11 years ago
State officials are considering easing regulatory protection of a nonvenomous snake. The Hutchinson News reports that the redbelly snake is a short, reclusive snake found in northeast Kansas. Some Johnson County officials have complained that its designation as a threatened species has held up developments. When a species is listed as threatened, developers must obtain permits and ...

11 years ago
Saline County Rural Route # 2 east of Salina has a broken water line. There could be low pressure, water loss and dirty water. Crews are on the way

11 years ago
Residents in the suburban St. Louis neighborhoods near where an officer killed an 18-year-old teenager say their lives have been upended in the last two weeks. Angelia Dickens says she has been afraid to leave her Ferguson apartment at night as protesters clash with police. The 55-year-old has stopped going to her job at a call ...

11 years ago
A judge is expected to decide soon whether to dismiss probation for the highest-ranking U.S. church official convicted of a crime related to the child sexual abuse scandal. The Kansas City Star reports that Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker filed a probation status report for Bishop Robert Finn on Friday. Finn leads the Diocese of ...

11 years ago
An 86-year-old man has died in a mowing accident in Hutchinson. The Hutchinson News reports that Harold E. Swanson of Hutchinson died Friday. Patrol Capt. Darrian Campbell said Swanson had been using a mower pulled behind a tractor to cut grass when he took a "not normal" path that ended in the middle of the yard. Campbell ...

11 years ago
A report of an alleged sexual assault prompts a safety warning to students at Fort Hays State University. Specific details of the alleged assault were not disclosed, nor was a location. Both university and city police have stepped-up patrols around both Hays and the FHSU campus. A message to students and parents was sent via the ...

11 years ago
The Democrat seeking to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts says Democrats were given a "gift" when an independent candidate entered the Senate race in Kansas. Democrat Chad Taylor made the comment Saturday during a luncheon address at the Kansas Democratic Party's annual Demofest convention in Wichita. Taylor says he expects independent challenger Greg Orman to steal ...

11 years ago
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee says fellow conservatives should "stop the fight" over Common Core education standards and instead consider the benefits the benchmarks offer students in struggling schools. Huckabee's comments Friday put him at odds with a significant bloc of Republicans, including many of his potential rivals for the 2016 presidential nomination. Huckabee acknowledges the standards ...

11 years ago
Prosecutors have dropped a second-degree murder charge in the shooting death of a man whose body was found in a ditch north of Wichita. 23-year-old Antonio T. Bell remains jailed in Sedgwick County on an unrelated drug case. It isn't immediately clear who is representing him. He was charged with killing Deandre Freeman Jr., whose body ...

11 years ago
Officials are "pleasantly surprised" by some of the test results gathered during the first phase of a contamination cleanup project in the Salina Regional Airport industrial area. The first phase of the investigation began back in June. It included monitoring vapor intrusion, ground water, and contamination plumes including the leading edge of a large 8,000 foot ...

11 years ago
Cash and a power drill are taken from a truck. Salina Police are investigating after someone entered a 2001 Ford F350 that was parked near the corner of Santa Fe and West Republic. The burglar removed a wallet full of cash plus a power drill from inside. Police report the owner saw someone rummaging through his truck ...