“Unsung heroes in the lab” were referred to by the Secretary of the U-S Department of Agriculture Tuesday afternoon, during the building dedication for the USDA research facilities. The new facilities include a wind erosion building and wheat and sorghum milling laboratory in Manhattan. Vilsack made his way to the facility in Manhattan on its 150th anniversary, which just happened to coincide with the Landon lecture earlier in the day. Vilsack had one complaint though. The Agriculture Secretary told those involved they are too humble when it comes to telling folks about the great work they are doing. Vilsack further indicated…
Author: KMAN Staff
In the years to come, Manhattan Regional Airport will likely be undergoing quite a few changes. These improvements were the topic of discussion at last night’s Manhattan City Commission work session. Airport Director Peter Van Kuren was on hand to present the Commission with an overview of the changes, as well as different avenues of funding to get the projects completed. In addition to federal funding, another method of funding proposed was parking fees. Among the improvements are major changes to the terminal, runway improvements, and parking additions.
There was a full house in McCain Auditorium Tuesday morning to hear U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, speak. Vilsack guides the nation’s efforts in food safety, security and animal health. These three areas are all areas in which Kansas State University is a recognized and international research and outreach leader. Besides speaking about local agriculture concerns and statistics, Vilsack also shared the importance agriculture has on the rest of the United States. “Agriculture is responsible for one out of every twelve jobs” said Vilsack. Other topics Vilsack touched on include the progress on the new NBAF facility and the…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Defense attorneys are asking a Kansas judge to dismiss the remaining criminal charges against a Kansas City-area Planned Parenthood clinic accused of performing illegal abortions. Attorney Pedro Irigonegaray (Eer’-uh-gahn-UH’-guh-rye) said Tuesday that the Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park has strong legal arguments for dismissal. Defense attorneys argue the allegations boil down to differences of medical opinion about how abortions were handled. Forty-nine charges against the clinic, including felony counts of falsifying records, were dismissed in November. Fifty-eight remain, concerning 29 abortions performed in 2003. Planned Parenthood attorneys filed multiple requests under seal last month in Johnson…
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) Four former astronauts will attend the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Hutchinson Planetarium, which became the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center. Astronauts Charlie Duke, Harrison Schmitt, Joe Engle and Steve Hawley will discuss their space missions during an April 28 celebration at the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson. The Hutchinson News reports the celebration is a tribute to Patty Carey, the driving force behind the creation of the planetarium and its development into the Cosmosphere. She died in 2003. The celebration coincides with “Lift-Off,” a three-year campaign to raise $1.6 million to improve and expand the facility.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Some Kansas lawmakers say a political rivalry is holding up a bill designed to improve the diagnosis of breast cancer. The Kansas City Star reports the bill would require medical personnel to inform women that their dense breast tissue could hide cancer detection during a mammogram. The measure was unanimously approved in the Senate in February, but has stalled in the House. Critics say it’s stalled because Rep. Brenda Landwehr, chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, wants to run later this year against the bill’s sponsor, Jean Schodorf. Both women are from Wichita. Landwehr…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Some Kansas lawmakers say a political rivalry is holding up a bill designed to improve the diagnosis of breast cancer. The Kansas City Star reports the bill would require medical personnel to inform women that their dense breast tissue could hide cancer detection during a mammogram. The measure was unanimously approved in the Senate in February, but has stalled in the House. Critics say it’s stalled because Rep. Brenda Landwehr, chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, wants to run later this year against the bill’s sponsor, Jean Schodorf. Both women are from Wichita. Landwehr…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) A prominent leader of the University of Kansas Medical Center and the School of Medicine will retire in June, more than a year earlier expected. Barbara Atkinson will step down as executive vice chancellor of the medical center and as executive dean of the School of Medicine on June 30. In November, Atkinson said she planned to stay on as dean of the medical school until a new dean was chosen, and as executive vice chancellor until December 2013. Kansas Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said Monday that she has named Steven Stites, chairman of internal medicine, acting…
OAKLEY, Kan. (AP) An ethanol plant in Oakley will receive a $5 million federal grant to build a machine to improve the process of converting ethanol into fuel. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the grant in a news release Monday. It will provide funds for a biogas anaerobic digester at the Western Plains Energy plant in Oakley. Western Plains currently produces about 50 million gallons of ethanol every year in Oakley. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the digester is expected to replace 90 percent of the fossil fuels Western Plains uses to process the fuel with waste from a cattle…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) State officials want to remind drivers that nearly 30 public tornado shelters are available along the Kansas Turnpike. Turnpike spokeswoman Lisa Callahan says most of the shelters are in the restrooms of service areas in Belle Plaine, Towanda, Matfield Green, Emporia, Topeka and Lawrence. Smaller shelters also are available at the turnpike’s toll plazas. The Wichita Eagle reports most of the shelters are underground. They are accessed by opening a hatch and climbing down a short ladder. Callahan says at least 20 people can fit comfortably in the smallest shelters, and more if circumstances require it. Every…