Kansas.com: State

Old missile sites still get attention

Associated Press — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:03 CST

TOPEKA — Though the weapons have long since been removed, Cold War-era missile sites in Kansas still draw careful attention from the Army Corps of Engineers.

One is on the grounds of a school near Holton.

A chemical agent called trichloroethylene (TCE) was used as a degreasing agent to clean fuel lines so the missiles could fire on cue. Workers didn't think twice about dumping the chemical on site, but it has since been found to be a health risk at high levels.

Girl gives Make-A-Wish wish to KC-area food bank

LEE HILL KAVANAUGH — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:57 CST

Julie Brock-Garcia knows wishes come true.

So when she was asked by the Make-A-Wish Foundation what her heart's desire was, she told them: to meet Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Not Arnold the governor. Or Arnold Strong aka Mr. Universe. But Arnold the actor in "Terminator."

Ashcroft opposed to civilian 9/11 trials

DAVID TWIDDY — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:08 CST

OVERLAND PARK _ Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who on Friday endorsed fellow Republican Todd Tiahrt's U.S. Senate campaign, condemned the Obama administration for moving the trial of Sept. 11 terrorism suspects to civilian rather than military court.

Ashcroft, who served as attorney general at the time of the attacks, said the trials could endanger the public and give anti-U.S. elements a public stage to voice their rhetoric.

He also said prosecutors will have to publicly disclose evidence, which could compromise efforts to monitor and break up future attacks.

KU researchers work to turn sewage into fuel

Associated Press — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:53 CST

LAWRENCE — University of Kansas researchers are working to turn microbes from treated sewage into a commercially viable biofuel, that one day could be used to power the nation's cars, trucks, airplanes and other modes of transportation.

But for now, the future grows in four farm tanks at Lawrence's wastewater treatment plant, and inside another four at a research station northeast of the Lawrence Municipal Airport.

The project is unmistakably green, a shade that can be produced only by millions of cells of algae fattened with treated waste from the city's sewer system, then harvested after absorbing organic pollutants and yielding oil for transformation into clean-burning biodiesel.

Woman, 92, pens poetry

PHIL ANDERSON — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:03 CST

TOPEKA — Topekan Peg Penry has just published her fifth book of poetry, this one a collection of religious verse she has written through the years.

At 92, she said publishing the book was something she just had to do.

"At my age, you may not believe this, but I'm in pain all the time," said Penry, who lives at the Atria Hearthstone community in west Topeka. "I told God, 'I'm ready to go — please take me quickly. But if you have a purpose for me, please tell me so I can do it.' "

Girl, 2, bounces back from accident

SHAWN LINENBERGER — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:03 CST

TONGANOXIE — Brooklyn Sickman sits in her mother's lap and asks for a piece of a Cheeto. And then another.

She also would like some "p-o-p." Her father, Jeff Sickman, spells that word. Brooklyn must stick to juices, so soft drinks are kept out of sight.

The thought that the 2-year-old Tonganoxie girl could see a bottle of pop, even a few weeks ago, would have been hard to imagine.

Cost of university housing may rise

DAVID KLEPPER — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:03 CST

TOPEKA — The cost of room and board at Kansas' public universities is inching up, even as tuition increases and state funding for higher education drops.

The Kansas Board of Regents on Thursday tentatively approved increases in the cost of campus housing and cafeterias. A final vote is expected next month.

For a typical student at the University of Kansas, room and board would go up 2.6 percent, to $6,982. For a typical student at Kansas State University, it would go up 3 percent, to $6,954.

'Phantom' Kansas districts get real money, for real projects

JEANNINE KORANDA — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:16 CST

The money is going to a Head Start program, low-income housing projects, the Kansas Highway Patrol and a variety of construction and repair projects in Kansas.

But a federal stimulus report compiled by the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity shows $6.7 million going to projects in congressional districts that don't exist in Kansas.

Phantom congressional districts showed up in the report for other states as well, prompting Republicans, bloggers and think tanks to circulate reports suggesting that money intended to create jobs and shore up the economy was unaccounted for or misused.

Report: No crimes committed by K- State

DAVID KLEPPER — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:05 CST

TOPEKA — Kansas State University's new president said he hopes it can move on now that a final report on widespread financial irregularities found that no crimes were committed.

The report released Thursday also clears football coach Bill Snyder of any wrongdoing, said president Kirk Schulz. Nearly $846,000 in previously unexplained athletic expenses found by outside auditors were legitimate expenses, Schulz said.

Schulz took over at KSU in June, the same week an audit revealed undisclosed payments, conflicts of interest and accounting mistakes at the university and in its Athletics Department.

Regents: State needs to consider tax hike

JOHN HANNA — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:05 CST

TOPEKA — Two members of the board overseeing Kansas' higher education system said Wednesday that the state needs to consider raising new tax revenues because of its budget problems.

