An animal rights group wants the state of Kansas to post a memorial sign at the spot on Interstate 70 where a crash killed dozens of cattle in April.

KMBC-TV reports the request to the Kansas Department of Transportation comes from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Thirty to 40 cattle were killed April 26 when the truck they were in plummeted off I-70 in Kansas City, Kan., onto a street below. The driver was injured and the truck burst into flames. Some of the cows escaped, but others died in the crash or had to be euthanized.

PETA says a memorial sign at the site would remind tractor-trailer drivers of their responsibility to the animals they transport.

Kansans whose vehicle tags expired in May are getting a break from the state.

The Kansas Department of Revenue and Kansas law enforcement agencies say people whose car tags expire as of May 31 will have until June 29 to renew them.

The grace period was prompted by long delays earlier this month after a new vehicle title and registration system was installed across the state.

Officials said that for 30-day permits, the cardboard style permit can be displayed on vehicles. For 30-day permits that expired any time in May, there will be a grace period through June 29.

A central Kansas man has pleaded guilty to charges in a drunken driving crash that killed another motorist in February 2011.

57-year-old Loren D. Lane, of Larned, was accused of driving into oncoming traffic at an intersection on Kansas 156. His vehicle collided with one driven by 47-year-old Rick Perez, of Great Bend. Perez died at a Pawnee County hospital.

The Hutchinson News reports that Lane pleaded guilty in Pawnee County District Court to involuntary manslaughter and being under the influence. In return, the county prosecutor dismissed charges of failure to yield and failure to wear a seat belt.

Lane is free on bond pending sentencing July 6.

The theft of 185 pounds of explosives from a southeastern Kansas company nearly four years ago has been partially solved.

Burglars made off with the explosives in September 2008 from a Martin Marietta facility in Butler County. The company used the explosives in its gravel-mining operations.

A pair of turkey hunters called authorities after spotting the tubes of explosives Monday night near Towanda.

Sheriff Kelly Herzet says cardboard boxes containing the tubes apparently deteriorated over time. He says the explosives weren’t dangerous because they lacked detonators, but he’s glad they’ve been recovered.

The ATF in Wichita is continuing to investigate.

Two Houston-based companies have agreed to pay a civil penalty of more than $1 million for pipeline spills in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that the fine is part of a consent decree filed in U.S. District Court in Omaha. In the decree, Mid-America Pipeline Co. and Enterprise Products agreed to reduce external threats to the pipeline and improve their reporting of spills.

The EPA says Mid-America owns and Enterprise operates the pipeline that carries gasoline products between Conway, Kan., and Pine Bend, Minn.

The Nebraska spill of about 71,000 gallons occurred near Yutan on March 2007.

The Kansas spill of around 75,600 gallons occurred near Niles in April 2010.

The Iowa spill of nearly 34,500 gallons occurred near Onawa in August 2011.

Attorneys for Kansas officials, business leaders and voters are heading to federal court for the trial of a lawsuit over the Legislature’s failure to redraw the state’s political boundaries.

Three federal judges must adjust congressional, state House, state Senate and State Board of Education districts to account for population changes over the past decade.

The judges hope the trial in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., wraps up in two days. The lawsuit was filed earlier this month by Robyn Renee Essex, a Republican precinct committee member from Olathe, against Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the state’s chief elections official.

However, the judges are allowing 27 other individuals to participate, including key figures in the Legislature’s impasse. The parties are represented by more than three dozen attorneys.

A Wichita State University study projects that most of the state will continue to lose population for decades.

The university’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research found that the population decline will continue at least through 2040.

The Hutchinson News reports the study projected that if migration was not considered, 37 counties would lose population in that time period. When migration is factored in, 83 counties would continue to lose population through 2040. Most of those counties are in western Kansas.

The center’s director, Jeremy Hill, says any potential growth is likely to occur around the state’s larger cities, particularly if the manufacturing sector rebounds.

Greensburg is reopening the exhibit that was its biggest claim to fame before the southwest Kansas town was smashed by a tornado five years ago.

And visitors who thought there’d be nothing new to see at the world’s largest hand-dug well are in for a surprise. The Big Well used to consist of a visitors’ area, a gift shop and a stairway into the 109-foot well. But like many other structures in Greensburg, the well’s entrance was destroyed in the EF-5 tornado that struck on May 4, 2007.

KAKE-TV reports it’s been rebuilt as the $3 million Big Well Museum and Visitors Center. Admission is free during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Displays in the museum tell the story of the 124-year-old well, the tornado and the town’s rebuilding.

Kansas health officials continue to warn people to avoid contact with the Arkansas River from central Wichita south to the Oklahoma boarder.

The state Department of Health and Environment first issued the warning Friday because of elevated levels of bacteria in the water discovered by routine sampling. On Sunday, KDHE said a leak was discovered at a pump station at Wichita’s main wastewater treatment plant. Crews were working to repair the leak and determine how much untreated wastewater entered the river.

The department says its warning continues for the portion of the river that starts at the bridge over the river for East Lincoln Street and that people should also keep their pets from having contact with the river.

The department says its investigation is continuing.