TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Corporation Commission has expanded restrictions on the amount of oilfield wastewater that can be injected underground, a practice that has been linked to earthquakes in south central Kansas in recent years.
During a meeting Tuesday, the commission left in place an 8,000-barrel per day limit in five specific areas of Harper and Sumner counties. But it put a 16,000-barrel per day limit on the rest of those two counties and parts of Kingman, Sedgwick and Butler counties
The Wichita Eagle reports experts the KCC staff said reduced injection rates imposed earlier led to a drop in the magnitude and frequency of earthquakes on the Kansas side of the Oklahoma border.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Board of Regents is being asked to consider establishing the state’s first school of dentistry.
The proposal was presented during a regents’ meeting on Tuesday. Proponents said the most feasible site for the proposed school would be the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports Kansas Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said the university is not pushing the idea and the regents also have not discussed the proposal.
Since 1964, Kansas has had a reciprocal agreement with Missouri to allow Kansas residents to pay in-state tuition to study optometry and dentistry at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Regent Daniel Thomas, who led a task force before he was appointed to the board, says Kansas isn’t getting what it needs from that agreement.
LUTHER, Okla. (AP) — Central Oklahoma was rattled Wednesday morning by an earthquake, but there are no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 4.0. It struck shortly after 6 a.m. and had in epicenter in Luther, or about 23 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.
The USGS says the earthquake was widely felt in central Oklahoma and as far north as Wichita, Kansas.
A magnitude 2.7 magnitude quake also shook northeast of Rose Hill Kansas on Wednesday, according to the USGS.
The number of magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes has skyrocketed in Oklahoma, from a few dozen in 2012 to more than 900 last year. Scientists have linked the increase to the underground disposal of wastewater from oil and gas production and state regulators have asked producers to reduce wastewater disposal volumes.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle has hired a fellow lawmaker to work on her staff as legislative director.
Sen. Garrett Love, a Republican from Montezuma, was hired last month and will earn $40,000 to help with legislative campaigns, focusing on rural races. Love announced near the end of the last legislative session that he would not seek re-election. His term ends in December.
The Wichita Eagle report the state’s ethics law allows personal staff of elected officials to do campaign work on taxpayer time. Wagle’s chief of staff, Harrison Hems, says Love won’t take any reimbursements as a senator for being in Topeka for interim committees while serving in his new job.
Love says he would not continue in the job if Wagle is Senate president again next session.
Police went to the Schlitterbahn Kansas City Water Park on Sunday to investigate a death photo courtesy KMBC
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on the investigation into the death of a boy killed while riding the world’s tallest waterslide at a water park in Kansas City, Kansas (all times local):
8:15 p.m.
A Kansas legislator says he wants to examine the state’s relatively light oversight of amusement park rides like the waterslide on which a 10-year-old boy was killed.
Democratic state Sen. David Haley of Kansas City said Tuesday that he’s hoping there will be bipartisan support for a review. He said people shouldn’t be risking their lives in having fun at an amusement park.
Kansas requires annual inspections of permanent rides but has parks do the inspections. The state Department of Labor is required to randomly audit inspection records.
Caleb Schwab died Sunday at the Schiltterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas. He was the son of Republican state Rep. Scott Schwab of Olathe.
House Majority Leader Jene Vickrey said lawmakers’ immediate focus is on supporting the Schwab family.
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3:20 p.m.
The operator of a Kansas waterslide on which a 10-year-old boy was killed last weekend say that 17-story ride will remain shut down for the remainder of the season.
Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas, closed the Verruckt ride after Caleb Schwab died Sunday. Police said that son of Kansas lawmaker Scott Schwab sustained a fatal neck injury, though authorities and the park haven’t said specifically how that happened.
Schlitterbahn also announced Tuesday that “a limited portion” of the park will reopen at noon Wednesday, and that park officials won’t be offering media interviews.
The waterslide is billed as the world’s tallest, measuring 168-feet high.
