TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — New Kansas Department of Education figures show that public schools would lose a total of $51 million in state aid before the end of June under an education funding plan from Republican leaders.

Figures released Friday show that the total reduction would be 1.5 percent of the general aid districts had been set to receive.

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback already has announced cuts of $28 million in aid to public schools to help balance the budget, and they take effect Saturday.

Department of Education figures released Friday show that the GOP leaders’ plan for overhauling education funding would trim an additional $23 million.

However, GOP leaders have noted that total spending still would remain significantly above the amount for the 2013-14 school year. They released their plan Thursday.

WATHENA- A woman was injured in an accident just before 7:30 a.m. on Friday in Doniphan County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Dodge Neon driven by Angela Renee Jacobs, 37, St. Joseph, Mo.,was westbound on U.S. 36, just east of Kansas 238.

The vehicle was traveling at a low rate of speed and was rear-ended by a 2013 Ford pickup driven by Aaron J. Jelinek, 41, Kansas City.

Jacobs was transported to Mosaic Life Care.

Jelinek was not injured.

The KHP reported both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the collision.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas reports that its unemployment rate remained at 4.2 percent in January and the state’s private-sector employment grew over the previous year.

The state Department of Labor noted Friday that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January was significantly better than the 4.7 percent reported in January 2014.

The state said 1.14 million Kansas residents held private-sector jobs in January, about 17,100 more than in January 2014. The growth was about 1.5 percent.

Government employment also was slightly higher in January than in January 2014.

The department said leisure and hospitality businesses saw the most robust employment growth over the year. They employed almost 126,000 people in January. That was 4,200 more than in January 2014, an increase of 3.5 percent.

But employment in manufacturing and mining declined.

ABILENE- Law enforcement authorities in Abilene made a drug arrest on Thursday.

Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office reported in a media release that the County’s Drug Enforcement Unit with assistance from the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office and Abilene Police Department executed a search warrant in the 1400 Block of Northwest 3rd in Abilene.

Officers seized 348 gross grams of marijuana, and several items of drug paraphernalia along with $2079 in drug proceeds.

Joshua Mychal Rangel, 23, Abilene was arrested and booked into the Dickinson County Jail on charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute within 1000 feet of a school, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, felony possession of drug paraphernalia, unlawful use of a telecommunications device, receiving drug proceeds, no Kansas drug tax stamp, and aggravated endangerment of a child.

Authorities say the case is ongoing and further arrests are possible

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas House committee is preparing to review a plan from top Republican lawmakers to overhaul how the state distributes money to public schools.

The Appropriations Committee’s hearing Monday would be the first on the plan. The committee drafts budget measures, and aid to public schools is the biggest spending item each year.

The Kansas Department of Education was preparing an analysis Friday of how the GOP plan would affect individual school districts.

The measure incorporates Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposal to give districts “block grants” based on their current aid until lawmakers write a new formula.

Republican leaders said the plan increases aid to schools. Figures from legislative researchers show that most of the increase over the next two school years would cover rising state contributions to teacher pensions.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has upheld the convictions of a Great Bend man who killed a 14-year-old cheerleader and burned her body at the asphalt plant where he worked.

The court in a 61-page ruling handed down Friday affirmed his conviction for the capital murder of Alicia DeBolt.

It rejected defense arguments that publicity surrounding the case was so pervasive that Longoria could not get a fair trial.

Alicia was last seen leaving her home in Great Bend for a party just before midnight on Aug. 21, 2010. Text messages prosecutors showed jurors showed that the then 38-year-old Longoria picked Alicia up that night.

Her family reported her missing the next day, and her body was found three days later at the Venture Corp. plant where Longoria worked.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has refused to toss out terrorism-related charges against the man accused of plotting a suicide bomb attack at a Kansas airport.

U.S. District Judge Monti Belot rejected Friday all arguments made by defense attorneys for Terry Loewen. The former avionics technician was arrested in December 2013 after authorities said he tried to bring a van filled with inert explosives onto the tarmac at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita.

The judge says defense claims of entrapment and outrageous government conduct cannot be determined before the trial. Loewen was arrested after a sting operation in which undercover FBI agents posed as co-conspirators and gave him the fake explosives.

Belot also refused to suppress evidence taken from the van due to a clerical error in the date of the search warrant.

MANHATTAN — May will likely mark the start of the five-year construction to build the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility, or NBAF according to a media release from Kansas State University.

On March 3, the U.S. Congress passed a bill that included the remaining $300 million to complete the $1.25 billion premier animal disease research laboratory. Construction on the lab’s central utility plant has been under way since 2013 and is about 90 percent complete.

The federal research lab will be on the northeast edge of Kansas State University’s Manhattan campus.

“NBAF is needed to confront foreign animal diseases that threaten America’s agricultural economy and food supply,” said Ron Trewyn, the university’s NBAF liaison. “Building this lab is long overdue.”

Construction of the lab will begin in May, with construction efforts projected to peak in 2018 and 2019 when more than 875 construction personnel will be on site each day for several weeks. Lab construction is slated for completion in December 2020, but will likely take two years or more after that before NBAF is fully operational.

Once lab operations begin, the research facility will have about 400 employees and generate $3.5 billion into the Kansas economy in the first 20 years of operation.

NBAF will be the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s foremost animal disease research facility. The biosafety level-3 and 4 laboratory will research emerging, high-consequence livestock diseases that threaten animal and human health.

GREAT BEND– The City of Great Bend Police Department Detective Scott Bieberle, 44, was attending the Storm Spotters Meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

According to a media release from the city, Bieberle left the training at 4:30 p.m. and ran out to his vehicle to respond to another call and collapsed inside the car.

Luckily, his vehicle was parked in front of the Barton County Health Department and a couple of Health Department Staff employees happened to be looking out the window and noticed Bieberle slump over.

Barton County Health Department staff flagged down a Great Bend Police Officer & Barton County Sheriff’s Officer to help; CPR was started while Great Bend EMS services were called.

“What a blessing it was for our teammate to be where he was when this happened,” said Howard Partington, acting Police Chief. “We are extremely thankful and appreciative for all who were involved in saving Detective Bieberle.”

When the Great Bend EMT services arrived, the EKG machine had to be used. Captain Bob Robinson said, “CPR training was critical in this situation, without those trained individuals we would have lost Detective Bieberle.”

According to Shelly Schneider at the Health Department, “Less than 10% of people make it out of a situation like that, it was a blessing that our staff were looking out the window in that moment.”

Everyone involved agrees it was nice to have such a collaborative effort in regards to this situation. It was a critical situation where many departments came together to save a life all with CPR training. CPR Training classes can be a lifesaver and the more trained the more people can be saved. Contact the Great Bend Recreation Commission for the next available CPR class.

Robinson also stated, “We have extremely well trained people, special thanks to all who were involved, what a great team we all make for our community!”
Bieberle is in stable condition at the Hays Medical Center but is continuing to be monitored for proper treatment and recovery.