Eagle and Hays Post is offering the chance to see comedian Kathy Griffin live at the historic Stiefel Theatre in Salina.
The performance is scheduled for Sunday, May 22, at 8 p.m.
To enter for a chance to win two FREE tickets to the performance, email a daytime telephone number to [email protected]. Enter “KATHY” in the subject line.
BY ANDY MARSO
Representatives of 15 groups that advocate for Kansas Medicaid populations sent a letter to state leaders last week urging them to eliminate a Medicaid application backlog that has left thousands of Kansans awaiting coverage.
The groups have formed a coalition called the KanCare Advocates Network. They represent children, pregnant women and Kansans who are elderly or disabled.
Kansans from those populations have been waiting months, in some cases, for their Medicaid applications to process.
“These delays are placing vulnerable persons of all ages in jeopardy of short and long-term negative health outcomes due to their inability to access needed healthcare and services,” the group’s letter said.
Click here to download the KanCare Advocates Network letter
Several members of the advocacy group plan to attend Monday’s meeting of the legislative committee that oversees KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program.
Angela de Rocha, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, said state officials share the group’s concerns and are “fully committed to ensuring that Kansans receive the services they need on a timely basis.”
“We are as concerned about this as the folks that wrote that letter,” de Rocha said.
The Medicaid backlog began last summer when the state rolled out a new computer system for determining eligibility called the Kansas Eligibility Enforcement System, or KEES.
State employees who use KEES must learn dozens of time-consuming workarounds to circumvent defects, and the system does not always transfer applications seamlessly to another computer program that sends Medicaid cards and cuts checks to health providers.
Within months of KEES going live, organizations that serve Medicaid populations began reporting longer-than-normal application processing times.
Other factors exacerbated the problem.
On Jan. 1, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment took over responsibility for processing all Medicaid applications and annual reviews, including some previously done by the Kansas Department for Children and Families.
That created a bottleneck just as the open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act was steering thousands of eligible Kansans toward Medicaid coverage.
By February there were more than 17,000 applications awaiting processing, including almost 8,000 that had been pending for more than the federal limit of 45 days.
That month the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services requested that state officials form a plan to address the backlog and submit twice-weekly status updates.
State taking steps
Internal documents and emails provided to Heartland Health Monitor partner KHI News Service show the KEES project was plagued from the beginning by lack of communication and internal strife within state agencies and between the state and its contractor, Accenture.
Two KDHE officials who appear throughout the documents have left the agency in recent weeks.
A KEES update sent April 7 to KDHE employees stated that Jenifer Telshaw had accepted a position with another state agency. Telshaw, the KEES business support manager, raised alarms about insufficient staffing throughout the testing phase of KEES.
An internal email sent Monday to KDHE workers stated that Darin Bodenhamer, the director of Medicaid eligibility, was “no longer with the agency” but provided no further details.
Emails sent while KEES was under development show that Bodenhamer clashed with Glen Yancey, the state’s leading information technology employee on the project. A KDHE employee who uses KEES and spoke on condition of anonymity said Bodenhamer was a strong voice for workers when glitches in the system made it difficult for them to process applications.
Telshaw and Bodenhamer did not respond to phone messages, and de Rocha said she could not discuss personnel issues.
De Rocha emphasized that state officials have taken a number of steps to start paring down the backlog and moderating its effects.
KDHE has added 39 employees to help process applications and answer calls on a helpline, and some DCF staff members have been shifted to help process applications.
Nursing homes, some of which have stopped taking residents with pending Medicaid applications because of uncompensated care, have been given the opportunity to apply for half-payments for residents awaiting Medicaid processing.
Meanwhile, de Rocha said state officials are working closely with Accenture to improve processing time and accuracy to stem the application backlog.
“The state realizes that this is a problem and it’s a serious problem and we take the letter (from advocates) very seriously,” de Rocha said. “We are working 24-7 to try to address this backlog problem.”
The efforts are producing results.
The state’s most recent report to CMS stated that the total number of unprocessed applications had dropped to about 15,800 by mid-March. The number of applications pending more than 45 days had dropped to about 7,380.
De Rocha said more progress has been made since then. Unprocessed applications were down to 10,807 as of Friday and the number pending 45 days or more was 5,414, she said.
