Hutch Post

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A Montgomery County man parole in April is in the Reno County Jail accused of aggravated kidnapping and rape.

Hutchinson Police Detective Tyson Myers said Stephen Joe Eastham, 35, is suspected of holding a Hutchinson woman against her will then forcing her into sex at a home in the 600 block of North Jefferson on May 3.

Myers said Eastham wasn’t arrested right away and the results of the investigation were sent to the District Attorney’s Office. They filed the formal charges and issued a warrant.

Eastham was picked up in Oklahoma on the Kansas warrant and was brought back to Reno County and booked into the jail on Tuesday.

Eastham also has a Department of Corrections warrant for absconding from parole for a Montgomery County case involving drugs.

He is expected to make an initial court appearance on Wednesday..

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Campaign finance reports show Republican Sen. Pat Roberts raised about $2.2 million in contributions over three months for his Kansas re-election race and ended mid-October with $927,000 in his treasury.

Federal reports available online Tuesday also showed that Roberts relied heavily on contributions from political action committees to fund his campaign. From July 17 through Oct. 15, he raised nearly $1.09 million from PACs.

The three-term Republican incumbent is in a close race with independent candidate Greg Orman.

The challenger is a wealthy Olathe businessman who covered $963,000 of his campaign’s expenses from mid-July through September. A report on Orman’s campaign activities in October was not available online.

Roberts had $1.4 million in cash on hand in mid-July. His campaign spent then spent $2.7 million through Oct. 15.

HUTCHINSON- A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 3 p.m. on Tuesday in Reno County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Chevy passenger vehicle driven by Herbert Milton Grubbs, 83, South Hutchinson, pulled out from the stop sign at Kansas 61 at Partridge 8 miles south of Hutchinson.

A southbound 2005 Chevy passenger vehicle driven by Kristina Rena Polk, 37, Arlington, collided with Grubb’s vehicle.

Grubbs was transported to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. Polk was not injured.

The KHP reported both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Lieutenant Gov. Jeff Colyer isn’t answering questions about a new loan he has made to the campaign of Gov. Sam Brownback.

A financial disclosure filing shows Colyer loaned Brownback’s campaign $500,000 in August — the third such loan he’s made to the governor’s re-election bid. He made similar loans in December 2013 and July, but both were paid back within two days.

At a campaign event Tuesday in Wichita, Colyer refused to answer questions about the loans or the origin of the money he’s lending to Brownback’s campaign. Brownback campaign spokesman John Milburn says the loans amount to simple “cash management.”

Brownback is in a tight race with Democrat Paul Davis.

Davis spokesman Chris Pumpelly says Kansans should know where Colyer is getting the money to loan to Brownback’s campaign.

JENNIFER C. KERR, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — AT&T is being sued by the government over allegations it misled millions of smartphone customers about its unlimited data plans.

The Federal Trade Commission says AT&T failed to adequately disclose to customers that it would reduce data speeds if they went over a certain amount of data use in a billing cycle. The practice, known as throttling, slows down things like web browsing, GPS navigation or watching streaming videos.

The FTC alleges that AT&T began throttling customers on unlimited data plans in 2011.

According to the complaint filed in federal court in San Francisco, about 3.5 million consumers have been affected. The commission says some customers had their data speeds slowed by nearly 90 percent.

By KAISER HEALTH NEWS

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Family medicine doctors are joining forces to win a bigger role in health care – and be paid for it.

Eight family physician-related groups, including the Leawood, Kan.-based American Academy of Family Physicians, have formed Family Medicine for America’s Health, a coalition to enhance the public perception of what they do and advance their interests through state and federal policies.

The launch of their five-year, $20 million campaign last week comes at a critical time for primary care doctors. Thanks to the health reform law, millions more people can seek care with newly gained insurance. But there’s growing debate about whether nurse practitioners and physician assistants should provide a lot more basic care, either on their own or as part of clinics sponsored by pharmacies or other businesses. Some major doctor groups have challenged the ability of lesser-trained medical professionals to independently treat patients.

Glen Stream, chairman of the new coalition, said that it plans to focus on:

• Paying primary care doctors for more than just office visits, including the time they spend making referrals to specialists, checking in with patients about treatment regimens, being available 24/7, and calling and emailing patients. Specialty doctors generally are paid more for their time and for procedures they do.

• Creating additional incentives for medical school students to go into primary care and tying medical schools’ federal funding to the primary care training they provide.

• Making electronic health records less burdensome, freeing more time for conversation with patients.

• Getting doctors to switch to a team-based, patient-centered “medical home” format, with a payment structure that reflects the work that goes into coordinating care for a patient.

• Persuading private and public employers with health plans to lean on insurers to increase compensation for primary care services.

“If we don’t spend enough on primary care, outcomes in the future will suffer because much of the chronic diseases that drive spending are preventable,” said Stream, a family physician and former president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He added that larger employers could negotiate higher payment rates for primary care when picking an insurance company.

While the campaign is touted as helping patients, it also asserts that family doctors are important.

“It’s always a question of what motivates groups to do these kind of campaigns — is it looking out for patients or your own interests? And generally it’s a combination of both,” said Atul Grover, chief public policy officer at the Association of American Medical Colleges.

In September, the American Academy of Family Physicians announced recommendations on medical school funding, saying teaching hospitals should provide more primary care training as a condition of continuing federal funding at the same level. But Grover said the kind of training that medical students receive doesn’t drive what type of doctor they become. The reimbursement system – which typically pays specialists at higher rates – is more important.

Grover also said that while primary care is important, taking funding away from specialty training isn’t necessarily a solution because an aging population will need more specialty care.

Other groups in the coalition are the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, American Board of Family Medicine, American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, Association of Departments of Family Medicine, Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors, the North American Primary Care Research Group and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A construction worker is hospitalized in serious condition after a 3-ton steel beam fell on him at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport.

The Wichita Eagle reports the 25-year-old man was alert and responsive when emergency crews arrived shortly after 8 a.m. Tuesday. The accident took place at the site where a new parking garage is being built.

A spokeswoman for the Wichita Airport Authority says co-workers quickly removed the 48-foot-long girder off the man with a forklift. The man works for Crossland Construction.

He was taken to Via Christi Hospital St. Francis.

GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) — A tiny bobcat that was rescued from a central Kansas oil rig is proving to be a big hit at a northern California wildlife refuge.

The Great Bend Tribune reports the little cat, called “Whisper,” was brought to the Great Bend-Brit Spaugh Zoo this spring. She was sent in late May to Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding, California.

Turtle Bay animal curator Sharon Clay estimates Whisper was about 3 weeks old when she arrived there. She’s now about 6 months old and weighs 13 pounds, and is expected to remain small.

The California park has made Whisper an animal ambassador, easy to introduce to visitors because of her sweet nature. The staff has taught her to walk on a leash and sit on command.