TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Democratic lawmakers say they’ve been circulating a petition to force a special legislative session to address the school funding.

The move comes after the Kansas Supreme Court rejected the Legislature’s latest attempt to enact a constitutionally equitable school funding system. The high court has meanwhile kept a June 30 deadline for lawmakers, raising the possibility that schools could close if the date passes without further legislative action.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs and Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley said in a letter sent Saturday evening to Gov. Sam Brownback that they’ve begun collecting signatures to force the governor to call a special session to find a solution to “equitably fund Kansas schools.”

Brownback’s office hasn’t given any indication of its plans.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 38-year-old Topeka man whose 4-year-old son was severely injured when explosives detonated in his car is scheduled to enter a plea in the case.

Jacob Daniel Schell is scheduled to enter a plea on July 8 in Shawnee County court, where he faces several charges, including aggravated battery of a child, aggravated endangering of a child and criminal use of explosives. Details of the plea weren’t available.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Schell’s son was injured when a sack containing explosives blew up in his lap, severely injuring the child.

The incident occurred July 5, 2015, as Schell was driving. The explosion also peeled back the metal roof of the large car.

By MEGAN HART

Rural hospitals nationwide are facing a host of financial challenges, but states can still take action to keep them open, the head of a rural health group told the Governor’s Rural Health Working Group on Wednesday in Topeka.

Alan Morgan, CEO of the National Rural Health Association, said people in urban areas have a few explanations for why rural hospitals are struggling: irreversible population decline in rural areas, low-quality care and bad management practices.

In fact, he said, rural population across the nation appears to be stabilizing, rural hospitals do as well as or better than urban hospitals on quality measures, and insurance companies have struggled with the economics of serving rural populations.

However, he said, that doesn’t mean the problems of rural hospitals are an urban exaggeration. If hospitals continue to close at the current rate, about one in four rural hospitals will close in the next 10 years, Morgan said. A study released earlier this year by the NRHA and iVantage found that 673 U.S. hospitals, including 29 in Kansas, were at risk of closing in the next decade.

Gov. Sam Brownback announced formation of the working group in January to address the challenges of health care delivery in rural Kansas.

Part of the challenge is that rural residents tend to have more health problems than people who live in urban areas, Morgan said, and rural communities have been hit especially hard by increases in opioid abuse and other behavioral health issues. That translates into a disproportionate number of patients who can’t afford preventive care and use the emergency room for treatment, he said.

“We have a low-income population with great health needs,” he said.

Since 2010, hospitals also have been hit with a series of financial blows, including federal budget cuts associated with sequestration, reduced Medicare reimbursements under the Affordable Care Act and a shift toward outpatient care, Morgan said.

Until that time, most rural hospitals operated with from roughly a 2 percent profit to a 2 percent loss, he said. Now, the average is closer to running in the red by 6 percent.

Rural hospitals also disproportionately suffer from difficulty recruiting health care providers, and many are burdened by debts or old facilities that aren’t well-suited to providing the outpatient care that people use more often now, Morgan said.

“These hospitals are still structured like they were in the 1940s,” he said.

States and communities are exploring ideas to stabilize rural hospitals, Morgan said. No one has found a silver bullet to solve the problem, but he said some show promise. These include efforts to:

·       Set up programs to encourage rural teens to pursue health care as a career. Providers who grew up in rural areas and do a residency there are more likely to stay.

·       Expand the roles of people without a medical degree, such as paramedics, patient navigators and community workers who provide health information.

·       Allow nurse practitioners, physician assistants and dental therapists to practice more independently, with a physician or dentist on call.

·       Evaluate what services a community needs from its hospital.

·       Increase the use of telemedicine to support rural providers.

·       Offer grants to help hospitals cross the “shaky bridge” between payment models.

The one thing states shouldn’t do is wait for the federal government to come up with a model based on what works in urban areas, Morgan said.

Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, who leads the nine-member work group, said some of the ideas Morgan brought already are moving forward in parts of Kansas. The key will be rewarding successful initiatives and finding “blockages” in the system that prevent innovation, he said.

“Kansas is actually a pretty innovative place itself,” Colyer 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

DICKINSON COUNTY- Two people were injured in an accident just after 6p.m. on Saturday in Dickinson County.

The Kansas Highghway Patrol reported a 2009 Oskosh semi driven by Jarrod D. Tinnin, 20, Norman, OK., was eastbound on Interstate 70 four miles east of the Chapman exit as part of a military convoy.

The convoy started to slow and the Tinnin started to apply the brakes.

An eastbound 2012 Oskosh semi driven by Azjanee M. Cain, 23, Oklahoma City, rear-ended the 2009 semi causing a large piece of metal to come off the semi.

A 2014 Toyota passenger vehicle, not part of the convoy and driven by Joel M. Pinkston, St. Louis, MO., ran over the piece of metal.

All three vehicles came to rest on the south shoulder of Interstate 70.

Cain and a passenger in the 2009 semi Yesenia Casas, 20, Norman, OK., were transported to Abilene Memorial Hospital. No other injuries were reported.

