Very windy conditions will develop later today behind a cold front that will be moving across the area. Wind speeds will be on the increase through the day, with speeds ranging from 25 to 35 mph this afternoon, continuing on through tonight. The high temperature today is expected to be around 40.
On Monday there will be continued windy conditions the first half of the day. Wind speeds will very gradually diminish through the afternoon hours, with high temperatures topping out in the upper 30s.
Today: Partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 44. Very windy, with a northwest wind 11 to 21 mph increasing to 24 to 34 mph. Winds could gust as high as 45 mph.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 23. Blustery, with a northwest wind 22 to 24 mph.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 39. Very windy, with a northwest wind 23 to 30 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 24. Blustery, with a northwest wind 16 to 21 mph decreasing to 10 to 15 mph after midnight.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 47. West northwest wind 11 to 17 mph.
TOPEKA–The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) is urging state taxpayers to remember older adults in Kansas when they file their income tax returns.
The Senior Citizens’ Meals on Wheel Contribution is a check off found on Kansas income tax forms that allows taxpayers to donate to the Meals on Wheels program. All contributions are used solely for the purpose of providing Meals on Wheels to the elderly and disabled homebound in our communities.
“Meals on Wheels provides thousands of Kansans with a nutritious hot meal, a friendly visit and a safety check,” KDADS Interim Secretary Tim Keck said. “By donating, and by volunteering to deliver meals, you can ensure the seniors and the disabled in your neighborhood can live happy, healthy and independent lives at home, where they want to be.”
Under a federal program that is part of the Older Americans Act, the meals are prepared by a dietary staff and delivered by community volunteers. The purpose of this program is to provide healthful and tasty nourishment to elderly and handicapped individuals in our communities, helping them to continue to live independently in their own homes for as long as possible. The friendly encounter with the volunteers is often the only social interaction these individuals have on a daily basis, and the daily visit is important in case an emergency situation arises.
On your tax form, please check this program and enter the amount you wish to contribute. Contributions of less than $1 cannot be credited to the program.
The tax checkoff is authorized by Kansas Statute 70-3221g, which says:
(a) For all tax years commencing after December 31, 2001, each Kansas state individual income tax return form shall contain a designation as follows:
Senior Citizen Meals on Wheels Contribution Program. Check if you wish to donate, in addition to your tax liability, or designate from your refund, ___$1, ___$5, ___$10, or $_____.
In 2014, this tax checkoff provided $80,631 to the Meals on Wheels program. More than 3 million meals were provided in Kansas in 2014. The total cost of the federally sponsored program is $18.3 million.
To volunteer to help with the Meals on Wheels program and for information in your community call 855-200-ADRC (2372).
TOPEKA ¬— The House Social Services Budget committee hearing this week centered on staff hiring and retention in the state’s mental health hospitals despite concern over individualized treatment plans for residents in the sex offenders program at Larned State Hospital.
The two state mental hospitals in Kansas would receive an additional $3 million total in their current budgets under a proposal approved by the House Appropriations committee on Thursday.
The state hospitals have come under fire in recent months after a worker was sexually assaulted at the Osawatomie hospital in October 2015. The incident led to an audit of the hospitals, and in December the Osawatomie hospital lost its federal funding after losing its Medicaid certification.
Tim Keck, secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, provided an update on the audit of the Larned Hospital. There are three areas the audit wanted the hospital to focus on: realigning the program with research-based methods, addressing issues related to management and addressing population growth.
Richard D. Cagan, executive director of the Kansas chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said he hoped the committee would discuss more than the staffing concerns. Specifically, he wanted committee members to discuss whether those in the treatment program were truly getting more individualized care and the opportunity to move through different levels, so they can eventually be reintegrated into their communities.
“This is supposed to be a treatment, a rehabilitative program,” Cagan said. “It’s not a prison.”
However, the main concern voiced at the committee meeting was staffing. Currently, the nursing staff has a 38 percent vacancy at Larned Hospital. Keck said KDADS is working with the hospitals to hire as soon as possible but didn’t offer a solution to what he said was a multifaceted problem.
