Lawyers are seeking class-action status for a lawsuit that claims Hall of Fame slugger George Brett has been falsely advertising bracelets and necklaces as being able to help improve health and sports performance.

A lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Des Moines claims Spokane Valley, Wash.-based Brett Bros. Sports International, Inc. has falsely claimed the products help customers relieve stiffness, recover from sports fatigue and improve focus.

An Iowa man, Seth Thompson of Adel, says he bought 1 of the necklaces at the College World Series in Omaha but did not receive any of those benefits.

His lawyers are asking a federal judge to approve a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all customers who have bought the products in the last four years.

The company had no immediate comment.

by Randy Picking ~ Salina Post

A 20-year-old Salina man tells police he was hit in the face with a hammer by a stranger in a dark SUV late Sunday night.

Police were sent to the home of Chase Kado in the 700 block of Sherman around noon Monday for a welfare check after a friend found blood on the front porch.

Kado told officers that when he was walking home between 11 and midnight Sunday, he got into a short argument with a white male medium build who was in a SUV parked behind his home in the alley.

Kado said the man hit him in the face with a hammer and left. Kado was taken to Salina Regional Health Center by EMS, and treated.

He did not suffer any facial fractures.

A Kansas prosecutor expects to decide soon whether to pursue criminal charges over the shredding of state documents seen as key evidence in a criminal case against a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor says he hopes to have a decision by the end of February.

At issue is a 2009 decision by the Kansas attorney general’s office to shred copies of reports to the state on individual abortions from Planned Parenthood’s clinic in Overland Park.

The shredding occurred 18 months after 107 criminal charges were filed against the clinic in Johnson County, with some alleging the clinic had falsified the reports. Once the shredding became public,
a judge dismissed 49 of the charges.

The shredding has been described as routine, but abortion opponents are suspicious.

By Matt Unruh ~ Great Bend Post

The Great Bend Police Department is still searching for a subject involved in an aggravated kidnapping and battery case.

22-year-old Alicia Madsen was transported to Great Bend Regional Hospital where she was treated and released. Officers have been unable to locate the suspect at this time. This case remains under investigation.

There is a search warrant currently out for 29-year-old Tyler Hall. He’s 6 foot 2 inches tall with brown hair and brown eyes, last seen wearing blue jeans with a hoodie. He is possibly armed with a knife and is known to be dangerous.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has formally submitted an executive order to legislators to reorganize three state agencies that deal with social services.

The order signed Monday by Brownback is part of his administration’s plan to overhaul the state’s $2.9 billion Medicaid program, which provides health coverage for the poor, disabled and elderly.

The changes sought by Brownback will take effect July 1, unless one chamber votes to reject his order by April 6.

The order would shrink the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services so it would focus on services to children and families, removing it from involvement with Medicaid.

Services for disabled and mentally ill would move from SRS into the Department on Aging, which also would pick up some regulatory responsibilities from the Department of Health and Environment.

A federal judge has granted conditional class-action status to a lawsuit filed on behalf of an estimated 700 workers at a slaughterhouse in south-central Kansas.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren ruled Monday that the class would include all hourly production employees subjected to allegedly unfair compensation practices at Creekstone Farms Premium Beef in Arkansas City for the past three years.

The workers claim the company hasn’t been paying employees for all the time they spend working. Creekstone contends it has paid employees for all time worked and any overtime they were entitled to get.

Melgren ordered the company to give the plaintiffs the names and contact information for each member of the class and to post notice of the lawsuit in both English and Spanish at its facility.

By Fred Gough ~ Hutch Post

One man is dead after a shootout with law enforcement near Yoder

According to Sheriff Randy Henderson, at around 12:45 p-m, there was a carjacking in west Wichita that led to a high speed chase in Sedgwick County that ended in the 3800 block of Parrallel Road in Reno County south of Yoder. The suspect allegedly got out of the car and opened fire at the officers.

At least four officers from various agencies opened fire and killed the suspect.

The suspect’s identity has not been released with the investigation in its initial stages.

Sheriff Henderson says the officers were brought to the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center near Yoder to be interviewed by officials with the KBI.

Officers were still near the scene investigating late Monday afternoon.

We will have more details as they become available.

A Kansas House committee is signing off on a proposal to redraw the chamber’s 125 districts to reflect changes in the 2010 census.

The reapportionment committee took less than 10 minutes on Monday to approve the map, endorsing it on a bipartisan, voice vote.

There were no amendments offered to the plan, which would collapse three current House districts and create three new ones in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

One district each would be lost in southeast, southwest and central Kansas, reflecting the population gains over the past decade in Johnson and Wyandotte counties.

House Speaker Mike O’Neal, chairman of the redistricting committee, said the decision was quicker than he anticipated, but that it is possible that the full House could debate the proposal yet this week.

by Randy Picking ~ Salina Post

Four Salina boys face charges that include vehicle burglary and theft after the stolen car they were in was found stalled in a north Salina intersection Sunday morning around 3:30am.

Two of the three occupants in the car ran as police officers stopped behind the 2003 P.T. Cruiser at 9th and Ash. The car had been taken in the 600 block of S. Phillips.

An investigation by officers found out the teens had been involved in a pair of vehicle burglaries in the 300 block of Yale, and 2100 block of Tulane. where an ATM card was taken in one burglary and phone chargers in the other.

Facing burglary and theft charges are a 13-year -old teen, 14-year-old Joshua Blake, 14-year-old Adan Sanchez, and 16-year-old Jonathan Carrillo all of Salina.

State law allows for the publication of teens charged in crimes at the age of 14 and older.