Author: KMAN Staff

The Wamego Public Library had a busy and successful year. This is according to Library Director Leah Kulikowski in her presentation of the Library’s annual report at Tuesday’s City Commission meeting. She said the return on investment increased by a half-million dollars from last year, to over $2 million, at a cost of a little over $200,000, which represented only a $2,000  additional cost over last year. The numbers in other areas showed a sizable increase. Kulikowski said library usage increased by 18 per cent, with interlibrary loan services showing an increase of 31 percent. She said the library offered 179…

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Mark Tatera cleared the bases with a three-run triple to give Minnesota the lead for good in an 8-3 victory over K-State on Tuesday night at Tointon Family Stadium.   Wildcat starting pitcher Jake Doller cruised into the 6th inning and got the first two outs before an error started a two-out rally for the Golden Gophers, aided by a walk and a hit by pitch.  Minnesota would score four runs in the inning with Tatera’s triple and he scored on an RBI single from Troy Larson.  The Gophers would put up another four-spot in the seventh. K-State missed out…

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas legislators have given final approval to a bill barring public employee unions from deducting money from members’ paychecks to help finance political activities. A 68-54 vote Tuesday in the House sends the measure to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, who’s expected to sign it. The Senate approved the measure last week. Proponents argued the bill would protect members of public employee unions from having part of their pay funneled to candidates or causes they oppose. Supporters also said state and local government agencies processing payrolls shouldn’t be entangled in such transactions. But critics see the measure as…

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas House has given first-round approval to a proposed $14 billion state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Tuesday’s roll call vote of 71-51 advances the bill to final House action set for Wednesday. The legislation would spend about $6 billion in state general fund revenues. The budget covers spending for public schools and higher education, social services and public safety, including the Highway Patrol, prisons and emergency management. The House Appropriations Committee budget made about $25 million in cuts from the budget proposed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. It would leave the…

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KINGMAN, Kan. (AP) A 51-year-old south-central Kansas man is dead after getting trapped beneath a bale bed while working on a farm truck. Kingman County sheriff’s investigator Dustin Cooke says emergency responders declared Orrin Westerman of Kingman dead at the scene Tuesday following the 8:55 a.m. accident. Cooke says family members were present at the farm about seven miles southwest of Kingman when Westerman was caught beneath the hydraulic device, which is used to handle hay bales. He says the victim suffered head trauma in the mishap.

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CHENEY, Kan. (AP) A bald eagle that appears to have been shot is recovering from its wounds at a south-central Kansas raptor center. KWCH-TV reports the female bird was taken in late Sunday at the Eagle Valley Raptor Center in Cheney. Program director Ken Lockwood says the wounded eagle was found by quail hunters near the small town of Latham, about 40 miles southeast of Wichita. Lockwood says the bird was missing several feathers from its left wing. An X-ray revealed metal fragments in its thigh. Staff at the raptor center are hopeful the eagle will recover. They’ve named the…

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