AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Justice Department is considering its options, now that a federal judge in Texas has blocked an Obama administration order concerning transgender students in public schools.

The administration had said schools have to let those students use locker rooms and bathrooms consistent with their chosen gender identity. But a judge has put that order on hold — saying that a federal education law makes it clear that gender is defined by “biological and anatomical differences” at birth.

Judge Reed O’Connor said his order, which applies nationwide, was not about the policy issues of transgender rights but his conclusion that federal officials simply did not follow the rules.

According to O’Connor, the case “presents the difficult issue of balancing the protection of students’ rights and that of personal privacy … while ensuring that no student is unnecessarily marginalized while attending school.”

The ruling comes as most public schools in Texas begin the new school year today. Texas and 12 other states had challenged the directive as unconstitutional.

An attorney for a gay rights group says the ruling is a continuation of attacks on transgender people. Paul Castillo says it’s “a hard day for transgender students.”

SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a suspect accused of auto theft.

Preston Cressler, 29, Salina, was arrested Friday on a warrant in connection with taking a friend’s 2008 Mazda CX-7 from her home on South Ohio Street last month, according to Salina Police Captain Mike Sweeney.

Cressler was booked into the Saline County Jail on a requested charge of felony theft.

The vehicle, which has an estimated value of $2,500, has not been recovered.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — In some parts of the U.S., the thrill rides that whirl kids around are checked by state inspectors before customers climb on. But in other places, they aren’t required to get the once-over.

A boy’s death on a Kansas water slide and a Ferris wheel accident that injured three girls in Tennessee have focused attention on what experts call an alarming truth: Regulation varies greatly by state.

The industry has lobbied against federal oversight for decades. The Consumer Product Safety Commission doesn’t regulate rides at permanent parks. It oversees only traveling carnival rides. Even then, federal investigators respond only after accidents.

Whether a ride has to be inspected before thrill-seekers hop on depends on what state it’s in. Mississippi, Alabama, Nevada, South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah have no laws at all requiring inspections.

JACKSON COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Jackson County are investigating a suspect for burglary.

On Sunday, Shelby Rose Hopkins, 19, Whiting, was arrested following a burglary in the 500 Block of 3rd Street in Whiting, according to a media release.

Deputies were dispatched to the area after receiving a report of two suspicious females.

A deputy was directed by a citizen to a residence on Pratt Street in Whiting where a woman had been hiding in a closet.

The woman fled the house on foot and was later identified as Megan Marie Hollister.

The area was searched by deputies and additional officers from the Kickapoo Tribal Police and the Brown County Sheriff’s Office.

However, Hollister was not located. Shortly thereafter, the Sheriff’s Office received a report of a burglary to a residence in the 500 block of 3rd Street in Whiting. A number of electronic items were taken from the residence.

Later a second woman was found at the Pratt Street residence hiding in an attic crawl space.

The woman was extricated from the crawl space and was arrested. The stolen items were recovered.

The Sheriff’s Office is currently seeking information on the location of the second burglary suspect, 32-year-old Megan Marie Hollister. She is believed to possibly be in the Brown County area.

If anyone has information as to the whereabouts of Megan Hollister, they are asked to contact that Jackson County Sheriff’s Office at 785-364-2251.
Hopkins was booked into the Jackson County Jail for the following charges: Burglary of a Dwelling, Theft, Criminal damage to property, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Felony Interference with Law Enforcement. Bond on Hopkins was set at $10,000.00.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration is working to overhaul Kansas employee layoff and rehiring protocol.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the administration is working on adjustments that would restrict worker options for appealing regular job performance ratings and impose a cap on how much sick leave new retirees may donate to colleagues who are ill.

Kansas Department of Administration officials say the proposed adjustments are necessary for the maintenance of a modern and efficient workforce in state government.

A department spokesman says the changes have been in development since 2014.

Rebecca Proctor, executive director of the Kansas Organization of State Employees, says the timing of the proposed adjustments appears to indicate the government is preparing for layoffs.

The proposed changes will be open to public comment on Sept. 27.

SEDGWICK COUNTY -Law enforement authorities in Sedgwick County are investigating a robbery and asking for help to identify suspects.

