A Junction City woman was found guilty Tuesday of Medicaid fraud and forgery, according to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt. A Geary County jury convicted Lavita Nelson, 22, on one count of making a false claim to the Medicaid program and four counts of forgery. The charges stemmed from a scheme where Nelson was hired by her father to be his personal care attendant. Nelson submitted claims to the Kansas Medicaid program for providing health services to her father while he was in custody in the Geary County Jail. The case was heard by Judge Steven Hornbaker. Assistant Attorneys General…
Author: KMAN Staff
CHENEY, Kan. (AP) The former residents of a Sedgwick County property where a human skull was found say the skull was left on their parents’ doorstep six decades ago on Halloween. Last month’s discovery of the skull by people considering buying the property sparked an investigation. The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that the former property owners buried the skull before moving in 2010. The ex-owners reported that the skull had been in their family’s possession since the apparent Halloween prank in 1949 in the northeast Kansas town of Circleville. The family also told authorities they tried to have…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Revenue estimates for the House Republican income tax plan show that the lowest income earners would be the only bracket that would see their tax rates go up. The estimates show the plan would cost Kansas more than $850 million over the next five years, possibly creating budget issues in future years. The figures were obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press from a legislative source who wasn’t authorized to release the information publicly. House Republican leaders developed the plan as an alternative to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s income tax proposal. In both plans, the only group of…
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) Garden City commissioners approved resolutions offering symbolic and financial support to an Amtrak route through southwest Kansas. The commission on Tuesday approved a resolution asking Amtrak to maintain the Southwest Chief’s route between Chicago and Los Angeles that goes through Topeka, Newton, Hutchinson, Dodge City and Garden City. It also approved spending up to $20,000 to help pay for federal lobbying efforts to keep the current route. The Garden City Telegram reports Amtrak is considering an alternative route that would run south of Newton through the Texas Panhandle to New Mexico. It cites the poor condition…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Douglas County prosecutors are investigating pending or past cases involving two suspended Lawrence police officers suspected of dismissing speeding tickets in exchange for Kansas basketball tickets. Also Tuesday, city officials confirmed they are investigating whether other police officers were involved in dismissing the tickets. City officials say the person whose traffic tickets were fixed is serving a federal prison sentence related to a broader Kansas ticket scandal. The two officers were suspended earlier this month after an FBI investigation. Douglas County prosecutors say they are trying to determine if the officers’ conduct damaged their credibility in other…
GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) Wildlife officials say a snowy owl found shot to death last week at the Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area near Great Bend probably was shot by a poacher. The owl was alive when it was found last Thursday but had a serious injury to a wing. Veterinarians at the Great Bend Raptor Center amputated the bird’s wing but it died the next day. The Wichita Eagle reports that snowy owls are not an endangered species, but shooting one is a federal violation. The owl is one of more than a hundred that have been spotted this year…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Topeka man was sentenced to more than 55 years in prison for killing another man during a crime spree in June 2010. Forty-four-year-old Stephen A. Macomber was sentenced Tuesday for killing 26-year-old Ryan Lofton in Lofton’s driveway in Topeka. He was convicted in January of intentional second-degree murder. Macomber says he didn’t intend to kill or shoot Lofton. The shooting occurred during a struggle to get control of a gun. After Macomber shot Lofton, he shot and wounded a Marshall County sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop in Blue Rapids and then held an elderly woman…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Art created by Kansas students will be among those wrapped around a 365-foot replica of the Saturn V rocket at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. A visiting assistant professor at Washburn University helped elementary students from Rossville and St. Mary create 550 pieces of artwork for the Dream Rocket Project. A news release from the Topeka university says the Saturn V rocket will be wrapped with more than 8,000 pieces of art in 2014. Beforehand, all submissions are being displayed in venues such as libraries, schools and museums. A show is planned at…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas House is preparing to debate Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s bill to require some potential voters to prove they’re U.S. citizens before this year’s presidential election. The bill on the chamber’s agenda Wednesday would impose the proof-of-citizenship requirement on June 15, more than six months ahead of schedule. It would apply to people registering to vote for the first time in Kansas. Last year, legislators enacted a proof-of-citizenship requirement along with a law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. But that proof-of-citizenship rule doesn’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2013. Kobach says…