12 years ago
Governor Sam Brownback has signed legislation revising the Kansas law allowing convicted murderers to be sentenced to at least 50 years in prison. Lawmakers approved the measure this week during a two-day special session. Brownback signed it Friday and delivered it to the secretary of state's office. The law will take effect September 12th when it is ...

12 years ago
Newly released sampling data from 51 Kansas counties show slightly more of this year's wheat graded as top quality. The National Agricultural Statistics Service said Friday in its annual wheat quality report that 85 percent of the samples graded as No. 1 wheat, compared with 83 percent last year. About 14 percent of the samples graded as ...

12 years ago
A panel appointed by Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is recommending several strategies for reducing childhood poverty, including strengthening marriages, improving educational opportunities and reforming welfare-to-work programs. The Governor's Task Force on Reducing Childhood Poverty released its report Friday, calling its recommendations a starting point for policymakers. The report urges more targeted use of public funds to reduce ...

12 years ago
Police are investigating a theft from a Salina apartment.  Sometime between August 1st and September 3rd two rings were reportedly stolen from apartment #303 at 831 East Wayne. One ring is yellow gold, with a three diamond cathederal setting. The other is yellow gold with a rectangular blue stone surrounded by small diamonds. Total loss ...

12 years ago
University of Kansas students say a special Lawrence police detail set up to curb dangerous behavior among partiers downtown is unfairly targeting them as a way to raise revenue for the city. But police say the special patrols that began Aug. 14 are meant to protect students and the rest of the public from ...

12 years ago
A former volunteer firefighter in Reno County pleaded guilty to setting three grass fires after prosecutors agreed to drop 11 other charges. 19-year-old Cody Knox, of Arlington, was a volunteer for Reno County Fire District No. 4, which covers Arlington, Langdon, Plevna and Abbyville. Reno County District Attorney Keith Schroeder previously said Knox used a ...

12 years ago
A former Salina man will serve decades in prison after being sentenced for his second conviction of sexually abusing a young girl. Forty-year-old Shawn T. Vogan was sentenced Thursday to life in prison with a minimum of 40 years. He pleaded guilty in July to aggravated indecent liberties with a child after admitting he abused a ...

12 years ago
Wichita police say they have captured a man suspected of shooting and wounding a Butler County Sheriff's deputy earlier this week. Wichita Police Lt. Doug Nolte said Friday morning that Jan Kilbourne was arrested without resistance early Friday near an apartment in Wichita. No other details were immediately available. Law enforcement officers have ...

12 years ago
Judges of the Kansas Court of Appeals will hear arguments in four cases in Manhattan as part of Kansas State University's observance of Constitution Day. The panel will convene in the Student Union on Sept. 17, the day the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1787. On the docket are the denial of tenure for a University of ...

12 years ago
A federal judge has set a fall trial date for the former Hays wastewater manager charged with lying about nitrogen levels in the city's discharges. Court records show the case against 57-year-old Charles L. Blair was scheduled Thursday to go before a federal jury on Nov. 5. A four-count indictment charges Blair with making false statements about ...

12 years ago
A Fort Riley soldier is killed in a motorcycle crash Thursday evening. According to the Kansas Highway Patol, 29-year-old Jose Laureano-Mercado was riding a Yamaha motorcycle north on McDowell Creek Road south of Manhattan. He failed to negotiate a curve and drove onto the gravel shoulder. The motorcycle struck a delineator post and Laureano-Mercado was ejected.  Troopers say that Laureano-Mercado was wearing ...