GLENDALE, Calif. (AP) — A Glendale, California, company closed 10 months ago will pay about $10 million to settle claims by the Federal Trade Commission that it wildly exaggerated the results of its diet supplements, used fake endorsements from people like Oprah Winfrey and hired marketers to send millions of spam emails.

FTC Midwest Region attorney Matthew H. Wernz says the $43 million settlement allows $33 million to be suspended if the defendants comply with statements submitted earlier.

Wernz says a court-appointed attorney liquidated the company, called Sale Slash and Purists Choice. There was no listing for Sale Slash. A call to Purists Choice went to a recording; a message was not returned.

The FTC sought to recover money to repay those who bought supplements with names like Premium Green Coffee and Pure Garcinia Cambogia.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers are pledging support for a bill that would open up private emails sent by public employees about government business.

The Wichita Eagle  reports that the bill would make information made by an employee of a public agency concerning business available to a Kansas Open Records Act request regardless of “form, characteristics or location.”

The addition of “location” comes after Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget director used a private account last year to email lobbyists a draft of the governor’s proposed budget before lawmakers saw it. The new bill would apply to employees who conduct government business on private email accounts.

The Kansas Association of Broadcasters and the Kansas Press Association voiced support for the bill. There was no opposition.

RYAN J. FOLEY, Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — It was one of those feel-good moments that lotteries love to promote when “Lucky Larry” Dawson claimed a $9 million jackpot, surrounded by his kids and grandkids.

But five years later, the Iowa man could become a key player in litigation that threatens to cost state lotteries tens of millions of dollars in damages in an insider jackpot-rigging scandal.

A Des Moines law firm filed a lawsuit Wednesday on Dawson’s behalf seeking to declare that his Hot Lotto jackpot in May 2011 should have been nearly three times as big, had the previous one not been fixed.

It’s the first in what could be several lawsuits filed by players who claim they were ripped off by games allegedly rigged by Eddie Tipton, former security director of the Multi-State Lottery Association.

Prosecutors allege that Tipton used his access to random number generators to fix jackpots in Kansas, Colorado, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and worked with associates to play winning numbers and collect prizes.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A university study projects the number of Kansans older than 65 will double in the next 50 years and outnumber children for the first time in state history.

Watch the 2 minute WSU CEDBR Video on the study here

The forecast released Wednesday by Wichita State University’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research also projects a 21.8 percent increase between 2014 and 2064 as the Kansas population reaches more than 3.5 million people. That is slower than the growth rate for the nation.

The biggest social and economic impact may come from projections that the state’s working age population is projected to increase only 10.3 percent.

Only 20 of the state’s 105 counties are projected to grow in population. The remaining 85 counties will see declines.

More than 80 percent of Kansas residents will be living in metropolitan areas by 2064.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Senate has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would lessen penalties for first and second-time marijuana possession.

The vote Wednesday was 38-1.

The measure would reduce the punishment for first-time misdemeanor possession to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, rather than the current year in jail and $2,500 fine. A second possession conviction would no longer be a felony, so an offender wouldn’t be sent to prison.

The measure goes next to the House, which passed a similar proposal last year.

The lone vote against the bill came from Democratic Sen. David Haley, of Kansas City.

He proposed imposing only a $50 fine for the first, second and third time a person is caught possessing small amounts of marijuana. The Senate voted 31-5 against Haley’s amendment.

KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press
DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press

CATONSVILLE, Md. (AP) — President Barack Obama says bias against any segment of American society tears at the fabric holding the nation together and must be tackled “head on.”

In an address Wednesday at the Islamic Society of Baltimore, Obama pushed back against bias that Muslim Americans say is on the rise following terrorist attacks in Paris and California.

Obama talked about a 13-year-old Muslim girl from Ohio who wrote him to say she is scared.

Obama said that girl is like his own daughters. He says it’s wrong that any child would be filled with doubt or question their place in society.

The visit was Obama’s first as president to an American mosque.

Before the speech, Obama met at the mosque with Muslim-American leaders from around the country.

CLAY CENTER – A single-family residence in Clay Center suffered extensive damage on Tuesday, according to Fire Chief John Ihnen.

The cause of the fire at 710 Sherman was accidental. Fire crews were able to work from inside to extinguish the blaze.

The fire started in a utility room according to an investigation by the State Fire Marshal. “We were not able to pinpoint which appliance was responsible for starting the fire,” said Ihnen.

Both occupants, in their 50s, were able to escape unharmed. They are staying with relatives.

A pet bird and several cats died in the fire.

Total damage estimate was not available. The home and contents were not insured.

TOPEKA – The former branch manager of a bank in Manhattan, Kan., was sentenced Wednesday to 27 months in federal prison for embezzlement, according to U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom.

In addition, she was ordered to pay $277,000 in restitution.

Melissa Vinsonhaler, 34, Manhattan, pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement from a bank. In her plea, she admitted the crime occurred while she was branch manager of Kansas State Bank on East Highway 24 in Manhattan, She embezzled $277,000 from the bank and made false entries in the bank’s ledger to cover up the crime.

Grissom commended the FBI and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rich Hathaway for their work on the case.

BARTON COUNTY -An early morning fire West of Great Bend is being investigated as an arson.

According to the Barton County Sheriff’s Office, the Albert Fire Department responed to structure fire approximately 9 miles west of Great Bend Wednesday morning at 1155 N. East 20 Road. Upon arrival firefighters and officers discovered the structure had totally collapsed and was a complete loss.