“We’re going in the right direction,” de Rocha said.
The state has reduced the number of pending applications in part by prioritizing processing them ahead of annual reviews for Medicaid beneficiaries.
Consequently, the number of unprocessed reviews has been increasing — from about 19,800 at the end of February to almost 23,000 in mid-March.
Once the backlog problems were apparent, the administration said Kansans with unprocessed reviews would not be dropped from the Medicaid rolls.
But some advocates say people they work with remain at risk of losing care if they can’t assure their providers that they still have coverage.
Provider issues
Rosie Cooper, executive director of the Kansas Association of Centers for Independent Living, is one of the advocates who signed the letter urging elimination of the backlog.
Cooper’s organization represents 10 centers statewide that connect Kansans with disabilities to service providers who can help them with daily tasks that allow them to live independently.
She said some of the Kansans she serves are reporting that their providers are still getting “Medicaid expired” messages for clients whose reviews are caught in the backlog.
KDHE officials have been quick to clarify for providers that they are still covered, but it requires an extra phone call.
“It’s another layer,” Cooper said.
Wichita resident Robin Hartzell said he found himself in that spot in February, when he went to a doctor and was told he no longer had Medicaid.
The stakes were high because Hartzell had a surgery scheduled. Without assurance of coverage, the physicians said they might have to postpone the procedure.
Hartzell contacted KanCare ombudsman Kerrie Bacon and his state legislators, Rep. Tom Sawyer and Sen. Michael O’Donnell. With help from them and a KDHE worker, Hartzell was able to clarify that he had Medicaid coverage and get the procedure.
“It was related to that software migration,” Hartzell said. “The system just kicked me out and the IT guys had to go in there and ‘flip a switch,’ as she called it, and get me back in the system.”
Hartzell said he wanted to share his story because he feared other Medicaid recipients might not know how to navigate the system.
As the state irons out issues related to the backlog, some Kansans in need are still waiting.
Ricardo Vicens, another Wichita resident, said he applied for Medicaid in December. A massive stroke left Vicens, who is 60 years old, partially paralyzed on his left side.
Vicens needs a disability determination, which extends the federal guidelines for processing his application to 90 days. But it’s been more than 100 days and he still has not received his card or any update on his case.
Vicens said he’s confined to a wheelchair inside a home that is not accessible for people with disabilities. He’s been paying out of pocket for follow-up care at GraceMed, a community health center that allows patients without insurance to pay on a sliding scale based on income.
But he can’t afford physical therapy to try to regain some of what the stroke took from him.
“That’s my top priority, physical therapy, because I cannot move my left hand,” Vicens said. “It’s getting worse and worse.”
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
Video by Cooper Slough
By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
Eagle Communications customers are about to see a big change as the Hays-based supplier of broadband services – including TV, internet and phone in Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado – is set to move its Customer Care Center into a new facility in Hays.
The move was precipitated by the need for more space as the company expands and the recent closure of their location in the Vine Street Dillons, part of the grocery store’s own major remodel.
“We like our location. The Eagle Business Plaza has been like a, but we’ve been growing and expanding. That’s requiring us to need more space,” said Travis Kohlrus, Eagle Communications Broadband General Manager.
The new center will remain in the Eagle Business Plaza at 27th and Hall, but moves to a larger space at 1007 W. 27th that will be easier for customers to access. It will also provide a storefront on a major thoroughfare in Hays, with ample parking and a 27th Street-facing entrance.
“We created a nice space where customers can come in, ask questions about services, order services, get a little bit of training on services and be able to demonstrate those services there,” Kohlrus said. “When you walk in, you know you are part of a cool, advanced technology company.”
The location will be high-tech and high-touch, giving customers the ability to interact with the company’s broadband offerings.
“It will create a really nice environment similar to what we had in our Dillons location,” Kohlrus said.
The location will also serve as the payment center for the company, offering a welcoming space for customers who prefer to drop off payments in person.
In conjunction with the Customer Care Center, the new facility also will house the company’s marketing team.
“Those two groups work together tremendously to create the products that Eagle Communications offers for cable TV, internet and telephone,” Kohlrus said.
The new space will provide both groups access to conference rooms and training facilities that are needed as the company grows.
