A special council of Kansas officials is weighing a request for funds to implement the state’s new system for administering Medicaid services.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is asking the State Finance Council to approve funds for the billing system for KanCare, the state’s revised Medicaid program. KDHE officials have not said how much they’re seeking.
The Finance Council was scheduled to consider the request at a meeting Wednesday. The panel is made up of Gov. Sam Brownback and top leaders of the state House and Senate.
Also on the agenda is a request for money to give raises to selected state employees. The goal is to bring their pay closer to that of people doing similar jobs in the private sector.

A Kansas man has been sentenced to 8 years in federal prison for possession of a stolen firearm, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.
Dustin T. Bateson, 24, Topeka, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a stolen firearm. In his plea, he admitted that on Sept. 17, 2011, the Topeka Police Department was called to the AmericInn hotel at 1518 SW Wanamaker in Topeka. Hotel management had requested assistance with evicting residents of a room in connection with a disturbance. When the manager opened the door to the room, officers saw Bateson and a 9 mm handgun. The gun had been reported stolen and its serial number had been obliterated.
Bateson’s sentence is to begin after he completes sentences he is serving for convictions in state district court.
Grissom commended the Topeka Police Department Patrol Division, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Assistant U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard and Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Hendershot for their work on the case.

Kansans between the ages of 65 and 74 have only a few days left to enjoy hunting and fishing for free.
The state will stop providing free hunting and fishing licenses for people in that age range, starting in January.
The exemption began in 1971. State officials estimate ending the practice will bring in $900,000 to $1.5 million.
Mike Miller, spokesman for the state’s wildlife department, says Kansas misses out on federal money because it doesn’t sell enough licenses. He says an estimated 30,000 hunters don’t have to buy licenses because of the age exemption.
The Joplin Globe reports no general tax dollars support Kansas wildlife conservation and management efforts. Besides revenue from license sales, Kansas gets federal revenue through an excise tax on firearms and ammunition.

Lottery officials say revenue from the Kansas Star Casino’s first 10 months in operation has exceeded the revenue earned by the two other casinos in Kansas in about the same period.
The Kansas Lottery Commission says the Kansas Star casino, which opened in Mulvane on Dec. 20, 2011, had earned about $158 million through the end of October.
That is more than the revenue earned in nearly the same period by the two other state-owned casinos. Boot Hill Casino in Dodge City earned $119 million. Hollywood Casino in Kansas City, which opened Feb. 3, has earned $93 million.
The Wichita Eagle reports that the Kansas Star employs about 1,000 people.

A new state program that gives irrigators flexibility in managing their water allocations while also encouraging conservation has about 750 participants.
The program was created last year by the Kansas Legislature to conserve the future of the Ogallala Aquifer.
The Hutchinson News reports that the multi-year flex account program allows irrigators to use more water during drought years. They can manage their water rights over five years, which helps the state’s aquifers recover during years with more moisture.
Kansas Department of Agriculture issued about 2,300 drought emergency term permits during last year’s drought that allowed irrigators to pump 2012 water allotments to save their crops.
Irrigators who enrolled in the flex account program by the Oct. 1 deadline were forgiven their overuse of water from last year.

A national group says a new police chaplain program in a central Kansas town violates the U.S. Constitution.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation notified McPherson city officials that it had received a complaint about the program, saying it violates the separation of church and state. The Wisconsin-based organization is asking the city to end the program.
The program allows two Christian ministers to ride along with McPherson police officers, to counsel officers and be present when officers inform families of deaths.
An attorney for the foundation says the complaint came from a McPherson resident.
The Hutchinson News reports the city council is expected to address the issue at its regular meeting on Monday. But Mayor Tom Brown says he’s optimistic the program will be kept.

Topeka residents soon will be allowed to carry loaded handguns in their vehicles.
The city council and Mayor Bill Bunten voted Tuesday to approve an ordinance that deletes a current ban on loaded handguns in vehicles.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that in exchange for that vote, the governing board will be asked in the near future to make it illegal to possess a firearm while committing more than a dozen specific misdemeanors.
Police Chief Ron Miller says the arrangement is an attempt to allow law-abiding people to carry loaded guns in their vehicles but ban gun possession by those who commit crimes.
Miller says a future proposal would make it illegal to possess a firearm while committing misdemeanors such as assault, battery, stalking and theft.

\Police say a 19-year-old man is jailed as a suspect in the fatal shooting of two people at a Wichita discount store.

The suspect was arrested Sunday afternoon. He had been sought since the shooting Friday at a Dollar General store.

The victims of the shooting were 79-year-old Henry Harvey, a customer at the store, and 22-year-old Zachary Hunt, a store employee.

The suspect is being held in the Sedgwick County Jail facing two charges of first-degree murder.

Bond has not yet been set.

The U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth is on lockdown after two separate fights broke out.
Penitentiary officials say in a news release the lockdown was declared Sunday evening after a fight in one of the housing units. Another fight occurred earlier in the day in the recreation yard.
Both fights were quickly contained and involved only a few inmates.
Officials say security was never breached during the fights. No staff members were injured and two inmates suffered only minor injuries.
No programs will be held and no visiting will be allowed until the lockdown ends.

Lenexa police say a quick-thinking 11-year-old boy escaped an attempted abduction.
Police say the boy was riding his bicycle Sunday afternoon when a white car drove past slowly and turned around. The boy says a passenger in the car pointed a gun at him and told him to get into the car.
Lenexa police officer Dan Friesen says in a news release that the boy knew he couldn’t get into the car under any circumstances. So he ran to a nearby liquor store, and police were called.
The vehicle was a dirty, white four-door passenger car of an unknown make. The man with the gun was white with a dark complexion, with a small amount of facial hair. The boy didn’t get a look at the driver.