MARION COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 10a.m. on Saturday in Marion County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1999 International Semi driven by Eriel Gonzalez-Mitre, 29, Hillsboro, was northbound on Kansas 15 two miles south of U.S. 56.
The driver saw there was a bridge and didn’t want to meet a southbound1996 International Semi driven by Joshua Caleb Meliza, 27, Hillsboro, with an oversized load.
Gonzalez-Mitre locked up the brakes on the semi. It slid across the centerline and struck the trailer load of Meliza’s semi.
Gonzalez-Mitre was transported to Newton Medical Center.
Meliza was not injured.
Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
WACO, Texas (AP) — Pilgrim’s Pride is expanding a 5 million pound recall of cooked chicken products.
Federal food safety regulators say the latest expansion by the largest poultry producer in the U.S. includes a variety of chicken products potentially contaminated with foreign materials. Food inspectors have found items such as wood, plastic, rubber and metal.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday that there have been no “confirmed reports of adverse reactions” due to consuming the products. But consumers are still urged to throw away or return the products.
The latest recall involves products produced in 2015 between May 6 and Dec. 3.
Federal regulators say the problem was first discovered after the company received several consumer complaints regarding plastic contamination of chicken nuggets.
Dillard Image -Tallgrass films courtesy Joe Winston
ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Jurors have sided with a Kanas anti-abortion activist by ruling that she didn’t intentionally seek to intimidate a doctor by sending a letter that suggested someone might place an explosive under the physician’s car.
The U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division sued Angel Dillard in 2011 for sending the letter to Dr. Mila Means, who had been training to offer abortions. At the time, no doctor was performing abortions in Wichita in the wake of the 2009 slaying of Dr. George Tiller by an abortion opponent.
Defense attorneys said it was constitutionally protected speech. The jury sided with Dillard on Friday.
The lawsuit was filed under a federal law aimed at protecting access to abortion services. Jurors were tasked with deciding whether the letter constituted a “true threat.”
RENO COUNTY – Law enforcement officials are investigating an inmate death at the Reno County Correctional facility.
Just before 10p.m. on Thursday an inmate in the Correctional Facility was found not breathing in a medical observation cell, according to a report from Sheriff Randy Henderson.
Attempts to resuscitate by facility staff, Hutchinson Fire and Reno County EMS were unsuccessful.
The KBI has been called in to investigate as is protocol by Kansas law. Family of the deceased man has been contacted, according to Henderson.
Eric Cope, owner of Top Shelf Vapors in Topeka, says he doesn’t oppose some regulation of the ingredients in liquid used for vaping. But he worries only large tobacco companies will be left in the market. MEGAN HART / HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR
By MEGAN HART
Kansas health advocates lauded the Food and Drug Administration’s decision Thursday to regulate electronic cigarettes, while those in the vaping industry pointed to harm to businesses and people trying to quit smoking.
The FDA announced that it would ban selling or giving free samples of e-cigarettes and their nicotine cartridges, cigars, hookahs and pipe tobacco to people younger than 18. Kansas law already forbids the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.
But another change the FDA announced Thursday may be more far-reaching. Any tobacco or nicotine product that went on the market after Feb. 15, 2007, will have to go before the FDA for approval. Companies have a two-year grace period to prepare their applications and can continue selling their products for a third year while the FDA reviews the application.
John Neuberger, a professor in the department of preventive medicine and public health at the University of Kansas Medical Center, said the rule is one step in evaluating the risks associated with e-cigarettes, which currently aren’t regulated. Nicotine is toxic to the heart and brain at high doses, he said, and vapor liquids vary widely in their contents.
“It’s very difficult to know what are you inhaling,” he said.
The American Heart Association also welcomed the decision as a step toward reducing the number of teenagers who become smokers. Smoking increases a person’s risk of heart disease and stroke.
“We applaud the FDA for issuing rules regarding electronic cigarettes, hookah and cigars. Use of these products has risen dramatically — especially among youth — so it is imperative the FDA have authority over these previously unregulated tobacco products,” said Kevin Walker, regional vice president of advocacy for the American Heart Association in Kansas, Missouri and Iowa.
