KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police have identified a 20-year-old man who was found dead outside a Kansas City, Kansas, home.

The body of Cristobal A. Marzanares-Sepulveda was discovered Monday afternoon. According to police, Marzanares-Sepulveda was found face down between a house and a fence with what appeared to be gunshot wounds.

Authorities are urging anyone with information to come forward as the investigation continues.

ROELAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Touched by the plight of a homeless man forced to walk several hours a day to his job, a Kansas police officer stepped up with a gesture that brought the man to tears.

Roeland Park officer Zack Stamper says he was just doing his job last week when he gave Samuel Meixueiro a bicycle to ride to and from the man’s work as a liquor store cashier. Stamper threw in a duffel bag that replaced the man’s suitcase with a broken zipper.

The kindness drew tears from Meixueiro, who says he’s been staying in a church while trying to save money for an apartment.

Stamper’s gesture came after he first met Meixueiro in a park while responding to a report of a suspicious person.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — One of two northeast Kansas twin brothers convicted of roles in a multistate marijuana-trafficking operation has been sentenced to more than 19 years in federal prison.

Thirty-three-year-old Roosevelt Rico Dahda of Lawrence, Kansas, was sentenced Tuesday in Kansas City, Kansas.

Dahda was convicted last year of conspiracy in a monthslong trial. He was among 43 people accused in Kansas and California in connection with the trafficking authorities said involved 8,000 pounds of marijuana brought over seven years until 2012 to Lawrence and the Kansas City area, much of it from California.

Investigators say they seized nearly $17 million in drug proceeds in the case.

Roosevelt Dahda’s brother and co-defendant, Los Rovell Dahda, is to be sentenced Wednesday.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — People in the Kansas City region may soon feel the bite as favorable weather and environmental conditions have led to a boom in the oak leaf itch mite population.

The Kansas State Extension office reports that it has fielded its highest number of mite-related calls in 10 years. The Kansas City Star reports that horticulture agent Dennis Patton has described the reproduction levels as hitting “epidemic proportions.”

Entomologists say one tree could shed more than 370,000 of the microscopic mites in just one day.

Patton says over-the-counter bug repellants are not effective against the mites. Wearing long-sleeve shirts and pants helps limit exposure to them.

RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal report  finds that Medicare has been paying for mystery ambulance rides.

The inspector general’s audit found that Medicare paid $30 million in 2012 for ambulance rides for which no record exists that patients got medical care at their destination, the place where they were picked up or anywhere else.

The Health and Human Services IG says those rides are part of a continuing problem with Medicare payments for medical transportation.

Another red flag: some urban ambulance services got paid for an average distance of more than 100 miles per ride.

Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York and Houston accounted for about half of all questionable rides and payments.

Medicare says it has taken action since the IG privately shared the audit findings last year.

BROOKVILLE- A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 1p.m. on Tuesday in Saline County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a Freightliner semi driven by Jon D. Ramsey, 52, Salina, was southbound at 700 Brookville Road and attempted to go around a southbound John Deere Tractor driven by Raymond G Brady, 72, Brookville, that was slowing to make a left turn into a private drive.

The semi struck the tractor. The driver of the semi lost control of the vehicle. It entered the east ditch and overturned.

Ramsey was transported to Salina Regional Medical Center.

Brady was not injured.

Ramsey was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP. There were no seat belts on the tractor.

Great Bend Post

GREAT BEND- The City of Great Bend recently purchased a second narcotics detecting canine.

“Lazer” finished his training and joined the law enforcement team several weeks ago, and has been busy.

Over the weekend, Lazer was used to sniff vehicles five different times. Three of those deployments resulted in drugs being located.

One of the deployments located cocaine, which was packaged for sale; and the two other deployments resulted in methamphetamine being located.

Great Bend Police Chief Cliff Couch said, “Corporal Becker and Lazer are doing a great job. The various arrests would probably not have been made if we didn’t have the second canine available.”

