A Salina woman was injured in a Saturday car accident involving a deer. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol twenty-seven year old Christine J Munoz of Salina was driving a 2005 Chevy Cobalt westbound on K4 Saturday when a deer ran in front of her car, 2 miles north of Lindsborg.
The vehicle swerved to avoid the deer, veered to the left across center line, veered into the ditch on the south side of K4, rolled on its right side and came to a rest on its tires.
Munoz was taken to the hospital in Lindsborg and later transported to Salina Regional Medical Center. She was not wearing a seat belt.
(AP) — The Kansas Highway Patrol says a school bus driver’s medical condition directly impacted the cause of a crash that injured the driver and 22 middle school students.
The Aug. 21 accident outside Bonner Springs injured the driver and 22 sixth-grade girls from the Pembroke Hill School in Kansas City. The injuries included broken collar bones and concussions.
The patrol investigation says video shows the 66-year-old driver’s hands weren’t on the steering wheel and his head was dropped down as the bus took a highway exit curve too fast and overturned.
Investigators said the driver was taking medication for high blood pressure and diabetes, and his condition had a direct impact on the crash.
The report was sent to the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s office.
(AP) — A 38-year-old man convicted of molesting a Wichita girl for nearly a decade faces about 80 years in prison.
Michael Rae has to serve about 51 years of a life sentence before becoming eligible for parole for raping a girl under 14. If he’s ever paroled on that charge, Rae has to serve about 27 more years for other crimes committed against the girl.
Rae was accused of molesting the girl from the time she 7 until she was 16.
Prosecutor Justin Edwards asked District Judge Joe Kisner to impose the longest sentence allowable.
Kisner said he received letters from people urging him to have compassion for Rae. But the judge said he was “incapable of that in this case” and imposed the maximum.
7:55 p.m. Saturday 11/16 The search for the truck and stolen tires continues. Authorities thought they saw the vehicle in Hays early Saturday but it was not confirmed. The vehicle was last seen heading west on highway 56 leaving Great Bend.
7:40 a.m. Law enforcement authorities in the region are watching for a Maroon late ‘90s-2000s Ford F 150 pickup with a black toolbox on back, chrome nerf bars on the front and chrome wheels.
The truck may be filled with stolen tires and is wanted in connection with criminal activity and fleeing law enforcement in Great Bend on Saturday morning.
No other details are currently available. If you have information on the truck or see it, contact police.
(AP) — James Sims rushed for 211 yards and three touchdowns and Kansas snapped a 27-game Big 12 losing streak Saturday with a 31-19 victory over West Virginia.
Thousands of fans stormed onto the field embracing players and coaches and eventually tearing down the south goalpost.
Sims, who recorded a career-high on 22 carries, broke runs of 62 and 68 yards while Kansas (3-7, 1-6 Big 12) ended a Big 12 drought that had lasted more than three years since a come-from-behind win over Colorado on Nov. 6, 2010.
West Virginia (4-7, 2-6), which wasn’t even a Big 12 member when Kansas notched its previous conference win, took a 7-0 lead on its first possession, a long drive against the wind. But the Mountaineers were unable to generate anything more until two meaningless touchdowns with less than 5 minutes to play.
The challenge for farmers and ranchers will be to double food production by 2050 to help feed an estimated 9 billion people.
GMOs – or genetically modified organisms – have the potential to dramatically increase the world’s output in coming decades without causing significant environmental hazards. This new technology is affording us ways to improve plant characteristics to lower production costs and increase yields on existing farmland.
Today a wide variety of plants are products of genetically modified science. Some are being developed with the ability to withstand certain herbicides while yielding higher productivity with lower costs and less environmental impact.
Contrary to what you may have read or heard, the use of GMOs can be a win-win situation for everyone. Farmers can realize higher yields producing a more economical crop and consumers wind up with a safer, better tasting and healthier food.
In spite of these advances, some environmental groups in this country and some members of the European Union have resisted the use of GMOs because they fear genetic manipulation is unnatural. They believe the food it produces is dangerous and this technology is bad for the environment.
GMOs have already been tested, and field trials are being conducted. All indications are that GMOs present no danger, but this will need to continue to be proven in tests with sound science.
The future of agriculture will remain bright as long as technology is allowed to progress without being hampered by unfounded fears. GMOs are an important production tool for the American farmer and rancher. We must continue to talk openly with the public about this safe scientific procedure to promote complete understanding of the issue.
It would be a major blow to production agriculture if GMO research were slowed or stopped. Scientific information must be readily available to all consumers so they too can understand this vital issue.
Biotechnology has the ability to revolutionize medicine as well as agriculture. Already there have been significant medical breakthroughs.
