The Kansas Corporation Commission approved without debate renaming of three longstanding utility companies folded into the Evergy conglomerate created last year in a $14 billion deal.

Convicted murderer James K. Kahler's attorneys pressed the U.S. Supreme Court to find unconstitutional a Kansas law forbidding a defendant from invoking a free-standing defense of not guilty by reason of insanity.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr pledged to expand partnerships with Kansas law enforcement agencies to combat violent crime and respond to the transition of drug-trafficking organizations into rural areas of the country.

The annual pay of $21,900 in salary and daily per diem provided members of the Kansas Legislature was lower than eight of 14 states examined by state auditors.

PITTSBURG - Condoleezza Rice, former secretary of state and national security advisor during the George W. Bush administration, appeared Thursday at Pittsburg State University as part of the H. Lee Scott Speaker Series: An Examination of American Life, which has previously featured other high-profile political players including Bill Clinton and Mitt Romney.