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Month: March 2012

REPORT: 1 In 88 Kids In U.S Have Autism

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A new government report says autism is more common than previously thought, burdening as many as 1 in 88 children.

Health officials attribute the increase largely to better recognition of cases, through wide screening and better diagnosis.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the numbers Thursday. They are the latest in a series of studies that have been steadily increasing the government’s estimate for autism.

This new estimate means autism is nearly twice as common as officials said it was only five years ago, and likely affects roughly 1 million U.S. children and teens.

Drought Has Had Impact On Kansas Aquifers

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The lack of rainfall in Kansas in 2011 led to intense declines in groundwater levels around the state.

The Hutchinson News reports that the Ogallala Aquifer in southwest Kansas usually sees annual declines, but its decline in 2011 was one of the worst in decades. Officials with the Kansas Geological Survey said the aquifer there dropped an average 3.78 feet in 2011. That’s compared to a drop of about 3 feet in 2010 and 1.39 feet in 2009.

Much of Kansas received 25 to 50 percent of normal precipitation last year.

In central and south-central Kansas where groundwater levels usually show gains or only modest declines, the water table in the Equus Beds decreased an average 3.17 feet, and Big Bend district No. 5 dropped an average 3 feet.

Ex-Kan. Prosecutor Convicted Of Meth Charges

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A former assistant prosecutor in southeastern Kansas has been convicted of methamphetamine-related charges stemming from a search of his former Galena law office.

A Cherokee County jury on Wednesday found 47-year-old Jeffrey Pittman, of Carterville, Mo., guilty of conspiracy to possess meth and to traffic contraband into a correctional institution. He was also convicted of 2 counts of using a communication facility in a conspiracy to possess methamphetamine.

Pittman was stopped in Galena for a defective brake light in June 2009 and arrested on an Oklahoma warrant for possessing meth ingredients.

Authorities said a search of his former law office in Galena turned up meth ingredients, items used to make the illegal drug and drug paraphernalia.

Pittman was assistant Cherokee County attorney from March 2001 to February 2002.

Dense Fog Advisory This Morning, Clear And Warm This Afternoon

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Another sunny and warm afternoon can be expected across western Kansas today.

Isolated thunderstorms are possible early this evening across south central Kansas. A few of these storms could be severe and produce nickel to quarter size hail. A warming trend will develop across western Kansas over the weekend period. Temperatures both Saturday and Sunday will climb back into the 80s.

In addition very high to critical fire danger levels will be possible on Sunday afternoon along and west of highway 83 as gusty southwest winds develop and afternoon relative humidities fall back into the teens.

Today: Areas of dense fog before 11am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 79. Southeast wind 7 to 14 mph becoming northwest.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 47. North northwest wind between 5 and 13 mph.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming south southeast between 4 and 7 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 50. South wind around 8 mph.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 84. South southwest wind between 7 and 13 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 55.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 84.

Kansas House Advances Abortion “Conscience” Bill; Could Allow Pharmacists To Refuse Birth Control

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A bill aimed at giving Kansas health care providers more legal protection if they want to avoid any involvement in abortions is moving toward House passage.

The House gave the bill first-round approval Wednesday on a voice vote. A final vote is set for Thursday, and the measure is expected to pass and go to the Senate.

Supporters brushed aside criticism that the bill is broad enough to let doctors and pharmacists refuse to provide birth control.

Kansas already has a law that says that no one can be forced to participate in an abortion or penalized for refusing. This year’s measure says health care providers couldn’t be required to refer patients for abortion care or to prescribe abortion-inducing drugs.

Kansas House Tentatively OKs Religious Freedom Bill

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A bill that supporters say enshrines religious freedom in state statutes has won first-round approval in the Kansas House.

The 89-27 vote Wednesday sent the measure to final action, set for Thursday.

Conservative Republicans drafted the bill to protect Kansas residents from laws that they say infringe upon their rights to religious freedom.

The bill declares that state and local government policies shall not “substantially burden” people’s right to exercise their religious beliefs without showing a compelling interest and imposing the burden in the least restrictive way possible.

It also declares that people have the right to sue state and local government agencies if they feel their religious freedoms have been abridged.

Critics argue the bill would allow discrimination under the guise of protecting religious beliefs.

Jury Pool Approved In Great Bend Murder Trial

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Attorneys have finished narrowing the field of prospective jurors for the trial of a Kansas man accused of killing a Great Bend girl and burning her body at the asphalt plant where he worked.

Jury selection for the trial of 38-year-old Adam Longoria began Monday in Barton County District Court. From an initial group of about 400, lawyers settled Wednesday on a final pool of 44 prospective jurors.

Longoria, of Great Bend, faces life in prison without parole if he’s convicted of capital murder in the death of 14-year-old Alicia DeBolt in August 2010.

The final panel of 12 jurors and two alternates will be selected Thursday, when opening statements are also expected.

FHSU Poll: Students Against Allowing Guns on Campus

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Gun owners who have a Kansas concealed-carry permit would be allowed to take their weapons into more public buildings under a bill approved earlier this month by the House on a 74-50 vote.