“As our company continues to grow, space is an ongoing challenge,” Kohlrus said. “Having this additional space will be helpful and beneficial to us.”
Eagle is excited to welcome customers at the new location on May 2.
For more on Eagle Communications, click HERE.
Disclosure: Eagle Communications is the parent company of Hays Post.
Vernon Lawrence Stenzel, age 96, firstborn son of Olinda and Victor Stenzel, and loving husband of his deceased wife, Delma Stenzel, passed away April 21, 2016 in Ness City, Ks.
Vernon was born on February 21, 1920, in Big Creek Township in Russell, Kansas. His parents, Victor and Olinda Stenzel, and their three boys, moved to a farm north of Bazine when Vernon was in high school. While attending Bazine High School, he played football, basketball, and baseball, but was most proud of his undefeated football team his senior year. Vernon was considered one of the best blocking backs in the district. He married Delma Bondurant, also a 1938 graduate of Bazine High School, in a small home wedding on August 7, 1941. They rented a farmhouse west of Bazine until 1950 when they moved into their new home in Ness City. They raised four children: Karen Brown of Long Beach, Ca; Bonnie Legg (Joseph) of Niantic, Ct; Rick Stenzel (Deb) of Ness City, Ks; Patti Pfannenstiel (Tim) of Salina, Ks.
Continuing in his father’s farming tradition, Vernon raised grain and cattle to provide for his family. However, his interests went far beyond time operating his farm. As a carpenter, he built his home and helped remodel others; as a fisherman, he built a 14-foot Chris Craft boat and collected an array of fishing gear; as an athlete, he played baseball, was on a bowling team, pitched horseshoes, hunted game, and danced the two-step, waltz, and polka with Delma at any opportunity; as a leader and teacher he served as Scoutmaster in local boy scout troop; as a father & grandfather, he watched his children’s and grandchildren’s activities over the years. Throughout their lives he and Delma took every opportunity to fish, camp, and play cards with family and friends. After retiring, they spent even more time enjoying their favorite activities extending into the winter months at lakes in Arizona and Texas. At one point Delma & Vernon were named “Winter Texan king and queen” at a local celebration in Zapata, Texas.
Vernon demonstrated his love of immediate and extended family by his warm, welcoming, and fun-loving spirit. He seemed never to lose patience when teaching children, grandchildren, and hired help. He displayed decisiveness and confidence when making decisions, thus becoming a treasured confidant and role model for his family. To this day, the family keeps this spirit alive by gathering for many reunions and celebrations.
In addition to Vernon & Delma’s four children, they were blessed with nine grandchildren: Steven Brown, Stephanie Kenny, Kirsten Aghen, Jeffrey Legg, Elizabeth Maes, Andrew Stenzel, James Stenzel, Dusty Pfannenstiel, Josh Pfannenstiel, and 23 great grandchildren: Matthew & Owen Brown, Daniel & Michael Kenny, Skylar, Jonah, & Brooklyn Aghen, Ethan, Braelyn, & Gabriella Legg, Joseph, Rebecca, Jacob, & Caleb Maes, Nathaniel Dace, Hunter, Preston, Grace, & Hope Stenzel, Brody Stenzel, Margaret Pfannenstiel, & Amelia & Hudson Pfannenstiel.
Delma, his wife of 74 years, his brother Richard Stenzel, and sister-in-law Irene Stenzel, all of Ness City predeceased Vernon. He is survived by his brother, Ralph, and his sister-in-law, Joanne Stenzel, both of Ness City.
Vernon’s “epitaph” in the 1938 Senior Yearbook reads, “Vernon’s soul has taken wing; his pastime on earth was to swing.” The family is consoled with the beautiful memories of him, his deep love for all of us, and the vision of Mom and Dad dancing in heaven.
Friends may call on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. and on Sunday from 10:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. at Fitzgerald Funeral Home, Ness City. Family visitation will be Sunday April 24 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the funeral home. The funeral service is at 3 p.m. Monday, April 25 at the United Methodist Church followed by a light reception.
Memorial gifts may be made to United Methodist Church or Cedar Village Long Term Care.
Hays, Kansas – Shirley S. Kane, age 89, died Wednesday, April 20, 2016, at the Good Samaritan Society of Hays Care Center.
