MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — The number of mumps cases at Kansas State University is now up to 15 since February.

The Manhattan Mercury (https://bit.ly/2plAGFS ) reports that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is recommending that people in close contact to others diagnosed with mumps receive a third dose of the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. The recommendation is based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s outbreak control guidance.

The university says that three students were diagnosed in February, forcing the school to consider the situation an “outbreak.”

The CDC says that some of the symptoms for the illness include fever, exhaustion and swollen salivary glands under the ears. Mumps is an airborne virus that can be spread by sneezing and coughing.

Riley County Health Department director Jennifer Green says health agencies continue to identify and contact those who may face increased risk.

By JIM MCLEAN & MEG WINGERTER

Advocates of expanding Medicaid eligibility are planning a second attempt to override Gov. Sam Brownback’s veto of an expansion bill when lawmakers return in May to wrap up the 2017 session.

The first attempt failed in the Kansas House on Monday, when supporters came up three votes short of the 84 needed to override.

“The issue of expanding KanCare is too important to Kansans not to make another attempt to address this issue before the session ends,” said David Jordan, director of the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas coalition. “We see tremendous energy from supporters to find a solution this session. So, we’re going to exhaust all options possible to try to find a way to move forward.”

KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program, currently covers approximately 425,000 Kansans, mostly children in low-income families, people with disabilities and low-income elderly Kansans who need nursing home care.

The expansion bill would extend coverage to an estimated 180,000 additional Kansans, mainly low-income adults.

The financial plight of several Kansas hospitals is adding urgency to the expansion issue.

SCL Health, the Denver-based Catholic health care organization that operates St. Francis Health in Topeka, has been seeking a buyer for the 378-bed hospital for almost a year. Multiple sources say the state’s rejection of Medicaid expansion is complicating negotiations with potential buyers.

Brian Newsome, spokesman for SCL Health, said he couldn’t comment on the status of those negotiations or the possibility that the hospital would close if a buyer can’t be found.

“Since this exploration began last year, we have been committed to a thoughtful and deliberate process, and that work continues,” he said in an email. “In the meantime, we remain resolutely focused on providing the quality, compassionate care for which St. Francis has become recognized.”

Any new owner would have to contend with a difficult financial situation. St. Francis Health lost money from 2012 to 2015, the most recent year with available tax filings. In 2015, its losses reached $12.5 million.

Expansion would generate an additional $9.9 million for the hospital in 2019, according to the Kansas Hospital Association.

Rep. Adam Lusker, a Democrat from Frontenac, said a hospital in his district also is at risk if the state doesn’t expand KanCare and start drawing down additional federal Medicaid dollars.

“Mercy Hospital in Fort Scott is next on the list,” Lusker said in recent interview with the Fort Scott Tribune.

Sumner Regional Medical Center in Wellington is also struggling to keep its doors open, said Terry Deschaine, a member of the hospital’s board.

“The financial challenges we’re facing are very significant,” he said, confirming that the city of Wellington recently had to back the hospital’s request for a $300,000 line of credit from a local bank.

In addition to staging a series of town-hall meetings in the districts of lawmakers thought to be swing votes, advocates are discussing possible changes to the Medicaid expansion bill in an effort to gain the handful of votes they need. Those could include adding a work requirement and language to ensure that no expansion dollars go to Planned Parenthood.

“We’re going to continue to work on it,” said Tom Bell, president and CEO of the hospital association.

Brownback cited the cost of expansion and the fact that it would extend health care benefits to “able-bodied” adults while thousands of Kansans with disabilities continued to wait for support services as reasons for vetoing the bill.

Jim McLean and Meg Wingerter are reporters for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of kcur.org, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics in Kansas. 

SEDGWICK COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Sedgwick County are investigating the Sunday murder 0f a woman and have a suspect in custody.

Just after 1:30 p.m. Sunday, police responded to a 911 call from a 9-year-old boy who reported an assault at a home in the 1400 Block of west Rita in Wichita, according to Lt. Todd Ojile during Monday’s online media briefing.

Officers were unable to get anyone to answer the door of the home.

Upon entering the garage, they found the decapitated body of the victim identified as Micki Davis, 63, Wichita, according to Ojile.

Officers found the 35-year-old suspect Rachel Christina Hilyard, hiding in the residence.

The investigation revealed the victim and her 9-year-old grandson had gone to the home to obtain property that belonged to her son.

The suspect used a knife in the attack. The boy grabbed a cell phone from the victim’s truck and called 911 as he ran from the scene.

Police booked Hilyard into the Sedgwick County jail on Sunday evening, according to the daily inmate booking report.

