LUCAS, Kansas (AP) — The winner of a city council seat in a small north central Kansas town probably won’t ever serve in office, at least until he becomes a U.S. citizen.

Adam Baker is a British immigrant living in Lucas, a town of about 500 people in Russell County. He has applied for U.S. citizenship but has been waiting for two years to receive it.

Baker won a city council seat in Tuesday’s election after 62 people wrote in his name, giving him three more votes than the incumbent.

Baker says he told people before the election about his citizenship status and that he likely wouldn’t be able to be on the council.

The Russell County commissioners will discuss the issue while canvassing votes next Monday.

 

Wyandotte County authorities say a woman is charged with trying to drown her two young daughters.

The 1- and 4-year-old girls, who were taken from the home on Tuesday, are in critical condition at The University of Kansas Hospital.

Their mother, 23-year-old Johnna Green, was charged Thursday with two counts of attempted first-degree murder. She is jailed in Wyandotte County on $1 million bond. It was not immediately clear if she had an attorney.

Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome A. Gorman says the charges allege Green tried to drown her daughters with premeditation. He says Green called 911 to report the incident.

Gorman said the two children are in the custody of Kansas social services.

 Topeka – Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed 17 bills into law Thursday afternoon, bringing the total number of bills signed by the governor during the 2013 Legislative Session to 35.

 HB 2044 creates two new crimes, distribution of a controlled substance causing great bodily harm (severity level 5) and distribution of a controlled substance causing death (severity level 1).

 HB 2193 updates a federal reference in existing state law concerning disability accessibility standards for public facilities. The change would make the state law consistent with the current Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

SB 216 amends existing law to state a municipal university, as well as any state university, would have the ability to use a public building commission to acquire land and facilities near or adjacent to the university or could acquire by lease, land and facilities constituting a part of the campus of the institution. The new law also allows the public building commission to acquire the fee simple title to real property, or a leasehold interest in real property, located on the campus of any municipal university.

SB 85 allows people to use electronic proof of their insurance via a cellular phone or other type of portable electronic device when providing proof of insurance when registering a vehicle and when requested by law enforcement.

S 59 authorizes the Attorney General to pay a reward of up to $5,000 to anyone who first provides information concerning a violation of the Medicaid Fraud Control Act, the False Claims Act, or any other law that protects the integrity of the public treasury.

SB 52 amends the maximum annual interest rate established in law for first real estate mortgage loans and contracts for deeds.

SB 51 adds a trade organization of banks to the Insurance Code list of associations providing health insurance coverage exempted from the jurisdiction of the Kansas Insurance Commissioner. Enactment of the bill would allow this designated banking organization the ability to self-insure, offering health coverage through a self-funded group plan.

SB 28 allows the Adjutant General’s department to accept the federal land where the Crisis City facility is located.

HB 2156 repeals an obsolete statute regarding the area vocational school fund in the unified school district budget document.

HB 2163 requires a garnishee respond to an order of garnishment within 14 days after service to the judgment creditor (or the judgement creditor’s attorney) regarding whether he/she has the assets to pay the debt.

HB 2169 adds motions to revoke probation to the list of final disposition of pending proceedings imprisoned persons can request. If the court fails to hold a hearing on the motion to revoke probation within 180 days of receipt of the request, the motion would no longer be of any further force or effect and the court would be required to dismiss it with prejudice. Escape from custody of any prisoner subsequent to requesting final disposition of a motion to revoke probation would void the request.

HB 2181 authorizes a licensing body to waive educational requirements towards certification or licensure for any former military service member who completes a distance education course through an accredited educational institution. The courses must be substantially equivalent to the standards required for certification or licensure. Additionally, each licensing body is permitted to adopt rules and regulations necessary for implementation of the waiver. The waiver does not apply to the practice of law or the regulation of attorneys.

HB 2269 designates a portion of K-92, from the junction of K-92 and 94th Street in Jefferson County south to the northern boundary of McLouth, as the John Bower Memorial Highway.

HB 2318 allows a motorcycle’s headlamp to be wired with a federally approved headlamp modulation system and allows certain types of lights on the sides of motorcycles.

HB 2357 designates a portion of US-169, from the City of Coffeyville north to the junction of US-169 and 3000 Road in Montgomery County, as the 242nd Engineer Company – KS Army National Guard – Highway.

HB 2028 amends the Kansas Standard Asset Seizure and Forfeiture Act concerning venue in forfeiture proceedings brought by the Attorney General.

HB 2205 streamlines the adoption petition process by eliminating language that prevents a hearing from being scheduled within 30 days from the date the petition is filed and allows the hearing to be scheduled anytime within 60 days of the filing date.  The new law also provides an exception to notice requirements in independent and stepparent adoptions when the party entitled to notice waives the right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two term Republican Congressman Tim Huelskamp is featured in an article this week published by the Boston Globe and written by Matt Viser. The lengthy article titled, “Kansas District Shuns Comprise,” has a unique look at the residents of the western Kansas.

Viser writes, “The establishment in Washington views voters in places like Jetmore as as part of the problem: They are sending staunchly conservative lawmakers to office with a mandate to oppose government spending and tax increases while avoiding any compromise. Their ideological purity has stymied efforts to set a coherent economic policy, sowing uncertainty in the business community and hampering the economic recovery. But in two dozen interviews last week during the congressional recess, the people of Jetmore and the district’s other rural communities said Washington and President Obama have it all backward. Although the fractured Tea Party groups that grew in 2010 have lost some of their national stature, the anger that gave rise to the movement is still out there.

The residents of western Kansas are tired of out-of-control spending and government growth, and Huelskamp is their response.”

(AP) – A Kansas State University researcher has found an agricultural upside to elevated carbon dioxide levels in the earth’s atmosphere.

Agronomy professor Mary Beth Kirkham says experiments have shown that the elevated levels allow winter wheat and sorghum to use water more efficiently, which mitigates the effect drought has on those crops.

She’s written a book on the subject, using data going back to 1958, when the first accurate measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide were made. Data shows that carbon dioxide concentrations have increased from 316 parts per million to 390 parts per million from 1958 to 2011, the last year with complete data available.

Kirkham says elevated carbon dioxide closes pores on the leaves through which water escapes. That means less water is used when carbon dioxide levels are elevated.