She was born September 9, 1926, in New Haven, Connecticut to Earnest John and Beatrice (Gorman) Steeves. She married William M. Kane on August 26, 1950, at Fairfield, Connecticut.
She was a social worker / homemaker and received her B A Degree in 1948, from Marymount College in Tarrytown, New York. Shirley has lived in Hays since 1961 and was a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Hays Public Library Board which she served as chairman, Hays Symphony Guild which she served as president, St. Anthony Hospital Auxiliary which she served as president. She was a volunteer at the Hays Public Library book store, Good Samaritan Society of Hays and a docent at the Sternberg Museum.
Survivors include her husband, Dr. William M. Kane, of the home; three sons, William Kane and wife, Deb, Grand Junction, CO; Dan Kane and wife, Linda, Clay Center, KS; John Kane, Denver, CO; three daughters, Claire Loughry and husband, John, Centennial, CO; Mary Kate Pickering and husband, Don, Bel Air, MD; Susan Kane and wife, Lanka Elson Woodland Park, CO; six grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents and one infant sister.
Services are 11:00 A.M. Friday, April 29, 2016, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 18th & Vine Hays, Kansas. Inurnment will be at the Kansas Veterans Cemetery at WaKeeney, Kansas.
The family will receive friends from 10:00 to 11:00 A.M. Friday, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church Hays, Kansas.
Memorials to Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Hays Public Library and Hays Symphony Guild.
Cline’s Mortuary of Hays, 1919 East 22nd Street, Hays, Kansas 67601 is in charge of arrangements. Condolences can be sent via e-mail to [email protected].
Ray Arnold Hansen, 67, of Colby, died Saturday, April 23, 2016 at Citizens Medical Center, Colby. He was born Feb 18, 1949 to Henry and Nora (Bauer) Hansen, in Topeka, KS.
Ray served in the United States Army, stationed in Vietnam, from May of 1967 to April of 1970. On May 10, 1971, he married Laura Towns. Ray taught school in Ashland, KS, where he was a history teacher and coached basketball. After moving to Colby, he worked for the Colby Free Press as a reporter, photographer, and news editor. He also was an insurance adjuster. Ray was a member of the V.F.W. and enjoyed fishing, gardening and basketball.
He was preceded in death by his wife Laura; parents; a son, Bradley Hansen and brother, Paul Hansen.
He is survived by two children, Kristy (Michael) Brungardt, of Wichita and Charles Hansen, of Kansas City, MO; a sister, Judy Mason, of Hernando, FL and one grandson.
Cremation was chosen and a memorial service will be 10:30am, Tuesday, April 26, 2016 at Baalmann Mortuary, Colby. Burial will follow in the Beulah Cemetery, Colby. Memorials are suggested to St. Jude’s in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 391, Colby KS 67701. Online condolences: www.baalmannmortuary.com
Online high schools are a disaster. In a letter published in Education Week, the director of education giving at the Walton Family Foundation found that “…over the course of a school year, the students in virtual charters learned the equivalent of 180 fewer days in math and 72 fewer days in reading than their peers in traditional charter schools, on average.
This is stark evidence that most online charters have a negative impact on students’ academic achievement. The results are particularly significant because of the reach and scope of online charters: They currently enroll some 200,000 children in 200 schools operating across 26 states. If virtual charters were grouped together and ranked as a single school district, it would be the ninth-largest in the country and among the worst-performing.”
This is particularly condemning since the Walton Foundation is “the largest private funder of charter schools.”” They go on to caution: “As states think about the future of online education, they should rethink their expectations and policies…. Funders, educators, policymakers, and parents cannot in good conscience ignore the fact that students are falling a full year behind their peers in math and nearly half a school year in reading, annually. For operators and authorizers of these schools to do nothing would constitute nothing short of educational malpractice.”
As the ineffectiveness of online education is recognized on a far wider scale by employers as graduates of for-profit online operations fail to perform in the workplace, the Techno-Educational Complex has pivoted to another claim for computerized education: “personalized instruction.”
Any veteran teacher recognizes this digital reincarnation of the “individualized instruction” movement from the 1970s. It failed then for reasons that it will again fail today, but only after we spend huge sums for computers and after another generation of students fall behind, just as in the virtual high schools described above.
