TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared a drought disaster in 104 of Kansas’ 105 counties, clearing the way for farmers and ranchers to seek low-interest emergency loans. Wednesday’s declaration omits only Doniphan County, located on the Missouri River in far northeastern Kansas. Eighty-eight counties were designated primary disaster areas, meaning they’ve had severe drought for at least eight consecutive weeks. Sixteen neighboring counties were designated contiguous disaster areas. Gov. Sam Brownback took the occasion to note that Kansas is entering the third straight year of severe drought. The governor says it’s a reminder for all Kansans…
Author: KMAN Staff
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) The mayor and CEO of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., has decided against running for a third term this spring. Forty-four-year-old Joe Reardon made the announcement Wednesday, saying he made the decision over the holidays. Reardon says he wants to spend more time with his family as his two sons grow up. Reardon won his first four-year term in 2005. He comes from a well-known political family. His father, Jack Reardon, served three terms as mayor of Kansas City, Kan., and his uncle, Bill Reardon, served 30 years in the Kansas…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Republicans in the Kansas Senate are proposing major changes in the chamber’s rules, and one measure would give the Senate’s top leader more influence over shaping legislation. Senate Vice President Jeff King outlined the measures drafted by a GOP leadership panel during an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. They’ll be presented to the Senate when lawmakers open their annual session Monday. One change would transfer the leadership panel’s power to make committee assignments to the Senate president. Committees do much of the drafting of legislation. Some Republicans argue the current system is unwieldy. Another proposal would…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Three people were in custody after a shooting at a Wichita McDonald’s restaurant drive-thru prompted by an incorrect fast-food order. Police say the incident began at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday when a man became upset that his order was wrong. He drove around the restaurant and tried to cut in front of another car in the drive-thru, but the car already in line didn’t budge. Police say a woman in the man’s car threw a crowbar at the other vehicle, and the driver of her car fired a shotgun at the other vehicle before leaving the scene. Police…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The Air Force has selected both McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita and Forbes Airfield in Topeka as finalists for basing air refueling tankers. U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts said Wednesday that both installations are finalists for the main operating base. McConnell is also a finalist to house the formal training unit. Starting in 2017, the base chosen as the main operating base will support 36 active-duty KC-46A tankers. The two Republican senators say the decision shows the Air Force recognizes the critical role Kansas plays in national security and global air mobility.
OSAGE CITY, Kan. (AP) A Kansas high school student’s extra-credit assignment in a government class was meant as an exercise in expressing her views on a hot topic. But U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts says the letter he received from Lindsey Heward complaining about new federal rules for school lunches helped sway opinions in Washington. Heward is a senior at Osage City High School. She wrote to Roberts criticizing the effects of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s rules on calorie counts in school lunches. The letter was among a raft of criticism that Roberts says forced the agency to relax the…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Topeka police are still trying to find a man who walked into a Walmart more than a year ago and walked out with more than $250,000. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the brazen theft occurred about 3 a.m. on Nov. 26, 2011, when the store was busy with Black Friday shoppers. The stocky white man with a shaved head simply walked into the manager’s office and walked out with the money. He didn’t threaten or confront anyone. Topeka police Lt. Joe Perry said Tuesday he could not discuss specifics of the investigation. Police did say the man overcame…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Police say an elderly man died after he was hit by a car in downtown Wichita. The man, believed to be 80 years old, was not using a crosswalk when he was hit Tuesday evening by a car going about 30 mph. Police say the driver said he didn’t see the victim crossing the street. The man’s name has not been released.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback has established a special panel to highlight and promote charitable work by Kansans throughout the state, the nation and the world. Brownback announced creation of the Kansas Humanitarian Commission on Tuesday. The panel will be chaired by Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer and Ashleigh Black, who will choose the other seven members. Colyer is a plastic surgeon and has volunteered to aid victims of violence in several war zones around the world. Black is the associate director of the Center for Global Health at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The commission will develop a…
PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) Authorities in southeastern Kansas are investigating a case of a man allegedly trying to stop a freight train as it rolled through Pittsburg. The Morning Sun reports the 27-year-old suspect was booked into the Cherokee County Jail after Friday afternoon’s incident. It wasn’t clear Tuesday if he had been charged. Pittsburg police say callers reported a motorist with a bandanna obscuring his face driving erratically and trying to stop a northbound freight train at a city crossing. The train kept going, but halted at another crossing a few blocks away after the man parked his van on…