TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Supreme Court is preparing to rule on a challenge to the state’s 1988 law that limits damages for pain and suffering in civil lawsuits at $250,000. The court says it will issue a decision Friday in the case of Eudora resident Amy Miller, who filed a medical malpractice lawsuit after her doctor removed the wrong ovary in 2002. A jury in Douglas County District Court awarded Miller almost $760,000 in damages. The award included $400,000 for current and future non-economic losses, such as pain and suffering. Because state law limits damages for non-economic losses, the…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The Machinists union in Wichita is urging members to reject Bombardier’s proposed five-year labor contract and vote to strike. The union represents 825 hourly workers at the Bombardier Learjet plant. The Wichita Eagle reports union members are to vote Saturday on a contract that offers no raises the first year and a 1 percent raise in each of the four following years. Machinists union spokesman Bob Wood told the newspaper Thursday the offer retains the pension plan, but increases health care costs. But Wood says the main sticking point is the company’s proposal for a five-year contract.…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Public records show that interim Kansas Labor Secretary Lana Gordon filed an age and gender discrimination complaint against a former employer two months before taking the state job. Gordon’s complaint against ISS Facility Services Inc. was still open Thursday before the Kansas Human Rights Commission. Gordon, also a former legislator, filed the complaint in July. The complaint alleges that a manager in the company’s Topeka office verbally abused Gordon because of her age and gender from August 2011 until she was fired as an account representative in March. Gordon did not immediately respond to an interview request…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Topeka police are looking for a 10-foot-tall bronze statue called “Forgiven Man” after it was stolen from a church. The statue was stolen early Wednesday from a memorial garden in front of the First Congregational Church. Police say they received a call from a witness who saw two men load the statue into a pickup truck. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports police say the bronze statue is worth $10,000. The thieves also did about $400 damage to a concrete bench and sign at the church. The church’s pastor, Tobias Schlingensiepen, says he believes the statute is worth more…
OSAWATOMIE, Kan. (AP) A 32-year-old northeast Kansas man died after police used a Taser gun on him while he tried to flee. Osawatomie police say Travis L. Maupin died at the Miami County Medical Center Thursday morning. Police say Maupin had barricaded himself inside a home after police arrived to investigate a report of domestic violence. He came out of the home but ran when paramedics checked the woman for injuries. Officers chased him for about a block and used the Taser on him when he resisted. Osawatomie police asked the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to look into the death.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Lawrence artist is upset that a print critical of Gov. Sam Brownback has been taken down at a Topeka cafe. The stencil print by Dave Lowenstein shows Brownback with tears in his eyes, with flames behind him. The governor is saying “Kansans pleeease … stop me.” The owner of the building that houses the Blue Planet Cafe, Greg Ready, says he removed the print out of respect for Brownback’s daughter, who works at a photo business above the cafe. Ready says his decision was not a political statement. He also says the Liz Brownback did not…
HAYS, Kan. (AP) A second patient at Hays Medical Center is suing after contracting a strain of hepatitis C linked to a traveling hospital technician. Tom Walters of rural Catharine filed a lawsuit Monday against a Pennsylvania hospital and two medical staffing agencies. The lawsuit contends the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center was negligent for not reporting that technician David Kwiatkowski allegedly stole and used narcotics in 2008. Walters contracted hepatitis C while being treated at Hays Medical Center in 2010, when Kwiatkowski was working there. Kwiatkowski has denied allegations that he injected himself and used contaminated syringes on patients…
GIRARD, Kan. (AP) A Missouri man was sentenced to nearly 27 years in prison for killing a Kansas man during a botched robbery attempt. Rickey R. Smith, 23, was sentenced Wednesday to 26 years and 10 months in prison for second-degree murder in the shooting death of Ryan Bailey, 21, in October 2011. Smith was one of four Joplin men charged in Bailey’s death. In a plea deal in January, Smith admitted that he shot Bailey during an attempted robbery at Bailey’s home in Pittsburg. Oscar C. DeLeon Jr. and Randu Rivera, both 19, pleaded guilty in April to second-degree…
DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) A southwestern Kansas shelter for victims of domestic and sexual violence has reopened after months of repairs. The Crisis Center of Dodge City was forced to close its shelter when the summer heat wave caused the air conditioning unit to malfunction. The staff took the opportunity to also do repairs and deep cleaning. The safe house reopened Monday. The Dodge City shelter is the only safe house of its kind in the area. Other crisis programs in Great Bend, Liberal and Garden City stepped in to provide services while the Dodge City facility was closed. The…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Topeka activist says he’ll start circulating petitions later this month for an election to recall Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Sonny Scroggins has been holding small protests against Kobach for several weeks. Scroggins contends Kobach should be ousted over several issues. The concerns include Kobach’s work on immigration issues that regularly takes him out of state and his advocacy of a new state law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. Fellow activist Frank Smith says Kobach is trying to suppress voter turnout. Kobach argues the photo ID law will prevent election fraud…