AP Top Kansas News at 5:45 a.m. CDT

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

1 dead in Kansas City, Mo., crane accident

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- One worker was killed and another injured Tuesday when a crane tipped over at the construction site of a Kansas City, Mo., performing arts center, police said.

The two men were in the bucket of the 100-foot-tall JLG Lift when it fell away from the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and landed across a platform of steel beams at about 1:40 p.m., officials said.

One of the men was pronounced dead at a hospital, said police spokesman Darin Snapp. The other was listed in serious but stable condition and was able to talk. Snapp said both men were in their 30s, but their identities were not immediately released.

The men were installing steel panels on the building for Detroit-based subcontractor Midwest Steel, said Kyle McQuiston, spokesman for Kansas City-based general contractor JE Dunn Construction Group.

Construction on the 13-acre site began in 2006 and is scheduled to be finished in 2011. The $400 million center will be the home of the Kansas City Symphony, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and the Kansas City Ballet.

McQuiston said the construction site had no previous fatalities or injuries.

------ Lawyer: No 'necessity defense' planned for Roeder

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- An anti-abortion activist says he's the one who killed a Kansas abortion provider -- and did it because it was necessary to save lives. But one of his attorneys says there's no such thing as a "necessity defense" in state law, and that is not the strategy the defense team plans to present at his trial.

Scott Roeder told The Associated Press in a telephone call from jail on Monday that he plans to argue at his trial that he was justified in shooting Dr. George Tiller to protect unborn children.

"We have explored that possibility," public defender Steve Osburn said a day after his client's confession. "That does not seem to be the approach that is viable, nor is it the approach we intend to use."

Roeder, 51, of Kansas City, Mo., is charged with one count of first-degree murder in Tiller's death and two counts of aggravated assault for allegedly threatening two ushers who tried to stop him during the May 31 melee in the foyer of the doctor's Wichita church. Roeder has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial in January.

He told the AP he has no regrets about killing Tiller.

His calls to the AP and the Kansas City Star came on the same day several strident abortion opponents released their "Defensive Action Statement 3rd Edition" that proclaims any force that can be used to defend the life of a "born child is legitimate to defend the life of an unborn child."

------ Kan. education board laments cuts in school funds

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Members of the State Board of Education expressed frustration Tuesday that further cuts in Kansas public schools would hurt the quality of education.

The 10-member board received an update on state finances and their impact on the 293 school districts in Kansas. Last week, a group of economists and policymakers slashed the state revenue outlook by $235 million for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2010.

Board Chairwoman Janet Waugh said there's little reason to be optimistic that schools won't see further cuts in the coming weeks and during the 2010 legislative session.

"I just think we've gone beyond the point of no return," said Waugh, of Kansas City, Kan. "It's beyond ridiculous. We're hurting kids at this point."

Dale Dennis, deputy education commissioner for finance, said some cuts were inevitable. He said districts already had a shortfall in their general fund budgets of $100 million that wouldn't be made up by the state. That drop would force a cut in base state aid per student of $150, taking the amount to $4,068.

Kansas annually spends about $3 billion in general tax dollars on public education. Dennis said districts do have some funds in reserve accounts and state law allows some to be transferred to pay for salaries and other expenses. But other funds, such as those approved by voters for bond issues or capital improvements, can't be spent directly on the classroom.

------ Judge mulls Wittig trial date

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- A federal judge is considering a date and location for a third trial for former Westar Energy Inc., chief executive David Wittig and his top lieutenant, Douglas Lake.

U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson heard arguments Monday from attorneys for the two executive and federal prosecutors regarding how soon the trial should begin.

Prosecutors want the trial to begin sometime between Dec. 8 and March 29. Robinson also is considering having the third trial in Topeka, rather than Kansas City, Kan., where the first two trials were held.

Prosecutors claim the two used several schemes to boost their compensation at Westar and then attempted to hide their actions. The men say the company was aware of their actions

Their first trial in 2004 ended in a hung jury. They were convicted in 2005, but the convictions were reversed on appeal and prosecutors were not allowed to renew charges of wire fraud and money laundering.

Prosecutors decided to retry the men on the conspiracy and circumvention charges.

------ Report: number of homeless vets grows in Kansas

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- A new report says the number of homeless veterans in Kansas grew slowly in recent years.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness says there were 712 homeless vets in Kansas in 2008, an increase from 689 in 2007 and 601 in 2006.

New estimates are that about 131,000 veterans were homeless across the country in 2008.

The new figures are based on reports from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facilities and local counts of the homeless.

The report says about 4 percent of those who sought care from the VA were veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, and most are 35 to 54 years old.

Last week, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced a five-year goal of cutting the number of homeless vets.

------ Kansas Bioscience Authority gives $3 million to KU

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- The Kansas Bioscience Authority has given almost $3 million to the University of Kansas in an effort to recruit researchers to the state.

The KBA board of directors agreed Monday to spend $2.49 million over five years to direct and expand the university's laboratory for macromolecular and vaccine stabilization. Another $500,000 would be spent over three years for a top researcher in polycystic kidney disease. Both positions are in the university's School of Pharmacy.

Under the agreement, the university will match the authority's contribution.

The university is recruiting researchers as part of its efforts to receive a National Cancer Institute designation for the KU Cancer Center.

The KBA would not release the names of the new researchers because the deals are not final.

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------ Topeka Zoo gorilla died of aneurysm

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Topeka Zoo director Mike Coker says a gorilla at the zoo died from an aortic aneurysm.

M'Bili, a male Lowland gorilla was found dead Saturday morning. Coker says the 17-year-old gorilla hadn't shown any signs of illness or distress.

Kansas State University veterinarians conducted a necrospy, or animal autopsy, on the gorilla. The death is the latest setback at the zoo, which has been severely criticized by federal inspectors for lax veterinary care and inadequate record keeping after several animals died in recent years.

M'Bili was the second gorilla in four years to die at the Topeka Zoo before its typical life expectancy, which is 40 to 50 years. In October 2005, a gorilla named Kuba died after zoo workers shot it with a tranquilizer dart as it was being prepared to move out of state.