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The so-called secretary of state for a group that claims to be an American Indian tribe pleaded guilty Tuesday to harboring illegal immigrants.

Prosecutors contend the Kaweah Indian Nation is a fake tribe that defrauded immigrants by falsely claiming tribal membership conferred U.S. citizenship and would allow immigrants to obtain other documents and benefits, including Social Security cards. Even if the Wichita-based tribe were real, prosecutors say, tribal membership would not make someone a U.S. citizen.

In her guilty plea Tuesday, Debra Flynn, also known as Little Mouse, admitted that she processed and handled tribal membership applications and supervised others who did the same. She also admitted that she worked with Hispanic pastors across the U.S. to sell memberships in the Kaweah Indian Nation to church members who were illegally in the country.

During the hearing in U.S. District Court in Wichita, she told the judge that she had served as the tribe's primary administrator.

By September 2007, the Kaweah Indian Nation had received applications from more than 14,000 people wishing to join the tribe.

Kamaronte Jones' public defender said Tuesday that the scene at a Wichita party last August was too chaotic to yield enough evidence to convict the 18-year-old of murder.

Mark Orr told jurors that witnesses called into court this week will tell too many differing stories for the jury to find Jones guilty of first-degree murder.

Orr said Keith Peters was shot to death trying to break up a fight between gang members at a party -- a scene that turned to chaos when shots were fired.

"There were a lot of people who were there during that chaos," Orr said. "A lot of people who have varying allegiances."

But prosecutor C.J. Rieg said that while partygoers scattered after Peters was shot just after midnight on Aug. 26, 2007, enough of them stuck around to give police a detailed description of the shooter. Enough details of the shooting, Rieg said, to prove premeditation.

A judge ruled Tuesday that a state law allowing six jurors for misdemeanor trials is constitutional, turning aside a defense motion to empanel a 12-person jury in the criminal case against Wichita abortion provider George Tiller.

Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens said that while Kansas does not have a case that directly addressed the issue of six-person juries, a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in a Florida case was a factor in his decision. Tiller's trial is set for March 16.

"There is no need to interpret the Kansas Constitution any differently than what the Supreme Court interpreted the U.S. Constitution," Owens said.

Tiller is charged with 19 misdemeanors for allegedly breaking a 1998 state law. The late-term abortion law requiring two doctors, without financial or legal ties, to conclude that if the pregnancy continues, the mother will die or face "substantial and irreversible" harm to "a major bodily function," which has been interpreted to include mental health.

Tiller relied on Ann Kristin Neuhaus of Nortonville for his second opinion on abortions in 2003, and prosecutors contend she had a financial relationship with him that violated the law.

Opening statements are set for 9 a.m. today in the murder trial of Kamaronte Jones.

Jones was 17 at the time he was accused of killing Keith "Fritter" Peters, 18, on Aug. 26, 2007, during a party in the 1600 block of East Fortuna. Police said Peters was shot to death when he tried to break up a fight.

The Fritter Foundation was established in Peters' honor to help steer young people to an alternative to street gangs.

Sedgwick County Assistant District Attorney C.J. Rieg is prosecuting. Public defender Mark Orr represents Jones, now 18. Ben Burgess is the judge.

A jury was seated Monday.

George Tiller will learn today when he'll be scheduled for trial, after a judge ruled Monday that prosecutors can proceed with 19 misdemeanor charges against the Wichita abortion provider.

Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens denied a motion by Tiller's lawyers to dismiss the charges, brought more than a year ago by the Kansas Attorney General's Office. Owens will meet with lawyers today to decide scheduling.

Dan Monnat, one of the lawyers who represents Tiller, said he expects arguments to continue over the abortion records from Tiller's Women's Health Care Services clinic, which led to the charges.

Tiller has denied that he had an inappropriate professional relationship with a doctor who gave second opinions.

A 1998 Kansas law requires women seeking certain late-term abortions to get an independent medical opinion. Before a woman can terminate a pregnancy on a potentially viable fetus, the law requires two doctors to agree that the abortion is necessary to preserve the life and health of the mother. Courts have determined this includes mental health.

