SEWARD COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in southwest Kansas are investigating more counterfeit money.
Throughout the last couple of days, the Liberal Police Department has received several reports of counterfeit $50 and $100 bills being passed in various locations around Liberal, according to a media release.
These bills appeared to be “washed” $10 bills.
Police advised the counterfeit money will not feel normal because of the washing process and also the watermark will not match the currency denomination.
If you come in contact with suspected counterfeit money, please notify the Liberal Police Department as soon as possible.
GARDEN CITY – Kansas saw more record hot weather on Tuesday. The National Weather Service reported 80 degrees at the airport in Garden City broke the old record for November 15 of 77 degrees set in 1990.
The temperature in Wichita climbed to 77 at 2:09 PM, tying a record set in 1952. Tuesday’s temperature of 73 in Smith Center also tied a record.
Dodge City hit 82 degrees, one degree from the record high of 83 set in 1894.
More record heat is expected on Wednesday.
Hays just missed the 77-degree record for Tuesday, with a high temperature of 75 reported at the K-State Ag Research Center.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Latest on a shooting at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City (all times local):
The father of Chiefs long snapper James Winchester was shot and killed Tuesday in a premeditated attack at Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers World Airport. Michael Winchester was shot while walking between a terminal and the airport employee parking area.
Our love and support is with James and the entire Winchester family. Our heartfelt thoughts & prayers are with you.
The 52-year-old Winchester was a Southwest Airlines employee and a former University of Oklahoma football player. The unidentified suspect was later found dead in a pickup truck at a public parking garage overlooking the scene.
6:35 p.m.
Police say a suspect in the fatal shooting of a Southwest Airlines employee at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City has been found dead in a pickup truck in an airport parking garage.
Police Capt. Paco Balderrama says the suspect appears to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Fifty-two-year-old Michael Winchester was shot shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday. Winchester died after being taken to a hospital.
Balderrama said the suspect was found with a gunshot wound to the head and has not been positively identified.
Balderrama said police believe the shooting was a premeditated attack.
4:15 p.m.
Oklahoma City police have identified the victim of a shooting at Will Rogers World Airport as 52-year-old Southwest Airlines employee Michael Winchester.
Winchester died following the shooting Tuesday afternoon at the airport on the city’s southwest side.
Police Capt. Paco Balderrama says Winchester was working at the time and police have not determined a motive for the shooting.
Balderrama says police do not believe there is an active shooter and officers are working to fully secure the airport, which has been shut down since the shooting with only a plane carrying prisoners to the Federal Transfer Center on airport property being allowed to land. No suspect has been found.
We are slowly resuming operations. Travelers parked onsite are being allowed to leave first. Pickups not being allowed yet.
A Southwest Airlines employee has died after being shot at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City.
Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King confirmed the victim was an employee and says in a news release that the airline is cancelling all flights scheduled to depart Oklahoma City for the remainder of the day Tuesday.
The victim’s name has not been released. Police have said only that the man was shot early Tuesday afternoon.
The news release says Southwest is working to accommodate passengers at the airport affected by the cancellation of flights.
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3:35 p.m.
A man who was shot at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City has died.
Police officer Megan Morgan says the man died Tuesday afternoon after being shot earlier in the day.
The man’s name and other information was not released.
The airport was closed by police after the shooting and the only aircraft that has been allowed to land is a Federal Transfer Center aircraft carrying federal prisoners to a transfer center on airport property.
2 p.m.
Oklahoma City Police Capt. Paco Balderrama says police are searching for a possible second victim after a shooting at Oklahoma City’s main airport.
Balderrama says police have confirmed one victim in Tuesday afternoon’s shooting at the airport. He says police received reports of a possible second victim, but authorities have not yet found that person.
We are continuing to advise travelers, staff & visitors to shelter-in-place as @OKCPD investigates a shooting incident on WRWA property.
