Two ministers have delivered an Internet-based petition with 34,000 names urging Speaker Mike O’Neal to resign from the Kansas House.

The petition protests his forwarding of an email earlier this month to colleagues about President Barack Obama. The email cites a Bible verse that begins, “Let his days be few.”

An aide says O’Neal doesn’t intend to resign.

Senior Pastor Tobias Schlingensiepen of Topeka’s First Congregational Church and the Rev. Jim McCollough of the Topeka Center for Peace and Justice delivered the petition Thursday to O’Neal’s office. They say it’s unacceptable to use Scripture to advocate a political leader’s death.

O’Neal has apologized for forwarding the email and says he was referring only to Obama’s days in office, meaning it as a statement about the president’s re-election.

The Kansas Department on Aging is cautioning clients that some of their personal and health information may have been breached.

The agency says paper files, a flash drive and a laptop computer were stolen Jan. 12 from a locked vehicle used by a department employee in Wichita. The files contained information mainly on department clients in Sedgwick, Harvey and Butler counties.

None of the items had been recovered by Thursday afternoon, and the agency says there’s no sign the stolen information had been misused.

The Department on Aging says no banking or driver’s license information was involved. But the stolen data could contain full names, addresses, Social Security and Medicaid information and other personal or protected health information.

A proposal to allow parents to exempt their children from vaccinations drew passionate debate before a Kansas House committee.

A hearing Wednesday pitted parents wanting to make decisions about their children’s medical care against public health advocates who contend mandatory vaccinations help stop diseases.

The Kansas City Star reports the bill would expand current Kansas law, which allows parents to opt out of the immunizations if they jeopardize a child’s life or for religious reasons.

State epidemiologist Charles Hunt told legislators that science has shown that mandatory vaccines help stop the spread of disease.

But several parents said they want to decide whether their children should be vaccinated. Some said their children became ill after being vaccinated.

The committee took no action on the bill.

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits plummeted last week to 352,000, the fewest since April 2008. The decline added to evidence that the job market is strengthening.

The Labor Department says weekly applications fell 50,000, the biggest drop in the seasonally adjusted figure in more than six years. The four-week average, which smooths out fluctuations, dropped to 379,000. That’s the second-lowest such figure in more than three years.

A Labor Department spokesman cautioned that volatility at this time of year is common. Applications had jumped two weeks ago, largely because companies laid off thousands of temporary workers hired for the holidays.

When weekly applications fall consistently below 375,000, it usually signals that hiring is strong enough to push down the unemployment rate.

A proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution to ban abortion has been formally introduced by 25 state house members.

The lawmakers filed their proposed “personhood” amendment Wednesday.

The measure would amend the state constitution’s Bill of Rights to declare that Kansas guarantees the rights of every person, starting with fertilization of the human egg.

Critics say it’s broad enough to ban common birth control methods. Even some abortion opponents are wary of the proposal, fearing its enactment would lead to a lawsuit and unfavorable court decisions.

Two-thirds of both the House and Senate must approve the measure for it to go to a state-wide vote. It would appear on the ballot in the August primary, when approval by a simple majority of voters would change the constitution.

A Beloit High School senior has won the Kansas Voice of Democracy contest for his essay titled, “Is There Pride In Serving Our Military?”

Brady True will now travel to Washington, D.C. where he will compete in March against 54 other state winners in the contest sponsored by the VFW and the Ladies Auxiliary.

Before reaching the state final, True took first place in Mitchell County and in the district contest. Contest officials say 555 students in Kansas participated.

First prize at the national level is $30,000 and a trip to the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge’s American Leaders Youth summit in June.

President Barack Obama says he’s denying an application for a Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline because a deadline set by Republicans didn’t allow time for a full review. He says his decision isn’t a judgment on the merits of the pipeline. In a statement, Obama says he’s disappointed that Republicans in Congress forced the decision.

The 1,700-mile pipeline would carry oil from tar sands in western Canada to refineries in Texas.

A top state official wants Kansans who are 65 and older to start paying for hunting and fishing licenses.

Robin Jennison, secretary of the Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, plans to introduce legislation ending the current exemption on the fees.

State licenses for hunting and fishing both carry an $18 fee. Jennison told the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday that charging older residents the fees would help his agency maintain its finances.

Jennison says the state adopted an exemption on the fees for Kansans 70 and older in 1937. The age was dropped to 65 in 1971.

A proposed House bill would give Kansans a chance to support the arts while paying their taxes.

The bill would create the Kansas Arts Commission Checkoff Fund. It would allow taxpayers to add a donation while doing their income tax returns.

The proposal is sponsored by 40 House Republicans. It coincides with efforts by Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration to encourage private support for the arts, rather than using public funds.

Last year, Brownback cut public funding for the Kansas Arts Commission. His budget proposal for the coming fiscal year proposes $200,000 in state funding for a new Kansas Creative Industries Commission.

1 of the sponsors, House Speaker Mike O’Neal, told The Hutchinson News that the possible financial impact of the checkoff has not been determined.

Five men are in jail, accused of killing a Beloit man.  66-year-old William Zachary was shot during an attempted home invasion in Tulsa, Oklahoma Monday night.

The Tulsa World reports  that the suspects range in age from 16 to 27 years old. Police say  Zachary was shot in the face after a group of people wearing ski masks and hooded sweatshirts broke into his east Tulsa home Monday night.

Investigators believe the group had scouted the house and spotted valuable items inside. Police say it’s still unclear whether anything was stolen.  But  they says the suspects did not know the victim.

Zachery owned the Ace Hardware in Beloit and retired about seven months ago.  Back in 2009, he received an award for his contribution to the Beloit area.

Two Kansas City, Kan., police officers have pleaded guilty to stealing cash and electronics from a house where they served a search warrant, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Darrell M. Forrest, 32, Kansas City, Kan., and Dustin Sillings, 34, Kansas City, Kan., each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy against civil rights. The officers were charged under a federal civil rights statute that makes it a crime for police officers acting under color of law to deny or conspire to deny anyone’s civil rights.

“These officers abused their power and violated the public trust,” said U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom. “They are being held accountable. All citizens have the right to the protection of honest, professional law enforcement.”

In his plea, Forrest admitted that on Jan. 4, 2011, he stole $300 in cash, two video game cartridges and an Apple iPod Touch from a house at 730 Everett in Kansas City, Kan. Forrest and other members of the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department’s Selective Crime Occurrence Reduction Enforcement Unit (SCORE Unit) were at the house to serve what they believed was a search warrant. In fact, they were the target of a sting operation. The FBI and the Internal Affairs Unit of the KCKPD were monitoring the house. Investigators placed a total of $2,500 cash, electronic hand held games, a music player, drugs and a handgun in the house before the SCORE unit arrived.

In his plea, Sillings admitted he stole $340 in cash from the house. In addition, he admitted taking five or six PlayStation games during prior SCORE search warrants. Sillings was overheard saying that it was a pity the house did not have more “swag.”

The plea agreement also states that on July 8, 2010, a resident of Kansas City, Kan., reported to the KCKPD Internal Affairs Unit that several items including a FLIP camcorder had been stolen from her residence during a search by the SCORE unit. On Jan. 14, 2011, investigators found a FLIP camcorder on the rear floorboard of a patrol car that Forrest had been driving.

Sentencing is set for June 5. Forrest and Sillings face a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

Co-defendant Jeffrey M. Bell is set for a change of plea hearing at 10 a.m. Jan. 18.