“I don’t want to say money’s not the issue, because people always want to get paid more and nurses and doctors and those kinds of people deserved to get paid more,” Keck said. “But I think it’s a little more complex than that. It’s the lack of people available in the workforce, it’s the location, I suppose of the hospitals to some extent, it’s the local attitudes that exist in both of those communities.”
Cagan acknowledged the staffing issue has several causes but also said that geography is a factor in Larned’s case, citing an absence of qualified workers in the area.
Keck did not ask the committee for any financial help or adjustments from the state. He said KDADS is doing more research and continuing to meet with hospital staff to determine what changes need to happen. He said he wants to make sure he’s asking for the right things when he does eventually ask for additional funding from lawmakers.
“We need to take the time to make sure we get all of the problems and all of the issues addressed,” Keck said.
WICHITA –Four people were injured in an accident just before 11:30p.m. on Saturday in Sedgwick County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2003 Chevy Avalanche driven by, Brian W. Hauschild, 39, Derby, was on the ramp from Kansas 42 to Interstate 235 Southbound.
The driver failed to yield and the Avalanche collided with a 2003 Buick Park Avenue driven by Kyle D. Goebel, 23, Sebastian, Arkansas.
The Buick went off the roadway to left, struck the inside wall and spun back across the roadway and struck the outside wall.
Goebel, Kaleigh L. Goebel, 24; Kaleb J. Streeter, 7; and Caden R Goebel, 4, all of Sebastian, Arkansas were transported to St. Francis Medical Center.
Hauschild was not injured.
The 4-year-old was only in a seat belt, according to the KHP.
PRATT – In lieu of conducting the Kansas Winter Bird Feeder Survey this year, bird watchers around the state are asked to participate in the national Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) taking place Friday, Feb. 12 through Monday, Feb. 15. The GBBC is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all skill levels in counting birds from any location for as little as 15 minutes on one or more days of the event. Bird watchers can then report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org.
It’s free, fun and participants can feel good about playing an important role in the management and conservation of numerous bird species. Each submitted checklist provides valuable data to researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, as well as experts in other conservation organizations, who interpret those results to learn more about how birds are doing and how we can better protect them and their habitats.
NORMAL, Ill. (AP) — Paris Lee had a career-high 19 points to help Illinois State beat No. 21 Wichita State 58-53 on Saturday night.
Deontae Hawkins scored 14 points for Illinois State (14-11, 8-4 Missouri Valley), which erased a 16-point deficit in the second half.
Wichita State (17-6, 11-1) had won 12 in a row. Shaquille Morris and Ron Baker each scored 10 points for the Shockers, who shot 35.2 percent (19 for 54) from the field.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Kansas City’s Marcus Peters is the first cornerback in 17 years to win The Associated Press NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Safety Eric Berry, who missed 10 games the previous season battling lymphoma, then returned to the Chiefs to become an All-Pro, has won The Associated Press NFL Comeback Player of the Year award.
Peters, a first-round selection (18th overall) out of Washington, was a key to the Chiefs’ 11-game winning streak this season that helped them to the divisional playoff round. He tied Cincinnati’s Reggie Nelson for the NFL lead with eight interceptions. Peters returned two for scores, one covering 90 yards. He also had a pick in the postseason.
That performance earned Peters 45 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who regularly cover the NFL. Buffalo CB Ronald Darby was next with four votes, and one ballot went to Jets lineman Leonard Williams.
Oakland’s Charles Woodson was the previous cornerback to win the award, which was presented Saturday night as part of NFL Honors.
Berry’s inspirational story and superb performance on the field earned him 38 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who regularly cover the league. Berry was a mainstay on a Kansas City defense that sparked a 10-game winning streak during the regular season.
He easily outdistanced Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer, who came back from knee surgery to lead the Cardinals to a 13-3 regular season. Palmer received six votes.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Wesley Iwundu scored 22 points, freshman reserve Dean Wade had 17 and Kansas State upset top-ranked Oklahoma 80-69 on Saturday night to shake up the Big 12 race once again.
