Flooding inside Kansas Judicial Center -photo courtesy KSNT
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Rainwater has seeped into the building that houses the Kansas Supreme Court, causing extensive damage and forcing some employees to temporarily relocate.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the Kansas Judicial Center’s leaking roof, which was in the process of being fixed, was inundated by heavy rains on Sept. 13.
Appellate court spokeswoman Lisa Taylor says the most significant water damage occurred on the third and second floors. The Office of the Judicial Administration, which is housed on the third floor, was also damaged.
Fifty people — including all seven justices, five of 14 court of appeals judges, their staffs and other court employees — were moved from their offices to other spaces in the building.
Taylor says the total cost of the damage is unknown.
HHS students in Dan Balman’s Audio/Video Production class learn about TV production capabilities on the C-SPAN bus.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
Eyes lit up and smiles could be seen on the faces of the Hays High School students in Dan Balman’s Audio/Video Production Fundamentals class when they realized the C-SPAN bus they were sitting in is a rolling HDTV (high-definition television) production studio.
The group listened intently as Vanessa Torres, C-SPAN marketing representative, explained the technical capabilities of C-SPAN’s award-winning, 45-foot customized bus which made a stop at Hays High Wednesday morning.
The primary purpose of the C-SPAN Campaign 2016 Bus is to visit schools, universities and political events across the country to engage students, educators, civic leaders and the community through on-board multimedia technology that showcases C-SPAN’s programming and resources dedicated to showing the American political process.
C-SPAN’s ‘Road to the White House 2016′ Bus tour stopped at Hays High School Wednesday.
“We were recommended to Hays High School by Eagle Communications. We work very closely with our cable TV affiliate,” said Jenae Green, the other C-SPAN marketing rep in Hays Wednesday.
“C-SPAN is a non-profit. We were created by cable and we get paid six cents a month per subscriber by the cable TV provider,” Green explained. In Hays, C-SPAN programming is provided by Eagle Communications on cable TV channel 19 C-SPAN2 is carried on channel 91.
“C-SPAN has been around since 1979,” Green said. “We’ve had our Bus program since 1993 and our nationwide StudentCam competition has been around for about 12 years now.” C-SPAN Classroom offers primary source materials for teachers.
It was the StudentCam competition that really caught the attention of the Hays High beginning video/audio students.
According to Green, the StudentCam competition is open to all high school and middle school students–grades 6 through 12. “It’s about a 5 to 7 minute documentary video competition. The topic this year is telling the new Congress and the new president about an issue that’s important to them.” The official theme title is “Your Message to Washington: What is the most urgent issue for the new President and Congress to address in 2017?”
HHS beginning audio/video students
Green said the C-SPAN bus will trek back to the winners’ schools and “do a full ceremony for those students and congratulate them.” The winners will share in $100,000 in cash prizes.
C-SPAN–an acronym for the Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network–produces in-depth coverage of the U.S. Congress, White House, federal courts, and its signature political program, “Road to the White House,” which provides access to all of the Campaign 2016 presidential candidates and their events from the campaign trail, all without editing, commentary, or analysis.
The bus will make a stop in Denver before heading to Las Vegas for the final presidential debate Wed., Oct. 19.
Taking a touch-screen quiz about C-SPAN and the three branches of government
“In this unprecedented election season, C-SPAN’s ‘Road to the White House’ gives you a front row seat, unlike any other, to Campaign 2016,” said Steve Scully, C-SPAN’s senior executive producer and political editor.
“C-SPAN’s footage takes you from the campaign announcements, to the town hall meetings and rallies, as well as the policy speeches, party conventions, and now the upcoming presidential debates — giving viewers the absolute best coverage on what the candidates are saying and how this historic race is unfolding along the campaign trail.”
C-SPAN Marketing Rep Jenae Green talks to HHS students touring the bus.
