GEARY COUNTY— The Kansas Department of Health & Environment on Monday issued an Emergency Order of Suspension to a day care home at 1717 Clover in Junction City.

The day care home was licensed under the name Busy Bees Children’s Academy. The day care home was operated by Tyesha Seale.

Read a copy of the KDHE order here

On September 9 an initial survey of the permittee’s home was conducted where multiple alleged violations of the regulations governing the operation of day care homes were found. They included:

 

–On or about September 10, the permittee, Tyesha Seale, was arrested for alleged multiple crimes including domestic battery, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and possession of drugs.

 

–Two adults were caring for children and those adults did not have records documenting a negative TB test as required. Also their names and addresses had not been submitted.

 

–Two infants in the home did not have any records, including immunizations and a medical record as required

 

–An infant was napping on its stomach, an infant was napping on the floor, and no cribs or playpens were available to nap an infant.

–There was no documentation of the training required for the permittee or other providers on file.

 

According to state law, the KDHE Secretary can suspend a temporary permit to operate a day care home prior to a hearing when, in the opinion of the Secretary, the suspension is necessary to protect any child in the home from physical or mental abuse, abandonment, or any other substantial threat to health or safety.

 

Due to facts cited in the Emergency Order of Suspension, KDHE Secretary Susan Mosier determined that immediate suspension of the permittee’s temporary permit is necessary to protect children in the permittee’s care from a substantial threat to their health or safety. It is subject to appeal.

ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government mistakenly granted citizenship to at least 858 immigrants who had pending deportation orders from countries of concern to national security or with high rates of immigration fraud.

The Homeland Security Department’s inspector general says in a report released Monday that the immigrants used different names or birthdates to apply for citizenship with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Such discrepancies weren’t caught because their fingerprints were missing from government databases.

The report does not identify any of the immigrants by name, but Inspector General John Roth’s auditors say they are all from so-called “special interest countries” — those that present a national security concern for the United States — or neighboring countries with high rates of immigration fraud. The report did not identify those countries.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A record number of volunteers have turned out to tag monarch butterflies as they make their annual migration to Mexico.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that 617 participants showed up Saturday to help at the annual Monarch Watch project at the Baker Wetlands south of Lawrence. Insect ecologist Chip Taylor says the number surpassed the previous volunteer high of 551 at the previous tagging site near Clinton Lake.

Taylor is the founder of the University of Kansas’ Monarch Watch. He says the small tags being used have an adhesive used to bond it to the butterflies’ wings for life.

Each has a six-character number/letter combination that will be added to a national database. In the last 24 years, 1.2 million tag numbers have been entered

into the database.

Photos courtesy Matt Tucker Photography

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita, Kansas, owner of a massage parlor has pleaded guilty to federal charges related to a sex-trafficking case involving a Chinese woman.

Prosecutors say 60-year-old GiGi’s Elite Massage owner Samir Elias pleaded guilty in federal court Monday in Wichita to one count each of harboring an alien for financial gain and of importation of an alien for prostitution.

Prosecutors said Elias was housing a Chinese woman who worked at his massage parlor, knowing she was selling sex at the business. Elias admitted collecting from her money he knew were proceeds from that activity.

Prosecutors say the woman was arrested after offering sex acts to an undercover police detective who went into Elias’ parlor for a massage.

Elias’ sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 12.

NEW YORK (AP) — Kellogg Co. is recalling about 10,000 cases of its Eggo Nutri-Grain Whole Wheat Waffles because they could be contaminated with the bacteria listeria.

Listeria can cause serious and even deadly infections. It primarily affects the elderly, pregnant women, newborns and people with weak immune systems.  See additional details here.

The Battle Creek, Michigan company said Monday it has received no reports of illnesses. Kellogg says it learned of the potential problem after routine tests.

The waffles — available in 10-count packs with “Used by” dates of Nov. 21, 2017 and Nov. 22, 2017 — were sold in 25 states. Other Eggo Waffle flavors and sizes are not being recalled.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — An employees union has received complaints that high-level managers kept some Kansas psychiatric hospital employees from receiving superior ratings on annual performance reviews.

