By Jim McLean
KHI News Service
TOPEKA — State officials are intensifying their efforts to help Kansans with disabilities get jobs.
But advocates in the disability community are skeptical that an initiative announced Monday will be enough to reverse a recent trend that has seen a steady decline in the number of Kansans with disabilities placed in jobs.
The initiative, dubbed “End-Dependence Kansas,” will provide $25 million in mostly federal funds over the next five years to organizations that operate programs that help people with disabilities find employment.
“Work is an essential component of self-sufficiency, greater self-esteem, a healthy lifestyle and being fully included in society,” said Phyllis Gilmore, secretary of the Kansas Department for Children and Families.
State officials say their goal is to help 2,000 Kansans with disabilities find “integrated employment,” meaning competitive jobs rather than so-called “sheltered employment.”
Rocky Nichols, a former Democratic legislator from Topeka who now heads the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, welcomed the initiative but said he’s concerned that it won’t be enough to reverse several years of underperformance by the state’s vocational rehabilitation program.
“On the one hand, I don’t want to be too critical because it’s providing enhanced funding. But, man, this is a big challenge, and I think it’s going to take something more than a hopefully well-intentioned news release a month before the election to turn this thing around,” Nichols said.
Michael Donnelly, director of rehabilitation services at DCF, agreed that finding meaningful employment for people with disabilities is challenging.
“The (U.S.) Department of Labor reports that only 18 percent of Kansans with disabilities are involved at all in the workforce,” Donnelly said. “So that’s 80 percent who are not. That’s a lot of people.”
Even so, Donnelly said he believes the new effort will pay dividends because it’s being coordinated among five state agencies.
“We believe that we can put Kansas on a path to have the highest employment rates of people with disabilities,” he said.
Annual reports issued by the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston show that Kansas has work to do in achieving that goal. The most recent report shows that the number of Kansans with disabilities placed in integrated employment declined from 79,141 in 2010 – the year Gov. Sam Brownback was elected – to 77,454 in 2012.
The numbers reveal other concerns. While the number of people with disabilities getting competitive, regular jobs has declined, the number having to settle for non-competitive, sheltered-workshop jobs has increased substantially. In addition, more working-age Kansans with disabilities are living in poverty – increasing from 12.3 percent in 2010 to 13.3 percent in 2012. The poverty rate among all Kansans with disabilities increased from 23.3 percent in 2010 to 28.5 percent in 2012.
“Those (numbers) are huge red flags and huge warning signs to our state that we’ve got to do a lot more,” Nichols said.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Three Kansas Republicans seeking re-election to statewide office are touting endorsements from other GOP elected officials.
U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts’ re-election campaign announced Tuesday that he has the backing of conservative Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn. Roberts’ campaign said earlier that Coburn would participate with Roberts in five events Thursday and Friday as part of a bus tour.
Roberts is in a tough re-election race with independent candidate and Olathe businessman Greg Orman.
Meanwhile, Gov. Sam Brownback had a news conference Tuesday outside the Johnson County Courthouse in Olathe to tout endorsements from District Attorney Steve Howe and Sheriff Frank Denning.
Brownback’s race for re-election against Democrat Paul Davis is currently considered a toss-up.
State Treasurer Ron Estes announced an endorsement from eastern Kansas Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins, a former state treasurer.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to hear appeals on same-sex marriage bans is spawning diverging responses in the states indirectly affected by the move.
Conservative places such as Kansas and Wyoming are for now refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. In more liberal outposts such as Colorado, gay marriage is officially legal.
Officials in the conservative states acknowledge they’ll have to reassess once legal challenges directly target their distinct state bans. For instance, South Carolina’s attorney general said if a court specifically rules against its gay marriage ban, he’ll then decide how to proceed.
In the meantime, the American Civil Liberties Union and other gay rights advocates are assembling their legal teams and planning for the lawsuits to provide those specific challenges.
JOAN LOWY, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just because you can talk to your car doesn’t mean you should. Two studies have found that voice-activated smartphones and dashboard infotainment systems may be making the distracted-driving problem worse.
The studies released Tuesday by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the University of Utah found the systems let drivers do things like tune the radio, send a text message, or make a phone call while keeping their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel, but many are so error-prone or complex that they require more concentration from drivers rather than less.
Researcher David Strayer, who led the studies, said drivers had to concentrate on exactly what words they wanted to use and in what order to get the systems to follow their commands.
By Becky Kiser
Hays Post
The annual food drive organized by the Hays High School DECA club was underway Tuesday evening in Hays.
Community volunteer are participating in “Trick Or Treat So Others Can Eat,” walking door-to-door collecting donations of non-perishable food items for the Community Assistance Center, 12th and Oak.
The collected items are then taken to the CAC where more volunteers sort the food into several categories, including “canned meats” and “cake mixes,” and then stack the donations on the pantry shelves.
Hays resident Megan Wilkerson set out a grocery bag of “canned corn, some yummy chicken Alfredo and tuna” on her porch Tuesday evening before leaving for a class.
“I think everybody deserves to eat,” she said.
High DECA has organized the event since 1985, according to DECA sponsor Shaina Prough.
