Fire crews on the scene of Wednesday’s fatal fire -photo courtesy KWCH
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a Wichita house fire has left one person dead and another critically injured.
The fire was reported Wednesday night in the brick, two-bedroom 1946 home. Wichita Fire Chief Ron Blackwell says a woman who lived in the home met firefighters as they arrived and told them a man was in the basement. Blackwell says a search-and-rescue team found the man quickly, but he died.
The person critically injured in the fire is being treated in the burn unit of a Wichita hospital. Two firefighters also required medical treatment — one for an injured ankle and the other for heat and physical stress.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A last-minute deal between conservatives and GOP leaders in the House has averted votes expected Thursday on a measure to impeach the commissioner of the IRS.
Instead, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen will testify before Congress next week.
The conservative House Freedom Caucus celebrated the development as a win late Wednesday, as conservatives had unsuccessfully pushed for hearings.
But the development came only after conservatives predicted that their impeachment resolution was going to get sidelined by Democratic and Republican opposition Thursday.
Conservatives say Koskinen obstructed the House GOP’s investigation of the treatment of tea party groups seeking tax exemptions.
But House Republican leadership balked on moving forward on election-year impeachment proceedings, so the Freedom Caucus had used a procedural maneuver that would have forced a floor vote.
HUTCHINSON— A Kansas man facing charges associated with a high speed chase in August was bound over for trial in another case on Wednesday.
Christopher Ford, 30, Hutchinson, was bound over for trial for being in possession of stolen property and criminal possession of a firearm.
The arrest came in Haven after a police officer discovered the tag on the vehicle the suspect was driving did not match the vehicle.
Police also discovered that the vehicle had been reported stolen in Wichita and may have been involved with an aggravated burglary in Sedgwick County.
Police also found a 9mm handgun on the driver’s side floor board of the vehicle.
Ford claimed he had the gun legally, but it was later learning he had prior felony conviction for being in possession of methamphetamine in 2010.
Magistrate Judge Cheryl Allen found there was enough evidence to send the case to arraignment and possible trial on Oct. 3.
Ford was arrested in August month for felony flee and elude after a Reno County Sheriff Deputy tried to initiate a traffic stop in the 3100 block of East Blanchard.
As the deputy attempted to stop the vehicle, Ford allegedly drove down into the ditch, accelerated out, continued traveling east on Blanchard and ran a stop sign at Yoder Road.
During the pursuit, he ran an additional seven stop signs and was speeding during that time.
The vehicle was eventually abandoned near the intersection of Acres Street and South Elm in Hutchinson.
GEARY COUNTY – The trial of a Kansas man accused in the murder of a Junction City woman is far from beginning.
In December, Daniel E. Edwards, 34, Junction City, pleaded not guilty to the murder of Sharon Moody, 52, Junction City.
She was found dead at her 1015 West Ninth Street residence on March 15, 2015.
In addition to 1st Degree Premeditated Murder, Edwards is faces an alternative count of Felony 1st Degree Murder, plus Aggravated Robbery and Theft by Deception.
The defendant has filed a notice of intent to rely upon mental disease or defect as a defense, according to Geary County Attorney Steve Opat.
“They presented an expert report. We’re going to have to hire, I think, our own expert to review their report and probably examine the defendant before trial. That will delay the start of the trial until next year,” said Opat.
The murder trial is now scheduled for January 30, February 3, of 2017.
Edwards remains in the Geary County Detention center on a $1 million bond.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Plans to restrict smoking to specific areas of the Kansas State Fair burned out for this year’s fair.
After much debate, the fair board voted in May 2015 to establish designated smoking areas across the fairgrounds for this year’s fair. The effort was led by a Reno County youth organization called Communities that Care.
The Hutchinson News reports the designated smoking areas were delayed because grants to pay for benches and smoking receptacles weren’t received in time to install them for this year’s fair, which runs through Sunday.
Fair Manager Susan Sankey says she didn’t want to implement the policy until it could be done correctly.
Officials say they plan to have the designated smoking areas ready for the 2017 fair.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on the disappearance of a Missouri woman and the man accused of burning her car that had been found abandoned (all times local):
8:15 p.m.
Kansas City area investigators looking into the disappearances of a woman and a teenager nine years apart say they’ve taken bullets and other items from the home of a man considered a person of interest in at least one case.
Kylr Yust is charged with knowingly burning 21-year-old Jessica Runions’ vehicle. She was last seen Thursday night.
Investigators haven’t said whether Yust knows Runions.
Police say Yust is a person of interest in the 2007 disappearance of his ex-girlfriend, Kara Kopetsky. She was 17 when she vanished in 2007.
Yust has also spent time in jail for assaulting a pregnant then-girlfriend in 2011.
Court records show investigators with search warrants related to Runions’ vehicle and a “missing persons investigation” seized two bullets from a home occupied by Yust, as well as clothing, hair, fingernail scrapings and swab samples from him.