Democrat Jim Slattery said Tuesday that television ads by Republican Sen. Pat Roberts' re-election campaign mislead voters about Slattery's work as a Washington lobbyist.

But Roberts' campaign stood by the commercials. Spokeswoman Molly Haase said of Slattery, "He's whining."

Slattery is Roberts' leading Democratic challenger. He's expected to easily win the party's Aug. 5 primary against Lee Jones. Roberts has no primary opponent.

Slattery represented the 2nd Congressional District in 1983-94 before joining a Washington lobbying and law firm.

"Pat Roberts is attacking me to distract from his record -- attack to distract -- and Kansans deserve better," Slattery said in a news conference.

Welcome to the forgotten primary.

For months, the Kansas political scene has been abuzz with interest over the expected November Senate matchup between incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts and former U.S. Rep. Jim Slattery, a Democrat. The race has drawn millions of dollars in donations and attention from national pollsters interested in the Senate balance of power.

Only one problem: Slattery hasn't yet won his party's nomination to run against Roberts.

Standing in the way is a primary Tuesday between Slattery and railroad engineer Lee Jones.

Jones was the Democrats' candidate by default in 2004 against Republican Sen. Sam Brownback.

Who should decide where people should be able to smoke -- the state, cities or businesses? Two-thirds of legislative candidates in south-central Kansas who responded to an Eagle questionnaire said the decision is best left to local government or to businesses.

"I do not believe that it is the role of government to act as the moral compass of society," wrote Republican Senate candidate Kenya Cox in response to the questionnaire. "Although I personally abhor smoking, I believe in the free market." She will face the winner of a Democratic primary between Kelechi "KC" Ohaebosim and Oletha Faust-Goudeau.

But some advocates on both sides of the issue worry about a patchwork effect as a growing number of cities -- 31, including Derby, Maize and Wichita -- regulate smoking in some way.

"If you let the locals handle it, one city is going to do something different from another city," said Sen. David Wysong, R-Mission Hills. "It really only seems to work if everyone has the same rules across the board."

He said he plans to push for a statewide smoking ban when lawmakers return to Topeka in January.

Candidates for the Sedgwick County Commission say they understand that people are fed up with property taxes and want relief.

The bitter pull between how to lower taxes and preserve services is playing out in the race for the District 3 seat on the Sedgwick County Commission. District 3 covers much of western Sedgwick County, including some of west Wichita.

County officials also seem to be scrambling to find ways to address taxpayers' concerns -- from County Manager William Buchanan's proposal to reduce the county property tax levy by 1 mill and not build a planned $54 million jail expansion, to Commissioner Kelly Parks' proposal for an 18-month, 1 percent sales tax to pay off bonds.

There are ways to do it, says Bart Hildreth, Wichita State University's regents distinguished professor of public finance. But none of them is easy, and some come with a cost.

"The property tax is a wealth tax by design," Hildreth said, paid by residents whose property -- whether a home or a commercial building --"is enhanced by the services of the community."

Red and blue stripes on the Project Vote Smart bus blur into purple as it crosses the country -- representing the bipartisan education its volunteers say they hope to give voters.

The bus's next stop is the Wichita Wingnuts' baseball game Wednesday night.

The project has been 16 years and $12 million in the making, its leaders said. Hundreds of volunteers work from the project's base, a 150-acre ranch in Montana, to continually update its online database, called the "Voter's Self-Defense System."

Adelaide Kimball, senior adviser to the project and one of its founders, said money for the project comes from 45,000 individual donors and from federal grants -- not from groups with political interests.

"We don't lobby for or against any cause," she said. "Our effort is to empower people."

The race for a Senate seat representing Butler County drew the most campaign donations among local contested primaries for the Statehouse.

Rep. Ty Masterson raised $32,240 between Jan. 1 and July 24 from several political action committees and individual donors. His largest expenditures so far have been on signs and postage.

His Republican primary opponent, Butler County Commissioner Will G. Carpenter, had raised $26,770 and spent $23,888 in the same period. Both candidates started with no money in their campaign funds.