The bill prohibits many state and local government agencies from banning concealed guns on their premises unless they have “adequate” security, such as metal detectors and security guards.  Hospitals, colleges and nursing homes could exempt themselves for up to four years.

Fort Hays State University  Police Chief Ed Howell, along with most state law enforcement organizations, testified in Topeka against the bill.

Student Government Association president Tyler Thompson chairs the Regents Student Advisory Committee and also testified in opposition.  Thompson says among the 200 students recently surveyed while in the Memorial Union, not one favored expanding the 2006 concealed carry law.

The measure is now in the Senate, where it’s expected to get a cool reception.

FHSU president Dr. Ed Hammond also talks about the bill, tonight on Street Beat Eagle Community TV Channel 14.

Walk-A-Mile In Her Shoes Raises Awareness and Dollars

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Women aren’t the only ones who can rock a pair of high heels.  It turns out men can too.

Members of the Fort Hays State University fraternities recently participated in the fourth annual Walk-A-Mile in Her Shoes fundraiser to create awareness about domestic abuse and sexual violence against women.

Before the guys slipped into their heels, which they paid to do, the crowd first heard from Leadership Studies professor Dr. Curt Brungardt.  He’s the step-father of Jana Mackey, a KU law student and activist who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 2008.

Since then, Brungardt and Jana’s mother, Dr. Christie Brungardt who is also an FHSU Leadership Studies professor, have organized “Jana’s Campaign.”  The Hays couple have also testified several times in support of strengthening domestic violence laws.

Once the men of the FHSU Greek system donned their high heels, they walked one mile around campus  to the cheers of sorority members and other supporters.

Walk-A-Mile in Her Shoes raised nearly 18 hundred dollars for OPTIONS Domestic and Sexual Violence Services, based in Hays.   The organization serves 18 northwest Kansas counties.

Check out more from the walk tonight on Street Beat Eagle Community TV Channel 14.

NY Firm To Pay Hays, 12 Other Kansas Cities For Falsely Billing Them

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A New York environmental services company will pay 13 Kansas cities for falsely billing them for services that weren’t provided.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced Wednesday that he had entered into a consent agreement with Nationwide Environmental Services. Schmidt’s office accused the company of billing the cities for products that were not ordered or services that weren’t provided.

The company will refund about $10,600 to the 13 communities and will also pay the cost of the investigation.

The cities that will receive refunds are Clay Center, Concordia, Hardtner, Hays, Hoisington, Kanopolis, Leoti, Linwood, Lucas, Minneapolis, Mound Valley, Paola and Ulysses.

Kansas House GOP Split Stalls Immigration Proposals

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Proposals for cracking down on illegal immigration in Kansas are foundering because of a split among majority Republicans in the state House.

But House GOP leaders were under pressure Wednesday to get legislation moving.

House Speaker Mike O’Neal, of Hutchinson, told fellow Republicans during a caucus meeting that he’d prefer to avoid a debate on immigration because it would be divisive.

Some conservatives want the House to debate proposals favored by Secretary of State Kris Kobach (KOH’-bahk), who helped draft tough immigration laws in Alabama and Arizona. Some rural Republicans back a proposal from influential business groups to create a program to place some illegal immigrants in hard-to-fill jobs in agriculture and other industries.

Bills taking both approaches have stalled in the House Federal and State Affairs Committee.

Brownback Joins Governors Standing up for American Agriculture

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TOPEKA–Kansas Governor Sam Brownback is joining a coalition of governors to support the U.S. beef industry and production of  lean finely textured beef, sometimes called “pink slime.”

Lean finely textured beef  has been eaten by Americans for 20 years.  The production and food safety technologies employed to make lean finely textured beef are USDA-approved, and it is produced in USDA-inspected meat processing facilities.

Gov. Brownback joined Govs. Terry Branstad (Iowa); Dave Heineman (Nebraska); Rick Perry (Texas) and Lt. Gov. Matt Michels (South Dakota) to jointly issue the following statement:

“Our states proudly produce food for the country and the world – and we do so with the highest commitment toward product safety.  Lean, finely textured beef is a safe, nutritious product that is backed by sound science.  It is unfortunate when inaccurate information causes an unnecessary panic among consumers.

“By taking this safe product out of the market, grocery retailers and consumers are allowing media inaccuracies to trump sound science. This is a disservice to the beef industry, hundreds of workers who make their livings producing this safe product and consumers as a whole.

“Ultimately, it will be the consumer who pays for taking this safe product out of the market. The price of ground beef will rise as ranchers work to raise as many as 1.5 million more head of cattle to replace safe beef no longer consumed because of the baseless media scare.

“We urge grocery retailers, consumers, restaurants and members of the media to seek the facts behind lean finely textured beef. Science supports keeping the lean beef product on grocery store shelves for the benefit of American agriculture and consumers alike.”

The beef industry is a staple of the U.S. economy. In Kansas, the beef industry generates more than $6.5 billion in cash receipts a year.  Already, more than 650 workers in Kansas, Texas and Iowa have been temporarily laid off. According to the National Meat Association, as many as 3,000 American jobs will be affected when suppliers are also factored in.

The coalition of governors and state leaders will tour BPI’s South Sioux City, Neb. facility Thursday.

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