A new report says the Kansas jobless rate dropped below 6 percent in September for the first time in almost four years.

The state Labor Department said Thursday that seasonally adjusted unemployment fell last month to 5.9 percent from 6.2 percent in August. It was also down from 6.7 percent in September 2011.

Kansas last had a jobless rate below 6 percent in December 2008.

The department also said Kansas continues to see modest growth in private, non-farm employment. The state had nearly 1.1 million such jobs last month, an increase of 1.2 percent from September 2011.

A Morland woman was transported in a one-vehicle accident after swerving to avoid a deer Thursday morning.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Xandra Waggoner, 53, was southbound on K-198 near the I-70 junction east of Quinter when she swerved to miss a deer, driving the 2008 Chevy Impala she was in into the east ditch and impacting with the embankment.

Waggoner was wearing her seat belt at the time of the accident and transported to Gove County Hospital in Quinter with possible injuries.

Kansas test score averages won’t include the results of about 2,700 older students from three districts, including the state’s fifth-largest.

The Kansas Board of Education decided Wednesday to separately report the scores of McPherson, Clifton-Clyde and the Kansas City, Kan., districts because they didn’t give their eighth-grade and high school students the standard state exam.

The districts received a waiver allowing them to instead use the ACT college entrance exam and another test designed for younger students called ACT EXPLORE.

But excluding the Kansas City scores will inflate the statewide average. That’s because the district, which has 20,500 students, is the state’s poorest and has historically scored below the statewide average.

The McPherson and Clifton-Clyde districts only have about 2,700 students between them.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s school efficiency task force has launched a web page to take anonymous tips about problems with school spending.

Brownback’s office unveiled the new website Wednesday. The governor also announced that he’s added Iola Superintendent Brian Pekarek as the panel’s 11th member.

Brownback formed the task force last month to look for ways to make public schools more efficient spending their state funding.

Most of the panel’s members are certified public accountants, including Brownback budget director Steve Anderson. The governor was criticized for not including any teachers or administrators.

Brownback’s office says the new web portal give students, parents, teachers and administrators a way to disclose inefficiencies they’ve experienced.

The Kansas Department of Commerce says the state has more than 1,600 unfilled truck-driving jobs, with the most urgent need in the oil and gas industries.

The agency and its Local Workforce Investment Board Partners have funds available to help qualified applicants take Commercial Driver’s License training through approved providers.

Commerce officials said Wednesday they’re looking into providing training opportunities in Kansas communities with high demand for drivers and adequate interest by potential job-seekers.

Kansas has been experiencing growth in the oil and gas industries as new fields are opened for exploration in the southern counties.

UPDATE: The leak was contained and people were allowed to return home at 8:00 p.m. local time.

Crews from Black Hills Energy are fixing a ruptured gas line that forced evacuations of homes and businesses in downtown Goodland.

Authorities in the northwestern Kansas city were unable to say how many people remained out of their homes Wednesday night. The evacuation zone covered a few city blocks.

The Sherman County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release that some residents were allowed to return and the evacuation zone was adjusted about 90 minutes after the leak was discovered around 3 p.m. Wednesday.

No fires, injuries or explosions were reported. The American Red Cross sent volunteers and food from Hays to shelter people overnight if necessary.

The sheriff’s office says the rupture was apparently caused by workers using a boring machine.

Police in Wichita say a pedestrian who was struck and killed by a freight train may have been unaware he was in danger.

Police identified the man Wednesday as 41-year-old Wichita resident Cedale Lamont Brown.

Family and friends told police Brown sometimes became oblivious to his surroundings because of a medical condition for which he took medication. They also said he often walked in the area where he was struck and killed

Witnesses said Brown stepped into the path of the oncoming Union Pacific train shortly before noon Tuesday after walking pass activated cross arms.

The train sounded its horn, but Brown didn’t step away. He suffered severe injuries and died at a hospital.

A Topeka activist has launched an effort to recall Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, partly over his work on immigration issues in other states.

But the effort started Wednesday by Sonny Scroggins faces big hurdles under state law.

Scroggins submitted a $100 application fee and a copy of his proposed recall petition to the lieutenant governor’s office. Among other things, he accuses Kobach of neglecting his duties.

Kobach didn’t immediately return telephone messages, but he’s said the same issues were aired during his 2010 campaign.

Scroggins’ application won’t be considered valid unless supporters gather signatures from nearly 83,000 registered voters.

Even after that, the law would require them to collect the signatures of nearly 332,000 voters within three months for an election to be held.

The state’s education commissioner says possible policy changes will make next year one of the busiest years in a decade for Kansas educators.

Commissioner Diane DeBacker told the State Board of Education Tuesday that 2013 could be the busiest year since the No Child Left Behind law was enacted in 2001.

DeBacker said the board will consider changes such as adopting new science standards, new history and government standards and deciding how to tie teacher evaluations to student achievement. Educators also will be implementing Common Core State Standards and deciding what type of assessments will be used.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports at least four of the 10 state board members will be newly elected, and they’ll be working with a Legislature where several members will also be new.

A Mexican citizen working at a Dodge City, Kan., meat packing plant has been sentenced to 24 months in prison for working under a stolen identity, U. S. Attorney Barry Grissom announced Tuesday.

The man, Rosario de Jesus Zavala-Lopez, 31, Sinaloa, Mexico, entered the United States unlawfully about five years ago. He has worked at the Dodge City National Beef meat packing plant since October 2008 using the identity of a U.S. citizen from Fort Worth, Texas. He was indicted in May on eight document fraud and identity theft counts.

Zavala-Lopez was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten. He had pleaded guilty in August to aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence. Upon completion of the U.S. prison sentence, Zavala-Lopez will turned over to immigration authorities for removal proceedings.

“Identity theft continues to be a significant problem, both in fraud and employment-related cases,” Grissom said. “We will continue to aggressively prosecute these cases.”

Grissom commended the Ford County, Kansas, Sheriff’s Dept. and the Department of Homeland Security, Enforcement and Removal Operations, for their investigation of the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson for his prosecution. Zavala-Lopez has been in federal custody since his arrest in May and will be turned over to Federal Bureau of Prisons custody in two-to-three weeks, Grissom said.

A custom combiner from Kansas faces a felony charge in North Dakota for allegedly stealing a load of corn from an Emmons County farmer whose fields he was harvesting.

48-year-old Kevin Clark faces a theft of property charge that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison upon conviction. His attorney, Sidney Gross, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he had just gotten the case and was not prepared to comment.

The Bismarck Tribune reports that Clark is accused of selling about 1,400 bushels of corn worth about $9,500 that belonged to the farmer who hired him.

Clark owns American Quality Harvesting and Trucking, also known as Clark Farms, in Hesston, Kansas.

By Fred Gough ~ Hutch Post

A Hutchinson Community College basketball player arrested last week on a charge of sexual exploitation of a child is expected in court Wednesday.

Jasmine L. Patterson is accused of downloading child pornography in her dorm room last year

She was arrested in a long form complaint meaning that police sent the information to District Attorney Keith Schroeder and he then filed the formal complaint and an arrest warrant was issued.

The charge of sexual exploitation of a child alleges the crime occurred on April 19 of last year.

The Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force reported spotting child pornography being downloaded from a file-sharing network which led to the investigation by Hutchinson Police.

Schroeder says police executed a search warrant and reportedly found sexually explicit photos of children under the age of 18.

Patterson is free on $7,000 bond.