(AP) – Attorneys for the man accused of killing a 14-year-old central Kansas girl have asked a judge to dismiss all charges, claiming prosecutors deliberately and maliciously tried to deny their client a fair trial.

The motion was filed ahead of Wednesday’s new preliminary hearing for Adam Longoria on Wednesday on amended charges of capital murder and other offenses in the August 2010 death of Great Bend resident Alicia DeBolt.

Defense attorneys contend the state’s revelation that Longoria had been working as a confidential informant has put his life in danger at the Sedgwick County jail.

They argue detailed that motions describing facts of the case are an attempt to try the case in the media.

The Kansas attorney general’s office declined comment Monday on
the defense filing, citing a gag order.

A two-car accident Monday morning 5 miles west of Goodland sent two to the hospital.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Nancy Mayfield, 76, of Loveland, Colorado was eastbound on I-70 when she slowed down due to a road sweeper causing low visibility and was rear-ended by another eastbound vehicle driven by Cheryl Baysinger, 51, of Madison, Kansas, who could not see due to the low visibility.

Nancy Mayfield and Baysinger were uninjured in the accident, but Mayfield’s passenger, Derald Mayfield, 77, of Loveland, as well as and Baysinger’s passenger, Zona Lautt, 69, of Madison were transported to Goodland Regional Medical with unspecified injuries.

(AP) – A new monthly survey of business managers suggests weak economic growth will continue in nine Midwest and Plains states will little chance of another recession in the region.

The overall economic index released Monday increased to 52.2 in September from August’s 52, and any score above 50 suggests economic growth in the next few months.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the region is being helped by the relative strength of businesses tied to agriculture or exports.

The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Even though the region’s economy looks OK, the business leaders surveyed aren’t very confident about their prospects. The survey’s confidence index slid to 40.5 in September from August’s 43.4 as concerns about Europe’s economy continued to grow.

(AP) – Garden City Community College will receive a $1.7 million federal grant to help expand its food and animal science program.

The Garden City Telegram reports that the grant from the U.S. Department of Labor will go toward training workers to inspect restaurants, meat packing and food processing plants, cafeterias and other places that serve food to the public.

The college says there is a growing demand for inspection services because of a new federal law that gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the authority to order food product recalls. The measure also requires more inspections and focuses those inspections on potential risk.

GCCC is one of seven partners in a consortium receiving similar grants.

(AP) – Eleven underground gas storage sites in Kansas have gone uninspected for 18 months because of a federal court ruling.

The Legislature had voted to have the state regulate underground storage of hazardous gases and liquids after deadly explosions in Hutchinson a decade ago.

But last year’s ruling limited the state to regulating storage fields that do business only within the state.

The Wichita Eagle reported that the fields the state can regulate hold only 12 billion cubic feet of gas. That’s just a fraction of the 272 billion cubic feet of capacity in the fields the state is no longer allowed to regulate.

The gas company that sued Kansas says internal inspections and policies are enough. But some of the thousands who live on the uninspected fields are nervous.

(AP) – Kansas promises its citizens that it will hold a presidential primary every four years, only to falter before the vote arrives.

Kansas continues to rely on caucuses to declare its preferences for Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. Some officials acknowledge that far more voters would participate in a primary, giving perhaps a truer picture of the state’s views. But they shy away from holding primaries because of their potential cost.

Yet, governors and legislators won’t repeal the law that calls for a primary. The result is that Kansas has held presidential primaries only in 1980 and 1992 and won’t have another until at least 2016.

Kansas Republicans have set presidential caucuses for March 10 and the Democrats, for April 14.

(AP) – Another man has been sentenced for his role in a killing after a 2009 bachelor party.

The Wichita Eagle reported that 22-year-old Jeremy Trout received more than 11 years in prison Friday for second-degree reckless murder in the death of 33-year-old Vincent Barnes.

Witnesses said the killing happened after Trout went out drinking with Robert Reed, who was supposed to be married the next day. Reed’s older brother, Mike, also joined the bachelor party celebration.

During the night, Mike Reed called Barnes because he wanted to buy cocaine. Barnes reportedly had been trying to stop using drugs and hung up. That’s when the men went over to confront Barnes.

Robert Reed is serving a 19-year sentence after admitting firing the fatal shot in the ensuing scuffle. Mike Reed was convicted of first-degree murder.

(AP) – A fire that broke out in a Kansas City, Kan., apartment house has killed a 3-year-old boy and left his mother badly burned.

The Kansas City Star reported that heavy fire and smoke was pouring from the front of the apartment when firefighters arrived Saturday morning.

Deputy Fire Chief Duke Craig says the boy was found dead inside the building.

His mother was rushed to a hospital. She was burned while trying to save her three children. She was able to get two of them out of the one-story house, which had been converted into three apartments. Twelve people lived in the apartment house.

The name of the boy wasn’t immediately released. The Star reported that the cause of the blaze is under investigation.

A two vehicle accident in the city limits of Russell sent a 78-Year-Old Dorrance man to the hospital.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, around 8:50 a.m. Saturday, Michael Lewis, 49, of Rush Center was Northbound on Ober in his 1999 International when eastbound Henry Duryee, 78, of Dorrance failed to yield at at the intersection of 4th and Ober and collided with Lewis.

Lewis was not injured and Duryee was transported to Russell Regional Hospital with undisclosed disabling injuries.