JUNCTION CITY- Law enforcement authorities in Geary County are investigating a shooting at a restaurant on Monday evening.

Junction City Police received a call at 10:31 p.m. in reference to a person who had fired a shot through the glass at La Fiesta Restaurant on East Chestnut Street, according to Police Chief Tim Brown.

“Apparently the subject had attempted to enter the business when they were closing, was denied entrance, and apparently became upset, drew a weapon and fired a round into the business,” said Brown.

Brown added there were several people inside the business at the time.

The subject fled the scene on a motorcycle but police were able to locate him and arrested Timothy L. Hedges, 40, Frankfort, at a local drinking establishment, according to Brown.

He was also in possession of the handgun used in the shooting.

Hedges is being held on suspicion of one count each of Criminal Discharge of a Firearm at Occupied Dwelling, Possession of a Firearm Under the Influence, Criminal Damage to Property, and four counts of Aggravated Assault.

There were no injuries.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Legislative committee is seeking information about what would happen if spouses or relatives of school employees aren’t allowed to serve on school boards.

The Wichita Eagle reports that the Kansas Legislative Research Department sent out a survey to school board members throughout the state on Friday asking about the issue.

Researcher Martha Dorsey says the request came initially from a committee that will be reviewing the effect of a bill that was introduced during the past session and tabled. The bill would restrict a person from serving on a local school board if his or her spouse, parent or sibling worked for any school district in the state.

The bill also would restrict people who conduct business with school districts from serving on their local school boards

By ANDY MARSO

If Kansas legalized marijuana for broad medical use, marijuana-related car collisions and accidental ingestion hospitalizations likely would increase, but crime and illegal consumption would not.

Those are the findings of a nearly yearlong study of other states that legalized marijuana for medicinal use done by the Kansas Health Institute, the parent organization of the editorially independent KHI News Service.

The study did not examine the question of marijuana’s actual health benefits. Senior analyst Tatiana Lin said her team explored that angle but determined there was not enough credible research on it.

“There is some research available for certain conditions, but it’s still inconclusive,” Lin said. “So we felt that the study probably would not be able, at this point, to do in-depth analysis on this issue.”

More than half the states have legalized medical marijuana in some form since California became the first to do so in 1996. Kansas lawmakers have thus far been strongly resistant, but advocates keep pressing the issue. Some evidence of cracks in the resistance emerged last session.

The Legislature had its first hearings in three years on broad-based medical marijuana legalization during the 2015 session. A more narrow bill, which legalized only non-intoxicating hemp oil for treating persistent seizures, became the first medical marijuana measure to be approved by a committee and later passed the House by a wide margin.

The Senate took no action on it.

The KHI analysis focused on a broad-based marijuana legalization proposal, Senate Bill 9, and its companion, House Bill 2011. Those bills would legalize multiple forms of marijuana for people who suffer from any of a dozen conditions, including Crohn’s disease, glaucoma and cancer.

Varied outcomes

Lin and fellow analysts Sarah Hartsig, Shawna Chapman and Sheena Smith studied 14 states that passed similar legislation. They found that states that legalized medical marijuana experienced a slight uptick in hospitalizations for accidental ingestion, mostly in children under age 6.

But that outcome was counterbalanced somewhat by fewer hospitalizations for opioid overdoses in those states, possibly from chronic pain sufferers who manage their symptoms with cannabis rather than prescription painkillers.

The marijuana ingestions were far less deadly than the opioid overdoses, which claim thousands of lives in the United States every year.

The marijuana-related hospitalizations resulted in no deaths, but Hartsig said poison control centers report breathing problems, heart arrhythmia and cognitive effects from marijuana ingestion.

“While death hasn’t been a direct impact so far, it doesn’t mean it’s necessarily harmless,” Hartsig said. “There are still some pretty serious things that can happen.”

The analysts recommended that policymakers consider requiring educational outreach about the dangers of edible marijuana products and childproof packaging if they legalize medical marijuana.

