The Kansas Beginning Farmers Coalition is inviting aspiring farmers and ranchers to attend its inaugural meeting.

The session will be held in conjunction with the Kansas Farmers Union annual convention Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 in Topeka.

Kansas Farmers Union membership specialist Mary Howell says the group wants to give beginning farmers a way to make their choice to pursue farming easier and less painful than figuring it out alone.

The coalition aims to provide education and advocate for beginning farmers in the state. As a fledgling organization, it plans to use this first meeting to find out what services it can provide to those people interested in pursuing an agricultural career.

Delegations from Italy and Germany will take part in a remembrance of World War II prisoners of war who died in the U.S. and are buried at Fort Riley.

Friday’s event is an annual ceremony at the post cemetery. German and Italian officers and enlisted personnel currently stationed at Fort Leavenworth will travel to Fort Riley. Joining them will be Col. William Clark, garrison commander of Fort Riley.

As many as 4,500 POWs from Germany, Italy and Japan were held at Fort Riley between 1943 and 1946. They earned about 80 cents a day working on Fort Riley’s roads and laundry, as well as performing building maintenance.

There are 63 German soldiers and 11 Italian soldiers buried at the cemetery.

Governor Sam Brownback says the Kansas higher education system might get additional funds next year for specific initiatives, but he’s advising officials not to push for general budget increases.

Brownback told the state Board of Regents in brief remarks Thursday that he doubts legislators will approve increases in base operating funds for public universities, community colleges and technical colleges.

Brownback did not drop any hints about the budget he’ll present to lawmakers for the fiscal year that begins July 1. He said he hasn’t started putting together his recommendations.

But the state must close a $328 million gap between expected revenues and current spending commitments for the new fiscal year after this year’s massive cuts in income taxes.

A central Kansas food bank’s campaign to add space to serve more clients is $50,000 closer to its goal.

The McPherson Sentinel reports an anonymous donor contributed that amount this week to the McPherson County Food Bank’s fundraising effort.

Officials are trying to raise $200,000 to add onto the building on Business U.S. 81 in McPherson. The $50,000 gift brings the amount raised so far to $160,000.

The food bank needs more room for storage and for the growing numbers of people who stop by on distribution days. Officials say the number of families served rose by 31 percent from 2010 to 2011, and continues to rise this year.

A man from McPherson County has pleaded guilty to using a 9-year-old girl to produce child pornography, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Philip Andra Grigsby, 50, Marquette, Kan., pleaded guilty as charged to eight counts of sexual exploitation of a child, one count of possession of child pornography and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction.

Grigsby initially was charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Wichita. The complaint alleged the investigation began in Australia earlier this year when an Australian man was arrested by police in that country. Evidence in that case showed the man had received child pornography over the Internet from other men, including Grigsby in Kansas.

Investigators found email messages sent by Grigsby to the Austalian, including attachments with images of child pornography. The name of a middle school was visible on a certificate in one of the photos, which helped investigators identify the location and identity of the victim. Investigators obtained other evidence when they served search warrants at Grigsby’s home. Forensic analysis of the digital media revealed more than 400 images and five movies showing the sexual exploitation of the minor victim, as well as other images of child pornography.

Sentencing is set for Feb. 4. He faces a penalty of not less than 15 years and not more than 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count of sexual exploitation of a child; a maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the possession charge; and a maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the firearm charge. Grissom commended the FBI, the Australian Federal Police, the Marquette Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart for their work on the case.

An index of economic conditions in 10 Midwest and Western states has jumped for a third straight month, but the looming “fiscal cliff” and other factors have shaken confidence in the region’s economy for the coming months.

The overall Rural Mainstreet index released Thursday rose to 57.5 in November from October’s 56.6.

Any score above 50 on the 100-point scale suggests a growing economy.

The survey of bankers covers rural areas of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

The confidence index, which reflects expectations for the economy six months out, sank to 45.6 from October’s 50.7.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss attributes the lack of confidence to the looming “fiscal cliff,” and the lack of a federal farm and energy bills.

Auditors say drug treatment programs offered at the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex in Topeka are not adequately helping the offenders.

The auditors noted that between 70 and 85 percent of offenders in the state’s juvenile programs need help with substance abuse.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Wednesday’s audit followed findings in July that the complex had significant security problems.

Terri Williams, acting commissioner of the Kansas Juvenile Justice Authority, says she agrees the agency’s drug treatment procedures are lacking. Williams took over the program in the spring after the former commissioner and his deputy were fired.

Williams says the agency is considering hiring another substance abuse specialist. It also might become a licensed treatment program, which could bring in more funding and improve quality through independent reviews.

A new survey shows Kansas elementary students are still learning cursive writing but interest in teaching the subject is waning.

The Kansas education department said Wednesday a survey found 90 percent of the state’s school districts teach cursive writing, generally in third grade.

But nearly 23 percent of those who responded said they don’t consider cursive a high priority. And about 6 percent said they expect to eventually reduce the time spent teaching the subject.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports supporters also are concerned that new Common Core State Standards in English will mean even less cursive education. Cursive is not part of the standards but states are allowed to add up to 15 percent in additional standards for English language arts and math.

An autopsy showed that the Harvard University graduate student who fell into Portland Harbor and drowned in May just days before his graduation had a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit to drive in Maine.

The Portland Press Herald reports Thursday that 31-year-old Nathan Bihlmaier had no drugs in his system, but a blood-alcohol level of 0.22 percent.

Authorities have previously called his death an accidental drowning.

Bihlmaier was celebrating his pending graduation when he was asked to leave a waterfront bar for being visibly intoxicated. His body was recovered two days after he went missing.

His wife was expecting their first child.

He was a native of Osborne, Kan., and a University of Kansas graduate.

Police say criminal charges are unlikely in the case.

The Kansas Supreme Court is preparing to take up an ethics case against former Attorney General Phill Kline over his actions during investigations of abortion providers.

The court was hearing arguments from attorneys Thursday. Five of the seven justices removed themselves from the case, requiring the appointment of substitutes.

Kline was Kansas attorney general from 2003 to 2007 and Johnson County district attorney in 2007 and 2008.

A three-member panel of the state Board of Discipline of Attorneys has recommended Kline’s law license be suspended indefinitely. Kline has strongly denied any ethics violations.

The disciplinary panel contends Kline repeatedly misled or allowed subordinates to mislead others, including a Kansas City-area grand jury, to further his investigations.

Kline is now a visiting professor at Liberty University in Virginia.

A new group is urging western Missouri residents to push for a state response to tax cuts taking effect next year in neighboring Kansas.

The group Save Missouri Jobs began running a TV spot this week highlighting the Kansas changes.

Legislation approved in Kansas this year cuts individual state income tax rates and abolishes income taxes for specific types of businesses.

The TV commercial shows a young girl asking what would happen if Missouri jobs and businesses move to Kansas. She asks what will happen to Missouri’s tax base and who is going to pay her teacher.

Save Missouri Jobs spokesman Woody Cozad said Wednesday the economic development situation could get ugly for Missouri. He says the new group is not advocating for a particular plan.