DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford’s new aluminum-bodied F-150 is set to go into production Tuesday.

It’s the company’s biggest vehicle launch in decades. Ford thinks it will win buyers with a truck that is lighter, more fuel efficient and even more capable.

But there are big risks. F-Series trucks have been the top-selling vehicles in the U.S. for 37 straight years, and are a big contributor to Ford’s profits. Quality issues or consumer concerns about the new material could cost Ford its pickup crown.

Aluminum isn’t new to the industry, but it has never covered such a high volume vehicle before. Ford made more than 647,000 F-150s last year.

The truck will go into production at Ford’s Dearborn, Michigan, plant Tuesday and at a plant in Missouri early next year.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Topeka Fire Department says two fires that broke out at vacant houses were intentionally set.

The department says the fires were set about a block away from each other on Monday night. Firefighters say flames at the first home had multiple points of origin. Two homeless people were inside the house during the fire and one suffered minor burns trying to put it out. The man refused medical treatment.

Firefighters saw smoke after extinguishing the flames and discovered the second fire, which was also extinguished.
They say the fires caused a combined $10,500 in damages.
Authorities are investigating.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas farmers are almost done planting next year’s winter wheat crop.

The latest update from the National Agricultural Statistics Service says 96 percent of the state’s wheat crop has been seeded. About 88 percent has emerged.

Wheat condition is rated 6 percent excellent, 57 percent good, 34 percent fair and 3 percent poor.

Fall harvest is also nearing an end with 92 percent of the corn in the state now harvested.

The sorghum harvest is about 67 percent finished.

About 84 percent of the soybean crop has also been cut.

JOHN HANNA, AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A new Kansas revenue forecast says the state will face a $279 million budget shortfall by July and an even bigger gap to close in the year after that.

State officials released a new financial forecast Monday that revised the state’s revenue projections for budget year that began in July.

The forecasters dropped the expectation of total revenues by $206 million, to just under $5.8 billion.

The state officials and university economists also issued the first projections for the fiscal years beginning in July 2015 and 2016. They said revenues would be $5.8 billion in the next fiscal year, then just shy of $5.9 billion.

Officials said after closing a $279 million gap in the current budget, the state still would have another $436 million shortfall by July 2016.

KANSAS CITY- A Missouri woman was injured in an accident just before 4 p.m. on Monday in Johnson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Honda driven by Bertha Hill, 28, Kansas City, MO., was eastbound on Interstate 435 in number 3 lane when another vehicle merged from the number 2 lane into number 3 lane causing the motorcycle driver to lose control and flip.

The motorcycle driver was ejected.

Hill was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. The KHP reported she was wearing a helm

By Bryan Thompson, KPR

TOPEKA — The City of Topeka is launching an effort to provide treatment, instead of jail time, for people whose misdemeanor crimes are linked to mental illness.

The city will use a $91,000 federal grant awarded through the Kansas Criminal Justice Coordinating Council to fund an Alternative Sentencing Court next year.

Anyone charged with a misdemeanor or traffic offense will be eligible for the new program if they’ve been diagnosed with a severe mental illness. To avoid jail time, they’ll have to complete a one-year program that includes treatment and drug testing. They must appear for all court hearings and pay their court fees and treatment costs.

Rick Cagan, who heads the Kansas chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said the program should reduce pressure on the Shawnee County Jail and help keep people out of Osawatomie State Hospital.

“You know, jail is not the place to get treatment for your mental illness,” he said. “That, ideally, is a community-based function. It’s more cost-effective at the community-based level, and of course people are getting better quality treatment than they would if they were incarcerated.”

Topeka officials say a large percentage of defendants in municipal court cases have mental health issues. They think that providing appropriate services will help them live successfully in the community, reduce repeat offenses and create a safer community.

According to Cagan, the Johnson County district attorney’s office has a long-standing diversion program for cases involving mental illness that’s been successful. He thinks other counties with jails full of inmates with mental health issues should consider this approach.

“When you’ve got counties that are considering expanding their jail facilities because of the mental health population, I think alternatives such as mental health courts and other diversion programs are a much better way to go,” Cagan said.

Brian Thompson is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has issued an order temporarily blocking gay marriage in Kansas.

Sotomayor’s brief order Monday puts on hold indefinitely a lower-court order clearing the way for same-sex couples to marry despite a ban in Kansas on gay marriage.

The lower-court order was set to take effect at 5 p.m. Central time Tuesday. Sotomayor acted at the request of Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

But Sotomayor also directed the American Civil Liberties Union to file a response to Schmidt’s request by 4 p.m. Central time Tuesday.

The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit last month for two lesbian couples challenging the state’s gay-marriage ban. It resulted in the lower-court order.

