DOUGLAS COUNTY —Sheriff’s authorities say officers found an assault rifle and more than 1,300 rounds of ammunition in a car after a chase in Lawrence.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kirsten Channel says the chase began early Wednesday when a sheriff’s deputy stopped a car in Lawrence for a traffic violation. He called for backup after seeing an AR-15 rifle in the car, and the suspect drove off. The car eventually was stopped. Officials say a search uncovered the rifle, ammunition and drugs.

The 26-year-old driver identified as Vince Wyatt from Kansas City, Kansas, was scheduled to appear before a judge Wednesday.

Wyatt is on parole, with previous convictions including seven felony burglaries in Leavenworth County.

-The Associated Press contributed to this report.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A new report projects that Kansas will collect more than $505 million in additional revenues over the next three years because of changes in federal income tax laws.

The state Department of Revenue’s report Wednesday was good news for legislators as they wrestle with a Kansas Supreme Court mandate to boost spending on public schools. But it also could spur interest in state tax cuts.

The department said Kansas will see tax collections increase partly because Congress limited some federal income tax deductions.

The department projected that the state will collect an additional $138 million in the 2019 fiscal year starting July 1, $180 million in fiscal 2020 and $188 million in fiscal 2021.

The department released its projections for a joint meeting of the House and Senate tax committees.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The mother of a Kansas man fatally shot by police after a hoax emergency call has urged lawmakers to toughen penalties for making false calls.

Lisa Finch spoke at hearing Tuesday on a bill that would allow prosecutors to file a murder charge if someone is killed. She wants the Legislature to name the bill after her son, Andrew Finch. The unarmed 28-year-old Wichita man was killed in December by police responding to a California man’s call with a fake story about a shooting and kidnapping at Finch’s Wichita home.

The alleged caller has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Police critics have been calling for the officer who shot Finch to be fired and criminally charged. Some activists were thrown out of a Wichita City Council meeting Tuesday.

By BRIAN GRIMMETT

If you’ve got solar panels on your roof, Westar Energy wants to create a surcharge on your power bill.

The utility insists that if it doesn’t charge you extra, all of its other customers will get stuck with the tab of being ready with electricity when the sun lets you down.

Solar power enthusiasts want the Kansas Legislature to outlaw such charges, fees they say could stymie their industry’s growth.

The resulting conflict could determine the future of solar power in Kansas and how the cost of keeping the electrical grid working will be split among consumers in the state.

For the utility, offering electricity on demand to a home that pulls most of its power from solar rays is a money-losing proposition. So it’s asking the Kansas Corporation Commission for the go-ahead on a new charge to customers for the service of offering stand-by electricity.

The new charge would come on top of the cost per kilowatt hour and the standard service fees that show up on power bills for all utility customers. Westar estimatesthe new charge could increase the bill of a customer with solar panels by as much as 50 percent.

In an attempt to prevent that move, solar energy advocates have proposed a bill in the Kansas Legislature that would require utilities to charge all residential customers the same rate.

Aron Cromwell is the owner of one of the largest solar retailers in Kansas. On Monday, he told members of the Senate Utility Committee that without the bill, the industry won’t be able to grow.

“The utilities will establish new solar rates that are designed to remove the financial benefit from producing your own energy on your own property,” he said.

The solar industry in Kansas employs about 500 people and is relatively small when compared to neighboring states such as Colorado, which has about 6,000 workers in the field.

Westar says that without an additional charge, the vast majority of customers — those who don’t produce any of their own electricity — will end up subsidizing the cost of solar.

“What we want to ensure is that when customers do make that choice that they are paying their fare share of the cost of the electric grid,” said Westar vice president of regulated affairs, Jeff Martin.

He said the problem for the utility is that the amount of electricity any individual solar power user produces is unreliable — sometimes it’s more than they need, and sometimes it’s less. Regardless, he said Westar must be able to provide enough electricity to meet that customer’s needs at all times, even if the customer doesn’t end up using it.

Westar’s request is part of a larger rate change case before the Kansas Corporation Commission. The rate case also includes a request to increase the standard service fee for all customers by $4, increasing the monthly charge to $18.50 a month. The KCC will make a decision on whether to approve the new rates and rate structure in September.

Brian Grimmett is a reporter focusing on the environment and energy for the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @briangrimmett.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — A former Kansas deputy sheriff has been charged with official misconduct, according to Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter.

On December 17, a citizen made an allegation of misconduct by Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Deputy Justin Price, according to Easter.  The allegation involved not turning in evidence in connection with a narcotics investigation.

The sheriff’s department asked the Wichita Police Department to conduct an investigation in reference to the allegation. Police turned their findings over the District Attorney’s office and they filed the charges on Tuesday, according to Easter.

Price had been employed with the sheriff’s department 4 years.