The Topeka Capital-Journalreports that the Kansas Organization of State Employees says it received complaints from three workers at Larned State Hospital, which has struggled with staffing shortages. The workers told the union that that their hospital supervisors rated them “exceptional” but that those determinations were overruled by central office administrators at the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services.

The employee union’s executive director, Rebecca Proctor, says two mid-level hospital supervisors reported executives at KDADS were responsible for lowering staff ratings.

KDADS secretary Tim Keck said he hadn’t issued a directive to low-ball annual evaluation scores. He says that would undermine employee relations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Relatives of Dwight D. Eisenhower have dropped their objections to the design of a long-planned memorial for the 34th president in Washington.

The Eisenhower Memorial Commission announced Monday that Ike’s relatives now support the memorial designed by esteemed architect Frank Gehry after negotiations “yielded a compromise on several design elements.” Former Secretary of State James Baker was involved in those negotiations.  See the letter from the Eisenhower family here.

Watch Senator Roberts’ announcement on the news from the Eisenhower family.

The modified design will place more emphasis on Eisenhower’s home state of Kansas and will represent the site of the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France, as it exists today.

Congress approved the memorial in 1999 and allocated funding for planning, but the project has bogged down over objections to the design. Supporters are trying to raise $150 million with the goal of completing the memorial by 2019.

RENO COUNTY -A Kansas man sentenced to over 18 years in prison in a kidnapping case was found guilty Monday for threatening the lives of two Hutchinson Police officers.

Judge Tim Chambers found Todd Lloyd, 32, Hutchinson, guilty for threatening officers who were involved in his conviction for kidnapping.

In the kidnapping case of October 2014, Lloyd was convicted to pointing two knives at his girlfriend’s head when police came to arrest him on a warrant. He also placed the woman between himself and armed officers.

Lloyd threatened to kill the officers if he ever got out of jail.

Sentencing in the threat against police officers is set for October 14.

State records show Lloyd has 11 convictions since 2001 in Reno, Sedgwick and Leavenworth counties.

 

SHAWNEE COUNTY -Fire investigators are working to determine the cause of three Sunday night car fires in Topeka.

Just after 11:30 p.m. on crews responded to the fires and loud explosions in the 3700 Block of SW Kiowa Street, according to a media release.

A resident at 3718 SW Kiowa Street heard a loud noise and upon investigating he discovered two vehicles on fire in the driveway and called 911.

Companies on scene of multi car fire in 3700 blk of Kiowa. Investigator on scene. pic.twitter.com/XTMVo7MP8Z

— Topeka Fire Dept (@Topekafire) September 19, 2016

A neighbor noticed another vehicle on fire that was parked along the street within the 3700 block of Kiowa and called 911.

The Topeka Fire Department responded and upon arrival reported three vehicles on fire.

Crews quickly extinguished the fires and protected the house at 3718 SW Kiowa Street from damage.

After an initial investigation, it is believed the fires were intentionally set, according to the Topeka Fire Marshal.

There were no injuries.

Damage is estimated at $11,000 dollars.

BY MEGAN HART

After a series of hits to their budgets, community mental health centers in Kansas are adjusting through cutbacks, changes in services or a combination of the two.

In Topeka, Valeo Behavioral Health Care plans to limit sessions for uninsured patients. Valeo provided about $2 million in charitable care last year but can’t offer that much this year because of cuts to Medicaid and other revenue streams, CEO Bill Persinger says.

The center won’t turn anyone away, but patients who don’t have a form of insurance covering mental health care may receive fewer therapy sessions than in the past, he says.

“Because of changes to every funding stream we have, we aren’t going to be able to provide the same level of service to the uninsured and underinsured,” he says. “When you choke off those funding streams, like the arteries to a heart, the heart is less efficient.”

Kansas made a 4 percent cut to Medicaid reimbursements as part of a package to balance the budget, reducing payments that mental health centers and other providers receive for their services. A program to provide medical care for people with mental illnesses and chronic medical conditions through a “health home” also ended earlier this year, taking away a higher payment rate that could subsidize other types of care.

Community mental health centers can’t turn away patients who need care because of an inability to pay, but at times they have made patients wait or offered them fewer services if they lacked the staff or funding to treat them.

Valeo still will have a hotline and crisis center available 24 hours for emergencies, Persinger says. Other services will be limited based on the patient’s needs and what the center can afford to offer, which is a common practice under commercial insurers and Medicaid, he says.