Just after 10a.m. on Sunday, four suspects at gunpoint robbed the QT at Central and Greenwich, according to a social media report.

Three of the suspects entered the store while the forth suspect waited outside.

If you have any information we ask you call Crime Stoppers at 267-2111. You may be eligible for a cash reward and no one will ask your name.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say they’ve found the body of a man three days after he went missing after being swept away by floodwaters near Wichita, Kansas.

Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet says the body of 62-year-old Richard Lowery was found Monday in a field near a pond downstream from where he vanished after torrential storms dropped up to 7 inches of rain.

Herzet has said Lowery and his son were in their pickup truck near a creek south of Rose Hill when they drove into water over the road and tried to back out. That’s when Herzet says the truck got swept away.

The son, 38-year-old Samuel Lowery, managed to escape the truck and floated to safety downstream.

Lowery’s pickup truck and some of his clothing already were found last weekend.

HARVEY COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Harvey County are investigating the Halstead City Administrator and the city’s former police chief.

On Monday, the Harvey County Sheriff served an arrest warrant on the Halstead City Administrator, James R. Hatfield and former police chief Steven C. Lewis, according to a media release.

The arrest warrant was the result of an investigation conducted by the Harvey County Attorney and the Kansas Bureau of Investigations.

Hatfield was charged with one count of Felony perjury. Hatfield was transported to the Harvey County Detention Center. A bond was set at $2,500.00.

Lewis is charged with one count of Felony Misuse of Public Funds and two counts of Misdemeanor Theft. Lewis was arrested

in Stevens County.

Bond for Lewis was set at $3,000.00.

The Harvey County Attorney, David Yoder, stated he will have more information on Tuesday.

By ANDY MARSO

Experts from a variety of fields gathered at the Statehouse on August 17, for a mental health symposium spurred by an Emporia hospital’s struggle last year to find a psychiatric care bed for a suicidal patient.

House Speaker Pro Tem Peggy Mast, a Republican from Emporia, said she was inspired to convene the symposium after hearing from officials at Newman Regional Health.

That hospital nearly lost federal certification after a botched transfer of a patient who was having chest pains and thoughts of suicide.

Robert Wright, CEO of the Emporia hospital, told officials with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that a lack of mental health beds in the state was forcing hospitals like his to hold patients in emergency rooms for days, with little or no compensation in some cases.

During Wednesday’s symposium, Wright said he and his staff are being forced to make difficult decisions.

“The (mental health) system has worked less and less and less well, to now the point where it is really our biggest problem,” he said. “I’ve been running hospitals for decades. Used to be you worried about money. Now I worry about how do we care for these mental health patients in a way that’s appropriate for them without bankrupting my hospital.”

Wright said the mismatch between the number of psychiatric beds and the number of Kansans who need them is a problem that has been festering for decades. A move toward community-based care rather than institutionalization that began in the 1960s led to the closure of facilities like Topeka State Hospital, but the funding for community-based programs never lived up to the plan.

Deborah Stern, senior vice president of clinical services and general counsel for the Kansas Hospital Association, said fewer patient beds and an admissions moratorium at Osawatomie State Hospital — one of two mental health facilities left in the state — severely compounded the problem.

Stern said one large hospital in Johnson County reported a total of 318 hours that patients spent waiting for a bed at Osawatomie State Hospital during the first four months of 2015, with 23 hours the longest wait. During the first four months of 2016, the total number of hours waiting had jumped to 1,466, with 44-hour waits typical and the longest wait clocking in at 128 hours — or more than five days.

“Our emergency rooms, they’re really backed up,” Stern said. “They don’t have enough providers. As it is, psychiatrists are really hard to find.”

Solving the provider shortage will be difficult, she said. But expanding Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act would help, Stern said, because many Kansans with mental health issues lack insurance.

The symposium panel also included representatives from law enforcement, mental health advocacy groups, clinicians and four state agencies, as well as a handful of state legislators.

Tim Keck, secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, said staffing at Osawatomie State Hospital is stabilizing thanks in part to raises approved by the Legislature. He has said the hospital is working toward federal recertification, which would open more beds.

Other possible solutions emerged to help fill cracks in the mental health system.

Susan Crain Lewis, president and CEO of Mental Health America of the Heartland, said her nonprofit could help train staff at Kansas schools now required to know suicide prevention techniques under the Jason Flatt Act.

