HUTCHINSON – Fire officials are investigating a suspicious fire at an apartment building in Hutchinson.
Fire crews responded just before 3:30 p.m. to a blaze in the 100 Block of West Tenth Avenue.
“Upon arrival, we found flames and smoke coming from the single-story apartment complex,” said Hutchinson Battalion Chief William Lang.
The fire was controlled in 15 minutes, while units were on the scene for two hours.
The preliminary damage estimate is $10,000, sustained to the main room of the residence.
“One person was pulled from the apartment complex and treated by emergency personnel,” Lang said. That person was transported to an area hospital for observation.
Lang said the cause of the fire appears to be arson but is still under investigation.
Good “Con Man” stories are harder and harder to make these days. In my experience, a movie like “Focus” has to balance two very different desires from audiences. On one hand, they have to create situations wherein the true purpose isn’t initially apparent. On the other, they need to leave enough clues for viewers to follow the bread crumbs and come up with their own theories. Half of the fun is in being fooled and the other half of the fun is in trying to figure it out.
The first act, or first third, of “Focus” receives high marks for both fooling me and giving me enough information to be churning away at my own ideas. The problem for “Focus” is when it ironically loses the laser focus of the first act. The second act is hallow and uninteresting and the final act is a cheap knockoff of the first.
I was still having fun guessing at what might be coming down the pipe, but what is actually delivered is a far cry from the scenarios that I had cooked up in my head. That’s a difficult judgement to lay at the feet of a spectator sport like film, but nevertheless it’s how audiences react and think when watching this type of movie and thus is, in my opinion, noteworthy.
Speculations and double reverses and lies within lies aside, “Focus” is a decent effort with a strong cast that crumbles under its end-heavy structure. Objectively, there’s a lot of flash and a lot of sleight of hand, but the con isn’t long enough or convincing enough to ensure me.
3 of 6 stars
Photo by Dave Ranney -Sen. Jim Denning, a Republican from Overland Park, has drafted a budget proviso to delay implementation of health homes for KanCare patients with chronic conditions like asthma or diabetes –
By Dave Ranney
The Senate Ways and Means Committee has adopted a budget proviso that’s expected to delay the implementation of “health homes” for KanCare patients with chronic illnesses such as asthma and diabetes.
The proviso, drafted by Sen. Jim Denning, a Republican from Overland Park, stipulates that no state money shall be spent on KanCare health homes for chronic conditions without the Legislature’s explicit consent in fiscal years 2015, 2016 and 2017 — through June 30, 2017. KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program, began implementing health homes for 36,000 patients with severe and persistent mental illnesses in August 2014.
At the time, Kansas Department of Health and Environment officials said they hoped to roll out health homes for patients with chronic illnesses sometime in 2015. Denning’s proviso, which is expected to pass the Senate and likely meet little resistance in the House, further delays an already uncertain start-up.
“I don’t think we should be pushing another (home health) program until we see how the first one works,” Denning said. “We have anecdotal information from the mental health centers that it (health home model) is working, and the advocates say they like it,” he said. “But I think we need to wait until we have some hard outcome measures to see if A) it’s actually improving patient care and B) it’s bending the cost curve.”
In legislative circles, Denning is seen as a key figure in the state’s health care debate. He is vice chairman of the Senate budget committee and chairman of its social services budget subcommittee. He also serves on the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee and on the Robert G. Bethell Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services and KanCare Oversight. Outside the Legislature, Denning is a vice president with Discover Vision Centers, a network of eye clinics in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Denning also said he was troubled by estimates that show while launching health homes for patients with chronic illnesses likely would lower the Medicaid program’s long-term costs, their start-up costs, depending on how broadly they’re implemented, could be between $45 million and $100 million.
Though KDHE officials have said the second phase of the health home expansion would focus on asthma and diabetes, federal statutes would have allowed it to include heart disease, obesity and substance abuse disorders as well. Denning’s proviso occurs as legislators look for ways to offset a projected shortfall of nearly $344 million in the budget for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, and fill a $600 million hole in the budget for the next fiscal year.
KDHE Deputy Secretary Aaron Dunkel said the proviso, if enacted, likely would temper but not derail the agency’s interest in health homes. “It might slow us down a little bit,” he said. “But we’d already been having conversations about the SMI (severe mental illness) health homes and how, if the data shows SMI health homes to be as effective as we think they’re going to be, lessons learned might be applied to the chronic condition health home implementation.
Those conversations will continue. But between gathering information and the effect of the proviso, it would be at least another year before they’re implemented.” Across Kansas, more than 80 providers — a mix of community mental health centers, safety net clinics, county health departments, and programs for developmental and medical facilities — offer health home-type services for mental health patients. For many of the providers, the proviso was not unexpected.
