TOPEKA – To better assist job seekers with finding great employment in Kansas, the Kansas Department of Commerce and KANSASWORKS are pleased to introduce the new KANSASWORKS app, now available on both Apple and Android devices.
This free app was designed to make it easier for Kansans to find work in the state. Once installed, the app will be able to find jobs through keyword and title searches or by zip code.
“Our agency is working hard to bring new business to the state and help companies that already call Kansas home to grow and become great successes,” said Robert North, Interim Secretary of the Kansas Department of Commerce. “To grow a business anywhere, you need a pipeline of qualified employees to fill open positions. If we can make finding and hiring great workers easier, and at the same time help Kansans find rewarding employment, then this app will be a be a huge benefit to the state.”
Features of the app include:
Simple job search in Kansas
Search by job title, location and radius you’re willing to commute
View jobs that suite your goals
Connect with employers via KANSASWORKS.com, save jobs and share with friends
Bookmark your favorite jobs for follow up
Find a local KANSASWORK Workforce Center
“KANSASWORKS has been busy leveraging technology to assist employers and job seekers in our state, and this app is the latest effort to make it easier to help make matches between the needs of our employers with job seekers on the market,” said Mike Beene, Director of Employment Services at the Kansas Department of Commerce.
TOPEKA – The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) has been awarded a $57,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to assist in its underground pipeline damage prevention efforts.
The grant will be used to fund one full-time employee dedicated to damage prevention inspections and enforcement for the Wichita metropolitan area as well as augment enforcement in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Excavation damage is the most common cause of damage to underground pipelines. In 2017, there were 485 reports of gas lines damaged as a result of excavation activity in the state. Of those, 266 incidents or 55% occurred in the Wichita and Kansas City metropolitan areas.
“This grant opportunity has allowed the KCC to have a presence in the field at the site of the damage before repairs are complete,” said KCC Chief Engineer Leo Haynos. “The ability to interview the parties involved, to look at the locate marks, and to understand the type of excavating equipment involved, provides the inspector with the information needed to make a credible determination of the cause.”
In addition to compliance actions for violations, including the recommendation of civil penalties, the KCC’s enforcement strategy is coupled with a strong educational component that fosters communication among all parties. Using this approach, damages to underground natural gas pipelines with respect to excavation activity in the area have stabilized at 2 damages per every 1000 excavations.
Kansas was one of 24 states to receive a PHMSA grant.
Dr. Roger Marshall, R-Great Bend, is the First District Kansas Congressman.
Today the Trump Administration announced plans for the Environmental Protection Agency to begin allowing the sale and use of E15 throughout the year. This is great news for our Kansas producers; specifically, our corn, sorghum, and our ethanol plants around the state.
The ban that was placed on E15 stifled summer consumption of ethanol and unnecessarily limited options for consumers at the pump. When net farm income is already at the lowest dollar level in an almost decade, handcuffing our producers with absurd regulations is the last thing we needed. I am thrilled for the relief and certainty this will bring to the ag economy.
This announcement ends the uncertainty that comes every year when antiquated rules take effect for portions of the country that limit the use of E15.
This is another big win for our biofuels industry, and also the Kansas consumer who will be able to purchase high quality, high octane, cleaner fuel at a lower price. Lifting these regulations is a great victory for Kansas, and I am thankful that the President and Acting EPA Director Wheeler put our farmers and consumers first.
E15 gasoline is approved for use in all vehicles made since 2001 which today, make up 90-percent of the cars on the road.
“President Trump delivered a big win for Kansas agriculture today,” Tom Willis, CEO of Conestoga Energy. “I’m grateful for his commitment to putting America and our farmers first so that we can keep doing what we do best: providing clean and affordable renewable fuel for our nation.”
Conestoga Energy is the largest ethanol producer in the state. This announcement will lead to a win-win solution that supports a multitude of jobs across our energy sector.
“We have a great product that is produced here in our state, is a cleaner, safer fuel additive, boosts octane, and lowers fuel prices,” Kansas Corn CEO Greg Krissek said. “Federal regulations were holding us back, and President Trump has held true to his promise to help us get more access to markets for our corn-based fuel.”
Kansas ethanol plants produce nearly half a billion gallons of ethanol a year and creates more than 700 jobs at these plants. Ethanol production also indirectly supports more than 4,000 jobs across the state.
“It is clear the Administration understands the importance of ethanol. This is terrific news for the ethanol industry, American farmers, and the U.S. consumer. We look forward to working with the Administration on implementing this welcome and needed change,” Ron Seeber, CEO of Renew Kansas said. Renew Kansas represents independent ethanol producers and farmers in the ethanol production industry across Kansas.
The sale of E15 is vital to our farmers, ethanol producers, and rural communities.
“We at Kansas Ethanol, LLC are very pleased to hear of the Trump Administration’s announcement to allow year-round E-15 sales and increase RINs market transparency,” Michael Chisam CEO of Kansas Ethanol, LLC. said.
With twelve ethanol plants in the state and eight of them in Congressman Marshall’s district, Kansas is in a position to be a top ethanol exporter and leader in renewable fuel production.
“It is clear the Administration understands the importance of E-15 fuel and the multitude of benefits it provides to the economy and consumers,” Chisam said. “This is terrific news for American farmers and everyone that enjoys a cheaper, cleaner-burning choice at the pump. We look forward to the full implementation of this welcome and needed change.”