The two Democrats at the symposium — Rep. Nancy Lusk of Overland Park and Sen. Laura Kelly of Topeka — said system needs improvements that will require more state funding, both for the state-run mental health hospitals and the less-intensive community-based therapies.

“I agree with Rep. Lusk that this is going to take money,” Kelly said. “We don’t have any right now.”

Kelly said legislators and stakeholders should focus on preparing a systemwide improvement plan in case a new Legislature changes the state’s tax structure to bring in more revenue.

Democrats like Kelly blame income tax cuts spearheaded by Gov. Sam Brownback in 2012 for throwing the state into an ongoing budget crisis that prevents investments in state services.

Mast and other Republican leaders have steadfastly supported those cuts. But in opening remarks Wednesday, she said the state is not spending enough money on mental health.

“I think we can all agree that we don’t have enough resources for the need and it’s putting a strain on a lot of different entities,” Mast said, “and we need to focus more on the individual needs of those that are mentally ill.”

Andy Marso is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach him on Twitter @andymarso

SALINE COUNTY – Four people were injured in an accident just before 10p.m. on Sunday in Saline County.

A 2002 Pontiac Firebird driven by Emerson Phelps, 17, Brookville, was northbound on Broadway Boulevard, according to Salina Police Captain Mike Sweeney .

A 2002 Ford F-450 ambulance, owned by the City of Lindsborg, that was eastbound on Crawford collided with the Pontiac as it attempted a left turn.

Phelps was ejected upon impact and transported to Salina Regional Health Center with possible head injuries, according to Sweeney.

The driver of the ambulance, 23-year-old Kylie McGreevy of Ellsworth, was also transported to the hospital with several abrasions to her arms and stomach, according to Sweeney.

The patient in the ambulance, 68-year-old Linda Seidel of Roxbury, suffered a cut to the chin as a result of the collision.

The medic attending to Seidel, 33-year-old Alesha Schoshke, complained of head, neck and back pain following the crash.

They were both transported to the hospital as well.

Sweeney said the ambulance was running its lights and sirens at the time of the collision.

The accident remains under investigation.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say three people have died and another person has been hurt in a Topeka apartment fire.

Topeka Fire Department Fire Marshal Mike Martin says the fire was reported around 8:20 a.m. Monday at the three-story apartment building in the central part of the city.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the fire was under control by around 9:30 a.m. Fire officials didn’t immediately confirm any additional details.

Most of the damage is on the backside of the building.

MANHATTAN -Wes Bush, CEO of Northrop Grumman, will deliver a Landon Lecture at 7 p.m. Tuesday, September 6, in McCain Auditorium at Kansas State University, according to a media release.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

“Northrop Grumman is a leader in technology and innovation related to global security,” said Jackie Hartman, the university’s chief of staff and director of community relations.

“Mr. Bush’s visit is well timed given the university’s growth in areas of technology and engineering education as well as a variety of other intersecting educational disciplines.”
Northrop Grumman specializes in innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems; cyber; command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or C4ISR; strike; and logistics and modernization to government and commercial customers.

Bush was named chief executive officer and president in January 2010. Additionally, he serves on the board of directors for Norfolk Southern Corp., Aerospace Industries Association, Business-Higher Education Forum, Conservation International and the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation.

Previously, Bush served Northrop Grumman as corporate vice president, chief financial officer and president of the space technology sector. Before that, he was the president and chief executive officer for TRW Inc., where he started as a systems engineer.

Bush has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and completed the executive Management Program at the University of California, Los Angeles.

ROSE HILL, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas mother who was caught in flash flashing says she is “blessed” after she and her 3-year-old son were rescued from a tree limb.

The Wichita Eagle reports that 32-year-old Cassandra Phillips of Burlington pulled her toddler, Ethan, from his car seat Friday night after floodwaters rose in a rural area south of Rose Hill. She spent the next hour clinging to the tree limb with one leg while holding her son in the crook of an arm and talking to emergency dispatchers on her cellphone.

The National Guard soldier and mother of three says she didn’t mean to drive her minivan into a flood. She says the light was dim and she was focused on the “white lines of the road” when the van suddenly began floating.