WASHINGTON –The U.S. Senate early Thursday morning passed a nonbinding Republican-backed budget measure that eases the way for action on subsequent repeal legislation to eliminate Obmamacare as soon as next month.

Republicans have been promising to get rid of the healthcare plan but more and more of the GOP are feeling uneasy about dumping it without having a replacement in place.

U.S. Senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran supported the measure.

Moran said in a media release, “Canceled policies, difficulties in identifying new plans, massive premium increases, sky-high deductibles and limited options for doctors – the new normal for many American families under Obamacare. This vote gives us the opportunity to begin repairing the damage. I will work with my colleagues – Republicans and Democrats alike – to swiftly come together, offer real reforms to lower costs and improve the quality of healthcare, and ensure there is no lapse in care. Americans deserve freedom of choice and should have access to truly affordable, quality healthcare.”

Watch Senator Moran’s comments  on Healthcare Reform here

The Obamacare repeal resolution will now be taken up by the U.S. House of Representatives. Should it be passed, a future vote to repeal Obamacare altogether will succeed with a simple majority in both chambers.

KANSAS CITY -A Kansas City area High school principal was arrested Wednesday after officials in Ray County, Missouri charged him with alleged sex crimes involving a teen from almost 20 years ago, according to the North Kansas City School District.

The Winnetonka school district reported via social medial “We were made aware of charges filed against Mr. Matt Lindsey relating to actions that allegedly occurred in 1997 or 1998, prior to his employment with North Kansas City Schools. He has been placed on administrative leave and will not be returning to campus at this time.

Lindsey was jailed on $50,000 cash only bond with special conditions.

In 2015, Lindsey was voted the High School Principal of the Year by the Greater Kansas City Missouri Principals Association, according the school district.

The Richmond R-XVI School District, where Lindsey worked when the alleged crime occurred issued a statement.

“Matt Lindsey was employed in the Richmond R-XVI School District from 1995-1996 to 1999-2000. He was a physical education teacher and head boys basketball coach during the 1995-1996 and 1996-1997 school years and was Assistant Principal / Athletic Director at Richmond High School during the 1997-1998, 1998-1999, and 1999-2000 school years.

The district has and will continue to cooperate with the investigation into this matter.”

No court dates were released on Wednesday.

SALINE COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 11p.m. on Wednesday in Saline County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Peterbilt semi driven by Shane M. Degraeve, 28, Leavenworth, was eastbound on Interstate 70 at Interstate 135.

The semi hit the trailer pulled by a 1974 Ford pickup driven by Terry L. Hart, 57, Fall River, that entered eastbound Interstate 70 from northbound Interstate 135.

Hart was transported to Salina Regional Medical Center.

Degraeve was not transported for treatment.

Hart was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

BROWN COUNTY -A Kansas man remains jailed on a $500,000 bond and will be sentenced in March after his conviction in the severe beating of a two-year-old girl who refused to eat.

After a bench trial on Monday, Brown County District Judge John Weingart found Frank Lee Rodriguez, 25, Hiawatha, guilty on charges of aggravated battery and felony abuse of a child.

Rodriguez originally denied hitting the child.

He ultimately told Hiawatha police he got upset when the girl was not eating. He said he slammed her onto the floor and punched her in the head.

The child sustained severe head injuries in the beating on August 26, 2016.

She was released from the hospital in December.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 6.

MOUNDRIDGE, Kan. (AP) — A California woman who died along with her 8-year-old son after falling through ice on a Kansas pond traveled extensively, led a church youth group and helped gut and renovate houses.

The Wichita Eagle reports 44-year-old Polly Claassen and her son, Trent, fell through the ice of a pond at William P. Pack Memorial Park in Moundridge on Jan. 6. Polly’s husband and Trent’s father, Gary, was also on the ice when it broke. He was treated and released from a hospital.

The Claassens were visiting from California when the incident occurred. An online fundraising page has been established to help the family.