HD television camera
HHS students in Dan Balman’s Audio/Video Production Fundamentals class
HDTV production equipment
C-SPAN Marketing Rep Vanessa Torres talks about TV production facilities on the bus.
Photo by Andy Marso/KHI News Service Cornerstone Supports clients Tom Newman, left, and Kim Vermillion, seated at table, talk with Kim’s mom, Vickie, who owns Cornerstone. Vickie Vermillion said she’s closing the company that provides support services to Kansans with intellectual and developmental disabilities because of a Medicaid reimbursement change the state made to help close a budget gap.
The employees of Cornerstone Supports gathered last week at a house in Olathe with their clients — adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities — to plan their last day together.
Cornerstone will close later this month, and its 19 clients will have to find other companies to help them with daily tasks so they can stay in their own homes.
The regular gatherings at the Olathe house where three Cornerstone clients live will end Oct. 28.
“We should do something,” said Brandon Thompson, one of the clients.
“What do you want to do?” asked Vickie Vermillion, Cornerstone’s owner.
“A cookout or something,” Thompson said.
As they planned the barbecue, another client sitting nearby started crying softly. Vermillion stopped to comfort him.
Vermillion is closing Cornerstone at end of October because of a Medicaid reimbursement changethe state made in May to help close a budget gap.
People who help Kansans with disabilities find support services say providers across the state are struggling to adjust to the policy change. Some smaller companies, like Cornerstone, are simply unable to do so.
Laney said he knows of at least one other Kansas company that is closing and has approached his company, Kansas Focus, about taking on its clients.
“We’re committed to doing that for as long as we can stay financially viable,” he said.
Kansans with developmental and intellectual disabilities who want to receive the services have faced a waiting list for years. The loss of providers like Cornerstone could make it more difficult for them to find the services, even if the state has enough funding to pay for them in the future.
Chad VonAhnen, executive director of Johnson County Developmental Supports, said that if the provider network shrinks, more Kansans with developmental disabilities will be unable to make the decision to live independently, which is less costly than institutional care.
“The concern for us is this system is based on choice for people,” VonAhnen said. “When we start limiting provider options because they’re no longer able to provide services in this climate, that’s concerning.”
The change
Under the residential pay policy:
A community developmental disability organization, or CDDO, assesses Kansans with disabilities to determine what services they need. VonAhnen’s organization is one of 27 CDDOs throughout the state.
Kansans with disabilities are assigned to one of five tiers based on the level of services they need.
Reimbursements for each tier are calculated on a monthly basis and split into equal payments for each day of the month.
Those payments used to be made even if the client did not need services every day. The policy change the state enacted means that starting this month, providers are to bill only for the days when clients need services.
“Before the policy in question was adopted, each person receiving residential supports was automatically authorized to receive services for each day of the month, ” Angela de Rocha, a spokeswoman for state agencies, said via email. “This authorization was not dependent upon true need or the provider delivering an actual service.”
Jerry Michaud, executive director of Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas, said the change sounds reasonable on its face. But it makes it harder financially for providers to keep enough staff to have employees on call every day of the month in case one of their clients unexpectedly needs help.
“That’s exactly what it was,” Michaud said. “We had staff in place, and if ‘Bob’ needed something that maybe wasn’t on that regular schedule, we were available.”
Providers of the home and community-based services, or HCBS, were spared the 4 percent cut that providers of medical services had to absorb for Medicaid patients.
But Laney said most providers like him would have welcomed a 4 percent cut rather than the residential pay policy change. He thinks that change will reduce payments to his company by 15 percent to 25 percent and the overall cut to all providers will be higher than the $1.3 million estimated by the state.
“I honestly don’t know what the number will be, but we’re not talking just a couple million dollars,” he said.
Laney said the change will create unintended consequences, including provider closures that mean clients will move to more expensive long-term care facilities or have more medical costs because they’re not getting support in their homes.
Some states already reimburse providers for days served. Laney said that could work in Kansas, but state officials would have to increase the daily base rates.
