TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A judge will hear arguments on whether to block the two-tiered voting system in Kansas just days before the primary election.

Shawnee County District Judge Larry Hendricks has set a July 29 hearing in Topeka on the American Civil Liberties Union’s request for a temporary restraining order. The primary is Aug. 2.

The ACLU is challenging Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s plan to throw out thousands of votes cast in state and local races by people who registered at motor vehicle offices or used a federal form without providing documentary proof of U.S. citizenship.

A state board approved that process the day before the start of advanced voting for the primary.

Another judge ruled earlier this year that the right to vote is not tied to the method of registration.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says discriminating against Muslim Americans “feeds the lie” that the West is at war with their religion.

He also says that singling them out isn’t smart national security.

In comments Thursday at a White House reception commemorating the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Obama called discrimination “an affront” to the values that make the U.S. a great nation. Watch the President’s remarks here.

Ramadan actually ended earlier this month, and Obama joked that the advantage of holding the event late is that his Muslim guests are not as hungry as they would have been a few weeks ago. Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset during the holiday.

Among those in the audience were the widow of boxer Muhammad Ali, Lonnie Ali, and several of his children.

MIAMI (AP) — The Latest on the Zika virus (all times local):

U.S. health officials say the number of babies born in the U.S. with Zika-related defects has risen to 12, up from nine the week before.

A report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the overall number of infected people in the U.S. also is rising, to more than 1,400 cases reported in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, including 400 pregnant women.

None of the cases in this latest report are attributed to mosquito bites inside the continental United States.

Fifteen people became infected through sex with people who contracted Zika while traveling abroad. The rest traveled themselves and were likely bitten in countries with Zika outbreaks.

The numbers rose dramatically in Puerto Rico, where roughly 3,800 cases have been reported. The CDC says almost all of those cases are attributed to mosquito bites on the island.

PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — A man involved in a home-invasion robbery in which a Pittsburg State University student was killed has been sentenced to five years in prison.

The Joplin Globe reports that 26-year-old Juan Salas-Rueda was sentenced Wednesday for one count of aggravated robbery.

Prosecutors have said they don’t believe Salas-Rueda was present when Taylor Thomas was killed, but that he provided the weapons used in the robbery.

Thomas was a 20-year-old junior at the school when killed in October 2014. Authorities allege the intruders were seeking drugs and money, with the drugs belonging to Thomas’ roommate. The roommate has pleaded no contest to a marijuana-distribution charge.

Initially, Salas-Rueda also faced charges of felony murder, aggravated burglary and obstruction. Those counts were dropped under a plea deal he accepted in May.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A federal lawsuit alleges that a caseworker for a Kansas foster care and family preservation contractor sexually harassed and coerced a mother seeking to regain custody of her children.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that a Sedgwick County woman is suing St. Francis Community Services and a former employee. She is accusing him of taking advantage of his authority to force her to send sexually charged messages and photos.

The lawsuit charges that St. Francis had received complaints about him and that chronic insufficient staffing led to inadequate supervision. St. Francis spokeswoman Lee Ann Desper says the organization is unable to discuss a pending case.

The Kansas Department for Children and Families called the allegations “disturbing” in a statement. The department oversees the state’s privatized foster care and family services system.

HUTCHINSON -A Kansas woman who pled guilty in June 3, to intentional second-degree murder is scheduled for sentencing on Friday.

Jamie Hatfield, 27, is charged in the strangulation death of 38-year-old Mary Ann Arnett in June of 2015.

Hatfield enter the plea to the single count. The District Attorney dismissed all other charges.

Arnett’s body was found in a dry creek bed near Nickerson.

An autopsy showed she had been strangled by a cell phone cord and extension cord.

Prosecutors say Hatfield and Jonathan Perser-Wilson were involved in Arnett’s death.

Perser­Wilson 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.

By STEVE KORANDA

The Kansas Bioscience Authority will soon go on the auction block. A state panel Wednesday officially merged the KBA into the Kansas Department of Commerce, the first step in selling off the state-funded investment organization.

Commerce Secretary Antonio Soave says the agency will be taking bids to purchase the organization in the comings months. He says they’re hoping for a buyer with a connection to the state of Kansas.

“We’d like to make sure, to the extent that we can, that a potential buyer really has an interest in growing jobs in Kansas, growing investment in Kansas, Keeping a physical presence,” says Soave.

The State Finance Council approved the merger and will later review bids for the KBA’s assets.

The Bioscience Authority is a tax-funded organization created in 2004 to foster companies and economic growth in industries such as human and animal health.

Republican Senate President Susan Wagle says selling the organization is the right thing to do. She says tax dollars were squandered and the state shouldn’t dip into the investment sector.

Wagle compares the money the state invested over the last 12 years against an initial estimate that the sale might net just $25 million or more.

“It’s best that state taxpayer dollars do not go into private investments. I just think it’s a lesson learned. We actually have lost hundreds of millions of dollars,” says Wagle.

