WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The largest wind farm ever built in Kansas is now in full commercial operation. BP Wind Energy and Sempra U.S. Gas Power said Thursday the $800 million Flat Ridge 2 Wind Farm generates 470 megawatts of electricity. Flat Ridge 2 is spread over a 66,000-acre site that spans parts of Harper, Barber, Kingman and Sumner counties in south-central Kansas. The companies say the farm uses 294 turbines each with the capacity to produce 1.6 megawatts, generating enough electricity to power more than 140,000 average American homes. Power generated from the facility will be exported to Missouri, Arkansas…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt plans to ask legislators to approve a new law he says will help prosecutors fight gang activity. The Republican attorney general and former state senator says the recommendation for a new anti-racketeering law is a product of a gang task force he assembled in 2012. The proposal would let prosecutors go after gangs for alleged patterns of criminal activity as well as single criminal acts. Schmidt says it would be another way to tackle what he calls the rising presence of street gangs in Kansas. The 2013 legislative session begins Jan. 14.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The influential Kansas Chamber of Commerce has created a position to oversee its communications and special events and promoted a staffer internally to fill the new job. Chamber CEO Officer Mike O’Neal announced Thursday that Emily Mitchell will serve as director of communications and special events. Mitchell has been the organization’s executive assistant since April 2011. She is a Kansas State University graduate. The chamber’s clout grew with the 2012 elections, which saw conservative Republicans retain their majority in the Kansas House and topple moderate GOP leaders in the Senate. Also, O’Neal is the departing House speaker,…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts is no longer the top Republican on the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, but he’s pledging to remain a strong advocate for farmers, ranchers and rural areas. Roberts said Thursday that he’ll retain a seat on the Agriculture Committee. He also remains on the Finance Committee, and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Roberts says he’s also expecting to become the ranking Republican on the Senate Rules Committee. He sees the position as important to opening up debates on issues such as the federal budget deficit. The new ranking Republican on the…
STAFFORD, Kan. (AP) A truck driver is unhurt but a central Kansas grain elevator is closed for a few days after an accident that left a tractor-trailer buried in corn. The Pratt Tribune reports the accident happened Wednesday afternoon at the Dillwyn elevator, located along railroad tracks in rural Stafford County. Manager Paul Eisenhour says the semi hit a loading chute on the side of the elevator. The chute was ripped away, allowing the corn inside the elevator to pour out. The driver managed to escape from the cab as the grain engulfed his rig. The Dillwyn elevator is owned…
MAIZE, Kan. (AP) A 3-year-old boy has died and his 9-month-old sister is hospitalized with serious injuries following a two-vehicle collision in south-central Kansas. The Wichita Eagle reports the crash between an oil tanker truck and a minivan driven by the children’s mother happened around 12:30 p.m. Thursday in Maize. Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter says both children apparently were riding in car seats. The little boy was still in his car seat when he was thrown from the minivan. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. The sheriff says investigators believe the minivan ran a red light and was…
According to sources a suspected drunk driver struck a pedicab in Scottsdale Arizona, and seriously injured two Kansas State fans. The accident occurred around 3 a.m. Friday morning as the pedicab carried Great Bend residents Cody Clark and Michael Tysver north on Scottsdale Road. The pedicab was struck by a Ford sedan in the median lane, and the fans were taken to the hospital. According to the Scottsdale Police Department, Clark is in very serious condition with severe head trauma, and Tysver is in stable condition with a spinal injury. The pedicab driver, was treated and released from the hospital. The…
Riley County Police saw a couple of people in jail for failure to appear. Jeffrey Hughes, 39, of Manhattan was being held on an $8,000 bond for two counts of failure to appear. These stemmed from original charges of forgery and criminal use of a financial card. —- An Odgen woman remains confined after not just one, but three separate failure to appear charges. Rhonda Rand, 42, was arrested for three counts of failure to appear with original charges being for two DUI charges and driving while suspended. Rand’s bond is $3,250. —- A report came to the Riley County…
In an announcement posted Friday morning on the team’s website, the Kansas City Chiefs and general manager Scott Pioli have “mutually agreed to part ways.” Pioli took control of the Chiefs’ player personnel decisions on January 13th, 2009 and was named NFL Executive of the Year in 2010 after Kansas City won the AFC West title. However, after an abyssmal 2012 season with just two wins in 16 games, coach Romeo Crennel was fired and then the public outcry turned towards Pioli. “After several productive conversations, we made the difficult decision to part ways with Scott Pioli and allow him…
Updated Friday afternoon: An accident KMAN news first told you about early Friday resulted in a possible injury to a Wamego man. Jamie Douglass, 27, reportedly an officer with the Riley County Police Department, was taken to Mercy Regional Health Center following the accident on K-18, about five miles west of Manhattan. The Kansas Highway patrol reports Douglass was injured when the 2013 Fort Taurus he was in was parked on the westbound side of K-18 on a traffic stop. Another vehicle, a 2005 Toyota Sequoia driven by Kasi Roberts, 32, of Tennessee was travelling westbound and sideswiped Douglass’s car. A Mercy…