High court’s hearing on school finance to air

An edited version of oral arguments on the school-finance lawsuit before the Kansas Supreme Court will be aired at noon Sunday on Kansas public television.

The one-hour program includes major segments of the arguments presented Monday by attorneys on either side of the case, as well as questions posed by court justices.

In Lawrence, the program will be carried on Sunflower Broadband Channel 11, KTWU.

State identifies five new cases of West Nile virus

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced Friday that five new cases of confirmed or suspected human West Nile virus have been identified in the state.

Two of the patients exhibiting the symptoms have been hospitalized.

All of the new cases were reported in south-central Kansas counties: Sedgewick, Harper and Pratt.

So far in 2004, the department has confirmed West Nile virus activity in 36 counties, including Douglas, Johnson and Franklin in eastern Kansas.

The infection is spread to humans by mosquitoes that have bitten infected birds.

Gail Hansen, state epidemiologist, encouraged Kansans to take precautions against the disease as they engage in outdoor activities. Those precautions include using insect repellent with DEET and draining standing water to destroy potential mosquito breeding grounds.