SEDGWICK COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Sedgwick County continue to investigate the death of a 3-year-old girl who drowned in a pool at her daycare provider’s Wichita home.

Family and friends have established a fundraiser to assist the family.

Police Sgt. Nikki Woodrow says the girl and a 5-year-old were playing in the backyard Thursday morning.

The 3-year-old somehow got into an above-ground pool that was about 4 feet high. She died at the scene.

Woodrow said the daycare provider and three other children were in the house when the girl drowned. She says it’s unclear how long the girl was in the pool and an investigation is continuing.

MCPHERSON COUNTY – One person was injured in an accident just before 1p.m. on Friday in McPherson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2015 Chevy Tahoe driven by Cynthia Maclennan, 64, Dallas TX., was northbound on Interstate 135 just south of K-4 when the trailer started to sway to the right.

The driver over corrected to the left and the SUV overturned.

Maclennan was transported to the hospital in Salina.

She was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Four former Kansas governors are lashing out at Gov. Sam Brownback over policies they say have thrown the state into a serious fiscal crisis.

A letter signed Friday by Republicans Bill Graves and Mike Hayden and Democrats Kathleen Sebelius and John Carlin calls the upcoming elections the most important in Kansas history.

The letter says Kansans are starting to acknowledge that many of the wrong people are serving in state office, but adds that too many residents don’t understand the issues and will be vulnerable to misleading political campaigns.

The governors are part of the Save Kansas Coalition, which also includes more than a dozen former lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

A Brownback spokeswoman said Friday afternoon the governor hadn’t seen the letter and couldn’t comment.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A new lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler prominently mentions “Star Trek” actor Anton Yelchin, who was killed last weekend by an SUV under recall.

The suit was filed Thursday in California federal court on behalf of four people who own cars that are among the 1.1 million FCA vehicles recalled worldwide amid complaints from drivers. Some have said they can’t tell if the transmission is in park after stopping.

The lawsuit says the shifter issue potentially caused Yelchin’s death Sunday, when his 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled backward and pinned him against a brick mailbox. Police are still investigating, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the death may be related.

An FCA spokesman says the company hasn’t been served with the lawsuit and it would be inappropriate to comment.

SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a suspect for alleged assault at a rural residence.

Just after 3:30p.m. on Thursday, Michael Torrence, 39, arrived to a home he is renting in the 1800 Block of Rosehill Road south of Salina and found a truck and trailer used in harvesting wheat partially blocking the driveway, according to Saline County Undersheriff Roger Soldan.

Torrence allegedly got into a dispute with a 63-year-old man.

Torrence parked his motorcycle in the area of the farm vehicle, walked to the house, returned with a Ruger Mini-14 rifle and allegedly pointed it at the man, according to Soldan.

Torrence was arrested and is being held on requested charges of aggravated assault.

His rifle was confiscated. No injuries were reported.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas City man has been charged with threatening a Jewish congregation in Kansas.

Forty-year-old Brian Wachter made a first court appearance Thursday on a single criminal threat count. Wachter is jailed in Johnson County, with bond set at $25,000. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.

The Kansas City Star  reports that prosecutors accused Wachter of making an unspecified threat last month against the Jewish Congregation Beth Shalom in Overland Park.

Court records say Wachter was born in Pittsburg and spent time in Las Vegas before living more recently in Kansas City.

Wachter is jailed in Johnson County, with bond set at $25,000.

BARTON COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Barton County are asking the public to help locate a missing person.

On May 9, the Great Bend Police Department was notified Charles McHenry III was reported missing.

McHenry was last seen on May 6, at a residence in the 500 block of NW 20th Avenue in Great Bend.

He was seen getting into an unknown make or model black in color vehicle.

He has not had any known contact with family or friends since.

McHenry is approximately 6’2″ and weighs 180 pounds with black hair and black eyes.

He has three tattoos on his left arm. Two of the tattoos are on the upper arm, one is of a cross with wings and the other tattoo is the name “Tyler.” On the lower left arm is a tattoo of an eagle with a flag and shield. McHenry has several large scars, including one the area of the left knee and the other on the right arm from the elbow to the wrist.

