IOLA, Kan. (AP) The east-central Kansas town of Iola has received a nearly $200,000 settlement from a manufacturer of the herbicide atrazine. The Iola Register reports that a class-action lawsuit was brought by water treatment plants against agriculture chemical company Syngenta Crop Protection. Iola is sharing in a $105 million settlement. Iola water and wastewater superintendent Toby Ross insists that the city’s water is safe. Legally, the amount of the herbicide in the water must be lower than three parts per billion. In Iola, the water coming through the plant averaged .11 parts per billion. The nearby city of Humboldt…
Author: KMAN Staff
HORTON, Kan. (AP) The Kickapoo Tribe in northeast Kansas has picked its next chief of police. The tribe says in a news release that its new head of law enforcement is Mike Dougherty. The Kickapoo Tribal police department provides law enforcement services on the tribe’s reservation about five miles west of Horton in Brown County. Tribal police work closely with both tribal and non-tribal law enforcement agencies.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger has promoted a staff attorney to director of the office’s Consumer Assistance Division. Praeger notes that Jennifer Sourk began working for the Insurance Department in 2007 as a consumer representative in the same division she’ll now lead. Sourk received her law degree from Washburn University of Topeka in 2005 and now serves on its Board of Regents. As consumer assistance director, she’ll replace Kevin Davis, who recently left the Insurance Department for a job at Security Benefit Corp. in Topeka.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas legislative leaders from both parties have endorsed plans to shorten this year’s annual session to 80 days. If they’re successful, the Legislature will trim 10 days off the normal 90 days that leaders expect each year. Republican House Speaker Ray Merrick of Stilwell says legislators should be able to finish their business within 80 days, and Democratic leaders agree. Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka and House Democratic Leader Paul Davis of Lawrence strongly embraced Merrick’s call to avoid pushing all major business into the wrap-up period that follows the Legislature’s annual spring break. Lawmakers…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Visitors have been filing through the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka as the nation marked the start of President Barack Obama’s new term and the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Many of those who came to the site on Monday said they believe the Democratic president can be successful if he remembers his faith and stands up to Republicans in Congress. The historic site is housed in the old Monroe Elementary School, which at one time educated only black children. Monroe was at the center of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 decision…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback has submitted an executive order to Kansas legislators merging the state’s troubled Juvenile Justice Authority with its adult Department of Corrections. Brownback delivered the order to the House and Senate on Friday. It takes effect in July unless either chamber rejects it by March 19. The Republican governor promised last month to submit such an order. So far, no significant opposition has emerged in the GOP-dominated Legislature. Brownback has argued that two critical legislative audits in the past six months demonstrate the need for a new approach to juvenile justice. The governor contends juvenile…
We continue through our second week of Cathy’s cancer journey. [mp3-jplayer]
On today’s InFocus, Cathy talks with Pat Lamb, a Manhattan High School teacher, and Students Austin Canady and Nick Donohoue, followed by Curt Loupe, Manhattan Parks and Recreation director, and Gail Urban. [mp3-jplayer]
This year marked the 30th anniversary of the Martin Luter King Jr. Memorial Committee and their celebration. The event, held Monday in Manhattan Town Center, featured presentations, awards and performances. The 2013 Martin Luther King Jr. Award was perhaps the most prestigious honor awarded during the event. Committee Chairman, Reverend Jim Spencer received this year’s award, which was a big change considering nobody on the committee was allowed to win in previous years. 66th District Representative and member of the committee, Sydney Carlin said “after 30 years of keeping all of his together, we decided it was time to bend the…
French and Malian troops took control on Monday of the Malian town of Diabaly, which was seized a week ago by Islamist fighters.