Cathy talks schools on today’s InFocus as USD 383 School Board member Leah Fliter and Superintendent Bob Shannon stop by, followed by K-State’s Administrative Assistant for International Programs Sarah Beebe and international “buddies” publicity chair Belema Iyo. [mp3-jplayer]
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas House committee has heard conflicting opinions about the merits of a bill that would narrow the topics for negotiation in teacher contract talks. Proponents told the committee Wednesday that school districts need more flexibility in contract negotiations. They said the changes would give school boards and administrators more options in assigning teachers and organizing schools. But educators say the changes would be demoralizing to public school staff members and damaging to classroom learning. Opponents include the Kansas National Education Association, which calls the measure part of a broader attack on teachers and their profession. The…
SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) Authorities in northeastern Kansas say two women have been found shot to death along a trail in a rural, suburban Kansas City park. Shawnee police called Johnson County Med-Act around 2:30 p.m. to verify that two bodies found along Millcreek Streamway Trail were dead. The trail is part of a 17-mile system of walking and bicycle trails that runs from the Kansas River south through the cities of Shawnee, Lenexa and Olathe, Med-Act spokeswoman Angela Fera says the emergency medical services crew found two women in their 50s with gunshot wounds to the head and obviously deceased.…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A defense attorney is asking the Kansas Supreme Court to order a new trial for a man convicted of raping and killing an El Dorado teenager who led a secret life as an Internet porn model. Capital appellate defender Debra Wilson argued during a Wednesday hearing on behalf of Israel Mireles. He received a life sentence for the 2007 death of Emily Sander, 18, in an El Dorado motel room. Wilson said jurors should have been instructed they could find that Mireles was so intoxicated after leaving a bar with Sander that he could not have formed the…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Public schools and state colleges in Kansas could designate workers to carry concealed guns even if such weapons are banned inside their buildings for others under a bill a legislative committee has approved. The measure approved Wednesday by the House Federal and State Affairs Committee also would require the state, cities, counties and townships to allow concealed guns in their buildings unless they have electronic equipment and officers to check for weapons at public entrances. State law now generally bans concealed weapons in courthouses, state offices and other public buildings where officials post notices. The committee’s voice…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A lawyer representing a 3-year-old girl who is at the center of a sperm donor child support case is seeking input from a psychologist. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported Wednesday that Jill Dykes wants a Shawnee County judge to order a psychologist to evaluate the child and offer a recommendation. Dykes made the request in a motion filed Monday. A Topeka man says he signed a contract waiving his parental rights and responsibilities when he answered an online ad from a lesbian couple seeking a sperm donor. But because no doctor was involved in the artificial insemination, the…
The first readings for the schedules in the USD 383 school district was finally voted on during the regular business meeting on Wednesday. Taking each group separately, the Manhattan Ogden school board discussed the elementary schools, came to a decision and then moved on to the high school. During the discussion, there was concern from member Leah Fliter of the inequality that was being presented between the two groups, as some of the board seemed to be “pitting the two against each other.” Board Member Walt Peseresi clarified he was not implying high school teachers should have collaboration time, but…
At around 4:30 Wednesday afternoon, the Manhattan Fire Department responded to a structure fire at a housing duplex located at 1313 Newfoundland Drive. Deputy Chief, Ryan Almes, says the fire was put out quickly, without anyone being injured. The fire was confined to the kitchen. All occupants were outside of the duplex when fire crews arrived on scene. Reports Thursday morning indicate the fire loss for the structure was 20-thousand dollars, with 15-thousand dollars damage to contents.
Efforts by Senate Democrats to win a speedy confirmation of John Brennan as CIA director have run into a snag. Republican Sen. Rand Paul has begun what he calls a filibuster of Brennan’s nomination.
Update Thursday morning: A fatal fire case has apparently moved from the local Riley county attorney’s jurisdiction to the U-S Attorney’s office in Kansas. That was the word with an announcement made by U-S Attorney Barry Grissm at a news conference in Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson’s office in Manhattan Thursday morning. Two Kansas State University students have been indicted in connection with the case– Patrick Scahill, 20, and Virginia Griese, 19, have been implicated in the fatal fire, which took the life of Vasanta Pallem, 34, a postdoctoral researcher in chemical engineering at Kansas State. KMAN news first told…