PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) Pittsburg State University wants to become a little greener by better monitoring utility usage. Workers have been installing devices that will record and transmit real-time information about electric, water, gas and steam use to an on-campus server. The southeastern Kansas school says the information will be used to track campus utility use, evaluate energy conservation efforts and identify other ways to save energy. All data can be viewed instantaneously and recorded for historical comparisons and analysis. Pittsburg State also plans to install one or more kiosks around campus this spring. They’ll give students, faculty and staff a…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Three Kansas organizations have launched a petition drive against Gov. Sam Brownback and legislators over proposals for public education. The online signature drive is led by Kansas Families for Education, Kansans United in Voice and Spirit and the Kansas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. They’re asking that the Republican governor and legislators increase funding for public schools. Kansas has cut education funding in recent years because of tight state revenues. The groups behind the petition say the cuts have resulted in larger class sizes, lower academic achievement and less time for students to be with…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas House committee is already considering a half-dozen proposals for redrawing the state’s congressional districts, but it’s likely to review even more. Friday’s meeting of the Redistricting Committee was scheduled to give members an opportunity to present more ideas before the panel begins its discussions. Kansas lawmakers must redraw the state’s four U.S. House districts to account for population changes. The 1st District of western and central Kansas is nearly 58,000 residents short of the ideal of about 713,000 and must gain territory. The Senate has approved a bipartisan plan. But many Republicans don’t like it…
HARVEYVILLE, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback has met with the family of a Harveyville man who suffered fatal injuries when a tornado lifted his home off its foundation. Thursday’s visit came less than a day after 53-year-old Richard Slade was taken off life support and died at a Topeka hospital. The trip to the Wabaunsee County town also gave Brownback a chance to see the damage caused by Tuesday night’s EF2 tornado, which packed winds of between 120 mph and 130 mph. Brownback said he had high praise for the large number of volunteers who rushed to the town’s aid.…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback has declared a disaster emergency in 19 counties hit this week by violent weather, including the storm that spawned a deadly tornado in the eastern Kansas town of Harveyville. The governor’s disaster declaration Thursday brings the state into the response to the storms. Brownback had already declared of a state of emergency Tuesday night in Wabaunsee County after the tornado hit Harveyville. But other areas also had damaging winds, hail and tornadoes. In addition to Wabaunsee County, the new declaration covers the following counties: Butler, Chautauqua, Coffey, Cowley, Crawford, Douglas, Franklin, Harper, Kingman, Labette,…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo has joined a Republican push in Washington to end all energy tax credits. Pompeo, who represents the Wichita area, is sponsoring House legislation ending the production tax credit for electricity produced from renewable resources such as wind, biomass and hydropower. He was joined at a Washington news conference Thursday by Republican Sens. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. The legislation would also end tax credits for plug-in electric and fuel cell vehicles, alternative fuel mixtures, clean coal investment and oil and gas production from marginal…
LANSING, Kan. (AP) Authorities in northeastern Kansas have identified the man who opened fire in a murder-suicide as a 32-year-old Leavenworth resident. The shootings occurred around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday outside Lansing, in rural Leavenworth County. Undersheriff Ron Cranor said Thursday that Kenneth McClellan forced his way into the home of 66-year-old John O’Brien Jr., with whose daughter he had an estranged relationship. The undersheriff said McClellan shot and killed O’Brien, then left through a back door and fatally shot himself. The Kansas City Star reports that authorities initially thought O’Brien’s daughter had also been shot, but doctors at a hospital…
Nearly a year after the deadly tornado in Joplin, Missouri, CivicPlus based in Manhattan plans to host a weekend Hackathon to create new website, technology and design features focused on community and emergency management. CivicPlus’s Director of Sales Strategy, Michael Ashford, spoke with KMAN News Director Cathy Dawes about the event. Anyone interested in participating in the event may visit the Joplin Hackathon website for details. Applications must be submitted by March 23rd and the event will kick-off April 27th at 5 p.m.
Riley County firefighters were called out the second time in less than a week to fight a brush fire in the northern part of the county. It took three hours to contain the fire, with a construction company having a cargo trailer destroyed, and other structures were threatened. “It really is dry out there and we have not had that much moisture,” Doug Messer, assistant fire chief, says. “We get these little showers and people think that’s adequate rainfall. That is just not the case.” Messer adds Thursday was a high category of risk day for such fires, as fires will…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A new assessment on the proposed National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility to be located in Manhattan concludes that changes in the lab’s design have sharply reduced the risk for accidental release of deadly diseases. The assessment released Friday by the Department of Homeland Security updates a report issued in 2010. The new document puts the risk of an accidental release at one-tenth of 1 percent, down from the previous calculation of a 70 percent chance of release. Supporters credit design changes made since the first report for the lower risk. Most of the Kansas Congressional delegation have commented…