A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 5pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 85. Northeast wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight
Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. East wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Sunday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 85. Southeast wind 5 to 7 mph.
Sunday Night
A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. South southeast wind 6 to 8 mph.
Monday
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 87. South wind 6 to 10 mph.
Monday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 67.
Tuesday
Sunny, with a high near 91.
Tuesday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Mostly clear, with a low around 66.
RUSSELL — Design, engineering, and manufacturing innovators, Mechanized Concepts will participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the July 18 at 1:15 p.m. in Kansas to celebrate their business relationship with Russell.
The event will be held at Cecil Bricker Park in downtown Russell and will include festivities to follow.
The company is excited to reveal progress developments of the partnership at this event.
“We are grateful for those driving local economic development, for those forwarding hemp legislation, and for those financial sponsors willing to lend support in all of these causes. We are thankful to be a part of it and are thankful to be working beside such a passionate group,” said Matt Colledge, founder and CEO.
A year in the making, the company has worked closely with Russell County Economic Development, City of Russell, Russell County, and Kansas Department of Commerce to collaborate towards a stronger economic future for Russell’s hard-working communities.
About Mechanized Concepts
Mechanized Concepts revolutionized large equipment modernization in 2017 through innovative design, engineering, and manufacturing.
Today, the company continues to distinguish itself by utilizing breakthrough technology to further the demands of its expanding partners.
Successfully operating in two states, Utah and Kansas, Mechanized Concepts continues to dedicate their ideas to meet the contemporary needs of both urban and rural associates while also trying to do good in the world.
On Friday, July 5, 2019, at approximately 9:18 a.m., the Rooks County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a tank battery caught on fire on the southwest edge of Stockton.
It is believed a lightning strike is what caused the fire.
Kevin V. Maxey, Jr./Kansas Dept. of Corrections photoBy BRENT MARTIN St. Joseph Post
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — A nearly month-long search for a man suspected in a shooting at Atchison’s “Juneteenth” celebration ended with his arrest in St. Joseph.
Atchison Police Chief Mike Wilson says a team of law enforcement officers apprehended 31-year-old Kevin Maxey, Jr. Wednesday afternoon at a St. Joseph apartment complex.
“Our detectives here at Atchison police have been searching for Maxey in connection to the shooting of a 42-year-old male in the 1100 block of North 8th here in Atchison that occurred around 3am on June the 9th,” Wilson tells St. Joseph Post. “Our detectives have been working with U.S. Marshal’s Office and information had been developed that Maxey was in the St. Joseph area.”
Atchison police say a group of about 20 had gathered at LFM park after the 14th Annual Atchison Juneteenth celebration in the early morning hours of June 9th. An argument broke out between two of them, which sparked the shooting. The victim, apparently, was not involved in the argument, but was struck twice by gunshots.
Officers who responded to the scene and found the man suffering from life-threatening injuries. He was taken to a St. Joseph hospital.
A warrant issued by the Kansas District Court of Atchison County charges Maxey with attempted second-degree murder, criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and criminal discharge of a firearm. Maxey is being held in Buchanan County.
Wilson says the investigation concluded Maxey likely had left the area.
“We actually believed that he was outside the Atchison area,” Wilson says. “We’ve worked with a number of agencies in various locations throughout, not only the Midwest area, but actually in other areas outside of the immediate Atchison area.”
A team which included members of the United States Marshal Fugitive Apprehension Team, the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force, the St. Joseph Missouri Street Crimes Unit, and detectives with the Atchison Police Department made the arrest Wednesday afternoon.
The victim is a 42-year-old Atchison man. Wilson says he is out of the hospital and recovering from his wounds. Atchison police have declined to release his name.
Otero Junior College announced Landon Steele as head women’s basketball coach.Otero Junior College Athletic Director Gary Addington announced Landon Steele would be taking over the position of head women’s basketball coach. Steele officially started in his role July 1.
