TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) State senators aren’t sure they’ll vote on Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s proposal to require new voters to prove their U.S. citizenship ahead of this year’s presidential election. Testimony from opponents took up most of the Senate Ethics and Election Committee’s hourlong meeting Thursday. It adjourned without taking a vote. It was the committee’s last scheduled meeting of the year. Chairwoman Terrie Huntington, a Fairway Republican, said she’s not sure she can schedule another meeting. Kansas has a proof-of-citizenship rule set to take effect Jan. 1, 2013, for people registering to vote for the first time…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas House committee has approved a bill that would prohibit state funds from being used for remedial courses at public colleges and universities in the state. House Speaker Mike O’Neal, a Republican, proposed the measure, which would also cut the number of freshman class or transfer admissions who don’t meet minimum admissions standards. The House Appropriations Committee approved the measure Wednesday, sending it to the full House. State Rep. Barbara Ballard, a Democrat, opposed the bill, saying remedial courses are often needed to help some students. But state Rep. Anthony Brown said the bill will encourage…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Hawker Beechcraft officials say its Wichita Plant 1 will remain open, saving hundreds of jobs. The airline manufacturing company had previously announced that it would close two plants in Wichita and move the work to outside suppliers and to Mexico. But it announced in a memo to union members Thursday morning that it expects to keep Plant 1 open, and it expects to volume of work to remain the same. The Wichita Eagle reports the decision is part of a joint partnership between the company and the Machinists union that was forged during contract negotiations last year.…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Wichita-based hospice care business has laid off 28 workers after being acquired by a Texas company. Hospice Care of Kansas says the layoffs are the result of being acquired in 2010 by Harden Healthcare of Austin, Texas. Rick Breuss, a vice president for Hospice Care, told The Wichita Eagle Wednesday that most of the layoffs will occur in administrative positions. He also said the company plans to hire more caregivers, such as registered nurses and home health aides. Hospice Care has 92 employees in Wichita and 326 employees in Kansas. It says it is the largest…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is holding a Twitter chat on severe weather preparedness. The agency plans the live chat at 3 p.m. Thursday to answer questions about the severe weather and how to prepare or storms. It also plans to talk about what to do if severe weather strikes. KDHE Secretary Robert Moser says the agency wants to make sure Kansans are well-informed, and the Twitter chat is just one of the mediums available. Kansans can ask questions by logging onto www.twitter.com and following @KDHE and using the #ksstorms.
OTTAWA, Kan. (AP) A northeastern Kansas woman whose 4-year-old son died when her unattended car rolled over him has been sentenced to one year in jail. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that 40-year-old Tammy Lynne Payne pleaded no contest in December to child endangerment and driving under the influence with a prior conviction. She was charged after her son, Alex, died from injuries he suffered last March when the family car ran over him at their Ottawa home. Franklin County prosecutors say Payne had been driving drunk with her children in the vehicle. When she got home, she got out of…
SALINA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas military school is being sued by parents of cadets who say their sons were regularly abused by older students with the blessing of school officials. The Salina Journal reports the federal lawsuit was filed against St. John’s Military School last week in Kansas City, Kan. It claims the school allows older students, called “Disciplinarians,” to discipline younger students who step out of line. The parents of four boys claim their sons suffered severe beatings by the Disciplinarians that got worse when the boys reported the abuse to school officials. St. John’s issued a statement Wednesday…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas Senate committee has delayed voting until Friday on two bills redrawing state legislative districts. The Reapportionment Committee had been scheduled to take final action Wednesday on the measures. But Chairman Tim Owens, an Overland Park Republican, noted the committee needed to wrap up hearings on the measures first. One bill adjusts the boundaries of state Senate districts to account for changes in population over the past decade. The other bill follows a bipartisan plan for a new map of Kansas House districts. The House has already passed the measure, and if tradition holds the Senate…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach says he’ll ask legislators to modify his bill to require new voters to prove their U.S. citizenship ahead of this year’s presidential election. Kobach said Wednesday the changes will address concerns caused by a delay in a major state computer upgrade. A proof-of-citizenship rule is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2013, but Kobach wants to move that forward to June 15. The rule applies to people registering for the first time in Kansas. But a Senate committee learned Wednesday that a key phase of a $40 million upgrade of state…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Ready for some football? How about if going to a semi-pro game would help families recovering from the Harveyville tornado? The Topeka Thunder will play the West Central Warriors of Belton, Mo., on Sunday afternoon in a benefit for Harveyville. The northeastern Kansas town sustained extensive damage and one death when it was hit Feb. 28 by an EF-2 tornado. The Thunder and the Warriors play in the Central Plains Football League. The semi-pro association has more than a dozen eight-man teams throughout Kansas and Missouri that play a high-scoring, arena-style of game outdoors. Sunday’s game will…