12 years ago
Kansas legislators return Monday to the Statehouse to begin their 90-day, 2014 session. The session is scheduled to run through mid-May, with legislators taking a recess in April before returning to finish remaining business. Here are five things to know about the Kansas legislative session: ___ SCHOOL FINANCE RULING: Legislators are waiting on a decision from the Kansas ...

12 years ago
Young Kansans seeking driver's education permits will find the task much easier starting April 1 when the Department of Revenue switches to an online application portal. Each year the department handles about 50,000 driver's ed applications, which can take several weeks — longer if there is a medical or vision issue — to process. That has ...

12 years ago
Topeka legislators are raising questions about plans by the Kansas Department of Administration to raze a state office building and relocate agencies to privately owned buildings. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the $17 million project would involve demolishing the Docking Building and relocating the Department of Revenue and Department for Children and Family Services. The cost ...

12 years ago
A man has died from his injuries after he was pulled from a burning home in Overland Park. The fire was reported Saturday morning. When fire crews arrived, the home was consumed with heavy smoke. They found the victim inside with critical burns. The man was taken to a hospital where he later died. His identity has ...

12 years ago
Two Garden City residents have been killed in a single-vehicle crash in western Kansas. The Kansas Highway Patrol says 46-year-old Terry G. Fraker and 48-year-old Vonda Sue Fraker died in the accident Saturday. The patrol says the accident occurred about two miles west of Garden City when the vehicle they were in ran off a roadway ...

12 years ago
Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer loaned $500,000 to Gov. Sam Brownback's re-election campaign at the end of 2013. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports financial disclosure reports submitted to the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission by the Brownback campaign revealed the last-minute loan from Colyer, Brownback's Republican running-mate. The contribution pushed the governor's total receipts for the year to $1.6 ...

12 years ago
A swift grass fire in southeast Kansas has burned several acres and damaged structures. No injuries have been reported. The Joplin Globe reports the fire north of Galena was reported Sunday. Firefighters from Galena, Columbus, Baxter Springs and two towns in southwest Missouri have been assisting. The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for the ...

12 years ago
Emergency crews have responded to a gasoline leak at a fuel distribution terminal in Kansas City, Kan. The Kansas City Star reports the gasoline spilled Sunday at the Magellan Midstream Partners petroleum terminal. No injuries were reported. Magellan spokesman Bruce Heine in Tulsa, Okla., says the spilled gasoline is being controlled in a containment area at the ...

12 years ago
Uncertainty shadows the Kansas Legislature as it prepares to open its annual session Monday. Lawmakers are waiting for a state Supreme Court decision on whether the state is spending enough money on its public schools. Leaders from both parties believe education funding will be the Republican-dominated Legislature's most pressing issue once the high court issues ...

12 years ago
A northeast Kansas county's program that pairs farmers and preschoolers to teach the children about healthy food is looking for more funding. The Lawrence Journal-World reports Douglas County's farm-to-preschool "Healthy Sprouts" program has been funded mainly by grants that expire this year. Officials of the three-year-old program put out the word in November that Healthy Sprouts was ...

12 years ago
A University of Kansas task force exploring ways to update the classroom experience says one option is to minimize the amount of lecturing and using class time to work on problems and projects. Students in that kind of "flipped" class would read and watch lectures on their own time. Associate professor and task force member Andrea ...