CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Mercury has begun a relatively rare move across the sun.

The solar-planetary ballet got underway just after 7 a.m. on the east coast with the smallest planet appearing as a tiny black dot on the face of the sun. The transit will last for a total of about 7½ hours. The last time it happened was 2006. It will happen again three years from now, but then not until 2032. NASA says the event occurs only about 13 times a century.

The entirety of Mercury’s journey will be viewable to the eastern U.S. and Canada, as well as most of western Europe and South America.

To catch a glimpse, viewers need binoculars or telescopes with protective solar filters. Mercury’s journey can also be seen via a livestream on NASA’s website .

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Mercury makes a relatively rare move across the sun Monday.

Visible just after 7 a.m. on the east coast, the smallest planet will appear as a tiny black dot on the face of the sun, and the transit will last for about 7½ hours. The last time it happened was 2006. It will happen again three years from now, but then not until 2032. NASA says the event occurs only about 13 times a century.

The entirety of Mercury’s journey will be viewable to the eastern U.S. and Canada, as well as most of western Europe and South America.

To catch a glimpse of the solar-planetary ballet, viewers will need binoculars or telescopes with protective solar filters. Mercury’s journey can also be seen on NASA’s website, where it will be livestreamed.

NEWTON- A family in Harvey County saw the power of lightning on Sunday, according to a social media report from Newton Fire and EMS.

Just before noon on Sunday, fire crews responded to the report of a lightning strike on a porch at a residence in Newton.

Upon arrival, a shaken, but uninjured family, who were inside the residence at the time of the strike, met the crew.

Damage appeared to be confined to the front porch and a nearby tree.

Pieces of bark, wood from the porch, siding, and the American flag were all blown out into the street covering a 25-foot radius.

Fire officials urged the public to remember that severe weather is more than tornados and baseball size hail. When lightning is in the area, seek proper shelter. If you are stuck outside, avoid being underneath trees and other tall, isolated objects.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Charges have been filed against three people accused of stealing bronze urns from two cemeteries in Kansas City, Kansas.

The Kansas City Star reports operators of Maple Hill Cemetery said someone had taken several hundred of the urns from graves. Chapel Hill Cemetery also is listed in court documents as reporting stolen urns.

The charges against the two men and a woman involve alleged thefts between December and mid-April.

All three were booked into the Wyandotte County jail on Thursday, and bond for each is set at $20,000.

It’s unclear if the defendants have lawyers.

SUDHIN THANAWALA, Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court is expected to issue a ruling soon that could limit prosecutions of medical marijuana users and dispensaries in eight Western states that allow medical marijuana.

At issue is a Congressional amendment that said the U.S. Department of Justice could not use funding Congress allocated to it for 2015 and 2016 to prevent states that have legalized medical marijuana from implementing laws that permit its use, distribution and possession.

The amendment’s bipartisan sponsors say it prohibits the DOJ from prosecuting people who are complying with state medical marijuana laws.

But the DOJ has interpreted the law more narrowly and says it permits U.S. attorneys to go after marijuana dispensaries and growers. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

The 9th Circuit is expected to clarify the scope of the amendment in appeals by three sets of defendants.

MANHATTAN- Law enforcement authorities in Riley County are investigating a suspect in connect with the death of an infant.

Just after 7 p.m. on Saturday, officers with the Riley County Police Department arrested Andrew Lynn Gibson, 25, of the 500 block of Stone in Manhattan.

Gibson was booked for murder in the 1st degree and abuse of a child; torture or cruelly beat.

His bond was set at $500,000, and he was confined at the Riley County Jail at the time of this report.

Just after 9p.m. on Thursday, police officers and additional emergency crews responded to the 500 block of Stone Drive in Manhattan, for a report of an baby not breathing, according to a media release.

Emergency crews confirmed the baby was not breathing and began resuscitation efforts.

The child was not revived and was later pronounced dead at Via Christi Hospital.

No additional details are being released.

HUTCHINSON — A  Kansas Department of Corrections inmate serving time for second-degree murder for a case in Seward County in 2005 now faces a charge of battery of a corrections officer in Reno County.

Eddie Nunez, 28, is accused of battering and causing injury to a female officer at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility

The crime is a level five person felony with a maximum sentence of over 11 years in prison.

With the formal charge filed, his case will move to a future waiver-status docket.

By Jessica Larson

KU Statehouse Wire Service

The Kansas Supreme Court will hear testimony May 10 to decide whether the bill Gov. Sam Brownback signed April 7 meets the Kansas Constitution’s requirement for equitable education funding.

“The legislature has acted to keep Kansas schools open, and I agree with its choice,” Brownback said in a statement on April 7. “I have signed Senate Substitute for House Bill 2655 because I want to keep our schools open and ensure our students continue to have access to a quality education.”

