TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas residents are being urged to act cautiously with outdoor burning as the state marks a week of awareness of the dangers of wildfires. Gov. Sam Brownback has signed a proclamation declaring this Wildfire Awareness Week. The state fire marshal’s office said in a news release Monday that Kansas had more than 3,200 vegetation fires last year, resulting in more than $4 million in property damage and losses and six injuries. The fire marshal also says those fires burned more than 125,000 acres of land. Brownback’s proclamation says preventing wildfires is a public safety issue affecting all…
Author: KMAN Staff
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) A proposal to start the Kansas State Fair on Labor Day weekend wasn’t popular with people who responded to a survey. Nearly 75 percent of 2,500 people responding to a survey conducted by University of Kansas Jayhawk Consulting either disagreed or strongly disagreed with Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposal to move the fair’s starting date. Only 11 percent agreed with the idea, with the rest neither agreed nor disagreed. The Hutchinson News reports more than half of the respondents said they probably would not attend the 10-day fair if the dates changed. Brownback had suggested that moving the…
Ukraine’s president is blaming opposition leaders for the latest deadly violence in Kiev that’s killed at least 25 people and injured more than 240.
Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez was arrested Tuesday after emerging from days of hiding and making an impassioned speech to thousands of supporters.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Wichita man has been released from the Sedgwick County Jail after spending 4.5 years waiting for a trial in a sexual predator case. Todd Ellison, 45, was supposed to go to trial next week to determine whether he should be held for life as a sexual predator. Instead, District Judge Ben Burgess released Ellison Friday, saying his right to a speedy trial had been violated. The Wichita Eagle reports Ellison completed a sentence for sexual crimes involving children from cases in 1996 and 1997. When he was about to be released in 2009, prosecutors filed a…
The Manhattan High girl’s basketball team locked up the #1 seed in Sub State with a 71-21 win over Junction City on Tuesday night. The executed on both ends of the floor hitting 54% of their shots from the floor in the ball game and also forced Junction City into 21 turnovers. Darby Price led the way for MHS (16-1, 10-0) with 15 points while Caroline Ballard added 14 points for the Indians who have now won 14 straight games since losing their lone game of the season back in December. The Manhattan High boys basketball team put together their…
AMES, Iowa — With the NCAA tournament just about a month away, teams are going to lean on their stars more than ever. Iowa State standouts Melvin Ejim, DeAndre Kane and Georges Niang showed why the Cyclones could be in great shape come March. Ejim scored 25 points, DeAndre Kane added 22 and Niang had 20 to help No. 17 Iowa State beat 19th-ranked Texas 85-76 on Tuesday night for its fifth victory in six games. The trio shot 57 percent from the floor to lead the Cyclones (20-5, 8-5 Big 12), who became the third-fastest team to 20 wins…
LUBBOCK, Texas — Kansas coach Bill Self felt more than a little fortunate that his No. 8 Jayhawks pulled out a 64-63 win against a very tough Texas Tech team. Andrew Wiggins’ layup with 2 seconds left lifted Kansas to victory Tuesday night. “I think sometimes you could say they were a little lucky,” he said of the Red Raiders. “They threw some in at the end of the shot clock that maybe weren’t the highest percentage shots, and we were a little lucky that the ball just happened to bounce to Wigs there at the end. That’s part of…
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) A man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the stabbing death of a Garden City man in March 2011. Thirty-four-year-old Fred Schmidt Jr. of Garden City had been scheduled to go to trial next week for first-degree murder in the death of Jeffrey Nichols, who was stabbed 45 times. The Garden City Telegram reports Schmidt instead pleaded guilty to the lesser charge on Feb. 11. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 28. Garden City police say Schmidt told them he and Nichols fought near Nichols’ home. Schmidt claimed he killed Nichols in self-defense.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A proposal designed to allow Kansas to opt out of the federal health care overhaul is being reviewed by a state House committee. The Federal and State Affairs Committee’s hearing Tuesday was on a bill that brings Kansas into a compact among states to take control of health care policy within their borders. Most Republican lawmakers and GOP Gov. Sam Brownback have been highly critical of the federal health law championed by Democratic President Barack Obama. The compact is the project of Competitive Governance Action. The conservative Texas-based group says on its website that it favors the…