Runions -courtesy photo
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5:50 p.m.
A man considered a person of interest in his ex-girlfriend’s 2007 disappearance has been returned to Kansas City, Missouri, to face charges that he burned another missing woman’s car.
Kylr Yust, who turned 28 on Wednesday, was brought back to Kansas City from Benton County, where he’d been jailed since his arrest Sunday.
He’s charged with knowingly burning 21-year-old Jessica Runions’ vehicle. She was last seen leaving a party Thursday night.
It’s unclear whether Yust has an attorney and when his first court appearance may be.
Police say Yust is a person of interest in ex-girlfriend Kara Kopetsky’s disappearance. She was 17 when she vanished in 2007 just days after filing for a protection order against Yust.
Yust also spent time in jail for assaulting a pregnant then-girlfriend in 2011.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Sedgwick County authorities have charged the suspect in a 2014 hit-and-run that killed a man near Clearwater.
Fifty-four-year-old Cary Whitlock of Clearwater was charged Wednesday with failure to stop at an accident, resulting in great bodily harm. He is accused of hitting and killing Jeremy Napier as he was walking along a road in September 2014.
Whitlock’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 20.
He’s free from jail on $25,000 bond. No defense attorney is listed in court records.
Whitlock was arrested last week. Authorities have not detailed what led to his arrest after nearly two years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States will strive to take in 110,000 refugees from around the world in the coming year, the White House said Wednesday, in what would be a nearly 30 percent increase from the 85,000 allowed in over the previous year.
The increase reflects continuing concern about the refugee crisis stemming from Syria’s civil war and conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet it’s still far short of what advocacy groups say is needed to address an unprecedented crisis that saw some 1 million people pour into Europe alone last year.
Of the 110,000, 40,000 will come from the Middle East and South Asia, where the origins of the crisis have been most pronounced. An additional 35,000 will come from Africa, 12,000 from East Asia, 4,000 from Europe and 5,000 from Latin America and the Caribbean, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
The administration did not release a country-specific breakdown. The total includes 14,000 unallocated slots that can be given to refugees from any region once Congress is notified.
Secretary of State John Kerry had previously suggested that the U.S. target would climb to 100,000 in the coming year, but that the figure was a floor, not a ceiling. He briefed lawmakers on the revised figure on Tuesday.
The 110,000 goal covers a 12-month period that starts next month. In the 12 months ending Sept. 30, the U.S. goal was 85,000, and in the three years before that, the target was 70,000 per year.
The White House has tried to emphasize that the refugee program is safe and doesn’t pose a major threat to national security. That concern was heightened last year after terrorist attacks in European cities, including some connected to people who had spent time in Syria.
Officials said that potential refugees would continue to be subject a rigorous screening process that typically lasts more than a year and involves both in-person interviews and examination of biographical and biometric information.
The announcement came two weeks after the U.S. announced it had met President Barack Obama’s goal of admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees despite early skepticism that it would reach its goal. Millions of Syrians have been displaced by a civil war that has killed roughly half a million people.
Republican governors have pushed back vehemently and tried to refuse to let them into their states, leading to a clash with the administration, which has maintained that states can’t legally bar refugees who otherwise meet the criteria.
The U.S. has tried to encourage other countries, too, to increase their contribution to alleviating the refugee crisis. The official said increasing the U.S. target this year reflected that strategy and Obama’s belief that all nations need to do more to help the neediest.
As part of that effort, Obama plans to host a summit on refugee issues with world leaders next week during the U.N. General Assembly gathering in New York. The White House said the summit would spotlight the need to increase money for aid agencies, resettle more refugees and provide education and job assistance.
The refugee crisis has become a major political issue in Europe, where countries have been inundated by migrants after harrowing journeys that have killed scores. Concerns about refugees have played into the broader debate about immigration in Europe and were a major factor in Britain’s recent vote to leave the European Union.
The U.N. refugee agency chief, Filippo Grandi, said Tuesday that while the U.S. is “by far the largest donor government to refugee programs worldwide,” more still needs to be done. In an Associated Press interview, he said the U.N. was discussing those needs with the U.S. “all the time.”
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The man convicted of killing abortion provider George Tiller will face this fall a new jury, which will be tasked with deciding how long he must stay in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Sedgwick County District Court records show resentencing procedures for Scott Roeder are set to begin Nov. 28. A status conference is scheduled Sept. 21.
Roeder’s life sentence with no chance of parole for 50 years was among many vacated after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that juries, not judges, must decide whether to increase punishment.
Jurors must decide whether to resentence him to at least 50 or 25 years before being eligible for parole. Prosecutors are seeking a second Hard 50 prison sentence, while the defense contends the lesser term is sufficient.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A judge has doubled the bail for a man suspected in an attempted robbery and shooting at a suburban Kansas City Wal-Mart.
