TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A push in Kansas to end an income tax break championed by Gov. Sam Brownback is being led by fellow Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature.

A state House committee was having a hearing Thursday on a bill that would repeal a 2012 policy that benefited more than 330,000 farmers and business owners. Its Republican chairman backs the bill, and the measure has bipartisan support.

The state faces projected budget shortfalls totaling $1.1 billion through July 2019. It has struggled to balance its budget since Republican legislators slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback’s urging in an effort to stimulate the economy.

Kansas is one of several states that include Indiana and Oklahoma where budget woes are severe enough that legislators are reconsidering past tax cuts.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump intends to nominate former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to serve as agriculture secretary. That’s according to a person familiar with the decision but not authorized to speak publicly before it is announced.

Perdue, who is 70, would be the first Southerner to lead the Agriculture Department in more than two decades. He comes from the small city of Bonaire in rural central Georgia, where he built businesses in grain trading and trucking.

The agriculture secretary job is the last Cabinet position for which Trump hasn’t named a candidate.

Perdue began his political career as a Democrat in the state Legislature in the 1990s. But it was after switching his allegiance to the Republican Party that Perdue made Georgia history.

In 2002, Perdue was elected the state’s first Republican governor since the end of Reconstruction more than 130 years earlier. Perdue’s victory over an incumbent Democrat completed Georgia’s shift to a solidly Republican state, ending generations of Democratic control of state government.

RENO COUNTY – Fire investigators are working to determine the cause of at a home in Hutchinson.

Just after 6p.m. on Wednesday, the Hutchinson Fire Department responded to a home in the 600 Block of ElDorado for a reported structure fire, according to a media release.

The first arriving unit advised visible flames from the front of the home. The fire attack crew had the fire under control within minutes of arrival.
Additional units remained on scene for approximately one hour. The fire damage was contained to one bedroom of the home with an estimated $5000.00 in damage.

The Hutchinson Fire Department responded 6 units with no injuries reported.

The Kansas Water Authority will meet Tuesday, Jan. 25, at the Ramada Inn Convention Center, Downtown Topeka, 420 E. Sixth, Topeka, Kan. The meeting will begin at 8 a.m.

On Tuesday, Jan. 24, the KWA as well as representatives from each of the 14 Regional Advisory Committees will be meeting with Legislators. KWA Chairman Gary Harshberger will deliver testimony presenting the 2017 Annual Report to the Governor and Legislature at related House and Senate Committee meetings. The Kansas Water Office will be hosting a booth in the Capitol Building Rotunda highlighting priority water issues and the Kansas Water Vision implementation.

For additional meeting information visit the Kansas Water Office (KWO) website, www.kwo.org or call (785) 296-3185 or (888) 526-9283 (KAN-WATER).

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City man will serve three years in federal prison without parole for pointing a laser at a police helicopter in 2013.

Federal prosecutors say 26-year-old Jordan Clarence Rogers was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty in September to violating a federal law that makes it illegal to point laser beams at aircraft.

The pilot of the Kansas City police helicopter reported he suffered eye strain for several hours after Rogers pointed the laser at the helicopter three times in 2013.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Casey said before the sentencing that Rogers has an extensive criminal history, which he argued should be a factor in sentencing.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court will hear arguments March 16 in a case challenging a law that bans a common second-trimester abortion procedure.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports two doctors have challenged a 2015 law that bans doctors from using forceps, tongs or other medical implements to dismember a fetus in the womb to complete an abortion.

A Shawnee County judge ruled the Kansas Constitution protects abortion rights independently of the U.S. Constitution and temporarily blocked the ban’s enforcement. An appeals court split on the issue, leaving the ban in place.

If the state Supreme Court agrees that the state constitution protects abortion rights, abortion opponents are concerned that state courts could reject abortion restrictions even if they’ve been upheld by federal courts.

OSAGE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Osage County are investigating a suspect for a series of auto thefts.

On Saturday, a Deputy from the Osage County Sheriff’s Office located a stolen vehicle at 189th and U.S. 56 near Burlingame, according to a media release.

Deputies chased the vehicle to the area of 205th and Fairlawn. The stolen vehicle was located in a field and the suspect fled on foot.

