TOPEKA — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has signed a state budget for the next two years that will use a $1.2 billion income tax increase to fund government and schools, but he complained about “excessive spending.” Brownback signed the $15.6 billion budget bill on Sunday. It will provide raises of up to 5 percent to state workers who haven’t had any in recent years. He vetoed two items that imposed some limits on programs for people with disabilities and mental health programs. Lawmakers will have a chance to override those vetoes Monday. Brownback already had signed a separate plan to…
Author: KMAN Staff
A fatal accident was reported in Pottawatomie County Saturday evening. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Alex Blow, 49, of Havensville died in the accident on Havensville Road just west of Angus Road. Blow was driving a Polaris ATV westbound when it entered a south ditch and struck a power pole. The accident was reported at 6:41 Saturday night.
It was a special second birthday for Sawyer Baldwin of Manhattan. Earlier this week Sawyer’s Mom Ashley Baldwin put out a notice to motorcycle riders in the area that her son was obsessed with motorcycles, loving the sound pipes make. She added Sawyer is “non-verbal with a sensory processing disorder as well as lots of red flags for Autism.” Ashley Baldwin asked motorcycle riders out for a Sunday ride to PLEASE ride by the Blue Earth Plaza splash park between one and three p.m. and let their throttles roll back as that was where Sawyer’s birthday party would be. And…
It was difficult to gauge Saturday morning where U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) stood on the Senate healthcare bill that was finally released to the public — and apparently to Moran himself — late Thursday afternoon. For the most part, Moran reiterated remarks he made on the draft of the legislation through a statement on his YouTube channel Thursday. But it doesn’t seem like his uneasiness expressed with the bill then has faded since. “As a Kansan — and particularly as a rural Kansan — keeping our hospital doors open and physicians in our communities… does this legislation increase the…
WICHITA — A judge has fined Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach $1,000 for misleading the court about the contents of materials he was photographed taking into a November meeting with then President-elect Donald Trump. The ruling Friday by U.S. Magistrate Judge James O’Hara also requires Kobach to submit to a deposition by the American Civil Liberties Union about that document as well as a separate draft amendment to the National Voter Registration Act. The ruling stops short of ordering the materials be made public as the ACLU had requested. But O’Hara says they would become a judicial record if…
Two men were arrested early Friday morning in connection with a case of aggravated battery at Country Stampede. Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Deputies received reports of a 23-year-old male who suffered a head injury during an altercation in the campground area at Tuttle Creek State Park. The victim was transported by helicopter to a Topeka hospital, and his condition is not presently known. Benjamin Rowe, 22, of Mound City, and Chance Stevenson, 21, of Roeland Park, remain in the Pottawatomie County Jail with bonds pending.
More changes are coming at the K-18 and K-113 intersection where a diverging diamond interchange is being constructed. On Tuesday, the construction project will shift to the second phase of a five phase construction process. Traffic will be shifted onto the westernmost lanes as construction begins on the eastern lanes of Seth Child Road.. One lane each of northbound and southbound traffic will remain through the work area. Access to Allison Avenue from Seth Child Road remains closed, but Allison Avenue remains open to through traffic.
FORT RILEY — Fort Riley will honor its outgoing acting senior commander of the First Infantry Division at a ceremony on Tuesday afternoon. Brigadier General Patrick Frank assumed his duties at Fort Riley last October. He will next serve as the deputy commanding general of the Army Cadet Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Taking his place as the acting senior commander is Brigadier General William Turner, deputy commanding general for sustainment for the Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command – Operation Inherent Resolve, Baghdad. Frank previously served as the deputy commanding general for support for the 1st Infantry Division, executive officer to…
Recruits with the Manhattan Fire Department continued their training yesterday with the Rapid Intervention Team (RIT). 13 recruits must use all the skills they have learned during their five weeks of training, to complete this course. “The goal of the exercise is to make it as real as possible,” said Battalion Chief Mark Whitehair,” We need the recruits to build up that teamwork to get the job done.” Whitehair said the recruits must find and rescue a downed firefighter, which is a test dummy in this situation, while maneuvering through smoke and tight corners. “They’ve got smoke machines making the entire…
OLATHE — A GOP leader in a largely white Kansas City suburb says the party “didn’t mean anything” by promoting a picnic with the slogan “Olathe Lives Matter!” and a rainbow font. The Kansas City Star reports that Olathe Republican Party chairman David Lightner says each year the party attempts to include a humorous line in its invitations and that he’s sorry “if it was taken the wrong way.” He says, “Black lives matter. White lives matter. All lives matter.” Olathe is more than 80 percent white. Lightner also added that the use of rainbow font wasn’t intended to be…