TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas House members are considering a redistricting bill that would split the city of Topeka between two congressional districts. The bill up for debate Wednesday adjusts the lines of the state’s four U.S. House districts to account for changes in population over the past decade. Topeka is now entirely in the 2nd District of eastern Kansas, but the bill would extend the 1st District of western and central Kansas into the capital city. The 1st District would take in the Statehouse and heavily minority neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city. Republican-leaning, predominantly white neighborhoods in…
Author: KMAN Staff
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) Officials with the Kansas Hall of Fame are preparing to announce the first three members of the 2012 class of laureates. The announcement was set for 11 a.m. Wednesday at the William Allen White House State Historic Site in Emporia. The rest of this year’s honorees will be announced at two future news conferences. The Kansas Hall of Fame opened last year at the Great Overland Station in Topeka to coincide with the state’s 150th birthday. Its mission is to recognize outstanding Kansans. This year’s honorees will be inducted at a June 15 gala at the Topeka…
BURLINGTON, Kan. (AP) The Wolf Creek nuclear power plant in eastern Kansas has resumed producing electricity. Kansas Public Radio reports the plant was brought back on line Tuesday following a shutdown of about two months. Problems at the plant began Jan. 13 when an electrical circuit breaker failed. Wolf Creek employees tried to switch to power coming in from the electrical grid, but a transformer failed and the plant lost its connection to the grid. Kansas Public Radio says it was the third time in four years that Wolf Creek lost all off-site power. Wolf Creek is owned by Kansas…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas legislators have been settling small differences between the House and Senate over a proposed $14.1 billion state budget. Three negotiators from each chamber continued talks Tuesday on the spending plan for the fiscal year that beginning July 1. They must resolve dozens of disagreements to draft the budget’s final version. The talks began Monday and are expected to continue all week. The negotiators agreed not to appropriate tax dollars to cover a shortfall in fees collected by the state’s court system, caused by fewer case filings than expected. That was the House’s position. The Senate had…
GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) Opening statements are now expected Thursday in the trial of a central Kansas man accused of killing a 14-year-old girl and burning her body at the asphalt plant where he worked. Thirty-eight-year-old Adam Longoria, of Great Bend, could face life in prison without parole if he’s convicted of capital murder in the death of Alicia DeBolt in August 2010. Questioning of prospective jurors in Barton County District Court began Monday and will continue Wednesday. Court adjourned Tuesday with six people still needed for the final pool from which 12 jurors and two alternates will be drawn.…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas House and Senate negotiators are working out a final version of legislation cutting sales and income taxes. Three senators and three House members met for about an hour Tuesday to review the two chambers’ differences on tax-cutting measures. They’re expected to meet again Wednesday. The House and Senate have both passed bills cutting the state’s top individual income tax rates and eliminating income taxes for 191,000 partnerships, sole proprietorships and other businesses. Both also have passed proposals to reduce sales taxes, as well as measures aimed at holding down local property taxes. But the two chambers…
EDWARDSVILLE, Kan. (AP) Police in a Kansas City suburb say they’re treating the deaths of two men inside a home as a murder-suicide. The men were found shot to death Monday afternoon by Edwardsville police responding to a 911 call. KCTV reports that investigators were not seeking any suspects Tuesday. A woman who lives in the house was there along with a 4-year-old child when the shootings occurred in the basement. Police say both men were in their late 20s to early 30s. One of them lived in the home and was the father of the 4-year-old. The men’s names…
Riley County police made a number of arrests in response to an early morning call regarding a car break-in. At approximately 1:25 a.m. Wednesday morning, police were dispatched to the 3100 block of Winston Place. Upon arrival officers noticed a vehicle leaving the area, whereby they conducted a traffic stop. Police discovered a large amount of personal property, believed to be stolen, during the investigation. Police then arrested three individuals: 17-year old Ethan Wilson, 21-year old Khiry Graham, and 19-year old Tanner Humphreys. All three are being charged with three counts of vehicle burglary, with the elder two also facing one count…
Felony drug charges are expected to be leveled against a Manhattan man following his arrest on Tuesday. Christopher Kneisel, 28, is expected to face one felony count of unlawful distribution of hydromorphone as well as one count of failure to appear when he is sentenced in Riley County district court. The warrant that led to Kneisel’s arrest stemmed from a previous incident in which he was charged with possession of narcotics. Kneisel was released Wednesday on a $15,000 bond.
Kansas State University’s sports complex will be the location of a decontamination training exercise by soldiers with the 172nd Chemical Company at Fort Riley on Friday. The exercise will begin between 7 and 9 a.m. and will end around 5 p.m. It will include between 100-150 soldiers and will be confined to the Bramlage Coliseum west parking lot. In addition to the Fort Riley soldiers, the exercise will also include personnel from K-State’s campus police department and members of Riley County’s emergency medical services and fire department. Two tents will be set up in the parking lot that will serve…