Firefighters battle flames, winds in Kansas

ATWOOD, Kan. (AP) -- Firefighters had to battle flames as well as high winds in parts of Kansas on Labor Day.

In the northwestern part of the state, authorities believe a lightning strike around 9 a.m. sparked a Rawlins County grass fire that was fed by winds of 30 to 40 mph. KSNW-TV reports the fire spread over 400 to 500 acres and destroyed a pickup truck.

Eight departments from four counties responded to the blaze with 13 fire trucks.

There were also house fires in Wichita and Topeka. One of the Wichita fires destroyed a garage and caused damage to a house and a car. Another Wichita blaze damaged several storage buildings, but crews kept it from spreading to the home.

Authorities said high winds contributed to those fires as well.

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------ 2002 double killing at Kan. bakery still unsolved

GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) -- As people in Great Bend come to grips with the killing of a 14-year-old girl, another brutal crime in the central Kansas town remains unsolved after eight years.

The bodies of 24-year-old Mandi Alexander and 79-year-old Mary Drake were found the evening of Sept. 4, 2002, at the Dolly Madison Bakery in Great Bend. Drake was a customer of the bakery. Alexander had begun working there as a clerk just two days earlier.

Both women had been stabbed with a sharp object, but the murder weapon was never found and no one has been charged. A $17,000 reward remains in place.

Relatives are still hoping for answers even as Great Bend deals with the death of Alicia DeBolt, who disappeared Aug. 21. The teen's charred body was found three days later outside town.

------ Water could be issue with western Kan. coal plant

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- A western Kansas utility's push to build a new coal-fired power plant has already embroiled it in a lengthy public dispute about potential air pollution, and now the project could touch off a battle over water.

Sunflower Electric Power Corp., based in Hays, estimates its new plant in Finney County in southwest Kansas will consume 3.9 billion gallons of water a year. Most of the electricity generated by Sunflower's new plant initially would flow to a partner utility in Colorado, leading critics to suggest Kansas will be, in effect, exporting its water.

But as much water as the plant would consume, local officials calculate that it represents less than 1 percent of the existing annual water use in the state's heavily agricultural southwest corner. Farmers previously held the rights to the water Sunflower would use, and they would have been allowed to consume significantly more.

Water has received relatively little attention as Sunflower pursues an air quality permit from the state Department of Health and Environment. But eventually, the project will need a water-use permit from the Kansas Department of Agriculture.

And, Sierra Club spokeswoman Stephanie Cole said, for some western Kansas residents, "Water is of greater concern than the pollution."

Those in favor of the plant's construction don't see it as an additional strain on the Ogallala Aquifer and note that if farmers retained the water rights, their products most likely would be exported, too.

------ Education center in Scott City closed by economy

SCOTT CITY, Kan. (AP) -- The Bryan Education Center recently closed its door, another casualty of a hurting economy.

Budget constraints forced the Garden City Community College Endowment Association to re-evaluate the center, which was gifted to them in 1996.

"It's bittersweet," said Melinda Harrington, GCC endowment executive director, of the decision to close the building that had become a gathering place for not only Scott County residents, but also people in surrounding rural counties who wanted college courses close to home.

Last week GCCC Endowment Association sent out letters to the Scott County and city county government, as well as the school district and Scott County Foundation asking for written proposals regarding the future of the building.

"Since May we have been very upfront that we are willing to gift it, but that depends on what they want to do with the building," Harrington said.

Now they hope to hear from the community.

------ Salina wants feds to crack down on home gun sales

SALINA, Kan. (AP) -- Officials in a central Kansas city want federal authorities to take away licenses of 10 residents who the city says are selling or repairing guns out of their homes without city approval.

Dean Andrew, Salina's planning and zoning administrator, told The Salina Journal that the city plans to ask the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to strip the federal licenses of 10 people selling and repairing guns in homes.

He said the city wants to have firearm dealers only in commercial locations.

The 10 people came to the city's attention when a resident applying for a home license provided the names of other people selling guns out of their homes.

City officials say they're working with the the ATF to see why the federal licenses were issued without city approval.

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------ 1 dies, 3 hurt during hayrack ride in Kansas

PARTRIDGE, Kan. (AP) -- A hayrack ride in central Kansas turned deadly when children fell off the small tractor and were run over, killing one and injuring three others.

Reno County authorities said a 12-year-old died Sunday afternoon at the scene of the accident northeast of Partridge. The victim's name was not released.

Reno County Undersheriff Sheldon Stewart says three other youths were injured when they fell off the front-end bucket of the tractor.

Stewart says the four children were riding in the loader on the front of the tractor when they fell off and were run over by the tractor. Three other youths were in a hayrack being pulled by the tractor and a young child was sitting on the driver's lap. They were not injured.

The Hutchinson News reports that Stewart says the cause of the accident has not been determined.

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