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…
Author: KMAN Staff
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…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas Department of Revenue official has sent email from a personal account to friends in the real estate business in effort to build support for Gov. Sam Brownback’s income tax proposal. Chad Bettes, chief of staff for Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan, sent the email from his personal account to six real estate friends who are also members of the Kansas Association of Realtors. Included in the email, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, was a letter stating why the sender backed the Republican governor’s plan, including elimination of the state’s home mortgage…
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) High winds and low humidity added up to difficult conditions for firefighters in parts of Kansas. Two houses went up in flames Tuesday in Hutchinson, where Fire Chief Kim Forbes says winds gusting up to 40 mph complicated firefighting efforts. Forbes said crews planned to remain at the scene of the second fire Tuesday night to monitor the area. In northeastern Kansas, a mile-wide grass fire spread from Jackson County into Brown County on Tuesday afternoon. The cause is unknown. Crews had to battle winds of up to 35 mph to bring that fire under control. Traffic…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Democrat in the Kansas House faces an investigation into whether he intentionally misled colleagues during a debate last month on property tax legislation. Twenty-six House Republicans filed a complaint Tuesday with the chamber’s chief clerk against Rep. Jim Ward, of Wichita. House rules require that a committee be appointed to investigate, but Ward says there was no wrongdoing. The Republicans want the House to consider removing Ward from his seat. The GOP lawmakers contend Ward misled them about an amendment he offered to a bill imposing a cap on local property taxes. Ward says Republicans didn’t…