GEARY COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Geary County have made an arrest in connection with a burned 2008 Mercedes-Benz.
Geary County Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Wolf said authorities responded to Kansas 244 Highway just before 5:30 a.m. Tuesday for the report of the burned vehicle.
The investigation revealed the car had been burned intentionally.
Deputies arrested Jennifer Grosser, Abilene, and Brandon Johnson, Junction City, on suspicion of Arson With Intent to Defraud, Conspiracy to Commit Arson, Felony Criminal Damage to Property, and Felony Interference With Law Enforcement.
On Wednesday the Geary County- Junction City S.W.A.T team executed a search warrant in the 11Hundred Block of Cannonview Lane, Apartment in Grandview Plaza in connection with the arson investigation.
As a result of the search warrant, Holly Smith, Grandview Plaza was arrested on suspicion of Felony Possession of Marijuana With Intent to sell and Felony Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
Forgary Smith and Algernon Trice, Grandview Plaza were later located and arrested on suspicion of Felony Possession of Marijuana With Intent to Sell, Felony Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Arson With Intent to Defraud, Conspiracy to Commit Arson and Felony Criminal Damage to Property. Algernon Trice was also arrested on suspicion of Felony Trafficking Contraband into a Correctional Institution.
Wolf explained this involved an alleged drug ring.
“These were individuals selling marijuana and other illicit drugs in the area.
During the course of the arson investigation this came to the surface and we took action.”
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – Kansas assistant Jerrance Howard has been suspended for two weeks after coach Bill Self learned this week that he had been arrested last summer for marijuana possession.
Howard was charged last July with unlawful possession of cannabis, a misdemeanor, and ordered to pay $1,178.26 in fines, the Peoria Journal Star reported. Howard was also placed on six months of court supervision that was set to end Friday.
Self said during his regular news conference Thursday that he was disappointed that Howard, who played for him at Illinois before joining his staff at Kansas last year, did not inform him about the incident when it happened.
Howard will not participate in practices or games during his suspension, which includes Saturday’s game between the eighth-ranked Jayhawks and No. 16 Baylor.
Supporters of the University of Kansas had a chance to meet the Jayhawks new head football coach at a noon luncheon Thursday at Smoky Hill Country Club. David Beaty was hired in early December to try and rebuild the struggling program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2008. “For us to be able to do what we want to do we have to be able to earn peoples support one person at a time, one fan at a time, one coach at a time, one player at a time” Beaty said.
The Jayhawks signed 17 high school seniors out of the state of Texas in his first recruiting class but the Garland, Texas native says Kansas – including the western half of the state, it always going to be a priority “It’s got to be a deal where we focus on keeping the best players right here in our state at their university. For us to do that we have to be visible, we have to be out their earning it.”
Beaty is in his third stint with the Jayhawks having served as KU’s wide receivers coach from 2008-09 then again as receivers coach as well as co-offensive coordinator in 2011. He’s spent the last three seasons as an assistant at Texas A&M.
The Football in February tour is stopping in Hutchinson tonight and will be in Topeka, Kansas City and Wichita in the coming weeks.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas Senate committee has approved a proposed ban on a procedure used in 8 percent of the abortions performed in the state.
The Public Health and Welfare Committee’s voice vote Thursday sends the measure to the Senate for debate. The bill was drafted by abortion opponents who describe the targeted procedure as dismembering a fetus.
The bill would prohibit a procedure known as dilation and evacuation and designate it in state law as a “dismemberment abortion.” Doctors would not be allowed to use forceps, clamps or other similar instruments to cut up a fetus and remove it from the womb in pieces.
Abortion rights advocates say the procedure is sometimes the safest way to terminate a pregnancy and also is sometimes used during the first trimester.
Monte Smith calls his wife Angel to “Pay with Lovin'” at the north Hays McDonald’s as crew member Linda Fisher and swing manager Dusty Barnes look on.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
A lot of people saw the Super Bowl commercial in which customers get free menu items from McDonald’s when they “Pay with Lovin’ ” instead of cash. Some have wondered about its authenticity.
It’s for real, and the new campaign continues nationally through Valentine’s Day, Saturday, Feb. 14.
