Officials at a Kansas prison say three inmates in a segregation unit tried to hang themselves simultaneously.

The incident happened Tuesday afternoon in the administrative segregation unit at Hutchinson Medical Center. Prison officials released a statement Tuesday night saying only that four inmates had suffered some kind of medical emergency.

More details, including the attempted hangings, were released Wednesday. Officials said a corrections officer made the discovery around 3 p.m. Tuesday and called for help to remove the inmates from the cell.

One inmate was treated at the prison clinic. The other two were transferred to a Wichita hospital, with one expected to be released Wednesday.

A fourth inmate was taken to the prison clinic with chest pains. He was later returned to the prison unit.

A parade planned in a southern Kansas town turned instead to a vigil after a 15-year-old girl died before she could return home.

Residents in Mulvane decorated Main Street on Tuesday to welcome home Taylor Heersche, who had battled leukemia. The town rallied for four years to support Taylor and her family.

But Taylor died at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City just hours before she was to go home.

Taylor, a sophomore at Mulvane High School, was diagnosed with the leukemia in May 2008, when she was 10.

Her mother, DeAnne Heersche, said the disease returned last December in a genetic mutation that couldn’t be cured.

Services are Sunday at Central Community Church in Wichita, with a private burial Monday.

The University of Kansas is seeking an increase of about 2.54 percent for room and board, starting next fall.

The university says the proposed rate would increase the cost of a traditional residence hall double room to $3,902 per academic year. The cost of the dining plan would be $3,540.

University officials are also proposing a $260 fee for Internet data service for each student, rather than having students pay the Internet provider.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports university housing officials say if the increases are approved, Kansas’ housing and dining rates would remain below Big 12 and national averages.

The Kansas Board of Regents will consider the request, along with those of five other universities, at its monthly meeting in November.

Kansas State is conducting research that could help high-speed rail systems better handle winter conditions.

The university is leading a three-year study that looks at the freeze-thaw durability of concrete railroad ties. The school says the work is essential in efforts to develop safe and durable high-speed rail systems.

Assistant civil engineering professor Kyle Riding is collaborating with researchers from the university’s Institute of Environmental Research, the United Arab Emirates and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The commercial partners are the Canadian National Railroad and CXT Concrete Ties Inc.

The Federal Railroad Association recently awarded Riding more than $1.2 million to study the materials and fabrication process.

A convicted sex offender who escaped in Lawrence while being driven from Virginia to Colorado is back in custody.

Police captured 22-year-old Deon Gregory Routt shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday after a chase near Memorial Stadium at the University of Kansas.

New campaign finance reports show Democrats in hotly contested Kansas Senate races outspending their Republican opponents over the past three months.

Reports filed this week with the secretary of state’s office show the widest gap between Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley and GOP challenger Casey Moore. Both are from Topeka and running in the 19th Senate District.

Hensley reported spending nearly $113,000 on his re-election campaign from July 27 through Oct. 25, compared with the roughly $12,000 spent by Moore.

Another closely watched race is in the 5th District in the Kansas City area. Democratic incumbent Kelly Kultala of Kansas City reported spending more than $56,000 over the past three months. Republican Steve Fitzgerald of Leavenworth spent about $51,000.

The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) reminds Kansans that the Cold Weather Rule takes effect November 1 and remains in effect through March 31.

“The Cold Weather Rule helps to ensure that Kansans can be warm in their home this winter. Consumers are encouraged to take steps to prepare for colder temperatures this winter,” said KCC Chairman Mark Sievers. “Make sure heating equipment is in good working order, set your thermostat at a reasonable level, weather strip and caulk windows and doorways – doing these things can cut down on heating costs.”

The Cold Weather Rule prohibits utility companies from disconnecting a customer’s natural gas or electric service during periods of extreme cold. The Rule requires utility companies to offer a 12-month payment plan to allow consumers to maintain or re-establish utility service.

Disconnection Conditions:

Utility companies may not initiate disconnection until temperatures are forecast to be above 35 degrees for the next 48 hours.
Utility companies must contact the customer by phone or in-person 24 hours before disconnecting service.
Utility companies are prohibited from disconnecting a customer’s service when temperatures are forecast to be at or below 35 degrees over the next 24 hours.

