WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Police in Wichita have released the name of a man found dead over the weekend in the Little Arkansas River. But the cause of death is still unknown. The Wichita Eagle reports that documents found on the body identified the man as 54-year-old Vincent Manuel. Kayakers called 911 Saturday morning after spotting the body floating in the water near Riverside Park. It’s not clear how long it had been in the river. Police said Tuesday that Manuel was fully clothed and showed no signs of trauma. An autopsy performed Monday was inconclusive.
Author: KMAN Staff
GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) A Kansas man convicted of killing a 14-year-old cheerleader and burning her body at the asphalt plant where he worked will spend the rest of his life behind bars. Adam Longoria was sentenced Tuesday to life imprisonment without the chance of parole for the August 2010 death of Alicia DeBolt. Barton County Judge Hannelore Kitts had little leeway in deciding the punishment because a capital murder conviction in Kansas carries a mandatory sentence of at least life without parole. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty. He also received 17 months for vehicle burglary and 7…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas is renegotiating its contract with the company that supplied the state with its new motor vehicle system. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the state’s contract with the company, 3M, was supposed to end Friday. But Kansas Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan said the state has a list of changes it wants made to the system before signing off on the contract. Since the state launched the new $40 million motor vehicle system May 9 many county treasurers’ offices have complained about problems with the system that tie up their clerks and increase the amount of time it…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The high temperatures baking most of Kansas are not expected to ease for the rest of the week. Northwest and north-central Kansas is under a red flag warning through Wednesday, meaning high temperatures, strong winds and low humidity pose a serious risk of fire. The National Weather Service says several western Kansas towns set records Monday, including 113 at Rawlins, Lane and Norton and 112 in Rooks, Trego and Thomas. Temperatures are forecast to reach around 110 on Tuesday. A heat advisory is in effect for most of central Kansas through Tuesday evening, with high humidity and…
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) New flights to Dallas have been good for the Garden City Regional Airport. More than 1,400 passengers used the airport in May, and the number is expected to increase to about 1,500 by the end of June. Airport officials say those numbers are more than 50 percent higher than the average monthly figures from the past two years. The Garden City Telegram reports (http://bit.ly/KZia0D ) passenger numbers are taking off since April, when the airport changed service to American Eagle flights to Dallas. Previously, the airport had flights to and from Denver offered by Great Lakes…
HOLTON, Kan. (AP) Holton teachers returned their contracts unsigned to protest a lack of negotiations and another year without a pay raise. The teachers took 69 unsigned contracts to the Holton school district’s offices on Monday. Joni White, president of the Holton National Education Association, says teachers are unhappy that the board of education issued a unilateral contract last week. She says teachers also haven’t received a raise in four years. Teachers had asked for a 1 percent raise for next school year, which would have cost the district about $51,000. Superintendent Nancy Meyer said 132 certified teachers were involved…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas winter wheat harvest is nearly finished. Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday that only 4 percent of the crop is left to be cut statewide. Harvest is running about three weeks ahead of normal in the state. Farmers in northwest Kansas are close to wrapping up. They had 61 percent of their wheat in the bin as of Sunday. Meanwhile, some spring-planted row crops are showing signs of stress from high temperatures and lack of rain. Corn condition declined over the past week, with 17 percent of the crop now rated as poor to very…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback has named an attorney from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to a seat on the state commission that regulates utilities. Brownback announced the appointment of Shari Feist Albrecht to the three-member Kansas Corporation Commission on Monday. She replaces Ward Loyd, an attorney and former Kansas House member from Garden City whose term expired earlier this year. Albrecht has worked for KDHE since 1993. She was a supervisor in its environmental protection division before becoming associate chief counsel. She previously served on the Corporation Commission staff in the division that regulates oil and…
GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) The mother and sister of a 14-year-old cheerleader whose burned body was found at the Great Bend asphalt plant are expected to make victim impact statements at a hearing for the man convicted of killing her. Sentencing for 38-year-old Adam Longoria is Tuesday before Barton County District Judge Hannelore Kitts. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty, but capital murder carries at least a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole. Jurors deliberated less than four hours in April before convicting him for the August 2010 murder of Alicia DeBolt. To find Longoria guilty of capital…
An accident in Geary County shortly after 10 Tuesday morning led to at least three injuries and a disruption in traffic for part of the morning. Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Greg Harkrader tells KMAN the two vehicle crash was reported on I-70, about a mile and a half west of K-177. The road was completely shut down for about 15 or 20 minutes, and was reduced to one eastbound lane until about 11. Lt. Harkrader says it looks like one of the vehicles was merging onto the interstate trying to gain speed, when the other vehicle came over a hill and had to brake.…