TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas says its unemployment rate dropped to 3.6 percent in October, but the state continued to see a decline in the number of non-farm jobs over the previous year.

The state Department of Labor reports that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate last month was lower than September’s 3.8 percent and 4.3 percent for October 2016. Monthly unemployment rates have stayed below 4 percent since March.

But the number of private-sector, non-farm jobs was 4,700 lower in October than in October 2016, a drop of four-tenths of a percentage point.

It was the seventh straight month with lower private-sector job numbers than in 2016.

Kansas also lost 1,700 private-sector jobs from September to October, a decline of one-tenth of a point. Labor Department officials said Friday that retailers hired fewer seasonal workers than anticipated.

NEW YORK (AP) — Honda is recalling about 900,000 of its Odyssey minivans because the second-row seats may tip forward if not properly latched.

The recall announced Saturday covers vehicles from the 2011-17 model years. About 800,000 of the affected minivans were sold in the United States.

Honda says it has received 46 reports of minor injuries related to the issue.

It says the Odyssey’s second-row seat may tip forward during moderate to heavy braking if it isn’t properly latched after adjusting it side-to-side or reinstalling a removed seat.

The company is working on a way to repair the issue and says it will notify owners when one is available. It will be free. Until then, Honda has put instructions for properly latching the seat on its website for owners.

By SAM ZEFF

In the ongoing struggle on college campuses for LGBT equality and acceptance, Kansas State University is an unexpected leader.

K-State is best known for agriculture and football.

On a gorgeous fall day in Manhattan, with the K-State marching band entertaining tailgaters, many fans were surprised to learn that their school was ranked in the 25 campuses for LGBT friendliness by CampusPride.org.

“That’s not the stereotype of Kansas State,” says Aaron Reed from Tonganoxie, who received his undergraduate degree from K-State in 1995 and his doctorate in 2004. Reed says he has not been on campus much in the past decade but calls the rating “great.”

Mike Clark, a 1993 graduate from Mission, says K-State certainly had a conservative feel when he was in school but he always thought of Manhattan as a melting pot.

“You had folks from urban communities, farming communities,” says Clark. “The thing that I always loved about K-State, I still love about K-State, is that everyone always comes together and always has a good time.”

If this was a story about the University of Kansas, few would bat an eyelash.

But it’s about a university on the edge of western Kansas and generally perceived as conservative.

So how did K-State get here?

By most accounts, much of the credit goes to Brandon Haddock, the coordinator in the LGBT Resource Center in the Office of Student Life.

Haddock didn’t start out at K-State to transform LGBT life on campus. He came in 2007 for his doctorate at a time when he says there was “no LGBT community in town.”

In 2009, K-State was given 1.5 stars out of five by Campus Pride. The school now rates five out of five stars. Haddock says when he took the job running the LGBT Resource Center he started making friends and allies in all departments.

“What we’ve been able to do at K-State is make sure that colleges like the College of Ag and the College of Engineering that they recognize we have those relationships built, and we have people who are open and affirming about their identity,” he says.

The other person who changed the climate for LGBT students was former president Kirk Schulz who made it a priority. In 2009, K-State was the only university in Kansas with an LGBT resource center.

Schultz left for Washington State last year, but his successor, Richard Myers, is just as committed.

“People aren’t going to want to come to a school that has biases and prejudices and isn’t a friendly atmosphere. And parents aren’t going to want to send their sons or daughters to those kind of schools,” Myers says.

In fact, Myers says he wants to strengthen K-State’s diversity in other areas. Right now, the university is searching for a chief diversity and inclusion officer. “He or she will report to me directly and be on the president’s cabinet, which is our senior body that does, deliberates university policies and so forth,” Myers says.

If there’s a place where K-State’s friendly atmosphere towards LGBT students is most evident, it’s at the annual drag show that now sells out the 1,500 seat McCain Auditorium.

Theater major Drew George from tiny Uniontown, Kansas is in his fourth year in Manhattan and says he’s seen a lot of change.

“It’s grown so much since I’ve been here,” he says. “It is such a big presence on campus. Like, they did the drag show last year, and they sell out McCain almost every year and that’s just an amazing thing to see.”

It is a much different experience than his hometown or in Fort Scott where he attended community college before coming to Manhattan.

“Back home it wasn’t something that anyone even discussed,” he says. “Once I got here and began to see the opportunities that were available, that was an eye opening experience.”

Most of this has happened quietly, but that is changing.

We got a hint of how K-State has changed when Scott Frantz, who starts at left tackle for the Wildcats, came out as gay in July during an ESPN interview.

“I’ve never felt so loved and so accepted ever in my life then when I did that,” he told the network about coming out at a team meeting. “Ever since then it’s been great. I’ve grown so much closer to my teammates since then so it’s been an amazing experience.”

Before Frantz came out, KCUR reported on how K-State is actively recruiting DACA students.

Haddock says the university’s has to prepare students for a life outside of K-State.

