The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has rescinded the boil water advisory for Rural Water District (RWD) No. 2 located in Osborne County. The advisory was issued because of a loss of pressure. Inadequate pressure may result in a loss of chlorine residuals and bacterial contamination.
Public water suppliers in Kansas take all measures necessary to notify customers quickly after a system failure or shutdown. Regardless of whether it’s the supplier or KDHE that announces a boil water advisory, KDHE will issue the rescind order following testing at a certified laboratory.
Laboratory testing samples collected from Osborne County RWD No. 2 indicate no evidence of contamination and all other conditions that placed the system at risk of contamination are deemed by KDHE officials to be resolved.
Christian radio station 98.5 FM The Truth is hosting a free screening of the critically acclaimed and box-office success “War Room” at 7:05 p.m. Friday at Celebration Community Church.
From the award-winning creators of “Fireproof” and “Courageous,” “War Room” is a compelling drama with humor and heart that explores the power that prayer can have on marriages, parenting, careers, friendships and every other area of our lives.
“War Room” is the latest edition in Celebration Community Church’s monthly Friday Family Fun Flix. Admission, popcorn and pop are free. Celebration Community Church is located on the hill above I-70 at exit 157.
BARTON COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Barton County are investigating a suspect in connection with a residential burglary.
Just after 3 a.m. on Monday, Great Bend Police Officers were dispatched to the 1400 block of 12th Street, in reference to a lady reporting she heard noise in her backyard, near her garage, according to a media release.
When officers arrived, they heard noise coming from inside the garage of the residence.
Once they determined that someone was inside, they surrounded the structure and apprehended a man, later identified as Kerry Partridge, Jr.
Inside the garage, officers located a bag with various tools inside it, which they ascertained were likely used to pry open a window into the garage. They also located damage to the ceiling and wall of the garage, where the subject had apparently tried to create an escape from the structure when he realized he was surrounded.
Break It Day is from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, and Make It Day is from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 5.
Break It Day invites participants to bring an item and take it apart to see how it works. Several clocks, mixers and radios will be available to observe.
Make It Day encourages problem-solving by having participants bring in broken items and attempt to fix them. MakerSpace will also teach basic 3D modeling, Lego robotics and origami.
The events are free and open to the public. Children under 10 years of age must be accompanied by an adult.
Both events will be held in Forsyth Library, room 060.
An anonymous tip led to the arrest of a Hays man Thursday following a road rage incident that occurred last week.
According to Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler, Nathan Bryan Elliot, 40, Hays was arrested Thursday on suspicion of aggravated assault after allegedly threatening a man with a bat following a traffic incident.
At approximately 5:40 p.m. Feb. 11, Elliot and another man were involved in a traffic incident on the south end of Main street. Following the incident, Scheibler said, the victim drove to the 200 block of West Eighth, where Elliot followed him and allegedly threatened to hit the man with a bat.
After collecting video surveillance footage of the incident, the HPD posted the information on the department’s Facebook page and on HaysPost.com asking for the public’s help.
Scheibler said within 30 minutes of posting the picture of the suspect in the surveillance footage, the department received an anonymous tip identifying Elliot as the man in the picture.
Scheibler said his department was pleased with the response from the community.
“The quick response by the community allowed us to apprehend this guy in a timely fashion,” he said. “We do appreciate the cooperation.”
Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook had served since 2013 as chairwoman of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee before Senate President Susan Wagle ousted her last week. HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR
Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook offered an amendment to expand Medicaid last week because she believed it would fail.
A few days later, Senate President Susan Wagle removed Pilcher-Cook as chairwoman of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee because Pilcher-Cook pushed the amendment even though it was ruled out of order.
On Wednesday, the Kansas Senate’s top Republican said she would not reinstate the former chairwoman of the chamber’s health committee.
Wagle said she opposes Medicaid expansion but wants the Senate to vote on it in the next few weeks.
Confused yet? Welcome to the politics of “Obamacare.”
Pilcher-Cook’s amendment
Pilcher-Cook, a Republican from Shawnee, does not like the Affordable Care Act — commonly referred to as Obamacare — including the Medicaid expansion portion of it.
So why would she offer an amendment to expand Medicaid?
The answer starts in the opposite chamber, where House Speaker Ray Merrick, another expansion opponent, began the session by removing three members of his health committee because they support expansion.
Some legislative watchers think the House might have enough votes to pass a Medicaid expansion bill if it comes to the floor.
