Sedgwick County officials say they will close a ranch for troubled boys if the state does not provide more financial help.

County officials told south-central lawmakers on Thursday that the county can’t afford to keep the Judge James V. Riddel Boys Ranch at Lake Afton open past next year. The home offers rehabilitation programs for boys considered at high or moderate risk of reoffending.

The Wichita Eagle reports the state pays $126 a day for each boy at the ranch. County officials say the actual cost is $201 per boy.

The county says the ranch’s graduates have a low rate of recidivism because of programs offered there. They contend it would cost the state more in the long run to house juveniles at facilities more geared toward incarceration.

A judge has approved a Kansas inmate’s request to re-test DNA evidence in a 1993 murder.

Fifty-five-year-old Bradley Wade Johnson is serving a life sentence for the March 1993 death of Benjamin Creek. Johnson and a co-defendant, Frank Sutton, met Creek in a Topeka bar. Prosecutors said the two men robbed and beat Creek before his body was found in rural Jefferson County. Sutton is also serving a life sentence.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports Johnson always claimed his conviction was a case of mistaken identity.

On Tuesday, a Jefferson County judge ordered that hairs found on Creek’s body and blood from Johnson’s clothing be re-tested. In 1993, DNA testing could show only that the hairs were consistent with Johnson’s. Modern testing could conclusively identify the source of the hairs.

Johnson had a prior conviction in Saline County in connection with a robbery on May 16, 1981.

A 24-year-old southwest Kansas social studies teacher has been charged with sexually exploiting and soliciting a child.

A joint statement by the Liberal police chief and Seward County attorney says Liberal High School teacher Drake Foster was arrested Tuesday and is cooperating with authorities.

Foster also taught geography and history and coached the boys’ soccer team.

Deputy school superintendent Paul Larkin says Foster has resigned his position. He declined to discuss further details of the case.
Bond has been set at $50,000, and Foster was scheduled to appear in court Dec. 3. A phone message left for his attorney was not returned Thursday.

Two ticket holders will share the highest Powerball jackpot ever, and the second largest top prize in U.S. lottery history. The questions is: Who are the winners waking up to new lives as multimillionaires.

Lottery officials said early Thursday that tickets sold in Arizona and Missouri matched all six numbers to win the record $587.5 million jackpot.

The numbers drawn Wednesday night are: 5, 16, 22, 23, 29. The Powerball is 6.

It was not clear whether the winning tickets belonged to individuals or groups. Arizona lottery officials said early Thursday morning they had no information on that state’s winner or winners but would announce where it was sold during a news conference later in the day. Lottery officials in Missouri did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

State officials say they are working with law enforcement on legislation designed to reduce sex trafficking of teenagers and increase penalties for those who entice the children into the industry.
A Kansas Department for Children and Families official said Wednesday the legislation will emphasize that children in the sex trade are victims, not criminals.
Anna Pilato, a deputy secretary in the department, told child care workers in Wichita that Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office, law enforcement agencies and judges are collaborating on the legislation.
The Wichita Eagle reports DCF’s role will be to ensure the minors involved in the sex industry get the help they need. The agency also is working to determine the scope of the problem in Kansas.

A Tennessee hunter featured in cable television shows admits he illegally killed a trophy deer in Kansas.

Fifty-year-old William “Spook” Spann of Dickson, Tenn., pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to killing the deer in Stafford County in 2007 and taking its antlers across state lines.

Federal prosecutors say Spann, who is featured on several cable television shows and hunting videos, killed the white-tail deer with an arrow on land owned by another person. His permit allowed him to hunt only on land that he owned.

Attorneys have agreed to recommend a sentence of three years of probation. His hunting privileges would be suspended in the U.S. for six months, and an additional six months in Kansas. The proposed sentence includes a $10,000 fine and restitution of $10,000 to Kansas.

WICHITA (AP) – A fire that burned for more than four hours at a Westar Energy plant apparently began when a large transformer malfunctioned.

No injuries were reported after the fire Wednesday morning at the plant just east of Colwich.

The Wichita Eagle reports that more than 20 fire trucks were sent to the plant northwest of Wichita. The fire burned for more than four hours before fire crews were released from the scene. Foam trucks from McConnell Air Force Base were used to help put out the fire

Westar spokesman Nick Bundy says mineral oil used to cool the transformer caught on fire. Two employees at the plant called 911. Bundy says the fire caused no power outages or evacuations.

Bundy says no damage estimate was available yet.

A Shawnee County judge has ruled the city of Topeka and the state of Kansas were not liable in a lawsuit filed by the father of a Topeka man who drowned when a canoe capsized in the Kansas River in 2007.

Jim Bryant, the father of one of two men who drowned, alleged in the lawsuit that authorities did not adequately warn boaters of the danger posed by a low-water weir on the river.

Twenty-five-year-old Joshua Bryant and 30-year-old Richard Heyroth drowned when their canoe capsized after it went over a spillway in August 2007.

Shawnee County Judge Larry Hendricks on Tuesday rejected Byrant’s contention. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the judge ruled the city and state did not show “wanton or gross conduct” regarding the river conditions.

The regular firearms deer hunting season in Kansas opens Wednesday.
The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism says on its website the season runs through Dec. 9.
Hours are 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. Hunters need a deer permit and a Kansas hunting license unless they qualify for an exemption.
The department also reminds hunters that they must tag their deer before moving the carcass from the kill site.

A Wichita convenience store robbery turns deadly after a clerk shoots one of the suspects.
The Wichita Eagle reports two armed men entered KC Gas & Groceries shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday and encountered an armed clerk, who shot one of them.
Police arrived to find a man lying on the floor of the store. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital at 7:43 p.m.
The same store was robbed less than a week before, but police aren’t saying whether it was related to the one Thursday.
In the earlier robbery, the store’s clerk had just closed up for the night when he was approached by two armed men who ordered him back into the store. The robbers cleaned out the cash register and fled on foot.