WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A North Newton couple accused of abusing three children they adopted have waived their preliminary hearings in Harvey County District Court.

The Wichita Eagle reports that Jim and Paige Nachtigal appeared in court briefly Monday to waive their preliminary hearing in which a judge decides whether there’s enough probable cause to bind a defendant over for a jury trial.

The couple is scheduled for an arraignment Aug. 1. They’ll enter a plea of guilty, not guilty or no contest to at least a dozen criminal charges, including three counts of child abuse alleging cruel and inhuman corporal punishment, seven counts of aggravated battery and two counts of child abuse alleging child torture.

Authorities say the Nachtigals brutally assaulted two daughters and a son they adopted from a Peruvian orphanage while working as international missionaries.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The owners of a Kansas roofing company are accused of forcing workers who are in the U.S. illegally to pay kickbacks by threatening to turn them into immigration agents if they didn’t.

A 17-count federal indictment unsealed Tuesday in Kansas City, Kansas, accuses Century Roofing owners Tommy Frank Keaton and Graziano Cornolo of profiting from kickbacks since at least 2009.

Prosecutors say workers who were in the country illegally were paid in cash to complete roofing projects in the Kansas City area in Kansas and Missouri, then were forced to give some of the money back.

A spokesman for Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall says no attorneys had entered an appearance for either defendant. Keaton’s voice mailbox was full Tuesday and Cornolo doesn’t have a listed number.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today announced that the Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), including his amendment to prohibit the administration from reprogramming funds intended for other purposes to transfer the remaining terrorists at Guantanamo Bay (GITMO) to the mainland or to construct an alternative site on the mainland.

Video of Senator Roberts discussing the bill is here.

“This bill provides critical funding for our military, including equipment, pay, and programs to protect this nation from the many threats we face as a nation – and it again prohibits the administration from transferring terrorists at Guantanamo Bay to the mainland,” said Roberts. “I was pleased to secure an amendment in this bill which goes one step further to explicitly prohibit the administration from going around the Congress and using funds intended for other purposes to transfer these prisoners or construct an alternative site for GITMO.

“The president is again threatening to veto this legislation over a campaign promise which is already against the law. Fortunately the clock has run out, but I will not stop fighting to preventing the president from sending terrorists to our communities.”

The NDAA, which passed the Senate by a vote of 85-13, authorizes funding for the Department of Defense through Fiscal Year 2017. The bill contains the first major update to Pentagon organization in 30 years, with the goal of prioritizing innovation and improving the development and execution of defense strategy. It also modernizes the military health system to provide military service members, retirees, and their families with higher-quality care, better access to care, and a better experience of care.

Roberts’ amendment to the bill amendment prohibits reprogramming of funds for the transfer or release of detainees held at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to an alternative site in the United States. “Reprogramming” funding is when an agency seeks flexibility to use funds appropriated to other accounts. Generally agencies must seek the approval of Congress. The Roberts amendment also prohibits the reprogramming of funds to construct alternative facilities to house the detainees.

Roberts has led the charge in the Senate against the Obama administration’s attempts to close Guantanamo Bay and transfer the prisoners to the U.S. mainland, in particular Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, a site that has been surveyed by the administration. Ft. Leavenworth is the home to the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, which houses U.S. military prisoners, and it is against the law for enemy combatants to be housed with members of the U.S. military. Fort Leavenworth is also home to the Command and General Staff College, the Intellectual Center of the Army, where all Army officers study.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas House member says he has drafted a proposal that would prevent transgender students from using school bathrooms that do not match their birth genders.

But Republican Rep. John Whitmer of Wichita told The Wichita Eagle that he doesn’t plan to push for a debate during the Legislature’s coming special session unless Democrats seek to amend an education funding bill.

Lawmakers convene June 23 to address a state Supreme Court order to make the school finance system fairer to poor school districts or risk having schools remain closed after June 30.

Whitmer said his proposal would encourage schools to create gender-neutral bathrooms.

Democratic Rep. John Carmichael of Wichita said it would be irresponsible of legislators to delay an education funding solution with a dispute over bathrooms.

SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating an alleged IRS scam.

A Salina man, in his 70s, received a call early last month from someone who claimed he would be arrested if he didn’t pay taxes he owed to the Internal Revenue Service, according to Salina Police Captain Mike Sweeney.

The man sent a $23,000 cashier’s check and a box containing $55,000 in cash to Ohio and then purchased 29 prepaid Visa cards worth $500 each, He gave the numbers of the cards over the phone to another man.

Police were notified by the man’s bank on Monday concerned he may have be the victim of a scam.

The man may be out $93,500, according to police.

Sweeney said the IRS will never call and threaten to have you arrested if you don’t make immediate payments.

Also any legitimate business or office will not ask you to make payments with a Money gram, Western Union wire, or prepaid Visa or other type of prepaid card.

Once money is sent via a wire it is virtually impossible to recover the money, according to Sweeney.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld the government’s “net neutrality” rules that require internet providers to treat all web traffic equally.

The ruling Tuesday from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is a win for the Obama administration, consumer groups and content companies such as Netflix that want to prevent online content from being blocked or channeled into fast and slow lanes.

The rules treat broadband service like a public utility and prevent internet service providers from offering preferential treatment to sites that pay for faster service.

Providers like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T say the rules threaten innovation and undermine investment in broadband infrastructure.

By ALEX SMITH

As the nation grapples with the weekend mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, one of the country’s leading advocates for gun control offered some advice to the state of Kansas.