House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs says the KBA has benefitted Kansas by helping to attract development such as the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility and the National Cancer Institute designation for the University of Kansas Cancer Center.

Burroughs hopes lawmakers will take time to determine what the KBA is really worth.

“It’s a prudent position to understand the true value of that portfolio and any innovative developments we may have moving forward,” says Burroughs.

Commerce Secretary Soave says the department is still reviewing the value of the organization, so he couldn’t say if the original $25 million estimate for the KBA sale is accurate.

The state will need to sell off the investment portfolio, building and land owned by the KBA. A final agreement could include a package deal or selling off the parts separately.

Soave says the sale could be completed by the end of the year.

Stephen Koranda is the Statehouse Bureau Chief for Kansas Public Radio, a partner with KCUR in a statewide collaboration covering elections in Kansas. Follow Stephen on Twitter @kprkoranda.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The chairman of Ted Cruz’s campaign in Kansas says the Texas senator has “harmed himself immeasurably” by not endorsing Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee.

Kansas state Rep. Mark Kahrs of Wichita said Thursday that he is disappointed in Cruz’s failing to endorse Trump.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback also said he was disappointed. Brownback said that at bottom, Cruz made a pledge to support the eventual nominee.

Kahrs said during a telephone interview from the Republican National Convention in Cleveland that the GOP must focus on defeating presumed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

But Brownback said he’s not sure how much Cruz damaged his political future.

The governor was also in Cleveland. He endorsed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio before the state’s March presidential caucuses. Cruz won handily.

SALINE COUNTY -A Kansas man cited by police in January for battery of two female nurses at Salina Regional Health Center, was arrested on a warrant Wednesday after charges were revised to aggravated battery, according to Police Captain Mike Sweeney.

On January 23, David McDowell, 59, Salina, allegedly battered two nurses while a patient at the hospital.

McDowell is accused of punching one nurse and hitting her in the head, and battering the other nurse.

One suffered a possible concussion.

McDowell was booked into the Saline County Jail Wednesday morning.

WASHINGTON -The Royals met President Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday during a ceremony to honor their World Series title. Watch a replay of the ceremony here

 

 

A gift for @POTUS. #Royals pic.twitter.com/GggSsUwBAf

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 21, 2016

 

    It is the fifth president that manager Ned Yost has met: Jimmy Carter and George Bush used to come to Braves games when Yost coached in Atlanta, George W. Bush threw out the first pitch on opening day once, and Bill Clinton greeted the champion Braves at the White House in 1996. “So this will be my fifth president,” Yost said, “which is kind of cool.”

 

 

.@Mooose_8 and his wife in the @WhiteHouse State Dining Room. #ForeverRoyal #Royals pic.twitter.com/PpmPbqbuIu

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 21, 2016

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is recalling nearly 290,000 older Chevrolet Impala sedans in the U.S. because the air bags might not inflate in a crash.

The recall covers Impalas from the 2009 and 2010 model years that were made before Feb. 10, 2010.

GM says in government documents that the front passenger seat frame can rub against the wiring for a passenger detection sensor. Damaged wiring could cut power to the sensor and knock out the air bags.

Air bag warning lights will illuminate if the wires are chafed. But some gauges may not work.

Dealers will add anti-abrasion tape to fix the problem. There’s no schedule yet for when repairs will be made.

by Dewey Terrill

 

GEARY COUNTY – A Kansas man was sentenced to life prison plus another consecutive term of 73 months in in Geary County District Court on Wednesday.

Richard Tilton, 43, Grandview Plaza, was convicted on one count of Aggravated Indecent Liberties with a Child and 10 counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child.

He was convicted after a plea agreement and no child was required to testify in court.

The case arose out of a complaint from a 9-year old autistic child from Grandview Plaza, who told his teacher about alleged sexual contact with Tilton, who was renting a room from the child’s parents.

Brown noted the child was interviewed, and search warrants were obtained for Tilton’ computers and electronics.

Thousands of sexually graphic images and videos were discovered, many of which were homemade, of young boys spanning back at least 20 years, and Tilton could be seen sexually abusing several of the children, according to Assistant Geary County Attorney Michelle Brown

Child victims were discovered in Geary, Riley and Dickinson Counties and at Fort Riley.

The police have not been able to identify many of the child victims and are requesting the public’s assistance in identifying them.

WICHITA – The Wichita police department has a added a new staff member.

This week, the police department began using a new facility dog to aid victims and witnesses of crimes, according to a media release.

Laddy is a two-year-old yellow lab who has received two years of socialization training to succeed in providing comfort to people impacted by the stress of being involved in the investigation and prosecution of crime.

Laddy is a graduate of the Kansas Specialty Service Campus in Washington, Kansas.

She is a working professional and will accompany Victim Assistance Coordinator Michele Blunck to work each day to provide comfort to victims of crime.