KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The family of a Kansas lawmaker’s 10-year-old son killed last summer on what was billed as the world’s tallest water slide has reached a settlement with the park’s owner.

Terms of the deal filed Wednesday in Kansas’ Johnson County District Court involving Caleb Schwab’s family were not immediately released.

A spokeswoman for Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts, Winter Prosapio, confirmed the settlement, which was first reported by The Kansas City Star. She declined to elaborate, other than to say the park’s owners plan to follow through on demolishing the slide as announced in November.

An attorney for two women injured with Schwab during the ill-fated ride last Aug. 7 says Wednesday’s action does not resolve any potential liabilities against the park by his clients.

No charges have been filed.

By JIM MCLEAN

Think twice and don’t be in such a hurry to repeal Obamacare.

That’s the message that an alliance pushing for Medicaid expansion in Kansas is sending to members of the state’s congressional delegation.

The Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, a nonprofit advocacy organization with more than 100 members, on Tuesday began distributing a letter to its members and asking them to send it to the state’s two U.S. senators and four House members, whom the letter urges to “avoid repealing the Affordable Care Act without putting in place an adequate replacement.”

Download the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas letter
David Jordan, executive director of the alliance, says there are growing indications that Republican congressional leaders are having second thoughts about their “repeal now and replace later” strategy.

“It’s clear that more and more of them are concerned about how repeal of the ACA will affect their voters,” Jordan says.

An amendment proposed by five Republican U.S. senators, including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rob Portman of Ohio, would change a repeal date included in a budget reconciliation bill from Jan. 27 to March 3. That would give lawmakers more time to come up with replacement legislation that preserves popular parts of the health reform law.

Jordan says any delay would give Kansas lawmakers time to consider a Medicaid expansion bill.

“It creates a window of opportunity for the (Kansas) Legislature to take action,” he says.

Kansas is one of 19 states that haven’t expanded their Medicaid programs to cover more low-income adults, generally those who make too much under existing eligibility criteria but too little to qualify for subsidies to help them purchase private coverage in the Obamacare marketplace. It’s estimated that expansion would cover more than 100,000 low-income Kansans.

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and conservative legislative leaders have prevented any serious debate of expansion for the past three years. But expansion advocates say the defeat of several conservatives by more moderate Republicans and Democrats in the 2016 election may give them the votes to pass a plan.

However, members of the state’s congressional delegation appear steadfast in their desire to repeal the ACA immediately.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, a Republican who represents the 3rd District, which includes Johnson and Wyandotte counties, posted a video to his Twitter and Facebook accounts Monday in which he says Obamacare has failed to expand access to affordable coverage.

“That’s why House Republicans are keeping our promise to the American people to repeal Obamacare and replace it with solutions that provide lowers costs, better access to care and places decisions in the hands of you and your doctor,” Yoder says over soaring background music.

Roger Marshall represents the 1st Congressional District, which covers two-thirds of Kansas from the western boarder to roughly Manhattan. He favors immediate action on those parts of the ACA that can be repealed through the budget reconciliation process, which include the individual mandate and Medicaid expansion.

“I expect that to happen sooner rather than later,” Marshall says. “Mr. Trump is a pretty demanding president-elect and he wants us to hop right on that.”

Repealing the ACA would cost Kansas approximately 19,000 jobs by 2019, according to a recent study done by George Washington University for the Commonwealth Fund.

Most of the more than 425,000 Kansans now covered by Medicaid are low-income children, new mothers, people with disabilities or elderly adults needing long-term care who have exhausted their personal resources.

Jim McLean is managing director of KCUR’s Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics in Kansas. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.

SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a man on assault charges involving a gun.

On Tuesday, deputies were sent to a home in the 5700 block of West Helberg Road in rural Saline County after a report of a stolen handgun, according to Saline County Sheriff’s Lt. Stan Fruits.

Scott R. Acree, 58, told deputies he had been cutting wood with Justin Clark, 48, Falun, on Monday afternoon.

Both had also been drinking. When they began to argue, Acree allegedly fired at least a couple of shots Clark’s feet in an attempt to make him dance.

Clark took the 9mm handgun from Acree and left. No one was hurt.

Deputies arrested Acree on requested charges of aggravated assault and criminal threats.

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

Several hundred people are rallying at the Kansas Statehouse in opposition to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and in favor of liberal causes.

The organizers called Wednesday’s event the People’s Agenda rally, and it covers a wide range of issues, including LGBT and voting rights, expanded access to health care and lessening the influence of special-interest group money in elections.

The rally came a day after Brownback gave his annual State of the State address. He declared, “By many measures, Kansas is the envy of the world.”

Part of the HUGE crowd at the People’s Agenda rally. Folks are meeting at the intersection of social, econ & environmental justice. #ksleg pic.twitter.com/Hne29rRJTc

— PP Great Plains KS (@PPGreatPlainsKS) January 11, 2017

Rally organizer Davis Hammett said the event represented “the people’s State of the State.” He is president of the Topeka-based advocacy group Loud Light.

Hammett said rally organizers want to put the state’s most vulnerable and marginalized citizens first in policy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST):

12:35 p.m.

President-elect Donald Trump says a replacement for “Obamacare” will be offered with the confirmation of his health secretary.

Trump says at a Wednesday news conference that his plan for President Barack Obama’s health care law would be “repeal and replace,” adding that it would be “essentially simultaneously.”

Trump called the law “a complete and total disaster” and said it was “imploding.” He argued that Republicans would do doing a “tremendous service” for Democrats by replacing the law.

 

 

Trump has repeatedly said that repealing and replacing “Obamacare” was a top priority, but he has never fully explained how he planned to do it. Speaker Paul Ryan has said that the House would seek to take both steps “concurrently.”

But Trump’s promise to repeal and replace the health care law “essentially simultaneously,” even in the same day, week or hour, is almost certainly impossible to achieve.

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12:25 p.m.

Donald Trump is recommitting to plans to impose a border tax on manufacturers who shutter plants and move production abroad.

Trump says at a Wednesday news conference: “There will be a major border tax on these companies that are leaving and getting away with murder.”

Border taxes may help retain jobs, but they carry the risk of increasing prices for consumers.

The president-elect has been meeting with chief executives and touting commitments by United Technologies and others to keep jobs in the United States. Such moves have done little so far to move the dial on job growth for the broader U.S. economy, although Trump stressed that he was using these deals to set a new tone that offshoring would be penalized.

Trump says: “What really is happening is the word is now out.”

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MCPHERSON COUNTY – Investigators including the State Fire Marshal’s office are working to determine the cause of a fire at a home in Moundridge on Tuesday.

Just after 1p.m. fire crews responded to the blaze in a single-family home at 224 West Ruth Street, according to Fire Captain Jeremy Johnson.

The fire started outside the home. It damaged a side porch, the kitchen and pantry area. The rest of the home sustained heat and smoke damage.

One occupant was able to escape without injuries, according to Johnson.

“They still don’t know what started the fire,” he said.

The occupant’s pet cat reportedly did not make it out of the home but was not found.

Damage estimate was not available early Wednesday.