He also has dental implants on the front top four teeth.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 620-792-1300 or the Great Bend Police Department at 620-793-4120.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the Kansas Legislature’s debate on school funding (all times local):

8:15 p.m.

Kansas legislators have passed an education funding plan from Republican leaders that boosts aid to poor school districts to satisfy a state Supreme Court mandate and end a threat that the state’s public schools might not reopen next month.

The plan approved Friday night increases aid to poor school districts by $38 million for 2016-17 by diverting money from other parts of state government.

The votes were 116-6 in the House and 38-1 in the Senate, sending the plan to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. He is expected to sign it.

Legislators had a two-day special session to respond to the Supreme Court’s ruling last month that the education funding system remained unfair to poor districts. The justices warned that schools would be unable to reopen after June 30 without changes.

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7:15 p.m.

The Kansas House has approved an education funding plan from Republican leaders that would boost aid to poor school districts to satisfy a state Supreme Court mandate and end a threat that the state’s public schools might not reopen next month.

The vote Friday night was 116-6 on a bill that would increase aid to poor school districts by $38 million for 2016-17 by diverting money from other parts of state government.

A Senate vote also was expected Friday night. Its approval would send the bill to Gov. Sam Brownback.

Legislators had a two-day special session to respond to the Supreme Court’s ruling last month that the education funding system remained unfair to poor districts. The justices warned that schools would be unable to reopen after June 30 without changes.

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6:50 p.m.

A new school funding plan from top Republicans in the Kansas Legislature has been endorsed by an attorney representing four school districts suing the state.

Lawyer John Robb said Friday that the plan “solves the problem” of complying with a state Supreme Court order last month to make education funding fairer for poor school districts.

The House and Senate are expected to vote on the plan Friday night.

Robb said that if they approve the plan and Republican Gov. Sam Brownback signs their bill, “We should be good to go.”

Legislators were in the second day of a special session called to respond to the Supreme Court’s order.

Robb said that if the plan is enacted, the four school districts and the state will send a joint statement to the court endorsing it.

6 p.m.

Fewer Kansas school districts would lose some of the aid they’ve already been promised for 2016-17 under Republican legislative leaders’ new school funding plan than under a previous plan.

That’s because the new plan fashioned Friday relies less on reshuffling existing education dollars to boost aid for poor school districts.

A spreadsheet from legislative researchers shows that 77 of the state’s 286 school districts would lose some of their aid. Another 169 would gain funding, while 40 would see no change.

GOP leaders’ first plan would have decreased aid to 141 districts and increased it for 145.

Under the new plan, the Blue Valley, Olathe and Shawnee Mission districts in Johnson County would lose a total of $3.9 million, but that’s less than under the previous plan.

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4:25 p.m.

Top Republicans in the Kansas Legislature have rewritten their education funding plan.

The plan unveiled Friday boosts aid to poor school districts by $38 million, just as a previous plan from Republican leaders did. It redistributes some funds from wealthier districts to meet a Kansas Supreme Court mandate to make the education funding system fairer to poor districts.

It does not rely as heavily on reshuffling of existing education dollars as the previous plan. Instead, it dedicates funds from the planned sale of assets of the Kansas Bioscience Authority to cover up to $13 million of the aid to poor schools. The authority was set up a decade ago to nurture bioscience businesses.

The House Appropriations Committee approved the plan and the full House planned to debate it later Friday.

1:20 p.m.

A school funding plan from Republican legislative leaders is going back to committee in the Kansas House for potential changes.

House Speaker Ray Merrick reassigned the bill Friday to the Appropriations Committee only a day after the panel approved it. GOP leaders faced dissention among Republicans over how to pay for a $38 million increase in aid to poor school districts for 2016-17.

Legislators were in the second day of a special session to address a state Supreme Court ruling last month. The justices said the state’s education funding system remains unfair to poor districts.

The GOP leaders’ plan decreases aid already promised to 141 of the state’s 286 school districts to help poor ones. Critics say the Supreme Court wouldn’t accept such a reshuffling of existing education dollars.

11:55 a.m.

Moderate Republicans in the Kansas House have modified their plan for meeting a state Supreme Court mandate on education funding to make it more palatable to fellow lawmakers.

