WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Officials in Wichita have put a proposed plan to raise water rates on hold because of citizen complaints. City public works officials said last month that Cheney Reservoir would go dry by August 2015 if the drought continues. The reservoir is the source of 60 percent of the city’s water. The city then proposed boosting water bills for households that water lawns and gardens or fill swimming pools in the summer. The hikes would be about 50 percent, and in some cases about 100 percent. The Wichita Eagle reports that in response to several complaints about the…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Shawnee County residents will be able to get in line to renew vehicle tags and titles from home. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the new system begins Monday. Shawnee County Treasurer Larry Mah says the online and mobile queue allows customers to choose a license renewal location, then issues a ticket number and asks the customer to enter a cellphone number, so the system can send a text when the number is 20 minutes out. Mah says the electronic queue won’t stop the lines from forming, but he hopes the measures at least spread the wait times…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has appointed an Overland Park attorney to a seat on Johnson County District Court. Timothy McCarthy will replace District Judge John P. Bennett, who served on the court since 1995 and recently announced his retirement. McCarthy is a partner in the firm of Gilliland and Hayes. He was one of three finalists chosen by a special nominating commission. Brownback’s office says the governor selected McCarthy because of his experience as a municipal judge in Edwardsville and as a temporary replacement for sick or absent district judges in Johnson County. The governor also noted…
FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) Army Vice Chief of Staff John Campbell is traveling to Kansas this week to meet with officers and senior enlisted soldiers going through a pre-command course at Fort Leavenworth. Campbell, who took his position as the number two general in the Army on March 8, is also expected on Monday to outline efforts by the Army to build readiness and resiliency among a force that has spent more than a decade at war. The discussion comes as the military absorbs a large proportion of the $85 billion in automatic federal budget cuts that took effect March…
WHITING, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Rural Center and the Natural Resources Conservation Service will hold workshops next month on evaluating the effect of the drought on eastern Kansas pastures. The Rural Center says the four sessions are scheduled for the first week of April in Pottawatomie, McPherson, Reno and Coffey counties. They’re aimed at helping cattle ranchers determine how well their ranges and pastures can support livestock after about two years of drought. The sessions will also focus on what steps can be taken to protect grazing resources. The workshops will be led by a rangeland management specialist from the…
The finishing date for the Justice Center in Westmoreland has been extended another 14 days as the Pottawatomie County Commission approved a change order including the time allotment . This moves completion to the end of June with moving of departments sometime in July. During the commission meeting Monday, the board approved three change orders including the chairs for the court rooms and a floor mount for the clerk. A decision was made to just wait until the end of the project to deal with water accessibility on the outside of the building and also to build storage rooms in…
During May of last year, numerous changes were made to Section 18 of the Riley County Zoning Regulations. The agricultural zoning district was the main item that experienced change, especially with the renaming. Another change made was the removal of non-agricultural residences as a permitted use in the agricultural district. County Planner, Bob Isaac brought forward a regulation amendment during Monday’s Riley County Commission meeting that would tweek some of these changes in certain situations. With the changes as they are currently, they are inconsistent with Section 14 of the zoning regulations. Isaac explained, the recommended amendment would not only…
An Oklahoma man is confined on a failure to appear warrant. Riley County Police told reporters Monday that Michael Duncan (28) of Chandler Oklahoma was taken into custody late Friday evening on the warrant. The original charges against Duncan include possesion of marijuana , possession of drug paraphernalia, and driving with a suspended drivers license. He remains confined on a $8,000 bond ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Riley County Police are investigating a string of burglaries occuring on the 800th block of Sunset Ave. The apartment complex is the one which was damaged by a fatal arson fire in February. Police told reporters on…
What began as an aggravated battery case KMAN first told you about this weekend, was upgraded to Murder Monday morning. Around 5:30am, a six month old infant was pronounced dead at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. It all started when Riley County Police Department responded to 203 Seventh Street in Ogden for a report of a six month old infant not breathing late Friday afternoon. The infant was transported to Mercy Regional Health Center where it was subsequently life-flighted to Children’s Mercy Hospital. The investigation is ongoing at this time, but the Riley County Police Department has issued a…
Two people were killed and at least three injured, when a private jet hit three homes in South Bend, Indiana, Sunday afternoon. Authorities now say everyone on the ground is believed to be accounted for.