SPRINGDALE, Ark. (AP) — Tyson Foods Inc. says it’s voluntarily recalling more than 132,000 pounds of chicken nuggets after receiving reports that “hard, white plastic” was found in some nuggets.

The Springdale, Arkansas-based company said Tuesday that the 5-pound bags of fully cooked panko chicken nuggets were sold at Costco stores nationwide. A small number of 20-pound cases of chicken patties, sold under the Spare Time brand.  See more on the recall here.

Tyson says “a small number” of consumers contacted the company after finding small pieces of plastic in the chicken. Tyson says it’s issuing the recall “out of an abundance of caution” even though it’s only received a small number of reports of plastic. No injuries have been reported.

HARVEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Harvey County are investigating an accident involving a 12-year-old driver.

Just after 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, a 71-year-old employee of Hilltop convenience store was outside the business picking up trash when he was struck by a truck driven by a 12-year-old girl, according to a media release.

The impact pushed the employee through a plate glass window.

The driver stated that she hit the gas instead of the brakes. The employee was transported to a Wichita hospital with a possible broken leg,

The driver was transported to Newton Medical Center to be checked out for any possible injury.

The 12-year-old driver had a licensed 16-year old boy in the rear passenger seat and an unlicensed 17-year-old girl in the front passenger seat.

The 16-year-old was cited with Contributing to a Child’s Misconduct.

Harvey County Sheriff Deputies, Kansas Highway Patrol and Walton Fire/EMS responded to the accident scene.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Board of Regents say the bulk of a potential 5 percent, or $28 million, cut in state aid for universities in the system would affect the University of Kansas, the University of Kansas Medical Center and Kansas State University.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the possible cuts were outlined in documents requested by Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration.

Brownback isn’t required to reveal his budget strategy until January.

Kansas State University officials say the loss of $4.9 million in state funding would trigger reductions across the institution. University of Kansas Medical Center officials say the institution intends to shield its cancer treatment and research program from a $5.1 million reduction.

The reduction would cause Wichita State University to freeze capital projects or equipment purchases and freeze or eliminate staff positions.

SEWARD COUNTY – A Kansas man died in an accident just before 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday in Seward County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2015 Ford Taurus driven by Michael W. Riedel, 62, Liberal, was eastbound on U.S. 54 twelve miles west of Liberal.

The Ford crossed the centerline and collided with a westbound Volvo semi.

Riedel was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Miller’s Mortuary.

The semi driver Guillermo Pimentel, 57, Conroe, TX., was also injured. The KHP did not indicate where he was treated.

Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

By Bryan Thompson

The recent news that Kansas is now the seventh-fattest state in the nation points toward a future of increased health problems, including cancer. In fact, as smoking rates decline and obesity rates rise, obesity is poised to overtake tobacco as the leading preventable cause of cancer.

That’s why the University of Kansas Cancer Center is highlighting a weight management study as part of its effort to gain federal designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center.

An ‘amazing difference’

Janis Wearing says she’s been struggling with her weight for most of her life. The Salina woman didn’t have much success with Weight Watchers, TOPS or even working with a dietitian. So when her primary care clinic offered a free two-year weight loss program as part of the KU study, she said yes.

“I wanted to take better care of myself,” she said. “I was feeling so unhealthy, and you know you get to where you are so overweight, then you get depressed.”

After four months on the program, Wearing has lost 40 pounds.

“Amazing difference!” she said. “I have more energy. My bones don’t hurt so bad. My knees don’t hurt so bad.”

She credits the group sessions, where she and about a dozen other participants learn about food choices and exercise. They also use a smartphone app called Lose It to log their physical activity and diet.

“Say you want to eat something, and you can put that in, and then you notice that it’s a whole bunch of calories,” Wearing said. “So then you come back and you say, ‘No, I’m going to make a better choice.’ So that’s really helped me, too.”

Nurse Shari Sutton meets one-on-one with participants to review their food and activity logs.

During a recent meeting, Wearing told Sutton that she averaged 1,030 calories per day the previous week. Her goal was 1,100 calories a day, so she did quite well.

