The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Chevy Impala driven by Hannah L. Lager, 24 Atchison, was southbound on Kansas 4 Highway on the inside lane two miles north of Valley Falls.
The driver attempted to pass a semi traveling in far-right was attempting to merge into the inside lane.
The Chevy attempted to pass the semi in the opposing northbound lane. She overcorrected and lost control of the Chevy and began to skid counter clockwise into the northbound lane of traffic.
The semi then collided with the Chevy
Lager was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics. The semi driver Hollis, Warren E. Hollis, 75, Valley Falls, was transported to the hospital in Topeka.
The Maize Board of Education recognized nurse Stephany McClellan and paraprofessional Glen Shafer at this month’s meeting. The district says they took turns administering the Heimlich maneuver on Keegan Dalton in January until he was able to breathe. The district tweeted a picture Tuesday of them standing next to the smiling boy.
His mother, Kristina Dalton, was among those who attended the meeting. She was working as a substitute teacher at Maize South Elementary School when her son started choking.
TOPEKA – One hundred days into her tenure as the 48th Governor of Kansas, Laura Kelly is reflecting on her accomplishments, highlighting successes and addressing the unfinished business of passing Medicaid expansion.
“When I gave my inaugural address on January 14, I stood in front of three banners with the words: equality, education and opportunity,” Kelly said. “These are the principles that have guided my first 100 days in office. And they are the principles that will guide us as we work to invest in our future and grow our economy. ”
In addition to the accomplishments outlined below, Kelly followed through on her promise to appoint a highly-qualified, bipartisan cabinet of Kansas leaders focused on rebuilding state agencies decimated by previous administrations.
“I was elected to rebuild Kansas and we’re already making progress,” Kelly said. “My team has increased transparency and accountability in our government and restored responsible, commonsense leadership that addresses the priorities of Kansas families.”
Kelly has taken significant steps towards stabilizing the state’s budget and investing in key priorities, like schools and roads. However, one critical issue is left unfinished: Medicaid expansion. In her fifteenth consecutive Kansan to Kansan weekly video, shared on Facebook earlier today, she called on Senate leadership to stop blocking progress on Medicaid expansion.
“We’re halfway there – but that’s not good enough. When the legislature returns on May 1st, they need to vote on Medicaid expansion,” Kelly said. “Over 77 percent of Kansans want expansion to happen. The Senate President and Majority Leader need to stop playing games with taxpayers’ health care and get it done. Two of my biggest town halls were in their districts and the response was overwhelming and undeniably in favor of expansion. Kansans are counting on us.”
100 days rebuilding Kansas
Day 1:
On her first full day in office, Governor Kelly signed Executive Order 19-02, reinstating protections to state employees who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
Day 4:
Kelly submitted a balanced budget to the Kansas Legislature nearly three weeks ahead of schedule; a budget that paid down debt, invested in key priorities like schools, highways and Medicaid expansion, and provided the state with the largest ending balance in twenty years – all without a tax increase.
Day 15: Kelly introduced a bipartisan plan to expand Medicaid on Kansas Day.
Day 32: Kelly joined Secretary of Transportation Julie Lorenz in announcing plans to invest $160 million in Kansas’ transportation system, as part of the Governor’s FY 2020 budget. This included four new projects from the T-Works program.
Day 39:
Lt. Governor Lynn Rogers launched the Rural Healthcare Tour, as part of building the Office of Rural Prosperity. As of today, he has visited seventeen communities across Kansas: Emporia, Marysville, Garden City, Hutchinson, McPherson, Dodge City, Hays, Russell, Ottawa, El Dorado, Council Grove, Goodland, Abilene, Leavenworth, Junction City, Chanute and Pittsburg.
Day 42:
Kelly announced new transparency initiatives at the Department for Children and Families, designed to improve the agency’s efforts to locate children who are absent or have run away.
Day 53: Kelly signs Senate Bill 9 which repaid $115 million debt to our state retirement system.
Day 82:
Kelly squarely established herself as the ‘education governor’ by signing a bipartisan school funding plan into law. The education plan, if approved by the Kansas Supreme Court, could bring an end to decades of legislative debates and legal challenges surrounding education funding. This followed the signing of Executive Order 19-03 in January, establishing the Governor’s Council on Education and the restoration of the previous administration’s cuts to the Children’s Initiatives Fund.
Day 85:
Kelly completed four town hall discussions during the 2019 legislative session. In total, over 15,000 Kansans attended these town halls in-person or online via Facebook live.
