State Representative Tom Phillips of Manhattan has filed for re-election to the Kansas House of Representatives. Phillips represents the 67th District, which includes the western portion of the City of Manhattan and parts of Riley County. “It’s been a real honor for me to represent the 67th district; and I’ve enjoyed this opportunity and I think I can continue to offer benefits to the constituency, so I’ve filed again for another two years and I’m looking forward to it,” Phillips said. Phillips is a lifelong Republican and former Manhattan Mayor and City Commissioner. In the House, he serves on the…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) State health officials say this year’s flu season is winding down in Kansas, and this season won’t be as severe as last year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports Kansas has gone from having widespread flu to regional flu. Robert Moser, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, says the flu was the direct cause of death of 25 people so far this year. That compares with 58 Kansans last year. The Wichita Eagle reports deaths with flu or pneumonia as a contributing factor also dropped, from 919 last season to 477 this…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Topeka couple and their new family are stranded near the violence that has erupted in Ukraine. Don and Lisa Jenkins went to the Ukranian capital of Kiev to bring home four children they have adopted. However, they can’t leave until they receive final paperwork so the children can receive their visas. The violence has closed down many government offices. Dan Jenkins told The Topeka Capital-Journal that he, his wife and the children are holed up in an apartment less than a mile from the violent protests. He says they can see smoke from the scene of…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A new report ranks the popularity of winter wheat varieties in Kansas. The National Agricultural Statistics Service said Thursday that “Everest” continued to be the leading wheat variety seeded in Kansas. It accounts for 14.3 percent of the planted acres for 2014, the same percent as the previous year. Developed by Kansas State University, Everest topped the list in the eastern two-thirds of the state. A wheat variety called TAM 111 is the second most popular variety with 11.6 percent of the acreage. It is the leading variety planted in western Kansas. In third place was the…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas Senate committee wants to limit the fees charged by state and local agencies when they when fulfill requests to produce public records. The Federal and State Affairs Committee approved a records-fee bill on a voice vote Thursday, sending the measure to the full Senate for debate. The state’s Open Records Act says agency fees must be reasonable, but agencies still can demand hundreds of dollars. The bill says that if a request can be met in less than an hour of staff time or less than 25 pages, the documents are to be provided free…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas legislators are considering changes in a state energy regulation to balance the interests of utility companies with those who use renewable fuel sources. At issue is a practice known as net metering, in which individuals or businesses generate their own electricity and sell excess power to a utility company. During periods of peak demand, credits earned from selling excess power can be used to offset the cost of higher utility bills, such as during summer months. Senate Utilities Committee Chairman Pat Apple said Thursday lawmakers want to make sure that utility customers aren’t subsidizing the cost…
Last year, his sights were set locally, running for the Manhattan City Commission, but this year, Dan Hogan is seeking the Libertarian nomination for the Kansas House of Representatives for the 67th District. Working as a conductor for the Union Pacific Railroad, Hogan states, in a press release issued Friday, “I have seen and done a lot in my life and learned much from the experiences that it has offered. No matter where I have gone, what I have done, or who I have met, the one major lesson I have taken from these experiences is that none of us…
On today’s InFocus, Cathy talks with State Senator Tom Phillips of Manhattan, followed by Jamie Ramsey, Director at the Riley County Senior Service Center, then Ginny Barnard, Riley County Extension Health, Nutrition, Food Safety agent, and ending with April Mason, Kansas State University Provost.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A bill that would have eased some restrictions on spanking will not get a hearing by a Kansas House committee. Rep. John Rubin’s office said Wednesday the House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee will not consider the bill. Rubin is the committee’s chairman. The bill, introduced by Rep. Gail Finney, a Democrat from Wichita, spelled out the types of corporal punishment that were allowed in the state. It would have let parents, teachers and other caregivers to hit children hard enough to leave marks or bruising. The Wichita Eagle reports Finney says on her website that she…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Federal prosecutors have indicted a California woman accused of pretending to be pregnant with twins to scam prospective adoptive parents in Kansas. An indictment filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Kansas charges Chrystal M. Rippey with wire fraud and mail fraud. Prosecutors say a Shawnee couple wired $22,225 to an escrow account in Temecula, Calif., set up by an adoption agency for Rippey’s living expenses. The mail fraud count stems from the mailing of a birth mother packet sent from an Overland Park adoption agency to the woman. Court records do not name a defense attorney.…