Kansas Republicans have a fuller field of candidates than party leaders had expected for presidential caucuses in March.

State GOP officials were hoping Thursday that the race remains competitive enough to draw some of the hopefuls and national attention to Kansas.

Eight candidates met the Dec. 31 filing deadline for the Kansas caucuses. Kansas GOP officials said they would have been pleased with four or five candidates on the ballot. Kansas will have 40 delegates to the Republican National Convention.

The state GOP scheduled the caucuses for March 10, the Saturday after Super Tuesday. Kansas officials said national Republican Party’s rules, which discourage states with early contests from awarding delegates on a winner-takes-all basis, should help prevent the party’s nomination from being settled.

A northeast Kansas police department says its officers racked up nearly $36,000 in overtime searching for a college student who disappeared for five days last month.

The Overland Park Police Department released the overtime figures Wednesday, saying 63 officers were involved in the search for Aisha Khan.

The 19-year-old Johnson County Community College disappeared Dec. 16 after leaving her sister a voicemail saying a man was harassing her on the Edwards campus of the University of Kansas. Police treated the case as a possible abduction.

But Khan was found unharmed five days later at a still-undisclosed location. There has been no public explanation, and police have said no charges would be filed because college officials – not the family – reported the disappearance.

Khan is married and lives in Olathe.

The oil industry’s top lobbyist is warning the Obama administration to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline or face “huge political consequences” in an election year.

Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, said it would be a “huge mistake” for President Barack Obama to reject the 1,700-mile, Canada-to-Texas pipeline. Obama faces a Feb. 21 deadline to decide whether the $7 billion pipeline is in the national interest.

Speaking at the trade association’s annual “State of American Energy” event Wednesday, Gerard said: “Clearly, the Keystone XL pipeline is in the national interest. A determination to decide anything less than that I believe will have huge political consequences.”

Many unions support the pipeline, which would create thousands of jobs. Environmentalists fear it could lead to an oil spill disaster.

Riley County police say a Manhattan man’s death on New Year’s Day was the result of a drive-by shooting at a motorcycle gang’s clubhouse.

Twenty-one-year-old Frederick Beverly of Manhattan died early Sunday in a shooting at the clubhouse for the “Assasin Street Rydaz.” Several vehicles in the area were hit by gunfire.

Police said in a news release Tuesday it was unclear who the shooters were targeting.

Police also said the death of a couple on Friday at a Manhattan home apparently was a murder-suicide. The dead were 23-year-old Amanda Victoria Bonner, who lived at the home, and 26-year-old Kawon Darmet Higgins. Police say it appears Darmet shot Bonner and then himself. They say the shooting was related to an ongoing domestic dispute.

A 3-year-old girl from Kansas City, Kan., has died from injuries she suffered after being hit by a car early Sunday.

Police say Celia Heredia-Portia was hit by a vehicle about 2 a.m. Sunday on a busy street.

Police say the girl’s family had just returned home when she jumped out of their car and ran across the street.

The accident is still under investigation.

Legislators say there is building support for Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposals to change Kansas policies to conserve the state’s water and extend the life of the its aquifers.

The Republican governor wants to make changes to laws on water use to encourage conservation and ensure there is enough water for agricultural, business and municipal uses.

The Topeka Capital Journal reports that legislators aren’t certain about the details but they are receptive to making changes in water laws during the 2012 session, which begins next week.

Senate Majority Leader Jay Emler, a Lindsborg Republican, says lawmakers could consider ending one policy that requires water-rights holders to use their annual water allotment or lose their rights forever.

Kansas officials are discussing ways to respond to overcrowded prisons in a time of tight state budgets.

Kansas Corrections Secretary Ray Roberts says the best solutions will keep the public safe while releasing some prisoners early or keeping them out of prison in the first place.

Roberts told The Kansas City Star the solution could be a mix of building more prisons, housing prisoners in county jails or reducing recidivism by helping paroled prisoners.

Roberts says changes in state law that increased penalties for some crimes – at a time when budgets for programs to help prisoners have been cut – have contributed to the problem.

He is asking for $4.8 million to restore some housing, substance abuse treatment and education programs in the next fiscal year budget.

Police in Topeka are investigating the New Year’s Eve shooting of a 7-year-old child at a hotel in the northern part of the city.

The child’s injuries were described as life-threatening, but police had released few details by Monday night.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports officers responded shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday to a report of shooting in a room at the Holiday Inn Express on U.S. 24 in northern Topeka.

Along with the wounded child, they found several adults and juveniles in the room and took them to the Law Enforcement Center for questioning.

The Kansas Legislature’s coming annual session promises to be memorable because of the ambitious agenda already outlined by Gov. Sam Brownback.

Also, some of his conservative Republican allies plan to pursue social issues such as abortion and immigration.

But lawmakers face the once-in-a-decade task of redrawing the lines of legislative and congressional districts, which tends to increase political and personal tensions.

And history suggests this year’s legislative session, scheduled to start Jan. 9, could be a long one.

In 1992, legislators scheduled the usual 90 days, then met for 100, with the wrap-up dominated by discussions about overhauling the state’s system for financing its public schools. In 2002, another redistricting year, the state faced a budget crisis and the session stretched to a record 107 days.