HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A former Hutchinson police officer who was fired for lying lost his appeal to be returned to his job.

The Hutchinson City Council on Tuesday upheld the firing of Charles Malvo for lying during an internal affairs investigation. He was the second officer who lost an appeal of his firing for lying during the investigation. The second officer, Lorenzo Bohringer, has taken his case to court.

The Hutchinson News reports  Malvo, Bohringer and Jamin Raigoza were fired in December 2013 after a woman complained Raigoza was harassing her, including showing up at her job and house and asking for sex and showing her an inappropriate picture.

Malvo and Bohringer are accused of lying during the investigation into the woman’s complaint.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man will be sentenced May 11 after being found guilty of killing his mother at a home they shared in 2011.

A Shawnee County jury on Tuesday found 40-year-old Jason Hachmeister guilty of the premeditated murder in the death of Sheila Hachmeister. Prosecutors say the victim was stabbed several times and strangled.

Testimony during the trial indicated that Jason Hachmeister would receive a $125,000 life insurance payout because of his 58-year-old mother’s death.

The defense had contended a man Sheila Hachmeister met on an online dating service killed her.

Prosecutors say they will seek a “Hard 50” sentence for Hachmeister.

WASHINGTON, DC – At a hearing Tuesday of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) questioned Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen about the agency’s questionable enforcement of the gift tax on individuals who made contributions to certain tax-exempt organizations suggesting it was further selective targeting of taxpayers based on their political ideology.

“For nearly 30 years, the IRS did not apply the gift tax to contributions made to charitable organizations of any type,” Roberts said. “Beginning in 2011, at the same time it began targeting 501 (c)(4) applicants, the IRS began gift tax audits of individuals who had made contributions to various tax-exempt organizations.

“I want to know what the IRS or the Congress can do to ensure the agency will not further intimidate taxpayers based on political ideology with the selective enforcement of the gift tax.”

In 2011, Senator Roberts and then Finance Committee Ranking Member Senator Orrin Hatch and others sent a letter to IRS questioning the sudden enforcement of the gift tax.

While the IRS has since ceased auditing contributions, it has failed to provide further guidance to Congress about the future enforcement of the gift tax and (c)(4) organizations.

Senator Roberts is outspoken on the need to clean up the IRS following the targeting scandal and the revelation of inappropriate bonuses and performance awards to IRS employees who owe outstanding federal tax debt.

Last month Roberts introduced two bills to address the problems. First, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act”would require federal employees to be current on their federal income taxes, and would prevent federal personnel who are delinquent in paying a federal tax liability from receiving a bonus or cash award. Exceptions are made for tax debt being paid pursuant to an agreement with the IRS and for certain hardships.

The second bill, the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act would stop cold further attempts by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to exploit bureaucratic loopholes to restrict the free speech rights of the same types of tax-exempt social welfare organizations victimized in the IRS political targeting scandal.

Senators Roberts is a senior member of the Senate Committee on Finance.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — At least 19 people are dead and 24 are missing after a Taiwanese flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, with 58 people aboard.

Video shows the TransAsia Airways plane turning on its side in midair, clipping an elevated roadway and careening into a shallow river.

Rescue crews in rubber rafts are clearing the mostly sunken fuselage in the Keelung River a couple dozen yards from the shore. The death toll is expected to rise.

A broadcast report says the plane’s wing also hit a taxi, injuring the driver.

It’s the airline’s second French-Italian-built ATR 72 prop-jet to crash in the past year. Another ATR 72 operated by the same airline crashed last July 23, killing 48 at the end of a typhoon. That crash is also under investigation.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Senate is expected to confirm appointees for several state posts, including the three members of the Kansas Board of Regents.

Republican Majority Leader Terry Bruce says the confirmation votes will be taken Wednesday.

Goodland lawyer Joseph Bain and former Democratic State Rep. Bill Feuerborn of Garnett were appointed to the Board of Regents by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback in August, along with Zoe Forrester Newton who currently serves as the city attorney for Sedan.

Kari Bruffett also is up for confirmation as secretary of Aging and Disability Services.

