SEWARD COUNTY- Three people were injured in an accident just before 7 a.m. on Wednesday in Seward County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2016 Kia passenger car driven by Chinh Bui, 47, Kansas City, was eastbound on U.S. 54 seven miles east of Liberal.

The driver attempted to pass a semi. The Kia was unable to pass, attempted an evasive maneuver and hit a 2006 Dodge pickup up on front passenger side.

Bui, a passenger in the Kia Vincent Mattione, 46, Leawood, and the driver of the pickup Kirk Talley, 46, Kismet, were transported to Southwest Medical Center.

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

DE SOTO, Kan. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City man has been sentenced to life in prison in the 2013 killing of a 21-year-old Prairie Village man.

The Kansas City Star reports that 33-year-old Dustin Adam Maynard, of De Soto, was sentenced Wednesday for first-degree murder in the killing of Jordan MacDonald.

Prosecutors say MacDonald was stabbed and strangled. Authorities say the victim’s body was found partially burned in a grassy area near Maynard’s apartment in October 2013.

Authorities say the two men had been at a De Soto bar together the night before and that the victim had given Maynard a ride home.

Detectives and crime scene investigators later found blood in Maynard’s apartment that was linked to MacDonald through DNA testing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest on the Federal Reserve’s landmark two-day policy meeting that ended Wednesday. The central bank raised interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. All times local.

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2:00 p.m.

The Fed just lifted rates, ending seven years of an extraordinary measure to combat the damage from the 2008 financial crisis.

Fed officials voted unanimously to raise the key federal funds rate — the interest banks charge each other overnight — to a range of 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent, up from near-zero for the first time since December 2008.

Fed officials made the move in response to seemingly robust 5 percent unemployment. But in addition to maximizing employment, the Fed is responsible for maintaining stable prices. Inflation remains below the Fed’s 2 percent target. The statement by the central bank acknowledged the drag from declines in energy prices and decline in inflation expectations, even though it still expects to reach its target “over the medium term.”

The result is that any future rate hikes will be “gradual” and depend on further progress toward the inflation goal.

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LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A former teaching aide in the Lawrence school district has been charged with having unlawful sexual relations with a 17-year-old boy.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the 33-year-old Baldwin City woman also is charged with sexual exploitation of a child and promoting obscenity to minors. The woman is jailed in Douglas County on $40,000 bond.

District spokeswoman Julie Boyle says the woman was hired in November 2014 as a para-educator. She was assigned to the Douglas County Youth Services Day School at the Northeast Regional Juvenile Detention Center.

The woman was placed on administrative leave after the allegations surfaced last week and was fired Monday night.

A court records says the woman was in a sexual relationship with the boy from August to December of this year.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas Board of Regents panel has advanced a plan governing how to allow concealed weapons on the state’s college campuses by mid-2017.

The board’s four-member governance committee discussed and signed off on the newest draft Wednesday in Topeka, Kansas. That sends the matter to the full board for its likely consideration and approval next month.

In Kansas, gun owners can carry concealed weapons without a license. And public universities in Kansas must allow concealed weapons on campus beginning in July 2017 in buildings that don’t have security measures including metal detectors.

Opponents argue that classroom dialogue could be hindered because students may worry an armed student or educator who disagrees could react violently, or that a firearm could accidentally discharge. Supporters argue that gun-free zones attract mass shootings.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas Board of Regents panel appears ready to advance a plan governing how to allow concealed weapons on the state’s college campuses by mid-2017.

The board’s four-member governance committee was to discuss the newest draft Wednesday morning in Topeka, Kansas.

In Kansas, gun owners can carry concealed weapons without a license. And public universities in Kansas must allow concealed weapons on campus beginning in July 2017 in buildings that don’t have security measures including metal detectors.

Opponents argue that classroom dialogue could be hindered because students may worry an armed student or educator who disagrees could react violently, or that a firearm could accidentally discharge.

A regents’ spokeswoman says it’s possible the full board could sign off on the policy as early as next month.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas Board of Regents panel is ready to make public its latest, tweaked plan governing how to allow concealed weapons on the state’s college campuses by mid-2017.

The board’s four-member governance committee will discuss the newest draft Wednesday morning in Topeka, Kansas.

In Kansas, gun owners can carry concealed weapons without a license. And public universities in Kansas must allow concealed weapons on campus beginning in July 2017 in buildings that don’t have security measures including metal detectors.

Opponents argue that classroom dialogue could be hindered because students may worry an armed student or educator who disagrees could react violently, or that a firearm could accidentally discharge.

A regents’ spokeswoman says it’s possible the full board could consider the policy drafts as early as next month.

