SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A central Kansas family is using bake sales and raffles to increase the reward for information leading to their mother’s killers.
The Salina Journal reports Lori Heimer’s body was found June 25 in her home southeast of Assaria, where she operated a dog-breeding business. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation soon released descriptions of two men in connection with the case and the pickup trucks they were driving, but they haven’t been found.
Joni Alexander, one of Heimer’s four daughters, says KBI agents told her it was essential to raise awareness of her mom’s slaying.
A reward fund contains more than $50,000, and Alexander says the fundraisers help the family stay engaged in the search for anyone responsible for Heimer’s death.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The state is implementing a system that will make it easier to track the location or release of inmates in county jails.
The Kansas Attorney General’s Office says the system is called Victim Information and Notification Everyday, or VINE. It is already operating in 19 counties and is expected to be in use in the other 86 counties in the next two years. See more details here.
The Wichita Eagle reports the free and anonymous service use the telephone or electronic devices to provide updates about changes in the custody status of a county jail inmate.
Updates are available every day and in several languages. Before VINE, victims had no centralized source of information about offenders held in county jails
Users also can access information about jail inmates housed in other participating states.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An audit has found some Kansas law enforcement agencies are taking advantage of vague state forfeiture laws to use those proceeds to pay for salaries and other apparent operating expenses.
The practice creates an incentive for increased seizures, especially in times when agency budgets are tight.
Kansas is among a few states that do not require a person be convicted of a crime before their property can be forfeited.
The American Civil Liberties Union called the findings of the audit, which was released last month, “deeply, deeply troubling.”
Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police lobbyist Ed Klumpp countered the audit didn’t reveal any misappropriation of funds and said not being able to use the laws would “be a loss in our ability to deter crime in Kansas”
TOPEKA, KAN. – A Kansas man was sentenced Thursday to 35 years in federal prison for drug trafficking, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.
Faustino Soto, 43, Topeka, was convicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a user of controlled substances.
Prosecutors told the court that during an investigation that began in the fall of 2013 Soto was identified as a multi-pound supplier of methamphetamine to a trafficking organization that was operating in Franklin, Shawnee, Anderson, and Douglas counties in Kansas. When investigators served a search warrant at Soto’s residence in the 100 block of SE Rice Road in Topeka they recovered methamphetamine, firearms, and more than $17,000 in cash.
In sentencing Soto, the judge took into account evidence that Soto obstructed justice by intimidating three witnesses prior to trial.
Beall commended the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Catania for their work on the case.
SEWARD COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Seward County are investigating a shooting death.
Just after 11 a.m. on Saturday emergency responders were called to the 500 block of East Pancake for a reported shooting. Responding officers found two victims, according to a media release.
A 24-year-old male was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy will be completed in the coming days to determine the cause of death.
A 20-year-old male received gunshot wounds and was transported to Southwest Medical Center by Seward County EMS. His wounds were not life threatening.
He was treated and released from the hospital.
Investigators learned that a dispute between several people occurred in the parking lot when the shooting occurred.
Witnesses at the scene provided investigators descriptions of vehicles and persons involved.
Just after 5:20 p.m., a 23-year-old male suspect was apprehended at a residence in rural Seward County in connection with the shooting.
He was taken into custody without incident. An affidavit will be submitted to the Seward County Attorney seeking formal charges.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to call the Liberal Police Department at 626-0150 or the Crime Hotline at 624-4000.
FHSU students Tyler Parks, Richard Kerr and Ken Moreno won the 2016 national BEA War on the Floor competition.
By KURT BEYERS FHSU University Relations and Marketing
Ken Moreno and Tyler Parks, graduate students at Fort Hays State University, found out about the Broadcast Educators Association War on the Floor video and social media competition two weeks before the final application deadline.
“Ron and Melissa, they really brought this to our attention,” said Moreno. “It was two weeks before the application deadline.”
