SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) A 23-year-old Kansas City, Mo., man is dead after an explosion at a Johnson County, Kan., excavation and tree removal company. Shawnee Fire Marshal Corey Sands says his department received a call around 9:30 a.m. Monday about an industrial accident at Rieke Grading. When fire crews arrived they found Nicholas Jerde dead and evidence of an explosion. Sands says Jerde was using an acetylene torch to open frozen valves on a vacuum truck when it ignited vapor inside the truck’s tank. The Occupational Safety Health Administration was called to investigate the incident.
Author: KMAN Staff
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) Residents of a southwest Kansas mobile home park have until Friday to leave the property and may have to abandon their homes because a county law prohibits older mobile homes like theirs from relocating to other parks. Western Kansas News reports Garden City Community College bought the park’s land in December from Business Management Service Inc. The company notified the park’s tenants in early December about the sale and told them they had until March 15 to relocate. In Finney County, mobile homes built by 1986 can be relocated without special permits, and those built between…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas legislators have jumped into a tax dispute over refineries and fertilizer and cement plants, but critics worry that helping the business’s operators could pinch local governments. A bill before the Kansas House revises a state law governing how counties value machinery and equipment in complex manufacturing plants for tax purposes. Business groups are watching the legislation, which cleared the House Taxation Committee last week. Supporters contend the bill would ensure that machinery is valued consistently statewide, preventing prevent counties from overtaxing it. Critics contend the measure will take millions of dollars’ worth of property off state…
CHEROKEE, Kan. (AP) Kansas school boards are having trouble finding people to serve. The Kansas Association of School Boards says in the last 12 years, school districts across the state have consistently had 50 to 70 seats empty. The Joplin Globe reports 62 positions were empty in 2011, the latest available data. Doug Moeckel, an executive with the association, says school boards often have to make difficult budget and personnel decisions, which can cause conflict for board members. He says many people want to serve but are frustrated when they realize the school districts don’t have the resources to provide…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Sedgwick County judge is considering whether to allow evidence of a 1989 murder during a trial in a Wichita woman’s death in 2011. Tyrone Walker, 47, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Janis Sanders, 44, who died in June 2011 in Wichita. When Sanders was killed, Walker was on parole for the murder of Tamara Baker, 25, whose body was found in 1989 near Lawrence. Sedgwick County prosecutors are asking a judge to allow evidence of the first murder in Walker’s trial in Sanders’ death. The Wichita Eagle reports prosecutors contend the two…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Wichita police say a 4-year-old boy was critically injured when he was accidentally shot in the head with an air rifle at his home. Police Sgt. Bart Brunscheen says the boy was hospitalized Sunday evening after being shot with a .177-caliber air rifle. He says the pellet penetrated the boy’s skull. Brunscheen says a male in the home apparently was cleaning the rifle when it fired.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Board of Education will get an update this week on school-related legislation and an effort to develop new standards to guide science instruction in the state. The board is meeting Tuesday in Topeka, then moves Wednesday to state schools for blind and deaf students in the Kansas City area. Several education-related bills are under consideration in the Legislature, including one that would make it easier to open charter schools. The board has been receiving regular updates on science standards, even though a final vote isn’t expected until at least May. Kansas and 25 other states…
HAYS, Kan. (AP) A Kansas Court of Appeals panel travels to Hays this week to hear oral arguments in eight cases. The Hays Daily News reports the three-judge panel will convene Tuesday and Wednesday at the Ellis County Courthouse. The docket includes appeals in cases involving legal and medical malpractice, child custody, drunken driving, mineral rights and other legal issues. The three judges will also render decisions on 10 cases that were submitted without oral argument. The 13-member Court of Appeals sits in Topeka, but often sends three-judge panels to conduct business in other parts of Kansas.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Attorneys involved in a Kansas school funding lawsuit are preparing for a conference call with Chief Justice Lawton Nuss to discuss the state Supreme Court’s schedule for reviewing the case. Monday morning’s call was set up by Nuss to discuss deadlines. But attorneys also expected to address the appointment of a mediator to oversee negotiations aimed at settling the litigation. The court already has said the negotiations will occur as the case moves forward. Several school districts and parents and guardians of students sued the state in November 2010. The state is appealing a January ruling by…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas House is preparing to take final action on a bill that supporters say is an attempt to encourage cooperation between the Kansas Turnpike Authority and the state Department of Transportation. Some House members fear the bill up for a vote Monday is a step toward a merger and diverting revenues from the 236-mile turnpike to other uses. The House’s vote will determine whether the bill passes and goes to the Senate. It stops far short of Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposal for a merger of the transportation agencies. Instead, it expands the specific authority of KDOT…