The analysts also found that data from other states showed an increase in driving under the influence of marijuana and marijuana-related vehicle collisions following legalization for medical use, especially in states where medical marijuana is distributed through dispensaries rather than grown at home.

In eight of the 13 states for which data was available, marijuana-related traffic fatalities more than doubled after legalization for medicinal use. But the analysts cautioned that they could not discount the possibility that police officers in states with legal medical marijuana were on heightened lookout for marijuana use and more apt to test for it following a crash.

Rep. Gail Finney, a Democrat from Wichita who has introduced medical marijuana legalization bills in recent years, said that seems like a logical conclusion.

She said she also suspects that even in states with legal medical marijuana, alcohol still causes far more motor vehicle accidents. From 2006 to 2010, an average of 107 alcohol-related auto accident deaths occurred each year in Kansas, or about 3.7 deaths per 100,000 people.

The only state the analysts looked at that saw a comparable number of deaths from marijuana-related crashes in the five years following legalization for medical use was Montana. Rates in the other 12 were significantly lower. Hartsig and Lin said one troubling trend they found in their analysis was that some who use medical marijuana in other states are not aware it impairs their ability to drive.

Their analysis recommends policymakers consider strong labeling requirements and educational campaigns if Kansas decides to legalize medical marijuana. Finney said the potential health effects raised in the KHI analysis are manageable and she will continue to promote House Bill 2011 next session.

“I still think we need to consider it,” Finney said. “There are some people that are still suffering with chronic diseases, and the only thing that makes them feel better and benefits their body is marijuana.”

Other health effects

The KHI analysts also studied how legalizing medical marijuana would affect crime and overall consumption of marijuana.

There was not enough evidence for them to conclude that crime would likely increase or decrease post-legalization. In some states there was a correlation between the opening of dispensaries and increased crime rates, but dispensaries were generally located in areas that already had higher crime rates.

The evidence studied was inconclusive regarding whether legalizing medical marijuana leads to an increase in illegal consumption. The analysts saw some potential for increased use by “at-risk” youth, such as those already in drug treatment. But even that increase depended largely on the level of regulation and enforcement in each medical marijuana program.

Lin presented some preliminary analysis to legislators at last session’s medical marijuana hearing, but the full analysis was not complete at the time. Finney said the analysts likely will get another chance to testify, because “not a week goes by” without someone asking her about the bill.

“I don’t think that issue is going away,” she said. “Like I’ve said over and over again, I think it’s just a matter of time. Kansas will probably be one of the later states, but I think it’s going to happen.”

Andy Marso is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

WASHINGTON (AP) — One Senate Republican who’s also a presidential candidate is urging Congress to allow a partial government shutdown, as a way to gain leverage over President Barack Obama.

The Senate is on track to pass a spending bill that would keep the government from shutting down tomorrow night. But hardline conservative Republicans are denouncing their party’s leaders in the House and Senate for backing away from the removal of federal funding from Planned Parenthood, in order to make sure that a shutdown doesn’t take place.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky took to the floor Tuesday and urged leaders to “start out with the negotiating position that we defund everything that’s objectionable.” He added that “it would take courage because you have to let spending expire.”

Monday night’s 77-19 vote on the spending bill easily beat a token filibuster threat and sets up the final vote.

Senator Moran and 18 others voted against the measure. Senator Roberts, who has spoken against funding Planned Parenthood, voted in favor of of the funding bill to avoid the government shutdown.

 

I am a cosponsor of legislation introduced by @RandPaul to #DefundPlannedParenthood. Our tax dollars should not fund such gruesome practices

— Jerry Moran (@JerryMoran) July 28, 2015

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell says the stopgap measure isn’t his “preferred method for funding the government,” but he said it’s “the most viable way forward.” He accused Democrats of forcing the country “into this situation.

The bill has been stripped of a tea party-backed measure to take taxpayer funding away from Planned Parenthood as the price for keeping the government open.