TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers are recommending a review of the state’s privatized child welfare model to determine whether it’s in the state’s best interest.

The Child Welfare System Task Force received the request Monday from two working groups created to examine the system of programs operated within the Kansas Department for Children and Families.

Kansas enacted the privatized model in 1996 as part of a settlement in a case that said the child welfare system at the time violated the constitutional rights of children in state custody.

The model directs the department to contract with outside nonprofits to manage placing children into homes. There are currently more than 7,000 children in the state’s foster care system waiting to be reunited with their families or placed with adoptive parents. Many have experienced abuse and neglect.

Some lawmakers have said privatization makes it difficult for the state to properly oversee the child welfare system, which has been scrutinized in recent years because of children who died in state custody.

Department Secretary Gina Meier-Hummel said the agency’s challenges aren’t due to privatization.

“I think what you see now is the result of a very stressed system that wasn’t built to handle the number of children we currently have in out-of-home care,” Meier-Hummel said. “And we haven’t been doing the prevention services that we need to be doing. So I think if we make wiser investments in the front to help preserve families, then the private system can do what it needs to do.”

It may be time to re-examine the privatized system, said Sen. Laura Kelly, a task force member and the Democratic gubernatorial nominee.

“I think we need to take a look at it,” she said. “Clearly that’s a huge part of the child welfare system as we do it in Kansas today, and I assumed that would be part of how we would go forward.”

The task force is expected to make final recommendations to the Legislature at the end of the year.

HUTCHINSON — The Reno County Health Department is investigating a possible outbreak of pertussis or “whooping cough” as it is known.

According to a media release there are currently, five cases of pertussis that have been reported and are still under investigation. Other possible cases are also being investigated at this time.

Pertussis is a highly-contagious respiratory infection that often causes serious problems and can be fatal in infants less than one year of age. Symptoms in adults and older children can be less severe. Symptoms generally appear four to 21 days after exposure to pertussis. Pertussis usually starts out with cold or flu-like symptoms including a runny nose, sneezing, fever, and cough that last 1-2 weeks. Symptoms worsen over time and the cough generally gets more severe.

Coughing spells in the next stages of pertussis can be followed by the “whoop” sound that is made when trying to inhale during or after a severe coughing spell. Person’s lips may also turn blue or they may vomit after a coughing spell.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges individuals that suspect they have pertussis to limit contact with unvaccinated children and see a physician as soon as possible. Please make sure your family’s vaccinations are up to date.

Protection against pertussis from the childhood vaccine “DTaP” decreases over time. Older children and adults, including pregnant women, should get a pertussis booster shot called “Tdap” to protect themselves and infants near or around them. If you need the Tdap vaccine, contact your doctor or call the Reno County Health Department at 620-694-2900.

STAFFORD COUNTY– The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) and the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a shooting death that occurred Tuesday morning in Seward, Kan.

The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office requested KBI assistance at approximately 9:55 a.m. on Aug. 28, and special agents and the Crime Scene Response Team responded.

At approximately 9:49 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 28, the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call reporting a shooting that occurred. Upon arriving at 519 Seward Ave. in Seward, Kan., authorities discovered a female with gunshot wounds who was pronounced dead, and a male with a non-life threatening gunshot wound. The two were acquaintances of one another.

EMS transported the injured man to an area hospital. His name is not being released at this time. The deceased female was identified as 35-year-old Adrianne C. Martin, of Seward.

There is no indication of any threat to the public as a result of this incident. An autopsy will be conducted.

This investigation is ongoing. No further information will be released at this time.

NEOSHO COUNTY – On Monday morning, Aug. 27, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) assisted the Neosho County Sheriff’s Office with the processing and recovery of huma skeletal remains located near the intersection of Ford Road and 50^th Road in Neosho County, Kan, according to a media release.

A farmer who was mowing in the area located the remains. The remains were taken to the Shawnee County Coroner’s office for examination. Identification of the remains is pending.

The investigation is being treated as a suspicious death and is currently ongoing. If you have any information, please contact the Neosho County Sheriff’s Office or call 1-800-KSCRIME.

 

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Mexican citizen who has been deported four times, Jorge Carrillo-Hernandez, 36, was sentenced Monday to 57 months in federal prison for unlawfully returning to the United States, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Carrillo-Hernandez,  was also sentenced to an additional term of 24 months in prison, to be served consecutively, because he was still on supervised release in another case when he unlawfully returned.

Records filed in court prior to his sentencing showed that between 2003 and 2013, he was convicted of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, domestic battery, three times for driving under the influence, and twice in federal court for unlawful re-entry following deportation subsequent to convictions for aggravated felonies.

In the present case, he came to the attention of Immigration and Customs Enforcement after his fourth arrest for DUI in April 2017.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A woman accused of intentionally driving into the Kansas River with her children in the car will stand trial on first-degree murder and attempted murder charges.

A mental evaluation of 26-year-old Scharron Dingledine, of Columbia, Missouri, found she was mentally competent to stand trial.

