An accident involving a motorcycle and a golf cart injured a Claflin teenager Thursday evening.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, around 9:35 pm Thursday, 16-year-old Bryce Moran was northbound on NE 150th about 1.5 miles northeast of Claflin, when he approached a southbound golf cart driven by 16-year-old Nathan Full, who as they passed each other, veered left as Moran veered right. The handlebars of Moran’s motorcycle struck Full’s golf cart, causing Moran to lose control and crash into the ditch.

Moran, who was wearing a helmet, was transported to Clara Barton Medical Center with disabling injuries.

Full and his three other teenage passengers were uninjured.

(AP) – A 20-year-old Lawrence man has been sentenced to four years in prison for having sex with a 15-year-old female acquaintance.

Christopher Melott was sentenced Thursday in Douglas County District Court, where he pleaded no contest last month to one count of indecent liberties with a child. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Judge Sally Pokorny also ordered Melott to register as a sex offender for 25 years.

Prosecutors said Melott had sex with the girl in May in a city park. He was arrested in June after a parent of the girl called police.

(AP) — A prosecutor has cleared two Topeka police officers of any wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of a 44-year-old man.

Shawnee County district attorney Chad Taylor ruled Thursday that the officers acted lawfully and within their rights.

James Nephew was shot Oct. 6 when officers responded to a report of an aggravated assault.

Sheriff’s investigators said the two officers heard a disturbance inside a home and tried to contact the people inside. The investigation found that Nephew came to the door wielding a knife and was shot after refusing to follow officers’ instructions.

Nephew died at a hospital.

A former Salina merchant convicted of illegally selling a so-called designer drug marketed as potpourri has been sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Erick Srack, who sold the substance from a store called The Grind, had hoped for probation when he was sentenced Thursday by Saline County District Judge Renee Young.

KSAL-AM reports the judge said she considered Srack a threat to the community. She also expressed doubt he would stop the illegal activity if he were serving probation.

Srack was convicted in September of selling a substance that prosecutors called a chemical copy of an illegal drug that mimics the effects of marijuana.

Srack still faces charges from a raid on his business in February.

(AP) – An off-campus duplex fire that killed two Emporia State University students started when possessions strewn over the grate for an old-type of furnace ignited.

The fire was reported at 12:18 a.m. Thursday near downtown Emporia.

Fire officials said one person died at the scene from smoke inhalation. The city of Emporia said in a news release that the second victim died from her injuries Thursday afternoon at a Wichita hospital.

The release said the victims are believed to be international students at the university. Their names haven’t been released.

Fire Marshal Tom Andrews says the duplex was heated with a floor furnace that pushed warm air through a single grate in the living room. Items left around the grate included a pellet rifle, a cushion, clothing, and possibly some paper.

19-year-old Brittney Betzold of 612 Prescott, made her first appearance in Saline County District Court Thursday morning via video.

Betzold is facing charges that include felony murder, aggravated child endangerment, child abuse, and a felony charge of obstructing the legal process in connection with the death of her 14-month-old son, Clayden Urbanek.

Bond was set at $500,000.

Betzold will make another court appearance on Monday.

On October 4, 2011, at approximately 1045 hours, officers and medic units responded to 612 W. Prescott in reference to a 14-month-old child, Clayden Urbanek, who was not breathing and cold to the touch.  He was treated at the Salina Regional Health Center and transferred to a Wichita hospital where he died.

The investigation resulted in the arrest of Antonio Brown, 27, 612 W. Prescott, Salina, KS, for Felony Murder and Child Abuse.

Further investigation resulted in the arrest Tuesday, of the 14-month-old’s mother, Brittney Betzold, for Felony Murder, Aggravated Child Endangerment and Felony Obstructing Legal Process.

(AP) – Kansas City police are pursuing more than 60 out-of-state leads in their investigation into the disappearance of a baby more than two weeks ago.

Police spokesman Capt. Steve Young said Thursday police have cleared nearly 700 tips and leads in the disappearance of Lisa Irwin. The baby’s parents, Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin, reported their 10-month-old daughter missing Oct. 4. Police have said they have no suspects in the case.

Young says police are following up on 65 tips and leads in several states.

On Wednesday, police and FBI conducted a daylong search at the home where the family lived when the baby was reported missing. The family has since been staying nearby with relatives.

The family’s lawyer said he expects to release a statement later Thursday.

The Associated Press

GREAT BEND – The suspect in the death of a 14-year-old Great Bend girl has asked a judge to pay jurors at his upcoming trial their current wages and reimburse those with small children for day care.

The defense request was filed Wednesday in Barton County for the capital murder trial of Adam Longoria. The 37-year-old Great Bend man is charged with killing Alicia DeBolt, whose charred body was found in August 2010 at the asphalt plant where Longoria worked.

His attorneys argued that wage earners and caregivers often are granted hardship requests excusing them from the jury pool. The defense argues jurors who have experienced the same financial circumstances understand the predicament of people like Longoria and may be especially well suited to judge him.

No trial date has been set.

Alicia DeBolt and her family are former Hays residents.

(AP) – Lawrence police have told a group of protesters they won’t be allowed to continue camping overnight at a city park because their permit to stay there has expired.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports nearly two dozen Occupy Lawrence protesters plan to remain in South Park after hours regardless of what officials told them.

Roughly 50 protesters participated in the group’s nightly discussion, or general assembly, Wednesday after Police Chief Tarik Khatib said his department would start enforcing a law that prohibits camping at city parks.

The parks are closed from 11:30 p.m. to 6 a.m., and the director of the city’s Legal Department says those who ignore those hours could be ticketed or removed from the park.

Occupy Lawrence sprang out of the Occupy Wall Street movement protesting economic inequality.

A 2-year-old Belleville boy has died after being run over by a payloader tractor near Scandia in north-central Kansas.

The Salina Journal reports Cayden Michael Dunstan was with his father, who was strapping down large hay bales that had been loaded onto a semitrailer.

The Republic County Sheriff’s Office says the tractor was being backed away from the trailer when Cayden ran into its path and was run over just after 7 p.m. Saturday.

Cayden’s parents took him to a hospital in Belleville, where he died as a LifeWatch helicopter waited to fly him to a hospital in Omaha, Neb.

(AP)- The national debt will be the focus of a town hall forum next week at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene.

The program takes place Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. in the Visitors Center Auditorium. After an opening presentation, participants will meet in small groups to discuss possible approaches to solving the debt problem.

A similar event will be held earlier in the day for students at Abilene High School. Suggestions from both gatherings will be sent to Washington for consideration by federal decision makers at a meeting next spring.