“It seems a little penny wise and pound foolish, but the state is in a budget crisis, so I can’t say I’m surprised,” said Krista Postai, chief executive of the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, a multi-county safety net clinic based in Pittsburg. “It’s a shame because all a health home is, really, is super-duper case management,” Postai said. “
And I can absolutely prove to you that every time I’ve been able find some money to spend on case management and help people manage their disease, we’ve saved money. That’s just a fact.” Dave Sanford, chief executive at GraceMed, a group of safety net clinics in Wichita, agreed with Postai’s assessment.
“It’s very disappointing,” he said, “primarily because we believe that once health homes are in place and we’re working with that Medicaid ‘frequent flier’ population, we will have the ability to change behavior, to develop accountability, to help people achieve better outcomes and at the same time reduce the overall cost to the state.”
GraceMed and COMCARE, the community mental health center in Sedgwick County, have put together a health home for mental health patients. “As most everybody knows, most of these people with a severe mental illness are dealing with a chronic condition as well,” Sanford said. “So we’ve gotten our toes wet. It’s a SMI health home, but we’re seeing a lot of chronic conditions.”
Dave Ranney is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.
Funds generated by increased student fees for 2014-2015 school year.
by KARI BLURTON Hays Post
Facing a $155,000 loss in state funding, the administration of Hays USD 489 is asking the board of education to retain increased enrollment fees approved last summer for another school year.
The proposal states “should there be an increase in state or local funding, fees could be lowered at that time.”
Board member Lance Bickle expressed concern the community was told the fees would be in place for just one year and asked Katt if all other avenues have been looked at, including cuts to sports.
Superintendent Dean Katt said considering the state is proposing to cut base state-aid per pupil 1.5 percent and possibly change the school finance formula altogether, the administration is looking at everything it can to make up the difference.
“That is my rationale. We may be looking at pay-to-play and some of those things in addition just to get through without having to whack programs and all that, and we may get to that point, but we are looking at all that now.” he said.
Finance Director Tracy Kaiser presented figures showing retaining the $100 increase to workbook/materials fee along with the $50 activity fee increase at Hays High School and Hays Middle school will generate a total of nearly $360,000 by the end of the school year.
Last month, Gov. Sam Brownback announced the proposed 1.5 percent cut to K-12 funding along with a 2 percent cut to higher education, and also suggested changing the school finance formula.
The state is facing a budget shortfall of $344 million July 2016, after income tax reductions enacted by Brownback and the Kansas Legislature in 2012-13.
The board is expected to vote on the issue at next week’s board of education meeting.
After 14 years as a firefighter with the Hays Fire Department, Lt. Darin Myers has been named the Ellis County Rural Fire Director.
He will replace Dick Klaus, who is set to retire this summer after 35 years, 22 as director.
Myers currently serves as a lieutenant on “B” Shift for the Hays Department and was hired last week.
He will take over as Rural Fire Chief at the end of March.
Myers said that while the two departments are different he believes his current role as a lieutenant with the HFD will help transition into his new position.
“It gives me a pretty good open mind to how career department works but I also completely understand and appreciate how volunteers work,” Myers said. “They’re two different departments.”
As part of his duties as a lieutenant, Myers helped to maintain the regional rescue team that is staffed by members of both the Hays and Rural Fire Departments.
Myers said he believes his work with the rural departments will help with the transition.
There are four different county fire companies that are a part of the rescue team, according to Myers, and the county has a “good group of volunteers.”
Myers added, “They know my work ethic, they know my level of skill and training and hopefully they’ll be willing and open to work with me and do more in the future.”
According to Myers, one of the differences between city and rural fire departments is the fact that rural departments are made up of volunteers.
Myers said that volunteers are “the backbone” of the rural fire department and said he is not looking to increase their training.
Instead he wants to focus on the quality of training and not the amount of time they are spending training.
“Taking into their considerations and their family life and still being there when the time calls is what’s important,” Myers said.
William Daniel “Dan” Burns, age 75, died February 27, 2015, at the Kearny County Hospital in Lakin, Kansas. He was born March 4, 1939 in Hereford, Texas, the son of Robert Frederick and Edna Morrison Burns. He was self employed as a General Contractor.
On June 30, 1960, he married Ruth Ellen Weldon in Lakin, Kansas.
He has been a resident of Lakin, Kansas for most of his life. Dan served his country in the United States Army from 1956-1959. He was a member of the National Archeological Society, the VFW, and the Kearny County Museum.