While Valeo officials still are working out the details, Persinger says the overall plan is to assess the number of therapy sessions and intensive supports a patient is likely to need. After patients use those sessions, they might be approved for more services or transition to a less-intensive level of care, with routine calls from a case manager, support groups and medications still covered, he says.

“If we says eight (therapy sessions) and somebody needed 15, they’re going to have to show why they need those seven sessions,” he says.

The intention isn’t to leave people on their own, Persinger says, but to cut services to a sustainable level while still meeting the patient’s mental health needs.

“If we need to still be providing services (after therapy sessions), we’ll be providing some different package,” he says.

Leaving positions open

Other mental health centers also have made cuts. Wyandot Center, in Wyandotte County, eliminated psychiatric services for about 800 adults and children.

Larger organizations like Wyandot Center serve more people and face different budget challenges, says Sherrie Watkins-Alvey, the center’s senior director. Mental health centers in cities also may have to pay their staff more due to a higher cost of living but get reimbursed at the same rate as rural providers, she says.

“Some communities like Topeka, like Wichita and like Kansas City were hit harder just by sheer numbers,” she says.

Others have been able to balance their budgets by leaving open positions vacant. Matthew Atteberry, executive director of the Labette Center for Mental Health Services, says that strategy should allow the center to avoid other major changes this year, so long as the state doesn’t make any more large cuts.

Some people mistakenly think that mental health centers are charitable organizations, Atteberry says, but they do have to make enough money to continue providing care. Centers have been coping with cuts since the recession, he says, and all have been under strain.

“I think every center is getting to the point where they’re as lean as they know how to be and still perform the mission,” he says.

Marilyn Cook, executive director of COMCARE in Sedgwick County, says the center has left some positions open but has no immediate plans for layoffs. COMCARE took some “heavy hits” from elimination of the health home program and reductions in Medicaid rates, losing more than $900,000, she says.

So far, COMCARE officials are trying to be more efficient and working to document everything so they receive the maximum allowable Medicaid reimbursement, Cook says. They also are trying to offset uninsured patients with those who have some form of coverage, she says.

“It’s a hard balancing act, there’s no question about it,” she says.

Ric Dalke, executive director of Compass Behavioral Health in Garden City, estimates the changes had cut about $1 million from the center’s $13 million annual budget.

One of the center’s two psychiatrists is retiring and won’t be replaced, he says, so the center will use a new scheduling system and walk-in hours to make the best use of the other psychiatrist’s time.

Dalke says he thinks the center can make up much of the difference through attrition and grants that free dollars for general expenses, but finances remain a challenge.

“We’ve had state cuts now since 2008,” he says.

‘Knock on wood’

The financial picture for the mental health centers isn’t settled, because they still are negotiating their annual contracts with the state. It isn’t unusual for those to run past the June 30 deadline, says Walt Hill, executive director of High Plains Mental Health Center in Hays. The contracts have followed a formula set in the 1990s, based on factors including the number of state hospital beds each mental health center was supposed to replace, the local population and how many people have historically used each center, he says.

Angela de Rocha, spokeswoman for the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, says most of the mental health centers had agreed to extend their contracts until Oct. 1, to give them time to finish agreements for the current fiscal year.

Not all centers anticipate making cuts this year. Rob Runquist, executive director of Crosswinds Counseling and Wellness in Emporia, says the center has been looking at ways to deliver services more efficiently in anticipation of cuts. In its case, however, being more efficient involved opening new locations, he says.

While opening new locations involves some upfront investment, it has helped Crosswinds to avoid having to hire more clinicians, Runquist says. When the provider is within a half-hour drive, people are less likely to miss their appointments and the clinician spends less traveling to see clients, he says. Both changes mean each provider can put more time into the work of seeing patients.

“We’re able to serve more people just by being closer to where they live,” he says.

Crosswinds also has raised some additional revenue by seeking private donors, applying for grants and marketing the center as an option for people with commercial insurance and mental health needs, Runquist says. So far, the combination of new revenue, efficiencies and not replacing some people who have retired has been enough to close the revenue gap, he says.

“Knock on wood, so far it’s been working well for us,” he says.

