WICHITA — Republican Ron Estes and Democrat James Thompson squabbled over health care reform, Planned Parenthood funding and more during their first face-to-face encounter in the race to fill the seat vacated by CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Previously, Pompeo was the U.S. Representative for Kansas’s 4th congressional district from 2011–17. Their contentious forum Thursday in the heavily Republican district played out against the backdrop of GOP efforts in Washington, D.C., to repeal the nation’s health care law. Kansas has the nation’s first congressional race since President Donald Trump’s election. Estes says he supports the repeal and replacement of “Obamacare.” Thompson contends country…
Author: KMAN Staff
Today’s guests were State Representative Tom Phillips, Captain Carly Cooper and Susan Cullen with Irwin Army Community Hospital, U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, and Manhattan Deputy Fire Chief Ryan Almes.
TOPEKA — Kansas educators see plenty of problems with a new school funding plan being considered by legislators, and a big one is what they see as not enough new dollars. A special state House committee opened hearings Thursday on a bill that would create a new per-student formula for distributing aid to its 286 school districts. Republican legislators scrapped a per-student formula in 2015 in favor of stable “block grants” for districts. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the law violated the state constitution and gave lawmakers until June 30 to enact a new one. Several school…
Riley County commissioners approved the latest revision of a letter Thursday addressed to the state’s congressional delegation regarding the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility and the hefty price tag of emergency radio system upgrades for the county. The county is hoping the federal government will chip in on the cost of a new radio system because NBAF, once completed, would benefit from the county’s emergency services. The new radio system will cost the county anywhere from $6-9 million. County officials have said the current radio system has aged well past its use and continued narrowbanding regulations from the Federal Communications Commission has…
Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas is apologizing for his comment about the possibility the GOP health care bill would ease federal requirements on coverage of basic services like mammograms. In an interview with a reporter for Talking Points Memo on Thursday, Roberts was asked about potential changes in the health care bill. He said: “I wouldn’t want to lose my mammograms.” He later tweeted an apology: “I deeply regret my comments on a very important topic. Mammograms are essential to women’s health & I never intended to indicate otherwise.” In related news, House GOP leaders have delayed the vote…
EMPORIA — A former Kansas driving school instructor has been sentenced to three years of probation for having a 16-year-old student drive to a country road and inappropriately touching her. The Emporia Gazette reports that Robert Jones, of Emporia, also was ordered to register as a sex offender and repay the victim’s family for the driving classes when he was sentenced Wednesday for sexual battery. He faces a 12-month jail sentence if he violates the probation terms. The victim’s mother said her daughter wanted to die after the August incident and was hospitalized after taking two handfuls of Tylenol. She says…
Riley County Police officers responded to a report of an injury accident at Tuttle Creek Blvd. and North Seth Child Road Wednesday at approximately 4:15 PM. When officers arrived on scene, they found a Lincoln MKZ, driven by Max McAdams, 84, of Clay Center had collided with a GMC Yukon, driven by Daniel Mathies, 52, of Manhattan. McAdams was transported to Via Christi for treatment. No citations were issued at the scene of the accident.
Wamego City Commissioners Tuesday night unanimously approved the city’s annual comprehensive plan update. The matter had been tabled at the last meeting, but passed on a vote of 5-0 Tuesday night. The commission also renewed its property/casualty insurance with Copeland Insurance. This is the end of a third year contract with Copeland. Commissioners also heard about a pool survey that is recommended by the City Recreation Board. The recommendation comes from a pool consultant and the pool ad hoc committee. The paper form of the survey is active now, with the website for pool information and the survey to go live…
Guests on today’s edition of In Focus included: Blue Valley/Randolph USD 384 high school/middle school principal Marion Mazouch, Ryan and Lissa Semmel, as well as Kristina Schmidt, on the Midwest Open Geocaching Adventure, and President of the Pilot Club of Manhattan Julie Clark with Vice President Karen Schroeder. Mazouch: Ryan & Lissa Semmel, Schmidt: Clark & Schroeder:
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Authorities say a welder accidentally started a fire that spread from a suburban Kansas City apartment complex that was under construction to nearly two dozen homes. The Kansas City Star reports that Overland Park Fire Marshal Mark Sweany said Tuesday evening that the fire started Monday when a welder ignited wooden building materials at the multimillion-dollar CityPlace development. The blaze leveled one large, four-story apartment building and heavily damaged a second. Intense heat and the burning debris that rained down also spread the fire into a nearby neighborhood. Three firefighters were treated for minor injuries. Overland…