Manhattan City Commissioner Jerred McKee hosted a roundtable discussion on safe housing in the CivicPlus building Friday, Jan. 11. McKee invited a mix of safe housing and renters’ rights advocates as well as realtors, property owners and managers to discuss the topic in order to bring the issue forward at the next Manhattan City Commission briefing session. The group talked openly about their individual thoughts on the state of housing in the city in addition to related topics such as quality and affordable housing. McKee says he planned the meeting with the goal of building bridges, and that the talk…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA — Democrat Laura Kelly has been sworn in as the new governor in Republican-leaning Kansas. Kelly took the oath of office Monday on the south steps of the Statehouse in front of banners that declared, “Equality,” “Education” and “Opportunity.” She ran her campaign promising a bipartisan administration. She was a veteran state senator from Topeka who pitched herself to voters as a no-nonsense problem-solver who could work with Republicans. The GOP has supermajorities in the Legislature. Her victory last year drew national attention partly because she defeated Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. He’s a staunch conservative who touted an…
LAWRENCE — A grand jury process to investigate former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach will begin next week in Douglas County. District Court Judge Kay Huff said she anticipates selecting the jury and calling the first witness on Tuesday. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the grand jury is being called after a successful citizen petition drive. Steven Davis, who initiated the petition drive, alleged that Kobach’s office failed to properly register several voters in 2016 who applied for registration while renewing their driver’s licenses or filling out an online form. Kobach’s office has called Davis’ allegations “patently false.” The office…
Update 12 p.m. 1/23: The Red Cross exceeded their goals in Junction City and fell just short in Manhattan. According to Kristi Ingalls, the JC drive brought in 65 pints on day 1 and 59 on day 2 — exceeding their goal of 50 per day. Ingalls says the 124 pints collected there will be able to help up to 372 hospital patients. Manhattan’s drive brought in 174 pints — just 6 pints short of their 180 pint goal. Even so, Ingalls says that amount of blood will be able to help up to 522 patients. Original story: Amid a…
LAWRENCE — Authorities say a crash that killed a Kansas man also injured a University of Kansas football player and two others. The Kansas Highway Patrol says redshirt freshman safety Nicholas Caudle lost control of a pickup truck Friday on U.S. 59 in Jefferson County. The 20-year-old from Atchison then struck a car, killing the 81-year-old driver, Lee Crum, of Oskaloosa. Caudle, another student in the pickup and Crum’s passenger were taken to a hospital. KU football officials told the Lawrence Journal-World that they are “still learning the details” of the crash. Jefferson Co. Sheriff Jeff Herrig told WIBW that…
LIBERAL — A southwest Kansas teacher has been arrested after police investigated an allegation that she had sex with a student. Liberal police said in a news release that the 25-year-old teacher was arrested Sunday. School administrators asked police to investigate allegations that the teacher had sexual relations with an 18-year-old student on Saturday. The release says the teacher has resigned from the school. Her name was not released. An affidavit was forwarded to the Seward County attorney’s office seeking a charge of unlawful sexual relations.
WICHITA — A federal judge has delayed until late next month the fraud trial of Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O’Donnell. U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren set trial to begin Feb. 25 in Wichita after meeting with attorneys during a Monday status conference. A trial had been previously set for Jan. 29. Attorneys agreed the trial would likely take five days. The government has accused O’Donnell of fraudulently obtaining $10,500 from his campaign accounts for his personal use. An indictment charges him with 23 counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. The Wichita Republican was elected to the…
Monday’s program featured a conversation with Kansas State University President Richard Myers on funding, recruitment and the upcoming spring semester which starts Jan. 22. The second half of the show featured a conversation with Manhattan Public Library Development and Public Relations Coordinator Maddy Ogle and Jennifer Bergen with the library’s Programs and Children Services.
TOPEKA — Outgoing Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer has granted two pardons and commuted the sentence of an Emporia war veteran. WIBW reports Colyer on Friday reduced the sentence of Regina Carter to about 3.5 years. She was sentenced in 2016 to eight years in prison for drug possession with intent to deliver. Colyer noted Carter’s original sentence was longer than many others given to first-time offenders. He also noted Carter suffered PTSD after serving in Iraq and received an honorable discharge from the Army. Colyer also granted pardons to Chris Rickerson and Wandalen Thomas for felony drug possession convictions. Rickerson…
TOPEKA — Kansas Gov.-elect Laura Kelly is up in arms with the state’s troubled child welfare agency for spending public funds to undercut research linking welfare restrictions with a rise in the number of abused children in foster care. The Kansas City Star reports the Kansas Department for Children and Families recently released a $24,000 report questioning University of Kansas research that Kelly has cited. The KU research found that certain cash assistance restrictions in recent years have fueled abuse and foster care placements. Kelly has expressed a desire to roll back the welfare restrictions, but it’s unclear if she’ll…