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– The Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL) and Secretary Lana Gordon wish to extend our continued thoughts and prayers to the Schwab family during this incredibly difficult time.
Safety reviews and regulatory compliances fall to various entities. State law and regulations require that amusement parks perform annual safety inspections by safety officials licensed by the National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials.
KDOL has the authority to “conduct random” inspections of the records and certificates of inspection, along with any other documentation related to statutory compliance.
All occurrences of serious injury resulting from the operation of an amusement ride require that the ride be immediately discontinued by the park pending further inspection. KDOL is acting to ensure full compliance with this and other provisions of the act and associated administrative regulations.
KDOL has requested documentation from Kansas Schlitterbahn Water Park to ensure all safety requirements have been followed.
12:20 p.m.
At least two people who’ve ridden the waterslide on which a 10-year-old boy was killed over the weekend say shoulder straps snapped or popped off during the ride in Kansas City, Kansas.
Paul Oberhauser told local television station KCTV that the safety restraints on his raft on the Verruckt waterslide weren’t working properly when he rode it on July 26 at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark.
The Nebraska man says his shoulder strap “busted loose” during the ride and he “just held on.” A video shot by his wife shows it loose at the ride’s end. He says he told workers about the loose strap.
Kenneth Conrad told WDAF-TV that he rode the waterslide last year with a friend whose shoulder strap came “completely off.” Conrad’s wife snapped a photo at the end of the ride showing the strap missing. Conrad says he didn’t file a complaint with the park.
The park’s spokeswoman didn’t immediately return a message Tuesday from The Associated Press seeking comment on the claims.
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12 p.m.
A funeral is set for a state lawmaker’s 10-year-old son who was killed while riding a Kansas waterslide billed as the world’s tallest.
Police say Caleb Thomas Schwab died Sunday of an unspecified neck injury while riding the 168-foot-tall Verruckt at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas.
Neither investigators nor park officials have released specifics about how the boy sustained his fatal injuries. Caleb was the son of Republican state Rep. Scott Schwab.
A family spokesman, the Rev. Clint Sprague, says visitation will be held Thursday evening at LifeMission Church in Olathe. A memorial service is scheduled for Friday afternoon.
The park is tentatively scheduled to reopen Wednesday, though the waterslide remains closed.
11:35 a.m.
A spokesman for police in Kansas City, Kansas, says the death of a boy killed while riding a waterslide at a local water park is considered a criminal investigation because a death was involved.
Officer Cameron Morgan confirmed Monday that police were investigating the death of 10-year-old Caleb Schwab. He said investigators didn’t believe anything criminal happened, so it would be a “civil matter.”
On Tuesday, he clarified that the investigation is a criminal case because a death was involved, as is standard procedure. He reaffirmed that police don’t believe any criminal wrongdoing occurred and are investigating to rule out that any crime was committed.
Caleb was one of three passengers riding in a raft on the Verruckt waterslide at Schlitterbahn Waterpark when the accident occurred. Emergency responders found the boy dead in a pool at the end of the ride. The other passengers sustained minor facial injuries.
11:35 a.m.
A spokesman for police in Kansas City, Kansas, says the death of a boy killed while riding a waterslide at a local water park is considered a criminal investigation because a death was involved.
Officer Cameron Morgan confirmed Monday that police were investigating the death of 10-year-old Caleb Schwab. He said investigators didn’t believe anything criminal happened, so it would be a “civil matter.”
On Tuesday, he clarified that the investigation is a criminal case because a death was involved, as is standard procedure. He reaffirmed that police don’t believe any criminal wrongdoing occurred and are investigating to rule out that any crime was committed.
Caleb was one of three passengers riding in a raft on the Verruckt waterslide at Schlitterbahn Waterpark when the accident occurred. Emergency responders found the boy dead in a pool at the end of the ride. The other passengers sustained minor facial injuries.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A former Kansas middle school teacher has pleaded guilty to electronic solicitation of a child after swapping explicit messages with an undercover Wisconsin law enforcement officer.
