MISSION, Kan. (AP) Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has criticized a so-called “driveway tax” adopted by a Johnson County community that ties collections to how much traffic a specific property generates. The Kansas City suburb of Mission adopted what it calls a “transportation utility fee” in 2010 to raise revenue for road repairs. It’s based on the number of vehicles coming and going from a property, including homes and businesses. Schmidt issued a non-binding advisory opinion last week at the request of a state lawmaker. The attorney general concluded the fee amounts to an excise tax that he says the…
Author: KMAN Staff
HAYSVILLE, Kan. (AP) Residents of Haysville might get a reprieve after being shocked by high water bills. After hearing from several angry residents Monday, the Haysville City Council gave city staff three weeks to devise a plan to deal with errors made on meter readings last fall. One resident said her bill, which had never been more than $100, was $713 in January. KAKE-TV reports the problem started late last year when the city realized that several meter readings were wrong. Updated bills were sent to residents in January, but several of those were wrong as well. Haysville councilman Keith…
SALINA, Kan. (AP) Salina city officials will ask a federal agency to use new review panel as the city continues its appeal of proposed floodplain maps. Officials believe the maps proposed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency contain several errors, particularly in one area of Salina. The Salina Journal reports that city commissioners voted unanimously Monday to ask FEMA to use a Scientific Resolution Panel, which considers conflicts between the agency and communities. City engineer Dan Stack said the panel is an independent group of engineers and hydrologists. Stack said FEMA told the city in August that it will delay…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A federal judge has denied the city of Topeka’s request that the trial in a federal discrimination lawsuit be held in Topeka. Topeka Zoo veterinarian Shirley Yeo Llizo alleges in her lawsuit that the city discriminated against her when she was fired in October 2009 after federal regulators found several violations at the zoo. Llizo is a naturalized U.S. citizen of Chinese ancestry. She says other American-born employees of different races and/or genders weren’t fired after the violations were found. The city gave Llizo her job back in August 2010 after an arbitrator ruled the city was…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Despite pleas to slow down, Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration says it is unlikely to change plans to shift all state Medicaid services to managed care. The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee wrapped up several days of testimony on the plan Monday. Several advocates for the developmentally disabled said the Brownback administration is moving too quickly with its Medicaid reform efforts. Currently, many of the state’s developmentally disabled are served by a Medicaid waiver system for home and community-based care. The administration is already accepting bids to contract three managed care companies to supply all state Medicaid…
Manhattan continues to have impressive unemployment numbers, with a 4.7 percent rate reported for the metro area in December, which includes Riley, Pottawatomie, and Geary counties. That compares to five percent in November and 4.9 percent the year before. Manhattan’s metro numbers were also the lowest of the six listed. The city of Manhattan had a 3.6 percent rate, also down from 4.1 percent in November and four percent last year. This year’s figure was also the lowest of 16 cities listed by the Kansas Department of Labor. Riley County’s 3.7 percent was down from the month before and last year.…
Suspended indefinitely this past Thursday, K-State’s Jordan Henriquez could be close to returning to the team. Wildcats coach Frank Martin said Monday night that Henriquez met with him earlier in the day, and could rejoin the team as soon as Tuesday. Henriquez had seen his playing time dwindle as of late, and is avering 7.1 points and 5.1 rebounds in 18.9 games this season for K-State. Martin went on to say that Henriquez is among his favorite players to coach in his 27-year career, but wanted to send a message to the 7′ 0″ junior center. K-State makes the trip…
For the eighth straight week, the K-State men’s basketball team is ranked in the polls. The Cats are #22 in the AP poll and 24th in the Coaches after a 2-0 week with wins over Texas and Oklahoma State. The Big 12 keeps three teams in the top ten with Mizzou making the leap up to #2 in both the AP and the Coaches. The Tigers grabbed 2 first place votes in the AP poll behind #1 Kentucky. Kansas has their highest ranking of the season at #5 in both polls, while Baylor is #6 in the AP and #7…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Thomas Robinson carried No. 5 Kansas when things looked bleak, scoring 16 of his 18 points in the second half and leading the Jayhawks to a 64-54 win over scrappy Texas A&M on Monday night. Tyshawn Taylor added 17 points in another solid performance, and Kansas (17-3, 7-0 Big 12) used a big surge through the middle of the second half to wrap up its 10th consecutive victory and extend its winning streak at Allen Fieldhouse to 17 in a row. Kansas is 18-1 against Texas A&M (11-8, 2-5), the lone loss coming in February 2007. …
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A new report says the Kansas unemployment rate edged lower in December to a seasonally adjusted 6.3 percent, despite the loss of about 5,600 seasonal jobs. In its report Tuesday, the state Labor Department also says Kansas added 12,400 nonfarm jobs in the 12 months ending in December, including 12,000 in the private sector. The December jobless rate compares with 6.5 percent in November and 6.8 percent in December 2010. The department says December’s warm weather allowed increased construction activity across Kansas. There was also an increase in federal government hiring, which offset declines in the retail…