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Larry Johnson showed glimpses of his old self and Brodie Croyle hinted at what might be.

Back from a broken foot, Johnson ran for a touchdown on the opening drive and Croyle made the most of limited time to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a 24-20 victory over the Chicago Bears in the preseason opener Thursday night.

Johnson burst through the middle, past Brian Urlacher, for a 7-yard gain on the second play from scrimmage and finished the drive with a 5-yard run. He had 18 yards on eight carries. Croyle passed for 82 yards over two possessions, and Tyler Thigpen threw the winning 27-yard pass to Bobby Sippio with 1:08 left in the game.

Meanwhile, Chicago's Kyle Orton fumbled, Rex Grossman stumbled and neither established himself as the leader in a quarterback race that could extend into the season. Bears coach Lovie Smith has said he won't rush his decision and neither gave him reason to reconsider.

Orton started and completed 7 of 10 passes for 56 yards and no interceptions. But the Bears had to settle for a 42-yard field goal by Robbie Gould in the second quarter after Orton dropped the ball while scrambling, resulting in a 9-yard loss.

Searchers found the body of a Kansas City, Mo., hiker at the bottom of a cliff on Quandary Peak on Thursday, a day after he was reported missing.

Ryan Torpey, 31, appears to have died from injuries in a fall, Summit County coroner Joanne Richardson said. She said Torpey was a chef who was vacationing in Breckenridge with family.

The Summit County Rescue Group said Torpey was an experienced hiker who had climbed the 14,265-foot peak before. Rescuers said he left his family's condo on Wednesday morning and said he was going hiking for a couple of hours.

A search began Wednesday afternoon when Torpey failed to return but crews found no trace of him. On Thursday, two helicopters helped search for Torpey, and his body was spotted from the air.

It took rescuers about three hours to set up ropes to pull Torpey's body to a spot where the helicopter could land.

The city of Wichita is finalizing the hiring of a new director for Old Cowtown Museum.

David Flask, 50, is a former director of the McPherson Museum and Arts Foundation. He said he expects to start work at the living-history museum Sept. 2.

The museum has been without a director since Jan McKay was fired in October 2006. It has struggled with finances and low attendance.

Flask acknowledged the job comes with challenges.

"When I asked somebody about Cowtown, they said it was a huge hornet's nest," Flask said. "I think it has great possibilities. What we need to do is get everybody working together again, define what Cowtown is and isn't, and build on our strengths and make it a destination place again."

Five people died early today in a head-on collision near Cherryvale in southeast Kansas.

The Kansas Highway Patrol said the accident occurred at 10:15 a.m. on U.S. 169 when a southbound car driven by a Parsons man hydroplaned on the wet highway and crashed into a northbound car driven by a Cherryvale man.

The Parsons man, Joseph Blackburn, 75, was killed along with both of his passengers, Clara Blackburn, 77, of Parsons, and Misty Bentsen, 31, of Plattsburg, Mo.

The Cherryvale man, Henry White, 44, was killed along with one of his passengers, Terri White, 48, of Cherryvale. A second passenger, 5-year-old Noah Stoddard of Cherryvale, was admitted to St. John Medical Center in Tulsa.

Carmen Zamora testified Thursday that $30,000 a day came through the office of the so-called Kaweah Indian Nation from illegal immigrants hoping to attain permanent residency in this country.

Zamora said she handed stacks of checks and money orders to Malcolm Webber while receiving applications for membership in the unrecognized tribe.

The U.S. government contends the Kaweahs never were a real American Indian tribe, as Webber -- who led the Kaweahs -- stands trial on charges including harboring illegal aliens and fraud.

Zamora, a native of El Salvador who was working legally in this country, said she believed Webber's claims, as did thousands across the country hoping to find a permanent home in America.

She remembered Webber saying that people from Latin America were originally from American Indian descent, forced out by European settlers.

A federal jury on Wednesday convicted a Minnesota man of two charges in what U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren called "one of the largest cocaine seizures in state history."

Franklin County sheriff's officers arrested Nestor Ramirez, 28, on Oct. 17, 2007, on Interstate 35 and seized almost 550 pounds of cocaine, according to Melgren's office. A jury in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., convicted Ramirez, who was a passenger in a truck, of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

A jury convicted Manuel Barraza-Martinez, the truck's driver, on the same charges on Aug. 1. Deputy Carl Bentley stopped the truck after he had received a tip from the Georgia State Police about a stop on a similar truck the day before, according to Melgren's office.

Ramirez will be sentenced Nov. 3, and he faces at least 10 years in prison on each count. Barraza-Martinez will be sentenced Oct. 27.

