POLK COUNTY Iowa – A cab driver convicted of vehicular homicide for a crash that killed one Kansas man and injured another has been sentenced to 17-years in prison.

According to the Polk County Attorney the sentence for 31-year-old  Mohamed Diriye of Des Moines, includes 10-years for vehicular homicide by reckless driving, 5-years for serious injury by reckless driving and 2-years for 0perating a vehicle while intoxicated. This was his second OWI conviction, according to the county attorney.

The crash occurred shortly before 4 a.m. January 19, 2017 when the cab ran off a road into a ravine.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported 49-year-old Shawn Koltiska, of Augusta, Kansas, died in the crash. Another passenger 48-year-old Joseph Foster, of Garden Plain, Kansas was transported to a hospital for treatment.

Diriye was also treated and released.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Charges have been dropped against one of the suspects in the deadly shooting of a Topeka woman.

Thirty-year-old Justin Lee McCoy was released Wednesday. He had been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Patricia Sanders, whose body was found last May in her Topeka home.

Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay announced Thursday that new information was turned over that requires more investigation. He noted the charges were dismissed in such a way that they could be filed again.

It’s the second time McCoy has been freed. He and another suspect, 27-year-old Rahnel Erik Rayford, were released previously after a judge found there wasn’t probable cause to hold them. A grand jury then indicted them. Rayford is set to be tried next month on a murder charge.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A teenager involved in the exchange of a stolen handgun on Lawrence High School grounds has been sentenced to six months of probation.

The teenager was sentenced Wednesday in a closed hearing for criminal use of a weapon.

Court documents say another teenager had stolen the gun from his father Sept. 9 and provided it to the other teenager the next day.

The teen who was sentenced Wednesday was originally charged with felony theft for obtaining control of a stolen gun. Court documents show he pleaded no contest to criminal use of a weapon, a misdemeanor.

The other teen is charged with felony theft after allegedly stealing the gun from his father. His case is pending.

The gun was recovered off campus.

GREENWOOD COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after noon Thursday in Greenwood County

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1968 Chevy El Camino driven by Terrence Joseph Lucas, 53, Eucha, OK., was northbound on Kansas 99 three miles east of Eureka.

The driver failed to yield at the intersection of U.S. 54. An eastbound semi driven by Dusty Lane Booth, 64, Eureka, struck the Chevy.

Lucas and Booth were transported to the Greenwood County Hospital where Lucas died. Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A public filing says a Kansas water park where a 10-year-old boy was decapitated has cash flow troubles.

EPR Properties said Thursday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it agreed to advance Schlitterbahn additional amounts under the mortgage, which has an outstanding balance of nearly $180 million. The report noted an off-season shortfall and the cost of legal issues. It was released almost one week after a judge dismissed criminal charges stemming from Caleb Schwab’s 2016 death.

It’s unclear whether Schlitterbahn has received advances in previous off-seasons. EPR’s annual report from a year agomade no mention of advancing money.

Schlitterbahn hasn’t announced plans for the park in 2019. EPR and Schlitterbahn officials couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting and have made a second arrest.

Just after 8:30p.m. February 6, police were dispatched to a shooting call at the Genesis Health Club parking lot in the 3700 Block of East 13th Street North, according to officer Paul Cruz.

A citizen discovered an injured victim and provided aid until EMS arrived. EMS pronounced the victim dead just before 9p.m., according to Cruz.

Investigators determined the victim identified as 22-year-old Lorenzo Wade of Wichita died from several gunshot wounds.

On Wednesday night police arrested  20-year-old Ashantis Bledsoe and booked him on requested charges of first degree criminal homicide, according to Police Captain Brent Allred.

Police believe drugs were involved and that the suspects and victim were known to each other.

On Tuesday night, police arrested 25-year-old Tanner Mora on a charge of first-degree murder, according Allred.  They are the only two suspects believed to have been involved.  Police were expected to present the case to the  district attorney Thursday afternoon.

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SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting and have made an arrest.

Just after 8:30p.m. February 6, police were dispatched to a shooting call at the Genesis Health Club parking lot in the 3700 Block of East 13th Street North, according to officer Paul Cruz.

A citizen discovered an injured victim and provided aid until EMS arrived. EMS pronounced the victim dead just before 9p.m., according to Cruz.

Investigators determined the victim identified as 22-year-old Lorenzo Wade of Wichita died from several gunshot wounds

On Tuesday night, police arrested 25-year-old Tanner Mora on a charge of first-degree , according to police captain Brent Allred.  Authorities are expected to interview others in connection with the shooting as they continue their investigation, according to Allred.

By NOMIN UJIYEDIIN
Kansas News Service

The company hired to provide health care in Kansas prisons is getting paid millions less than its contracted amount after failing to meet the agreement’s terms.

State officials reduced payments to Corizon Health because the company failed to hire enough nurses and other health workers. Corizon lost additional money after audits found it fell short of performance standards for a range of medical services.