After a search, the suspect, Samson Davenport, 27, Osage City, was located without incident and arrested.

He was booked for an Osage County Warrant for Violation of Kansas Registration Act, flee and elude, and possession of stolen property.

He had been driving a stolen pickup taken from Overbrook earlier in the day.

At this time, Davenport is a suspect in approximately 15 cases since January 3rd, 2017.

All cases will be turned over to the Osage County Attorney today. At this time Davenport’s bond on the warrant is $25,000.00.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — After two years without increases, student health insurance premiums will go up more than 5 percent at state universities next year.

The Kansas Board of Regents on Wednesday approved a 5.2 percent premium increase for all plans for the 2017-18 academic year.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports a student-only plan will cost $1,464 a year, an increase or $72. No changes to plan benefits were recommended.

In 2017-18, plans for a student plus spouse, or student plus child, will cost $2,928 per year, an increase of $144.

Plans for a student plus spouse and child, or student plus two children, will cost $4,392 per year, an increase of $216. And plans for a student plus spouse and two or more children will cost $5,856 per year, an increase of $288.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is asking the Legislature to give him authority to bar potentially tens of thousands of people from casting votes in state or local races.

The Lawrence Journal World reported the Republican asked a Senate committee Tuesday for legislation giving him power to hold “bifurcated” elections in Kansas.

Federal courts have provisionally held Kansas cannot require for federal elections documents such a birth certificate or U.S. passport from people who register at motor vehicle or with a national voter registration form.

State courts have ruled Kobach has no authority to throw out votes cast by those people in local and state races.

Kobach is fighting those rulings.

Democrats plan to introduce measures to repeal the proof-of-citizenship requirement altogether.

PLATTE COUNTY, MO – A Kansas man died in an accident just before 8a.m. on Wednesday in Platte County, Missouri.

A 1986 Chevrolet El Camino driven by a 51-year-old Atchison, Kansas man was eastbound on MO 92 and he lost control of the vehicle east of Bethel Road, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

The vehicle slid into the westbound lane. A westbound 2000 Buick Century hit the Chevy.

The driver of the Chevy was pronounced dead at the scene. The 33-year-old driver of the Buick was transported to a hospital for treatment.

The accident remains under investigation. Weather conditions may have been a contributing factor, according to Sgt. Jeffrey Shanks

Names of the drivers have not been released.

STAFFORD COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Stafford County are investigating a burglary and have a suspect in custody.
On Tuesday, someone entered a residence in the 100 block of North Nutting in St John, according to a social media report.

Two heeler puppies were taken from the home. On Wednesday, police reported that with the help of numerous citizens they were able to locate the suspects involved and the puppies have been recovered and returned to the owner.

This case will now be forwarded to the Stafford County Attorney for prosecution.  Name of the suspect in the case was not released.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators are gravitating toward an accounting move proposed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback to help paper over a shortfall in the current state budget.

They’re receptive to his complicated plan even though they doubt it is a good idea.

Brownback’s plan would liquidate a state investment portfolio to raise cash to back $317 million in internal borrowing, with the state paying itself back over seven years.

House and Senate committees reviewed Brownback’s proposal Wednesday as many states struggle with budget problems. In Kansas, Oklahoma and Indiana, the problems are serious enough for legislators to reconsider past tax cuts designed to stimulate the economy.

But Kansas can’t raise taxes quickly enough to plug the projected $342 million hole in the budget for current fiscal year before it ends June 30.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A tour bus belonging to the country group Eli Young Band was damaged in a fire on the Kansas Turnpike, destroying most of the band’s electronic and sound equipment.

We’ve lost more than a bus here. memories and possessions that we can’t replace! We’re just happy that our driver, Randy, is safe! pic.twitter.com/9SyAghph67

— EliYoungBand (@EliYoungBand) January 18, 2017

The driver was the only person with the bus when the fire started late Tuesday while it was parked at a service area east of downtown Topeka. He had just filled up the bus and parked it for the night but was to escape.

Rick Deibert, battalion chief with the Shawnee Heights Fire District, says the bus and a trailer were a complete loss.

The fire apparently started in the engine compartment but the cause is under investigation.

The tour bus was en route to Mahnomen, Minnesota, where the band was scheduled to perform Friday night