Dingledine made a brief video appearance in Douglas County District Court Tuesday to learn the results of the examination. Her attorney, Carol Cline, said she would not contest the evaluation results.

She is accused of driving into the Kansas River near Lawrence in August, killing her 5-year-old daughter and critically injuring her 1-year-old son. Children’s Mercy Hospital said Tuesday his condition has been upgraded to serious.

Dingledine’s next court appearance is Oct. 2. She remains in custody on $1 million bond.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to 58 years and two months in prison for a deadly Manhattan shooting.

Steven Harris was sentenced Monday for second-degree murder in the death of 39-year-old German Gonzalez-Garcia, of Manhattan and attempted second-degree murder in the wounding of a second victim.

Prosecutors say Harris shot the two victims in May 2017. Gonzalez-Garcia died at the scene.

Harris was arrested along with his girlfriend in Wichita four days after the shooting when they tried to check into a Wichita hotel.

Harris had previously been convicted of attempted second-degree murder in Franklin County and was released from prison in 2015. In the 2017 shooting, Harris also was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

JEWELL COUNTY – Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) agents are investigating the shooting of two Jewell County sheriff’s deputies which occurred Tuesday morning at the Sheriff’s Office in Mankato, Kan.

Preliminary information indicates that on Aug. 28 at approximately 7:52 a.m., a male subject, identified as Jason L. Whitson, 40, of Mankato, entered the Sheriff’s Office. He walked up to the dispatch desk and requested to talk to a deputy. As a sheriff’s deputy approached to speak with him, Whitson fired multiple times through a door that led into the dispatch room. Two deputies were injured during the shooting. No law enforcement officers discharged their firearms.

Whitson then fled the Sheriff’s Office. Since he was recognized by personnel at the Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement immediately began to locate him and the vehicle they assumed he would be driving.

At approximately 8:45 a.m., a Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) trooper spotted Whitson’s vehicle and pursued him Eastbound on US-24 Highway. When the vehicle was just south of Minneapolis, Kan., an adult female and five minor children were allowed to exit. Whitson then continued onto US-81 Highway where law enforcement used a maneuver that forced the vehicle to stop.

Once the vehicle was stopped, KHP Troopers approached it and found him suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No law enforcement officers at this scene discharged their firearms.

EMS responded and transported Whitson to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Both Sheriff’s deputies are expected to recover from their injuries. One deputy has been released from a local hospital. The second deputy remains at a Salina hospital, but is out of surgery and is now in stable condition.

———–

JEWELL COUNTY —Following the shooting of 2 deputies at the Law enforcement center in Mankato, Kansas Highway Patrol began a search in surrounding counties for the suspect Jason Whitson, according to a statement from the KHP.

At 8:46 a.m. troopers encountered the suspect’s eastbound vehicle on U.S. 24 near Glasco. The suspect continued eastbound at approximately 70-miles per hour.

At 9:09 a.m. just south of Minneapolis, the suspect stopped the vehicle in the road and let out passengers and continued southbound on U.S. 81, according to the release.

At 9:11 a.m. a trooper conducted a tactical vehicle intervention on the suspect vehicle. The driver lost control of the vehicle and stopped on the roadway. Troopers located the suspect in the vehicle with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the release. He was transported to the hospital in Salina for treatment.

One deputy was expected to be released from the hospital after treatment. The other deputy was in surgery, according to a statement from the Jewell County Clerk’s office.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is in charge of the investigation.

———–

JEWELL COUNTY —The suspect wanted for shooting two deputies at the Jewell County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday is in custody and hospitalized in Salina with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

The suspect was taken into custody in Ottawa County.

I’m praying for a full recovery for the two Jewell County deputies shot in the line of duty earlier this morning. We appreciate the service rendered by all law enforcement officers, and thank them for their bravery. #ksleg

— Governor Jeff Colyer (@GovJeffColyer) August 28, 2018

Authorities have released few additional details.

The suspect identified as Jason Whitson allegedly shot two deputies at the Jewell County Sheriff’s office early Tuesday in the 300 Block of North Commercial in Mankato, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.

Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan said Tuesday that both Saline County Sheriff’s deputies and Salina Police were prepared to keep Whitson from driving into Salina. Soldan said that Sheriff’s deputies were blocking exits at U.S. 81 and K 143 and at the intersection of Interstate 135 and Interstate 70. Salina Police covered the Ninth Street exit of Interstate 70 and the State Street and Crawford Street exits on Interstate 135.

“Our thoughts are with the deputies who were shot and the Jewell County Sheriff’s office,” Soldan added.

———-

JEWELL COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are searching for a man who allegedly shot two deputies at the Jewell County Sheriff’s office Tuesday morning in the 300 Block of North Commercial in Mankato, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.

The suspect identified as Jason Whitson, according to the KHP fled the shooting scene.

Whitson is described as bald, has multiple tattoos and was wearing a black hat and shirt. He may be driving a 2002 Ford Windstar with Kansas Tag 729 JFG. He is considered armed and dangerous. If you see him call 911.