KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The company responsible for a recent natural gas pipeline accident that spewed a hazardous substance outside a small Kansas town has since 2006 faced more than $270,000 in federal penalties for problems elsewhere along its pipelines.
A section of a Panhandle Eastern pipeline erupted June 19, spraying 1,300 gallons of natural gas condensate over a rural area near Olpe, Kansas, a town of about 550 residents south of Emporia. Natural gas condensate is a mix of natural gas and hydrocarbons, and typically contains toxic chemicals, including benzene, a carcinogen.
Federal records show the U.S. Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration fined Panhandle Eastern a total of $272,400 for violations in 2007 and 2012. No injuries were reported.
Panhandle Eastern spokeswoman Vicki Granado says the company follows pipeline safety regulations.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The state’s pension system has been looking healthier thanks in part to investment gains and legislative changes that boosted employer and employee contributions.
Patrice Beckham, an actuary with the Cavanaugh Macdonald consulting firm, told the Kansas Public Employees Retirements System’s Board of Trustees that the state’s pension system has reached an important benchmark of 60 percent funded at the end of 2013.
The state’s pension system improved in part because of a 17 percent investment return last year.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that KPERS was last above 60 percent funded in 2010. Beckham also said the pension system’s projected debt dropped by almost $500 million in 2013, from about $10.3 billion to about $9.8 billion.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts won’t debate tea party challenger Milton Wolf ahead of the state’s Aug. 5 Republican primary.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Roberts executive campaign manager Leroy Towns said Friday that Wolf has failed to outline positions beyond what Towns called vague rhetoric and false attacks on the senator.
Wolf campaign spokesman Ben Hartman said it’s unbecoming for Roberts to duck debates and noted that Roberts previously had promised publicly to have them.
The 78-year-old Roberts is seeking his fourth, six-year term in the Senate. Wolf is a 43-year-old radiologist making his first run for public office.
Two lesser-known candidates also are on the GOP ballot. Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor and Lawrence attorney Patrick Wiesner are seeking the Democratic nomination.
Listen to Mike Cooper interviewing Orthepedic Physician and Surgeon Dr. Alex DeCarvalho, from the Hays Orthopedic Institute at HaysMed by clicking the link above and then clicking the play button
Source: White House Council of Economic Advisers-The White House Council of Economic Advisers examines the financial implications of Medicaid expansion.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A study released earlier this month by the White House Council of Economic Advisers says the decision not to expand Medicaid is costing Kansas millions of dollars and thousands of jobs.
According to the study, Kansas is passing up $820 million over the next three years by choosing not to expand Medicaid eligibility. The federal government would pay for nearly all of the cost of the expansion, which would add as many as 100,000 Kansans to the state’s Medicaid rolls.
But Sean Gatewood, who heads the Kansas Health Consumers Coalition, said that is not his group’s main argument for expansion of coverage.
“I represent consumers, and consumers would be greatly benefitted by the improved health benefits Medicaid expansion would bring,” Gatewood said.
Medicaid expansion would help thousands of Kansans manage chronic diseases and get preventive health screenings, he said, and would protect them from financial hardships related to being uninsured.
The financial stresses that families would not have to endure, and therefore lean on the rest of the economy,” he said. “Things like borrowing money to pay for health care costs or forgoing paying other bills.”
Currently, most of the approximately 425,000 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, which for a family of four is $7,770 annually. No matter their income, adults without children aren’t eligible unless they are disabled.
Expansion would extend Medicaid coverage to all those earning less than 138 percent of the poverty level – about $32,500 annually for a family of four.
The Council of Economic Advisers projects that Medicaid expansion would would add 3,800 jobs in Kansas over a three-year span.
A study released earlier this year by the Kansas Center for Economic Growth also outlined the potential economic effect on the state.
Sean Greenwood- photo KHI
Gov. Sam Brownback has opposed expanding Medicaid as envisioned by the Affordable Care Act. He said that the federal government can’t be trusted to make good on the financial support promised by the health reform law.
And even if the governor were to have a change of heart, the decision is no longer his alone. Kansas lawmakers passed legislation in the 2013 session that requires the governor to get legislative approval before going ahead with Medicaid expansion.
Kansas is one of 21 states to so far reject expansion. Of the 30 remaining states, 26 have implemented some version of expansion. The issue is still being debated in the other three.
A “ticker” on the Kansas Hospital Association website keeps track of how much federal money the state has forgone since the first of the year by not expanding Medicaid. By Friday afternoon it had topped $184 million.
A project to seal 17 miles of U.S. 281 from Portis to U.S. 36 is scheduled to begin next week, weather permitting.