Gavin Wright, Curtis Allen and Patrick Stein were y are charged with domestic terrorism
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a man accused in a bomb plot targeting Somali immigrants in Kansas tried to use another inmate to sneak out of jail a letter that identified a confidential informant.
That detail emerged in a hearing Tuesday for Patrick Stein. Authorities say he’s an escape risk.
Law enforcement officials testified that they searched Stein’s cell at the Butler County jail and found papers with references to “a small man team” overtaking the jail and cutting power to it.
The hearing came amid defense concerns that the searches scooped up confidential attorney-client communications.
Stein is one of three men accused of conspiring to detonate truck bombs at an apartment complex where 120 Somali immigrants live in the meatpacking town of Garden City. All three men have pleaded not guilty.
WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Fourth seeded Central Missouri overcame deficits in the first two sets to roll back for a 25-23, 25-23, 16-25 and 25-18 win over fifth seeded Fort Hays State in the opening round of the MIAA Volleyball Tournament.
For the 16th-ranked Jennies (23-9) Kylie Hohlen led the way with 16 kills making it a double-double by adding 20 digs. Kasey Hohlen added 13 kills as did Molly Lawrence who also finished with three blocks on the night. Kourtney Thompson had a game high 45 assists and Carly Offerdahl led the way on the return with 32 digs.
For the Tigers (25-9) Crystal Whitten finished with a double-double with 15 kills and a team best 29 digs. Hannah Wagy had a team best 41 assists while Callie Christensen led the way with seven total blocks.
WASHINGTON –U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) today voted in favor of the Gold Star Families Voice Act (H.R. 4511), which expands the Library of Congress’ Veteran History Project (VHP) by including servicemembers who died during their service or are missing in action. Sen. Moran led the Senate version of this legislation with U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to expand the Veteran History Project to include Gold Star Families. The legislation, which was passed by the House in September 2016, now heads to the president’s desk for his signature.
“The Library of Congress’ Veteran History Project collects stories that remind us of the courage and heroism of our veterans,” said Sen. Moran. “Incorporating the stories of servicemembers who went missing in action or died as a result of their service is essential to making certain the project reflects the efforts of generations of Americans. For our Gold Star Families who now get to share their stories, this legislation helps us honor the sacrifice of their loved ones.”
The VHP was established by Congress in 2000 and has collected the records of more than 100,000 veterans serving since WWI. Through oral storytelling, it collects and catalogues detailed accounts of the lives of those who have defended our nation at home and abroad.
Photo by KHI News Service Primary and general election victories by dozens of moderate Republicans and Democrats appear to have given expansion advocates majorities in both the Kansas House and Senate. But that may not matter given the results of the presidential election and those that preserved Republican majorities in Congress.
Medicaid expansion advocates in Kansas say they’ll move forward with legislation despite national election results that signal a repeal of Obamacare.
But they are a lot less optimistic about their chances than they were before last week.
“There is still significant support in Kansas for expanding KanCare both in the public and among legislators,” said David Jordan, director of the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, a nonprofit advocacy group formed to push for the expansion of KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program.
Jordan is technically correct. Primary and general election victories by dozens of moderate Republicans and Democrats appear to have given expansion advocates majorities in both the Kansas House and Senate.
But that may not matter given the results of the presidential election and those that preserved Republican majorities in Congress. They all but ensure that substantial changes will be made in the federal health reform law that gives states financial incentives to expand their Medicaid programs.
“Clearly, this changes the landscape,” said Tom Bell, president and CEO of the Kansas Hospital Association, which maintains that expansion is critical to stabilizing the finances of several struggling hospitals across the state.
“I think anybody who says that it doesn’t change the dynamics of this issue isn’t being honest with themselves,” Bell said.
That change is evident when talking with newly elected Kansas lawmakers.
Photo by KHI News Service File David Jordan, left, executive director of the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, hopes President-elect Donald Trump and GOP leaders in Congress can be convinced to retain parts of the Affordable Care Act
In her bid to unseat a conservative Republican incumbent in the August primary, moderate Republican Patty Markley not only supported Medicaid expansion, she said it was “morally reprehensible that we have not done it.”
