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. …
Author: KMAN Staff
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…
The cost of alternate additions to the new Pottawatomie County jail/courthouse looks to be the deciding factor as the county commission closes in on a contractor. The commission met Monday to address representatives from the two lowest bidding companies, which are Murray and Sons Construction and Kansas Building Systems Constructors, Inc., both based out of Topeka. Both companies offered base bids as well as three other bids for the cost of potential additions to the courthouse, which are a geo-thermal heating system, a sewer grinder pump, and an add-on to the kitchen. KBS Construction’s bid is $11.2 million while Murray and Sons Construction currently boasts…
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) Finney County health officials are trying to stem the spread of measles. The Garden City Telegram reported that four cases of the highly contagious virus have been reported. Health officials are urging people to stay home if they are showing symptoms. They say people also need to stay at home if they aren’t immunized and have been exposed to someone who is sick. The quarantine period should last three weeks. The initial symptoms of measles include fever, runny nose and cough. Three to five days after the initial illness, a blotchy rash occurs beginning at the…
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Applications for temporary water permits for oil and gas exploration in Kansas have reached a 30-year high thanks to new oil drilling in Kansas using horizontal hydraulic fracturing, a drilling method that relies on water. The Kansas Division of Water Resources received more than 600 applications for water permits for oil and gas exploration in 2011, the largest number for that type of application since the 1980s. Chesapeake Energy and SandRidge Energy are among companies securing land in Kansas, where they’ve begun drilling using horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which involves pumping water, sand and chemicals…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas legislators have plenty of policy objections to Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan to overhaul the state’s individual income tax code, but efforts to sell the package also are clouded by questions about how his administration has spun his proposals. The Republican governor said his plan would be “revenue neutral,” meaning it wouldn’t reduce the state’s overall tax collections. The administration kept using the phrase last week, even after its own figures showed revenues would drop nearly $90 million during the fiscal year that begins July 1. Brownback said his proposed budget for the next fiscal year would…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas welfare officials have eliminated or slashed food stamp benefits for hundreds of low-income, U.S.-born children whose parents are illegal immigrants. The cuts are the result of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services changing the way it counts household income when determining who is eligible for the food stamp program now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The Kansas City Star reported that families affected by the change are those that contain a mixture of legal citizens and illegal immigrants. While illegal immigrants are not eligible for the food assistance, U.S.-born children…
TOPKEKA, Kan. (AP) Secretary of State Kris Kobach is having a tough time finding support for a plan that would allow the governor to distribute 12 big-game hunting permits at his discretion. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that Kobach testified in support of the legislation this past week during a hearing before the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. But committee chairman Larry Powell says there isn’t much support for it outside of Kobach’s office. The Garden City Republican says the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism and the governor’s office are against the change. State wildlife officials currently distributes…