SALINA, Kan. (AP) Roughly 175 search and rescue personnel are converging on Salina over the next three days for the Kansas Technical Rescue Conference. This is the fourth year of the event sponsored by the Kansas Division of Emergency Management, the Kansas Search and Rescue Working Group, the state adjutant general and the Great Plains Joint Regional Training Center. The first portion of the conference featured presentations about readiness for disasters, including a discussion about the deadly spring tornadoes that struck Alabama. On Friday and Saturday, crews will use Crisis City located at the Great Plains Joint Regional Training Center…
Author: KMAN Staff
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) Sentencing is scheduled for November for a Missouri woman convicted of bringing heroin and cocaine to the Lansing Correctional Facility. The Leavenworth Times reports that Donna Garner of Kansas City was found guilty Tuesday of three drug charges, including possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine and trafficking contraband in a correctional facility. County Attorney Todd Thompson said the charges stemmed from Garner’s visit in November 2009 to the prison, where her husband was incarcerated. He said Garner was accused of throwing the drugs into a trash can at the prison. Garner is scheduled to be…
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) A 42-year-old Olathe woman has been charged with driving while intoxicated after police said she crashed her car in her daughter’s school parking lot. Kelly R. Dixon of Olathe was planning to pick up her daughter from a Kansas City school before she reportedly crashed into the school’s stop sign swing arm Wednesday. Jackson County prosecutors on Thursday charged her with DWI as an aggravated offender. Online court records don’t list a lawyer for Dixon. The Kansas City Star reports that in 1996, Dixon’s 23-month-old son was killed when she crashed into a tree. Dixon’s blood alcohol…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Several Kansas faith, labor and community groups gathered in Wichita to mobilize opposition to an effort to move up the start date for new Kansas voter identification laws. Participants oppose a push by Secretary of State Kris Kobach to require people who are voting for the first time to show proof of citizenship starting in March, rather than in January 2013 as the law now requires. The Wichita Eagle reports that the group says starting the requirement in March could keep thousands from participating in the 2012 elections. They said people who don’t have driver’s licenses or…
BELOIT, Kan. (AP) A misunderstanding over a required waiting period has delayed the start of a 0.3 percent sales tax in Beloit. City voters approved the sales tax in June. The tax would bump the total sales tax in the city from 8 percent to 8.3 percent — to pay for a new pool, estimated to cost about $3.9 million. Plans were to begin collecting the tax Oct. 1, which is Saturday. But The Salina Journal reports that the Kansas Department of Revenue has told officials that a 90-day waiting period is required after the city passes an ordinance to…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Topeka Rescue Mission has announced plans to buy a 11,300-square foot warehouse to help handle an increase in homeless people needing shelter. Barry Feaker, executive director of the mission, says the purchase of the warehouse could help the mission serve 70 percent more homeless people that it’s currently helping. Feaker said an increase in the number of homeless people in Topeka has put a strain on the mission. The Topeka Capital Journal reports that Feaker said Thursday the mission plans to take possession of the warehouse on Monday. The mission now has a capacity of about…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) The KU Endowment says it distributed about $112 million to the University of Kansas this year and that the endowment’s total assets improved to $1.65 billion. KU Endowment, an independent, nonprofit organization, is the official fundraising and fund-management organization for the University of Kansas. The organization also said in a release Friday that during fiscal year 2011, its total assets, which include endowed funds, real estate and other holdings, climbed to $1.65 billion, up from $1.48 billion in fiscal 2010. The KU Endowment said that the $112.3 million given during this fiscal year that ended June 30…
The Strategic Plan Action Program was approved by the Riley County commission during Thursday’s meeting. Special projects director Monty Wedel was on hand during the meeting to elaborate on the goal of the plan. “It outlines the main priorities of the county,” Wedel said. “We simplified it dramatically from what we’ve had in the past so we can focus on the major priorities that are county-wide.” Some of the focal points of the plan concern road classification, long-term facilities plan among other items. The commission did ask Wedel to make one minor adjustment. “The one change that they wanted was…
After a lengthy debate, the Riley County commission settled on a new county district map during Thursday’s meeting. The new boundaries won’t come into play until August primaries next fall. Selecting one of the options wasn’t an easy task. “We’ve tried to make it as equal as possible, but we don’t have a lot of wiggle room,” commission chair Karen McCulloh said. “We did include in the third district, which is my district, some county areas. My district has only had the city of Manhattan (in past years). “I think it’s important for each district to have a piece of…
Fort Riley officials are reporting a Soldier has died due to injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device in southern Afghanistan earlier this week. Specialist Garrett Fant, 21, of American Canyon, California., was on patrol in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province when an IED detonated Monday. Fant was assigned to the 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, currently deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Fant joined the Army in March 2009 as an indirect fire infantryman. This was his first deployment. Fant’s awards include the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, NATO Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with one…