(AP) – Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has become the fourth person to file paperwork to take part in the 2012 Kansas GOP caucus.

The state party said Tuesday that Cain joined Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in completing the necessary documents.

Kansas Republicans will hold their caucus on March 10 to determine how the state’s 40 convention delegates are apportioned to the candidates. Republicans who are registered by Feb. 17, 2012, may vote in the caucus.

Kansas officials say former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich is preparing to file for the caucus ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline.

Democrats will hold their state caucus on April 14.

A Lincoln, Nebraska man was killed in a head on collision on U-36 in Jewell County, Tuesday morning.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, 54-year-old Richard N. Foreman was eastbound on U-36 and drifted across the center line striking a Sunflower field cultivator that was being pulled by a westbound truck.

Foreman was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

The driver of the second vehicle was not injured.

TOPEKA–The Kansas Department of Commerce is accepting nominations for the 2012 Governor’s Exporter of the Year Award, which is presented to a single Kansas business for excellence in international trade and marketing.

 Nominated companies will be evaluated on the totality of their international efforts, specifically:

·         increase in jobs because of international activities.

·         innovations in global marketing.

·         number of countries exported to.

·         effective use of international distributors.

·         long-range international strategies and prospects for future growth.

·         commitment to the state and local community.

The winner will be announced in the summer 2012. 

Kansas Commerce Secretary Pat George says competition for this recognition has significantly increased over the years, which is the direct result of more Kansas companies having success in international trade.

Businesses can nominate themselves or be nominated by any other organization or individual. Forms are available at www.kansascommerce.com/exporteroftheyear.

The nomination deadline is Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2012.

 

(AP) – A new study shows the number of uninsured children in the U.S. has dropped by 1 million in the past three years even as the number living in poverty has risen.

The report by Georgetown University looks at new data from the Census Bureau. It said the number of uninsured children dropped from 6.9 million in 2008 to 5.9 million in 2010.

The change comes as many states have expanded eligibility and simplified access to the children’s Medicaid program funded by federal and state agencies.

Experts warn the gains are fragile and could be reversed if state or federal support erodes.

Minnesota and Kansas saw an increase in the number of uninsured children. Florida made the most progress, dropping from 667,758 to 506,934 during that time period.

(AP) – A federal report indicates Kansas City continues to be a hub for drug traffickers to move their illicit goods across the country.

The annual report says the city’s Midwest location and the number of major highways running through it make it a popular stop, especially for traffickers transporting drugs from the southeast.

The Kansas City Star reports Interstate 35, which runs through Kansas and into Missouri, is identified in the National Drug Intelligence Center’s 2011 National Drug Threat Assessment as a primary route from Laredo, Texas.

The study is intended to help law enforcement define trafficking patterns and devise strategies to fight the drug trade.

(AP) – A Kansas couple is asking a judge to dismiss a breach of contract lawsuit filed by a suburban Denver man who held them hostage while fleeing from authorities.

Jesse Dimmick is serving an 11 year sentence after bursting into Jared and Lindsay Rowley’s Topeka-area home in September 2009. He was wanted for questioning in a Colorado man’s beating death and a chase had begun in in Geary County.

The couple escaped after Dimmick fell asleep.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that Dimmick filed a breach of contract suit in Shawnee County District Court in response to a suit the couple filed in September.

Dimmick contends that he and the couple reached a legally binding, oral contract that they would hide him for an unspecified amount of money. Dimmick wants $235,000.

A Kansas City woman has pleaded guilty to running an adoption scam in which she pretended to be pregnant with twins and willing to let them be adopted in return for money and gifts, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

Roxanne Janel Jones, 35, Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft. In her plea, she admitted she contacted adoption agencies, claimed to be pregnant and sought to meet couples who wanted to adopt. Jones asked the couples for money for rent and other living expenses.

In her plea, Jones admitted she swindled 14 couples. The couples were from Bonner Springs, Overland Park, Florence, Olathe, Shawnee and Leavenworth, as well as Minnesota, Georgia, California, Tennessee and Massachusetts.

Jones’ co-defendant, Taj A. Isaiah, 29, Kansas City, Mo., sometimes assisted her by pretending to be her landlord. He picked up money orders and wire transfers from prospective adoptive families and he made false statements to the couples.

