Two of Kansas’ premier wetlands are in danger of drying up, and wildlife officials say that could be devastating for waterfowl hunters and wildlife watchers down the road.

On the bright side, managers at Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area and Quivira National Wildlife Refuge say the parched conditions give them access to the areas they don’t usually have when water is plentiful.

The Wichita Eagle reports Cheyenne Bottoms near Great Bend and Quivira, near Stafford, are nearly dry because of the ongoing drought.

Officials say the conditions of central Kansas wetlands are probably the worst they’ve been in about 20 years.

Bird experts say it shouldn’t have much of an impact on migrating waterfowl that will simply keep flying until they find better conditions.

Walmart says bomb threats caused evacuations at five of its Missouri stores, and the threats have now spread to Kansas with two in Lawrence and one in Leavenworth

No explosives were found at any of the locations.

Company spokesman Dan Fogleman told The Kansas City Star threats were called in Friday evening to stores in Raytown, Gladstone, Jefferson City, Nixa and Ozark.

Fogleman says such threats can happen at any retail establishment, but acknowledged it’s unusual to get so many in one evening.

He says the company is working closely with law enforcement to find out who is responsible.

Two Walmart stores in Tulsa, Okla., received bomb threats on the same day in June, and a 13-year-old boy in Minnesota is suspected of making a threat in April that led to the evacuation of a Walmart in Alabama.

By Micheal Clements ~ St. Joseph Post

A 10-year-old driving an ATV died after the vehicle rolled into a pond, trapping her underwater.

The Leavenworth County Sheriff’s office says Shelbee Heim, of rural Leavenworth, was driving the four-wheel vehicle on a dirt path next to a pond Thursday evening. The vehicle dropped off the pond edge and rolled onto the driver’s side, trapping Shelbee under water.

Officers say the girl’s father tried to lift the vehicle off his daughter, but was unsuccessful.

Under-sheriff Ron Cranor says Kickapoo Township firefighters removed Shelbee from the water about 15 minutes after the accident. She was pronounced dead at a Leavenworth hospital.

The death is being investigated as an accident. An autopsy will be performed.

Some students at two Kansas universities want Chick-fil-A removed from the campuses because of the fast-food chain’s stance on gay marriage.

Online petitions began at Wichita State University and the University of Kansas after Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy said he opposed gay marriage. Some groups are boycotting Chick-fil-A, while others are supporting the fast-food chain.

The petition at Wichita State had about 530 signatures early Friday. The Kansas petition had nearly 1,800 signatures. Another petition to keep Chick-fil-A at Kansas had about 560 signatures.

Wichita State officials say if they hear of anyone being refused service at Chick-fil-A because of sexual orientation, the school would address the situation.

The Wichita Eagle reports Kansas officials say they are discussing the issue with people on campus and off.

A 25-year-old Lawrence woman is charged after her 5-year-old daughter died when she ingested drugs.

Rebecca Lynn Wynne is charged with reckless involuntary manslaughter. She is also charged with two counts of aggravated child endangerment of her two other children, ages 6 and 4.

Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson says the girl died in April after ingesting opiates that were left in the family’s house.

Wynne appeared in court Thursday, where her bond was set at $25,000. She was ordered to have no contact with her children, who are in protective custody.

Wynne is scheduled to appear next in court Aug. 2.

A southwest Kansas man has been arrested following what authorities are calling the abuse death of his 9-month-old son at a Wichita hospital.

Family members took Brandon Villa to a Dodge City hospital on Sunday. He was flown Wesley Medical Center the same day. The Dodge City Police Department was informed of his death early Thursday.

The case is now being investigated as a homicide, although Dodge City Police Chief Craig Mellecker declined to comment on the baby’s injuries.

Mellecker says the 24-year-old father was arrested Wednesday in Texas County, Okla., on a warrant for abuse of a child. The News reports the father was out of jail on bond in a robbery case when the baby was injured Sunday.

Six people were arrested and more than 210,000 packets of synthetic drugs seized in six Midwestern states as part of a nationwide crackdown.

The Drug Enforcement Administration on Thursday announced results of Operation Log Jam, targeting synthetic drugs like so-called “bath salts”, “potpourri”, along with other types of fake marijuana, items commonly sold at head shops and some convenience stores and often targeted at teenagers.

The DEA says nearly 100 people nationwide were arrested and more than 5 million packets seized.

James Shroba of the DEA office in St. Louis says synthetic drugs are a growing problem around the nation, including the six states his office covers – Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota and southern Illinois. He says the crackdown sends a message to manufacturers and sellers that law enforcement is coming after them.

A McPherson County man has been charged with using a 9-year-old girl to produce child pornography, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said Thursday.

Philip Andra Grigsby, 50, Marquette, is charged with two counts of enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography, one count of possessing child pornography and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction.

The crimes are alleged to have occurred in April and July 2012 in McPherson County, Kan.

If convicted, Grigsby faces a penalty of not less than 15 years and not more than 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each of the counts of producing child pornography; not less than 5 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the possession count; and a maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the gun charge. The FBI, the Australian Federal Police, the Marquette Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated.

A northeastern Kansas man who stole a neighbor’s purse after finding her dead in her home has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Bryan Keylon, of Leavenworth, was sentenced Wednesday for burglary. He pleaded guilty to the charge in June.

Keylon admitted breaking into the 54-year-old woman’s home in January 2012 and finding the body in a bedroom. He took her purse, then called 911.

Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said the woman was found to have suffered a massive heart attack, and Keylon had nothing to do with the death.

Keylon first told police he had simply gone to visit the neighbor. But police concluded it was a burglary after they noticed a broken window and a button that matched a coat belonging to Keylon.

A 3-year-old boy has died in Topeka after an apparent accident on a swing set at a residential day care center.

The Shawnee County sheriff’s office says it received a call shortly after noon Wednesday about an unresponsive child at the home. The boy was taken to a Topeka hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Authorities say it appears the boy somehow became tangled in the frame of the backyard swing set. Investigators are looking into how the accident happened.

Ten children were at the day care at the time. It’s not clear if any of the children witnessed the incident.

A Kansas woman’s victory in a religious freedom case came too late for her to get a life-saving liver transplant.

Mary Stinemetz of Hill City is terminally ill with chronic liver disease.

The 65-year-old woman is a Jehovah’s Witness, a religion that forbids blood transfusions. She won a legal battle last year that forced the state to pay for a transplant in Nebraska that did not require a blood transfusion.

Kansas officials had argued that a bloodless transplant was not a medical necessity, and Steinmetz’s religion should not determine insurance coverage.

The Kansas City Star reported Tuesday, the legal victory came too late for Stinemetz. By the time she won, her condition deteriorated so much that she was not eligible for a new liver.

A Salina man admits he spanked his fiance’s 14-month-old son with a 10-inch piece of board but insists he did not kill the child.

Antonio M. Brown pleaded not guilty Tuesday to the October 2011 death of Clayden Lee Urbanek. He is charged with first-degree murder, child abuse and interference with law enforcement.

Brown admitted in an interview with police that he caused severe bruising on the boy’s bottom by spanking him with a board. But he insisted he didn’t know how the boy suffered fatal injuries to his abdomen or bruises covering most of his body.

Brown’s trial is scheduled for Oct. 9.

Clayden’s mother, Brittney M. Betzold, was bound over for trial.