The News, Briefly
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Big grant for college
Flint Hills Technical College has been awarded a $120,000 grant from the W.S. & E.C. Jones Testamentary Trust to assist the college in bringing the latest in interactive educational teleconferencing technology to campus. When the Reeble-Trusler Education Center was completed in 2007 as a SMART classroom, with wireless Internet access, state-of-the-art audio-visual system and theater-style classroom seating, the plan was to bring teleconferencing capabilities to the center as Phase II. The grant will be used to do that.
Jodi Heermann, executive director of advancement at the college, said the grant opens many doors for the school and its students.
“Bringing teleconferencing technology to campus opens the door to vast opportunities for our students and the community,” she said. “This is another testament of the generosity and support that the Jones Trust brings to Emporia and the other communities that have benefited through the years.”
Feds sue Westar
TOPEKA — The federal government has filed a lawsuit accusing Westar Energy of violating federal air-quality laws at one of its coal-fired power plants. The federal lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Kansas City, Kan., says Westar made major modifications to the Jeffrey Energy Center in St. Marys over the past decade but didn’t update the plant’s pollution control equipment.
The lawsuit asks the court to force the state’s largest electric utility to install new equipment and potentially pay millions of dollars in fines.
In a release, Westar said it has invested almost $500 million in recent years to cut its emissions and plans to invest another $1 billion over the next five years.