WICHITA, Kan. (AP) When a young Valley Center mother drowned in 2003, police believed she was trying to rescue her daughter from a pool. Now, prosecutors must show a judge they have enough evidence to prove that her death was premeditated murder. They allege Patricia Hughes’ death was perpetrated by the leader of a commune that lived off life insurance payouts of dead members. A preliminary hearing is tentatively set Thursday for Daniel U. Perez in Hughes’ 2003 death. He is also charged with lying on life insurance applications, rape and other crimes. His 31-year-old daughter, Windy Aleman, told The…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) House members have approved a bill that would reinstate happy hour at Kansas bars, restaurants and clubs. The vote Wednesday was 80-41, sending the bill to the Senate, which has already approved a similar measure. The intent is to repeal a law that prohibits businesses that sell alcoholic drinks from setting different prices at different times of the day. The ban on happy hour dates to 1985 when legislators worried about increasing alcohol abuse. Legislators are considering more than a dozen liquor bills this year to loosen state laws that dictate who can sell beer, wine and…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Energy and environmental advocates are in an unusual alliance to support of a bill that would give state regulators the authority to oversee hydraulic fracturing of natural gas in Kansas. The Kansas Corporation Commission currently regulates the state’s oil and gas industry. The proposed bill had a hearing Tuesday before the Senate Utilities Committee. It would specify that the KCC have authority over fracking regulations. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that a succession of attorneys general have said the agency does not have the authority to write rules specifically concerning hydraulic fracturing, called “fracking.” Currently, the only way…
DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) The Dodge City Commission has agreed to contribute up to $20,000 to lobbying efforts to keep an Amtrak rail line running through Kansas. The Dodge City Daily Globe reports the commission voted Tuesday to contribute the money only if other cities along the Southwest Chief passenger line also contribute. The lobbying is aimed at securing federal funding to repair the railroad lines from Chicago to Los Angeles that stops in Dodge City, Garden City, Hutchinson and Newton, along with Lamar and La Junta, Colo. Amtrak uses BNSF Railway lines. Because of dispute over rail maintenance, Amtrak…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Wichita police have captured a man who escaped from the Sedgwick County Jail last month. The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s office says 33-year-old Sean McKenzie was captured Tuesday during a traffic stop. No other details of the arrest were released. McKenzie walked away from the jail Feb. 26 while and other trustees were taking out trash. He was being held on burglary, theft and drug charges.
SALINA, Kan. (AP) The Smoky Hills Vineyards and Winery north of Salina has been sold. The Salina Journal reports the owners of the 20-year-old winery declined to say who bought the winery, or discuss any future plans for the land. The winery was sold through an online auction that ended Feb. 29. Real estate agent Curt Marshall says three buyers purchased the 8.73-acre winery and three adjoining tracts about 40 miles north of Salina. Online bidding on the names of the wines, production methods and other intellectual property will end March 16. Norm Jennings and his wife have run the…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Lawrence city commissioners have approved giving $100,000 to a homeless shelter that supporters say is in a crisis situation. Joe Baker, treasurer of the Lawrence Community Shelter’s board, told commissioners Tuesday that the shelter needed $100,000 to avoid being broke for much of in April before receiving more grants. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that commissioners agreed to take the money out of a $300,000 reserve fund that gets its money from the liquor drink tax. Commissioners did not make any commitment for future funding. The shelter successfully raised $1.3 million to buy and renovate a building near…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Budget cuts announced by the Department of Defense will cost the Kansas Air National Guard about more than 25 employees. The state’s adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Lee Tafanelli, said the 184th Intelligence Wing in Wichita will lose 23 full-time positions and two part-time positions. Two part-time positions with the 190th Air Refueling Wing in Topeka will also be cut. Tafanelli said in a news release Tuesday that the state had expected to lose some jobs after the budget cuts were announced. The Department of Defense announced earlier this year it would cut $487 billion over the next…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A former south-central Kansas official accused of stealing trucks and other equipment is now expected to plead guilty next week to federal charges. Forty-nine-year-old Steven Collier, of Nashville, Kan., is the former public works director for Barber County. A docket entry in U.S. District Court in Wichita shows Collier scheduled for a change-of-plea hearing Monday. Collier and his wife, Diana Collier, of Medicine Lodge, are charged with theft, interstate transportation of stolen property and sale of stolen property. They’re accused of stealing trucks, a bulldozer, a tractor and other items from the Barber County. The thefts occurred…
LENEXA, Kan. (AP) A visit to northeast Kansas from Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum signals that the state’s GOP caucuses have become hotly contested. The former Pennsylvania senator scheduled his event for Wednesday afternoon at Harvest Graphics, a printing and business communications firm in the Kansas City suburb of Lenexa. The state’s GOP caucuses are Saturday. Two other Republican hopefuls former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Congressman Ron Paul have scheduled multiple Kansas events on Friday. Gingrich also plans to attend caucuses on Saturday in Wichita and Hutchinson. The Kansas GOP had hoped the state would get such attention…