The Kansas House has approved Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s proposal to require first-time voters to prove their U.S. citizenship starting June 15.

The vote Wednesday was 72-51. The measure goes next to the Senate.

Kansas already has the rule for people registering to vote for the first time in the state, but it doesn’t take effect until January 2013. Kobach wants the rule in place for the normal surge of voter registrations ahead of this year’s presidential election. Critics argue it will suppress voter turnout.

The House approved an earlier version of Kobach’s plan in February, but the measure stalled in a Senate committee. Kobach’s allies hope senators will vote on the latest version without sending it to committee.

Leaders of the nation’s two largest religious denominations are expressing distress and sadness at President Barack Obama’s newly announced support for gay marriage.

New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who heads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, says Obama’s remarks “undermine the institution of marriage, the very cornerstone of our society.” He adds, “The people of this country, especially our children, deserve better.”

The Rev. Bryant Wright, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, predicted that voters will hold Obama accountable for what Wright calls “a calculated, politically expedient decision that completely ignores the biblical foundation of marriage.”

But in the ABC interview, Obama linked his decision to his faith in Jesus Christ and the Golden Rule, which he paraphrased as: “Treat others the way you would want to be treated.”

Authorities in two states are checking possible links between a burned body found in a suburban Kansas City backyard and a missing persons case in northeastern Kansas.

The tenant of a rental home in Lee’s Summit, Mo., found the body of a middle-aged, heavyset white male Monday in the backyard. Police had not identified the man by Wednesday, and still weren’t sure if he died in the fire or was set ablaze after being killed.

Detectives are looking into possible connections with a report filed Sunday of a person missing from Leawood, Kan., about 15 miles away. Police were not releasing that person’s name, but they’re asking the public’s help in locating the individual’s vehicle. It’s a black, 2005 Jeep Cherokee with Kansas license plate 726-CSI.

The Kansas Senate expects its vote to be close on proposed income and sales tax cuts.

Senators were set to vote Wednesday afternoon. The plan is expected to provide about $60 million in tax relief for the fiscal year beginning July 1, with the total eventually rising to $600 million annually.

The plan reduces individual income tax rates, phases out income taxes for 191,000 businesses and other businesses, and drops the state’s sales tax to 5.7 percent in July 2013 from its current 6.3 percent.

But a Washington-based think tank has said the plan would favor the wealthy over the poor.

If senators pass the plan, the House will vote, possibly as early as Wednesday evening. Its approval would send the measure to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.

House members have rejected an amendment that would have restricted the types of inmates the Kansas Department of Correction could house in county jails.

The proposal rejected Tuesday was in response to the escape in April of 4 state prison inmates who were being held in the Ottawa County jail. The men were in the county jail as part of a contract to alleviate state prison overcrowding.

The House rejected the amendment on a 79-41 vote, arguing that the issue would hamper the corrections secretary’s ability to manage prison populations.

The amendment would have prevented convicted rapists and murderers from being housed in county jails. 1 of the men who escaped was convicted of 2 murders in Sedgwick County. All four inmates were recaptured within three days.

Kansans who had to wait a week to conduct business at Department of Motor Vehicle offices can get back in line.

The offices will reopen across the state Tuesday, after being closed for a week while a new computer system was installed.

The Kansas Department of Revenue is asking for patience from residents, saying employees will need time to adapt to the new $4 million computer system.

The department says the new computer system will make filing paperwork more efficient and cost effective.

A northeastern Kansas woman accused of leaving her 2-month-old son alone in a stroller in a dark alley has told a judge she’s a good mother.

28-year-old Elizabeth Michaud made the statement Monday during an appearance in Leavenworth County District Court. The Leavenworth woman is charged with aggravated child endangerment.

The Leavenworth Times reports a judge refused to release Michaud on her own recognizance, which would have let her leave jail without paying money. She remains in custody.

A Leavenworth resident spotted the stroller and the baby late on the night of May 3 in an alley about three blocks from Michaud’s home. Police estimate the infant had been there at least three hours. He was slightly dehydrated.

Michaud told the judge Monday she was “under the influence” at the time.

Authorities in north-central Kansas say a teenager apparently took his own life after bolting from a courthouse.

The Clay Center Dispatch reports that 18-year-old Johnathon Lee Stunkel was found dead Friday afternoon at his father’s home in Clay Center. Police Chief Bill Robinson said Monday the teen died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Stunkel was a graduating senior at the local high school and the stepson of a district magistrate judge.

The teen was in court on a motion to revoke his probation for a juvenile case of identity theft, in light of new charges including theft and property damage. County Attorney Rick James says the teen suddenly ran from the building.

James says he knew Stunkel since he was young boy and considers the death a tragedy.

A South Dakota beef company says it plans to close processing plants in three states because of the controversy surrounding a product that critics have dubbed “pink slime.”

Beef Products Inc. spokesman Rich Jochum said Monday that 650 jobs will be lost when it closes its plants in Amarillo, Texas; Garden City, Kansas; and Waterloo Iowa. The closures will be effective May 25.

A plant in South Sioux City, Neb., will remain open.

The company blames what it calls unfounded attacks over a product that it calls “lean, finely textured beef.” In the process, bits of beef are heated and treated with a small amount of ammonia.

Beef Products is based in Dakota Dunes, S.D.

Some farmers in north-central Kansas say they are preparing to begin wheat harvesting weeks earlier than normal.

The wheat crop is sprouting early because of a mild winter and spring.

Wheat harvests generally begin in Kansas around mid-June. But The Salina Jounal reports some are predicting that combines could roll into Saline County this year during the last week of May, or no later than the first week of June.

The harvest has already begun in Oklahoma and Texas.

Pam Shmidl is operations manager for the U.S. Custom Harvesters Association, based in Hutchinson.

She says the fast-ripening wheat has caused many of the associations’ members to begin their work early this year.

Agriculture experts are predicting a bountiful crop this year, if the weather cooperates.

The Kansas House expects to pass a bill designed to prevent the state from subsidizing abortions even indirectly through tax breaks, but the measure’s future in the Senate appears uncertain.

The bill up for final action Monday in the House would prohibit Kansas taxpayers from claiming abortion expenses under a deduction for medical costs when filing their income taxes.

It also would deny tax breaks to abortion providers, such as an exemption to the sales tax that nonprofit groups claim when purchasing goods. The measure also prohibits state employees from performing abortions on state property or state time.

The House has a strong anti-abortion majority. Abortion opponents also appear to have a majority in the Senate, but that chamber hasn’t reviewed the legislation.