LYONS, Kan. (AP) Kansas law enforcement officials are looking for a man who is allegedly impersonating a police officer while trying to cash fake checks. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and local law enforcement officials say they believe 45-year-old Robert Wayne Helms of Pittsburg might be connected to at least 25 cases. Belle Plaine Police Chief Gorden Fell says the man showed up in his town last week. Lyons police are investigating a similar case. In some instances, Helms flashes a fake badge and displays a gun. He has at least twice claimed to be a deputy from Adams County,…
Author: KMAN Staff
SALINA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina has a new president. The university announced Sunday that it has chosen Matthew Thompson, a vice president a Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Fla., to lead the school. Thompson will begin his duties April 15. He replaces Fletcher Lamkin, who resigned last June. The Salina Journal reports the university’s board of trustees chose Thompson unanimously from three finalists. Kansas Wesleyan University offers 25 undergraduate programs and one graduate program.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) Officials of General Motors and the United Auto Workers have scheduled what they say will be a significant announcement about the company’s Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas City, Kan. Federal and local officials are also expected to be on hand for the announcement, scheduled for noon Monday at the plant. The Fairfax plant employs about 3,900 people and makes the Buick LaCrosse and Chevrolet Malibu. GM says the plant has produced more than 12 million vehicles since 1945, and currently builds one vehicle every 58 seconds.
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) A California company has acquired several wind projects in western Kansas. The Garden City Telegram reports that Santa Barbara-based Infinity Wind Power on Wednesday announced the purchase of the Pioneer Wind Project in Ford County from Clipper Windpower Development. The company last year also acquired two Kansas projects under development in Ford, Gray and Finney counties from local developer Zephyr Wind Power, based in Cimarron. Infinity CEO Matt Riley says the acquisitions bring Infinity’s total development pipeline in western Kansas to more than 2,500 megawatts.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Water Authority is expected to hear an update on the drought at its meeting this week. The meeting begins at 8 a.m. Thursday at the Landon State Office Building in Topeka. Also on the agenda are a report on public water supplies, and a briefing on the John Redmond Reservoir Dredging Project and the wetland program. Gov. Sam Brownback is also listed on the agenda.
Update: 911 service in Pottwatomie County was back up and running shortly after midnight Tuesday. ### Earlier story: As of now, the 911 line for Pottawatomie county is temporarily out of service. For the time being, if there are any emergencies, please call (785)457-3353 to speak with the sheriff. KMAN will let you know as soon as the 911 line in functioning again.
On today’s InFocus, Cathy talks with Rob Ott, Manhattan City Engineer. [mp3-jplayer]
Various items on Monday’s Riley County Commission agenda required approval or consensus. The first item needing approval involved the vacation of a sewer and water easement. County Planner, Bob Isaac came forward during a public hearing to make a request in regards to the easement owned by John and Rosa Jones. Owners of lots two and seven on the Oakshore Addition, near Tuttle Creek Lake, have agreed to split the Jones’s property (lot 3) down the middle. Isaac mentioned a few obstacles he ran into when he looked into this possibility, including the house that is direct center on the…
Riley County Police are investigating a string of vehicle burglaries that took place sometime before Friday morning in three different locations in Manhattan On Friday morning around 7:13, police responded to calls at the 2900th block of Northwing Drive. Five different victims reported that their cars had been entered and miscellaneous items had been removed, with one victim reporting that her front passenger window had been damaged. Total loss from these burglaries totaled $727 On the same morning, around 8:30, two victims, located at the 2600 block of Butterfield reported that their vehicles had been rummaged through, with one having their divers…
GTM Sportswear in Manhattan, has agreed to pay 133 workers a total of $97,762 in back wages following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. The investigation found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and record-keeping provisions when inside sales representatives were found to be improperly classified as exempt from overtime requirements. It’s described as one of the most common violations in the sales industry with improperly classifying workers as being exempt from overtime. That’s according to Patricia Preston, the division’s district director in Kansas City, Mo. She adds The criteria for exemption from…