Bruffett has been serving as interim secretary since May, replacing Shawn Sullivan, who is now serving as the state budget director.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – A Missouri man has been found guilty in the bludgeoning death of a retired Kansas art teacher who was known nationally for breeding, raising and showing Afghan hound dogs.

The Wyandotte County, Kansas, district attorney’s office said Darrell Broxton of Kansas City, Missouri, was found guilty early Tuesday evening of intentional second-degree murder, burglary and two counts of theft.

Broxton was convicted after a seven-day trial of killing 69-year-old Peter Belmont of Kansas City, Kansas, who was found bludgeoned to death in his bed on Dec. 16, 2012.

An autopsy estimated that he had been dead for several days before he was found.

The district attorney’s office says it presented evidence that Broxton was investigated for a similar 1996 homicide in Florida.

A sentencing date has not been scheduled.

by ANDY MARSO

A Kansas House committee unanimously passed a bill Tuesday to allow for tax-free savings accounts for children with disabilities. But even as they sent the bill to the full House, committee members expressed concerns that cost could keep it from coming up for a vote there.

House Bill 2100 would allow the families of Kansas children with disabilities up to age 26 to set aside up to $14,000 a year for them, with up to $100,000 not counting against their Medicaid benefits. The money can be withdrawn tax free to pay uncovered disability expenses, like transportation and housing accommodations.

The measure has widespread support, but Kansas is struggling to balance its budget for the current fiscal year and future years. Members of the House Children and Seniors Committee said they fear that the administrative costs of setting up the accounts, though relatively low, could derail the bill.

“My hope is that it is not a barrier,” said Rep. Susie Swanson, a first-term Republican legislator from Clay Center. “But I’m afraid it will be.” The bill’s price tag is complicated because Congress first allowed states to set up the disability savings accounts in December, and no states have done so yet.

The state treasurer’s office originally estimated that it would need $50,000 in fiscal 2017 as a one-time administrative cost, but committee members discovered Tuesday that the fiscal estimate might shift because it’s based on that administrative cost being taken over by a third-party financial firm, and finding such a firm could take longer than anticipated.

“The hope is that those expenses in the future would be borne by the contractor that we’d hire,” said Scott Gates of the treasurer’s office, “and they would pay for that through fees they’d charge the account holder.”

There’s also some uncertainty about the ongoing impact to the state’s tax receipts, because those who use the accounts would be deferring some income that otherwise would have been taxable.

“We’re not exactly sure what the ongoing long-term fiscal impact is going to be because we’re not sure how many people are going to take advantage of this,” said Rep. Erin Davis, a Republican from Olathe who sponsored the bill. “This is still a fluid process.”

Davis said “all efforts are being made to keep the fiscal note as low as possible,” adding that she hoped cost would not keep the House leadership from scheduling a vote on the bill. But she acknowledged Swanson’s concerns and said the fiscal note could be a factor in whether the bill clears its next hurdle.

Andy Marso is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

CHRISTINE ARMARIO, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The gap in bachelor-degree attainment between the nation’s richest and poorest students by age 24 has doubled during the last four decades.

A study released Tuesday by two education organizations finds that the percent of students from the lowest-income families earning a bachelor’s degree has inched up just 3 points since 1970, rising from 6 to 9 percent by 2013.

Meanwhile, college completion for students from the wealthiest families has risen dramatically, climbing from 44 to 77 percent.

The report comes amid renewed debate on college affordability spurred by President Barack Obama’s proposal to make two years of college free. If adopted in every state, the proposal would benefit a projected 9 million students each year. It would cost taxpayers an estimated $60 billion over 10 years.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Lawrence police officers will soon be able to call two dogs their partners in fighting crime.

The City Commission approved funds to create the new K-9 unit on Tuesday night. The money will be used to purchase the animals and equip vehicles for them, along with paying for veterinarian bills and food.

A police officer says Lawrence is one of 10 largest cities in Kansas that doesn’t have its own canine unit. He says the department has depended on requesting dogs from neighboring law enforcement agencies when needed.

The city’s police chief says the department will interview officers to select who will serve as the dogs’ handlers.

The Lawrence Journal-World (https://bit.ly/1C0iXoz ) reports officers will purchase the dogs from a Texas breeder used by the Kansas Highway Patrol’s Police Service Dog Unit.