Gary’s aunt, June Krehbiel, says the family had been staying at her house, several blocks from the pond. June says Polly was someone who thought of others and taught Trent, a Cub Scout, to be the same way.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget and tax proposals (all times local):

Four Republican leaders in the Kansas Senate have issued a joint statement criticizing GOP Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget-balancing proposals.

The statement Wednesday criticized Brownback for proposing to increase taxes on wine, liquor, beer and cigarettes and for not agreeing to the repeal of an income tax break for more than 330,000 farmers and business owners.

It also said “a real structural fix” was “noticeably absent” and that the governor relied too heavily on accounting moves and shifting funds internally.

The statement was from Senate President Susan Wagle of Wichita, Vice President Jeff Longbine of Emporia, Majority Leader Jim Denning of Overland Park and Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Carolyn McGinn of Sedgwick.

Brownback’s office did not immediately respond.

Kansas faces projected budget shortfalls totaling $1.1 billion through July 2019.

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Democrats in the Kansas Legislature are harshly criticizing Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposals for balancing the state budget.

State Rep. Tom Sawyer of Wichita described the package outlined Wednesday by Brownback as “a pile of garbage.” Sawyer is the top Democrat on the House Taxation Committee.

Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka called many of the proposals from the governor “taking hocus pocus budgeting to a new level.”

Brownback’s proposals include diverting highway funds to general government programs, scaling back the state’s contributions to public employee pensions and liquidating a state investment fund.

His proposals also include raising taxes on cigarettes, wine, liquor and beer.

Democrats blame the state’s budget problems on personal income tax cuts enacted by Republican legislators in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback’s urging.

KANSAS CITY –  Two Kansas City men have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a series of local armed robberies following a head-on collision with a police vehicle in a Quik Trip parking lot while attempting to flee from officers, according to Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Curlie Pruitt, III, 36, and Roy L. House, 38, both of Kansas City, were charged in a three-count indictment returned on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017, by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. The indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Pruitt and House on Dec. 22, 2016.

The federal indictment contains the original charge of being felons in possession of a firearm, and includes an additional count of conspiracy to commit robbery and an additional count of aiding and abetting one another in the use of a firearm during a violent crime.

The indictment alleges that Pruitt and House aided and abetted one another to possess a loaded American Tactical .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun on Dec. 20, 2016. Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Pruitt has prior felony convictions for assault and robbery, as well as a prior federal conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. House has prior convictions for assault and robbery as well as a federal conviction for carjacking. House is currently serving a term of supervised release for that federal conviction.

The indictment also alleges that Pruitt and House participated in a conspiracy to rob Road Star Gas Station, 11100 E. US 40 Hwy., Independence, Mo.; Beeline Mini-Mart, 1005 Isley Blvd., Excelsior Springs, Mo.; and Discount Smoke Shop, 4718 N.E. Vivion Rd., Kansas City, Mo. Pruitt and House also are charged with using the loaded American Tactical handgun during those robberies.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Independence police officers were contacted by an employee at the Super 8 Hotel, 4031 S. Lynn Court Drive, Independence, at approximately 8:36 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016, in regard to two men – later identified as Pruitt and House – who were acting suspiciously. The employee feared the men were going to rob the hotel, the affidavit says. They left the hotel but returned at approximately 9:05 p.m.

When officers arrived at the hotel, the affidavit says, Pruitt and House were in a blue Ford 500 and were leaving the area, with Pruitt driving. A police officer activated the emergency equipment on his patrol vehicle to initiate a traffic stop, however, Pruitt allegedly accelerated the vehicle and drove through the parking lot of the Quik Trip at 4024 S. Noland Road, Independence. As Pruitt’s vehicle continued at a high rate of speed through the parking lot, traveling toward S. Noland Road, it collided head-on with the patrol vehicle of another officer who was responding to assist. The collision was severe enough to disable both vehicles.

Pruitt immediately attempted to exit his vehicle and flee, the affidavit says, but was trapped by a third police vehicle that pinned the driver’s side door closed. Pruitt and House were placed under arrest. Officers found a loaded American Tactical .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun on the floor board of the front passenger seat area.