Author: KMAN Staff

On Friday’s edition of In Focus we spoke with K-State Research and Extension 4H Agent John Jobe. We also spoke with the Riley County Seniors’ Service Center Director Jami Ramsey. Sarah Duggan with Meadowlark previewed Walk to End Alzheimer’s. In our final segment we spoke with Wamego High School teacher and Honor Flight coordinator Shawn Hornung.

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BELLE PLAINE, Kan. — A judge has ruled that Kansas’ Republican secretary of state did not violate the state’s open records law by ordering the removal of an election database function that generates a statewide report showing which provisional ballots were not counted. The decision Wednesday by Shawnee County District Judge Teresa Watson comes in a lawsuit filed by voting rights activist Davis Hammet. He’s the president of Loud Light, a nonprofit that strives to increase voter turnout. The judge sided with Secretary of State Scott Schwab in finding that the ability to produce a statewide provisional ballot report in…

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SHARON SPRINGS, Kan. — The National Weather Service says an EF-0 tornado touched down in northwest Kansas as severe storms swept through the state Tuesday evening and early Wednesday. The weather service in Goodland said a twister near Sharon Springs traveled about 3.3 miles, with a peak gust of 85 mph. No injuries were reported. A cart and maintenance shed at the Sharon Springs Golf Course was destroyed. Meteorologists with the weather service in Dodge City were surveying damage from at least four tornadoes in lightly-populated areas near Dodge City. Those twisters were reported near Howell, Spearville, Trousdale and between…

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On Thursday’s edition of In Focus Fort Riley Historical and Archeological Society President Mary Teller spoke to the 25th annual ghost tours happening Saturday. Fort Riley retired Colonel C. Kay Hutchinson and Major Kimberly Moore discussed Retiree Appreciation Day and the IACH drive through shot clinic. In our final segments we spoke with Manhattan Housing Authority’s Board commissioner Brad Claussen, Assistant Executive Director Mandy Thomas and Manhattan Area Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Josh Brewer.

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The latest coronavirus outbreak in schools locally has been confirmed at Wamego’s Central Elementary. Interim USD 320 Superintendent Greg Mann says four students and four staff members tested positive for the virus, prompting a Monday closure to allow for all staff members to be tested. Mann said Wednesday on KMAN’s In Focus that a number of students are either utilizing quarantine classrooms or are participating in the “Test to Stay” program, administered by two nurses for the school. Mann says the district has been able to stay ahead of most coronavirus-related matters, however.

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WICHITA, Kan. — The Wichita City Council has passed an ordinance aimed at banning discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. The Wichita Eagle reports that after four months of delays, the council voted 6-1 on Tuesday to approve the measure. Council member Jeff Blubaugh cast the lone dissenting vote. Council members rejected a proposed exemption that would have allowed religious groups to fire or refuse to hire LGBTQ individuals. The measure seeks to prohibit discrimination based on age, color, disability, familial status, gender identity, genetic information, national origin or ancestry, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, citizenship, veteran status or…

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PRATT, Kan. — Kansas wildlife officials say an angler landed the first alligator gar ever documented in the state. The fisheries division of the Kansas Wildlife & Parks said in a news release Tuesday that a 39.5 pounds alligator gar was caught last month in the Neosho River east of Parsons. Fisheries biologist Connor Ossowski said the agency has verified the fish was caught in the river. Biologists are now working to determine how the animal got into a Kansas waterway. The most likely scenario is the alligator gar was released by its owner after it became too large but…

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Fire department officials say two people were hospitalized and several others sickened in a carbon monoxide leak inside a Kansas City, Kansas, supermarket. Officials say firefighters were called to the El Rio Bravo supermarket around noon Tuesday. Firefighters used handheld detectors and discovered carbon monoxide levels in the store to be potentially lethal. Crews evacuated the building, took two people to hospitals and treated several others at the scene. The Kansas Gas Company was called in to investigate the cause of the leak.

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LARNED, Kan. — Two employees at Larned State Hospital are charged with helping a convicted sexual offender escape last summer. The two female employees, 50-year-old Rachel Rena Perez, of Larned, and 45-year-old Liliana Guadalupe Houser, of Garden City, made their first court appearances Tuesday. They each face more than a dozen charges related to the escape of John Freeman Colt in June. Colt was recaptured in Utah in September. Pawnee County Attorney Douglas McNett said in a release the charges against Perez and Houser include having unlawful sexual relations with a patient and trafficking in contraband.

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