WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Police in Wichita are seeking a motive in the city’s fourth homicide of the year. A relative found the body of 38-year-old Michael Salyer in his downtown apartment Monday afternoon, more than 16 hours after neighbors last saw him alive. The Wichita Eagle reports that an autopsy Tuesday showed Salyer had been stabbed to death. He also had severe head trauma. Wichita police Lt. Ken Landwehr says there were signs of a brief struggle, but robbery doesn’t appear to be a motive. No drugs or paraphernalia were found in the apartment, and Salyer’s wallet, keys and other…
Author: KMAN Staff
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) A big jump in a monthly survey index suggests more economic growth is ahead for nine Midwest and Plains states. The Business Conditions Index rose to 55.9 in January, compared with 50.0 in December. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the December report suggested the region’s economy was slowing down because of debt concerns in Europe and the lukewarm U.S. economy. But he says it appears now that December’s “tepid reading was due to seasonal or nonrecurring factors.” The survey uses a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Goss says that any score above 50…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Wichita man admits that he collected more than a million images of child pornography. In a plea deal Tuesday, 47-year-old Matthew Alter pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. Prosecutors said police began investigating Alter after police in Italy notified them that a computer user in Kansas was accessing a child porn website. Investigators followed an electronic trail to Alter’s home in Wichita, where they found more than one million images of pornography involving children from 1 to 12 years old. Prosecutors say Alter collected child pornography for 11 years. The Wichita Eagle…
FORT SOCTT, Kan. (AP) A Fort Scott man who was seriously injured in a fire that killed his wife is jailed on $1 million bond after being charged with murder. Prosecutors say 25-year-old Brent Bollinger is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated arson, and aggravated child endangerment. His wife, Brenna Nicole Bollinger was found dead after a fire at the couple’s home last Oct. 13. Their 2-year-old son, Bryson Bollinger, was hospitalized for treatment of burns for about a month after the fire. Bollinger’s attorney, Paul Morrison, said during a court appearance Monday that Bollinger suffered burns over 69 percent of…
RIVERTON, Kan. (AP) Zombies will be invading southeast Kansas this spring and summer. They’ll be in the Riverton area for a low-budget zombie apocalypse movie called “Zompocalypso.” Eric B. Anderson and his wife, Amelia Dellos, who own Chicago-based Corn Bred Films, are making the movie. Anderson, a native of Parsons, says he wants to highlight locations and actors in the Midwest. He says he hopes to use the family homestead outside of Riverton for the movie. The Joplin Globe reports the movie revolves around two brothers. One is a free spirit and the other believes that zombies will cause the…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback’s staff says he warned lawmakers not to violate the state’s open meetings law while attending dinners at Cedar Crest mansion. Caleb Stegall, the governor’s counsel, said in a statement Tuesday that none of the private dinners attended by Republicans from 13 legislative committees violated the law. He said Brownback was careful to warn those attending the dinners that they could not discuss legislative business. The open meetings law prohibits a voting majority of any government group from discussing business without giving the public notice and access to the meeting. Stegall says once lawmakers were…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas lawmakers have been considering a proposal that would allow utility companies to raise rates before the state approves the increases. The Wichita Eagle reports that the proposal for “interim rates” is contained in a House bill that was proposed by natural gas companies. It was the subject of a hearing this week in the House Energy and Utilities Committee. The measure would allow a utility company to increase rates 30 days after it files with the Kansas Corporation Commission for permission to increase rates. The commission has 240 days to consider rate hikes. The company would…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Secretary of State Kris Kobach says Kansas legislators can show they’re serious about fighting election fraud by passing his bill to speed up a requirement for some potential voters to show proof of citizenship. But the Republican secretary of state faced hostile questions Wednesday from Democrat during a House Elections Committee hearing. A law enacted last year says people registering to vote for the first time in Kansas must prove their U.S. citizenship, starting in January 2013. Kobach wants the rule to take effect by June 15, ahead of this year’s presidential election. But state Rep. Ann…
HAYS, Kan. (AP) NEW Corp. says it will close its calling center in Hays March 31. The company made the announcement Tuesday to 280 employees in Hays. The Hays Daily News reports NEW Corp. is the fifth-largest employer in Ellis County. It received significant incentives from the city of Hays, Ellis County and private investors when it opened in 2004. NEW Corp official Terri Feely says the plant is closing because the company could not find enough qualified workers. He says NEW Corp. never reached its goal of having 450 employees and could not keep the plant running at full…
With the increase in stolen vehicles this past year in Riley County, Riley County police are considering options that would aid recovery efforts in such instances. RCPD Captain Tim Hegarty told county commissioners Monday the department is scheduled to have a demo vehicle in April that will have a mobile license plate reader. This is a camera mounted on the front of a police vehicle. That vehicle would then drive around town and through parking lots, taking pictures of license plates, notifying officers is a particular vehicle is stolen or not. “What this system also allows us to do is connect…