Author: KMAN Staff

State House Representative Sharon Schwartz, a Rep. from Washington, Kan., has notified the public that she has filed for re-election. Schwartz has served eight terms in the position since being first elected in 1997. “It’s important that we have somebody who can be a credible voice for agriculture and rural Kansas and I feel like I still have that to offer,” Schwartz said. Schwartz serves as representative for the 106th District which includes the northern part of Riley County. She is the chairman of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Budget Committee and the Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Pensions, Investments, and Benefits.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas woman has filed a federal lawsuit over the state Legislature’s failure so far to redraw the state’s political boundaries. Robyn Renee Essex, a resident of the Kansas City suburb of Olathe, filed her litigation Thursday in U.S. District Court. She argues the state’s existing political boundaries violate her constitutional rights because they haven’t been adjusted yet to account for changes in population over the past decade. One of her attorneys, Brent Haden, of Columbia, Mo., is a former chief of staff to Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal, a Hutchinson Republican. In the lawsuit, Essex expressed…

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Wichita man has pleaded guilty to bank fraud in which he stole more than $1 million. U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said in a statement Thursday that 59-year-old John Kammerer pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud. Kammerer admitted that while working as a controller for Network Results of Kansas, he accessed the company’s bank account to steal more than $1.2 million. The fraud involved Kammerer issuing checks to the account of HMK Enterprises, which he controlled. Sentencing is set for July 19. He faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison and forfeiture…

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) An anti-abortion group says it has been given abortion records that were improperly discarded at a clinic in Kansas City, Kan. Operation Rescue said Wednesday a confidential informant delivered the records from Central Family Medicine to the organization. The records involve 86 women and minors treated at the clinic in April. The Kansas City Star reports clinic officials said Wednesday that a locked trash bin was broken into last week but no records were improperly discarded. The clinic’s attorney said Kansas City, Kan., police and the FBI have been notified. Operation Rescue president Troy Newman says…

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) A 19-year-old man is charged with killing two people and wounding two others in separate shootings in Kansas City, Kan. Wyandotte County prosecutors charged Eric D. Clay Wednesday with two counts of first-degree murder in the March 4 shooting deaths of 16-year-old Renesha Jones and 21-year-old Keith E. Barrett. Barrett, of Kansas City, Kan., and Jones, of Kansas City, Mo., were killed at an apartment in a shooting that also wounded a baby. Prosecutors also charged Clay with two counts of criminal discharge of a firearm for shootings in January and February that injured two women.…

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Senate’s leading advocate of starting a 401(k)-style pension plan for new teachers and government workers says he’ll push fellow senators to endorse the idea. Sen. Jeff King, an Independence Republican, says he’ll offer such a proposal during Thursday’s debate on legislation designed to bolster the long-term financial health of the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. The pension system projects an $8.3 billion gap between its anticipated revenues and the benefits promised to public employees through 2033. The bill before the Senate would require new hires to join a plan that’s not a traditional one guaranteeing…

Sunset Zoo will unveil its new entryway and education facility early next month. The Nature Exploration Center,  will be open to the public on Sunday, June 3. The Zoo will open at Noon with a formal ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony; guests will be invited to use the new ticket booth following the ceremonies. Zoo ambassadors will be stationed throughout the 15,500 square foot facility to answer questions as guests explore. Family-friendly activities will be featured throughout the Zoo from 12:30 – 4:30pm. Community members are also invited to an exclusive first look at the Nature Exploration Center during Friends of…

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A federal magistrate has found a Wichita restaurant in contempt for failing to pay workers more than $223,000 in back pay and damages. U.S. District Judge Karen Humphreys had given the China Star and its owners until Monday to pay the money awarded in a 2008 consent judgment or submit a payment plan. Defense attorney Joseph Cassell told the judge this week his clients were unable to pay the judgment or start a payment plan that would be acceptable to the court. The U.S. Labor Department announced the contempt order Wednesday. The agency says its investigation found…

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback will be in attendance Friday for the annual Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony on the Statehouse grounds. Brownback and Attorney General Derek Schmidt are both scheduled to speak, and the names of all Kansas law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty will be read. The name of Atchison police Sgt. David Enzbrenner will be added to the 266 others on the monument. Enzbrenner was killed Dec. 9 while helping code enforcement officers serving a nuisance order. He was the only Kansas officer killed on duty last year.