KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Gov. Jeff Colyer has declared a state of disaster in anticipation of a winter storm that’s expected to hit western Kansas.

Colyer’s Wednesday declaration authorizes the use of state resources and workers to help affected areas.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning from Wednesday night to Thursday afternoon for parts of northwestern Kansas.

The agency is predicting 3-8 inches of snow in some areas.

Kansas Division of Emergency Management Deputy Director Angee Morgan is urging Kansans to change or delay travel in affected areas until after the storm. She says those who do travel should be cautious and stock a car emergency kit.

The division and the National Guard are preparing to help stranded motorists if needed.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The incoming Kansas governor will face a large task dealing with a struggling child welfare system recently hit with a class-action lawsuit alleging that conditions were so poor that children suffered mentally or ran away from foster homes.

The Wichita Eagle reports that the class action lawsuit filed in federal court this month alleges that children have been trafficked for sex, sexually abused inside adoptive homes or reportedly raped inside a child welfare office.

Lawmakers, experts and advocates say Democratic governor-elect Laura Kelly must significantly invest in the state’s Department for Children and Families to improve the system.

Kelly says the department will be “a high priority” for her administration. She says the agency has lacked resources for almost a decade.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man jailed for more than a year in a murder case now faces charges in another death.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that 21-year-old Steven Drake III of Lawrence was charged this week with vehicular homicide in connection with a November 2016 accident that killed 24-year-old Taylor Lister.

Drake has been in jail since last year in the fatal September 2017 shooting of 26-year-old Bryce Holladay. The first-degree murder trial is scheduled to start Jan. 14. Drake has claimed he acted in self-defense.

The new charge is a misdemeanor that alleges Drake drove in a way that created “unreasonable risk of injury” when his pickup truck left the road, went into a ditch and struck a tree. Lister died at a hospital.

PRATT, Kan. (AP) — A man shot by police earlier this month near the small Kansas town of Pratt has died.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says 38-year-old Rene Prieto died Wednesday in a Wichita hospital, where he had been treated since the shooting on Nov. 13. An autopsy is planned and the bureau says in a brief news release that the investigation continues.

The shooting happened after Pratt police officers responded to a report of a man waving a gun on a street outside a home.

Authorities say Prieto fired at one of the responding officers. Three officers returned fire.

No officers were hurt.

Pratt is a town of 6,700 residents in south-central Kansas, about 80 miles west of Wichita.

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials in the U.S. and Canada on Tuesday told people to avoid eating romaine lettuce because of a new E. coli outbreak.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it was working with officials in Canada on the outbreak, which has sickened 32 people in 11 states in the U.S. and 18 people in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

The strain identified is different than the one linked to romaine earlier this year , but it appears similar to one linked to leafy greens last year.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb says the agency didn’t have enough information to request suppliers issue a recall, but he said supermarkets and restaurants should withdraw romaine products until the contamination can be identified.

No deaths have been reported, but 13 of the people who became sick in the U.S. were hospitalized. The last reported illness was on Oct. 31.

Tracing the source of contaminated lettuce can be difficult because it’s often repackaged by middlemen, said Sarah Sorscher, deputy director of regulatory affairs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. That can mean the entire industry becomes implicated in outbreaks, even if not all products are contaminated.

Washing lettuce won’t ensure that contaminated lettuce is safe, Sorscher said.

Most E. coli bacteria are benign but some can cause illness, with symptoms including severe stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. Most people recover within a week, but some illnesses can last longer and be more severe.