SALINA, Kan. (AP) A Salina man awaiting sentencing for the murder of his girlfriend’s young son has escaped from jail. The Salina Journal reports Antonio Brown, 29, fled the Saline County Jail late Monday afternoon. Brown pleaded no contest in January to first-degree murder and child abuse. The charges stemmed from the beating death of 14-month-old Clayden Urbanek in November 2011. Brown had been held in the Mitchell County jail in Beloit. Sheriff Glen Kochanowski says Brown was brought back to Salina on Monday to prepare for sentencing Tuesday. The sheriff says Brown was placed in a cell in his…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Abortion opponents are urging a Kansas Senate committee to back legislation barring doctors from terminating pregnancies solely because a woman doesn’t want a baby of a certain gender. Monday’s hearing by the Public Health and Welfare Committee began a push by anti-abortion groups and legislators for new restrictions on abortion and abortion providers. The bill on so-called sex-selection abortions would make it a misdemeanor the first time a doctor was caught performing such a procedure. Doctors also could face lawsuits from family members of abortion patients. Proponents of the bill said in other countries, such abortions are…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Democrats in the Kansas Legislature are pushing measures on wages, hiring and government procurement aimed at helping workers. Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley and House Democratic Leader Paul Davis outlined the proposals Monday at a news conference where they also criticized majority Republicans as unfriendly to wage earners. Their agenda includes measures that would require contractors on public projects to pay the prevailing union wage for certain jobs in a community and requiring Kansans to be hired first. Also, they’re arguing that the state should boost its $7.25-an-hour minimum wage. But the Democratic leaders devoted much of…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A northeast Kansas woman who said she embezzled from the credit union where she worked to save the family farm has been sentenced to three years in prison. The U.S. attorney’s office says Pamela Emig, 48, of Solomon, must also pay $817,000 in restitution under the sentence she received Monday. Emig pleaded guilty in November to one count of embezzling from Enterprise Credit Union, in Enterprise, between 2005 and 2011. She was a manager and kited checks between accounts under her control to cover up the thefts. Defense attorney Christopher Joseph says in a filing that Emig…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) An eastern Kansas man has pleaded guilty to producing child pornography and is expected to spend 20 to 30 years behind bars. Michael Arnett of Roeland Park entered his plea Monday in U.S. District Court. As part of the deal, prosecutors will drop one count of possessing child porn and one count of distributing it. The 38-year-old admitted taking pictures of children engaged in sexual conduct from 2000 to the summer of 2008. Investigators tracked him to Kansas after discovering a water bottle in a photo on a Wisconsin man’s computer had the name of a…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas public broadcasters are already struggling with budget problems, even before the Legislature considers again reducing their funding. Public broadcasting currently receives about $1.5 million from the state, which could be reduced to about $1 million this year. Last year, Gov. Sam Brownback tried to eliminate all public broadcasting funding. But some lawmakers resisted and approved smaller cuts. This year, the governor is again seeking to reduce state funding, or change the funding source to state lottery proceeds. The Kansas City Star reports managers of some public stations have cut staff, reduced programming or reduced their hours…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas State Board of Education will consider new emergency intervention regulations on how special education students are restrained in the classroom. The board will meet Tuesday in Topeka for a public hearing on the standards, which would protect the students from physical restraint and seclusion. The board could vote on them Wednesday. Currently, the state encourages schools to follow standards but does not require it. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the new regulations would require all school districts to adopt formal policies, provide training in using the interventions and document every time they are used. Last year,…
BENTON, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Highway Patrol says four cars collided with cattle that wandered onto a southeast Kansas highway, sending two women to the hospital. The patrol says the accident occurred Sunday evening on Kansas 254 near Benton in Butler County The injured women, a 55-year-old from Wichita and a 53-year-old from Valley Center, were in separate cars. They were listed in fair condition Monday at Wichita hospitals. Two other women were not hurt when their cars hit the animals.
BALDWIN CITY, Kan. (AP) Baker University President Pat Long says she plans to retire in June 2014. Long told the university’s Board of Trustees about her plans on Friday. She has been president of the university in Baldwin City since 2006, when she became the institution’s first female president. The trustees say they will start a national search for her replacement soon. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the 61-year-old Long said she planned when she was hired to serve as president for five to seven years. She says she wanted to give plenty of advance notice to allow the university time…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Topeka police say two suspects are in custody after shots were fired during fights that involved up to 15 people. The fight Sunday night left two people with gunshot wounds, although the injuries were not considered life-threatening. Police Lt. Ron Gish said in a news release that officers received reports of a large group of people fighting in southeast Topeka, with some of the people involved armed with handguns. Gish says a 30-year-old female and 15-year-old boy were taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds. After the shooters’ car was found, police took four people into custody. Police…