She has previous drug convictions in Sedgwick County, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

——–

WICHITA — A woman is in jail on requested first-degree murder charges in connection with the Sunday disturbance in a southwest Wichita home.

The 63-year-old female victim was found dead Sunday after police received a call about a domestic violence disturbance.

Police also found Rachel Christina Hilyard, 35,  who knew the victim in the home and took her for questioning.

Police booked her into the Sedgwick County jail on Sunday evening, according to the daily inmate booking report.

A 9-year-old boy made the initial 911 call of the disturbance, according to police.

The AP contributed to this report.

BARTON COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Barton County are investigating a wanted suspect after an arrest on various outstanding warrants.

On April 7, deputies in Barton County learned that Eliseo Valasco, Jr. 28, Great Bend, was at a residence in the 5900 block of Eisenhower Avenue, according to a media release.

They executed a search warrant at the home and arrested Velasco without incident. He is being held in the Barton County jail on $75,000 bond for five outstanding warrants.

He also has previous drug distribution convictions in Barton County, according the Kansas Department of Corrections.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the swearing-in of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court (all times local):
11:16 a.m.
President Donald Trump is praising new Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch during a public White House ceremony. He says Gorsuch will rule “not on his personal preferences but based on a fair and objective reading of the law.”
In a Rose Garden ceremony, Trump says in Gorsuch, Americans see “a man who is deeply faithful to the Constitution of the United States.” The president is predicting Gorsuch will go down as “one of the truly great justices” in the court’s history.
The 49-year-old appeals court judge from Colorado was sworn in during the ceremony by Justice Anthony Kennedy, for whom he once served as a law clerk.
The president noted that the successful nomination came during his first 100 days in office.
__
9:25 a.m.
Surrounded by family and his future colleagues, Neil Gorsuch has taken the first of two oaths as he prepares to take his place as the 113th justice of the Supreme Court.
The 49-year-old appeals court judge from Colorado is being sworn in Monday after a bruising fight that saw Republicans change the rules for approving Supreme Court picks – over the fierce objection of Democrats.
The first ceremony took place privately in the Justices’ Conference Room, with Chief Justice John Roberts administering the oath required by the Constitution.
That will be followed by a public White House ceremony, where Justice Anthony Kennedy is to administer the oath set by federal law.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Judge Neil Gorsuch is about to take his place as the newest Supreme Court justice.

The 49-year-old appeals court judge from Colorado is to be sworn in after a bruising fight that saw Republicans change rules for approving Supreme Court picks over the fierce objection of Democrats.

First up is a private ceremony at the court, with Chief Justice John Roberts administering the constitutional oath. That’s followed by a public ceremony at the White House, where Justice Anthony Kennedy will swear him in.

Gorsuch will be seated just in time to hear one of the biggest cases of the term — a religious rights dispute over a Missouri law that bars churches from receiving public funds for general aid programs.

LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities in Lenexa are identifying two teenagers killed when the vehicle in which they were riding slammed into a tree shortly after the driver refused to stop for police.

Police say 15-year-old Isaiah Stroble and 13-year-old Angelito Espinosa died in the accident about 5 a.m. Sunday. Both victims were from Kansas City, Kansas.

Seven other people were injured.

Officer Danny Chavez says an officer noticed a vehicle driving without headlights and tried to stop it, but the driver didn’t stop. The officer allowed the vehicle to go, but found the crash site a short time later.

Police say the investigation continues.

————

LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old died and seven other teens were injured when their vehicle slammed into a tree shortly after the driver refused to stop for police.

The Kansas City Star reports the crash happened around 5 a.m. Sunday in Lenexa, Kansas.

Officer Danny Chavez says an officer noticed a vehicle driving without headlights and tried to stop it, but the driver didn’t stop. The officer allowed the vehicle to go, but found the crash site a short time later.

The driver and front passenger both died. Seven others, who all appear to be teens, were taken to hospitals for treatment of their injuries.

Authorities are still working on identifying all of the people who were in the car, so their names were not immediately released.

——–

LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say two teenagers died and seven others were injured when their vehicle slammed into a tree shortly after the driver refused to stop for a police officer.

The Kansas City Star reports the crash happened around 5 a.m. Sunday in Lenexa, Kansas.

Officer Danny Chavez says an officer noticed the vehicle driving without headlights and tried to pull it over, but the driver didn’t stop. The officer allowed the vehicle to go, but found the crash site a short time later.

The driver and front passenger both died. Seven others, who all appear to be teens, were taken to hospitals for treatment of their injuries.

Authorities are still working on identifying all of the people who were in the car, so their names were not immediately released.