LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) The University of Kansas won’t give out employee raises while there’s still a chance for last-minute state budget cuts. Provost Jeff Vitter says the university budgeted midyear, merit-based salary increases for select employees that would comprise about 1 percent of the university’s salary budget. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Vitter wrote in a recent memo to university faculty and staff that extending the raises will depend on a few things, including avoiding any possible state budget cuts. He says the decision will be made later this semester. Vitter says many employees had asked about the raises. There’s…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Lobbyists have spent more than $500,000 entertaining Kansas lawmakers so far this year. Kansas law prohibits lobbyists from making campaign donations during the session and limits their spending to $100 on lawmaker gifts. But Kansas doesn’t limit the amount of food and drink a lobbyist can buy lawmakers. The Wichita Eagle reports lobbyists have spent more than $500,000 since January treating Kansas lawmakers to dinner, drinks and other entertainment. The Kansas Bankers Association spent the most on food and entertainment for lawmakers, at $26,135. The Kansas Chamber of Commerce was second with $20,139. Advocates for transparency say…
Guests on Monday’s In Focus were: Kansas Farm Bureau Board of Directors member Glenn Brunkow of Pottawatomie County Kerry Wefald, Agriculture Marketing Director with Kansas Department of Agriculture located in Manhattan
It was a somber autumn morning at the Riley County Courthouse as a Rossville man was sentenced to jail time after striking and killing a Manhattan bicyclist. On the evening of June 26, 2014, 32-year-old Derik Kesler was driving southbound on K-177 when he struck 49-year-old Mark Jilka from behind. Jilka, an avid bicyclist, was wearing reflective gear while riding on the shoulder of the highway. Reports say Kessler immediately called 911, but Jilka was pronounced dead at the scene. According to Kesler’s witness statement, he was using the GPS service on his phone at the time and did not see…
A Belvue man who requested a jury trial had a change of heart Monday morning. Christopher Arand, who is accused of murdering his uncle, Larry Arand, last November, entered a plea to premeditated first degree murder. The Pottawatomie County District Court also dismissed a cruelty to animals charge. Sentencing is set for Nov. 19 at 9 a.m. and he remains confined in jail. 70-year-old Larry Arand was found in his Belvue Home last November. An affidavit released at the time indicated Arand hit his uncle in the back of the head several times with brass knuckles before suffocating him with a…
Officers with the Riley County Police Department responded to a single vehicle collision near the intersection of Engineer Road and Harris Road on Oct. 2, at approximately 11:30 a.m. Police found a 2003 Ford Focus driven by a 16-year-old female (with an 18-year-old and 16-year-old passenger) that was involved in a collision when it lost control on gravel. The vehicle left the roadway and overturned landing on its roof leaving the driver to complain of back pain. The passengers were uninjured, however, all three occupants were transported to Via Christi Hospital by Riley County EMS. The driver was issued a…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)– Last year, the Kansas City Royals were the October darlings, winning their first eight postseason games to reach the World Series for the first time since before many of their players were born. They won’t be able to surprise anybody this year. They’ll be the favorites to repeat as American League champions. Salvador Perez added to his career-high home run total, Johnny Cueto pitched five solid innings and the Royals secured home-field advantage throughout the postseason by beating the Minnesota Twins 6-1 on Sunday. The Royals (95-67) posted their best record since the 1980 team went 97-65, besting…
CINCINNATI (AP)– Andy Dalton completes his first 10 passes and makes another big play. The defense allows nothing other than field goals. Through four games, the Bengals are still perfect. And awfully impressive, too. Dalton threw a 55-yard touchdown pass on the run — the type of throw he’s rarely made in the past — and Cincinnati remained unbeaten with a 36-21 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. The Bengals (4-0) matched the third-best start in franchise history, two wins shy of the club record. They’ve got the look of a team finally capable of not only reaching…
After historic rainfall drenched parts of South Carolina, flash flooding stranded hundreds, forcing several rescue attempts.
Israeli soldiers patrolled the West Bank, searching for suspected Palestinian gunmen who killed an Israeli couple. In the Jenin refugee camp, officials say several Palestinians were wounded in clashes when a suspect’s house was surrounded.