Kansas residents can access information about  state government, legislation, public policy issues and more by calling 1-800-432-3924.

Calls are answered by experienced reference/research librarians at the State Library of Kansas and kept confidential. Lines are open weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Callers can also leave brief messages to be delivered to legislators as well as request copies of bills, calendars, journals, committee agendas, voting records, and other legislative documents.

In addition to calling the hotline, residents can also text questions to 785-256-0733 (standard text message rates may apply), instant message at www.kslib.info/ask-a-librarian, or visit the State Library in the Kansas Capitol Building, Topeka.

Lawrence school district officials have told an 8th grade teacher to change a lesson on slavery that included having some of the students wear mock shackles.

Mike Wormsley at Liberty Memorial Central Middle School has taught the lesson for years. The two-week role-playing exercise is designed to show students the roles of slaves and slave owners.

Part of the lesson required some students, including black students, to wear mock shackles in school.

District officials this year told Wormsley they understood the value of the exercise but wanted him to end the use of shackles because it isn’t appropriate for school-age children.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports officials were concerned about the emotional impact of the shackles, but also thought the assignment could lead to abusive or inappropriate behavior.

A Senate committee on Tuesday endorsed a proposal to amend the Kansas Constitution to give the Legislature sole authority to determine funding for public schools, thereby cutting out the courts.

The proposal comes after a Shawnee County District Court ruled in January that the state’s school finance system was unconstitutional and ordered legislators to increase spending by more than $440 million for the next school year.

Supporters say that while the judicial branch has the authority to decide whether legislative policies are constitutional, courts overstep their boundaries when they require increases in state spending on education.

The voice vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee sends the measure to the full Senate.

The proposed amendment says definitely that only the Legislature can appropriate money, not the courts nor governor, though the chief executive’s signature would still be required for any spending bill to take effect.  In addition, the governor could still veto any spending bill he disagreed with and legislators could still attempt an override.

Twenty-seven of 40 senators and 84 of 125 House members would have to vote for the measure to put the question to voters.

Nominations for the Kansas Department of Commerce’s annual Business Appreciation Month awards are now open. The awards serve as a statewide tribute to businesses for their contributions to Kansas and their local communities.

The awards are announced each June. Regional finalists are recognized at an awards ceremony during the Team Kansas/Kansas Cavalry awards banquet, with the top nominee receiving the Governor’s Award of Excellence, the highest award given to a business by the state. The 2012 winner was Nex-Tech Inc. of Lenora.

Nominations are accepted from chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, small business development centers, organizations and individuals. Companies may also nominate themselves.

Nominations are accepted through 5 p.m., April 3, 2013 and will be evaluated during the following month, with regional winners selected in the manufacturing/distribution, service, retail and hospital/non-profit categories. In May, the overall finalists give a presentation about their company and community involvement to the panel of judges. The recipient of the Governor’s Award of Excellence is then announced at the Team Kansas/Kansas Cavalry awards ceremony in June.
Award qualifications include:

• Business expansion in Kansas.
• Successful employee retention and recruitment practices.
• Employee training/educational programs.
• Capital investment in Kansas.
• Support of local activities including school activities, community events, economic development and leadership programs.

To submit an online nomination, visit KansasCommerce.com/BAM. For more information, contact the Department’s Krista Mellen at (785) 296-7911 or [email protected].

 

The brother of the 29-year-old man who escaped from the Saline County Jail a week ago, was arrested Monday in Wichita.

30-year-old Joshua D Brown was arrested in Wichita on a charge of  felony obstructing apprehension  or prosecution.

Detective Jim Hughes with the Saline County Sheriff’s Office said Brown is in the Saline County Jail as of Monday afternoon.

His brother, 29-year-old Antonino Brown, escaped from the Saline County jail a little after 4:00pm on Monday February 11th after being brought back from the Mitchell County Jail for sentencing in the murder of 14 month old Clayden Urbanek in October of 2011.  Antonino Brown turned himself in to the U.S. Marshal’s last Wednesday night in Wichita.

Detective Hughes said the arrest of Joshua Brown was done with the cooperation of the Wichita Police Department.  Hughes said more arrest are possible in the case.  Last Friday Eric Terry of Salina was arrested for assisting Brown after he escaped from the Saline County Jail.

Russell City Fire Chief Sam Schmidt is retiring March 1.

Schmidt has served in the Russell Fire Department since 1980.  He became chief in 2002 after the accidental death of  then-Chief Earl Hemphill.

