12 years ago
Authorities are investigating two suspected arson fires at two apartment buildings. One of of the fires was Monday, and the other was Wednesday. No injuries were reported. Salina Fire Department investigator Troy Long says it appears an accelerant was used to set both fires. Samples have been sent to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation laboratory for analysis. The ...

12 years ago
A new report says Kansas court employees could face unpaid furloughs as the judicial branch tries to handle an $8.25 million budget shortfall. A committee appointed by the Kansas Supreme Court in October to look for ways to deal with the shortfall forwarded its recommendations to Chief Justice Lawton Nuss on Dec. 13. The committee says furloughs ...

12 years ago
The Ellis County Sheriff's Office has arrested two people in connection with recent mail theft cases from rural mail boxes. Detective Scott Braun says that the sheriff's office had received reports of seven recent mail thefts in the county as of Dec. 18. Law enforcement said they believed thieves were looking through mailboxes in rural areas ...

12 years ago
UPDATE: The victim was identified Thursday as 31-year-old Thomas Hedrick, an active member of the military and a Ft. Riley resident. Crews continue attempts to recover his body from the lake. ORIGINAL: The Geary County Sheriff is trying to recover the body of a military man who drown Christmas Eve morning. According to a news release, Deputies ...

12 years ago
Kansas legislators are expected to reopen debate of the state's "Hard 50" prison-sentence law with a proposal to make it the default punishment for premeditated first-degree murder. Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce is writing a bill to make the change. The current default is life without parole for at least 25 years for such crimes, though prosecutors ...

12 years ago
Lawrence police have arrested a suspect in a fatal Christmas morning stabbing that followed a domestic disturbance. Officers were called to an apartment around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday and found a victim with critical injuries. Police say lifesaving measures were unsuccessful. The Lawrence Journal-World reports  a 27-year-old woman was arrested at the scene and booked into the Douglas ...

12 years ago
Authorities in Topeka say a sprinkler malfunction at the Statehouse caused an estimated $100,000 in damage. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports  firefighters were called to the Statehouse at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Fire Department Battalion Chief Ron Hufford says damage to the sprinkler system caused heavy leaking from pipes near a ground-floor entryway on the building's north side. Firefighters spent ...

12 years ago
The Cargill beef packing plant in Dodge City is expected to resume full production by the end of the week following a fire in the kill floor area. No injuries were reported in the fire Monday night, but 1,000 employees were evacuated and firefighters took several hours to put out all the hotspots. KAKE-TV reports operations were ...

12 years ago
It's about to cost close to 50 cents to mail a letter. Regulators have approved a temporary price hike of 3 cents for a first-class stamp, bringing the cost of mailing a letter to 49 cents, beginning Jan. 26. The Postal Service hopes the higher rate will help it recoup about $2.8 billion in losses. The price hike ...

12 years ago
Pope Francis is wishing for a better world, with peace for the land of Jesus' birth, for Syria and Africa, as well as for the dignity of migrants and refugees fleeing misery and conflict. In his Christmas message today, the pope spoke from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to tens of thousands of people ...

12 years ago
A northeast Kansas sheriff says a man has drowned at Milford Lake after his boat capsized while duck hunting. Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf declined to identify the man who drowned Tuesday other than to say he was a member of the military. KJCK reports a second man on the boat was able to make it safely ...