Kansas Action for Children recently released its annual KIDS COUNT report for the state of Kansas. The report measures county-by-county how kids are doing across more than 20 indicators of health, education and economic success. The report shows Riley County is making improvement and leading the state and its peer counties on the following health indicators: Nearly 8% of Riley County youths use tobacco compared to 9% of the of the state and 10 % of peer counties. Just over 9% of Riley County youths binge drink compared to 10.6 % of the state and 11% of peer counties. Despite improved…
Author: KMAN Staff
A packed Manhattan city commission meeting at city hall was given a whirlwind tour of the future plans of Kansas State University, and an overarching theme of cooperation from K-State president Kirk Schulz on Tuesday night. Schulz laid out a vision of new construction, and continued cooperation with value added to both the community and the university. Some of the projects highlighted were a new business management facility, and an emphasis on continued controlled growth. The commissioner showed appreciation for the plan to maximize integrated planning in the future. Commissioner Rich Jankovich said it was important for the university and…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The largest health insurance company in Kansas says it will offer another year of coverage under plans that it had expected to cancel because of the federal health care overhaul. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas announced Tuesday that it would notify about 10,000 policy holders that they can continue with their old, individual coverage. The company had sent the policyholders cancellation notices, leaving them to find new health plans. The change came after President Barack Obama announced he would allow companies to continue existing plans for at least another year even if the coverage didn’t…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas water officials are preparing to update a study to determine the feasibility of building a 360-mile aqueduct to tap the Missouri River to support agriculture in western parts of the state. Tracy Streeter, director of the Kansas Water Office, told legislators on Tuesday that the study would begin next year. How much the aqueduct would cost is to be determined. A study in 1982 pegged the price at $3.6 billion to construct either an open-air canal or enclosed pipeline. Reservoirs would be constructed to siphon water from the Missouri before it is pumped west, ending in…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Topeka bar owner has been found guilty of disturbing the peace, and the judge says more citations could be coming if bars amp up their music late at night. Topeka Municipal Court Administrative Judge Vic Miller on Monday ordered Christine Lopez, co-owner of the Brass Rail Tavern, to pay a $100 fine and court costs for disturbing the peace. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Topeka’s ordinance prohibits amplified noise that can be heard from 50 feet away from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. City attorney Chad Sublet says Miller stated that if anyone with outside amplified karaoke…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Topeka police went on an hour-long car chase before the suspect ran into a construction site and was taken into custody. WIBW reports the chase started late Monday when police tried to stop the car, but the driver wouldn’t pull over. The car went through nearly every part of Topeka and lost officers at one point. Police found the vehicle again a short while later and resumed the chase. Speeds reached as high as 110 mph on Interstate 70, and 90 mph through Topeka. Officers also spiked the car’s tires until it was running only on flats…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A top executive for SandRidge Energy says the company plans to spend $350 million next year to drill another 100 horizontal wells and build associated infrastructure in the Mississippian Lime formation in Kansas David Lawler, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Oklahoma-based firm, says that plan should make people understand the company’s interest in the Kansas formation. His comments, made last week, are in sharp contrast to the recent announcement from oil giant Shell Oil Co. that it was pulling up stakes and selling its Kansas assets. The Shell move was the latest in…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A top executive for SandRidge Energy says the company plans to spend $350 million next year to drill another 100 horizontal wells and build associated infrastructure in the Mississippian Lime formation in Kansas David Lawler, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Oklahoma-based firm, says that plan should make people understand the company’s interest in the Kansas formation. His comments, made last week, are in sharp contrast to the recent announcement from oil giant Shell Oil Co. that it was pulling up stakes and selling its Kansas assets. The Shell move was the latest in…
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) Some local Kansas governments will follow a new state law allowing concealed carry of guns at public buildings because they don’t want to spend the money for added security measures required to keep the ban in place. The Kansas Legislature passed legislation prohibiting many state and local government agencies from banning concealed guns on their premises unless they provide security measures. Counties and cities could get a six-month exemption from imposing the measure, but the extension expires Dec. 31. The Hutchinson News reports buildings can continue to be exempt if they have security measures. But Melissa Wangemann,…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Wichita man was sentenced to two years of probation for helping a former police officer try to bribe a witness. Forty-year-old Patrick Melendrez was sentenced Monday for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He admitted that he helped former police officer Joletta Vallejo in the bribery scheme to help Vallejo keep her job. Prosecutors say Vallejo didn’t properly report alleged crimes against two people. During a police department investigation, Vallejo and Melendrez tried to bribe a witness to recant his statements to the department’s professional standards bureau. Instead, the witness cooperated with an undercover investigation into the…