TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Cursive handwriting instruction is getting a nod of support from the Kansas Board of Education. During Wednesday’s meeting, the board unanimously adopted a statement encouraging educators to ensure students can write legibly in cursive and comprehend text written in cursive. In a separate 8-2 vote, the board ordered the department to develop model cursive standards. Kansas Department of Education spokeswoman Kathy Toelkes says the standards would establish things like curriculum guidelines and best practices. Toelkes says the measures won support because of research showing the role handwriting plays in cognitive development. A survey discussed at last month’s…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Three Kansas groups are seeking 2,000 volunteers to pack thousands of meals for children in Haiti and possibly set a world record in the process. The effort is being put together by Volunteer Kansas, the hunger relief group Numana Inc. and The Downtown Rotary Club of Wichita. The goal is to package 208,000 meals in one hour on Feb. 16 at the Kansas Coliseum pavilions in Wichita. The groups say the 208,000 meals would be a Guinness world record and provide a year’s worth of lunches for 800 school children in Haiti. Volunteers are also being asked…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Lawrence attorney has been appointed ombudsman for the Kansas Medicaid system known as KanCare. The selection of James Bart was announced Wednesday by Shawn Sullivan, secretary of the state Department for Aging and Disability Services. KanCare is the state’s new system for providing Medicaid services to the poor and disabled through three managed care organizations. The new system, which recently won federal approval, takes effect Jan. 1. Bart will be responsible for helping recipients resolve problems with access, service and benefits. Sullivan cited Bart’s experience as a member of the Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities. He’s…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Shawnee County District Court judge says a juror who posted comments on a newspaper website during a murder trial committed misconduct. The ruling issued Monday requires the Shawnee County district attorney to show beyond a reasonable doubt that the misconduct did not affect the trial against Anceo D. Stovall. The juror posted a comment on a Topeka Capital-Journal story about the trial while the jury was recessed. Stovall was one of nine suspects in the July 2011 killing of Natalie Gibson and the wounding of her life partner, Lori Allison. His trial ended in a hung…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) A $1 million gift from the Kansas Masonic Foundation will be used to provide counseling to people who have been treated for cancer and those who love them. The foundation’s gift to the University of Kansas Endowment, which was announced Monday, will fund a therapist position for Susan Krigel, a postdoctoral fellow in clinical psychology. She’ll provide services for members of the Midwest Cancer Alliance, a network of 19 hospitals and research institutions across Kansas and the Kansas City, Mo., area. Krigel says cancer patients sometimes suffer through emotional trauma after they complete their treatments and start…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Senate’s new budget committee chairman filed for bankruptcy in 2010 and listed nearly $885,000 in unsecured debts in a federal court filing. But other incoming Senate leaders defended Andover Republican Ty Masterson after his selection Tuesday as Ways and Means Committee chairman. They said colleagues respect him. The Wichita Eagle reports that Masterson said he’s working with creditors to pay off debts that were discharged this year. A GOP leadership panel picked Masterson. He and other incoming Senate leaders will begin their jobs when legislators convene their 2013 session in mid-January. Masterson said he understands…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Topeka man could be sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison after being convicted in a car accident that killed a 15-year-old passenger. A Shawnee County jury on Tuesday convicted 19-year-old Hunter Hillmer of reckless second-degree murder for the March 19 death of Madison Naill. He was also convicted of aggravated battery for injuries suffered by a second passenger and driving under the influence of alcohol. The wreck left Hillmer a paraplegic. Witnesses testified that Hillmer’s speeding Cadillac went airborne for about 50 feet, shattered a utility pole and struck a tree with its roof. The…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Members of an engineering union at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita have overwhelmingly approved a six-year contract. Union officials say 92 percent of the 252 members who voted Tuesday supported the contract. The Wichita Eagle reports the union represents 811 engineers at Spirit, and 451 members were eligible to vote. The contract included a minimum salary guarantee fund of 3 percent in the second and fourth year of the contract. It also includes premium-free dental coverage and improvements in job security related to outsourcing. Engineers will pay 15 percent of the cost of insurance premiums next year, increasing…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The new speaker of the Kansas House is retaining the chairmen of the chamber’s powerful Appropriations, Taxation and Judiciary committees. Incoming House Speaker Ray Merrick, a Stilwell Republican, announced committee leadership appointments late Tuesday. Members of the chamber’s GOP majority chose Merrick as speaker last week. Merrick kept Lance Kinzer, of Olathe, as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Kinzer had run against Merrick for speaker. Marc Rhoades of Newton is remaining as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and Richard Carlson of St. Marys will continue to head the Taxation Committee. All House committee chairmen and chairwomen are…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A new industry snapshot suggests this year’s drought has had little effect on sales of farm machinery around the country. The Association of Equipment Manufacturers said Tuesday that sales of farm tractors were up 10.5 percent in November from the same month a year ago. Retailers reported selling 10,352 tractors nationwide. Sales of combines were down 1.3 percent with 517 sold in November. So far this year, sales of farm tractors have been up 10 percent over the first 11 months of last year with slightly more than 167,000 tractors sold. Sales of combines dipped a fraction…