TOPEKA — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback says there’s no reason for a financially troubled Topeka hospital to close because a California nonprofit group is interested in taking it over. Brownback told reporters Wednesday that Prime Healthcare Foundation is a legitimate potential buyer for the 378-bed St. Francis Health hospital in Topeka. The governor said other options for keeping St. Francis open could emerge. The rival Topeka-area Stormont Vail Health system also has expressed an interest. The owner of St. Francis is Denver-based SCL Health. It has said it will stop operating St. Francis this summer whether it has a buyer or…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA — Former Kansas state Sen. Jake LaTurner has been sworn in as the new state treasurer. LaTurner took the oath of office Wednesday from Kansas Supreme Court Justice Caleb Stegall in a ceremony at the Statehouse. Dozens of family, friends and legislative and political colleagues watched. The 29-year-old Pittsburg Republican was appointed last week by GOP Gov. Sam Brownback to replace former Treasurer Ron Estes. The 60-year-old Estes won a special congressional election in the 4th District in south-central Kansas after fellow Republican Mike Pompeo was appointed CIA director. LaTurner will serve the remainder of Estes’ four-year term as treasurer…
On Tuesday, May 2, weather permitting, a 1.5-inch mill and overlay project will begin on a 5.6-mile section of K-113 from K-18 to U.S. 24 in Manhattan. Work will begin on the south end of the project just north of the K-18 Diverging Diamond Interchange Project underway and move north to U.S. 24. Work will take place during daylight hours, Monday through Friday, with some occasional Saturday work. Beginning on Tuesday, May 2, northbound and southbound K-113 will be reduced to one open lane each direction for a few miles at a time on the four-lane portion. Traffic will be…
TOPEKA — Top Republican lawmakers in Kansas are working on new proposals for raising income taxes to fix the state budget that include a plan similar to one GOP Gov. Sam Brownback vetoed. Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning said Wednesday that fellow GOP senators are drafting a plan to retain separate rates for lower- and upper-income earners. He said another plan would return Kansas to three tax rates. The governor vetoed a bill in February that would have done the same thing. Brownback told reporters Wednesday that he still likes the idea of a single rate for all filers. GOP lawmakers…
It doesn’t happen very often, but a Manhattan man originally sentenced for felony battery of a county employee was resentenced in Riley County District Court earlier this week on a misdemeanor battery charge. As KMAN reported earlier this month, the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed a Kansas Court of Appeals decision in the case, involving the lower district court’s previous conviction in a case involving Tracey Toliver. Toliver’s original case occurred in February of 2014, with Toliver spitting at a law enforcement officer while in a correctional facility. The 13 page Supreme Court document dealt with the statutory interpretation regarding the definition…
Today’s guests on In Focus included Blue Valley/Randolph USD 384 Superintendent Brady Burton and Riley County USD 378 Superintendent Cliff Williams, Jan Carlson with the K-State Global Campus and Program Coordinator in the Conferences and Noncredit Programs Office, and Natasha Hunter with Pottawatomie County Emergency Management. Burton & Williams: Carlson: Hunter:
Jonathan Miles, 24, of Overland Park, was arrested while at the Riley County Police Department yesterday at approximately 1:00 PM. Miles was arrested on a Manhattan Municipal Court warrant for failure to appear. Miles’ bond was set at $5,000.00, causing him to remain confined at the time of this report. Officers filed a report for vehicle burglary in the 200 block of Hunter Pl. yesterday afternoon. Officers listed Justin Hoyt, 26, of Manhattan as the victim when he reported that an unknown suspect entered his vehicle and took a rifle and a Canon digital camera. The total loss associated with…
The City of Manhattan may update an ordinance that regulates the amount of grease and food waste flowing into it’s wastewater systems. At Tuesday night’s city commission work session, assistant city planner Randy DeWitt updated commissioners on the Grease Management Permit Program Ordinance that has now been in effect for five years. While coming up with proposed updates to the ordinance, DeWitt kept three goals in mind: Simplify the permit renewal process for both food service establishments (FSE) and City staff; Improve the reliability/functionality of the devices through improved inspection procedures and requirements; Increase the accountability of the FSE with additional…
WICHITA — Wichita Eagle publisher and president Roy Heatherly is leaving the company as part of a larger restructuring by the McClatchy Co. Tony Berg, regional publisher for McClatchy’s Midwest Division, announced Monday that Heatherly’s last day will be May 5. Heatherly joined The Eagle in June 2015. Berg said he will hire a general manager to lead The Eagle and its sales operations. Berg told employees the McClatchy reorganization is designed to streamline the company’s operations and refocus resources as it works to increase the pace of its digital transition. The Eagle reports McClatchy recently announced a regional publishing structure…
Today’s guests were Pottawatomie County Commisioner Dee McKee and former Kansas governor John Carlin. Dee McKee; John Carlin: