A Colorado judge says there’s enough evidence for James Holmes to face trial on charges that allege he killed 12 people and injured 70 others in a movie theater last summer.
Author: KMAN Staff
Afghan President Hamid Karzai met with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton before they were to be joined for dinner by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A 49-year-old Wichita man has been sentenced to 17 life terms for having sex with two young girls who were provided to him by their mother. James Lamont Brown will not be eligible for parole under the sentences imposed Thursday by Sedgwick County District Judge Gregory Waller. Brown was already a registered sex offender when he was charged with repeatedly molesting two sisters, then 11 and 12 years old, at a Wichita hotel. He was convicted in November 2011 of nine counts of rape and eight counts of trafficking. The girls’ mother has admitted driving them to…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A decision to let security guards at Emporia’s high school and middle school carry guns comes as districts across Kansas re-evaluate their safety protocols in the wake of the Connecticut school massacre. Attorney Donna Whiteman of the Kansas Association of School Boards says numerous districts are now reviewing their safety and security plans in the wake of the last month’s shooting rampage that left 27 people dead. The Emporia school district’s board of education voted Wednesday to allow its security guards, who are school employees, to carry guns starting Feb. 1. The guards would have to meet…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has appointed Mark McGivern as interim secretary of the Department of Administration. Brownback named McGivern on Thursday as the temporary replacement for Dennis Taylor, who is leaving to become executive director of the Kansas Lottery. A permanent secretary is expected to be named in the coming months. McGivern currently directs the Office of Facilities and Property Management within the Department of Administration. The department oversees state purchasing, upkeep of state office buildings and computer and phone services for state agencies. Taylor’s appointment as head of the Kansas Lottery becomes effective Friday. He succeeds…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Two convicted felons have been arrested in connection with a shooting at a Wichita McDonald’s that resulted when the restaurant got their order wrong. Police say a 27-year-old woman who was driving a Trailblazer that tried to cut in front of another vehicle Wednesday morning in a drive-thru lane after discovering her order was incorrect. The driver of the car that was cut off refused to budge, and eventually the woman in the Trailblazer threw a tire iron at her. Police say a man in the Trailblazer got out and fired a shotgun blast into the driver’s…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas is seeing its projected budget shortfall shrink because of better-than-expected revenue collections. The Legislature’s research staff issued a new projection Thursday of $267 million. The figure represents the gap between anticipated revenues and current spending commitments for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The end-of-November figure had been $295 million. But the state saw a bulge in revenues in December, particularly in individual income tax collections. Legislative researchers shared the new shortfall projection with The Associated Press before distributing their report to most legislators and making it public. The shortfall results from massive income tax…
ULYSSES, Kan. (AP) A western Kansas ranch that contains nationally recognized chalk formations and other important historical artifacts has been sold, pending some legal research. The Hays Daily News reported Wednesday that businessman and rancher Norman Nelson bought the Pyramid Ranch in Gove County for $10 million. Its 12,900 acres includes the Monument Rocks chalk formations, which have been designated a National Natural Landmark, as well as fossil finds and two graves of U.S. Cavalry soldiers. Nelson owns First State Bank and land in Norton, Trego and Russell counties. Nelson says he plans to use the land for his ranching…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Topeka man charged with killing his mother alleges in a lawsuit that he is being discriminated against in jail because he is a Muslim. Jason W. Hachmeister is in Shawnee County jail awaiting trial for first-degree murder in the strangulation death of his mother, Sheila Hachmeister. She was found dead in their Topeka home in September 2010. Hachmeister, a practicing Muslim, is seeking $100 million in the federal lawsuit. The Topeka Capital-Journal says Hachmeister accuses jail officials of not providing him with food that met the requirements of his Muslim faith. He also says Muslims aren’t…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) State transportation officials say the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities dropped dramatically in 2012 in Kansas. Preliminary data from the Kansas Department of Transportation says 57 people died in alcohol-related crashes, compared with 102 in 2011. Alcohol-related traffic accidents also declined last year 2,184, the lowest number in more than a decade. The Lawrence Journal-World reports Pete Bodyk, traffic safety manager for the transportation department, says one of the reasons for the decline is likely a law enacted in 2011 that requires even even first-time DUI offenders to use an ignition interlock device. The department says 402…