ABILENE — Authorities in Kansas’ Dickinson County say an 18-month-old girl died after being found unresponsive in a sweltering car that the sheriff says she climbed into at the family’s rural home. Sheriff Gareth Hoffman tells the Topeka Capital-Journal that Olivia Ann Engstrom died Sunday at the family’s home seven miles northeast of Abilene. Hoffman says the toddler had last been seen a few hours before her body was found, and that the girl had been playing outside with her siblings when she somehow got into a parked car. The sheriff says it’s unclear how she managed to do that. Hoffman says…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA — Kansas is reporting that its tax collections fell nearly $13 million short of expectations in July. The Department of Revenue reported Monday that the state collected $425 million in taxes last month, compared with the state’s official projection of nearly $438 million. The shortfall was 2.9 percent. Tax collections have fallen short of expectations for 10 of the past 12 months. Kansas has struggled to balance its budget since Republican legislators slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 to stimulate the economy. A shortfall in tax collections in June prompted Brownback’s administration to delay $260 million in state aid…
A Manhattan man who shot and killed a 21-year-old K-State student who mistakenly approached his residence in December was sentenced Monday for criminal possession of a firearm and methamphetamine charges in the Riley County District Courthouse. Richard Lee Smith, 62, was sentenced to 40 months in the Department of Corrections. Chief Judge Meryl Wilson credited Smith for the 73 days already served. Wilson ordered 40 months for the drug charge and eight months for the weapon charge. Both charges are concurrent. Smith shot and killed Tyler Nelson of Manhattan after midnight on Dec. 11. Nelson had been in Aggieville earlier, was intoxicated and mistakenly went…
A Manhattan man was injured in an accident Monday morning on westbound K-18 seven miles northeast of I-70. Gilberto Rodriguez-Martinez, 31, of Manhattan reportedly was taken to Via Christi Hospital in Manhattan following the accident, reported at about 10:30 a.m. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Rodriguez-Martinez was westbound in a 2013 Ford F150 near mile marker 184 when a box of nails fell out of the vehicle. He reportedly made a U-turn through the median and double backed to the location, parking on the inside shoulder of eastbound K-18 near mile marker 184. Rodriguez-Martinez then exited the vehicle, crossed…
TOPEKA — Kansas voters will decide whether they want to alter the balance of power in the Legislature and replace two Republican congressmen in Tuesday’s primary election. The GOP and the Democratic Party are picking their nominees for the U.S. Senate, congressional seats, the Kansas Senate, the Kansas House and hundreds of county offices. Moderate Republicans are hoping to knock off conservative legislators in GOP contests, and U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp is facing a tough challenge from Roger Marshall, a Great Bend obstetrician, in the big 1st Congressional District of western and central Kansas. What to know about the election: KEY RACES…
The Riley County Police Department had its third and fourth of a series of eight DUI Saturation Patrols on the evenings of Friday July 29, 2016 and Saturday July 30, 2016. On Friday evening Officers working the Saturation Patrol stopped eighteen motorists. Of these, five were evaluated for DUI resulting in two drivers being arrested for DUI. An additional subject was arrested for Driving While Suspended. On Saturday evening Officers working the Saturation Patrol stopped twenty-two motorists. Of these, six were evaluated for DUI resulting in two being arrested for DUI. An additional subject was issued a citation for possession of Marijuana.…
SHAWNEE — Small-government Republican conservatives face a political backlash in Kansas because of the state’s budget problems and battles over education funding. The epicenter is in sprawling Kansas City suburbs where residents have cherished public schools for decades. But the Democrats and GOP moderates hoping to lessen the grip Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s allies have on the Legislature must contend with a political paradox in Johnson County and its affluent suburbs. Johnson County voters regularly approve bonds and property tax increases for schools yet elect conservative legislators who’ve backed the governor’s experiment in slashing state income taxes. More than two dozen conservative…
CARBONDALE — Carbon monoxide poisoning is suspected in the deaths of two people found in an eastern Kansas home. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the two bodies were found Friday in an unoccupied Carbondale home south of Topeka. The home had been undergoing work recently. Osage County Sheriff Laurie Dunn says law enforcement originally arrived at the home investigating a report of a deceased person, and when they arrived they found the second body. The victims were identified as 54-year-old Gregory Bayless and 51-year-old Troy Adkins. Both were from Topeka. Authorities said the two victims had been working at the home and…
TOPEKA — Kansas has taken steps to ask the federal government to certify part of its state mental hospital in Osawatomie. The state Department of Aging and Disability Service is seeking certification of 60 of the 206 beds at Osawatomie State Hospital, southwest of Kansas City. Tim Keck, interim KDADS secretary, said in an email to hospital staff Thursday he has sent the application to inform the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and KDHE that the hospital’s Adair Acute Care unit will be ready for certification on August 30. Kansas has been losing about $1 million a month in federal funds…
Primary elections are Tuesday and there is still time to take part in advanced voting in Riley County. Advanced voting is open Friday through 7 p.m. at the Riley County Clerk’s office and Saturday and Monday from 8 a.m. to noon. Advanced voting in Pottawatomie County is open 8 a.m. to noon on Monday. More information on advanced voting for Pottawatomie County can be found here. Polls will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ELECTION LINKS IN BLUE You can find your polling place here. More information on voting in Riley County can be found here. More election information…