“I don’t want a student to go out in the world and have problems in the work place because they are suddenly presented with somebody, working side-by-side with somebody that is a lesbian,” Haddock says.

Sam Zeff covers education for the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @SamZeff.

WICHITA, KAN. – A Kansas man who tried to buy an explosive on the internet was sentenced Friday to two years in federal prison, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.

Carlos Francisco Martin, 19, Coffeyville, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to obtain an explosive with intent to destroy property. In his plea, he admitted he ordered an explosive from an internet site where users seek to remain anonymous and purchases are paid for in bitcoins.

Investigators tracked Martin’s purchases on the internet site, which included more than $4,000 worth of illegal drugs such as MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy. In his plea, Martin admitted he tried to buy the explosive for the purpose of intimidating a rival drug dealer.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — One of five people accused of strangling or smothering to death three others in a Topeka home over a rape allegation has been sentenced to three life terms.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that 34-year-old Joseph Krahn won’t be eligible for release for 150 years under the sentence imposed Friday. He pleaded no contest last month to three first-degree murder charges in the March slayings of 19-year-old Matthew Leavitt, 38-year-old Nicole Fisher and 20-year-old Luke Davis. Prosecutors had considered pursuing the death penalty.

A witness testified during an earlier hearing that one of the other suspects, 19-year-old Shane Mays, was forced to participate to save his life. The witness said Krahn told Mays, “You’re one of the few who gets to see me kill and live.” Mays has pleaded not guilty.

TOPEKA –  A new rule adopted Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission will allow telephone providers to block calls originating from certain fake phone numbers, a move aimed at reducing the amount of robocalls consumers receive, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said.

Schmidt, along with a bipartisan coalition of 29 other state attorneys general, submitted a comment letter in July in support of the new rules, which will allow providers to block several types of “spoofed” calls, in which a call appears to be coming from one number, but is actually coming from a different number. Scammers frequently use spoofed calls to hide their identity and to trick consumers into believing that their calls are legitimate. The use of these spoofed numbers is particularly prevalent in scams where the caller pretends to be calling from the Internal Revenue Service, law enforcement agencies or utility companies.

Under the new rules, providers would be allowed to block calls coming from invalid numbers, unallocated numbers, and numbers whose owners have requested they be blocked. For example, phone providers would be able to block a scammer that is using a telephone number that clearly can’t exist because it hasn’t been assigned.

“Combating the plague of robocall scams requires technological solutions,” Schmidt said. “The adoption of this rule by the FCC will allow telephone providers to block calls that are clearly fraudulent and protect consumers from these scam artists. This won’t solve the robocall problem entirely, but it should help.”

In its release announcing approval of the new rule, the FCC states that U.S. consumers received approximately 2.4 billion robocalls per month in 2016. In a pilot project using the new system that now is approved nationwide, the amount of IRS scam calls was reduced by about 90 percent, the FCC said

JOHNSON COUNTY — A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 8a.m. Friday in Johnson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1998 dump truck driven by William D. Brawkey, 58, Basehor, was southbound Interstate 435 in the #4 lane.

The driver lost control of the vehicle and it rolled onto the northbound traffic lanes.

Brawley was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The cost of protesting at the Kansas Capitol in Topeka is increasing — sometimes substantially.

Currently, Kansas charges $20 for any event at the Capitol. But beginning Jan. 1, it will charge based on the size of the event and other factors. The lowest price will be $50 for events that require no setup or cleanup.

The Kansas City Star reports factors increasing the price will include if groups require a podium, access to the public address system or tables and chairs.

Kansas Department of Administration spokesman John Milburn says the increase will help the state recover costs it incurs from providing space and cleanup for protests.

Davis Hammet, a Topeka activist, says the price for his group’s event in January went from $20 last year to $500 this year.

SALINE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect with a history of violence for attempted-murder.

Just after 2p.m. Thursday, a 26-year-old woman checked into Salina Regional Health Center with injuries consistent with physical and sexual assault, according to Salina Police Capt. Paul Forrester.

“The victim had been strangled to the point of unconsciousness and it also appeared that abuse had been going on for a period of time,” said Forrester.

Just after 10p.m. Thursday, police arrested Alexander Mills, 28, Salina. He was booked into the Saline County Jail on requested charges of attempted first-degree murder, rape and two counts of aggravated battery.

Mills has previously been arrested for domestic battery in 2013, a probation violation in 2014 and criminal trespass in July of 2016, according to the Saline County booking report.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita landlord has been charged with demanding sex from two female tenants and evicting them when they refused his advances.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Thursday that Thong Cao is charged with housing discrimination. Cao owns multiple rental properties around Wichita and managed at least one other. He doesn’t have a listed home number.

The charges stem from complaints filed by two women evicted in 2014. He is accused of smacking both of the women’s buttocks and grabbing one woman’s breast. The documents say one woman awoke and found Cao sitting on her bed.

The other woman filed for a protection order against Cao, saying her landlord asks for sex when he is called to fix things and to get rent. She said she felt “violated.”