Wamego’s City employees won’t see much of an increase in their health benefits come 2012 City Manager Merl Page reported to city commissioners Tuesday, the average increase to the health insurance premiums in the new agreement is .75%, which Page said is basically flat-lined. The Commission approved the renewal and Page said they will leave the employee participation at the same level as last year. Elsewhere, the Commission approved the request to vacate the easement behind and East of Dymax, Inc. after no objections came out of the public hearing, and the staff recommended the change contingent on one call…
Author: KMAN Staff
No issues were reported stemming from an audit of the City of Wamego. City commissioners received an update on the 2010 audited statements from Reese & Novelly, P.A., audit team members Carol McCullough and Michele Morton. According to McCullough, the audit was all clean with no issues. She added there have never been any issues with City Manager Merl Page’s financial statements, and if there have been the firm would have presented the statements earlier. In other business, Steven Ringel requested permission to paint 20-foot semi-circle NO SMOKING signs around the city’s public buildings and businesses. After several questions, Mayor…
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) Interim Big 12 Commissioner Chuck Neinas says he expects West Virginia to start play in the conference next season despite the Big East’s attempts to keep the university from a quick exit. Neinas attended a reception in Morgantown officially welcoming the Mountaineers into the Big 12 on Tuesday. A day earlier, the university sued the Big East, seeking to clear the way for it to start Big 12 play next fall. The Big East has said it plans to keep West Virginia for two more years. West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck and university President James…
NEW YORK (AP) – Alex Gordon became the first Kansas City Royal in 11 years to win a Gold Glove, in voting by managers and coaches. The awards were announced late Monday night by Major League Baseball and Rawlings. Gordon, who led the AL with 20 outfield assists, was given the Gold Glove for his work in his left field. Outfield positions were specified for the first time in the award’s history. The last Royal to win a Gold Glove was Jermaine Dye in 2000, who’s also an outfielder. Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier became the first trio…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A northeast Kansas sheriff’s deputy took a risky ride to stop man suspected of being involved in a domestic dispute. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the Topeka man was sitting in a pickup truck outside the Shawnee County Courthouse when the deputy approached him around noon Tuesday. Authorities say the man refused the deputy’s orders and drove out of the parking lot. The deputy jumped in the bed and held on as the pickup sped down a Topeka street. The sheriff’s department says the deputy feared for his life and broke the cab’s back window, ordering the driver…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas group pushing to eliminate the state income tax plans a two-day, five-city bus tour this week. Kansans for No Income Tax says its goal is to educate residents about the possibilities for spurring economic growth by eliminating income taxes. President Ashley McMillan, who’s also former executive director of the Kansas Republican Party, says the nonprofit group is funded by private donors. The bus tour comes as Gov. Sam Brownback is preparing a plan that administration officials have said will provide broad tax relief. The tour begins at 9:30 a.m. Friday at the Statehouse in Topeka,…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Charges have been dropped against two Texas hunters in the investigation of a Kansas camp where hunters paid thousands of dollars to kill deer illegally. At the government’s request, U.S. District Judges Eric Melgren and Monti Belot dismissed the misdemeanor charges in separate cases against James Donnan and Michael Scarber, both of Center, Texas. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the dismissal relates to “technical issues” with the type of equipment allegedly used to hunt. Twelve hunters from Texas and Louisiana were charged in August with poaching-related misdemeanors connected to Camp Lone Star near Coldwater. Five pleaded guilty…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A frontier trail that snakes from Fort Leavenworth south through Kansas has been given a new name to reflect its historic significance. State Transportation Secretary Deb Miller has signed off on renaming the 168-mile route as the Frontier Military Historic Byway, adding the word “historic” to the title. The route begins at Fort Leavenworth and served as a supply trail south to the Oklahoma border. It was established in 1844 by Gen. Winfield Scott between the Kansas Territory forts and Fort Gibson in Oklahoma. Officials with the local byway committee requested the new name to help describe…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Wichita police officers could soon be wearing cameras while on duty. The City Council on Tuesday approved the police department’s request to buy computers and cameras, which officers will wear as part of their uniforms. Deputy Chief Terri Moses says the department hopes to have the cameras by early next year. A federal grant will pay $125,000 for 20 computers, 40 cameras and other equipment. The city will pay about $24,000 annually to store data gathered by the cameras. The Wichita Eagle reports that officers wear the computers on their gunbelts, with the cameras on their heads.…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Topeka City Council has rejected settlements with two city employees who allege they were victims of discrimination. The council on Tuesday rejected a proposed $132,500 settlement of a lawsuit filed by Topeka Zoo staff veterinarian Shirley Yeo Llizo. The native of Singapore says she was fired in 2009 because of her race. She was rehired in 2010 after an arbitrator ruled the city should not have fired her. Council members also denied a $1.3 million complaint from former Deputy Fire Chief Kathy Petty, who alleges her firing in February was because of sex discrimination and retaliation…