WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — South-central Kansas authorities are expressing concerns about accidental shootings.
Wichita police Lt. James Espinoza says there have been seven accidental shootings in the city through April 20. The Wichita Eagle reports that in the past couple weeks alone, a 32-year-old woman died in her home. Her husband told police he was removing his gun from its holster when it discharged. Also killed was a 28-year-old man who accidentally shot himself in the thigh.
Wichita police Capt. Jeff Weible said the department encourages people to “practice good firearm safety.”
As of July 1, no training will be required for someone choosing to carry a concealed weapon, to holster a hidden gun or carry one in a purse or backpack. But Sedgwick County sheriff’s Lt. Lin Dehning says training remains worthwhile.
Kansans work and play every day in their communities. From family-owned auto shops to playgrounds in neighborhood parks and farm fields in the countryside, Kansans lead active lives.
To provide a permanent record of their communities, Kansas students from first through 12th grade are encouraged to photograph people at work and play and enter the second annual Happy Birthday, Kansas! photo contest.
The contest will be held May 4 through October 31, 2015. Winners will be announced as part of the state’s 155th birthday commemoration at the Kansas State Capitol on January 29, 2016.
L. W. Halbe, Dorrance, in 1908
The Happy Birthday, Kansas! photo contest is inspired by L. W. Halbe, a teenager who captured the scenes from his time and place growing up in Dorrance.
In 1908, with a small box camera, 15-year-old Halbe began taking photos of family and friends at work and play. He left us with a remarkable portrait of his view of Kansas, now among the Kansas Historical Society collections and available on Kansas Memory.
Twelve first place and 12 second place prizes will be awarded. First place prizes are iPads; second place prizes are Kindles. For more information and a complete list of contest rules, visit happybirthdayks.org.
Halbe’s photo of Brown’s garage, August 29, 1911, Russell County (Photo courtesy KS Historical Society)
The inaugural contest in 2014 drew more than 570 entries from 55 Kansas counties. Contest is sponsored by the Kansas legislative spouses in conjunction with the Kansas Historical Society.
As of February 22, 2015, 96,197 Kansans have enrolled in health insurance coverage through the Kansas marketplace since open enrollment began on November 15, 2014.
The Kansas Health Institute (KHI) has prepared new maps showing the number of Kansans, by zip code, who have selected a plan or were automatically re-enrolled for the 2015 coverage year.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas smokers are upset about plans to sharply increase the cigarette tax to help fill a budget hole.
The Wichita Eagle reports that smokers say they will take their business to Missouri or Oklahoma if the tax hike passes.
Gov. Sam Brownback has proposed boosting the tax on cigarettes from 79 cents a pack to $2.29 to address a deficit of about $422 million. The proposal isn’t popular among some lawmakers, especially those who live on the border with Missouri, where the cigarette tax is a nation’s-lowest 17 cents.
At $2.29 a pack, the Kansas tax would be $1.26 higher than Oklahoma’s and $2.12 more than in Missouri.
The Kansas Division of the Budget projects the higher tax would generate nearly $81 million more during the next fiscal year.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — All three investor groups interested in developing a southeast Kansas casino have met the minimum financial and management requirements.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the Kansas Lottery Commission affirmed Friday that each group met the standards necessary to be forwarded to a seven-member Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board. The board is responsible for selecting the best strategy for what would be the fourth state-owned casino, with a decision expected as early as July.
Under a Kansas law adopted in 2007, four gaming zones were created for casinos, with only one casino allowed in each region. The state owns the casinos but they are managed by private companies responsible for developing the properties.
Casinos now operate in Dodge City, Mulvane and Kansas City, Kansas.
Approximately 350 Fort Hays State University students stopped by for a free barbeque lunch and a chance at some of $2,000 in fall 2015 scholarship money during the third annual Student Awareness Day Wednesday at the Robbins Center.
