Jayhawks and Shockers Meet Up After 23 Years
OMAHA, Neb.(AP) — Kansas and Wichita State will be playing for the first time in 23 years when they meet in the NCAA Tournament today (Sunday).The second-seeded Jayhawks are the big boys on the block, the tradition-drenched program with the national title banners. The No. 7 seed Shockers are the nouveau riche, the hot mid-major who enjoys busting brackets every March.The schools have met only 14 times, with Kansas winning 12 of them. But it was Wichita State that captured their only NCAA Tournament meeting in 1981.
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Green Energy Incentives at Risk in Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan.(AP) — Kansas renewable energy groups say that proposed tax increases would threaten the young industry's existence.Two bills before the Kansas Legislature would remove tax incentives for renewable energy investments by shortening a lifetime property tax exemption for wind and solar farms and imposing a 4.33 percent excise tax on ethanol fuel and renewable electricity.Ethanol producers say the tax could force plant closures and would have ripple effects in the agricultural sector.But the state is facing a state budget shortfall of nearly $600 million in the fiscal year beginning July 1st. Conservatives in the Legislature who have traditionally opposed tax increases now say that renewable energy is one sector they don't mind turning to for revenue.
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Salina's First Med Class Get Residency Assignments
SALINA, Kan. (AP) — The first students to enroll in a Salina medical school program that is billed as the smallest of its kind have learned where they will serve their residencies.The Salina Journal reports that students received the notifications Friday. The University of Kansas runs the four-year program, which has just eight students in each class. Students train over video conferencing, in the offices of rural physicians and at the Salina Regional Health Center.Tyson Wisinger said he got lots of questions about his experience while interviewing around the Midwest for residencies. He said other medical school students he meets have sounded envious about the clinical experience that he and his classmates received. He said he wouldn't change the school he attended "for the world."
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Authorities Investigate Grave Digging Near Newton
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating after holes were dug at a cemetery near Newton and a casket was found on the side of a road in nearby Wichita.The Wichita Eagle reports that the casket turned up early Thursday morning just south of Interstate 235 and north of the Little Arkansas River. Police released photos that showed that the handles on the side of the metal casket had been removed and the lid had been pried open.Wichita police Lieutenant James Espinoza said there was no body in the casket.The discovery came after the Harvey County Sheriff's Office said Monday that it was looking for suspects who had dug at least two holes at Missionary Church Cemetery, near Newton. Anyone with information is urged to come forward.