Republican Rep. Melissa Rooker of Fairway said a proposal to divert $6 million in unused economic development funds to public schools has been dropped because of potential opposition. Some Republicans have argued that the move would stymie job creation.

Rooker said the plan would instead divert existing education dollars set aside for schools’ emergency needs to boost aid for poor school districts. The moderate GOP plan still would tap $9 million in motor vehicle fees.

They’re all elements of a plan to increase aid to poor school districts by $38 million for 2016-17 to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling last month.

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10:55 a.m.

The Kansas Senate is debating a proposed constitutional amendment that would prevent the state’s courts from closing schools in deciding future education funding lawsuits.

Republican leaders expected the Senate to vote on the measure Friday. A two-thirds majority was needed for passage.

The proposal is a response to a state Supreme Court ruling last month declaring that the state’s education funding system remains unfair to poor school districts. The justices warned schools might not reopen after June 30 if lawmakers didn’t make changes.

The measure also would prevent legislators from closing schools in response to a court order. Supporters said future school closure threats need to be eliminated. Critics said the proposal is designed to handcuff the courts.

If lawmakers pass the measure, it goes on the ballot in November.

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9:30 a.m.

An attorney representing four Kansas school districts suing the state says he believes legislators would satisfy a state Supreme Court education-funding mandate by passing a plan from moderate Republicans rather than one backed by GOP leaders.

Lawyer John Robb said Friday that the plan circulated by Republican Rep. Melissa Rooker of Fairway appears to be “good to go” because it avoids reshuffling a small part of the state’s existing aid to school districts to help the poorer ones.

GOP leaders’ plan redistributes $13 million in aid for general operations in all 286 school districts to help cover the cost of providing court-mandated property tax relief in poor districts. The House expected to debate the plan Friday.

The alternative would divert motor vehicle fees and unused economic development funds to schools.

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12:05 a.m.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Top Republicans hope to push an education funding plan through the Kansas Legislature to end a looming threat of public schools shutting down.

But they faced doubts Friday that their fix would satisfy a court mandate.

GOP leaders are pushing a plan to boost aid to poor districts by $38 million for 2016-17, largely by redistributing existing education dollars.

Both chambers could debate the plan Friday, the second day of a special legislative session called by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled last month that the state’s education funding system remains unfair to poor schools. The justices warned that schools might not be able to reopen after June 30 if lawmakers don’t make changes.

Critics contend the redistribution of education dollars won’t satisfy the Supreme Court.

NEW YORK (AP) — The latest on developments in global financial markets (all times local):
11:45 a.m.

Global stocks and the pound are plunging after Britons voted to leave the European Union.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 464 points, or 2.6 percent, to 17,547 in midday trading Friday.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 55 points, or 2.7 percent, to 2,056. The Nasdaq composite sank 153 points, or 3.2 percent, to 4,755.

It was the biggest drop for U.S. stocks since September.

European markets fell even more. France’s benchmark index lost 8 percent and Britain’s fell 3 percent.

The British pound plummeted to a 31-year low.

Bond prices rose sharply as investors sought safety.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 1.57 percent from 1.75 percent a day earlier, a huge move.

The price of gold jumped 5 percent to $1,322 an ounce.

9:35 a.m.

U.S. stocks are plunging in early trading after Britons voted to leave the European Union.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 500 points, or 2.8 percent, to 17,515 in the first few minutes of trading Friday.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 57 points, or 2.7 percent, to 2,056x. The Nasdaq composite sank 158 points, or 3.2 percent, to 4,751.

It was the biggest drop for U.S. stocks since September.

European markets fell even more. France’s benchmark index lost 8 percent and Britain’s fell 4 percent.

The British pound plummeted to a 31-year low.

Bond prices rose sharply. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 1.56 percent from 1.75 percent a day earlier, a huge move.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors say an Iowa man who ran a bar code theft ring in several states has been given 70 years in federal prison.

Bradley Prucha was sentenced Thursday. He’d been convicted of conspiracy, mail fraud, production and possession of child pornography and other crimes.

