Space shuttle Endeavour returned to its California roots Thursday after a wistful cross-country journey that paid homage to NASA workers and former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her astronaut husband. (Sept. 20)
Author: KMAN Staff
Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner says the election is about the economy not GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s caught-on-camera remarks about “the 47 percent of Americans who don’t pay income taxes”.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has created a new committee charged with promoting ecotourism in the state. Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Secretary Robin Jennison will lead the 16-member Kansas Ecotourism Steering Committee. Brownback said Wednesday the panel’s mission is to provide direction, guidance and marketing strategies to help grow the industry. Brownback’s office says ecotourism combines conservation and travel to include such as activities as hiking, biking, camping, wildlife-watching and river floats. The administration says tourism overall is Kansas’ third largest industry, with an economic impact of $5.4 billion. In the ecotourism niche, the state estimates that 790,000…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A new report shows lobbyists are spending almost 9 percent more this year than last year to try to influence Kansas officials. The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission’s report says lobbyists disclosed spending nearly $709,000 through August. That’s $57,000 more than they spent during the same period last year. Lobbyists have ramped up spending on newsletters and other communications designed to get people to pressure lawmakers. Such spending totaled $105,000 through August, compared to $15,000 for the same period last year. This year’s biggest-spending group has been the Kansas Association of Realtors, which disclosed expenses of $152,000 on…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Canadian man who was found earlier this year in Michigan with a 12-year-old Kansas girl he met on the Internet has had his trial delayed. Stewart Kenneth Cody McGill, of Bewdley, Ontario, had been scheduled for trial next week in U.S. District Court in Wichita on a charge of transporting a minor out of state to have sex. But a judge on Wednesday granted a defense request for a delay. The trial is now set for Nov. 14. Authorities say McGill traveled in May to El Dorado to meet the girl. They were found a few…
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) A man charged with killing a South Carolina doctor in suburban Kansas City is being held in the Johnson County jail after he was extradited from South America. The Kansas City Star reports that John Meredith Hodges, 44, of Ladson, S.C., was booked into the jail late Wednesday after authorities brought him back from Colombia. Hodges was being sought on a first-degree murder charge in the death of Franchesca Brown, 39, a pediatrician from Myrtle Beach, S.C. Police say she was attending a medical conference in Overland Park and was last seen Sept. 3. Her body was…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A woman who heads a child abuse and sex crimes unit in the Johnson County district attorney’s office has been fined $500 for violating campaign finance laws. The Kansas City Star reported that the Kansas Ethics Commission levied the fine against Heather Jones on Wednesday. The fine was for sending emails suggesting ways to help a Franklin County sheriff’s candidate from her district attorney’s office computer. Thirteen people received the emails. Jones is a former Franklin County attorney. She told the commission she didn’t send the email in her capacity as an assistant district attorney. She said…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Police are trying to figure out how a 3-year-old boy found wandering in a southeast Wichita neighborhood before dawn managed to leave a house where he had been staying. A woman noticed the pajama-clad toddler just after 4:20 a.m. Thursday and called police after the boy couldn’t tell her his name or where he lived. Officers knocked on doors in the neighborhood but couldn’t find out where he belonged. Police received a call more than four hours later about a missing boy. They learned he had been staying with an overnight care provider while his mother worked…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A new report says the top administrator of the Kansas board that regulates veterinarians and their clinics took more than 120 days of unpaid time off over seven months in 2010 and 2011. The audit released Thursday says Dirk Hanson, executive director of the Board of Veterinary Examiners, also had a side job at the time. The Wichita Eagle reports the auditors acknowledged finding no evidence of fraud or serious regulatory problems during Hanson’s time off. But their report said Hanson’s actions increased the risks that the agency couldn’t provide proper oversight. Hanson said his time off…
On Thursday the Joint Cities/ Counties meeting was held at Manhattan City Hall with the Metropolitan Planning Organization one topic of discussion. Due to federal government mandates, the City of Manhattan has to build a Metropolitan Planning Organization to plan for future transportation planning, or physical infrastructure needs . Ultimately it is up to the city commission to decide how the organization will be set up. Manhattan Mayor Loren Pepperd discussed how he thinks it should be handled. He ultimately believes the voting should be left to the MPO instead of giving the responsibility to the Regional Council. Ty Warner, Executive Director for the Flint…