TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas legislators are moving quickly to try a different approach in seeking to limit city and county taxes. The Senate voted 34-1 on Thursday for a proposed transparency law that would require local officials to notify their constituents and hold a public hearing if they intend to spend extra dollars raised with property taxes. The bill would repeal what many lawmakers see as an ineffective a lid on city and county property taxes that took effect in 2017. The Republican-controlled Legislature approved a similar transparency bill last year, but Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed it. She said…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. — Police have identified a man arrested on suspicion of fatally shooting another man outside a Wichita restaurant and say the suspect has a long criminal history. The shooting was reported around 1:30 p.m. Thursday in south Wichita. A police investigation revealed that the shooting stemmed from a disturbance outside Berrieria Tito restaurant and that the man who was shot made his way back into the restaurant, where he died. Police have not yet released the victim’s name. Police have arrested 26-year-old Adrian Nicholas Zongker, who is currently on parole on a separate conviction. The Wichita Eagle reports…
The following summary of calls for service/reports filed by the Riley County Police Department is a portion of those received by police. Some names, addresses, and case details are withheld to follow local, state, and federal law as well as in an attempt to protect community members from being victimized further. Those arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. MANHATTAN, KAN. – Officers filed a report for a missing person in the 4200 block of Spook Rock Way in Manhattan on January 14, 2021, at approximately 2:52 p.m. Officers listed a 29-year-old male as the victim…
Ascension Via Christi President and CEO Bob Copple provided a breakdown on why vaccines will be so important in getting through the COVID-19 pandemic. T. Russel Reitz Animal Shelter Director Deb Watkins provided an update on the shelter’s adoption numbers and upcoming events. Shepherd’s Crossing’s Beth Klug and Warren Holmes highlighted its LEAP program, providing financial assistance to those needing help with gas or electric bills.
The Flint Hills Regional Council’s business-confidence survey went live last Friday and so far, 59 businesses have responded. The council’s recovery and resiliency planner Marissa Jones-Flaget says that while it’s early on in the process, they have gained some takeaways from the results. “A bulk of our respondents actually expressed interest in marketing and social media marketing training. We’ve been working with our small business partners to see what type of training is available,” she said. As a result, the council plans to begin pushing out training resources through its own social media channels. Jones-Flaget says they’ve also found that…
The Riley County Health Department received 2500 COVID-19 vaccine doses from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Thursday. Health Department Director Julie Gibbs says the shipment should cover the first dose for those eligible to receive the vaccine during phase one of the state’s distribution plan. “We hope to have all of our health care providers, or phase one vaccinated by the end of next week. Keep in mind, this would be the first dose for many of them. We are working on our second dose for those that we were able to do between Christmas and New…
WICHITA, Kan. — A Kansas game warden is getting attention for a video that shows him firing a single shot from a handgun to disentangle the antlers of two whitetail stags. The Kansas Wildlife, Parks & Tourism agency released the video from the warden’s body camera showing his sharpshooting skills. Neither deer was hurt in the effort. The agency says a bowhunter contacted a game warden on Jan. 7 to report seeing the entangled deer in rural Jackson County. Two game wardens responded and threw a towel over the animals’ heads to get them to freeze. One warden then took…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. ++ A Kansas sheriff’s office investigator has been charged in a hit-and-run crash and two other law enforcement officers have been charged with interfering with the investigation. Wyandotte County Prosecutor Mark Dupree announced Wednesday that sheriff’s office Det. Michael Simmons Jr. is charged with a misdemeanor count of leaving the scene of the Dec. 13, 2019, crash on Interstate 70 involving a county-owned vehicle. Two others former Kansas City, Kansas, police detective Sarah Panjada and Wyandotte Sheriff’s Office Maj. Andrew Carver were charged with one count each of official misconduct and interference, both misdemeanors.
TOPEKA, Kan. — Coronavirus hospitalizations have fallen in Kansas from their high last month. Staffing is under less strain as the shaky vaccine rollout gains momentum. But overall case numbers remain stubbornly high. Kansas Department of Health and Environment data shows that 889 adults were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases as of Tuesday. That’s down 30% from a high of 1,282 on Dec. 2. It was the lowest COVID-19 patient count since early November. The drop is good news for fatigued staff, who had to work overtime while co-workers were infected or quarantined. The situation grew so dire that…
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Officials in Lawrence say a woman has died after being hit by a train in Lawrence. Television station KSNT reports the incident happened late Wednesday night at BNSF tracks near Second and Indiana streets. Officers and medics were called to the scene by someone reporting that a person had been hit by a train. Arriving officers found a gravely injured woman. Medics attempted life-saving measures, but police say she died at the scene. Her name was not immediately released.