MELISSA HELLMANN, Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers have approved a long-delayed proposal allowing faith-based groups on college campuses to restrict their membership to like-minded people.

The Republican-controlled House voted 81-41 on Wednesday to send the bill to Gov. Sam Brownback, a strong supporter of religious rights. The conservative Republican hasn’t said whether he’ll sign the bill.

Supporters say it’s a victory for the freedom to exercise religious beliefs, but opponents say it’s a veiled attempt to legalize discrimination.

The bill stems from a handful of on-campus incidents, including a lawsuit filed by a Christian group after Washburn University said the group couldn’t require that student members recognize the Bible, not the Book of Mormon, as the word of God. The issue emerged after a Mormon student was forbidden from leading the group’s Bible study.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police are reviewing video from a gas station where two college students say they were attacked by a white man shouting racial epithets and the name of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Lt. Jeff Gilmore says the video provides a view of the weekend altercation that’s being investigated as a potential hate crime. The Wichita Eagle reports that police aren’t immediately able to determine the accused attacker’s identity.

Wichita State University student body vice president Khondoker Usama, who’s Muslim, says he was pushed and that a Hispanic friend was punched and kicked. A police report says the friend suffered a bruised lip. Usama says a black customer also was called a racial epithet.

Usama says the man left on his motorcycle, after circling and shouting Trump’s name.

SALINA- Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating 3 suspects on drug charges.

A tip from the public led Drug Task Force agents to the room of Sarah Miller, 32, Salina, at the Super 8 Motel, 705 W. Schilling, according to Lt. Bill Cox, Commander of the I-135/I-70 Drug Task Force.

After Miller gave agents consent to search the room, they discovered about a half an ounce of methamphetamine along packaging materials and scales.

Cox said police also arrested two others in the room that were also found to be in possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

29-year-old Cory Berens and 25-year-old Elizabeth Berens were booked in the Saline County Jail on requested charged of possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Miller was booked into jail on requested charges of drug possession with intent to sell and drug paraphernalia possession. She was also booked on requested charges stemming from a previous case.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Republican state senator is suggesting that Kansas move to consolidate public school districts as it works to make education funding fairer.

Sen. Steve Fitzgerald of Leavenworth raised the issue Wednesday during a committee hearing on a bill to redistribute $39 million during the 2016-17 school year to help poor districts.

The bill is a response to a Kansas Supreme Court ruling last month that the state has been unfairly shorting poor school districts on their aid.

A district’s wealth has been measured by its average property value per student. If a small district loses a few students, its wealth can appear to rise significantly.

Fitzgerald said the situation would be less volatile with fewer large school districts. The state now has 286 districts.

Meanwhile, Kansas Senate Ways and Means Committee’s chairman says he hopes a school funding bill will clear the Legislature by the end of next week.

Republican Sen. Ty Masterson of Andover said Wednesday that lawmakers need to respond quickly to a Kansas Supreme Court decision last month.

The court said the state was shorting poor school districts on their state aid. The justices ordered a fix by June 30 and threatened to keep schools closed unless lawmakers meet the deadline.

Masterson drafted a plan to redistribute $39 million among school districts for the 2016-17 school year.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A man has been resentenced to seven years and eight months in prison in an October 2010 shooting that killed one man and injured another in Kansas City, Kansas.

The Wyandotte County prosecutor’s office announced Tuesday that Terran J. Baker also was ordered earlier this month to register as a violent offender upon his release and pay $5,000 in restitution.

The new prison term is 10 months shorter than what he was sentenced to in 2012 after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of Bernard Love and aggravated battery.

Baker sought relief under a new rule of criminal history classification, and a three judge panel ruled in December that Baker must be resentenced.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) on Wednesday was critical of President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to be justice of the United States Supreme Court:

“By nominating a replacement for Justice Scalia, President Obama is attempting to deny the American people a voice on the next Supreme Court justice.

The next justice will have an effect on the courts for decades to come and should not be rushed through by a lame-duck president during an election year. This is not about the nominee, it is about giving the American people and the next president a role in selecting the next Supreme Court justice.”

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is calling Judge Merrick Garland a strong nominee for the Supreme Court and arguing that refusing to hold hearings for his nomination would be unprecedented.

