ELKHART, Kan. (AP) — Part of the Cimarron National Grassland is closed during an investigation into the deaths of seven cattle.

The closure imposed in December at the grassland in Morton County will last until at least May 1, or until it is rescinded. About 2,600 of the 108,000-acre land are closed to all motorized and non-motor access.

The Hutchinson News reports  the Morton County Grazing Association leases the grassland each year. Some range riders found the cattle dead in October. A veterinarian determined the animals had inhaled something that caused their deaths.

The closure was implemented because of the potential for hazardous airborne conditions.

District Ranger Lance Brown says the animals’ deaths did not appeared to be caused by anything malicious.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is preparing to outline his legislative agenda during the annual State of the State address.

The speech is scheduled for Tuesday evening before a joint session of the Republican-dominated Legislature in the House chamber. The GOP governor has focused in his previous speeches on broad themes.

Brownback has said that the massive personal income tax cuts enacted at his urging in 2012 and 2013 are working and stimulating the economy. But the state has struggled to balance its budget since and must close a projected $190 million shortfall for the fiscal year that begins in July.

His address will be live-streamed on the state’s website here www.kansas.gov.

Brownback budget director Shawn Sullivan plans to release details of the governor’s spending recommendations Wednesday.

DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Dodge City man has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison after pleading guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol, which led to the death of a woman.

The Dodge City Daily Globe reports that 23-year-old Nicholas Andrew Rodriguez was sentenced to 42 months in prison for an involuntary manslaughter charge and an additional 6 months for a criminal trespassing charge. The sentences will run concurrently.

Rodriguez was arrested in October 2014 after an incident in which he drove under the influence of alcohol, leading to the death of 24-year-old Diana Soto.

Court documents say Rodriguez will be required to register as a violent offender upon release.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators are preparing to review proposals from a consultant for making state government more efficient.

The House Appropriations Committee was convening Tuesday morning to review the report from Kansas City-based Alvarez & Marsal.

The consulting firm also was presenting its report later to the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Legislative leaders hired the firm on a $2.6 million contract to review state government’s operations. It also is examining local school districts.

The firm already has suggested that the Department of Revenue fill dozens of vacant positions to help with tax collections. It also proposed centralizing the leasing of state office space and selling little-used Department of Transportation equipment.

The state is facing a projected $190 million deficit in its budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

MCPHERSON COUNTY-  Officials reopened U.S. 56 just before 7 a.m. on Tuesday. The investigation into the gas leak at Williams Energy was completed overnight.

—————-

MCPHERSON COUNTY- Law enforcement officials kept a portion of U.S. 56 highway in McPherson County closed to traffic overnight due to the investigation of a gas leak at Williams Energy Service west of McPherson.  The road is shut down between 4th and 8th Avenue.

The company reported in a media release that they have isolated the area and there have been no evacuations because there is no danger to the public.

Drivers are encouraged to avoid the area or expect significant delays.

———————

MCPHERSON COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities and first responders are near the scene of  a reported gas leak running across U.S. 56 highway in McPherson County.

Just after 11:30 on Monday a section of pipe associated with an underground storage cavern at the Williams Energy operated Conway complex began to vent an unknown quantity of butane, according to a company media release.

Official with Williams notified emergency responders and isolated a 2-mile perimeter around the complex.

Williams shut down the system and isolated the cavern, which ended the gas leak. No injuries have been reported.

The immediate area around the complex remains closed as an investigation continues. Highway 56 in McPherson County near the Williams complex remains closed.

—————-

MCPHERSON COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are reported a gas leak running across US-56 highway in McPherson County..

The road is temporarily shutdown between 4th and 8th avenue, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.

Check Salina Post for additional details as they become available.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A fleeing motorist is charged with causing a suburban Kansas City crash that injured a pregnant woman so severely that she died soon after her baby was delivered.

Twenty-one-year-old Raphael Sherman was charged Monday in Johnson County District Court with involuntary manslaughter in the death of 25-year-old Denise Lopez of Kansas City, Kansas. Bond is set at $250,000. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.

Police say the crash happened Sunday night in Overland Park soon after police in nearby Prairie Village attempted to stop a driver. Police say three vehicles were involved in the crash.

The woman who died was 39 weeks pregnant. Police say her baby is doing well. Five other people were taken to hospitals with injuries that police said weren’t life-threatening.

LARNED, Kan. (AP) — An inmate who raped and killed two young sisters in Topeka nearly 30 years ago has died.

The Kansas Department of Corrections said Monday it was investigating the death of 66-year-old Nolan D. Prewett. The Topeka Capital-Journal  reports that he died Sunday night at the Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility.

Corrections department spokesman Adam Pfannenstiel says no additional information is available.

Prewett was serving time for the 1986 deaths of the 3- and 6-year-old sisters. Their nude bodies were found in his basement, wedged between a furnace and a wall.

Beforehand, Prewett had been in and out of Veterans Affairs medical centers. The slain girls’ mother alleged the VA was negligent and received an undisclosed settlement.

Prewett would have become parole eligible for the first time in November 2017.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers will consider new limits on local property taxes this year.

The Republican-controlled Legislature opened its annual session Monday.

It enacted a law last year aimed at lessening annual increases in the property tax levies cities and counties rely heavily upon to finance local services. The restrictions take effect in 2018.

