TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The high temperatures baking most of Kansas are not expected to ease for the rest of the week. Northwest and north-central Kansas is under a red flag warning through Wednesday, meaning high temperatures, strong winds and low humidity pose a serious risk of fire. The National Weather Service says several western Kansas towns set records Monday, including 113 at Rawlins, Lane and Norton and 112 in Rooks, Trego and Thomas. Temperatures are forecast to reach around 110 on Tuesday. A heat advisory is in effect for most of central Kansas through Tuesday evening, with high humidity and…
Author: KMAN Staff
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) New flights to Dallas have been good for the Garden City Regional Airport. More than 1,400 passengers used the airport in May, and the number is expected to increase to about 1,500 by the end of June. Airport officials say those numbers are more than 50 percent higher than the average monthly figures from the past two years. The Garden City Telegram reports (http://bit.ly/KZia0D ) passenger numbers are taking off since April, when the airport changed service to American Eagle flights to Dallas. Previously, the airport had flights to and from Denver offered by Great Lakes…
HOLTON, Kan. (AP) Holton teachers returned their contracts unsigned to protest a lack of negotiations and another year without a pay raise. The teachers took 69 unsigned contracts to the Holton school district’s offices on Monday. Joni White, president of the Holton National Education Association, says teachers are unhappy that the board of education issued a unilateral contract last week. She says teachers also haven’t received a raise in four years. Teachers had asked for a 1 percent raise for next school year, which would have cost the district about $51,000. Superintendent Nancy Meyer said 132 certified teachers were involved…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas winter wheat harvest is nearly finished. Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday that only 4 percent of the crop is left to be cut statewide. Harvest is running about three weeks ahead of normal in the state. Farmers in northwest Kansas are close to wrapping up. They had 61 percent of their wheat in the bin as of Sunday. Meanwhile, some spring-planted row crops are showing signs of stress from high temperatures and lack of rain. Corn condition declined over the past week, with 17 percent of the crop now rated as poor to very…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback has named an attorney from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to a seat on the state commission that regulates utilities. Brownback announced the appointment of Shari Feist Albrecht to the three-member Kansas Corporation Commission on Monday. She replaces Ward Loyd, an attorney and former Kansas House member from Garden City whose term expired earlier this year. Albrecht has worked for KDHE since 1993. She was a supervisor in its environmental protection division before becoming associate chief counsel. She previously served on the Corporation Commission staff in the division that regulates oil and…
GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) The mother and sister of a 14-year-old cheerleader whose burned body was found at the Great Bend asphalt plant are expected to make victim impact statements at a hearing for the man convicted of killing her. Sentencing for 38-year-old Adam Longoria is Tuesday before Barton County District Judge Hannelore Kitts. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty, but capital murder carries at least a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole. Jurors deliberated less than four hours in April before convicting him for the August 2010 murder of Alicia DeBolt. To find Longoria guilty of capital…
An accident in Geary County shortly after 10 Tuesday morning led to at least three injuries and a disruption in traffic for part of the morning. Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Greg Harkrader tells KMAN the two vehicle crash was reported on I-70, about a mile and a half west of K-177. The road was completely shut down for about 15 or 20 minutes, and was reduced to one eastbound lane until about 11. Lt. Harkrader says it looks like one of the vehicles was merging onto the interstate trying to gain speed, when the other vehicle came over a hill and had to brake.…
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The most well attended Country Stampede Music Festival actually turned out to be one of the calmest as far as the Riley County Emergency Medical Services team is concerned. Riley County commissioners received a statistical recap of the four-day event during a meeting on Monday. Encounters for Riley County EMS increased from 100 in 2011 to 141 this year but that spike can be attributed to larger crowds. “Our busiest year in the last four years was 2009 and that year we had 148 contacts,” Larry Couchman, Riley County EMS Director, said. “This year was similar to 2009, but…
A Monday afternoon status hearing for Domingo “Diablo” Soto resulted in a trial date being set in Riley County District courts. Soto is charged with aiding and abetting the 1st degree murder of Steven Freele in December of 2011. Judge Meryl wilson set the trial date to begin on October 29th at 0900 am, and a motions hearing will be held on September 14th at 0900 in the morning. TR
WINFIELD, Kan. (AP) Authorities have captured the second of two inmates who escaped earlier this month from the Winfield Correctional Facility in south-central Kansas. The state corrections department said 52-year-old Robert Cook was apprehended without incident Monday morning in Byers, a Pratt County town about 110 miles northwest of Winfield. No details of the arrest were immediately available. Cook and 48-year-old Frank Crutchfield escaped from the Winfield prison June 16 in a state-owned truck that was found abandoned the following day about 15 miles away. Authorities believe the pair then stole a pickup truck. A tip led authorities to Crutchfield…