TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Bioscience Authority’s investment committee approved just under $2 million in new investments. The investments approved Monday come after Gov. Sam Brownback withheld part of KBA’s annual appropriation of $35 million. KBA leaders say they had plenty of money available to fund the investments. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the committee approved just under $191,000 for Mencuro Therapeutics Inc. in Lawrence, which develop drugs that are an alternative to morphine for pain management. Other investments must still be approved by the KBA’s full board during its March 6 meeting. They include $350,000 for the Center for Animal…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Topeka Zoo’s oldest female orangutan has died at the age of 45. The zoo announced the death of Daisy the orangutan on Monday. It said the cause of death has not been determined but Daisy had been in failing health from chronic sinusitis and kidney disease. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Daisy arrived at the zoo at the age of 5 in 1971. She was a surrogate mother to several newborn orangutans during her time at the zoo.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Cessna Aircraft has moved work on its 162 Skycatcher from Wichita to its plant in Independence. Yingling Aviation in Wichita has been reassembling and delivering the Skycatcher aircraft after it was manufactured by a company in China. Cessna said Monday work on the two-seat light sport aircraft will be moved from Yingling to the Cessna plant in Independence. Cessna spokeswoman Diane White says Cessna wants to integrate the Skycatcher with its other single-engine airplanes in Independence. She says the plant in Independence has the capacity to do the work and the decision is not a reflection on…
MULVANE, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane brought in $21.6 million in gambling revenue through January. The Kansas Lottery said Monday that the total includes several “soft openings” and a demonstration for state regulators before the casino officially opened in late December. The casino near Mulvane expects to open a five-table poker room soon, and will expand to 2,000 slot machines, 45 tables and a 12-table poker room when its permanent casino opens in January 2013. The Lottery says the Hollywood Casino at the Kansas Speedway in Wyandotte County, which opened Feb. 3, brought in just over $6.8…
HIAWATHA, Kan. (AP) A sheriff in northeastern Kansas is warning of a new telephone scam from someone claiming to be with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. WIBW-TV reports that several residents of Brown County have received the calls. A caller tells residents that they’re targets of an investigation into purchases of diet pills and medications from other countries. The victims are then told they’ll be arrested immediately at work unless they wire money to the DEA at a specified address. Victims have told Brown County authorities that they’ve ordered medications from out of the country in the past. Investigators believe…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas lawmakers are considering legislation to complete the transfer of a closed National Guard armory to the city of Horton. The adjutant general closed the armory in the northeastern city in 2010 as part of an effort to reduce the state’s portion of the National Guard budget. Units assigned to the armory were transferred to other locations in northeast Kansas. A bill before the Senate Local Government Committee would clear the way for the Kansas Military Board to transfer the property to the city of Horton. The city would acquire the property at no cost, but it…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas House committee has approved a bill allowing all military veterans to pay the lower tuition rates at state universities normally reserved for Kansas residents. The tuition break already applies to veterans who live in Kansas for two years during their military service and establish a home in the state within 30 days of leaving the military. Veterans save about $4 million in tuition costs a year. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the measure endorsed Monday by the House Education Budget Committee extends the in-state tuition break to all veterans. The bill goes next to the…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas House committee has endorsed legislation that backers say would protect religious freedom but opponents believe would allow discrimination based on sexual orientation. Monday’s adoption by the House Judiciary Committee on a voice vote sends the bill to the full House. Committee chairman Lance Kinzer, an Olathe Republican, says the bill puts into law the language of Kansas court decisions for determining when government policies place too heavy a burden on practicing religion. It also allows people to sue state and local government agencies if they feel their religious freedoms have been abridged. Critics, including the…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas House committee has approved a plan for cutting individual income taxes, reducing taxes for business owners and keeping a promise to cut the state sales tax next year. The measure endorsed Monday by the House Taxation Committee is an alternative to a tax plan proposed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. The committee’s voice vote sends the measure to the House for debate. The committee modified a plan drafted by Republican leaders in the House. The plan would reduce individual income tax rates for 2013, but not as aggressively as Brownback had proposed. It would also…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Police in Topeka believe they’ve solved a rash of storage unit burglaries in which more than $250,000 worth of property was stolen. Police announced the arrests Tuesday of two men and two women suspected of breaking into dozens of storage units beginning last October. One of the suspects is charged with 84 counts of burglary and 77 counts of theft. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that detectives executed a search warrant Jan. 4 at a home where they found two stolen vehicles including a 1968 Chevy Chevelle and two 26-foot trailers’ worth of stolen goods. Other search warrants…