Prosecutors say Prucha printed bar code stickers and placed them on store items that would ring up at lower prices. He then had accomplices return them for refunds on their full prices or sold them online. Prosecutors say the West Des Moines resident ran the scheme in Iowa and surrounding states including Kansas.

He’d previously been convicted of a similar scheme in Florida.

Prosecutors also said Prucha recruited teenage girls for the scam and paid them for sex at sessions that he recorded without their knowledge.

WABAUNSEE COUNTY – A Manhattan man was injured in an accident just before 3a.m. on Friday in Wabaunsee County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Lincoln passenger car driven by Collin A. Wood, 23, Manhattan, entered westbound Interstate 70 from the Vera Road exit ramp.

The Lincoln traveled eastbound in the westbound lane and struck a semi head-on

Wood was transported to Stormont Vail.

The semi driver Khyl J. Buckallew, 57, Excelsior Springs, Mo., was not injured.

Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

CHEROKEE COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Cherokee County are investigating suspects on drug and burglary charges.

On Tuesday, deputies with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department made numerous arrests, including one that required them to take to the water, according to a media release.

Deputies received information that Carlos Blake Gandy had been frequenting an island on Spring River, near Riverton.

Additional information included allegations that illegal drug activity was also occurring on the island.

Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Investigators along with Game Wardens with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism arrived on the island just before 3:00 p.m.

Gandy was not located at that time, however officers made contact with Lorne “Bub” Futch, 46, who had been living at a campsite on the island. During the course of their investigation, officers discovered suspected methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Futch was arrested and transported to the Cherokee County Jail. After posting $5,000.00 bond on Wednesday morning, he was released.

Just before 9:30 p.m., on Tuesday Galena Police Officers and Cherokee County Sheriff’s Deputies followed up on a tip that Gandy was at a residence located just outside of Galena City limits. While at that residence, officers observed Gandy attempt to flee out of a window, and he was apprehended.

Gandy was transported to the Cherokee County Jail, where he is being held without bond on numerous warrants including Aggravated Robbery, Robbery, Aggravated Burglary, Violating Probation, Drug Possession and warrants for failure to appear in court, along with several other warrants issued in the State of Missouri.

Also arrested at the scene, on allegations of Aiding a Felon, was 51 year-old Janie Treadway, of the home. Bond on Treadway has been set at $2,500.00.

By JIM MCLEAN

Kansas officials have borrowed a record $900 million from the state’s investment fund but still may need to implement a series of emergency measures to end the 2016 budget year in the black.

Shawn Sullivan, director of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s Budget Office, said that the $900 million certificate of indebtedness approved Wednesday by the State Finance Council will be used to manage anticipated cash flow problems in the 2017 budget year, which starts July 1.

But with only a week remaining before the end of the 2016 budget year, the state is facing a $45 million shortfall.

And that could grow if June tax revenues come in short of projections. Sullivan is considering several contingency plans, including sweeping some or all of the cash from the Medicaid drug rebate fund.

A change in federal law triggered by the Affordable Care Act allows states with Medicaid managed care programs to collect refunds on prescription drug claims. Prior to the ACA, states that contracted with private insurance companies to operate their Medicaid programs were ineligible for the rebates.

Kansas privatized its Medicaid program in 2013 and renamed it KanCare. When the budget year ends June 30, Sullivan said he expects the balance in the drug rebate fund to be in the neighborhood of $40 million to $45 million.

“As a last resort, I may transfer a portion of the ending balance to the State General Fund for 2016,” he said in an email to the KHI News Service.

Sullivan said he will make a decision next week once he knows how close June revenues will come to meeting projections. Revenues fell more than $74 million short of projections in May.

The drug rebate money is currently earmarked to pay for anticipated increases in KanCare claims in the 2017 budget year, Sullivan said. If the demand for services grows as anticipated, any money transferred from the fund would have to be repaid. If the anticipated growth doesn’t occur, the state may not have to replenish the fund.

The Brownback administration transferred $55 million from the drug rebate fund in 2014 to help bridge a $280 million shortfall. That money wasn’t repaid because rebate payments exceeded projections the following year, Sullivan said.

Jim McLean is executive editor of KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.