TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback has hit the highlights of his legislative agenda and touched on some specific proposals in meeting with two dozen Kansas legislators at his official residence. Brownback had the gathering Monday evening, amid ongoing questions about other events with lawmakers in January. He allowed an Associated Press reporter and photographer to observe. The governor said afterward that the meeting was typical of the ones he’s had previously. He had seven meetings at the residence in January with fellow Republicans on 13 legislative committees, and the Shawnee County district attorney is investigating whether they violated the…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A group of Topeka woman is mixing crafting and activism. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that the women call themselves The Craftivists. The group has its roots in a crafting night four friends had together. Two years ago, the focus shifted when the women made handmade cards and poems for then-Gov. Mark Parkinson. The notes were a thank-you for restoring funding to Planned Parenthood and a criticism for his work with Sunflower Electric Power Corp. on a power plant expansion in Holcomb. Now, the women’s projects include jewelry, buttons and pendants. They also turn old windows into art…
Manhattan/Ogden NEA Representative Usha Reddi discusses an upcoming presentation on Governor Sam Brownback’s school finance plan during her bi-weekly update on KMAN.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A memorial service for U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown has been scheduled for this Saturday. The 104-year-old judge was the nation’s oldest sitting judge when he died Jan. 23 at an assisted living center in Wichita. A celebration of his life is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday at College Hill United Methodist Church. Brown was appointed as a federal district judge in 1962 by then-President John F. Kennedy. In 1979, Brown officially took senior status, a type of semiretirement that allows federal judges to work with a full or reduced case level. He continued to carry a…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas House has honored a member who died last year after battling cancer. House members adopted a resolution Monday praising the late Rep. Rocky Fund. The Hoyt Republican served in the House from January 2007 until his death in April 2011 at the age of 60. Fund’s widow, Linda, and other family members were present as House Speaker Mike O’Neal praised Fund’s public service and his character. The resolution noted that he was active in his community and served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. He was the manager of a rural water district…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas prosecutor expects to decide soon whether to pursue criminal charges over the shredding of state documents seen as key evidence in a criminal case against a Planned Parenthood clinic. Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor says he hopes to have a decision by the end of February. At issue is a 2009 decision by the Kansas attorney general’s office to shred copies of reports to the state on individual abortions from Planned Parenthood’s clinic in Overland Park. The shredding occurred 18 months after 107 criminal charges were filed against the clinic in Johnson County, with…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Westar Energy reached a settlement with The Kansas Corporation Commission staff to raise its rates by $50 million. However, a consumer rights group says it will fight the rate increase. The Citizens’ Utility Ratepayer Board said Monday it will ask the KCC next week to overturn the settlement with its staff. A spokeswoman for Westar said CURB is the only group opposing the deal. An attorney for CURB said residents and small businesses will pay $41 million of the increase, which includes a 10 percent profit for shareholders KCC lawyers originally asked Westar to accept a $33…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration expects to decide this summer which private companies will manage the state’s $2.9 billion Medicaid program. Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, who led the team that developed Brownback’s plan to overhaul the program, told two dozen legislators Monday evening that “multiple organizations” are seeking the Medicaid contracts. Medicaid provides health coverage for the poor, disabled and elderly. Brownback’s administration plans to issue three contracts this year for the Medicaid program. Each contract would start Jan. 1, 2013. Each company would operate statewide, so that Medicaid clients would have a choice of coverage. The…
GODDARD, Kan. (AP) A carjacking suspect who died in a gunfight with law enforcement officers was a 52-year-old man from Wichita. Reno County Sheriff Randy Henderson said Tuesday the suspect was Darren J. Baker. He was shot Monday afternoon after a chase that began when police in Goddard tried to pull his vehicle over for a traffic violation. Henderson says Baker left the stolen vehicle north of Cheney Lake and started firing on officers, who returned fire. Officers from four different law enforcement agencies were involved in the shooting. Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents are investigating the shooting.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback is warning Kansas legislators that the state 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. The new lab, which could start operations by 2018, would replace…