TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration is withholding the payment of about $22 million in state revenue to the Kansas Bioscience Authority. The money is part of the KBA’s annual appropriation of $35 million approved by legislators in the 2011 session. Administration officials say the KBA has enough money in its accounts to meet its obligations for investments to bioscience companies. The state revenue is typically paid to the authority in the fall of each calendar year. But it’s been on hold while auditors conducted a forensic investigation of the bioscience authority and its management. Outside auditors said this…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Senate has honored retired Associated Press newsman and former state ethics commission member Elon Torrence on his 95th birthday. Torrence was introduced Tuesday in the Senate along with his wife, Polly. They live in Topeka. Torrence worked in The AP’s Topeka bureau from 1946 until his retirement in 1982. He served on the Governmental Ethics Commission for 16 years, starting in 1994. Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, and Sen. Vicki Schmidt, a Republican, praised Torrence for his service to the state. Hensley noted that Torrence covered the case of Richard Hickock and…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Individuals and families who are homeless in the Wichita area can receive services and be counted at a special event Wednesday. The United Way of the Plains is coordinating the so-called Point-In-Time Homeless Count and Services Event. It takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Century II exhibition hall in Wichita. Volunteers from a coalition of community groups will provide dental screenings, flu shots, gloves and socks and information about housing and benefits. The event will also help service agencies obtain accurate data on the scope of homelessness in the Wichita area.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The director of the Kansas Legislature’s research staff is stepping down next month to become executive director of the state pension system for teachers and government workers. Alan Conroy will become the top administrator at the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System on Feb. 13. He was chosen by the KPERS board to replace Glenn Deck, who retired in September. Conroy has worked for the Kansas Legislative Research Department for 30 years and served as director since 2002. He’s widely respected among legislators of both parties for his knowledge of the state’s finances. He’ll take over at KPERS…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Two more legislative committees are taking their turn at hearing the results of an audit of the Kansas Bioscience Authority. Investigators spent nearly a year looking into the authority’s finances and allegations about its former president and CEO, Tom Thornton. Their findings were released Monday. On Wednesday, the House and Senate commerce committees will hear from the auditors and the KBA’s current leadership. The authority distributes millions in state tax dollars to emerging bioscience companies. The outside, which cost the authority $960,000, found instances of document destruction, misuse of funds and questionable management by Thornton, who resigned…
OTTAWA, Kan. (AP) An Ottawa man admits that he took more than $90,000 from a 95-year-old woman while serving as her guardian. Guadalupe Mora pleaded no contest Monday in Franklin County to one count of mistreatment of a dependent adult and one count of theft. The Lawrence Journal-World reports Mora took the money from Edna Brouhard while serving as her guardian from 2006 to 2007. Jeff Wagaman, a spokesman for the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, says the plea agreement includes an order of restitution for $90,431. Mora will be sentenced Feb. 27.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A fourth person has been convicted in a 2010 shooting death at a Wichita apartment complex. A Sedgwick County jury on Tuesday convicted 21-year-old Kiara Williams of first-degree murder for her role in the April 2010 death of 21-year-old Otis Bolden Jr. The Wichita Eagle reports two men, Quartez Brown and his cousin Kevin Brown, were already convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison for Bolden’s death. Another defendant, Jalessa Bonner, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. Wichita police say Bolden was killed after Bonner claimed he was one of several…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) An executive with the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services has resigned. The SRS confirmed Tuesday that Pedro Moreno, deputy secretary for disability and behavioral health services, resigned Monday. It offered no explanation for the resignation. Moreno was responsible for oversight of state mental health facilities, addiction and prevention services and the Kansas Neurological Institute. Before coming to Kansas, Moreno worked in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and in a supervisory role with Florida’s Agency for Persons with Disabilities. The Lawrence Journal-World reports SRS spokeswoman Angela De Rocha said that Gary Haulmark, a…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Drivers near Memorial Stadium in Lawrence will have a hard time forgetting former Kansas football coach Don Fambrough. Lawrence city commissioners voted Tuesday to rename a portion of 11th Street near the stadium to Fambrough Drive. The change will create an intersection of Fambrough Drive and Fambrough Way. Kansas officials already planned to name a private street just west of the stadium to Fambrough Way, to honor the coach who died in September. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the new Fambrough Drive will intersect with Missouri Street. Fambrough was renowned for his dislike of the Jayhawks’ main rival,…
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) The Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City is planning a year of festivities to celebrate its 85th birthday. The party begins Friday with a Kansas Day theme. Visitors will be able to observe some Kansas animals being fed and interacting with zoo staff, as well as other special activities. Misty Ayers, manager of special events at the zoo, says other family-friendly events are planned for March 18, July 4 and Nov. 10. The Garden City zoo that was established in 1927 by a Garden City chapter of the Izaack Walton League in conjunction with the city.…