In a separate case, the Franklin County Drug Task Force arrested 60-year-old Don M. Dever of Osawatomie on Wednesday on charges of cultivation of marijuana, a tax stamp violation and possession of paraphernalia.

Kansas State football coach Ron Prince signed a new, five-year contract this afternoon, the university announced today.

Prince's base salary for 2008 will be $143,000 with a total guaranteed package of $1.1 million. Prince could also earn up to an additional $950,000 per year in performance-based incentives, the university said.

The contract replaces the three years remaining on the original deal Prince signed in 2006. He is now under contract at K-State through 2012.

Prince, who is 12-13 in two seasons, earned $760,000 in 2007, and was the lowest-paid coach in the Big 12. Athletic director Bob Krause told the Eagle last month that the university had been in discussions regarding an extension for Prince since July 2007.

The controversial nightclub Last Call in downtown Lawrence has officially lost its lease now that an eviction lawsuit has been settled, an attorney on the case said today.

Terence Leibold, an attorney for the owners of the nightclub building at 729 New Hampshire, confirmed that the company that operated Last Call is no longer a tenant of the building. He said a settlement was reached between the building's owners - the Park Hetzel III Trust - and the nightclub company, which is operated by Dennis Steffes.

"The case was resolved to both parties' satisfaction," Leibold said.

Leibold said he was not at liberty to discuss any other terms of the settlement.

An attempt to reach an attorney for the nightclub company - Tremors Inc. - was not immediately successful.

Junction City relievers threw three shutout innings to hold off the Newton Rebels 3-2 in an NBC World Series game this afternoon at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.

Catcher Tim Mahler had three hits for Newton.

At least 30 people have been protesting in front of City Hall today over the shooting by police officers of a 34-year-old man at a southeast Wichita club early Sunday morning.

Carrying signs with phrases such as "Stop Police Brutality" and "End Racial Profiling," the protesters said they want to call attention to the shooting of James Ware in the parking lot of Max's Club.

Police officials reported that Ware refused to put down a rifle he had retrieved from his car, and the officers fired when he turned toward them with the gun.

Family members have said Ware was unarmed at the time and did nothing to warrant being shot.

Wichita police earlier this week released a photo of the semiautomatic rifle confiscated from the scene. Ware is being treated at Wesley Medical Center.

NFL Hall of Famer Mike McCormack will be added to the Kansas football Ring of Honor at the Sept. 6 home game against Louisiana Tech, the university said today.

McCormack, the 16th Jayhawk on the ring, played line at KU from 1948-50 and in the NFL from 1951-62, mostly with the Cleveland Browns. He was a five-time Pro Bowl player.

The Thunder released its 2008-09 schedule today, and it includes home games to start the season against Mississippi (Oct. 17) and Oklahoma City (Oct. 18).

All but five Thunder home games will be played on Friday, Saturday, Sunday or a holiday.

The Thunder will play in a new division this season, along with the Colorado Eagles, Rocky Mountain Rage and the expansion Rapid City (S.D.) Rush.

Prosecutor Phill Kline's chief deputy, who is running for Shawnee County district attorney, is promising that if he's elected, Kline won't have a role in his office.

Eric Rucker's ties to Kline, the Johnson County district attorney, became an issue in Rucker's successful Republican primary race against two-term Shawnee County District Attorney Robert Hecht. And Rucker's Democratic challenger, Chad Taylor, also has raised the question.

Kline lost his Republican primary race in Johnson County, where he was seeking a full four-year term as DA, having been appointed to the job in December 2006. Kline is a former attorney general who has received national attention for investigating abortion clinics.

Rucker was chief deputy attorney general for four years when Kline was attorney general, and then joined Kline's staff in Johnson County.

But Rucker told The Topeka Capital Journal that if he's elected Shawnee County district attorney, he won't offer Kline a job or sign any contracts with him. And, Rucker said, he won't have Kline as an unpaid adviser.

Former PGA Tour player Tommy Tolles withstood a weather delay of almost three hours today and shot a 9-under-par 62 to take the first-round lead in the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open at Crestview Country Club.

Tolles, playing in his eighth Wichita Open, made seven birdies and an eagle and came within one shot of the course record of 61 posted by Gavin Coles in the second round of the 2006 tournament.

Tolles, 41, played in the first group of the day off No. 10 tee and was 7 under through 12 holes when golfers were called off the course at 10:15 a.m. Play resumed at 1 p.m. and Tolles added a 6-footer for birdie at the par-4 sixth and a 20-foot birdie at the par-3 eighth.

Former Wichita Open champions Joe Daley and Jeff Klauk each carded 7-under 65s.

