TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas is seeing an increase in advance voting for the Aug. 4 primary amid the coronavirus outbreak. As of Tuesday, the number of ballots voters returned by mail is six times more than the ballots returned in 2016, according to data collected by the Associated Press. The number of ballots returned by mail is also six times more than the ballots returned in 2018. The number of advance ballots cast in person is slightly ahead of those cast in 2016. .Kansas is one of 30 states that don’t require a voter to have a reason to vote…
Author: KMAN Staff
BELLE PLAINE, Kan. — Kansas’ child welfare agency balked at releasing its records about a 3-year-old girl whose battered body was found this month, despite a 2018 law that aimed to make such documents more transparent. That law says Kansas Department for Children and Families’ documents are public records in the event child abuse or neglect results in a child fatality or near fatality. However, the agency has declined to release to The Associated Press records pertaining to Olivia Ann Jansen, saying it’s still investigating. The girl’s remains were found in a shallow grave on July 10. Her dad and…
HALSTEAD, Kan. — Authorities have identified a man killed in the collision of a tractor and train in central Kansas. Officials say 21-year-old Taylor Koehn, of Halstead, died in the Monday afternoon collision that also caused the train to derail near Halstead in Harvey County. Investigators say Koehn was driving the tractor and was pulling disc equipment when he crossed railroad tracks, causing the collision. Koehn was pronounced dead at the scene. No other injuries were reported.
TOPEKA, Kan. — A 51-year-old Topeka man has been charged with unintentional but reckless second-degree murder and other counts for a June crash that killed a motorcyclist. The Capital-Journal reports that Tommy Lynn Sherrill Sr. was charged Tuesday in the June 30 crash that led to the death of 26-year-old motorcyclist Dylan Jay Hernandez. Hernandez died July 11 of complications from massive head trauma suffered when his motorcycle collided with a building at Topeka’s municipal airport. Prosecutors say an investigation showed a truck was involved in causing the crash and that Sherrill had been driving the truck. Sherrill was arrested…
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 responded to the report of an injury crash near the intersection of Kimball Ave and Browning Ave in Manhattan on July 28, 2020, at approximately 4:18 PM. When officers arrived on scene they…
Republican and former Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer spoke to KMAN Tuesday about former Lt. Gov. Tracey Mann’s bid to represent Kansas’s 1st Congressional District in this year’s election amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to Colyer, if Mann is elected, Kansas will be getting someone who is not in favor shutting down businesses. “He wants to make sure you have good testing and tracing, but it’s important that we get the economy going,” Colyer said. “We’re going to have to live with this. We can and we can accommodate that.” One area of testing Colyer would like to see improved is…
Riley County Health Department has issued the latest local health order. Local Health Order No. 16 will go into effect Thursday at 12:01 am and does not have an expiration date. Instead, it will remain in place until the data indicates that a change is needed. The new order will allow mass gatherings of greater than 50 individuals, but less than two thousand through a permit process. Anyone who wishes to host an event or gathering of more than 50 people must fill out a request on the health department’s website. The permit process must be started at least 14…
Release from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. TOPEKA – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has amended its travel quarantine list. Florida as well as those countries with a CDC Level 3 Travel Health Notice with restrictions remain, but Arizona, Bahrain and French Guiana are removed effective today. Those traveling internationally are subject to CDC re-entry guidance and protocols. This list is effective for all persons returning to or entering Kansas on the effective dates. The state will review/update this list every two weeks. A comprehensive list of those individuals needing to quarantine for 14 days includes…
Mail-in ballot numbers The Pottawatomie County Clerks Office has seen high rates of voter participation via mail-in ballots so far this year. “We are getting hundreds of them back a day,” Nancy McCarter, Pottawatomie County clerk, said. “One day we got 400 and that was pretty exciting. You’ll never get 100 percent of them back, but I’m hoping we’ll get 80 percent of them back. Some people just don’t get them in the mail.” McCarter says mail-in ballots have been a popular choice for voters throughout the rest of the state as well. “The whole state of Kansas, we set…