WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A new report shows U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran has amassed more than $3.1 million in cash for his re-election effort as 2016 kicks off. The Kansas Republican is running unopposed so far.

His campaign reported on Wednesday it raised about $750, 600 during the fourth quarter last year, with nearly $280,000 of contributions coming from political committees. It spent more than $322,000.

The campaign listed the transactions in a finance report, covering the period from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2015.

For this time in the election cycle, the campaign contends it has the largest cash-on-hand balance of any incumbent U.S. senator for Kansas in recent history.

Deputy Campaign Manager Elizabeth Patton says in an email that the support is indicative that Kansans know and trust Moran puts Kansas first.

HUTCHINSON – A man suspected of setting a pair of fires on in May of 2014 was before a Reno County judge Wednesday for the reading of two charges against him.

Dustin Gordon, 26, is charged with two counts of arson for allegedly setting fire to a two story home and also a trailer that was used for storage.

He was transferred to the Reno County jail from Saline County this week after he was convicted and sentenced in October in three cases of arson in that county.

The fires were occurred on East Blanchard south of the intersection of Kansas 61 and U.S. 50, on the southeast side of Hutchinson.

When fire crews arrived, they found a fully involved two story house and also a second fire in a mobile home 1/8 mile east of the house that was fully involved as well. Both houses were vacant and had been for some time.

In Saline County, Gordon was convicted for two counts of aggravated arson and one count of arson and is currently serving time on those three charges.

WICHITA – Law enforcement authorities are investigating an alleged theft of fine china.

On Saturday, police officers in Wichita stopped a male suspect near 55th Street South and Seneca who was in possession of these dishes, according to a social media report from police.

They were possibly taken in a theft or burglary, according to police.

If you have any information that could help police please contact Burglary Investigations at 316-268-4141.

GEARY COUNTY –Law enforcement authorities in Geary County are investigating 3 suspects on alleged murder charges.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to Shandy Lane near the community of Milford on Monday night after a report of persons being kidnapped and robbed at gunpoint.

During the incident, one of the victims was shot in the head with a semi-automatic handgun. That victim required minor medical treatment, according to Sheriff Tony Wolf.

A lengthy investigation ensued, a search warrant was executed at a residence on Johnson Drive in Junction City that resulted in the seizure of marijuana, numerous guns, and suspected stolen property.

On Tuesday evening, Erick Wiseman, Michael White, and Ronald Haywood Jr. all of Junction City were arrested on suspicion of Attempted First Degree Murder, Aggravated Robbery and Aggravated Kidnapping.

They are being held without bond at the Geary County Detention Center pending a first appearance in Geary County District Court.

WASHINGTON – Today Congressman Tim Huelskamp (KS-01) voted to ditch the EPA’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. Huelskamp was a cosponsor of S.J. Res. 22 in the House. His colleagues voted 253 to 156 on the disapproval resolution; it will now be sent to the president’s desk.

For years, Congressman Huelskamp has been fighting this radical new regulation, an unprecedented effort by the Obama Administration to expand its regulation and control over all waters in our nation, well beyond the limits established in law by Congress. The legislative and judicial branches continue to whittle away at the flawed rule. In 2015, Huelskamp took action to stop implementation and funding of the rule. In November, a federal court issued a stay on nationwide enforcement.

“As a fifth-generation farmer, I personally understand the threat WOTUS poses to our rural way of life. As at least one Court has decreed, WOTUS is illegal, because it seeks to regulate every road ditch, farm pond, prairie pothole, swimming pool, water tank, and rain puddle in Kansas and elsewhere—despite the clear law otherwise. With passage of our resolution, my colleagues have joined with me on the side of rural Americans to protect us from the EPA’s unprecedented water grab. While President Obama has already threated to veto our common sense effort, I hope both chambers will stand strong and override his veto.”

 

SALINA -A federal grand jury returned an indictment Tuesday charging a woman for crimes related to the 2015 homicide of a Salina teenager, according to a media release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

The indictment charges 21-year-old Azucena Garcia-Ferniza, a citizen of Mexico, with one count of possession of a firearm while unlawfully in the United States, one count of accessory to a crime after the fact, and one count of having knowledge of a felony that she did not report to law enforcement. The crimes are alleged to have occurred May 7, 2015, in the hours following the shooting death of 17-year-old Allie Saum.

If convicted, Garcia-Ferniza faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the firearm charge, and a maximum penalty of three years and a fine up to $250,000 on the misprision charge. On the charge of knowingly giving aid to a person who committed a crime, she faces a maximum sentence of half of the sentence for the person who committed the crime.

