By SAMANTHA GILSTRAP
KU Statehouse Wire Service

TOPEKA – The Senate last week passed Bill 77, which requires the Department of Children and Family Services to offer counseling services to children who exhibit problem sexual behavior.

This means any child under the age of 18 who has allegedly committed sexual abuse against another child, who is also under the age of 18, would be offered counseling. The bill was created to help children and their families as sexual abuse by children coincides often with the child experiencing their own form of sexual abuse within the household.

The services provided will be voluntary unless the situation is deemed to be dangerous. Proposers of the bill reason that these services are vital to reducing the risk of future sexual abuse by children. The bill will not affect investigations, but rather give help to underage offenders so that they can grow to become responsible caring adults.

After the bill was introduced in the Senate in February, it was referred to the Committee on Judiciary where the bill was amended. The bill now addresses that a child receiving the services could have multiple alleged accounts of abuse and counseling isn’t just limited to first-time offenders. Under the bill, the Judiciary Committee deemed the state must provide a referral to a child-advocacy center. This will place the responsibility of therapy on the family but still provide them resources to seek help.

The Committee on the Whole passed the amendment 38-0 and sent it along to the House. In the House the bill was referred to the Committee on Federal and State Affairs where it was passed back. Sen. Molly Baumgardner (R-Louisburg) requested the bill to be reviewed in the Senate chambers March 26 where it was heard and then moved forward.

Samantha Gilstrap is a University of Kansas senior from Charlotte, North Carolina, majoring in journalism.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the three college students who were detained after unfurling banners at the Kansas Statehouse in support of Medicaid expansion.

“Blood on their hands” banners drop in the Statehouse naming Kansas Senate President Wagle and Majority Leader Denning who are blocking over 100,000 Kansans from healthcare access #ExpandMedicaid pic.twitter.com/FpAnamSzTt

— Davis Hammet (@Davis_Hammet) March 27, 2019

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas said Thursday the Kansas restrictions suppress political expression. It seeks a court order prohibiting Kansas from enforcing what ACLU contends are flawed policies.

The litigation stems from an incident last month involving Kansas State University students who hung large banners saying Republican legislators who oppose expanding Medicaid have “blood on their hands.”

The students were initially barred from the Statehouse for a year, but have since been reinstated.

House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, a conservative Republican singled out in one of the banners, says the rule is in place to prevent damage to the Statehouse.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials are investigating whether electronic cigarettes may trigger seizures in some people who use the nicotine-vaping devices.

The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it has reviewed 35 reports of seizures among e-cigarettes users, mainly in young people. Regulators stressed it’s not yet clear whether vaping is responsible. But they said they’re concerned and encouraged the public to report information about the issue.

These cases warrant “investigation into whether there is in fact a connection,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement. Gottlieb is stepping down on Friday after nearly two years heading the agency.

Cases go back to 2010 and were reported to the FDA or poison control centers around the country. Regulators said they detected an uptick in reports beginning mid-2018. While they represent a tiny fraction of Americans who have used e-cigarettes, many safety issues with foods, supplements and other consumer products can go unrecognized because reporting is voluntary.

Most e-cigarettes heat a flavored nicotine solution into an inhalable vapor. The battery-powered devices have grown into a multibillion dollar industry though there are few standards, including how much nicotine they deliver. Additionally, many refillable e-cigarettes can be used with nicotine formulas of varying strength.

Nicotine poisoning can cause seizures, convulsions, vomiting and brain injury. The FDA has previously warned of potentially fatal nicotine poisoning in infants and children who accidentally swallowed nicotine solutions.

Seizures usually last a few seconds or minutes and rarely cause permanent injury. But they can be a sign of underlying neurological disorders that need medical attention.

Laboratory and animal studies have found a link between nicotine and hyperactivity in the brain. What needs further study is what type of e-cigarette could deliver levels of nicotine capable of causing seizures, said Maciej Goniewicz, a toxicologist at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York.

The FDA said the handful of seizure reports often lack information about the brand of e-cigarette or whether users had a medical condition that might have contributed. In some cases, e-cigarettes were being used with drugs like marijuana and amphetamines. Some seizures were reported after just a few puffs of the device, others after a day of use.

The FDA is asking consumers to report problems to an online site. The agency is seeking details about vaping brands and models and whether users who have experienced problems were also taking medications, supplements or other drugs.

