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…
Author: KMAN Staff
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…
WICHITA — Authorities say two inmates were treated for minor smoke inhalation after a fire was started inside of a cell at the Sedgwick County Jail. The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that an inmate started the fire early Thursday. The release says deputies extinguished the fire, and the other inmates in the pod were moved because of the smoke. Authorities are investigating and plan to present the case to prosecutors for charges.
Arrested on the offense of theft by deception which was listed on a warrant was Lydia Butler, 27, of Manhattan. Butler was arrested while in the 3000 block of Tuttle Creek Blvd. on Thursday at approximately 2:55 PM. She was given a bond of $5,000. Officers with the Riley County Police Department arrested Johnathon Shuck, 33, of Manhattan while at 100 Courthouse Plaza on Thursday at approximately 10:10 AM. He was arrested on warrants with the offenses of probation violation (X2) and failure to appear. Original offenses for these warrants included possession of drug paraphernalia and driving while suspended. He was given…
TOPEKA — A Kansas judge will consider blocking election officials from tossing out potentially thousands of votes in state and local races from people who’ve registered without providing citizenship documents. Shawnee County District Judge Larry Hendricks was having a hearing Friday on a request from the American Civil Liberties Union to block a rule from Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. The hearing comes four days before Tuesday’s primary election. The ACLU filed a lawsuit earlier this month after a state board allowed Kobach to impose the rule. It applies to people who register to vote at state motor vehicle offices without…
Riley County commissioners approved an additional 19 days for improvements to be completed on the University Park sewer rehabilitation project Thursday. The project cost $2.6 million and 45 percent of the project is funded by a federal grant. Sam Johnson of BG Consultants told commissioners he hopes the project is complete before Christmas of this year. “We’re about 31 percent complete of the work,” Johnson said. University Park is a small community east of Riley right by the waters of Tuttle Creek Lake. The community was originally founded in the early 1960s after the dam was put in and set…
ABILENE — Baseball players will don uniforms from the 1860s and use equipment from the era during a game next week in Abilene. The Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home is sponsoring the Aug. 6 game. It will be played at Eisenhower Park, during the Central Kansas Free Fair, with rules from the Victorian era. The rules are different from today’s game. For example, outfielders can catch the ball on one bounce for an out and base stealing and sliding are prohibited. On the field will be the “Abilene Iron Cutters” and the “Wichita Bull Stockings” of the Cowtown Vintage Base…
TOPEKA — Children who fled from their mother several months after they were taken to sing for occupiers during the armed takeover of an Oregon wildlife refuge will remain in the custody of Kansas child welfare officials. The Kansas City Star reports that a judge cited abuse in ruling Wednesday that Odalis Sharp couldn’t get her children back. Sharp has 10 children, but several are over 18. The younger children were ordered to remain in state custody. Several of the children testified that their mother hit them with rods. They said she yelled and screamed Bible verses during the punishment. Sharp, of…