One of the winning customers at the north Hays McDonald’s on Tuesday morning was Hays resident Monte Smith.
After he handed over his $3.33, longtime crew member Linda Fisher told Smith the breakfast he ordered at 8:27 a.m. would be free, if he wanted to “Pay with Lovin.’ ” Smith opted to call his wife Angel and say, “I love you.”
“I had just seen her 15 minutes earlier, so she was surprised I called, and she loved it,” Smith said with a grin. Fisher, who has worked weekday mornings for 33 years at the north Hays McDonald’s, also had a big smile on her face.
“I just came in to get my morning McMuffin, and I was asked to call someone that I love, so I called my wife and I made the rest of the McDonald’s staff really happy,” Smith recalled, although “it was all just a big blur.”
There were also a couple other unusual things for Smith.
“I usually order a breakfast burrito. I don’t know why I went with the McMuffin this time. I got the No. 2 — a sausage McMuffin with a Coke instead,” he said.
It was also unusual that Smith was even in the north McDonald’s restaurant.
“Honestly, I usually go to the south McDonald’s. I just came in here today. Things were different today, obviously. Everything was off, and on, at the same time,” he laughed.
The Hays McDonald’s restaurants are owned and operated by Rick and Gail Kuehl of Hays, who also own the stores in Russell, WaKeeney and Colby.
Customers who enter participating McDonald’s at randomized, predetermined times between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. are selected to participate. The times are different each day, coming from corporate headquarters, and are unknown to the local employees.
Dena Rupp, marketing manager of McDonald’s in Hays, Colby, Russell and WaKeeney
Local marketing director Dena Rupp said the campaign has been a been “a lot of fun” and “nearly every selected customer has ‘Paid with Lovin’ ” through phone calls, fist bumps, dances and more.
Even customers who weren’t selected have enjoyed the fun, according to Rupp.
“There were two ladies from Colorado in our WaKeeney McDonald’s who stopped on their way to see their sister in St. Louis. There happened to be quite a few of the Pay with Lovin’s given away right in a row. The ladies were sitting out there in the lobby just whooping and hollering and clapping with the crew. They’d get up and go to talk the customers who won the free meal, giving them high fives. It was just awesome,” Rupp said.
“It’s just so nice to have positive things going on,” she added.
The promotion will continue an extra week, through Saturday, Feb. 21, at the five stores owned by the Kuehls.
“They gave local owners the option to go another week, so we decided to continue Pay with Lovin’ at our stores in Hays, WaKeeney, Russell and Colby,” Rupp said Thursday afternoon. “We’ve been having so much fun with it.”
WASHINGTON – Congressman Tim Huelskamp (KS-01) will join President Barack Obama and other members of Congress at the White house for the signing ceremony of The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act. The bill was passed by the House and the Senate without a single nay vote. A replay of the Thursday afternoon signing can be seen here (advance the video to the 18:20 mark)
“We all agree our Veterans deserve our support. Without a single nay vote, Congress and the White House have approved of a measure to address the staggering 22 veteran suicides per day. War often inflicts unseen battle scars our brave men and women then carry home with them and without professional help, these injuries often tear apart marriages and families. I am honored to join my colleagues today to commit to providing better mental health care to our Veterans when they return from the battlefield.
“I would take this opportunity to stress the need for continued accountability for those in management roles in the VA. We must improve the VA as a whole, while striving to increase Veterans’ choices for where and how they access the mental health care they
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Powerball ticket sold in northeast Kansas is worth $1 million.
The Kansas Lottery said in a news release that the ticket matched all five white-ball numbers — 11, 13, 25, 39 and 54 — in Wednesday’s drawing but not the Powerball of 19.
Another ticket, sold in southwest Kansas, matched four of the first five numbers, plus the Powerball, to win a $10,000 prize.
Tickets in North Carolina, Puerto Rico and Texas matched all six numbers to split a $564.1 million jackpot. The jackpot goes back to $40 million for the next drawing, on Saturday.
TOPEKA – Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and 42 other state and territorial attorneys general asked nine petroleum companies to collaborate with their franchisees to eliminate synthetic drugs from retail locations operating under their brand names, including gas stations and convenience stores.