Board of Regents members Dan Lykins and Gary Sherrer made their comments after a top aide to Democratic Gov. Mark Parkinson met with the board. Budget Director Duane Goossen said not only is Parkinson planning to make cuts next week, but state spending might have to remain at reduced levels into 2012.

Education and social service advocates already have called for consideration of additional taxes. Many members of the Republican-controlled Legislature worry that any such measures will slow an economic recovery.

State offers loans for energy upgrades

BECCY TANNER — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:38 CST

A new state program aims to help Kansans reduce their energy use and save money on monthly utility bills.

Property owners who participate in Efficiency Kansas can choose to take out low-interest loans to upgrade insulation, install new furnaces, seal doors and windows and make other improvements.

They then pay back the loans from savings on monthly energy bills — which could be as much as 20 percent, state officials said.

Driver's ed official hopes state funding will be safe

Associated Press — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:05 CST

HUTCHINSON — While more than a dozen Kansas school districts dropped driver's education programs last year because of the state's budget troubles, the programs' state director hopes the trend won't continue.

Last year, the state used funding from speeding tickets that is designated for driver's education programs for other needs. That caused reimbursements to districts for each student in a driver's ed class to drop from $100 to zero, before going back up to $38.

That loss of funding prompted several districts to drop driver's education, but at least 88 percent of the state's districts continue to offer classes, said Joan Peterson, who oversees driver's education courses in Kansas.

State's flu rate down, but still double the norm

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:05 CST

TOPEKA — The percentage of people reporting flulike symptoms at outpatient clinics has declined slightly but is still twice the number of reports normally seen this time of year, Kansas health officials say.

Usually about 2 percent of patients at outpatient clinics have flulike symptoms at this time of year, but clinics reported that 5.6 percent of their patients last week had flulike symptoms, said state epidemiologist Charlie Hunt.

Despite a small decline from the previous two weeks, the number is "still more than twice the normal level of flu activity and is unprecedented at this time of year," Hunt said.

5 more tied to scam of state governments

LAWRENCE MESSINA — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:05 CST

CHARLESTON, W.Va. —A federal grand jury in West Virginia has linked five more people to an international scam that allegedly tricked government agencies in several states — including Kansas — into paying at least $3.3 million to bogus companies with names that sounded like legitimate firms.

The charges unsealed Tuesday implicate Minnesota residents Michael M. "Mikie" Ochenge, 33; Robert M. "Robe" Otiso, 36; Paramena J. "Joseph" Shikanda, 35; Albert E. Gunga, 30; and Collins A. Masese, 20.

All were born in Kenya and live in or near Minneapolis, prosecutors said. All but Masese were in custody Tuesday and scheduled to appear before a U.S. magistrate judge in Minneapolis.

States eye college-credit exchange Web site

DAVID A. LIEB — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:06 CST

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. —A dozen Midwestern states are studying the creation of a college-credit exchange that could make it easier for college dropouts to finally complete their degrees.

The project would create an electronic database where people could post documentation about the college credits they have earned from various institutions, their work training and other relevant educational experiences.

Colleges and universities then essentially would bid for the opportunity to enroll those students by indicating how many credits they would accept, what additional courses would be needed to complete their degrees and how much it would cost.

Kansas is part of Vonage settlement

dion lefler — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:06 CST

Kansas will receive about $45,000 of a $3 million, multi-state settlement with Vonage, a company that provides voice-over-Internet phone service, the state's attorney general announced Monday.

Attorneys general from 32 states had alleged that Vonage, one of the nation's largest providers of Internet phone service, violated consumer-protection laws.

Vonage denied any violations.

Wichita reporter wrote book about murders

BECCY TANNER — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:10 CST

Was it the Clutter murders or Truman Capote, as a storyteller, that keeps the interest alive five decades later?

What if Random House had picked a Kansan to tell the story?

In Houston, 54-year-old Michael Nations wonders about that.

Killings of Holcomb family in '59 still haunt

BECCY TANNER — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:25 CST

"Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call 'out there.' "

Truman Capote, "In Cold Blood"

HOLCOMB — This little town has grown, spread out and become almost unrecognizable with time.

Beloit no longer where 'bad girls' go

HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:06 CST

BELOIT — Many were broken, and many were saved here.

Beloit's name became synonymous with its girls' reformatory, one of the longest-operating in the country, which for more than a century mirrored the most enlightened reforms but also the cruelest horrors of such places.

Now, at its closing, residents and staff members are wrestling with the contradictions.

Artist painting state history mural

GAYLE WEBER — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:06 CST

HAYS — Figures from the past like George Custer and Walter P. Chrysler depict Ellis County, while sites such as Castle Rock and Cottonwood Ranch highlight western Kansas.

When it's all said and done, 300 or more famous figures, important industries and inventions, historic trails and railroads, and anything else essential to the history of the state of Kansas will be included.

Dennis Schiel has the final say in what goes on his 10-piece mural portraying the state's history. He's putting in hundreds of hours of research and even more time painting the findings.