D.J. Johnson added 12 points and Justin Edwards 11 for the Wildcats (14-9, 3-7), who snapped the Sooners’ four-game win streak by holding in check player of the year front-runner Buddy Hield.
The high-scoring guard had 23 points, but a big chunk came in the final minutes, when the Sooners (19-3, 7-3) were desperately trying to rally against a team that wouldn’t budge an inch.
It was Kansas State’s first victory against a No. 1 team since topping Kansas on Feb. 11, 2011, and just the fifth time the program has knocked off the nation’s best team.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The student newspaper at the University of Kansas has filed a federal lawsuit accusing university administrators of approving funding cuts to the newspaper that were enacted after an editorial critical of the student senate.
The University Daily Kansan’s leadership filed the lawsuit Friday, accusing university officials of approving funding cuts to the newspaper made by the student senate in violation of the newspaper’s freedom of speech protections.
According to the lawsuit, the student newspaper ran a 2014 editorial highlighting “inadequacies” in the student senate election code. The Topeka Capital-Journal (https://bit.ly/1Q22x9R) reports the lawsuit alleges that university officials later approved newspaper funding cuts sought by student senators to punish the newspaper’s leadership for the unflattering coverage.
University spokesman Joe Monaco didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment Saturday.
Leslie Z. Paige, coordinator of the Office of Scholarship and Sponsored Projects at Fort Hays State University, was recently elected as treasurer for the National Association of School Psychologists.
This is the second time she has been elected to this position. She will advise the NASP Board of Directors on fiscal matters and budget development. She will also oversee the implementation of investment and reserve policies.
Paige has served in many leadership positions and is currently the NASP secretary. She was recognized by NASP in 1996 as the School Psychologist of the Year.
The association represents more than 25,000 school psychologists, graduate students and related professionals and works to advance effective practices to improve students’ learning, behavior and mental health.
Kansas Supreme Court Seated (L to R): Hon. Marla J. Luckert, Hon. Lawton R. Nuss, Chief Justice; Hon. Carol A. Beier. Standing (L TO R): Hon. Dan Biles, Hon. Eric S. Rosen, Hon. Lee A. Johnson, and Hon. Caleb Stegall.
JOHN HANNA, AP Political Writer
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A legislative dispute over how Kansas Supreme Court justices are selected is a political struggle centering on Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.
The issue is whether Brownback and his supporters can make their conservative fiscal and social policies stick well into the future.
Brownback and his allies contend their goal in seeking change is to make the judicial selection process more democratic. His critics say they’re fighting to preserve the court system’s independence.
But comments from both sides showed what really was at issue as the House rejected a proposal to give the governor and legislators more control over Supreme Court appointments.
Brownback’s allies believe a court that’s more in touch with voters will be more conservative in its rulings. His opponents celebrated the vote as checking Brownback’s ambitions.
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State closed on a 28-12 run after falling behind by one with 8:26 to play and beat Southwest Baptist 81-66 in front of 3,385 Saturday at Gross Coliseum. The Tigers (15-7, 9-7 MIAA) built a five-point halftime lead and were up six midway through the second half when the Bearcats (9-13, 4-12 MIAA) put together an 11-4 run to take the lead on a Logan Hovey 3-pointer.
FHSU scored the next seven to take the lead back for good.
Mark Johnson Postgame Interview
Dom Samac Postgame Interview
Game Highlights
Dom Samac scored 25 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead the Tigers. The senior center was 6-of-7 from the floor including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and hit 11-of-13 free throws. Rob Davis hit a couple of key 3-pointers late and scored 20. Jake Stoppel added 18
Very windy conditions will develop later today behind a cold front that will be moving across the area. Wind speeds will be on the increase through the day, with speeds ranging from 25 to 35 mph this afternoon, continuing on through tonight. The high temperature today is expected to be around 40.
