TOPEKA, Kan. — Two companies that caused a chlorine gas leak over Atchison in 2016 have each been fined $1 million. Harcos Chemicals and MGP Ingredients had pleaded guilty earlier to negligently violating the Clean Air Act. They were officially fined during a court hearing Wednesday. U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said the fines have been paid. The chlorine gas cloud formed over Atchison in October 2016 when 4,000 gallons of sulfuric acid was mistakenly combined with 5,800 gallons of sodium hypochlorite at MGP’s plant. Nearby homes and schools were evacuated and residents were told to shelter in place. About 140…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. — At least eight wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against a Kansas care facility where 36 people have died from the coronavirus. The lawsuits allege Riverbend Post-Acute Rehabilitation in Kansas City was negligent in its handling of the spread of the coronavirus. They say the home lacked adequate staff and failed to notify residents’ families of the outbreak. Another 132 residents and staff have tested positive for the virus at the home. Riverbend officials have said its staff took reasonable actions given the information about the virus available at the time. Attorneys representing the home have transferred…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Police say a 9-year-old Kansas boy was trapped for more than an hour under a vehicle that crashed through his bedroom wall this week. Television station WDAF reports that the crash happened around 2 a.m. Tuesday in Kansas City, Kansas. The boy, Jamison Langley, tells the station he was awake and watching online videos when he suddenly found himself under the crashed Jeep, unable to move and having trouble breathing. After about an hour, rescue crews were able to free Jamison, who suffered only cuts and bruises. But almost everything in his room and even his…
Pottawatomie County has issued a new health order following Gov. Laura Kelly’s decision to give county government’s authority over their reopening plans. Public Health Order No. 5, effective as of 6 p.m. yesterday, limits mass gatherings to 50 people and prevents entertainment venues with capacities of 2000 or more from opening. The order is largely in line with the the state reopening plan, which remains in place as a guideline for local governments, and the reopening policies released by Riley County yesterday. However, unlike Riley County health order, bars are not required to close by a certain time. Riley County’s…
K-State Department of Communications Associate Professor Dr. Tim Shaffer joined us Thursday. Pawnee Mental Health Executive Director Robbin Cole spoke about Mental Health America’s “Tools 2 Thrive” campaign.
A long-time presence in Manhattan’s finance department is in his final week of work before retirement. Chief Financial Officer Bernie Hayen is leaving Manhattan after a 19 and a half year stint in the city’s employment. Altogether, City Manager Ron Fehr estimates Hayen has served the city for more than 30 years, rivaling his time teaching business and finance part-time at Kansas State University. He first announced his retirement at a January meeting of the Manhattan City Commission. Fehr took time to recognize Hayen at the start of Tuesday’s commission meeting. “We wanted to take this opportunity […] to offer…
Manhattan officials Tuesday discussed new revenue, increasing cash balances and rising debt service in a broad budget overview. Manhattan City Commissioners Tuesday discussed the proposed 2021 budget in a remote city work session. Currently, the city is holding property tax in the proposed 2021 budget to a flat mill levy of 49.79 mills. Manhattan is budgeting for zero dollars worth of capital improvement projects in the general fund. An estimated 1 percent property valuation growth in Riley and Pottawatomie County is expected to contribute an extra $291,438 in revenue, raising anticipated property tax collections from $29.14 million to $29.44 million.…
LIBERTY, Mo. — Kansas county officials have had various reactions to Gov. Laura Kelly’s decision to give them the authority to determine their own coronavirus restrictions. The state’s most populous county, Johnson County, said restrictions limiting how businesses operate and the size of gatherings will now be only guidelines. But Wyandotte, Douglas and Lyon counties chose to keep the restrictions in place for now. Officials in some other counties were planning to meet on Wednesday to discuss a way forward. Kelly on Tuesday changed her previous mandate for a phased reopening of the state’s economy to only recommendations for the…
WICHITA, Kan. — A Wichita police officer is charged with child sex crimes stemming from alleged incidents in 2012 before he was an officer. Wichita police announced Tuesday that Officer Joshua Hageman is charged with two counts of indecent liberties with a child. The department said the alleged crimes happened when Hageman was 20. He is accused of inappropriately touching two 15-year-old girls while at a home in Colwich. Police say Hagemen is on administrative leave without pay. He has been a Wichita officer for three years.
WICHITA, Kan. — Police in Wichita have announced an arrest in a nearly 2-year-old murder case. Police say 27-year-old Juan Carlos Caballeros-Yescas was arrested May 9 in El Paso, Texas, and extradited to Kansas on Tuesday. Caballeros-Yescas is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated burglary in the July 7, 2018, shooting death of 41-year-old Lucy Mojica in her Wichita home. Police say Caballeros-Yescas was dating Mojica at the time of the killing and quickly focussed on him as the primary suspect. But he had fled the area and couldn’t be found until he was tracked down in Texas earlier this…