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DeAndre Reed heard a knock on the door.

Prosecutors say Adrian Hopper, 28, was standing on the other side with a gun. But his defense says he was in Topeka that night, Jan. 8, 2007.

As Hopper's first-degree murder trial in the deaths of two people began Tuesday afternoon, Assistant District Attorney Sal Intagliata outlined his case for the jury:

Reed, 24, and his girlfriend, Princess Sears, 23, asked who was knocking after 11 p.m.

"Your boy," a voice answered. Reed recognized the voice, Intagliata said.

Wichita police are investigating several northwest Wichita residential burglaries this month -- including one reported Monday -- that they say could be connected.

Police say that several of the targeted homes were for sale, model homes or, in the most recent case, where the residents were gone for an extended period. And in each, burglars have pried open a door.

No suspects are in custody.

In the most recent case, Wichita police say burglars got into a home in the 2700 block of N. Northshore, near 29th and Ridge Road, by breaking through a side garage door.

Police said the occupants, a 59-year-old woman and a 53-year-old man, reported Monday that they had returned from a five-day vacation and found items valued at tens of thousands of dollars missing. Among them were a 2008 Lexus and a 2001 Infinity, jewelry, appliances that included a refrigerator, and stereo and television equipment.

A Wichita woman returned from vacation Monday and found her home burglarized, and two vehicles stolen, police said today.

The 59-year-old woman and a 53-year-old man told police that the home in the 2700 block of N. Northshore, near 29th and Ridge Road, had been broken into through a side garage door.

Among the items reported stolen were a 2008 Lexus, a 2001 Infinity, jewelry, appliances, and stereo and television equipment.

Police have no suspects in the case.

A mentally ill Sedgwick County inmate who suffered serious head injuries during an incident involving a jail deputy can be released to a Wichita nursing home, a judge ruled Monday.

Edgar Richard's attorneys have contended that he would benefit from care in a private facility as he awaits a mental competency evaluation and a probation violation hearing.

Richard, 60, could be moved to the nursing home today, said Bill Cummings, one of his lawyers.

"I don't believe that a detention facility should be dumping grounds for mentally ill people," Cummings said after the hearing.

On Feb. 15, Richard suffered a severely broken jaw and brain injuries in an incident involving a jail deputy, his attorneys say. Sheriff's officials said an altercation occurred when Richard tried to leave his cell. Local and federal authorities are investigating the incident.

Residents and businesses in the Wichita area will be encouraged to reduce air pollution to keep the city within recently tightened ozone standards under a resolution passed by the City Council on Tuesday.

"It's going to be real important that we get the word out that citizens can make a difference," Kay Johnson, Wichita's director of environmental services, told the council.

Going out of compliance would subject residents and businesses in the area to strict pollution control measures, costing the city an estimated $10 million, she said.

An air pollution monitor in Peck, just south of Wichita, is measuring smog levels slightly above the Environmental Protection Agency's 75 parts-per-billion limit.

That means the entire Wichita area could be considered out of compliance with the federal Clean Air Act.

A Sedgwick County court employee has been fired for filing to run for public office.

Genine Ware, a lawyer in the 18th Judicial District Court trustee's office, was terminated last week shortly after she filed papers to run as a Democrat for county clerk.

Ware ran afoul of Kansas Court Personnel Rule 5.16b, a little-known regulation that restricts off-duty political activities of court employees.

Under the rule, court employees are allowed to run for nonpartisan offices, but are prohibited from seeking any partisan position other than precinct committee member.

Filing for a prohibited office is considered an automatic resignation under the rule.

A resurgent Democratic Party and intramural skirmishes between Republicans are combining to make 2008 one of the most spirited local campaign seasons in years.

While the early line favors Kansas staying Republican in national politics -- the state hasn't voted Democratic for president since Lyndon Johnson buried Barry Goldwater in 1964 -- Democrats made inroads in down-the-ballot races two years ago and hope for a repeat performance.

In the state Legislature, several slots have opened for political newcomers.

There's a scramble for Sedgwick County offices as well, with some long-established political figures facing their first challenges in years.

The filing period for local races ended Tuesday, with competitive races up and down the ballot from county clerk to the state Senate.

Expressing dissatisfaction with the recently ended session, longtime Hillsboro Republican Rep. Donald L. Dahl said Monday that he will not seek re-election.

"It seemed like this session was very short-sighted and did not look long-term," he said.

He expressed particular frustration with the House's inability to muster enough votes to override the governor's veto of bills that would have allowed two coal-fired power plants to be built in western Kansas and the Legislature's handing of immigration reform and the budget.

Not addressing illegal immigration will hurt the state economically, and not approving the power plants will push up utility rates, he said. At the same time, the state continued to spend more money than it was collecting in revenue.

"These are big, big items, serious items, if you look at the implications of what I just said, for the future of Kansas," he said.

Democrat Jim Slattery has picked up support from two longtime Republicans in his bid for the U.S. Senate.

Slattery's campaign announced Friday that Nelson and Judy Krueger had endorsed the former congressman and lobbyist, joining his campaign's steering committee.

Nelson Krueger was an administrative assistant for former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole in Kansas, his wife served as campaign manager for former Gov. Bill Graves and later secretary of appointments and deputy chief of staff.