State Attorney General Derek Schmidt notified the Supreme Court within hours of the filing. The court put the case on an expedited schedule.

If the bill is deemed fair, the state’s 286 public schools will stay open. If not, schools will be forced to close on July 1.

The Wichita, Hutchinson and Dodge City school districts, along with Kansas City, Kan., challenged school financing legislation passed in 2015.

Here’s a look at how school districts have fared thus far, and what might lie ahead.

Wichita, District 259

Because Wichita Public Schools did not receive weighted enrollment adjustments to their budgets, it has been a hard year, said school spokeswoman Susan Arensman.

She said freezes in budgets created hard decisions for the district to determine how to pay for fluctuations in transportation, utilities, insurance and other mandatory costs.

“We wound up having to cut 10 percent of each department’s budget that was not employees. That means mileage, supplies, overtime ­– other services that they had to cut,” she said in reviewing the 2015-2016 school year.

Arensman said the district also lost 13 teaching staff to retirement or resignation. The district did not rehire for any of the positions due to lacking funds.

“Even with (these cuts), we wound up having to use 3 million of contingency reserves to cover some of the increased costs,” she said.

If the budget situation does not change, cuts will be made closer to the students.

“For the past several years, we’ve tried to make cuts as far away from the classroom as possible. We try to take it from the central office or other support positions. After a while, there are only so many cuts you can make,” Arensman said.

A possible budget cut for next year is another 10 percent in non-personnel reductions to all departments.

“That might mean more teachers are having to buy supplies out of their pocket, which they already do,” Arensman said.

The district is debating other solutions for next year’s budget problems, including changing the health plan, lengthening the school day, shortening the school year, changing bus routes and eliminating jobs.

Dodge City, District 443

Dodge City Public Schools need more teachers next year, although financing extra positions will be difficult due to stagnant funding, said William Hammond, the district’s executive director of operations.

Dodge City saw an increase in enrollment and a decrease in revenue last school year. Hammond attributes the lull in funding to the inadequacy of the block grant.

He said the initial block grant cut local option budget equalization by $343,134 and capital outlet equalization by $250,297. He also estimated the district lost around $927,478 due to unaddressed increased enrollment and student need.

“If you combine all of those together, the block grant cost us about $1.5 million this year,” Hammond said. “I think we will be able to add a couple (teaching) positions, but it’s going to be hard because we didn’t get the growth money, and we won’t get the growth money next year.”

Hammond argued Brownback’s new budget proposal is no solution for the district’s funding woes. He said the new plan specifically targets poorer districts, like his.

“The proposal really moves farther away from equalization, not closer,” he said.

The district has not made contingency plans for potential school closings.

Hutchinson, District 308

Shelly Kiblinger, superintendent of the Hutchinson school district, said Brownback’s latest equalization formula locks in an inadequate system. It also fails to generate new money for District 308, which Kiblinger said would lead to further critical cuts for the district.

Kiblinger said the plan furthers inequity because, even if the district gets more students, it won’t receive any additional revenues.

“Legislators have actually tried to move towards the equalization formula that is the most inequitable,” she said. “It’s disequalizing, and it freezes the amount of funds we are able to get for our schools for another year and fails to keep up with inflation.”

Class sizes are growing and student needs are outweighing what the district can address financially, Kiblinger said.

“We are having more students coming to schools who are not ready to learn, for a variety of reasons, and we are needing additional support services to meet those children’s needs both academically, socially and emotionally,” Kiblinger said.

The school is considering what it will do if it is forced to shut down come July.

Some topics up for debate are how to pay bills that might occur during the shut down, how to guarantee teachers’ salaries, and how school days could be made up.

“(Legislators) are going to have to figure out how to create equitable funding as far as what’s constitutional for our students,” Kiblinger said. “I don’t think legislators can solve this problem by themselves. It is going to take them to be willing and open to talk to the schools and find some solutions.”

In February, the state Supreme Court ruled that students across the state, whether they live in rich or poor counties, must have equal access to education. The court said the state’s current block grant funding system does not provide that equity and is unconstitutional. The court said the state has until the end of the fiscal year, June 30, to develop an equitable plan.

 

Edited by Leah Sitz

 

JEFFERSON COUNTY – Two people were injured in an accident just after 9p.m. on Saturday in Jefferson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Harley Davidson Motorcycle driven by Sarah D. Nixon, 24, Long Lane, MO., was eastbound on U.S 24 five miles east of Perry.

The driver was negotiating a curve, went left of center and sideswiped a 2006 Ford Freestar van driven by Roger D. Helm, 57, Perry, that was westbound.

