TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas House debate over highly technical tax legislation has given Democrats a chance to take a poke at Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. The measure discussed Friday fixes flaws in a law enacted last year to cut income taxes. The House gave it first-round approval, with a final vote expected Monday. Brownback wants to follow up on last year’s tax cuts by reducing individual income taxes again. But he’s also proposing to stabilize the budget by eliminating two income tax deductions for homeowners and canceling a scheduled decrease in the sales tax. Wichita Democrat Nile Dillmore offered…
Author: KMAN Staff
As KMAN reported early Friday afternoon, an investigation into a criminal damage to property lead to the arrests for the Dara’s Robbery on Claflin, the same criminal damage to property case now has a connection with the fire on Sunset Avenue that took the life of Vasanta Pallem, 34. Though, whether the robbery and fire are connected still has yet to be determined by officials. Riley County Police have released information about the arrest of two individuals for the fire. Patrick Scahill, 20, of Manhattan, was arrest for drug charges earlier this week which stemmed from the criminal damage to property investigation which he was confined…
U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo says he has been named to the House intelligence committee overseeing national security. The Kansas Republican said in a news release Friday that House Speaker John Boehner is putting him in the committee that provides oversight of the U.S. intelligence community. That includes the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and the Military Intelligence Program. Pompeo says he is honored to serve on the committee at a time when the nation faces great challenges abroad. He says he has great faith in the nation’s intelligence services and is excited to work with them to ensure Americans’…
On today’s InFocus, Tom talks with State Representative Vern Swanson of Clay Center, followed by US Congressman Tim Huelskamp and Bernie Hayen, Director of Finance for the City of Manhattan. [mp3-jplayer]
PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) A Pittsburg company is planning a $1 million expansion and more hiring to respond to a growing market. Officials at Atkinson Industries held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for an expansion that will add 10,000 square feet to its existing plant in the Pittsburg Industrial Park. Company officials say business has doubled in the last 18 months and the company has added 40 workers. The company, which has 111 employees, expects to add at least 20 more this year. The company, which opened in Pittsburg in 1919, makes metal buildings that house electrical equipment. The Pittsburg Morning Sun…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision to overturn the capital murder convictions of a Topeka man. District Attorney Chad Taylor filed a motion late Thursday saying he will appeal the Kansas Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the convictions of Phillip D. Cheatham. Cheatham was convicted in 2005 in the December 2003 shooting deaths of two women and the wounding of a third at a Topeka home. The Kansas Supreme Court overturned the convictions in January, saying Cheatham received ineffective counsel during his trial. The Topeka Capital-Journal…
SALINA, Kan. (AP) Salina police say two people arrested as they were breaking into a veterinary clinic might be connected to more than 30 burglaries at businesses in the city. Police Lt. Scott Siemens says an officer who noticed a door pried open at the Huseman Veterinary Clinic early Thursday caught the two people inside. Salina police have investigated more than 30 businesses break-ins since last September. KAKE-TV reports police believe most of those burglaries are connected.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A judge has delayed a hearing for a former University of Kansas athletics consultant seeking a shorter sentence for his role in a ticket-scalping conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Monti Belot on Thursday put off until Feb. 19 the hearing for Thomas Ray Blubaugh. Blubaugh is serving a 46-month sentence for conspiracy to defraud the United States. He is the husband of Charlette Blubaugh, former ticket director for Kansas athletics. Belot also granted a prosecution request for copies of files from Blubaugh’s previous attorney. The judge said Blubaugh waived attorney-client privilege when he claimed attorney Stephen Robinson did…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) About four dozen international military officers have received a crash course in state government as part of a 10-month stay in Kansas. The officers are studying at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. They spent Thursday in Topeka, touring state government buildings and meeting with leaders including Gov. Sam Brownback, with whom they chatted briefly. Fort Leavenworth has been hosting international officers for more than a century.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Senate has confirmed Gov. Sam Brownback’s appointment of a former legislator as the state’s labor secretary. The vote Thursday on Lana Gordon’s appointment was 38-0. Brownback made the appointment last month, after Gordon had served as interim secretary for four months. Gordon took over the secretary’s duties after Brownback abruptly removed Karin Brownlee from the post in September without comment. The Department of Labor has about 460 employees and a budget of roughly $495 million. Gordon, of Topeka, served 12 years in the Kansas House before deciding not to seek re-election last year. She had…