John Brennan has won Senate confirmation to head the CIA after a late struggle that had more to do with presidential power to order drone strikes than with the nominee’s credentials to lead the spy agency.
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas lawmakers are debating legislation to create 10 innovative school districts that would be exempt from many state rules and regulations in exchange for improving student achievement. The House gave first-round approval to its bill Thursday after debate over exempting the 10 districts from many laws governing teacher contract negotiations and due process. The districts would be chosen from a pool of applicants. Proponents say the bill will give the districts the freedom to make decisions on student programs and organization that will encourage innovative approaches to learning. Opponents contend Kansas already has a strong public school…
OTTAWA, Kan. (AP) An eastern Kansas sheriff is free on $3,000 bond and remains in office after being charged with interfering with law enforcement and official misconduct. Franklin County Sheriff Jeff Curry made his first court appearance Wednesday and was tentatively scheduled for an ouster hearing next week, though that could be delayed until after Curry’s April 1 preliminary hearing. The Lawrence Journal-World reports Curry is accused of using confidential information gained through his office for his or another person’s gain, or to cause harm to another. The interference charge is a felony. Deputy Jerrod Fredericks, the department’s public information…
HIAWATHA, Kan. (AP) Authorities in northeast Kansas say a 27-year-old Hiawatha man is charged in the death of a 4-year-old boy. Brown County Prosecutor Kevin Hill says Lee Davis IV, also known as Jimmy Davis, was charged with first-degree murder and felony abuse of the child, who died Tuesday. Davis is being held on $2 million bond and is expected to have a lawyer formally appointed for him Thursday or Friday. The St. Joseph News-Press reports that the child was taken by air ambulance from Hiawatha Community Hospital on Sunday to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, where he died…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Two men are facing federal charges for allegedly selling eagle and hawk feathers. U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom says in a news release that Ruben Dean Littlehead, 38, of Lawrence and Brian K. Stoner, 32, of Ponca City, Okla., were charged Wednesday for selling feathers from migratory birds that are protected by federal law. Littlehead is facing four charges and Stoner is facing two charges. Each count carries a potential sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The two men allegedly sold feathers from golden and bald eagles and hawks between 2008 and 2009 in…
LENEXA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas man who accidentally shot his wife while they were eating at a restaurant is facing criminal charges. William H. Mize Jr., 66, of Lenexa is charged with aggravated battery and carrying a concealed weapon while under the influence. Police say Mize and his wife were sitting across from each other at a Longbranch restaurant Jan. 2 when he man reached into his pants pocket and accidentally discharged a small pistol, shooting his wife in the leg. She was treated and released at a hospital. The Kansas City Star reports Mize had a valid permit to…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas House committee is preparing to debate sweeping anti-abortion legislation aimed at ensuring the state doesn’t subsidize abortions even indirectly through tax exemptions or credits. The measure on Thursday’s agenda of the Federal and State Affairs Committee also would strengthen a law designed to prevent medical residents from performing abortions on state property. The bill has the strong support of abortion opponents, and abortion-rights supporters consider it the most serious threat to access to the procedure being considered this year. Under the bill, a woman who has an abortion couldn’t include the cost in calculating her…
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) Seven educators have been named to the 2013 class of Kansas Master Teachers by Emporia State University. This is the 60th year for the recognition program, which honors teachers who have demonstrated excellence in the classroom and their profession. The master teachers were announced Wednesday and will be honored April 3 at a ceremony in Emporia. This year’s honorees are Juliann Bliese, Olathe; Michelle Lynn Bogner, Dodge City; Kathleen Bowen, Lawrence; Kacie Evans, Alta Vista; Kelley Norman, Topeka; Michele Ann Palmgren, Salina; and Tara Walrod, Overland Park. Two master teachers will also go to Emporia State for…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Beta Theta Pi fraternity’s national spokesman says its University of Kansas chapter can no longer allow live animals at its events after a turkey was abused and later killed at a December function. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the Kansas chapter also must host a service project benefiting an animal-related organization and will host an animal-rights speaker. Martin Cobb says the national organization has hired a private investigator to look into the Kansas case but has not concluded that work. He says the turkey incident happened during a formal dinner known as the “Turkey Pull,” which has been…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Sentencing will take place later this month for a suburban Chicago man who was arrested after two of his children were found bound and blindfolded in a Walmart parking lot in eastern Kansas. Adolfo Gomez and his wife, Deborah Gomez, of Northlake, Ill., have been in custody in Douglas County since they were arrested last June 13 in Lawrence. Police found two of their children, ages 5 and 7, bound by their hands and feet in the store parking lot. Adolfo Gomez pleaded no contest to two counts of felony child abuse and three misdemeanor counts of…