A spokesman for the American Vaping Association called the FDA announcement “incredibly irresponsible,” given the uncertain connection between e-cigarettes and the handful of reports cited.

“It would actually be highly unusual if zero consumers of a product used by millions of adults over the last decade reported suffering a seizure,” spokesman Gregory Conley said in a statement.

It’s not the first time the FDA has flagged a potential health hazard with vaping devices — the agency has warned of rare burns and explosions related to overheating of batteries that power the devices.

The latest concern comes amid a nationwide push to fight underage use of e-cigarettes, which have surged in popularity among high school and middle school students. Last month the FDA outlined new restrictions on retail and online sales of most flavored e-cigarettes. Meanwhile, local and state officials are considering age restrictions, taxes and flavor bans to keep the products away from teenagers.

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By JOHN HANNA

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators in Kansas are moving closer to passing Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s plan to boost spending on public schools after some GOP lawmakers dropped their push for an alternative Wednesday night with a court deadline looming.

It’s time to do the right thing and fund our schools. Call your legislators and tell them you support our plan and the Senate position on school funding. 1 (800) 432-3924. #ksleg pic.twitter.com/JmZZFHpcJK

— Laura Kelly (@LauraKellyKS) April 4, 2019

Kelly’s proposal to increase education funding by roughly $90 million a year is designed to satisfy a Kansas Supreme Court ruling last year that lawmakers aren’t spending enough on schools. The court gave the state’s attorneys until April 15 to file a written report on lawmakers’ response.

House and Senate negotiators agreed Wednesday night on the final version of a bill containing Kelly’s funding proposal and a few education policy changes, including a requirement for an online, one-page state performance report on each public school. The House plans to consider the bill first on Thursday, and if both chambers approve it, the measure goes to Kelly.

The GOP-controlled Senate approved Kelly’s plan last month with strong bipartisan support. Top Republicans in the GOP-controlled House wanted to tie the new money to education policy changes and earmark much of it to programs for at-risk students but couldn’t find enough support in their chamber.

The House has yet to pass a funding proposal but narrowly approved a policy bill last week. That action was enough for the House and Senate to begin talks Monday on both money and policy.

Senate negotiators would not back off supporting Kelly’s funding proposal because the full House had not voted on one. The talks grew contentious over three days, but House Republicans eventually caved in.

Their lead negotiator, Rep. Kristey Williams, a Wichita-area Republican, said senators were working “hand in hand” with the governor’s office, adding, “What else could we do?”

Senators dismissed the criticism, saying they were sticking with the funding approach most likely to satisfy the Supreme Court.

“It was a difficult task for the House, since they had never passed anything,” said lead Senate negotiator Molly Baumgardner, an eastern Kansas Republican.

Four school districts sued Kansas over education funding in 2010. The Supreme Court has issued six rulings since February 2014 requiring lawmakers to increase it, so that it’s now more than $4 billion a year.

A 2018 law promised to phase in a $548 million increase by the 2022-23 school year, but the Supreme Court said it wasn’t sufficient because lawmakers didn’t account for inflation.

LYON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects for an incident that led to the temporary lockdown of schools and a Hobby Lobby in Emporia.

On Wednesday morning, the two later identified as 18-year-old Jennifer Guerrero and 24-year-old Jose Martinez, both of Guymon, Oklahoma, checked out of the Candlewood Suites, 2602 Candlewood Drive in Emporia and returned later to look for an item they thought they left in their room, according to a media release from Emporia Police.

While back at the hotel Martinez saw two female hotel employees leaving work and followed them as they drove away.

The women told police Martinez followed closely in the couple’s Chevy Silverado, acted aggressively and brandished a gun at them.

They made it just over a block before the women crashed into a retaining wall in the Hobby Lobby parking lot, according to the release.
The women were not injured and ran into the store for help, yelling the man had a gun. That prompted the report of an active shooter.

While law enforcement authorities investigated, the store and several schools in the area including Emporia High School, Emporia Middle School and Timmerman Elementary School were placed on lockdown.

No shots were fired, according to police and Martinez drove away. The Kansas Highway Patrol stopped the truck in Greenwood County and arrested the couple, according to the release.

Martinez and Guerrero remain in custody in the Lyon County jail on requested charges that include possession of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana, possession of depressants with intent to sell and felony possession of drug paraphernalia. Martinez was also booked on suspicion of charges including felon in possession of a firearm, aggravated assault, and aggravated criminal threat.