Now, the Kansas Department of Corrections says the contractor has one more year to look after the health of 10,000 people in its prisons.

The department’s executive finance director, Keith Bradshaw, told lawmakers this month that for now, his agency intends to renew its contract with Corizon for only a year — rather than the two-year option included in the original contract.

“If things continue to improve, we’ll go ahead and pick up that second year,” Bradshaw said. “If we continue to have issues, then we’ll look at doing a rebid.”

The state currently has a $68.8 million contract with Corizon. Kansas penalized the company $534,880 for not meeting performance standards in 2018.

The state also cut $2.82 million from its payments to Corizon because the company didn’t deliver an agreed-upon number of employees and work hours last year.

Documents provided by the Kansas Department of Corrections show thousands of hours of missing work each month, due to unfilled jobs for nurses, behavioral health professionals and other medical staff.

Corizon currently faces 22 federal lawsuits regarding the care it provides to people in Kansas prisons. Complaints include inmates being refused medication and care for conditions such as hepatitis C. The state first awarded a contract to the company in January 2014.

The University of Kansas Medical Center audits Corizon’s performance for the state corrections department. KU Med tracks medical services such as intake health assessments, sick calls and group therapy and passes the information to the department. The state can deduct money from its payments to Corizon if the company does not meet performance standards.

According to an agreement provided by the Department of Corrections, the state penalizes Corizon $100 per incident when the company falls below 90 percent compliance with any of its 12 performance standards.

That penalty increases if the company doesn’t fix the problem within six months. It goes up again if the company doesn’t meet compliance standards in subsequent months.

Specialty services — X-rays, dermatology, chemotherapy, and obstetric and gynecological services — are penalized at a higher rate.

If the company doesn’t meet 90 percent compliance for those services, the state imposes a penalty of $300 per instance, with higher penalties the longer the problems persist.

In 2018, KU Med audited nine out of 12 performance standards. Out of those nine standards, Corizon was found to be 100 percent compliant on only one: specialty services. The company’s compliance rates for the other standards were well below the threshold of 90 percent.

Mental health groups, defined as group therapy and workshops on topics such as anger and addiction, were found to be nearly 70 percent compliant. But other services that were audited, including sick calls, intake health assessments and chronic care for conditions like diabetes and HIV, were compliant at rates of less than 10 percent.

At a presentation at the Kansas Capitol this month, state officials said the audits reviewed a small sample of the total number of medical services and do not accurately represent the overall quality of inmate health care.

Bradshaw told lawmakers there were too few workers to conduct extensive evaluations for all 12 performance standards.

Much like its shortage of corrections officers, the state’s prisons also face a shortage of health care workers. It relies heavily on overtime and asking administrators to cover shifts.

Bradshaw said the state was having trouble hiring, despite offering signing bonuses of up to $7,000 for registered nurses and $10,000 for psychologists.

“Corizon is also facing the impact of low unemployment rates throughout the state,” he said, “as well as competition in the highly competitive health care industry.”

Documents provided by the Department of Corrections show that wages for nurses, psychologists and other health professionals working in Kansas prisons are similar to average and entry-level wages for those jobs throughout the state.

Registered nurses working for Corizon in Kansas make $25 an hour. On average, registered nurses in Kansas make an hourly wage of $28. Corizon pays dental assistants $15 an hour, while statewide average pay for the same job is $16.86 an hour. Behavioral health professionals working for Kansas prisons make $24 an hour, while average hourly wages for various mental health and counseling jobs in Kansas range between $16 and $24 an hour.

Registered nurses and behavioral health professionals comprise half of all health-related job openings, Bradshaw said.

Inmates’ health needs can also be time-consuming for corrections officers, who must accompany inmates to expensive off-site medical appointments in pairs. Bradshaw said those appointments often add to officers’ overtime shifts and to vehicle costs.

“With the small staff that we have and the size of this contract and the services being provided,” Bradshaw said, “it’s not realistic to expect every facility and every outcome to be looked at every month.”

Bradshaw said the state didn’t penalize Corizon for noncompliance from June 2017 to December 2017 because the state was moving inmates between facilities and didn’t want to blame the company for any performance issues during that period.

In an interview, he said a better measure of health care quality was the number of medical grievances filed by inmates.

“We’re actually seeing that trend going down, while at the same time the population’s going up,” he said. “I think we have to look at it more holistically.”

People incarcerated in Kansas prisons can file a written grievance with their prison’s warden if medical issues aren’t addressed within 10 days. If the issue is still not resolved, the next step is an appeal to the secretary of corrections, Roger Werholtz.

David Tatarsky, director of health services at the Department of Corrections, said KU Med frequently fielded calls from inmates, their family members and prison staff.  He said those complaints and concerns informed where and when KU Med conducts audits of Corizon’s work.