If 1,100 calories a day sounds easy, consider this: A Big Mac and a large order of fries is more than 1,100 calories. Sutton explains that the diet provides specific guidelines to help participants stay below the goal for caloric intake.

“Two protein shakes a day, two pre-packaged meals such as your Lean Cuisine, your Smart Ones, your Healthy Choice — and that’s for the first six months so that you can learn portion control,” Sutton said.

She realizes that nobody really wants to eat two pre-packaged meals a day, every day. Participants are allowed to fix their own meals — or eat out — as long as they limit each meal to 350 calories.

The plan calls for all between-meal snacks to be fruits or vegetables — at least five servings a day. But the biggest hurdle for some people is the rule that they shouldn’t get any of their calories from beverages.

Sutton said that means no soft drinks, alcohol or cream-and-sugar-laden coffee drinks. She said it’s obvious when someone is straying from their diet.

“Yeah, I totally have participants that come in and report, ‘Yes, I totally hit my 1,200 calorie goal. I’ve totally hit my five days of at least 30 minutes exercise a day goal.’ However, they’re gaining weight,” she said.

But regardless of how much a person may cheat on the diet, there is no brow-beating.

“We’re not here to say, ‘Oh, you failed.’ Failure is just if you stop trying,” Sutton said.

Rural study compares three models

The program is part of a KU Medical Center study called RE-POWER. The five-year, $10 million study will compare three weight management models at 36 rural primary care clinics in four states.

Statistically, rural residents have higher rates of obesity and related diseases than their urban counterparts. Their only source of professional help with weight loss may be their family physician. But many doctors are reluctant to talk to their patients about weight loss.

Dr. Robert Kraft is overseeing the RE-POWER study at Salina Family Health Care. He hopes the study will identify ways to make it easier for doctors and their patients to have those conversations.

“It’s hard to talk about things that we can’t do something about, so hopefully programs like this will help us develop services that we can then refer patients to,” he said.

Kraft said lifestyle factors are now recognized as major causes of cancer and are one reason why the KU Cancer Center is highlighting RE-POWER in its latest certification effort.

“Smoking is very clearly one (contributing factor), but weight is as well,” he said. “There are many cancers that are certainly higher incidence in those who are overweight, and so getting people to lose weight is an important step in trying to prevent cancer.”

So far, 32 of 40 patients enrolled in the RE-POWER study at Kraft’s office are actively participating in the program. Some have actually gained weight, but as a group the Salina patients have lost a total of 500 pounds.

The study will evaluate the three weight-loss strategies by how well participants manage to lose weight and keep it off for two years.

Bryan Thompson is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.

NEWTON, Kan. (AP) — Harvey County is seeking federal money to help victims and first responders affected by a shooting at a lawn equipment factory in Hesston earlier this year.

Authorities say Cedric Ford attacked the Excel Industries plant on Feb. 25. Four people, including Ford, were killed and 14 others were injured.

Harvey County Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Task Force applied for a $220,000 grant to help staffers oversee a resiliency program.

The Wichita Eagle reports that the money would be used to pay for mental health and counseling services, victim advocate services, education, training and equipment for law enforcement and emergency responders.

The county and the task force will also apply for other grants that would provide first responders with education and training on emergency management, mass violence, mental health and victimization.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget director is telling state agency secretaries that Brownback isn’t planning to propose across-the-board cuts in their budgets next year.

Budget Director Shawn Sullivan sent an email Tuesday to Cabinet secretaries saying some “reduced resources” proposals agencies submitted would be harmful.

But Sullivan’s email leaves open the possibility of Brownback proposing targeted budget cuts.

Sullivan had asked state agencies to outline proposals for meeting a 5 percent reduction in state funding. The administration has said it will not make the recommendations from Cabinet agencies public, viewing them as internal documents not subject to the Kansas Open Records Act.

Kansas has struggled to balance its budget since Republican legislators slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at the GOP governor’s urging as an economic stimulus.