RILEY COUNTY – Investigators are working to determine the cause of a large garage fire on Thursday morning in Riley County.

Just after 2 a.m., Fire crews responded to a rural residence at 6660 North 52nd Street and found the garage fully engulfed in flames, according to Riley County Fire Chief Pat Collins.

In addition minor damage to the siding of the house, two vehicles were lost in the fire.

Damage is estimated at approximately $210,000, according to Collins.

There were no injuries reported

WASHINGTON – More than one year after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) included the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) on its annual list of “High-Risk” federal agencies, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) joined a bipartisan group of eleven senators in writing Under Secretary for Health of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Dr. David Shulkin to raise their ongoing concerns regarding veterans’ timely access to quality VA health care. The senators urged the agency to take both short and long-term action to address the issues raised in the GAO report.

Sen. Moran and others asked the agency to promptly issue a comprehensive scheduling directive to address immediate wait times and healthcare access issues. The group also requested that the agency streamline operations and map out an aggressive and comprehensive strategy to resolve chronic risks identified by the GAO.

“More than a year has passed since the GAO identified VHA as vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, and in need of transformation, based on five serious, long-standing and well documented deficiencies,” the group wrote. “As a result of these deficiencies, VHA was included on GAO’s list of “High-Risk” federal agencies. This letter sets out the three critical steps you must take to restore our confidence that VHA can resolve the chronic risks identified for veterans’ access to quality VA health care.”

Today’s letter was signed by U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

Click here to read the full letter to Under Secretary Shulkin.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas will start giving away nicotine gum, lozenges and patches next week to help smokers drop the habit.

The Wichita Eagle reports that effort will last from June 20 to July 1, or while supplies last. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is distributing the nicotine replacement products.

To participate, smokers can call the state’s Tobacco Quitline. They also must enroll with a trained coach who will help them quit using tobacco.

The program is part of a national tobacco education campaign through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

State health officials say nearly one in five Kansas adults smoke cigarettes and that nearly 70 percent of all cigarette smokers want to quit.

MCPHERSON COUNTY – A Kansas man and woman died in an accident just before 7 p.m. on Wednesday in McPherson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Chevy Impala driven by Nicholas A. Schwarz, 21, Lyons, was westbound on U. S. 56 just west of 2nd Road.

The Impala hydroplaned and crossed over into the eastbound lane.

A semi struck the right rear side of the Impala and it came to rest in the south ditch facing north.

Schwarz and a passenger in the Impala Rebecca J. Deist, 19, Lyons, were pronounced dead at the scene and transported to the Sedgwick County Forensics Center.

The semi driver Douglas L. Caskey, 56, Grand Island, NE., was not injured.

All three were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

COWLEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Cowley County are investigating a hit and run, pedestrian accident and asking the public for help.

On Saturday June 11, Arkansas City Police and EMS were dispatched to 1200 block of North Summit Street in Arkansas City after report of a woman that had been hit by a van, according to a media release.

The van, described as dark in color, immediately stopped but then speed off leaving the scene south bound down Summit Street, according to a witness. The make and model of the van are unknown.

The injured Arkansas City woman was taken to a local hospital and treated for her injuries.

The public is asked to contact police if they can provide information on the incident at 620-441-4444 or Crimestoppers at 620-442-7777.

GEARY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Geary County are investigating four suspects in connection with residential burglary at a home in the 1000 Block of Lakeview Street in Milford.

A month-long investigation led to the arrest of Raymond Lee Wood and Ciara Carroll both of Wamego, Logan Hardie, Riley and a juvenile on suspicion of Burglary and Felony Theft, according to the Geary County Sheriff’s Department

“A large number of guns were removed in this burglary, any items of value really that they could take,” according to Sheriff Tony Wolf.

During the investigation the Sheriff’s Department executed numerous search warrants in Wamego, St. Marys and Topeka where some of the stolen property was recovered.

Several firearms that were stolen during the burglary and have not been recovered, but are believed to have been transported to Topeka, according to Wolf.

The Geary County Sheriff’s Department was assisted by the Riley County Police Department, Topeka Police Department, St. Mary’s Police Department and Wamego Police Department during the investigation.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A $3.5 million gift from a University of Kansas alumna and her late husband will be split evenly between the university’s law school and Kansas Athletics.

The gift from Nancy Winter and Wint Winter Sr. will provide an unrestricted $1.75 million to the law school and add the same amount to the existing Winter Family Scholarship Fund in Kansas Athletics.

Wint Winter Sr. is a Lawrence native who played football for Kansas and completed an undergraduate degree in business in 1952. After serving in the Marine Corps in Korea, Winter returned to Lawrence to go to law school and graduated in 1956.

Nancy Winter studied theater at KU and started a small community theater in Ottawa soon after she and her husband moved there after his graduation from law school.

LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization’s research arm has downgraded its classification of coffee as a possible carcinogen, declaring there isn’t enough proof to show a link to cancer.

But the International Agency for Research on Cancer, or IARC, also announced in a report published on Wednesday that drinking “very hot” beverages of any kind could potentially raise the cancer risk.

In particular, it cited countries including China, Iran and those in South America, where teas including the bitter herbal infusion mate, are traditionally drunk at extremely high temperatures — above 65 or 70 degrees Celsius — considerably hotter than drinks would normally be served in cafes across North America and Europe.

SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating another alleged scam.

A woman, who lives in south Salina, received a call Monday from a man claiming to be with the F.B.I., according to Salina Police Captain Mike Sweeney.