President Barack Obama nominated Garland for the high court on Wednesday. Garland is the chief judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Republican-led Senate must confirm his nomination to the court.

In a statement, Sanders notes that the 63-year-old Garland has decades of experience on the bench. Sanders says Obama has done his job by nominating Garland and that Senate Republicans now must do theirs.

Sanders is calling on Republicans to hold confirmation hearings and bring the nomination to the floor of the Senate if Garland is approved by the Judiciary Committee.

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1:45 p.m.

Some advocacy groups on both sides of the political spectrum are taking issue with President Barack Obama’s nominee to serve on the Supreme Court.

The committee responsible for helping GOP candidates win their Senate races, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, describes federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland as a “liberal, an activist and one of Obama’s most reliable allies in the judicial system.”

A group that backs candidates who oppose abortion rights, the Susan B. Anthony List, says it doesn’t know Garland but knows that anyone Obama nominates will join the voting bloc on the court that consistently upholds abortion on demand.

Some groups are saying Garland isn’t liberal enough. A group started by former Gov. Howard Dean, Democracy for America, says it’s deeply disappointed that Obama didn’t add “another progressive woman of color to the court.” Instead, the group says, Obama’s pick seems designed to appease intransigent Republicans rather than inspire the grassroots.

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1:25 p.m.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich says President Barack Obama should not rush to nominate a Supreme Court justice because of the “polarization” in Congress.

Speaking to a crowd at Villanova University, the Republican presidential candidate said Wednesday that the president shouldn’t “stiff the legislative body” by rushing to a decision that isn’t in the country’s best interest.

Said Kasich: “If I think I’m gonna blow something up in the seventh year, I’m not gonna do it.”

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12:50 p.m.

Hillary Clinton says Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland has a “brilliant legal mind and a long history of bipartisan support and admiration” and it’s up to the Senate to perform their Constitutional duty “they swore to undertake.”

Clinton says the confirmation of a justice “should not be an exercise in political brinkmanship and partisan posturing.” She says it’s a “serious obligation” that doesn’t depend “on the party affiliation of a sitting president, nor does the Constitution make an exception to that duty in an election year.”

She notes the Senate has never taken more than 125 days to vote on a Supreme Court nominee and Garland deserves a “full and fair hearing followed by a vote.”

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11:55 a.m.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the American people must have a voice in November on filling the Supreme Court vacancy.

In a speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday, the Kentucky Republican made it clear that the GOP-led Senate will not consider President Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, but will wait until after the next president is in place.

McConnell said the view of the GOP is “give the people a voice in the filling of this vacancy.”

Democrats and the White House are pressuring the GOP to act. Obama, in announcing his nominee, said Garland would be making the customary visit to Capitol Hill to meet with senators on Thursday. The Senate is planning a two-week break at the end of the week.

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11:50 a.m.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley isn’t swayed by President Barack Obama’s pick for a Supreme Court nominee.

President Barack Obama nominated appeals court judge Merrick Garland to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last month. Senate Republicans have said for weeks that they won’t hold a hearing or a vote on Obama’s nominee.

In a statement issued just after Garland spoke in the White House Rose Garden, Republican Grassley said “a lifetime appointment that could dramatically impact individual freedoms and change the direction of the court for at least a generation is too important to get bogged down in politics.”

He said this year is an opportunity for the country to have an honest debate about the role of the Supreme Court.

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11:45 a.m.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid evoked Republican front-runner Donald Trump in calling on Republicans to consider the nomination of Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court.

In a statement Wednesday, Reid said Trump had called on the GOP to block the nominee. The Nevada Democrat says Republicans face a choice of “blindly taking their marching orders from Donald Trump, or doing their jobs and providing fair consideration to this highly-qualified nominee.”

Despite unified opposition to considering any nominee in an election year, Reid said he was optimistic that “cooler heads will prevail” and “sensible Republicans” will treat Garland fairly

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11:35 a.m.

Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland says fidelity to the law and the Constitution has been the cornerstone of his professional life. He’s promising to bring that same principle to the high court if confirmed.

Garland was visibly emotional as he accepted President Barack Obama’s nomination in the White House Rose Garden with his family watching. He says being nominated by President Barack Obama is the greatest honor of his life, other than marrying his wife. He says there could be no higher public service in his view.

