The Cowley County prosecutor says a response is planned to an appeal from a death row inmate convicted in the 2007 murder of a Cowley County student.

Justin Thurber of Arkansas City filed the appeal with the Kansas Supreme Court in July, contending that several errors were made during his trial. Thurber was convicted in February 2009 in the death of 19-year-old Jodi Sanderholm, whose battered body was found in January 2007 in the Kaw Wildlife Area.

The appeal contends several errors were significant enough to reverse the verdict.

Cowley County Attorney Chris Smith said Friday that the Kansas Attorney General’s Office has until April to file a response. He says a hearing on Thurber’s appeal before the Supreme Court has not been scheduled.

A new survey of business leaders suggests little or no economic growth in most of a group of nine Midwest and Plains states through the end of the year, but the booming oil business will continue to drive growth in North Dakota and Oklahoma.

The region’s overall economic index improved to a weak 50.4 in September from August’s 49.7.

Any score above 50 suggests economic growth in the months ahead while a score below 50 suggests decline for that factor.

The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

By contrast with the overall index, North Dakota’s economic index hit 61.6 in September and Oklahoma’s registered 56.6.

Coffeyville police are investigating two shootings over the weekend that left two people dead and two injured.

Thirty-two-year-old James Logan of Coffeyville and 31-year-old Latrell Boyd of Pine Bluff, Ark., died in shootings late Friday at an apartment complex. A 20-year-old Coffeyville man was treated and released for injuries from that shooting.

Early Saturday, a second shooting left 39-year-old Anthony Wilson with non-life-threatening wounds.

No arrests have been made. Police are looking for at least two people who are believed to be involved in the shootings.

The KBI and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office are helping with the investigation.

The rate increase that Kansas Gas Service is seeking is far higher than the amount staff at the Kansas Corporation Commission has recommended.

The gas company is asking for a net increase of about $32?million a year, and KCC staff recommends the company get only $3.6?million.

The Wichita Eagle reports that the recommendations are cited in documents filed last week.

The gas company’s proposal would raise the average customer’s bill by $5.68 a month. The KCC proposal would boost those bills about $1.

KGS spokeswoman Dawn Ewing says the company’s still analyzing the KCC staff recommendations but believes its original proposal would result in fair and reasonable rates.

The KCC’s three commissioners serve as judges in rate cases and will make the final decision by Jan. 14.

A 41-year-old man has died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver on Interstate 35 in Johnson County.

Christopher Randolph Sr., of Kansas City, died at the scene of the crash, which occurred early Saturday. The Kansas City Star reports that a 39-year-old woman with the victim also was hit but survived.

Randolph’s car was pulled onto the right shoulder of the highway, and he was putting gas into the car when they were hit. The Kansas Highway Patrol has been seeking the driver of the car that struck the couple.

The fatal wreck occurred on the same day as the funeral for a Clifton Scott, a Missouri Department of Transportation worker who was killed after he was struck while helping at an accident scene on Interstate 70.

New studies by University of Kansas researchers find that the downturn in the economy has made it more difficult for those on the lower end of the income levels to obtain educational opportunities.

The reports, released earlier in September, looked at the instability caused by the Great Recession and the effect on children’s educational opportunities. The conclusions were that lower-income residents lacked the financial assets to weather the economic downturn and still have money for college.

The studies were conducted by the Assets and Education Initiative within the university’s School of Social Welfare.

The studies conclude that recession sharpens the focus of lower-income families on the immediate “here and now” needs, of food, shelter and survival.

Police in northeastern Kansas say they’ve seized about 2,700 pounds of marijuana from a vacant landscaping company warehouse in a Johnson County industrial park.

The seizure Friday morning by Lenexa police follows a recent investigation and arrest by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in Indianapolis, plus an arrest in the Kansas City area.

Lenexa police say undercover officers investigated the warehouse for the past week and found hundreds of boxes of plastic cups. Police say each box contained two bundles of marijuana hidden behind plastic cup sleeves.

Authorities estimate the street value of the marijuana at $1.5 million. Police said details of the arrests would be released later, and more arrests are expected.

Kansas’ economy continues to grow with individual income, corporate income and financial institutions all beating monthly revenue receipt estimates and total revenue receipts are 8.6 percent higher than in September 2011.

In its recent 3 Quarter report, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City noted that “The economic situation in Kansas improved during the summer of 2012.” The report noted that total payroll employment grew over the summer with the strongest job gains in an array of sectors including manufacturing, construction, professional and business services and education and health services.

September’s revenue receipts show the state has continued on that upward trend with monthly receipts beating estimates by $28.3 million, or 4.9 percent. That puts Kansas $16.2 million above estimates for the fiscal year.

The corporate income and financial institutions sectors both showed strong growth with corporate income surpassing estimates by $32.7 million, or 65 percent, while financial institutions were $3 million or 77 percent more than estimates.

“We are pleased to see growth in the Kansas economy continue this year,” said Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan. “We expect the growth in corporate income receipts to indicate future jobs growth in the private sector which will help the governor’s two goals of growing private sector jobs and increasing the net worth of Kansans.”

Individual income receipts were also $14 million higher than expected, beating estimates by 4.7 percent.