Sponsored by the FHSU Foundation, the university’s fundraising arm, the event is intended to spread awareness across campus that donors and their gifts keep “our great university running full speed and that we wouldn’t be such a strong institution today without this generosity,” said Leanna Roberts, the Foundation’s director of annual giving.
Awareness Day was created to help educate current Tigers about the importance of private support and fundraising. During the preceding week, more than 70 lawn signs were staked out across campus to illustrate how important donors and their gifts are to the life and mission of the university.
“Following graduation, these students will be asked to give back to FHSU, and hopefully, after learning how crucial private support is to the university and our students, they will be more inclined to do so,” said Roberts.
“Our generous donors help students further their education and pursue their dreams. We hope that our students are truly aware and thankful of the support that they’ve received, and that they pay that kindness forward down the road.”
Victor E. Tiger was available for photo opportunities and representatives from Astra Bank, the scholarship sponsor, drew the names of seven lucky scholarship winners.
The scholarship winners:
$1,000 Scholarship: Jarid Malick, a Dodge City freshman majoring in health and human performance.
$500 Scholarship: Taylor Wade, a Dodge City senior majoring in nursing.
$100 Scholarships:
Jack Duffield, a Salina freshman majoring in history.
Elias Ramos-Solis, a Garden City senior majoring in graphic design.
Laura Serrano, an Aurora, Colo., senior majoring in nursing.Erica Skiles, a Sedgwick senior majoring in nursing.
Mary Wollin, a Topeka junior majoring in elementary education.
“Ensuring that students know how FHSU is funded is an important lesson,” said Roberts.
She thanked the students for coming and Astra Bank for generously providing the scholarships.
“Fort Hays State University is not only one of the fastest-growing universities in our nation, but we also have the second lowest in-state tuition in the United States. The low tuition is possible only due to the number of generous alumni and friends who understand how important it is to give the gift of education.”
To visit with FHSU Foundation staff about how to become a partner in supporting FHSU and giving the gift of education, please call (785) 628-5620 or email [email protected]. To learn more about the FHSU Foundation, visit http://foundation.fhsu.edu/.
Residential Life, Women’s Leadership Project and the Division of Student Affairs, all of Fort Hays State University, and Jana’s Campaign will bring to the university “The Hunting Ground,” an explosive documentary about rape on college campuses.
The film will be shown in the Memorial Union’s Black and Gold Room at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 28.
The film explores an epidemic of violence and institutional cover-ups at colleges across America. The team behind the Oscar-nominated “The Invisible War” presents a scorching exposé of the startling prevalence of sexual assault at bastions of higher learning and of the powerful interests that re-victimize vulnerable students while shielding perpetrators.
A facilitated conversation on the film and light snacks will follow the screening.
Using vérité footage, expert insights, first-person testimonies and interviews, “The Hunting Ground” delivers a devastating indictment of campus “rape culture.”
Writer and director Kirby Dick and producer Amy Ziering portray a world where one in five women is a victim of sexual assault and where many of the ones who survive then have to face disbelief, apathy, victim-blaming, harassment and retaliation from both their fellow students and the administrators whose job it is to protect them.
The film also presents the work of two rape survivors, Andrea Pino and Annie Clark, who are pursuing an innovative legal strategy that uses Title IX legislation to force colleges and universities to take notice and respond.
Dick and Ziering’s most recent feature, “The Invisible War,” an investigation into the epidemic of rape in the U.S. military, won 2014 Emmy Awards for best documentary and outstanding long-form investigative journalism. It also won a 2013 Peabody Award, the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and the 2012 Independent Spirit Award for best documentary and was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary feature.
For more information, contact Maryke K. Taute, assistant director of residential life, at (785) 628-4245 or by email to [email protected].
The Cancer Council of Ellis County announce last week it has received a $1,000 grant from the Midwest Energy Community Fund. The funds will be used to purchase an “Event Kit” that the organization has been in need of for some time. Items in the kit will include a dome tent with sidewalls, stakes and weight bags, table cover, two folding tables, and two feather flags. The “Event Kit” will be used at outdoor events throughout Ellis County and will help bring awareness of the organization.