Survivors Include: Three Daughters, Debbie Burns Benson of Wichita, Kansas, Dana Burns Smith of San Antonio, Texas, Wendee Burns of Garden City, Kansas; Five Grandchildren, Jeremy Burns of Lakin, Kansas, Ryan Smith of Great Bend, Kansas, Sgt. Airyn Bltion of Topeka, Kansas, Jospeh Burns of Ft. Collins, Colorado, Specialist Jacob Sanchez of Garden City, Kansas, Nine Great-Grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents; wife; one infant son, William Daniel Burns Jr.; Three brothers, Harold Burns, John Burns, Frank Burns; and one sister, Belle Detwiller.
Funeral Services will be held at the United Methodist Church in Lakin, Kansas, Thursday, March 5, 2015 at 10:30 A.M.
Visitation will be held at the United Methodist Church in Lakin, from 9:00 A.M. – 3:00 P.M. on Wednesday, March 4, 2015. The family will be present from 11:00 A.M. -2:00 P.M.
Burial will be held at the Lakin Cemetery.
Memorials in lieu of flowers may be made to the William Burns Memorial Fund % of Price & Son Funeral Home in Garden City, Kansas.
Jerome (“Jerry”) Albert Kreutzer passed away peacefully from natural causes on Feb. 06, 2015, at the age of 95. He was born in Liebenthal, Kansas, April 05, 1919, the 11th of 12 children. He attended elementary school in Kansas and graduated from St. Fidelis Catholic High School & Seminary in Butler, Pennsylvania. After returning to Kansas he met and married Vera Knobbe on Sep. 22, 1941. They had one child, daughter Leta Annette.
In 1942 he was drafted into the U.S. Army and was assigned to an Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division in the Aleutian Islands and India & Burma during World War II. In 1946 he joined his wife and daughter in Kansas where he managed a hardware store. In 1949 the family moved to Arizona where Jerry attended Arizona State University. In 1951 he accepted a position in EI Centro, CA, as an insurance adjuster for GMAC serving both Imperial and Yuma Counties. He thought life couldn’t get much better: he was offered a salary of $350 per month, a company car, expense account, paid vacations and medical benefits! Gradually he came to love Yuma and moved the family there in 1953 where he worked as a car salesman first for the Chevrolet dealership and then the Cadillac Oldsmobile dealership. After awhile he returned to his previous career as an Insurance Adjuster and in 1965 opened his own business as an independent sales agent for Farmer’s Insurance.
In 1982 Jerry retired to pursue his passion for woodworking, and loved creating beautiful pieces from exotic hardwoods. His specialty was making clocks and many of his friends and relatives were gifted with custom-made mantel clocks for weddings and birthdays. He also loved music and was the church organist for Immaculate Conception Catholic Church for many years. Jerry and Vera loved to travel and the highlight of their travel experiences was a trip to Rome, Italy where his great nephew took them on a personal tour of the Vatican including an audience with the Pope. He was always an enthusiastic ambassador and unofficial tour guide for the City of Yuma, and never tired of showing family and friends around his beloved city. Jerry was loved by everyone he ever met – he was a terrific storyteller, a great role model, and a wonderful father.
In 1999 Jerry’s wife of 57 years, Vera, passed away from complications with Alzheimer’s Disease. As a result of having to learn to cook during Vera’s long illness, he developed a passion for cooking and enjoyed trying new recipes and cooking with his daughter. He renewed an acquaintanceship with his former neighbor and friend, Laura Cooke, and they spent the past 15 years traveling together, watching baseball games, playing cards, and enjoying their senior years at Desert Rose Retirement Home.
Jerome was preceded in death by his parents, John and Amelia (Herman) Kreutzer; his wife, Vera (Knobbe) Kreutzer and his dear companion, Laura Cooke, as well as his sisters Anna Herrman, Bertha Werth, Celestina Klaus, Loretta Gerstberger – Kessler, Ida Biel, Wilhelmina (Anne) Kreutzer, and Mary Bauck, and brothers William, Alfons, and Bernard Kreutzer. He is survived by his sister Lydia Schoenberger of WaKeeney, KS; his daughter and son-in-law, Leta and George Wolfe of Yuma, AZ; his grandson, Kevin Minke of Ewa Beach, HI; his great-grandson, Justin Minke of Mililani, HI, and numerous nieces and nephews.
A Funeral Mass was held on Feb. 11, 2015 at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, officiated by Monsignor Richard O’Keefe and Deacons David Sampson and Oscar Chavez. Pallbearers were, John Wolfe, Kevin Minke, Dr. Edward Knobbe, David Breeding, David Ricci and Stanley Scherer. Honorary Pallbearers were J.D. Schoenberger, George Wolfe Jr., and Kenneth Turner. Entombment followed at Desert Lawn Memorial Park where Jerome was interred next to his wife Vera. A memorial service is being planned for a future date in Leoti, Kansas.
