen how much the road construction delays will factor into the legislative elections for Kansas House and Senate. But Democrats aren’t the only ones who plan to make them an issue.

The Kansas Contractors Association, a group that represents roadwork companies, had warned for years that the highway fund could only take so many sweeps before projects were put off.

Bob Totten, the association’s executive vice president, said the group plans to be active in the upcoming elections, letting Kansans know whether their representatives voted for tax and spending policies that necessitated the highway fund sweeps.

The association already has placed prominent billboards across the state calling the sweeps “highway robbery.”

Totten said that unless the state changes its tax policy, the delayed projects will remain delayed. “They’re not going to come back, because we don’t have a revenue stream that’s going to make any difference,” Totten said, “and our Legislature chose not to do anything about it and go home and start to seek re-election.”

Kansas Legislative Districts Where Highway Projects Are Delayed

	KDOT announced in April that scheduled work on the highways listed below would be delayed. The 25 delayed projects have been condensed here, with multiple stretches of connected road grouped together.
	Delayed Project	County	Legislative District	Incumbent	Challengers
	I-135	Harvey	Senate 31	Carolyn McGinn (R)	Renee Erickson (R)
			House 72	Marc Rhoades (R)	Tim Hodge (D)
	K-14	Reno, Rice	Senate 34	Terry Bruce (R)	Ed Berger (R), Homer Gilson (D)
			Senate 35	Rick Wilborn (R)	Levi Morris (D)
			House 114	Jack Thimesch (R)	Herchel Crainer III (R)
	K-31	Osage	Senate 19	Anthony Hensley (D)	Zach Haney (R)
			House 59	Blaine Finch (R)	unopposed
			House 76	Peggy Mast (R) not running	Kelly Atheron (D), Teresa Briggs (D), Eric Smith (R)
	K-68	Miami	Senate 37	Molly Baumgardner (R)	Kevin King (D)
			House 6	Jene Vickrey (R)	Christy Levings (D)
	K-177	Morris, Geary	Senate 35	Rick Wilborn (R)	Levi Morris (D)
			Senate 17	Jeff Longbine (R)	Susan Fowler (D)
			House 51	Ron Highland (R)	Adrienne Olejnik (D)
			House 68	Tom Moxley (R) not running	Nicholas Allbritton (R), Dave Baker (R), Vance Donahue II (R)
	K-383	Norton, Phillips	Senate 36	Elaine Bowers (R)	Brian Angevine (D)
			Senate 40	Ralph Ostmeyer (R) not running	Alex Herman (D), Rick Billinger (R)
			House 110	Ken Rahjes (R)	unopposed
	US-50	Gray, Ford	Senate 38	Garrett Love (R) not running	Bud Estes (R), Joyce Warshaw (R), Miguel Angel Rodriguez (D)
			House 115	Ron Ryckman Sr. not running	Andrew Evans (R), Boyd Orr (R)
	US-50	Lyon	Senate 17	Jeff Longbine (R)	Susan Fowler (D)
			House 60	Don Hill (R) not running	Steve Pearson (R), Mark Schreiber (R), Matthew Shepherd (R)
	US-54	Seward	Senate 38	Garrett Love (R) not running	Bud Estes (R), Joyce Warshaw (R), Miguel Angel Rodriguez (D)
				Shannon Francis (R)	unopposed
	US-69*	Crawford, Bourbon	Senate 13	Jake LaTurner (R)	Lynn Grant (D)
			House 2	Adam Lusker (D)	Unopposed
			House 3	Chuck Smith (R)	Monica Murnan (D)
			House 4	Marty Read (R) not running	Arlyn Briggs (R), Trevor Jacobs (R), Rick James (R)
	US-75	Montgomery	Senate 15	Jeff King (R) not running	Virgil Peck (R), Dan Goddard (R), Chuck Schmidt (D)
			House 12	Virgil Peck (R) running for Senate	Doug Blex (R), Brad Hall (R)
	US-77	Geary	Senate 17	Jeff Longbine (R)	Susan Fowler (D)
			House 65	Lonnie Clark (R)	unopposed
	US-169	Anderson	Senate 12	Caryn Tyson (R)	Christopher Johnston (D)
			House 5	Kevin Jones (R)	Doug Walker (D)
	US-169	Montgomery	Senate 15	Jeff King (R) not running	Virgil Peck (R), Dan Goddard (R), Chuck Schmidt (D)
			House 11	Jim Kelly (R)	unopposed
	US-166	Cherokee	Senate 13	Jake LaTurner (R)	Lynn Grant (D)
			House 1	Michael Houser (R)	unopposed
	US-281	Russell	Senate 36	Elaine Bowers (R)	Brian Angevine (D)
			House 109	Troy Waymaster (R)	unopposed

