WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A 77-year-old former mail carrier who did not deliver thousands of pieces of mail was fined $1,000 but was spared from prison. A court filing Tuesday shows Dixie Bontrager, of Whiting, also will not serve any probation on the mail theft conviction. Her route included Holton and Circleville in northeast Kansas. Agents searching abandoned vehicles on her property in 2010 found 496 first-class items and 2,786 standard mail items dating back to 2002 that she didn’t deliver on her 115-mile route. They also found 151 periodicals, 121 telephone books and two parcels. Her attorney, Richard Lake, wrote…
Author: KMAN Staff
HARDTNER, Kan. (AP) Authorities in a small, south-central Kansas town are investigating the shooting death of a 31-year-old man as a homicide. The Hutchinson News reports reports a woman was also shot and wounded at the home in the town of Hardtner. Barber County Attorney Richard Raleigh says the woman’s injuries were not life-threatening. The dead man was identified as Tony Rosenbaum. Authorities said the woman called 911 from the nearby home of relatives around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. Sheriff’s officers and Kansas Highway Patrol troopers quickly arrived at the house where the shootings occurred but didn’t enter until about 8…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas education officials say negotiations with the federal government are moving the state closer to obtaining a waiver from requirements of the No Child Left Behind law. Judi Miller, an administrator with the Kansas education department, told the State Board of Education on Tuesday that federal officials have approved parts of the state’s application. A waiver would remove the federal mandate for all Kansas students to demonstrate proficiency in math and reading by 2014. Kansas would instead adopt new standards for measuring the annual progress of schools and districts toward student proficiency in reading and math. The…
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) A Kansas appeals court has ruled that a Garden City man can be tried for first-degree murder in a 2011 stabbing death. The suspect, 32-year-old Fred Schmidt Jr., is a suspect in the March 2011 death of 25-year-old Jeffrey Nichols. Prosecutors have said Nichols died from 45 separate stab wounds after allegedly fighting with Schmidt. A Finney County judge previously ruled that there was not enough evidence to bind Schmidt over on a first-degree murder charge, but said he could be tried on second-degree murder. But the Kansas Court of Appeals ruled Friday that Schmidt can…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A church is beginning fundraising to collect millions of dollars for a pro-life memorial in Wichita. The Spirit One Christian Ministry has just started its campaign to build a National Pro Life Memorial and International Life Center. The Wichita Eagle reports that a brochure on the project says it would include an exact replica of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem and memorial gardens. It also would include 60 crosses memorializing the estimated 60 million abortions that have been performed since abortion was legalized. The church’s pastor, Mark Holick, says land has been donated to the church for…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service says the state’s winter wheat harvest has passed the halfway mark. The agency reports 53 percent of the crop had been cut by Sunday. That’s more than two weeks ahead of normal. Typically, only about 2 percent of the wheat has been harvested at this point in the season. Farmers in southern parts of the state are the furthest along. The harvest is 84 percent complete in southeastern Kansas, and 82 percent complete in south-central portions. Things are moving more slowly in northwestern Kansas. The agency says only 2 percent of the…
FORT RILEY, Kan. (AP) The 1st Infantry Division’s Victory Week celebration is off and running at Fort Riley as the famed Army unit marks its 95th anniversary. Officials at the northeast Kansas post say more than 7,000 soldiers and officers took part Monday in the three-mile run at Custer Hill. The run was followed by a variety of competitions on basketball courts, ball fields and other venues. The week will also include the ceremonial placement of bricks near the headquarters building bearing the names of 43 soldiers from the division who died in the past year.
Eight Manhattan area attorneys will be interviewed June 18 as nominees to fill a vacancy in the 21st Judicial District that was created by the retirement of Judge Paul Miller of Manhattan. Scheduled for interviews are Grant Bannister, a partner in the firm of Knopp & Bannister, in Manhattan; Amy Bipes, a legal assistance attorney in the Office of Staff Judge Advocate at Fort Riley; John Bosch, a Clay Center attorney in solo practice; Sheila Hochhauser of Manhattan, a District Magistrate Judge; Kendra Lewison, Assistant County Attorney in the Riley County Attorney’s office; William Malcolm, of Clay Center, a District Magistrate…
Angie Miller, a 7th grade math teacher at Eisenhower Middle School, was one of two Kansas educators to be named a recipient of the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Only 97 educators across the country received this honor from President Obama. The Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is awarded annually to outstanding K-12 science and mathematics teachers from across the country. Winners of this Presidential honor receive a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation to be used at their discretion.
Incumbent Sherri Schuck is running for re-election for Pottawatomie County Attorney. Schuck says the county is growing and her experience sets her apart. Schuck adds she believes the position is an important one for the safety of the county, and that she is the best person for the job. And she says she has the background in law enforcement, and judicial expertise to keep the community safe. Schuck tells KMAN she is a career prosecutor, and believes that her experience as a prosecutor will enable her to handle the office as Pottawatomie continues to grow.