WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Community activists are planning what they’re calling a worker justice march in Wichita this weekend to protest what they say is a lack of quality jobs in the area. Sunflower Community Action, the Black Arts Festival and labor groups are staging Saturday’s march and rally focusing on low-income workers. The event begins at 11 a.m. at 17th and Hillside streets in Wichita and ends at McAdams Park where multiple speakers are expected to address the crowd.
Author: KMAN Staff
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) The driver of the school bus that overturned in Bonner Springs last week has been released from the hospital. Elmer Scott Jr. was the most seriously injured of those who were hurt when the bus went off Kansas Highway 7 on Aug. 21. He was driving sixth-grade girls from The Pembroke Hill School in Kansas City to a camp in Linwood, Kan., when the bus went off the right side of the road and tipped over. Twenty-two students were taken to hospitals but none were seriously injured. KMBC-TV reports the crash remains under investigation.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Work is expected to begin soon on a highway project in Lawrence that has been debated since the early 1990s. The Kansas Department of Transportation is scheduled to award bids for the South Lawrence Trafficway on Sept. 18, and construction is expected to begin by mid-October or November. The $190 million project has been stalled by protests and lawsuits for more than 20 years. The Lawrence Journal-World reports some of the first work is likely to occur in the Baker Wetlands, which has been center of the debate. Opponents say the project will damage the wetlands and…
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) A hailstorm that pummeled Hutchinson in July has meant a lot of new roofs in the city. The city says it’s issued $4.4 million in new roofing permits since the July 23 hailstorm. The total was helped last week by two big projects re-roofing the Hutchinson Mall and the Dillon Living Center. A total of 202 roofing permits worth $2.4 million were issued just last week. The city has issued 476 permits since 2.5- to 4-inch hail pounded the eastern half of the city, leaving baseball-sized holes in some structures. The Hutchinson News reports the city issued…
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) An 82-year-old Missouri man suffered minor injuries when his experimental aircraft crashed near Emporia. The Kansas Highway Patrol says James Zerkel, who lives near Joplin, Mo., was flying a Challenger Experimental Light Sport aircraft from Herington to Joplin when the plane went down Wednesday afternoon in a creek. Trooper Chris Markham says the accident is being investigated but it appears to have been caused by mechanical failure. The Emporia Gazette reports that Zerkel was able to walk to a nearby highway and sought medical treatment on his own.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas is promoting a new license plate aimed at raising money for arts programs in the state. The Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission says in a release that the goal of the “Driving the Arts” license plate program is to raise at least $100,000 a year for arts programs. The arts commission is a division of the state Commerce Department. The program hopes to sign up at least 2,000 people who will pay the annual $50 fee for the license plate by April 1, 2014. All the revenue from sales of the license plate will be used…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas high school coach who pleaded guilty to patronizing a prostitute wants to teach again. Todd Puetz pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor count of patronizing a prostitute and was given a 30-day suspended sentence. His lawyer, Lee Kinch, told The Wichita Eagle that Puetz, a tenured physical education teacher and coach in the Renwick school district, has requested a due-process hearing. The Renwick district chose not to renew Puetz’s contract in 2011 after police arrested him and six other men in a case authorities said involved a detective posing as a 15-year-old to catch…
On today’s InFocus, Norma is in for Cathy and is talking with Jeff Morris, President of the United Way Riley County, and Bria Taddiken-Williams, campaign chair, on the kickoff campaign, followed by Ella Casey, Marketing Development Officer with Sunset Zoo. [mp3-jplayer]
The Obama administration may have to act alone, if it decides to take military action against Syria. Britain’s parliament voted against military action on Thursday.
The NFL agreed Thursday to spend close to $800 million to diagnose and compensate potentially thousands of retired players who develop dementia or other brain injuries they blame on violent, bone-crunching collisions.