Andy Marso is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach him on Twitter @andymarso

SEDGWICK COUNTY – A Kansas man died in an accident just after 1p.m. on Friday in Sedgwick County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Jeep SUV driven by Christopher D. Hunt, 32, Wichita was westbound on Kansas 96. The SUV hit a 2001 International Semi that was northbound on 279^th Street and crossing K-96.

Hunt was pronounced dead at the scene. A passenger in the SUV Amanda K. Hunt, 28, Wichita, was transported to St. Francis Medical Center.

The semi driver Linn, Justin N. Linn, 35, Hutchinson, was not injured.

All three were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

DETROIT (AP) — Fiat Chrysler is recalling nearly 410,000 vehicles worldwide because a wiring problem can cause them to move slowly.

The company said Friday that the recall covers some Jeep Renegade and Cherokee SUVs, Chrysler 200 sedans and Ram ProMaster City vans from the 2015 model year. Also included are certain 2014 Cherokees. Vehicles built after Sept. 23, 2014 aren’t affected.

FCA began investigating after getting warranty claims and found wires that weren’t crimped properly. That can lead to a rare solenoid problem that can cause the engines to go into a limited power mode so they can limp home.

Fiat Chrysler says it doesn’t know of any related crashes or injuries.

Dealers will update software and replace wiring as needed. Owners will be told when to schedule service.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Campaign 2016 between the Republican and Democratic nominating conventions

Hillary Clinton says in a text message to supporters that she’s picked Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine to join her on the Democratic ticket as their party’s nominee for vice president.

In the message, Clinton says: “I’m thrilled to tell you this first: I’ve chosen Sen. Tim Kaine as my running mate.”

Kaine is expected to join Clinton at a rally in Florida on Saturday.

A favorite since the start of Clinton’s search for a running mate, Kaine is a former governor of the battleground state and former mayor of Richmond.

Kaine won election to the Senate four years ago after serving as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Clinton is choosing Kaine from a group that included Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

MANHATTAN -Kansas State University’s Bryan Pinkall has that Olympic touch.

A 2003 Great Bend High School graduate and KSU assistant professor of music is again lending his talents to the staging of an Olympic opening ceremony. This time he is part of the opening ceremony performance operations team for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, according to a media release.

Pinkall was selected in late 2015 to be part of the team, joining performing arts professionals from around the world in volunteering their time and expertise to create the opening ceremony, which is one of the world’s largest artistic events.

“The details surrounding the opening ceremony are highly secretive,” Pinkall said. “On the evening of Aug. 5, a worldwide television audience of billions will be able to witness the ceremony live from Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The 2016 games are the first to be hosted in South America.”
Pinkall is becoming an old hand at helping manage such large events. He was part of the Emmy-winning team behind the opening ceremony for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. He also helped with staging the 2015 World Meeting of Families Papal Mass in Philadelphia.

Along with teaching vocal performance at Kansas State University’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance in the College of Arts & Sciences, Pinkall is a professional singer with the Kansas City Chorale. The group is under the direction of Charles Bruffy and won a Grammy Award in 2016 for best choral performance.

More information about Pinkall is available at bryanpinkall.com. More information about the 2016 Olympic Games is available at rio2016.com.

Joining Pinkall in Rio de Janeiro will be Phillip Vardiman, director of the university’s athletic training program, who is an athletic trainer on the medical team serving the U.S. track and field team.