Author: KMAN Staff

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Riley County Interim Public Health Advisory Board took the final step toward becoming a formal body on Wednesday. The interim advisory board unanimously approved changes to a charter resolution that will establish the board as a legitimate entity. Members requested several minor changes be made to the final draft before it is submitted to the Riley County Commission. “I’ll make the changes to the draft that they looked at and we discussed,” Riley County counselor Clancy Holeman said. “I’ll send that to Susie (Kufahl) and she’ll circulate that among members of the advisory board. The advisory board…

Nine people have submitted a letter of interest to the Manhattan – Ogden school board for consideration. Na’im S. Al-Amin, John E. Ball, Mitch Beims, Patricia A. Hudgins, Keith B. Miller, Marcia Rozell, John P. Sanborn, Beth Tatarko and  James T. McNair, Sr., all from Manhattan, are the candidates up for the vacant seat until June of 2013. During their special meeting Wednesday, April 25, 2012, the board decided to come back at their regular meeting next week with their top three choices and they would then pick the ones they will interview on May 9, unless conflicts arise. The…

Riley County Police have arrested two suspects in relation to the April 22nd aggravated robbery at Anderson Avenue Wendy’s restaurant, and are looking for the third suspect. Police are looking for 20-year-old Steven Bryson Lawrence (pictured below).  RCPD is cautioning the public that Steven Lawrence is considered armed and dangerous. Steven Bryson Lawrence is describes as being 5’7” and  150lbs.  The investigation also revealed that a third person, Gilbert Blizzard, later picked up Steven and took Steven to an unknown location. 23- year-old Richard Lawrence II was arrested for aggravated Robbery, flee and elude, obstruction, and reckless driving.  Lawrence is…

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Wichita doctor who drove three miles with a man’s body on top of his van after a fatal accident has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor. Sixty-seven-year-old Mohammad Sarrafizadeh was given a one-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor vehicular homicide. Sarrafizadeh was arrested in June, the day after his car struck and killed 31-year-old lawn service worker Ramon Martinez-Limon. The victim was thrown onto the vehicle’s roof, prompting witnesses to call police. The Wichita Eagle reports Sarrafizadeh was driving his severely disabled daughter to her school the morning of the accident. His attorney…

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Legislators have returned to the Kansas Statehouse to resume their work on remaining issues of the 2012 session. Wednesday is the 74th day out of the 90-day regular session authorized by the Kansas Constitution. Legislators gaveled back into session shortly after 10 a.m. to handle routine announcements. Many major issues facing legislators in January remain unfinished, including proposals to change the state’s pension, tax and education systems. Legislators must finish work on a $14 billion state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Another issue commanding attention is work on redrawing the state’s 40 Senate, 125…

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Hundreds of developmentally disabled Kansas residents and advocates for them have rallied at the Statehouse against part of Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan to overhaul the state’s Medicaid program. Participants in Wednesday’s rally don’t want services for the developmentally disabled included when the state turns management of its $2.9 billion-a-year Medicaid program over to three private companies. The administration plans to issue contracts this summer. Medicaid covers health care for the poor, elderly and disabled. The rally’s participants created a temporary display of personal objects on the Statehouse’s south steps to urge the administration to change its plans.…

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) A ceremony is planned in Hutchinson Friday to open one time capsule and bury another. A shoeboxed-sized time capsule full of artifacts from life in Reno County in 2012 was welded shut on Tuesday. Its contents will be revealed Friday, and then it will be placed in the cornerstone of Memorial Hall in Hutchinson. The Hutchinson News reports it will be buried in the same cavity that previously held a 1911 capsule, which was removed last fall. Friday’s ceremony will mark the 100th anniversary of the grand opening of the building, which was called Convention Hall when…

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Complaints about possible civil rights violations arising from waiting lists for physically disabled Kansans seeking state services have been sent to the U.S. Department of Justice. The Lawrence Journal World reports that the federal Office of Civil Rights unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a voluntary settlement with Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration. At issue is whether Kansas is doing enough to provide services to disabled residents who in some cases have been on waiting lists for three years. A U.S. Supreme Court decision requires states to provide services to people with disabilities. Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for…

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) The leader of the University of Kansas Medical Center has reached a severance agreement that will pay her more than $419,000 after she steps down in June. University of Kansas officials announced the agreement Tuesday with Barbara Atkinson, executive vice chancellor of the Medical Center and executive dean of the University of Kansas School of Medicine. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the agreement says Atkinson will be placed on administrative leave and would not be involved in any decisions at the university after April 9. But she will be paid her normal salary through June 30. Atkinson…