Steele obtained his bachelor’s degree from Fort Hays State University, and has a wide array of coaching experience in Texas, Kansas, and Colorado, as well as a detailed knowledge of Region IX women’s Basketball.
“I am excited to get started,” Steele said. “Otero has a history of excellence in their women’s basketball program, and I am honored to be a part of it. I plan to hit the ground running, and have no doubt we will have a great year”.
Steele accredits his success in coaching to his ability to instill a culture of competiveness by emphasizing accountability, blue-collar work ethic, and commitment to the team concept. He is excited to give young women a great opportunity to grow and develop as students and athletes at Otero.
“Adding Coach Steele to our staff this year is extremely exciting,” Addington said of his new hire. “I have had the opportunity to watch him as a coach at his previous institutions, and can say without a doubt that his style and methods are going to bring a lot to our women’s basketball team, as well as our athletic department as a whole. I can’t wait to see what he will accomplish this year.”
For more information about the Women’s Basketball Team at OJC, contact Steele at [email protected] or call 719-384-6829.
LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City man who recently completed his quest of running marathons in all 50 states before the age of 50 credits a pair of gloves “delivered from the heavens” with getting him through his first one.
Forty-nine-year-old Austin Braithwait, whose final stop was a June 22 race in Duluth, Minnesota, ran his first marathon in Kansas City, Missouri, during an ice storm.
When Mile 16 rolled around, his hands were “freezing” and Braithwait was ecstatic to spot what looked like a pair of gloves lying in the middle of the course. Braithwait, then 26, was convinced one of the three runners ahead of him would snatch them up, leaving him to brave the elements for the remaining 10 miles. None did.
“I’m not sure I would have finished,” Braithwait told The Kansas City Star, “had those not been delivered from the heavens.”
Braithwait, of Lenexa, Kansas, called the experience “miserable,” and he waited eight more years before running another one. But eventually he was hooked, leading UMB Bank’s corporate trust during the week and running marathons on the weekends. Often his wife, Janna, and two children, Janna and Ritter, joined him.
Schedules often followed a similar pattern: a work meeting on Friday, a marathon on Saturday and a trip home on Sunday. Some weekends, including on a trip in the South, he ran a marathon in Mississippi on a Saturday and one in Alabama on Sunday. Ditto for one time on the East Coast, when Braithwait ran in Pennsylvania and New Jersey on back-to-back days.
Despite all the marathons he has run— 85 in total — Braithwait describes himself as something of a “hack” on the preparation side of things. He considers finishing in the top third or top half a successful outing.
He said that clocking faster times requires “a lot more time than I have to give from a work and family standpoint.” His best preparation often came via raw experience. Braithwait used the base he acquired from the 10 to 12 marathons he ran per year to prepare for the following ones.
“There’s definitely a sense of accomplishment,” Braithwait said. “It’s been cool to have that goal out there for the last seven or eight years and really seeing, ‘OK, I’m making progress.’ ”
As for the gloves he found all those years ago, well, those aren’t coming out of his drawer for running gear any time soon. They’re a keepsake of sorts.
Said Braithwait, chuckling: “I’ve never had the heart to throw them away.”
Cirrhosis of the liver as shown with staining. [Ed Luthman, Creative Commons (BIT.LY/31QRFNM)]ByCELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN Kansas News Service
Kansas can no longer put off care for Medicaid patients with hepatitis C because of a recent legal settlement. But hundreds of the state’s prison inmates not covered by that lawsuit will have to wait another year for the pricey treatment.
That raises concerns about whether the delay constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the U.S. Constitution, civil rights lawyers say, because inmates have the right to medical care.
“This is a fairly clear Eighth Amendment violation,” said Lauren Bonds, legal director for the ACLU of Kansas, which brought the Medicaid lawsuit. “Delayed treatment is unconstitutional.”
Kansas prison officials say more than 700 inmates currently have hepatitis C, a virus that attacks the liver and that’s most commonly contracted by sharing needles to inject illegal drugs. The state Department of Corrections expects about half will receive treatment this year, starting with those who’ve developed liver cirrhosis from the virus.
