TOPEKA — The Kansas Supreme Court will hear arguments March 16 in a case challenging a law that bans a common second-trimester abortion procedure. The Lawrence Journal-World reports two doctors have challenged a 2015 law that bans doctors from using forceps, tongs or other medical implements to dismember a fetus in the womb to complete an abortion. A Shawnee County judge ruled the Kansas Constitution protects abortion rights independently of the U.S. Constitution and temporarily blocked the ban’s enforcement. An appeals court split on the issue, leaving the ban in place. If the state Supreme Court agrees that the state…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is asking the Legislature to give him authority to bar potentially tens of thousands of people from casting votes in state or local races. The Lawrence Journal World reported the Republican asked a Senate committee Tuesday for legislation giving him power to hold “bifurcated” elections in Kansas. Federal courts have provisionally held Kansas cannot require for federal elections documents such a birth certificate or U.S. passport from people who register at motor vehicle or with a national voter registration form. State courts have ruled Kobach has no authority to throw out votes cast…
Wamego City Commissioners reorganized Tuesday night, with Bill Ditto now serving as Mayor. Robert Morris was selected as Mayor Pro Tem. The Tuesday night meeting was also Commissioner Richard Weixelman’s first–he is filling the vacancy left by Victor Enns. Commissioners also heard from Wamego Hospital officials who hope to move the Senior Behavioral Health Program currently housed in a modular unit to a home like structure on land to the west of the hospital facility. Plans are to have the structure look more like a house than an institutional facility. After several meetings of discussion and work, an ordinance regarding the final plat…
Mark Hecker, 21, was arrested while at the Riley County Police Department yesterday evening. Hecker was arrested on a Pottawatomie County District Court warrant for failure to appear. Hecker was given no bond and was not confined at the time of this report. Officers filed a report for theft by deception in the 100 block of E. Bluemont Ave. yesterday evening. Officers listed Ryann Dupre, 35, of Ogden, and Tobias Dupre, 29, of Ogden, when they reported they were scammed out of $1,400.00 when they attempted to rent a residence through Craigslist. There is no suspect at this time. Officers…
TOPEKA — Authorities say a Topeka man has been arrested after his father was killed and another person was wounded in an exchange of gunfire. Police said in a news release that gunfire erupted Tuesday afternoon after the 45-year-old father and his 21-year-old son threatened and attempted to rob another man. The release said the father was struck by multiple rounds of gunfire and died at a hospital. The victim of the attempted robbery was in “stable and non-life threatening condition” at a Topeka hospital. The release said the father and son had a “history of past disputes” with the…
OLATHE — A 45-year-old Olathe woman was placed on probation for stealing more than $34,000 from the parent teacher organization of an Overland Park middle school. Christine Glover was sentenced Monday for the theft from the organization at Pleasant Ridge Middle School in the Blue Valley School District. The thefts occurred while Glover was treasurer of the parent-teacher group between August 2014 and February 2016. She pleaded guilty in November to felony theft. The Kansas City Star reports Glover has made restitution of $34,660. She also was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and write an apology letter. Glover…
City Commissioners first discussed a property that may be deemed to be unsafe and dangerous on El Paso Lane. The city has been trying for over a year to reach out to the owner of the property to discuss options for future use of the building to no avail. Now, commissioners may take matters into their own hands. To rectify the situation Commissioners may approve demolishing the building if it is determined to be an unsafe or dangerous structure while also charging the property owner the costs associated with doing so. There will be a public hearing on March 7th, where all facts…
WICHITA — More than 7,400 acres of Kansas grasslands have been included in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s program for grasslands conservation. The Wichita Eagle reports that in the voluntary Grasslands Conservation Reserve Program, grasslands threatened by either development or conversion to row crops are instead maintained as livestock grazing areas. About 200,000 of the more than 300,000 total acres accepted into the program were offered by what the USDA deems small-scale livestock operations. Those operations would have 100 or fewer head of cattle, and can offer up to 200 acres of grasslands per farm. According to a USDA statement, participants…
TOPEKA — The Kansas Board of Regents will ask the legislature to restore $30 million in funding that was cut last year. Regents CEO and President Blake Flanders says the board would like to see state funding at least stabilize. In 2012, tuition became a larger source of university revenue than state general fund support. Flanders noted the shift in a presentation Tuesday on the board’s long-term goals to the Senate Education Committee. Regents’ goals include increasing educational attainment, aligning the higher education system with the needs of the economy and ensuring university excellence. Flanders says increasing attainment is necessary because…
It’s unusual for a non-elected person to be selected to serve as the Riley County Law Board Chair, and perhaps a first that both the chair and vice-chair are non-elected, but that’s just what happened at Tuesday’s meeting. Craig Beardsley, who has served on the board for two years, is the new chair and new board member Be Etta Stoney will be the new vice chair once she’s sworn in later. While that was the decision of the majority of the board, board member Usha Reddi, who also serves as Manhattan Mayor, voted against the move, and voiced some of her concerns, indicating…