Traffic will be reduced to one lane and controlled by flaggers and a pilot car during daylight hours. Minor delays should be expected during construction, not exceeding 15 minutes.
The Kansas Department of Transportation urges all motorists to be alert, obey the warning signs, and “Give ‘Em a Brake!” when approaching and driving through the construction zone.
KDOT awarded this construction contract – totaling $190,000 – to Mid America Road Builders Inc. The project should be completed by early August, weather permitting.
SEDAN, Kan- A Kansas woman died in single-vehicle crash just after 8 p.m. on Friday in Chautauqua County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Ford passenger car driven by Arlene F. Evans, 44, Sedan, was traveling east bound on U.S. 166 one mile west of Sedan. The vehicle came out of a curve, went left of center and traveled off the north side of the highway.
The vehicle struck the side of the ditch and flipped over onto its top.
Evans was pronounced dead at the scene. The KHP report indicated they were unable to determine if she was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.
I don’t think so. But Cargill Inc. is doing its damndest to invalidate the old admonition that eating your cake today means not having it tomorrow.
OtherWords columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer and public speaker.
As a leading producer and user of ingredients that contain genetically manipulated organisms, the food conglomerate with $136.7 billion in yearly sales faces a marketing problem: By huge margins, consumers here and around the world don’t want Frankenfoods on their families’ tables.
So Cargill, the largest privately held company in our country, ferociously opposes every state law and ballot initiative that would mandate the labeling of any product containing these genetically modified foods.
Better that families be kept in the dark about what they’re buying and eating, Cargill says. Better for its profits, that is.
Indeed, the chairman of Cargill’s board also belongs to the executive committee of the industry lobbying front that goes all out to kill every right-to-know provision for consumers. Any such label, he scolds, would be “misleading.”
But — whoa — what’s this?
Fortress Cargill issued a surprising press release earlier this summer. The company is proudly marketing a new soybean oil that — ready? — announces on its label that the product is free of genetically modified (GM) ingredients. Has the Big Ag behemoth had a change of heart?
Excuse me, but corporations don’t have hearts. They have bottom lines, period. And the bottom line is that Cargill’s terminally hypocritical honchos see dollars lying on the ground that they’re not getting.
“Despite the many merits of biotechnology, consumer interest in food and beverage products made from non-GM ingredients is growing,” explains Ethan Theis, a Cargill man with the cumbersome title of food ingredients commercial manager. These consumers are “creating opportunities and challenges for food manufacturers and food service operators,” he added.
That’s the clearest expression you’ll ever get of corporate integrity.
OtherWords.org columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer and public speaker.
PRATT – If you have an interest in pheasants and pheasant hunting, plan to attend one of two public meetings to be conducted in conjunction with Pheasant Tour 2014. The first public meeting will be on Monday, July 28, at the Comfort Inn Convention Center, 2225 S. Range in Colby. The second public meeting will be on Tuesday, July 29, at the Pauline Joyce Fine Arts Auditorium, 801 Campus Drive, Garden City Community College campus, Garden City. Both meetings will begin at 7 p.m. and end at 9 p.m.
Pheasant Tour 2014 is a cooperative effort between the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) and Pheasants Forever, designed to inform the public, decision-makers, and conservation partners about the status of this popular game bird and to examine what can be done to improve pheasant populations. Pheasant numbers have declined significantly across the Great Plains due to the impact long-term, severe drought has had on habitat and reproductive success of all upland birds.
The tour will have two components: First an invitation-only bus tour that will visit sites providing examples of conservation efforts and habitat projects that benefit pheasants, as well as updates on current research projects. Sites will include a variety of state, federal and private conservation programs. The second component will be the two public meetings.
The meetings will begin with presentations from KDWPT biologists on the status of pheasants in Kansas, along with information about current efforts and programs that benefit pheasants. Time will be allotted at the end of each meeting for questions and suggestions.
MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press
ANN SANNER, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers to avoid pure powdered caffeine sold on the Internet after the death of an Ohio teen.
Even a teaspoon of the powder could be lethal — it is equivalent to 25 cups of coffee. Eighteen-year-old Logan Stiner of LaGrange, Ohio, died May 27 after consuming it.
The FDA said teenagers and young adults may be particularly drawn to the caffeine powder, which is a stimulant.
The agency said the products are 100 percent caffeine and may carry minimal or insufficient labeling. Consumers may not be aware that even a small amount can cause an overdose.
Symptoms of caffeine overdose or toxicity include rapid or erratic heartbeat, seizures, vomiting, diarrhea and disorientation.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The company responsible for a recent natural gas pipeline accident that spewed a hazardous substance outside a small Kansas town has since 2006 faced more than $270,000 in federal penalties for problems elsewhere along its pipelines.