The victims included the following:
– R.S. and L.S., who lived in Minnesota. Jones falsely told them she was pregnant with twins and wanted to place them up for adoption. In June 2009 they wired $16,265 to an escrow account to be used for Jones’ care during the pregnancy. Jones received $2,400 in gift cards and rent money from the couple.
– K.M. and J.M., who lived in Georgia.
– M.J. and D.W., a couple who lived in California. They flew to Kansas to meet Jones and Isaiah. They bought Jones massages, a haircut, groceries and meals. In September, 2009, Jones sent them a text message saying she had given birth at KU Medical Center. The couple met Jones and Isaiah in the hospital cafeteria before sending the couple to the hospital nursery to pick up the babies. At the nursery, the couple were told there was no record of Jones giving birth.
– J.B. and her husband, who lived in Bonner Springs. Jones contacted them after they placed an advertisement on Craigslist in hopes of putting their dog up for adoption. Jones adopted their dog and then told them she was pregnant with twins and wanted to give them up for adoption. The couple met with an attorney and a social worker in preparation for the adoption. Jones balked at giving them her Social Security number until they insisted. She shouted the number at them and they wrote it down. A check of the number showed it belong to Jones’ son. The couple sent 11 e-Money Grams to Jones totaling $830.
– Jes. B and Jer. B. of Knoxville, Tenn. The couple traveled to Kansas City where they took Jones and Isaiah to dinner. Isaiah pretended to be her landlord. The couple wrote checks to Isaiah to pay Jones’ rent.
– Ji. B. and Je. B., who sent checks to Isaiah to pay Jones’ rent.
– R.P. and A.P., who lived in Olathe. They bought Jones $100 worth of groceries.
– C.D. and D.D., who lived in Minnesota. Jones met them by responding to an online advertisement.
– S.W. and R.W., who lived in Shawnee. They took Jones and Isaiah to lunch. They gave Jones a $200 gift card and a check for $525.
– E.E. and M.E., who lived in Leavenworth. They gave $1,000 to an adoption agency in Overland Park. The agency gave $500 to Jones.
– D.K. and R.G., who lived in Massachusetts. An adoption specialist for an adoption agency in Overland Park gave Jones a $200 Wal-mart gift card and a check for $550, both of which were paid for by the couple.
– H.G. and M.G., who lived in California. Jones sent them photos of two newborn babies who she claimed were her children.
– C.R. and M.R., who wired $650 to Jones to pay her rent.
– K.S. and T.S., who lived in Florence, Kan., They visited Jones while she was incarcerated at the New Century Jail in Johnson County, Kan., and then used a debit card to put $50 on her jail commissary account.

Jones is set for sentencing March 12. She faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $1 million on the conspiracy charge. On the aggravated identity theft charge, she faces a mandatory two years consecutive to the sentence on the other count.

Co-defendant Taj A. Isaiah, 29, Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty to the conspiracy count and is set for sentencing March 12.

The Overland Park Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service investigated. U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley prosecuted.

(AP) – Topeka police are investigating the death of a person whose body was found in a house that was not supposed to be occupied.

Officers were called to the home in Topeka Monday morning. Someone at the home reported feeling dizzy and finding another person in the home unconscious.

Emergency medical personnel pronounced that person dead at the scene.

Officials say a generator was being used to heat the house.

But police said no one was supposed to be inside. A sign on the house Monday said it was unsafe to occupy.

The name of the dead person victim has not been released.

UPDATE: 

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback says his office overreacted to a disparaging tweet from a high school senior and is apologizing for how his staff handled the issue.

Brownback issued a statement Monday after the Shawnee Mission School District said 18-year-old Emma Sullivan wouldn’t be punished for refusing to write an apology letter to the governor. Sullivan’s principal had earlier demanded the letter.

Sullivan sent a tweet during a class trip last week saying Brownback “sucked,” among other insulting comments.

Brownback’s office staff saw the tweet while monitoring social media and contacted the school. The governor has since faced ridicule for trying to police a teenager’s Internet musings.

In his statement, the governor thanked educators “who remind us daily of our liberties, as well as the values of civility and decorum.”

ORIGINAL: A northeast Kansas school district says a high school senior who wrote a disparaging tweet about Gov. Sam Brownback doesn’t have to write a letter of apology and won’t face any repercussions.

The Shawnee Mission School District says it “acknowledges a student’s right to freedom of speech and expression is constitutionally protected.”

Emma Sullivan sent a tweet last week while attending a Youth in Government program in Topeka saying “Just made mean comments at gov. brownback and told him he sucked, in person.”

Brownback’s office staff saw the tweet while monitoring social media sites and contacted the youth program. Sullivan’s principal initially ordered her to apologize to the governor.

Her sister, Olivia, told The Associated Press her sister was in school Monday when their father talked to school officials.

(AP) – A nurse has admitted to diluting morphine solutions at a Holiday Resort Nursing Facility in Salina to hide her thefts.

Melanie Morrison pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Topeka to consumer product tampering and adulteration of a drug. The plea is part of a deal with prosecutors in exchange for a sentencing recommendation of 36 months in prison. The 25-year-old nurse also agreed to permanently surrender her nursing license and never work in the health care industry again.

Morrison admitted that in February 2010 she put sodium chloride into solutions of morphine sulfate, reducing the drug’s quality and strength. Sodium chloride can cause bodily harm to some patients, particularly those with congestive heart failure.

She will be sentenced Feb. 24.

(AP) – Nearly 4,000 organizations statewide have lost their tax-exempt status after failing to file the proper paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that effective in 2007, tax-exempt organizations other than churches and church-related organizations had to file an annual return on Form 990. Failing to file for three consecutive years leads to the automatic revocation of federal tax-exempt status.

Last year was the first time organizations began to be purged from the tax-exempt rolls. Many of those groups immediately began a reapplication process and got their status restored for as little as a $100 reapplication fee.

The problem cropped up again this year. Organizations whose tax-exempt status was revoked in 2011 include 71 Lions chapters and 32 PTA groups.

(AP) – These Black Friday steals aren’t sticking around in the closet until Christmas.

The Wichita Eagle reported that the Kansas Humane Society put on its first post-Thanksgiving Day sale this year. It offered 20% off any animal Friday in exchange for a donation of a treat or toy for the shelter’s animals.

The sales strategy packed the shelter’s lobby. Thirty-two people had found pets by 6 p.m. that night.

Shelter spokeswoman Melissa Houston said the shelter had a range of animals to offer – everything from dogs to chinchillas.

The shelter also offered a Critter Camp where parents could drop off their children for a half day while they shopped.