The state’s public offender registry will no longer include the addresses of sex offenders’ employers, but that information can still be obtained from other sources.

The home addresses of people convicted of sex crimes, violent crimes and serious drug offenses will remain on the offender registry, but their work addresses won’t be listed as of July 1. The change is a result of employers’ concerns and a compromise approved during the latest legislative session.

Offenders’ work addresses, however, can be found by going to the local sheriff’s office and asking for the address, or by signing up for an electronic message system that will send an e-mail saying that an offender has taken up residence or employment in your neighborhood.

Residents in La Crosse have been cleaning up this weekend from the batch of tornadoes that hit north-central Kansas late Friday.

About four blocks in La Crosse sustained significant damage, and two businesses were destroyed. Officials said a third La Crosse business sustained major damage. No injuries were reported in La Crosse. One woman in nearby Russell had minor injuries.

Rush County Emergency Preparedness Director James Fisher said he attributed the overall lack of injuries to ample warning time and a slow-moving storm system. Sirens ran throughout the town for approximately 45 minutes.

La Crosse resident Rodney Ruff lives near the town’s car wash, which was hit. He said the area is a mess but it could have been much worse.

Strong winds Saturday were to blame for two accidents on I-70 in Trego County.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, at approximately 6:17 p.m. a strong gust of wind blew over an eastbound tractor-trailer near milepost 137, about 2 miles east of Ogallah. The wind lifted the trailer causing the entire rig to roll onto its driver’s side, blocking both lanes of eastbound traffic. The driver, 52-year-old Steven Paugh of Richmond, Kansas was taken to Trego County-Lemke Memorial Hospital with undisclosed injuries.

Another accident occurred at the same time and location in the westbound lanes of I-70. The Kansas Highway Patrol report that a 2005 Chevy pick-up was pulling a camper when the wind gust also blew it over on its side. The driver, 61-year-old Dennis Gerdes of Idyllwild, California was not injured in the accident, but his passenger, 60-year-old Darcy Gerdes was transported to Trego County-Lemke Memorial Hospital with possible injuries.

All parties in both accidents were wearing seat belts. The wind gust that caused the accidents was reported to be 70 mph.

After a dismal season at the state’s lakes last summer, Kansas parks officials are hoping a strong Memorial Day weekend will give the parks department an economic boost.

Toxic algae and extreme heat caused a sharp drop in visitors to state waterways last summer, causing a tight budget for the state parks department.

Linda Lanterman, acting director of the Kansas Department of Parks, Wildlife and Tourism, says even with a one-time supplement of $800,000 from the state, the department’s budget is tight.

She says a Memorial Day weekend with plenty of visitors to the state parks would help end the fiscal year on a good note. The state’s new budget year begins July 1.

Permits to enter a state park for a day sell for $4.20 per vehicle.

by Randy Picking ~ Salina Post

UPDATE: A chemical suicide prompted emergency officials to evacuate homes in SE Salina and close Markley Road, Thursday morning.

Emergency responders blocked off the area after learning a man inside a home in the 2100 block of Brookefield was suicidal and was thought to have a mix of toxic chemicals.

The home was filled with a poisonous gas and a Haz-Mat team found the man deceased upon making entry, according to a news release from the Salina Police Department.

Traffic to the area was reopened this afternoon, after emergency crews cleared the area of the poisonous gas.

Hydrogen Sulfide is the chemical mixture that is thought to have been involved.

The use of hydrogen sulfide by those attempting to commit suicide has increased across the U.S. in recent years, and law enforcement across Kansas have reported its involvement in a number of suicides over the past year.

The man’s identity was not released. We will update this story as more information is released. The Saline County Coroner has ordered an autopsy.

Three federal judges are allowing the Kansas attorney general to participate in a redistricting lawsuit, but only so he can weigh in on fees sought by attorneys after the case ends.

Redistricting issues are before the federal court because Kansas lawmakers ended their session without drawing new maps for the state House and Senate, Board of Education and the four U.S. House districts.

The judges on Thursday rejected an attempt by two Democrats to block any participation by Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who says he wants to prevent the state from paying unreasonable fees.

The judges are allowing 27 individuals to participate in the case, along with Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the defendant, and Robyn Renee Essex, the Olathe resident who filed the case earlier this month.

A vandal decided to take a ride while doing damage at the Hutchinson Municipal Airport.

Airport officials say someone used a mower early Wednesday to drive over 19 taxiway lights, a runway threshold light and three signs that direct pilots to runways.

Airport manager Pieter Miller says he’s never seen as much damage at the airport. He estimated the replacement cost for the lights is about $3,000. Miller says an airport employee left the keys in the mower, which sits outside near a shop.

The Hutchinson News reports most of the lights and signs were replaced by late Wednesday. The airport’s operations were not seriously disrupted.

No one has been arrested.

Families of former cadets suing a Salina military school for alleged abuse are fighting the academy’s effort to bar distribution of a video showing a student with two broken legs.

St. John’s Military School in Salina sought a protective order last week after The Associated Press requested comment on the cellphone video clip.

But in a response filed Wednesday in federal court, the families said the issue is moot because The AP has already distributed a story containing the video.

The school contends that it’s trying to protect students’ privacy rights. The plaintiffs countered that St. John’s is attempting to suppress media coverage of the litigation.

There’s an art to stealing an ATM, and whoever made off with 1 of the cash machines outside an eastern Kansas bank apparently was no artist.

The Ottawa Herald reports that Franklin County sheriff’s officers responded early Sunday to an alarm at Patriots Bank in the small town of Princeton.

Deputies arrived to see an ATM missing from its place outside the bank and being pushed slowly along a street by a pickup truck. The driver abandoned the cash machine and sped off, then crashed the truck and ran away.

Officers recovered the ATM and the cash. The sheriff’s department has identified a person of interest and continues to investigate.

A knife-wielding man broke into Topeka’s WIBW-TV news station and stabbed two sales employees.

A 19th-century church in eastern Kansas is one of 10 sites nominated by the state Historical Society for placement on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Congregational Church was built between 1858 and 1861 in Osawatomie, a town was settled in 1854 by abolitionists from Ohio and New York. Services were held in the building until 1898.

Other Kansas nominees are the Arvonia School and Calvinistic Methodist Church in Osage County, and the Norden Bombsight Storage Vaults at the former Pratt Army Airfield in Pratt. The bombsights were considered essential to the Allied victory in World War II for their ability to help air crews drop munitions.

The nominations will be sent to the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places for consideration.