TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is sponsoring a two-day event this week that his office is calling the state’s first conference on the future of water. The event is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Manhattan. Brownback plans to speak the first day. Also on the conference agenda are U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas and Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick, commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The governor’s office says the conference will examine the state’s water infrastructure, ways to improve water quality and how to meet demand for water from the energy and agriculture industries.…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The extended drought is prompting cattle farmers across Kansas to sell some or all of their herds. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported last week that the number of cattle sent to Kansas feedlots in September was the lowest on record for that month, down 25 percent from September 2011. The number of cattle sold by feedlots to packers in Kansas fell 17 percent from a year ago and tied for the worst month ever. The Wichita Eagle reported the cattle industry expected the steep drop in cattle as drought ruined pastures, dramatically increasing the cost of…
SALINA, Kan. (AP) Salina dentists are offering to buy back kids’ Halloween candy and send it to soldiers. The Salina Journal reports that Discovery Dental Center has offered to buy back Halloween candy from children for $2 a pound. They’ll then send the sugary loot to soldiers overseas. Drs. Earl O’Hara, Gary O’Hara and Brent Mayginnes say they’ll buy unopened candy from trick-or-treaters, exchanging money, toothbrushes and prizes. They’ll ship the candy haul to California-based Operation Gratitude, which assembles and ships care packages for soldiers. The dentists say they’ll also accept monetary donations for shipping and handling for the care…
ABILENE, Kan. (AP) A biographer of President Dwight D. Eisenhower is scheduled to speak in Abilene. Historian Jean Edward Smith, author of the book “Eisenhower in War and Peace,” is leading a discussion Thursday evening at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. The Salina Journal reports that Smith’s book examines Eisenhower’s journey from Abilene to West Point, through World War II, the presidency and later. Smith has been a faculty member at the University of Toronto and Marshall University, and is a senior scholar in the history department at Columbia University. A book signing will follow the discussion.
SCOTT CITY, Kan. (AP) A social service agency in western Kansas is seeking to expand with the help of a state tax credit program. The Western Kansas Child Advocacy Center is one of 27 nonprofit organizations awarded part of $4.13 million given by the Kansas Department of Commerce. The money comes from the department’s Community Service Tax Credit program. The Garden City Telegram reports the advocacy center will use its allotted $160,000 to buy a third mobile unit, which will allow the organization to expand its mobile mental health services. WKCAC works with victims of child abuse in 29 counties…
ABILENE, Kan. (AP) A fire that started on a deck outside an Abilene assisted-living facility forced about 60 residents out of their beds and to a church across the street. The Salina Journal reports the fire started between 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. Saturday at Frontier Estates but was contained to one area. Facility manager Sally Zedalis says a passerby noticed the flames and called police. All of the residents were taken to a First Christian Church, where they were fed breakfast. Most were able to go back to their apartments later Saturday morning, but residents of four apartments that…
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) Frightening test scores have prompted a Hutchinson elementary school to cancel its annual Halloween parade so pupils can use the time learning. KWCH reports administrators at McCandless Elementary canceled the event because it is being monitored by the State Department of Education and student test scores were low. Some parents are upset that children who are getting good grades are being punished because of the performance of others. Principal Glen Owen says classroom celebrations will go on as scheduled, but the time allotted for the Halloween parade will be used instead for school work. A spokesman for…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) What was thought to be an unexploded hand grenade turns out to be a prop for a skit performed a few years ago at a convention of lawyers in Topeka. Firefighters and Shawnee County sheriff’s deputies were called to a home at 9:30 a.m. Friday after what looked like a grenade turned up in a box inside the garage. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the home’s resident, a Topeka attorney, called a friend with a military background to look at the device. That friend inspected the grenade and called the sheriff’s office to examine it to make sure…
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) Two western Kansas women are among three people killed in a head-on collision in Finney County about six miles north of Garden City. The Kansas Highway Patrol says Phillip Cook, 21, of Littlefield, Texas, was southbound on U.S. 83 at 9:19 p.m. Friday when he crossed the center line and struck a car driven by Doris Reed, 81, of Scott City. The Hutchinson News reports both drivers and Leta Weems, 68, of Scott City, a passenger in Reed’s car, were killed in the crash. A second passenger in Reed’s car, Alice Odea, 73, of Scott City, was taken to a…
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) Experts in a new field that explores how genes adapt in response to environmental changes are meeting this weekend in Kansas City. Kansas State University’s Loretta Johnson and Michael Herman teamed up a decade ago to start research in the field of ecological genomics. Now, the university’s Ecological Genomics Institute is putting on a 10th anniversary symposium from Friday through Sunday at the Marriott on the Country Club Plaza. When Johnson and Herman first collaborated, their research appeared unrelated. Johnson had been studying the root systems of prairie grass, while Herman’s research was focused on a type…