WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The U.S. Agriculture Department is estimating the total value of Kansas crop production last year at $7.79 billion, a drop of 4 percent from 2012. The agency’s National Agricultural Statistics Service calculates crop values by multiplying the average marketing price by the amount of production in each state. Friday’s report said Kansas wheat production in 2013 was valued at $2.22 billion, down 22 percent from the previous year. The value of Kansas corn produced for grain was pegged at $2.31 billion last year, a drop of 13 percent. Soybean values for 2013 were estimated at $1.59 billion,…
Author: KMAN Staff
Three suspects facing charges involving the recent death of a Junction City woman will be heading to more initial hearings next week. 25-year-old Larry Anderson, 23-year-old Drexel Woody, and 22-year-old Marryssa Middleton are each being held on a $1,000,000 bond by the Geary County Sheriff’s office for their alleged connections to the death of 24-year-old Amanda Clemons. The next hearing is set to begin on the 20th of February in Geary County District Court. According to police reports a person matching Clemons’s description was reported missing after witnesses say she was placed into a silver vehicle occupied by four other…
SALINA, Kan. (AP) Officials at Salina Regional Airport are investigating the belly landing of a small commuter plane with only the pilot and co-pilot on board. Kansas Public Radio reports the SeaPort Airlines Pilatus PC-12 turboprop plane came down with its landing gear up shortly after 10 a.m. Friday. Medical personnel reported no serious injuries to the two crew members. A spokeswoman for the Salina Airport Authority says it’s not yet known whether pilot error or equipment failure was to blame. SeaPort Airlines is based in Oregon and flies to nine states.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The University of Kansas went one-for-two before state legislative committees considering bonding authority for two major projects. A House committee Thursday rejected the university’s request for $17.5 million in bonding authority to build 66 high-end apartments, with 32 used by student-athletes. University officials say they need the upscale living to compete for basketball recruits. Two state representatives on the House Education Budget Committee said the project was extravagant, and the university’s sports boosters could pay for it. Earlier Thursday, a House-Senate committee approved the university’s request for bonding authority for a $75 million health education building at…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) A Lawrence man who was the subject of a Silver Alert earlier this week was found dead inside his vehicle in the parking lot of Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Authorities said Thursday no foul play is suspected in the death of George Sundstrom, 65. Lawrence police Sgt. Trent McKinley said officers found a man dead inside his car at the hospital Tuesday night. The Lawrence Journal-World reports officers were called by people searching for Sundstrom, who was the subject of a Silver Alert earlier that day. McKinley says officers immediately confirmed the vehicle belonged to Sundstrom but couldn’t…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Wichita man will face a minimum sentence of life without parole for 25 years for killing a former Wichita high school football star. Kristofer JaQuinton Wright, 21, was convicted Thursday of premeditated first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Jordan Turner. The former star at Wichita South High School was shot to death in a field last March. Prosecutors say Turner was killed because he cheated a woman out of $300 in a marijuana deal. The Wichita Eagle reports three other people were charged in Turner’s death. Wright’s lawyer argued that the…
A St. Mary’s man has been sentenced to nine year in prison after being convicted on multiple burglaries. Luke Linxwiler, 35, was sentenced Thursday in Pottawatomie County district court to 108 months with the Department of Corrections. Linxwiler was convicted by a Pottawatomie county jury last month in connection with burglaries in rural St. Mary’s and the city of St. Mary’s last summer. In June of last year, Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office and St. Mary’s Police Department authorities found stolen property at a St. Mary’s residence which included power tools, household goods, guns, electronics, and other items previously reported as stolen.…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Senate president says a bill that would prevent lawsuits against someone who refuses, for religious reasons, to provide services to gay and lesbians will not pass in her chamber as it is currently written. Senate President Susan Wagle says Friday that the bill goes beyond protecting religious freedom. She raised concerns about discrimination and how it could impact businesses that would refuse services to gay couples. The bill passed the House on Wednesday, drawing strong reaction from across the country. It would prohibit government sanctions or lawsuits over faith-based refusals to recognize same-sex unions or to…
Robert K. Ott, P.E., City Engineer, has been promoted to Director of Public Works for the City of Manhattan effective immediately. Ron R. Fehr, City Manager, for the City of Manhattan, announced the appointment Friday, 15 minutes after Ott was on KMAN’s “In Focus” . speaking as “acting” Public Works Director regarding upcoming road projects. Ott will assume a key position with the City’s management team. Ott will be responsible for planning, directing, managing, and overseeing all facets of operations, budget and personnel within the Department of Public Works, which includes administration, engineering, operations, and utilities. Functions within the Public…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A program administered by the Kansas attorney general’s office has awarded more than $296,000 to victims of violent crimes in its latest round of distributions. Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office says the Kansas Crime Victims Compensation Board approved the payments for 233 individuals at its February meeting. The program was established in 1978 to help victims and those affected by violent crime meet such expenses as medical bills, mental health counseling, lost wages and funeral costs. Funding for the program comes from court costs and fines, parole fees, restitution paid by offenders and wages earned by inmates…