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Sedgwick County Sheriff Gary Steed said he won't seek re-election this fall because he wants to explore new challenges and new opportunities.

Steed filed for a third term in February, but he said he changed his mind after conferring with friends, colleagues and family members over the past few weeks.

"I think the time to go out is at a time when you're going to be missed," Steed said Thursday in his office.

There was no single reason for his about-face, Steed said. It was more a combination of several factors that came together as he was pondering his future.

He's 56 and has a number of personal goals he wants to achieve, he said. His mother died last week. He hasn't been able to spend as much time with his wife and children as he would like because of the demands of a law enforcement career.

A trial has been scheduled for a former East High School wrestling coach accused of having sex with a teenage team manager before a meet.

Bryant Richard, who also had worked as a paraprofessional teaching aide at the school, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment this morning before Sedgwick County District Judge Ben Burgess.

Burgess set a summer trial date for Richard following testimony at a preliminary hearing. He is charged with "unlawful sexual relations."

The student said she was 17 at the time she and the 35-year-old coach had sex at the school on Jan. 26, the morning before an out-of-town wrestling meet.

Kansas law prohibits people who work in positions of authority in a school from having sexual relations with students.

An Atlas Air 747 made a safe precautionary landing this morning at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport.

Smoke had been reported in one of the jet's cargo holds.

Airport emergency personnel were on hand for the landing, which occurred without incident, dispatchers say.

According to its Web site, Atlas Air is a cargo airline.

Stay with Kansas.com for more details.

Gas prices jumped 10 cents overnight at many stations in Wichita to $3.49 a gallon.

That's the most consumers here ever have paid for gas.

The national average is $3.55, according to AAA, which updated its prices about 3 a.m. today.

A year ago, Wichita drivers were paying $2.72.

Wichita's weather figures to come in three phases today: morning showers, an early afternoon pause, and then a finale that could offer plenty of fireworks _ including tornadoes.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Storm Prediction Center has placed central and north-central Kansas and a large portion of Nebraska under a moderate risk for severe storms today.

While Wichita is not included in the moderate risk, both SPC and local forecasters say the threat of large hail and tornadoes exists for the metro area tonight.

"It's a classic Plains system" for severe weather, said Chris Bowman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Wichita.

Any thunderstorms that develop today in central and south-central Kansas will rapidly become severe, with hail as large as golf balls and winds of up to 60 miles an hour.

The Powerball jackpot will climb to an estimated $144 million for this weekend, after no one matched the numbers drawn Wednesday night.

The winning numbers were 11, 20, 21, 22 and 39, with a Powerball of 1. Players matching all of those numbers would have won or shared a grand prize of $126.4 million.

Five tickets matched the first five numbers but not the Powerball. They are worth $200,000 each. Two were sold in Kentucky and one apiece in Iowa, Missouri and Pennsylvania.

Contributing: Associated Press

Construction subcontractor George Evans leaves little doubt how it feels to go without health insurance. "It's hell," said Evans, of Wichita, who joined the uninsured about 18 months ago. When he gets sick, "I try to get over it the best I can," he said.

Like many American workers, Evans used to be a company man with full benefits. But now, he's classified as an independent contractor, meaning that his health insurance is his responsibility.

He said he has been basically healthy, but he worries that if he picks up an illness that takes more than bed rest to cure, "I'll have to try to find a place where they accept people without insurance."

Evans is the kind of person Sedgwick County officials had in mind Wednesday as they discussed newly launched outreach efforts to provide information and assistance to the uninsured.

The goal is for everyone to have a "medical home" -- a clinic, doctor's office or other facility where they can get care over a long period.

A Wichita woman is seeking a protection-from-stalking order against Wichita State University baseball coach Gene Stephenson, accusing him of harassing her, calling her and showing up at her home.

In a petition filed March 27 in Sedgwick County District Court, the woman said Stephenson, 62, "repeatedly harassed me by calling incessantly over the past year, showing up unannounced at my home, makes continuous advances toward me."

The woman wrote in her petition that she also has received calls from Stephenson's wife and a friend of his indicating "he is furious and upset w/me for telling his wife of his behavior."

Stephenson declined to comment on the matter.

Stephenson is represented by two Wichita lawyers in the case, but they did not return calls Wednesday.

Jodi Sanderholm's parents didn't mind leaving the Cowley County Courthouse on Wednesday not knowing when the trial would begin for the man accused of killing their daughter.

Cowley County District Judge Jim Pringle said the capital murder trial of Justin Thurber wouldn't begin this summer, to allow lawyers more time to prepare.

Cindy and Brian Sanderholm said they'd already waited 15 months, so they didn't mind waiting longer. But they don't want to see any mistakes that would taint Thurber's trial.

