Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt is unveiling a new database called ROAM, or Repeat Offenders Against Military database. The database will be utilized by state and federal law enforcement officials to help catch sophisticated criminals who are currently targeting military families by offering various scams. Often these criminals will shut down their operations when they feel threatened, and move to another military community across state lines. Attorney General Schmidt says the new database will improve coordination, and cooperation between federal and state officials by providing court data of previous judgements against the scam artists. Schmidt is currently working with Kentucky…
Author: KMAN Staff
Several Manhattan High students are still recovering after overdosing on cough medication before class on Tuesday. According to police reports, four students – two 15-year olds and two 16-year olds – intentionally consumed an excessive amount of over the counter cough medicine in an attempt become intoxicated. Instead, the four students became ill. One student was transported by Riley County EMS to Mercy Regional Health Center. The remaining three students were transported by their parents to various locations for treatment. Manhattan/Ogden Communications Coordinator Michele Jones is classifying the event as an isolated incident, adding that it isn’t indicative of a larger…
The Riley County Health Department is reporting a case of pertussis, otherwise known as whooping cough, affecting an infant in the county. KMAN news has also been told of a suspected case of pertussis at Theodore Roosevelt Elementary in Manhattan. USD 383 Communications Coordinator Michele Jones indicates letters were sent home with all students Wednesday. “When pertussis shows up in an infant less than one year of age, it can be a warning sign or a marker of undetected disease in the community,” explained Susanne Kufahl, Riley County Health officer. Kufahl added it is critical that children, as well as their parents…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas legislator is worrying about the state’s flow of funds for highway projects and road maintenance if consumers flock to electric cars or hybrids because those vehicles use less gasoline, raising less gas taxes. But Rep. Tom Sloan got a cool reception Tuesday during a House Energy and Utilities Committee hearing on his proposed solution. The Lawrence Republican’s bill would create a new fee on the power electric car and hybrid owners use to charge up their vehicles. The Kansas Department of Transportation would set the fee so that it would be equivalent to the state’s…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) Two more people convicted of taking part in a drug trafficking ring in Kansas City, Kan., are going to federal prison. The U.S. Attorney’s office says Willie Ford has been sentenced 35 years and Marcus Quinn to 30 years. Both are 30 years old and lived in Kansas City, Kan. The sentencings Monday bring to at least 13 the number of people sentenced so far as the result of a federal investigation of cocaine and crack sales in a Kansas City, Kan., neighborhood. Prosecutors have said the operation was conducted out of several houses owned by…
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) Seventeen scientists from Kansas State University will be taking part in a national research effort to improve the safety of beef, with special emphasis on the public health risks of certain strains of E. coli bacteria. Several universities and government agencies will be involved in the project. The investigators will be led by a veterinary scientist at the University of Nebraska, which received a five-year $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The researchers will focus on a type of E. coli commonly called STEC. Kansas State officials say…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration is withholding the payment of about $22 million in state revenue to the Kansas Bioscience Authority. The money is part of the KBA’s annual appropriation of $35 million approved by legislators in the 2011 session. Administration officials say the KBA has enough money in its accounts to meet its obligations for investments to bioscience companies. The state revenue is typically paid to the authority in the fall of each calendar year. But it’s been on hold while auditors conducted a forensic investigation of the bioscience authority and its management. Outside auditors said this…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Senate has honored retired Associated Press newsman and former state ethics commission member Elon Torrence on his 95th birthday. Torrence was introduced Tuesday in the Senate along with his wife, Polly. They live in Topeka. Torrence worked in The AP’s Topeka bureau from 1946 until his retirement in 1982. He served on the Governmental Ethics Commission for 16 years, starting in 1994. Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, and Sen. Vicki Schmidt, a Republican, praised Torrence for his service to the state. Hensley noted that Torrence covered the case of Richard Hickock and…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Individuals and families who are homeless in the Wichita area can receive services and be counted at a special event Wednesday. The United Way of the Plains is coordinating the so-called Point-In-Time Homeless Count and Services Event. It takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Century II exhibition hall in Wichita. Volunteers from a coalition of community groups will provide dental screenings, flu shots, gloves and socks and information about housing and benefits. The event will also help service agencies obtain accurate data on the scope of homelessness in the Wichita area.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The director of the Kansas Legislature’s research staff is stepping down next month to become executive director of the state pension system for teachers and government workers. Alan Conroy will become the top administrator at the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System on Feb. 13. He was chosen by the KPERS board to replace Glenn Deck, who retired in September. Conroy has worked for the Kansas Legislative Research Department for 30 years and served as director since 2002. He’s widely respected among legislators of both parties for his knowledge of the state’s finances. He’ll take over at KPERS…