That is Ron Rohlf, assistant professor of informatics, and Dr. Melissa Hunsicker Walburn, chair of the department. Moreno and Parks are seeking Master of Liberal Studies degrees with an emphasis on digital cinema production.
Moreno, Charlotte, N.C., had just earned his B.S. in information networking and telecommunication, with an emphasis in media studies, from FHSU in the previous spring, 2015, and he had started right to work on his MLS. He and Parks, Elkhart, were both busy with their studies and, said Moreno, “The last thing we wanted was another project.”
But, he said, “Tyler and I looked at it, and we said, ‘We’ve got to do this.’ ”
Then they had to choose a third member for the team, and, he said, “Both of us thought of Ricky right off the bat.” Richard Kerr is a Wichita senior majoring in informatics with a concentration in media studies.
“He’s so involved with Tiger Media Network and producing the material,” said Moreno. Tiger Media Network is Fort Hays State’s student-run multimedia news, information and entertainment operation.
“He’s involved in sports production, he’s involved in music projects and radio broadcasts,” said Moreno. “So he’s in a positon like me and Tyler, where he’s involved in this informatics program, and we’re so versatile, we’re all involved in all aspects of digital production.”
And that, though they didn’t know it until August, turned out to be the winning team in War on the Floor 2016, beating out Elon University, Elon, N.C., and Clemson University, Clemson, S.C., the other two teams selected by BEA in a national screening.
But by the time Kerr joined the team, only a week was left until the deadline, and the application was a video, a short narrative piece “about who we are and why do we want to go to this War on the Floor competition,” said Moreno.
“It was pretty hectic,” said Kerr. “We were scrambling around, hitting the thrift store to pick up props and stuff, and trying to get it storyboarded.”
The video they produced in that week is scenes of Kansans at work and scenes of the individual team members with the tools of digital production over a guitar background and a narration extolling the Kansas work ethic.
Highlights include Parks as the male half of Grant Woods’ “American Gothic,” Kerr framed in a ’50s style black and white television as a straight arrow news anchor, and a bearded Moreno dressed as Dorothy, complete with pigtails and red slippers.
Their video entry was a hit, and FHSU became the first team selected. It was Parks’ favorite piece of the whole project.
“That was probably the best piece we did,” he said. “It was probably one of the better things I’ve done, personally, in a long time, and it blew the judges away immediately.”
That was in February. The Nation Association of Broadcasters conference, the scene of the competition, would be in April. Before the second team was announced, immediately after finding out they had been chosen, Moreno, Parks and Kerr went to work.
The competition is this: Glyph Production Technologies, Cortland, N.Y., sponsors the contest, which has three components: a 30-second ad for Glyph; a social media competition, evaluated day by day and for the week (the most likes, shares and retweets wins the day and the week); and the 15- to 20-minute long-form video produced from audio and video taken at the April conference. The social media campaign and the long video are about the conference itself.
By the time they went to Las Vegas, they had a vision for where they wanted to go with the long-form video. That was a particular focus because all the video and audio had to be collected and the interviews conducted during the week of the conference. They had created the social media accounts they would use, and they had divided up the labor: Kerr got Snapchat and Twitter; Parks got Facebook; and Moreno was responsible for Instagram.
“Me personally, I’m a very organized kind of person,” said Moreno. “I didn’t want to be scrambling around in Las Vegas.” That is not just personal, he said. It is part of the mindset of Fort Hays State’s Department of Informatics. For himself, Moreno has distilled it down to the formulation of “80 percent planning and 20 percent action.”
“In the Informatics Department, it’s really about getting your plan together so that your production is a lot smoother,” he said.
In the end, they did not win the short commercial. “But we did get the social media,” said Moreno. “We knocked that one out of the park.”
And then they got the final piece, the big one – the long-form video. Kerr attributed part of their success to a “pretty equal division of labor.”