Garland says judges must put aside their personal views and preferences, and follow the law instead of making it. He says that’s a hallmark of the judge he’s tried to be for the last 18 years.

Garland is currently the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

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11:25 a.m.

President Barack Obama says allowing the Supreme Court confirmation process to become an extension of the presidential race would be wrong. He says that would betray America’s best traditions.

Obama is urging Senate Republicans to grant hearings and a confirmation vote to Merrick Garland, Obama’s nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. He says if they don’t, it would be an abdication for the Senate’s constitutional duty and would show the nominating process is “beyond repair.”

Obama says the Supreme Court is supposed to be above politics.

The president says Garland will travel to Capitol Hill on Thursday to meet one-on-one with senators.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has made his final NCAA Tournament call in office: Rock Chalk, champions.

Obama picked Kansas, Texas A&M, North Carolina and Michigan State to all reach the Final Four in a bracket he filled out for ESPN.

His choice might be an unpopular one around Kansas, though. Obama hasn’t correctly predicted the national champion since he picked North Carolina in his first year in office in 2009.

Obama also picked the Jayhawks to win the national championship in 2010 and 2011. Duke won in 2010 and UConn won in 2011, while Kansas missed the finals both years.

Obama told ESPN that filling out a bracket was a reminder that “college sports at its best can bring people together.”

Just like all the office pool players trying to win big, Obama selected one upset in the first round. He has No. 13 Hawaii, his home state, beating No. 4 Cal.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Washburn University graduate assistant football coach has been charged with aggravated kidnapping and rape.

Shawnee County court records show that the charges were filed Tuesday against 22-year-old Jesse Robert Bubke. He has been released on bond. No attorney is listed for him in court records. Shawnee County prosecutor’s office spokesman Lee McGowan didn’t immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Topeka police Lt. Colleen Stuart told The Topeka Capital-Journal that a woman went to police Sunday and reported she had been kidnapped from a bar, taken to Bubke’s home, assaulted and released.

As a graduate assistant, Bubke has coached defensive backs. Washburn spokesman Patrick Early says the university will help authorities. He didn’t immediately return a phone message from the AP.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) —President Barack Obama says federal appellate judge Merrick Garland would bring a spirit of modesty, integrity and even-handedness to the Supreme Court.

Obama is announcing that he’s nominating Garland to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. He says Garland is widely recognized for his excellence. He’s pointing to Garland’s experience as a law clerk, a prosecutor and as chief judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

“This is not a responsibility I take lightly—it’s a decision that requires me to set aside short-term expediency or narrow politics” —@POTUS

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 16, 2016

Obama says he went through a rigorous and comprehensive process to pick his nominee. He says he sought to set aside short-term expediency and “narrow politics.”

The president says he reached out to every member of the Senate Judiciary Committee to seek advice about the nomination.

 

Garland is the chief justice for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, a court whose influence over federal policy and national security matters has made it a proving ground for potential Supreme Court justices.

AGE — 63

CURRENT POSITION — Chief judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

PROFESSIONAL: Before becoming a judge in 1997, Garland served in the Justice Department as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General and Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division. He was a federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia from 1989 to 1992 and a partner in the law firm of Arnold & Porter from 1985 to 1989 and from 1992 to 1993.

EDUCATION — Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

OF NOTE — Garland supervised Justice Department investigations into the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.

BY JIM MCLEAN

Legislative leaders often use their authority over committee assignments and other perks to reward loyalty and punish insubordination.

But rarely are punishments meted out as publicly as they were Tuesday in the Kansas House.

House Speaker Ray Merrick, a Republican from Stilwell, publicly stripped fellow Republican John Rubin of his chairmanship of the Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee just minutes before the House adjourned for the day.

The announcement was swift retribution for Rubin’s role an hour earlier in challenging a decision that Merrick had made the day before to remove a bill from debate calendar to prevent it from being used to force a floor vote on expanding casino gambling in the state.

Upon learning of his ouster, Rubin stormed out of the House chamber. When asked for a comment as he hurried down a set of stairs to his office, the Shawnee Republican lashed out at Merrick.

“If he wants to run the state like a Napoleon Bonaparte for the state of Kansas he can do it without my help,” a visibly angry Rubin said before adding, “I’m resigning from the House of Representatives effective midnight tonight.”

