WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A coalition of Kansas groups is considering a legal challenge to the state’s new voter photo identification law. The Wichita Eagle reports that while the Kansas Voter Coalition won’t discuss specific legal strategies against the law, a major concern appears to be the need to pay for underlying documents in order to obtain the free ID. Ernestine Krehbiel, president of the Kansas League of Women Voters, said “paying to vote is a poll tax.” More than a half-dozen groups, including the Kansas chapters of the League of Women Voters and American Civil Liberties Union, make up the…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Thieves have been breaking into law enforcement vehicles in the Wichita area and making off with weapons and other equipment. The Wichita Eagle reports the recent thefts from cop cars have raised concern in the law enforcement community, and signal there’s a market for stolen police equipment. But it’s not clear how many of the thefts are related. Wichita police have recorded about six law enforcement vehicle break-ins in the past year. The cars belonged to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Goddard police, KBI and Wichita police. Wichita police also heard of a series of burglaries last summer…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) About 800 people are expected to be summoned as possible jurors to hear the trial of a 51-year-old Oklahoma woman charged with killing her former husband and his fiancee. Dana L. Chandler, of Duncan, Okla., is charged with two counts of premeditated first-degree murder in the July 7, 2002, slayings of 47-year-old Mike Sisco and 53-year-old Karen Harkness in Topeka. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Chandler’s trial starts March 5 with jury selection. The trial is expected to last three weeks. A court official says from the 800 prospective jurors called, 12 jurors and as many as…
HAYS, Kan. (AP) A report from the Kansas Board of Regents shows that Fort Hays State University is the fastest growing university in the state system. The Hays Daily News reports that enrollment at Fort Hays State during fiscal year 2011 was 14,707, up nearly a thousand from the year before. That increase of 5.8 percent was by far the largest increase of any regents universities. The only other institutions that grew during FY2011 were Wichita State University, up 1.8 percent, and Kansas State University, up .2 percent. FHSU has been setting enrollment records since the turn of the century,…
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) A 12-year-old yellow Labrador retriever named Jake is recovering as his family waits to see if a stem cell injection will regenerate his limbs and help him romp again without pain. Jake underwent surgery Tuesday at the Stanley Veterinary Clinic in Overland Park, where fat was removed from his body then injected into his joints. “It’s amazing,” said veterinarian Les E. Pelfrey, who conducted the procedure. “A few weeks later, these guys are running up and down.” Supporters say the procedure will give Jake a better quality of life. Critics contend the procedure has not been…
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran plans to tour a wind turbine equipment factory in Hutchinson amid his efforts to extend the wind energy production tax credit. Monday’s tour of the Siemens Energy Inc. will include talks with employee and managers. Moran is being joined by representatives from British Petroleum, which is building a large wind farm in south-central Kansas. Moran recently introduced an amendment to the federal highway bill to extend the wind energy production tax credit for a year. The Siemens plant makes nacelles the part of the wind turbine that houses the gearbox, drive train and…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Soldiers from the Kansas National Guard are coming home from a yearlong deployment to the Horn of Africa. A welcoming ceremony was planned Monday at Forbes Field in Topeka for the approximately 175 soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 161st Field Artillery and 35th Military Police Company. The battalion is headquartered in Wichita with subordinate units in Dodge City, Great Bend, Lenexa, Liberal, Hutchinson, Newton, Paola, Pratt and Topeka. The soldiers spent the past year conducting stability operations in Africa with partner nations and working to maintain regional security.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A Wichita State University researcher says people fib more while texting. Assistant professor David Xu is lead author of a study that will appear in the March edition of the Journal of Business Ethics. The paper compares the levels of deceit people use in a variety of media, from text messages to face-to-face interactions. For the study, 170 students from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia were promised cash awards of up to $50 for performing mock stock transactions. Students designated as “buyers” were given inside knowledge that the stock was rigged…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) A McLouth woman is suing a Lawrence residential home for the disabled over her son’s death in a fall. Josephine VanDruff claims in the lawsuit that an employee of Community Living Opportunity did not follow accepted care standards while transporting her son, Timothy D. Gibson., in February 2010. She says that caused Gibson, who needed help to walk, to fall. The lawsuit claims he suffered a muscle weakness after the fall and died two months later from the injuries. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the 51-year-old Gibson died in April 2010. CLO officials denied the allegations. CEO…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) The University of Kansas Cancer Center will get one last chance this week to promote its application to become a National Cancer Institute. The cancer center applied for the designation last September. On Tuesday and Wednesday, reviewers from the National Cancer Institute will be in Kansas City to judge the 600-page grant application and hear presentations from leaders throughout the cancer center. Raymond Perez, medical director of the clinical research center, said the visit will give the university a chance to explain and defend its application. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the reviewers will forward their findings…