TOPEKA — Ten more Kansas road projects are being postponed because of the state’s budget shortfall. Kansas Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Swartz told The Wichita Eagle on Wednesday that the department would be taking on more projects if “there wasn’t some uncertainty right now.” The state had planned to put 18 projects with estimated construction costs of around $24.7 million out to bid for work next month. That number has now been trimmed to eight projects that will cost $7.25 million. Last month, the department indefinitely postponed 24 road projects that would have cost $32 million. The state faces a…
Author: KMAN Staff
An injury accident was reported in the 200 block of Fort Riley Boulevard in Manhattan late Tuesday afternoon. Riley County Police indicate that at approximately 3:50 PM a Toyota passenger car, driven by Deborah Johnston, 62, of Manhattan, collided with a Dodge pickup driven by Kevin Bottom, 50, of Wamego. The impact then pushed Bottom’s vehicle into a Ford pickup driven by Darrell Schurle, 57, of Leonardville. Johnston was transported to Via Christi Hospital in Manhattan by EMS for treatment. A citation was issued to Johnston for the violation of inattentive driving.
Today’s guests on In focus were Rock Creek USD 323 Superintendent Kevin Logan and Wamego USD 320 new High School principal Dr Chad Brecheisen. Also on the program were Jamie Spikes and Judy Boye from the Cancer Companions program and Manhattan Fire Dept. Capt. Micah Hydeman. Logan and Brecheisen: Spikes and Boye:
Updated 12/16: WICHITA – – Prosecutors have added firearms charges against two of the Kansas men accused of plotting to bomb an apartment complex where Somali immigrants live in the meatpacking town of Garden City. The superseding indictment filed Thursday in U.S. District Court again charges Patrick Stein, Gavin Wright, and Curtis Allen with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction. Wright was formerly of Manhattan.Kari Schmidt, who represents Wright, says her client has no criminal history and is not prohibited from possessing firearms. The new indictment also charges Allen with illegally possessing firearms because of a misdemeanor domestic…
A proposed rental property licensing program aims to make rental housing safe for Manhattan’s transient population, but is the city willing to pay the costs associated with setting the program up? The issue of a rental licensing program is nothing new to the Manhattan city commission, but conversation still became heated last night as commissioners and property owners voiced frustrations at the stagnating topic. Assistant city manager Kiel Mangus returned to commissioners with findings from a focus group made up of city employees and property owners. The focus group set goals which include promoting safety of tenants as well as preserving property…
TOPEKA — The head of Kansas’ state pension system says lawmakers will have to contribute $177 million more funds next year to keep it on track. KPERS director Alan Conroy told the pension system’s board Monday in Topeka the figure represents a $61 million employer contribution increase called for in the fiscal year beginning in July 2017. The Topeka Capital-Journal says there also a $115 million payment due in June 2018 that lawmakers put off earlier this year. Conroy says the call for additional funding comes amid “challenges” with the state’s general fund. Those include a $350 million shortfall in the…
TOPEKA — The Kansas Senate’s top Republican says she and other lawmakers suspect Gov. Sam Brownback isn’t proposing a long-term fix for the state’s budget problems because he’s focused on getting a job in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. Senate President Susan Wagle of Wichita and other lawmakers have grown frustrated by Brownback’s decision to wait until January to remedy a $350 million budget shortfall for the current fiscal year. Wagle told reporters Monday that legislators “are very concerned the governor is looking for a ticket to D.C.” In the fiscal year that begins July 1, the state’s shortfall is expected to…
LAWRENCE — Elected leaders at the University of Kansas are voicing opposition to guns on campus. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the University Senate said it’s opposed “in the strongest possible terms” to campus carry in a resolution approved this month. The University Senate is made up of the Faculty Senate, Student Senate and Staff Senate. In Kansas, public universities starting in July must allow anyone 21 or older to have concealed firearms on campus in buildings that don’t have security measures, including metal detectors. But the option is widely considered cost-prohibitive for most campus buildings. Despite the opposition, the University…
While Russian hacking and recount efforts have engulfed the results of November’s presidential race and soured an election season that didn’t need any help in becoming more acidic, simplicity solved a dispute for Ogden Township seats Monday morning in the Riley County Commission Chambers. Popsicle sticks were drawn. “We are going to present to the (Riley County) Board of County Canvassers that they draw straws — i.e., Popsicle sticks — and those Popsicle sticks have the candidates names written on them,” county clerk Rich Vargo told the commission. No voting machines. No wrangling. No exit polls. Just the definitive will…
Kansas State University officials indicate a suspect in the sexual assault reported Dec. 9 at the college was immediately identified and removed from residence hall property at the university. That information came from a K-State Today alert at noon Tuesday. As KMAN reported Saturday, K-State received a report from a female student on Friday afternoon of a sexual assault that occurred late Sunday inside a campus residence hall. At that time the university said no one had been arrested in the case and that “conditions may exist that pose a continuing threat to the community.” University police advised the community to be aware…