KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) A prominent leader of the University of Kansas Medical Center and the School of Medicine will retire in June, more than a year earlier expected. Barbara Atkinson will step down as executive vice chancellor of the medical center and as executive dean of the School of Medicine on June 30. In November, Atkinson said she planned to stay on as dean of the medical school until a new dean was chosen, and as executive vice chancellor until December 2013. Kansas Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said Monday that she has named Steven Stites, chairman of internal medicine, acting…
Author: KMAN Staff
OAKLEY, Kan. (AP) An ethanol plant in Oakley will receive a $5 million federal grant to build a machine to improve the process of converting ethanol into fuel. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the grant in a news release Monday. It will provide funds for a biogas anaerobic digester at the Western Plains Energy plant in Oakley. Western Plains currently produces about 50 million gallons of ethanol every year in Oakley. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the digester is expected to replace 90 percent of the fossil fuels Western Plains uses to process the fuel with waste from a cattle…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) State officials want to remind drivers that nearly 30 public tornado shelters are available along the Kansas Turnpike. Turnpike spokeswoman Lisa Callahan says most of the shelters are in the restrooms of service areas in Belle Plaine, Towanda, Matfield Green, Emporia, Topeka and Lawrence. Smaller shelters also are available at the turnpike’s toll plazas. The Wichita Eagle reports most of the shelters are underground. They are accessed by opening a hatch and climbing down a short ladder. Callahan says at least 20 people can fit comfortably in the smallest shelters, and more if circumstances require it. Every…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas health officials say 13 rabies cases have been confirmed so far this year, a 300 percent increase over the same time period last year. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment says it had only four confirmed rabies cases in the same time period in 2011. Kansas has averaged 68 confirmed cases of rabies a year since 2007. WIBW reports state health officials have confirmed rabies in a coyote, a raccoon, four skunks, two bats, two horses, two cows, and one cat. KDHE officials say the cases are most prevalent in skunks. They encourage the public…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A new report says the Kansas winter wheat crop continues to develop two to three weeks ahead of normal, with roughly 6 percent of the crop statewide already headed. Monday’s Kansas Agricultural Statistics report also says that 79 percent of the wheat is now jointed. That compares with 30 percent last year and a five-year average of 32 percent at this point in the season. Recent rain has helped improve the wheat’s condition. The crop is rated 1 percent very poor, 5 percent poor, 29 percent fair, 52 percent good and 13 percent excellent. Kansas farmers have…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The American Red Cross says its blood donation center in Wichita is running low on some necessary supplies. The Wichita Eagle reports the center needs about 500 pints of blood daily to meet the needs of the 100 hospitals it serves in Kansas and northern Oklahoma. About 30 of those pints are collected at the center. The rest come from statewide mobile drives. Wichita’s center is running very low on whole blood and platelets. Nationally and locally, Red Cross blood supplies hit a 12-year low last summer. The Wichita center is about 12 percent below its need…
Kansas district courts will be having breaks in service starting this Friday that will last until early June. This is being caused by a lack of funding for the courts due to falls in revenues generated by court filings. Riley County Court Administrator Lanna Nichols says there’s a shortfall in court fees, which are derived from the administrative fees given to the court administration. Nichols says the Kansas legislature didn’t find a solution in time to prevent court closures. The closures will cut around 1500-hundred court workers salaries by approximately 10 percent. Judges will not be affected as their incomes…
Pottawatomie County had several city elections this past week, and county commissioners canvassed the April third election during their meeting Monday. County Clerk Nancy McCarter sums up the overall numbers in terms of turn-out, varying from three percent in Wamego to 55 percent in St. Mary’s. Elected to Wamego City Commission position one was Victor Enns, with 63 votes to Rob Adams’ 15. Westmoreland elected three council members who were all unopposed–including Norbert Marek Jr., James Moore, and Jeff Overbey. Saint Mary’s elected two city commissioners including Francis Awerkamp and Joe Bryan. Olsburg’s three council members elected were Aric Cassel,…