SALINA, Kan. (AP) – The Salina Human Relations Commission has voted to delay a decision on a proposal to change the city’s equality ordinance.

The Salina Journal reports that more than half of those who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting opposed a proposal to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the city’s protected classes.

The ordinance would mean people can’t be discriminated against in public accommodations, housing and employment. Some businesses and landlords would be exempt.

The commission voted to delay action on the ordinance until March, after the city holds three public hearings on the issue.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – A Missouri man was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a robbery on the University of Kansas campus.

Twenty-one-year-old Mykel Dantae Karlyle of Belton also was ordered Tuesday to register as a violent offender after serving his prison sentence. He had pleaded no contest to one count of aggravated robbery.

Prosecutors say Karlyle used a handgun to rob a student of marijuana in April 2009 in a residence hall parking lot.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Karlyle also faces aggravated robbery and aggravated battery bcharges for a 2011 incident in Shawnee County.

A co-defendant in the Lawrence case, 21-year-old Terrance A. Dean of Topeka, faces sentencing Feb. 28 for conspiracy to commit robbery.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – A coalition of Kansas organizations is heading to the Statehouse to rally against various Republican legislative proposals and some of Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s initiatives.

Organizers of predicted several hundred people from across the state would take part in Wednesday’s event. They are concerned about proposals from Republican Gov. Sam Brownback to change the state’s school finance formula, income tax structure and social service programs.

The group is also concerned about Kobach’s initiatives on voter registration and immigration. Kobach is a former law professor who helped draft tough immigration laws in Alabama and Arizona.

Last fall the group brought more than 300 people to the Statehouse for a similar rally against Brownback’s policy proposals.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – The Kansas Democratic Party has a new communications director.

Dakota Loomis has spent the past three years as deputy chief of staff for Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor. He served before that as research director for then- Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

His appointment was announced Tuesday by Jason Perkey, executive director of the Kansas Democratic Party.

Loomis is a Lawrence native and son of Burdett Loomis, a prominent University of Kansas political science professor who spent a year on Sebelius’ staff.

The younger Loomis holds a law degree from New York University. He also worked previously in the division of the Kansas attorney general’s office that handles civil cases.

Fredonia, KS (AP) — A small Kansas town will soon lose its major employer that’s been part of the community for more than a hundred years.  The LaFarge cement plant in Fredonia is closing next month, making many residents worry about their future and the town’s.

The cement plant opened in 1907 and has operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week ever since.  More than half its employees have worked there at least 30 years.

While some workers will now retire, many others must decide whether to move or try to find other work around Fredonia.

Bucklin, KS (AP) — Bucklin residents have approved Sunday liquor sales by a vote of 118 – 49.

Bucklin Mayor Mike Fisher said Sunday sales are allowed in the town of Ford, about seven miles away, and Coldwater, about 20 miles away.

The mayor says Bucklin had a liquor store and two convenience stores when talk of allowing Sunday sales first arose. The liquor store and one convenience store have since closed. Fisher says those two establishments might reopen now since Sunday sales are approved.