Merrick has worked to keep that from happening. But just in case it does, Pilcher-Cook wanted the Senate to “send a message” to the House by soundly voting down her amendment.
The language of her amendment was taken straight from Senate Bill 371 and its companion, House Bill 2633, which proponents call the “Bridge to a Healthy Kansas” program.
The bill was introduced at the behest of the Kansas Hospital Association, which says its members are missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds because Kansas has declined to expand Medicaid eligibility. It’s estimated that Medicaid expansion would extend health insurance to 150,000 Kansans.
The Senate rules
The Senate never got to a vote on the Pilcher-Cook amendment.
In another weird twist, a Democrat who supports expansion, Sen. David Haley of Kansas City, challenged whether the amendment was germane to the underlying bill.
The Senate Rules Committee determined it was not. The debate then turned bitter.
Pilcher-Cook challenged the rules committee’s determination — a relatively rare move, especially for a member of the majority party.
That forced the Senate to vote on whether to uphold the rules committee’s determination, which it did 22-15.
Some of the senators who voted against the rules committee, including Sen. Forrest Knox, a Republican from Altoona, suggested the committee was trying to avoid a vote on Medicaid expansion rather than uphold the rules.
Senate Vice President Jeff King, chairman of the rules committee, responded by emphasizing that the determination was unanimous.
The subtext of that was clear: Since a hospital in his district closed last year, King has pushed for an open legislative debate on how to find a “Kansas solution” that would draw down the federal Medicaid expansion money. That places him at odds with fellow Republicans like Pilcher-Cook and Knox who have expressed no willingness to cede an inch on anything connected to Obamacare.
By stressing that the ruling was unanimous, King was signaling that he didn’t make the call and it wasn’t about anyone’s personal stance on expansion.
Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, the lone Democrat on the five-member rules committee, said in a later interview that the committee didn’t discuss the merits of Medicaid expansion at all when it debated Pilcher-Cook’s amendment. But he did mention that the hospital association’s bill sat in Pilcher-Cook’s committee, and she could schedule a hearing on it whenever she wished.
After ousting Pilcher-Cook, Senate President Susan Wagle issued a statement: ‘Breaking the rules of the Senate and putting senators unnecessarily in a position of choosing between upholding the rules of the body or being seen as supporting Obamacare is unacceptable for any committee chair.’ CREDIT STEPHEN KORANDA / KPR
Why did Wagle remove Pilcher-Cook?
Pilcher-Cook claims Wagle ousted her from the committee because Wagle is a closet Obamacare supporter and not sufficiently conservative.
Five years ago such statements would have sounded outlandish, bordering on absurd. Wagle has been in the Senate since 2001 and has long been considered one of the chamber’s most conservative members.
But the last two elections have moved the Senate further right. Wagle is still plenty conservative for her caucus on most issues, but she has expressed some openness to revising Gov. Sam Brownback’s controversial business tax exemption passed in 2012. Years ago Wagle made statements similar to the ones King is making now about finding a “Kansas solution” on Medicaid expansion.
Wagle has tempered those positions with talk of disliking Obamacare and liking tax cuts in general. But it’s hard to govern and hold together a caucus.
The fight over Pilcher-Cook’s amendment exposed a rift within the Senate Republican caucus that threatens Wagle’s authority.
When a member of the minority party challenges the rules committee — like Rep. Jim Ward did in the House just one day later — leadership can brush it off as a partisan maneuver. But when a member of the majority party does so, it’s a sign of a power struggle within the party.
Pilcher-Cook’s removal as leader of the health committee has more to do with her role in that power struggle than it does with Medicaid expansion specifically.
The latest sign of the rift? The Associated Press reported Tuesday that 17 of the 32 Republicans in the Senate — including Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce — have signed a petition asking Wagle to reinstate Pilcher-Cook as health committee chairwoman.
What does all of this mean for expansion?
Now that Pilcher-Cook is no longer the committee chairwoman, what does that mean for Medicaid expansion? It may clear the way for more discussion of the issue, but probably little more than that, at least for this year.
Even Medicaid expansion’s most ardent supporters privately concede it’s a tough sell this session, with lawmakers scrambling to balance the budget and keep government functioning before facing the voters in the August primaries and November general election.
Kansas Republicans used their opposition to Obamacare as a campaign issue in each of the last two legislative election cycles, and Medicaid expansion is the only part of the law that they actually have much jurisdiction over at the state level.
