LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Parties in downtown Lawrence after the University of Kansas played in the Final Four cost the city about $180,000 but no one is complaining. City Manager David Corliss says overtime wages for police officers was the biggest expense from three major parties that celebrated the Jayhawks’ run to the Final Four. Corliss says those expenses will be offset by tax revenues from sales at restaurants, bars and other businesses during the tournament. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the exact amount of revenues the city reaped from those sales won’t be available for several weeks. The city’s sales tax…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Republican-controlled House committee has rejected the idea of restoring a pay-raise program for some Kansas public employees. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the committee on Thursday voted down a motion to set aside $8.5 million to resume a plan to raise salaries of the state’s lowest-paid government workers. The motion was defeated by a 9-11 vote. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Marc Rhoades, a Newton Republican, said state employees should consider moving to the private sector if they think that state pay is too low. Others raised concerns that the state was losing qualified employees, especially nurses at…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The police chief in the western Kansas town of Russell says a convicted murderer hitched a ride to a convenience store in the town, where he was arrested after escaping from a county jail. Police Chief Jon Quinday told The Associated Press on Friday that escaped inmate Santos Carrera-Morales was taken into custody late Thursday by two police officers without incident at a store off of Interstate 70. Quinday said Carrera-Morales was north of Russell along Kansas 18 when he got his ride. Carrera-Morales is one of four prison inmates who escaped Wednesday morning from the Ottawa…
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) A native Kansan who was secretary of defense under two U.S. presidents will be the first person to receive an honorary doctorate from Kansas State University. Robert M. Gates will receive the degree during graduation from the Kansas State Graduate School on May 11. He will also be the commencement speaker at the ceremony. The Kansas Board of Regents approved awarding of the honorary degree to Gates at its meeting Thursday. The board changed its policy in 2010 to allow state universities to confer honorary degrees. Gates, a native of Wichita, was secretary of defense for both…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A double-murderer who escaped from a county jail in Kansas days ago has been captured. The Kansas Department of Corrections says in a Friday news release that Santos Carrera-Morales was arrested about 11:30 p.m. Thursday in Russell, Kan. Further details about the arrest were not immediately available. Four inmates who were transferred from a state prison because it was overcrowded managed to escape from Ottawa County jail on Wednesday. One remains at large. Carrera-Morales was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for a double-slaying in 2007.
By Sgt. Roland Hale RC-East Public Affairs BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – The 1st Infantry Division, known famously as the “Big Red One,” took charge of military operations in eastern Afghanistan April 19 in a ceremony on Bagram Airfield. In the ceremony, the division assumed command authority of Regional Command-East from the 1st Cavalry Division. The latter is returning to Fort Hood, Texas, after a successful year-long tour here. Operating as Combined Joint Task Force-1, the 1st Infantry Division will command and control operations throughout RC-East, an area roughly the size of Virginia including 14 provinces, 7.5 million Afghans…
KECHI, Kan. (AP) Police say a man has died in an apparent hit-and-run while he was jogging. The Kechi man, whose name has not been released, was reported missing by his wife late Thursday. She said he didn’t return after going for a run shortly after 10 p.m. KAKE-TV reports his body was found about 2:30 a.m. Friday. Kechi is about 10 miles north of Wichita.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback is encouraging Kansas residents to donate to parts of the state hit by tornadoes last weekend. The governor toured the Oaklawn neighborhood of south Wichita on Thursday to survey cleanup operations. He says people could send donations or volunteer their time to help with the cleanup effort. The United Way is accepting donations of money, goods and services as well as offers to volunteer to help. Donations can be made over the phone, by dialing 211 from anywhere in Kansas. Brownback has declared a state of emergency for 39 counties hit Saturday by storms…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A new report says Kansas continued to gain jobs in March, even though the unemployment rate edged higher. In its monthly jobs report, the state Labor Department said Friday the Kansas economy sent mixed signals in March. The jobless rate rose to 6.2 percent from 6.1 percent in February, but was down from 6.8 percent in March of last year. The report also says private-sector jobs rose by roughly 2 percent over the past year, to a total of nearly 1.1 million in March. Kansas Labor Secretary Karin Brownlee describes the growth as steady, but says there…
Security was very tight Friday morning as 19-year-old Micheal Layne was back in court on a motion from the prosecution to allow interviews conducted by Riley county police as evidence in the upcoming September murder trial. Layne is charged with the murder of Steven Freele in December of 2011. Defense Attorney Jillian Waesche argued that the interviews were inadmissible due to the way the Miranda rights were read without initials being placed beside the individual rights to indicate Layne fully understood. Riley County Police Detective Sonia Gregoire testified that Layne’s understanding of his rights were backed by his signature at the…