A change to those rates may be coming, but advocates fear it could go in the other direction.
Rate study
HCBS providers received a letter at the end of September from Mike Randol, director of the Division of Health Care Finance at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
The letter told providers they would be required to submit information on their revenue, expenses and service delivery to Optumas, a contractor that KDHE hired to study their reimbursement rates.
Tim Wood, executive director of an advocacy group for HCBS providers called Interhab, said what concerns providers is that the new study requests information about their ability to raise money through sources other than state Medicaid dollars — such as county property taxes or grants.
He said he thought that was unprecedented.
“We’re in the process of trying to figure out how to respond to this,” said Wood, who doubts the new study will result in higher reimbursement rates.
De Rocha said the request is aimed at keeping provider networks intact.
“As viability of Medicaid providers in important to the state, we are trying to get a more comprehensive look at the entire fiscal situation of these providers,” de Rocha said.
The last time reimbursements were increased was almost 10 years ago, and providers said their costs have risen since then.
Michaud’s network, which stretches across 18 counties in northwest Kansas, consolidated some providers two years ago.
Tim Cunningham, who runs a CDDO called Tri-Valley Developmental Services in Chanute that serves four southeast Kansas counties, said the providers in his network have shrunk their workforce from 172 employees to 131 in the last nine years even though demand for services has dropped only slightly.
With the state budget still tight, Cunningham said he fears the new Optumas study will be used to justify rate reductions.
Shrinking choices
Vermillion founded Cornerstone four years ago because she wanted her daughter, Kim, to be able to live independently with just one or two roommates rather than in group homes that house up to eight adults with disabilities.
Her agency now serves people in three houses and four apartments across Olathe — none with more than three residents.
“My goal was to have small homes,” she said.
But it takes more staff to make that model work, and Vermillion said it’s no longer financially viable.
When Cornerstone closes, Kim will come back home and live with her.
Vermillion has lined up services for some of her other clients that will allow them to stay in their current houses. Others, like Betty Hauber, might have to move.
“I don’t think we know what’s going to happen with Betty,” Vermillion said.
“I haven’t heard yet,” Hauber said.
Vermillion’s clients have different levels of need. Helen Hillman, one of Kim’s roommates, needs daily support and will have to move.
Colin Olenick, who is studying at Johnson County Community College to be a paralegal, needs fewer services. He will be able to stay in his house and has another service provider lined up. But he said he’s disappointed by Cornerstone’s closure because he prefers smaller providers.
“The state says we have a choice,” Olenick said. “But in a way, by eliminating agencies, particularly the small ones, it sort of limits our choice.”
It’s also a challenge for Cornerstone’s 22 employees, who are looking for new jobs.
Anton Bauer, who has worked with adults with disabilities for eight years, called Cornerstone’s closing “disheartening, to say the least.”
“I have a passion for this,” he said. “I would never want to leave this field. But now I’m looking at (needing) two jobs just to support my family.”
Bauer said he’s considering going back to school and changing careers because “there’s no security left” in his current field.
He said he would miss the time spent with Cornerstone’s clients.
“They become part of your life,” Bauer said.
A few minutes later Thompson asked if Bauer could cook dinner that night.
“Very well,” Bauer said. “You’re helping.”
The two exchanged a high five.
Andy Marso is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach him on Twitter @andymarso
Julia Katherine Davenport Zeller, 95, died Wednesday, October 12, 2016 at the LTC of the Rush County Memorial Hospital. She was born December 18, 1920 in rural McCracken to Herbert and Ida (Darkes) Davenport.
She was a 1938 graduate of McCracken High School and received her two-year teaching certificate from Fort Hays University. She taught two years in a one room township school. She later decided to move to Kansas City, MO to work at the North American Aviation Plant building B25’s at the Fairfax Industrial District.
