The state health department says the number of births and abortions declined last year in Kansas.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment says in its annual vital statistics report that the number of abortions declined 4.6 percent from 2010 to 2011. That continued a trend of declining abortions that began in 1996.

The Wichita Eagle reported Thursday that the KDHE says 88 percent of the abortions occurred within the first 13 weeks of pregnancy, and more than 85 percent were to unmarried women.

At the same time, the number of births dropped to 13.8 live births per 1,000 residents, the lowest number recorded since the state started tracking births in1912. There were 39,628 babies born in 2011 in Kansas, compared with 40,439 in 2010.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is predicting 68 percent voter turnout in Tuesday’s elections.

Kobach offered the forecast Thursday. It would be the smallest percentage of Kansas voters casting ballots in a general election since 2000, when turnout was 67 percent.

Kobach notes that 2000 was the last presidential election year in which Kansas had no statewide races.

Seventy-two percent of Kansas voters cast ballots in 2008.

All four of the state’s U.S. House members are seeking re-election this year, but only the 2nd District and 4th District have contested races.

All 125 seats in the Kansas House and all 40 in the state Senate are being contested. Five of the 10 seats on the State Board of Education are on the ballot, but only three are contested.

Journalists who cover the military and post-traumatic stress disorder are getting help from a new website launched by the University of Kansas.

The William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications is creating the website in conjunction with a workshop taking place Nov. 16 at the National Press Club in Washington. The workshop is designed to help journalists improve their coverage of post-traumatic stress and related illnesses.

Associate professor of journalism Barbara Barnett says the website is a place for journalists to share ideas and experiences. She says it also will help journalists cope with their own stress issues related to covering war.

Police in Wichita want business owners to know they’re never involved in seizing arcade games, after a pair of thieves posing as officers did just that at a convenience store.

KAKE-TV reports a man claiming to be a plain-clothes officer entered the store Wednesday afternoon. The man showed the clerk a badge and some paperwork and said he was there to seize some gambling-type arcade games.

The clerk says a second man came in and loaded the machines onto a truck. The pair ordered the clerk not to call 911 until they were gone.

The owner of the machines told KAKE they’re worth about $5,000 each.

Wichita police Lt. Doug Nolte said Thursday if the thieves have done it at one store, they might try the somewhere else.

By Rod Zook ~ Hutch Post

Detectives with the Hutchinson Police Department have arrested 20-year-old Isaac Devante Beltran on charges of 2nd degree murder, criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and criminal discharge of a firearm.

Beltran was arrested as a result of the investigation into the shooting death of 26-year-old Dustin Brooks in the alley behind a home of 203 North Cleveland.

He has been on community corrections for a drug conviction that goes back to December of 2010. The Reno County Jail Log does not indicate a bond at this point and he is also being held on a corrections violation.

Top Republicans say Tuesday’s elections could cost them a few seats in the Kansas House and reduce the influence of the chamber’s GOP conservatives.

Several Republicans said Thursday this year’s redrawing of political district boundaries appears to have hurt the GOP in some places, especially in the Wichita area.

And Gov. Sam Brownback said he doesn’t know how much power his fellow conservatives will have after Tuesday’s voting.

Republicans now hold a 92-33 majority in the House. The powerful Kansas Chamber of Commerce counts 76 as conservatives.

Meanwhile, some Democrats questioned whether Republicans are hoping to lower expectations for Tuesday’s outcome so the GOP can claim victory even if it loses a few seats. State Democratic Chairwoman Joan Wagnon won’t predict the future balance of power in the House.

A northeastern Kansas man has been sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing his 4-year-old daughter.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller announced in a news release Wednesday that the man was sentenced late last week.

Miller says the 34-year-old man was on probation after being convicted of crimes against the girl when he confessed to sexual crimes that had not been discovered.

He was charged with aggravated criminal sodomy after sheriff’s detectives corroborated his confession. He pleaded no contest in September.

The man will not be eligible for parole for 25 years and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

The Associated Press is not naming the man to protect the identity of his daughter.

A former parts manager for a truck center in Salina been sentenced to 12 months in prison for embezzling from the company, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today. He was ordered to pay $577,845 in restitution.

Jamie D. Wood, 35, Salina, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. In his plea, he admitted that while he was a parts manager for Kansas Truck Center in Salina, Kan., he created false invoices causing the company to mail checks totaling more than $577,000 to a fictitious vender in Kansas. The false invoices were made to show that KTC purchased truck parts from a friend of the defendant even though the company had received no goods or services from the defendant’s friend.

A male student at a Salina middle school has been charged with one count of lewd and lascivious behavior.

Lt. Scott Siemsen says the boy, under the age of 14, exposed himself to three female students under the age of 14 in a classroom on October 17th at Lakewood Middle School.

One of the girls told a school official about the incident on Wednesday, and the boy was charged and then turned over to his parents.

More than 600 team names were submitted by Salina locals, and it now has come down to one – Salina Bombers.

Over 600 votes were tabulated for the final three potential names – Shock, Storm, Bombers, with Bombers coming out on top in the end.

The Bombers are set to hike into the Bicentennial Center for six weekend home games beginning in March of 2013.

The person who submitted the winning team name will receive two tickets to the game, an autographed game ball and the opportunity to be on the field for the coin toss. In case of duplicates, the winner will be determined by the first submission received. All duplicate submissions will receive two tickets to the first game.

A northeastern Kansas man has been sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing his 4-year-old daughter.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller announced in a news release Wednesday that the man was sentenced late last week.

Miller says the 34-year-old man was on probation after being convicted of crimes against the girl when he confessed to sexual crimes that had not been discovered.

He was charged with aggravated criminal sodomy after sheriff’s detectives corroborated his confession. He pleaded no contest in September.

The man will not be eligible for parole for 25 years and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

The Associated Press is not naming the man to protect the identity of his daughter.

A new report says Kansas collected $37 million less in taxes than anticipated in October, but officials think the shortfall will be temporary.

The Department of Revenue said Wednesday the state took in almost $477 million during the month. That’s about 7 percent less than the $514 million officials had expected.

So far in the fiscal year that began July 1, the state has collected slightly than $2 billion — roughly $22 million short of expectations.

Revenue Department spokeswoman Jeanine Koranda says most of the shortfall was due to October having only two collection periods. There were three in October of last year.

Koranda says officials expect tax collections to bounce back in November.