Tatarsky told lawmakers that staff needed to be selective.  “We look for trends. We try to get the most bang for our buck,” he said.  “We try and focus where we think the need is greatest.”

In an emailed statement, Corizon spokeswoman Eve Hutcherson said the company was evaluating information from the state.

“We take all requirements very seriously in our mission to provide exceptional care to the patients we serve as the DOC’s partner,” she said. “Corizon remains committed as a strong partner with Kansas Department of Corrections and the patients we serve.”

Nomin Ujiyediin is a reporter for the Kansas News Service. You can reach her on Twitter @NominUJ.

By RONALD BLUM
AP Baseball Writer

NEW YORK — Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to a $330 million, 13-year contract, the largest deal in baseball history, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Thursday because the agreement is subject to a successful physical.

A 26-year-old All-Star outfielder who had spent his entire big league career with the Washington Nationals, Harper topped the $325 million, 13-year agreement outfielder Giancarlo Stanton reached before the 2015 season with the Miami Marlins.

Harper’s agreement, first reported by the MLB Network, tops the previous high for a free agent, set last week when infielder Manny Machado signed a $300 million, 10-year deal with the San Diego Padres. Harper’s average annual value of $25.4 million ranks 14th in baseball history, well below the high of $34.1 million set by Arizona pitcher Zack Greinke as part of a $206.5 million, six-year contract that started in 2016.

Harper gets a $20 million signing bonus, a $10 million salary this year, $26 million in each of the following nine seasons and $22 million in each of the last three years. None of the money is deferred, and he gets a full no-trade provision.

Philadelphia has been among the most active teams this offseason, adding outfielder Andrew McCutchen for $50 million over three years and reliever David Robertson for $23 million over two years, and acquiring catcher J.T. Realmuto and shortstop Jean Segura. They also gave ace Aaron Nola a $45 million, four-year deal.

After leading their division in early August, the Phillies went 16-33 over the final 49 games of last season and at 80-82 finished with a losing record for the sixth straight season. Harper will return to his old home in the season’s second week, when the Phillies play at the NL East rival Nationals on April 2 and 3.

San Francisco and the Los Angeles Dodgers had also pursued Harper in recent weeks.

Harper has been an All-Star in six of seven big league seasons and was the unanimous winner of the 2015 NL MVP award.

An up-and-down defender and an unusual mix of popular and polarizing, Harper is known for the occasional contretemps with opponents, one particular exchange with a reporter about a “clown question,” and, most infamously, a dugout dustup in which he was choked by then-teammate Jonathan Papelbon during a game.

Washington took him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 amateur draft and called him up to the majors less than two years later at age 19. He would go on to become the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year for a Nationals club that won its first division title and made its postseason debut.

Harper was also an integral part of the team that added NL East titles in 2014, 2016 and 2017 and never finished lower than second place in his seven seasons. Another key stat, though: The Nationals never won a playoff series in that span.

His best year was 2015, when at age 22 he hit .330 with 42 homers, 99 RBIs, 118 runs and 124 walks, amassing an OPS of 1.109.

Last year, he hit 34 homers and produced a career-high 100 RBIs while walking 130 times, although his batting average dipped to .249. He started more than a third of his games in center field instead of his usual spot in right, because of injuries to teammates.

With Washington’s Nationals Park hosting the 2018 All-Star Game, Harper stole the show the day before the Midsummer Classic by winning the Home Run Derby before an ecstatic crowd filled with folks wearing his No. 34 Nationals jersey. Harper wore a headband with the D.C. flag’s design, reflecting his oft-stated pride in playing for Washington.

But that eventually ran its course. The Nationals made an offer toward the end of last season — a $300 million, 10-year contract that was no longer on the table after free agency opened without an agreement.
A year after going 82-80 and missing the playoffs under rookie manager Dave Martinez, the Nationals will move forward without Harper.

Washington general manager Mike Rizzo would have loved to keep Harper in his team’s lineup but didn’t sit around and wait to find out whether that would happen. Instead, Rizzo spent such money elsewhere, adding lefty starter Patrick Corbin on a $140 million deal and righty starter Anibal Sanchez, along with second baseman Brian Dozier, a pair of catchers in Yan Gomes and Kurt Suzuki and two key bullpen pieces in Trevor Rosenthal and Kyle Barraclough.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Federal prosecutors are seeking a 25-year prison sentence for a California man who made a hoax call that led police to fatally shoot a Kansas man following a dispute between online gamers.

The government argued in a filing Wednesday that 26-year-old Tyler Barriss has not shown sincere remorse. It called the scope, nature and deviousness of his criminal activity staggering, saying he risked innocent life each time he engaged in swatting.

Prosecutors contend some of the false calls to governmental entities were a form of domestic terrorism.

Barriss faces sentencing Friday in federal court in Wichita for making the false report resulting in a death. He has pleaded guilty to 51 charges related to fake calls and threats across the country.

The defense is seeking a 20-year prison sentence.