He told the woman she owed money to the government and needed to pay or be arrested. The man also said Salina Police were watching her.

The woman wired money on 16 different occasions Monday and Tuesday totaling $15,205.

The woman’s family contacted police and officers reached her before she sent another $5,000.

Police reported Tuesday a Salina man lost $92,500 since the first of May with an IRS scam.

On Monday, Police reported a Salina man who lost $1,900 after believing he would receive a grant of $27,000.

Those who want to bilk people out of money have found Salina to be a target rich environment.

RILEY COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 4p.m. on Wednesday in Riley County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Harley Davidson Motorcycle driven by Nicholas Edward Cook, 36, Manhattan, was eastbound on Kansas 18 four miles west of Manhattan.

The motorcycle traveled into the south ditch, struck a delineator post and the driver was ejected.

Cook was transported to Via Christi.

He was not wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.

EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — An eastern Kansas sheriff’s deputy has been found guilty of vehicular manslaughter for a 2012 crash that killed a 59-year-old Madison man.

KVOE Radio reports Lyon County deputy Tyler Pettigrew initially was charged with involuntary manslaughter, aggravated battery and using a wireless device to write, send or receive a written communication while driving.

Pettigrew was in his personal vehicle when he rear-ended a pickup truck driven by Michael Argabright in Lyon County in October 2012, then crossed the center line and struck a vehicle driven by Mark Harrison of Madison. Harrison was killed in the crash.

The 27-year-old has been suspended since his arrest in November.

A jury returned the verdict Wednesday. Pettigrew is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 1.

By Stephen Koranda

Thousands of people in Kansas have incomplete voter registrations, which means they haven’t been able to vote. They were caught up in the state’s requirement that some people provide citizenship documents when registering.

Now, a federal appeals court says many of those people should be allowed to vote in federal elections.

Republican Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has pushed for the more stringent voter registration rules to ensure security in elections, but voter advocacy groups say the cost has been too high.

A few years ago, people didn’t need as much to register to vote. Now, people registering for the first time in Kansas need a document like a birth certificate or passport to prove their citizenship.

Bernadette Forge, with the League of Women Voters in Topeka, unpacked scanners and iPads at a recent voter registration event. “The iPad, the advantage is you don’t need electricity.

These copiers are inexpensive and rather slow,” Forge said. That’s why Forge is registering people at a naturalization ceremony where nearly 200 people will become U.S. citizens. They’ll have freshly minted documents in hand ready to copy.

“We’re trying to get away from feeling upset about the proof of citizenship, and try to just look at ‘Here’s what has to get done now,’” she said.

But the process hasn’t been so simple for people like Tad Stricker. He moved to Kansas and registered to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles before the 2014 election. “I walked in to cast my ballot,” Stricker said, “and I can’t tell you what a shocker it was to find out my vote wasn’t going to be counted.” Stricker thought he had done everything required to vote, but his registration was incomplete because it didn’t include a document proving his citizenship.

He is now a party in a lawsuit over the rules. “I had this barrier put up that I just feel was very unjust,” Stricker said.

Marge Ahrens, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Kansas, said actual voter fraud cases are rare.

She said, in the name of security, Kobach’s policies are throwing the baby out with the bathwater. “He has taken away the rights of, for sure, 20,000 people to vote,” Ahrens said. “It’s a terrible trade. It’s a loss of the most important privilege in a democracy to thousands of Kansas citizens.”

For his part, Kobach said voting crimes where non-citizens vote are real and documented. “The League of Women Voters is deceptive with their words when they say that people are being disenfranchised or blocked,” he said.

Kobach said requiring people to provide a citizenship document is a necessary step because illegal votes cancel the votes of Kansas citizens, possibly turning the results of a close election.

“And that’s real disenfranchisement, not the fake disenfranchisement that the League of Women Voters complains about when they say someone is temporarily on a suspense list for a week while they get their birth certificate,” he said.

In fact, Kobach said 95 percent of people who register to vote complete the process. He believes the law will survive legal fights and said Kansas is leading on the issue.

With a primary and general election coming up, what could be the impact of thousands of voter registrations that are incomplete? “If this law kept even a handful of people from voting in a hotly contested House race, that could be the difference in that race,” said Patrick Miller, a political science professor at the University of Kansas.

While it’s possible the voting rules could affect an election, Miller calls it highly unlikely because of the types of people on the list. He said many of them are younger people or move frequently.

“Disproportionately, we’re talking about a group of people who tend to register in the moment without a huge intention to actually following through with the documentation, let alone vote,” he said.

Right now, the voter registration rules in Kansas are up in the air. A court said people who registered at the DMV and are suspended should be allowed to vote, at least in federal elections, but there’s still some uncertainty. A federal appeals court will consider the issue in August.

Stephen Koranda is a reporter for KCUR in conjunction with the KHI News Service 

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Health care analysts say Gov. Sam Brownback’s decision to cut money for Medicaid health coverage for the needy, disabled and elderly will add to the problems some hospitals are facing.

The Wichita Eagle  reports that the 4 percent budget-balancing Medicaid reimbursement cut takes effect July 1.

Health care providers already had been raising concerns that the state’s decision to not expand Medicaid was harming them. Currently, Kansans who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but don’t make enough money to qualify for federal subsidies, fall into a coverage gap. When patients are uninsured and can’t pay, the hospitals get stuck with the cost.

Cindy Samuelson, of the Kansas Hospital Association, says the budget is being balanced “on the shoulders of providers and patients around the state.”