Casas was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP. There is no center seatbelt available in the vehicle.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman faces charges accusing her of stealing thousands of dollars from a suburban Kansas City school’s parent teacher organization.

Christine Ann Glover, Olathe, is charged in Johnson County District Court with one count of felony theft. She’s accused of stealing more than $25,000 from the parent teacher organization at Pleasant Ridge Middle School in Overland Park.

The Kansas City Star reports Glover was booked into the Johnson County jail on Friday afternoon.

It’s unclear if Glover has a lawyer.

GREENWOOD COUNTY –Four people died in an accident just before 3p.m. on Saturday in Greenwood County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2013 Lincoln MXK driven by Arden Lee White, 72, Oklahoma City, OK., was westbound on U.S 400 three miles west of Severy.

The Lincoln went left of center and struck a 2004 Ford Ranger driven by Stewart Bell, 49, Moline, Kansas, head-on and caught fire in the eastbound lane

White, a passenger in the Lincoln Sheryl Elaine White, 68, Oklahoma City, Stewart Bell and a passenger in the Ford Ann Marie Bell, 46, Moline, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Passengers in the Lincoln Elaine Snowden, 17, Manhattan, and Julia Smith, 18, Moore, OK., were transported to Wesley Medical Center.

Ann Marie Bell was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

ABILENE – Law enforcement authorities in Dickinson County are investigating two suspects on drug and forgery charges.

Just after 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 2nd, 2016 an Abilene Police Officer conducted a traffic stop in the 200 block of Northwest Fourteenth Street in Abilene, according to a media release.

During the stop, the officer learned that both the driver 33-yea- old Cory Quiles of Salina, and passenger, 19-year-old Dalton Craig of Abilene, had outstanding warrants for their arrest.

Both Quiles and Craig were taken into custody without incident.

During a subsequent search of the vehicle, officers located over $5,500 in suspected counterfeit U.S. currency along with computers, scanners and printers used to facilitate the manufacture of counterfeit U.S. currency.

Both Quiles and Craig could face charges that include multiple counts of Forgery, Possession of Methamphetamine and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, according to police.

The Abilene Police Department was assisted in the investigation by the Dickinson County Drug Enforcement Unit and the U.S. Secret Service.

BURLINGTON, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a 53-year-old man has died in a boating accident on the Neosho River.

The Coffey County Sheriff’s Office said 53-year-old Michael Myers of Burlington was in a small boat on the river Friday evening when the boat capsized. An officer from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks found Myers’ body early Saturday.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that another man survived the accident.

MARIA SUDEKUM, Associated Press

 

HESSTON – The college campus community in Hesston is mourning the untimely death of 19-year-old student Justin Velazquez.

He had just finished his freshman year at Hesston and played infield for the Larks team that won the NJCAA Region VI title this spring.

According to a social media report Velazquez died Saturday morning, June 4, while playing baseball in his hometown Barceloneta, Puerto Rico.

No additional details were available on Saturday afternoon.

TOPEKA – Two Nebraska roofers have been temporarily banned from doing business in Kansas, according to Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

In a lawsuit filed in Shawnee County District Court, Schmidt accused Mark Wagner, a/k/a Mark Schneidewind, Susan Cuthill and Dollhouse, Inc., a/k/a MWR, Inc., and Midwest Restorations, of numerous violations of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act. Dollhouse, Inc., is a Kansas Foreign For Profit Corporation organized under the laws of Nebraska. Dollhouse, Inc., is owned and operated by Wagner, a/k/a Mark Schneidewind, and Cuthill. MWR, Inc., is a fictitious company and not registered with the Kansas or Nebraska Secretary of State’s office.

The investigation found that the defendants have been doing roofing business in Kansas despite not having obtained a valid registration certificate through the attorney general’s office as required by Kansas law. Additionally, the defendants used door-to-door salesmen to solicit their roofing services and did not give consumers notice of their three day right to cancel the transaction and duplicate notice of their three day right to cancel the transaction as required by law. The defendants are also accused of misrepresenting their status to consumers by claiming their company, MWR, Inc., is a valid corporation when it is not. Many of the consumers solicited were elderly.

Shawnee County District Judge Rebecca Crotty has entered a temporary restraining order prohibiting the defendants from operating in Kansas pending the outcome of the case. The attorney general is seeking civil penalties and restitution for Kansas consumers.

JOHN HANNA, AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Many Republican legislators in Kansas are angry with the state Supreme Court’s latest order on education funding.

They question the justices’ motives and doubt the court will accept any further fixes from GOP lawmakers.

Their views prompted Republican legislative leaders to abandon a push to pass further education funding changes Wednesday before lawmakers formally adjourned their annual session.

GOP Gov. Sam Brownback hasn’t said whether he’ll call a special session. That’s despite the court’s warning that public schools won’t be able to open after June 30 if legislators don’t increase aid to poor districts by then.

Some Republican legislators advocated defying the court. They argued that complying with its order would encourage what Sen. Jeff Melcher, of Leawood, called “bad behavior” by the justices.