Kansas Governor Sam Brownback declared a State of Disaster Emergency Tuesday night for Wabaunsee County.

An apparent tornado struck the City of Harveyville just after 9 p-m. One person has been critically hurt, and several minor injuries were reported. A number of homes were damaged along with a church, and there are numerous reports of trees down and power lines down throughout the area.

The governor’s declaration activates the disaster response and recovery portions of the Kansas Response Plan, authorizing state resources to expedite emergency assistance statewide, as necessary.

Wabaunsee County Emergency Management advised the Kansas Division of Emergency Management (KDEM) that four individuals had been trapped in a structure for a time. Law enforcement officials confirm everyone has been accounted for in the area.

Wabaunsee requested through KDEM a search and rescue team and an Incident Management Team from Northeast Kansas deploy to Harveyville to assist with the response. The American Red Cross has been notified to assist. A shelter has been established at the high school in Harveyville.

Wabaunsee County requested mutual aid assistance from Pottawatomie County; American Medical Response is the ambulance service and has requested additional resources from AMR in Topeka.

The Kansas Division of Emergency Management will continue to staff the State Emergency Operation Center in Topeka to monitor the situation and manage requests for additional state resources.

A Kansas House committee is preparing to act on a bill aimed at preventing the state from indirectly subsidizing abortions through tax credits or deductions.

Wednesday’s agenda for the Federal and State Affairs Committee included a vote on the measure, which would make several changes in state tax laws, all designed to cut off indirect support for abortions.

For example, people who deduct medical expenses from their income taxes couldn’t include abortion expenses in the calculation. A nonprofit organization that provides abortion services would have to pay the state sales tax on what it buys, unlike other nonprofits.

Also, the measure would prohibit public schools from using materials in human sexuality classes from groups that provide abortion services.

Kansas officials have developed a new index of leading economic indicators to help better assess business activity in the state.

The index is called Indicators of the Kansas Economy, or IKE. It offers a review of economic trends and the overall health of the Kansas economy.

The matrix was developed through the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors, created by Gov. Sam Brownback last year as he developed proposals for tax cuts, government efficiency and overall economic growth.

Brownback says the index will give policymakers a better picture of how Kansas compares to similar states, such as the Dakotas, and to the nation overall.

The data are collected from a variety of state and federal sources.

By Fred Gough ~ Hutch Post

A Kansas woman who left a hair dryer running to warm her infant daughter on a freezing night has been sentenced to three years’ probation for the baby’s death from hyperthermia.

The Hutch Post reports that Brigit Hippen, of Hutchinson, could go to prison if she violates terms of the community correction sentence she received Tuesday in Reno County District Court.

Hippen pleaded no contest last month to involuntary manslaughter in the February 2010 death of her 2-month-old daughter, Karina Perez. Hippen had been charged with second-degree murder.

Hippen told investigators she placed a running hair dryer near Karina’s bassinet to warm the baby, then fell asleep. Doctors have said Karina’s temperature was 108 when she died.

Chickens that were to be publicly slaughtered as part of an art project in Lawrence have been spared.

City officials told artist Amber Hansen that the slaughter would violate animal cruelty ordinances.

Hansen originally planned to display coops of chickens at various locations around Lawrence. The chickens were to be publicly slaughtered and served as a meal. She says the intention is to draw attention to the process of slaughtering animals.

Assistant City Attorney Chad Sublet told Hansen a public slaughtering of chickens would violate city codes. And even keeping the chickens on private land would require her to meet other city codes on animal care.

Hansen told the Lawrence Journal-World that she’ll change the public art event, rather than fight the city’s decision.

A federal judge in Kansas is expected to hear evidence on claims that a federal firearms sting in Wichita was racially motivated.

At least 43 of 51 people facing federal charges from the months-long operation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are black.

Lawyers for some of the defendants contend the operation targeted black males because the ATF’s bogus pawn shop was located in a neighborhood with 1 of the city’s highest concentrations of African-Americans.

U.S. District Judge Monti Belot scheduled an evidentiary hearing in the case Tuesday afternoon.

The government argues the claim of a racially motivated prosecution is baseless.