Expansion would provide coverage to more than 100,000 Kansas adults, many of whom are uninsured and don’t qualify for federal subsidies to help them purchase insurance in the Obamacare marketplace.
Reached after her general election victory last week, Markley — who will represent Johnson County’s 8th House District when the 2017 Legislature convenes in January — said while she still supports expansion, it may no longer be feasible given the changes in Washington, D.C.
“We’ll just have to wait and see how that plays out,” she said.
Repeal and replace, with what?
At the moment, it’s clear that President-elect Donald Trump and GOP congressional leaders want to make good on their collective campaign promise to “repeal” the Affordable Care Act. What isn’t clear is what they intend to put in its place.
In post-election interviews, Trump has said he wants to retain certain popular features of the health reform law, including those that prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and allow children to remain on their parents’ policies until they turn 26.
But Jordan and others who are anxiously reading the tea leaves hope that Trump can be convinced to preserve other parts of the law as well.
“There aren’t many details out there, but there is recognition that you just can’t take health insurance and health security away from 20 million people without having a conversation about what it looks like and how it plays out,” Jordan said, referring to the number of Americans who over the last three years have purchased coverage in the Obamacare marketplace or obtained it through Medicaid expansion.
As president of the hospital association, Bell said an immediate priority is to seek protection from members of Kansas’ congressional delegation. A worst-case scenario, Bell said, would be locking in a system that benefits the 31 states and District of Columbia that have expanded their Medicaid programs.
“The election has changed some things, but what hasn’t changed is the fact that we — as a state — are at a disadvantage when we compare ourselves to other states that haven taken advantage of expansion,” Bell said. “We need to have a discussion about what we can do in our state to protect ourselves as this discussion goes forward, and that may still involve expansion.”
To date, the hospital association estimates the decision by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and GOP legislative leaders to reject expansion has cost the state more than $1.5 billion in additional federal funds.
Expansion out, block grants in?
In the face of uncertainty, Bell said, the biggest mistake expansion advocates could make is to do nothing. So, he said, they will introduce an expansion bill for lawmakers to consider.
“I think we’d be missing an opportunity if we didn’t get a bill introduced,” he said. “There could be a window that you would miss out on if you didn’t have something in the hopper.”
Rep. Jim Ward, a Wichita Democrat, said after three years of Brownback and conservative leaders blocking debate on expansion, he wants a chance to vote.
“The people of Kansas deserve to know where their legislators are on this issue,” Ward said. “We should vote and let those who don’t want to vote for it make whatever excuses they’re going to make.”
Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican and expansion opponent who chairs the House Health and Human Services Committee, said he doesn’t expect Trump and GOP congressional leaders to preserve the part of the law that requires the federal government to pay no less than 90 percent of the costs of expansion.
It’s more likely, he said, that Congress will substitute U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan’s plan to convert Medicaid to a block grant program. States would get a set amount of federal dollars and the freedom to design their own health care programs for low-income families and people with disabilities.
“With a block grant, I believe we could build something that could work,” Hawkins said. “But let’s do it quickly. Uncertainty is one of the worst things we could have right now.”
Such talk alarms interest groups that see block grants as little more than a way for the federal government to reduce spending on Medicaid. Currently, federal funds cover about 57 percent of KanCare’s annual $3 billion cost.
“If block grant means that states would have some flexibility to make sure that money is used in exactly the right places, that would be one thing,” Bell said. “But if it means ‘we just want to reduce the amount of money provided to states,’ that’s entirely different. And at this point, the fear is it would amount to a reduction in money.”
Ward said speculation about a switch to Medicaid block grants adds urgency to the expansion discussion because states that are drawing down more federal funds may be able to lock them in.
“They (expansion states) are going to argue, ‘This is what you’ve been giving us for the past three years,’” Ward said. “I think block grants are a horrible idea, but if that’s going to happen we need to be bold now so that we can increase our stake and get a bigger piece of the pie.”
