Falling on his sword for the redistricting issue wasn’t going to do anything. Those are the words of St. Senator Roger Reitz of Manhattan, who ended up voting for the Senate’s congressional redistricting bill, that moves Manhattan from the second to the first district. “I’m not proud of what happened,” Reitz told KMAN. “I just know that the people of this body were not interested in the map I was proposing. They weren’t going to give me the time of day. Leadership on this issue was faulty and left a lot to be desired.” Reitz adds fellow Republican Senator Tim Owen’s committee…
Author: KMAN Staff
Incumbent Register of Deeds, Debbie Regester publicly announced on Wednesday that she will be re-running for the Riley County position this fall. Regester has held the title for the past four years and says her dedication to the position has not wavered. “I love my job, I love working with people,” Regester told KMAN. “It is basically the building block for everything that goes on in the county.” Regester is expected to file her “declaration of intent” paperwork with the county elections office in the next few days.
A familiar face in the Rock Creek school district is coming home to take over the Junior Senior High School. USD 323 Superintendent Darrel Stufflebeam tells KMAN the school board unanimously voted last night in favor of Eric Koppes, currently the principal at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Manhattan. “Mr. Koppes was a teacher Westmoreland Elementary School and Rock Creek Junior/Senior High School for several years prior to becoming a principal in Pamona and Manhattan/Ogden,” Stufflebeam said. In addition to being personally familiar with the district, Koppes’ wife is currently a teacher in the district and has had other family…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Some state legislators said Tuesday they were surprised by remarks from Gov. Sam Brownback that Kansas and its congressional delegation face “a continuous fight” to obtain federal funding for a new lab that would research plant and animal pathogens. Brownback told two-dozen lawmakers during a Monday evening meeting at his official residence that he expects the legislative battle over the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility to last another five years. A site in Manhattan, near the Kansas State University campus, has been cleared for construction of the $650 million biosecurity lab. “It’s troubling to learn that, hey,…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) As new details emerge, a Kansas newspaper’s attorney remains convinced that private meetings legislators had with Gov. Sam Brownback at his official residence were illegal. Topeka Capital-Journal attorney Mike Merriam said meetings in January violated the Kansas Open Meetings Act because a majority of some legislative committees were present and legislative issues were discussed. Brownback had seven meetings in January with fellow Republicans on 13 legislative committees. He had another meeting Monday evening for a bipartisan group of lawmakers not tied to specific committees. Brownback allowed The Associated Press to observe and later said the gathering was…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A group of Johnson County teachers is heading to the Kansas Statehouse to deliver signatures they have gathered in protest of plans to change the state employee retirement system. Group members say they will deliver some 30 binders with more than 6,400 signatures from school employees from every district in Johnson County to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s office. Brownback and the Republican-controlled Legislature are proposing to change the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System from a defined benefit program to a defined contribution program. The changes are designed to close a projected $8.3 billion gap between pension obligations…
GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) A man charged with killing a 14-year-old Great Bend girl is due in court as a judge considers his request to move the trial out of Barton County. The motion by attorneys for 37-year-old Adam Longoria is among a bevy of filings expected to be taken up during a hearing Wednesday in Barton County District Court. Longoria is scheduled to go on trial March 26 on charges of capital murder and sexual crimes for the August 2010 death of Alicia DeBolt. The girl’s burned body was found at an asphalt plant near Great Bend where Longoria…
KINGMAN, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has issued a Silver Alert for an 89-year-old Kingman man who hasn’t been seen since driving away from his home. Wallace “Gene” Fairchild left his home about noon Tuesday in Kingman in his 2005 red Ford Ranger. The license tag is WCJ-100. His family says he suffers from dementia and has vision problems that make it difficult for him to drive at night. Another resident saw Fairchild driving west on U.S. 54 in Kingman. Family members say he was wearing overalls. Anyone with information is asked to call Kingman police at 620-532-3138.