Scare leads to evacuation near Capitol

? Emergency officials on Wednesday locked down a downtown office building one block from the Capitol after an envelope filled with an unidentified powder was found, authorities said. No injuries were reported.

The envelope had been delivered to an office of the Board of Indigents’ Defense Services in the Jayhawk Tower, 700 SW Jackson, officials said.

The powder was tested several times and found not to be hazardous, Topeka Fire Department Deputy Chief Dave Sterbenz said. But Sterbenz said the powder still hadn’t been identified.

During an approximately two-hour period, roughly from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., no civilians were allowed to leave or enter the 11-story building.

“We quarantined people in place until we were a little bit more sure,” Sterbenz said.

Megan Ingmire, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Highway Patrol, said the specimen was being tested at a lab at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

“We’re erring on the side of caution and following protocol on this,” Ingmire said.

She said authorities did not know where the envelope came from.