She married Francis Zeller in Kansas City, MO on February 1, 1944 after a four-year courtship. They moved to Eagle Pass, Texas where Francis was stationed in the Air Force. After he was discharged from the service, they made their home on a farm by Brownell, KS for two years. They moved to Northwest McCracken on a farm for 8 years before moving to town in McCracken. While they made their living farming, Francis drove a mail route and Julia was a homemaker.
Francis and Julia became interested in square dancing. Francis became a caller and they both taught lessons. They traveled all over the United States and Europe while Francis called dances. Julia enjoyed reading, crossword puzzles, cats and most of all, Francis.
Survivors include two sons, William and John and wife Melanie, McCracken; grandchildren, Dan Zeller, McCracken, William and wife Jana, LaCrosse, Sarah Emerson and husband Kiel, Hays, Rachel Legleiter and husband Lance, Olathe, KS; great-grandchildren, Jacob and Abigail Zeller, Amelia Emerson, Haydn, Tessa, and Lexi Legleiter.
Julia was preceded in death by her parents, husband and her son Martin Zeller.
Funeral service will be on Monday, October 17, 2016, 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary’s Heritage Church, McCracken. Rosary will be at the church on Sunday, October 16, 7:00 p.m. Friends may call at Fitzgerald Funeral Home, Ness City on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. and on Sunday from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.; visitation will be at the church on Sunday from 5:30 p.m. until service time.
Memorial contributions may be given to the McCracken Library.
SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a church burglary.
Vandals broke out a window to gain entry to Assaria Lutheran Church, 124 W. 1st Street sometime between 9 p.m.
Tuesday and 6 a.m. Wednesday, according to Saline County Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Smith
The burglar ransacked the pastor’s office, the church secretary’s office, the community room and the main sanctuary.
Smith said an acoustic guitar valued at $300 was missing from the sanctuary, a 60″ Vizio flat screen TV valued at $600 was missing from the community room, and a Hewlett Packard computer tower valued at $400 was taken from the secretary’s office.
Numerous drawers had been rummaged through and papers were scattered throughout a hallway.
Total damage to the window and the church has been estimated at $1,360, according to Smith.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Verizon is closing call centers in five states, including its home state of New York, drawing the ire of the governor’s office.
The company says a consolidation of its call centers will impact about 3,200 workers near Rochester and New York City; Bangor, Maine; Lincoln, Nebraska; Wallingford and Meriden, Connecticut, and Rancho Cordova, California.
Some 850 jobs will be lost at the two New York locations, including 600 in Henrietta, outside Rochester. In California, 700 jobs are being cut and another 300 are being relocated.
A spokeswoman for Verizon Communications Inc. said Thursday that all the workers are being offered jobs at other company sites.
A spokesman for the administration of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the job losses “an egregious example of corporate abuse.”
I live in Hays with my husband, Ernie Pfeifer III and our three children. In 2007, I received my Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from FHSU with a Mathematics minor and Leadership certificate while working for Golden Plains Credit Union, gaining practical financial experience. After graduation, I worked at FHSU Student Fiscal Services as an Accounting Specialist from January 2008 until securing my position as Accounting Manager with the Ellis County Treasury in November 2010.
I was subsequently elected to the Ellis County Treasurer position in November 2012. Since then, the Kansas County Treasurer’s Association has awarded me the Certified Kansas County Finance Officer Certification after completing the program administered by FHSU Docking Institute in 2016. Currently I am completing the KU Certified Public Manager (CPM) program with my projected completion date December 2016 and am an active member in the Hays Area Young Professionals.
My Responsibilities as Current Treasurer:
• Process tag and tax transactions
• Money Management – $28-million-dollar banking portfolio for the county
• Process all County transactions in accounting system, including all bookkeeping for two improvement districts and the Public Building Commission
• Assist other offices and entities in accounting matters
• Collect and distribute $47.8 million of your taxes and fees, 33% kept by county, 0.6% delinquency rate
• Answer questions of taxing entities: state, county, cities, schools, townships, etc.