Spencer Duncan, who lobbies on behalf of the vaping industry in Kansas, said the regulations will increase the cost of e-cigarettes and reduce smokers’ access to one way of weaning themselves off tobacco.
“If you are not a smoker, I would never suggest that you start using e-cigarettes,” he said. “If I’m a two-pack-a-day smoker desperately trying to quit tobacco and using this, you’re not helping me” by requiring approval of e-cigarettes.
On-ramp or off-ramp?
Research hasn’t provided easy answers on potential health risks of e-cigarettes or whether they could have benefits for smokers. Britain’s Royal College of Physicians released an opinion in June 2014 that e-cigarettes could be beneficial if smokers transition away from traditional cigarettes, though it supports regulating them.
On the other hand, a study published in JAMA Pediatrics in November 2015 found that teens who used e-cigarettes were more likely to start smoking tobacco cigarettes. Right now, there is more evidence of an increased risk of becoming a smoker for e-cigarette users, Neuberger said.
“It’s kind of, do you believe it’s an on-ramp to tobacco use or that it’s an off-ramp for people to stop smoking?” he asked. “Right now, the evidence is it’s more of an on-ramp.”
Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said Thursday that about 70 percent of e-cigarette users also smoke cigarettes. The products may even reduce smokers’ willingness to quit, he said, because they can use e-cigarettes to get nicotine in places where it is illegal or socially unacceptable to smoke cigarettes.
The FDA will need to weigh the dangers of any chemicals in e-cigarettes, whether they make smokers more or less likely to quit cigarettes and whether they increase the rate of youths becoming smokers, Zeller said. A 2015 survey found about 16 percent of high school students admitted using e-cigarettes, he said.
“If (a smoker) completely switched to e-cigarettes, there’s no question that person would reduce his or her risk,” he said. “We can’t make national policy based on a hypothetical individual.”
Long-term health effects of e-cigarettes aren’t clear. Nicotine can raise a person’s blood pressure and heart rate, but the bigger concern comes from lack of knowledge about other chemicals in the inhaled vapor and their effects on the body over time. Some groups, like the American Public Health Association, have taken the view that e-cigarettes are less dangerous than traditional cigarettes but haven’t been proven safe.
Economic effects
The FDA’s proposed regulations also will hurt the roughly 400 Kansas shops selling mostly e-cigarette products, Duncan said. A 20-cent per milliliter state tax on the nicotine liquid in e-cigarettes also will come into effect in July, creating a double hit on those who sell vaping products in Kansas, he said.
“If the rules, as written, stand, it will put people out of business,” he said.
For example, the FDA has indicated it will regulate not only the liquid but the devices themselves, effectively ending businesses’ practices of customizing them, Duncan said.
Eric Cope, who owns Top Shelf Vapors in Topeka, said he doesn’t oppose some regulation of the ingredients in liquid used for vaping. He is concerned that the approval process will be so expensive that only large tobacco companies will be left in the market. His store sells products from about 50 manufacturers, he said, and fewer choices for customers would put his business in jeopardy.
Most of his customers use only e-cigarettes, Cope said, and some use them as a substitute for cigarettes. If they can’t vape, many will go back to tobacco, he said.
“They may find this is a harmful substance, but it’s not as harmful as smoking,” he said. “The biggest thing (government officials) are not considering is the decreased health care expenditures they’re going to have” if people quit smoking.
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
A year after she posted a video explaining her transition from male to female, 8-year-old Avery Jackson and her mother, Debi Jackson, are working to turn the video into a children’s book.
Jackson, from Kansas City, is working with a transgender comic illustrator to put together the book in an effort to share Avery’s story with the hope that discussions about transgender issues will become easier.
“Avery is very much a goofy kid, and she loves this comic-book, silly style of art. We’re going to use that so it’s not such an intimidating subject to kids, but it’s something kind of fun that they can read and connect with,” Jackson said.