Police in Wichita say a 2-year-old boy suffered scrapes, cuts and a swollen lip after unbuckling a seat belt and tumbling unnoticed from his mother’s moving car.

Residents spotted the toddler running down the street in a quiet neighborhood Sunday afternoon, crying and bleeding from his nose and lip.

The Wichita Eagle reports the boy fell out the back seat of his mother’s car after unbuckling a seat belt and opening the door. The 22-year-old mother didn’t notice the toddler missing she arrived home, more than a mile away. She retraced the route and found a woman comforting the little boy.

Police said Monday the mother has been questioned but not arrested.

A man who was shot after a standoff in north-central Kansas will go to trial in July.

The trial for 22-year-old Matthew Thille of Downs on four counts of attempted murder will begin July 23.

Thille pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges filed after an eight-hour standoff March 21 in Downs. The standoff began after Thille ran from a Jewell County courtroom and led police on a chase from Mankato to Downs.

He was shot several times by Kansas Highway Patrol officers as he ran from the house. Prosecutors say he had a gun in his hand.

The attempted murder charges were filed after Downs allegedly shot at officers during the chase and standoff.

Thille remains in the Osborne County Jail without bond.

Fred Gough ~ Hutch Post

Sedgwick County officials are on the lookout for an escaped inmate.

At approximately, 10:02 p-m, Sunday 33-year-old Sean P. McKenzie escaped from the custody of the Sedgwick County Jail.

He is described as being a white male standing, 5’11,” weighing 175 lb’s. He is reportedly balding and has blue eyes.

McKenzie was one of three facility trustees who were escorted outside to take trash out McKenzie then allegedly west towards the apartment complex at Central and Waco.

Unarmed deputies gave chase on foot until it was deemed unsafe for them to continue the chase. The sheriff’s office and Wichita Police did an extensive search overnight, but failed to locate him.

McKenize is in the Sedgwick County Jail on burglary, theft and drug possession charges.

He was last seen wearing a tan jumpsuit with “Jail,” on the back.

Anyone having information on his where-abouts, should call 911, or the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s warrants section at 316-660-3960.

Salina residents are discussing a proposal to add gender identity and sexual orientation to the city’s discrimination ordinance.

The city council has delayed a decision on the proposal until three public hearings are held.

During an information meeting Sunday, a woman who was born as a man discussed the process she went through as she changed her gender.

Stephanie Mott, chairwoman of the Kansas Equality Coalition, said she wanted people to talk to someone who is transgendered in Kansas.

The Salina Journal reports some people at the meeting opposed the proposal. 1 of them, Cheryl Harp, said the current ordinance provides enough protection for everyone in Salina.

The ordinance would mean people can’t be discriminated against in public accommodations, housing and employment. Some businesses and landlords would be exempt.

Few changes are expected at the central Kansas headquarters of Fuller Brush Company following a bankruptcy protection filing that will let the company eliminate unprofitable products, a top executive said.

The 106-year-old company and its parent firm, New York-based CPAC Incorporated both filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week in New York. Fuller Brush said its assets and debts both amount to between $10 million and $50 million.

Chief restructuring officer Larry Perkins says that bankruptcy protection will allow the struggling company to afford raw materials, cover salaries and pay the lease on its 123-acre site west of Great Bend.

All but five of Fuller’s 185 employees work at the Great Bend headquarters, and Perkins said he does not expect any immediate changes in employment.

The 1st Infantry Division’s headquarters is getting ready to leave Fort Riley and Kansas for a year in Afghanistan.

The deployment marks the second overseas duty for the headquarters unit since the division’s flag returned to Fort Riley from Germany in 2006. The division staff spent a year in Iraq in 2010.

A ceremony is scheduled for March 7 at Fort Riley for a formal casing of the division’s flag, signifying that it is deploying to combat. Staff and soldiers will be leaving Fort Riley in the following weeks.

The headquarters staff recently completed a readiness exercise involving 2,000 people to get ready for the Afghanistan mission.

Fort Riley is home to 18,000 soldiers and is located about 60 miles west of Topeka.