KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Some Kansas college students are walking to Washington D.C. to protest a long-disputed plan to build a highway through wetlands near Lawrence. Students from Haskell Indian Nations University and the University of Kansas plan to walk for 58 days. When they arrive in Washington, they will present a bill to lawmakers that would amend the American Indian Religious Freedom Act to preserve Native American sacred places. The South Lawrence Trafficway would extend Kansas 10 through wetlands near Baker University. A fight over the proposed route has been in the courts for more than 25 years. The…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) After years of complaints about dirty cabs and rude drivers, the Wichita City Council has tightened regulations over taxis in the city. The council on Tuesday approved the first revisions of codes for the taxis since 1984. Under the new codes, cab drivers will be required to take customer service classes. It also establishes twice-yearly cab inspections and raises fees for licensing and inspections. The Wichita Eagle reports that in March, Mayor Carl Brewer said he was tired of customer complaints about driver behavior and customer service. Customers had complained to the city about dirty, improperly clothed…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Police and loved ones of a 23-year-old man say he has been missing from Lawrence since Saturday. Yelekal Alemu was last seen Saturday morning. Relatives say he has missed important family gatherings. His car was found Saturday night on private property in rural Douglas County southeast of Lawrence. It was not damaged. Zachary Luea, an attorney for Alemu’s family, said Tuesday that police had brought in a canine unit to search the area near the car. Alemu is black, 5-foot-10 and weighs 170 pounds, with short hair and a full beard. He was last seen wearing a…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A national group is asking people to contact Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s office and urge him not to sign a bill that would prevent judicial or administrative decisions from being based on foreign legal codes. The Council on American-Islamic relations notes that some supporters expressed concern about courts or government agencies relying on Shariah law in rulings, though there are no known cases in Kansas. The bill doesn’t specifically mention Shariah law, or codes within the Islamic legal system, but the Washington-based group considers the legislation discriminatory. Supporters contend it simply declares that legal decisions in Kansas…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas legislators negotiating the final version of a proposed state budget have decided to include $700,000 for a new Creative Arts Industry Commission. The commission will be formed in July by the merger of the state’s Arts and Film Services commissions under legislation signed last week by Gov. Sam Brownback. The commission will part of the Department of Commerce, focusing on creating arts-related jobs. Brownback proposed the merger and the appropriation of $200,000 for the commission for the fiscal year that starts in July. In their versions of the budget, both chambers included $700,000 and authorized the…
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) Prosecutors have added another charge against a 32-year-old man accused of killing a Hutchinson woman in June 2011. A judge on Tuesday granted a request by the Reno County district attorney to file a new charge of aggravated intimidation against Charles Christopher Logsdon. Logsdon and 49-year-old Billy Joe Craig Jr. face first-degree murder and several other charges in the shooting death of Jennifer Heckel. Heckel’s 5-year-old son was home at the time and alerted neighbors. Prosecutors have said they believe the suspects planned to rob someone else and went to the wrong house. The Hutchinson News reports…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Historical Society has added a variety of papers from 19th century explorer William Clark to its online collection. The papers date from 1807 through 1855. They were bound in leather volumes when a former Historical Society director found them at a used bookstore in Lawrence. Clark and Meriweather Lewis led an expedition from Missouri to the Pacific Ocean. Clark was later appointed superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Territory of Upper Louisiana. The papers include surveys of Indian reservations, account books, treaties, weather data and the records of the Missouri Fur Company.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) An illegal immigrant from Mexico who is accused for murder in his native country has been deported from Kansas. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says 37-year-old Sergio Arturo Moreno-Perez was transferred Tuesday to Mexican law enforcement authorities. The Wichita resident was wanted on a 2006 warrant for a homicide in Chihuahua, Mexico. Moreno first entered the United States illegally in 1978, but later became a permanent resident. ICE says he was deported three times between 1995 and 2002 and convicted twice of illegally re-entering the U.S. Moreno has multiple felony convictions for crimes in the Wichita area,…
Two people have been arrested following a drug bust in Junction City. The Junction City-Geary County Drug Operations Group, assisted by the Junction City-Geary County S.W.A.T team executed a search warrant in the 600 block of West Fifth Street Wednesday. The search warrant was obtained after a 3 month long investigation by the Drug Operations Group into suspected drug activity at the residence. Arrested were Michael Artis, 53, and Angela Beamon, 50, both of Junction City. Artis’s eight charges include Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute, felony possession of drug paraphernalia and Criminal Possession of a Firearm,. Beamon’s six charges include Possession of Marijuana with Intent…
Arrests Marcus Andrew Bragg, 20, 915 Colorado St., for failure to appear. Bond set at $129. Brian Mark Gillispie, 35, 3107 Heritage Ct., Apartment 60, for failure to appear. Bond set at $500. Jennifer Lee Mitchell, 41, 3000 Tuttle Creek Blvd., Lot 589, for probation violation. Bond set at $500. Ryan Allen Tummons, 20, Fort Riley, Kan., for criminal damage to property. Bond set at $500. Antonio Michael Sutton, 26, Alma, Kan., for aggravated robbery. Bond set at $25,000. Brian Mark Gillispie, 35, 3107 Heritage Ct., Apartment 60, for driving with a suspended license and driving in violation of restrictions.…