“Evidently, the fire had been burning for a considerable length of time prior to authorities being notified,” Sheriff Brian Bellendir said in a press release.

“The house was not occupied at the time of the fire. The fire has been deemed suspicious in nature.”

On Monday, the Sheriff’s Office was notified of an attempted arson at the same location. That report was currently under investigation.

Bellendir says the Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office, and an investigator is currently assisting detectives. The Sheriff’s Office will continue investigation of both cases.

The loss of Wednesday’s fire is estimated to be in excess of $85,000.00.

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BARTON COUNTY-The Kansas State Fire Marshal’s office is investigating the cause of a fire at a two-story residence in Barton County.

Fire crews were called to 1155 Northwest 20 Road just after 6a.m. on Tuesday, according to Albert Fire Chief Charlie Keller.

“A passerby believed it was just a grass fire. However, when we arrived, we discovered the 2-story, unoccupied residence had burned all night.

The structure was a complete loss. “We called in the State Fire Marshal to help with the investigation,” he said.

No injuries were reported.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow teachers and school administrators to be prosecuted for presented material perceived as harmful to minors.

The Wichita Eagle reports that the bill passed the Senate last year and was considered in a House committee Tuesday. It stems from a 2014 controversy in the Shawnee Mission school district over a poster in a sex education classroom that listed oral sex and other acts as ways people express their sexual feelings.

Currently, state law protects school officials against the misdemeanor charge of presenting harmful material to minors if it’s part of a lesson. The proposed legislation would remove that protection for teachers at public, private and parochial schools.

Teachers would face a fine or up to six months in jail if convicted.

HUTCHINSON – One of two men suspected of beating a Reno County Correctional Facility inmate so severely that he was taken to a Wichita hospital was arraigned in that case and one other on Monday.

William and Antoine Alexander are both charged by the state with a single count of aggravated battery.

They are accused of beating 30-year-old Darrell Beachy on September 26 in one of the pods at the new Reno County Jail.

Beachy was taken by air-ambulance to a Wichita hospital for treatment.

William Alexander entered a not guilty plea in that case and another where he is charged with two alternate counts of felony theft.

In that case, the state accuses him of stealing a Samsung Galaxy tablet, a Nextbook tablet as well as other miscellaneous items on October 23.

The two cases will now be placed on a jury trial docket in front of Judge Trish Rose.

William Alexander was in custody for a failure to appear charge out of Salina.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The latest on a Kansas man charged in an alleged plot to bomb an Army post (all times local):

1:35 p.m.

A 21-year-old man has pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts in connection with a plot to plant a bomb outside an Army post in northeast Kansas.

John T. Booker Jr., of Topeka, changed his pleas to guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court to charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to use an explosive device to damage government property. A plea agreement with prosecutors recommends that he be sentenced to 30 years in prison on the first charge and 20 years on the second charge, to be served at the same time.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped a charge of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group.

Booker had initially pleaded not guilty to three felony charges. He could have faced life in prison if convicted of those charges.

He was arrested in April 2015 outside Fort Riley, about 60 miles west of Topeka, trying to arm what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb in a van.

12:30 p.m.

A Kansas newspaper says it has received a letter from a man charged with seeking to aid the Islamic State group, saying he wants a new attorney to represent him in his federal criminal case.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that it received the letter Wednesday from John T. Booker Jr. He is charged with seeking to aid the Islamic State group by planting a bomb last year at Fort Riley, about 60 miles west of Topeka.

The newspaper said Booker accused defense attorney Kirk Redmond of neglecting him. Also, Booker told the newspaper he sent a letter to U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia last month.

A court hearing for Booker in front of Murguia was delayed Wednesday until the afternoon after the judge announced he’d received a letter from Booker.

Redmond declined to comment leaving court.

11:30 a.m.

A federal court hearing for a man charged with seeking to aid the Islamic State group by planting a bomb at an Army post in northeast Kansas has been delayed after he sent a letter to the presiding judge.

John T. Booker of Topeka appeared Wednesday for what was scheduled to be a hearing to change his not guilty pleas to three charges. The charges included attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.

But Judge Carlos Murguia announced he’d received a letter from Booker. Neither he nor Booker’s attorney gave details. Booker and his lawyer conferred with Murguia, and the attorney asked that the hearing be delayed until afternoon.

Booker was arrested in 2015 outside Fort Riley. He was trying to arm what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb in a van. Prosecutors allege Booker told an FBI informant he wanted to kill Americans and engage in violent jihad on behalf of the Islamic State group.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 21-year-old man is due back in federal court over criminal charges alleging that he sought to aid the Islamic State group by planting a bomb at Fort Riley.

The hearing Wednesday for John T. Booker Jr., of Topeka, was scheduled before U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia to allow Booker to change his pleas of not guilty to three charges. They included attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.

Booker was arrested in April 2015 outside Fort Riley. He was trying to arm what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb in a van.

Prosecutors allege Booker told an FBI informant he wanted to kill Americans and engage in violent jihad on behalf of the Islamic State group.

KEARNEY COUNTY – A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday in Kearney County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1998 Plymouth Neon driven by Barbra Mullen, 48, Liberal, was westbound on U.S. 50 just west of BB Road.

The Plymouth hit a patch of ice, the driver lost control and struck and hit a semi the driver’s side.

Mullen was transported to the Kearney County Hospital.

The semi driver from Oklahoma was not injured.
Mullen was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.