TOPEKA —Kansas is sending swift water rescue teams/search and rescue teams to support Texas in response to Hurricane Harvey.

One Type I and three Type II swiftwater/flood rescue teams with hard-bottom, air boats, and inflatable boats with personnel will be sent from the Kansas Fire Marshal’s Office, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, Derby Fire Department, Chanute Fire Department, Derby Fire Department, Hutchinson Fire Department, South Hutchinson Police Department, Manhattan Fire Department, Mission Township Fire Department, Neodesha Fire Department, Newton Fire Department/EMS, Parsons Fire Department, Pittsburg Fire Department, Salina Fire Department, Saline County Sheriff’s Office, Sedgwick County Fire Department, Shawnee Fire Department, and Winfield Fire Department.

The teams will conduct search and rescue operations. Their objectives will be: To Search for and rescue individuals, provide basic life support (BLS) medical care, transport humans and animals to the nearest location for secondary air or land transport, provides shore-based and boat-based water rescue, provide animal rescues, and support helicopter and urban search and rescue in water environments.

The teams started deployment Wednesday night and some will deploy Thursday.

DOUGLAS COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an assault and continue to search for a suspect.

Just after 3p.m. Wednesday, officers responded to a mobile home in the 100 Block of Maple Street in Lawrence after report of a disturbance with weapons.

A man later identified as 27-year-old John Robert Berry was barricaded inside with a gun. A second individual was inside and unable to leave due to health reasons. Officers set up a perimeter and attempted to contact the suspect.

After 8:30p.m. officers deployed an investigative robot into the residence and determined Berry had escaped. He is wanted for aggravated assault and has previous convictions for criminal threat, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

MINNEAPOLIS — A Maine man who was arrested in California has been charged with second degree-intentional murder and related charges, according to Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

Schmidt today filed criminal charges against Robert Willard Colson, 34, of Bucksport, Maine, in connection with the death of Matthew Miles Schoshke on August 11 in rural Ottawa County. The charges are one count of murder in the second degree-intentional and two counts of felony theft. Colson remains in custody in California awaiting extradition to Kansas.

The attorney general’s office accepted the case for prosecution at the request of the Ottawa County Attorney’s Office. Criminal charges are merely accusations. Individuals are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Any public comments on the prosecution of Colson are governed by the Kansas Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 3.6, Trial Publicity, and Rule 3.8, Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor. All media requests or inquiries should be directed to the Office of the Attorney General, 120 S.W. 10th, 2nd Floor, Topeka, Kansas 66612, (785) 296-6115.

By STEPHEN KORANDA

The parade of candidates seeking the Kansas governor’s office continues to grow with the addition of Mark Hutton, a Republican former House member.

Hutton founded a construction company based in Wichita that he ran for years before moving into politics.

When Hutton was in the Kansas House, he defied some fellow conservatives by arguing the state should reverse an income tax exemption for thousands of business owners.  In 2016 he offered a proposal that would have cut the food sales tax in exchange for reinstating the business income taxes.

Hutton said he’d bring that leadership to the governor’s office.

“I believe I’ve demonstrated in the past that I’m willing to make the hard decisions, the hard calls, that I’ll put good policy for the state ahead of political personal gain or party gain,” he said.

Hutton said as governor, he’d try to bridge gaps between political factions.

“For me, it’s about communication,” he said. “It’s about bringing people together to solve problems, not pushing them apart with philosophy.”

Hutton did not run for re-election last year, but legislators did reverse the business income tax exemption earlier this year as part of a tax increase.

The field of Republican candidates for Kansas governor also includes Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer.

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for KPR, a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A federal trial has been scheduled in Nebraska for a man suspected of being the “AK-47 bandit,” who investigators believe robbed banks in five states.

Court records show Richard Gathercole pleaded not guilty last week to robbery and other charges in U.S. District Court. Gathercole is accused of stealing more than $90,000 in August 2014 from a bank in Nebraska City, which sits about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Omaha. His trial is set to begin Oct. 23 in Lincoln.

FBI officials believe the bandit carried an AK-47 while robbing banks in California, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska and Washington.

Gathercole, of Montana, was arrested near Lexington, Nebraska, after a sheriff’s deputy spotted a pickup truck that Kansas authorities had reported stolen by a man who fired at a state trooper.

SALINE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities believe a suspect who passed nine counterfeit $50 bills at Dillon’s Saturday passed another at a north Salina general store Monday.

Just after 8:30 p.m. Monday, a man matching the suspect description at Dillon’s, passed a fake $50 bill at the Casey’s General Store at 1100 East Iron in Salina, according to Salina Police Capt. Paul Forrester.

On August 26, a black male in his 20’s purchased a Visa Gift Card for $400 at the Dillon’s 2350 Planet Avenue. In Salina. The suspect gave the teenage cashier nine, $50 bills. The cashier gave the suspect the gift card and some change.

An employee discovered the bills were fake after running them through a counting machine. Capt. Paul Forrester said the bills were slightly bluer and did not have a security strip.

If you have any information concerning who committed this crime, call Crimestoppers at 825-TIPS, text SATIPS to CRIMES (274637), or visit www.pd.salina.org and follow Crimestoppers link to submit a web tip. You may receive a cash reward of up to $1,000 and you are not required to give your name.