A three-judge panel is set to hear final arguments in a lawsuit by parents and school districts challenging the way Kansas funds public education.

Wednesday’s hearing was expected to last all morning in Shawnee County District Court.

Attorneys for a coalition of 54 school districts and parents filed suit in 2010. They contend the state has failed to live up to its promises to increase K-12 funding as ordered by the Kansas Supreme Court in 2006.

Lawyers for the state argue the Legislature did its best to mitigate the effects on schools of the recession that began in 2008.

Rescue crews have recovered the body of a missing boater from a lake in north-central Kansas.

The body of 36-year-old Tim Griffiths was found around 10 a.m. Tuesday at the west end of Waconda Lake, in Mitchell County.

Griffiths, of rural Hunter, had been missing since he fell out of a boat Saturday night. Another man was found safe in the boat, and a third man was found on the lake shore Sunday morning.

Griffiths was a maintenance man who also did work for Hake Hardware in Tipton.

A 40-year-old man from Perryton, Texas was injured in a one-truck accident near Grainfield very early Tuesday.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, around 1:45 a.m., Mark Hudson was traveling in a 2005 Kenworth about three miles northeast of Grainfield, when he missed his intended turn. Hudson then traveled the next mile north to turn around at the next county road, when as he backed up, his trailer entered the southeast ditch, causing the rig to roll over onto its driver’s side.

Hudson, who was not wearing a seat belt, was injured in the accident and transported to the Gove County Medical Center.

The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal is suing Kansas over restrictions imposed on its booth at this year’s Kansas State Fair.

The federal lawsuit filed Monday asks the court to prohibit interference with the group’s free speech rights at next month’s fair in Hutchinson. It also names the Kansas State Fair Board and fair general manager Denny Stoecklein as defendants.

Fair officials had demanded that PETA shield passersby from any videos or pictures depicting animal slaughter.

PETA contends the state fair is a public forum and its videos on livestock slaughtering are protected speech. It also seeks attorney and court costs.

PETA attorney Jeff Kerr says his group will defend the right to speak for animals.

Stoecklein did not immediately return a call for comment.

The continuing drought is causing concern about operating the Wolf Creek Nuclear Power Plant.

Officials say the dwindling water levels of a reservoir used to cool the plant near Burlington do not pose any safety risk.

The Kansas Water Office projects the John Redmond Reservoir will be almost dry by Nov. 1, if current weather patterns persist.

Wolf Creek officials say it would be difficult to operate the plant if the drought continues for the next several months.

The Wichita Eagle reports the water office says the reservoir was about 75 percent full on Aug. 1. But the office projects the lake will be at only 5 percent capacity by Nov. 1.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a voluntary recall of CareBears pacifiers, citing a choking hazard.

The products are reportedly being pulled from shelves because the nipples can separate from the base, posing a choking hazard to young children.

Consumers are instructed to stop using recalled products immediately and contact the manufacturer for instructions on returning the pacifier.

More than 300 troops of the 1st Sustainment Brigade at Fort Riley are preparing for a nine-month deployment in Afghanistan.

The unit departs next month for duty providing support to other soldiers already in Afghanistan, including thousands from the 1st Infantry Division.

In a ceremony Monday at the northeastern Kansas post, the brigade cased its colors in preparation for moving its flag to a new location.

The Manhattan Mercury reports the soldiers include Spec. Timothy Gardner, whose wife and three children were on hand for the ceremony.

Lindsay Gardner says this will be her husband’s third deployment. Their youngest child is eight weeks old, but the older two have handled the previous deployments well. Lindsay Gardner says they especially enjoy seeing and talking to their dad via computer.

A Kansas man has been sentenced to 320 months in federal prison for enticing a 14-year-old girl to send him nude photos of herself, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Shane M. McClelland, 26, Wichita, Kan., was convicted in a jury trial in May on one count of producing child pornography. During trial, prosecutors presented evidence that McCelland used the Internet to strike up a relationship with a 14-year-old girl in Batavia, N.Y. At McClelland’s request, the girl sent photographs of herself naked to McClelland. The mother of one of the girl’s friends became aware of what happened and reported it to police.

At sentencing, prosecutors asked the judge to take into consideration McClelland’s prior conviction in September 2004 in Sedgwick County District Court for aggravated indecent liberties with a 13-year-old girl.

The University of Kansas Law School is receiving an $800,000 donation aimed partly at helping Kansas residents attend the school.

Officials announced the gift from David and Debbi Elkouri on Monday. The Elkouris live in Wichita and Houston.

Of the total, $500,000 will establish the Elkouri Family Scholarship Fund through KU Endowment.

The other $300,000 will support scholarships for Kansas law students. One law student from Kansas will receive a $16,000 scholarship each year. David Elkouri says the university is losing qualified Kansas applicants to other law schools, many of them out of state.

David Elkouri earned his bachelor’s and law degrees at Kansas. All three of the couple’s children are KU graduates, and one went on to earn a law degree at the university.

Kansas Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan says the state is withholding part of the payment to the company responsible for the new motor vehicle registration system while problems are being resolved.

Glitches have forced residents throughout Kansas to wait in long lines to renew their tags since the $40 million system went online in May.

Jordan told the Topeka Capital-Journal (https://bit.ly/PneEKx ) on Monday the final 10 percent of a $25 million contract with 3M Co. is being withheld.

There’s no timetable for making the payment. However, the Department of Revenue is delaying the next phase of its computer modernization that involves driver’s licenses. That contract is also being handled by 3M.