TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A bill before a Kansas Senate committee sets out several impeachable offenses for Kansas Supreme Court justices.
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard from supporters and opponents of the bill Thursday.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the state constitution currently uses high crimes and misdemeanors as grounds for removal from office. The new proposal would allow impeachment of Supreme Court justices if they usurp the authority of the Legislature, or for reckless judicial conduct, personal misconduct and failure to properly supervise judicial personnel.
The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Mitch Holmes, says the court has made several decisions recently that overstepped its authority, such as school funding rulings.
Opponents say the proposal attacks fair and impartial courts and singles out Supreme Court justices for treatment not applied to executive and legislative branches.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas Senate committee has considered legislation to make permanent a provision that would create a tiered system for family planning funds.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the bill would prioritize federal funds for family planning services, sending them to state, county and local health departments before abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood.
The legislation was introduced by 27 Republican senators, a majority of the Senate. All Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee have signed on as bill sponsors.
The tiered system in the bill has been in place for several years. Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri has blamed it for the closure of Ellis and Ford County clinics.
The committee didn’t take action on the legislation Wednesday.
GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is now handling the investigation of an alleged sexual assault aboard a bus carrying the Great Bend High School boys swim team in February.
Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir said the case went to the KBI because of questions about jurisdiction. The bus drove across Saline, Ellsworth and Barton counties when the alleged assault occurred on Feb. 3 when a swim team member reportedly assaulted a 15-year-old boy.
The Hutchinson News reports a second claim of assault occurred after a team bus ride on Feb. 6 from Manhattan to Great Bend. Ellsworth County is investigating that claim.
Authorities have not discussed the alleged incidents in detail. Family members and students protested in Great Bend in February, criticizing the district’s response to the reports.
An effort has been initiated to raise $200,000 to underwrite the costs of a video on the life of Kansas’ most famous journalist, William Allen White, known as the Sage of Emporia.
The project is an effort to commemorate the life and times of Kansas’ most famous journalist in time for the 150th anniversary of White’s birth in 2018.
To assist in the effort, the Kansas Newspaper Foundation Board of Trustees has authorized a $20,000 matching gift program through the KNF. KNF will match up to the first $1,000 of a contribution from those with a Kansas Press Association affiliation, such as current and retired members and inductees in the Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame.
The recipient of gifts will be the William Allen White Foundation, coordinated through the KU Endowment Association.
Dave Seaton, former publisher of the Winfield Daily Courier, is leading a group which includes Paul Stevens, retired AP executive; Ann Brill, dean of the William Allen White School of Journalism at KU; Murrel Bland, a KNF trustee; Pete Stauffer, retired newspaper executive; Roger Heineken, Emporia State University; Tom Eblen, retired University Daily Kansan general manager; Beverley Buller, a Newton author who wrote a children’s book: “From Emporia: The Story of William Allen White”; and Doug Anstaett, KPA executive director. The filmmakers are Kevin Wilmott and Scott Richardson.
Make the check payable to KU Endowment – Journalism and designated for the WAW film. Also note the KNF’s matching gift program.
Send it to: Gift Processing Department, KU Endowment, P.O. Box 928, Lawrence, KS 66044-0928.
To read an excellent article on White’s life, click HERE.
SALINA- Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a suspect for alleged child abuse.
Edward E. Miles, 43, Salina, is alleged to have put a bleach soaked cloth into the mouth of a teenage girl at a north Salina home on February 18, according to Salina Police Captain Mike Sweeney.
The bleach caused burns to the girl’s mouth and throat requiring medical treatment at the hospital.
Miles was arrested on Wednesday and booked into jail on requested charges of child abuse and aggravated battery.
SELDEN — The Kansas Department of Transportation will host a follow-up meeting regarding the upcoming closure of an 11-mile stretch of U.S. 83 in Sheridan County from the Thomas County Line to the K-23 junction. The meeting is scheduled for Monday at noon at the Selden Community Building, located at 110 N Kansas Ave. in Selden.
KDOT engineers will review the construction phasing, provide details on the official state detour and answer questions regarding access to county roads. Construction is slated to begin this spring and be completed by May 2017. Traffic will be detoured using K-23 and U.S. 24.
The meeting location is ADA accessible. Persons in need of a sign language interpreter, an assistive listening device, large print or Braille material, or other accommodations to participate in this meeting should notify Lisa Mussman at (785) 877-3315 or [email protected].
The U.S.83 project is funded under T-WORKS, the statewide transportation program approved by the Kansas Legislature in 2010. For more information about T-WORKS projects and funding, visit https://kdotapp.ksdot.org/tworks.
By KIRK SCHULTZ and JOHN FLOROS Kansas State University
As they go about helping farmers maintain a consistent, reasonably priced food supply, America’s agricultural scientists may soon receive a sign of our country’s confidence in their work.
For the first time since Congress created the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, or AFRI, in the 2008 Farm Bill, President Barack Obama has recommended that the program be given full funding of $700 million. AFRI is administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Kirk Schultz
In last year’s budget, AFRI was funded for $350 million, the highest it has been in its eight years of existence.
