TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Supporters of a Kansas bill described as an attempt to protect religious freedoms are now citing President Barack Obama’s ill-fated mandate on insurance coverage of contraceptives as a reason for the measure. But gay rights advocates testified Tuesday that the real motives behind the bill before the House Judiciary Committee remain the same. They say it’s an attempt to nullify local ordinances and university policies barring discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The committee took no action but is expected to vote on the measure by Monday. Supporters said Obama’s attempt to require that even…
Author: KMAN Staff
JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) Students at a Joplin elementary school are the happy owners of new bicycles, courtesy of hundreds of employees of Payless ShoeSource. Joplin’s Irving Elementary School was among thousands of buildings destroyed in the tornado that killed 161 people in the southwestern Missouri city last May 22. One of two Payless stores in Joplin was also destroyed. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the Topeka-based company was looking for a creative way to help Joplin’s children. So at an annual meeting last week in Kansas City, more than 370 Payless workers from all over the world built 207 bikes one…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Wichita man is in trouble after police say his two young children were found wandering along a busy street while he played video games at their home. KAKE-TV reports the children are 4 and 5 years old. Police said the younger child was nearly hit by a car Monday afternoon while they tried to cross the street near their home. The 5-year-old showed an officer where they lived. Police say the officer smelled marijuana in the home and found the 22-year-old father playing video games, with marijuana in plain view. The children were turned over to…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Democratic Party has a new communications director. Dakota Loomis has spent the past three years as deputy chief of staff for Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor. He served before that as research director for then- Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. His appointment was announced Tuesday by Jason Perkey, executive director of the Kansas Democratic Party. Loomis is a Lawrence native and son of Burdett Loomis, a prominent University of Kansas political science professor who spent a year on Sebelius’ staff. The younger Loomis holds a law degree from New York University. He also worked previously in…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A coalition of Kansas organizations is heading to the Statehouse to rally against various Republican legislative proposals and some of Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s initiatives. Organizers of Kansans United in Voice and Spirit predicted several hundred people from across the state would take part in Wednesday’s event. They are concerned about proposals from Republican Gov. Sam Brownback to change the state’s school finance formula, income tax structure and social service programs. The group is also concerned about Kobach’s initiatives on voter registration and immigration. Kobach is a former law professor who helped draft tough immigration laws…
SALINA, Kan. (AP) The Salina Human Relations Commission has voted to delay a decision on a proposal to change the city’s equality ordinance. The Salina Journal reports that more than half of those who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting opposed a proposal to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the city’s protected classes. The ordinance would mean people can’t be discriminated against in public accommodations, housing and employment. Some businesses and landlords would be exempt. The commission voted to delay action on the ordinance until March, after the city holds three public hearings on the issue.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) A Missouri man was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a robbery on the University of Kansas campus. Twenty-one-year-old Mykel Dantae Karlyle of Belton also was ordered Tuesday to register as a violent offender after serving his prison sentence. He had pleaded no contest to one count of aggravated robbery. Prosecutors say Karlyle used a handgun to rob a student of marijuana in April 2009 in a residence hall parking lot. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Karlyle also faces aggravated robbery and aggravated battery charges for a 2011 incident in Shawnee County. A…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A state agency has been asked to study ways to save money at the Kansas Neurological Institute in Topeka. Rep. David Crum, a Republican from Augusta, says the discussion could include transitioning KNI from an institution for people with severe developmental disabilities to residential housing for the disabled. But Crum said Tuesday that the discussion is only in preliminary stages. He says he asked the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services to make recommendations after a two-day legislative break in March. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the House Social Services Budget Committee approved Gov. Sam Brownback’s…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Corporation Commission members say they will scrutinize Westar Energy’s contention that its shareholders need to make a 10 percent return on their investment in the utility. The issue was raised during testimony Monday and Tuesday concerning the utility’s request for a rate increase. A settlement reached between Westar, the KCC staff and the company’s large commercial and industrial customers would give Westar a $50 million rate increase. The request includes a shareholder return of 10 percent. The utility says it needs that rate to attract and keep investors. A consumer advocacy group is challenging the proposed…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Protestors are hoping to draw people from across the nation to Wichita over the President’s Day weekend for an “Occupy Koch Town” event. Wichita is the home of Koch Industries and the three-day event is billed as a protest against Charles and David Koch. The group contends the Koch brothers exemplify corporate dominance of politics and distortion of science that is perpetuating bad energy policy. The heart of the protest is opposition to the Keystone-XL pipeline that that would carry Canadian oil to refineries along the Texas Gulf coast. Opponents say the dirty, highly corrosive oil it…