• Appraiser, Clerk and Treasurer work closely on many tasks
• Manage the EZ Pay Escrow program, which allows taxpayers to save for tax and motor vehicle transactions – 659 active accounts
Changes I have Implemented:
Many of these changes were in the planning phases before I became treasurer, and I, along with my staff and other departments, have since successfully implemented all of them. They include county issued bonds for the Old 40 road bond in May 2015; three Public Building Commission building projects in July 2015; a new accounting system in May 2013; a tax system in September 2013; in January 2014, the State of Kansas implemented the Commercial Vehicle system. In January 2015, I helped move the Treasurer’s office from the Courthouse to the new permanent location in the Administrative Center at 718 Main Street.
Accomplishments:
Through enhancements and innovations, the following efficiencies and cost savings have happened.
• The EZ Pay processing for the Automatic Clearing House (ACH) pull done twice a month has been partially automated through an enhancement so now it takes a quarter of the time to process.
• Since 2014, the office has worked with a local vendor to reduce the time it takes to process tax statements from 3-4 weeks to process to 8-10 days. This has reduced the overtime needed during tax season, which helps reduce the amount of taxes levied to run the Treasurer’s office.
• The delinquent Real Estate publication, published in three consecutive weeks in August, has been printed smaller to help reduce the total cost from $5,148 in 2014, $3,523 in 2015 and $2,387 in 2016. A larger print is available online and can be mailed if requested.
• For taxpayer convenience, the treasurer’s office has a website e-treasury.us where information can be accessed 24 hours a day. The most popular areas of the site are the tax search engine and the motor vehicle tax estimator for vehicles which are linked on the bottom of the home page. In August, a redesigned e-treasury.us website was launched to make the site more mobile friendly.
Future Plans if Re-elected
• With a 7% reduction in budget from 2016 to 2017, I, with the help of my staff, will review Line Management to find a better way of managing long lines during busy times.
• I plan to look at efficiencies and cost savings in the tax statement mailing process. We are in the beginning phases of working with our software vendor and mail processor to determine which cost and time saving options would be best.
• I would like to offer payroll deduction to all the employers of Ellis County, not just employees of Ellis County. This would allow taxpayers to have EZ Pay Escrow contributions deducted from their paychecks and put into an account with the Treasury, to be used for tax or motor vehicle transactions in Ellis County. This project would be implemented in multiple phases.
I believe that every taxpayer has a stake in the county. As a wife and mother of three, I want to do my part to make Ellis County a wonderful place to live, not only for my family but for future generations. I would like to thank you for allowing me to serve as your county treasurer. I humbly ask for you to vote Ann Pfeifer as Ellis County Treasurer in the November 8, 2016 election.
Ann Pfeifer is the Democratic candidate for the office of Ellis County Treasurer.
TOPEKA – Kansas Governor Sam Brownback today announced the appointment of Amy J. Hanley of Lawrence as a District Judge in the 7th District. She will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Robert Fairchild.
“I am pleased to appoint Ann Hanley to the 7th District Court,” said Governor Brownback. “Her strong experience serving as an Assistant Attorney General will serve the citizens of Douglas County well.”
Hanley currently is an Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Litigation Division of the Office of the Kansas Attorney General where she serves as lead homicide and major crimes prosecutor. She has been a prosecutor for her entire legal career, including previously with the Saline County Attorney’s Office. She received her undergraduate degree from Kansas State University and her law degree from Drake Law School
The state’s 105 counties are organized into 31 Judicial Districts. The district courts serve as the trial courts for the state, overseeing all civil and criminal cases. The 7th District Court is comprised of Douglas County.