“We’re all pretty multi-faceted,” he said. “I think that’s what helped make such a good video.” Another key for Kerr is that “other schools are pretty much traditional broadcast type of TV news — clean-cut news reporter talking in a robot voice. We were kind of the crazy guys from Kansas. Definitely on the creative side, I would say.”
“We have a lot of talented individuals who aren’t in a traditional broadcast media program,” said Kerr. “We do a lot of things outside of the box. If you look to the initial video we made to get into the contest and to what we created in Vegas and afterward, it is very creative, and that is what sets us apart from other programs.”
Parks emphasized the support the team received.
“It was an honor to win, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the support staff here at Fort Hays State. With the Department of Informatics, especially Melissa, Ron and Michelle Weigel — she booked all the rooms and flights — so it was easy for us.”
“It was a great experience, and it helps put Fort Hays State on the map. Clemson is much bigger than us, and Elon had by far the best equipment I’ve ever seen on a college team.” He also praised the larger university and Hays community. “Because the community was behind us, we were able to beat universities that were bigger and have a lot more money than we do.”
“I think that’s what makes Fort Hays State great,” he said. “Everybody’s in your corner, and everybody’s got your back.”
Las Vegas was a runaway experience.
“It was nonstop for four or five days,” said Parks. “We walked 15 or 20 miles a day. We saw technology that isn’t even out yet, technology that won’t be out for two or three years yet.” Moreno, who wore a pedometer, confirmed the 15- to 20-mile figure. He has the data to prove it.
Next year, they will go to Las Vegas again, this time for free – a $1,499 package.
“This time we will get to go experience it without having to compete,” said Moreno. “We can network, enjoy learning about some of the new technology coming out, and we won’t have to rush around. We only have one main focus, and that’s to learn something there.”
The Dane G. Hansen Foundation has announced a new grant opportunity for 26 counties in Northwest Kansas. The Foundation is offering up to $20,000 per county in the Hansen service area for county clean-up initiatives.
The grants are designed to assist with efforts to beautify communities for current residents and to help with recruitment of new residents; to eliminate the financial barrier to clean-up projects such as land fill fees and equipment rental; and to promote community pride and encourage volunteerism.
The Hansen Foundation is partnering with the Greater Salina Community Foundation (GSCF) and the Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation (GNWKCF) to administer the grants. Applications will be made directly to GSCF or GNWKCF on their websites. A local advisory committee in each county will determine grant recipients.
The Hansen Foundation encourages a one-day event for all communities within a county. Local community foundations or grant advisory boards may elect to offer individual grants to communities instead, however the opportunity to host a community clean-up event with support from the Hansen grant must be offered to every community within a county.
Grants can be used for: equipment rental, dumpster rental, landfill fees, paint or other consumable supplies, and for support of volunteers. Grants are not intended for the removal of unsafe structures or landscaping projects.
Grants will be paid to the county or a sponsoring qualified organization in the form of reimbursement following the event.
Applications are available for Cheyenne, Decatur, Gove, Logan, Norton, Rawlins Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas and Wallace Counties through the Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation at www.gnwkcf.org, 785-734-2556.
Applications are available for Cloud, Ellis, Ellsworth, Graham, Jewell, Lincoln, Mitchell, Osborne, Ottawa, Phillips, Republic, Rooks, Russell, Saline, Smith and Trego Counties through the Greater Salina Community Foundation at www.gscf.org, 785-823-1800.
Dr. Chris Jochum, chair of the Department of Teacher Education at Fort Hays State University, conducted research in Costa Rica this summer as part of a National Research Priority Grant from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
He is one of eight candidates nationwide to receive this competitively selected grant.
Jochum directed on-site research in San Jose to provide future and current Spanish teachers with opportunities to improve their language and teaching skills.
As part of his research, Jochum conducted interviews prior to leaving, throughout and after his trip to Costa Rica. Jochum also offered a workshop that focused on methods of teaching foreign languages and teaching English to students of other languages.
Jochum hopes to offer similar trips for all education majors at FHSU.