Jackson said she wanted to make sure all the people who touch the book, and all the people who are going to make money from it, are a part of the transgender community. And she hopes the book will help transgender adults as well as children.
“So many trans adults have a hard time finding steady employment, or they’re unemployed after transitioning, and we really wanted to find a way that we could give back,” she said.
Avery and her mother are also working with Planting Peace, a global nonprofit organization, to paint a house with the transgender flag on it. It would be a neighbor to the Equality House.
The Equality House, located in Topeka across from the Westboro Baptist Church, serves as an office space for Planting Peace. The Equality House is painted with the rainbow flag year-round, except for one week when they paint it with the transgender flag colors. The rainbow flag symbolizes pride for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, while the flag symbolizing transgender pride has five stripes—two blue, two pink, and one white.
“Some people said that ‘(transgender people) are covered by the rainbow flag, why do they think they need their own or need special treatment?’ It’s not special treatment; it’s visibility and equal treatment. They’re not as understood and as supported as the rest of the gay community,” Jackson said.
Fundraising efforts for Planting Peace to purchase the house started in March. The goal is to reach $70,000 but only $10,688 has been raised so far. Jackson hopes they can continue raising awareness for the project over the summer.
Jackson explained that her daughter’s story has been able to help not only transgender children who might be feeling alone, but adults as well.
“I have had a couple of adults who are in their 60s and 70s come to me and say ‘I’m finally going to transition and it’s because of Avery’s inspiration, and she can do that and she can be so brave where you live, then I have no excuses,’” she said.
When Avery was first transitioning, her mother admits the family looked into moving to safer places for her and her husband, Tom, to raise their daughter and son.
“I have actually done real estate searches looking for tiny islands that have less then 50 people on them. I have fantasized about moving away completely and starting over where no one knows us,” Jackson said.
However, she soon realized there is no place to completely escape because of the family’s visibility. She explained that Avery isn’t fully aware of the extent of the media coverage or how much her story has been shared, especially over the last year.
At first, Avery’s parents did not want her to be out in public, but as time went on they realized they couldn’t hold her back for very long.
“I don’t want her to go through life being afraid of other people,” Avery’s mom said.
One of Avery’s interests is playing online games, such as Minecraft.
“Both kids and adults tend to get into online gaming because you can create your avatar and be whoever you want to be, and it’s a safe place to start expressing an identity. So that might be why she gravitated to the online world,” Jackson said.
When Avery isn’t working on her homeschooling or playing Minecraft, she is participating with her Girl Scout troop, whose members know she is transgender.
In September 2014, Avery opened up about her transition during a Girl Scout meeting when the girls were asked to tell an interesting fact about themselves. Another girl told the group she was transgender and Avery said, “I am, too!”
After starting public advocacy work a year ago and serving as president of the Kansas City chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), Jackson is now working on putting together training for schools and businesses to help them become trans-inclusive. She wants to go into full-time consulting work to educate teachers, staff, kids and parents. Her goal is to turn her work into a national business.
As for Avery, there are days where she is very excited about being out in public and sharing her story. But at times she does feel the pressure to be visible for those who can’t, and would rather not speak at all because, in the end, she just wants to be treated like a normal person.
MANHATTAN- Law enforcement authorities in Riley County are investigating a suspect in connect with the death of an infant.
Just after 9p.m. on Thursday, police officers and additional emergency crews responded to the 500 block of Stone Drive in Manhattan, for a report of an baby not breathing, according to a media release.
Emergency crews confirmed the baby was not breathing and began resuscitation efforts.
Unfortunately, the child was not revived and was later pronounced deceased at Via Christi Hospital.
The Riley County Police Department confirmed on Saturday evening that officers have made an arrest after an investigation into the death of the infant.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A new state law aims to help the Kansas Turnpike collect unpaid tolls by allowing the state to block the vehicle registrations of offending motorists, starting in 2018.
