Kansas' New Prison Chief Rebuked by Idaho Judge
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Governor Laura Kelly's choice to be the next head of the Kansas prison system was criticized earlier this year by a judge in Idaho, where he is a top corrections official. The Wichita Eagle reports that the state-court judge in Idaho concluded that Jefferey Zmuda gave "disingenuous" testimony in a lawsuit over access to execution records. Zmuda is deputy director of Idaho's prison system. Kelly announced his appointment as Kansas corrections secretary last week, effective July 1st. Over the past year, Zmuda has been entangled in a lawsuit in Idaho aimed at forcing the release of records relating to inmate executions in 2011 and 2012. Idaho officials kept finding more documents over the past year, prompting the judge's statement in a March ruling. Kelly's office is standing behind Zmuda.
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Kansas Dance Team Mom Dismissed from Discrimination Lawsuit
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman has been dismissed from an ongoing lawsuit alleging a member of a high school dance team was dismissed because of racial discrimination. Katie Porter was named in a lawsuit filed in January by Camille Sturdivant, a former member of the Blue Valley Northwest Dazzler dance team. Porter's daughter was on the team. Sturdivant alleged she was ostracized from team events after she reported racial discrimination by dance coach Carley Fine and choreographer Kevin Murakimi. The district fired Fine after the allegations were raised. The lawsuit alleged Porter participated in excluding Sturdivant because of her race. The Kansas City Star reports court documents show a federal judge dismissed the claims against Porter Thursday. The judge on Thursday denied a similar motion for dismissal filed by Fine.
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Kansas Businesses, Schools Grapple with Computer Education
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas leaders in business, education and politics are grappling with how to update curriculums in the state's schools to teach students computer science that prepares them for how technology is changing the world. Kansas News Service reports making those changes is slowed by several obstacles, including whether learning computer science would reduce time for students to learn traditional science subjects such as evolution, trigonometry or physics. Representative Steve Huebert is an engineer who is chairman of the Kansas House education committee. He says schools should consider allowing students to swap computer sciences for another science or math course to count toward graduation. The education committee heard a bill to do that during the last session but no action was taken. The topic is expected to come up again next year.
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Music Festival Moves to Topeka over Flooding Concerns
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A three-day Kansas country music festival scheduled for June has moved from a state park outside Manhattan to the Topeka area because of concerns about flooding. The Country Stampede announced its move Friday. Organizers said they were unsure of the safety of its original location at Tuttle Creek State Park because of recent severe weather. The festival will be held at Heartland Park, a motorsports park south of Topeka. The dates of the festival remain June 20th-22nd. Areas across the state have seen flooding because of heavy rains in recent weeks. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the Tuttle Creek Lake is close to full and it is releasing 27,500 cubic feet of water per second to keep water levels manageable.
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Kansas Governor Tours Tornado Damage
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly says she felt "incredibly overwhelmed" after seeing the devastation left by an EF-4 tornado from a flight tour of the Tuesday storm's path in eastern Kansas. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Kelly also viewed tornado damage from the ground Thursday. Kelly said the fact that there were no fatalities was amazing. The tornado touched down south of Lawrence about 6:15 Tuesday and continued northeast for more than 31 miles before lifting in Leavenworth County. Douglas County officials said the storm injured 17 people, three of them seriously, and damaged more than 60 homes. The tornado at its peak had wind speeds of 170 mph and was a mile wide.
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Kansas Senator Suffers Ankle Injury While Hiking
PHOENIX (AP) — U.S. Senator Jerry Moran's office says the 65-year-old has suffered an ankle injury while hiking on a mountain in Phoenix. Moran spokeswoman Morgan Said said the Republican injured his ankle Thursday morning while doing a workout on Camelback Mountain, a popular hiking spot. The Phoenix Fire Department said in a statement that a 65-year-old man couldn't walk due to an injury but did not identify him by name. Firefighters used a wheeled litter to transport him off the mountain. He was then transported to a hospital for further evaluation. Said said Moran was in the Phoenix area for meetings with law enforcement officials and had to cancel them. She said he plans to return to Kansas on Friday for scheduled meetings and events.
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Wyandotte County Repeals Pit Bull Ban
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Wyandotte County leaders have voted to end the county's 29-year-old ban on pit bulls. Fox4KC reports that the Unified Government's Board of Commissioners voted 6-3 Thursday evening to repeal the ban, which had prohibited ownership of breeds including Staffordshire bull terriers, American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers or dogs with characteristics of those breeds. The county joins other cities, including Liberty, Missouri, and Eudora and Roeland Park, Kansas, which have repealed bans in recent years. Anyone who violated the ban before Thursday night's vote could have been fined up to $1,000 or been sent to jail for up to 90 days.
