WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A 57-year-old Wichita man died after an explosion and fire at his home. Battalion Chief John Turner says the man was found in his basement after firefighters arrived at his home Thursday evening. He was pulled from the house with critical injuries and died later at a hospital. Firefighters say the blaze caused about $25,000 in damage. An investigation into the cause of the fire continues.
Author: KMAN Staff
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) A fight is brewing over whether parachuting is allowed at the Lawrence Municipal Airport. Businessman William McCauley has filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration over the city of Lawrence’s efforts to limit his proposed parachuting business. The city argues that allowing a parachuting business at the small airport would be a safety problem. It says aircraft would have to be notified not to use the airport when the parachutists were jumping. Because the airport does not have a traffic control tower, that communication would be difficult. But McCauley says FAA regulations give him the right…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Topeka school district has expanded its anti-discrimination policy to include homosexual and transgender students and staff. The board voted Thursday night to expand the policy to include the words “sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.” The district’s attorney, Cindy Kelly, said the additions are designed to help students who are being bullied or harassed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that board member Janel Johnson cast the only no vote. She said the current anti-bullying policy already protects all students. Other board members said they supported the move because…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A 21-year-old soldier from the Wichita was killed this week in Afghanistan. The U.S. Department of Defense announced Friday that Spc. James R. Burnett Jr. died Wednesday when an improvised explosive device hit a Jeep in which he was riding in a convoy. Twenty-two-year-old Pfc. Matthew C. Colin of Navarre, Fla., also died in the attack in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan. Burnett and Collins were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Burnett attended Clearwater High School in Wichita and joined the Army after…
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Striking machinists at Honeywell will vote on a proposed contract on Sunday. Steve Nickel, a representative of the machinists’ union, said late Thursday that union negotiators agreed to present the proposal from a mediator to its member. He said the company has agreed to accept the proposal if it is approved. The Kansas City Star reports that neither Nickel nor Honeywell spokeswoman Linda Cook would describe terms of the proposal. The 840 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Kansas City have been on strike since Oct. 9. The walkout started after…
PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) Pittsburg officials are wrestling with questions of safety, costs and liability as they try to determine the best ways to protect residents from tornadoes. The question took on greater urgency after a May 22 tornado devastated parts of Joplin, Mo., just 30 miles away. Fire chief Scott Crain says the city isn’t closer to a solution than it was when the effort started five months ago. The state has said Pittsburg will receive 75 percent of the $1.6 million to $2 million cost of building a community shelter that would hold 2,000 to 3,000 people. The Joplin…
Riley County extension director Jennifer Wilson announced the results of this year’s extension council elections on Thursday. Elections are held each year to rotate three new members into sub-committees, which are divided into four separate categories of agriculture, family and consumer science, 4-H youth development and community development. The winners in agriculture are Jordan Hagenmaier, Steve Hargrave, and Greg Legleiter. Family and Consumer Science winners are Linda Teener, Susan Goff, and Kerry Wefald. 4-H Youth Development winners are Marjorie Devlin, Douglas Russell, and Sharon Dobesh-Beckman. Community Development winners are Darin Marti, Jay Terrill, and Sherrie Russell. All committee members will meet at Pottorf Hall on November 30 to select – from the 24 total – nine who will serve…
A two-day event this weekend hopes to spice up the City of Manhattan website, as the Little Apple Hackathon takes place Saturday and Sunday. CivicPlus Chief Technology Officer Brian Rempe is overseeing the technical team at CivicPlus, and explains that since CivicPlus calls Manhattan home this is a way for them to give back. Six teams will work on designing the new website. Rempe (Rem-pee) does encourage community involvement. You can do so by visiting here. The community is also welcome to come out to the presentation of the website designs Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. The Little Apple Hackathon…
Manhattan Mayor Jim Sherow thinks progress is being made on what to do with the Kansas River bridge piers possibly being used for signage. However Sherow admits some questions remain. The piers apparently belong to the Kansas Department of Transportation, and are also in the unincorporated area of Riley County, which would mean they fall under the county’s recent moratorium on signage on highways that went into effect a couple of weeks ago. The moratorium lasts for a year. That means the city, if it’s able to obtain at least one of the piers, would have to abide by the…
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) Oklahoma State University says women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna were killed in a plane crash in central Arkansas. The university said in a news release Friday that the two were on a recruiting trip to Arkansas when the plane crashed near Perryville, about 45 miles west of Little Rock. The university says the plane’s pilot and another passenger also died in the crash. Their names were not released and OSU said they were not associated with the university. Ten men associated with the OSU men’s basketball team died in a plane crash…