Examples include gene therapy to build blood vessels that bypass clogged arteries; destruction of cancerous tumors by cutting off their blood supply; vaccines for AIDS, malaria and ear infections; an anticancer booster shot that could stimulate immune systems; tissue engineering that helps the body regenerate itself; lab-grown bone, cartilage and skin or even organs such as the heart are in the works.
Our future can be enhanced with GMOs and biotechnology if these advances are allowed to progress. It’s important we learn and inform others as much as possible about these upcoming advances.
John Schlageck is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas. Born and raised on a diversified farm in northwestern Kansas, his writing reflects a lifetime of experience, knowledge and passion.
10:30 a.m. Saturday (AP) — Topeka police have identified a 39-year-old woman whose body was found at a motel.
Police were called to the Country Club Motel Friday afternoon after maintenance workers found the woman’s body in a motel room. Police on Saturday identified the woman as Lena Ann Keithley of Topeka.
The Shawnee County Coroner’s Office has completed an autopsy, but the cause of death has not been determined.
Police say the investigation is ongoing.
(AP) — Police are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found by workers at a motel in south Topeka.
Officers were called to the Country Club Motel around 1 p.m. Friday.
Police have not named the woman, who’s believed to be 39 years old and checked into the motel Thursday afternoon. Maintenance workers found her body while checking if her room had been vacated.
No information about a possible cause of death was released pending an autopsy.
Listen to Mike Cooper interviewing Carol Groen, M.S.N. Director of the Emergency Department Stroke Program; and Physician and Surgeon Dr. Manmohan Biring from HaysMed, by clicking the link above and then clicking the play button
Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger said that she expects health insurers doing business in the state to stop cancelling policies that don’t meet the minimum coverage requirements of the Affordable Care Act and reverse the thousands of cancellations already in process.
But, she said, it won’t be easy for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, the state’s largest health insurer, which Praeger said was “trying to do the right thing” by steering consumers into more comprehensive coverage.
“They (BCBS) are struggling, they want to do the right thing,” Praeger said. “But I think that they think they’ve been thrown a curve ball at this point because they’re going to have to make some changes and it may be costly.”
Mary Beth Chambers, a BCBS spokesperson, said on Thursday that the company was awaiting guidance from the federal government and from Praeger’s department about how to proceed. She said that about 35 percent of the company’s 27,000 individual policyholders had already been notified that they would need to choose new plans by Dec. 15 in order to have uninterrupted coverage starting Jan. 1, 2014.
Praeger and the companies are responding to President Barack Obama’s about-face decision to allow consumers to keep sub-standard policies without penalty through 2014. The president reversed course in the face of mounting bipartisan pressure from members of Congress who were being flooded with complaints from constituents receiving cancellation notices.
Coventry Health Care of Kansas, the state’s second largest insurer, doesn’t face the same challenge as BCBS because it made a business decision to hold off cancelling policies that came up for renewal before the end of the year, Praeger said.
Keeping policies in force that don’t meet the health reform law’s coverage requirements could also trigger higher premiums for policies sold on the new online marketplace because younger, healthier people could chose to keep those plans rather than shop for more comprehensive coverage.
“The potential pool of insured has changed,” Praeger said. “When they (insurers) thought they could price based on a mix of everybody, that was one thing. But now, if you’re going to let these healthier folks stay out of the mix for another year, there’s going to be an impact.”
Blue Cross Blue Shield could have sufficient reserves to absorb the cost increases, if the number of Kansans who opt to keep sub-standard policies is relatively low, Praeger said.
“They’re probably financially are able to absorb it, but is it right to ask them to,” Praeger said.
Maintaining sub-standard coverage for one more year creates real complications in the marketplace, Praeger said. But, she said, a decision by Congress to approve legislation being pushed chiefly by House Republicans that would allow consumers to purchase such plans indefinitely would “totally undermine” the law.
“That would be a huge mistake, a huge mistake,” Praeger said. -By Jim McLean, KHI News Service
Linda Beech, Ellis County Extension FACS Agent, received a national award for her “Extras from the Extension” segment on Eagle Community TV.
With Thanksgiving not celebrated until the end of November, there’s still time to take advantage of seasonal sale prices on healthy holiday foods.
Ellis County Extension Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) Agent, Linda Beech, offered tips for holiday shopping during a recent “Extras from the Extension” segment which airs on Eagle Community TV, Channel 14.
She recently received a national award for that segment.
At the National Extension Galaxy Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Beach received the second-place national Television Communications Award from the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences:
“Extras from the Extension” is produced by Jeff Durall of Eagle Community TV, who will be honored by the Ellis County Extension Council as “Volunteer of the Year.”
A Salina woman was injured in a Saturday car accident involving a deer. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol twenty-seven year old Christine J Munoz of Salina was driving a 2005 Chevy Cobalt westbound on K4 Saturday when a deer ran in front of her car, 2 miles north of Lindsborg.