Jim McLean is executive editor of KHI News Service, which is a partner in a statewide collaboration covering elections in Kansas. Follow Jim on Twitter @jmckhi.
Click below to listen to Tiger Talk with “Voice of the Tigers” Gerard Wellbrock and Fort Hays State women’s basketball coach Tony Hobson and men’s coach Mark Johnson.
Tiger Talk airs on Monday evening at 6 p.m. on Tiger Radio Mix-103.
GEARY COUNTY – A Kansas woman and her daughter died in an accident just before 11a.m. on Tuesday in Geary County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2011 International Truck driven by Steven Wayne Johnson, 42, Houston, TX., was eastbound on Interstate 70 six miles east of U.S. 77.
The truck entered the median and onto westbound lanes and struck a 2006 Ford 500 driven by Jessica Michelle Thomsson Junction City.
Both vehicles came to rest in the North ditch.
Thompson and her 5-year-old daughter Leah Michelle Thompson were pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Penwell Gable Mortuary.
An emergency medical team flew the driver’s 6-year-old son Jaydon Allan Thompson to Wesley Medical Center.
Johnson, who was not wearing a seat belt, was not injured, according to the KHP.
The crash shut down westbound lanes of Interstate 70 at Grandview Plaza most of Tuesday afternoon.
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GEARY COUNTY – A woman and a young girl died in an accident just before 11a.m. on Tuesday in Geary County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol shut down westbound lanes of Interstate 70 at Grandview Plaza to investigate the accident.
An air medical team also transported a boy to a hospital for treatment.
Check Hays Post for additional details as they become available.
EDWARDS COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 2p.m. on Tuesday in Edwards County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1976 Ford Antique truck driven by Pedro Quinones, 59, Garden City, was westbound on Q Road two miles east of Larned.
The driver pulled out in front of a semi that was eastbound on U.S. 56.
The collision caused the semi’s trailer to tip over.
A passenger in the Ford Victor Mendoza, 22, Garden City was transported to the hospital in Larned.
Quinones and the semi driver Dennis Hochstetler, 65, Dallas Center, IA., were not injured.
The occupants of the Ford were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Budget uncertainties have forced the Kansas Department of Transportation to postpone two dozen road projects that were scheduled to start next summer.
An estimated $32 million in projects were to be put up for bid in December before KDOT learned last week that the state faces a $350 million budget gap.
The 24 projects now are delayed indefinitely.
Transportation Department spokesman Steve Swartz says the affected paving and resurfacing projects were not emergencies, adding that some could still be done if funds are available.
Gov. Sam Brownback has swept more than $1 billion from the state’s highway fund since 2011 to make up for budget shortfalls. KDOT announced in April the delay of 24 projects that were set to begin this or next fiscal year.
Please be advised that beginning Wednesday, November 16, 2016, Schwaller Avenue will be closed to through traffic at the intersection of Sherman Avenue for pavement repairs. Repairs will begin at 8:00 a.m. and will be completed by the end of the day.
Signs will be in place to direct the traveling public. The traveling public should use caution and if at all possible avoid these areas.
The City of Hays regrets any inconvenience this may cause to the public. If there are any questions, please call the Public Works Department at (785) 628-7350.
WICHITA— A Kansas man has agreed to spend 50 years in prison after having pleaded no contest to charges that he fatally stabbed a 6-year-old girl, critically injured her sister and raped their mother.
The 47-year-old Hassan Wright who is related to the mother, entered no contest pleas Tuesday in Sedgwick County. The plea means he neither admits nor disputes the crimes with which he was charged.
Wichita police responding to a vehicle accident Nov. 4 found the 6-year-old and her 24-year-old mother stabbed inside a Jeep in a strip mall’s parking lot. The girl died at a hospital.
Her 4-year-old sister, also stabbed, was found miles away wandering in a field.
SEWARD COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in southwest Kansas are investigating more counterfeit money.
CITY OF HAYS