Dorothy Barnett, Executive Director of the Climate and Energy Project, Hutchinson
By DOROTHY BARNETT CEP Executive Director
I recently had the pleasure of participating in a Faith & Public Policy Forum hosted by Kansas Interfaith Action. Kansas Interfaith Action (KIFA) is a statewide, multi-faith issue-advocacy organization that “puts faith into action” by educating, engaging and advocating on behalf of people of faith and the public regarding critical social, economic, and climate justice issues.
Although the organization is fairly new, our relationship with them started many years ago when former CEP staffer Eileen Horn started the Kansas Chapter of Interfaith Power & Light. KIFA Executive Director, Rabbi Moti Rieber was at first a member of KSIPL’s board before taking over the organization. Moti’s work on the religious response to climate change in Kansas was instrumental in much of the clean energy success our state has seen and I’m excited to see where he’ll lead this new organization.
Listening to the Kansas Center for Economic Growth outline our difficult budget picture and Kansas Action for Children share their report “Repairing the Kansas Safety Net” helped me have a greater understanding about the challenges facing all Kansans. As a parent with a college student, I was glad to know that a newly formed coalition, Kansans Against Campus Carry hosted a concert September 25th to kick-off a statewide campaign to prevent campus carry. I found this great editorial by KSU professor Philip Nel on their Facebook page.
While listening to the Health Reform Resource Project, what struck me was not only concern for the more than 150,000 Kansans who currently fall into a health coverage gap, but also by the economic opportunities the state is leaving on the table. According to information shared by the Alliance For A Healthy Kansas, if KanCare was expanded, more than 3,800 jobs would be created across the state.
My portion of the panel focused on potential economic opportunities for renewable energy and energy efficiency. I spoke about the current KCP&L Energy Efficiency docket and ways for citizens to share their thoughts on utility EE programs. I talked about trends and opportunities for expanding access to clean energy and I also shared an update on the Clean Power Plan and how important our voices are in our energy future.
I hope you’ll join the upcoming Faith & Public Policy Forum and learn more about all of these very important issues. Your voice matters in each of these critical issues.
Monday, October 17th 7-9 pm – in Hays Sternberg Museum of Natural History, 3000 Sternberg Drive.
Panelists include: – Budget and Tax: Heidi Holliday – Executive Director, Kansas Council on Economic Growth – KanCare Expansion: David Jordan – Director, Alliance for a Healthy Kansas – “Campus Carry”: Megan Jones – Kansans Against Campus Carry – Climate and Clean Energy: Dorothy Barnett – Executive Director, Climate & Energy Project – Moderator: Rabbi Moti Rieber – Executive Director, Kansas Interfaith Action
SEWARD COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities continue an investigation in Seward County.
A portion of Tucker Road from Millwood Circle to Country Estates Road Northeast of Liberal closed due to the investigation was reopened late Wednesday, according to Police Captain Patrick McClurg.
“Due to the nature of the investigation, we are not releasing details at this time,” he said Thursday morning.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is among the agencies involved with the investigation, according to McClurg.
Fort Hays State kicker Brandon Brown has been named the D2Football.com Co-Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in the 54-41 win at Pittsburg State last Saturday.
Brown was a perfect 4-of-4 on field goal attempts and 6-of-6 on extra point attempts. He converted field goals from 19, 38, 37, and 49 yards. The 49-yard field goal was a season long for Brown and tied the seventh longest field goal in FHSU history. He averaged 60.5 yards per kickoff, producing four touchbacks. Brown is now 13-of-14 on field goal attempts this year, with his only miss from over 50 yards.
Brown shares the honor this week with West Alabama kicker Jordan Bennett. Bennett’s numbers were similar to Brown’s for the week, converting four field goal attempts and six extra-point attempts.
Eric Poindexter from Quincy (Ill.) was the D2Football.com Offensive Player of the Week, recording 20 receptions for 317 yards. Brandon Jones of Texas A&M-Kingsville was the Defensive Player of the Week, recording four sacks and six tackles for loss.
It was the StudentCam competition that really caught the attention of the Hays High beginning video/audio students.
