TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A House committee is hearing testimony on a bill that would make several changes to laws surrounding abortion. The hearings began Wednesday on the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.” The bill would, among other things, require physicians to tell women that abortion increases the risks of premature birth and breast cancer. It also would require medical providers to try to locate the fetal heartbeat and give the woman the chance to hear it before she undergoes an abortion. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the bill also would eliminate tax credits for drugs used for abortions and some…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A federal magistrate judge has set a trial date for next year in the government’s lawsuit against an abortion opponent accused of sending a threatening letter to a Wichita doctor who was training to offer abortion services. U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth Gale scheduled the trial against anti-abortion activist Angel Dillard for Feb. 5, 2013. His order on Thursday also sets a timeline for the parties to try to settle the case. The Valley Center woman told Dr. Mila Means in January that she would have to check under her car every day because someone might place an…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Attorney General Derek Schmidt says Kansas residents will share about $50 million of a $25 billion settlement reached between the federal government, states and several mortgage lenders. The deal announced Thursday is the largest industry settlement since the 1998 multistate tobacco settlement. Schmidt said the state’s share of the settlement would be direct payments to some homeowners who lost their homes to foreclosure. Under the agreement, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial will reduce loans for about 1 million households. They will also send checks of $2,000 to about 750,000 Americans, including…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The owner of a Kansas grocery store is pleading with a federal judge to spare him from prison for his role in a scheme that targeted people willing to sell their food stamps for cash. Ahmed Ajami Al-Maleki asked the judge in a letter for mercy so he can return to his family and live an honest life. His letter was part of a filing Wednesday by his attorney, Kurt Kerns, who is seeking a probationary sentence below the federal sentencing guidelines. Kerns said his client was a conduit for the food stamp scheme rather than a…
GARDNER, Kan. (AP) A northeast Kansas woman injured after a hit-and-run crash involving a tractor-trailer has delivered a healthy baby girl. The Kansas City Star reported that 33-year-old Nikki McClure is in critical but stable condition following Wednesday’s collision on Interstate 35 near Gardner. The Kansas Highway Patrol reported that McClure had to be extricated from her car after rear-ending the slow-moving tractor-trailer. After the crash, the rig’s driver drove off with the hood of her car impaled on the back of the trailer. As of Thursday, the truck and its driver hadn’t been found. McClure’s husband calls the baby…
KINGMAN, Kan. (AP) Police say an 89-year-old Kingman man who was the subject of a Silver Alert has been found dead. The search for Wallace “Gene” Fairchild ended after his body was found Wednesday afternoon. His body was found at Calvary Cemetery south of Danville in eastern Harper County, which is south of Kingman. Fairchild, who suffered from dementia, was last seen about noon Tuesday driving on U.S. 54 near Kingman. Family members contacted police after he didn’t show up at either of two daily visits with family members.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Power in the Kansas House is likely to shift next year from rural parts of the state to the Kansas City area after members overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan bill Thursday for redrawing their districts. The House’s 109-14 vote means the new district lines specified by the bill are likely to become law, starting with this year’s elections. The bill goes next to the Senate, but its approval is considered a formality because, by tradition, neither chamber alters the other’s plan for redrawing members’ districts. The bill had the support of House Speaker Mike O’Neal, a Hutchinson Republican,…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Democrats are offering an alternative to Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan for rewriting the state’s school funding formula. Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka shared his proposal Thursday with the Senate Education Committee to increase school funding by $180 million over the next three years. The plan would add $45 million to K-12 budgets in each of the next two years and $90 million in the third. It also includes a companion bill to give cities and counties some $45 million in property tax relief. Earlier this week the committee began taking testimony on Brownback’s plan,…
KMAN’s Chris Swick takes a look at new school lunch standards for KMAN’s Morning News.
The danger of an electrical fire grows during the winter months, causing millions of dollars in damage and causing chaos for those whose lives it touches. Blue Township Fire Chief Eric Ward says fire departments nationwide, but especially in the heartland, see an increase in electrical fires during the colder months. “A lot of that occurs because of misue of heating equipment and things of that sort,” Ward said. Electrical appliances, especially, are at risk. Checking the wiring to things such as space heaters and coffee pots before you use them can save lives. Ward advises you to look for…