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

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Rains stall winter wheat seeding in Great Plains

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- Widespread rains across parts of the Great Plains have stalled winter wheat seeding, fueling anxiety at a time of bountiful global stockpiles and plummeting prices.

Few farmers are as anxious to get into fields as those in Kansas, by far the nation's largest winter wheat grower with 8.5 million acres planted last season.

But muddy fields have kept Kansas farmers from planting much this fall with just 9 percent of the wheat seed now in the ground, the National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday. Normally by this late in the year, 17 percent has been planted in the state.

Kansas and Oklahoma were the top two wheat producers last year. In Oklahoma, just 17 percent has been seeded compared to the normal 25 percent so late in the season, NASS said.

"Moisture is good to have, but in some areas it is concerning. Too much moisture hasn't allowed guys to get into fields," said Justin Gilpin, executive director of Kansas Wheat, a joint venture of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers and Kansas Wheat Commission.

The rain is not only delaying wheat planting in the state, but also stalling fall harvest of crops like soybeans. That could ultimately affect the acres planted for the 2010 crop because growers in central and eastern Kansas often double-crop winter wheat behind soybeans, Gilpin said.

------ Rams rookie offensive tackle has knee sprain

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- St. Louis Rams offensive tackle Jason Smith, the second overall pick in this year's draft, sprained his left knee and will be listed as doubtful for Sunday's home game against Green Bay.

An MRI exam revealed the extent of the injury, which coach Steve Spagnuolo said Monday would not require surgery. The Rams lost 9-7 at Washington on Sunday.

Adam Goldberg finished the game at Smith's position and would likely replace him as the starter. Smith said he was hurt during the Rams' touchdown drive in the second quarter, although he stayed in for several more plays before leaving the game.

"I don't remember whether it popped or not," Smith said. "In the heat of the battle, you don't really feel it, but I knew something wasn't right."

Goldberg started six games at four offensive line positions last year and started at right tackle much of the preseason before Smith was elevated to first string. He has experience against the Packers after playing with the Vikings for three years.

"The goal is just to play well when called upon," Goldberg said. "It's nothing I'm not used to."

------ McCain backs Jerry Moran in Kan. Senate race

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Kansas Rep. Jerry Moran picked up an endorsement from Republican Sen. John McCain on Monday, touching off a tussle with his Senate race rival over earmarks and air tankers.

McCain, the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee, said in a statement Monday that Moran has a proven record of fiscal responsibility and has opposed wasteful earmarks. The Arizona senator has long opposed earmarks.

The campaign of Moran's opponent, fellow Republican Rep. Todd Tiahrt, said Moran's fiscal restraint is recent and comes at the expense of Kansas.

Moran and Tiahrt are vying for the seat that will be vacated by Republican Sen. Sam Brownback when his term ends in 2010. Brownback is running for governor.

No Democrat has formally announced a run for the Senate seat.

Moran said McCain's "strong endorsement for my candidacy is very humbling and gives our campaign great momentum in the months ahead."

------ NRC inspecting Wolf Creek after lightning strike

BURLINGTON, Kan. (AP)-- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is investigating procedures at Wolf Creek nuclear plant in eastern Kansas after a recent lightning strike.

The NRC said in a news release Monday that the Aug. 19 lightning strike knocked out all three offsite power lines to the plant near Burlington. The commission said the reactor automatically shut down after the strike, and plant systems responded as expected, with the plant's emergency diesel generators kicking in.

The NRC said it will be evaluating the sequence of events after the shutdown, which it said did not endanger the public.

The inspection was scheduled to begin Monday and take several days. A report is expected about a month after the inspection is completed.

------ Kan. prosecutor faces complaint in abortion fight

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- An ethics complaint stemming from investigations of abortion providers in Kansas has been filed against a former assistant of ex-Attorney General Phill Kline.

The complaint, made public Monday, alleges Stephen D. Maxwell misled a state judge in Topeka to further an attorney general's investigation of abortion providers in 2003-07. It also alleges that Maxwell improperly withheld important information in 2007-08 from a grand jury investigating a Planned Parenthood clinic in suburban Kansas City.

Abortion opponents suggested the complaint is part of an ongoing effort by some state officials -- along with the clinics -- to protect abortion providers and discredit Kline's work. Kline said the investigations of providers ultimately will be vindicated.

"Someday, the full story of what has transpired behind closed doors in Kansas will come out," Kline said in an e-mail statement.

But Peter Brownlie, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said the complaint vindicates the clinics' criticism of the investigations.

"This was a political witch hunt conducted by anti-choice extremists and should never have started," Brownlie said.

------ GAO says more oversight of biolabs needed

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- A national strategy is needed for overseeing the expanding number of laboratories designed for research on the world's deadliest pathogens, the Government Accountability Office said Monday.

Since the fatal anthrax attacks of 2001, the number of so-called high-containment labs has increased, but no federal agency knows whether their number meets or exceeds the national need or is at a level that can be operated safely, the GAO said in the 104-page document.

The federal watchdog agency recommended that the White House national security advisor, in consultation with the National Intelligence Council and the secretaries of health, agriculture, defense, and homeland security, identify a single entity to oversee the growth of high-containment labs.

The overseer would determine the number, location, and mission of the laboratories needed to effectively counter biological threats. It also would analyze the risks associated with the laboratories' expansion and determine how much oversight is needed.

The agency would then develop national standards for designing, building, commissioning and operating the labs.

High-containment labs are rated either Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3), for work with agents such as anthrax and tuberculosis bacteria that may cause serious illness or death if inhaled, or BSL-4, which is reserved for potentially lethal agents that lack vaccines or other treatments, such as the Marburg and Ebola viruses. Workers in BSL-4 labs must wear protective suits with a self-contained oxygen supply.

------ Kan. agencies back off records request for SEIU

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Two state agencies said Monday that they have dropped a request that in-home health care providers turn over the names, phone numbers and addresses of their employees to help a union that was allied with former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

The Kansas Department on Aging and the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services said they are sending letters to more than 1,000 providers, canceling the request made in August.

They said they reconsidered after some providers protested and now believe state law allows the information to be withheld to protect employees' privacy.

The agencies had sought the information for the Service Employees International Union, which never said specifically why it wanted to the information. Republican opponents to the request believe the union asked for the lists in order to help organize the workers.

"I'm glad they've seen the light," said House Speaker Mike O'Neal, a Hutchinson Republican. "They were using the power of their office, their letterhead, their regulatory authority, to get this information."

Democratic Gov. Mark Parkinson's administration had faced weeks of criticism from leaders of the state House's Republican majority, who raised privacy issues, saw the requests as demands and said the state shouldn't be using its power to benefit the union.

------ Court refuses to rehear Wittig appeal

DENVER (AP) -- A federal appeals court says it won't reconsider putting two former Westar Energy executives on trial a third time.

The full 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver on Monday turned down a request from former CEO David Wittig and former Chief Strategy Officer Douglas Lake to rehear their appeal. A three-judge panel last month refused to prevent a third trial.

Wittig and Lake are accused of conspiring to loot and defraud Topeka-based Westar by submitting false corporate reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Their attorneys argued that requiring a third trial violates their protection from being tried twice on the same charges.

The first trial for the two men ended with a hung jury. They were convicted in 2005, but those convictions were later overturned.