Dr. Roger Marshall, R-Great Bend, is the First District Kansas Congressman.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A 46-year-old Missouri man is charged with making a hoax emergency call in Overland Park, Kansas.
Sholaja-photo Johnson County Sheriff
Johnson County charged Morayonla Olubori Sholaja, of Grandview, Missouri, with one count of giving a false alarm. He is accused of calling 911 with a false claim of an “active shooter” in Overland Park.
Sholaja is accused for calling 911 dispatchers Nov. 7 and saying an armed man was threatening people.
More than a dozen officers with weapons drawn responded and several schools were locked down until police decided the call was a hoax.
A warrant for Sholaja in April. He was arrested last week in Missouri and brought to Johnson County Monday after waiving his right to fight extradition.
SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a bank robbery and have released additional security camera images of a possible suspect.
Just before 2p.m. Tuesday, police responded to the robbery in the 100 Block of East Kellogg, according to officer Paul Cruz.
The suspect walks with a limp and has no bottom teeth, according to police. Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or Crime Stoppers 316 267-2111.
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SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a bank robbery and have released images of a possible suspect.
Photo courtesy Wichita PD
Just before 2p.m. Tuesday, police responded to the robbery in the 100 Block of East Kellogg, according to officer Paul Cruz.
He was expected to release additional details after arriving at the scene.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The rate of Kansas infants dying from a lack of oxygen more than doubled in just three years, according to data released last month.
The Kansas State Child Death Review Board’s analysis of 2016 child deaths found that 20 children died from unintentional asphyxia, such as suffocation, strangulation or choking. The finding is a small fraction of the state’s 394 child deaths in 2016, but the rate of death from asphyxia has grown steadily since 2013.
Sixteen of the 20 Kansas asphyxia deaths involved a child less than 1 year old, while 17 of the deaths were sleep-related. Most of the sleep-related deaths occurred when a child wasn’t sleeping in a crib or bassinet, but shared a sleeping surface with another person, according to state figures.
“I think the increase in sleep-related deaths and the unintentional asphyxia deaths is very concerning,” said Christy Schunn, director of the KIDS Network, an infant death prevention group in Kansas.
The state’s rate of unintentional asphyxia death in 2005 was 5.2 per 100,000 population for children less than 1 year old, according to the report. The death rate in 2016 was 41.9 per 100,000.
The findings mirror a rise nationally in the rate of sleep-related infant deaths, which increased between 2013 and 2015, according to a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released earlier this year.
Wichita pediatrician Katherine Melhorn, who’s also an expert on child abuse injuries and child neglect, is working to inform families about “the danger of sleeping with your babies.”
Babies don’t have the strength and agility to move out from under a pillow or an arm, which can suffocate them, she said. Part of the issue is that new parents are exhausted and will often do whatever they can to get sleep, including allowing their baby to sleep with them.
Melhorn warned that a child is “too young to get themselves out of a bad situation.”
TOPEKA – A Kansas man was sentenced Tuesday to 51 months in federal prison for viewing child pornography, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
He also was ordered to pay $26,000 in restitution to victims whose images he viewed.
John Francis Wear, 48, Manhattan, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of accessing child pornography online. Wear admitted he downloaded software that masks a user’s identity online so he could view sexually explicit photos of children under the age of 18.
FINNEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a report of shots fired near a Kansas elementary school.
Abe Hubert Elementary School -Google map
Just before 3p.m. Tuesday, police responded to the area of Abe Hubert Elementary School,1205 A Street in Garden City after a report of shots fired, according to a media release.
Officers learned students were participating in a quiet activity inside of a classroom when multiple students and staff heard what they thought to be a single gunshot, followed by the sound of a roaring engine of a vehicle traveling away from the school.
The school was immediately placed on lockdown. There were no eyewitnesses to the incident and officers thoroughly checked the area and were not able to find any evidence of the initial report. The school was locked down from approximately 2:55 PM and released from lockdown at approximately 3:13 PM, according to police.
Officers remained in the area to provided extra security as students were released from school.
JOHNSON COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating a double-fatal Kansas crash and have located the vehicle whose driver left the scene of a double fatal crash in suburban Kansas City.
Suspect vehicle photo courtesy Overland Park Police
The crash happened on the afternoon of Saturday, October 6, in the 10500 Block of West 151st Street in Overland Park.
In a media release Tuesday morning, police reported they had located the Honda Odyssey that may have struck the side of a car that then veered across the center line. The car then crashed into another vehicle, killing both drivers.
Fatal Saturday crash scene-photo courtesy KCTV
Rockhurst High School identified one of the victims as senior Matthew Bloskey, saying in a statement that the school’s community is “devastated.” And family identified the other victim as 20-year-old Samuel Siebuhr, of Kansas City, Kansas.
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OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are searching for a vehicle whose driver left the scene of a double fatal crash in suburban Kansas City.
The crash happened Saturday afternoon in Overland Park. Police are seeking a dark blue or dark gray Honda that may have struck the side of a car that then veered across the center line. The car then crashed into another vehicle, killing both drivers.
Rockhurst High School identified one of the victims as senior Matthew Bloskey, saying in a statement that the school’s community is “devastated.” And family identified the other victim as 20-year-old Samuel Siebuhr, of Kansas City, Kansas.
