MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas group tasked with preparing a plan to increase locally grown food production plans to get together this week.
The Kansas Department of Agriculture says in a press release that the Local Food and Farm Task Force it has scheduled a public meeting at 9 a.m. on May 8. It is meeting at the Kansas State Capitol in Room 142S.
The group was established in the 2014 session of the Kansas Legislature.
Its purpose is to prepare a plan containing policy and funding recommendations to boost local foods.
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Board of Regents has appointed a search committee to help find the next president of Emporia State University.
The Board announced Wednesday that the committee is comprised of Emporia State students, staff and faculty. It will include faculty representatives from all of its colleges as well as the university’s foundation and alumni boards, the Board of Regents and the Emporia community.
Current President Michael Shonrock announced in early April that he would be leaving to take over as president of Linwood University starting June 1. Shonrock previously served at Texas Tech University as senior vice president and associate professor.
Emporia State also is seeking a new president for its foundation after Dena Sue Potestio announced earlier this month she also is leaving.
CHICAGO (AP) — A new report from a women’s legal advocacy group says some insurance plans offered on the health overhaul law’s new marketplaces violate its requirements for women’s health.
The National Women’s Law Center analyzed plans in 15 states and found some exclude dependents from maternity coverage, prohibit coverage of breast pumps or fail to cover all federally approved birth control methods.
The report calls for regulators to do a better job reviewing plans and for insurers to comply with the law. It calls for more public access to health plan coverage documents.
Gretchen Borchelt of the National Women’s Law Center says violations leave women “without the coverage they need.”
Insurance industry spokeswoman Clare Krusing says plans are reviewed by regulators to ensure coverage policies meet the law’s benefit requirements.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts has been elected chairman of the commission working to build a memorial honoring President Dwight D. Eisenhower near the National Mall.
Roberts, a Republican from Eisenhower’s home state, was elected Wednesday during a meeting of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission at the Capitol. California Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson was elected vice chairman.
Former chairman Rocco Siciliano led the effort for 15 years and oversaw hiring Frank Gehry as the designer.
Now it falls to Roberts to build support to complete the memorial. The project has been delayed for years over objections to the design by Eisenhower’s family and some groups.
Roberts says it hasn’t been easy to advance the project. But he says Eisenhower never stopped in the face of adversity and the commission won’t either.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A fraternity at the University of Kansas has kicked out four members after a video posted on social media showed someone mocking Muslims.
Zeta Beta Tau chapter president Jason Finkelstein said Wednesday that the traditionally Jewish fraternity learned of the video April 10 and expelled the members the next day. He said it appears the clip was posted April 9 via the app Yeti.
In a written statement released over the weekend to the school’s student newspaper, the University Daily Kansan, the fraternity said it takes a “strong stance against bigotry and intolerance in all forms.”
The student paper obtained the clip, which shows a man wrapped in a blanket with his face and head covered. He can be heard saying “Allahu akbar,” Arabic for “God is great.”
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) spoke on the Senate floor Monday evening. Watch his comments here.
He voiced his concerns about the consequences of the Obama Administration’s nuclear negotiations with Iran and the danger created by a weak or unverifiable deal. Sen. Moran is a cosponsor of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (S. 615), legislation that would require Congressional review of a final nuclear deal with Iran and limit the President’s ability to act unilaterally.
Over the years, Congress has passed a series of strong economic sanctions that forced Iran to enter negotiations in search of economic relief. Included in those statutory sanctions are national security waiver authorities and other provisions that the President can use to suspend sanctions on Iran – without Congressional approval – as part of a final nuclear deal. The President has threatened to veto just about any piece of legislation that might restrict his authority to waive sanctions or limit his ability to make a unilateral deal with Iran. S. 615 has accumulated a veto-proof amount of support in the Senate.
Upon passage of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, and in the case a deal is ultimately struck by the June 30 deadline, waiver authorities would be suspended and Congress would have 30 days to review any potential accord with Iran and determine whether it puts the world on a path toward peace.
Kansas Gas and Salina Fire Department at scene of gas leak Wednesday.
SALINA- Fire crews evacuated 10 homes near a gas leak on a Salina residential street just after 10:30 Wednesday morning.
Salina Master Patrol officer Rande Repp said a pickup with a trailer backed into a gas meter to a home in the 700 block of North 5th Street. The driver was pulling out of an alley access to a garage.
A strong, pungent odor of natural gas was noticeable a block away before the gas was shut off.
