The continuing drought means consumers can expect to pay 5 to 8 percent more at the meat counter next year regardless of whether they buy beef, pork or chicken.

CattleFax executive vice president Randy Blach made that prediction Friday during the 100th convention of the Kansas Livestock Association.

Roughly 70 percent of the nation’s cattle herd has been affected by drought, with 40 percent impacted by a severe drought.

Blach estimates that the nation’s herd is going to be reduced by one million cattle when the government releases its semi-annual cattle inventory in January.

With shrinking slaughter numbers, he also anticipates that at least one major meatpacking plant will close within a year, along with several cattle feedyards.

A judge has approved a Kansas inmate’s request to re-test DNA evidence in a 1993 murder.

Fifty-five-year-old Bradley Wade Johnson is serving a life sentence for the March 1993 death of Benjamin Creek. Johnson and a co-defendant, Frank Sutton, met Creek in a Topeka bar. Prosecutors said the two men robbed and beat Creek before his body was found in rural Jefferson County. Sutton is also serving a life sentence.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports Johnson always claimed his conviction was a case of mistaken identity.

On Tuesday, a Jefferson County judge ordered that hairs found on Creek’s body and blood from Johnson’s clothing be re-tested. In 1993, DNA testing could show only that the hairs were consistent with Johnson’s. Modern testing could conclusively identify the source of the hairs.

Johnson had a prior conviction in Saline County in connection with a robbery on May 16, 1981.

A 24-year-old southwest Kansas social studies teacher has been charged with sexually exploiting and soliciting a child.

A joint statement by the Liberal police chief and Seward County attorney says Liberal High School teacher Drake Foster was arrested Tuesday and is cooperating with authorities.

Foster also taught geography and history and coached the boys’ soccer team.

Deputy school superintendent Paul Larkin says Foster has resigned his position. He declined to discuss further details of the case.

Bond has been set at $50,000, and Foster was scheduled to appear in court Dec. 3. A phone message left for his attorney was not returned Thursday.

The final day of the 100th convention of the Kansas Livestock Association will include a report by an analyst on the drought’s effect on the nation’s cattle inventory and prices.

CattleFax executive vice president Randy Blach was scheduled to address the gathering Friday morning. Blach will talk about how livestock producers can better manage their risks amid extremely volatile price swings.

Also on tap in the market session is a forecast for global protein supplies, consumer demand and grain prices.

A Salina mother accused of failing to protect her 14-month-old son from severe abuse by her fiance has pleaded guilty in the toddler’s death.

20-year-old Brittney Betzold pleaded guilty Thursday to amended charges of second-degree murder and child abuse.

Beztold had faced trial next month for first-degree murder in the death of Clayden Lee Urbanek. Authorities said the toddler was covered with bruises when he died in October 2011.

Betzold’s fiance, 28-year-old Antonio M. Brown, is scheduled for trial in January on a charge of first-degree murder. Police say Brown told officers he had spanked Clayden with a 10-inch piece of board but did not cause the bruising over most of the boy’s body or the fatal injuries to his abdomen.

A Kansas man who remains in a Texas prison more than 30 years after his murder conviction was overturned has become the subject of a fight between the state, which insists he’s being legally held, and a federal appeals court that says he’s wrongly imprisoned.

Jerry Hartfield’s murder conviction was overturned in 1983, and the governor commuted his death sentence to life in prison 11 days later.

Hartfield’s case didn’t receive more attention until 2006, when he filed a handwritten motion saying his constitutional right to a speedy trial had been violated because he hadn’t been retried.

A new trial doesn’t seem close. On Wednesday, a federal appeals court sent his case back to the state appeals court, where it is likely to be tied up longer.

 

Judging by the photos of the accident, it is hard to believe, but no one was seriously injured in a head-on collision on Highway 281 in Stafford County, Thursday morning.

The crash occurred on Highway 281 just north of the Hudson Road intersection.

The vehicles involved were two flat bed trucks pulling trailers with equipment.  One person was transported to Stafford Hospital with minor injuries.

While no person was injured, two puppies riding in one of the trucks were killed in the accident and another was injured.

Kansas children eligible for adoption and other children being served by the Kansas Department for Children and Families and its providers will help Kansas Governor Sam Brownback flip the switch on the Governor’s statehouse Christmas tree Friday night. The lighting ceremony is open to the public. It will take place on the second floor of Kansas Capitol at 6 p.m.

The children will help decorate the tree before the lighting ceremony. Ornaments recognizing organizations and agencies that support children through the adoption process will be used to decorate the tree.

The festivities also will include a performance by the Heritage Christian School choir and an appearance by Santa Clause.

State officials say they are working with law enforcement on legislation designed to reduce sex trafficking of teenagers and increase penalties for those who entice the children into the industry.

A Kansas Department for Children and Families official said Wednesday the legislation will emphasize that children in the sex trade are victims, not criminals.

Anna Pilato, a deputy secretary in the department, told child care workers in Wichita that Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office, law enforcement agencies and judges are collaborating on the legislation.

The Wichita Eagle reports DCF’s role will be to ensure the minors involved in the sex industry get the help they need. The agency also is working to determine the scope of the problem in Kansas.

A federal agency is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to arrests in more than a dozen suspicious fires in Lawrence.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is offering the reward to help the investigation of fires that have been set in and around apartment buildings in south Lawrence since Oct. 19.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports most of the fires were set in laundry rooms or hallways near unlocked exterior doors. Fire officials say they suspect the fires have been intentionally set, but have not released any more information.

A research team at Kansas State University is looking at the usefulness of social media in curbing the spread of infectious diseases.

The researchers are studying whether a well-timed post from a public authority or trusted person could help as much as flu shots, hand-washing or sneezing into an elbow.

Researchers are gathering information about human behavior and identifying the various groups such as teachers or public officials that need to be reached through social media. They’re also exploring the best way of distributing information using social media.

Some findings are expected to be presented next month at a scientific conference. The results suggest that not only vaccinating critical individuals but also facilitating the spread of health information helps suppress infectious diseases.

Kansas officials are preparing to certify results from this month’s general election.

The State Board of Canvassers scheduled a meeting Thursday afternoon to review totals from races for congressional, legislative and other state offices.

The board is led by Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Gov. Sam Brownback and Attorney General Derek Schmidt also are members, though they can send representatives rather than attending themselves. All are Republicans.

The meeting comes amid a debate over a new Kansas law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls.

Critics contend the law suppresses turnout. But Kobach has reported that only about 700 people were required to cast provisional ballots because they went to the polls Nov. 6 without valid. That’s out of more than 1.1 million Kansans who participated.

Republican political strategist Karl Rove says he’s not optimistic the nation will avoid the so-called fiscal cliff.

Rove told the more than 600 cattle producers attending the Kansas Livestock Association’s 100th convention Wednesday that he is still optimistic that the country will ultimately resolve the deficit problem.

He says the nation is losing sight of the bigger issue of getting the economy growing again.

Responding to an audience question, Rove told the Wichita crowd that social issues are not responsible for splitting the Republican Party. He says intolerance and judgmental language is what is splintering the GOP.

The Republican strategist also says the party needs to take a practical approach to immigration reform that requires illegal immigrants to pay a penalty.