CHEROKEE COUNTY- A semi driver was injured in an accident just before 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday in Cherokee County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1999 Freightliner semi driven by Bryan Rogers, 33, Centerville, MO., was southbound on Kansas 26 two miles south of Kansas 66.

The semi went off the roadway on the west side.

As the semi came back on the roadway it rolled into a Honda Civic and Nissan Pathfinder that were unoccupied and legally parked on the side of the road.

Rogers was transported to the Freemont Hospital. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

ALAN FRAM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leaders have decided to delay until January a House vote to unravel President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul and block federal money for Planned Parenthood.

The measure has already cleared the Senate, and House passage seems assured.

Congress is ready to tackle major budget bills this week and adjourn for the year. GOP aides and lawmakers say they didn’t want those measures to overshadow their assault on Obama’s health law and Planned Parenthood.

Aides say they are planning for a House vote against the health law and Planned Parenthood on Jan. 6, days before Obama’s State of the Union address to Congress.

They say a vote to override the veto, which is certain to fail but also attract public attention, would come later in the month.

WICHITA -The U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas issued a letter on Tuesday in an attempt to prevent hatred and discrimination against Muslims.

Barry Grissom wrote, “The Paris attacks, and then San Bernardino, have raised people’s anxieties and concerns about terrorism. But as Americans we must not let fear drive us to hateful and divisive acts toward Muslims in this country.

Keeping the American people safe is my top priority. At the same time, I urge Kansans not to turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam.

That is what the terrorists want and it is the only way they can succeed — by manipulating us into betraying our own values.

Just as it is the responsibility of Muslims around the world to root out misguided ideals that lead to radicalization, it is the responsibility of all Americans of every faith to reject discrimination.

At the Department of Justice, we always have a concern when we see rhetoric cross the line and become threats or violence. So we are monitoring any potential backlash and will respond where we see action that violates our country’s protections against hate crimes.

Let me also make this clear: Decisions as to the resettlement of refugees within the United States are part of the federal government’s constitutional and statutory authority over immigration.

Various federal laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of national origin, and the Department of Justice takes very seriously its responsibility to ensure that those laws are enforced in appropriate circumstances.”

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka police are looking for a person of interest in the death of a 24-year-old man.

Police said Tuesday that officers searching for the person of interest, Caleb J. Kanatzar, 25, obtained search warrants for two residences. But the officers who searched the residences weren’t able to locate him.

Kanatzar is wanted for questioning in the investigation into the death of Terrin Holloway of Topeka.

Police said that officers were dispatched Sunday afternoon and found Holloway’s body in a vehicle that was stopped in the middle of a street.

A police news release describes the death as a homicide but offers no details about how Holloway died.

HUTCHINSON – Careless smoking is blamed for an apartment fire in Hutchinson just before 2a.m. on Wednesday, according to Deputy Fire Chief Doug Hanen.

Upon arrival, fire crews found smoke coming from one of the basement apartments in the 700 block of East 4th Avenue.

The occupant of the apartment was outside, in need of medical care.

Reno County EMS transported the victim to the hospital in serious condition, according to Hanen.

The fire was controlled in 20 minutes. Units were on scene for two hours. Significant fire damage was sustained to the apartment and preliminary damage is estimated at $50,000.

One adult lived in the apartment. The Red Cross was called to assist 6 other individuals from other apartments.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The League of Women Voters has launched a campaign to educate young citizens about the Kansas voting registration process.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that in the “Your Right to Vote: Kansas Campus Initiative,” professors at four universities will discuss the registration process and show students a five- to 10-minute instructional video produced by the public television station KTWU.

Students in the Washburn University political science department wrote the video’s script.

The League of Women Voters had the idea for the initiative after the group analyzed the state’s list of suspended voters and found that 40 percent of people on the list were under the age of 30. Many lived in the state’s college towns.

The League hopes that the effort will spread to high schools in the future.

GREENWOOD COUNTY – A Great Bend man was injured in an accident before 10p.m. on Tuesday in Greenwood County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Peterbilt Straight Truck driven by Bobby Lee Roller, 34, was eastbound on U54 two miles east of the Kansas 99 Junction. The driver lost control of the truck and it rolled into the north ditch.

Roller was transported to Greenwood County Hospital. He was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Two Missouri men who led a multi-million drug trafficking ring in the Kansas City metropolitan area were sentenced to 13½ years in federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom of Kansas says Eduardo Perez-Alcala, of Independence, and Hector Aguilera, of Sugar Creek, were sentenced Tuesday for conspiracy to commit drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Prosecutors say they led a $28.5 million drug trafficking group. Aguilera received shipments of cocaine from Perez-Alcala and two other Mexican sources.

An investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration resulted in the seizure and forfeiture of more than $2 million in cash, 194 firearms, 29 vehicles, 26 kilograms of cocaine and three kilograms of crack.