Day 99: Kelly signed Executive Order 19-07, establishing the Kansas Complete Count Committee, in support of a statewide strategy that ensures every Kansan is counted in the upcoming census. The data collected in the census will inform how the federal government distributed much-needed funding for Kansas roads, schools, hospitals, emergency services and much more.
Day 100:
As of this day, Kelly has signed over 100 proclamations and her constituent services team has opened nearly 2,000 cases on behalf of hardworking Kansans. Of those opened cases, 1,800 have been closed.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas district attorney has declined to charge Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill with a crime in a domestic incident that involved his fiance and their 3-year-old child.
Tyreek Hill -photo courtesy KC Chiefs
Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said Wednesday “we believe a crime has occurred, however, the evidence in this case does not conclusively establish who committed this crime.”
Police were called to the home of Hill and Crystal Espinal twice last month, and the investigators said their child had been injured. Howe said there will be “a continued involvement by state officials” but declined to discuss the health of the child.
He described the case as a difficult one because of the child’s involvement.
MONKEY ISLAND, Okla. – The Fort Hays State men’s golf team finished sixth at the MIAA Championships (April 22-24), hosted at Shangri-La Country Club. The first round was played as at 7,009 yards, the second round was played at 7,006 yards and the third round was played at 6,788 yards. All rounds were par-72. The Tigers finished the week with rounds of 305, 301 and 310.
Senior Mac McNish claimed a solo 18th finish for the week. McNish carded rounds of 74, 73 and back to 74 in the third round to round out the event at 5-over par (221). McNish carded 12 birdies for the week.
Connor Schultz posted rounds of 76, 71 and 83 on his way to a tie for 34th individually. Schultz posted the only under-par round for a Tiger in the second round of the tournament. Schultz finished the week 14-over par (230) and carded 11 birdies in the championship.
Bryce Cowan also finished in a tie for 34th after firing rounds of 77, 78 and 75. Cowan picked up five birdies throughout the week. Isaiah Grover finished in a tie for 43rd after shooting rounds of 78, 82 and 79. Grover posted nine birdies in the tournament. Pete Carney fired rounds of 84, 79 and 82 with four birdies.
Lindenwood took home the team title with an aggregate score of 21-under par (843), winning the tournament by 12 strokes. Northeastern State placed second after finishing with a total score of 855 and Central Missouri finished third with an 865. Fort Hays State finished the week 52-over par as a team. Markus Lindgren of Lindenwood claimed the individual crown with an 11-under par (205) score for the tournament, narrowly beating out Alexander Hughes of Central Oklahoma by one stroke.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Tampa Bay ace Blake Snell lasted one out into the fourth inning in his return from a broken right fourth toe as the Rays were beaten 10-2 by the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.
The 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner, who hurt the toe attempting to move a decorative display in his bathroom on April 14, allowed three runs, five hits, two walks and struck out three during a 65-pitch outing.
The left-hander (2-2) had given up one run and nine hits over 19 innings in three starts prior to the injury.
Adalberto Mondesi hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs, Billy Hamilton had two hits and two RBIs, and Jakob Junis (2-2) gave up one run and four hits in five innings for the Royals, who stopped a five-game losing streak.
Junis bruised his right hand on Yandy Diaz’s drive that resulted in an inning-ending double-play in the fifth.
Snell, signed to a $50 million, five year contract on March 21, said Tuesday that he still had some discomfort in the toe when he walks, but not when throwing on a mound.
The Rays decided that Snell was ready to return despite throwing just an 18-pitch bullpen session Saturday and eight pitches off a mound Monday.
Snell was replaced by Ryan Yarbrough with a runner on third and one out in the fourth.
Kansas City greeted Yarbrough with consecutive bunt singles, including Cam Gallagher’s that drove in a run, and Hamilton’s RBI double that made it 4-1.
Hamilton had a run-scoring triple and Mondesi hit his third homer off Yarbrough to put the Royals ahead 8-1 in the sixth.
Hamilton is 3 for 36 overall against the Rays.
Mondesi added an eighth-inning RBI single.
Tampa Bay went up 1-0 on Joey Wendle’s RBI double in the first before the Royals tied it during the second when third baseman Daniel Robertson was charged with an error for an errant throw on a slow roller by Hamilton.
Both Hamilton (first base) and Terrance Gore (third base) were both tagged out during rundowns on the same play to end the second with Whit Merrifield batting.