Expansion advocates are trying to rebrand it as “KanCare expansion” to associate it with Brownback’s Medicaid managed care changes rather than the federal law that President Barack Obama spearheaded.
The hospital association also is stressing that unlike traditional expansion under “Obamacare,” its plan is a budget-neutral remix similar to red-state models like Indiana’s.
The association is trying to build grassroots support through forums like one scheduled for March 2 in Topeka.
But rebranding and building support takes time. Until they have their ducks in a row, expansion supporters don’t want any negative votes that could stop any momentum they’re finally starting to generate.
Even so, they wouldn’t mind the opportunity to make their case in a public hearing.
That could be more likely now that Pilcher-Cook isn’t running the Senate health committee. Sen. Michael O’Donnell, the interim chair, said Monday that he planned to continue with the light agenda Pilcher-Cook set for this week, then look to Wagle for guidance as to whom she will pick to lead the committee on a permanent basis.
Whoever ends up with the job will decide whether to schedule hearings on expansion and a host of other issues like medical marijuana, licensure requirements for massage therapists, prohibiting minors from using commercial tanning beds and an AARP-sponsored caregiver bill.
On O’Donnell’s first day, Haley already was pressing him for hearings on medical marijuana.
But even if Medicaid expansion gets a committee hearing and the testimony for it is compelling, it remains a long shot this year.
Wagle has promised a Senate vote, but only in order to mollify Senate Republicans who want to reiterate their opposition to Obamacare with a “no” vote before heading home to campaign for re-election.
The hospital association is urging Kansans to contact their legislators in advance of that vote. But absent an overwhelming groundswell of support from the general public, even Hensley said expansion probably will have to wait until after the election.
“It might be able to pass in the House, but I don’t foresee that it’s going to have the votes to pass in the Senate, because it’s such a political football,” Hensley said. “It’s Obamacare.”
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
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A new report shows the number of farms and ranches fell last year in Kansas.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Thursday that the state had 60,400 farms in 2015, down 600 from the previous year.
The number of farms with less than $100,000 in agricultural sales decreased by 800 farms, while the number of those with more than $100,000 in sales grew by 200 farms.
Kansas has 46 million acres of land in farms and ranches, unchanged from a year earlier.
The agency says the average size of farming operations is 762 acres, up 8 acres from 2014.
WAKEENEY — Sitting shackled at the defense table in Trego County jail orange attire, Scott Bollig was sentenced Thursday morning to 117 months to be served under the Department of Corrections for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
However, Bollig was convicted on the conspiracy charge as well as conspiracy to commit domestic violence.
Scott Robert Bollig
The later charge was dropped after the court ruled he could not be convicted on two counts for the same crime.
During testimony given during the sentencing hearing, Bollig maintained his innocence.
Bollig’s attorney, Dan Walter, filed two motions prior to the proceeding for a downward departure sentencing and a post-conviction bond.
Downward departure sentencing would have allowed District Judge Glenn Braun to forgo Kansas sentencing guidelines.
Both requests were denied.
Walter lobbied during the proceeding that Bollig had continued being a productive citizen after his arrest and through the trial and was innocent.
“I did not commit a crime,” Bollig said.
“She did it to herself,” referring to the ingestion of a drug that terminated Abbot’s pregnancy.
He also testified during his trial he had found odd jobs in construction and on the family farm and had continued his education – even earning a pilot’s license.
He proposed to the judge that he should be released so as not to be a “liability to every taxpayer out there.”
“I just want to be a productive member of society,” Bollig said. “I can’t do that in jail.”
Prosecutor Jessica Domme, assistant Attorney General, argued against the departure sentencing, noting the jury had made its decision and the court should follow it.
The state asked for standard sentencing in the case, but the defense also wanted the court to take into account the “thin” evidence in the case.
Ultimately, the court agreed with the prosecution.
Braun said the sentencing hearing is not an opportunity to retry the case, noting the court is governed by the law, citing case law that affirmed standard sentencing should be used.
Bollig was sentenced to 117 months, with a 15 percent potential reduction and 36 months post-release supervisionCredit was given for 97 days Bollig already served.
He must also pay related fees and court costs around $1,500.
Immediately after sentencing, Walter asked the court for a post-conviction bond and announced his intention to immediately file an appeal of the conviction.
Bollig offered to put his home, rental property, vehicles and the value of his IRA as bond.