Money might buy yard signs, pay for campaign events and send out fliers, but there is more to a successful campaign, political observers said.

"Money by itself doesn't do the job but it certainly helps you get the necessary exposure," said Mel Kahn, who teaches political science at Wichita State University.

In terms of fundraising, Undersheriff Bob Hinshaw and Wichita Deputy Police Chief Robert Lee have separated themselves from the field in the contest for Sedgwick County sheriff.

In a battle of Republican activists, Pachyderm Club leader Sarah Skelton has raised and spent more than twice as much as Sedgwick County GOP chairman Kelly Arnold in the race for county clerk.

Sedgwick County Commissioner Tom Winters has amassed three times more than his opponent as he seeks to stave off a challenge from Kansas Taxpayers Network executive director Karl Peterjohn.

The honor for the most costly two-candidate primary race goes to Sean Corrigan McEnulty and Bruce Brown, who are seeking the Republican nomination for a District Court judge seat.

Combined, they have raised more than $80,000 for their campaigns.

A federal judge on Wednesday refused to free Haysville nurse Linda Schneider, who is accused with her husband of running a clinic linked to dozens of overdose deaths, saying she remains a flight risk.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Bostwick ordered Linda Schneider held until her Feb. 2 trial on charges of conspiracy, unlawful distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death, health care fraud, illegal money transactions and money laundering.

An indictment against her and her husband, Stephen Schneider, links the couple's Haysville clinic to the accidental overdose deaths of 56 patients. It also accuses the couple of directly causing four deaths and contributing to the deaths of 11 other patients. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Stephen Schneider was released in April, but his wife has been held since her arrest in December.

In his ruling, Bostwick said the government established that she has the financial means to flee to Mexico, has a long-term lease on a home in that country, and has close friends or relatives who could help her avoid detention.

A western Kansas man whose girlfriend became physically stuck to the toilet after refusing to leave their bathroom for two years will spend six months on probation.

Kory McFarren pleaded no contest last month to a misdemeanor count of mistreatment of a dependent adult.

Ness County District Court Magistrate James Kepple sentenced McFarren on Tuesday to six months in jail, but granted the probation after the victim sent a written statement and phoned Kepple asking for leniency for McFarren.

"She didn't believe that her circumstances were his fault," Ness County Attorney Craig Crosswhite said.

Relatives of the woman have said she and McFarren lived together for 16 years.

Jurors in the capital-murder case of a man accused of killing two women viewed a DVD recording Wednesday of the women being beaten and sexually tortured.

The jury in the trial of Richard Davis, 44, reviewed 90 minutes of edited images taken from seven hours of videotapes that police found in Davis' Independence apartment.

According to previous testimony, the videotapes showed Davis and his girlfriend, Dena Riley, brutalizing two women -- Marsha Spicer, 41, and Michelle Huff-Ricci, 36.

Davis is on trial in Jackson County for the May 2006 death of Spicer, of Independence. He faces 40 felony counts, including capital murder, and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Riley's trial is scheduled for next year.

The two candidates with the biggest campaign coffers in Sedgwick County said they were surprised that their primary race for judge is at the top.

"I thought the sheriff's race would raise more money than a judicial race," said Sean Corrigan McEnulty.

"I had no idea what to expect," said Bruce Brown, an appointed Wichita Municipal Court judge running in his first election for District Court.

The two Republican primary contenders have raised more than $80,000 between them and spent more than $70,000. That's more than any other county race.

The primary winner will run against Democrat Sharon Dickgrafe for the Division 1 seat in the November general election. Dickgrafe has only spent about $7,200 of the slightly more than $22,000 she's raised so far.

About 150 baseball fans stopped by the Project Vote Smart bus Wednesday night during its stop at a Wichita Wingnuts baseball double-header.

Tallie Spiller, spokeswoman for the project's National Bus Tour, said those who were interested were shown how to use the group's Web site, www.votesmart.org, to gather information about political candidates from across the country.

She said the nonprofit, nonpartisan group researches the backgrounds and records of thousands of political candidates in an effort to collect accurate and relevant information about them.

