The two-day hearing for Cole Drake, who was charged with aggravated burglary and the first degree murder of 14 year old Tyler Dowling in April of 2011, is to determine whether Drake should be charged as a juvenile or an adult. Numerous witnesses were called to the stand throughout the day, including various detectives, officers and classmates. Classmates of Dowling and Drake helped to provide information about conversations they had with the boys. Lola Oppy, 16, gave details regarding a conversation she had with Dowling over text message the day of the murder. Oppy informed the court that she received…
Author: KMAN Staff
K-State doesn’t have to go far to find size at the wide receiver position on National Signing Day. The 6-foot-2 200 pound Burton is a Manhattan High product, and is rated as a 3-star prospect by Rivals.com. A first team all-Centennial League selection, he caught 20 passes for 327 yards and five touchdowns for the Tribe during a 10-1 season in 2011. Burton is also versatile; he rushed for 216 yards and three more scores, plus picked off two passes, and returned two punts for touchdowns. He’s projected as a wide receiver for K-State, but also was a two-year starter…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach confirms that he’s serving as an unpaid adviser on immigration issues to Republican Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. Kobach told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he’s been advising the former Massachusetts governor since the beginning of this year. Kobach said he started serving as an adviser even before he formally endorsed his fellow Republican last month. The Kansas secretary of state is a former law professor who’s known nationally for advising state and local officials about cracking down on illegal immigration. He helped draft tough laws in Alabama and Arizona. Kobach…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) An assistant director of the Kansas Legislature’s nonpartisan research staff will serve as acting director for at least the next several months. Legislative leaders decided Wednesday that Raney Gilliland will hold the top job while they seek a permanent replacement for Alan Conroy. Conroy is stepping down as research director Feb. 10 to become executive director of the pension system for Kansas teachers and government workers. Gilliland has been an assistant legislative research director since 2004, overseeing staffers who handle policy issues. He joined the research staff in 1979.
SALINA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas National Guard unit is preparing for its first deployment since Operation Desert Storm, heading to Southwest Asia for a base security mission. A public departure ceremony will be held Feb. 12 at 10 a.m. in Salina for approximately 80 members of the 170th Maintenance Company. The soldiers will go first to Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center in Mississippi for more training specific to their assignment. The exact location of the deployment has not been announced. The unit was originally scheduled to go to Kuwait for a security mission. The 170th Maintenance Company is headquartered…
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) Overland Park police are looking for a woman who is missing for the second time in a week. Molly Jones was last seen near her home in Overland Park Wednesday evening. Police say Jones suffers from medical conditions that can cause her to become catatonic and unaware of her surroundings. She was last seen wearing a pink sport shirt and blue jeans. She is 5-feet-4 and 155 pounds, with red hair and blue eyes. She left with no purse or phone and her family says she has not taken medication that she needs. Jones reported went…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The state’s largest insurance company says it will not bid to be part of Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposal to overhaul the state’s Medicaid program. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas said Wednesday that the effort to shift Medicaid programs to private health insurance companies would require it to dramatically change its businesses practices in less than a year. The governor wants the state to contract with three companies to manage Medicaid, which provides health coverage to poor families and disabled and elderly Kansans. Rep. Jim Ward, a Democrat from Wichita, says Blue Cross’ decision raises questions about…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Haskell Indian Nations University is partnering with the Environmental Protection Agency to promote science and environmental careers. The university in Lawrence and the EPA’s office in Kansas signed an agreement Wednesday to promote interaction between Haskell students and EPA staff. Karl Brooks, the EPA district’s regional administrator, says he hopes the agreement will encourage more Haskell students to apply for internships and jobs with the EPA. He says it also should prompt EPA staff to help Haskell faculty with research, and give Haskell students knowledge they could use to help their tribes with environmental issues. The Lawrence…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A challenge to a new Kansas law restricting insurance coverage of abortion has been assigned to a new judge following the death of the federal judge who had been overseeing the case. U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown died last week at the age of 104. Nearly 100 civil cases that Brown was handling were reassigned Wednesday to other judges in the Kansas federal judicial district U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia in Kansas City, Kan., will now preside over the abortion-related lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western Missouri. The ACLU questions the…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A bill that would expand the number of exemptions allowed for parents who don’t want their children to be immunized apparently will not go to a vote this year. State Rep. Brenda Landwehr of Wichita said Wednesday that she doesn’t intend to have the House Health and Human Services Committee work on the bill. She told The Kansas City Star hat she sees little support on the committee for allowing more exemptions from mandatory immunizations. The bill drew a large crowd for a public hearing two weeks ago. Dozens of parents said they wanted to be allowed…