The state argued family assets and his newly acquired pilot’s license made Bollig a flight risk and so asked for a $1 million bond – double the bond amount before the conviction.
Again, the court agreed with the prosecution.
In denying the bond request, Braun said now the presumption of innocence is gone in the case and Bollig is a potential flight risk.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has rescinded a boil water advisory for the public water supply for the City of Paradise located in Russell County. The advisory was issued because of a loss of pressure. Inadequate pressure may result in a loss of chlorine residuals and bacterial contamination.
Public water suppliers in Kansas take all measures necessary to notify customers quickly after a system failure or shutdown. Regardless of whether it’s the supplier or KDHE that announces a boil water advisory, KDHE will issue the rescind order following testing at a certified laboratory.
Laboratory testing samples collected from the City of Paradise public water supply indicate no evidence of contamination and all other conditions that placed the system at risk of contamination are deemed by KDHE officials to be resolved.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the 2016 campaign for president (all times local):
Asked about Donald Trump’s views on immigration, Pope Francis says anyone who wants to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border isn’t Christian.
Trump has promised to build a wall along the Mexican border from Texas to California and expel 11 million people who are in the country illegally if elected president. The Pope’s comments en route home from Mexico came hours after he prayed at the Mexico-U.S. border for migrants who died trying to reach the United States.
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” Francis said. “This is not in the Gospel.”
Not having heard Trump’s border plans independently, Francis said he’d “give him the benefit of the doubt.” But he added:
“I’d just say that this man is not Christian if he said it this way,” Francis said.
Donald Trump said religious leader questioning a person’s faith is “disgraceful,” responding forcefully to comments from Pope Francis that anyone who wants to build a border wall isn’t a Christian.
The Republican candidate for president says Thursday the Pope should wish that he is elected to the White House, and he accused the Mexican government of using Francis as a “pawn” and says the leader of the Roman Catholic Church “only heard one side of the story.”
Pope Francis spoke as he traveled home from a visit to Mexico. When asked about Trump’s promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border, Francis said: “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.”
Trump replied to the Pope during a campaign stop in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. He says, “If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president.”
Trump went on to say, “for religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful.”
“No leader, especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man’s religion or faith,” Trump says.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — A white Missouri police officer has been placed on unpaid leave after he appeared in a racially charged music video wearing his uniform and carrying a sign reading “cop lives matter.”
Caution, the video found here contains language not suitable for younger viewers.
St. Joseph patrolman Zackary Craft also is seen reaching for his gun in the video for “Before This Bomb Blows Up (Racism Goes Both Ways)” by Josh Smith, a white suburban Kansas City rapper who performs as J.Smitty.
Smith says he took down the video when Craft was suspended last week but reposted it Thursday with Craft’s face blurred.
Rapper Joshua Smith Image from the YouTub Video
Craft’s attorney, Morgan Roach, says Craft allowed himself to be filmed “without knowing the words, content, or context” and was “appalled” when he saw the video.
Police spokesman Capt. Jeff Wilson says the department “in no way condones the video.”
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Royals have signed general manager Dayton Moore and manager Ned Yost to contract extensions, ensuring the leadership of the World Series champions will remain intact.
Yost was also entering the final year of his contract. He had floated the possibility of retiring at some point in the near future but said Thursday at the club’s spring training home in Arizona “it’s hard to leave when you still have the ability to win.”
Terms of Moore’s contract were not disclosed. The general manager since 2006, Moore had signed an extension in November 2013 that would have expired after this year. The Royals have been to back-to-back World Series, beating the Mets last year for their first championship since 1985 .
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — An effort by Kansas lawmakers to repeal Common Core standards could also mean the end to Advanced Placement Classes and International Baccalaureate programs.
The Wichita Eagle reports the House Education Committee approved a bill Wednesday that would compel Kansas school districts to develop new standards for reading, math, science and other subjects.
Those standards would replace Common Core-inspired Kansas College and Career Ready Standards that have been in place since 2010.
The vote came after committee members heard a presentation from Duke Pesta, a Wisconsin professor and outspoken critic of Common Core.
The Kansas State Department of Education has estimated the development of new standards would take two years and cost $9 million.
water advisory for Rural Water District (RWD) No. 2 located in Osborne County. The advisory was issued because of a loss of pressure. Inadequate pressure may result in a loss of chlorine residuals and bacterial contamination.
