OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — A Kansas City suburb has been ordered to turn over records related to the 2018 police killing of a teenager after The Kansas City Star sued for the documents. The Star reports that a judge found that that the severance agreement for Clayton Jenison must be disclosed under the Kansas Open Records Act. Jenison, who was paid $70,000 through the agreement, didn’t face charges for fatally shooting 17-year-old John Albers as he was backing a minivan out of his family’s garage. The officer had responded to the home because the teen was believed to be suicidal.
Author: KMAN Staff
City of Manhattan staff presented Wildcat Creek flood models and projections to city and county officials Thursday. From these animated models, staff can see where flooding occurs, how severe it can get and where the water flows. While city commissioner Linda Morse was supportive, she says they must also keep in mind the people who are impacted by other bodies of water. “The only people really involved in this have been the Wildcat Creek public,” Morse said. “The Blue River public and Northview has not been involved at all. That’s why I wanted to be on this, because I wanted to see how…
The Leadership Manhattan group continues to work to help the community. Sharla Meisenheimer, Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce Director of Membership, says the Leadership Class is holding two big events this year, one of which is a food drive that is happening right now. Meisenheimer says the event runs from now until March 31st and the foods collected will go to the Manhattan Emergency Shelter. She tells KMAN more about what types of items are needed. “Pillows, coffee, bottled-water, non-perishable food items, trash bags, common medication- things like Tylenol or Advil or things of that nature, copy paper, paper towels,…
The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and Women in Business program are kicking off a speaker series. Sharla Meisenheimer, Chamber Director of Membership, tells KMAN they are hosting a series called the Ripple Effect Speaker Series. Meisenheimer says the program will be full of women entrepreneurs and will consist of one speaker each month for six months. “It’s a recorded speaker, and you will get the link to it and at your leisure you have the opportunity to listen to this speaker,” Meisenheimer says. “You will get the link on Friday morning and then you will have until Tuesday at midnight…
TOPEKA, Kan. — A Republican proposal to require all Kansas public schools to offer every student full in-person classes by March 26 has failed in the state House. Some lawmakers had complained that it would take too much power away from local school boards. The GOP-controlled House’s 69-55 vote against the measure Tuesday showed that some Republicans had misgivings. The bill would have overridden a few local school districts’ decisions to wait longer because of the coronavirus pandemic. Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, pushed for the mandate, and his GOP-controlled chamber approved it earlier this month with no…
MISSION, Kan. — Court records say a Kansas man arrested in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol told the FBI that an officer shrugged his shoulders when he asked whether he could join the throngs streaming into the building. Mark Roger Rebegila, of St. Mary’s, was taken into custody Monday in Topeka on charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. No attorney is listed for him in online court records. He’s among five people from Kansas and dozens nationwide who have been charged…
TOPEKA, Kan. — Leaders of a Kansas school district that is named for an early 20th century Ku Klux Klan leader have created an advisory task force to consider a potential name change. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the task force will provide a report, but not a recommendation, to the board. The issue gained attention after student journalists at Seaman High School used newspaper clippings from the 1920s to confirm last fall that the district’s namesake, Fred Seaman, had been an “exalted cyclops,” or chief officer, in the Topeka KKK. A few dozen students, teachers and community supporters protested…
TOPEKA, Kan. — A Kansas Highway Patrol official says basic information won’t be available for more than a week on its arrest of a top legislative leader. Senate Majority Leader and Wichita Republican Gene Suellentrop was arrested early Tuesday on suspicion of driving under the influence and attempting to flee from law enforcement while driving the wrong way on a highway in Topeka. The patrol’s general counsel said Wednesday that the public portion of the arrest report would be available “on or before” March 26. Suellentrop issued a written statement saying he was stepping aside from most of his office’s…
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas legislators on both sides are trading sometimes-bitter accusations as conservative Republicans advance a proposal to ban transgender students from girls’ and women’s school sports. The GOP-controlled state Senate approved a bill that would enact the ban on a 24-10 vote, sending the measure to the Republican-controlled House. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly called it “regressive.” The Senate’s top Democrat called the bill “hateful” and suggested her male colleagues were arguing that men are just superior. But supporters argued that girls and women would lose scholarships and other life-changing opportunities without such a ban and repeatedly referred to…