Megan Hart is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach her on Twitter @meganhartMC

SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a suspect for alleged child abuse and battery.

Deputies were sent to a home in the 2600 block of Donmyer Road Saturday after being contacted by a family member, according to Saline County Undersheriff Roger Soldan.

They found injuries to a 15-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy.

Mark Petitjohn, 47, Solomon, was arrested and jailed on several requested charges including two counts of child abuse, two counts of battery, and one count of criminal threats.

Petitjohn is alleged to have hit the teenagers and threatened to kill them on Thursday.

They were not treated for their injuries.

The injured teenagers and another teenage boy, were removed from the home by deputies and placed in temporary emergency care, according to Soldan.

VALLEY CENTER, Kan. (AP) — A southern Kansas teacher is suing after she was terminated without due process.

The Wichita Eagle reports that Janet Decker alleges breach of contract in a lawsuit filed last week in Sedgwick County. The suit says she was issued a notice in April that her contract with the Valley Center district wouldn’t be renewed. The Valley Center school board later voted to end Decker’s employment after an executive-session meeting with the teacher but without a due process hearing.

Decker argues that although Kansas lawmakers eliminated due process for educators in 2014, teachers who earned the right before that change are still entitled to the protection.

Superintendent Cory Gibson says district officials haven’t had a chance to review the lawsuit. It seeks reinstatement of Decker’s teaching position and back pay.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on explosive devices being found in two states (all times local):

11:35 a.m.

A law enforcement official says the Afghan immigrant wanted in connection with explosions in New York City and New Jersey has been taken into custody following a shootout with police officers.

The official says two officers were shot in the encounter in Linden, New Jersey. The person wasn’t authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Authorities were looking for Ahmad Khan Rahami, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghanistan with an address in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage says county authorities told him that the officers shot in Linden are expected to be OK. He says one was struck in a protective vest and the other in the hand.

—Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

___

11 a.m.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says investigators have no reason to believe that there are further threats, but the public should “be on constant guard.”

Cuomo was at Manhattan’s Penn Station to thank state troopers and National Guard members for their work protecting the public during and after the New York City and New Jersey shore town bombings.

Cuomo says he spoke to President Barack Obama on Monday. He says the president also expressed appreciation for the work of first responders.

Authorities are seeking a man for questioning in both bombings.

He is 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghanistan. His last known address was in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where the FBI executed a search warrant on Monday morning.

___

9:45 a.m.

Police have connected the New York City and New Jersey shore town bombings and say the same man is being sought for questioning in both.

New Jersey State Police say that information comes from the FBI.

Authorities are seeking 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghanistan. His last known address was in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where the FBI executed a search warrant on Monday morning.

An explosion in Manhattan on Saturday injured 29 people. A pipe bomb also exploded Saturday in Seaside Park ahead of the race for Marines and sailors, but no one was injured.

The apartment search began after one of five devices found at the nearby Elizabeth train station exploded while a bomb squad robot attempted to disarm it. No one was injured.

___

9:05 a.m.

The White House says President Barack Obama was briefed throughout the night and early Monday on the investigation into bombs found in New York City and New Jersey.

Spokesman Josh Earnest says the White House is following the situation closely. He says Obama will comment publicly “relatively soon.”

He was expected to comment Monday afternoon after a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (HY’-dahr ahl ah-BAH’-dee) on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

An explosion Saturday night in New York City injured 29 people. FBI agents are also investigating the discovery Sunday of five devices in a backpack near a New Jersey train station.

___

8 a.m.

New York’s governor now says it looks like the Manhattan bombing could be an act of terrorism with a foreign connection.

Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the statement Monday after the New York Police Department said authorities were searching for 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami in connection with the bombing. He is a naturalized citizen from Afghanistan.

Cuomo says: “Today’s information suggests it may be foreign related, but we’ll see where it goes.”

On Sunday, Cuomo had effectively ruled out a link to international terrorism, saying there was no evidence to suggest that.

The bomb went off Saturday in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, injuring 29 people. All have been released from a hospital.

Authorities are still investigating whether that bombing is linked to explosive devices found nearby in Manhattan and in two sites in New Jersey.

8:25 a.m.

FBI agents are searching an apartment in New Jersey that is tied to a man wanted for questioning in the New York City bombing.

