KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) An eastern Kansas man has pleaded guilty to producing child pornography and is expected to spend 20 to 30 years behind bars. Michael Arnett of Roeland Park entered his plea Monday in U.S. District Court. As part of the deal, prosecutors will drop one count of possessing child porn and one count of distributing it. The 38-year-old admitted taking pictures of children engaged in sexual conduct from 2000 to the summer of 2008. Investigators tracked him to Kansas after discovering a water bottle in a photo on a Wisconsin man’s computer had the name of a…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas public broadcasters are already struggling with budget problems, even before the Legislature considers again reducing their funding. Public broadcasting currently receives about $1.5 million from the state, which could be reduced to about $1 million this year. Last year, Gov. Sam Brownback tried to eliminate all public broadcasting funding. But some lawmakers resisted and approved smaller cuts. This year, the governor is again seeking to reduce state funding, or change the funding source to state lottery proceeds. The Kansas City Star reports managers of some public stations have cut staff, reduced programming or reduced their hours…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas State Board of Education will consider new emergency intervention regulations on how special education students are restrained in the classroom. The board will meet Tuesday in Topeka for a public hearing on the standards, which would protect the students from physical restraint and seclusion. The board could vote on them Wednesday. Currently, the state encourages schools to follow standards but does not require it. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the new regulations would require all school districts to adopt formal policies, provide training in using the interventions and document every time they are used. Last year,…
BENTON, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Highway Patrol says four cars collided with cattle that wandered onto a southeast Kansas highway, sending two women to the hospital. The patrol says the accident occurred Sunday evening on Kansas 254 near Benton in Butler County The injured women, a 55-year-old from Wichita and a 53-year-old from Valley Center, were in separate cars. They were listed in fair condition Monday at Wichita hospitals. Two other women were not hurt when their cars hit the animals.
BALDWIN CITY, Kan. (AP) Baker University President Pat Long says she plans to retire in June 2014. Long told the university’s Board of Trustees about her plans on Friday. She has been president of the university in Baldwin City since 2006, when she became the institution’s first female president. The trustees say they will start a national search for her replacement soon. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the 61-year-old Long said she planned when she was hired to serve as president for five to seven years. She says she wanted to give plenty of advance notice to allow the university time…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Topeka police say two suspects are in custody after shots were fired during fights that involved up to 15 people. The fight Sunday night left two people with gunshot wounds, although the injuries were not considered life-threatening. Police Lt. Ron Gish said in a news release that officers received reports of a large group of people fighting in southeast Topeka, with some of the people involved armed with handguns. Gish says a 30-year-old female and 15-year-old boy were taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds. After the shooters’ car was found, police took four people into custody. Police…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas House committee is considering a bill that would let professional associations approach teachers and public school staff who might be interested in their services. Kansas law now requires districts to grant full access to teachers only to the designated “professional education organization” that negotiates teachers’ contracts. The executive director of the Kansas Association of American Educators testified for the bill Monday before the House Education Committee. Garry Sigle said his organization isn’t seeking to negotiate teacher contracts, just provide teachers information about other services. The Kansas Supreme Court has labeled Sigle’s group a professional education…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) The Wall Street Journal has released documents casting doubt on the accuracy of events portrayed in Truman Capote’s book recounting the 1959 murders of the Clutter family in southwest Kansas. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the documents a Kansas Bureau of Investigation report question the timeline of the investigation into the four murders in Holcomb. Capote long contended his 1964 book “In Cold Blood” was “immaculately factual,” but the documents dispute his contention that KBI detective Alvin Dewey immediately acted on a tip that led to the arrest of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock. Instead, the documents suggest…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Johnson County businessman says he will seek the 2014 Democratic nomination for Kansas secretary of state in an attempt to unseat Republican incumbent Kris Kobach. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Randy Rolston of Mission Hills issued a news release saying he aspires to become only the second Democrat ever elected to the secretary post in Kansas. Rolston graduated from the University of Kansas and is president and co-founder of Victorian Trading Co., a Lenexa-based mail-order company. Among his proposals is a plan to increase youth participation in elections by allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to preregister to vote…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A newspaper’s review of Kansas prison records has found 19 inmates serving life sentences for first-degree murder have been paroled over the past three years after spending an average of 23.8 years in custody. The Wichita Eagle reports the paroled inmates range in age from 35 to 92 and were convicted of killing 21 people between 1979 and 1995. Most were serving life sentences that made them eligible for parole after 15 years. Wichita defense attorney Richard Ney says the state never intended the inmates to be locked away forever, and their release shows they have been…