TOPEKA — The huge Kansas City, Kansas, waterslide on which a 10-year-old boy recently died was built in a state known for its light regulation of amusement park rides. The company also lobbied legislators to help ensure that it remained responsible for its own inspections. Kansas mandates annual inspections of permanent rides but allows private inspectors to do the checks, rather than requiring state inspections. The state does only random audits of operators’ records, and there are no additional local safety regulations for the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City. Before Kansas considered imposing inspection requirements for amusement rides in 2008, a Schlitterbahn…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA — A government report is forecasting record corn and soybean harvests in Kansas. The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Friday that it expects corn production in the state of 660 million bushels. That is 14 percent higher than a year ago. Anticipated soybean production of 164 million bushels will also set a record if realized. That is 11 percent higher than a year ago. The agency also estimated the sorghum harvest to come in at 244 million bushels, down 13 percent from a year ago. Production of this year’s winter wheat crop is estimated at 462 million bushels, up 43 percent…
A Kansas Department of Corrections inmate serving time on Riley and Geary County convictions has been released. Anthony Juan Murphy, 51, was released last week and KDOC records indicate he is currently located in Riley County. Murphy was held on several charges, including a 2013 Riley County case involving aggravated sexual battery and other sexual related counts. Prior to that he had convictions for criminal threat and driving under the influence in Riley County and theft, burglary, and drug-related charges in Geary County. Murphy most recently was held at Lansing. Public comment sessions were held in January, with parole hearings…
Outpacing Melanoma is hosting a free skin cancer screening from 11am-2pm on Saturday, August 13 in the Chiropractic Family Health Center on 1213 Hylton Heights in Manhattan. It is a walk-in screening and open to the public. Outpacing Melanoma, a non-profit organization dedicated to funding research and promoting early detection, screening, and prevention in the fight against skin cancer, was founded in memory of Riley County native, Richard Klover, who died from melanoma at the age of 46. Dermatologists from the University of Kansas Medical Center will be on hand to provide the screenings. Assessments of facial sun damage and…
LEAVENWORTH — A preliminary hearing has been delayed for a former physician assistant accused of sexually abusing patients at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Leavenworth. Mark Wisner’s hearing on a charge of aggravated sexual battery was scheduled for Thursday but it was continued until Sept. 15. The Leavenworth Times reports Wisner also is charged in a second case. He’s charged with aggravated criminal sodomy and three misdemeanor charges of sexual battery. Those crimes allegedly occurred in 2014 while Wisner worked at the Eisenhower VA Medical Center. Wisner’s attorney, John Bryant, asked for the continuance for the first case because he…
HELENA, Okla. — The US Geological Survey reports a 4.0 magnitude earthquake has stuck northwestern Oklahoma. The USGS says the quake was recorded at 12:27 a.m., 12 miles northeast of Helena, about 85 miles northwest of Oklahoma City. There have been no reports of injury or damage. The USGS says the earthquake was widely felt in central Oklahoma and as far north as Junction City, Kansas. The number of magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes has skyrocketed in Oklahoma, from a few dozen in 2012 to more than 900 last year. Scientists have linked the increase to the underground disposal of…
Wamego’s Water’s True Value opened Friday with the “Back the Blue Event” which is in support of local law enforcement. During this event, all seven (7) of the Water’s True Value stores will be giving away 5,000 blue light bulbs to show that support, and encourage others to support their local law enforcement. Wamego’s Waters True Value has 360 blue light bulbs to give away while supply lasts. Other store locations participating are in Manhattan, Junction City, Salina, Great Bend, Emporia, and Dodge City.
A Riley man was found guilty of second-degree murder for the death of his 6-year-old daughter, who died in a DUI wreck late last year. Joshua Mall, 39, was in the Riley District Courthouse after an impromptu hearing was called Friday morning. Mall originally wasn’t due back in court until his jury trial scheduled for Aug. 23-26, but his defense waived that trial and instead asked Chief Judge Meryl Wilson for an immediate bench trial based on agreed stipulated facts. The state did not oppose. Wilson found Mall guilty on all counts against him, which included the second-degree murder charge, marijuana…
WICHITA — Kansas Board of Regents President Blake Flanders says Kansas is facing the prospect of a “brain drain” as fewer people who graduate from a Kansas college or university choose to stay in the state. It’s unclear whether people are leaving because the higher education system is failing to align itself with the Kansas economy, or whether the local economy is failing to offer the opportunities college graduates seek. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Flanders addressed the board Wednesday during its annual retreat, which was held in Wichita. Flanders said that from 2010 to 2014 the percentage of Kansas college graduates…
TOPEKA — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget chief is asking state agencies and university’s to study the prospect of a 5-percent funding cut. Brownback spokeswoman Eileen Hawley tells the Wichita Eagle that budget director Shawn Sullivan requested the information from state agencies. But Hawley stresses no decision has been made about whether cuts will be needed, saying it’s common to ask agencies to think about reduced budgets. A revenue-estimating group that includes Sullivan and the state’s economics next meet in November to determine the state’s revenue outlook. The group meets twice a year and has lowered revenue estimates each of the past…