WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A government report shows Kansas farmers are planning to plant a whole lot more corn this year.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Thursday that Kansas growers intend to plant 4.8 million acres of corn. That is a 16 percent jump from a year ago.
Its prospective plantings report shows farmers are seeding fewer acres of the state’s other major crops.
The 8.5 million acres of winter wheat planted last fall for harvest later this year are down 8 percent from the previous season.
Soybean planted acres are down just 1 percent to 3.85 million acres compared to a year ago in Kansas. Anticipated sorghum acres are down 7 percent to 3.15 million acres.
Sunflowers and hay acreages in the state are also expected to be down this season.
Chief Justice Lawton Nuss and Justice Marla Luckert talk with Ellis County Commissioners Marcy McClelland and Barbra Wasinger and Hays Vice Mayor Shaun Musil Wednesday.
By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT and BECKY KISER Hays Post
Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss was in Hays Wednesday afternoon as part of a two-day tour through western Kansas.
Nuss and Supreme Court Justice Marla Luckert, a Goodland native, were in Abilene and Salina before stopping in Hays and Colby yesterday.
While in Hays, the justices got an opportunity to tour the newly remodeled Ellis County Courthouse and meet with district court staff and law professionals.
Last year Nuss toured the NEW building south of Hays where the county had temporarily set up operations. Nuss said he was impressed with the updated facility.
“I tip my hat to whoever was responsible for all this,” Nuss said “I doubt it was any one person. It’s usually a team effort.”
He also praised the cooperation between the county and city for working together to implement the sales tax.
“I thought that was a great example of cooperation between two governmental entities working together on a project for the benefit of their public,” said Nuss.
Nuss previously practiced law in Salina and said he worked in Hays a number of times where he always enjoyed the classic look of the courthouse.
During their tour, the justices are stopping at several courthouses in northwest Kansas to meet with court staff.
“When I was a lawyer many years ago, that was one of my favorite things to do, to go to as many courthouses in Kansas as I could just because I like the architecture,” said Nuss. “What’s more important to me now (as Chief Justice) are the people who work in the judicial branch in those courthouses.”
Photo by KHI News Service File Photo Amy Campbell of the Kansas Mental Health Coalition says many Kansans don’t get treatment until their mental health concerns become a crisis.
By BRYAN THOMPSON
A new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates Medicaid expansion would help 34,000 uninsured Kansans with mental illness or substance use disorders gain access to behavioral health services.
The figure represents the number of Kansans with behavioral disorders whose incomes would have qualified them for Medicaid — had the state expanded its privatized program known as KanCare — in 2014. That’s the most recent year for which figures are available.
Kansas is one of 19 states that have opted not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Expansion would extend health coverage to an estimated 150,000 Kansans, most of whom are low-income, non-disabled adults.
The HHS report said almost a third of low-income uninsured Kansans have behavioral health needs. That compares to a fourth of the state’s overall adult population age 18 to 64.
Amy Campbell, a lobbyist for the Kansas Mental Health Coalition, said one reason there’s so much pressure on the state’s mental health hospitals is because many Kansans don’t get treatment until their mental health concerns become a crisis.
“Slightly more than half of the people who are screened for inpatient hospitalization have never received any treatment for their mental health situation,” she said.
Campbell said the Kansas mental health system faces chronic funding issues, causing some people to go without timely access to behavioral health services.
“We are already, in some areas, triaging people at the community level for mental health treatment and substance use services,” she said. “If more people who were seeking those services had coverage, that could only improve the situation.”
Kyle Kessler, who represents the Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas, said Medicaid expansion would offer low-income Kansans a way to pay for the services they need and help shore up those community programs.
“We’ll be able to retain high-quality professionals, and build upon their skills, and embrace some of the newest treatments and services, and keep people out of the community hospitals as well as the state mental hospitals,” he said.
Kessler said the 26 community mental health centers in Kansas served approximately 125,000 people last year. They expect to serve at least that many this year.
Three of the community mental health centers are county agencies and the other 23 are not-for-profit, he said.
“But we’re not for-loss either,” Kessler said. “You have to be able to pay staff to retain them, and to make the services available.”
Kessler cited the Wyandot Center, in Kansas City, Kan., as a prime example of a place where damaging cuts have been made because of a lack of funding.
“They cut dozens of staff, and some of those are prevention-oriented programs to prevent people from going into hospitals or losing employment,” Kessler said.
According to Kessler, expanding Medicaid to help uninsured patients pay for their care would help maintain a more robust mental health system in Kansas — and reduce the pressure on state and local governments to subsidize the community mental health system.
