Kan. GOP primary is state's big political show

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- It figures to be another tough year for Kansas Democrats.

The seasons' hottest political show closes Aug. 3, when Republican voters decide whether U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran or Todd Tiahrt is their nominee for an open U.S. Senate seat.

Sure, Democrats will field a challenger, but none of their five candidates are likely to give either Moran or Tiahrt much trouble, even after their bitter race. Democrats can feel better about the governor's race, but there a lopsided victory by U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, the expected GOP nominee, remains the most likely result.

Republican primaries also appear to be the decisive contests in Moran's 1st Congressional District of western and central Kansas and in the previously competitive 2nd District of eastern Kansas.

A few years ago, thanks to then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, her fellow Democrats buzzed that GOP-red Kansas was turning purple. But those prospects already were fading when Sebelius left in April 2009 to join President Barack Obama's Cabinet.

"I think the conventional wisdom is that the pendulum is perhaps shifting more toward the Republicans right now," said Kansas House Minority Leader Paul Davis, a Lawrence Democrat. "I don't think it's any secret that Democrats have had some bad luck in the last couple of years."

------ Kansas Cancer Center names new deputy director

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) -- The University of Kansas Cancer Center has named a prominent medical researcher from Georgia as its deputy director.

Dr. Kapil Bhalla (KAH'-pill BAH'-lah) plans to join the center's staff Aug. 1. He'll also serve as a professor of internal medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan.

Bhalla is an internationally known drug researcher and scientist. He was the founding director of the Atlanta-based Georgia Research Alliance and a professor at the Medical College of Georgia.

He's coming to the Kansas center a month after biologist Shrikant Anant (Shree-KAHNT' AH'-nahnt) became its associate director for cancer prevention and control.

Anant previously led the gastrointestinal cancers program at the University of Oklahoma Cancer Institute.

------ Kansas governor hopeful amasses nearly $1.2M

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Republican U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback has stockpiled nearly $1.2 million for a fall campaign for Kansas governor, almost 10 times as much as the presumed Democratic nominee, according to campaign finance reports filed Monday.

But state Sen. Tom Holland isn't daunted by the gap, and said Monday that he exceeded his fundraising goal during the five months he's been in the race.

The candidates had until midnight Monday to file finance reports with the state for campaign activities between Jan. 1 and July 22. It's the last full report due before the Aug. 3 primary election.

Brownback's fundraising lead in the governor's race isn't a surprise. But some Democrats insist it should be larger, given his 13-plus years in the Senate, though his staff has dismissed the claim.

"We've got a good organization in place," Brownback said Monday after casting his early-voter ballot in Topeka. "We've got a good amount of money in place."

Brownback's campaign reported raising $519,271 from Jan. 1 through July 22, bringing his total for the entire campaign to $2.05 million. He's spent $875,384, including $403,102 this year, so he ended the period with $1.18 million in cash on hand.

------ Guns raised as issue in Kansas' GOP Senate race

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Kansas Rep. Todd Tiahrt criticized his main rival in the U.S. Senate race Monday over decade-old votes on gun rights issues and touted an endorsement from a state group affiliated with the National Rifle Association.

Tiahrt's backing by the Kansas State Rifle Association touched off another public dispute with Republican Rep. Jerry Moran. The rifle association originally said its rules prevented it from endorsing either candidate in the Aug. 3 primary, but its directors later decided otherwise.

Moran has an "A" grade from the NRA, which the group says is "solidly pro-gun." But Tiahrt received an "A+" for being "vigorous" in defending rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The state group's president said it was backing Tiahrt because he sponsored a 2003 law preventing the release of some gun-related data. Also, the group points to U.S. House votes by Moran in 1999 on gun proposals, including one dealing with juveniles' possession of semiautomatic weapons.

Tiahrt had a Statehouse news conference with Patricia Stoneking, the Kansas group's president, and former U.S. Rep. Dick Schulze, a Pennsylvania Republican who founded the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus two decades ago.

"There are hunting dogs, and there are lap dogs," Schulze said. "And I want to tell you, Todd Tiahrt is a hunting dog."

------ Appeals court rules on scope of migratory bird act

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- A federal appeals court decision over dead birds found in Kansas oil field equipment has defined the scope of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, affirming that violators do not need to intentionally kill them to be convicted.

Apollo Energies, Inc., and Dale Walker, doing business as Red Cedar Oil, were accused of violating the act after regulators discovered bird remains in the companies' heater-treaters, devices that distill the oil pumped from wells.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal to hunt, capture or kill protected birds. Violators are subject to a maximum penalty of $15,000 and six months in prison for a misdemeanor conviction.

Apollo Energies appealed a misdemeanor conviction for the 2007 deaths of two birds, including one Northern Flicker. Walker appealed two convictions for the 2007 deaths of two Northern Flickers and an Eastern bluebird as well as the 2008 death of a common grackle at another site. Apollo Energies was fined $1,500 and Walker $500.

The companies appealed, arguing the act was unconstitutional and violated their right to due process.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in a mandate filed Friday in Kansas affirmed two convictions, one against Apollo and another against Walker. The appeals court ruled prosecutors can hold violators responsible even if they didn't mean to kill any birds.

------ Former Kansas DA Kline sued by fired prosecutor

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- A lawyer for a former northeast Kansas district attorney denied Monday that a senior prosecutor who claimed sex discrimination in a lawsuit over her firing was dismissed for improper reasons.

Jacqie Spradling was a senior Johnson County prosecutor when Phill Kline was appointed district attorney in January 2007, two months after he lost a re-election bid as Kansas attorney general to the former Johnson County DA, Paul Morrison. Kline fired several prosecutors the day he took office and dismissed Spradling three months later, in April 2007.

Spradling's June 22 lawsuit names Kline, several others in the district attorney's office and the Johnson County Commission. Spradling, who had 15 years in the Johnson County office and led its domestic violence unit under Morrison, alleges she was fired in retaliation for her complaints of sex discrimination.

Mark Stafford, a Topeka lawyer representing Kline and several other defendants, denied Spradling's claims in an interview Monday with The Topeka Capital-Journal.

"There was no sexual discrimination or retaliation," Stafford told the newspaper. He said Spradling's dismissal "was a legitimate business decision based on factors that were appropriate."

The case is set for a jury trial in Johnson County District Court beginning Oct. 24, 2011, and is expected to take two weeks.

------ Kan. cattleman sentenced to 6 months in fraud case

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) -- A northeast Kansas cattleman has been ordered to spend six months in prison and pay $10 million in restitution for a fraud involving cattle.

U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch announced Monday that 70-year-old Joseph C. Donohue of Greeley also was sentenced to serve six months of house arrest for one count of bank fraud.

Prosecutors said Donohue admitted he gave false information to Lyons State Bank to obtain loans for cattle. He claimed to have cattle worth more than $18.2 million, when he had only $3 million in cattle.

He also claimed to have 13,267 cattle, but the bank determined he had only 650 cattle to secure the loan.

Donohue also obtained fraudulent loans from Farmers and Merchants State Bank in West Point, Neb., and Farmers State Bank in Garnett, Kan., Welch said.

------ Shooting death of central Kan. man ruled accident

GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) -- Authorities in central Kansas believe the shooting death of a 63-year-old man was an accident.

The victim is identified as Walter E. Hackley. He was shot and killed Sunday night.

Great Bend police say Hackley was cleaning a handgun when the weapon accidentally fired. Hackley was struck and killed.