MCPHERSON COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities were on the scene of an incident in the unincorporated McPherson County community of Roxbury late Wednesday afternoon. A suspect was arrested, according to the sheriff’s department.
The Kansas Highway Patrol assisted the McPherson County Sheriff’s Department after reports of shots fired.
Multiple Troopers have gathered in Roxbury, Ks to ASSIST McPherson County Sheriffs Dept following reports of gun shots in town.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are considering legislation that could lower the number of students receiving free and reduced-price meals at school.
Legislation debated by the House Education and Workforce Committee on Wednesday aims to save money by scaling back the number of schools in which all students receive free or reduced meals.
A proposed Republican amendment to the bill would go even further, allowing a trial period of so-called block grants for school meals in three states. That would mean those states wouldn’t receive unlimited federal dollars for students who qualify for the free and reduced-price lunches.
Hunger and nutrition advocates from the American Academy of Pediatrics to the American Heart Association have criticized the legislation.
The committee was scheduled to vote on the amendment and the overall bill Wednesday.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a couple from India and now living in Kansas illegally obtained their U.S. citizenship and committed bank fraud.
Sixty-year-old Ajay Dave and 59-year-old Parul Dave of Overland Park are charged with two counts each of bank fraud and making false statements on their U.S. citizenship applications. They also are charged with four counts involving obtaining U.S. citizenship by fraud.
Court documents allege the Daves provided false financial information and tax returns to a bank to get a $417,000 mortgage loan on their home. They also allegedly provided false information to obtain a $238,500 loan to refinance a Topeka home.
Prosecutors allege the Daves came to the U.S. in 1999 and didn’t reveal the alleged bank fraud while applying to become naturalized U.S. citizens in 2012 and 2013.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ state universities are calling for tuition increases of up to 5 percent, at least for now.
The schools submitted their tuition proposals Wednesday to the governing Kansas Board of Regents. But those came before Gov. Sam Brownback signed a budget bill Wednesday afternoon that cuts higher education funding by 4 percent — one percent more than the universities had expected.
Kansas State University, Wichita State, Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State each propose a 5 percent increase for the academic year that begins this fall. The University of Kansas and Emporia State seek a 4 percent rise.
The regents will vote on the proposals next month.
Regents spokeswoman Breeze Richardson says Wednesday’s proposals are likely to be adjusted given Brownback’s budget action.
Wednesday, the Board of Regents received notice from Governor Sam Brownback that the entire public higher education system in Kansas would receive a four percent allotment, reducing the FY2017 state appropriations being received by the state’s 32 public postsecondary institutions by over $30.6 million.
State General Fund appropriations in FY2017 will be 8.6 percent less than what was allocated in FY2008, meaning state funding for higher education has decreased by nearly $100 million since 2007-2008 levels.
Listed below are the reductions each institution will receive:
FY17 Reduction
University of Kansas $7,009,260
University of Kansas Medical Center $3,720,190
Kansas State University $5,219,623
K-State Veterinary Medicine $509,103
K-State Research and Extension $1,348,010
Wichita State University $2,846,788
Emporia State University $855,204
Fort Hays State University $1,059,685
Pittsburg State University $1,020,815
Washburn University $476,036
Two-Year Colleges (26 institutions) $5,482,184
Student Financial Aid $875,664
Kansas Board of Regents Office $241,916
Total $30,664,478
At today’s meeting of the Board, proposals were received from each of the six state universities outlining tuition and fee rates for 2016-2017. Given today’s announcement, adjustments will most likely be made before the Board votes next month.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is criticizing the Obama administration’s directive on the treatment of transgender students at public schools as “an unprecedented example of executive over-reach.”
The U.S. departments of justice and education said last week transgender students must be allowed to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity because federal law prohibits discrimination against those students. The administration says schools that refuse to comply could face federal lawsuits and lose federal aid.
Brownback said in a statement Wednesday that states, not the federal government, have primary responsibility for education policy. He says local schools, communities and parents are best equipped to respond to situations involving gender identity.
The statement did not indicate that the governor plans to take any specific actions on the issue.
They all came to Fort Hays State University on football scholarships following all-state performances their senior year in high school.
Jesse Trent, Zack Gaughan and Garrett Holle also brought with them high academic credentials when they stepped foot on campus in fall 2011.
But it’s another activity that is referred to as both a sport and an art that the trio agrees proved to be its key to success.
“Juggling,” Trent said as Gaughan and Holle both nodded their heads.
They mastered the art of juggling responsibilities in their five years on campus so well that they all lettered four years in football, finished with high grade point averages, graduated at last weekend’s commencement and are headed to Kansas City this summer to further their education in medical professions.
Trent and Gaughan will attend the KU School of Medicine, and Holle is enrolled in KU’s physical therapy program — all at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
“You learn to juggle,” said Trent, a cellular molecular biology major from Dodge City, who played in 44 career games at defensive lineman for the Tigers. “If you didn’t, you wouldn’t survive.