OSBORNE – There’s no better place for kids to learn outdoor skills than the Annual Northcentral Kansas Outdoor Youth Fair in Osborne on Sept. 10. And there may not be anything like this one-day, fun-filled event, which is free of charge and open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to youth ages 17 and younger – all those 14 and younger must be accompanied by an adult.
Activities include archery, wingshooting, flyfishing, rifle and muzzleloader shooting, canoeing, dog handling, trapping, whittling, biking and many others. Youth must be registered by 11 a.m. the day of the event to be provided lunch and an opportunity to win door prizes, including a lifetime hunting license, hunting and fishing trips, and a weekend at an area lake cabin.
Archery hunters 14 and older are invited to bring their bows for tune-ups. All other equipment and supplies are provided at no charge.
The Northcentral Kansas Outdoor Youth Fair is made possible by the Osborne County Pheasants Forever Chapter, Osborne Gun Club, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, Nex-Tech, and the Keith Hahn Memorial.
For more information, contact Cleo Hahn at (785) 346-4541, John Cockerham at (785) 346-6527, or Chris Lecuyer at (785) 218-7818.
Most of the day will bring plenty of sun and temperatures near normal for late August. A round of thunderstorms is likely this evening, moving out of eastern Colorado and into Kansas. Heavy rain and lightning are the primary threats, although marginal severe weather conditions could occur with strong wind gusts.
An unsettled weather pattern will bring periodic and generally small chances for precipitation to the region as we get into the new week. Partly to mostly cloudy skies are expected through the middle of the week, with winds remaining southerly. High temperatures are forecast to be in the 80s.
Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. Light east southeast wind becoming south southeast 9 to 14 mph in the morning.
Tonight: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. South southeast wind 6 to 13 mph.
Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 85. South southeast wind 6 to 8 mph.
Monday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. East southeast wind 3 to 7 mph.
Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 82. Light and variable wind becoming southeast around 6 mph in the morning.
A new analysis from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says headlines about anticipated premium increases on the Obamacare health insurance marketplace overlook an important point: Most Americans, including two-thirds of Kansans and three-quarters of Missourians, still will be able to find a plan for $75 a month or less.
In an issue brief on the analysis, HHS says almost 90 percent of marketplace consumers qualify for tax credits to offset rising premiums.
Katie Martin, acting assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at HHS, said during a media call Wednesday that the agency examined costs for a hypothetical marketplace consumer facing premium increases of 10 percent, 25 percent or even 50 percent.
HHS found that insurance still would be available for $75 a month or less for 73 percent of consumers shopping on the federal marketplace, at www.healthcare.gov, once the tax credits are included.
“We know there has been speculation about rates in the marketplace, and we want to make sure that everyone understands that headline rate increases do not reflect what consumers actually pay,” Martin said. “Last year, despite headlines projecting double-digit rate increases, the average healthcare.gov premium increased just $4 per month for consumers with tax credits.”
The amount of the tax credit goes up in tandem with premiums for those who are eligible. That’s why the out-of-pocket cost for premiums is projected to remain roughly the same, even if the actual rates were to rise 50 percent instead of 25 percent.
The highest marketplace rate increase requested in Kansas for the coming year was 49 percent, although those rate requests still await approval by the Kansas Insurance Department.
The Missouri Department of Insurance has no information on requested marketplace rate increases for 2017. Governor Jay Nixon recently signed SB865, which will require rate review in Missouri for the first time for plans effective in 2018.
In an email, a representative of the Missouri department says it also has no information on which insurance companies will sell products on the 2017 federal exchange or the products they will offer, stating that Proposition E, passed by Missouri voters in 2012, prevents it from providing assistance with the federal marketplace.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas and Minnesota-based Medica have proposed to offer 23 total insurance plans for the 2017 Kansas marketplace. Deputy Kansas Insurance Commissioner Clark Shultz said those numbers won’t be final until Sept. 23.
“They are still able to request changes,” Shultz said. “At this point, a company can still pull out.”