Merrifield homered leading off the third.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: 3B Hunter Dozier (lower back) was out of the lineup for the second straight game but could start Friday.
Rays: RHP Hunter Wood was transferred from the paternity list to the family emergency list and may rejoin the team Friday. Manager Kevin Cash said Wood’s baby was born premature but is fine and being monitored. … Wendle was hit by a Jake Diekman pitch in the sixth and left with a fractured right wrist.
UP NEXT
Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (left shoulder) will make his first start of the season Friday night against the Los Angeles Angels.
Rays: RHP Charlie Morton (2-0) will start Friday night at the Boston. The Rays were swept in a three-game series by the Red Sox last weekend.
MAYETTA, Kan. – The Fort Hays State women’s golf team claimed an eighth-place finish at the MIAA Women’s Championship (April 22-24), hosted at Firekeeper Golf Course, a 5,880-yard, par-72 course. The Tigers shot rounds of 342, 341 and 323 to finish 142-over par (1006) for the tournament.
Senior Taylor DeBoer led Fort Hays State as she earned a tie for 23rd individually. DeBoer fired a first round score of 82 before finishing with identical 78’s to finish 22-over par (238) for the week. She finished the tournament with a team-high six birdies on the scorecard.
Hannah Perkins captured a solo 35th-place finish overall after shooting rounds of 88, 83 and 77 to post an overall score of 248. Perkins carded five birdies throughout the week. Katie Brungardt finished solo 40th with scores of 86, 87 and back to 86 in the third round. Brungardt carded an overall score of 259 while making three birdies and an eagle on a par four in the championship.
Kira Mestl posted round of 86, 93, and 82 to finish in a tie for 41st. Mestl picked up two birdies for the week. Kelsey McCarthy fired rounds of 91, 99 and 88. McCarthy finished with one birdie in the championship.
Northeastern State claimed the team title with an aggregate score of 38-over par (902). Central Missouri finished runner-up with rounds of 304, 296 and 305 (905), while Central Oklahoma captured third with a 920. Shi Qing Ong of Missouri Western grabbed the individual crown with a 1-under par score (215) for the tournament.
Michael “Mike” Gebhart, age 65, of Ogallah, Kansas, passed away Sunday, April 21, 2019 at his home in Ogallah.
He was born in Oxford England on December 20, 1953 to Donald and Olive (Williams) Gebhart. He graduated from Homer High School in Homer, Alaska. Mike was drafted out of high school and became a combat engineer in the United States Marine Corps.
On September 26, 1998, Mike was united in marriage to Dienna Gray. They enjoyed 21 years of marriage. He worked as a mechanic and driver. He owned and operated D&M Technical Services for 13 years. Mike enjoyed racing, shooting, and being outdoors. He was always willing to help others, especially his grandchildren, and anybody’s dog.
Mike is survived by his wife Dienna of the family home; stepsons, Richard Carl and wife Shantell of Fort Lupton, Colorado, Russell Wood and wife Jessica of WaKeeney, David Berry and wife Jordyn of Hays, Kansas; 10 grandchildren; and brother, Geoffrey Gebhart. He was preceded in death by his parents; and a granddaughter, Abby Lynn.
Funeral service will be 10:00 a.m., Friday, May 3, 2019 at Bethany Baptist Church, WaKeeney. Inurnment, with military honors by the USMC, will take place immediately after at the Kansas Veterans’ Cemetery, WaKeeney.
There will be no visitation as cremation was chosen.
Memorial contributions are suggested to the Mike Gebhart Memorial Fund (to offset expenses), and may be sent in care of Schmitt Funeral Home, 336 North 12th, WaKeeney, KS 67672.
Henry L. Duryee passed away Tuesday, April 23, 2019, at Hays Medical Center in Hays, KS at the age of 85.
He was born on August 5, 1933 in Dorrance, KS to Max and Anna (Miller) Duryee. Henry attended high school in Dorrance and graduated with the class of 1952. After serving in the Army, Henry worked as the head manager for the Noxious Weed Department for Russell County. He was united in marriage to Nancy Cooper on Nov. 30, 1952 in Wilson, Kansas. They were blessed with 4 daughters: Teresa, Joleen, Ruth, and Sandy.
Henry enjoyed hunting and fishing. He could be found most days either at the lake or down by the river. Henry loved spending time with his family, and so enjoyed all of his grandchildren.
