TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The executive director of the Kansas Lottery will step down next month for health reasons. Dennis Wilson’s resignation was accepted Wednesday by Gov. Sam Brownback, who appointed him to the job. Wilson became the Lottery’s executive director in July 2011 and will resign Dec. 3. Wilson is a Republican from Johnson County. He served in the Kansas House from 1995-1999 and in the state Senate from 2001-2005. In his letter to Brownback, Wilson said he needs to concentrate on recovering from what he calls a serious knee injury. Brownback will name an acting Lottery director in the…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A new report says elementary schools in Kansas and surrounding states have reduced, or even eliminated, science education in recent years to emphasize reading and math. The Kansas State Board of Education was told Tuesday that one in five elementary teachers in Kansas and surrounding states are recording science grades even when they don’t teach the subject. George Griffith, superintendent of the Trego school district, says he surveyed more than 900 elementary schools in Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Griffith said teachers surveyed said they reported science grades even when not teaching or drastically reducing class…
DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) A member of a Dodge City street gang pleaded guilty to assaulting people he thought were members of a rival gang. Twenty-year-old Humberto Ortiz was among 23 people charged in May in a federal racketeering case aimed at gang members. U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom says Ortiz pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon in the aid of racketeering. He admitted that he and fellow gang members assaulted people they thought were members of a different street gang. Two of the victims were stabbed. Ortiz also admitted in his plea that while…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A man who stabbed his girlfriend to death after the couple was evicted from a hotel pleaded no contest in her killing. The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office says 40-year-old Eric J. Avila pleaded Tuesday to second-degree murder and kidnapping in the killing of 35-year-old Alina Burkman. She was stabbed in March during a fight with Avila in a K-Mart parking lot. Avila also was stabbed during the argument and was arrested after recovering from critical injuries. The Wichita Eagle reports Avila was originally charged with first-degree premeditated murder. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 27.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The odds are long but hopes are high at the Sedgwick County Zoo that two female tigers will give birth about four months from now. KAKE-TV reports the 7-year-old Amur tigers underwent artificial insemination on Tuesday. The procedure was led by Bill Swanson, a specialist from the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio. The donor and potential father-to-be is Ivan, the zoo’s 4-year-old male Amur tiger. The females, Talali and Zeya, roam the exhibit with Ivan but haven’t mated with him. The cubs would stay in Wichita about a year, then be moved to other zoos. Swanson says Amur…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas residents will soon learn which major transportation projects the state plans to begin in the next two years. Officials of the Kansas Department of Transportation scheduled a news conference Wednesday afternoon in Topeka to announce the list of projects. They’re part of a 10-year program for improving highways, airports and public transportation throughout Kansas. The projects are being financed through bonds and an increase in the state sales tax. The projects will be started in 2013 and 2014.
A Fort Riley soldier is going to trial for first degree murder after his preliminary hearing Wednesday. Daniel Parker is charged with the murder of 21 year old Frederick Beverly on New Year’s Day of this year. Beverly was shot in the head just outside a local motorcycle group’s clubhouse off of Fort Riley Boulevard. Prosecuting Attorney, Barry Disney began the hearing by calling Roy McKenney-Davis, who was in the military with Parker, to the stand. McKenney-Davis, as well as the second witness, Terrance McKenney, gave details about the Assassin’s Street Rider’s Motorcycle Club, which Beverly was a member of. The third witness,…
An auto versus pedestrian accident sends one person to the hospital. Riley County Police report that at approximately 11:37 Tuesday night, Amber Engelbert (21) of the 1000th block of McCollum was looking at her phone as she was crossing Bluemont Avenue when she was struck by a car driven by James Young (19) of the 2000th block of College View Road. Young struck Engelbert on the passenger side of his car, causing her to sustain lacerations and a possible head injury. Englebert was transported to Mercy Regional Health Center, and was admitted for treatment. No citation was issued to Young. ————————————————————————————————————————————————–…
1st team All-Centennial League Junior Tight End Winston Dimel Junior Punter Jonah Webber Senior Defensive Lineman Chance Drake 2nd team All-Centennial League Senior Offensive Tackle Gabe Caldas Senior Quarterback Jacob Holloway Junior Running Back Darian Taylor Honorable Mention Senior Guard Wyatt Charlson Senior Defensive Lineman Chris Hudgins Senior Defensive Lineman Brandon Velez
Three pilots died on Tuesday when their small plane crashed into a house in Jackson, Mississippi. The pilots were heading to an FAA safety conference.