SALINA, Kan. (AP) The city of Salina will be looking for a new police chief in the next few months. KSAL-AM reports Chief Jim Hill announced Thursday he’ll retire on Oct. 1 from the job he’s held since January 1991. Hill is 64 years old and has been in uniform for 44 years. He says he’s looking forward to traveling and spending time with his grandchildren. Hill calls the decision bittersweet, saying he has a lot of affection for the police department and the city of Salina. Looking back over his career, Hill said the low point was the night…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Wichita is handing out $1 million in financial rebates to encourage residents to conserve water. Officials unveiled details Thursday of an appliance rebate program approved earlier this month by the City Council. Appliances and devices must be purchased between May 1 and Dec. 21 of this year to be eligible. Rebates are on a first-come, first-served basis. The program ends when the $1 million budget is gone. Water customers are eligible for up to a $100 rebate for qualifying low-flow toilets, high-efficiency dishwashers, high-efficiency washing machines and smart-irrigation controllers. A $75 rebate is also offered for rain…
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) A 24-year-old Olathe man has been accused of trying to kill his mother with a hammer. The Kansas City Star reports that Majok Wany Anyit was charged Wednesday in Johnson County with attempted first-degree murder. A criminal complaint says Anyit is accused of hitting his mother several times in the head with a hammer Tuesday. The mother was hospitalized in critical condition. Anyit’s being held on $500,000 bond. Court records say he was assigned a public defender, but that office says it’s unclear who’s been assigned to the case. Court records also show Anyit, who’s from Sudan,…
MOSCOW, Kan. (AP) Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed thousands of hay bales in southwest Kansas. The fire started May 28 near Moscow and was considered extinguished by June 5. But workers at Abengoa Bioenergy are still spreading the hay out to check for hot spots. Officials say the blaze destroyed an estimated 38,000 hay bales, most owned by Abengoa. The company says workers will continue to spread the hay for the next few days. Once that’s done, cleanup will begin. The Garden City Telegram reports the company has not yet determined value…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Corporation Commission is indefinitely abandoning a decision process after being sued for using it. The practice, called “pink sheeting,” allowed the three commission members to register their opinions on issues individually without having a meeting. It’s named for the color of the sheets commissioners use to record their opinions. Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor has sued the commission and its members, alleging the practice violates the state’s open meetings law, which requires government bodies to make decisions in public. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the commission voted Wednesday to suspend the practice. The vote came…
GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) A Great Bend animal shelter is over capacity after 50 dogs were removed from a woman’s home. The Golden Belt Humane Society coordinated the roundup of the animals from a trailer home Tuesday on the southeast side of Great Bend. A concerned citizen notified People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which called the local shelter. The Great Bend Tribune reports that Golden Belt’s animal shelter has a capacity of 32 animals. Its manager, Seth Orebaugh, says volunteers are working to find homes for the dogs and contacting other shelters to take some of them but…
LINDSBORG, Kan. (AP) A flight demonstration of various unmanned aircraft systems used to improve the care of crops, livestock and pastures is scheduled for next week in central Kansas. Kansas State University is hosting the event Tuesday in Lindsborg, where U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran will be on hand to discuss economic growth potential of unmanned aircraft systems in the state. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International predicted in a study released in March that Kansas will be among the top 10 states to see significant economic growth once drones are integrated into the national airspace system in 2015. The…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas judge is considering a request from two doctors to block enforcement of sweeping new restrictions on abortion that are set to take effect Monday. Shawnee County District Judge Rebecca Crotty heard arguments Thursday in a lawsuit filed by Drs. Herbert Hodes and Dr. Traci Nauser. The father and daughter perform abortions at their Overland Park health center. The doctors want Crotty to put the new law on hold while their lawsuit moves forward. Crotty did not rule from the bench on Thursday. The new law bans sex-selection abortions and blocks tax breaks for abortion providers.…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department is receiving a $75,000 grant to help improve access to healthy foods. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the Kansas Health Foundation awarded the grant through its Healthy Communities Initiative. Eleven other grants were awarded around the state. The Lawrence-Douglas County department recently developed its Roadmap to a Healthier Douglas County. That program pinpoints changes that would improve the overall health of area residents, including more opportunities for healthy eating at work and improved food and beverage environments at local venues. The $75,000 grant will focus on those goals and will also be…
PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) If only he’d been riding in the street, a bicyclist who Pittsburg police say had a meth lab in his backpack might have gone unnoticed. But the 29-year-old man from Nevada, Mo., caught the eye of an officer in the southeast Kansas community Tuesday morning because he was riding on a sidewalk. The officer tried to make contact with the bicyclist. The man instead rode away before he was stopped a few blocks away. Police say a search of his backpack turned up what they called an active, “one-pot” mobile meth lab. The man was arrested on…