Authorities say four firefighters were killed, and five others were injured, while trying to battle a fire that engulfed a Houston motel.
Author: KMAN Staff
Pres. Barack Obama is urging Congress to prevent an increase in student loan rates, saying rising college costs hold back the entire middle class and unfairly saddle young people with more debt just as they are starting out in their adult lives.
Bluemont Avenue has reopened to all traffic in the 400 and 500 blocks after being shut down for just over two hours. RCPD Public Information Officer Matt Droge tells KMAN that Bluemont had been blocked off in the 400 and 500 blocks after a suspicious item which might be a package was reported in the 400 block of Bluemont. Traffic was diverted to the surrounding side streets to allow authorities to conduct their investigation. No further information was available.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The city of Wichita and National Baseball Congress officials are hoping a new format, more promotions and television exposure will help stabilize the financially struggling NBC national baseball tournament. The changes unveiled Thursday were in response to an audit released two weeks ago that found the tournament, which is managed by the Wichita Wingnuts independent league team, was $280,000 in debt and two years behind on lease payments for Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. The tournament has been in Wichita since 1935. This year’s tournament is from July 26 to Aug. 10. The first week will be a 16-team qualifier.…
HAVEN, Kan. (AP) The son of a Missouri woman who died in an explosion at a home near Cheney Reservoir has reached a confidential settlement in a wrongful-death lawsuit. The settlement approved Thursday in Reno County Court ended a lawsuit filed after the death Mary Lou Hemmy, 60, of Independence, Mo. She died in the October 2011 when the owner of a home she was visiting turned on an electric furnace, causing an explosion and fire. Three other people were injured in the explosion. Her son, Troy Hemmy, sued Service Gas Inc., Sigg Plumbing LLC and Daniel Sigg, all of…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A mother and son will be tried together in the shooting death of the son’s estranged wife in Topeka. A Shawnee County District Court judge ruled that Manuela Alcala and her son, Manuel Alcala, will be tried together in the October 2012 death of 34-year-old Ashley Alcala. She was shot to death at her home. The Alcalas, all of El Paso, Texas, wanted to be tried separately but District Judge Evelyn Wilson ruled Wednesday it was appropriate to consolidate the cases. The trial is scheduled to begin July 1. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the two are charged…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Wichita police say a man is missing after he jumped into the Arkansas River while fleeing from officers. Emergency responders searched the river until midnight Thursday before calling off the effort. The search was expected to begin again Friday. Wichita police Lt. Dan East said an officer stopped the man for a traffic violation Thursday evening. The man was talking to the officer outside his vehicle and then ran off, before jumping into the river and disappearing. Wichita fire crews used boats and divers to help with the search, while police stationed at several locations along the…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A south-central Kansas optometrist has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison over a scheme to collect more than $580,000 for eye examinations that were never performed. Wade Abbey of Derby pleaded guilty in February to five counts of wire fraud. He was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court. Federal prosecutors said Abbey inflated the number of eye exams he and his wife performed at their office, Visions Doctors of Optometry, and provide false information to get paid for them. Prosecutors say Abbey and his wife were paid an hourly wage and additional fees for each…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Representatives of flour milling and food companies in Nigeria will visit Kansas and three other states in June to view this year’s winter wheat crop. The industry group Kansas Wheat said Thursday the trade team will travel June 2-12 through Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Nebraska. Members of the team will talk to university researchers, tour grain facilities and visit farmers. They’ll also survey the U.S. hard red and hard white winter wheat crops. The Nigerians will be in Manhattan June 6 and 7, with stops at the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center and the International Grains Program at…
Motorists are urged to avoid the area of Seth Child and Claflin at noon Friday, due to an injury accident reported in that location at about 11:30 in the morning. Riley County Police Public Information Officer Mat Droge tells KMAN there is blockage in that location and motorists are advised to find alternate routes until the scene can be cleared.