Kansas Governor Sam Brownback today announced numerous appointments to boards and commissions, including a Goodland resident.

Kansas Commission on Disability Concerns
The Disability Commission provides policy recommendations to the State of Kansas on changes to laws, regulations and programs that affect people with disabilities. The Commission provides information to the public with disabilities about employment, school, home, play/community, youth issues, and disability history.

• Ed Mills, Goodland, is being reappointed to a three year term. He received his bachelor’s degree from University of Missouri- Kansas City, his master’s degree from Central Missouri State University and his Doctorate of Education from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Mill is president of the Northwest Kansas Technical College.

Kansans can use their vehicles to show they support pets.

Revenue from a new “I’m Pet Friendly” license plate will be used to reduce the stray animal population. Proceeds from the sale of the plates will support scholarships for Kansas State veterinary students who will work with local animal shelters, particularly in spay/neuter programs.

With a one-time production fee of $45.50 and an annual donation of $50, the new plate can be picked up at county tag offices across the state.

The dean of Kansas State’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Ralph Richardson, says the program can help improve the quality of animal health throughout the state.

A Kansas Senate committee’s chairman has postponed debate on Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposals to cut income tax rates and scrap two popular deductions for homeowners.

Chairman and Wichita Republican Les Donovan had said the Assessment and Taxation Committee would begin debate Tuesday.  But he acknowledged  that senators want more information about the governor’s proposals and are drafting amendments.

The debate may not begin until next week.

Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka said Republicans are floundering.

Brownback wants to further reduce income tax rates after aggressive cuts last year. But he and lawmakers must find revenue to stabilize the state budget.

The governor also wants to cancel a drop in the state sales tax scheduled for July.

Abortion opponents have delivered a rezoning petition with about 14,000 signatures to the Wichita City Council in a move to block the opening of a clinic at the building once owned by slain abortion provider George Tiller.

Kansans for Life plans to add hundreds more signatures and present them to the local zoning commission later this month. Petition organizer David Gittrich says residents don’t want an abortion clinic in the neighborhood.

The council asked staff to research the issue.

The abortion rights group Trust Women bought the building and plans to offer reproductive health care services, including abortions, at the site.

Their attorney, Robert Eye, says there is no legal basis that will justify rezoning the land. He says rezoning motivated by a political purpose is improper.

A Hoxie woman was injured  Monday evening in Gove County when the car she was driving rear-ended another vehicle on I- 70, four miles east of Grainfield.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Wanda J. Russell, 51, was westbound at 7:15 p.m. when she became distracted and struck a semi-truck  from behind.

The driver of the semi, Israel Garcia-Alba, 41, Wichita, was not injured in the accident.

Russell was taken to Gove County Medical Center for treatment of possible injuries.

Both drivers were wearing seat belts.

Salina Regional Health Center’s trauma program has received Level III verification from the American College of Surgeons.

The Salina hospital has been working toward this designation for the past three years, according to a news release.

“This is probably the most difficult accreditation process for a hospital to achieve,” said Jake Breeding, M.D., trauma medical director.

Salina Regional’s efforts match those of a statewide initiative to have at least a level III trauma center in each geographical region of Kansas.

The trauma team consists of a trauma surgeon, emergency department physician, trauma nurse, intensive care nurse, surgical nurse and staff from radiology, laboratory, blood bank, respiratory care, security and chaplaincy.

Paramedics and doctors in the region have a dedicated line to call for traumatically injured patients, which sets off a cascade of alerts to people on the response team to report to the trauma suite in the emergency department.

Recognizing 25 years of service to America, NOAA’s National Weather Service has named McCracken resident Bill Greenway as a 2012 recipient of the agency’s John Campanius Holm Award for outstanding service in the Cooperative Weather Observer Program.

Larry Ruthi, Meteorologist-in-Charge of the National Weather Service forecast office in Dodge City, presented the award to Greenway Thursday, January 31.

Greenway was also presented with congratulatory letters from U. S. Senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran and U.S. Representative Tim Huelskamp.

The McCracken observing site was officially established in October 1911 by E.D. Floyd.

Greenway took over the site August 1, 1987 from Phyllis Higgins.  He has been the longest serving observer for McCracken.  Greenway reports daily precipitation and snowfall information to the National Weather Service.  His wife Paula is the backup observer.

Also in attendance for the presentation were Meteorologists Matt Gerard and Kelly Sugden, and Jesse Lee, Observing Program Leader at the Dodge City office.

A Florence, Colorado man was killed in a one vehicle accident at 11:40 p.m. Saturday in Decatur County.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, a 1997 Toyota Tacoma driven by Gordon Gail Gibson, 23, was southbound on Kansas Highway 23, two miles south of Leoville, when the truck went off the right side of the road, came back onto the roadway and then rolled.

Gibson was not wearing a seat belt.

A passenger in the vehicle, Parker James Gibson, 22, Florence, was injured and taken to Decatur Health System in Oberlin.

Troopers say Parker Gibson was wearing a seat belt.

An entrepreneur with ties to Wichita State University has developed an iPhone application to assist with concussion detection and treatment.

The Wichita Eagle reports that the app, called the “Sway Balance,” has won Food and Drug Administration approval. It was developed by Wichita State alumnus Chase Curtiss of Tulsa, Okla.

He tested the app at his alma mater and among hundreds of athletes at Wichita East and Andover Central high schools. It also was tested in Oklahoma and California.

Trainers ask an athlete who may have suffered a concussion to hold the iPhone or iPad on his or her own chest. Then the athletes are put through a series of tests, such as lifting their dominant foot.

The app compares those results to results from the beginning of the season.