The KCC wants Kansans to have the electric and gas service needed to keep their homes warm during the winter months. The KCC also recognizes the customer’s responsibility to make arrangements to pay for that service. The Cold Weather Rule was designed in 1983 to ensure that both goals are met. Any residential customer with a past due balance will qualify for payment arrangements under the Rule. However, it is the customer’s responsibility to contact the gas or electric company to make those arrangements.

Payment Plan conditions to maintain or restore service:

Customers must contact their utility company and inform that they cannot pay their bill in full.
Customers must agree to pay 1/12th of the total amount owed, 1/12th of the current bill, the full amount of any disconnection or reconnection fee, plus any applicable deposit to the utility.
Customers must agree to pay the remaining balance in equal payments over the next 11 months, in addition to their current monthly bill.

A judge in central Illinois says a Kansas man is not guilty of murdering his cousin by reason of insanity.

Champaign County Circuit Judge Heidi Ladd ruled Monday that 69-year-old Gerard James fatally shot Harlan James of Champaign but was too mentally ill at the time to appreciate “the criminality of his conduct.” She scheduled a Dec. 20 hearing to re-evaluate his mental condition.

The shooting occurred in a corn field near Mahomet in October 2011 when Harlan James stopped by the field to say hello to his cousins. Gerard James is a Lawrence, Kan., resident who visited Champaign County for the spring planting and fall harvest.

According to a psychiatrist’s report, Gerard James had a paranoid delusion that his cousin was a serial killer.

Federal prosecutors will be on duty during election day to respond promptly to complaints of possible election fraud and voting rights violations in Kansas, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Jared Maag, Criminal Chief for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Leon Patton, Assistant U.S. Attorney, will be available to the public at 785-295-2850 while the polls are open on Nov. 6.

“Anyone who has evidence of electoral corruption or voting rights abuses should call my office immediately,” Grissom said.

Grissom said he does not expect any problems during the voting, but warned that there are criminal penalties under federal law for any efforts to fraudulently influence the outcome of the election or to prevent another person from exercising the right to vote.

Maag and Patton will join prosecutors in other districts as part of the Justice Department’s nationwide election day program. They will be responsible for overseeing the district’s handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses in consultation with Justice Department headquarters.

The FBI also will have Special Agents available to receive allegations of election fraud, intimidation, suppression and other election abuses. The FBI can be reached by the public at 816-512-8200.

Complaints about ballot access problems or discrimination can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington at 1-800-253-3931 or 202-307-2767, or by email to [email protected]. Where voter intimidation or suppression tactics target voters on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin, please contact the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section at 202-514-3204.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office also will be monitoring election complaints. Any questions involving state or local issues may be referred to the state’s Elections Division at 785-296-4561 or, if appropriate, to the county election office, said Brad Bryant, election director for the Secretary of State’s office.

A preliminary hearing for two men charged in the beating death of a Tabor College student has been rescheduled to December.

The hearing for Alton Franklin and DeQuinte Flournoy, both 19-year-old men from Dallas, was scheduled for Monday. But it was postponed until Dec. 10. The Hutchinson News reports attorneys did not explain the reason for the delay.

The suspects, both former McPherson College football players, are charged with being accessories to second-degree murder in the Sept. 22 death of 26-year-old Brandon Brown.

Brown, a redshirt defensive lineman for Tabor College, died after being injured in a fight early Sept. 16 at a party in McPherson.

Both men remained jailed on $500,000 bonds.

A Kansas teenager who admitted shooting and killing a 14-year-old Manhattan High School classmate has been sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison.

KMAN-AM reports the mother of Tyler Dowling told 16-year-old Cole Drake in court Monday she hopes her son’s voice will haunt him every day and night.

Drake was initially charged as an adult with first-degree murder. He avoided a trial last month by pleading no contest to second-degree murder, robbery and numerous counts of vehicle burglary.

Dowling was found dead in a field in April 2011.

Authorities said Drake told investigators the two were out breaking into cars the night of the shooting. He said he accidentally shot Dowling once, then shot him again because he didn’t want Dowling to tell anyone what he did.