Left to cherish his memory is his wife Nancy of the home; daughters, Theresa Sparks and husband Brad of Thornton, CO, Joleen Hill of Wilson, Ruth Kepka and husband Henry of Dorrance, and Sandy Shupe of Hays; sister, Betty Goodwin of Ponca City, OK; 14 grandchildren; 29 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Max and Anna Duryee; brothers, Lavern, Dale, and Willis Duryee; sisters, Maxine Temple and Cora Whitmer; and son-in-law, Roger Hill.
Funeral Services will be held at 10:30AM on Friday, April 26, 2019, at the First Baptist Church in Wilson with burial following in Dorrance City Cemetery. Visitation will be held on Thursday at the funeral home 1:00PM – 8:00PM with the family receiving friends 6:00PM -8:00PM. Visitation will also be held 9:30AM until service time on Friday at the church.
Memorials are suggested to Wilson Baptist Youth and may be sent in care of Plumer-Overlease Funeral Home, 610 24th ST., PO Box 533, Wilson, KS 67490. Condolences may be left for the family at www.plumeroverlease.com
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities continue investigating after skeletal remains were found Monday in rural Shawnee County.
Authorities on the scene near where skeletal remains were found -photo courtesy WIBW TV
Late Monday, the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office was called to a wooded area north of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism regional office at 300 SW Wanamaker Road, according to Undersheriff Phil Blume
A citizen found skeletal remains in the dense woods. The Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Coroner’s Office, was able to confirm that the skeletal remains are human, according to Deputy Shayna Anderson.
The excavation process in conjunction with Washburn University Forensic Anthropology Recovery Unit is complete.
A majority of the human remains were able to be recovered. The remains are now in the custody of the Shawnee County Coroner’s Office. A preliminary investigation of the scene did not indicate signs of foul play.
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SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating after skeletal remains were found.
On Monday, the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office was called to a wooded area north of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism regional office at 300 SW Wanamaker Road, according to Undersheriff Phil Blume
A citizen claimed to have found skeletal remains in the dense woods. The Sheriff’s Office responded and with the assistance of the Shawnee County Coroner’s Office, located and removed the skeletal remains in question. Due to darkness and heavy vegetation the search was postponed until daylight.
The property and immediate area in question is private property and access is being denied, according to Louderback
It is important for a thorough search of the area to be completed. Authorities don’t known how long that will take.
Physicians at the University of Kansas Hospital perform surgery. KU is one of 14 transplant centers challenging a new policy on liver allocation. THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS HEALTH SYSTEM
Two Kansas City area hospitals joined 12 other transplant centers this week in a lawsuit over a new liver allocation policy that they say will result in “hundreds of liver transplant candidates needlessly dying.”
The University of Kansas Hospital and Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City are plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit filed in Atlanta against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the United Network for Organ Sharing, or UNOS, the private organization that contracts with the government to manage the nation’s organ transplant system.
The new policy, set to take effect at the end of April, changes the regional system for allocating livers to one that gives priority to the sickest patients.
That has hospitals such as KU and Saint Luke’s upset because their region has a higher rate of donor registration than others.
Supporters of the policy change say that it’s meant to reduce geographic disparities in organ distribution. The notion is that where a patient lives or chooses to list for a transplant should not be a factor in organ allocation.
More than 13,000 people in the United States are awaiting liver transplants and only 7,000 livers are currently available, according to the lawsuit. Another 11,000 people are added to the liver waitlist every year.
The lawsuit filed Monday contends that the new policy “will result in at least 20% fewer liver transplants being performed in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged regions in the country, which are served in part by Transplant Center Plaintiffs’ liver transplant programs.”
“Based on the government’s own data, Transplant Center Plaintiffs will perform 256 fewer transplants per year — leaving 256 candidates at risk of imminent death absent the transplant they would have otherwise received,” the lawsuit states.
Calling the new policy “the product of an opaque, reckless process that failed to allow for full public comment and transparent discussion,” the plaintiffs say they’re not seeking preferential treatment. Rather, they say they’re asking HHS and UNOS “to develop a policy that complies with the law.”
The lawsuit alleges that HHS unlawfully abdicated its responsibility to determine the nation’s liver allocation policy by deferring decision-making to UNOS.
Ann Paschke, a spokeswoman for UNOS, said in a statement that the organization would review the complaint, but believes “that we have developed a sound policy that provides a fairer, more equitable system for all liver patients – no matter where they live – as they wait for a lifesaving transplant.”