An argument two days ago may have been the trigger for a shooting incident in northeast Wichita on Wednesday night, police said.

A 21-year-old man was shot several times in the chest and limbs by a man waiting for him in front of his house in the 1600 block of North Erie as he returned from work shortly before 9:45 p.m., Capt. Brent Allred said.

The victim was taken to Wesley Medical Center, where he is expected to recover from his wounds, Allred said.

The 21-year-old suspect was apprehended a couple of blocks away by an officer on routine patrol who saw him running from the shooting scene.

He is a documented gang member, Allred said. The suspect and victim got into an argument two days ago, and police are trying to determine whether that fight played a role in Wednesday night's shooting.

Strong but isolated thunderstorms are possible in the Wichita metropolitan area and much of the region today, forecasters warn.

The primary threats will be heavy rain and wind gusts of 50 miles an hour as the storms collapse.

Heavy rain is falling in and near Great Bend as the work day begins, and a line of showers has developed between Hutchinson and Eureka. The storms are moving southeast, meaning they could well reach the Wichita area later today.

Highs should only reach the mid-80s in Wichita, with light east-northeast winds.

Friday should be sunny and mild, with highs once again in the mid-80s, forecasters say.

None of the tickets sold for Wednesday's Powerball game matched all six numbers drawn, so the jackpot will climb to $20 million.

The numbers drawn were 5, 24, 36, 37 and 51, with a Powerball of 19.

Four tickets matched the first five numbers, making them worth $200,000 each. They were sold in Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Rhode Island and West Virginia.

A 50-year-old convicted sex offender who escaped from Larned State Hospital has been captured, according to the Pawnee County Sheriff's Department.

Perry Lee Isley Jr. is part of Sexual Predator Treatment Program at the central Kansas hospital. The sheriff's department on Thursday confirmed Isley had been found. No other details were released.

Officials are investigating if someone assisted Isley's escape. A spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services says Isley apparently hid in a laundry bin and used a tool to cut through security fences.

Isley was convicted in Shawnee County in 1995 on two counts on aggravated indecent liberties with a child under the age of 14.

Isley previously escaped from Pawnee County custody on April 24, 1987.

Shawn Thackery, homeless and out of work because of chronic illnesses, collapsed at the Lord's Diner after a day in 98-degree heat. He eventually spent a day in the hospital. Patrick Baker, a homeless amputee, doesn't know where he would be without the help he has received.

Terry Torrence bides his time on the street waiting for next year, when he turns 62 and qualifies for Social Security. Then, he said, he can afford a small apartment.

Each man offers a different face of homelessness in Wichita and could benefit from a plan offered by the city and county's Taskforce to End Chronic Homelessness.

Among the task force's goals are easy access to homeless services, sustained housing to lend stability to the lives of the homeless, and emergency shelter in the winter.

If proposed 2009 city and county budgets are approved next week, the governments will split the cost of housing for the chronically homeless.

The Pentagon on Wednesday requested new bids on a $35 billion contract for aerial-refueling tankers, and Boeing supporters on Capitol Hill said the highly technical document apparently favored a European airplane.

Even outside analysts said the Defense Department had tweaked the request for proposals to respond to the concerns of congressional auditors in a way that would bolster the larger European tanker over the medium-size Boeing tanker. With initial bids due in roughly seven weeks, Boeing won't have time to prepare an offer using one of its larger planes.

"It's obviously stacked against Boeing," said Loren Thompson, an analyst with the Lexington Institute, a Virginia-based research center that focuses on national-security and defense issues.

"It appears to favor a larger aircraft in a way the original did not."

The Air Force earlier had awarded the contract for 179 tankers to Northrop Grumman and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., the parent company of Airbus. After Boeing filed a protest, the Government Accountability Office concluded that there were "significant errors" in the contract award and recommended a new competition.

Kansas taxpayers will pay $475,000 to settle a lawsuit defending how health care providers report teen sexual activity, spurred by a 2003 attorney general's opinion by Phill Kline, lawyers for the plaintiffs said.

Court costs and fees for lawyers representing the state's health care providers were settled last week between the Center for Reproductive Rights, which sued Kline, and the office of current Attorney General Stephen Six.

The organization in 2006 won a restraining order in federal court against Kline and Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston over the legal opinion.

Kline targeted abortion clinics in the opinion, issued months after he took office.

It broadly interpreted a Kansas law that required health care providers, teachers, counselors and others who work with young people to report any case where there's "reason to suspect that a child has been injured" as a result of sexual abuse.

The two candidates vying to replace Tom Winters on the Sedgwick County Commission say they plan to be cautious about future spending, but they aren't ready to stop any current county projects.

