TOPEKA — Topeka’s police chief plans to resign at the start of next year to move into a full-time position with the Kansas National Guard. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that Chief James Brown announced Monday that he would step down. His last day with the city will be Jan. 1, and he’ll start his full-time position with the Guard on Jan. 2. Brown has been police chief since October 2014. Since August 2015, he’s been the Guard’s command chief master sergeant, making him its senior enlisted leader. The job becomes full-time next year. Topeka Mayor Larry Wolgast praised Brown for having…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA — Two Kansas men accused of federal firearms violations are scheduled for trial this week in a case that indirectly involves a Kansas law seeking to prevent federal prosecution of anyone owning firearms made, sold and kept in the state. Shane Cox and Jeremy Kettler’s trial is scheduled to start Tuesday in federal court in Wichita. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Cox, owner of Tough Guys gun store in Chanute, is charged with illegally making and marketing firearms, specifically sound suppressors. Kettler bought a silencer from Cox. The men’s attorneys argued the charges should be dismissed because the men believed…
A large voter turnout is expected Tuesday in Riley County. County clerk Rich Vargo told county commissioners Monday morning advance voting has topped 8,000 submitted ballots and may reach over 9,000 when final advance voting numbers are known for Tuesday’s general election. That easily tops the 2012 presidential election, where over 6,300 advance voting ballots were cast. Advance voting closed Monday at noon. “Friday was just crazy,” Vargo said. “People were coming constantly through 7 p.m. on a Friday, which kind of surprised me. “Staff was working here on Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon. There was a steady flow…
CUSHING, Okla. — A magnitude 5.3 earthquake has shaken central Oklahoma. The U.S. Geological Survey reported the earthquake struck at 7:44 p.m. CST, with an epicenter located one mile west of Cushing, about 50 miles northeast of Oklahoma City. The quake was felt as far away as Kansas City, Missouri, and Little Rock, Arkansas. The Cushing Police Department reported “quite of bit of damage” from the earthquake but details were not immediately available. A 4.5 magnitude earthquake struck the northern part of Oklahoma last week, with an epicenter near Pawnee. Scientists have linked Oklahoma’s sharp increase in earthquakes to the…
SILVER LAKE — The Kansas Highway Patrol says a Junction City man has died after being struck while trying to change a tire on Interstate 70. The patrol says 29-year-old Anthony Espinosa died after he was hit late Friday on the interstate. The patrol says Espinosa was working on the disabled vehicle on the inside shoulder of I-70’s westbound lanes in the Silver Lake area when he was hit. Another man helping him was unhurt. The Topeka Capital Journal reports that the driver of a pickup that hit the victim fled the scene.
An Alta Vista man is in the hospital after an early morning wreck on I-70 in Geary County on Sunday. At approximately 1:18 a.m., 47-year-old Frederick Green lost control of his 1999 Pontiac as he was eastbound on I-70 just a mile west of the US-77 junction. Green lost control of his vehicle, entered the center median and vaulted across the westbound lane before landing in the opposite ditch. It is unclear whether or not Green was wearing his seatbelt. He was transported to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita to be treated for his injuries. On Saturday morning, a 10-year-old…
In a season that has involved more than a handful of missed opportunities for the Kansas State football team, this one will sting the longest. Searching for their first win over a ranked team since 2014, K-State let a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter slip away Saturday afternoon in a 43-37 loss to No. 18 Oklahoma State. “We were inconsistent in the latter half of the ball game,” K-State coach Bill Snyder said. “We didn’t do all the things we needed to do. Oklahoma State had something to do with that, and the rest is on our shoulders.” The…
Voters in Riley County have been active in advanced voting leading up to Tuesday’s general election. County Clerk Rich Vargo said as of 8 a.m. on Saturday that more than 8,000 voters have already cast their ballots. Advanced voting was open until noon on Saturday. Vargo said there are 33,917 registered voters in the county. The clerk’s office is expecting at least a 70% voter turnout. In the 2012 general election, Vargo said Riley County had a 62% voter turnout and just over 6,333 advance voting ballots cast.
HUTCHINSON — Three people have been hurt in an industrial accident at a steel fabrication supplier in Kansas. The Reno County Sheriff’s Office says a pressurized water tank exploded Thursday at Wifco Steel Products northeast of Hutchinson. The Hutchinson News reports that the most seriously injured man was in critical condition at a Wichita hospital. A second man was in fair condition at a Wichita hospital, while the third man was treated at a Hutchinson hospital and released. The company didn’t immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press early Friday seeking comment.
WICHITA — A judge has permanently blocked a dual voter registration system in Kansas. Shawnee County Judge Larry Hendricks ruling Friday has no immediate impact on next week’s election because the judge had already temporarily prohibited Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach from implementing it. The American Civil Liberties Union challenged a move by Kobach to set up a system which allowed some Kansans to vote in federal races, but not in state and local races. Hendricks said Kobach “simply lacks the authority” to create the two-tiered system. The secretary of state’s office did not immediately respond to a request…