The firearm, a .45 caliber Glock 30 handgun, is believed to be the murder weapon used in the Saum shooting. According to an arrest affidavit from the Salina Police Department, Garcia-Ferniza tried to hide the firearm allegedly used in the murder to prevent law enforcement from finding it. She had placed the firearm in her pants while law enforcement officers were obtaining a search warrant for her residence. The officers located and took possession of the firearm from her. She was then arrested and subsequently charged in state court with interference with a law enforcement officer, concealing evidence, and two counts of aggravated endangerment a child. Later that day, she freely and voluntarily admitted to having the firearm in her possession and attempting to conceal it from law enforcement officers.

Garcia-Ferniza is one of six suspects charged in the murder of Saum, who was shot on the evening of May 6, 2015, in what prosecutors have called a case of mistaken identity. Police say the shooting was the result of a fight that occurred earlier that same day. The suspects were part of a group of people that were out seeking revenge for the fight. One of the suspects mistakenly identified the male driver of a pickup, later identified as Saum’s boyfriend, as someone that had been involved in the fight. Shots were fired into the pickup in the 800 block of Russell and Saum, who was in the passenger’s side of the truck, was struck in the head. She succumbed to her injuries shortly after midnight on May 7, 2015.

Garcia-Ferniza was taken into federal custody in late August and later turned over to Saline County authorities. According to the Saline County Sheriff’s Office, she has been an inmate of the Saline County Jail since October 29.

The federal case against Garcia-Ferniza was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson is prosecuting the case.

 

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -The latest developments following the release of 10 U.S. Navy sailors detained by Iran after entering its territorial waters (All times local).

 

Iranian state television has shown dramatic images of the moment when Revolution Guard forces captured 10 U.S. sailors in the Persian Gulf.

The video and stills were published on its website Wednesday night, hours after the nine American men and one woman were released by Iran.

The images show the U.S. sailors with their hands on their heads, while others show Iranians inspecting the machine guns onboard and going through papers.

The American sailors were held in an Iranian base on Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf after being detained nearby on Tuesday. The U.S. military has said that mechanical trouble with one of the boats caused them to drift into Iranian territorial waters near the island, where they were picked up by Iran.

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7 p.m.

A senior U.S. defense official says the 10 American sailors briefly held by Iran are heading to a U.S. military facility in Qatar and likely have already arrived there.

The official says the sailors also will be debriefed by naval officials and will get medical checkups, though there’s no sign any were harmed.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity as the information had yet to be made public.

The nine men and one woman were held in an Iranian base on Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf after being detained nearby on Tuesday. The U.S. military has said that mechanical trouble with one of the boats caused them to drift into Iranian territorial waters near the island, where they were picked up by Iran.

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5:35 p.m.

The White House says new lines of communication with Iran established during nuclear negotiations were key to getting 10 U.S. Navy sailors released quickly.

White House chief of staff Denis McDonough says he’s hesitant to draw big lessons from the incident about the state of U.S.-Iran relations.

But he says open lines established recently are “extraordinarily important” in resolving situations such as the one in the crowded Persian Gulf. He says U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s relationship with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif played a key role in this case.

Kerry and Zarif grew acquainted through the recent nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers. But President Barack Obama and Kerry have said the nuclear deal was separate from other issues between the U.S. and Iran.

McDonough told a Christian Science Monitor breakfast Wednesday the White House is very pleased to have the sailors “back with us.” He says that’s “where they should have always been.”

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4:30 p.m.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has thanked Iran for ending what could have been a crisis involving the Islamic Republic holding 10 U.S. sailors, who have now been freed.

Kerry said in a statement on Wednesday: “That this issue was resolved peacefully and efficiently is a testament to the critical role diplomacy plays in keeping our country safe, secure and strong.”

Kerry has a close relationship with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif after the recent nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers.

The nine American men and one woman were held in an Iranian base on Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf after being detained nearby on Tuesday. The U.S. military has said that mechanical trouble with one of the boats caused them to drift into Iranian territorial waters near the island, where they were picked up by Iran.

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4:15 p.m.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden says that America did not apologize to Iran over U.S. sailors allegedly entering Iranian territorial waters.

Biden made the comments Wednesday in an interview with “CBS This Morning.”

The vice president said: “There’s nothing to apologize for. When you have a problem with the boat you apologize the boat had a problem? No, and there was no looking for any apology. This was just standard nautical practice.”

Biden said that the Iranians realized the U.S. sailors “were there in distress and said they would release them and released them like ordinary nations would do.”

The nine American men and one woman were held in an Iranian base on Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf after being detained nearby on Tuesday. The U.S. military has said that mechanical trouble with one of the boats caused them to drift into Iranian territorial waters near the island, where they were picked up by Iran.

