TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas has recently joined 30 other states in enrolling students in a federally funded program aimed at raising high school graduation rates and helping students prepare for college and careers. Education Commissioner Diane DeBacker says the Kansas State Department of Education had been hoping for several years to introduce the program, called Jobs for America’s Graduates, but didn’t have the funds until this year. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the program targets students who might be at risk of dropping out of school, offering them extra mentoring and support. The Kansas Department for Children and Families secured the…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Authorities in Wichita say a three-alarm fire at an apartment building caused about $1.75 million in damage. The fire broke out around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at an apartment complex in the southeastern part of the city. Five people were treated for smoke inhalation, and the Red Cross opened a shelter to help some of the roughly 70 people who were displaced. Crews brought the flames under control by early afternoon but remained on the scene, dousing the roof to prevent flare-ups. Wichita Fire Chief Ron Blackwell told KWCH-TV the fire started on the second floor of one…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) A man who was convicted in the 1997 rape of a University of Kansas student will go on trial again next January. Robert Grey, 40, originally was sentenced in 2009 to 26 years in prison for rape. Prosecutors said he kidnapped a 20-year-old woman at gunpoint from a campus parking lot, took her to a secluded area and raped her. The Kansas Court of Appeals last year awarded Grey a new trial, finding that prosecutor Amy McGowan did not disclose some evidence to the defense. The Lawrence Journal-World reports McGowan was assigned to other duties earlier this…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) A former University of Kansas student has been placed on 18 months of probation in the sexual assault of a 19-year-old female student at a dormitory. Jeremy R. Ruzas was sentenced Monday after he pleaded no contest in July to aggravated battery. He was arrested on February after a female student reported Ruzas assaulted her in her room at Oliver Hall dormitory room. Prosecutors say Ruzas, who had been drinking, entered the woman’s room uninvited and assaulted her. Ruzas was originally charged with aggravated sexual battery and burglary. Ruzas left the university after he was charged. The…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) An animal pharmaceutical company based in the state of Washington has moved its headquarters to Kansas City, Kan., The company, Stason Animal Health, says it has leased space in the Biological Technology Center on the University of Kansas Medical Center campus. Stasonwhich is in the early stage of developing drugs for companion animals. It was based in Vancouver, Wash. Initially, only CEO Diana Wood will be located at the headquarters. Wood says the company chose Kansas City, Kan., to take advantage of the area’s growing animal health industry. The Kansas City Star reports the move was…
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Cosmosphere has launched a website with a live webcam where viewers can track conservation work on the engines that powered NASA’s Apollo moon mission. The Hutchinson museum said Monday it recently got confirmation that a serial number on a thrust chamber recovered from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean shows the F-1 engine came from the Apollo 11 mission. Most of the more than 25,000 pounds of engine pieces are in tanks to remove corrosion. Some pieces are cleaned by hand. The Apollo F-1 conservation project was commissioned by Bezos Expeditions.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The recent spate of rainy weather has prompted Gov. Sam Brownback to revise the drought declaration in parts of Kansas. Brownback said Monday that 23 of the state’s 105 counties are no longer considered in drought conditions. It marks the first time since July 2012 that conditions have improved enough to remove counties from the drought designation. Brownback’s office says Kansas Water Office director Tracy Streeter recommended that 20 counties be moved into drought emergency status, 25 move to watch status and 37 remain in emergency status. Emergency status allows counties to draw water from certain state…
It’s Pottawatomie County Day as Laura steps in while Cathy is on vacation and talks with Pat Weixelman, Commission Chair, Greg Riot, Sheriff, Gregg Webster, Zoning Administrator, Lew Lowrey, Public Works Director, and Robert Reece, County Administrator. [mp3-jplayer]
The folded arms of the Martin Luther King Jr., Memorial are seen in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013. Barack Obama, who will speak, was 2 years old and growing up in Hawaii when Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Fifty years later, the nation’s first black president will stand as the most high-profile example of the racial progress King espoused, delivering remarks at a nationwide commemoration of the 1963 demonstration for jobs, economic justice and racial equality. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano waves as she leaves after delivering her farewell address at the National Press Club in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013. Napolitano said her agency’s flexibility and agility have prepared it to respond to disasters and terror attacks alike. In her farewell speech before taking over the University of California system next month, Napolitano said the department’s strengths allowed it to respond quickly and effectively to hundreds of disasters and the Boston Marathon bombing. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)