TOPEKA — Microbreweries in Kansas could start producing hard cider and would be allowed to brew more beer than they can now under bills approved by the state Senate. Senators approved two measures Tuesday on 40-0 votes, sending them to the House. Both bills are designed to keep the state’s microbrewery industry growing. One measure would allow a microbrewery to produce up to 60,000 barrels of beer a year, double the current limit. The other bill would allow a microbrewery to produce hard cider from apples or pears that is less than 8.5 percent alcohol by volume. State law current…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA — Kansas senators have voted to overhaul the juvenile justice system by offering community-based programs instead of jail for low-risk juvenile offenders. The measure will close group homes for juvenile offenders in July 2018. Youth who violate probation will be referred to community-based programs that allow them to stay in homes with their families. The Senate voted 38-2 in favor of the bill Tuesday, sending it to the House for further consideration. Republican Sen. Greg Smith, of Overland Park, says the $75.6 million in savings over five years will be redirected to community-based programs such as anger management and…
TOPEKA — Kansas would increase its vehicle registration fees to help its Highway Patrol put more troopers on the state’s highways under a bill the state Senate approved. The Senate on Tuesday voted 24-14 for a measure that boosts the fee for each vehicle’s registration by $3.25. The measure goes next to the House. Of the increase, $2 will go to the patrol and $1.25 to the state’s center in Hutchinson for training law enforcement officers. The measure would allow the patrol to hire an additional 75 troopers. Thirty-five of the state’s 105 counties have no assigned trooper, and the…
GREAT BEND — Authorities are investigating assault allegations involving members of a Kansas high school swim team. The Saline County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a report that a Great Bend High School student was assaulted on a bus as the school’s swim team returned from a recent competition. That incident reportedly occurred three days before another incident under investigation by the Ellsworth County Sheriff’s Department that reportedly occurred Feb. 6 as the swim team returned from a Manhattan meet. The incidents have sparked protests at school district offices by family members and students who question the district’s response to the…
TOPEKA – An indictment unsealed in federal court Wednesday charges one more defendant with the kidnapping and killing of a Junction City woman, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said. Shantrell D. Woody, 26, of Fort Riley, is charged with one count of kidnapping resulting in death. Three other defendants charged previously with the same count were 26-year-old Larry L. Anderson, 23-year-old Marryssa M. Middleton and 24-year-old Drexel A. Woody. All three are being held in the Geary County Jail. The body of Amanda Clemons, 24, of Junction City, was found in February 2014 in Geary County. The indictment alleges that on…
Tuesday’s guests were Pottawatomie County Administrator Robert Reece and Public Works Director Peter Clark: Riley County Farm Bureau with Mary Mertz and Melissa Wahl: Make-A-Wish Foundation with Abby Wempe:
TOPEKA — The Kansas Senate is debating a conservative Republican’s bill to create a new pilot program to have couples who have stable marriages and don’t use tobacco or alcohol to serve as foster parents. The measure from Republican Sen. Forrest Knox of Altoona being debated Monday night would create a new class of foster homes for abused and neglected children known as CARE families. Couples would have to have been legally married for at least seven years. At least one spouse could not work outside the home. No one in the home could use tobacco, and there could be no alcohol…
Joseph Lemon, 22, of Topeka, Kansas was arrested in Shawnee County, Kansas on February 19, 2016 at approximately 9:00 PM. Lemon was arrested on a warrant for failure to appear with an original offense of driving while suspended or revoked. He was given a bond of $6,000.00 and has since bonded out of jail and is no longer confined on this warrant. Thomas Burdick, 51, of Manhattan was arrested on February 22, 2016 at approximately 4:35 PM while at the Riley County Police Department. Burdick was arrested on a warrant for failure to appear and was given “no bond.”…
More than 60 soldiers returned home to Fort Riley on Tuesday. Members of the First Sustainment Brigade returned after nine months in Kuwait. The brigade was tasked with planning, oversight and resources for troops stationed in five countries. At least 200 brigade soldiers remain in Kuwait and are scheduled to return home by the end of March. Video from the ceremony can be found here: ‘Durable’ brigade hosts welcome-home ceremony
Members of the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Kansas State are mourning the loss of a faculty member. Professor Tom Gould died Feb. 14 following a lengthy fight with brain cancer. Gould started his K-State career in 1998, becoming a full professor in 2013. According to a statement made by the university, a memorial celebration in Gould’s honor is being planned.