AP Top Kansas News at 5:45 a.m. CDT
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Osborne admires job K-State's Snyder has done
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Tom Osborne says he admires the job Bill Snyder has done in his return to coaching at Kansas State.
Snyder never beat Osborne's Nebraska teams in nine meetings, but he did build K-State into a Big 12 power in the 1990s. The 70-year-old Snyder stepped down after the 2005 season. In his first season since coming out of retirement, Snyder has the Wildcats one win away from the Big 12 championship game.
Nebraska and K-State play in Lincoln Saturday.
Osborne has worked with Snyder on a collaborative youth mentoring program in Nebraska and Kansas. Osborne, now Nebraska's athletic director, said he sensed in talking with Snyder last year that Snyder missed coaching and probably would return to the sideline.
------ Warrant in Mo. case: Cops find porn, incest mags
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) -- Authorities investigating six family members accused in a series of sexual assaults involving young relatives dating back to the 1980s seized booklets and magazines depicting incest from a family home.
The search warrant issued last week after the arrest of Burrell E. Mohler Sr., 77, of Independence, said investigators seized several items from Mohler's home, including four computer towers, several pornographic magazines and books, several DVDs, and cameras.
Mohler, his four adult sons and his brother, Darrel W. Mohler, 72, of Silver Springs, Fla., have been charged with raping and molesting several young relatives over roughly a decade. Accusations include impregnating at least two young girls and forcing one to have an abortion when she was 11.
Col. Ben Kenney of the Jackson County, Mo., sheriff's department said Wednesday that several booklets found at the home were about incest.
"The thing that was unusual was the title and the references," he said. "They were very explicit. ... It was all on sex with family members."
He said the computers that were seized were sent to an FBI lab in Kansas City for review.
------ Kan. regents: State needs to consider taxes
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- 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.
But Sherrer, a former lieutenant governor from Overland Park, said if state universities continue to face funding cuts, they may have to cap their enrollments -- and deny access to some prospective students.
"Without additional revenues, we are going to do serious and long-term damage to our educational institutions," Sherrer said.
Lykins noted that when state revenues were healthy in past years, legislators repeatedly approved tax breaks -- many for businesses and designed to stimulate economic activity. Also, the state has dozens of exemptions to its 5.3 percent sales tax.
------ Urban League and partner to offer small biz loans
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The National Urban League is teaming with a small-business financial specialist to offer loans to companies unable to get approved by banks.
On Deck Capital will provide loans through Urban League local affiliates, starting in Philadelphia and Los Angeles and then expanding across the country, it was announced Wednesday.
The program offers one-year loans ranging from $5,000 to $100,000 at interest rates of 18 to 36 percent. All the loans must be repaid through automatic daily "micro-payments" from the business' bank accounts.
The program will focus on urban areas with high concentrations of minority businesses and help create new jobs there, said Patricia A. Coulter, president and CEO of the Urban League of Philadelphia.
"In today's really tight market, credit has dried up, banks are not lending," she said. "It's even more critical for small and minority businesses to have access to capital."
To qualify, businesses should generally have between $500,000 and $2 million in annual revenue and have been operating for at least three years, said On Deck founder and CEO Mitch Jacobs.
------ Police suspect foul play in man's disappearance
BEL AIRE, Kan. (AP) -- Bel Aire police say they suspect foul play in the disapperance of an 82-year-old man who hasn't been seen since March.
William L. Howell was last seen March 5 at the Bel Aire Recreation Center.
Bel Aire detective Craig Pentecost says Howell sometimes was gone overnight to visit friends. But he says the length of time since Howell was seen leads police to suspect foul play.
Howell is 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighs 140 pounds, has brown eyes and short gray hair. He walks with a limp or cane. He is diabetic and insulin dependent.
Howell's family is offering a $1,000 reward, and Crime Stoppers is offering another $1,000 for information in the case.
------
------ Group protests proposed ban on panhandling
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- A proposal to ban panhandling in downtown Lawrence is causing controversy in the university town.
A group of about 30 street musicians, panhandlers and their supporteres held a brief rally Tuesday in front of Lawrence City Hall to encourage commissioners to drop the idea.
Commissioner Aron Cromwell last month suggested a total panhandling ban downtown, although he said street musicians might be able to apply for a city license. Commissioners have directed staff members to research the issue.
Nicole Manriquez, an organizer of the protest, said the group supported the city's current ban on aggressive panhandling. And she says a greater police presence downtown would address most of the concerns surrounding panhandling.
------
Information from: Lawrence Journal-World, http://www.ljworld.com
------ Kansas State chooses new provost, senior VP
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) -- Kansas State University has chosen a dean from Colorado State University to be its new provost and senior vice president.
Kansas State president Kirk Schulz announced Tuesday that April Mason will start work on Jan. 10 after she passes a background check. She'll be paid $305,000 and other incentives.
Mason currently is dean of the College of Applied Human Sciences at Colorado State. She earned a master's degree in plant pathology and her doctorate in food and nutrition from Purdue University. She worked at Purdue before moving to Colorado State.
Mason is chairwoman of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities' Board on Human Sciences.
------
Information from: The Manhattan Mercury, http://www.themercury.com