“The reality is that, on average, three people die every day in the U.S. while waiting for a liver transplant, and because this new policy will save more lives by reducing the number of patients who die while waiting, we believe it is an improved policy and a step in the right direction,” Paschke said.
“This new policy is projected to reduce waitlist mortality by roughly 100 fewer deaths each year, will allow more children to receive life-saving transplants, and will correct an inequity that emerged over time within the old policy that led to unfair advantages and disadvantages based on where liver transplant recipients live.”
Besides KU and Saint Luke’s, the plaintiffs include Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, which jointly operate a transplant program in St. Louis that has performed more than 2,100 liver transplants since 1985. Other plaintiffs include hospitals in Atlanta, Detroit, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Oregon, Tennessee and Virginia.
Four individuals awaiting transplants are also plaintiffs.
The transplant centers collectively account for 11% of the people nationwide awaiting liver transplants.
KU Hospital, part of the University of Kansas Health System, runs the only liver transplant program in Kansas and has performed nearly 1,600 transplants since 1990, according to the lawsuit. Saint Luke’s has performed about 70 liver transplants in the last five years.
Liver transplant survival rates have improved markedly since Thomas Starzl performed the first liver transplant at the University of Colorado in the early 1960s. The first patients survived only weeks. Today, 86% are alive one year after surgery, 78% after three years, 72% after five years and 53% after 20 years, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
Organ donation registration rates vary dramatically by state. They range from a high in Montana of 93% of adults registered as organ donors to a low in New York of 32%. Missouri ranks seventh in the nation, with 73 percent of adults registered as organ donors. Kansas ranks 12th, with 68 percent registered.
Other elected officials support the change. More than 80 House members sent a letter last month to Azar endorsing it, according to Modern Healthcare.
In an op-ed last week in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Blunt said that the new policy could result in a 32% drop in liver transplants in Missouri.
“No longer will locally donated livers be more likely to stay in Missouri or other Midwestern states that have high donation rates,” Blunt wrote. “Instead, the transplantation network rewards locations that don’t have the high number of organ donors that most Midwestern states do.”
The most common reasons for liver transplants are alcoholic liver disease, cancer, fatty liver disease and cirrhosis caused by chronic hepatitis C. The vast majority of donated livers come from people who have recently died.
A statement released by KU said the new policy will result in transporting organs and transplant teams up to 500 miles away from each donor hospital, creating more risks for patients, the organs and the teams as well as higher transportation costs.
“More people will die … that’s the bottom line,” Dr. Sean Kumer, a transplant surgeon, is quoted as saying in the release.
Dan Margolies is a senior reporter and editor in conjunction with the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.
José Horacio Armendariz, age 58, of Scott City, Kansas, passed away on April 20, 2019 at the Swedish Medical Center in Denver, Colorado. He was born on June 12, 1960 in Satevo, Chihuahua, Mexico, the son of Encarnacion and Eva Prieto Armendariz. A resident of Scott City, Kansas since 1984 moving from Chihuahua, Mexico, he was a feed truck driver for Poky Feeders since 1984.
He was a member of the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Scott City, Kansas.
Survivors include four brothers – Armando Armendariz of Chihuahua, Mexico, Ramon Armendariz of Chihuahua, Mexico, Humberto Armendariz of Chihuahua, Mexico, Jesus Armendariz of Chihuahua, Mexico, six sisters – Hermila Rivera of Chihuahua, Mexico, Ideliza Rivera of Chihuahua, Mexico, Manuela Ruiz of Chihuahua, Mexico, Luz Elena Heredia of Chihuahua, Mexico, Graciela Rodriguez of Scott City, Kansas, and Leticia Alvidrez of La Paz, Mexico, nieces & nephews – Armando Armendariz of Kansas, Ever Armendariz of Kansas, Ibis Armendariz of New Mexico, Verenice Chavez of Texas, Salvador Rivera of New Mexico, Chubeto Rivera of Kansas, Gardenia Ruiz of Mexico, Pamela Heredia of Mexico, Blas Rodriguez of Kansas, Ricardo Alvidrez of Mexico and Rey Armendariz of Kansas.
He was preceded in death by his parents, and one brother – Arturo Armendariz.
Vigil Service will be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Scott City, Kansas at 7:00 p.m. Friday, April 26, 2019.
Funeral Mass will be at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Scott City, Kansas at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 27, 2019.
Interment will be in the Scott County Cemetery in Scott City, Kansas.
Visitation will be at Price & Sons Funeral Home in Scott City from 3:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Thursday and from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Friday.