Rubin later inched his position back, telling the Kansas City Star that he was “considering” stepping down because of the way Merrick ousted him.

“I was relieved as chairman by the speaker in a very open and public way,” he said.

In a statement, Merrick said he took the action in response to an attempt to “manipulate the House rules” and force a floor vote on a gaming bill that already had been scheduled for a hearing in committee on Wednesday.

Merrick said the hearing in the House Appropriations Committee would allow members to better understand the possible financial ramifications of expanding gaming.

He said the bill in question could require the state to pay the current operators of state-owned casinos more than $100 million. Tuesday’s incident wasn’t Rubin’s first tangle with House leaders.

His efforts to promote transparency by challenging rules that allow several bills to be bundled into conference committee reports that lawmakers must either vote up or down also rankled them.

Even so, his ouster as the chairman of a committee that has spent hours crafting a package of juvenile justice reform bills left several legislators stunned.

“I’m still coming to grips with it,” said Rep. Blaine Finch, a Republican from Ottawa. “But that was swift. Quite swift.”

Rep. Jim Ward, a Democrat from Wichita, called Merrick’s actions “irrational.” “He (Merrick) never stands up and argues his ideas,” Ward said. “He just punishes and threatens. That’s not leadership, that’s bullying and it’s happening too much in this building.”

Merrick also removed Rep. John Barker, a Republican and retired district court judge from Abilene, as chairman of the committee that resolves disputes over the House rules. Merrick took the action even though Barker and the committee upheld his decision to pull the bill that could have served as a vehicle for gaming amendments.

Several legislators said Tuesday’s developments were an indication of growing tensions at the Statehouse – tensions caused by ongoing budget problems and deepening differences about how to address them.

Those tensions also were evident Monday when heated exchanges in a GOP caucus prompted Senate leaders to excuse the media and close the meeting.

Before the session began, Merrick removed several members of the House Health and Human Services Committee because of their support for expanding KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program, to cover more low-income adults.

On the other side of the Statehouse, Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, a Republican from Shawnee, was removed from her position as chair of the Senate Public Health and Welfare committee after she tussled with Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican, over an amendment related to Medicaid expansion. Pilcher-Cook said she offered the amendment with the idea that it would be voted down and send a message to the House that Medicaid expansion was a dead issue.

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

HUTCHINSON – Law enforcement authorities in Reno County are looking for a suspect involved in a Tuesday evening standoff.

Police came to a house in the 700 Block of East Sherman in Hutchinson around 5:45 p.m. to serve an arrest warrant on a Jeremy Frischenmeyer, 33,who refused to come out.

Police believed he was the only one in the house. Despite a search,  police did not find him in the residence.

Police had SWAT and tactical officers on the scene, and two nearby homes were evacuated.

In September of 2015, Frischenmeyer was granted community corrections after a conviction for possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana and possession of synthetic marijuana.

Frischenmeyer was released from prison in June of 2014, after convictions in three burglaries from 2011.

He also has other convictions for burglary, forgery, theft and possession of drugs.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka dental testing business that authorities say dumped more than 900 files containing personal information of its customers and others in the trash will pay $140,000 as part of a lawsuit settlement.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that officials said that in March 2014, files were found in an unsecured dumpster outside of Central Regional Dental Testing Service Inc. Attorney General Derek Schmidt said that the files contained personal information, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers and health information.

Schmidt’s office said in a news release Wednesday that the business will pay a $70,000 fine and $70,000 in administrative costs relating to a case that claimed it violated Kansas consumer privacy laws.

The business said the improper disposal occurred due to an employee mistake. The files were eventually secured by the attorney general’s Consumer Protection Division.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man who slugged his attorney during his trial was sentenced to more than 20 years for that crime and an armed robbery conviction.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Lance L. Franklin was on trial in December 2014 when he hit his attorney, David McDonald, knocking him unconscious. McDonald suffered a concussion, a broken nose, cuts, swollen eyes and chipped teeth.

Franklin was sentenced Tuesday for aggravated assault and armed robbery in a plea deal that dropped several of the original charges.

After Franklin hit McDonald, a mistrial was declared and Franklin was found in contempt of court and given a 90-day sentence.