“We are very excited to be a recipient of these funds,” Paula Flesher, executive director of the CCEC said. “Items that can seem so small and insignificant to some will help us so much with the many events we host like our 5K and Survivor’s Day. It will also be a great avenue to get our new logo out.”
In early 2014 the Cancer Council of Ellis County decided to update its logo. The organization has grown and evolved over the last 29 years and it was time for a change. However the refreshed logo still reflects who the CCEC is and still holds true to the history of the group. The new logo still retains core elements including the torch, a symbol of hope. The group’s secretary Jordan Seirer, a media specialist at Nex-Tech, designed the new logo.
The mission of the CCEC is to provide services to individuals and families affected by cancer and to provide education about cancer to the general public. They do this through financial services, sunscreen education, nutritional supplements and more.
The Midwest Energy Community Fund was created in 2005, and provides funds to activities that focus on youth, arts, education, libraries, community events and similar projects. The Community Fund Committees determine who receives the awards from $50 to $1,000.
DEERFIELD- Two people were injured in an accident just before 10 p.m. on Saturday in Kearny County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Ford Mustang driven by Pedro Larios-Lorenzo, 24, Syracuse, was eastbound on U.S. 50 one mile west of Deerfield.
The vehicle crossed the centerline and struck a 1998 Buick Lesabre driven by Amber Tomberlin, 25 Lakin.
Tomberlin and a passenger in the Buick Bernardino Guebara, 44, Lakin, were transported to Kearny County Hospital.
A one-year-old girl in the Buick was not injured.
Larios-Lorenzo was possibly injured according to the KHP. They did not report where he was treated.
The KHP reported all were properly restrained at the time of the accident.
Clouds and areas of drizzle will continue through the day. Showers and thunderstorms are possible by late day and tonight far west and south. High temperatures today will be in the 50s with an overnight low in the upper 30s.
Gradually warming temperatures are ahead in upcoming week. Temperature-wise, nearly every day should rise a few degrees warmer than the day before, with a high in the 60s on Monday before climbing well into the 70s later in the week.
Today: Cloudy, with a high near 55. East wind 13 to 16 mph.
Tonight: A 20 percent chance of showers after 9pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 42. Northeast wind 11 to 17 mph.
Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly before 3pm. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 59. Northeast wind 10 to 17 mph.
Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers before 4am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 40. Northeast wind 6 to 8 mph becoming northwest after midnight.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 67. North northeast wind 6 to 11 mph.
STOCKTON–If you know a child who would enjoy participating in a jam-packed day of outdoor exploration and instruction, consider taking them to the OK Kids Day event at Webster State Park on May 2.
From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., youth ages 4 to 12 are invited to participate in a variety of activities including: a fishing clinic, Laser Shot shooting simulator, skins and skulls presentation, K-9 demonstration, nature craft project, first aid kit making, bird migration game, and more. There is no cost to attend and all supplies and equipment, including lunch, will be provided.
To make the day even more memorable, youth who participate in eight or more of the OK Kids Day events will have their names entered into a drawing for a chance to win a lifetime hunting, fishing, or furharvesting license of their choice, as well as other prizes.
For more information on this event, contact Jana Slansky at (785) 425-6775.
LAWRENCE — Belinda Parks sits with her 12-year-old daughter Rachel in the Lawrence Community Shelter cafeteria. Last month, she lost her job cleaning rooms at a Lawrence hotel. It was the first job she could find in four years.
Parks, 50, now relies on benefits under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
“If I didn’t have Rachel, I wouldn’t get anything,” she said.
Sen. Michael O’Donnell
A new law signed by Gov. Sam Brownback caps lifetime benefits under TANF to 36 months. Recipients can apply for an extra 12 months if they experience some hardship such as domestic violence. The law also sets a $25 daily limit on ATM withdrawals from a TANF account, and restricts purchases on items such as alcohol, tobacco, lingerie, tattoos, concert tickets, and tickets to a professional or collegiate sporting events, among other items.
