TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas has reached a $1 million settlement with a tobacco company. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the settlement calls for Grand River Enterprises to put $672,000 into escrow funds and pay the state $336,000 in penalties and reimbursement for attorney fees and expenses. Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office says the settlement stems from a lawsuit Kansas filed against GRE in 2008, saying the company wasn’t participating in a settlement agreement between states and tobacco companies. Schmidt says the $336,000 in penalties will go to the state’s general fund, and the $672,000 are to help Kansans who make…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A state official say changes in how Kansas organizes aid recipients are improving efficiency, while some recipients aren’t so sure. In the past, aid recipients each had their own case workers. Now, the Kansas Department for Children and Families has begun sorting recipients into teams with specific tasks. One team does eligibility reviews, another works on changes in existing benefits and another works with Temporary Assistance for Families benefits. The system has been installed in 15 offices so far. Angela de Rocha, spokeswoman for the agency, said Wednesday the new system has made aid distribution more efficient…
STRONG CITY, Kan. (AP) The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve near Strong City will officially open its visitors center on Friday. U.S Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will be on hand for the grand opening celebration at the prairie and ranch. The Wichita Eagle reports the new center will house the park’s administrative offices. It includes environmentally friendly features such as a grass roof. The visitors center is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is located two miles north of Strong City on K-177.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Defense attorneys will begin presenting their case in the trial of a man accused in the death of a Topeka woman and the wounding of her friend. The prosecution rested its case Wednesday in the first-degree murder trial of 26-year-old Anceo D. Stovall. Stovall faces first-degree murder and numerous other charges in the death last July of 40-year-old Natalie Gibson. She and 42-year-old Lori Allison were shot outside their Topeka home. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Stovall’s attorney will begin calling witnesses Thursday. On Wednesday, a 17-year-old girl who has admitted acting as a lookout during the shootings testified…
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) A Hutchinson manufacturing plant that makes food processing equipment plans to move to a Kansas City, Mo., suburb. Officials of the Marlen International plant announced Wednesday that the plant will move to Riverside, Mo., early next year. Company president and CEO Nikola Vajda says about a dozen of the plant’s 29 employees will be able to stay in Hutchinson and work through telecommunications. The other employees will be offered jobs in Riverside. The Hutchinson News reports the company plans to close during the first quarter of next year, if it can get a month-to-month extension on its…
KINGMAN, Kan. (AP) A judge says statements from a former Kansas police officer that were made after his wife was killed will be allowed as evidence at his trial. Brett Seacat is charged with first-degree murder in the April 2011 shooting death of 34-year-old Vashti Seacat. He’s also charged with arson for a fire at the couple’s home in Kingman that day. His attorneys say Vashti Seacat set the fire and took her own life. Kingman County Judge Larry Solomon ruled Wednesday that statements Seacat made are admissible during his trial, which is scheduled to begin Dec. 3. Seacat was an…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) After nearly a decade of working toward becoming a National Cancer Institute facility, the University of Kansas Cancer Center was ready to announce it has obtained that designation. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and a number of Kansas lawmakers were scheduled to be on hand for the announcement Thursday afternoon at the Robert E. Hemenway Life Sciences Innovation Center in Kansas City, Kan. Officials say the NCI designation will bring additional federal research money to the university and give patients access to clinical trials that are available only at NCI centers. U.S. Sen. Jerry…
Riley County Commissioners reviewed the language of a new quarter-cent sales tax question during a work session on Thursday. If passed, the quarter-cent sales tax would replace the current half-cent sales tax that is in place in Riley County. “I drew it based on the premise that the simpler is the better it’s going to be,” Clancy Holeman, Riley County Counselor, said. The revenue generated from the new tax would be allocated to road and bridge projects; however, the county would not start seeing returns at the beginning of 2013. “Revenue from the existing tax will come in after January 1,” Holeman…
HAYS, Kan. (AP) Fort Hays State University has renamed its business college to highlight the western Kansas institution’s focus on promoting new business development. The new name is now the College of Business and Entrepreneurship. The name has been approved by the Kansas Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s higher education system. Fort Hays State President Ed Hammond says the new name eliminates confusion and highlights the university’s support for new and existing businesses. It had previously been the College of Business and Leadership, but the university’s Department of Leadership Studies moved to the College of Arts and Sciences in…
FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) A new commander is taking over at two military prisons and a military police brigade at Fort Leavenworth. Col. Eric Belcher is relinquishing his command of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, Joint Regional Confinement Facility and the 15th Military Police Brigade in a ceremony Thursday at Fort Leavenworth. Col. Sioban Ledwith is taking command of the prisons and unit. Ledwith was most recently a student at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa. The U.S. Disciplinary Barracks is the military’s only maximum security prison, where inmates are sentenced to terms from more than five years to…