The 2014 annual alley cleanup in Hays will consist of a single sweep through the city beginning Oct. 27. No set schedule has been established; however, residential curbside services will be first with residential regular alley services following. Alley cleanup is for city of Hays residential customers paying for refuse services.
The citywide general schedule for alley services will start after curbside collections are completed. The number of employees committed to the task may vary from day to day; therefore, crews are unable to predict when they will be by a residence. City crews have a time limit per residence.
As in years past, the city will not pick up tires and hazardous waste. Tires should be disposed of at the Ellis County Landfill, and hazardous waste items should be disposed of at the Ellis County Hazardous Waste Facility. Call (785) 628-9460 or (785) 628-9449 for detailed information.
The program is an opportunity for residents to discard items that would not be picked up in normal trash collection.
Waste should be placed in four separate piles in preparation of the Alley Cleanup. The piles should be organized in the following manner:
1. Tree limbs and brush (no longer than 12 feet in length or 6 inches in diameter), all yard and garden waste must be bagged.
2. With construction and demolition debris (lumber, drywall, bricks, sinks, wires, etc.), residents are asked to pull or bend nails and place small quantities of concrete, bricks and plaster in containers.
3.White goods/metals, i.e., guttering, siding, washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, metal swing sets, etc.
4. Municipal waste (all other items), i.e., furniture, carpet, TVs, computers, etc.
To avoid wrongful pickup, remove items from the collection area or clearly mark.
All items should be set out by Oct. 27, but to avoid creating a nuisance, residents are asked not to set items out before Oct. 1.
REMINDER
Free disposal of tree limbs is available for city of Hays residents at the Ellis County Transfer Station, 1515 W. 55th, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday.
NASHVILLE (AP) – Jason Aldean is just laying his life out there and he’ll deal with whatever happens. Aldean says he’s not going to be scared to come out of his house for fear that he’ll do something stupid and it gets caught on camera. He says anyone who has followed his career knows he’s not an angel. Aldean became fodder for the gossip magazines when he was caught kissing former “American Idol” contestant Brittany Kerr while still married. He’s now divorced and engaged to Kerr. Aldean says he used his new album, “Old Boots, New Dirt” as a way to escape his troubles, but the album is not about his life.
Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry
Eagle Communications
An astronomical phenomenon called sun outage disrupts cable TV service twice a year, around the spring and summer equinoxes.
At these times, the sun’s low path in the sky takes it directly behind a communication satellite that transmits signals to a station on earth. The sun’s rays interfere with the signals between the communication satellite and the earth station.
Eagle Communications cable TV customers may notice the effects of the solar outage – blocks or momentary freezing on your TV – around these times.
You might even lose certain channels for a short time. Unfortunately, there is nothing to prevent the sun from interfering with live TV viewing.
The outages are not expected to last more than 15 minutes per day.
THOMAS BEAUMONT, Associated Press
DODGE CITY, Kansas (AP) — Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts is struggling to win re-election, and the wide open spaces of his childhood are both his best chance for saving his political career and the biggest threat to it.
The 78-year-old Republican must wring every friendly vote out of Kansas’ 99 rural counties to turn back the challenge from a suburban businessman running as an independent. Greg Orman is capitalizing on sentiment that the incumbent is out of touch.
But the available votes here are declining along with the population. Rural counties now account for less than 45 percent of the electorate. Some of Roberts’ past supporters are skeptical of him since he has been in Washington for four decades.
Roberts has ramped up his rural campaign but also has to compete in the booming suburbs.
Belleville- One person was injured in an accident just before 2 p.m. on Tuesday in Republic County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2007 International Truck driven by Thomas F. Wendell, 60, Beloit, was stopped on Kansas 148 nine miles south of Belleville.
The truck was attempting to turn northbound onto U.S. 81 when the driver failed to yield, and struck a 2000 Hyundai Elantra driven by Lesli A. Martin, 57, Concordia, which was northbound on U.S. 81.
Martin was transported to the Belleville Hospital. Wendell was not injured.
The KHP reported both properly restrained at the time of the accident.
United States Attorney’s Office
TOPEKA — A Manhattan woman pleaded guilty Monday to taking part in a marriage fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Jacqueline Michaelle Reed, 48, Manhattan, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud. In her plea, Reed, who is a United States Citizen, admitted she entered into a marriage contract with co-defandant Yun Chiu for the purpose of evading U.S. immigration laws. Chiu was a foreign national who was seeking lawful permanent residency status in this country. Their arrangement was part of a conspiracy led by Quong Bow Low, who was paid for helping aliens seek residency. Low’s fees covered such services as coaching the defendants as to how to answer questions during an immigration interview so that officials would believe the couple had entered in a valid marriage.
Reed and Chiu submitted fraudulent paperwork to immigration authorities, including a marriage license that never was filed with the state of Kansas, as well as a false declaration they were in a valid marriage and resided together at the same address in Lawrence, Kan.
Reed is set sentencing Jan. 12. She faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
Co-defendants include:
Yun Chiu is set for trial Nov. 12.
Quong Bow Low is set for sentencing Nov. 14.
Grissom commended the Department of Homeland Security and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Kenney for their work on the case.
