No injuries and minor damage were reported after a fire at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility.

The fire Sunday evening was reported in D Cell House Sunday evening.

Prison spokesman Dirk Moss says the cause is under investigation.

Battalion Chief Doug Hanen says the fire occurred in a restricted area where plumbing and cables are contained. Crews extinguished the fire within 10 minutes.

Prisoners were moved to the prison yard when the fire was reported but returned to the cell block after the fire crews left.

This is the second fire at the facility in the past month. An inmate was treated for smoke inhalation after a fire in his cell in October. No one else was injured.

Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City plans to ban soda and sugar-filled juices from its vending machines, the cafeteria and gift shop.

Officials at Children’s Mercy say the move is aimed at fighting childhood obesity. It will take effect in January.

Executive Vice President Karen Cox says employees and visitors will be able to bring in their own sugary drinks, but the drinks won’t be sold at the hospital.

Children’s Mercy is the first hospital in the Kansas City metro region to implement such a ban.

The ban is part of the Partnership for a Healthier America, a national program focusing on eliminating childhood obesity.

A 35-year-old man bites a police officer while being arrested after police used Tasers to subdue him for refusing to drop a knife at a Wichita bar.

The Wichita Eagle reports police were called to The Place bar at 1:25 a.m. Sunday and found the man with a knife. Police spokesman Sgt. Scott Brunow says officers ordered him to drop the knife, but he refused.

Police say the man bit a police officer in the hand while he was being arrested. A 42-year-old man who tried to help the suspect, and a 34-year-old woman who tried to get other bar patrons to join in the altercation, also were arrested.

Two Kansas legislators are urging state corrections officials to parole a convicted killer serving a life sentence for murdering a 75-year-old Topeka woman 31 years ago.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports there may be others in the Legislature who think 63-year-old Ormond Wimberly Jr. is ready to re-enter society, but the Department of Corrections isn’t releasing that information.

Wimberly was convicted of the 1981 death of Sarah Woody, who was shot five times during a robbery. Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor – who adamantly opposes Wimberly’s release – says the inmate already was on parole for a previous murder when he killed Woody.

Republican Rep. John Grange and Democratic Sen. Oletha Foust-Goudeau wrote

letters last month to the Prisoner Review Board in favor of granting Wimberly parole.

A 16-year-old serial burglar who targeted Hutchinson churches has been ordered to apologize in person to the six congregations he victimized.

The apologies are part of the sentence imposed Friday by Reno County District Judge Tim Chambers against Joshua Hickey.

Prosecutors charged Hickey as an adult after he and three older defendants were arrested in August for a string of thefts and break-ins around Hutchinson from early April to late July. Hickey avoided trial by pleading guilty in October to 38 counts, including 19 felonies.

Investigators said Hickey broke into a half-dozen churches, hitting some of them twice.

Besides ordering the apologies, the judge also placed Hickey on two years’ probation. Violations could send him to jail.

Authorities say a tanker truck veered off the Kansas Turnpike south of Wichita and crashed, causing a powerful explosion and killing both people onboard.

The Kansas Highway Patrol says a witness saw the truck hit a guardrail before losing control Saturday afternoon about a mile north of the Belle Plaine service area.

The Wichita Eagle reports that authorities say the male driver and female co-driver were from Oklahoma. They did not release the victims’ names.

Master Trooper Joel Powers says a motorist started toward the truck to help but the truck was already burning and it was too late. He says the truck exploded about 10 minutes after he arrived.

A former Wichita high school teacher has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student.

The Wichita Eagle reports 33-year-old Kurt Brundage was sentenced Friday afternoon after District Judge Phillip Journey denied a defense request for probation.

Journey sentenced Brundage to 32 months in prison on each of two counts of indecent liberties with a child, with the sentences to run concurrently.

Police say the crimes occurred in January 2010 while Brundage was an English teacher at East High School. He was arrested March 9 after a woman told police he had touched her daughter inappropriately.

Testimony in court showed the victim was a former East student who was visiting Brundage at the school when the illegal contact happened.

Two people are reportedly in stable condition at Salina Regional Health Center after being shot by an acquaintance early Saturday morning at an apartment building near the intersection of Iron and Ohio just after 1:00am.

According to a release from the Salina Police Department 36-year-old Emily Ramos-Powell and 36-year-old Jesse Powell were shot by 71-year-old Johnnie Kilpatrick of Minneapolis.

Kilpatrick was arrested at the scene and booked into the Saline County Jail on requested charges of two counts of attempted first degree murder.

Both shooting victims underwent surgery and again, are reportedly in stable condition at the hospital, as of Saturday morning.

Salina Police will release more information on the shooting at it’s Monday morning press briefing.

The state Supreme Court has affirmed the conviction and life sentence of an eastern Kansas man in the beating and shooting death of a store manager.

The Kansas City Star reports 26-year-old John Backus, of Bonner Springs, listed six grounds for appeal in the case. The high court on Friday rejected them all.

Backus was one of three people convicted in the 2005 killing of Robin Bell inside a Dollar General store she managed in Bonner Springs. The 44-year-old Tonganoxie woman was beaten with several objects before one of the defendants shot her.

The crime took place when four young people decided to commit a robbery to get money to fix a car. One of the four, who backed out, later told detectives they decided to eliminate any witnesses.

The Kansas Department of Revenue is mailing brochures to 146,000 business owners about state income tax cuts enacted earlier this year.

The mailings began Wednesday, just six days before the state’s general election. On Thursday, House Democratic Leader Paul Davis criticized Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration over the timing.

Revenue Department spokeswoman Jeannine Koranda says the mailings cost the agency $52,000 for printing and postage.

The tax cuts will exempt the owners of 191,000 Kansas businesses from state income taxes. Koranda says the brochures are designed to answer questions that Revenue officials frequently get from business owners about the cuts.

Koranda also says the mailings weren’t coordinated with the governor’s office. But Davis views them as electioneering.

Three Garden City food banks say they are in desperate need of supplies to provide meals for the needy.

The Salvation Army, Emmaus House and United Methodist Mexican-American Ministries’ food pantries all are running short of staples.

All three organizations say they have plenty of canned vegetables but are low on items needed to make meals, such as meat, cheese, beans, rice, flour and sugar.

The Garden City Telegram reports officials with the three groups say the high cost of food is the main reason for the shortages.

Robert DeLeon of the Salvation Army says donations dropped off because people have to spend more money on their own food, or other supplies. And the cost of food reduces supplies the food banks can buy with cash donations.

Police in Emporia say they don’t suspect foul play in the deaths of an elderly couple in their home.

The couple were identified Thursday as 88-year-old Albert Roglin and his wife, 86-year-old Edith Roglin.

Officers went to the home in south-central Emporia late Wednesday afternoon and found the couple dead. Police are classifying the case as two unattended deaths. The causes won’t be known until autopsies are done.

It’s not known when the couple died.