Topeka

Senators introduce bill to curb meth production

Senators outlined a proposal Thursday to curb methamphetamine production in Kansas by restricting consumers’ access to cold, flu and allergy medications.

Senate Majority Leader-elect Derek Schmidt said the bill would remove ephedrine and psuedoephedrine tablets from store shelves and place them behind pharmacy counters. Key ingredients in meth, the substances are found in popular cold, flu and allergy drugs.

Consumers could buy no more than 9 grams of the medication, or three 24-count packages, every 30 days.

“More than they would need for the common cold,” said Schmidt, R-Independence.

A signature and photo identification also would be required at the time of sale, although customer names and the amount of drug purchased would not be tracked in a centralized database.

Schmidt and other Senate Republican leaders said during a news conference the proposal was modeled after a 2004 Oklahoma law.

Wichita

Clergy plan to pray for BTK killer’s capture

Some clergy here plan a rally next week to pray for the capture of the BTK serial killer.

The Rev. Terry Fox, senior pastor at the Immanuel Baptist Church, said about 100 ministers planned to participate. The event is scheduled for noon Tuesday at Fox’s church.

The killer — who coined his own nickname — is linked to eight unsolved homicides that terrorized Wichita, the first in 1974. BTK stands for “Bind, Torture, Kill.”

Fox said the ministers want to combat the fear caused by the killer.

“We need to do our part,” Fox said. “We do believe prayer does work.”

Abilene

Rodeo pioneer dies

Pioneering rodeo competitor Gerald Roberts, who won 67 rodeo championships over 30 years and worked in film Westerns, has died. He was 85.

Roberts died Dec. 31 and was buried Wednesday in his hometown of Abilene.

Roberts, whose brother and sister also were successful on the rodeo circuit, won his first all-around world title in 1942 at the age of 22. He won a second world championship six years later.

He was one of the charter members of the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in Wichita in 1961.