Assistant Fire Chief Steve Knopp has been named the interim chief until a permanent replacement is appointed by the Russell city council.

Police said two Wichita brothers celebrated winning $75,000 in the Kansas lottery Friday by purchasing drugs — then they accidentally blew up their house.

The explosion sent one of the brothers – a 27-year-old – to a local hospital, according to the Wichita Eagle, where he remains in serious but stable condition with second-degree burns on his hands, arms and chest.

Police said the other brother was sent to jail.

The Eagle reported that one of the brothers went to the kitchen to refuel the butane torches they planned to use to light their bongs. He emptied a couple of large cans of butane lighter fluid, leaking butane into the air.

“The butane vapor reached the pilot light in the furnace, and as you might expect, ka-boom,” Sgt. Bruce Watts of the Wichita Police Department told the newspaper.

Adding insult to injury, the victim was wearing a lottery T-shirt when the explosion occurred, according to police.

The Eagle also reported the victim’s girlfriend loaded him and some children into a car and took him to the emergency room, where she dropped him off and left.

Police officers responded to the house with a warrant, where the other brother admitted he had marijuana and methamphetamine, the newspaper said.

A Sunday accident west of McCracken in Ness County has killed a 22 year old man. The Kansas Highway Patrol reports that Skyler Jones was eastbound on Road 220, lost control of the car and it rolled several times coming to rest on its top. Jones was alone, was wearing a seat belt, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

  U.S. Senator Pat Roberts on Friday announced his support for a new effort aimed at passing a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, to bring much-needed fiscal discipline back to Washington.

 “On the family, city, county, and state level there is basic understanding that you have to set a budget and live within your means,” Roberts said, “the federal government has proved incapable of living up to this same standard.  Out of control government spending in the face of a stagnant economy and chronic jobs crisis is not the answer.  It is time to stop the reckless spending in Washington and restore some fiscal sanity to our country. If Congress is serious about cutting our ballooning federal debt and deficit, then we must pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution.  We must honestly address our nation’s fiscal problems, use taxpayer dollars more wisely, and lead by example with a balanced budget.”

Senator Roberts is an outspoken advocate for responsible spending and commonsense budgeting, despite the spending driven Obama Administration.  Roberts is an original co-sponsor of an amendment introduced today by Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), S.J. Res. 7, which seeks to cap government spending at a certain percentage of GDP, unless Congress authorizes further spending.  Roberts is a senior member of the Senate Committee on Finance, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

 

A bill introduced in the Kansas Senate would require the University of Kansas Medical Center to establish a center focusing on adult stem cells.

The bill is sponsored by 22 conservative Republican senators. It would create the Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center at the medical center in Kansas City, Kan.

Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook of Shawnee, the lead sponsor of the bill, said Friday that it would make Kansas a center for effective medical treatments.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports the bill would require the medical center to appoint a director to oversee patient treatment and research with adult, cord blood and other non-embryonic stem cells. It also would require a 13-member advisory board.

Abortion opponents oppose human embryonic stem cell research because it involves the destruction of embryos.

A senior staff noncommissioned officer from southwest Kansas was awarded the Bronze Star last week for his heroic actions leading Marines after a 2011 ambush in Afghanistan’s Sangin district.

First Sgt. Bradley G. Simmons, Liberal, received the medal with combat distinguishing device during a Jan. 25 ceremony aboard the dock landing ship Rushmore. The amphib is deployed in the U.S. Central Command region with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Pendleton, Calif., according to a Marine Corps news story announcing the award.

Simmons, 34, who is serving as the sergeant major of Combat Logistics Battalion 15, was credited with leading a quick-reaction force against an ambush on a squad of Marines that killed two.

At the time of the ambush, Simmons was the company first sergeant of Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, assigned to Regimental Combat Team 8.

When enemy gunfire pinned down the squad on Aug. 7, 2011, Simmons ran from his vehicle, crossed an open road and directed his vehicle to fire toward the enemy soldiers. He dodged enemy fire to organize a fire team toward a nearby hill to outflank the enemy force, which was stopped by close-air support.

A breast cancer researcher at Kansas State University has received a $1.2 million federal grant.

Anna Zolkiewska will use the four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute to conduct research aimed at improving cancer survival rates.

The associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics is focused on breast tumor initiating cells, also called cancer stem cells. These cells drive breast tumor progression and tumor recurrence or metastasis.

Current treatments for breast cancer, such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, can destroy the majority of tumor cells. But these treatments cannot eradicate cancer stem cells.

Zolkiewska says it’s critical to find more effective treatments against them.