Synthetic drugs are chemical alternatives to cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine. They are illegal and are often just as dangerous, if not more so, than the substances they mimic. Manufacturers of synthetic drugs seek to evade state and federal law by creating chemical compounds not yet specifically regulated or prohibited in the United States. In recent years, State and federal law enforcement authorities have cracked down on synthetic drug sales in Kansas, including products commonly known as “K2″ and synthetic marijuana.
“Synthetic drugs are a dangerous and illegal attempt to use chemistry to stay one step ahead of the law,” Schmidt said. “They should not be given the cloak of legitimacy or safety by well-known brand name stores. Young Kansans are particularly vulnerable to marketing of these harmful products, which is why we are asking these reputable companies to make sure these products are not being sold on their shelves.”
In the letter sent to British Petroleum, Chevron Corporation, Citgo Petroleum Corporation, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Phillips 66, Shell Oil Company, Sunoco, and Valero Energy Corporation, the 43 attorneys general expressed concern that gas stations and convenience stores operating under brand names of reputable oil companies are selling illegal and extremely dangerous synthetic drugs, such as K2. The group urged the oil companies to enact stronger policies against the sale of synthetic drugs in retail locations to protect the public, particularly young people.
Yves and Dominique Leveille of Ormestown, Quebec, Canada
Submitted
The Lions Clubs of Western Kansas District 17-K will hold its annual District Convention on Saturday, March 7, at Memorial Union on the Fort Hays State University campus.
International guests will be Yves and Dominique Leveille of Ormestown, Quebec, Canada.
The Hays Lions are hosting the convention, directed by PCC Les Herrman of the Hays Club. District Gov. Don Keihl of Goodland will be directing the activities of the convention.
Kansas Lions District 17-K comprises all of western Kansas from the Colorado border, reaching as far east as Hutchinson and Beloit. The 82 local Lions Clubs in the district comprise nearly 1,700 Lions, all dedicated to hometown community service.
The International Association of Lions Club is the largest service organization in the world, reaching into 206 countries, with 46,000 clubs, and 1.35 million members.
Since Helen Keller challenged the Lions in 1925 to be her “Knight of the Blind” champions, the No. 1 area of service has been eradicating preventable blindness throughout the world.
In light of Gov. Sam Brownback’s recent executive order rescinding protection for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender state workers, Fort Hays State University President Mirta Martin offered a response to staff and faculty.
Click HERE to read the report from Tiger Media Network.
Denise Cyzman is the new executive director of the Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved, which represents safety net clinics that provide care to low-income Kansans. Credit Jim McLean / Heartland Health Monitor
By JIM MCLEAN
Kansas hospitals are leading the push for Medicaid expansion.
But they’re not the only providers for which expansion is a critical financial issue. It’s also a priority for the safety net clinics that exist to provide free and reduced-cost care to low-income Kansans.
Two-thirds of the people who rely on the clinics live under the federal poverty line: annual income of $11,670 for an individual and $23,850 for a family of four. Virtually all of them would qualify for KanCare — the state’s privatized Medicaid program — under expansion.
“KanCare expansion is a big issue for us,” says Denise Cyzman, the still relatively new executive director of the Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved.
Cyzman was hired last fall to succeed Cathy Harding, who left to become chief executive of the Wyandotte Health Foundation. Prior to taking the KAMU job, Cyzman was a vice president for the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan.
The KAMU clinics provided care to more than 250,000 people in 2014. However, because many patients couldn’t afford to pay their bills, the clinics ended the year with $44 million in uncompensated care on their books.
Expanding KanCare eligibility to low-income adults would greatly reduce that financial burden, Cyzman says.
“It could generate all the way up to the $44 million,” she says. “But even if we get only a portion of that covered through KanCare, it would be a tremendous economic boost for our clinics.”
The clinics have estimated that expansion would lower their uncompensated costs by at least $25 million, Cyzman says.
Jason Wescoe, chief executive of the Health Partnership Clinic, says KanCare expansion would generate another $1.5 million in revenue for his Olathe-based clinic, which has an annual operating budget of about $5 million.
“Putting $1.5 million into this organization means I hire more doctors, hire more nurses and open more clinics,” Wescoe says. “It seems so simple from where I sit.”
But the politics of the issue is anything but simple.