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3:10 p.m.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has welcomed the release of 10 U.S. Navy sailors held overnight by Iran.

In a statement Wednesday, Carter said he wanted to thank U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for his “diplomatic engagement” on the issue. Kerry has a close relationship with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif after the recent nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers.

Carter also said: “Around the world, the U.S. Navy routinely provides assistance to foreign sailors in distress, and we appreciate the timely way in which this situation was resolved.”

The nine men and one woman were held on Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf after being detained nearby on Tuesday. The U.S. military has said that mechanical trouble with one of the boats caused them to drift into Iranian territorial waters near the island, where they were picked up by Iran.

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2:30 p.m.

The U.S. military says that 10 sailors briefly held by Iran are back in American care and “there are no indications that the sailors were harmed.”

The U.S. Navy issued a statement Wednesday after Iranian state media announced the sailors had been freed.

It said the sailors departed the Iranian base on Farsi Island at 0843 GMT on the same boats that brought them there. It said the Navy would conduct an investigation into the incident.

The nine men and one woman were held on Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf after being detained nearby on Tuesday. The U.S. military has said that mechanical trouble with one of the boats caused them to drift into Iranian territorial waters near the island, where they were picked up by Iran.

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2 p.m.

Iranian state television is reporting that all 10 U.S. sailors detained by Iran after entering its territorial waters have been released.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said the sailors were released Wednesday after it was determined that their entry was not intentional.

The nine men and one woman were being held at an Iranian base on Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf after being detained nearby on Tuesday.

The U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet had no immediate comment or confirmation of the release.

By MEGAN HART

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas won’t require customers who need outpatient mental health services to get prior authorization from now on, but the insurer can recoup payments from providers if their treatment is significantly different from that of their peers.

Mary Beth Chambers, spokeswoman for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, said the change brings the insurer’s mental health policies in line with its policies for other types of medical care and with mental health parity laws. Eliminating prior authorization also will reduce paperwork for providers, she said.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas contracts with New Directions Behavioral Health to administer its mental health and substance abuse benefits, and New Directions will analyze “practice patterns” to determine how mental health providers generally treat a given diagnosis, Chambers said. If they find outliers, they then will ask for documentation to show the treatment was medically necessary, she said.

“Maybe the documentation they’ll provide shows there’s medical necessity … and maybe it won’t,” she said.

Chambers said she wasn’t sure how much variation would be significant enough for a practice to be considered an outlier, but the emphasis will be on educating providers in the early stages. Eventually, however, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas could recoup payments from providers if care isn’t determined to be medically necessary, she said.

“We want to make sure people are receiving all of the services that are medically necessary while holding down costs,” she said. “If we overpay … that just adds to the cost of health care and the future costs of our members.”

Vishal Adma, president of the Kansas Psychiatric Society, said its members are in favor of ending prior authorizations, which will allow them to begin treating patients sooner. Reviewing outlier practices also could help ensure that patients get quality care, he said, though they aren’t in favor of insurers recouping payments for services that already were provided.

“Prior authorization is a labor-intensive process,” he said. “It makes sense for them to focus on the outliers.”

Sky Westerlund, executive director of the Kansas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, said the principle behind reviewing coverage to determine if it is medically necessary is fine, but it could prevent people from getting needed care.

“The problem that occurs in mental health is it’s (medical necessity) basically used as a tool to deny services and deny payment,” she said.

Insurers have varying criteria to determine if a mental health service is necessary. For the Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliates, outpatient treatment is approved when the patient has a diagnosed mood or behavior disturbance that is likely to improve with treatment and “demonstrates motivation for treatment.” More specific criteria are used to determine whether a patient should have sessions as infrequently as once per month or as often as multiple times per week.

Part of the concern is that New Directions will compare people with the same diagnosis but won’t take into account differences in the extent of their needs, Westerlund said. One person with depression might feel better in four sessions, while another might need as much as a year to recover, she said.

“It’s not like a broken arm, it takes four weeks to heal,” she said. “It’s individualized.”

Westerlund also raised privacy concerns related to documentation that New Directions had told providers it would require. A letter to providers dated Nov. 30 said documentation should include objective and subjective descriptions of the patient’s “presentation” in each face-to-face interaction; the patient’s specific diagnosis; any changes to treatment goals; start and stop times; and any follow-up appointments scheduled.

“They just don’t need to know deep information, sensitive information, for authorization or payment purposes,” she said.

Chambers said insurers always have been able to collect that information and aren’t seeking therapy notes. Presentation information in a mental health context could include whether a person was intoxicated, appeared to be tired or well-rested, was crying or was calm, she said.

Megan Hart is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach her on Twitter @meganhartMC