GRANTVILLE, Kan. (AP) Cleanup is under way after a Union Pacific coal train derailed in northeast Kansas. Jefferson County authorities say 23 coal cars derailed just north of Grantville Monday night. Grantville is a few miles east of Topeka and 25 miles west of Lawrence. Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Herrig says no one was injured. But one house was damaged when a piece of rail landed inside. He says the piece of rail landed on the bottom bunk of a bunk bed, and a child was sleeping on the top bunk. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A statewide nominating commission is interviewing 20 applicants for a seat on the Kansas Court of Appeals. Among the candidates are Caleb Stegall, who is Gov. Sam Brownback’s chief counsel, and Sedgwick County District Judge Tony Powell, a former member of the Kansas House. The commission is holding interviews Tuesday and Wednesday. The panel will then select three finalists, from whom Brownback will make the appointment. Appellate judges in Kansas do not need confirmation from the state Senate. The applicants are seeking to replace Judge Christel Marquardt, who plans to retire in January. It will be Brownback’s…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback is preparing to announce a state-federal collaboration to provide Kansas military veterans better access to health care. Brownback’s office declined to provide details ahead of a news conference Tuesday morning at the Statehouse. The Kansas adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Lee Tafanelli, was scheduled to join Brownback for the announcement. Others set to take part include an official of the Veterans Administration and the director of telemedicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Republican strategist Karl Rove heads to Wichita later this month to address the 100th annual convention of the Kansas Livestock Association. Rove is the featured speaker at the association’s banquet on Nov. 28. He’s expected to discuss what this month’s elections mean for the nation, especially the agricultural sector. Rove was deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush. The convention runs Nov. 28-30. Also on the agenda are readings from cowboy entertainer and former veterinarian Baxter Black, and a session on market outlooks with a top official from the beef industry information company CattleFax.
On Monday, Staff Sgt. Matthew Stiltz, 26, of Spokane, Wash., died of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with indirect fire while in Zerok, Afghanistan. Stiltz was an infantryman assigned to the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley in February 2006. Stiltz was on his third deployment with two of them in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Stiltz was posthumously promoted to the rank of staff sergeant.
A Fort Riley Soldier was killed by enemy forces the end of last week in eastern Afghanistan. Fort Riley officials announced Tuesday that Capt. James Nehl, 37, of Gardiner, Oregon. died November 9th in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire. He was an infantry officer assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, at Fort Riley. Nehl joined the Army in 2007 and arrived at Fort Riley in May. This was his first deployment to Afghanistan. He also previously deployed to Iraq in support of…
Nobody could really understand the hardships soldiers and their families go through, unless they are able to experience them first hand. Manhattan Area Technical College chose to recognize one of these families during a presentation held Tuesday morning by giving away a silver muti-passenger Honda van that was refurbished by the college’s Automotive Collision Repair Program students. The vehicle was donated by State Farm Insurance Insurance Agency and is a part of the National Recycled Ride Programs. Sgt. Kevin Donahue and his wife, Jan, were the lucky recipients of the van and a presentation was held in their honor. The…
Anthony Middle School students were evacuated due to a bomb threat that came in at about 10:15 Tuesday morning. USD 383 Communications Coordinator Michele Jones told KMAN students and staff were evacuated to St. Thomas Moore Church, due to a note that was found in one of the bathrooms. Riley County Police were on the scene, but Jones stressed everyone was safe. Jones added that students were released for the rest of the day and that buses were picking up students at St. Thomas Moore and dropping them at their normal bus stop. Parents were also permitted to pick up their children at the church, but…
It was standing room only at Wamego’s School Board meeting Monday. The agenda item that garnered the most attention was Wamego High School’s current grading policy. The fact that it was an agenda item caused some contentious statements by several board members about the timing without a general discussion by the board. The current policy has been in place for more than four years, and Board member Mark Bettencourt thought it was time to take a look at the policy and how it has affected the students. He has researched the issue and put together a power point presentation to ask…
PITTSBURGH (AP) The Pittsburgh Steelers escaped with a victory. The health of their franchise quarterback is another matter entirely. The Steelers edged the woeful Kansas City Chiefs 16-13 in overtime on Monday night but lost Ben Roethlisberger for most of the second half and perhaps a lot longer with a right shoulder injury. Roethlisberger left the game early in the third quarter after getting slammed to the turf by Kansas City linebackers Tamba Hali and Justin Houston and did not return. The Steelers (6-3) won their fourth straight anyway. Shaun Suisham kicked a 23-yard field goal 51…