The time is right to increase funding to the full $700 million. Population estimates for 2050 indicate that the world’s population will approach 10 billion people, about 3 billion more than we have today.
Fully funding AFRI is crucial in order to address growing global food demands, support a workforce that will identify solutions to complex agricultural challenges, and strengthen economies locally and nationally.
The big picture is to produce food that is safe and affordable. That’s it. American farmers are feeding the U.S. population, but our country is a heavy exporter of agricultural products, so we’re feeding portions of the world, as well.
To feed 10 billion people, experts predict that the world’s farmers will have to produce as much food over the next 35 years as we have produced in the entire history of mankind, and we will have to do it in a way that protects natural resources. We simply can’t wait any longer to meet this challenge.
Our world is in need of new scientific breakthroughs in food safety, nutrition, crop and livestock production and more to offset issues such as emerging animal and plant diseases, foodborne pathogens, children’s health risks, climate change and many others.
In 2012, Kansas State University received a grant for $25 million through AFRI to focus on preventing the incidence of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, or STEC, in beef, a group of bacteria that causes more than 265,000 infections in the U.S. each year.
The project includes more than 50 collaborators at 18 universities and government agencies, and testing in real-life settings with industry partners. Scientists are conducting epidemiological tests, with as many as 3,000 samples studied at numerous sites across the country.
John Floros
Because of our aggressive approach toward beef products, STEC is now a relatively minor contributor to illness. We can look at sources that infect other products, such as raw milk, fresh produce and those sorts of things.
And STEC is just one bacteria that threatens our food. We still have 2 million cases of salmonella in the food industry each year. If we put that bright light on salmonella as we did STEC, and we’re starting to do that now, we will see that level of risk go down. It just takes a lot of time, a lot of money and a lot of people lending their expertise to the problem.
We also know through research that pasture burning leads to improved grazing for livestock and as much as $70 million in additional farm profits. We know that, in Kansas, our wheat breeding efforts return as much as $18.50 for every dollar invested. And we’ve made tremendous breakthroughs in sequencing the wheat genome, learned ways to improve production of sorghum (an important food staple worldwide), and improved feed diets in swine — a science so exact that even a 1 percent improvement can result in $100 million in added profits for that industry.
America’s agricultural scientists have a track record of turning public investments into positive impacts for local economies. And yet, the National Institute of Agriculture reports that 9 in 10 proposals it receives for AFRI are not funded each year.
The issue is not a lack of good ideas; the issue is a lack of funds. A lot of good research is left on the table because of a lack of funding.
As we look to the future and feeding 3 billion more people, we can choose to farm harder, or we can farm smarter. Together, let’s choose smarter. Let’s make sure that our best scientists have the resources they need to maintain American agriculture’s status as the most efficient, safe and productive food system in the world.
Kirk Schulz is the president of Kansas State University and John Floros is the dean of the university’s College of Agriculture.
Kathy Hunt looks at a photo of her son while on a travel stop in Albuquerque-photo courtesy KRQE-TV
ALBQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A Kansas couple who recently lost a son to a California hiking accident says their son’s ashes were stolen from an Albuquerque motel parking lot.
KRQE-TV reports that Steven and Kathy Hunt reported the theft on Monday.
They had stopped to rest at a Hampton Inn in Albuquerque after picking up their son’s remains in California. That’s when they say someone broke into their son’s car and stole the ashes.
The car was attached to a moving truck.
Authorities say the couple’s 32-year-old son, Kyle, was killed in a hiking accident two weeks ago.
The couple was on a 1,500 mile trip back to their home in Wamego.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison for luring a carjacking victim to a motel with an online advertisement and robbing a store.
The U.S. attorney’s office says 26-year-old Wesley Lavern Harris was sentenced Wednesday for carjacking and robbery. He admitted to leaving the victim in the Topeka motel’s bathtub after taking the man’s keys, money and car. Harris and others had lured the victim to the motel in June by advertising sexual services online.
Harris also admitted that the next day, he robbed a Lawrence store and threatened to kill an employee.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A bill has been proposed in the Kansas Legislature that would allow taxpayers to donate money to local schools.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that a House tax committee held a hearing about the proposed bill Wednesday. If passed, the bill would place options for $1, $5, $10 and empty spaces for taxpayers to write in their donation of choice and unified school district of choice on state individual income tax returns.
State Rep. Joe Seiwert, who created the bill, said that his constituents often ask how they can make small donations to their school district.
Renwick USD 267 Superintendent Tracy Bourne said at the hearing that the bill does not resolve concerns with the overall issues of school funding, but does provide some potential new revenue sources.
The committee took no action on the bill on Wednesday.
POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY – Fire crews in Pottawatomie County on Wednesday responded to a grass fire in the 4000 block of Blue Run Road in St. George.
The Westmoreland Fire Department temporarily blocked off Black Jack Road and Some homes were evacuated along the Highway 24 corridor as the fire rapidly spread.
Firefighters also battled the fire in a wooded area using off-road vehicles.
The fire appears to have been started by an improperly discarded cigarette, according to Pottawatomie Co. Fire Chief Jared Barnes.
Approximately 40 acres burned and there were no injuries.
