13 years ago
The most visible member of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback's staff is leaving next month to become the state Lottery's deputy director. Brownback announced Friday that Communications Director Sherriene Jones-Sontag will be joining the lottery July 8. Jones-Sontag has overseen Brownback's communications and served as his press secretary and chief spokeswoman since he took office in January 2011. ...

13 years ago
A building in Minneapolis partially collapses early Friday morning. Minneapolis City Administrator Barry Hodges tells KSAL News that the northeast section of the historic Parker Hotel collapsed at around 6:00 Friday morning. There was no one inside the vacant building, which is located at the east end of Downtown Minneapolis, at the corner of 2nd and ...

13 years ago
A Kansas State University researcher says the prolonged North American drought is taking a toll on some species of fish, affecting their long-term viability. Biology professor Keith Gido says a few species have disappeared, including the silver chub that was once found in a southern Kansas river. He said a survey found 300 of the fish ...

13 years ago
An 18-month-old boy Wichita boy died after he was accidentally run over a pickup truck while being dropped off at a home. Wichita police Lt. Dennis Wilson says the boy's death appears to be a tragic accident. Wilson says the driver of the pickup was dropping off a co-worker and four young children, including the toddler. He ...

13 years ago
Topeka police say a 36-year-old woman with severe physical disabilities drowned in a whirlpool bath at a group home. Police Sgt. Jay Juhghans says the accident happened Thursday evening at Sunflower Support, a small home for people with severe physical disabilities. Juhghans says a caregiver turned away momentarily while the woman was in the pool and she ...

13 years ago
Relatives of a south-central Kansas woman who was killed in 1984 hope to block the parole of her husband, who was one of two men convicted in the strangulation. The Winfield Daily Courier reports petitions have been placed at businesses throughout the city seeking signatures from people opposed to parole for William P. Kessinger. Kessinger and Clifford ...

13 years ago
Attorneys for a former Kansas lawman accused of killing his wife and setting their home on fire are challenging the way authorities collected evidence. Brett Seacat is charged with first-degree murder in the April 2011 shooting death of 34-year-old Vashiti Seacat. The former police instructor also is charged with aggravated arson and two counts of child endangerment ...

13 years ago
The 2013 Smoky Hill River Festival is here. The annual Festival Jam officially started the event Thursday evening, in front of a crowd of nearly 11,000 people. Fans began picking their spots in front of the Eric Stein Stage in Oakdale Park when the gates opened at 4:00. Within a matter of minutes, many of the ...

13 years ago
Kansas higher education officials are frustrated and angry that state lawmakers have imposed budget cuts on public colleges and universities, calling the reductions harmful to the state's economy. Members of the Board of Regents reviewed the budget cuts on Thursday and began hearing initial tuition and fee increase proposals from the six state universities. The Legislature adjourned ...

13 years ago
An Overland Park native has died in the war in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense says 2nd Lt. Justin Lee Sisson and another soldier were killed Monday after their unit was struck by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. The 23-year-old Sisson graduated from Blue Valley West High School in Overland Park in 2007. He earned a ...

13 years ago
The high demand for concealed carry permits is continuing in Kansas. The Wichita Eagle reports the state had taken 22,124 applications through the first 10 months of the fiscal year, which started last July. In all of fiscal year 2012, Kansas residents submitted 12,408 applications. In response to the demand, the Kansas attorney general's office hired more ...