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Report: Kansas winter wheat planting nearly finished

winter wheat plantingWICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A new report shows most of the 2016 winter wheat crop is now planted in Kansas.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday that 91 percent of the wheat has been seeded. About 67 percent of the crop has already emerged.

The agency also gave an early condition report for the fledgling crop rating 41 percent of it in good to excellent condition. About 44 percent is in fair shape with 15 percent in poor to very poor condition.

Fall harvest of other crops is also moving along with 91 percent of the corn in Kansas now cut.

The agency reported that 70 percent of the soybeans and 66 percent of the sorghum also has been harvested in the state.

National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week focuses on children

lead free kidsEnvironmental Protection Agency

LENEXA–United behind a theme of “Lead-Free Kids for a Healthy Future,” EPA Region 7 is urging parents, teachers and news media representatives to join federal, state and local health and environmental agencies in spreading the message of National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, October 25-31.

While lead poisoning is a health issue that can affect persons of any age, young children are most at risk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that at least 4 million households in the U.S. have children living in them at risk of exposure to toxic lead. More than half a million U.S. children ages 5 and younger have blood lead levels above five micrograms per deciliter, the reference level at which CDC recommends public health actions be initiated.

The most common way that children become exposed to lead is by breathing or swallowing dust or chips of lead-based paint, which is often found in and around housing or child-care facilities built prior to 1978, when lead-based residential paints were banned in the U.S. In the four states of EPA Region 7—Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska—young children, depending on the communities where they live, also may be exposed to soils contaminated by lead from the area’s mining and processing industries.

Lead poisoning can adversely affect nearly every system of the body, but particularly the central nervous system, especially for unborn and young children whose bodies are just beginning to develop and grow. Because lead poisoning often occurs with no obvious symptoms, it frequently goes unrecognized. However, lead poisoning is easily diagnosed with simple testing, and in most cases, it can be treated.

Throughout National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, October 25-31—part of EPA’s annual observance of Children’s Health Month—the agency is working to raise awareness of toxic lead hazards and spread information about ways to minimize or prevent exposures to lead. EPA has a range of free information, outreach materials and other resources available online: https://www2.epa.gov/lead/lead-poisoning-prevention-week-2015

Justice Dept sues KCK Housing Authority over sexual harassment claim

us dept of justiceKANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Justice Department has sued the Kansas City, Kansas, Housing Authority and a former hearing officer over sexual harassment claims.

The suit filed Monday in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas, alleges that Victor L. Hernandez sexually harassed a female public housing applicant and a female public housing tenant in 2013 while he was a hearing officer. Hernandez is accused of exposing himself to the women, asking them sexual questions and showing them pornographic pictures and videos.

Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, spokesman Edwin Birch said the city had no jurisdiction over the housing authority and referred questions to the agency. No one from the housing authority immediately returned a phone message left after hours on Monday.

Hernandez couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Women unite to form Kansas Granny Basketball team

Kansas Granny Basketball courtesy photo
Kansas Granny Basketball courtesy photo

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A group of women 50 years and older have visited Lawrence to help the community start a “Granny Basketball” team.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports the Granny Basketball league began in 2005 and brings women 50 years and older together to shoot hoops. Kansas is the eighth state to have a Granny Basketball team.

The league bases its game rules and uniforms on standards from the 1920s. Each team has six players on the court at a time and no running, jumping or physical contact is allowed. If a player’s bloomers ride up, a “flesh foul” may be called since no skin can be shown from neck to toes.

The league played two games at the Holcom Park Recreation Center Saturday.

Lawsuit seeks option besides male, female on US passport

Screen Shot 2015-10-26 at 3.07.22 PMCOLLEEN SLEVIN, Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado resident denied a passport for refusing to check either male or female on the application form has sued the federal government to push for a third option.

Lambda Legal announced the lawsuit Monday, saying it wants the United States to join countries like Australia, New Zealand and Nepal that allow people to have their sex marked as “x” or “other” rather than male or female.

The organization filed the lawsuit against Secretary of State John Kerry on behalf of Dana Zzyym (Zimm) in Denver federal court. It claims that the current practice of requiring people to choose between male and female is discriminatory and asks people like Zzyym, who was born with ambiguous sex characteristics, to lie.

The State Department said it wouldn’t comment on pending litigation.

Suit filed by ex-Kan. attorney general lands outside Kansas

Kline
Kline

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge in Oklahoma will handle the lawsuit filed by former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline over the indefinite suspension of his law license related to his investigation of abortion clinics.

U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Martin ordered on Monday removal of the case from federal court in Kansas, where it was filed. The case was transferred to U.S. District Judge Ronald White in the U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Oklahoma. The move comes with the approval of Chief Judge Timothy Tymkovich of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Kline sued the Kansas Supreme Court justices and others connected with the 2013 license suspension. He claims his punishment was toughened because of his “fervid beliefs” against abortion. Kline contends the court selectively applied rules governing attorney conduct.