“I think that’s what separated us from all other med school applicants,” added Trent, who graduated summa cum laude. “When you’re taking high-caliber classes and playing a college sport, you have to learn how to make the best use of your time.”
Besides the pursuit of medical careers, the threesome has something else in common. Trent, Gaughan and Holle were part of Coach Chris Brown’s first recruiting class in 2011 that has helped the Tigers rebuild a struggling program.
In Brown’s first five years, the team increased its number of victories by one each season. Trent had used up his football eligibility last fall, but Gaughan and Holle — who redshirted their freshman year — were instrumental in leading the Tigers to post-season action for the first time in 20 years.
FHSU posted an 8-3 record in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, one of the toughest conferences in NCAA Division II, and finished 8-4 after a bowl game loss to the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
While Trent, Gaughan and Holle are excited about moving on, they are looking forward to keeping up with FHSU football from here on out. After all, they are a big part of something special.
“It means the world,” said Gaughan, a physics major from Hays who played all 45 games of his FHSU career at tight end and graduated magna cum laude. “I don’t know of a better feeling than to look back and be so proud of what you and a group of people accomplished together.”
Another perk in staying home to go to college, Gaughan said, was that his family had to travel on game day only half the season.
“This was so great,” he said of the experience, “not just for us players, but for our fans to get to grow together as well.”
Holle said it was an adjustment for him coming to rural northwest Kansas from the Phoenix metropolitan area. In fact, his first night on campus, Hays was in a tornado warning. But, he said, it was football, and the people he hung around with day in and day out, that made him want to stay.
“Football taught me all sorts of life lessons, especially on accountability,” said Holle, a biology major who played wide receiver for the Tigers. “Sometimes when something goes wrong, people blame others. That’s not accepted on a sports team.”
Trent has aspirations of getting into sports medicine and becoming an orthopedist.
Gaughan has several dermatologists in his family, including one of his grandfathers and an uncle, so that’s a possible route he will take.
Holle, who rebounded from three knee surgeries while at FHSU to enjoy his best season his senior year, said he would like to own a physical therapy and strength and conditioning center some day.
Brown wasn’t surprised while listening to his former players’ career goals.
“They’re highly motivated guys who set their sights on something; they had a plan, and they stuck to it,” Brown said. “And they made it.”
“Impressive, amazing,” FHSU President Mirta M. Martin said. “That’s what Fort Hays State is all about — selfless, dedicated individuals on the field and off the field, and a strong commitment to excellence. They’re not only improving their lives but others around them. They make us proud.”
Trent has similar feelings about Fort Hays State. He was chasing the Division I dream until he visited FHSU.
“Coach Brown recruits players of high character who are good football players,” Trent said. “He has done a great job of blending western Kansas players with kids from all across the nation.
“Coach Brown is why I came here,” he added. “When I met him and some of the staff, I couldn’t say, ‘No.’ And I really liked the biology department. This was home from the get-go.”
Brown grinned. Hands in his pockets, he looked like a proud father while talking about the first med students of his coaching career.
“It’s huge,” Brown said of the trio’s impending success in the medical field. “I’m counting on them taking care of me someday.”
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback CREDIT HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR
MELISSA HELLMANN, Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Facing a shortfall of more than $290 million, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signed a budget bill Wednesday that makes significant cuts to the state highway fund, Medicaid and higher education and trims most state agency budgets by 4 percent.
The governor also warned that more cuts could be made to Medicaid and the higher education system if the Kansas Supreme Court orders an additional $40 million or more in school funding. A ruling is pending on whether a school funding measure that passed earlier this year provides equitable funding to the state’s 286 school districts.
Some Kansas agencies escaped the cuts: the Department of Corrections, the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and state hospitals. A provision in the bill also prohibited Brownback from slashing the more than $4 billion in aid to K-12 public schools.
The plan, as the state stares at a $290 million shortfall this year and in the fiscal year beginning July 1, includes cutting $185 million from the highway fund, which was announced last month, and over $97 million from most state agencies. State universities and most Medicaid provider rates will be reduced by 4 percent, but exempts providers that care for people with mental illnesses or disabilities and almost 100 hospitals in rural areas.
Kansas has struggled to balance its budget since GOP lawmakers slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback’s urging in an effort to stimulate the economy. Legislators sent Brownback a budget bill this year designed to shift most of the work of balancing it to him after he refused to back off key cuts.
Cindy Samuelson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Hospital Association, said that the cuts will encourage some providers to withdraw from the Medicaid program, which offers health care to poor and disabled residents.
“These cuts will threaten access to care for all Kansans and they will place an additional burdens on already financially stressed hospitals,” Samuelson said. “For some of those smaller hospitals, any cut can be threatening.”
The plan also cuts more than $30.6 million from the higher education system, with the University of Kansas and Kansas State University shouldering over half of that.