The health reform law provides 100 percent federal funding of health care costs for people made newly eligible through the Medicaid expansion for the first three years of the program, ending this year. Federal funding will cover 95 percent of the costs starting next year through 2019. From the year 2020 and beyond, the federal government will cover 90 percent of the cost.
Gov. Sam Brownback has argued that the federal government can’t afford to maintain those funding levels long-term.
Other key findings from the HHS report:
Among low-income adults, Medicaid expansion is associated with a reduction in unmet need for mental health and substance use disorder treatment. For example, one study estimates that low-income adults with serious mental illness are 30 percent more likely to receive treatment if they have Medicaid coverage. This will be especially important to states as they work to address opioid use disorder and serious mental illness.
Access to appropriate treatment results in better health outcomes. For example, projections on the effects of expanded Medicaid coverage suggest that if the remaining states expanded Medicaid, 371,000 fewer people would experience symptoms of depression.
States that expand Medicaid may achieve significant improvement in their behavioral health programs without incurring new costs. State funds that currently directly support behavioral health care treatment for people who are uninsured but would gain coverage under expansion could be used for other behavioral health investments.
Medicaid expansion also reduces costs that state and local governments and state economies incur for behavioral health problems. Treating behavioral health conditions has been shown to reduce disability rates, increase employment productivity and decrease criminal justice costs.
Bryan Thompson is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.
Great Bend native Tory Marie Arnberger has announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination for State Representative, 112th District. Arnberger believes that her passion and experience will help Great Bend and Hoisington become stronger.
“Growing up in Barton County was a tremendous experience for me,” Arnberger said. “We need to fight to preserve our way of life, with a focus on good jobs, excellent education, and lower property and sales tax.”
Arnberger is a Spring graduate of Fort Hays State University with a Bachelors in Business Education. She currently works as a legislative intern in Topeka for Hays Republican State Representative Sue Boldra.
“Working in the legislature will allow me to hit the ground running in providing quality representation to Great Bend and Hoisington,” she said.
After graduating from Great Bend High School, Arnberger attended Fort Hays State University, and was active in the Delta Zeta Sorority, Future Business Leaders of America- Phi Beta Lambda, and was a VIP Ambassador for the Office of the Fort Hays State University President. She was elected as the National Mountain Plains Vice president of Future Business Leaders of America- Phi Beta Lambda. She also serves as a Student Senator at Fort Hays State.
A lifelong Republican, Tory saw her parents build and maintain a successful small business, and she recognizes that small businesses are the backbone of the Barton County economy.
Arnberger serves as Barton County Co-Chair for the Moran for Kansas Campaign.
“People in Great Bend and Hoisington are suffering due to low oil and farm prices. We need to get them property and sales tax relief, and help them survive this crisis.”
Arnberger has experience is serving in business and public service. She was selected for the Governor’s Internship Program, and served in the Kansas Department for Children and Families. She also worked as an intern at the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce, works as a substitute teacher in Great Bend Public Schools, and worked for Crawford Supply in Customer Service. One of her certifications on her Business Degree is for “Customer Service.” Arnberger is a member of Prince of Peace Catholic Church.
“We need to get more people to visit Barton County, so they can see the great way of life that I grew up with here,” she said. “Barton County is going through some tough times, but I hope new leadership in Topeka can help to make things better,” she said.
Bill D. Raymond, 53, Andover, will appear in federal court for a jury trial in Wichita in front of Chief Judge J. Thomas Marten.
According to Jim Cross, Public Information Officer for U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom, the trial is scheduled for May 3, 2016 at 9 a.m.
Raymond, former city attorney of Manhattan, was charged with three counts of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography following an investigation by the FBI.
The crimes are alleged to have occurred in November 2014, February 2015 and May 2015 in Butler and Riley counties.
A federal grand jury indicted Raymond on Sept. 30, 2015.
If convicted, he faces a penalty of not less than five years and not more than 20 years on each distribution count, and a maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the possession charge.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart is prosecuting Raymond.
GREAT BEND -A recall petition has been filed with the Barton County Clerks Office that seeks to recall all seven members of the USD 428 School Board, according to County Clerk Donna Zimmerman.
The petition has been turned over to the County Attorney’s Office who will have 5 days to determine the sufficiency of grounds.
The petition was submitted by local attorney Brock McPherson with Michelle O’Neil, Mike Gowans and Diana Dawson listed as the recall committee, a group that is required by state statute.
O’Neil is a parent of a student allegedly assaulted on a Great Bend school activity bus.
