University of Kansas administrators say the school is preparing to implement a new curriculum in the fall.

All freshmen will be required to take the new Core Curriculum, and some upperclassmen could opt into the new requirements. The new curriculum is the first to apply to all undergraduates, regardless of their school. The university says it will provide more flexibility and focus on skills the students will develop.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports the current Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of General Studies degrees include requirements that can be met by only one or a handful of courses. Most undergraduates pursue those degrees.

The Core Curriculum includes 12 skill-based requirements, which students will have a number of ways to fill.

A new survey of business leaders suggests the economy will remain sluggish in nine Midwest and Plains states, and hiring will be slow over the next three to six months.

The overall economic index for the region improved to 49.5 in December, but it remained in negative territory below 50. The overall index registered 48 in November and 46.5 in October.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says job growth will continue to be slow in the region, and some manufacturing jobs could be lost. The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

The December employment index dipped to 48 from November’s 50.5.

An inmate who escaped from the Leavenworth County Jail during the weekend is back in custody.

Leavenworth County Undersheriff Ron Cranor said 29-year-old Raheem Keron Armstead was recaptured Monday morning. Details of the arrest were not immediately available.

The Leavenworth Times reports Armstead escaped Saturday afternoon while taking trash to an outside trash bin.

A police advisory said Armstead has a history of fighting with and eluding police. He was convicted in 2008 of robbery and aggravated burglary.

Groups representing Kansas retirees want state lawmakers to provide annual cost-of-living increases in pension benefits for former teachers and government workers.

The Kansas Coalition of Public Retirees notes in a recent report that the last such adjustment for all retirees was in 1998. The report suggests tying increases in benefits to the consumer price index. The coalition includes 39 organizations.

However, its proposal isn’t likely to get much traction with the Republican-controlled Legislature.

The Kansas Public Employees Retirement System projects a gap of $9.2 billion between anticipated revenues and benefits promised to retirees from now until 2033.

State Sen. Jeff King says it would be irresponsible to grant cost-of-living increases without boosting KPERS revenues. The Independence Republican helped write a law this year designed to attack the long-term funding gap.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach says increasing the power of his office is the best way to deter people from double-voting.

Kobach will seek authority from the 2013 Legislature to prosecute election fraud. He said it’s the last major step Kansas needs to take to effectively combat voting irregularities.

He said county prosecutors are often too overworked to take on such cases.

Critics contend Kobach overstates the threat and is suppressing turnout with initiatives he has championed. Those measures include a law requiring all voters to show photo identification at the polls.

But Kobach says his office received reports of more than 10 cases of double-voting from the 2010 election. He argues that prosecuting such cases is the only real deterrent.

Lawrence public schools are getting ready to try out a Web-based tool that will allow teachers to switch to open-source learning material written by experts, vetted by their peers and posted for free downloading.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the pilot project will begin when the new semester starts in January.

Lawrence’s assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, Adam Holden, says the availability of quality open-source materials is a “game-changer.”

Holden says the district could be ready to deploy the new system across the district within two or three years if the pilot goes as planned. He said voters also would need to approve an upcoming bond issue that includes funding for technology upgrades.

Holden says the move could save parents money on textbook fees.

Topeka couple who found a sperm donor online are supporting the donor’s fight against the state’s request that he pay child support.

Angela Bauer told The Topeka Capital-Journal she and her former partner, Jennifer Schreiner, are “kind of at a loss” about the Kansas Department for Children and Families’ decision to file a child support claim against William Marotta, a Topeka man who provided sperm used to artificially inseminate Schreiner in 2009.

When Marotta responded to the Craigslist ad he agreed to relinquish parental rights, including financial responsibility to the child.

But when the women applied for state assistance this year, the state demanded they provide the donor’s name so it could collect child support.

A spokeswoman for the department said Friday she can’t comment on the case.