Kansas Democratic leaders are preparing to announce a 2012 legislative agenda aimed at creating jobs and growing the state economy.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, of Topeka, and House Minority Leader Paul Davis, of Lawrence, scheduled news conferences Tuesday morning at the Statehouse and Tuesday afternoon in Wichita.

The Democratic leaders say their 14-point “Kansas Jobs First” plan focuses on creating jobs, protecting workers’ rights and strengthening training and education programs.

Legislators start the 2012 session on Jan. 12.

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has signaled his intention to push for changes in the state tax code that he says would stimulate the economy. Brownback also wants lawmakers to rewrite the state school finance law.

Police in northeastern Kansas say they’re no closer to learning what happened to a 19-year-old student who disappeared last week.

Aisha Khan studies at Johnson County Community College. She called her sister Friday from the University of Kansas’ Edwards Campus saying she was running from a drunken stranger who harassed her while she studied outdoors.

The Kansas City Star reports that Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass told a news conference Monday the case is being treated as an abduction. The chief says dozens of investigators have searched nearby land and canvassed every house within a mile of the campus.

The New York-born Khan got married July 31. Police say they have no reason to suspect her husband, who pleaded Monday for his wife to be found.

A former bookkeeper for Steckline Communications, Inc., has pleaded guilty to wire fraud as part of an embezzlement scheme, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

William H. Nolan, 50, Wichita, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. In his plea, he admitted he embezzled from companies whose books he was keeping including LS Media, Steckline Communications, Inc., Mid-America Ag Network, Inc., and Broadcast Technical Associates, LLC. He paid bills for his personal credit cards by issuing checks from his employers’ companies and forging an authorized signature on the checks. He caused electronic fund transfers from his employers’ bank accounts to pay for purchases he and members of his family made.

At sentencing, the government will argue that Nolan should pay more than $2 million in restitution.

Sentencing is set for March 13, 2012. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

Officials with the first state-owned casino in Kansas say they’re not worried about competition from state’s second, which is scheduled to open the day after Christmas south of Wichita.

Representatives of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Dodge City say the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane will pull gamblers from Oklahoma and drive tourism into Kansas, rather than hurt the Western-themed Boot Hill facility.

Officials with the Kansas Lottery, which owns and operates the casinos, say they are pleased with how the 2-year-old southwest Kansas casino has performed so far.

Lottery gaming facilities director Keith Kocher told The Hutchinson News there’s no way to tell how the Mulvane casino will affect traffic at Boot Hill, but he says it could be an interesting year.

An area of Kansas that was mined for its lead and zinc deposits to fuel industrial production more than a century ago is getting a new life and purpose.

The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism is purchasing some 700 acres in southeast Kansas that will be used for public recreation. Funding comes through a federal program that seeks to clean up contaminants left by 150 years of mining and smelting.

Members of the State Finance Council approved purchasing the land in the Neosho River basin in Cherokee, Crawford, Labette and Neosho counties.

The land includes prairie, wetlands and other bodies of water that will be used for hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. It will be managed by existing state staff in the region.

A Topeka man is sentenced to three years and eight months in prison for running over a man on a sidewalk three times while driving drunk.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Shawnee County District Judge Evelyn Wilson sentenced 19-year-old Brandon Stodden on Friday for aggravated battery, leaving the scene of an accident, felony failure to report an accident and drunken driving.

Stodden pleaded guilty in August to the charges. As part of his plea, Stodden said he drank liquor at a party in Topeka before he ran over 57-year-old Kim Curtis at 5:30 a.m. May 11, 2010.

The car struck Curtis from behind, backed up over him and then drove forward over him again before leaving.

Curtis is in an Oklahoma nursing facility because of his injuries.

Oil companies are leasing mineral rights to thousands of acres in south-central Kansas, where they intend to drill using horizontal hydraulic fracturing, a technique that’s drawn scrutiny from the EnvironmentalProtection Agency.

The companies that have been in Kansas lately include SandRidge Energy, Chesapeake and Shell.

Company representatives met with residents recently and said they intend to using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to explore oil reserves. The method has been used for decades, but the EPA said recently it found evidence of a possible link between fracking and groundwater contamination in Wyoming.

Oil companies say fracking is safe and measures are taken to ensure groundwater safety.

Kansas State Rep. Vince Wetta, whose district is in south-central Kansas, said the leasing activity could be a potential boost for the area economy.

A Kansas man has been charged with devising a scheme to sell phony investments in Facebook, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Ronald D. Catrell, 45, Overland Park, Kan., is charged with three counts of bank fraud, one count of money laundering, one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Federal criminal charges were filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan.

The charges allege Catrell fraudulently obtained business loans from three banks including Valley View Bank, Bank of the West and M&I Bank. In order to obtain the loan from Valley View Bank, for instance, he gave the bank a personal account statement claiming his account balance was more than $297,000 when the actual balance was less than $179.

As part of the investment fraud scheme, Catrell created a business called Blue Valley Capital Management, LP, which he claimed had an office at 244 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1882, New York, N.Y. In fact, the building at that address did not have an 18th floor and the business located there, Aerobeep & Voicemail, offered postal mail boxes to persons or businesses desiring a mailing address on Fifth Avenue in New York.

Catrell offered investors the opportunity to purchase Facebook stock through him. He falsely told investors he could purchase stock in Facebook through Goldman Sachs. In fact, Facebook was a privately held company that was not publicly traded. One victim, identified as William L., gave Catrell $35,000 to invest in BCVM and $50,000 to invest in Facebook stock.

Upon conviction, the crimes carry the following penalties:

• Bank fraud: A maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $1 million.
• Aggravated identity theft: A mandatory two years and a fine up to $250,000.
• Money laundering: A maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000.
• Wire fraud: A maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $250,000.

The FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley is prosecuting.

Topeka Zoo officials hope penguins will help boost attendance at the zoo this summer by at least 25%.

A traveling penguin exhibit, called Penguin Plunge, will be featured at the zoo from May 10 through September.

Zoo officials announced Friday that the exhibit features four to six African penguins in an interactive exhibit similar to the penguins’ South African habitat.

Topeka citizens and businesses will be asked to help pay the $120,000 cost of the exhibit, with other funding provided by the Friends of the Zoo.

Zoo director Brendan Wiley said the penguin exhibit will be included in regular zoo admission prices.