Gov. Sam Brownback signed the measure into law Friday.
The bill arose from a proposal from the Kansas Turnpike Authority, which oversees the state’s only toll road and told lawmakers it is considering putting up gateless toll systems at three high-traffic exits. But if it does, it would need a way to ensure that tolls are collected.
The bill says that the Turnpike Authority will be allowed in 2018 to ask the state to block the vehicle registrations of motorists who have more than $100 in unpaid turnpike tolls.
Kansas motorists must register their vehicles annually to drive them legally.
HARVEY COUNTY- One person was injured in an accident just before 7p.m. on Friday in Harvey County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Chevy Silverado pulling a 1999 Airstream travel trailer and driven by Foster Lewis, 73, St. Louis, MO., was traveling on U.S. 50 a mile and a half north of Halstead.
The Chevy passed a semi and trailer and began to experience trailer swing.
The driver was unable to correct, slid sideways and over turned into the south ditch.
A passenger in the vehicle Elisabeth Voss, 62, Webster Groves, MO., was transported to Newton Medical Center.
Lewis was not injured.
Both were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
DECHANT, MICHAEL PATRICK – Photo courtesy Kansas Department of Corrections
MANHATTAN -Michael Dehant, 22, Ogden, appeared in Riley County Court on Friday for a motions hearing in front of Judge Stutzman. Dechant’s motion was to withdraw his plea of ‘no contest’ of to second-degree murder.
In December 2013, Dechant was sentenced to over 26 years for the death of Dominick Lubrano, his girlfriend’s six-month-old son.
According to testimony, in March of 2013, Dechant was watching the child in an Ogden apartment and violently shook the child.
Three days later the boy died at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City of non-accidental head trauma, otherwise known as shaken baby syndrome.
According to the original plea agreement, Dechant pleaded no contest to second-degree murder.
Riley County District Court Judge, David Stutzman, accepted the agreement.
Lead prosecutor in the case, Kendra Lewison, told the Little Apple Post that a whole morning’s worth of evidence was presented Friday by Dechant’s defense council on his motion to withdraw his plea.
Judge Stutzman took the matter under advisement, and a decision should be made in the next few weeks.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A recently released report says that Haskell Indian Nations University needs between $111 million and $123 million to get its aging facilities up to par.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Haskell’s National Board of Regents reviewed a report Thursday from the university’s first comprehensive facilities study in nearly 20 years. The board passed resolutions to support pursuing ways to implement an improvement plan.
Restoration work needed to reopen the closed, nearly 120-year-old Hiawatha Hall would put the price tag on the higher end.
Haskell President Venida Chenault says that a team led by Albuquerque-based Dyron Murphy Architects spent time on campus last fall to conduct evaluations.
Chenault says the university hopes to receive investments from some tribes in order to make the restoration possible over the next 10 years.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor says he won’t seek re-election this year because he believes in term limits and it’s time for someone else to take on the job.
The two-term Democrat spoke at a news conference Friday. He was first elected district attorney in 2008 and re-elected without opposition in 2012.
Taylor gained national attention in 2014 over his aborted campaign for the U.S. Senate against Republican incumbent Pat Roberts. Some fellow Democrats pushed Taylor to withdraw in September 2014 to give independent candidate Greg Orman a better chance of defeating Roberts.
Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach argued that Taylor didn’t comply with a law limiting when candidates can drop out and tried to block the move, but state courts sided with Taylor. Roberts eventually won re-election.
HOUSTON (AP) — The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. dropped by five this week to 415, another all-time low amid depressed energy prices.
A year ago, 894 rigs were active.
Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday that 338 rigs sought oil and 86 explored for natural gas. One was listed as miscellaneous.
Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Oklahoma declined by three rigs, Louisiana was down two and Alaska, Colorado, North Dakota and Ohio each fell by one.
Texas gained three rigs and Utah one.
Arkansas, California, Kansas, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wyoming were all unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. The previous low of 488 set in 1999 was eclipsed March 11, and has continued to slide.