Slattery faces Lee Jones of Overland Park in the August primary. The winner faces incumbent Republican Pat Roberts in November.

Slattery represented the 2nd District of eastern Kansas in the House from 1983 to 1994, giving up his seat to run for governor. After losing that race, he joined a Washington law and lobbying firm.

A former Wichita police lieutenant who is now the second in command at the Bel Aire Police Department has filed as a Republican candidate for Sedgwick County sheriff.

Carl Enterkin, 59, became the sixth candidate for the position being vacated by outgoing Sheriff Gary Steed.

The filing means at least five Republicans will square off in the Aug. 5 primary. The filing deadline is noon Tuesday, and only one Democrat has filed for the office.

All the candidates have extensive law enforcement backgrounds, and several have master's degrees.

Steed hasn't officially endorsed any of the candidates, but he has openly supported the candidacy of his undersheriff, Bob Hinshaw, a Republican.

For the first time since 1992, Nola Foulston faces opposition in an election for Sedgwick County district attorney.

On Friday, Republican Mark Schoenhofer, who has been in private practice since 1994, filed his candidacy to unseat her. Foulston, a Democrat, has held the office since 1989.

"I'm running because I believe that it is time for new blood in the office," said Schoenhofer, who worked for Foulston as an assistant district attorney from 1993 to 1994.

Asked what change he would bring, Schoenhofer said he would try more cases in court than Foulston does, in addition to managing the office.

"I believe in being involved, hands-on involved," he said.

Attorney General Steve Six is dropping strong hints that he'll run for a full term in 2010, but he's not quite ready to declare his candidacy.

Six took over the office Jan. 31. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius appointed him to replace Paul Morrison, who was forced to resign because of a scandal over an extramarital affair. Fellow Democrats have assumed Six will run.

"I found that I do really enjoy the work of the attorney general's office and appreciate all the good we can do for the people of Kansas," Six said during an interview Thursday.

He added: "What that leaves me to believe is that I can continue this job into the future, but I believe it's premature to determine whether I'll be a candidate in 2010."

Christian Morgan, the state Republican Party's executive director, said that because of Morrison's problems, Kansans will be skeptical as they watch the attorney general's office.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jim Slattery released a description of his past lobbying activities on Thursday, hoping to quiet GOP critics who say he's too closely connected to special interests.

The former congressman from Topeka says he's providing the information in the interest of openness and accountability.

"Voters deserve an explanation of the work I've done since I left public office," Slattery said. "I'm pleased to provide this information."

The list contains brief summaries of the work Slattery did for 40 companies and associations -- ranging from Kansas City-based utility Aquila Inc. to paper and lumber giant Weyerhaeuser Co. --during his 14-year stint as a lawyer at Wiley Rein, a major Washington law firm. Slattery began working at the firm when he left Congress in 1995, a few months after losing the Kansas governor's race.

Slattery is seeking the right to challenge Republican incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts, who is seeking a third term. Roberts' campaign has made Slattery's work as a lobbyist a key point of attack in early radio ads.

With four fairly familiar faces, the race in western Sedgwick County's Commission District 3 is shaping up as one of the most competitive of the election season.

Fifteen-year incumbent Tom Winters will face a contest in the primary Aug. 5 and, if he wins that, in the general election Nov. 4.

On Thursday, Kansas Taxpayers Network president Karl Peterjohn became the fourth candidate to enter the race. He will challenge Winters in the Republican primary.

The winner will face the winner of the Democratic primary pitting Goddard Mayor Marcey Gregory against former congressional and Wichita City Council candidate Patrick Quaney.

It will be the first time Winters has faced substantial opposition since the 2000 primary, when he bested two challengers. He's run unopposed three times since.

A state senator is among the most recent candidates to file for Sedgwick County district judge in a field that includes two new seats.

Phil Journey, 52, filed to trade in his Senate seat for a judge's robe Thursday. He'll face two other Republicans, Jeff Dewey and Michael Foster, in the Aug. 5 primary for the seat recently vacated by Karl Friedel.

Journey joins a line of former lawmakers who have run for the Sedgwick County bench. Legislative experience helped Eric Yost, Anthony Powell and Jeff Goering win their judicial elections.

Loren Houk, 58, also filed Thursday to run against Judge Dan Brooks, a 15-year veteran of the bench in juvenile court. Houk is one of the few Democrats to file for judge.

Journey and Houk are among eight candidates who have filed this month. The filing deadline is noon June 10.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius hosted a reception for George Tiller last year at her official residence, while the controversial Wichita abortion provider was under investigation by the state.

Sebelius said Tiller won the reception after bidding the most for it at a silent auction sponsored by the Greater Kansas City Women's Political Caucus. Sebelius donated her time to help the caucus raise money, something she said she's done before.

"It's not something where I can choose the guest," she said Wednesday.

But anti-abortion groups Operation Rescue and Kansans for Life argued that the reception shows how cozy Sebelius is with Tiller. Operation Rescue released photos Wednesday that it said are of the event in April 2007.

One shows Sebelius, standing near a man who appears to be Tiller, holding up a political T-shirt celebrating her election wins, Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson and former Attorney General Paul Morrison, all abortion rights supporters.