A 19-year-old woman reported missing from the University of Kansas’s Overland Park campus last week has been found safe, and police say she was never abducted.

Overland Park police released a statement late Wednesday saying officials personally made contact with Aisha Khan and were able to verify her identity, safety and that she’d never been taken or held against her will.

No details were released about where Kahn is now or where she’s been since she was reported missing Friday. A spokesman for the police department declined further comment.

Police had been looking for Kahn since Friday, shortly after she left her sister a voicemail saying she’d slapped a man who tried to kiss her. When the sister drove to get her, she found only Khan’s book bag and cellphone.

Two children and one adult were injured in an accident involving a school bus in Mankato around 3:40PM Wednesday.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, the school bus, which was transporting 17 children from USD 107 Rock Hill, was traveling westbound on U-36 when another vehicle turned in front of the school bus causing a collision.

A 9-year-old female and an 8-year-old male were transported to Jewell County Hospital along with the driver of the second vehicle, 54-year-old Connie Tyler of Mankato.

No other injuries have been reported.

A federal judge has refused to dismiss the government’s lawsuit against an abortion opponent accused of sending a threatening letter to a Wichita doctor training to offer abortion services.

U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten ruled Wednesday that a jury must decide whether Angel Dillard’s letter to Dr. Mila Means is protected speech or a true threat.

The Justice Department filed the civil lawsuit against Dillard under a law aimed at protecting access to abortion services. Dillard had moved for dismissal.

The Valley Center woman wrote to Means in January saying the doctor would have to check under her car every day because someone might place an explosive under it.

No abortions have been openly done in Wichita since Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed by an abortion opponent in 2009.

By John P. Tretbar ~ St. Joseph Post

R.J. Demps, a college junior on the basketball team at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, was killed in traffic early Wednesday morning in a one-vehicle accident near Weston.

Director of Communications Steve Johnson says the team and the coaching staff thought very highly of red-shirt sophomore, and he will be missed.

“Somebody like R.J. who was very enthusiastic and humorous, who kind of kept the energy alive with the team,Johnson said. “I think everybody’s going to miss him quite a lot.”

“That’s a real tragedy for a small college like us,” Johnson said.

Johnson says the basketball teams were among the last students still on campus after the end of final exams last week. Demps and teammate Quaran Johnson were on their way to Kansas City International Airport to fly home to be with family for the holidays.

Johnson, nicknamed “Q,” suffered minor injuries, but has since continued on to his home in Philadelphia. Demps hails from Aurora, Colorado. R.J. and Q. were on their way to KCI when their vehicle crashed on Missouri Highway-45 near Weston.

Johnson says if there is a vigil or remembrance, it will be held after students return for the spring semester January 11.

According the Benedictine’s Athletic Department, Demps saw action in 10 games last year, shot 50% from the floor, and averaged 1.2 PPG. He was red-shirted during his freshman year in 2009-2010.

Demps led Denver Regis High School to the large school state championship during the 2008-2009 season.

New estimates released by the Census Bureau show the Kansas population grew by more than 18,000 residents between April 2010 and July 2011.

The figures released Wednesday estimate the Kansas population to be more than 2,870,000, a gain of 0.6% from the official count released a year earlier. The rate of growth ranked 32nd in the nation.

Kansas’ percentage of growth was better than Missouri and Iowa, but not as strong as Colorado, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Arkansas.

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has stated during his first year in office that he wants to slow, if not reverse, declining population in rural areas. He has enacted programs to entice new residents to those areas through tuition repayment and income tax

(TOPEKA)–Chautauqua, Gove and Pawnee counties have joined the Rural Opportunity Zones (ROZs) student loan reimbursement partnership in the past month, bringing to 43 the number of counties participating.

The Kansas Commerce Department has received 158 applications from across the country.

The ROZs program offers student loan reimbursement of up to $3,000 per year for five years for individuals that graduate from an accredited post-secondary college or technical school. In addition, people moving from out-of-state could be eligible for 100 percent state income tax reimbursement, if they have lived outside of Kansas for at least the past five years and have had Kansas source income of less than $10,000 per year over the past five years.

Quinter City Administrator Ericka Gillespie says “Our commitment to ROZs is a clear message that not only reflects how the Kansas Legislature feels about rural Kansas, but how counties like Gove can take the opportunity to invest in themselves by adding student loan repayment into their incentive packages to bring people into their regions.”

The counties participating in student loan program, so far, are Barber, Chautauqua, Cheyenne, Clark, Cloud, Decatur, Edwards, Gove, Graham, Greeley, Greenwood, Hamilton, Harper, Hodgeman, Jewell, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, Lane, Lincoln, Logan, Marion, Mitchell, Morton, Ness, Norton, Pawnee, Phillips, Pratt, Rawlins, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Scott, Sherman, Smith, Stafford, Stanton, Thomas, Trego, Wallace, Wichita and Woodson.

The program designates 50 counties as ROZs counties. In addition to those already listed above, the others are Comanche, Elk, Osborne, Republic, Sheridan, Washington and Wilson.

 

A Wichita resident has approached the city about a plan to drop dollars over the city from a helicopter before Christmas. But the city isn’t so sure the giveaway would be legal.

The generous person, who doesn’t want to be identified, called Mayor Carl Brewer Tuesday to ask if there were any city laws against such a plan. The Wichita Eagle reports that City Attorney Gary Rebenstorf says there could be problems with a littering and a permit.

Rebenstorf says the city requires a permit to hold an event with more than 250 people, and it takes 15 to 20 days to get the permit. He says it’s likely more than 250 people would want the free money.

The donor isn’t saying how much money he’d spill.

Two Adults and two children were injured in a rollover accident on I-70 in Ellsworth County Tuesday night around 8PM.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, 27-year-old Jonathan Partin, 23-year-old Nichole Chambers, an 8-year-old and a 5-year-old were traveling eastbound on I-70 when the driver lost control due to icy conditions and rolled in the south ditch.

One passenger was ejected from the vehicle.

Chambers was transported to Hays Regional with injuries. Partin and the two children were transported to Ellsworth County Medical Center.

An explosion and fire at a Wichita house injured three people, including a 2-year-old girl.

Fire Marshal Brad Crisp said the explosion and fire were reported early Tuesday. The Wichita Eagle Reports that firefighters found the house in flames when they arrived. The three family members were outside.

The victims were a 28-year-old man, a 24-year-old woman and the 2-year-old. They were taken by ambulance to the burn unit at Via Christi Hospital on St. Francis, where a hospital spokeswoman said they are in critical condition.

Crisp said investigators haven’t determined what caused the blast.

Unemployment was down slightly in Kansas in November to a seasonally adjusted rate of 6.5 percent, down from 6.7 percent in October and 6.9 percent in November 2010.

The Kansas Department of Labor report released Tuesday said the economy showed some signs of improvement, adding 5,000 new non-farm jobs over the past month. The state also gained 4,500 private sector jobs in November.

Labor Secretary Karin Brownlee described the unemployment figures and work force increases as “positive news.”

Labor Department economist Tyler Tenbrink said in a statement that more thatn 15,000 people joined the Kansas work force in the last three months, although some of the jobs are seasonal.