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Month: June 2015

State improves SNAP error rate, earns bonus

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SNAP logo largeKansas Department for Children and Families

TOPEKA–Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) Secretary Phyllis Gilmore is pleased to announce that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded the State of Kansas $621,501 in bonus funds for substantially improving its payment error rate in the food assistance program known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

“When this Administration started, the State of Kansas was in danger of being penalized for its poor performance,” Secretary Gilmore said. “We are now leading the nation after implementing a new business process that makes client service a high priority. We once averaged 30 days to provide someone an eligibility determination. A client now knows if he/she is approved for food assistance within eight to 10 days.”

The payment error rate consists of the sum of two components—the overpayment rate and the underpayment rate. Overpayments reflect benefits issued over the amount that a household is entitled to receive, while underpayments reflect benefits that a household is entitled to but did not receive. Kansas’ overpayment rate is .60 percent, while the underpayment rate is .14 percent.

The USDA notified Kansas of the news on Friday, June 26. The letter to Governor Sam Brownback advised that Kansas’ error rate was .75 percent in FY 2014. The national average is 3.66 percent.

According to the USDA, Section 16(d)(2)(B) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, authorizes the USDA to award $48 million in bonuses to state agencies that demonstrate high or improved performance in administering SNAP. The $621,501 SNAP High Performance Bonus issued to Kansas will be placed in a special fee fund for SNAP-related activities.

“I wish to commend Kansas for being one of the states with the most improved payment error rate during FY 2014,” USDA Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services (FNCS) Under Secretary Kevin Concannon said. “Kansas’ payment error rate improved from 3.99 percent in FY 2013 to .75 percent in FY 2014, a 3.24 percentage point decrease.”

The USDA has also shared with Secretary Gilmore that Kansas is ranked eighth in the country for another performance award category—best and most improved case and procedural error rate (CAPER), at 11.27 percent, compared to the national average of 26.3 percent. The top four states will receive bonus funds.

“We are delighted to see that all of our hard work is paying off. We are doing more to protect the integrity of this program so that only those who are truly eligible for assistance receive it,” Secretary Gilmore said.

DCF currently serves 278,263 food assistance clients. The average benefit per person is $113.26 per month.

Drug dog finds meth, search for suspect continues

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ELLINWOOD- Law enforcement authorities in Barton County continue to search for a drug suspect.

The Sheriff’s office reported on at 10 p.m. on Friday a multi-agency drug enforcement operation was conducted in the city of Ellinwood.

Officers from Great Bend and Ellinwood arrived at 515 S. Bismark in Ellinwood, along with deputies from the Barton County Sheriff’s Office and Special Agents from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

The Great Bend Police Department’s drug detecting canine Kia also responded at the request of Ellinwood.

Officers were searching for Brandon Dannebohm, who had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. Dannebohm had fled the scene prior to the arrival of officers, but Canine Officer Kia was able to locate a large quantity of methamphetamine hidden inside the apartment.

The methamphetamine had an approximate street value of $45,000. It is believed that the meth was intended for distribution to other drug dealers in the Great Bend and Barton County area.

Law enforcement offers are still searching for Brandon Dannebohm.

He has been known to carry firearms in the past and should be considered dangerous.

Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is encouraged to contact their local law enforcement agency or Crimestoppers at 792-1300.

Crimestoppers is a service which allows people to anonymously submit information, and they will provide the caller with a cash reward if the information leads to an arrest.

Kan. man hospitalized after car runs under semi’s trailer

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COLONY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before noon on Monday in Anderson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1994 Honda passenger vehicle driven by Isaiah Smith, 20, Kansas City, was traveling on U.S. 169 a mile north of the Kansas 58 Junction.

The driver attempted to pass a semi, lost control of the vehicle and ran under the truck’s trailer.

Smith was transported to the Garnett Hospital.
The semi driver and a passenger from North Carolina were not injured.

Smith was properly restrained at the time of the accident according to the KHP.

Hays man flown to Wichita hospital after rollover accident

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A 51 year-old Hays man was injured in a rollover accident east of Hays on Saturday afternoon.

According to Ellis County Sheriff Ed Harbin, just before 1 p.m. Saturday David Lopez was driving a 2000 Nissan pickup through the intersection in the 1600 block of East Eighth Street.

Harbin said the driver appeared to overcorrect for an unknown reason, causing the pickup to cross the road and travel into the median where the pickup to roll, ejecting the driver. The pickup landed on its top on Eighth Street.

Lopez was flown via life-watch to a hospital in Wichita in serious condition, the sheriff said.

Kansas officials want school funding ruling put on hold

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ attorney general is asking the state’s highest court to put on hold a lower court’s decision that would provide roughly $50 million more in aid to school districts this week.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt filed the request Monday with the Kansas Supreme Court.

Schmidt said the three-judge district court panel’s decision to invalidate key parts of an education funding law was “unprecedented.”

The Shawnee County District Court panel’s decision ordered Kansas to provide more money to districts using the state’s previous school funding formula.