“Personalized instruction” resurrects the old 1970s programmed learning but uses computers to take students on lonely journeys through academic subjects, responding to variations in their learning speed. Unlike a class where most students are learning together, each student taps away alone on a keyboard following machine-based instruction. Similar to the virtual school, teachers and classmates are irrelevant.
But any good teacher knows that teachers and classmates are not irrelevant, but critical supports to most students’ education. For instance, if you are showing a video clip to a sequence of classes, you stay in the classroom and watch it all the way through with each class. To step out because you have seen it many times before sends the message to the students that they don’t need to watch it either. Bottomline: the teacher and the students are in a journey together and good instruction depends on everyone being “in the moment” of the lesson.
And when one student does not understand what the teacher just said, a classmate can explain it to them in alternative student-level words. Similar to everyone watching a ball game or parade, everyone is in the spirit of learning as a group. Each of us grew as students even on our worst days because we gained strength from the whole class moving ahead together.
And our teacher knew us and celebrated with us as we came to know and do things we did not know that we could do. Because of what our teachers taught us to become, years later when we write or speak well, we can think how our writing or speech teacher would be proud of us.
But when we learn on our own from reading a book or watching a video, we never think that the book author or screen performer would be proud of what we learned. They never “knew” us.
Nor does that so-called “personalized instruction computer” actually “know us.” Computer algorithms do not a teacher make.
But “personalized instruction” is the current educational moment. It is purposely marketed by ed-tech companies that want to continue sucking huge sums of money from our school budgets.
It will not improve student learning.
But it will make technology companies a lot of money.
Phillipsburg resident Donald E. Lumpkin passed away Thursday, April 21 at the Phillips County Retirement Center in Phillipsburg at the age of 81. He was born April 16, 1935 in Smith Center, KS, the son of Elmer & Dorothy (Isom) Lumpkin. He was the former owner & operator of Lumpkin’s IGA.
Survivors include his wife Brenda of Phillipsburg, son Todd of Phillipsburg, daughter Lisa Millan of Norton, 5 grandchildren & 4 great grandchildren.
Cremation was chosen. A memorial service will be held Thursday, April 28 at 2:00 p.m. in the First Christian Church, Phillipsburg with Pastor LeRoy Herder officiating.
Visitation will be from 9:00 to 9:00 Wednesday at the funeral home, with the family receiving friends from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Memorials have been established to Phillipsburg Rotary Club or Hospice Services.
Online condolences to www.olliffboeve.com.
Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
The only absolute in turkey hunting is that there are no absolutes to turkey hunting. What spooks them and sends them scurrying in the opposite direction one day seems another day not to bother them in the least.
This morning I was able to get out turkey hunting for the first time this season. I sat in a pop-up blind on the edge of a hayfield on my sister and brother-in-laws property.
The hayfield is long and narrow, bordered on one long side by a wooded pasture, and bordered on the other long side by a neighbor’s property where a pond sits just across the property line below a dike that is several feet taller than the hayfield. The back end of the hayfield borders a crop field and a woodlot. I have a hanging corn feeder at the back corner along the neighbor’s property, and I put up my pop-up blind just across from it along the opposite side.
I was certain turkeys roosted in the woodlot and they also often roost clear in the back of the neighbor’s property in large cottonwoods above his pond, so that seemed like the best spot for the blind to cover both possibilities.
I parked the pickup about 6 AM, which was a little late as the horizon was already faintly aglow with the morning sun. As soon as I eased the truck door shut a gobbler cut loose over the neighbors pond, but much nearer than I had planned, meaning my blind was on the verge of being too close.
Bright moonlight drenched the hayfield and I’m sure that gobbler saw my every move as I walked the hundred yards or so and planted decoys of a hen and a young gobbler in front of the blind. I have been in that situation before where I mistakenly or unknowingly set up too close to roosted birds, and you can usually cross them off the list before your hunt even starts as they’ll most likely skedaddle as soon as they hit the ground. No sooner had I mentally written him off than 2 more toms gobbled from the woodlot in front of me; the hunt was still on so I situated myself in the blind facing them.
I made my best lonely hen call every few minutes and all 3 gobblers continued to answer me for awhile, but after the sun was up the gobbling dwindled to sparse utterance from the 2 birds in the woodlot, then all was quiet. Fearing the silence meant the hunt was now over, I sat there mostly just to say I had stuck it out for awhile.
