TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Power in the Kansas House is likely to shift next year from rural parts of the state to the Kansas City area after members overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan bill Thursday for redrawing their districts. The House’s 109-14 vote means the new district lines specified by the bill are likely to become law, starting with this year’s elections. The bill goes next to the Senate, but its approval is considered a formality because, by tradition, neither chamber alters the other’s plan for redrawing members’ districts. The bill had the support of House Speaker Mike O’Neal, a Hutchinson Republican,…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Democrats are offering an alternative to Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan for rewriting the state’s school funding formula. Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka shared his proposal Thursday with the Senate Education Committee to increase school funding by $180 million over the next three years. The plan would add $45 million to K-12 budgets in each of the next two years and $90 million in the third. It also includes a companion bill to give cities and counties some $45 million in property tax relief. Earlier this week the committee began taking testimony on Brownback’s plan,…
KMAN’s Chris Swick takes a look at new school lunch standards for KMAN’s Morning News.
The danger of an electrical fire grows during the winter months, causing millions of dollars in damage and causing chaos for those whose lives it touches. Blue Township Fire Chief Eric Ward says fire departments nationwide, but especially in the heartland, see an increase in electrical fires during the colder months. “A lot of that occurs because of misue of heating equipment and things of that sort,” Ward said. Electrical appliances, especially, are at risk. Checking the wiring to things such as space heaters and coffee pots before you use them can save lives. Ward advises you to look for…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas House members have given final approval to a bill that will give Junction City more time to pay down debt related to growth at Fort Riley. The bill passed 98-25 on final action Thursday. It gives the city an additional three years to reduce the ratio of outstanding debt to its total property valuation. The limit would remain at 37 percent under the bill through June 30, 2016. Approval by the House sends the bill to the Senate. Junction City issued the bonds in the past decade to make improvements related to the return of the…
Falling on his sword for the redistricting issue wasn’t going to do anything. Those are the words of St. Senator Roger Reitz of Manhattan, who ended up voting for the Senate’s congressional redistricting bill, that moves Manhattan from the second to the first district. “I’m not proud of what happened,” Reitz told KMAN. “I just know that the people of this body were not interested in the map I was proposing. They weren’t going to give me the time of day. Leadership on this issue was faulty and left a lot to be desired.” Reitz adds fellow Republican Senator Tim Owen’s committee…
Incumbent Register of Deeds, Debbie Regester publicly announced on Wednesday that she will be re-running for the Riley County position this fall. Regester has held the title for the past four years and says her dedication to the position has not wavered. “I love my job, I love working with people,” Regester told KMAN. “It is basically the building block for everything that goes on in the county.” Regester is expected to file her “declaration of intent” paperwork with the county elections office in the next few days.
A familiar face in the Rock Creek school district is coming home to take over the Junior Senior High School. USD 323 Superintendent Darrel Stufflebeam tells KMAN the school board unanimously voted last night in favor of Eric Koppes, currently the principal at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Manhattan. “Mr. Koppes was a teacher Westmoreland Elementary School and Rock Creek Junior/Senior High School for several years prior to becoming a principal in Pamona and Manhattan/Ogden,” Stufflebeam said. In addition to being personally familiar with the district, Koppes’ wife is currently a teacher in the district and has had other family…