WICHITA — An audit has found some Kansas law enforcement agencies are taking advantage of vague state forfeiture laws to use those proceeds to pay for salaries and other apparent operating expenses. The practice creates an incentive for increased seizures, especially in times when agency budgets are tight. Kansas is among a few states that do not require a person be convicted of a crime before their property can be forfeited. The American Civil Liberties Union called the findings of the audit, which was released last month, “deeply, deeply troubling.” Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police lobbyist Ed Klumpp countered the audit…
Author: KMAN Staff
After roughly 20 years of discussion and speculation, Manhattan Christian College broke ground on its new on-campus activity center. The center will serve as the home for Thunder athletics, as well as a home for intramural athletics and use as an event space. The center is a part of the three-part Next Generation campaign that MCC launched in 2015, which highlighted construction of the center as one of three primary goals in the campaign. Construction of the center is the largest expenditure of the program, with construction costs estimated at $3.6 million. “We’ve never had a building project this large,”…
BUSHTON — Authorities say a Kansas pilot has been hurt in a small plane crash in central Kansas. Kansas Highway Patrol Master Trooper Dave Jacobs says 51-year-old Bradley Fitchett, of Ellsworth, was using a small agricultural aircraft to spray pesticide on a field south of Bushton when the plane developed an engine problem Thursday. The Hays Post says Fitchett attempted to make an emergency landing when the plane flipped. The pilot was transported to Great Bend hospital and then transferred to a Wichita hospital. Jacobs says Fitchett was wearing a helmet that was crushed in two places. Jacobs says it…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Two Kansas City, Missouri, men have been charged with robbing a bank on the Kansas side of the metropolitan area. The U.S. attorney’s office says 57-year-old Terry Lovelady and 42-year-old Chad English were charged Thursday in federal court. Lovelady is accused in the criminal complaint of robbing a Leawood branch of the Central Bank of the Midwest on Wednesday. The complaint says English drove the getaway car during a chase that ended when the vehicle jumped a curb, rolled down a hill and came to a stop in a St. Joseph Medical Center parking lot. The…
After months of stakeholder meetings and data gathering, a company that has been studying the impact of downsizing at Fort Riley on the area community shared its findings Friday in Manhattan. The Matrix Design group was hired to conduct the study as part of a grant obtained by the Flint Hills Regional Council. Matrix Executive Associate Charlie Perham spoke with the group about the importance of state level advocacy, a talent pipeline, leverage through an economic development district designation, regionalism, and economic diversification. He tells KMAN “We’re in the beginning stages of the focus area of the recommendations, “…
Kristin Cottam has been named director of the Mercy Community Health Foundation, which supports programs benefitting associates and patients of Via Christi Hospital in Manhattan. Cottam has served as interim director since June. Cottam, who has more than 15 years of experience in community outreach and public health education, returns to Manhattan after most recently serving as the Wamego Hospital Foundation manager at Wamego Health Center. Prior to her time in Wamego, Cottam served as the community education coordinator for Via Christi Hospital, a member of Ascension, the nation’s largest Catholic and nonprofit health system. “I’m really excited to…
Today’s guest on In Focus was Riley County Police Director Brad Schoen.
Officers with the Riley County Police Department arrested Patricia Price, 38, of Randolph, Kansas on August 25, 2016 at approximately 3:40 PM. Price was arrested on the offense of parole violation (Junction City, Kansas Parole Office) and given “no bond.” At the time of this report she was confined at the time of the report.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas has formed a task force to study how state agencies can use drones in their operations. The Kansas Department of Transportation said in a news release Wednesday that the Unmanned Aerial Systems Joint Task Force will also consider how state government can help the private sector use drones. Task force members are Josh Row, assistant secretary of Agriculture; Billy Brown, agribusiness development coordinator for the Agriculture Department; Matt Keith, director of research for the Department of Commerce; Chris Tymeson, chief counsel for the Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism; Frank Papish, assistant director of the KBI;…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The lead elephant in the 1980s film “Smokey and the Bandit 2” is among two new pachyderms at the Topeka Zoo. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the 58-year-old Asian elephant named Cora arrived Wednesday. She was joined by her longtime companion, Shannon, a 34-year-old African elephant. Topeka Zoo director Brendan Wiley says the pair quickly took to exploring after being unloaded. Currently, they reside in a special holding area where they’ll be quarantined for a few weeks and have their health evaluated. Within a few weeks, they will join the zoo’s two other elephants 46-year-old Tembo and…