Ahmad Khan Rahami has lived at that address in Elizabeth, which is above a fried chicken store. The 28-year-old is a naturalized citizen from Afghanistan.

Seen him? https://t.co/IvaT8sZs5n Seeking to find Ahmad Rahami Call 1800Call-FBI or https://t.co/vylOlg95dq pic.twitter.com/Xd2SXytZmD

— FBI New York (@NewYorkFBI) September 19, 2016

Authorities converged on the apartment early Monday after one of five devices found at the nearby Elizabeth train station exploded while a bomb squad robot attempted to disarm it.

No one was injured.

An explosion in Manhattan on Saturday injured 29 people. A pressure cooker device was also found blocks away, but it didn’t explode. Authorities were trying to determine if they were connected.

A pipe bomb also exploded Saturday in Seaside Park ahead of a charity race. No one was injured.

___

7 a.m.

FBI agents and police have converged on an apartment near a New Jersey train station where one of five devices found in a backpack exploded while a bomb squad robot was attempting to disarm it.

It wasn’t immediately clear if there was a connection between the dwelling and the blast at the Elizabeth train station at around 12:30 a.m. Monday.

Authorities converged on the apartment just before 6 a.m.

Two men had reported seeing wires and a pipe coming out of a package after finding it at the train station around 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

There were no reports of injuries.

New Jersey Transit trains resumed service along the Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast Line, but there are delays.

Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor service is operating on a modified schedule.

___

6 a.m.

Commuter trains are resuming service after one of five devices found in a backpack near a New Jersey train station exploded while a bomb squad robot was attempting to disarm it.

New Jersey Transit says Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast Line trains began rolling at 5:30 a.m. Monday. However passengers should expect delays. Port Authority Trans-Hudson trains, ferries and buses are honoring those rail tickets.

Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor service is operating on a modified schedule. Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage said the device exploded shortly after 12:30 a.m. Monday. The FBI was working to disarm the other four devices.

There were no reports of injuries.

Two men reported seeing wires and a pipe coming out of a package after finding it near the Elizabeth train station at around 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

___

1:30 a.m.

A New Jersey mayor says one of five devices found in a backpack near a train station has exploded while a bomb squad robot was attempting to disarm it.

Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage said that the device exploded shortly after 12:30 a.m. Monday. The FBI was leading the investigation and working to disarm the other four devices.

There were no reports of injuries. Bollwage said to expect more detonations.

Bollwage said two men called police and reported seeing wires and a pipe coming out of a package after finding it around 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

New Jersey Transit says service has been suspended between Newark Liberty Airport and Elizabeth. New York’s emergency management department says that New Jersey-bound Amtrak trains are being held at New York Penn Station.

___

1 a.m.

There has been a loud explosion in the area of the scene of a police investigation of a suspicious device found near at New Jersey train station.

Reporters for NJ.com and NBC reported the blast shortly after 12:30 a.m. Monday.

Law enforcement had been examining a device near the Elizabeth train station.

Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage says two men called police and reported seeing wires and a pipe coming out of the package after finding it at about 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

Bollwage says the Union County bomb squad’s robotic device indicated the package the men left near the train trestle could be a live bomb. He says the FBI and state police will decide how to remove the device. It wasn’t immediately known if the blast was part of a controlled explosion.

New Jersey Transit says service has been suspended between Newark Liberty Airport and Elizabeth. New York’s emergency management department says that New Jersey-bound Amtrak trains are being held at New York Penn Station.

___

12:46 a.m.

Investigators are examining a suspicious device found in a trash can near a New Jersey train station, and service on the busy Northeast Corridor line has been suspended.

Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage says two men called police and reported seeing wires and a pipe coming out of the package after finding it at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

Bollwage says the Union County bomb squad’s robotic device indicated the package the men left near the train trestle could be a live bomb. He says the FBI and state police will decide how to remove the device.

New Jersey Transit says service has been suspended between Newark Liberty Airport and Elizabeth. New York’s emergency management department says that New Jersey-bound Amtrak trains are being held at New York Penn Station.

A message left with the FBI wasn’t immediately returned.

The discovery of the suspicious package comes a day after an explosion in Manhattan injured 29 people, and an unexploded pressure-cooker device was found four blocks away.