TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas legislators have given final approval to a bill barring public employee unions from deducting money from members’ paychecks to help finance political activities. A 68-54 vote Tuesday in the House sends the measure to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, who’s expected to sign it. The Senate approved the measure last week. Proponents argued the bill would protect members of public employee unions from having part of their pay funneled to candidates or causes they oppose. Supporters also said state and local government agencies processing payrolls shouldn’t be entangled in such transactions. But critics see the measure as…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas House has given first-round approval to a proposed $14 billion state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Tuesday’s roll call vote of 71-51 advances the bill to final House action set for Wednesday. The legislation would spend about $6 billion in state general fund revenues. The budget covers spending for public schools and higher education, social services and public safety, including the Highway Patrol, prisons and emergency management. The House Appropriations Committee budget made about $25 million in cuts from the budget proposed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. It would leave the…
KINGMAN, Kan. (AP) A 51-year-old south-central Kansas man is dead after getting trapped beneath a bale bed while working on a farm truck. Kingman County sheriff’s investigator Dustin Cooke says emergency responders declared Orrin Westerman of Kingman dead at the scene Tuesday following the 8:55 a.m. accident. Cooke says family members were present at the farm about seven miles southwest of Kingman when Westerman was caught beneath the hydraulic device, which is used to handle hay bales. He says the victim suffered head trauma in the mishap.
CHENEY, Kan. (AP) A bald eagle that appears to have been shot is recovering from its wounds at a south-central Kansas raptor center. KWCH-TV reports the female bird was taken in late Sunday at the Eagle Valley Raptor Center in Cheney. Program director Ken Lockwood says the wounded eagle was found by quail hunters near the small town of Latham, about 40 miles southeast of Wichita. Lockwood says the bird was missing several feathers from its left wing. An X-ray revealed metal fragments in its thigh. Staff at the raptor center are hopeful the eagle will recover. They’ve named the…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Republicans on a House committee have approved a measure that cuts protections of the classified employment system for many state workers. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the measure now goes to the full House. The bill would make all state attorneys, supervisors and information technology workers unclassified. Under the bill, all new hires would also be unclassified, and any current state employee who is either transferred, demoted or promoted would also be unclassified. The bill wouldn’t affect public safety employees. Rep. Jerry Henry of Atchison, a Democrat, says the measure warrants more study because it drastically alters the…
GARDNER, Kan. (AP) Authorities in eastern Kansas are investigating a human skull that hunters found outside Gardner. The Kansas City Star reports that authorities say the skull was found Monday and appears to have been exposed to the elements for several years. Officials are trying to determine who the skull belonged to and if there was any foul play involved. Investigators searched for other bones or evidence near the scene and are expected to continue searching Tuesday.
On today’s InFocus, Cathy talks with Art DeGroat,Director of Military affairs at Kansas State, followed by Karen Hauser and Jessica Palen with Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas. [mp3-jplayer]
Ukrainian parliament was briefly suspended after a brawl erupted between lawmakers. It happened after a politician delivered a speech in Russian which angered members of the nationalist Svoboda party.
The 1st Infantry Division headquarters officially marked its return, Tuesday, to Fort Riley after successfully completing its first deployment to Afghanistan. Maj. Gen. William Mayville, Jr., and Command Sgt. Maj. Charles Sasser, Jr., the division’s commander and senior noncommissioned officer, uncased the division’s colors during a ceremony at the post’s Victory Park. local and state leadership were in attendance including, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback; Brigadier Gen. Donald M. MacWillie and Manhattan City Manager, Ron Fehr. Operating as Combined Joint Task Force-1, the 1st Inf. Div. commanded and controlled RC-East, an area roughly the size of Virginia, which included 14 provinces,…
A wave of bombings tore through Iraq on Tuesday, killing 65 people on eve of the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion and showing how unstable Iraq remains more than a year after the withdrawal of American troops.