LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Construction will begin next week on a new cable median barrier on Kansas Highway 10 east of Lawrence. The $1.15 million project was prompted by a fatal crossover collision in April 2011 that killed 5-year-old Cainan Shutt near Eudora. Residents along the busy highway between Lawrence and Kansas City had pushed for the cable barriers for years before that accident. The Kansas Department of Transportation said Tuesday that the project will begin next Monday. The Lawrence Journal-World reports workers will install a 2.3-mile stretch just west of the Church Street exit and a 2-mile section on both…
Author: KMAN Staff
PLAINVILLE, Kan. (AP) Voters in a north-central Kansas school district recalled a school board member over a confrontation with a former school principal. By a vote of 524-284, voters on Tuesday recalled Plainville School Board member Darlene Jones, who served for 33 years. The recall petition accused Jones of verbally assaulting and committing battery on former Plainville High School principal Troy Keiswetter during a confrontation at the high school. Recall organizers said such confrontations should not be allowed on school grounds. The Salina Journal reports Jones denied the claims. Keiswatter left Plainville to work at McClouth High School.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Juror misconduct is being alleged in the trial of a man accused in the death of a Topeka woman and the wounding of her life partner. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports attorneys for Anceo Stovall filed a motion Tuesday saying a Shawnee County juror accessed an online news story about Stovall’s trial while the jury was deliberating. The attorneys say that violated the judge’s instructions and would be a basis for a new trial. The jury in late July could not reach verdicts on the nine of 11 charges against the 27-year-old Stovall, including first-degree murder in the…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The conservative chairman of the Kansas House’s pensions committee has ousted a veteran moderate state senator in a Republican primary race. Rep. Mitch Holmes of St. John received 53 percent of the vote Tuesday against Sen. Ruth Teichman, of Stafford, in the 33rd District of central and western Kansas. There is no Democratic candidate running. Holmes has been chairman of the pensions committee the past two years, when lawmakers approved legislation designed to improve the long-term financial health of the state pension system for teachers and government workers. However, Kansas stopped short of moving to a 401…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A conservative Kansas House member is leading Senate President Steve Morris in the state’s Republican primary. Rep. Larry Powell had almost 52 percent of the vote against Morris in final, unofficial results from Tuesday’s election in the 39th Senate District in southwestern Kansas. Powell’s lead came amid conservative victories in other races that moved them closer to controlling the Senate. Powell, from Garden City, is chairman of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and has served in the House since 2001. Morris is a moderate Hugoton Republican who has served 20 years in the Senate. Campaign…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A conservative Kansas House member has succeeded in unseating a moderate state senator, the second time the two have faced off in a Republican primary in the Salina area. Freshman Rep. Tom Arpke received 56 percent of the vote Tuesday against Sen. Pete Brungardt in final, unofficial results from the 24th District. Both candidates are from Salina. Brungardt narrowly won a primary race against Arpke in 2008. Arpke, an energy consultant, was elected to the House in 2010. He served as treasurer that year of conservative Republican Kris Kobach’s successful campaign for secretary of state. Brungardt has…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A conservative Wichita City Council member has unseated the Kansas Senate Education Committee’s chairwoman in the state’s Republican primary. Michael O’Donnell defeated Sen. Jean Schodorf, a veteran moderate Republican, receiving 59 percent of the vote Tuesday in the 25th District. Schodorf has held the seat since 2001 and served 12 years on the Wichita school board. But O’Donnell had the backing of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and benefited from independent advertising by the anti-tax, small-government group Americans for Prosperity. O’Donnell was elected to the city council in 2011, and he also works as communications director for…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A local prosecutor who handled some of Wichita’s most notorious criminal cases has been chosen as the new Sedgwick County district attorney in a city that has become the center of the nation’s abortion battle. Deputy district attorney Marc Bennet’s victory over former assistant district attorney in the Republican primary Tuesday essentially makes him district attorney, since no Democrats are running. Both candidates are abortion opponents. Bennett took 54 percent of the vote over O’Connor, who had the backing of influential anti-abortion groups like Kansans for Life. Democrat Nola Foulston, an abortion rights supporter, is stepping down…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A retired Wichita school administrator has defeated a Kansas State Board of Education member in a Republican primary race. Kathy Busch had 61 percent of the vote against incumbent board member Walt Chappell in final, unofficial results from Tuesday’s election the 8th State Board District in Wichita. Busch had support from groups representing teachers, administrators and public employees, and she raised more campaign funds through late July. She’s a former assistant Wichita superintendent and principal. Chappell won the seat in 2008 as a Democrat but switched parties last year. He’s argued schools should be more accountable for…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The chairwoman of the Kansas Senate’s budget committee has won a Republican primary contest against a conservative challenger. Sen. Carolyn McGinn, of Sedgwick, received 55 percent of the vote against Park City businessman Gary Mason in final, unofficial results Tuesday in the Wichita-area 31st Senate District. McGinn has served in the Senate since 2005 and has been chairwoman of the Ways and Means Committee for the past two years. She was among a dozen moderate GOP incumbents in the Senate targeted by conservatives and the powerful Kansas Chamber of Commerce. There are no Democrats or minor party…