Daylight Savings Time ends this Sunday, Nov. 1. As we set our clocks back one hour, this weekend is a good time to change the batteries in our home smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, each year about 4,000 Americans die in home fires. The peak times for home fire fatalities is when we are sleeping; between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. Children and seniors are at the greatest risk of dying in home fires.
The NFPA reports that a working smoke alarm doubles your chance of surviving a home fire. Over 70 percent of smoke alarm failures during fires are due to missing, disconnected or dead batteries.
The Centers for Disease Control reports that carbon monoxide kills over 400 people annually and sickens over 20,000. Carbon monoxide cannot be detected except by a working carbon monoxide detector.
The City of Hays Fire Department urges everyone to clean and check their home smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and change the batteries this weekend. Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms should be replaced every ten years.
City of Hays firefighters will assist seniors and others with limited mobility in checking and changing batteries or installing replacement alarms. The HFD has a limited number of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms for persons living on fixed incomes or who otherwise cannot afford this protection.
For more information or assistance, contact the City of Hays Fire Department at (785) 628-7330.
DETROIT (AP) — A Nissan recall for possible fuel leaks in crashes has been expanded to include nearly 59,000 Altima and Maxima sedans worldwide.
The recall now covers certain 2013 to 2016 Altima midsize cars and some 2016 Maxima large cars. Also included are some 2014 to 2016 Teana sedans made in Russia. All have V6 engines.
Nissan says in documents posted by U.S. safety regulators that in a crash, fuel could leak from a seal between the gas tank and the fuel sending unit. That could cause a fire.
The company says the problem was discovered in crash tests, and it has no reports of fires, injuries or fuel leaks.
Dealers will install a retainer ring to help maintain a proper seal. The recall should begin within the next two months.
SALINA – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County say a surveillance app on a cell phone helped capture a burglar.
The owner of Sweet on You Gourmet Chocolate, 157 N. 7th Street in Salina checked surveillance video of the store just after 11:40 p.m. on Friday and noticed someone inside the building, according to Salina Police Captain Mike Sweeney.
Police were called and found Charles Jones, 59, was in a locked room of the business.
Entry to the building was gained by breaking a window in a door.
Jones was booked into the Saline County Jail for burglary, theft, obstruction, and damage to property.
Barbara J. Foos, age 84, of Hutchinson (formerly of WaKeeney), passed away Friday, October 23, 2015 at Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. She was born October 5, 1931, in Wichita, to Jean Walter and Ruth Ann (Schoonover) Connor.
Barbara was a graduate of North High School, in Wichita. On June 11, 1950, she was united in marriage to Carl Dean Tucker in Wichita. To this union, four children were born. She then married Leonard G. Foos on January 30, 1977 in Denver, Colorado. He died November 13, 2011. Barbara worked as a Ward Clerk at Trego County Lemke Memorial Hospital in WaKeeney for many years. She loved to crochet and do crafts. She was known for her talents in the kitchen, both cooking and baking; she loved to bake for friends and family. She enjoyed collecting Precious Moments figurines, and was always looking to expand her collection. Barbara was a member of the Delos Smith Crochet Group. Her loving heart will be missed by many.
Survivors include two sons, Rusty Tucker and wife Cindy of Fort Collins, Colorado, and David Tucker of Wichita; two daughters, Jerri and husband Tom Keffer of Hutchinson, and Terri and husband Dennis Bowman of Hutchinson; four stepsons, Terry Foos and wife Tina of Cascade, Colorado, Mark Foos and wife Susan of Castle Rock, Colorado, Michael Foos of Manitou Springs, Colorado, and Patrick Foos of Las Vegas, Nevada; two stepdaughters, Kathleen Foos of Phippsburg, Colorado, and Janet Foos of Colorado Springs, Colorado; thirteen grandchildren; nineteen great-grandchildren; a brother, Jim Connor of Melbourne, Florida; and a sister, Susan and husband Jim Dobis of Hereford, Arizona. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; grandson, Daniel Weve; and sister, Joanne Barr.
Funeral services will be 2:00 p.m., Thursday, October 29, 2015 at Schmitt Funeral Home, WaKeeney. Burial will be in the WaKeeney City Cemetery.
