Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan is retiring this month after 30 years with the agency. The retirement is effective Feb. 22, the agency said.
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office has filed its expected appeal of a ruling on school funding with the state Supreme Court. Schmidt’s office took the action Friday in hope of overturning a decision last month by a three-judge panel in Shawnee County. The judges said the state isn’t spending enough on public schools to meet its obligation under the Kansas Constitution to finance a suitable education for every child. Legislators would have to boost annual spending on schools by at least $440 million to comply with the order. The lower court ruling came in a lawsuit…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas House plans to name a handmade wooden ballot box that it uses in races for leadership positions for the late lawmaker who made it. The chamber’s Federal and State Affairs Committee is sponsoring a resolution to bestow the honor on the late Rep. Bob Bethell, an Alden Republican. He died in a one-car accident last year driving home after the annual legislative session ended. Bethell had served in the House since 1999. Bethell, a Baptist minister and talented wood worker, made the ballot box in 2002 because he thought leadership elections deserved something better than…
MISSION, Kan. (AP) Police in a northeast Kansas town say a 3-year-old boy shot and wounded himself with a handgun his father had left unattended. Mission police said the boy remained hospitalized in stable condition Friday, a day after the shooting in the father’s apartment. Investigators said in a statement the father was preparing to clean his Glock 9mm handgun and left it unattended within the boy’s reach. While the father’s back was turned, the boy pulled the gun toward himself. The gun discharged, sending a bullet through the child’s forearm, into his abdomen and out of his lower body.…
The year began with a slight jump in the unemployment rate, but job growth shows strength.
Hillary Clinton formally resigned Friday as America’s 67th secretary of state, capping a 4-year tenure and telling State Department staffers “I was honored to serve and lead as part of a huge extended family.”
On today’s first InFocus of February, Cathy talks with State Senator Tom Hawk of Manhattan, followed by Ginny Barnard, the Riley County Extension Family and Consumer Sciences Agent, and Bonnie and Jim Sherow on recent trip to Washington D.C. for the presidential inauguration and an essay they wrote. [mp3-jplayer]
PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) An historic Pittsburg theater will hold its first public event in nearly 30 years in April. The 90-year-old Colonial Fox Theatre will be the site of a live antique auction on April 27. People who are working to restore the theater say they hope the auction is the first of a wide range of events at the theater. The Joplin Globe reports the theater was one of several buildings that anchored Pittsburg’s downtown entertainment and nightlife district in the past. But it closed to the public in 1985 and fell into disrepair. A group of volunteers began…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas House is considering a bill that would allow some religious symbols on public lands. The religious symbols would be permitted if they are part of the community’s history or heritage. The Wichita Eagle reports the bill is a reaction to an incident last summer, when a group threatened to sue the town of Buhler because its official city sign included a cross. The town replaced it with similar signs on private land. The bill would also allow religious displays in public schools, if they are part of a course of study. Rep. Don Schroeder of…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A group that connects Kansans who want to mentor youth with about 175 programs across the state says funding is available to help offset the cost of background checks. The Kansas Department of Education says the Kansas Mentors program was awarded $100,000 from Volunteer Kansas last year. Nearly $60,000 is available to distribute this year to Kansas mentoring programs conducting Kansas Bureau of Investigation background checks on mentors. Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder is the co-chairman of Kansas Mentors. He says Kansas’ mentoring programs are reporting significant declines in funding while demand for services increase. He…