TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The top Republican leaders in both the Kansas House and Senate face criticism from their political right. Senate President Steve Morris is a target of small-government, anti-tax conservatives who’d like to oust him from his seat in the GOP primary in August. The Hugoton Republican faces dissention among GOP senators for creating a special study group on tax issues a move some interpret as trying to stall Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s income tax plan. House Speaker Mike O’Neal seems an unlikely target of criticism from the right because he’s established conservative credentials. But after the Hutchinson Republican…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A former Barber County public works director doesn’t want potential employers to know about federal charges accusing him of stealing vehicles and money from his previous employer. Steven Collier of Nashville, Kan., asked a judge Friday to remove a condition of his pretrial release that calls for his probation officer to make sure Collier’s supervisors know about the pending federal case. Collier and his wife, Diana Collier of Medicine Lodge, were charged in November in an 11-count indictment with theft, interstate transportation of stolen property and sale of stolen property including trucks, a bulldozer, a tractor and…
SALINA, Kan. (AP) The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been trying to gauge public understanding in Salina about a site at the former Schilling Air Force base that may be contaminated from chemical warfare training decades ago. Tim Rogers, executive director of the Salina Airport Authority, where the site is located, said the investigation is separate from negotiations over groundwater contamination at the former base, which closed in the 1960s. A Corps of Engineers contractor surveyed area officials recently to determine their interest in and knowledge of the site and its potential contamination from two types of chemicals used…
MCPHERSON, Kan. (AP) Three Schuyler, Neb., residents are dead and two others were in critical condition after their SUV went off Interstate 135 north of McPherson and rolled several times. The patrol says 45-year-old Martha Medina, 36-year-old Adrian Quezada and 10-year-old Daisy Medina Quezada were killed in the crash around 11:10 a.m. Saturday. Wesley Medical Center in Wichita said Sunday afternoon that 26-year-old Augustina Medina and 4-year-old Natalie Medina were in critical condition, while 1-year-old Daniel Medina was in fair condition. A seventh person, 48-year-old Luis Medina, was not listed as a patient. Officials say the driver, Luis Medina, was…
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) Riley County Republicans will meet later this month to fill an upcoming vacancy in the Kansas House. Susan Mosier, a first-term Republican from Manhattan, is leaving the House to become director of the Medicaid program in the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Her resignation takes effect Feb. 1. The Manhattan Mercury reports that precinct committee members in the 67th House District will meet the evening of Jan. 30 to pick Mosier’s replacement. The district includes western and southern portions of Manhattan and contiguous rural areas. Riley County Republican chairwoman Barbara VanSlyke has said one requirement for…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A House panel has scheduled testimony from military leaders, veterans’ organizations and health care providers to discuss the mental health needs of soldiers and veterans. The House Veterans, Military and Homeland Security Committee will hear the testimony Tuesday. The meeting will include a review of an interim report prepared by the Joint Committee on Kansas Security on veterans’ issues. Scheduled to speak to the committee are Sheli Sweeney of the Kansas Association of Community Mental Health Centers, Robbin Cole of Pawnee Mental Health Services, Laura Snow of the Veteran’s Administration Eastern Kansas Health Care System in Topeka…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback is proposing that Kansas create a special fund to help cover the costs of recovering from natural disasters. The measure is part of the budget Brownback has outlined for the fiscal year beginning July 1. He wants the state to set aside $12 million for disaster relief. The money would come from taxes that insurance companies already pay on the value of the premiums they charge in Kansas. The state expects to collect $139 million in premium taxes during the next fiscal year. Brownback’s budget notes that Kansas incurred nearly $109 million in costs…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A conference focusing on the growing number of women who own and manage farms takes place next month in Wichita. The annual Women Managing the Farm Conference will be held Feb. 10-11 at the Hyatt Regency. Conference coordinator Janet Barrows says in a news release that farm women are gaining increasing recognition for their contributions to agriculture. The two-day conference includes presentations on business planning, health and managing employees.
VICTORIA, Kan. (AP) Repairs and renovations are under way at the historic Cathedral of the Plains in north-central Kansas. Repair work began last week on a crack near the center of the ceiling over the sanctuary because of concerns that plaster might fall on visitors and worshippers. The 100-year-old stone St. Fidelis Catholic Church in Victoria is on the National Register of Historic Places and in 2008 was named one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas. Thousands of visitors stop at the church every year. The Hays Daily News reports that other repair projects planned at the church this year…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Some Kansas liquor store owners are hoping the Legislature makes it legal for them to hold tastings in which customers can sample certain products before buying them. A measure introduced in the state Senate by several liquor marketing associations is the result of a controversy that emerged after retailers started arranging tastings near their liquor stores. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that because state law blocked consumption of alcoholic beverages inside stores, proprietors staged events nearby. That stopped after representatives of the Kansas Department of Revenue issued a policy memorandum in August declaring the agency’s interpretation of state…