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A sperm donor says a state effort to make him pay child support for a child conceived through artificial insemination is politically motivated.

William Marotta of Topeka says when he donated sperm to lesbian couple Angela Bauer and Jennifer Schreiner in 2009, he relinquished all parental rights, including financial responsibility. However, when Bauer and Schreiner filed for state health insurance last year, the state demanded the donor's name so it could collect child support for the now 3-year-old girl.

A large tax overhaul takes effect in Kansas now that the New Year has begun, but it may not remain "as-is" for long.

Governor Sam Brownback believes there's a good chance lawmakers could again look at taxes. And the governor himself may address taxes in his budget plans.

Sperm donor says case to require him to pay child support is politically motivated; Brownback says lawmakers will likely take on taxes; The Kansas Chamber of Commerce wants to loosen the state's liquor laws.

Sperm Donor Says Case Is Politically Motivated

A sperm donor says that the state's effort to make him pay child support for a baby conceived through artificial insemination is politically motivated.

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No independent and non-commercial movie screenings over the next few weeks. So, instead, as we move from 2012 into the New Year, Fletcher Powell takes a look at a couple of his favorite movies that deal with transitions and change.

A year before cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited the earth, American Joe Kittenger took a lift below a two-hundred-foot helium balloon. The ride took an hour and a half in a tiny open-air basket that took him 102,000 feet above New Mexico.

When he jumped from nineteen miles up, the free-fall lasted four and half minutes. Kittenger's space dive began a long and costly race. After Russian Eugene Andreyev set an official free-fall record, an American Nick Piantanida spent the mid-sixties trying to bring the record back to the United States.

Dozens of social workers and law enforcement personnel around Kansas recently completed training designed to further understanding of human trafficking, which is a modern form of human slavery.

Classes were held in Wichita, Topeka and Hays. Social workers from the Kansas Department for Children and Families and Kansas Highway Patrol officers gained new insights from nationally renowned expert Dottie Laster.

Professionals get training to recognize the signs of human trafficking; Kobach wants more power to be able to prosecute double-voting cases; New Wichita legislators say election change is a good idea.  

Training Helps Professionals Identify Human Trafficking

Dozens of Kansas social workers and law enforcement personnel recently finished additional training to stop human trafficking, a modern day form of slavery.

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Louisa Clark lives in a small English town with her parents, grandfather, sister and nephew. She has no secondary education, the cafe where she waits on tables closes, and when her father loses his job, it's up to Lou to become the family provider. She takes a job as a caregiver for Will, a formerly larger-than-life man in his 30s who is now confined to a wheelchair as a quadriplegic.

Wichita Public Schools is accepting nominations for the 2012-13 Distinguished Classroom Teacher Award to honor new and experienced teachers.

The Distinguished Classroom Teacher Award program recognizes outstanding teachers who affect the quality of education of more than 50,000 students in the Wichita school district. Awards are given in seven categories: new elementary teacher, new secondary teacher, primary teacher, intermediate, middle school and high school teacher and support teacher.

New KS Senate President picks multiple staff members; Wichita Public Schools are taking nominations for best teachers; Natural resources conference to be held in Wichita. 

New Kansas Senate President Fills Out Office Staff

Incoming Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle has appointed three new aides to fill her staff vacancies.

The Wichita Republican says Harrison Hems will be her legislative director. Hems will leave the Kansas Department of Transportation, where he'd been a liaison to Congress.