Kansas Governor Sam Brownback will kick-off the 2nd Annual Read Kansas Read Thursday morning during a news conference in the Kansas State Library in Topeka. The statewide summer reading program is a collaborative effort by the Governor’s Office, Kansas Book Festival, Kansas State Library and the Kansas State Department of Education to challenge Kansas children to read while they aren’t in school. First Lady Mary Brownback, State Librarian Jo Budler, and State Education Commissioner Dr. Diane DeBacker will join the Governor for the launch of the summer reading program. The Governor will read a short story to children visiting the…
Author: KMAN Staff
Iraq is experiencing its most sustained wave of violence since the U.S. military withdrawal in 2011. Attacks have left more than 500 people dead this month.
New York City police say two anonymous letters sent to Mayor Michael Bloomberg contained traces of the deadly poison ricin. Both contained threats referencing the debate on gun laws.
MOSCOW, Kan. (AP) A large grass fire in southwest Kansas has spread to thousands of bales of corn stalks stored at a facility in the Stevens County town of Moscow. KAKE-TV reports the fire broke out late Tuesday and involved about 50,000 corn stalk bales by Wednesday. Moscow Mayor Billy Bell told the station that a bioenergy company had planned to use the stalks to produce ethanol. Bell says firefighters have contained the blaze, which investigators believe was intentionally set. The mayor also says no injuries have been reported and no structures were in danger, but residents have been told…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas car theft victim is out of the hospital after paying a heavy price for trying to recover the vehicle herself. KFDI-FM reports the 31-year-old Wichita woman had her 2011 Dodge Avenger stolen on May 23. She went looking for the car the next afternoon and found it with another woman in the driver’s seat. The Sedgwick County sheriff’s office says the victim opened a door and told the driver to get out. The driver backed up, hit the victim and ran over her before driving off. The victim spent several days in Wesley Medical Center…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The state of Kansas is asking a judge to rule in its favor without a trial in a case involving a sperm donor from Topeka. The Kansas Department for Children and Families wants the judge to declare that William Marotta must pay child support because he is the father of a 3-year-old girl born in 2009. Marotta argues that he donated his sperm to a lesbian couple and signed a contract that waived his parental rights and responsibilities. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the state argued in a motion filed Friday that the contract was moot. They say…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Lawrence city commissioners are refusing to change the city’s laws to comply with a new state law that allows people to carry concealed knives. The commissioners on Tuesday criticized the law that allows people to bring switchblades, daggers and other knives into bars and public places. It takes effect July 1. However, The Lawrence Journal-World reports the commission’s actions will likely have little effect on residents’ abilities to carry knives. Staff attorney Randy Larkin told commissioners that the new state law will supersede the city’s code, making it impractical to enforce the city’s ban on concealed knives.…
OTTAWA, Kan. (AP) An Ottawa woman was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for her role in a drug sale that led to a man’s death. Prosecutors say Tamara Ledom, 37, crushed prescription drugs into a powder that the man thought was methamphetamine. He died in May 2009 after using the drug and taking prescription pills. Ledom was sentenced Tuesday for one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute drugs that led to a death. The case includes eight other co-defendants who have either pleaded guilty or are awaiting trial. The leader of the drug ring, Connie…
SALINA, Kan. (AP) First responders from throughout the state are taking part in a two-day mass disaster exercise in central Kansas. The exercise Wednesday and Thursday brings together more than 230 people from city, county and state agencies, including the Kansas Highway Patrol and search and rescue teams. The event takes place at Crisis City, located at the Great Plains Regional Training Center near Salina. Crisis City is operated by the Kansas Division of Emergency Management. Among its training sites are a collapsed building, piles of rubble, a simulated rail disaster and a high-angle rescue tower.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas legislators plan to resume negotiations on tax issues following House rejection of a proposal to set the sales tax at 6 percent in July. But House and Senate negotiators were still waiting to schedule talks Wednesday. They’re still trying to resolve the differences between the two chambers on legislation following up on massive income tax cuts approved last year. On a 71-42 vote Tuesday, the House rejected a proposal crafted by the leaders of its Republican majority during talks with the Senate. It would have cut income taxes further but raised new sales tax revenues to…