TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Topeka high school has been testing students’ hair to determine if they’ve been using drugs. Hayden High has been testing students for drug use for more than a year. Under the program, the school takes hair samples from randomly selected students once a month. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports in the 2012-13 school year, only about 2 percent of drug tests came back positive. The tests cost $39 per sample. Michael Monaghan, dean of students, says if a sample comes back positive for drug use, the school contacts parents and refers the student for a professional evaluation.…
Author: KMAN Staff
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Officials say at least five house fires in the Kansas City metro area over the weekend were caused by problems with fireplaces. The Kansas City Star reports no one was injured in any of the fires. A fire at a Shawnee, Kan., home Sunday started in a fireplace and caused $130,000 in damage. Kansas City, Kan., firefighters responded to two fires Saturday night that started in chimney flues or around fireplaces. On Friday night, a fire in an unattended fireplace damaged a Kansas City, Kan., home that was being remodeled. Also Friday night, Lee’s Summit, Mo.,…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Fire officials are investigating the cause of a house fire in Wichita that killed an elderly man. Firefighters found the man’s body Sunday while fighting the blaze in east Wichita. Fire Capt. Stu Bevis says the man’s son was in the yard of the house when firefighters arrived. The man told officials he tried to rescue his father but the heat and smoke became too dangerous. It was the 10th fire death in Wichita this year. Last year, the city had five fire deaths.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Lawrence police are searching for a 23-year-old University of Kansas student from Peru who hasn’t been seen since early Saturday. Gianfranco Villagomez, an industrial design student from Lima, Peru, was last seen walking near 9th and Michigan streets in Lawrence about 2:30 a.m. Saturday. His girlfriend, Donna Jo Harkrider, reported him missing about Saturday. Villagomez is about 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds. He has dark brown eyes, black hair and glasses. He was last seen wearing a blue shirt with a KU Jayhawk logo on it, a long sleeve gray shirt, a black jacket, jeans and white tennis…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas State Board of Education members will decide this week whether the state’s new handwriting standards will encourage schools to make sure that fifth- and sixth-graders can write legibly in cursive. The handwriting standards are on the board’s agenda for a Tuesday meeting. State law requires the board to regularly update academic standards. Multistate academic standards adopted by Kansas in 2010 would require schools to teach young students cursive. Some educators question whether it’s a necessary skill, when people are using computer and cellphone keyboards more in communicating. But cursive has its advocates, and a handful of…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Supreme Court is taking up an appeal of a minimum 50-year sentence imposed on a man convicted of premeditated first-degree murder. The case of Matthew Astorga on Monday’s docket is the second appeal of a so-called “Hard 50” sentence since legislators rewrote the law this fall in response to a June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. Kansas previously allowed judges to sentence people convicted of premeditated first-degree murder to 50 years before they can seek parole. But the nation’s highest court ruled that juries should have the final say on the facts triggering mandatory…
On today’s InFocus, Cathy talks with Dr. April Durant, Asst. clinical Professor of Small Animal Surgery at K-State’s College of Veterinary medicine, followed by Ken Lange, Don Thomson, Mike Shepherd on “Harmony for the Holidays,” featuring the Little Apple Chorus, and ending with Kathy Dzewaltowski, Rhondi Dale, Jim Sharp, Daniel Vaughn, Chris Boxberger on holiday fund raiser for Peace Memorial auditorium.
The next step is a go ahead for the Belvue Bridge as both Pottawatomie and Waubunsee County have agreed to the engineering estimates and the testing to come with it. During Monday’s Pottawatomie County Commission meeting, the commissioners decided to phone Waubunsee to get an idea of where to go with the project. Wabunsee County Commission Chair Ervan Stuewe gave the go ahead stating that they would contribute their percentage share. Pat Weixelman, Pottawatomie County Chair, asked about traffic control and Stuewe gave the approval of his county helping with that as well. The estimated cost for the engineering testing…
An apartment complex fire KMAN news first told you about early Monday morning caused an estimated $15,000 in damage. The Manhattan Fire Department responded to the blaze at 1210 Vattier Street at about 9:40 Sunday night. Upon arrival, crews found a three story apartment complex with arcing electrical meters. Crews stood by until the electrical meters were de-energized by Westar and then extinguished the fire, confining it to the immediate area. Six fire apparatus and sixteen firefighters responded with the last units clearing at around 1am. Eight occupants were displaced from the residence. The American Red Cross and Kansas…
Five people were injured in a half a dozen accidents worked by the Kansas Highway Patrol Sunday. Laura Rice,25, of Manhattan was taken to Mercy Regional Health Center following an accident on I-70, 20 miles east of Junction City in Riley County. Also in Riley County, an accident 14 miles east of Junction City sent Wilmer Baquero,42, of Junction City to the Geary Community Hospital. In Geary County, Keeghan Rayburn, 6, of Ogden was taken to Geary Community hospital following an accident on I-70,one mile west of the I-70-K-18 junction. Another accident on I-70 in Wabaunsee county, eight miles west of…