The group uses the Web site to distribute information about candidates' voting records and campaign contributions, and to publish evaluations generated by more than 100 competing special interest groups.

The bus will visit 150 cities before ending its tour in Washington, D.C., on Election Day, Nov. 4.

Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts joined at least five of his Republican colleagues Wednesday in shedding contributions from Ted Stevens, the longtime Alaska senator indicted on seven felony counts of making false statements.

Campaign spokeswoman Molly Haase said Roberts told his campaign to donate to Kansas charities the nearly $20,000 that he had received from Stevens since 2001. Roberts, like many of the others giving up the donations, is up for re-election this fall.

The decision came hours after Stevens was charged with failing to disclose $250,000 worth of home renovations and gifts from an oil services company that also lobbied him for government aid.

Campaign officials for Jim Slattery, a Democrat challenging Roberts in the Senate race, had called on Roberts to give away all the money he had received from Stevens and the Alaska senator's political action committee.

Rutgers University political science professor Ross Baker said the move by lawmakers to quickly distance themselves from Stevens is all about political reality.

Jim Ryun's campaign to reclaim the 2nd Congressional District seat harks back to his days as one of the world's best long-distance runners and the moments after he was tripped in an Olympic qualifying race.

His first television ad showed now-famous footage of Ryun, a Wichita East High School grad, finishing that race in 1972 in Munich.

Ryun's fame helped him win the 2nd District seat in 1996 as a Republican, and he held it for 10 years, beating Democrat Nancy Boyda handily in 2004 for his fifth term. But two years later, Boyda capitalized on a wave of frustration with President Bush and the Iraq war and ousted Ryun.

He expresses confidence that he'll return to Congress. But first he has to persuade fellow Republicans in Tuesday's primary to give him another chance and defeat State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins.

"You learn a lot from your mistakes," Ryun said. "You can stumble, but if you learn from stumbling, it makes you that much stronger as a person and a candidate."

One has a name virtually everyone knows.

The other is seeking office for the first time.

Together, Phill Kline and Steve Howe are fighting a contentious primary race over who should be Johnson County's next district attorney.

Kline says his experience as Kansas attorney general and his 18 months as district attorney make him the stronger leader. He says he is bringing change to the office that is long overdue, including collaborating more with federal authorities.

Howe has 18 years of experience as a prosecutor. He was an assistant district attorney in Johnson County until Kline took over.

Beginning today, you can cast ballots for the Aug. 5 primary election at sites across the county.

You can go to these advance voting centers from noon to 7 p.m. today and Friday and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday:

• Bel Aire City Building, 7651 E. Central Park Ave.

• Center for Health and Wellness, 2707 E. 21st St.

• Church of the Holy Spirit, 18218 W. U.S. 54, Goddard

OILMAN PUSHES ENERGY REFORM

Pushing wind power in Wichita and Topeka, billionaire oil magnate T. Boone Pickens brought his crusade for energy independence to Kansas on Wednesday. In a meeting with Eagle editorial and news staff, he outlined his proposal to develop enough wind power to meet about 20 percent of the nation's energy needs and divert natural gas from electricity production to fuel motor vehicles.

To drum up support for his plan, Pickens later addressed a packed town hall meeting in Topeka.

Mesa Power, a company Pickens created, is investing about $2 billion in a Texas wind plant that will generate enough electricity to power about 300,000 homes.

He's also invested some of his $4 billion wealth into efforts to establish natural gas fueling centers in California.

At 16, Kamaronte Jones pleaded guilty to shooting a gun at a house.

At 17, he was charged with shooting a man, just a little older than he.

At 18, he now stands convicted of first-degree murder.

A Sedgwick County jury reached a guilty verdict just before noon today, convicting Jones of first-degree premeditated murder in the shooting death of Keith "Fritter" Peters Jr. during a party last August. He also was convicted on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Jones faces life in prison when he returns for sentencing Aug. 29 before Sedgwick County District Judge Ben Burgess.

A suburban Kansas City man was found guilty Thursday of the videotaped sexual torture and slaying of a 41-year-old woman.