Visitation will be Thursday, from 10:00 a.m to 12:00 noon at the funeral home in WaKeeney.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to Hospice of Reno County. Checks made to the organization may be sent to Schmitt Funeral Home, 336 North 12th, WaKeeney, KS 67672.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Johnny Van Zant describes guitarist Gary Rossington’s heart attack as “slight” and says Rossington is itching to get back to touring.
Van Zant tells Billboard magazine Rossington suffered the attack two weeks ago while in a hospital for another procedure and his doctors took him off his blood-thinning medication.
Van Zant says he recently told Rossington they should just cancel the rest of their shows for the year.
Rossington told him he’s been thinking about what’s important to him and it’s family and playing the guitar, so he wants to play shows.
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s next scheduled date is the Alabama National Fair in Montgomery on November 7.
PHILLIPS COUNTY–The Phillips County Game Warden is asking for public assistance with the taking of three deer west of Phillipsburg.
The deer appeared to have been shot with a rifle. All three of the deer had their heads were removed and 2 of the deer where skinned but no meat was taken.
An opossum and two raccoon were also found at the location.
If you have any information, contact Operation Game Thief at 1-877-426-3843. Callers may remain anonymous.
According to KDWPT Game Wardens, they were found on private land Sunday by a sportsman who was getting ready to hunt the property. The sportsman then reported it to Rooks County.
If you have any information, contact Operation Game Thief at 1-877-426-3843. Callers may remain anonymous.
Kaycee Jerby, a student at Phillipsburg Middle School, was recently named as one of three northwest Kansas winners in the 2015 Put the Brakes on Fatalities poster contest.
Jerby will receive a bicycle and helmet donated by Safe Kids Kansas. The prizes will be presented by the Kansas Department of Transportation and the Kansas Highway Patrol during a 1 p.m. assembly on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at Phillipsburg Middle School.
A total of 1,118 kids across Kansas ages 5 to 13 took the time to think about safety and participated in the contest. Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day is a nationwide effort to increase roadway safety and reduce all traffic fatalities.
I have an Apple Watch. When I raise my wrist and spin the Digital Crown, my watch “time travels” into either the future of the past. My next appointment changes, the current temperature changes based upon forecasts and with a simple push, everything snaps back to the present. Steve Jobs, the man, could do that same thing. Seemingly at-will, he could look into the future, see what was going to be, and then snap back to the present to build it.
Real artists, the inescapable ones, have that quality – the ability to crystallize a moment in time, be it the past, present or future and transcribe it in their respective medium for the world. Jobs was an artist that work in silicon, aluminum and glass. Writer Aaron Sorkin, known for his work on “The Social Network,” “The West Wing” (which I’ve finally started watching now that I’m living in D.C.), and “The Newsroom” is an artist who paints with witty, fast-paced dialogue has composed one of his many masterpieces.
“Steve Jobs” is set in primarily three scenes – backstage before the original Macintosh launch, backstage before his NeXT launch and backstage before the launch of the iMac. It’s a very unique structure, but it serves the intent of the story brilliantly – this is a story about the complicated, visionary Steve Jobs, not about the company he willed into existence. This isn’t a story about the company Apple. As much as you might expect to have the product launches be the turnkey scenes, the actual stage presentations are omitted – because on-stage Steve Jobs was not representative of the troubled, compulsive, yet undeniably brilliant Jobs that this story, based on the biography from Walter Isaacson, is telling.
Speaking of artists, director Danny Boyle, best known for his work on “Slumdog Millionaire” brings a fantastic vibrancy and believability to an unbelievable story. His partnership with the lead actors, all of whom deliver spectacular performances, is evident. The combination of Boyle’s direction and Michael Fassbender’s performance really did invoke the “Reality Distortion Field.” There were a couple of moments in the film that I forgot I was watching a movie. I thought, if only briefly, that I was watching a live stream of the real Steve Jobs backstage. That is something special, and no mistake.
Unfortunately, I jumped the gun buying my tickets to “Steve Jobs,” because of an AMC Stubs contest that offered Apple products as a grand prize. I didn’t win. Regardless, “Steve Jobs” isn’t playing in Hays, and that’s unfortunate because it’s the only movie I saw this week. If and when this movie comes to Hays, it’s a must-see. It’s unique, brilliant, harrowing and focusing – much like Jobs himself was.
