TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) After a one-day delay, the Kansas House is ready to debate a Republican plan to cut income taxes. The measure, which supporters say will improve the Kansas business climate, was originally set for debate Monday but pushed back to Tuesday by other issues. As written by a GOP-dominated committee, the bill would promise future cuts to individual income taxes as revenues grow, forcing the state to check the annual growth in its spending at 2 percent. The state would phase out taxes on the earnings of thousands of partnerships, sole proprietorships and other small businesses. The sales…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas commission is looking for artists interested in painting a mural at the Statehouse commemorating the historic U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring segregated schools unconstitutional. The Capitol Preservation Committee is asking artists to submit applications to be declared qualified to execute the project, which is to be completed in 2014. House member Valdenia Winn, a Kansas City Democrat who chairs the Preservation Committee, says applications will be taken until May 1. The mural will honor the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which declared that separate schools for black and white children where…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas winter wheat crop continues to come out of dormancy with the warm temperatures. In a report Monday, Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service said the crop’s condition improved slightly over the past week. The agency now rates 11 percent of the wheat in poor to very poor condition, 36 percent fair, 45 percent good and 8 percent excellent. Only 4 percent of the wheat is showing light freeze damage.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A new report shows the Kansas unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent in January, with modest job growth over the previous year. The state Department of Labor said Tuesday the January jobless rate declined from 6.4 percent in December and 6.8 percent in January 2011, with the figures adjusted for seasonal factors. Department officials said one sign the state’s economy is improving was January’s increase in jobs from the same month a year earlier. The number rose by 12,200, or almost 1 percent. The agency noted that while government jobs declined, private employers added about 22,000 jobs…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback says that spending at his official residence has declined since he took office. Brownback’s office released figures Monday for Cedar Crest, the governor’s official residence, at the request of several news organizations. The numbers show a budget of $115,000 for the fiscal year that began last July. Two years ago, the annual budget for the residence was nearly $189,000. Brownback took office in January 2011 and cut the staff for Cedar Crest from two to one, leaving only a personal assistant for the first lady. Since July 1, about $8,300 has been spent…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback is asking Kansas legislators to add $3.4 million to the state budget to help with an overhaul of the Medicaid program. Brownback submitted his request for the funds Monday. His administration is planning to issue contracts this summer to three companies to manage the $2.9 billion-a-year Medicaid program, which provides health coverage for the poor, the disabled and elderly. The changes are designed to cut the state’s costs while improving the coordination of medical care. Brownback is asking legislators to add $1 million to the budget for what he called a robust public education…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The former public works director in Kansas’ Barber County has admitted stealing from the county. Forty-nine-year-old Steven Collier, of Nashville, Kan., pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to two counts of theft from a program receiving federal funds. He agreed to make restitution of $116,310. In return, the government agreed to drop nine counts. Sentencing is set for May 30. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Metzger says prosecutors plan to ask the court to dismiss the indictment against Collier’s wife, Diana, of Medicine Lodge. Steven Collier admitted forging an invoice for the purchase of steel beams and using…
Three people convicted in a 1997 murder in Riley County have been passed over for parole. Delisha Branch, 40, Duereal Campbell, 32, and Shakeer Davis, 32, had public comment sessions in January, but a check of the Department of Corrections offender list indicates the next possible parole date for Campbell and Branch is now March of 2017 and for Davis in March of 2015. The three were convicted in connection with the February 1997 murder of Wanda Norman, 44, of Manhattan at Norman’s home at Countryside Estates. In addition to murder-related charges, the three were convicted of aggravated robbery.
Manhattan’s latest unemployment rate is up a little from the month before, but down from last year at this same time. January numbers just released show a 4.6 percent rate for the city of Manhattan, compared to 4.1 percent in December and 5.5 percent in January of last year. Manhattan was on the lower end of unemployment numbers when compared to other cities, although certainly not the lowest. Four other cities had lower or equal rates to Manhattan’s, including Leawood with 3.9 percent, Dodge city with 4 percent, Garden City with 4.2, and Shawnee’s 4.6 percent. The Manhattan Metro area,…
The K-18 construction project might be a headache to some, and one area caught right in the construction zone is the Manhattan Regional Airport. As of last week, the left lane of eastbound K-18 was closed from the new K-114/K-18 interchange in Ogden east to the Stagg Hill Road area. This week, closures will take place at the crossover west of the airport, which is currently in use by westbound traffic heading to I-70 by moving across into the passing lane of the eastbound lanes. Starting Monday, March 19, all traffic will be in those eastbound lanes, creating head-to-head traffic.…