EL DORADO— People camping in southeast Kansas this holiday weekend are being advised to reserve a spot or arrive early because floodwater levels have closed some campgrounds.

Some areas of Cheney Lake are affected by flooding. Hobie Beach, Heimerman Point, Wichita Point and M & M Point are experiencing high water levels and will not be open for some time, according to a social media report.

The park has contacted or left messages for everyone that had reservations for Memorial weekend and will contact as needed any future reservations that are affected.

The Corps of Engineers has started releasing water but it will not be in time for Memorial Day and if there are future heavy rains, it will fall behind what will be coming in.

El Dorado State Park manager Seth Turner said Monday that areas where campsites are first-come, first-served are already filling in anticipation of Memorial Day weekend.

Turner says that on a good holiday weekend, the park might host up to 70,000 people. He says the park still saw about 40,000 people last year despite bad weather.

Linda Lanterman is the state park director for the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism. Lanterman says the parks will be fine despite some unavailable campsites because they’re seeing increased popularity and revenue.

Turner says it could be weeks before the park’s water levels stabilize.

-The AP contributed to this report.

SEDWICK COUNTY – Four fire fighters were hospitalized after fighting a Kansas apartment building fire on Monday.

Just before 8 p.m. fire crews responded to report of a fire at an apartment complex in the 700 Block of North Country Acres near the intersection of Central and Ridge in Wichita, according to Stuart Bevis, acting Fire Marshal with the Wichita Fire Department.

First units on the scene observed significant fire from one apartment and initiated a second alarm.

One entire building, especially the upper floors, was severely damaged, according to Bevis. A number of residents were evacuated.

Eight firefighters suffered minor injuries and four were transported to a hospital for treatment and released.

The cause of the fire was accidental due to unattended cooking. The occupant of the apartment had left after cooking and didn’t turn off the stove, according to Bevis.

The apartment is an older building without sheetrock just paneling on studs, according to Bevis.

The blaze was responsible for over $650,000 dollars in damage to the structure and $100,000 dollars to contents.

The Red Cross is assisting 21 occupants displaced in the building.

 

SALINE COUNTY –Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating the death of an infant and have made an arrest.

Just before 3:30p.m. Monday, first responders were called to a residence in the 900 Block of North Ninth Street in Salina after report of an unresponsive 11-month-old, according to Police Sgt. James Feldman.

EMS transported the child to Salina Regional Medical Center where he died at approximately 4:15 p.m.

On Tuesday, police arrested Michael Ray Hatfield, 42, Salina, on a requested charges of felony murder, aggravated endangerment of a child, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to a press release from Salina Police.

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SALINE COUNTY –Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating the death of an infant.

Just before 3:30p.m. Monday, first responders were called to a residence in the 900 Block of North Ninth Street in Salina after report of an unresponsive 11-month-old, according to Police Sgt. James Feldman.

EMS transported the child to Salina Regional Medical Center where he died.

Saline County Attorney Ellen Mitchell is considering possible charges, which may be released later this week, according to Feldman.

No other information was released early Tuesday.

JEWELL COUNTY – Another earthquake hit north-central Kansas Tuesday morning.

The quake just after 11a.m. measured a magnitude 2.8 and was centered approximately 7 miles southeast of Mankato, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

This is the sixth quake in Kansas in May.

A 3.4 magnitude quake hit at 11:54 p.m. Saturday and was centered approximately 8 miles southeast of Mankato,

A pair of small earthquakes were reported in Harper County early Friday, May 19.

A 2.7 magnitude quake hit 10 miles northwest of Conway Springs on May 10.

The agency reported a 3.5 magnitude quake in Harper County on May 5.

The USGS recorded nearly a dozen Kansas earthquakes in April, seven in March and six in February. They measured from 2.5. to 3.3.

There are no reports of damage or injury from Tuesday’s quake, according to the Jewell County Sheriff’s Department.

By JIM MCLEAN

Kansas lawmakers marked the fifth anniversary of Gov. Sam Brownback’s signature income tax cuts becoming law by rejecting a bill that would have largely repealed them.

The bill defeated Monday night by the House was similar to a measure rejected May 10 by the Senate. Both would have raised more than $1 billion over two years to cover a projected budget shortfall of $900 million by increasing income tax rates and repealing a controversial exemption given to more than 330,000 business owners and farmers.

Moderate Republicans supported both bills, but each failed due to lack of support from Democrats who split on whether they would have generated enough to also cover an increase in public school funding needed to comply with a Kansas Supreme Court ruling.

The 53-68 House vote sends members representing the tax committees in both chambers back to the negotiating table as legislators hit the final days of a planned 100-day session.

But Rep. Steven Johnson, a Republican from Assaria who chairs the House Tax Committee, said the vote left him unsure what to try next.

“I know what people say they would like to see run. I do not know what will pass,” Johnson told the Wichita Eagle after the vote.

Rep. Melissa Rooker, a key moderate Republican from Fairway, said legislative factions that control roughly equal numbers of votes are making it hard to reach compromise solutions on the budget and school finance.

“There is no controlling faction,” Rooker said. “There is no group of people who have a voting block large enough to run the show.”

The failure of Democrats to support two tax bills that ostensibly met their demand for a rollback of the Brownback tax cuts has frustrated several moderate Republicans.

After the Senate vote, Rep. Russ Jennings, a moderate Republican from Lakin, said he considered Democrats “unreliable partners.”

Meanwhile, approximately 40 conservative Republicans from both chambers continue to argue that tax increases aren’t needed to balance the budget. Their plan, outlined Monday at a Statehouse news conference, calls for freezing state spending, diverting more money from highway projects and securitizing a portion of the state’s tobacco settlement payments.

Rep. Randy Powell, an Olathe Republican, said his constituents want government to live within its means.

“They’re not wanting bigger government. They want a balanced budget,” Powell said.

Advocates for the children’s education programs funded by tobacco settlement dollars immediately denounced the proposal.

“We’re almost 100 days into the session and rather than address failed tax policy, some lawmakers want to eliminate the state’s entire early childhood infrastructure,” said Annie McKay, president and CEO of the nonprofit advocacy group Kansas Action for Children.

“Selling off the revenue stream that supports the Children’s Initiatives Fund is robbing from the future of Kansas kids — all to continue a devastating tax experiment,” she said.

Jim McLean is managing director of the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of kcur.org, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks.