MARYSVILLE — For the second week in a row, Marshall County law enforcement officials are investigating a fatal traffic accident.
On Friday, a 12-year-old boy was killed in a rollover crash.
In a media release, the Marshall County Sheriff’s office reported a truck driven by Chase Salyers, 17, Blue Rapids, was traveling northeast in the 500 section of Osage Road when it rolled.
A passenger in the truck Canyon Kelly, 12, Fort Mohave, Ariz., was partially ejected.
Kelly was pronounced dead at the scene.
Salyers and two other passengers, Chris Padgett and Joey Aguire, were not injured.
The sheriff’s office reported they were not wearing seat belts.
Last Friday, Jacob Allen White-Beckman, 23, Marysville, died when his vehicle hit a tree on U.S. 77 near Osage Road.
Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, speaks at a Medicaid expansion rally outside the Capitol.-Photo by Susie Fagan
By Jim McLean
KHI News Service
TOPEKA — Supporters of expanding Kansas Medicaid eligibility to more low-income adults rallied Friday at the Statehouse to call attention to the issue as legislators formally ended the 2014 session.
The federal health reform law initially required states to expand Medicaid eligibility. But the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June 2012 that upheld the law made expansion optional for states. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia have or are in the process of expanding their programs, according to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. Kansas is among 19 states that have rejected expansion. The issue remains alive in the remaining five.
“They’re gone until January,” said Sean Gatewood, director of the Medicaid Access Coalition, after the Legislature formally adjourned its 2014 session. “I think it’s a shame that this issue hasn’t been taken up.”
Gatewood, a former Democratic legislator from Topeka, said the rally was staged to signal to lawmakers that coalition members would be back at the Capitol demanding action when the 2015 session convenes in January.
“I know it takes a while to pass legislation,” he said. “This isn’t my first rodeo.”
A crowd of between 40 and 50 turned out for the event held on the south steps of the Statehouse to hear Gatewood, Rep. Jim Ward, a Wichita Democrat, and Joshua Longbottom, pastor of the Central Congregational Church in Topeka.
Longbottom said elected officials take God’s name in vain when they stress their strong religious beliefs while campaigning and then oppose programs to help the poor.
“It means that you can’t pass policies that rob the poor at the same time as you pad your poll numbers by claiming to be a follower of Christ,” Longbottom said. “It means that you can’t sit idly by for partisan commitments while the most vulnerable suffer illness and disease and have no recourse for proper medical attention.”
Currently, most of the approximately 380,000 Kansans enrolled in Medicaid – called KanCare – are children, new mothers, the disabled and seniors in nursing homes. Able-bodied adults with children are eligible only if they earn less than 33 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), which for a family of four is $7,770. No matter their income, Kansas adults without children aren’t eligible unless they are disabled.
Expansion would extend Medicaid coverage to all those earning less than 138 percent of FPL – about $32,500 for a family of four.
In addition, nearly 80,000 uninsured Kansans are expected to fall into what is being called the “Medicaid gap,” because in addition to being ineligible for Medicaid they earn too little to qualify for federal subsidies to help them purchase private health insurance.
Ward introduced a Medicaid expansion bill, but he said Republican leaders refused to allow a hearing on it.
“That is wrong,” he said. “This is the place where we have those discussions. This is the place where you get to hold us accountable … and to deny that is wrong.”
Many expect the conversation to change once the 2014 elections are over. Brownback for one said he is open to discussing next year a more private-sector approach to expansion similar to those being attempted in Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Iowa and a handful of other states. Those states are using federal Medicaid dollars to purchase private coverage for individuals with incomes between 100 percent and 138 percent of poverty.
“We’re watching all of it,” Brownback said. “I am more confident today than I’ve ever been there will be other options out there.”
The Medicaid Access Coalition launched a website that shows how much Kansas is losing in federal aid dollars by refusing to expand its Medicaid program in keeping with the Affordable Care Act. As of Friday afternoon, the figure stood at more than $160 million.
Hays resident James Leiker has filed to run on the Democratic ticket for the Kansas 111th district that includes Hays and Victoria.
“The past number of months, I’ve been approached about it by various people. I sat down and looked at it and it makes sense,” Leiker told Hays Post Friday.
He filed the paperwork in Topeka on Thursday, and it became official today. Rep. Sue Boldra, R-Hays, is the current 111th District representative.
Leiker, 31, has served as a USD 489 Hays school board member for nearly three years and is currently the vice president.
“So many of the school board issues have a lot to do with state funding and we have no local control over that,” Leiker said. “I want to bring state funding back to our schools.”
“I also have a strong water background, which is helpful,” said Leiker, who has worked as a Kansas State Research and Extension Watershed Project Technician.
Leiker and his wife, Tayrn — both employed by Genesis PURE Corp. — have two children, ages 9 and 5, who will both be attending Wilson School this fall.
If he is elected, Leiker said he would have to “give up his school board seat in January” when the Legislature convenes.
TOPEKA (AP) — Kansas health officials have issued a warning for people and animals to stay out of a north-central lake because of high levels of toxic blue-green algae.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Friday placed Old Herington Lake in Dickinson County under a toxic algae warning. The agency also said a previous warning for Barton County’s Memorial Park Lake remains in place.
The warnings mean people, pets and livestock should stay out of the lakes and should not drink their water.
Toxic algae advisories remain in place for Lake Warnock in Atchison County, and Logan City Lake in Phillips County. Boating and fishing are allowed, but direct contact with the water is discouraged for people and animals.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police in Wichita say a man working in a building being renovated has been killed in an elevator accident.
KAKE-TV reports emergency crews were called to the building in the city’s Old Town section around 10:30 a.m. Friday.
Police Lt. E.J. Bastian says the 40-year-old worker was riding in an open-door, pulley-style service elevator when he fell, catching his head between the elevator door and a brick wall of the shaft. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
One other construction worker was in the building at the time. The building is being converted to apartments.
The victim’s name has not been released. He worked for a subcontractor of Key Construction.
Disabled American Veterans National Commander Joseph Johnston
As you are likely aware, Secretary Shinseki has decided to resign his position as the head of Department of Veterans Affairs.
We honor Secretary Shinseki’s service to our country as a combat-disabled veteran and public servant, and respect his decision to resign and allow new leadership to address this crisis with new solutions.
Ultimately, a change in leadership does not address the root of the VA health care system’s problems of access and appropriate funding levels.
On behalf of DAV’s 1.2 million members, we implore the President to quickly identify and nominate, and the Senate to rapidly consider and confirm, the next Secretary of Veterans Affairs. In the meantime, DAV stands ready to work closely with Acting Secretary Sloan Gibson to implement solutions necessary to ensure all veterans can access the health care they need.
We also hope that a newly appointed Secretary continues to build on the progress made during Secretary Shinseki’s tenure in addressing the claims backlog, reducing veterans’ homelessness, and improving access to mental health care.
While this crisis is deeply disturbing, we hope the issues uncovered serve as a wakeup call to focus America’s attention on the need to fulfill the sacred promises made to the men and women who so honorably served our country.
Our Communications Department is standing by to help should you need assistance with media. If you are approached on this, or any other issue, please contact Charity Edgar, Associate National Director of Communications at [email protected], (202) 314-5221 or cell at (202) 641-4822.
Thank you for your continued service to those who’ve served.
Disabled American Veterans National Commander Joseph Johnston
While storms bringing large hail or gusting winds certainly aren’t on anyone’s weekend wish list, if some rainfall came along as part of the package, it would be difficult to complain.
The National Weather Service is predicting a chance of storms throughout the next week, with the strongest possibility coming Sunday afternoon and evening.
Kelly Sugden, NWS meteorologist, said that front will come in from the west and bring the possibility of golf ball- to baseball-size hail and winds of up to 60 mph.
“The tornado threat is not that great, but we certainly couldn’t rule that out,” he said.
Parched northwest Kansas could see some moisture, as well. According to the K-State Ag Research Center, Hays has received less than 3 inches of rain this calendar year.
“There could be some heavy rain,” Sugden said, adding it will be “hit or miss.”
The area most likely to be impacted by Sunday’s front will be along and west of the U.S. 283 corridor.
The possibility of thunderstorms will continue at least through Thursday, with the chance of storms ranging from 20 percent to 40 percent.
Temperatures this weekend, Sugden added, will be fairly close to seasonal, with highs in the upper 80s to low 90s.
There is also a slight chance of thunderstorms — 10 percent to 20 percent — tonight and Saturday, respectively.
In case of severe weather, check Hays Post and Eagle Radio stations for the most up-to-date news and information.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas House member is leaving the Democratic Party to seek re-election as a Republican, citing what she calls Democratic hostility to her opposition to abortion and gay rights.
Jan Pauls, of Hutchinson, announced her decision Friday as legislators formally ended the 2014 session. She was first elected to the House in 1992 and says she hasn’t changed politically, but that Democrats have.
Pauls cited the influence within the Democratic Party of Tom Witt, executive director of the group Equality Kansas. Witt once sought to have Pauls censured by party officials over her positions on gay rights.
Witt says he will work to prevent her re-election to the House.
Pauls was joined for her announcement by House Speaker Ray Merrick, other GOP legislators and state Republican Chairman Kelly Arnold.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The U.S. Border Patrol’s parent agency has released a critical report that it commissioned amid complaints that agents used excessive force, a step that the new commissioner says is part of a commitment to transparency.
The report by the Police Executive Research Forum that was released Friday says some agents are suspected of intentionally placing themselves in the escape route of assailants in fleeing vehicles before firing guns. It also says some shootings of rock throwers were questionable, especially when the attackers were hurling projectiles from across the border in Mexico.
The report was released with revised guidelines on use of force.
The Customs and Border Protection agency steadfastly resisted calls from members of Congress and immigration activists to release the report after it was completed in February 2013.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Statement by Congressman Tim Huelskamp (KS-01) in response to regulatory approval of the Sunflower coal-fired power plant expansion:
“Despite the threats of the Obama Administration to move forward with job-killing, costly mandates on coal-fired power plants, the State of Kansas remains committed to affordable electricity for its citizens. Environmentalists – most of them from outside of Kansas – and their trial lawyers have unnecessarily delayed the start of this critical project long enough. I have been fighting since my time in the Kansas Senate for this much-needed expanded electrical capacity, so I am excited by this regulatory approval. With this construction, thousands of new American jobs will be created, an economic boost will be provided to western Kansas, and the Sunflower project will deliver the dependable, affordable electricity needed for Kansas and the region.”
TOPEKA (AP) — Kansas lawmakers have formally adjourned the 2014 legislative session after failing to override a governor’s veto of a change in state ethics laws.
The House concluded its work at 10:28 a.m. Friday followed by the Senate at 11 a.m. Legislators completed the regular portion of the session earlier in May but were required constitutionally to meet for one day to officially end the session.
House members voted 96-5 to override Gov. Sam Brownback’s veto of a bill to change ethics laws regarding transfer of funds from campaign accounts to civic organizations, as well as eliminating a reporting requirement for lobbyists who spend less than $500. Senators made no effort to override the measure and the veto stands.
Several legislators also announced plans to retire to pursue other ventures.
MARYSVILLE — For the second week in a row, Marshall County law enforcement officials are investigating a fatal traffic accident.