Kansas’ state universities are calling for tuition increases of up to 5 percent, at least for now. The universities submitted their tuition proposals Wednesday to the Kansas Board of Regents, but the slash in funding was higher than the universities had expected.
Kansas State, Wichita State, Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State each propose a 5 percent increase for the coming academic year. The University of Kansas and Emporia State seek a 4 percent rise. The regents will vote on the proposals next month.
Senate minority leader Anthony Hensley, a Democrat from Topeka, said the budget bill placed an unfair burden on Kansas State and the University of Kansas and it was a politicized move.
“They smack of political favoritism, because KU and KState are represented by Democrats, Democratic legislators, and the other institutions aside from Wichita State, which is represented by both … are represented by Republicans,” Hensley said.
Shawn Sullivan, Brownback’s budget director, said the cuts leave an ending balance of $21.5 million for this year and $87.5 million in the 2017 fiscal year.
“These were not easy decisions, but the governor developed a plan that protects public safety, supports our state hospitals and maintains our ability to provide government services without interruption,” Sullivan said.
Hensley disputed that the governor prioritized public safety.
“He would rather protect income tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of Medicaid recipients and hospitals,” Hensley said.
Overland Park is the 11th municipality in the greater Kansas City area to raise the legal age for tobacco purchases to 21 from 18. CREDIT FILE PHOTO / HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR
The Overland Park City Council on Monday set 21 as the minimum age to buy tobacco products, meaning that a regional campaign has now upped the legal age in the metropolitan area’s five largest cities.
The council approved the ordinance Monday on a 9-3 vote, with council members Dave Janson, Fred Spears and Dan Stock voting against the measure.
Tobacco 21|KC is an initiative of Healthy KC, a partnership of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, and more than 150 businesses, health care organizations, hospitals and government agencies.
The local effort is part of a national campaign, and proponents hope it will cut down on the number of people who develop long-term addictions to tobacco products.
Overland Park’s passage makes it the 11th area community, including the five most populous, to adopt the ordinance.
The other big municipalities are Kansas City, Missouri; the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas; Olathe; and Independence in approving the measure . Along with Overland Park, their population exceeds a million people.
So far, the only city to have considered the measure and turned it down is Gardner, Kansas. In March, the city council unanimously defeated it, calling it an infringement on personal freedom.
Health experts say preventing children from starting to smoke is one of the best ways to prevent them from picking up the habit as adults. The Institute of Medicine says that of adults who become daily smokers, about 90 percent say they began smoking before they reached the age of 19 and nearly 100 percent before the age of 26.
Mike Sherry is a reporter for KCPT television in Kansas City, Mo., a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas State Board of Education has renewed the accreditation status of all the state’s public schools as well as every private school that participates in the program regardless of student performance on statewide tests.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that this is the fourth year in a row that the board has automatically renewed those accreditations.
The accreditations were renewed this year because the state is expecting to shift to a new accreditation model that will put less emphasis on annual test scores. Instead, it will focus on a wider range of factors such as students’ college performance or their ability to find jobs after graduation.
The state board has been working toward the change since 2011, shortly after it adopted new curriculum standards known as the Common Core.
SHAWNEE COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Shawnee County are investigating two suspects in connection with a shooting.
Just after 9p.m. on Tuesday officers responded to the 300 Block of Southeast Lawrence in Topeka after reports of gunshots, according to a media release.
A male victim Tony Martez Dennis, 29, Topeka, was transported to a hospital for treatment of possible life-threatening gunshot wounds.
Malik T. Yates, 23, Topeka, was arrested and booked on charges of second-degree murder, interference with a law enforcement officer, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and battery.
Valdivia-photo Shawnee County
Joshua Valdivia, 28, was arrested and booked on charges of second-degree murder, criminal possession of a firearm by a felon, aggravated robbery and interference with a law enforcement officer.
The Kansas Special Olympics State Basketball and Cheerleading Tournament will be held in Hays, March 16, 17 and 18.
“We are excited that Hays will again be the host of the tournament,” said Tim Rehder, Kansas Special Olympics senior vice president of program operations. “Over the years, the support from the community, Fort Hays State University, the Hays Recreation Commission and City of Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau have made the event one that 1,500 athletes and coaches look forward to attending every year.”
Hays has been hosting the Kansas Special Olympics Tournament for decades.
In addition, the prime sponsor, the Kansas State Council Knights of Columbus is in Hays to support the athletes and present their donation to Kansas Special Olympics during the Opening Ceremony.
“The City of Hays is honored to host this event once again,” said Rick Rekoske, Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“Thousands of fans flock to Hays, hundreds of volunteers and dozens of businesses help with this phenomenal event.”
Wednesday, the Board of Regents received notice from Governor Sam Brownback that the entire public higher education system in Kansas would receive a four percent allotment, reducing the FY2017 state appropriations being received by the state’s 32 public postsecondary institutions by over $30.6 million.
The Kansas Special Olympics State Basketball and Cheerleading Tournament will be held in Hays, March 16, 17 and 18.