Richard D. Davis, 44, of Independence, was found guilty of 25 counts, including first-degree murder, kidnapping, rape, sodomy, and assault in attacks on Marsha Spicer of Independence and Michelle Huff-Ricci, 36. The murder charge was for Spicer's May 2006 death.

Davis, who showed no emotion as the verdict was read, was acquitted on one count of first-degree assault related to the attack on Huff-Ricci. Her charred remains were found in neighboring Clay County, where Davis and his girlfriend, Dena Riley, are charged with capital murder for her April 2006 suffocation.

Riley also is scheduled to go to trial next year in Spicer's killing.

Jurors, who deliberated for less than four hours Thursday, will now determine whether Davis will face the death penalty. The sentencing portion of the trial is scheduled to begin this morning.

With five seats on the State Board of Education up for grabs this year, education advocates say how children learn about evolution hangs in the balance -- and who voters choose could affect Kansas' national reputation.

A frequent flip-flop between moderate and conservative majorities on the 10-member board has resulted in the state changing its science standards four times in the past eight years.

Conservatives have pushed for standards casting doubt on evolution, and moderates have said intelligent design does not belong in the science classroom.

In 2007, a new 6-4 moderate majority removed standards that called evolution into question.

This year, none of the three moderates whose seats are up for election are running again. Only one of the two conservative incumbents is running for re-election.

A suburban Kansas City man convicted of murder in the videotaped sex slaying of a 41-year-old woman is a rapist whose crimes have spanned two decades and become more intense over time, prosecutors told jurors Friday.

In urging the jury to recommend the death penalty for Richard Davis, prosecutors said that the 44-year-old Independence man raped a woman in 1987 and assaulted a 5-year-old girl while on the run from authorities in 2006.

The jury on Thursday found Davis guilty of first-degree murder, kidnapping, rape, sodomy and assault in the May 2006 slaying of Marsha Spicer of Independence. He also was convicted of kidnapping, rape, sodomy and assault in the attack of 36-year-old Michelle Huff-Ricci a month earlier. He was convicted of 25 of 26 counts in all. Both Spicer's death and the attack on Huff-Ricci were recorded on videotapes that became key evidence in the trial.

Davis was acquitted on one count of first-degree assault related to the attack on Huff-Ricci. Her charred remains were found in neighboring Clay County, where Davis and his girlfriend, Dena Riley, are charged with capital murder for her April 2006 suffocation.

Riley is scheduled to go to trial next year in Spicer's killing.

A longtime Derby school board member has been charged with felony theft after Derby police accused her of stealing thousands of dollars from a family-owned business.

Prosecutors said Diana Pearce, 52, is accused of stealing $27,000 from Melvin's Electric while working there from 2001 through 2006. The company, which is no longer in business, was owned by Pearce's parents.

Pearce did not return a phone message left Friday at her home.

Pearce, who formerly used the name Diana Praeger Pearce, was first elected to the school board in 1994.

She is free on $2,500 bond and is scheduled to appear in Sedgwick County District Court for a preliminary hearing on Thursday. Under state sentencing guidelines, a person without prior convictions would normally be placed on probation if convicted of such a crime.

The search for a missing toddler turned into a homicide investigation early Friday morning, and police are still looking for the girl's father.

The 1-year-old girl was found dead at about 7:30 a.m. inside a house in the 1500 block of North Green, Lt. Ken Landwehr said.

Authorities are searching for 23-year-old Jonell K. Lloyd, who lives at that address and is thought to be the child's father.

The name of the child is being withheld pending the notification of relatives.

The search began at about 8:15 p.m. Thursday when the child's mother notified police. She told police that Lloyd had called to tell her he had taken the child to Grove Park and she had vanished when he wasn't looking.

Tuesday's primary will help determine who leads Sedgwick County for the next four years -- from the District 3 commissioner who will help oversee a budget of about $400 million to a sheriff who will try to shrink the jail's inmate population.

