TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) State officials want to raise awareness of a fund that helps people with gambling addictions, which is getting little use. Just over 100 Kansans have sought help from the fund in the year since it became available. It gets 2 percent of gaming revenues from state-owned casinos. The Wichita Eagle reports that the fund has just more than $3.5 million for this fiscal year and is projected to have $7.3 million in the fiscal year 2013 budget. Paul Hahn is the problem gambling services coordinator for the state. He says the state knows the need for treatment…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) An 84-year old man died after his motor scooter ran into the back of a car that had stopped at a northwest Wichita intersection. Wichita police identified the man killed in the Thursday afternoon accident as Guy D. Rhodes. Police say Rhodes tried to swerve to avoid the car but hit it from behind. He and his motor scooter catapulted over the length of the car and the motorcycle landed on top of him. Rhodes was wearing a helmet.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The U.S. Postal Service will keep its central repair facility in Topeka. Sen. Jerry Moran announced Thursday that the postal service plans to consolidate work from another repair shop in Grand Prairie, Texas, with work at the Topeka repair shop after Dec. 31. Moran said in a news release that the move would bring jobs to Topeka but it was not immediately clear how many jobs will be created. The announcement came about a week after the postal service said it was moving work from its mail processing center in Topeka to Kansas City, Mo. That consolidation…
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) A University of Kansas researcher says that gay marriage bans may have generated empathy for same-sex couples and their families. Political science professor Don Haider-Markel has researched gay and lesbian political movements in the United States. He also wrote “Out and Running: Gay and Lesbian Candidates, Elections and Policy Representation.” Haider-Markel says that without states pushing to ban same-sex marriage in the 1990s, people might not have been exposed to stories about the difficulties gay couples experience without marriage. Haider-Markel called that opinion-changing coverage “an ironic outcome.” Today, six states and the District of Columbia have made…
PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) Pittsburg State University wants to become a little greener by better monitoring utility usage. Workers have been installing devices that will record and transmit real-time information about electric, water, gas and steam use to an on-campus server. The southeastern Kansas school says the information will be used to track campus utility use, evaluate energy conservation efforts and identify other ways to save energy. All data can be viewed instantaneously and recorded for historical comparisons and analysis. Pittsburg State also plans to install one or more kiosks around campus this spring. They’ll give students, faculty and staff a…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Three Kansas organizations have launched a petition drive against Gov. Sam Brownback and legislators over proposals for public education. The online signature drive is led by Kansas Families for Education, Kansans United in Voice and Spirit and the Kansas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. They’re asking that the Republican governor and legislators increase funding for public schools. Kansas has cut education funding in recent years because of tight state revenues. The groups behind the petition say the cuts have resulted in larger class sizes, lower academic achievement and less time for students to be with…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas House committee is already considering a half-dozen proposals for redrawing the state’s congressional districts, but it’s likely to review even more. Friday’s meeting of the Redistricting Committee was scheduled to give members an opportunity to present more ideas before the panel begins its discussions. Kansas lawmakers must redraw the state’s four U.S. House districts to account for population changes. The 1st District of western and central Kansas is nearly 58,000 residents short of the ideal of about 713,000 and must gain territory. The Senate has approved a bipartisan plan. But many Republicans don’t like it…
HARVEYVILLE, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback has met with the family of a Harveyville man who suffered fatal injuries when a tornado lifted his home off its foundation. Thursday’s visit came less than a day after 53-year-old Richard Slade was taken off life support and died at a Topeka hospital. The trip to the Wabaunsee County town also gave Brownback a chance to see the damage caused by Tuesday night’s EF2 tornado, which packed winds of between 120 mph and 130 mph. Brownback said he had high praise for the large number of volunteers who rushed to the town’s aid.…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback has declared a disaster emergency in 19 counties hit this week by violent weather, including the storm that spawned a deadly tornado in the eastern Kansas town of Harveyville. The governor’s disaster declaration Thursday brings the state into the response to the storms. Brownback had already declared of a state of emergency Tuesday night in Wabaunsee County after the tornado hit Harveyville. But other areas also had damaging winds, hail and tornadoes. In addition to Wabaunsee County, the new declaration covers the following counties: Butler, Chautauqua, Coffey, Cowley, Crawford, Douglas, Franklin, Harper, Kingman, Labette,…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo has joined a Republican push in Washington to end all energy tax credits. Pompeo, who represents the Wichita area, is sponsoring House legislation ending the production tax credit for electricity produced from renewable resources such as wind, biomass and hydropower. He was joined at a Washington news conference Thursday by Republican Sens. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. The legislation would also end tax credits for plug-in electric and fuel cell vehicles, alternative fuel mixtures, clean coal investment and oil and gas production from marginal…