Man sentenced for trafficking Mexican made meth in Kansas

jail prisonWICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas City, Kansas, man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for drug trafficking.

Federal prosecutors say Jesus Octavio Valdez-Aguirre was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Prosecutors say Valdez-Aguirre was part of drug trafficking organization that distributed methamphetamine in the metro Kansas City area in 2014.

The prosecutor’s office says in a release that the meth was manufactured in Mexico, smuggled to California and then on to Kansas.

Report: Processed meat linked to cancer; red meat risky too

BeefPARIS (AP) — The World Health Organization’s cancer agency says that processed meats such as ham and sausage can lead to colon and other cancers, and red meat is probably cancer-causing as well.

Researchers from the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, released an evaluation of more than 800 studies from several continents about meat and cancer.

Based on that evaluation, they classified processed meat as “carcinogenic to humans” — in the same category as cigarettes — and red meat as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

Meat industry groups protest the classification, arguing that cancer is not caused by specific foods but by several factors.

Doctors and many government agencies have long warned that a diet loaded with red meat is linked to cancers, including of the colon and pancreas.

Supporters gather for Kansas father recovering from a stroke

Jenkins on the day the family arrived home from Ukraine- courtesy photo
Jenkins on the day the family arrived home from Ukraine- courtesy photo

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Supporters have gathered outside a Topeka hospital where a man who was stuck in Ukraine last year while trying to adopt children has been recovering from a stroke.

The Topeka Capita-Journal reports  that 52-year-old Don Jenkins and his wife Lisa were in the spotlight last year when they adopted four children from Ukraine and got stuck there for weeks amid violence and civil unrest.

Don Jenkins suffered a major stroke after undergoing open-heart surgery recently. He remains a patient in the intensive care unit at a Topeka hospital.

About 100 members of his church gathered outside the hospital Sunday for a candlelight vigil for Jenkins.

Unauthorized visitor investigation at Kansas High School

Manhattan High School
Manhattan High School

MANHATTAN – Authorities in Riley County are investigating an unauthorized visitor at a school in Manhattan on Monday.

Officials at the High School’s West Campus were notified according to a media release from principal Greg Hoyt that a white male, late 20’s to early 30’s, entered a door open for student entry along with students as they arrived to school.

This individual made entry and engaged a student in conversation in a locker room before classes began, and then exited the building.

No threats of any kind were made in the verbal interaction, according to Hoyt.

Officials are gathering video evidence and narrative statements on the incident.

The school asked all students, staff members, and parents to please keep them informed of incidents that “don’t feel right” in a timely fashion.

President Obama talks standardized school testing

Obama
JENNIFER C. KERR, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new study says the typical student in the nation’s big-city public schools spends between 20 and 25 hours a school year taking standardized tests — and roughly 112 mandatory exams from preschool through high school.

The study, from the Council of the Great City Schools, comes amid a new era of Common Core-aligned testing that’s been met with loud dissent from parents, teachers and others.

Researchers analyzed actual test-taking time, so that doesn’t include the hours devoted to prep ahead of testing required by the federal government, states or local districts. It also didn’t include daily classroom quizzes and tests in reading, math, science, foreign languages and other subjects.

The issue is the subject of a White House meeting Monday between President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

The White House wants to have districts rewrite ineffective tests, limit test time to 2 percent or less and not require testing as part of teacher evaluations.

Nissan expands recall to 59,000 sedans

RecallDETROIT (AP) — A Nissan recall for possible fuel leaks in crashes has been expanded to include nearly 59,000 Altima and Maxima sedans worldwide.

The recall now covers certain 2013 to 2016 Altima midsize cars and some 2016 Maxima large cars. Also included are some 2014 to 2016 Teana sedans made in Russia. All have V6 engines.

Nissan says in documents posted by U.S. safety regulators that in a crash, fuel could leak from a seal between the gas tank and the fuel sending unit. That could cause a fire.

The company says the problem was discovered in crash tests, and it has no reports of fires, injuries or fuel leaks.

Dealers will install a retainer ring to help maintain a proper seal. The recall should begin within the next two months.

Cell phone app helps catch burglar in Kan. chocolate shop

Charles Jones
Charles Jones

SALINA – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County say a surveillance app on a cell phone helped capture a burglar.

The owner of Sweet on You Gourmet Chocolate, 157 N. 7th Street in Salina checked surveillance video of the store just after 11:40 p.m. on Friday and noticed someone inside the building, according to Salina Police Captain Mike Sweeney.

Police were called and found Charles Jones, 59, was in a locked room of the business.

Entry to the building was gained by breaking a window in a door.

Jones was booked into the Saline County Jail for burglary, theft, obstruction, and damage to property.

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