The Wichita Eagle reports 41-year-old Steven Young of Derby entered his plea on Monday. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed a charge of sexual exploitation of a child.
The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s office says Young was an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Derby North Middle School when he used an online chat room in July 2015 to contact the undercover officer, who he thought was 14.
Prosecutors say the two had several conversations over Skype in subsequent months before Young took his clothes off Oct. 17 and performed a lewd act during a video chat.
HOUSTON (AP) — Officials say an infant whose mother traveled to a Zika-infected area in Latin America died shortly after birth in a suburban Houston hospital, marking the first Zika-related death in Texas.
Dr. Umair Shah is the executive director of Harris County Public Health. Shah said Tuesday that the infant died a few weeks ago and had microcephaly linked to the Zika virus.
Test results linking the death to Zika were confirmed Friday. The mother had traveled to El Salvador while she was pregnant.
The only other confirmed Zika-related death in the U.S. was an elderly Utah man who died in June. He also suffered from other health conditions.
Health officials say there have been no reported cases of Zika virus disease transmitted by mosquitoes in Texas.
Photo by Megan Hart/KHI News Service A safety net clinic that serves low-income and uninsured residents of Shawnee County has discontinued its behavioral health services, citing financial losses. The clinic’s leader says patients are being referred to other providers.
By Megan Hart
GraceMed has decided to drop behavioral health services in Shawnee County, at least for now.
The Wichita-based nonprofit took over operation of the Shawnee County Health Agency’s clinical arm in July. Dave Sanford, CEO of GraceMed, said the county set a goal of ending tax subsidies for health services within five years, and to do that, they had to cut an unprofitable service.
“Basically it was a loss leader,” Sanford said of behavioral health. “It was not producing the kind of revenue we needed to continue to offer it. We are having to make some hard decisions.”
GraceMed is referring patients to Valeo Behavioral Healthcare or Family Service and Guidance Center (FSGC), depending on whether they are adults or children, Sanford said. People who have insurance also could continue their care with a private provider, he said.
“We’re not just going to drop them,” he said. “We’re going to work with them to continue their care.”
Bill Persinger, CEO of Valeo, said the mental health center is preparing to absorb additional patients. It may be more difficult if a significant number of patients were prescribed psychotropic medications, because only higher-level providers such as psychiatrists can serve those patients, he said.
“We’re trying to gear up in anticipation of increased referrals,” he said.
Valeo and GraceMed were discussing possible partnerships before GraceMed decided to stop providing behavioral health care, Persinger said. They still are exploring possibilities, including having Valeo staff work out of the GraceMed building.
Pam Evans, director of marketing for FSGC, said they didn’t expect much effect from GraceMed’s decisions, because it was her understanding that most of Shawnee County Health Agency’s behavioral health patients were adults.
“Since we specialize in treating children, we aren’t expecting too much of an influx,” she said.
Shawnee County Health Agency employed two clinical social workers, who mostly offered 50-minute therapy sessions, Sanford said. Both did their jobs well, but didn’t see enough patients per day to generate needed revenue, he said, adding he is confident they won’t have trouble finding other jobs.
“An FQHC (federally qualified health center) is more prepared to do that mild-to-moderate counseling” than to see patients who need longer therapy sessions, he said. “We felt it would be best at this time to discontinue those services.”
GraceMed also ran into some delays getting the behavioral health providers’ credentials through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Sanford said. They couldn’t receive Medicaid reimbursements for services those two provided until KDHE informed the managed care organizations running KanCare that they were approved providers, he said.
Sanford said GraceMed could start offering behavioral health services in Shawnee County at some point in the future, but would focus on quicker counseling sessions. For example, a primary care doctor might call the behavioral health provider in for a 15- to 20-minute session if the patient reports stress or symptoms of depression during a check-up, he said.
