WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Hundreds of people have turned out for a Tea Party rally in Wichita on the eve of Republican presidential caucuses in Kansas. Friday’s rally was organized by Kansans for Liberty. Texas Congressman Ron Paul was scheduled to attend, and his supporters swelled the ranks of those on hand. Among them was 52-year-old contractor Greg Rose, who says he won’t vote in the presidential election if Paul is not the Republican nominee. Another die-hard Paul supporter is Mark Bosanco. The 60-year-old retired Army officer says he will vote for Paul for president even if he has to do…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Senate Republican leaders are rolling out a proposal to create job growth in Kansas in manufacturing and bioscience industries. The plan announced Friday includes targeted incentives for companies to build plants, produce goods and ship them out of Kansas. Companies would pay income taxes only on the portion of their sales that would occur inside Kansas. The other portion would allow bioscience companies relocating to Kansas to be exempt from paying income taxes. It builds on the state’s efforts to create jobs through investments by the Kansas Bioscience Authority. Seventeen GOP senators have signed on to the…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A key Kansas House committee is nearing the end of its work on a draft of the state budget. The House Appropriations Committee is meeting most of Friday to complete work on the bill. Chairman Marc Rhoades, a Newton Republican, says it closely follows the budget submitted by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. Rhoades says the measure will retain Brownback’s goal of having a projected ending balance of $465 million as of June 30, 2013. That would satisfy a law requiring Kansas to have a reserve account equal to 7.5 percent of state general fund expenditures. The House…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum plans two rallies in Kansas ahead of GOP caucuses that he sees as important to his chances of winning the nomination. But the former Pennsylvania senator faced some grumbling Friday from tea party members because his rally in Wichita is at an airport and not a large rally they scheduled in a downtown arena. Santorum figures to do well in Saturday’s voting at 96 sites across the state, with strong support from abortion opponents, including leaders of Kansans for Life. He’s said he sees winning Kansas as important to overcoming front-runner Mitt…
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) A decline in demand is prompting a United Methodist ministry in Garden City to stop providing childhood immunizations. The United Methodist Mexican-American Ministries’ decided to drop the program effective March 21. The Garden City Telegram reports that those needing immunizations will be directed to the Finney County Health Department, which runs a similar program. The ministry administered 1,397 immunizations in 2011, compared with 3,652 in 2009. The ministry would have had to raise prices for the shots from $2 to $10 or more to make it financially feasible, and that’s close to what the county charges.…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) A proposal to build a new fieldhouse and recreation center in Lawrence is getting a boost for Kansas basketball coach Bill Self. The city announced Thursday that Bill and Cindy Self’s Assists Foundation supports building the center in northwest Lawrence. The city also said the University of Kansas and Kansas Athletics are considering locating some university facilities at the center. City Manager David Corliss said city commissioners have not committed to the project but interest is high. He said city officials would spend the next several weeks discussing the project with a city advisory board, landowners and…
PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) Pittsburg State University officials say a $5 million gift will help efforts to build a Fine and Performing Arts Center. University officials announced Thursday the gift in honor of Pittsburg State alumnus and former Wal-Mart President H. Lee Scott, who is also the brother of university president Steve Scott. The gift was made through the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation with support from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation. The Pittsburg Morning Sun reports the gift is the second largest in the university’s history. The university has raised close to $20 million of the estimated $30 million…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A key Kansas House committee is nearing the end of its work on a draft of the state budget. The House Appropriations Committee planned to meet most of Friday to complete work on the bill. Chairman Marc Rhoades, a Newton Republican, says it closely follows the budget submitted by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. Rhoades says the measure will retain Brownback’s goal of having a projected ending balance of $465 million as of June 30, 2013. That would satisfy a law requiring Kansas to have a reserve account equal to 7.5 percent of state general fund expenditures. The…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Newly released figures show Kansas agricultural exports grew by 35 percent last year to set a record high. The U.S. Agriculture Department’s Foreign Agricultural Service reports more than $3.68 billion in farm exports from Kansas in 2011. The Kansas Department of Agriculture says the previous state record of $3.06 billion was set in 2008. Kansas Agriculture Secretary Dale Rodman says in a news release Thursday that the numbers show just how important agriculture is to the state. Total exports in Kansas grew 17 percent to $11.68 billion. Agriculture accounted for nearly 32 percent of the state’s total…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas Senate committee is preparing to review a proposal to require some potential voters to prove their citizenship starting in June, ahead of this year’s presidential election. The Ethics and Elections Committee has scheduled a review next Thursday of a bill containing the proposal from Secretary of State Kris Kobach. A law passed last year requires people registering to vote in Kansas for the first time to prove their U.S. citizenship, beginning in January 2013. Kobach wants to move the effective date up to June 15. He argues the rule will deter election fraud and should…