Although same-sex couples can legally marry in Kansas after a string of court decisions, state agencies are not offering them the same treatment as newly married heterosexual couples.


State offices will not change their policies while the state appeals the federal ruling that overturned Kansas’ ban on same-sex marriage, the governor’s office said Wednesday.


For example, gay and lesbian Kansans can’t change their last names to that of their spouse on their driver’s licenses.


People who go into Division of Vehicles offices and request the change are being turned away, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Revenue confirmed Wednesday.

The West Virginia University freshman who was found unconscious and not breathing inside a fraternity house — leading to a suspension of all Greek activities on campus — has died, university officials said Friday afternoon. Nolan Michael Burch, 18, of Williamsville, New York, had been in critical condition in intensive care at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, police and a hospital spokesman said.
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Greek organizations at many U.S. colleges have come under scrutiny in the wake of several deaths and injuries of pledges in the past year:

• In September, all fraternity activities were suspended at Clemson Universityin South Carolina after 19-year-old Sigma Phi Epsilon pledge Tucker Hipps died during a fraternity run.
• In July, 19-year-old Pi Kappa Phi pledge Armando Villa of California State University, Northridge, died on a fraternity trip. Sheriff's investigators ruled the death to be hazing-related.
• In March, 18-year-old Phi Sigma Kappa pledge Marquise Braham of Penn State University committed suicide after what his family claimed was repeated hazing. While not explicitly linking Braham's death to hazing, police opened a criminal investigation, and Penn State suspended the fraternity last month after sealing the results of its own investigation.
• Last December, 19-year-old Pi Delta Psi pledge Michael Deng of Baruch College in New York died from major head trauma in what police said was a homicide.

The lowest violent-crime rate in city history last year netted Irvine its 10th straight title as the safest big city in the nation, officials announced this week.


In 2013, Irvine experienced the fewest violent crimes per capita for any city with more than 100,000 residents, according to federal data released Monday.


The city of 235,830 reported 113 violent crimes last year, according to the FBI, which compiles data submitted by law enforcement agencies across the country.


Irvine's total breaks down to two homicides, 12 rapes, 38 robberies and 61 aggravated assaults, the Daily Pilot reported. Although 110 violent crimes were reported in the city in 2012, a spike in population of about 18,000 residents means Irvine's per-capita rate dropped, according to the FBI.


The city also experienced a decline last year in property crime. The city reported 3,304 burglaries, thefts, vehicle thefts and arsons in 2012 compared with a total of 3,285 in 2013.