Kansas Senate Vice President Jeff King is taking issue with Gov. Sam Brownback’s reasons for opposing Medicaid expansion. Melika Willoughby, Brownback’s deputy communications director, outlined those reasons in an Oct. 6 email to supporters. Referring to expansion as a “masquerading component of Obamacare,”
Photo by KHI News Service Kansas Senate Vice President Jeff King, a Republican from Independence, is taking issue with Gov. Sam Brownback’s reasons for opposing Medicaid expansion.
Willoughby said the governor believes it would be “morally reprehensible” for the state to provide health coverage to low-income Kansans “who choose not to work” before providing support services to all of the disabled Kansans now on waiting lists. In addition,
Willoughby accused expansion supporters of “lying” by claiming the additional federal funding that expansion would have generated might have prevented the closure earlier this month of Mercy Hospital in King’s hometown of Independence. In a response posted Thursday on his website, King pushed back.
He said contrary to Willoughby’s assertion the “vast majority” of uninsured Kansans who would be eligible for coverage under expansion are “working adults and students.”
“I refuse to make moral judgments based on a person’s view of Medicaid expansion. I wish Ms. Willoughby would have done the same,” King wrote. “Maybe if her hospital was closing. Maybe if her parents were wondering where to go for emergency care. Maybe if she faced uncertainty in her health care future, she would view those looking for health care answers in a little less judgmental light.”
King, a self-described conservative Republican and former expansion opponent, now supports the kind of private-sector approach being taken in other Republican-controlled states.
“We are looking at using federal funds to help small businesses provide private health insurance for their employees and assist colleges in getting private insurance for their students,” King wrote. “Conservative states like Indiana have shown that this can work. Far from expanding ‘government-run health care,’ the Indiana model and those like it expand private health care, limiting the role of government.”
Indiana’s expansion plan, approved by federal officials in January, uses Medicaid dollars to purchase high-deductible health insurance plans for adults making up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level, annually $11,770 for individuals and $24,250 for a family of four. The state then contributes money to a Personal Wellness and Responsibility, or POWER, account that beneficiaries can use to cover out-of-pocket costs.
The Indiana plan also requires beneficiaries to contribute to the account.
Forum to focus on Indiana plan
The Indiana expansion plan will be the focus of a Nov. 3 forum in Wichita sponsored by several Kansas hospitals and health foundations. Doug Leonard, president of the Indiana Hospital Association, and Jonathan Nalli, chief executive of St. Vincent hospital in Indianapolis, will participate in a panel discussion about the Indiana expansion plan.
A second panel discussion will feature King and three other Kansas legislators: Sen. Michael O’Donnell, a Wichita Republican, Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican who serves as chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, and the ranking Democrat on the committee, Rep. Jim Ward, also from Wichita.
Jeff Korsmo, CEO of Via Christi Health, one of the sponsoring hospitals, said organizers would like to create some momentum on the expansion issue heading into the 2016 legislative session.
“Our hope is that it’s a series of conversations that can lead to some productive sharing of information and maybe start generating some answers that can move us forward,” Korsmo said.
King appears ready to help lead that discussion.
“Our health care system failed Independence and it is failing tens of thousands of hard-working Kansans,” King said in the column posted to his website. “I don’t have all the answers, but saying no to everything isn’t an option.”
But other Republican leaders remain opposed. A talking-points memo they recently commissioned to sharpen their arguments says that costs have far exceeded estimates in many expansion states. It also asserts that the low-income adults who would gain coverage under expansion are capable of taking care of themselves.
“The population Medicaid expansion would cover consists of healthy adults without children who could receive private coverage if they work 33 hours a week at the minimum wage,” the memo says, referring to the income level at which people can qualify for federal tax credits to help them purchase coverage on the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
KanCare eligibility limits
Brownback privatized the Kansas Medicaid program in 2013. Now called KanCare, the nearly $3 billion program is administered by three managed care organizations. KanCare now covers about 425,000 low-income children and families, plus disabled and low-income elderly adults. Adults with dependent children are eligible for KanCare coverage only if they have incomes below 33 percent of the federal poverty level, annually $7,870 for a family of four.
Non-disabled adults without children aren’t eligible regardless of income. Expansion would extend KanCare coverage to non-disabled, childless adults with incomes up to 138 percent of poverty: annually $16,105 for an individual and $32,913 for a family of four.
Jim McLean is executive editor of KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.