That’s on top of about 100 inmates treated in recent months, agency spokeswoman Jeanny Sharp said.
“The treatment strategy,” she said, “aligns with what many other states that were sued were asked to do.”
Kansas, she said, is doing it voluntarily.
Legal challenges
States landed in legal hot water in recent years for limiting hepatitis C treatment for their Medicaid and prison populations in response to the sky-high cost of new drugs. The drugs offered highly effective treatment to clear infections up, but with price tags that could total nearly $100,000 per person.
Kansas settled the Medicaid lawsuit, agreeing to no longer limit coverage of hepatitis C medication to those with more advanced liver scarring, while forcing others to wait.
The suit didn’t cover prisons, but last fall, Kansas began screening all inmates for hepatitis C.
The corrections department says costs vary, but tend to run between $15,000 and $17,000 to treat the typical inmate. That can involve several months of daily medication.
The state will spend $6 million in fiscal 2020 on treating about half of its inmates with hepatitis C, a corrections official last week told a meeting of state leaders charged with signing off on the expense. Gov. Laura Kelly and the legislative leaders agreed unanimously.
Waiting for treatment
As it stands, inmates with less advanced hepatitis C will need to wait until fiscal 2021.
The corrections department wanted more funding to treat them this year instead, but the governor’s office didn’t request the full amount from the Legislature.
A spokeswoman said Tuesday Kelly is committed to ensuring inmates get treatment.
The state “will move as quickly as possible to treat every prisoner affected,” Dena Sattler wrote, “and if additional funding is required to keep providing treatment before the next fiscal year, the Governor will make additional budget recommendations as necessary.”
More inmates are testing positive for hepatitis C than initially estimated — about 13 percent of people entering the prison system.
It can take years for the outward signs and symptoms of the virus to develop, such as jaundice and fatigue.
About one in four people who get hepatitis C fend it off naturally. For most, the disease takes its toll, causing chronic infections.
As many as one in five eventually develop cirrhosis and one in 20 get liver cancer. Some cases require liver transplants.
Studies suggest early hepatitis C treatment benefits patients, while delaying treatment can harm their long-term health.
Bonds, of the ACLU, wouldn’t rule out heading back to court to press for speedier hepatitis C treatment in prisons. At the same time, she said the ACLU understands the system is facing budgetary hurdles.
“We do want to recognize and at least acknowledge that there has been some progress made,” she said. “We do want to be reasonable and see if there is a non-litigation means to get prisoners treated more quickly.”
The ACLU is continuing to monitor hepatitis C treatment for Medicaid patients, too. Under the terms of the state’s settlement with the group, Kansas agreed to hand over quarterly updates on how many patients are prescribed treatment and whether their requests get approved.
Previously, the state’s privatized Medicaid program, KanCare, approved only patients with the most serious liver scarring. It made them pass extensive sobriety tests, too.
The settlement says Kansas can only impose a three-month drug-free period instead of six, and that it can’t reject patients for using alcohol or illegal drugs that aren’t taken by needle.
Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ or email celia (at) kcur (dot) org.
SMOLAN — No one was injured when a fireworks-related blaze destroyed a home in Smolan Thursday night.
Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan said Friday that deputies and Rural Fire District No. 6 personnel were dispatched to 201 S. Front in Smolan at 11 p.m. Thursday.
The owners of the house, Mayo (age 60) and Jerre Morgan (age 69), reported that they had their teenage granddaughter and a couple of friends over to shoot fireworks, Soldan said. Afterward, the fireworks debris was picked up and placed in a cardboard box in the garage, he said. At approximately 11 p.m., the couple went to check on popping noises they heard coming from the garage and found the garage on fire, Soldan said.
Everyone was able to escape without injury, he said.
Two vehicles, one in the driveway and one in the house, also were destroyed.
In addition to the house, a 2011 Ford Escape parked in the driveway and a 2017 Ford Explorer parked in the garage were destroyed, Soldan said. Total loss was estimated at $261,500, he said.
Today
