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, and when the boys reported the abuse to school officials, the beatings got worse. School President Andy England…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A former health insurance executive is raising questions about Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan to move the state’s Medicaid program to a managed-care system. Wendell Potter spoke to advocates for the disabled and testified before a Kansas Senate committee Tuesday about his concerns over the proposal, called KanCare. He is a former public relations specialist for Humana and Cigna. Potter told the advocates that he does not question Brownback’s motives for suggesting the changes. But he says there are better ways to serve vulnerable citizens than turning health care over to for-profit insurance companies. Currently, five insurance companies…
SALINA, Kan. (AP) The Salina Human Relations Commission is supporting a proposal to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance. The commission voted Tuesday to recommend that the Salina City Commission make the changes to discourage discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. The Salina Journal reports businesses with city contracts that have fewer than four employees and those who do less than $20,000 a year in business with the city would be exempt. Commissioners agreed to recommend the city take a year to make the changes in contracts for goods and services as the contracts…
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) The ongoing drought prompted the state to temporarily move a bison herd from the Sandsage Bison and Wildlife Area near Garden City. The 40 bison were moved to the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge in McPherson County. The Garden City Telegram reports 10 bison were left at the Sandsage area. They’ll be fed hay until enough forage grows for them to graze. Tom Norman, area manager for the state wildlife department, says the drought has reduced forage in the Sandsage area. He says normal precipitation is 18 inches per year and the 3,670-acre wildlife area has not been…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Topeka man will be sentenced May 8 for a fatal shooting during an attempted robbery. A Shawnee County jury on Tuesday convicted Kyree Mashon McClelland of first-degree murder and four other felonies in the August shooting of 32-year-old Timothy James Stone. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that testimony at the trial indicated that Stone was shot during a struggle with McClelland and another man after McClelland had pulled a gun and demanded money. McClelland was severely beaten and had to be put into a medically induced coma to help with recovery from blunt force trauma to the…
WESTWOOD, Kan. (AP) Patient growth is prompting the University of Kansas Hospital to expand more quickly than planned. In July 2010, the hospital’s board approved a plan to open a 32-bed patient unit and build two new floors for future expansion at its Center for Advanced Heart Care in Kansas City, Kan. The Lawrence Journal-World reports a new plan calls for adding 84 beds to the hospital on all three new floors. The hospital’s authority board was told Tuesday that the entire space will be filled in by this summer. Hospital officials say when the $56.7 million project is done,…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) A woman was killed and a man suffered minor injuries when they were hit by a vehicle in Kansas City, Kan. Police said the woman and man were walking in the road when they were hit Tuesday evening. The driver stopped and stayed at the scene until police arrived. The women’s identity has not been released.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Police in Wichita say three teenage girls who plotted to escape from a juvenile detention facility instead found themselves being evacuated wearing nothing but towels. The Wichita Eagle reports the girls, ages 16 and 17, soaked a washcloth in a flammable liquid and set it on fire in a vent Monday night. Police Lt. Doug Nolte says they planned to slip out when the center was evacuated because of the fire alarm. When the smoke detector didn’t immediately go off, they jumped into the shower to cover their absence. That’s when the fire alarm went off. The…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Committees in the Kansas House and Senate are facing critical votes on legislation redrawing the state’s political boundaries. The House Redistricting Committee scheduled a debate and a vote Wednesday on a bill adjusting the outlines of the state’s four U.S. House districts. The Senate approved a bipartisan plan last month, but Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and many GOP legislators don’t like it. It would leave Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins, the senior member of the state’s all-Republican delegation in the U.S. House, with a slightly more Democratic district. The Senate Reapportionment Committee’s agenda Wednesday called for votes on separate…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A federal judge has granted a Nebraska gas firm immediate access to 9,100 condemned acres in south-central Kansas at the center of a fight over gas seeping from the company’s underground storage facility. U.S. District Judge Monti Belot on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction sought by Northern Natural Gas Co. prohibiting owners of gas wells on the properties from using them to develop other underground formations. Northern wants to use the existing wells to inject water underground to stem the seepage of gas from storage. It also wants authority to enter affected properties. Belot’s order requires the…