Kansas

click to view larger version The Kansas CW SkyCam is located on top of the broadcast tower at the KWCH studios in northeast Wichita. It is rotated at various times to point in different directions as weather or news conditions warrant.  

A trail camera in Stafford County catches a rare site, a mountain lion. The image was captured by one of Kurt Keesling's cameras on October 31st just after 4am east of St. John. He checked the camera a couple of weeks later and found the animal. Keesling tells Eyewitness News that a wildlife biologist came out to the site and confirmed that it was a mountain lion. He says he has been putting up these trail cameras for about five years and has never captured anything like this before.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Kansas senators have approved a bill that makes the little bluestem the official state grass of Kansas. Senators voted 37-2 Wednesday after a brief debate giving the grass special designation. Approval sends the bill to Gov. Mark Parkinson for his signature. Kansas has numerous official animals, birds and reptiles, including the American buffalo, western meadowlark and ornate box turtle. The official soil is the Harney silt loam and the official state song is "Home on the Range.

Strong storms brought damaging winds to much of central Kansas Tuesday night. At one point, Reno County Emergency Managers reported wind speeds topping 90 miles per hour in Buhler. As of mid-Wednesday morning, around 1,100 customers are without power in south central Kansas. If you have pictures of the storms or the damage and/or flooding left behind, send them to us - stormshots@kwch.com.

By Roger Cornish (near LEOTI, Kan.) A tornado was caught on camera in western Kansas about 1:30 Monday afternoon. Richard Mastel, the Westar Energy Wind Site manager, got this shot as the twister moved through the wind farm near Leoti. No damage or injuries are reported.

Kansas releases it's job report for July. It shows businesses added 17-hundred jobs in the past year... that's a point-one percent increase. But.. more than 18-thousand jobs were lost. This is normal, though... because school was out. July's unemployment rate in Kansas is now 6-point-9 percent, that's up from June...but still down from last year's rate at this time. To see the full report, got to http://www.dol.ks.gov/LMIS/pubReview/pr1008/pr1008.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan awarded an additional $6,137,796 in funding to Kansas communities struggling to reverse the effects of the foreclosure crisis.   The grants represent a third round of funding through HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) and will provide targeted emergency assistance to help local communities in Kansas acquire, redevelop or demolish foreclosed properties.     The funding is provided under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Barton County authorities police are looking for those responsible for damaging or destroying dozens of headstones at a cemetery just north of Hoisington. Some of those headstones have been in place for well over 100 years. Those with information are asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 792-1300 or 1-888-305-1300.

Kansas ranked 10th on Forbes ’ new “Best States for Business” list, up from last year’s rank of 15th. The state scored particularly well for its regulatory environment and economic climate, finishing 11 th and 13 th , respectively, in those categories. Kansas also ranked 18 th for labor supply, 23 rd for business costs (such as labor and energy), 27 th for quality of life and 30 th for growth prospects. Utah was No. 1 on the list this year, knocking Virginia, a longtime leader, down to second place.

by Associated Press (TOPEKA, Kan.) Tuition and fees at Kansas' state universities will rise again this fall.  The state Board of Regents on Thursday approved tuition and fee increases proposed by the universities. Most of the regents said the schools need the money to maintain their academic programs. For full-time, undergraduate in-state students, the increases will range from 4.1 percent at Fort Hays State University to 8.2 percent at the University of Kansas. However, many students at the University of Kansas will not pay the increase because they are part of a program that freezes tuition for four years.