"Our worst nightmare would be if we'd have to go through this all again," Brian Sanderholm said.

The site of the trial still remains in doubt. Pringle is pondering whether to move the case out of the county where the 19-year-old's brutal death in January 2007 shook the community -- so much so, lawyers say, that it has polarized opinions and poisoned Thurber's chances of a fair trial.

Calling it one of the best examples of a public-private partnership in her six years as governor, Kathleen Sebelius signed a bill Wednesday authorizing economic development assistance for Cessna Aircraft Co.

The bill provides $33 million in state bonds to help Cessna build a plant for its transcontinental Citation Columbus business jet, its largest plane to date.

"It's a great investment for Kansas," Sebelius said at a bill-signing ceremony at Cessna's west Wichita headquarters.

Cessna is investing $780 million in the project, including $200 million for the plant and equipment. The project is expected to create 1,010 jobs at an average salary of $73,000.

Company officials worked with local economic development leaders and state officials to put together an incentives package for the project.

Stephen Schneider won't win his freedom without an argument.

Federal prosecutor Tanya Treadway has asked a judge to modify the conditions for the former doctor's bond, set for a hearing at 2 p.m. today in Wichita.

Schneider, 54, is charged with his wife in a 34-count indictment accusing them of writing illegal prescriptions for painkillers to the patients at their Haysville clinic.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Don Bostwick ruled Monday that Schneider should be released under 15 conditions, including that he not practice medicine or be involved in his clinic.

The judge allowed the prosecution and defense to file objections until Wednesday.

Roaches and mice found their way into Wichita City Hall and went straight to the sweet spot -- the restaurant on the second floor.

It forced the City Bistro to close last week.

But the city-hired contractor, which serves cafeteria-style lunches, hand-made sandwiches and snacks, reopened Monday with an inspector's approval.

That hasn't ended some joshing and apprehension among the lunchtime crowd, though.

The bistro voluntarily closed April 16 after restaurant inspectors reported seeing at least 50 live roaches in the kitchen and least 50 fresh mouse droppings in equipment storage areas, according to inspection reports.

Wichita State University's student newspaper is preparing for a First Amendment battle with the university over what it says is illegal censorship.

A top university official, meanwhile, says his concern with the Sunflower isn't free speech, but sloppy journalism.

"Students have just reached a point where they're getting fed up with the Sunflower in terms of how articles are being published," said Ron Kopita, vice president for campus life and university relations.

Kopita, as chairman of the student fees committee, recently appointed a task force to review the newspaper's operations and recommend improvements. It would not review content before it is published, he said.

The Sunflower gets $155,000 a year -- about half its annual budget -- from student fees. The rest comes from advertising.

Sedgwick County Sheriff Gary Steed unexpectedly dropped his plans to seek re-election Wednesday, throwing open the race for the county's top law enforcement job.

Republican and Democratic party officials expressed surprise at the announcement and said they were confident their candidates would run strong races in November.

Steed, a Republican, said in February that he was planning to seek a third term, and he later filed for re-election. In a written statement released late Wednesday, he said he changed his mind, but provided little about why.

"Following deep reflection and with a gratified spirit, I have chosen not to seek election to a third term as Sedgwick County sheriff," he said. "I have determined that for me to meet personal goals and professional objectives, it is necessary to withdraw from the 2008 election."

Steed, a Wichita State University graduate with 34 years of law enforcement experience, said he planned to meet with the media this morning to discuss his decision.

Nine-year-old Jose Bustamante Jr.' s eye surgery Wednesday at Wesley Medical Center is a story that started in Nicaragua with stops in Honduras, Salina and Nigeria.

Jose lives outside Managua, Nicaragua's capital, with his parents and younger brother. Their house is near a golf course, and the neighborhood boys scavenge stray golf balls to trade and play with.

On March 2, Jose and two friends tried their golfing skills. A ball hit Jose in the left eye, splitting it open.

Surgeons stitched the eye but in the days that followed, the fluids in it drained and Jose lost his sight. His parents were given conflicting information about what to do.

That's where neighboring Honduras comes in. Jose's aunt lives there and works with a network of organizations, including Fellow Man International. It was started by Lisa Armstrong, a Salina nurse, before she moved to Honduras. They agreed that Jose needed additional medical attention.

The numbers linked to sexual violence are startling.

One in every four girls and one in every six boys will experience sexual violence before they turn 18, according to national statistics.

In addition, one in four adult women and one in 10 adult men are victims of sexual violence.

But numbers are impersonal, local officials say, so they're going to put a face to those statistics at the Wichita Area Sexual Assault Center's 22nd "Take Back the Night" event Friday at Old Town Plaza.

The event will include speakers, an art show and a parade through Old Town.