Equality Kansas Executive Director Tom Witt said Sotomayor could quickly reconsider once she receives the response.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A government estimate of crop production shows Kansas farmers are bringing in bountiful harvests of corn, sorghum and soybeans this season.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday it’s estimating the state’s corn crop at 581 million bushels, about 14 percent more than a year ago.

The agency said in its monthly update that Kansas farmers were getting a record average yield of 157 bushels of corn per acre.

Other major Kansas fall crops were also having a good season. Grain sorghum production is forecast at 188 million bushels. That is up 14 percent from last year.

Soybean production is forecast at 148 million bushels, up 13 percent from last year.

Rep. Tim Huelskamp

In time for Veterans Day, approximately 6,000 veterans across the Big First District will begin receiving Veteran Choice Cards in their mailboxes thanks to bipartisan reforms I helped pass through Congress in August. This is the first set of Choice Cards being sent by the Veterans Administration (VA) to Veterans residing more than 40 miles from a VA health facility. An additional estimated 4,400 cards will be sent in mid-November to Kansas Veterans who are still awaiting care after more than 30 days in the VA system.

Rarely do common-sense solutions to real problems enter into Washington’s mindset. Yet this past spring, after news broke of the horrifying negligence, preventable veteran deaths, and secret wait lists at the VA, both Washington and the American people finally started paying attention to what I have been saying for years: the VA needs real reform. As a cosponsor of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act, I was proud to see all the work I have done on the House Veterans Affairs Committee come to fruition as the President signed into law the biggest reform the VA has seen in decades.

With eight uncles who served in the Armed Forces, it is an honor to represent our nation’s Veterans and provide oversight and policy solutions to ensure our veterans get the care they deserve and has been promised to them. Since the first committee hearing I attended, I have been amazed at the stonewalling, the excuses, the missed deadlines, and the culture of complacency condoned and encouraged by many political appointees and high-level VA bureaucrats.

The stories we heard coming out of the Phoenix, Arizona VA Medical Center were only further evidence of why the VA needs fundamental reform. After dozens of oversight committee hearings, finally my colleagues on the other side of the aisle understood what I had been saying for years — why don’t we just give Veterans the freedom to choose their own doctor and their own hospital in their local communities?

Veteran Choice Cards were mailed on November 5, 2014 to approximately 6,000 Veterans in Kansas residing more than 40 miles from a VA health care facility. While these individuals are automatically eligible for non-VA care at their local community hospital or physician’s office, they must call the VA hotline to confirm authorization for outside care. Within the next 90 days, all Veterans who were enrolled in VA health care prior to August 1, 2014 or are eligible to enroll as a recently discharged combat Veteran within 5 years of separation will receive cards. However, only those residing more than 40 miles from a VA health facility or waiting more than 30 days from their preferred date of care, will be authorized for non-VA care. The call center number to confirm eligibility is 866-606-8196.

For too long the VA has been more concerned with protecting their bureaucracy rather than serving our Veterans. The Choice Card Program returns the focus back to where it should have been all along: the Veteran and his/her family. As this law continues to be implemented, I will continue to press the VA for accountability and ensure proper oversight of the program.

This Veterans Day let us remember to thank those that have served our country with valor. And let us hope that this Choice Card begins to correct the wrongs our own VA has wrought upon our own heroes. Veterans Choice Cards provide a new start for those that most deserving.

Know that serving and representing those who have so selflessly devoted themselves to our country is an honor and responsibility I will never take for granted. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the implementation of this new law, please do not hesitate to reach out to my Hutchinson office at 620-665-6138.

RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The administration is dialing back expectations for health insurance sign-ups in the second year of President Barack Obama’s big push to cover uninsured Americans.

A report released Monday by the Health and Human Services department estimates that 9 million to 9.9 million paying customers will enroll for 2015.

That’s significantly lower than the 13 million the Congressional Budget Office projected earlier this year.

But it does represent an increase of roughly 30 to 40 percent from the 7.1 million currently signed up.

Under the health law, people who don’t have coverage on the job can buy taxpayer-subsidized private insurance through HealthCare.gov and state insurance markets. Many are required to do so to avoid fines.

Open enrollment starts Saturday. Consumers can get an early peek at premiums now on HealthCare.gov.

GEARY COUNTY- Three people were injured in an accident just before 2 p.m. on Monday in Geary County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Nissan Rogue driven by Melanie L. Stubbs, 22, Manhattan, was on Interstate 70 twelve miles from Manhattan.

The driver fell asleep and the vehicle went off the roadway to the left, striking a crossover.

The vehicle went airborne, overturned and came to rest on its top in the median.

Stubbs and passengers Kaleb M. Dugan, 22, and a two-year-old child both of Manhattan were transported to Mercy Health Center.

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