Top Local News Stories
Obama adjusts birth control policy after protests
President Barack Obama, struggling with a political storm that hasthreatened to keep building, announced a birth control compromise Friday that he said would both protect religious liberties and ensure that the nation's women have access to free contraception.
After weeks of growing controversy, Obama backed off a recently announced requirement for religious-affiliated employers to provide free birth control coverage even if it runs counter to their beliefs. Instead, workers at such institutions will be able to get free contraception directly from health insurance companies.
"Religious liberty will be protected, and a law that requires free preventive care will not discriminate against women," Obama said in an appearance in the White House briefing room.
Full StoryKansas House Republicans issue tax plan
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – House Republican leaders are proposing a plan to cut Kansas income taxes, removing one key objection to an earlier proposal from Gov. Sam Brownback.
The plan outlined Friday calls for reducing the rates in all three individual income tax brackets, with emphasis placed on the lowest bracket. However, unlike Brownback’s plan that eliminated the earned income tax credit for the poorest households, the House plan cuts the rate from 18 percent to 9 percent.
Under the plan, all incomes would pay less in taxes.
Full StoryProposed Kansas abortion ban blocked by abortion foe
TOPEKA – An influential anti-abortion legislator is blocking the push for a ban on abortion in the Kansas Constitution, highlighting a split among abortion opponents over tactics and frustrating the group advocating the “personhood” proposal.
Chairman Lance Kinzer said Friday he doesn’t plan to have a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the proposed constitutional amendment, HCR 5029, which is sponsored by 25 other House members. Kinzer is the leading supporter of HB 2598, a bill to add new requirements for abortion providers into state law and ensure that the state doesn’t provide even indirect financing of abortions through income tax credits or deductions.
Kinzer, an Olathe Republican and attorney, said he doesn’t believe the proposed constitutional amendment would withstand a court challenge and could lead to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that could hamper abortion opponents’ attempts to enact new restrictions. Kansans for Life, the anti-abortion group with the most influence at the Statehouse, takes the same position.
Full StoryCity puts explanation of ballot question on its website
The city of Wichita has put an explanation on its website to help clarify the ballot question being posed for the Feb. 28 special election.
Go to Wichita.gov for the information about the question on whether to change a charter ordinance regarding the use of bed tax for the Ambassador Hotel project.
The ballot question has created confusion because it so full of legal language and says very little about the actual issue. But that wording is required by Article 12 of the Kansas Constitution, city officials say.
Full StoryKansas Supreme Court affirms verdict in Wichita teen's death
The state's highest court upheld the capital murder and aggravated kidnapping convictions of a Wichita man who was paid to kill a pregnant 14-year-old girl.
The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday that Theodore Burnett is not entitled to a new trial in the death of Chelsea Brooks. The Wichita teen was nine months pregnant when the father of the baby paid Burnett $200 in cash and $150 worth of crack cocaine to kill her.
Brooks disappeared on June 9, 2006. Her body was found six days later in a shallow grave in Butler County.
Full StoryJudge: Lawrence sidewalk ordinance is flawed
Parts of a Lawrence city ordinance that prohibits blocking sidewalks are unconstitutional, a municipal court judge ruled in the trial of a mentally ill man who was arrested after being accused of blocking downtown streets three times last year.
Judge Randy McGrath ruled in favor of Robert Gilmore, 54, this week, finding that sections of the ordinance making it illegal to “continue to obstruct traffic” and forcing people to walk around someone are vague and unconstitutional. He found that sections prohibiting the leaving of objects in a right of way and intentionally obstructing traffic are legal.
Gilmore is often seen in downtown Lawrence wearing a robe or bedsheet, and his mother has said he is mentally ill.
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