Election commissioner Bill Gale said last week that he expected a voter turnout of about 20 percent, or 48,000 people. That would be up from the 2006 primary, when about 16 percent of the county's 241,000 voters cast ballots.

Advance voting last week was "going pretty good," Gale said. "We're ahead of two years ago, which was a record turnout for advance voting then."

However, on Saturday afternoon, Gale sat largely alone waiting for voters to show up at the historic courthouse. The pace had been slow, he said.

Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh predicted voter turnout statewide would be the second lowest since 1990.

Question: How can a Wal-Mart clerk afford to donate $4,600 to a Senate candidate half a continent away?

Answer: Her husband's not a Wal-Mart clerk.

That question cropped up last week in the increasingly bitter battle for the Senate seat now held by Pat Roberts, R-Kansas.

In a press release, Christian Morgan, executive director of the Kansas Republican Party, questioned the legitimacy of a contribution by Yugi Wang of Arcadia, Calif.

She made an online donation June 25 to Democrat Jim Slattery, the former Kansas congressman seeking the nomination to challenge Roberts.

When candidate campaign finance reports were due Monday, three from the Wichita area were not available.

Reports for two Senate candidates -- Republican Rex Farley and Democrat Kelechi "KC" Ohaebosim -- have since been posted on the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission Web site.

Between Jan. 1 and June 24, Ohaebosim had $12,280 available and spent $11,679. His Senate District 29 primary opponent, Rep. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, D-Wichita, had $18,640 available and spent $9,344.

Farley received a $200 donation and spent $190. His Senate District 31 primary opponent, Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick, had $80,075 available and spent $14,276.

Farley and Ohaebosim do not face any fines.

The Wichita Police Department is investigating a shooting near Old Town on Sunday evening that sent one man to the hospital.

Officers responded to the call in the 300 block of North Rock Island just before 6 p.m., according to Sgt. Anna Hatter.

Upon arriving, police found a man who had been shot once in each shoulder and once in the left forearm.

"He reported that his vehicle was taken and then he was shot at," Hatter said.

Police said they think the incident began in the 400 block of North Washington and that the victim ran about two blocks to where he was found.

Wichita police on Sunday arrested Jonell K. Lloyd, the man they identified as a suspect in the death of a girl believed to be his 1-year-old daughter.

Lloyd, 23, was taken into custody at about 2:30 a.m. in the 5200 block of E. Morris.

The girl was reported missing Thursday. The girl's mother told police that Lloyd had called to tell her that he had taken the child to Grove Park and that she had vanished when he wasn't looking.

Police searched the park but found no sign of the girl.

Police then began investigating the case as a possible criminal matter. The investigation led police on Friday to the house where Lloyd lives in the 1500 block of North Green.

Alaska is young. Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia have growing populations and many black voters. Montana has seen recent Democratic inroads, and North Dakota has sent only Democrats to Congress since 1986. Indiana borders Barack Obama's home state.

The Democratic presidential candidate is putting money and manpower in all seven of these states -- at levels unmatched by Republican rival John McCain.

For decades, these states have almost exclusively voted for Republican presidential candidates and have rarely seen any campaign action. Now, thanks in part to demographic and political shifts, they are emerging as new battlegrounds.

"We have the organizational ability and the financial ability to compete there," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said recently. "There is not a head fake among them."

Undeterred, senior McCain strategist Steve Schmidt said: "We feel very confident about holding these states." He also expressed optimism that McCain can win several Democratic-leaning perennial swing targets.

Tuesday is the primary election for several local, state and federal offices.

Here's what you need to know to vote in Sedgwick County:

To vote in advance

You can vote today at the Election Office, 510 N. Main, Suite 101, in Wichita, between 8 a.m. and noon. If you requested a mail ballot, you must return it to the Election Office by 7 p.m. Tuesday.

To vote on Tuesday

The shooting of a man during a carjacking near Old Town on Sunday evening does not appear to be a random event, police said Monday.

The 33-year-old victim, who was shot three times before his late-model Jaguar was stolen shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday, knows his assailant but is not being cooperative with police, Capt. Brent Allred said.

