A central Kansas man in prison for killing his wife and trying to kill his sister-in-law has been ordered to pay thousands of dollars in legal bills when he is released.

On Wednesday, a Saline County judge ruled Michael Paulson will be responsible for more than $8,200 to the Board of Indigent Defense Services, more than $18,000 to the Crime Victim Fund and nearly $9,000 for court costs.

Paulson was convicted in July of second-degree murder in the 2010 stabbing death of Valerie Paulson. He also was convicted of attempted second-degree murder for injuring his sister-in-law, Jessie Putman. The restitution includes money for Putman’s medical expenses.

Paulson’s attorney plans to appeal the restitution order. Paulson is also appealing his conviction.

The nation’s worst drought in decades has worsened in parts of the nation’s midsection, further frustrating ranchers and growers of winter wheat in Kansas and Oklahoma.

The U.S. Drought Monitor’s weekly update posted Thursday shows that 60 percent of the land in the lower 48 states is experiencing some degree of drought as of Tuesday. That’s down less than a percentage point from the previous week.

But the nation’s worst drought in decades intensified in Kansas, the top U.S. producer of winter wheat. Thursday’s update shows that the expanse of that state in extreme or exceptional drought – the two worst classifications – rose roughly 6 percentage points, to 83.8 percent.

Nearly 76 percent of Oklahoma is mired in the two highest forms of drought, up 8 percentage points.

A two month undercover investigation by the Salina Police has led to the arrest of a 47-year-old woman on charges of prostitution.

Lt. Jim Norton of the Special Enforcement Bureau says Di Yan was arrested just after 1:00pm Wednesday afternoon at a massage parlor she operated at 116 E. Iron.

Norton said an undercover retired police officer went to the business on different occasions in August and September after police had gotten complaints about activity at the business.

Norton says that the undercover officer never had sexual intercourse in the business, but was able to obtain evidence that led to warrants being issued for sexual battery and prostitution and promoting prostitution.

Norton says there are eight men that were clients that authorities want to talk to, and they may be charged with promoting prostitution. The charges are misdemeanors.

Norton says the male clients range in age from the 40s to 60s.

Two state agencies will conduct a joint checkpoint in north-central Kansas to see if drivers are obeying state laws and if they’re transporting wildlife.

The stops will be made Sunday afternoon in Ottawa County, north of Salina, by the Highway Patrol and the Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism.

Highway Patrol troopers will make the initial stops, checking all drivers for valid licenses.

If a driver or passenger possesses wildlife such as waterfowl or game animals, the vehicle will be sent to a second checkpoint. A natural resources officer will then check for hunting licenses and permits and count the number of birds or animals.

The two agencies say delays for both checks are expected to be minimal.

Wichita-based airplane maker Hawker Beechcraft says it’s closing facilities in three states and laying off more workers in Kansas.

The company said Wednesday that 240 employees will lose their jobs with the closing of Hawker Beechcraft Services facilities in Little Rock, Ark.; Mesa, Ariz.; and San Antonio, Texas.

It also plans to cut a total of 170 jobs at its Wichita headquarters and at its completion center in Little Rock.

Hawker Beechcraft says the moves are in line with plans to emerge from bankruptcy as a standalone company. It says the closures and layoffs will help with its plan to focus on turboprop, piston and military aircraft and on its parts and maintenance business.

Affected employees in Wichita will be notified Friday. The others will be told next week.

Kansas voters have approved a change in the state constitution aimed at lowering property taxes on boats.

The measure was supported by about 54 percent of voters in Tuesday’s election. It allows the Legislature to set up a new system for taxing watercraft.

Kansas boat owners now pay property taxes on 30 percent of their boats’ appraised value, tied largely to levies that are set by cities, counties and school districts. Critics of the current system say the Kansas taxes are significantly higher than those in other states.

The measure was backed by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism. The agency hoped it would encourage more residents to purchase and register boats in the state, offsetting any potential loss in tax revenues.

A Manhattan man pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in the death of a man whose body was found along a dirt road in December 2011.

Twenty-year-old Michael Layne accepted the plea deal Tuesday in the death of 31-year-old Steve Freel. He also pleaded no contest to aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

Prosecutors say Freel and Layne committed several armed robberies together but had a falling out. That led Layne to drive Freel to a rural area near Manhattan and shoot him.

The Manhattan Mercury reports the state agreed to recommend a sentence of about 24 years in prison.

Last week, Layne’s boss, Domingo Soto, was convicted of first-degree murder for providing Layne with the gun that he used to shoot Freel.

A southern Kansas man has pleaded not guilty in an accident in May that left two people dead and four injured.

Twenty-four-year-old Miles Theurer, a native of Wellington, faces two counts of involuntary manslaughter and reckless aggravated battery after an accident in May on Kansas 18 two miles from Manhattan.

Theurer, a student at Kansas State University, pleaded Monday in the accident that killed 31-year-old Elizabeth Young of White City and 32-year-old Michael Stanley of Ogden. Theurer and three other Kansas State students in his vehicle were injured.

Prosecutors say Theurer was drunk and driving the wrong way on the highway when he ran head-on into a car driven by Young.

Theurer is out of jail on a $50,000 bond.

A pedestrian that went to check on a deer that was hit by a vehicle on K-16 near Olsburg, KS was struck and killed by a passing truck.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, 62-year-old Wesley Esping was walking southbound out of his driveway onto K-16 to check on a deer that was hit by an unrelated vehicle. He was then hit by a truck driven by 88-year-old Rabern E. Vawter of Randolph, KS.

Esping was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Vawter was not injured.