According to McPherson, the recall petition was submitted due to the inaction of the school board after an incident was reported aboard a Great Bend school bus on February 5th on the way back from a swimming meet in Manhattan.
If the County Attorney’s Office verifies the grounds for recall in the proposed petition, the recall petition has 90 days in which it can be circulated.
A recall election is held no sooner than 60 days and no later than 90 days after the applicable election officer, Barton County Clerk Donna Zimmerman, certifies signatures.
It is unclear how many signatures would be needed if the recall petition were verified.
For recall efforts targeting a local official, a minimum of 40 percent of the last general election for the current term of office of the local officer being targeted.
However, that formula changes if the election resulted in more than one person being elected to the office like the school board.
SHERMAN COUNTY- One person was injured in an accident just before noon on Thursday in Sherman County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2013 Kenworth semi driven by Juan Carlos Baez, 49, Lomita, CA., was eastbound on Interstate 70 15 miles west of Goodland
The truck went off the roadway to the right and the driver overcorrected.
The truck hit the concrete barrier of a bridge and the trailer disengaged from the cab.
Baez was transported to the hospital in Goodland. He was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
WESTMORELAND, Kan. (AP) — Sentencing is scheduled for May for a northeastern Kansas 18-year-old who has pleaded no contest to charges that he tried to kill a man during a shooting last December.
Dakota Fair entered the pleas Thursday in Pottawatomie County to charges of attempted second-degree murder, as well as two gun-related charges.
Authorities allege that Fair shot at another vehicle and wounded driver 23-year-old Tyrel Britton in rural St. George. Britton, of Westmoreland, survived.
HOUSTON (AP) – Bill Self, who led Kansas to the No. 1 ranking in the final weekly poll and its 12th straight Big 12 title, is The Associated Press Coach of the Year.
The Jayhawks (33-5) were the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and lost to Villanova in the regional final.
Self received 21 votes from the 65-member national media panel that selects the weekly poll. Chris Mack of Xavier was second with 15 votes and Dana Altman of Oregon received 13.
Self also won the AP Coach of the Year Award in 2009. Roy Williams, in 1992, was the only other Kansas coach to win the award.
The Jayhawks spent a total of five weeks at No. 1 this season and won the Big 12 again to move within one of UCLA’s record for consecutive titles.
Voting was done before the NCAA Tournament. The honor comes one day after Self was named Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Fill a bag with books for just $3! The Friends of the Hays Public Library will be having their spring book sale Thursday, March 31 through Sunday, April 3 in the Schmidt Gallery.
From 5:30 to 7 PM on Thursday, March 31 the book sale will be exclusively open to members of the Friends of the Library. Everything in the Friends Bookstore will be half price and sale books will be $3 per bag.
The book sale will be open to the public Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2 from 10 AM to 4 PM and on Sunday, April 3 from 1 to 4 PM. Books will be on sale for $3 per bag.
For more information, contact the Friends of the Hays Public Library at 785-625-9014 or email [email protected].
SALINA – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a convenience store robbery.
On Thursday, police released store surveillance photos from the robbery of Kwik Shop, 657 Fairdale that occurred early
Tuesday morning.
Just after 1:12 a.m., on Tuesday, a white male entered the store, and robbed the clerk using a handgun.
He was wearing a black hoodie, blue jeans, white tennis shoes and a blue bandana on the lower portion of his face.
Police asked the pubic with information concerning this robbery to call them at 785-826-7210 or if you want to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 785-825-TIPS.
You may receive a reward of up to $1,000 if your information leads to an arrest.
GREAT BEND -Following Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir’s press briefing on his department’s investigation of the alleged assault on a Great Bend school activity bus, USD 428 responded.
“The district fully appreciates the seriousness of the allegations and is as concerned about them as our students, their parents and our community is,” the statement said.
“The district is not involved in the criminal process. As we have indicated before, the district is prohibited from disclosing the names or any details regarding disciplinary actions taken. Information concerning changes in practices and policies made by the district regarding student supervision has previously been provided to the public.
We will continue to focus on the safety and well being of all our students.
We ask for the community’s support of all the children and families involved as the legal process plays out.”
During his Wednesday press briefing, Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir said, “The investigation supported evidence that the crimes of aggravated criminal sodomy, battery and criminal restraint occurred.”
The investigation involved two high school students, a 15-year-old victim and a 17-year-old suspect, according to Bellendir.
The case was given to the Barton County Attorney on Monday to determine if charges will be filed.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A government report shows Kansas farmers are planning to plant a whole lot more corn this year.
