TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Division of Motor Vehicles remains unable to issue new driver’s licenses or non-driver identification cards because of persistent computer problems. Spokeswoman Jeannine Koranda says Wednesday that problems with a vendor’s server brought down the system at all 111 driver’s license offices statewide. She says the state will continue to issue 15-day extension slips for licenses and ID cards set to expire between March 30 and April 6. The offices receive about 13,000 visitors a week. The division is in the midst of a $40 million computer upgrade that will integrate driver’s license records with vehicle…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A 111-year-old agency in Topeka that provides residential and outpatient care for at-risk girls is fighting back after losing almost one-third of its budget in the last two years. Florence Crittenton lost Medicaid funding as the number of clients it helped declined. And United Way of Greater Topeka stopped funding the organization. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the agency has responded by adding four new programs it hopes will bring in more revenue, while also improving community service. Crittenton was once known primarily as a sanctuary for pregnant teenagers. It now offers an outpatient therapy clinic, an exercise…
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) A former school janitor who is serving a life sentence for the 1974 killing of a 13-year-old Johnson County girl is asking a judge to reverse his conviction. John Henry Horton was in court Tuesday to ask a judge to throw out his conviction for the killing of Lizabeth Wilson. She disappeared while walking to her Prairie Village from a swimming pool. Her remains were found six months later in a Lenexa field. The Kansas Supreme Court last year ordered the hearing so the Johnson County Court can determine if “prejudicial error” was committed during his second…
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) Garden City officials are ready for a second round in a fight with the U.S. Census Bureau over the western Kansas city’s population. The city first challenged the federal agency after it said in 2011 that the city had 26,658 residents. Last week, the Census Bureau added seven people to the population count. That prompted the Garden City Commission to decide Tuesday to file a second challenge. City officials believe the population is between 28,000 to 30,300 residents. They contend the bureau didn’t count six areas of the city in its 2010 count. The Garden City…
CONCORDIA, Kan. (AP) Voters in Cloud County have approved a proposal to build an 80-bed jail and detention center. Unofficial results from Tuesday’s vote showed the measure passed 1,218 to 567. Supporters of the plan said before the election that the jail, which will cost an estimated $5.7 million, could raise revenue for the county by housing prisoners from other counties. Opponents had warned that the county had no guarantee that other counties would consistently send prisoners to Cloud County. The Salina Journal reports the jail will replace an 82-year-old building that houses 22 to 25 prisoners.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss says furloughs for judicial branch employees will begin April 13. Nuss said Wednesday that furloughs would take place every other Friday after that in order to close a shortfall in court operating funds. Legislators failed to appropriate additional money last week after an agreement between the House and Senate on a proposed $14.1 billion state budget unraveled. Lawmakers began their annual spring last week without passing a spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1. They won’t reconvene until April 25. The spending plan also covered a $1.4 million…
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) A researcher who investigates hate groups for the Southern Poverty Law Center will be the featured speaker at a June civil rights symposium in Kansas. Michelle Bramblett is information manager for the group’s Intelligence Project. Bramblett is expected to talk about the center’s work tracking and exposing the activities of hate groups. Bramblett will be among several speakers June 8 at the daylong event sponsored by the U.S. attorney’s office on federal civil rights enforcement in Kansas. Other topics will include human trafficking, civil rights for returning veterans and the rights guaranteed under the Americans With…
CONCORDIA, Kan. (AP) A north-central Kansas community college plans to lower three wind turbines that have been deemed too tall by the Federal Aviation Administration so the school doesn’t lose about $1 million in federal grants. The Salina Journal reports Cloud County Community College officials have decided to pay for the roughly $150,000 project rather than lose the grants. The windmills are 110 feet tall and sit on a hill south of campus. A year ago the FAA told the college the windmills are in Blosser Municipal Airport’s airspace but were not considered a hazard. But sometime later the turbines…
Arrests Deanna Rai Johnson, 23, 717 Kearney St., for aggravated battery, battery, criminal damage to property, possession of drug paraphernalia, and unlawful possession of marijuana. Confined on $3,500 bond. Kenneth Paul Farrington, 47, 2013 Beck St., for failure to appeal. Confined on $3,000 bond. Clifton Mears Rosin, 22, 6030 Tuttle Terr., Apartment No. 4, for extradition of an imprisoned person. Confined on no bond. Christopher Demetri Starkes, 23, 610 N. 5th St., for failure to appear. Confined on $250 bond. Fredrick Darrell Swinson, 24, 1415 Flint Hills Place, Apartment No. 1102, for probation violation. Released on $1,000 bond. Cesar Riccardo…
Wamego City Commissioners heard more advisory board updates at Tuesday’s meeting. City Manager Merl Page introduced Wamego Hospital Association’s Chairman of the Board, Lanny Bosse, who said Wamego City Hospital continues to do well and grow. He said the management team of the Hospital is nationally recognized, and former Administrator and current Mercy Regional Health Center Administrator John Broberg still oversees Wamego’s operation. According to Bosse, some of the 2011 highlights include the renovation of the area around the Emergency Room to add privacy; renovating a recently vacated Doctor’s office to add space for visiting specialists and funded Chemotherapy equipment…