TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Opponents of immigration policies favored by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach are calling for his resignation. A group called the DREAM Act Coalition expects up to 75 people from around the country to join an anti-Kobach rally Tuesday at a Topeka state office building. The DREAM Act would create a citizenship path for residents who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Kobach is a Republican and former law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He has helped shape immigration policies around the country, and continues to litigate immigration issues in other states while…
Author: KMAN Staff
The latest unemployment numbers for Manhattan and the surrounding counties have been released, and in general, they continue to improve. For the Manhattan metro area, which includes the city as well as Geary, Pottawatomie, and Riley counties, the unemployment rate for October was 4.6 percent, which is exactly the same as it was for September of this year. It is, however, down from where it was in October of 2011 when it was 5.3 percent. For the city of Manhattan itself, the unemployment rate for October was 3.8 percent, the same as it was last month, and down from 4.4 percent this time last…
A former K-State football player has pleaded guilty to bank robbery. Xzavier Stewart (23), of Chicago, pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery. in his plea, he admitted that on August 20, 2012, he robbed the Bank of the West, located in Overland Park. He demanded money from the teller, who recognized him as the same man who had robbed her at the same bank the month before. Stewart played as a defensive tackle at Kansas State from 2007-2008, before transferring to Illinois State before the 2009 season. Sentencing is set for February 19, 2013. Stewart faces a maximum…
Indianapolis investigators have opened a criminal homicide probe into the explosion that killed two people and damaged or destroyed dozens of homes earlier this month.
Near mile marker 181 on K-18 west of the airport a three vehicle accident occurred at about 5 pm Monday. Michael Shepard, 22 from Knightdale North Carolina, was eastbound in the right lane of K-18 in his Mazda SUV when he took his eyes off the road and rear-ended 43 year old Kenneth Katzenberg’s 2008 Ford. Katzenberg, of Wamego, was slowing down for a traffic stop. Due to the impact of the collision, Katzenberg ended up pushing into 23 year old Corey Turner’s 2008 Toyota. Turner is from Elkton, Virginia. The only person injured was Shepard’s passenger Juan Rivera, 21 of Manhattan.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A new report says the Kansas unemployment rate continues to decline. The state Labor Department said Monday that unemployment fell to 5.7 percent in October from 5.9 percent in September. Last month’s figure is also down sharply from a seasonally adjusted 6.6 percent in October 2011. September’s figure marked the first time since December 2008 that Kansas unemployment was below 6 percent. Interim Labor Secretary Lana Gordon says she’s encouraged by the latest report. But a Labor Department economist says the slow pace of seasonal hiring shows a tentativeness in the economy.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas Court of Appeals research attorney has been fired after an investigation into comments she posted to Twitter last week during the ethics hearing of former Attorney General Phill Kline. Sarah Peterson Herr was a research attorney for Court of Appeals Judge Christel Marquardt. Herr tweeted several negative comments about Kline during the hearing. Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss said Monday that Herr had been fired and that her case had been referred to other offices for possible ethical violations. She was suspended with pay on Friday, the same day she apologized because she…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The re-election of President Barack Obama is rekindling hopes among wind energy supporters for the extension of the production tax credit for the industry. Obama strongly backs alternative energy. Democrats also gained seats in the Senate and House this election. The Wichita Eagle reports the American Wind Energy Association has predicted that losing the credit will lead to 37,000 layoffs as demand for new wind turbines and wind farms drops sharply. The credit expires Jan. 1. The conservative-dominated U.S. House has opposed reviving the wind energy subsidy. Two Republicans in the Kansas delegation Mike Pompeo and Tim…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Wichita police say a man caught two burglars at his elderly neighbor’s home and chased them away with a pitchfork. KAKE-TV reports the man saw two teenagers inside his neighbor’s residence just after 9:30 a.m. Saturday and called 911 before confronting them with a pitchfork. Officers arrived at the scene and found that the victim’s home had been ransacked. Two suspects, ages 16 and 19, were found hiding nearby and booked into jail on burglary charges. The victim is an 86-year-old woman who was not at home at the time.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Deer herds are a little thinner in a couple Kansas counties because of a seasonal virus that might be worse than normal because of the summer’s drought. The Lawrence Journal-World reports dozens of dead deer have been found near lakes and ponds in Douglas and Franklin counties. A spokesman for the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism says about 400 deer deaths from epizootic hemorrhagic disease have been reported. Wildlife and disease coordinator Shane Hesting says the disease has affected only a small portion of a total deer population that exceeds half a million. Hesting says…