WASHINGTON (AP) – A U.S. Senate subcommittee has approved $404 million in federal spending for the construction of a new federal research laboratory at Kansas State University. The vote Tuesday sends the funding for the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility to the full Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration. The money is part of the Department of Homeland Security budget for 2014. Federal officials want to build the $1.25 billion lab to replace an aging facility at Plum Island, N.Y., to conduct research on animal diseases. State officials have approved spending up to $305 million in bond proceeds as part of…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Wichita police say two toddlers are in protective custody after one of the children drank a small amount of bleach at a squalid home. Lt. Doug Nolte told The Wichita Eagle that emergency responders were called to the home Monday evening after a 2-year-old girl drank bleach from a cup that was next to a cup of water. Nolte says the child suffered no serious injury from the bleach. The responders called police after finding human feces, trash, a bug infestation and no running water in the house. The 2-year-old girl and her 1-year-old brother were taken…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) State officials have notified the city of Wichita that nine agencies will be leaving a city-owned building, meaning more than 700 people will be moving. Most of the employees in the Finney State Office Building work for the Department for Children and Families. Department regional director Diana Bidwell says the agency’s work space is spread over seven floors in the building, making it difficult to efficiently serve clients. The Wichita Eagle reports the department is handling about 45,000 cases and that number is expected to increase. The state agencies have been in the building for nearly 20…
PRATT, Kan. (AP) The state has rejected a request that it change the way coyotes can be hunted during deer firearms season. The law enforcement arm of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism had asked the agency’s Board of Tourism to ban coyote hunters from using two-way radios and hunting from vehicles during regular deer firearm season. It is legal to use the radios and hunt coyotes from vehicles but those practices are illegal for hunting deer during the 12-day firearm season. The Pratt Tribune reports officers said they had encountered several deer hunters who claimed to be…
PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) A Pittsburg woman has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the shooting death of her husband. Carla Moutz entered the plea Monday to one count of first-degree murder in the May death of John Moutz, 49. The trial was scheduled to begin Oct. 7. The Pittsburg Morning Sun reports the trial is scheduled for Girard but potential construction at the Crawford County Courthouse may relocate the trial to Pittsburg. John Moutz died at Pittsburg hospital after being shot at a home where his wife was staying. The home was owned by Carla Moutz’s father.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Wichita man avoided a second trial by reaching a plea agreement in the shooting death of his accomplice during a home robbery. Terrell Cole, 32, pleaded guilty last week to involuntary manslaughter in the January 2011 death of Andre Lovett. He had been scheduled to go on trial July 29 for first-degree murder. Wichita police say Cole and Lovett were trying to rob a home when Cole fired a shot at one of the victims as he ran from the scene. The bullet hit Lovett, who died the next day. The Wichita Eagle reports the jury…
HAYS, Kan. (AP) Emergency workers are at the scene of a train derailment in Hays. Hays Emergency Management Director Terry McCue says at least 40 rail cars derailed in the city early Tuesday, including 20 cars carrying ethanol. McCue says a fire started after the derailment about 1:20 a.m. but it was confined to the locomotive. The other derailed cars carried freight and cargo. No injuries were reported. A mobile home park just south of the derailment was evacuated as a precaution.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A state board has rejected proposed temporary changes to the Kansas law requiring proof of citizenship for newly registered voters. The change proposed Tuesday by Secretary of State Kris Kobach was in response to a glitch that caused delays to nearly 12,000 voter registration applications. Kansas now requires that new applications to register to vote also include proof of citizenship. A new state computer system that was supposed to provide that verification to the secretary of state’s office hasn’t started sending the information to election officials. The rule change would have allowed those individuals to cast a…
On today’s InFocus, Cathy talks with Manhattan Mayor John Matta and City Manager Ron Fehr. [mp3-jplayer]
The 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, will conduct a change of command ceremony July 19 at 10 a.m. on Fort Riley’s Cavalry Parade Field. The “Dragon” Brigade will bid farewell to Col. Joseph D. Wawro, who commanded the unit since the fall of 2010, and welcome Col. Peter G. Minalga. Under Wawro’s leadership, the brigade conducted several large-scale training events and recently completed a 9-month deployment to Eastern Afghanistan. Wawro will continue his Army career as a senior Army fellow in Washington, D.C. Minalga is coming from the Pentagon where he served as the joint doctrine division…