TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback says the controversy over what the beef industry calls finely textured lean beef “is unmerited and unwarranted.” Speaking to reporters Thursday in Topeka, the Republican governor and former Kansas agriculture secretary said the “pink slime” used in beef products is safe and has been used by the meat industry for decades. Beef Products is the main producer of the cheap lean beef made from fatty bits of meat left over from other cuts. It has drawn extra scrutiny because of concerns about the ammonium hydroxide it treats meat with to slightly change the…
Author: KMAN Staff
GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) A jury has been seated in the trial of a Kansas man accused of killing a 14-year-old cheerleader and burning her body at an asphalt plant following. Opening statements are planned for Thursday afternoon in the trial of Adam Longoria, 38. The Great Bend man faces life in prison without parole if convicted of capital murder in the August 2010 death of Alicia DeBolt. He also is charged with vehicle burglary and theft. To convict him of capital murder, prosecutors must also prove aggravating circumstances such as sodomy or attempted rape when Alicia was killed. The…
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) The lack of rainfall in Kansas in 2011 led to intense declines in groundwater levels around the state. The Hutchinson News reports that the Ogallala Aquifer in southwest Kansas usually sees annual declines, but its decline in 2011 was one of the worst in decades. Officials with the Kansas Geological Survey said the aquifer there dropped an average 3.78 feet in 2011. That’s compared to a drop of about 3 feet in 2010 and 1.39 feet in 2009. Much of Kansas received 25 to 50 percent of normal precipitation last year. In central and south-central Kansas where…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Wichita man has been sentenced to more than six years in federal prison for possessing child pornography. U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said Wednesday that Kenneth Cheatum was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison after pleading guilty earlier to one count of possession of child pornography. The Wichita Eagle reports that Cheatum admitted accessing a website to download child pornography, most recently in March 2010.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas House has given first-round approval to a bill creating a prayer room at the Statehouse. The House planned to take final action on it Thursday. Approval would send it to the Senate. During a debate Wednesday, supporters said other states, including Florida and Arizona, and Congress have set aside capitol space for prayer. The bill does not list a location within the Statehouse for the prayer room. House Majority Leader Rep. Arlen Siegfreid, an Olathe Republican, originally sought to create an all-faiths Chapel. But he and other supporters said the Prayer and Meditation Room would…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Ten Kansas communities have been selected to be champions for workplace wellness. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the participating communities are Lawrence, Beloit, Clifton, Coffeyville, Great Bend, Independence, McPherson, Clearwater, Newton and Wellington. They are benefiting from a new three-year state initiative called WorkWell KS. The effort is funded with a $700,000 grant from the Kansas Health Foundation and administered by the Wichita Business Coalition on Health Care. In each community, at least seven businesses will complete an in-depth assessment of their wellness efforts. Then, leaders will be sent to training sessions on how to develop or strengthen…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas House has passed a redistricting bill splitting Topeka between two congressional districts. But key senators said even before Thursday’s vote 81-43 vote in the House that they oppose the measure. The Senate approved its own plan last month, and negotiators for the two chambers must compromise. Topeka currently is in the 2nd District of eastern Kansas, and the House’s plan would move part of it into the 1st District of western and central Kansas. House Speaker Mike O’Neal, a Hutchinson Republican, noted that his chamber rejected other plans that kept Topeka in a single district.…
COLUMBUS, Kan. (AP) A former assistant prosecutor in southeastern Kansas has been convicted of methamphetamine-related charges stemming from a search of his former Galena law office. A Cherokee County jury on Wednesday found Jeffrey Pittman, 47, of Carterville, Mo., guilty of conspiracy to possess meth and to traffic contraband into a correctional institution. He was also convicted of two counts of using a communication facility in a conspiracy to possess methamphetamine. Pittman was stopped in Galena for a defective brake light in June 2009 and arrested on an Oklahoma warrant for possessing meth ingredients. Authorities said a search of his…
CONCORDIA, Kan. (AP) A 105-year-old restored theater in north-central Kansas has suspended live performances over concerns about the safety of its curtain rigging system. The Salina Journal reports that crews have had problems raising and lowering the curtain at the Brown Grand Theatre in Concordia. Executive director Susan Cantine-Maxon says that some pulleys are starting to come apart and some ropes are fraying. The Brown Grand opened in 1907 and was considered for a time to be the most elegant theater between Denver and Kansas City. It was later used as a movie house and was placed on the National…
A man shot a dog that approached him while he was out walking his dogs Tuesday afternoon. A large, brown, male mastiff belonging to Michael Oakley, 29, ran at the man near 6th and Fremont, causing him to lose his balance and fall off a sidewalk. After hitting the curb, the man withdrew a gun and fired at the dog, striking one of its front legs. The shooter was transported to Mercy Regional for back pain. Police filed a report for unlawful discharge of a firearm in public, but did not make any arrests. Oakley, of the 600 block of Fremont, was cited for…