WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Wichita teachers and the district’s school board have approved a tentative contract that includes the first raise for teachers in four years. The teachers and board both approved the contract on Monday, after months of negotiations. Union officials said Monday that about two-thirds of the district’s 4,000 teachers voted, with 88 percent approving. The agreement includes a 4 percent increase in salary, benefits and reduced work time. Superintendent John Allison said the $8.6 million cost of the contract has already been factored into the district’s budget.
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The fate of a local option budget increase in the Andover school district is still up in the air. Residents in the district, which lies in two counties, voted last Tuesday on whether to raise the Andover local option budget by 1 percentage point, with a mill levy decrease from 2.5 mills instead of 3 mills. Canvassing on Monday found Butler County voters rejected the increase, 856 to 744. But when those results were added to Sedgwick County’s votes, the issue was tied 1,575 to 1,575. The Wichita Eagle reports Sedgwick County still has to canvass its…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) The Spencer Museum of Art on the University of Kansas campus will reopen after repairing damage from a water main break. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the museum is scheduled to reopen Tuesday. The museum closed Aug. 1 after the water main break sent water into the building’s lower floors, which house the Murphy Art and Architecture Library. The museum’s artwork, which is displayed on the upper floors, was not damaged. Officials have said an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 of the museum’s 170,000 volumes were damaged.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) The woman who called police to report seeing a child bound in a Lawrence parking lot said she thought the child may have been abducted. Linda Baranski testified Tuesday in a preliminary hearing in Douglas County Court in the case of Adolfo and Deborah Gomez, of Northlake, Ill. The Gomezes were charged in June with child abuse and aggravated endangerment after police found the couple’s 7-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son tied up outside a Lawrence Walmart. The family stopped there after their SUV broke down during a trip. Three other children, ages 12, 13 and 15, were…
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) Biotechnology and U.S. farm policy will be the focus of an upcoming conference of the Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association. More than 100 people are expected to attend the Aug. 21 conference in Manhattan. U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, is scheduled to talk about the election season and his vision and role in agricultural policy in Washington. Also on the agenda is Cathleen Enright, executive vice president of food and agriculture for the Biotechnology Industry Organization. Enright is expected to share the latest technology and policy issues related to crop protection.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback has named the CEO of a Wichita construction company to the board that oversees operations of the Kansas Turnpike. The appointment of Mark Hutton to a four-year term on the Kansas Turnpike Authority Board was announced Monday. Hutton founded Hutton Construction Co. in 1992. The firm’s website says it specializes in office, hospital, church and community buildings. On the Turnpike board he succeeds former Lt. Gov. Paul Dugan, also of Wichita. Dugan, a Democrat, served as lieutenant governor from 1979 to 1983 under Gov. John Carlin. The five-member authority board already includes Brownback’s secretary…
Monday’s Riley County Commission meeting brought forth the approval of the 2013 budget. With only two commissioners present, the board of commissioners voted 2-0 on a budget that includes a $2.6 million spending reduction and a mill increase. “It’s a little over a 0.6 mill increase,” County Commissioner Dave Lewis says. “We went through things on a very pragmatic basis, we didn’t add any additional staff except for some staff included in the RCPD budget because of the growth and demands.” With the increase, the 2013 budget will have mill levy of 35.396 and Lewis says the commission feels comfortable with…
The total mill levy for Wamego’s USD 320 is slightly higher than last year’s. At Monday’s Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Denise O’Dea announced the Total mill levy was reduced since the budget was published. She said Code 99 was published with a total mill levy of 57.677, but by reducing the Bond and Interest mill levy, it lowered the 2012-13 proposed mill levy to 57.171 mills, which is .010 mills greater than last year’s mill levy rate of 57.161. The budget was approved 6 to 1, with Board President Philip Wethington opposing. After a 45-minute executive session, the board…
Within the confines of the Riley County Jail, sits a 53-year-old Manhattan man reportedly wanted in Los Angeles, California on a murder warrant in a case dating back to 1983. Riley County Police announced Tuesday that on July 26th, Bernardo Rodriguez-Gamez was arrested due to a series of search warrants concerning narcotic possession. After some time, the LA Police and District Attorney’s office contacted the Riley County Police to confirm the extradition order and their willingness to extradite the suspect back to LA. At this point, the details of the LA investigation are scarce. KMAN has contacted the media relations division of…
(Courtesy K-State Sports Information) Tijuca Club hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 45 seconds left, as the 22-and-under club team held on to defeat Kansas State, 74-72, in a physically-contested game on Monday night. The two teams combined to shoot 78 free throws in the game, including 47 by the home team. The officials also whistled the teams for four technical fouls, including two on head coach Bruce Weber, which caused his ejection early in the fourth quarter. He was whistled for his first technical in the first quarter. The ejection of Weber sparked the Wildcats, as they scored…