The carjacking occurred in the 400 block of North Washington, police said. The victim was shot once in each shoulder and once in his left forearm.

He ran about two blocks before bystanders offered aid and called 911. He remains hospitalized, though information on his condition is not being released. Police are looking for a 26-year-old man identified as the shooter.

-- Stan Finger

Homicide suspect Jonell K. Lloyd surrendered to police "without incident" in an east Wichita house early Sunday morning.

"We are not actively looking for any other individuals" in connection with the death of 1-year-old Chavira Brown, Capt. Brent Allred said Monday.

Authorities think Lloyd killed the toddler sometime between 4 and 6 p.m. on Thursday and then hid her body in the attic.

The child's mother dropped her off at Lloyd's house last month and asked him to watch her for about a week while she recovered from minor surgery, police said.

Lloyd called her at about 8:15 p.m. Thursday and said Chavira had wandered off in Grove Park when he had his back turned for a moment. The mother then called police.

Three police officers opened fire toward an armed man who refused to put down a rifle and turned toward them in the parking lot of a Wichita club early Sunday morning, authorities said Monday.

But the victim's mother disputes the account given by police, saying her son was unarmed and did nothing to justify being shot.

"They opened fire and shot him in the back," Mildred Ware said of her 34-year-old son, James, whom she said is in critical condition at Wesley Medical Center.

Capt. Brent Allred, who heads the Crimes Against Persons bureau of the Police Department, said that Ware "was shot several times in different locations" of his body, but that what the shooting victim's mother has been told is "not correct."

The shooting occurred shortly after 2 a.m. as patrons were leaving Max's Club at 1206 S. Rock Road. Police were called to the club to dispel a large group of people fighting in the parking lot, Allred said.

A 51-year-old man has been arrested in Wichita on charges of impersonating a police officer and forcing women to have sex with him -- and authorities think there may be more victims.

The man would chat with women via instant messaging on Craigslist.org, arrange a meeting place, show up with a scanner and fake badge, tell the women he was a law enforcement officer and coerce them into having sex, said Capt. Brent Allred of the Wichita Police Department.

The suspect would not pretend to be a law enforcement officer until he met his victims in person, Allred said.

Authorities were able to identify the suspect and arrested him Friday on West Kellogg, Allred said. He has been booked into the Sedgwick County Jail on suspicion of rape, aggravated sodomy and impersonating a law enforcement officer.

Two women, ages 29 and 33, reported being attacked by the man on Friday, Allred said. In one of the cases, the suspect claimed to be a U.S. marshal.

A Wichita woman has settled a stalking claim against Wichita State University baseball coach Gene Stephenson.

Terms of the settlement are confidential.

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

The woman confirmed Monday that the case had been settled.

"All claims were resolved to the parties' satisfaction by confidential mediation," she said.

Sedgwick County polling places are now closed, with many precincts reporting low turnout for the primary election.

Voting was light throughout the day in some precincts.

Poll workers at the Edgemoor Recreation Center, 5815 E. Ninth St., and several surrounding locations said that voting was slow but steady early in the day.

At the Northside Church of Christ on North Meridian, only 512 voters of the 4,300 registered in the precinct had voted as of 6:20 p.m.

Lorna Stover, supervising election judge of the precinct, said voting remained slow but steady 40 minutes before the polls closed.

At 91, Mary Ann Crans knows that advance voting or mail-in ballots are probably a more convenient way to vote.

"But I like to come out here and see friends and push the buttons," Crans said after voting in the primary election at Edgemoor Recreation Center this morning.

"I think it's a valuable national experience for people to go out to the polls and vote."

Poll workers at the recreation center, 5815 E. Ninth St., and several surrounding locations said that voting was slow but steady throughout the morning.

Shortly after 10 a.m., polling judge Susan Priest said 130 people had voted at Edgemoor Recreation Center. All seven voting machines were operational, and there were no waiting lines.

Today is the primary election for several local, state and federal offices.

Here's what you need to know to vote in Sedgwick County.

Hours

Polls are open until 7 p.m. If you are in line by 7 p.m., you can vote.

Where to vote