NEW YORK (AP) — Ford is launching a car-sharing program in six U.S. cities and London.

The automobile maker said late Tuesday the pilot program will be available to customers that finance their vehicles through Ford Motor Credit. Customers will be able to rent their vehicle to pre-screened drivers for short-term use, helping to defray some vehicle costs.

Ford Motor Co. said that 14,000 customers in the U.S. will be invited to participate, along with 12,000 in London.

U.S. customers will partake through ride-share company Getaround, while London customers will use easyCar Club.

The program runs through November.

Ford’s announcement comes as automakers are trying to contend with people being less reliant on vehicle ownership. Services like Zipcar, Uber and Lyft have made it easier for individuals to get around without owning a car.

HUTCHINSON – A 15-year-old injured in a one-vehicle accident east of Hutchinson Wednesday afternoon died on Saturday according to the Reno County Sheriff’s Office.

Aaron Powers passed away at 4:58 p.m. Saturday from his injuries in a rollover accident in the 11200 Block of East 43rd. He was a passenger in the vehicle.

The Reno County Sheriff’s office reported a pickup driven by Dawson L. Lehman, 18, was westbound on 43rd Avenue from Rayl Road.

The driver lost control of the vehicle. It traveled into the ditch and rolled.

First responders found two occupants lying in the road.
Aaron Powers and Dalton Stoecklein, both 15, were flown to a Wichita hospital for treatment.

Both suffered head injuries and had not been wearing seat belts according to the sheriff’s office.

Another passenger Reighn Armstrong, 15, was taken by EMS to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center for treatment.

A fourth passenger Samuel Tarbox, 15, was treated at the scene and released with permission from his parents.

Lehman was not injured.

By ANDY MARSO

A controversial restriction on local property tax revenue in the recently passed Kansas tax bill could have implications for county health departments.

Republican legislators inserted the property tax “lid” into the $400 million tax bill as a sweetener for colleagues who were loath to vote for a tax increase. It requires local governments to get voter approval to take in any tax revenue above the rate of inflation that comes from increased property values.

The needs of county health department don’t always track predictably with inflation, especially if the county has an outbreak of infectious disease.

“We’re going to do what we need to do to protect the public, irrespective of what the state of Kansas does to us,” said Hannes Zacharias, the county manager of Johnson County, which has dealt with a couple of infectious disease scares in the past year. “How we’re going to be able to recoup those expenses is unclear.”

Zacharias’ county was part of a Kansas City measles outbreak last year and took the lead in tracking and testing hundreds of contacts after an Olathe Northwest High School student developed tuberculosis in the spring.

Zacharias said Johnson County can continue resource-intensive infectious disease control by dipping into reserve accounts kept for purposes of maintaining the county’s AAA bond rating.

But the property tax lid would make maintaining those reserves more of a challenge.

“What happens at the back end of that once you’ve made those expenditures?” Zacharias said. “Can you fill the tank back up, if you will?”

The property tax lid contains some exemptions, but none specifically for health expenses.

Legislators have admitted that a drafting error has caused confusion about whether the lid takes effect July 1 of this year or Jan. 1, 2018. Republican leaders have said the intention was to start in 2018 and they will try to clarify that in law Friday at sine die, the last day of the legislative session that traditionally is just a formality.

Even if the change is made, local officials have questioned whether the bill’s timeline for having an election to approve a revenue increase and the timeline to set their annual budget can mesh.

Michelle Ponce, executive director of the Kansas Association of Local Health Departments, said it’s too early to tell how the tax lid will affect local health departments, which have different funding mechanisms.

“It would be something we’re concerned about in terms of the overall county budgets and how that would affect health departments,” Ponce said.

Leslie Campbell, director of the Pottawatomie County Health Department, said county officials there discussed the tax lid in a meeting this week and shared their concerns about it.

Campbell said she was told that if the lid takes effect this year, the county of about 23,000 people could raise its budget by no more than $200,000 unless it held an election — which alone would cost $60,000.

Pottawatomie County dealt with a major pertussis outbreak last year that sickened 110 people.

To stem the tide, her staff of 11 tracked thousands of contacts at schools and workplaces and distributed 1,400 free vaccines.

“I had overtime, of course, and our phone bill was twice as much (as usual),” Campbell said.

The state paid for the immunizations, but Campbell’s department waived all of the usual administrative fees in order to entice more people to get them.

Those fees usually defray the cost of things like syringes, sterilizing alcohol and bandages — as well as the nurses’ time.

“The county ended up paying for all of that,” Campbell said. “The county just absorbed it as part of the budget. Luckily we had a little cushion for some of that.”

With only 26 pertussis cases so far this year in Pottawatomie County, Campbell believes it is finally past the outbreak zone. But her department serves a vaccine-resistant community in St. Marys and is now dealing with another challenge: an outbreak of varicella, or chicken pox.

Like Zacharias, Campbell said efforts to contain infectious disease would continue in her county regardless of the tax lid. But if resources become scarce, it could force the department to scale back other health-related services.

“At some point, I think, the discussion will be, what services does each health department absolutely have to provide?” Campbell said.

Zacharias said his county is monitoring the spread of avian flu, which threatens the Kansas poultry industry but has yet to cross over into humans.

“Should that happen, things are going to go pretty quickly into crisis mode,” Zacharias said.

Andy Marso is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.

WELLSVILLE- Five people were injured in an accident just before 2 a.m. on Sunday in Franklin County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2013 Ram pickup driven by Justyne A. E. Wilson, 25, Ottawa, was stationary at the intersection of I35 Exit 197 northbound off ramp and Kansas 33 Highway in Wellsville.

The pickup began to enter the intersection from the stop sign as Wilson noticed a vehicle traveling southbound on K33 and stopped according to the KHP.

A 1990 Olds Cierra driven by Jacob R.C. Davis, 15, Osawatomie, observed the pickup about to enter the intersection. The Olds made an evasive emergency maneuver, went off the right side of the roadway and hit the pickup in the rear driver’s side door.

Wilson, Davis, passengers in the Olds Kyle S McClendon, 16, Jenna S. Dennis, 15, Mason L. Offutt, 22, all of Osawatomie, were transported to Ransom Memorial Hospital.

A passenger in the pickup from Missouri was not injured.
McClendon was not wearing a seat belt according to the KHP.

HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH, Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal program that feeds millions of low-income children may be overhauled for the first time in almost 50 years to make the meals healthier and reduce obesity.

About 3.8 million young children are fed daily through the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which primarily reimburses day-care providers. Another 120,000 elderly or disabled adults are fed each day in programs designed to spell caregivers.

More vegetables and less sugar lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s proposals. Grain-based desserts like cookies would no longer be reimbursed, and children younger than 1 wouldn’t be offered juice.

Facilities wouldn’t be reimbursed when food is deep-fried on site, although prepackaged fried foods, such as chicken nuggets, could still be served, though recommendations urge that they be offered infrequently.