HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) A few employees at Alcoa Aerospace Center in Hutchinson were hoping to conduct a controlled burn north of the plant to help establish an area of native grass and wildflowers. The Hutchinson News reports that wind would determine whether the burn happens. Production manager Roger Regehr says the idea is to make the field more colorful and nice to look at for people using a quarter-mile gravel walking path. Production at the plant has significantly increased over the past year. Company officials have established several sustainability goals, including completely eliminating waste it sends to the local landfill.…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The American Civil Liberties Union has won a legal round in its efforts to overturn a Kansas law restricting abortion insurance coverage. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson on Thursday sided with the American Civil Liberties Union in rejecting the state’s request to dismiss a key claim over equal protection of the law. The ACLU contends the Kansas law discriminates against women because men can buy full comprehensive coverage for all their health needs, but women need to buy a separate policy to add abortion coverage. It contends the purpose of the law is to inhibit women from…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas unemployment levels remained flat in February, with the jobless rate holding steady at 6.1 percent. An economist with the state Department of Labor said Friday the seasonally adjusted rate and overall employment report did not indicate significant change from January. The jobless rate was 6.9 percent in February 2011. The agency said eight of 11 industry sectors reported gains in the past 12 months, with the professional and business services industries adding 11,900 jobs, an 8.2 percent increase. Overall, the economy has added 21,300 private sector jobs. Labor Secretary Karin Brownlee said the February numbers alone…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A compromise $14.1 billion state budget before the Kansas Legislature could set up another confrontation with Gov. Sam Brownback over arts funding. The House was to vote first Friday on the spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The Senate planned to take it up later in the day. The measure, drafted by House and Senate negotiators, includes $700,000 for a new Creative Industries Commission, which would merge the existing Kansas Arts Commission and the Film Services Commission. Brownback proposed the merger but recommended only $200,000 in funding. The governor has argued that arts…
SALINA, Kan. (AP) A 94-year-old Salina flower shop worker is being honored as the oldest still-working Kansan. The Salina Journal reported that George Aden is sure there’s a worker who is older than him. But not according to the Kansas Department of Commerce and the Older Kansans Employment Program. They’ve checked the ledgers, and say he’s it. Besides working two days a week at Designs by Cunningham, the retired bookkeeper volunteers at his church and spends time with friends at the Salina Senior Center. Aden says he loves his job and calls the flower shop “a relaxing place.” When he…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A 64-year-old Wichita man has survived being struck by lightning. The Wichita Eagle reported that the man was taken to an area hospital for what are described as non-life-threatening injuries. Dispatchers received the call about the lighting strike at 9:26 p.m. Thursday. The National Weather Service says the odds of being struck by lightning in a person’s lifetime are one in 10,000. Over the last 30 years, the U.S. has averaged 55 reported lightning fatalities per year. The National Weather Service said that only about 10 percent of people who are struck by lightning are killed.
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Riley County police detained a juvenile on Thursday in connection with a series of thefts that have taken place at Hastings. RCPD responded to Hastings, 626 Tuttle Creek Blvd., after receiving yet another call from management. Upon arrival, a search of the store led to the detention of 17-year old Tiersa Myers. Myers, of the 8500 block of Tuttle Creek Blvd., was detained for theft, possession of hydromorphone, and possession of drug paraphernalia. She has been released to her parents. Lt. Josh Kyle said that Myers is believed to be responsible for one of the two previous thefts…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A judge will decide this summer whether there is enough evidence to try a 28-year-old Topeka man in the sexual assault and killing of an 8-year-old neighbor girl. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that the preliminary hearing for Billy Frank Davis Jr. is set for June 12 and 13. Davis faces a host of charges, including capital murder, in the March 13 killing of Ahliyah Irvin. The capital murder charge could allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty. Family said Ahliyah was sleeping when she was snatched from her apartment. Her body was found after a brief search…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas House members face a decision on debating proposals for cracking down on illegal immigration. The House was set to vote Friday on a request from Rep. Charlotte O’Hara, an Overland Park Republican, to remove an immigration bill from committee and debate it. She needed support from 70 of the House’s 125 members. The bill would require companies holding contracts with state or local government agencies worth more than $5,000 to use the federal E-Verify database to determine whether new employees are in the U.S. legally. A proposal to require state agencies but not private companies to…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas House members have blocked debate for now on proposals aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration. The House voted 91-31 against a request from Rep. Charlotte O’Hara, an Overland Park Republican, to remove an immigration bill from committee and debate it. The bill would require companies holding contracts with state or local government agencies worth more than $5,000 to use the federal E-Verify database to determine whether new employees are in the U.S. legally. A proposal to require state agencies but not private companies to use E-Verify cleared committee Thursday, but its future is uncertain. House…