11 years ago
Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger is urging Kansans who smoke or chew tobacco to check if their insurance plans cover programs to help them quit. The U.S. Department of Labor announced in May that insurance companies and employer group health plans must cover counseling and other programs that help people quit smoking. The companies are not ...

11 years ago
Gambling revenues at the Kansas Star Casino south of Wichita are lagging behind figures recorded a year ago soon after the permanent casino started operating. The casino's June report to the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission showed that it has won $167 million from gamblers so far this year, compared to $176.3 million a year ago ...

11 years ago
The next leg of former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole's homecoming tour is scheduled to take him to nine communities in eastern Kansas. The visits next week are the latest in a series of trips Dole is making this year from his home in Washington, D.C., year to greet old friends and supporters throughout Kansas. He spends ...

11 years ago
People from as far away as Oklahoma spent part of their holiday weekend at a 5-year-old southwest Kansas reservoir that got a big boost from steady rainfall last week. HorseThief Reservoir near Jetmore is about 65 percent full after gaining 7 feet last week, drawing people from all around to the few big bodies of water ...

11 years ago
A group of Wichita marijuana advocates is counting petition signatures to see if there are enough to force a citywide vote on decriminalizing pot in the community. Petitioners are trying to gather nearly 3,000 valid signatures on a petition that would give voters a chance in November to ask for sharply lower punishments for marijuana possession. The ...

11 years ago
One person is hurt in a two vehicle crash on Interstae 70 west of Salina late Sunday afternoon. According to the Kansas Highway Patol, two cars were both headed east when one of them collided with the back of the other. One car came to rest in then ditch, the other in the median. One person, a ...

11 years ago
Several Kansas groups are seeking a new level of dental provider they say could ease a shortage of dentists across the state. A proposed bill was introduced in the last legislative session to create registered dental practitioners who would be somewhere between a hygienist and a dentist, but it didn't get a hearing. Advocates like the Kansas ...

11 years ago
Improperly disposed of fireworks are blamed for at least three fires in Emporia, including one that destroyed an assisted living facility. KVOE reports smoldering fireworks were stored in a plastic trash can that was rolled up against Sterling House on Friday night. The resulting fire destroyed most of the assisted living residence and displaced 21 residents Firefighters ...

11 years ago
A photo of Wichita police officers rescuing a 6-month-old German shepherd from an overpass helped reunite the frightened animal with his owners. The Wichita Eagle reports an officer was writing a ticket near the overpass at Kellogg and Tyler Road on Friday night when he saw the dog, named Harley, on the overpass ledge. Police say the ...

11 years ago
Blue Bird is recalling more than 2,500 All American school buses and some transit buses to fix a problem that could make steering more difficult. The company also is recalling a smaller number of school buses that may be prone to a propane fuel leak, according to paperwork filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The ...

11 years ago
The excitement of acceptance into that dream college has passed. The first day of classes is still weeks away. But the resources provided by high school teachers and computer labs are no longer available for graduates. Education researchers and academic counselors call it "summer melt," the precarious time when some college-bound students fall through the cracks, ...