The shorter sessions would make it feasible for a behavioral health provider to see eight to 12 patients per day, making the service financially viable, Sanford said.
“The whole goal is to go further upstream” and prevent mental health problems from getting worse, he said.
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
SEDGWICK COUNTY – Two Kansas men were injured in an accident just before 11 a.m. on Tuesday in Sedgwick County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2015 Cadillac passenger vehicle driven by Jordan A. Diaz, 20, Wichita, was southbound on Interstate 135 at Lincoln.
The vehicle drifted off to the shoulder and struck a concrete bridge pillar.
Diaz and a passenger Mack W. Colvin, 30, Wichita, were transported to St. Francis Medical Center.
They were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Montgomery County are investigating a fatal pedestrian accident.
Just after 5:30p.m. on Monday, sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to report of an unidentified deceased man just off the shoulder of US-160 Highway, a mile west of US-169 Highway east of Independence, according to a media release.
Deputies responded and Sheriff Dierks closed the highway.
Montgomery County Deputies along with the Kansas Highway Patrol and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation were on scene until the highway was re-opened just after midnight on Tuesday morning.
Authorities say the accident occurred on Saturday, August 6, between 9:18p.m., and 9:32p.m. in Montgomery County.
Evidence from the scene suggests the vehicle involved is a 90’s model Pontiac Bonneville passenger car, dark gray or dark slate in color, with chrome trim.
The passenger’s side front headlight will have damage as will be the passenger’s side mirror and the passenger’s front window will be shattered, if not completely destroyed.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office at 620-330-1000 (Detective Cook) or the Kansas Highway Patrol at 620-431-2100 (Master Trooper Jason Black). The Montgomery County Sheriff’s office would like to thank the public for any assistance and information on this incident.
SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating two suspects in connection with theft.
Roberta Brock, 29, was arrested Monday on a warrant in connection with the theft of a Taylor 716 cutaway electric sunburst guitar from S.M. Hanson Music, 335 S. Clark Street in Salina, according to Police Captain Mike Sweeney.
The guitar was taken from the business on June 11.
Sweeney said 28-year-old Briana Watkins of Abilene was also arrested on July 21st for her involvement in the crime.
Watkins
The guitar, valued at $3,778, has not been recovered.
After the high-speed chase with a 19-month-old child in their car, and firing at police officers who were chasing them.-photo courtesy KCTV5
KANSAS CITY. – A Kansas woman pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges that she took part in an armed robbery at a Stillwell bank before the robbers led police on a high speed chase with a child in the car, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.
Danille Morris, 26, Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery, one count of brandishing a firearm during a robbery and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm following a felony conviction. She admitted she cased the bank, provided the getaway car and was in the car when the robbers fled the bank.
Two co-defendants already have entered pleas. Gary Jordan, 39, Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery, one count of brandishing a firearm during a robbery and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm following a felony conviction. Co-defendant Jacob L. Smith, 18, Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm during a robbery.
In their pleas, Jordan and Smith admitted they were armed with handguns when they entered the First National Bank at 7460 W. 199th Street in Stilwell, Kan. They held tellers at gunpoint before fleeing with cash stuffed in a backpack. Jordan took the wheel of the getaway car.
During the next 25 minutes, the robbers were pursued by the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Leawood Police Department and other law enforcement agencies as they fled across the Kansas/Missouri state line. During the chase, Smith fired at officers six times from the car. After the car overturned on a sharp turn, the defendants were arrested. Throughout the chase, co-defendant Morris and her 19-month-old child were in the car. She was seated in the front passenger seat at the time the vehicle crashed. The child was fastened in a car seat in the back seat.
Morris is set for sentencing Dec. 20. The crimes carry the following penalties: Up to 25 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 for robbery, not less than 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 for discharging firearms in a robbery, and up to 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 for unlawful possession a firearm by a felon.