The new school funding law took effect in April and scrapped the old per-student formula for distributing aid in favor of predictable grants for each districts. The lower-court panel said the changes violated the state constitution by not providing equal educational opportunities for all students.

Sternberg Museum summer camps inspire passion for science

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Sternberg-camp-bats-web (1)
(Photo courtesy FHSU Sternberg Museum)

By Samantha Dean 
FHSU University Relations

Students of all ages are getting an education on paleontology, biology, geology and ecology in a fun and safe environment now that the 2015 Summer Science Camps and Programs at Fort Hays State University Sternberg Museum of Natural History are in full swing.

Sternberg Museum is offering 11 different camps for anyone interested in natural history and science. So far, the Sternberg has completed seven camps: Fun with Fossils; Reptiles and Amphibians; Bird Biologists; Marvelous Mammals; Kansas Field Naturalist Camp; Sternberg Biology Camp; and the first Weekend Family Camp.

Elementary, middle and high school students from Kansas, Oklahoma, Maine, Michigan, California, Illinois and Ohio are joining in on the hands-on experience the camps have to offer.

“I participated in programs like these growing up in Oregon,” said David Levering, museum education and outreach director at the Sternberg Museum. “These camps allow students to build a variety of unique skills, like untangling bats from a nest.”

Two elementary school camps are coming soon: Plants, Insects and Spiders, Wednesday, July 1; and Rocks and Minerals, Friday, July 3. Groups are limited to 12 students. The cost is $60 for members and $70 for non-members.

The final middle school camp for students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grade is the Paleontology Expedition Camp, July 19-25. This camp will allow students to dig for fossils and participate in other fieldwork. They will learn how to identify a variety of fossils and how to carefully excavate their findings. The cost is $500 for members and $600 for non-members.

The final high school camp, ninth through 12th grades, is the Sternberg Paleontology Camp, July 5-18. Students will spend 10 days in the field camps learning about paleontology and ecology. Students will learn how to use professional research tools, including GPS, maps and compasses. They will also spend four days at the Sternberg Museum and on the FHSU campus in laboratories examining their discoveries.

The cost is $1,000 for members and $1,200 for non-members.

A few openings are still available for the high school camp, but students must send in their forms as soon as possible since the camp is fast approaching.

One camp that took students out of Kansas and into a state with new critters to study was the Biology Camp, June 6-13, in southwest New Mexico.

“Moving the camp to New Mexico was really last minute,” said Levering. “We merged our middle and high school groups, which we usually do not do, and took seven students to study with wildlife biologists. This trip gave students interested in the subject a chance to work with scientists in a different state.”

The young science enthusiasts had the opportunity to study 10 different species of bats and explore white sand dunes and lava beds. Because the trip was such a success, Sternberg Museum plans to add this camp option for summer 2016.

“Our daughter, Natalie, attended the Life Science/ Biology Camp that went to New Mexico,” said Marianna Jones, Kinsley.

“Her experience was amazing. She not only had a great time, but also was able to learn about the wildlife firsthand by catching, handling and observing them in their natural environment,” said Jones. “The staff ensured that the students were safe and instructed in all areas of the expedition. It was a wonderful learning experience that she is looking forward to attending again next year.”

At the halfway point, the second annual Sternberg Museum summer camps have received an outpouring of positive feedback from campers and parents.

“So far we have received really good responses regarding the camps. We provide students with a cool perspective and an experience that is extraordinary,” said Levering. “The natural world is worth studying, and we are showing kids that it is also worth saving.”

To keep up with the camps’ activities, follow the Sternberg Museum on Twitter @SternbergMuseum.

For more information, go to https://sternberg.fhsu.edu/active-learning.camps or contact Levering at [email protected] or by phone at (785) 639-5249.

Man arrested in NW Kan. with dozens of fake credit cards pleads guilty

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WICHITA – A Texas man who was arrested with dozens of counterfeit credit cards pleaded guilty Monday to federal bank fraud and wire fraud charges, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said in a news release Monday.

Justin Russell Bennett, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud, one count of wire fraud, one count of using a counterfeit credit card, one count of using an embossing machine to create counterfeit credit cards, one count of possession of 15 or more counterfeit credit cards and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Bennett was arrested Sept. 22 when he ran out of gas on Interstate 70 in Sherman County. Officers seized 47 counterfeit credit cards, an embossing machine, thousands of blank credit cards and other materials used to create counterfeit cards. He used counterfeit credit cards to rent vehicles, rent motel rooms, purchase items he sold through Internet sites and obtain cash advances.

Sentencing is set for Sept. 14. The crimes carry the following penalties:

Bank fraud: A maximum penalty of 30 years and a fine up to $1 million.
Wire fraud: A maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $250,000.
Using a counterfeit credit card: A maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000.
Using an embossing machine to create counterfeit cards: A maximum penalty of 15 years and a fine up to $250,000.
Possession of 15 or more counterfeit cards: A maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000.
Aggravated identity theft: A mandatory two years consecutive to other sentences and a fine up to $250,000.

The Sherman County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Secret Service investigated. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Jacobs is prosecuting.