That’s what happened with Aetna’s Coventry division, which had proposed to offer 10 plans in Kansas. In July, Aetna warned the Obama administration that its operations would be financially unsustainable if Aetna was not allowed to merge with Humana. But the administration rejected the merger, prompting Aetna to announce its withdrawal last week from the marketplace in 11 states, including Kansas. Aetna also withdrew from the Kansas marketplace in 2015.
“Why is the company leaving? They’re leaving because they’re not being profitable in this segment. So that becomes an obvious problem if that continues,” Shultz said.
Shultz said there are several possible reasons why premiums are going up. He thinks one of them is because the penalty for not buying insurance is too low to motivate some people to buy until they need it.
“A certain percentage of them are waiting until perhaps they are in need of medical care,” he said. “So it’s a little bit like having an auto accident and then being able to call your insurance agent and buy insurance that would cover you for that accident that you just had yesterday.”
HHS officials say marketplace consumers should check plan costs and coverage networks each year to help reduce the cost of their insurance. Last year 43 percent of marketplace consumers changed plans and saved an average of more than $500, according to the HHS publication.
But HHS spokesman Ben Wakana said health insurance consumers are in a better position since the marketplace was established in 2013 as part of the Affordable Care Act.
“We are confident that the marketplace will continue to bring coverage to millions of Americans next year,” Wakana said. “This is a marketplace that’s serving more than 11 million people right now, and it’s helped this country get to the lowest uninsured rate on record.”
Bryan Thompson is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.
PRATT – The opening day of dove season, Sept. 1, is one of the most anticipated opening days of the year because it’s been a long layoff since last year’s hunting seasons closed. Dove season signals the beginning of fall, and it gets hunters back in the field.
The Kansas hunting season for mourning, white-winged, Eurasian collared and ringed turtle doves is Sept. 1-Nov. 29, 2016. This is a change from previous years when there was a split in the regular dove season. The exotic dove season, Eurasian collared and ringed turtle, opens Nov. 30, 2016 and ends Feb. 28, 2017. The daily bag limit during the regular season is 15 mourning and white-winged doves, single species or in combination. There is no daily bag limit on Eurasian collared and ringed turtle doves, but any taken in addition to the daily limit of mourning and white-winged doves during the regular season must have a fully-feathered wing attached during transport. Doves may only be taken while in flight.
Resident hunters age 16 to 74 must have a Kansas hunting license, unless exempt by law, and a HIP permit to hunt doves. Anyone born on or after July 1, 1957 must have completed a certified hunter education course except those 15 and younger hunting under adult supervision or those hunting on their own land.
Kansas typically ranks very high among states for breeding dove populations through the summer, so by September, the Sunflower State is literally teeming with doves. And speaking of sunflowers, doves love to eat sunflower seeds, so sunflower fields are great places to hunt them. In fact, some wildlife area managers plant fields to sunflowers or other grain crops and manage them specifically to attract doves. You can find which areas have these fields at www.ksoutdoors.com by typing “managed dove fields” in the search box. Hunting can be outstanding on these specially managed fields. The 2016 Kansas Hunting Atlas with maps showing all public hunting areas and Walk-in Hunting Access can also be downloaded from ksoutdoors.com by clicking “Hunting,” then “Where To Hunt.”
Pasture ponds can also be great places to hunt doves because the speedy little gray birds will typically fly to water in the evening. They prefer ponds with open, bare dirt shorelines. Pick the right pond, and you might shoot your barrel hot just before sunset.
There isn’t a down side to dove season. The weather is mild, doves are a plentiful and challenging quarry, and grilled bacon-wrapped dove breasts are delectable.
KCVAO
Most of the day will bring plenty of sun and temperatures near normal for late August. A round of thunderstorms is likely this evening, moving out of eastern Colorado and into Kansas. Heavy rain and lightning are the primary threats, although marginal severe weather conditions could occur with strong wind gusts.
KDWPT