The connection between Medicaid expansion and President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act has created widespread opposition to it among Republican governors. Some have negotiated alternative plans that use federal Medicaid dollars to expand access to private coverage and require recipients to share in the cost of their care. But several of those proposals have run into opposition from GOP legislators.
In Kansas, Gov. Sam Brownback and Republican legislative leaders have so far refused to consider expansion. The Kansas Hospital Association is crafting a proposal that it hopes will appeal to the governor and his fellow conservatives.
The safety net clinics are ready to help lobby for the KHA plan, Cyzman says. But based on preliminary conversations with legislators, she doesn’t expect it to be an easy sell.
“There are more and more (legislators) who say, ‘Well, we’re interested in thinking about it, but we’re really concerned about how the state is going to pay for it,’” Cyzman says. “Until we can figure that out, it’s going to be really challenging to get it through the Legislature.”
The federal government has promised to pay the full cost of a state’s Medicaid expansion through 2016 and at least 90 percent after that. A study commissioned by the Kansas Hospital Association estimated expansion would cost the state an additional $312 million through 2020.
An expansion bill, House Bill 2270, introduced by a committee controlled by moderate Republicans would give the secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment the authority to levy fees on hospitals and other providers to offset the state’s portion of the expansion cost.
It’s not known what financing mechanism, if any, will be included in the hospital association’s bill, which could be introduced as soon as this week.
Fending off budget cuts
The same budget issues that have legislators concerned about the cost of Medicaid expansion are threatening the approximately $8.2 million in funding that safety net clinics receive from the state.
A bill signed Tuesday to plug a $344 million hold in the state’s current budget included a cut of $254,000 for the clinics.
But lawmakers are resisting Brownback’s plan to reduce funding to the clinics by another $378,000 in the next budget cycle.
Members of the House Social Services Budget Committee recently voted to restore the proposed cuts and instead take the money out of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s administrative budget.
“They (the clinics) do exceptionally well with the limited funding that they have,” said Rep. Kristey Williams, a Republican from Augusta, as she made the motion to restore the funding.
The bipartisan legislative support the clinics historically have enjoyed is due to the “great work” they do, Cyzman says. But she says she isn’t taking it for granted that support will be enough to spare the clinics as lawmakers struggle to balance the budget in the face of plummeting tax revenues.
“We don’t feel like we’re out of the woods at all,” she says.
Filling the oral health gap
As if Medicaid expansion and the budget crisis weren’t enough, Cyzman stepped into another long-simmering debate when she accepted the KAMU job. The association is a leading member of a coalition pushing for a change in state law to allow for the licensure of a new kind of mid-level dental provider.
Opposition from the Kansas Dental Association has effectively blocked consideration of the mid-level proposal for several years.
Kevin Robertson, KDA executive director, has said repeatedly that the training that dental hygienists would be required to complete to become mid-level practitioners “is simply not adequate” to master the restorative and surgical procedures the proposed changes would allow them to perform.
But Cyzman is among those who maintain that licensing mid-level providers and requiring them to work under the general supervision of dentists is no different from what the state allows doctor-supervised advanced practice registered nurses to do: diagnose and treat patients.
“Nurse practitioners have freed up doctors,” she says. “We can do the same for dentists. We can increase access to care and give our dentists the opportunity to provide the higher-level, complex care they are trained to do.”
Several safety net clinics offer dental services. But recruiting dentists is difficult. Licensing mid-level practitioners would expand the recruiting pool, Cyzman says, and help to alleviate a documented shortage of dental providers in 95 of the state’s 105 counties.
Editor’s note: The coalition advocating for licensure of mid-level dental providers is supported by the Kansas Health Foundation, which also provides most of the funding for the Kansas Health Institute, the parent organization of the editorially independent KHI News Service.
Jim McLean is executive editor of KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.
TONGANOXIE – A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 6 a.m. on Thursday in Leavenworth County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Chevy Cobalt driven by Rosemary Lewis, 43, Kansas City, was southbound on Kansas16 at McLouth Road in Tonganoxie.
The vehicle left the roadway and struck an anchor wire for a pole.
Lewis was transported to Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
The KHP reported she was properly restrained at the time of the accident.
