LAWRENCE, Kan. — Lawrence city officials approved an ordinance that provides protections for immigrants in the country illegally and includes policies regarding how police interact with them. The Lawrence City Commission’s vote on Tuesday came after more than a year of discussion prompted by an immigrant advocacy group. The nondiscrimination ordinance, among other things, prohibits the city from considering immigration status when providing city services. The vote on Tuesday approved provisions that require police to notify the public when they are aware of some federal immigration activities, and if the department changes its current policies on cooperating with federal immigration…
Author: KMAN Staff
WICHITA, Kan. — Authorities have arrested a 21-year-old man in a Wichita shooting that left one person dead and two others wounded. Jail records show that Terry Quonteze Wallace was booked Tuesday night on suspicion of first-degree murder in the commission of a felony. KAKE-TV reports that the shooting happened around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday after an argument. Capt. Jason Stephens said one shooting victim was located at the scene and later died. The two other victims are in stable condition. Their names have not been released. Stephens said some of those involved are gang members.
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas officials are considering spending $50 million to dramatically ramp up testing of people who aren’t showing obvious signs of the coronavirus. A state task force this week backed Kansas Health Secretary Lee Norman’s recommendation to use the federal stimulus money on testing at schools, workplaces and other sites. The goal is to catch coronavirus in people who haven’t even realized they’re carrying it, KCUR reports. Some of the testing would be done at Wichita State University, where a new not-for-profit lab is gearing up to churn out hundreds of thousands of tests by the end of…
BELLE PLAINE, Kan. — The Kansas Supreme Court seemed worried Wednesday about the proper roles of the Legislature and courts as it wrestled with whether a state statute that prohibits lawsuits based on “wrongful birth” claims is constitutional. Justices heard oral arguments via Zoom on whether the parents of a disabled child have a right to a trial on their malpractice claims. A lower appeals court had earlier held that the statute protects physicians from malpractice suits if they fail to provide information about fetal abnormalities that might cause the mother to get an abortion. The court took the matter…
WICHITA, Kan. — Officials with the Wichita Police Department say one of its sergeants has been charged with misdemeanor battery for an incident involving a coworker. The department says in a news release that Sgt. Maurice Mitchell has been charged with a single count of battery in Wichita’s municipal court. Police say the charge stems from an incident that occurred between Mitchell and a coworker during a training exercise in which no physical injuries occurred. But the department declined to give any other details of the incident. Mitchell was placed on unpaid administrative leave Tuesday pending the outcome of the…
Julie Gibbs joined KMAN in the 7am hour to provide our COVID update.
A state task force this week backed Kansas Health Secretary Lee Norman’s recommendation to use the federal stimulus money on testing at schools, workplaces and other sites. The goal is to catch coronavirus in people who haven’t even realized they’re carrying it, KCUR reports. Some of the testing would be done at Wichita State University, where a new not-for-profit lab is gearing up to churn out hundreds of thousands of tests by the end of the year. “I know that sounds like a lot,” said Tonya Witherspoon, Wichita State’s vice president of industry engagement, “but we think several labs in…
A new mowing routine will soon be implemented by the Manhattan Parks and Recreation Department at a few local parks to help plant pollinators, such as birds, insects and small mammals. Alfonso Leyva, Manhattan Parks and Rec. park planner, says the program, known as Pollinator Pockets, will consist of identifying areas of parks where workers can stop mowing for periods of the year so that native vegetation can grow back for the benefit of the local ecosystem. “If existing vegetation is lacking pollinator vegetative diversity, we will overseed the area with a seed mixture,” Leyva said. “Now currently, the most…
The Manhattan City Commission has approved a roughly $3 million cost-share grant for Kimball Avenue reconstruction, phase 9 of the North Campus Corridor plan. That leaves about $7.1 million that will be covered by city/university, water, stormwater, economic development and bond and interest funds. Mayor Usha Reddi says the city is also in competition to receive BUILD grants, totaling $7.9 million, though considerations are typically given to larger municipalities with higher populations. “But unfortunately that’s who we’re competing against and sometimes I think the public also needs to understand that’s our competition. That’s why we work so hard at things…
US-24 Hwy. projects The Pottawatomie County Commission rejected all bids for the Green Valley Rd./US-24 Hwy. intersection project Monday. The low bid of $4.02 million was about 22 percent higher then the $3.3 million estimate. According to Peter Clark, Pottawatomie County Public Works director, the commission is statutorily required to reject bids that are more than 10 percent higher than the estimate. The commission also heard bids for the US-24 Hwy./Crown C Circle project, with the lowest coming in beneath the engineer’s estimate at about $1.3 million. While some officials were wanting the two US-24 Hwy. projects to occur at…