Marcey Gregory and Karl Peterjohn say that if they win the job in November they will scrutinize spending and budgets. They say taxpayers demand that level of accountability and that's why Winters lost his seat Tuesday after nearly 16 years.

They say theydon't plan to block ongoing projects -- such as the Intrust Bank Arena and an aviation training center -- but they don't plan to take on other projects until the county gives taxpayers some relief.

Asked whether he would try to halt any current programs, Peterjohn said, "At the moment, no. But I'm looking at ways to limit the growth in county spending."

Peterjohn, a Republican and executive director of the Kansas Taxpayers Network, defeated Winters in Tuesday's primary election.

Army scientist Bruce Ivins had in his lab highly purified anthrax spores that were linked to the 2001 attacks that killed five people, and access to the distinctive envelopes used to mail them, the government declared Wednesday, releasing a stack of documents to support a damning though circumstantial case.

Ivins, a brilliant but deeply troubled man who killed himself last week, was the anthrax killer whose mailings rattled the nation in the worst bioterrorism case in U.S. history, just a month after the Sept. 11 attacks, federal prosecutors asserted. They were backed by court documents that were a combination of hard DNA evidence, suspicious behavior and, sometimes, outright speculation.

Ivins' attorney said the government was "taking a weird guy and convicting him of mass murder" without real evidence. Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa called for a congressional investigation.

Ivins had submitted false anthrax samples to the FBI to throw investigators off his trail and was unable to provide "an adequate explanation for his late laboratory work hours" around the time of the attacks, according to documents that officials made public to support their conclusions.

Investigators also said he sought to frame unnamed co-workers and had immunized himself against anthrax and yellow fever in early September 2001, several weeks before the first anthrax-laced envelope was received in the mail.

State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins widened her margin of victory Wednesday over Jim Ryun in the 2nd Congressional District GOP primary after some Shawnee County ballots were reviewed.

County Election Commissioner Elizabeth Ensley said 4,446 ballots were counted after a human data-input error kept them from being reflected as the votes were counted Tuesday. The problem was discovered Wednesday in 40 precincts, and all results were reviewed and retabulated.

The change gave Jenkins a 1,379-vote victory, according to final, unofficial results. She beat Ryun 51 percent to 49 percent out of more than 66,500 votes cast.

Jenkins picked up 374 votes when Ensley's office reviewed the results, which include the city of Topeka.

Jenkins' victory means she faces Democrat Nancy Boyda, who beat Ryun in 2006, in the November general election.

Republican Lynn Jenkins and Democrat Nancy Boyda campaigned Thursday at the Statehouse as candidates for change, both saying not much in Congress is working.

The two have less than three months before voters decide whether to re-elect Boyda to a second term representing the 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House, or turn her out in favor of Jenkins.

Jenkins, the two-term state treasurer, was joined in the House by former Olympian and Rep. Jim Ryun, whom she beat Tuesday in the Republican primary. Ryun pledged support for Jenkins, congratulating her for a good race.

"I believe our party is more united than ever," Jenkins said. "It is obvious that we are excited and motivated."

The former Olympic miler wouldn't say whether he is finished with politics or what went wrong in his comeback attempt. Ryun served five terms before losing in 2006 to Boyda, defeated as part of a national wave of change that cost Republicans their congressional majorities.

A Topeka businessman and his wife are accused of embezzling more than $2.6 million from an Emporia manufacturer.

The U.S. attorney for the District of Kansas said Thursday 61-year-old James W. Foremsky and 56-year-old Susan A. Foremsky were indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

The indictment alleges that beginning in 2002 James Foremsky used his position as chief financial officer of Vektek Inc. to divert company money to fund the couple's lavish lifestyle, including expensive vacations and showing jumping horses. He is accused of hiding the crime by altering internal records. He left the company in November.

If convicted, the Foremskys face up to 30 years in prison. Prosecutors also are demanding the couple forfeit $2.65 million.

Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh confirms that no votes in Tuesday's election came from 14 precincts at Fort Riley.

No votes were cast at the Geary County section of the base despite nearly 600 registered voters.

Thornburgh says low turnout in the area is common. In the 2006 primary, only two people voted. Fifteen people voted in November 2006. But Thornburgh says zero votes is "highly unusual," though many of the registered voters are deployed or out-of-state.

The Kansas City Star reports the absent tally stood out when the closely contested 2nd Congressional District Republican primary between Lynn Jenkins and Jim Ryun was examined.

Fort Riley spokeswoman Deb Skidmore says a voting assistance officer reached out to 95 percent of all soldiers and their families living on post to make sure they knew how and where to vote.