But Republican Sen. Jake LaTurner of Pittsburg has a new bill to tighten the restrictions and have them take effect in July.

The Kansas Association of Realtors said imposing the restrictions earlier than planned is its top legislative priority.

The idea also is supported by Americans for Prosperity. The anti-tax group is backed by billionaire political donors Charles and David Koch.

Groups representing cities and counties plan to ask legislators to repeal the restrictions before they take effect.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A motorist who had drugs in his system when he struck and killed a Kansas lawmaker’s wife in a supermarket parking lot has been sentenced to five years and nine months in prison.

Twenty-three-year-old Christopher Schrader apologized Monday when he was sentenced in Sedgwick County for the February 2015 death of 60-year-old Annette Hedke. The Wichita Eagle (bit.ly/1mRlHBP) reports that Schrader pleaded no contest previously to involuntary manslaughter.

Hedke was the wife of Rep. Dennis Hedke, a Republican representing the Wichita area. He’s part of a wrongful death lawsuit that seeks more than $75,000.

The lawsuit says Schrader shouldn’t have been allowed to drive because of his driving record and drug use. It also alleges negligence on his mother’s behalf because she gave her son permission to drive the vehicle.

JUNCTION CITY -Law enforcement officials in Geary County are investigating four suspects on drug charges.

The Geary County Sheriff’s Department has reported the arrest of four people on drug related allegations just before 12:30a.m. on Sunday.

Deputies arrested Lydell Sheegog, Memphis, TN, on suspicion of Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute, Possession of Methamphetamine, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, plus Defective Tag Light and Defective Tail Lamps.

Also arrested were Robert Bradley, Cosby, TN, Sarah Colley, CA., and Robert Bobb, Orville, CA., all on suspicion of Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

The Kansas Highway Patrol and Emergency responders were busy on Monday morning working dozens of accidents blamed on icy roads.

Eduiges Gonzalez-Najera, 39, Salina died just before 6:30 a.m. on Monday when he lost control of a Chevy Silverado southbound on Interstate 135 at Crawford and hit a northbound semi head-on.

In Shawnee County, a 1996 Chevy pickup driven by Hector Ramirez, 43, Topeka, was westbound on Interstate 70 at West Union Road. The driver lost control on an icy bride and the pickup rolled.

Ramirez was transported to St. Francis Medical Center in Topeka just before 6:30 a.m.

Just after 7 a.m. in Saline County, a 2008 Mercury passenger vehicle driven by Larry Alan McDaneld, 54, Salina, was westbound on Interstate 70 at 9th Street when he lost control of the vehicle and struck a Ford passenger vehicle, which was parked on the shoulder unoccupied.

McDaneld and a passenger Angel K McDaneld,15, were transported to Salina Regional Medical Center.

At about the same time, a 2000 Chevy passenger vehicle driven by Carlos E Rodriguez, 37, Wichita, was northbound on Interstate 135 at the Bridgeport exit in Saline County.

The driver lost control of the vehicle due to road conditions. The vehicle rolled multiple time and came to rest in the east ditch.
Rodriguez and passengers Brandon Truaillo, 19, and Ismael Vital, 28, Wichita, were transported to Salina Regional Medical Center. Vital was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

Just before 7:30 a.m. in Sedgwick County, a 1998 Ford SUV driven by Lanai Nakiel Sellers,17, Wichita, was on the ramp from northbound Interstate 135 to westbound U.S. 54 when she lost control and struck the KDOT bridge wall. Sellers was transported to Wesley Medical Center.

Just before 8a.m. in Lyon County, a 1996 Toyota pickup driven by Kody Wayne Comstock, 17, Beverly, was southbound on Interstate 35 two miles east of Emporia. He lost control and the pickup rolled into south ditch. Comstock was not wearing a seat belt and was transported to Newman Regional Medical Center.

In Saline County a 2009 Ford passenger vehicle driven by Donald Fortin, 59, Topeka, was westbound on Interstate 70 just west of Solomon.

The vehicle slid, went through the median, across the eastbound lanes and overturned. Fortin was transported to Salina Regional Medical Center.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas will use a $2 million donation from a Kansas City, Missouri, couple to establish an architecture scholarship and to help a reading program for children.

The university announced Monday it had received the gift from Michael Cummings and his wife, Pamela Miller. It said about $1.6 million will be used to establish the Michael A. Cummings Scholarship for architecture students, giving preference to architecture students from rural communities.

The other $400,000 will go to Reach Out And Read Kansas City, a nonprofit program at the University of Kansas Medical Center that partners with doctors to provide books for children and encourage parents to read to them.

Michael Cummings earned bachelor’s degrees from Kansas in 1983. Pamela Miller earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Rockhurst University.

MCPHERSON COUNTY –Two drivers were injured in an accident just before 12:30 p.m. on Monday in McPherson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2015 Lincoln MKX driven by Karol K. Elliott, 62, Great Bend failed to stop on Kansas 61 at Comanche Road seven miles south of McPherson.

The vehicle entered the intersection and was struck by a southbound 2013 Dodge Charger driven by Mattison Leigh Carey, 25, Hutchinson.

Eagle Med transported Elliott to a hospital in Wichita.

Carey was transported to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center.

Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.