As a precaution, nearby homes were evacuated and 4th and 5th Streets between Woodland and Grand were blocked to traffic until Kansas Gas Service was able to shut off the gas and repair the meter.
There were no injuries according to the Salina Fire Department.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A bill that some lawmakers say would make it more difficult for sex offenders confined for treatment to appeal for their release is facing fresh scrutiny after a report by the state auditor found flaws in the program.
The report released Tuesday said the cost of Kansas’ sexual predator treatment program could double by 2025 because only three have been released from it since 1994 and its population continues to rise.
Offenders deemed to be sexual predators are committed to Larned State Hospital after they serve their criminal penalties and are released only after completing a seven-phase treatment plan.
The bill would move patients’ grievances and petitions for release from a courtroom setting to a meeting with an administrative lawyer who would decide the case by phone or video conference.
Hays Kiwanis volunteers pose for a picture during their Kiwanis One Day project.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
The Hays Kiwanis Club recently joined with other clubs around the world for “Kiwanis ONE Day,” with an estimated one million volunteer hours donated to community service projects internationally.
The Hays club members did some spring cleaning and sprucing up in the Kiwanis Park located at 17th and Harvest Road.
The park is a partnership with the city of Hays. Director of Parks Jeff Boyle provided project coordinator Don Scheibler with a list of things that needed to be done.
“We were happy to do it,” Scheibler said. “Everything Kiwanis does is improving the community and working to make life better for the children.”
“Quality of life is a huge issue for folks these days,” Boyle said, “and this Kiwanis Park is a perfect example of it. You’ve gotta have a place for kids to hang out and enjoy their day, parents included.”
The group of about 20 Kiwanis members and friends “repainted picnic tables and the swing set, raked the sand in the volleyball pits and picked up trash,” Scheibler added, which tends to collect in the drainage canal along the east side of the park.
The city provided all the supplies and equipment needed for the project.
In celebration of Kiwanis International’s 100th year, the Hays Kiwanis club presented a $40,000 check to the city in January for new playground equipment, restrooms and a fitness trail in the park.
“This park wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the Kiwanis,” declared Boyle. “It was just an open field back in 1991 when they went before the city commission and said ‘we want to put in a park.'”
ATCHISON -A Kansas mother is facing multiple charges in connection with life-threatening injuries sustained by her infant son.
Authorities say Heidi Pace, 22, was charged with Abuse of a Child and Aggravated Battery.
Atchison County Sheriff Jack Laurie said they began investigating April 7 after being alerted by Child Services at Children’s Mercy Hospital.
“They advised us that they had received a 3-month-old male child down there that had possibly been abused in some manner,” Laurie said. “The baby had originally been taken to Horton Hospital and was then flown for additional treatment at a larger hospital.
Laurie said the infant has suffered some severe brain damage and a ruptured spleen. He said the child is in serious condition.
Pace was arrested Tuesday morning in Muschotah, Kan.
Laurie said Pace is being held in Atchison County Jail on $100,000 bond cash or surety.
MCPHERSON – Police in McPherson arrested a suspect in connection with a weekend death.
According to police officers responded to the 100 block of North Maple in McPherson just after 11:15 p.m. on Sunday on the report of two people who may have been intoxicated.
When officers arrived, they found 23-year-old Loren Kleinschmidt and 64-year-old Kinley Cobb.
Investigators say Cobb had serious injuries and was taken to a hospital in McPherson.
He was later transferred to a hospital in Wichita where he died from those injuries.
Kleinschmidt was taken into custody in connection with Cobb’s death.
Police have not released any details about how Cobb was injured.
Students from about 30 middle and high schools will converge on Fort Hays State University’s Gross Memorial Coliseum Friday for the 56th annual Western Kansas Technology Fair.
Participating will be students in grades seven through 12 in technology classes from schools mostly in the western half of the state.
Students bring to campus projects they have been working on throughout the year for display and for judging. Awards are given out in several categories, including live competitions.
The public is invited to view the projects anytime between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Projects include woods, metals, drafting, graphic arts, construction, computer-aided design, manufacturing, carbon dioxide cars and electric cars.
Top awards are given for winners in production systems; communication systems; power, energy and transportation; and multi-pupil and outstanding technology program. Certificates also are given for all class-level winners.
The highest honor at the event is to be given the people’s choice plaque, the Fred Ruda Legacy Award, named in honor of a former instructor and chair of the former Department of Technology Studies, now the Institute of Applied Technology.
Ruda spent 39 years of his career at Fort Hays State, including the last 33 as department chair. He died in a car accident in April 2012.