Suddenly I heard wings beating and 3 hens from the woodlot flew into the hayfield and made a beeline for the corn feeder that had gone off and scattered the morning’s corn. I shifted my chair just enough to watch them, and to my amazement, down the dike from the neighbor’s pond came none other than the gobbler from the neighbors that I had written off! He mingled with the hens and followed them back across the hayfield after they had eaten their fill, stopping in the corner forty yards in front of me. He fanned out his tail, then strutted, twirled and stomped around showing all his best moves, evidently enamored with my plastic hen decoy and wondering why she wouldn’t join him for breakfast. He showed no signs of coming any closer, so I put the sights on his head and I had my turkey for the year.
It rarely happens like this the first hunt of the year, in fact it often takes several tries, adjusting your strategy each time until you figure out just what will work. Yes, it rarely happens this way the first hunt of the year, but like I said, there are no absolutes in turkey hunting…Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.
Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].
Vera M. Rohr, 91, Hays, died Monday, April 25, 2016 at the Hays Medical Center.
Funeral arrangements are pending and will be announced by Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home.
Today Sunny, with a high near 76. Northwest wind 6 to 13 mph becoming east in the afternoon.
Tonight A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11pm. Areas of fog after 1am. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with a low around 54. East wind 9 to 11 mph.
Tuesday A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4pm. Areas of fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 78. Breezy, with an east southeast wind 9 to 14 mph becoming south 16 to 21 mph in the afternoon.
Tuesday NightA 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 48. South southwest wind 8 to 16 mph.
WednesdayA 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 3pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 68. Breezy, with a west northwest wind 13 to 20 mph.
Wednesday NightPartly cloudy, with a low around 41.
ThursdayPartly sunny, with a high near 65.
Thursday NightA 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47.
FridayShowers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a high near 62. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
HANNOVER, Germany (AP) — The Latest on President Barack Obama’s visit to Germany (all times local):
President Barack Obama says he’s sending up to 250 more troops to Syria to “keep up this momentum” against Islamic State group.
Obama is speaking at a trade fair in Hannover, Germany. He says the additional troops won’t be leading the fight on the ground, but they’ll be “essential.” He says their goal will be to drive IS back from territory.
Obama says existing U.S. special forces in Syria have been critical in lending expertise to local forces. Obama says some of the additional troops he’s sending will be special forces.
The president’s announcement brings to 300 the number of U.S. forces battling extremists in war-torn Syria.
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12:15 p.m.
President Barack Obama says “we can’t turn our backs on fellow human beings who are here now and need our help now.”
Obama is speaking in Hannover, Germany. He is crediting German Chancellor Angela Merkel for setting that tone and he is calling for every nation to step up and share responsibility for helping those fleeing violence in the Middle East, including the United States.
Obama says Europe and the U.S. are more secure when welcoming people of all backgrounds and faiths, including Muslims.
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12:00 p.m.
President Barack Obama says Europe has sometimes been complacent in its own defense.
Obama is urging European countries to step up their spending on defense during a speech in Hannover, Germany.
Obama says he wants good relations with Russia. But he says the global community must keep up sanctions on Russia until it fully implements its commitments under a Ukraine deal struck in Minsk.
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11:55 a.m.
President Barack Obama says a united Europe is vital to the world, saying it promotes peace and prosperity.
Obama is making the case that a strong Europe is needed to enhance the world’s security, and he says that Europe and NATO can still do more, particularly in Syria and Iraq.
Obama says all NATO members should be contributing at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product to defense. He says that some European nations have become complacent on defense spending.
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11:40 a.m.
President Barack Obama says when it comes to demonizing minorities, loud voices get attention.
Obama is alluding to American presidential candidate Donald Trump in a speech in Hannover, Germany. He says this is a defining moment.
Obama says inequality and other trends have created concerns and anxieties in the U.S. and Europe that are legitimate and mustn’t be ignored. But Obama says they shouldn’t lead to a mentality where people blame their problems on each other.
Obama is decrying a mindset of singling out people who look or pray differently, whether it’s immigrants or Muslims. Obama says that’s the kind of politics that the European system was set up to work against.
