Two Salina businesses reported receiving counterfeit $100 bills this week.

The Strand at 214 W. Walnut, and Brooks Tan at 1839 S. 9th had a white male short with brown hair come into the business and purchase a $25 gift card with a $100 bill.

The suspect received the gift card and $75 in change and left, before both locations realized the money was counterfeit.

Both cases took place between 11:25am and 12:10pm.

Lt. Scott Siemsen with the Salina Police Department suggest that businesses or anyone to check to make sure there is a security strip and a water mark that matches up with the face on the bill to make sure it is legitimate currency.

(AP) — Three more members of a Dodge City gang targeted in a federal racketeering crackdown have pleaded guilty to criminal charges.

The U.S. Attorney’s office said Wednesday the pleas were entered by 27-year-old Angel Cerda, 29-year-old Jesus Torres and 26-year-old Fabian Neave (nay-AH’-vay).

Cerda admitted being involved in a 2008 shooting in which two people were wounded. The charges against Torres involved the stabbings of two people in August 2011. Neave admitted taking part in robbery, attempted murder and drug trafficking.

Federal prosecutors obtained racketeering indictments against 23 gang members in the Dodge City area in May 2011, accusing them of victimizing immigrants who were in the U.S. illegally. Several of those charged have now pleaded guilty.

A Kansas man will spend at least 25 years in prison for the rape of a young girl who told police she was repeatedly abused over a period of years.

A Douglas County judge on Wednesday gave Robert Leo Hill two life sentences — one for rape, the other for aggravated indecent liberties.

The 42-year-old Lawrence man pleaded no contest to the charges last month. Prosecutors dropped eight other counts in exchange for Hill’s acceptance of the life sentences.

The sentences will run together, and Hill will be eligible for parole after 25 years.

Hill told the judge Wednesday he was “very, very, very sorry” and never meant to harm the victim, who is now 12 years old and has moved out of Kansas.

 U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), a member of the Senate Rural Health Caucus, today introduced S. 1143, the Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, to make sure that rural and other patients have access to a full range of outpatient therapeutic services in their own communities. “Outpatient therapeutic services” include services such as drug infusions, blood transfusions, and cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services. U.S. Senators Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) joined as original cosponsors of this bipartisan bill.

These health care services have always been administered by licensed, skilled medical professionals in hospitals under the overall direction of a physician. However, in its attempt to clarify existing regulations in 2009, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) retroactively interpreted existing policy in place since 2001 to require that a supervising physician be physically present in the department at all times when Medicare beneficiaries receive outpatient therapy services, the majority of which are low risk.

“CMS’ policy does not take into account the realities of rural health care. Many Kansas hospitals, and other rural hospitals across the country, find these supervision requirements impossible to meet – jeopardizing continued access to these important health care services,” Sen. Moran said. “Small and rural hospitals, where medical workforce shortages are most severe, need reasonable flexibility to appropriately staff their facilities so they can continue to provide a full range of services to their communities. The PARTS Act is a commonsense solution that would preserve patient safety and ease unreasonable regulations on hospitals.”

“CMS’ physician supervision policy poses a threat to the delivery of health care in rural Kansas hospitals,” said Kevin Miller, president and chief executive officer of Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. “We need a permanent solution that recognizes how we operate hospitals in rural America. The PARTS Act fixes this problem by providing rural hospitals with the flexibilities necessary to continue providing the much needed therapy services to patients in their own communities.”

“In rural Kansas, the ability to provide accessible, timely care is critical. The PARTS Act creates a reasonable approach to the physician supervision requirements,” said Denny Hachenberg, chief executive officer at Anderson County Hospital. “Without this legislation, our hospital would face difficulties in meeting the challenging requirements, thus causing many of our patients to delay care or seek the services outside of our local community.”

In response to concerns raised by Sen. Moran, other lawmakers from rural states, and hospitals, CMS delayed enforcement of its direct supervision policy through 2013 for Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and other small, rural hospitals. However, the regulations are scheduled to go into effect in 2014.

The PARTS Act would:

Allow general supervision by a physician or non-physician providers for many outpatient therapy services;
Require CMS to allow a default setting of general supervision, rather than direct supervision, for outpatient therapy services;
Create an advisory panel to establish an exemption process for risky and complex outpatient services;
Create a special rule for CAHs that recognizes their unique size and Medicare conditions of participation; and
Hold hospitals and CAHs harmless from civil or criminal action regarding CMS’ current direct supervision policy for the period 2001 through 2014.

U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee today offered an amendment during the Committee’s consideration of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to prohibit the U.S. Secretary of Education from offering waivers containing mandates in exchange for relief from onerous provisions of ESEA.

“I am concerned about recent Administration efforts to side step Congressional intent by offering strings-attached waivers to states. My amendment ensures that waivers are initiated at the state or local education entities’ request, and are not allowed to be a federal mandate in disguise.”

At issue is a plan announced in 2011 by the Department of Education to offer eleven waivers of ESEA requirements as well as four principles for “improving student achievement and increasing the quality of instruction.” With the exception of one optional waiver, states would be required to apply for all ten waivers and agree to implement four principles developed by the Department of Education.

“Unfortunately, it is evident that waivers have been granted only to those states that agree to implement the White House’s preferred education policies,” Roberts said. “In fact, The New York Times has referred to the waiver process as ‘the most sweeping use of executive authority to rewrite federal education law since Washington expanded its involvement in education in the 1960s.’”

The Roberts amendment prohibits the Secretary from imposing by regulation any additional requirements to waiver requests not authorized by Congress.

The amendment was cosponsored by Ranking Member Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY). The amendment was not approved with a vote of 10-12.