Donations can be made to Hospice of Yuma, 1824 S. 8th Avenue, Yuma, AZ. 85364 or in care of Price & Sons Funeral Home in Leoti, Kansas.
Billed as “Nearly everything an agribusiness professional would need or want,” this year’s 54th edition of the Western Farm Show lived up to its slogan.
Each year thousands of farmers, ranchers, school children, FFA youngsters and urbanites attended the two-day event at the American Royal Complex in Kansas City.
Farmers and ranchers spend hours walking around the 400,000 square feet of displays of machinery, buildings, livestock equipment, tools, feed and seed and the more than 500 exhibits.
Veteran Doniphan County farmer Neil Coufal has attended the farm show since he was a kid nearly 60 years ago. Like so many of his peers, he attends the annual event to walk around and see what’s new. He drove 70 miles to the show.
Coufal likes to look at and learn about new farm and ranch products. It’s also a day to leave the farm behind and visit with those attending the show.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Coufal says. “It’s an opportunity to see friends and neighbors.”
The Doniphan County farmer/stockman spends most of the day at the Western Farm Show. He takes his time and it usually takes hours to see all he wants to see.
A couple years back, Coufal purchased a chopper for his combine. Equipment dealers at the show often run specials.
At the 2015 edition, Coufal visited the Abilene Machine display. Here he inquired about side mirrors for his tractor.
“I pull a grain cart behind my tractor and it’s difficult to see around the sides of the cart driving down the road,” he says.
While visiting with a salesperson at the exhibit, Coufal asked for a quote and plans to buy the mirrors.
Hardi North America from Davenport, Iowa displayed their sprayers at this year’s show. The company, which originated in Ontario, specializes in sprayers.
Sprayers range from small pull type units to the large 1,300 gallon self-propelled machine with 132-foot booms. Hardi’s target audience ranges from small farmers to commercial applicators.
Jeremy O’Hare, Hardi rep., says the show offers a “terrific” venue to showcase their equipment.
While most of the farm show-goers include farmers and ranchers from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, approximately 3,000 high school students affiliated with FFA attend the two-day event as do people from the Kansas City area.
Many of the city dwellers grew up on a farm or still have parents farming. Some are still interested in seeing and learning about what’s happening in agriculture.
This show provides a great opportunity to talk to manufacturers and suppliers without experiencing the pressure of buying such equipment. It kind of blows some of us away seeing what’s going on in this industry today.
John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A northeast Kansas man accused of causing the death of a Manhattan bicyclist will not be eligible for diversion.
Assistant Riley County Attorney James Garrison said during a hearing Monday that 33-year-old Derik Kesler of Rossville will not be eligible for diversion because of his past criminal history. Garrison did not detail Kesler’s past crimes.
Kesler faces one misdemeanor charge of vehicular homicide in the June 2014 death of 49-year-old Mark Jilka of Manhattan, who was riding his bicycle on Kansas Highway 177 south of Manhattan
The Manhattan Mercury reports that Kesler said in a voluntary statement that he was typing a location into his phone’s GPS when his truck hit Kesler.
Accumulating snow will develop late overnight and wind down by late morning Wednesday. High confidence exists for an average of 1-2 inches of snow from the highway 96 corridor southward with some potential for locally higher amounts.
Today Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41. Breezy, with a southwest wind 14 to 24 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Tonight A 40 percent chance of snow, mainly after 4am. Cloudy, with a low around 14. Wind chill values as low as 1. North northeast wind 11 to 16 mph. Wednesday A 40 percent chance of snow before 11am. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 23. Wind chill values as low as zero. North wind 9 to 14 mph. Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 0. Wind chill values as low as -12. North wind 5 to 8 mph becoming west southwest after midnight. Thursday Sunny, with a high near 42. West wind 7 to 13 mph. Thursday Night Clear, with a low around 12. Friday Sunny, with a high near 56.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court is considering whether a lower-court panel should still review a lawsuit over state funding for public schools.
The Supreme Court directed school districts that sued the state in 2010 to declare in writing Tuesday whether they want a three-judge panel in Shawnee County District Court to have more hearings in the case.
The lower-court panel ruled in December that the state isn’t adequately funding schools.
The state asked the panel in January to reconsider. The aggrieved school districts filed their own request to block legislators from tampering with additional aid to poor districts approved last year.
The panel has a hearing scheduled for Thursday.
But the state also appealed the panel’s ruling to the Supreme Court and now wants the higher court to handle the case.
