TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration is proposing phasing out property taxes on watercraft by 2016. Watercraft is currently taxed at 30 percent, prompting criticism that boat owners often register their watercraft in other states to avoid the high taxes. In November, about 53 percent of Kansas voters approved an initiative to allow lawmakers to reduce property taxes on watercraft. The Wichita Eagle reports the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism announced a plan Monday to tax boats at 20 percent starting in 2014 and 10 percent in 2015. Watercraft would be exempt from property taxes beginning in…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A federal judge has refused to amend his finding that the ex-wife of a University of Kansas official convicted in a ticket scalping scandal cannot keep assets fraudulently transferred to her in the couple’s divorce settlement. U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten on Tuesday again ruled for the government in its lawsuit against Ben Kirtland and his ex-wife, Mary Jean Kirtland. Ben Kirtland is the former Kansas associate athletic director in charge of development. The government is now trying to collect more than $55,000 from Mary Kirtland. Marten also refused to allow her to appeal the judgment…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback is preparing to give Kansas legislators the details of how he proposes to protect core state services while making state government more efficient over the next two years. Budget Director Steve Anderson was scheduled to make separate presentations Wednesday to the House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means committees. The state must close a projected $267 million gap between anticipated revenues and existing spending commitments for the fiscal year that begins in July. The shortfall results from aggressive income tax cuts enacted last year to stimulate the economy. But Brownback’s proposals will cover two…
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) The daughter of the lead plaintiff in the Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation case will discuss the case and the 14th Amendment next month at Johnson County Community College. Cheryl Brown Henderson is scheduled to speak about the landmark desegregation case Feb. 12 at Craig Community Auditorium on the Overland Park campus. She’ll speak about the 14th Amendment during an appearance the following evening at the college’s Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. The Supreme Court’s 1954 ruling in the Topeka case declared that separate schools for black and white children where inherently unequal. The…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A professor of African-American studies at the University of Massachusetts will deliver the second installment of Washburn University’s Lincoln Lecture Series. Manisha Sinha will present “Race and Equality in the Age of Lincoln” Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Memorial Union. Her lecture is free and open to the public. Yale University Press is publishing her soon-to-be released “To Live and Die in the Holy Cause: Abolition and the Origins of America’s Interracial Democracy.” She also wrote “The Counterrevolution of Slavery: Politics and Ideology in Antebellum South Carolina.” Recently, Sinha was a featured commentator on “The…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A veteran state senator says he’s considering running for mayor and CEO of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan. Kansas City Democrat David Haley says he’ll make a decision by the end of the week. Last week, two-term Mayor and CEO Joe Reardon said he won’t run for re-election because he wants to spend more time with his family. The mayoral primary is Feb. 26, with the general election set for April 2. The 54-year-old Haley was appointed to the Kansas House in 1994 and served there until he was elected to the…
Wednesday night saw a special meeting for the Manhattan Ogden school board as they continue to examine the options before them on the school schedules. The board has already held the public hearing for the high school schedule and has decided more discussion is needed for that item. Wednesday was the time for concern for the elementary schedule. In December three options were presented. Option A, which was deemed “the best” by the working group, “increases individual planning time within the school day to 330 minutes per week, provides for one 60 minute period each week for grade level collaboration…
Brittney Griner scored 29 points, grabbed seven rebounds, blocked three shots, and threw down a one-handed dunk as #1 Baylor beat K-State 90-69 on Wednesday night at Bramlage Coliseum. Griner shot 12 of 19 from the field, and made five of nine attempts from the foul line. Her dunk came with 4:38 remaining in the game to put the Lady Bears up 83-58. Brittany Chambers led the Wildcats with 23 points and five assists. She drained four of nine from three-point range, as K-State (10-7, 1-4) attempted the second-most three-pointers in a single game by a Big 12 team since…
We continue on with Cathy’s journey. [mp3-jplayer]
Cathy talks schools on today’s InFocus, as USD 383 Board Vice President Curt Herrman and Associate Superintendent Bob Seymour talk about the recent group of meetings they’ve been having, followed by an update from Kevin Ingram, President at the Manhattan Christian College. [mp3-jplayer]