A 2014 Harley Davidson driven by Paul S. Nixon, 35, Long Lane, MO., was following and struck the 2011 Harley from behind.

MCPHERSON – Law enforcement authorities in McPherson County are investigating 3 suspects on drug and alcohol charges.

Early Saturday, the McPherson County Game Warden apprehended three adult men at McPherson State Fishing Lake, according to a social media report from the Kansa Department of Wildlife Parks and Tourism.

The suspects were over the limit on channel catfish, fishing without licenses, and illegally in possession of alcoholic beverages and drugs.

No additional details were released.

By JIM MCLEAN

Local food advocates say a bill approved by Kansas lawmakers that restricts the authority of cities, counties and school districts to regulate junk food no longer constitutes a threat to their efforts to expand access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

They were plenty concerned in March when the House passed House Bill 2595.

Supporters of that bill, mostly Republicans, said it was needed to build a firewall against anti-business policies being implemented across the country to restrict consumer access to so-called junk food. But others worried it could threaten a host of initiatives under way in Kansas and the Kansas City area to encourage healthier eating.

In particular, organizers were concerned how language in the bill that prohibited incentives might affect “Double-Up Food Buck” programs, which essentially double the purchasing power of people in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. For every $1 they spend on locally grown fruits and vegetables, they get another dollar’s worth of fresh produce free, up to a daily limit of $25.

Five Price Chopper stores and 17 farmers markets in the Kansas City area are participating in a pilot project operated by the Mid-America Regional Council and Cultivate KC.

Also, the Market Match program doubles the purchasing power of SNAP recipientsat farmers markets in five Kansas communities: Atchison, Iola, Lawrence, Manhattan and Pittsburg.

“We were very concerned about protecting those programs,” said Ashley Jones-Wisner, policy director for KC Healthy Kids, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving community health.

But advocates had time to work on a solution, thanks to the Senate Commerce Committee, which throughout April took no action on the House-passed bill.

When the bill resurfaced in a House-Senate conference committee at the end of the session, lobbyists for KC Healthy Kids, the Mid-America Regional Council and other organizations that sponsor double-up programs were ready. They convinced members of the committee to include protective language in the final version of the bill.

“We cleared the language with a couple of different legal teams,” Jones-Wisner said. “I think it covers the bases.”

The change clears the way for a $5 million expansion of double-up programs in Kansas and Missouri.

Marlene Nagel, MARC’s director of community development, said organizations partnering to expand the double-up program plan to fund it with a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and matching funds from several area foundations.

Final word on the USDA grant is expected by the end of the month, Nagel said.

In the meantime, Nagel said, surveys done by researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center indicate that the pilot programs are producing the intended results.

“They have surveyed a number of SNAP customers and are finding that they are purchasing more fresh produce and using it to help feed their families and eat healthier,” Nagel said.

Jim McLean is executive editor of KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas zoo director says six elephants shipped in from southern Africa earlier this year are settling into their new home as the grand opening of their exhibit nears.

The Sedgwick County Zoo’s new elephant exhibit is named after director Mark Reed, who led a $10.6 million fundraising campaign to pay for the structure. The elephants arrived March 11 from Swaziland, which is experiencing an ongoing drought.

The Wichita Eagle reports 17 elephants were imported from Africa in a partnership involving zoos in Wichita, Dallas and Omaha, Nebraska. Wichita and Omaha got six elephants each, while Dallas got five.

Sedgwick County Zoo’s exhibit opens to the public May 27, with sneak previews for zoo members to begin Wednesday.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita business repeatedly targeted by a burglar it now calls “Sleepy Sasquatch” is asking for the public’s help in identifying the intruder who frequently leaves empty-handed.

The Wichita Eagle reports that Tradepost Entertainment has been burglarized four times since Feb. 12. Three of those times, the culprit left the music, movie and games store without taking anything. On March 1, he made off with an X-Box One.

The store’s manager, Chelsea Bethel, says they’ve dubbed him “Sleepy Sasquatch” because he’s seen on surveillance cameras wearing red pajama bottoms and is tall.

Wichita police say they have no suspects at this time.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The man who is creating a museum honoring daredevil Evel Knievel in Topeka says he expects it be a big draw.

Mike Patterson owns a Topeka Harley-Davidson dealership, which is being expanded to include a 16,000-square-foot area to house the museum.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Patterson is projecting the museum will draw 100,000 people a year. He says a two-month Knievel exhibit in Milwaukee drew 50,000 people from around the world.

Patterson says several exhibits will incorporate science, technology, engineering and math education. For example, one exhibit will detail the physics of planning one of Knievel’s jumps. Another will allow visitors to sit on a bike and create a virtual reality jump.

The museum is expected to open sometime this year.