TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Senate has approved a bill that puts the Secretary of Transportation in charge of the Kansas Turnpike Authority. The bill approved Wednesday also prohibits the state from using toll revenue for anything other than operating the 236-mile Turnpike. Gov. Sam Brownback had proposed putting the independent Turnpike Authority under control of the state transportation department. He said it would save the state $30 million over two years and avoid redundancies. Opponents who worried the state would use turnpike toll revenue for other purposes pushed the amendment to prohibit that from happening. But they said the…
Author: KMAN Staff
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) Emporia State University has a new mobile application that allows students to look up details like their grades and class schedules. With a secure login, students also can use their smartphones or web-enabled devices to search course offerings and find out how much money is in their student accounts. The application also provides campus maps, access to news and events and faculty and staff directories. Staff in Emporia State’s Office of Information Technology developed the application. It’s currently available for Android and iOS devices. Emporia State plans to continue updating the app with new features based on…
SALINA, Kan. (AP) A 53-year-old Salina man who had sex with an underage girl more than 100 times is sentenced to life in prison for rape. Saline County prosecutors say Gary Flores Perales was sentenced Wednesday to life without eligibility for parole for 25 years for rape. He also was sentenced to nearly 27 years for other sex crimes. The Salina Journal reports that Perales was convicted of eight counts in October 2012. Authorities allege that the crimes occurred between 2006 and 2010 when the victim was between 12 and 16 years old.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Topeka police say an Indiana fugitive is jailed after leading police on two brief car chases. Topeka police Lt. Ron Gish says Jamie Allen Sigman, 38, of Topeka was arrested Wednesday and faces several felony and traffic charges. Gish says Sigman had a fugitive justice warrant issued for him in Indiana, and a warrant with the city of Topeka, but he didn’t know what the warrants were for. Gish says the chase began when officers tried to stop a pickup, which sped off and crashed into a curb. A passenger jumped out but the driver drove off…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas lawmakers are taking a long weekend before what they hope is a final push to finish most of their business for the year. The Legislature is out of session Thursday and Friday, although small groups could still meet to negotiate differences between the House and Senate on legislation. Wednesday was the deadline for most measures to have cleared the other chamber. Lawmakers expect to work through April 5, their so-called “Drop Dead” deadline for passing legislation, then begin a wrap-up session May 8. Leaders want to limit the wrap-up to considering small budget revisions and vetoes…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Prosecutors have narrowed their case against a 66-year-old Kansas veteran after an appeals court tossed out key evidence in a case charging him with unlawful possession of unregistered destructive devices. Alfred C. Dutton, an Army and Marine veteran from Eureka, now faces a single federal count of unlawful possession of unregistered destructive devices. The charge filed Tuesday accuses Dutton of having one or more grenade bodies and the parts needed to convert them into destructive devices. He has been summoned to appear in U.S. District Court on April 14. An earlier count of possessing five jars of…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Sentencing has been postponed for a 20-year-old Topeka man convicted of killing a teenage passenger while driving drunk. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Hunter Hillmer is now set to be sentenced May 17 in Shawnee County District Court. The proceeding had been scheduled for Thursday, but his new defense attorney sought the delay. Hillmer was convicted in December of reckless second-degree murder for a March 2012 accident that killed Madison Naill, 15. He was also convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol and aggravated battery for injuries suffered by a second passenger. The crash left Hillmer…
SALINA, Kan. (AP) Efforts to build an aviation museum at Salina Regional Airport are getting a boost from the Peggy and Steve Fossett Foundation. The foundation, named for the late adventurer and aviation pioneer, issued a $1 million challenge grant to help build the Wings Over Salina Museum and Aviation Experience. The grant will match contributions to the project. Salina was the site of two of Steve Fossett’s aviation exploits. In 2005, he took off and landed at Salina in the first non-stop, non-refueled solo flight around the world. The flight lasted 67 hours and one minute and covered nearly…
At a joint meeting between Manhattan City Commissioners and Riley County Commissioners on Thursday, the Army Corps of Engineers for the Kansas City Region went over some recent studies they conducted concerning the levee surrounding the Manhattan Community. Chief of Planning, John Grothaus, showed commissioners various flood plain maps including a 25 year, 50 year, 100 year, 200 year, 300 year, and 500 year flood plain maps. The maps showed considerably larger areas vulnerable to flood along the Big Blue River segment, which spans from the right bank of the Big Blue River on Casement Road to the Kansas River Confluence,…
It medical day here on InFocus. Cathy has a chance to talk with Jody Kenny from the Diabetes Center with Mercy Regional Health Center on National Diabetes Alert day, followed by Michelle Haub, director of the Manhattan Parkinsons program at Meadowlark, and Don Rasumussen, flag-bearer. Cathy concludes the show with Robbin Cole, Pawnee Mental Health executive director. [mp3-jplayer]