VALLEY CENTER, Kan. (AP) The Wichita suburb of Valley Center is making last-minute preparations to host the granite replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. KAKE-TV reports the famous “Moving Wall” will be escorted by American Legion riders Thursday morning into Valley Center’s Lions Park. The memorial will be open 24 hours a day until it leaves Monday afternoon. The half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., has been touring the country for more than 20 years. It bears all of the names American Legion volunteers are providing 24-hour security. Westar has donated the huge lights that will…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Topeka man has been charged with trying to smuggle $150,000 in cash from Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan to Kansas. The government alleges in a criminal information filed Tuesday that Donald Garst, 50, tried to evade currency reporting laws in May 2011 by concealing cash in a DHL shipping box for transport to Topeka. The U.S. attorney’s office says Garst was formerly with the Army National Guard, but was working as a private contractor in Afghanistan at the time. Garst’s lawyer, Christopher Joseph, says in an email that nothing in the charge alleges the cash was obtained…
ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) State Sen. Steve Abrams of Arkansas City says he plans to run for president of the Kansas Senate. Abrams, a Republican who has represented the 32nd District since 2008, says he would champion conservative principles if he is chosen Senate president. He promised to insist on civility while working with Gov. Sam Brownback and the House to promote a conservative agenda. State Sen. Susan Wagle, a Republican from Wichita, also plans to run for Senate president, if she defeats Democrat Patrick Cantwell, also from Wichita, in the Nov. 6 general election. Republican senators and senators-elect will…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Topeka lawyer faces federal charges for stealing more than $460,000 from his clients. U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom says in a release that Robert M. Telthorst, 52, is charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. He’s accused of taking clients’ money for his own use from 2005 to August 2011. Online court records don’t list a lawyer for Telthorst. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine on the wire fraud charge and up to 20 years and a $500,000 fine for money laundering charge.
HAYS, Kan. (AP) The owners of the Hays Feeders say the feed lot will close when the cattle are liquidated after Jan. 1. Jerry Bohn is general manager of Pratt Feeders, which owns Hays Feeders and three other cattle yards in Kansas and Oklahoma. He says two years of drought caused over-capacity for cattle feeders, and the Hays yard was doing the least amount of business. Bohn says he and others hope that the economy will improve and the Hays yard will be reopened in the future. The Salina Journal reports some of the 16 employees will be transferred to…
NICKERSON, Kan. (AP) After hearing from several angry residents, the Nickerson City Council voted for the second time to disband the city’s police department but added a chance for a vote on the issue in April. The council voted last week to eliminate the police department after the chief resigned in early October. On Monday night, about 50 residents of the Reno County town blasted the decision. The Hutchinson News reports council members voted again Monday to disband the department. But they included a provision that the public could vote in April to reinstate the department. Until then, the Reno…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) A University of Kansas student says she was robbed at gunpoint while she was on the campus in Lawrence. The student told police she was on a swing set Monday evening between Irving Hill Road and Stouffer Place Apartments when the man approached her, showed her a gun and demanded her property. The man left after the student gave him her cellphone and iPod. The robber is described as a black man about 6 feet, 2 inches tall and 170 pounds. He was wearing a black ski mask and a gray hooded sweatshirt.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center in Topeka is one of three pilot sites chosen after a national competition. Officials at the center announced Monday that the selection comes with a $65,000 grant, which is part of an initiative called “Going Wild at Children’s Museums.” The center’s expansion of its Outdoor Adventure was selected as part of the project funded by the Trustees’ Philanthropy Fund of Fidelity Charitable. The center must raise another $65,000 to match the grant. The money would be used to create a large water garden and launch two other national initiatives. The Topeka Capital-Journal…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) State Board of Education members are reviewing the progress of Kansas and other states in drafting common science standards. The board planned to hear Tuesday afternoon from the state official overseeing work on the standards and from a member of the state’s standards-writing committee. Kansas is working with 25 other states and the National Research Council on common standards for possible adoption in their public schools. A draft of the proposed standards released in May treats evolution as well-established science and a crucial concept for students to learn. Kansas officials expect another draft to be released in…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas driver’s licenses are about to get a new look and some new features. The Department of Revenue is unveiling the new design at an event Tuesday with Gov. Sam Brownback and Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan. Motorists will begin receiving the new licenses this week. Among the elements are new security features to protect against identity theft or illegal duplication. Revenue Department spokeswoman Jeannine Koranda says Kansas updates its driver’s licenses every four to six years as technology changes. Online: Kansas Department of Revenue: http://www.kdor.ks.gov