The budget talks continued at last night’s Manhattan City Commission meeting, starting with a second round of agencies requesting funding and branching out into a wide variety of discussions. One topic that dominated the evening was the mill levy, and how best to achieve a flat mill levy in 2013. The Commission was presented with a wide variety of options to lessen the mill levy, and the chosen options include five percent cuts to funding for many social services, an additional one percent sales tax, and lowering the RCPD’s delinquency rate.
Author: KMAN Staff
Between 2:45 and 3:00 pm on Tuesday, July 10, a semi tractor trailer exploded near Junction City. According to Lt. Greg Harkrader with the Kansas Highway Patrol, a K-Dot contract crew was doing some line painting along the westbound right shoulder on I-70 near mile marker 306, when a westbound semi tractor trailer struck the vehicle. The tractor trailor vered left and went off into the medium, where is became engulfed in flames and eventually one of the diesel tanks exploded. The driver of the tractor trailer and his 7-year-old daughter were both able to escape without injuries. The tractor trailor…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas State Board of Education is requesting an additional $450 million in state spending on public schools for the 2014 state budget cycle. Board members voted 7-2 on Tuesday to submit the request to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and the GOP-controlled Legislature. The request covers education expenses for the 2013-14 school year. Members say they felt they had to ask legislators to increase education spending, including increasing the base state aid per pupil to $4,492, up from the $3,838 that districts now receive. The increase represents $440.1 million of the board’s request. The request includes identifying…
KINGMAN, Kan. (AP) The trial of a former Kansas law enforcement instructor accused of killing his wife has been delayed until December. Brett Seacat, a former Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputy, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Vashti, at their Kingman home in 2011. Seacat is also charged with aggravated arson and two counts of endangering a child. Prosecutors allege Seacat shot his wife and set the house on fire. Brett Seacat and the couple’s two young sons escaped. Seacat pleaded not guilty to the charges. His attorneys say Vashti Seacat set the fire and took…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Shawnee County officials estimate it will cost about $50,000 to rid an area lake of a troublesome invasive plant. John Knight, Shawnee County parks and recreation director, says the plant, called Eurasian Watermilfoil, has been spreading at Lake Shawnee and can cause a dense surface canopy that interferes with swimming, fishing and boating at the lake. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the Shawnee County Commission on Thursday will consider Knight’s recent request for the county to solicit bids to treat the lake for the plant species. He says the department’s budget has the necessary funds. Knight says…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has named a new district court judge for the Topeka area. Brownback’s office announced Tuesday that Carl William Ossmann, the chief litigation attorney for one of the state’s social services agencies, will fill a judicial vacancy in Shawnee County. Ossmann will replace the late District Judge Charles Andrews, who retired in March and died recently after battling cancer. Ossmann is an attorney for the Department for Aging and Disability Services. He also is a former first assistant Shawnee County district attorney and has been an adjunct professor at Washburn University’s law school since…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will speak July 26 at a forum on current affairs at the Dole Institute of Politics in Lawrence. Rumsfeld served as secretary of defense from 1975 to 1977 and again from 2001 to 2006, working for two Republican administrations after the Vietnam War and through the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also was a four-term congressman from Illinois from 1962 to 1969. Bill Lacy, director of the Dole Institute, said Rumsfeld’s appearance will give insight into U.S. history and how policy was made by different administrations. Rumsfeld will also be…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Westar Energy wants 1,000 customers to try a new program that would shift electricity use to off-peak periods. The utility company says the Under the Time of Use program would save customers money and help manage the demand on the electric system. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that peak energy use times during the summer are weekdays from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Under the pilot program, the cost for energy during that period would be about 13.5 cents per kilowatt hour. Using energy during off-peak times would cost about 5.5 cents per kilowatt hour. The hours and…
COFFEYVILLE, Kan. (AP) A 68-year-old southeast Kansas man has died after being struck by lightning. Coffey County Sheriff Randy Rogers says in a news release that Ronald Nicholas was attending a family gathering in the rural Waverly area when he was hit by lightning. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the death occurred Saturday night. Rogers says Nicholas was pronounced dead at the scene.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The triple-digit temperatures and lack of rain in Kansas this past week came at a critical time in row crop development. Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service on Monday reported declines in the condition of the state’s major spring-planted crops. Among the hardest hit is the Kansas corn crop with 43 percent of it now rated in poor to very poor condition and just 18 percent in good and 1 percent in excellent condition. Other crops also are struggling with 12 percent of the state considered to have adequate topsoil moisture. About 33 percent of soybeans and 37 percent…