US Supreme Court to hear Kansas appeals

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in three cases in which the Kansas Supreme Court set aside the death penalty for men convicted of capital murder.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the U.S. Supreme Court will consider the Kansas appeal of its own high court’s decision sometime during the Supreme Court’s next session, which begins in October.

The Kansas Supreme Court in 2014 upheld the capital murder convictions but vacated the death sentences of Wichita brothers Jonathan and Reginald Carr and former Topekan Sidney Gleason.

The state then appealed the decision to overturn the death sentences to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed this past March to hear all three appeals. The issues the U.S. Supreme Court will consider include jury instruction and separate sentencing hearings.

Man dies in Kansas garage fire

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LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A weekend fire at a Lawrence garage has killed a 52-year-old man.

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical Chief Mark Bradford said Monday that James Beal Clark died at Kansas University Hospital, where he was taken by air ambulance from his home. Bradford says firefighters found Clark inside the burning garage early Saturday.

The Lawrence Journal World reports Bradford says fire crews arrived at the scene of the fire “within five minutes” of the report and found the garage in flames.

He says investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire, which caused about $50,000 in damages.

Kansas man wants judge, not jury, to decide his sentence

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man who killed his mother chose to have a judge, rather than a jury, decide his sentence.

Forty-year-old Jason Hachmeister on Monday waived his right to have a jury decide whether he should receive a sentence of at least 25 years or a Hard 50 sentence.

Instead, Shawnee County District Court Judge Richard Anderson will decide Hachmeister’s sentence for premeditated first-degree murder.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Hachmeister said he didn’t want his family or himself to have to see graphic photos of the crime scene again.

Sheila Hachmeister was stabbed and strangled at her Topeka home in September 2011.

Prosecutors said Jason Hachmeister stood to receive $125,000 in life insurance because of his mother’s death.

The sentencing trial will resume July 21.

Hileman: Kan. law allows cautious passing of bicycles on highway

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tod hileman bike passing on highway
(Photo courtesy KHP Trooper Tod Hileman)

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

As Hays motorists adjust to the newly marked bicycle lanes in town, Hays-based Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Tod Hileman is reminding highway drivers of safety rules for bicycle traffic.

Hileman, KHP Public Safety Officer for Troop D, posted the reminder on his Facebook page Saturday. Bicyclists can often be seen riding on Kansas highways during the summer months.

“If you are on a two lane road and approaching bicycles who are riding in your same direction in a no-passing zone, Kansas law now allows you to cross over the solid yellow line just enough to drive by them with at least 3 feet of clearance.

You can cross over the solid yellow line ONLY if you have a clear line of sight and it’s free of other vehicles,” Hileman wrote.

To read the 2014 Kansas statute, click here.

Kobach: No plans to change dual voter registration system

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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansans who registered to vote using a federal form without providing citizenship documentation will still not be able to vote in state elections despite the latest U.S. Supreme Court action.

The justices on Monday rejected an appeal from Republican officials in Kansas and Arizona who have sought to have federal elections officials enforce state laws requiring new voters to submit a birth certificate, passport or other papers documenting U.S. citizenship.

But Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach says the state will continue its dual election system that limits people who register with the federal form to voting only in federal elections, unless they provide proof of citizenship.

He says Kansas will ask the new commissioners to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission consider changing the federal form to add the requirement.

Newer, smaller recycling truck prompts changes to city of Hays policy

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By RICKY KERR
Hays Post

The City of Hays recycling program has made changes for collection of recyclable materials effective immediately, following the purchase of a newer but smaller truck.

“We ask our customers to break down the larger boxes,” said Solid Waste Division Superintendent Marvin Honas. “The main reason for that is the customers are leaving Styrofoam in these boxes and plastic wrap, neither of which is recyclable.”

Since the new recycling truck has two compartments instead of three, the program will not be able to sort plastic and Styrofoam trash from recyclable material.

“We had one compartment for paper and cardboard, one compartment for glass, plastics, tin and aluminum, and the third one we used if there was any trash,” Honas said.

The program chose to get a smaller, single-axle truck because it would be able to navigate streets and alleyways more safely.

“We cannot turn the (old) truck around in a cul-de-sac without backing up and turning around about three times,” Honas said. “Especially if there’s cars in that cul-de-sac. We usually have to pull the old truck in and just back out. From a safety standpoint, I don’t think that’s probably a good practice.”

Honas said the program no longer will be pick up trash from the yard, and asked that customers to bag cartons and other smaller cardboard boxes in plastic bags to avoid being blown around the yard.

“Time is a great essence right now and we don’t have extra personnel so we have to make do with what we have and manage those people the best way we can,” Honas said.

It was also clarified that plastic grocery bags are not recyclable in the program.

Honas was unsure if the changes will affect program participation, but acknowledged that everyone has a personal choice on whether to recycle.

“I don’t know how its going to affect our participation rate. Until we see where we’re at as far as if there is a decline, we can maybe evaluate that a little more,” he said.

The new recycling truck should see action within a few weeks, after trees have been trimmed to prevent damaging it.

For more information, visit the recycling program website.

Listen to the full interview with Honas below:

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