WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Wichita man who has lived illegally in the United States for 22 years is fighting what his lawyer says would be a lifetime expulsion from the country. Manuel Amparan-Mendoza faces sentencing Jan. 18 for using fraudulent documents. Federal guidelines call for a maximum six-month sentence. But prosecutors are seeking a sentence of a year and a day, which would make his conviction an aggravated felony resulting in automatic deportation and a lifetime ban from the U.S. In a court filing Wednesday, Amparan-Mendoza’s lawyer says the result would be inconsistent with President Barack Obama’s immigration policy. He…
Author: KMAN Staff
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) Emporia State University plans to reflect on its past and future as it marks Founders Day next month. The Feb. 14 festivities will include food, music and a speech by the university’s new president, Michael Shonrock. Emporia State was founded in 1863 as Kansas State Normal a term commonly used at the time for schools created to train teachers. Today, Emporia State offers 42 undergraduate and 27 graduate degrees in the School of Business, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, School of Library and Information Management and The Teachers College. The School of Library and Information Management…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt says he wants to improve the state’s efforts to fight human trafficking. Schmidt announced Wednesday he’s expanded an existing task force to include more perspectives on the issue. He wants the task force to work with lawmakers and Gov. Sam Brownback to strengthen state laws. The task force had included police, prosecutors, social workers and victims. The new members include a forensic nurse, a Sedgwick County corrections official and Rep. Steve Brunk of Wichita. A recent analysis by a Washington nonprofit group found that Kansas has some of the weakest laws in…
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) Kansas State Fair officials are going high-tech to keep ringers out of the fair’s livestock shows. Starting with this year’s fair, livestock will undergo DNA testing. The goal is to verify that animals competing in the fair’s contests are the same livestock nominated by their owners. Hair follicles taken from beef, cattle, sheep, meat goats and swine months before the competition will be used for testing. Currently, nose prints are taken from nominated animals. Fair Manager Denny Stoecklein say cheating has not been a problem at the fair but the DNA testing will help ensure the right…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Two years after an unsuccessful effort, an animal rights group is renewing its fight to have two elephants moved from the Topeka Zoo to a Tennessee sanctuary. Animal Outreach of Kansas has erected two billboards in Topeka as part of a campaign to convince the city to retire 49-year-old Sundra and 40-year-old Tembo. They want the animals sent to The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn. The group contends the zoo does not provide enough space, causing the elephants physical and emotional harm. Zoo director Brendan Wiley said Wednesday that the zoo is proud of the care it…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The nation’s farmers seeded more winter wheat this season amid higher prices and easing drought conditions in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Thursday that the 41.9 million acres of winter wheat planted for harvest in 2012 is up 3 percent from 2011 and up 12 percent from 2010. The hard red winter wheat that is typically used for making bread accounted for the bulk of that surge. The estimated 30.1 million acres of hard red winter wheat is up 6 percent from last year. Kansas again led the nation in winter wheat…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is proposing a tight state budget that spends slightly less of the state’s tax dollars than the current budget. Brownback’s administration outlined his spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1 in a Thursday briefing for the House Appropriations Committee. The budget plan calls for spending a little less than $6.1 billion in general state revenues on government programs, compared to a little more than $6.1 billion under the current budget. The difference is a little less than 1 percent. The overall budget, including spending financed with federal funds, would be…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas would resume its funding of arts programs under Gov. Sam Brownback’s latest budget proposal. But Brownback proposed Thursday that the Kansas Arts Commission be merged with the state Film Commission in the Department of Commerce. Brownback Budget Director Steve Anderson presented the proposal to the House Appropriations Committee. He told members the administration had listened to complaints about Brownback’s decision last year to veto arts funding. The governor vetoed the Arts Commission’s entire budget, making Kansas the first state to end its funding for arts programs. Brownback had wanted to turn the commission’s functions over to…
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback gave his State of the State address Wednesday night in Topeka, and his message was one of transition for Kansas. Governor Brownback said the important part of the new transition was growth. The Governor’s State of the State address highlighted his plan to lower individual income tax rates for all Kansans to help obtain that growth. The goal is to bring the tax rate down from 6.45 percent to 4.9 which would make it the second lowest in the region. Governor Brownback also revealed that his fiscal 2013 budget would produce a balance of 465 million…