12 years ago
Kansas officials say most criminal records are kept away from the public to protect people accused of crimes and prevent information from getting out that could endanger prosecutions. But even some state legislators interviewed by The Kansas City Star say they are surprised by the restrictive nature of the state's criminal records laws. The only way for ...

12 years ago
Supporters of passenger rail service through Wichita are joining forces with officials in Oklahoma and Missouri. A letter of support signed by the mayors of Wichita, Oklahoma City and Kansas City, Mo., was unveiled Friday on the eve of National Train Day. Rail supporters say they want to close the 185-mile service gap between Oklahoma City and ...

12 years ago
Control towers at five airfields in Kansas will stay open now that the FAA has cancelled plans to close 149 similar towers across the country. Control towers at airfields in Topeka, Manhattan, Hutchinson, and two in Olathe had been slated for closure. But the FAA said Friday it will keep the towers open after Congressional approval ...

12 years ago
Authorities say they have found a child's body believed to be that of an 18-month-old girl as they continue to investigate a series of Kansas farm deaths. Franklin County Sheriff Jeffrey Richards said early Sunday that the body believed to be that of Lana Leigh Bailey was found hours earlier by a sheriff's deputy in another ...

12 years ago
Two inmates who fled a Kansas prison face several charges in Missouri, including trying to kidnap the mayor of the small town where they were eventually captured. Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd said Saturday that 31-year-old Allen Hurst and 49-year-old Scott Gilbert are charged with 12 felonies after escaping from the minimum-security unit at the Lansing, ...

12 years ago
Members of a Topeka congregation have a special reason to reflect on forgiveness this weekend. A beloved sculpture, stolen for scrap last fall, is back in place outside their church. The 10-foot-tall bronze, called "Forgiven Man," was reinstalled Friday in a courtyard of First Congregational United Church of Christ. The 350-pound sculpture, valued at $40,000, had been ...

12 years ago
No one is seriously hurt when a car crashes into a Salina convenience store Saturday afternoon. Salina Master Police Officer Rande Repp tells KSAL News that Hassan Williford of Salina parked his 1995 Ford Probe in front of the Kwik Shop on Fairdale Road and went inside the store. While he was in the store, his ...

12 years ago
Renewed legislative efforts to change the way Kansas selects members for its highest courts are part of a recent wave of modifications sought nationwide to alter the composition of the state's judicial branch. Supporters of the changes said Friday momentum is shifting in their favor despite resistance to the idea of altering the system in which ...

12 years ago
A Wichita man is hurt in a motorcycle crash near Salina. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, 47-year-old Mark Follin of Wichita was riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle headed south on Interstate 135. He moved to the passing lane and for unknown reasons left the roadway and entered the median. Follin, who was wearing a helmet, was hurt. ...

12 years ago
The Agriculture Department has forecast U.S. farmers will harvest a far smaller winter wheat crop this season than a year ago, particularly for the hard red varieties used to bake bread. The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Friday that winter wheat production is forecast to be down 10 percent to 1.49 billion bushels amid fewer acres ...

12 years ago
Law enforcement officials are looking for three inmates who walked away from the Lansing Correctional Facility. The inmates escaped early Friday from minimum security. Further details of their escape were not immediately available. The inmates are 31-year-old Allen M. Hurst and 49-year-old Scott A. Gilbert, who both were convicted in Sedgwick County in 2010 of multiple counts ...