The suspect, 27-year-old Arthur Fred Wyatt III, made his first court appearance Wednesday via closed circuit TV in Johnson County. The Kansas City Star reports his bail was increased to $2 million from $1 million.
Investigators say he and another man attacked a woman Sunday in the parking lot of a Shawnee Wal-Mart. A man in the lot intervened and was shot several times. Shawnee police say another good Samaritan shot and killed one of the attackers, John Simmons of Kansas City.
Police say Wyatt fled and was arrested Tuesday in Overland Park.
Wyatt told a Johnson County magistrate judge Wednesday he would hire his own attorney.
KINGMAN- For the second time in five weeks, Kingman County has issued a state of local disaster emergency.
On Tuesday, county commissioners signed the declaration due to flooding last week, according to a media release.
The declaration will remain in effect for 10 days.
County Emergency Manager Fred Simon is collecting damage estimates from townships.
Most of their damage is to roads, culverts and bridges. Several cities also were affected, with damage to roads and extra hours of call back time to manage the event.
The county must meet a public damage threshold of $27,974 to be eligible for federal assistance.
The State of Kansas must meet a $4 million threshold to get a Presidential disaster declaration.
The county also made a disaster declaration on Aug. 8, for flooding.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Kansas governor Sam Brownback and six other Midwest governors have sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency seeking regulation changes intended to increase sales of gasoline blended with a higher percentage of ethanol.
The governors of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota sent a letter Tuesday to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.
The letter requests new standards that would allow stations to sell more gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol rather than the current standard of 10 percent ethanol.
The letter says the current setup “is stifling the widespread adoption” of E15 ethanol blends.
The governors — five Republicans and two Democrats — are all from leading ethanol-producing states. The letter was also sent to President Barack Obama.
A telephone message seeking a comment from McCarthy was not immediately returned.
HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE IN THE UNITED STATES: 2015- image KHI News
The uninsured rates in Kansas and Missouri continue to drop.
But they’re declining faster in states that have expanded Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities.
New data out Tuesday from the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that Kansas’ uninsured rate dropped to 9.1 percent in 2015, down from 10.2 percent the year before and 12.3 percent in 2013.
Over the three-year period, the number of Kansans age 19 to 64 without coverage has declined by about 87,000, dropping from 348,000 to 261,000.
In Missouri, the drop from 13 percent to 9.8 percent means that approximately 190,000 residents have gained coverage since 2013 when the number of uninsured totaled about 773,000.
Nationally, the share of uninsured Americans shrank to 9.4 percent, the lowest level since before the Great Recession.
The latest numbers are from the American Community Survey, one of two data sets the Census Bureau uses to measure health coverage.
Download Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2015
The federal Affordable Care Act is the primary reason for the improvement in the numbers, says Sheldon Weisgrau, director of the Health Reform Resource Project, an initiative funded in part by Kansas and Missouri health foundations that support the ACA.
“The main reason is the availability of insurance through the Affordable Care Act, which allows people to get tax credits and subsidies to help them buy private insurance,” Weisgrau says. “But another reason is that the economy continues to improve, and that’s putting more people into insurance.”
Still, there are concerns about the ACA health insurance marketplace. Several insurance companies have withdrawn because of financial losses. And those that remain are raising premiums ahead of the 2017 enrollment period, which begins Nov. 1.
Uninsured rates are declining more rapidly in the 32 states and District of Columbia that have expanded Medicaid.
Kansas and Missouri are among 19 states that haven’t expanded Medicaid to cover adults earning below 138 percent of the federal poverty rate: $16,394 a year for individuals and $33,534 for a family of four.
On average, the uninsured rate in non-expansion states is 12.3 percent, compared with 7.2 percent in states that have expanded eligibility.
Amy Blouin, executive director of the Missouri Budget Project, a nonprofit advocacy group pushing for expansion, says an estimated 583,000 Missourians — about one in 10 — still lack insurance.
“Missourians are still struggling, and our state is losing out,” Blouin says.
Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and GOP legislative leaders have blocked consideration of expansion, citing its potential cost to the state. They also object to expanding coverage to non-disabled adults until thousands of people with developmental disabilities are cleared from a waiting list for Medicaid support services.
In Missouri, expansion is an issue in the race for governor between Democrat Chris Koster and Republican Eric Greitens.
Koster says the $2 billion in additional federal funds that the state would receive is critical to the survival of rural hospitals. Greitens and Republican lawmakers in Jefferson City say the federal government can’t be trusted to follow the law, which requires it to permanently cover no less than 90 percent of the costs of expansion.
Jim McLean is executive editor of KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.
Editor’s note: The Kansas Health Foundation is the primary funder of the Kansas Health Institute, the parent organization of the editorially independent KHI News Service. KHI News is a partner in Heartland Health Monitor.
