Hutchinson

Injured cranes were shot

Two whooping cranes found injured near the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge were shot, authorities said Tuesday.

The endangered birds were migrating from Canada to the Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, said Barb Perkins, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The agency is asking the public for any information on the shooting.

One of the birds has a broken wing and the other had a leg that had to be removed.

The injured cranes are part of a flock of 233, authorities said. About 18 of the birds, which are nearly 5 feet tall, were spotted during the weekend in the marshes at the Quivira refuge near Stafford in south-central Kansas, he said.

Officials estimate that there are fewer than 500 whooping cranes left in the world.

Kansas City, Kan.

Casino’s fate debated

Backers of a newly minted plan to bring an American Indian casino to the Kansas side of Kansas City — a town that’s already home to four commercial riverboat casinos on the Missouri side — say they have little doubt the newcomer will succeed. Others aren’t so sure.

“This region has enough casinos already,” said Gerald Miller, an economics professor who studies gambling at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo.

The deal announced Monday, a compact between the state and the Kickapoo and Sac and Fox tribes, could lead to a large casino in Wyandotte County near Kansas Speedway.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who negotiated the compact with the Kickapoo and Sac and Fox tribes, said Tuesday there was no consensus on how many more casinos the Kansas City market can support.