Joshua Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, spoke to health care providers, educators and medical students at the University of Kansas Medical Center on Monday, laying out a proposal to create temporary gun restrictions as a way to reduce gun violence.

He said special considerations are needed when someone is experiencing a crisis and may be at risk for dangerous behavior.

“Those things can pass. But while you’re at an elevated risk, the process is let’s make sure we try to do the best to protect your own life and those of the community,” Horwitz said.

Horwitz’s appearance at KU Medical Center had been scheduled before the shooting in Orlando.

His proposal would allow temporary restrictions based on input from family and friends, as well as based on involuntary commitments due to a mental health crisis or convictions for drug, alcohol or violence-related offenses.

Horwitz said such restrictions might prevent shootings like the one that happened in Orlando.

“Someone who is repeatedly abusing their spouse, and that their coworker expected them to commit a mass shooting, is someone who, if you could put the facts together and bring them before a judge, could be someone who’d be a good candidate for this,” Horwitz said.

Horwitz also expressed doubts about Kansas’s gun policies, which will require public universities by July 2017 to allow anyone to carry a concealed handgun on campus, unless every door has metal detectors and security guards.

“You’re going to have people who may or may not have background checks, who may or may not have been vetted by law enforcement, so you’re really into a new territory right now. I mean it’s hard to imagine that would make it more safe,” Horwitz said.

He pointed to studies such as one published in 2014 by researchers at Stanford and Johns Hopkins universities, showing that concealed-carry laws have either increased violence or had no effect on overall safety.

A KU spokesperson said the school is working to make the campus as safe as possible as it prepares for the new policy to take effect.

Alex Smith is a reporter and  partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach him on Twitter @AlexSmithKCUR

ALLEN COUNTY- A semi driver died in an accident just after 7p.m. on Monday in Allen County five miles south of Iola.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2007 International Semi driven by Jayson L. Wessley, 52, Nevada, MO., was southbound on U.S. 169

The semi went left of center. It continued across the northbound lane, entered the eastbound ditch and came to rest after striking and becoming wedged in the underpass.

A 2014 Ford Escape driven by Craig K. Goodner, Chanute, was traveling northbound on U.S.169 and made an evasive maneuver to avoid the semi, entered the eastbound ditch and struck a delineator post.

Wessley was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics. Goodner was not injured. Wessley was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

HUTCHINSON — A preliminary hearing for a Kansas man jailed early New Year’s Day after he allegedly stabbed a man to death waived his preliminary hearing Monday afternoon and entered a plea to a lesser charge.

Kevin Wayne Ginn Jr., 34, Hutchinson, allegedly stabbed 24-year-old Deshamus Diron Lucky during a large disturbance just after 2 a.m. in the area of 8th & Madison.

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

Ginn entered a plea to one count of involuntary manslaughter. The state dropped the other charges. As part of the agreement, he cannot seek any type of departure at sentencing and both sides will recommend 90 months or seven years and six months in prison.

On New Year’s Eve, after a night of drinking and bar hopping, Ginn and the victim attended a party in the 300 block of West 8th.

Police reported Ginn got into an altercation and Lucky was stabbed in his upper chest, collapsed on a porch and later died from his wound at Hutchinson Regional Medical Center.

Ginn was also taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries, then taken to jail.

Ginn is no stranger to the law with numerous other convictions in Sedgwick, Johnson, Labette and Wyandotte counties.

Although the two sides will recommend the seven years, six months, Judge Tim Chambers could sentence him to over 11 years in prison.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 22.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two Kansas legislative committees will debate changes in education funding and school finance amendments to the state constitution in a joint meeting this week.

The House and Senate Judiciary committees Monday released the agenda for a two-day meeting that begins Thursday. The panels are meeting ahead of a special session beginning June 23.

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback called the special session to address a state Supreme Court order last month declaring that the state’s education funding system remains unfair to poor school districts. The court said schools will not be able to reopen after June 30 without further fixes.

The committees’ agenda shows that they could recommend changes in education funding. But they will also consider proposing constitutional amendments to curb the courts’ power in reviewing school finance issues.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The latest government snapshot of Kansas crops shows a slower than usual start to the state’s wheat harvest.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday that 5 percent of the winter wheat in Kansas had now been harvested. That is slightly more progress compared to this time a year ago, but it is still behind the 15 percent average.

It noted that wheat harvest has gained momentum in the southern parts of Kansas.

The agency also rated the condition of wheat still out in the field as 10 percent excellent and 51 percent good. About 31 percent is in fair condition, with 8 percent in poor to very poor shape.

Condition updates for the state’s corn, soybean and sorghum crops are listed as mostly good to excellent.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Health officials estimate that as many as 1,500 children in Kansas City and hundreds more in neighboring Kansas counties have lead poisoning from lead paint.

The Kansas City Star reports that although lead paint was outlawed in 1978 the problem persists, largely in poor neighborhoods. Effects of lead poisoning include hearing loss and learning disabilities. See the prevention video here.

Kansas City’s Project Lead Safe KC has removed lead hazards from about 2,500 homes by repainting and by replacing windows. But the program also has been hit by federal budget cuts.

In Kansas, the state’s lead poisoning prevention programs disappeared after the state lost federal funding to budget cuts. Kansas devotes almost no money to lead poisoning prevention, and when federal funding returned for some programs two years ago, Kansas didn’t apply for it.