Brittany Chambers scored 23 points and Haley Texada added 14 as the Kansas State Women’s Basketball team overcame a sluggish start and blew past Ball State 60-48 in the third round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament before 1,453 Thursday Night at Bramlage Coliseum. The Cardinals out of the Mid American Conference raced out to an early 13-4 lead but the Wildcats didn’t panic as they gradually cut into the deficit and finally took their first lead at 17-15 on a three-point play by Chambers. Ball State managed to tie the score just one more time before the Wildcats went…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback still supports a federal law against gay marriage that he backed as a member of Congress and says the issue is settled in Kansas because of the state constitution’s ban. Brownback faced questions Thursday from reporters with two cases on gay marriage before the U.S. Supreme Court. Brownback has long supported the traditional definition of marriage. In one case, the high court is being asked to strike down a gay-marriage ban in California enacted by voters. The other case is a challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996. Brownback voted for…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Kansas farmers are planting fewer acres of thirsty crops like corn and soybeans this spring and more acres of drought-tolerant crops like sorghum. Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service reported Thursday that corn growers plan to plant 4.6 million acres. That would be down 2 percent from last year, but still the fourth highest corn acreage in Kansas since 1936. Soybean acreage is also expected to shrink 2 percent from last year with 3.9 million acres. It would be the fourth largest soybean acreage in Kansas history. By contrast, sorghum planting in Kansas is expected to climb 16 percent…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Police are investigating whether a body found in a south Wichita pond is that of a man who may have jumped while running from police. KAKE-TV reports a passer-by flagged down an officer Thursday afternoon after seeing what looked like a body in the water-filled sandpit. Crews later pulled the body from the water. It’s the same pond where a 27-year-old man disappeared from sight after running from police early on the morning of March 8. Officers had been trying to stop the man’s car for traffic violations. He crashed through a chain link fence, got out…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback says the reality of funding the state budget will push Kansas lawmakers toward approving his proposal to cancel a scheduled decline in the state sales tax. Brownback said Thursday that legislators have limited options for stabilizing the budget while they seek further cuts in individual income tax rates. Brownback hopes to follow last year’s income tax cuts with additional reductions over the next four years. The Senate has embraced both that idea and keeping the sales tax at 6.3 percent instead of letting it fall to 5.7 percent in July as scheduled by law.…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Senate approved a bill that would change the length of time Kansans can receive unemployment compensation. The bill approved Wednesday links the compensation to the state’s jobless rate, and raises the surcharge employers pay into the unemployment trust fund. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the bill would allow Kansans to claim unemployment for the current standard of 26 weeks only when the jobless rate is above 6 percent. That would drop to 20 weeks if the unemployment rate was 4.5 percent to 6 percent. Benefits would stop at 16 weeks when the rate was under 4.5…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Senate has approved a bill that puts the Secretary of Transportation in charge of the Kansas Turnpike Authority. The bill approved Wednesday also prohibits the state from using toll revenue for anything other than operating the 236-mile Turnpike. Gov. Sam Brownback had proposed putting the independent Turnpike Authority under control of the state transportation department. He said it would save the state $30 million over two years and avoid redundancies. Opponents who worried the state would use turnpike toll revenue for other purposes pushed the amendment to prohibit that from happening. But they said the…
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) Emporia State University has a new mobile application that allows students to look up details like their grades and class schedules. With a secure login, students also can use their smartphones or web-enabled devices to search course offerings and find out how much money is in their student accounts. The application also provides campus maps, access to news and events and faculty and staff directories. Staff in Emporia State’s Office of Information Technology developed the application. It’s currently available for Android and iOS devices. Emporia State plans to continue updating the app with new features based on…
SALINA, Kan. (AP) A 53-year-old Salina man who had sex with an underage girl more than 100 times is sentenced to life in prison for rape. Saline County prosecutors say Gary Flores Perales was sentenced Wednesday to life without eligibility for parole for 25 years for rape. He also was sentenced to nearly 27 years for other sex crimes. The Salina Journal reports that Perales was convicted of eight counts in October 2012. Authorities allege that the crimes occurred between 2006 and 2010 when the victim was between 12 and 16 years old.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Topeka police say an Indiana fugitive is jailed after leading police on two brief car chases. Topeka police Lt. Ron Gish says Jamie Allen Sigman, 38, of Topeka was arrested Wednesday and faces several felony and traffic charges. Gish says Sigman had a fugitive justice warrant issued for him in Indiana, and a warrant with the city of Topeka, but he didn’t know what the warrants were for. Gish says the chase began when officers tried to stop a pickup, which sped off and crashed into a curb. A passenger jumped out but the driver drove off…