“These changes are going to hurt a lot of people,” Parks said. “I wouldn’t be able to survive without welfare. Even if you make minimum wage these days, you can’t afford to pay your rent and eat.”
Parks said the law isn’t fair for people who are honestly looking for jobs.
“Sure, you’ve got people that use cash assistance for drugs, but I don’t think that’s fair for the people that really need help. They should give drug tests to people getting cash assistance.”
Last July, Kansas started drug testing TANF applicants who the Department for Children and Families (DCF) suspect of using illegal drugs. The department told ThinkProgress that 65 people had been referred by December, and 11 of those had tested positive.
Allison Marker, development director for the Lawrence shelter, said the new limits will be “very harmful,” and make it more difficult for residents to use the funds to pay for rent and other essentials.
“Our lowest income citizens don’t necessarily have vehicles and use public transportation to get social services or pay bills. It seems that this wasn’t fully thought through in terms of helping,” Marker said. “The past six months has seen a 16 percent increase in the Lawrence homeless population. Should this legislation pass, that number will get higher.”
About 17,600 people received TANF in 2014. Each year for the past five years, 1,500 fewer Kansas children have received TANF funds. In the same period, childhood poverty has increased by 22 percent, according to Kansas Action for Children (KAC), a Topeka-based advocacy group.
A November KAC report said the decrease was caused by 10 policy changes since 2006. The largest decreases came in 2011 when applications for TANF and Medicaid were separated into two forms, and in 2013 when applicants had to start registering with the public workforce system and fill out an assessment of their work skills.
Bryan Lopez, 18, is getting help from the Lawrence shelter to get a new birth certificate and identification card in order to find a job. He hasn’t spoken with his parents in two years. He said they’re somewhere in Missouri.
“I grew up poor my whole life so I don’t depend on money,” he said. “Right now I don’t have a quarter on me but I don’t really care. I know as soon as I want to, I could start working. I just need identification.”
Residents at the Lawrence shelter and the Topeka Rescue Mission said they’re willing to take any job they can get. One of those is Maria Black, a 22-year-old mother of three on cash assistance and food stamps staying at the mission’s Hope Center.
Black said she lost her dreams of being a hospice worker or a police officer when she was convicted of a felony.
“Now I just want to work anywhere I can. I would do anything. McDonald’s again. The lowest of the low,” she said.
The law prevents the use of welfare to buy cruise tickets, swimming pool passes and other luxuries. In early April, Sen. Michael O’Donnell (R-Wichita) supported the law and said it is meant to make welfare recipients spend their money more responsibly.
Joyce Stockham, south central region coordinator for the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition, said she doesn’t believe irresponsible welfare spending is an actual problem.
“Where is the data that this is really happening? The cruises? The tattoos? Gambling? I would love to see some data to support that,” Stockham said.
DCF told the Associated Press that out of $14 million in cash assistance distributed from July through February, $199,000 was reclaimed from 81 cases of fraud.
Stockham said welfare recipients usually aren’t irresponsible or lazy.
“The reality is that even in the best jobs, there are lazy and irresponsible people. Some of them end up on the streets because they have no other resources.”
The Hope Center and DCF will meet later this month to discuss the impact of the new law.
Austin Fisher is a University of Kansas senior from Lawrence majoring in journalism.
WICHITA – A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 8 p.m. on Saturday in Sedgwick County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 GMC Sierra pickup driven by John C. Peterson, 17, Wichita, was northbound on 215th W and crossing Kansas 96 in Wichita and was struck by a 2013 Ford F150 driven by Dawn M. Johnson, 47, Hutchinson, that was eastbound on Kansas 96.
Johnson was transported to St Theresa Hospital.
Peterson was transported Wesley Medical Center.
Johnson was not wearing a seat belt according to the KHP.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — South-central Kansas authorities are expressing concerns about accidental shootings.
