LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Kansans who were denied pardons by Gov. Sam Brownback in 2011 ranged from convicted murderers to alleged traffic law violators. Brownback denied all 39 pardon requests last year. The Lawrence Journal-World submitted an open records request to Brownback’s office, which provided the letters from the governor’s office to pardon applicants. The Kansas Prison Review Board, which reviews pardons before sending them to the governor, denied the open records request for the full pardon applications, citing an exemption in the Kansas Open Records Act. The pardon requests include 10 people convicted of murder or manslaughter and a 63-year-old…
Author: KMAN Staff
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) Google is scheduled to begin construction Monday on its long-awaited super-speed Internet service in Kansas City, Kan. The Kansas City Star reports that Kevin Lo, the Google executive heading up the project, announced the start of construction on the company’s Google Fiber blog. Google plans to install the fiber infrastructure first and then connect Google Fiber into homes across Kansas City. Work to erect a network had been held up over issues about where Google would attach its fiber optic cables on utility poles owned by the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities. The 1 gigabit-per-second…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Douglas County judges have been getting a lot of use out of their new iPads. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that a main reason the county’s six judges began using the iPads is because county prosecutors have cracked down on suspected drunken drivers who refuse to submit to tests. Prosecutors now have law enforcement automatically seek a judge’s search warrant to draw blood from the suspect within two hours of the traffic stop. In the past, officers brought the paperwork to the judge to sign. But that created problems because officers would often have to find another officer…
The Riley County Republican Party hosted a free breakfast featuring Kansas Governor Sam Brownback as the featured speaker on Saturday morning. Governor Brownback gave a presentation focused around his future plans to grow the Kansas economy, and moving forward with less funding from the federal government after what he calls the “federal bubble” bursts. Governor Brownback also talked briefly about the redistricting issue saying “we’re over the first hurdle, but we’ve got a long ways to go”, and went on to predict that the fight for redistricting would be a long one. The Riley County Republican breakfast also hosted many…
The final modifications are being made to a bill that is intended to help property owners throughout the state of Kansas. There are four areas targeted by Senate Bill 348, the main focus being tax appeals. “This legislation is primarily targeted at preventing tax rep situations that have become a waste of everyone’s time and money,” county appraiser Greg McHenry said. Tax representatives and some of their practices have created issues in Riley County over the past few years according to McHenry who added, “We’re asking that when they come they bring any evidence that they have or want to discuss…
Friday, the defense and prosecution in the Cole Drake hearing brought forward new witnesses to help further the decision on whether Drake should be tried as a juvenile or as an adult. The defense brought forward public officials from the Kansas Department of Corrections and psychologist Steven Peterson. Public officials from the Kansas Department of Corrections explained the various rehabilitation and counseling programs that juvenile offenders are allowed to participate in while they are incarcerated. Psychologist Steven Peterson took the stand to answer the question of whether or not Drake could be rehabilitated. Dr. Peterson said that Drake could be…