TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A compromise $14.1 billion state budget before the Kansas Legislature could set up another confrontation with Gov. Sam Brownback over arts funding. The House was to vote first Friday on the spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The Senate planned to take it up later in the day. The measure, drafted by House and Senate negotiators, includes $700,000 for a new Creative Industries Commission, which would merge the existing Kansas Arts Commission and the Film Services Commission. Brownback proposed the merger but recommended only $200,000 in funding. The governor has argued that arts…
Author: KMAN Staff
SALINA, Kan. (AP) A 94-year-old Salina flower shop worker is being honored as the oldest still-working Kansan. The Salina Journal reported that George Aden is sure there’s a worker who is older than him. But not according to the Kansas Department of Commerce and the Older Kansans Employment Program. They’ve checked the ledgers, and say he’s it. Besides working two days a week at Designs by Cunningham, the retired bookkeeper volunteers at his church and spends time with friends at the Salina Senior Center. Aden says he loves his job and calls the flower shop “a relaxing place.” When he…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A 64-year-old Wichita man has survived being struck by lightning. The Wichita Eagle reported that the man was taken to an area hospital for what are described as non-life-threatening injuries. Dispatchers received the call about the lighting strike at 9:26 p.m. Thursday. The National Weather Service says the odds of being struck by lightning in a person’s lifetime are one in 10,000. Over the last 30 years, the U.S. has averaged 55 reported lightning fatalities per year. The National Weather Service said that only about 10 percent of people who are struck by lightning are killed.
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Riley County police detained a juvenile on Thursday in connection with a series of thefts that have taken place at Hastings. RCPD responded to Hastings, 626 Tuttle Creek Blvd., after receiving yet another call from management. Upon arrival, a search of the store led to the detention of 17-year old Tiersa Myers. Myers, of the 8500 block of Tuttle Creek Blvd., was detained for theft, possession of hydromorphone, and possession of drug paraphernalia. She has been released to her parents. Lt. Josh Kyle said that Myers is believed to be responsible for one of the two previous thefts…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A judge will decide this summer whether there is enough evidence to try a 28-year-old Topeka man in the sexual assault and killing of an 8-year-old neighbor girl. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that the preliminary hearing for Billy Frank Davis Jr. is set for June 12 and 13. Davis faces a host of charges, including capital murder, in the March 13 killing of Ahliyah Irvin. The capital murder charge could allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty. Family said Ahliyah was sleeping when she was snatched from her apartment. Her body was found after a brief search…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas House members face a decision on debating proposals for cracking down on illegal immigration. The House was set to vote Friday on a request from Rep. Charlotte O’Hara, an Overland Park Republican, to remove an immigration bill from committee and debate it. She needed support from 70 of the House’s 125 members. The bill would require companies holding contracts with state or local government agencies worth more than $5,000 to use the federal E-Verify database to determine whether new employees are in the U.S. legally. A proposal to require state agencies but not private companies to…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas House members have blocked debate for now on proposals aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration. The House voted 91-31 against a request from Rep. Charlotte O’Hara, an Overland Park Republican, to remove an immigration bill from committee and debate it. The bill would require companies holding contracts with state or local government agencies worth more than $5,000 to use the federal E-Verify database to determine whether new employees are in the U.S. legally. A proposal to require state agencies but not private companies to use E-Verify cleared committee Thursday, but its future is uncertain. House…
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Thousands of dollars-worth of electronics were taken from a Manhattan home on Thursday. Sometime between 8 a.m. and 9:15 p.m., a burglar(s) entered 714 Lee Street and made off with a Play Station 3 video game console and games, EPSON 8350 projector, and iPhone. The total loss came to $2,294. The victims were 26-year old Robert Campbell, a soldier in the United States Army, and 27-year old Lonnie Wright, a student at Kansas State University. Riley County police have begun investigating the incident but no suspects have been identified.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Westar Energy has temporarily shut down a unit that generates more than half of the Lawrence Energy Center’s power to make environmental upgrades. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the work is part of a $325 million effort that started in 2009 to reduce the amount of pollutants coming from the plant. This spring, the utility entered into the heart of the work at Unit 5, which typically generates 64 percent of the plant’s 585 megawatts of electricity. Crews are working to complete the construction before Westar heads into the demanding summer season. Work on the pollution upgrades…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas health officials say a sharp increase in rabies cases in the state since Jan. 1 shows the need to keep animals vaccinated. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment says four skunks, two bats, two horses, two cows, one cat, one coyote and one raccoon have tested positive for rabies this year. The 13 cases compare with just four at the same point last year. State veterinarian Ingrid Garrison says Kansas has had an average of 68 rabies cases a year since 2007. Skunks are the animals most likely to have rabies, and can pass the…