Author: KMAN Staff

Kansas state treasurer Ron Estes will be at the Pottawatomie County commission office on Friday, Dec. 16 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. County treasurer Lisa Wright says that Estes will be helping county residents through the process of getting their unclaimed money back from the state. For additional information, you can contact the Pottawatomie County treasurer’s office at (785) 457-3681. *** Whispering Meadows subdivision in Pottawatomie County garnered a lot of attention at Monday’s bid letting in Westmoreland. “We had 10 bidders,” public works director Leu Lowrey said. “That’s the most I think we’ve ever had on this type…

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Quarterback Collin Klein, linebacker Arthur Brown and defensive back Nigel Malone were named Kansas State’s 2011 offensive and defensive MVPs, while three players – Anthony Cantele, Tyler Lockett and Jared Loomis – took special teams MVP honors as the Wildcat football program held its annual awards ceremony Sunday night at McCain Auditorium on the K-State campus. “I would like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to everyone involved with this football program, including our coaches, support staff, players and especially their families,” head coach Bill Snyder said to those in attendance. “This coveted senior class has demonstrated tremendous leadership and worked extremely hard to pull this team together this…

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Freshman Thomas Gipson was named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week on Monday after posting double-doubles in overtime games with West Virginia and North Florida last week. A 6-foot-7, 275-pound rookie, Gipson becomes the first K-State true freshman to earn the weekly honor since Michael Beasley collected the award for the eighth and final time on March 3, 2008.  The Rookie honor is the 26th by a Wildcat since 1998-99 and the 11th by a freshman during the Frank Martin era. A native of Cedar Hill, Texas, Gipson averaged 19.0 points on 53.8 percent shooting (14-of-26) in helping K-State split…

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) A Hutchinson tea party group says its depiction of a skunk as the new symbol of the U.S. president is satire and people don’t have to look at it if they don’t want. Patriot Freedom Alliance says on its website that like the president, the skunk is “half black, half white, and almost everything it does stinks.” The Hutchinson News reports local NAACP president Darrell Pope sees no humor in the depiction, which he calls a blatant statement of racism. Local tea party supporter Chuck Sankey says former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been the target…

FORT RILEY, Kan. (AP) The family of a Fort Riley soldier that was shot and killed in Ogden is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case. Relatives of Sgt. Ronald Evans Taylor posted information on the reward and a sketch of the suspect on a billboard along Fort Riley Boulevard in Manhattan Friday. Taylor, a 28-year-old Army X-Ray technician, was shot to death Oct. 14 as he drove his car a few blocks from his home on the post. WIBW reports that Taylor’s brother says there is still no clear motive or suspect in…

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Members of the technical and professional union at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita will decide whether to accept a new contract at the company. The vote will be held at 5 p.m. Monday at Curtis Middle School. Members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace’s Wichita Technical and Professional Unit will also decide whether to authorize a strike. The Wichita Eagle reports that the union says the 9.5-year contract includes $2,000 signing bonuses, annual raises starting next year, participation in the Spirit Incentive Plan and increased restrictions on Spirit’s use of contract labor.

ATCHISON, Kan. (AP) A grandfather of a northeast Kansas man who killed an Atchison police officer says the shooter was angry at police and the criminal justice system. Twenty-five-year-old Skyler Barbee shot and killed himself after fatally wounding Sgt. David Enzbrenner on Friday. The officer was working on a codes enforcement call across the street from one of Barbee’s relatives. The Rev. Leo Barbee Jr., of Lawrence, told The Kansas City Star that Skyler Barbee was angry because his father is serving life without parole at a Louisiana prison for armed robbery after prior convictions. The grandfather says that Skyler…

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Administrators at Wichita schools would be encouraged to forgo cargo pants and tank tops in favor of more professional attire under a proposed dress code. The Wichita Eagle reports the proposed guidelines were developed by the Wichita Educational Administrators Association. The group’s president, Wilbur Middle School principal Mark Jolliffe, says the guidelines are partly intended to demonstrate the importance of professional dress to staff, students and the community. The code would encourage principals and other administrators to wear collared shirts, tailored trousers and skirts or dresses of what’s described as “appropriate length.” Items on the don’t-wear list…