Author: KMAN Staff

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Young Kansans seeking driver’s education permits will find the task much easier starting April 1 when the Department of Revenue switches to an online application portal. Each year the department handles about 50,000 driver’s ed applications, which can take several weeks longer if there is a medical or vision issue to process. That has meant students who sign up for a driving class at the last minute or don’t get around to sending in their application might not have the necessary permit to participate in the driving portion of the class. With the new format, an instructor…

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Hays pharmacist has been appointed to the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission by state House Speaker Ray Merrick. Merrick says James Meier will serve a two-year term on the nine-member commission. It enforces ethics, lobbying and campaign finance laws. Meier will replace former state Rep. John Reimer, of Tecumseh, who has served almost six years on the commission. Reimer’s term expires at the end of January. Meier is a specialty oncology pharmacist, practicing at the Hays Medical Center’s cancer institute. He received his doctorate in pharmacy degree from the University of Kansas in 2011. Legislative leaders appoint…

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Monday’s edition of “Wildcat Insider” recaps the Sunflower Showdown in Lawrence on Saturday afternoon as Bruce Weber and the Wildcats come up short against the Jayhawks 86-60. How will the Cats rebound with a dangerous Oklahoma team in town Tuesday night inside Bramlage? The Kansas State women fell in Norman against the Sooners over the weekend 61-50. Can Deb Patterson’s bunch turn this season around and start picking up some wins in a very tough Big 12 conference? The guys will go in depth in breaking down the Big 12 conference to this point in the season and speculate how the season could end up shaking up. All that and much more on “Wildcat Insider” on Newsradio 1350 KMAN.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A change of plea hearing has been scheduled for a Kansas doctor accused of illegally distributing prescription drugs from his Manhattan pain clinic. Dr. Michael P. Schuster has been in federal custody since he pleaded not guilty to a four-count indictment in May 2013. Schuster is now scheduled to appear Thursday in U.S. District Court in Topeka. His attorney did not immediately return messages Monday seeking comment on the planned change of plea. Federal prosecutors allege Schuster allowed unlicensed employees to write prescriptions for strong painkillers while he was traveling, using blank forms that he had signed.…

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A disciplinary panel has recommended the lowest possible penalty for a former Kansas courts research attorney who used foul language in tweets about former Attorney General Phill Kline. The special three-judge panel on Monday recommended that Sarah Peterson Herr receive an informal admonition for the comments she posted on Twitter in November 2012. Herr tweeted during an appearance by Kline before the Kansas Supreme Court as part of an ethics case about his investigation of abortion clinics. She was quickly fired by the Kansas Court of Appeals. The special panel ruled last month that Herr had violated…

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Workers inspect an area outside a retaining wall around storage tanks where a chemical leaked into the Elk River at Freedom Industries storage facility in Charleston, Va., Monday, Jan. 13, 2014. The ban on tap water for parts of West Virginia was lifted on Monday, ending a crisis for a fraction of the 300,000 people who were told not to drink, wash or cook with water after the chemical spill tainted the water supply. Gov. Earl Tomblin made the announcement at a news conference, five days after people were told to use the water only to flush their toilets.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The American Civil Liberties Union says an official email sent by a Kansas Corporation Commission employee discussing his religious beliefs may have opened the KCC to legal liability. Jared Bowes, a KCC media specialist, tried to put a veiled reference to Jesus into the commission’s December newsletter, but it was edited out. Bowes then used his state-issued email address to send a message to his colleagues saying “King Jesus” is “the reason for the season.” Doug Bonney, legal director for the ACLU Foundation of Kansas, says while state employees have free speech rights, problems arise when religious…

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Department of Transportation has chosen a team to design and build changes to a congested intersection of three major highways in Johnson County. The project will be completed by Gateway Interchange Constructors, a joint venture led by Clarkson Construction Co., of Kansas City, Mo. The improvements will be made near and along the intersection of Kansas Highway 10, Interstate 435 and Interstate 35. The contract, announced Friday, is worth $288 million and includes a $3 million incentive for early completion. Construction is scheduled to begin in the late spring and completed by late December 2016.…

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On today’s InFocus, Cathy talks with Dr. Bob Larson, Professor and Coleman Chair in Food Animal Production medicine at Kansas State’s College of Veterinary Medicine, followed by Linda Teener, Executive Director of UFM Community Learning Center.

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