Tis the season to steal big screen TVs. Salina Police are investigating a pair of burglaries where big flat screen TVs were taken. On Tuesday between midnight and 4:23 am.,someone removed a 60-inch flat screen tv from the wall of an unlocked detached garage at the home of Louis Martinez in the 500 block of E. Claflin.  The loss and damage placed at $1,400.

Then between 8a.m. and 6p.m. Tuesday, someone broke the window on the back door of the home of Deana Blair in the 900 block of Merrill.

Blair who is in the process of moving, said a 50-inch flat screen TV was taken along with 2-Direct TV receivers, and 2-chopper style bicycles. The loss placed at $600. Police Lt. Scott Siemsen said the TV has been recovered and that police are looking for a known suspect.

(AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld the prison sentence for a former Kansas case manager who defrauded federal and state government programs.

The U.S. District Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected the request by Tya Dejuan Tiller to overturn her sentence of a year and a day in prison and restitution of about $76,000. At sentencing, the judge found the Leavenworth woman had unfairly tarnished the image of other public servants.

Tiller pleaded guilty to fraudulently collecting disability benefits while working at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and later at the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.

Investigators also found she had used her state job to defraud the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by creating food stamp accounts in the names of others to buy items for herself.

Recent survey findings from the U.S. Census Bureau revealed a significant increase in health insurance coverage for young adults (age 19-25) in Kansas. Starting in 2010, the Affordable Care Act allowed young adults to stay on their parent’s insurance until age 26. Young adults in Kansas are now less likely to be uninsured — 22.9 percent in 2012 compared to 26.8 percent in 2009. This nearly 4 percent decrease in uninsured 19-25 year olds is accompanied by a simultaneous 4.2 percent increase in private coverage. The Kansas Health Institute (KHI) has produced a Fact Sheet summarizing the Kansas-specific results from the 2012 American Community Survey (ACS).

In 2012, an estimated 356,000 Kansans were uninsured — or 12.6 percent — which is significantly lower than the national rate of 14.8 percent. There has been no change in the number or rate of uninsured Kansans since 2011. This fact sheet also identifies the primary types of health insurance for Kansans (i.e. Medicaid, Medicare, employment-based insurance). One noteworthy finding is that the percentage of children with public coverage has increased from 26.4 percent in 2009 to 31.6 percent in 2012.

“The rate of uninsured Kansans is lower now than in 2009 and 2010,” said Scott Brunner, M.A., KHI senior analyst and strategy team leader. “Part of the reason for this finding is an increase in public coverage of Kansas children. This increase suggests factors — such as the weakness in the economy and the state’s active outreach efforts to enroll children who need coverage — may be responsible.”

The Kansas Health Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan and independent health policy and research organization based in Topeka, Kansas. Established in 1995 with a multi-year grant from the Kansas Health Foundation, the Kansas Health Institute conducts research and policy analysis on issues that affect the health of Kansans.-by Ivan Williams, MBA

(AP) — The Supreme Court says a lower court should not have overturned the conviction and death sentence of a man who admitted killing a Kansas sheriff.

The high court Wednesday unanimously overturned the Kansas Supreme Court’s decision to throw out Scott Cheever’s death sentence for the 2005 fatal shooting of Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels.

The Kansas court said Cheever’s rights against self-incrimination were violated by prosecutors who used a court-ordered mental evaluation from a different trial against him.

Cheever’s own expert argued that methamphetamine use had damaged his brain. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that because Cheever’s side raised the brain damage issue, prosecutors were entitled to use testimony from the mental health expert from the other trial. That expert said Cheever killed because of an anti-social personality, not because of brain damage.

U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, a senior member of the Senate Committee on Finance, today told John Koskinen, President Obama’s nominee for Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that the overburdened agency must stay out of politics following the agency’s unlawful intimidation of political groups.

“Given all of the issues with the current tax code, with the IRS’ difficulty in implementing the current system, with fraud rife in a number of programs, and with the huge work load hitting now on Obamacare, and its politically motivated targeting of non-profit groups, we need to fundamentally re-think the federal tax system,” Roberts said. “A FAIR Tax plan would be a good start.”

The following are Senator Roberts’ remarks as prepared for delivery at the Finance Committee hearing on the nomination:

“When we met earlier this fall, you acknowledged that the Internal Revenue Service is stretched very thin, and that its role in implementing Affordable Care Act will necessarily result in the scaling down of some of IRS’ core functions.

“The question is, in implementing this law, will you be able to more with less or less with less?

Conversations with Conservatives is a group of free market and liberty-minded members of Congress that meets monthly with traditional press and bloggers to discuss the most important issues of the day. Chaired by Representatives Tim Huelskamp (KS-01), Raúl Labrador (ID-01), and Jim Jordan (OH-04), each meeting features different conservative members of Congress who share their ideas and field questions from the media. While questions are not limited to particular topics, Members are expected to discuss Obamacare, the budget, immigration, Iran, and other issues!

Video streaming by Ustream
Participating Members at the December 2013 session of Conversations with Conservatives include: Rep. Tim Huelskamp (KS-01), Rep. Raúl Labrador (ID-01), Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-04), Rep. Andy Harris (MD-01), Rep. Vicky Hartzler (MO-04), Rep. Mark Meadows (NC-11), and Rep. Mick Mulvaney (SC-05). Additional participants may be announced.

 Viewers may also participate in the conversation on Twitter (tweet to @conversations using #CWC113).

(AP) — Two people are in custody after a standoff that lasted nearly seven hours in Osage County.

Authorities say the standoff began about 1 p.m. Tuesday when Shawnee County officers tried to serve a warrant at an apartment in Overbrook. The man refused to come out.

Osage County Sheriff Laurie Dunn says another person inside the apartment tried to flee shortly after the standoff began but was arrested.

The wanted man ignored several attempts to communicate with him. About 8 p.m., authorities forced their way into his apartment and arrested him without incident.

No one was injured during the standoff.

Authorities did not release the man’s name or say what why a warrant had been issued for him.

(AP) — Authorities in northeast Kansas have arrested two Mexican nationals accused of hauling more than 200 pounds of marijuana.

Wathena Police Chief Jason Pendleton stopped the men for speeding as they were driving through Wathena on U.S. 36 last week.

Pendleton says officers found 151 packages of suspected marijuana, totaling about 223 pounds. He estimates the street value to be between $500,000 and $700,000.

The two men have been booked into the Doniphan County jail on several charges, including possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, no drug tax stamp and conspiracy to distribute and possession of drug paraphernalia.