TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Three Republican senators are proposing a bill to reinstate income taxes for more than 330,000 Kansas business owners.
The Senate Tax Committee reviewed the proposal Thursday as lawmakers try to address the state’s $290 million budget deficit in an election year.
State budget officials say reinstating the tax on farmers and business owners would bring in an estimated $170.6 million in fiscal year 2017. The bill would tax 70 percent of their income.
The Wichita Eagle reports business groups strongly oppose reversing the tax exemption. Democrats and others say the bill doesn’t go far enough to solve the state’s budget problems.
Gov. Sam Brownback proposed the tax exemption as part of a package slashing personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013, which he said would stimulate the state’s economy.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Two civil rights groups are suing the Wilson County sheriff over his jail’s policy of allowing inmates to receive and send only postcards in the mail.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Social Justice Law Collective contend the policy violates the free speech and due process rights of prisoners and the people who write to them.
Their class-action lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court of Kansas, seeks a court order that puts an end to the practice.
Wilson County Sheriff Pete Figgins did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
SJLC attorney Joshua Glickman says post-card only mail policies have appeared across the country in the past six or seven years as a cost-cutting measure. He says they have been overturned or rescinded when challenged.
SALINA -Three suspects facing charges in the Tuesday morning shooting death of a Nebraska man at a Salina motel made their first appearance in Saline County District Court Thursday.
DiAntre Lemmie, 21, Amber Craig, 24, and Tyi Daniel, 34, all of Salina appeared via closed circuit television.
Lemmie faces charges of 1st degree murder, aggravated robbery, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and fleeing and eluding. A motion was also filed to revoke Lemmie’s probation in an unrelated burglary case.
Craig faces charges that include 1st degree murder, aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery.
Daniel faces charges of obstructing apprehension or prosecution, interference with law enforcement and tampering with evidence.
Lemmie and Craig are accused of conspiring to use a gun to rob 32-year-old Adonis Loudermilk of cash and killing him while in the process of committing the robbery.
Charges against Daniel were the result of being with Lemmie during the course of the police pursuit and foot chase.
Bond for Lemmie and Craig was set at $1 million.
Daniel’s bond was set at $2,500. A public defender was appointed for Lemmie, while Craig and Daniel indicated they might hire their own attorneys.
The next court appearance for all three defendants has been scheduled for Monday, May 2nd.
Amanda Blackhorse in shirt designed by Stephen Demchak – courtesy photo
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Haskell Indian Nations University graduate who is at the forefront in the fight to change the name of the Washington Redskins NFL team is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the university’s commencement.
Amanda Blackhorse and four other American Indians filed the lawsuit that led to the June 2014 decision of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trial and Appeal Board to cancel the professional football team’s trademark registration.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports the board’s decision didn’t force the team to change its name, but supporters hope it will strengthen the argument to do so.
Blackhorse will be the featured speaker at Haskell’s commencement, which starts at 10 a.m. on May 6 at the Coffin Sports Complex in Lawrence.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A historic statue has been returned to a Civil War memorial in Wichita after undergoing a nearly three-year renovation in Missouri.
The Wichita Eagle reports that a crane hoisted the statute, named “Liberty,” into place Wednesday. It occupies the pinnacle of the Soldiers and Sailors Civil War Monument on the south lawn of the Sedgwick County Historic Courthouse.
Sedgwick County project services program manager Tania Cole says the statue was restored for $32,880. Liberty had some structural issues and was coming apart at the seams near her feet.
Russell-Marti Conservation Services Inc. in California, Missouri, performed the restoration. The “Liberty” statue was designed and built by the W.H. Mullins Co. of Salem, Ohio, which specialized about a century ago in making metal statues for Civil War memorials.
RILEY COUNTY- A Kansas teen was injured in a 4-vehicle accident just after 6 p.m. on Wednesday in Riley County.
Riley County Police reported a 2004 Subaru Legacy driven by Sadie Jensen 17, Randolph, was at the intersection of Tuttle Creek Boulevard and South Dam Road.
The Subaru collided with a 2015 Ford Van driven by Shawn Pultz, 38, Manhattan.
The van then collided with a 2003 Ford F-150 driven by Rory Swanson, 57, Manhattan, which stuck a 2000 Honda Civic, driven by James Vesta Jr., 46, Clay Center, that was stopped at the intersection at the time of the accident.
A 16-year-old boy in the Honda was transported to Via Christi Hospital.
Jensen was issued a citation while on scene for failure to yield the right of way, according to police.
NODAWAY, Iowa (AP) — Two Kansas men have pleaded guilty in what authorities say was the drug-related slaying of an Iowa man.
The Creston News Advertiser reports that 42-year-old Jon Rubendall and 40-year-old James Bost were convicted Tuesday of second-degree murder Tuesday after prosecutors lowered their charges. The Hiawatha, Kansas, men are scheduled to be sentenced May 16.
Authorities say they killed 44-year-old Allen Pafford last June. A court document says authorities found Pafford tied up in a workshop near his mother’s home in Nodaway, with a bedsheet wrapped around his head and neck and a bullet wound in the back of his head. The document says Bost told authorities that Pafford owed Rubendall $3,000 for drugs.
Christine Gordon says a version of a bill before the Kansas Legislature would only add fees and regulatory hurdles to cannabidiol, or CBD oil – a substance that already can be accessed legally at the federal level. She displayed a bottle of the oil at a rally Wednesday at the Capitol. CREDIT ANDY MARSO / HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR
A bill to legalize hemp oil at the state level has drawn the ire of Kansas medical marijuana advocates who say it’s too watered down to do any good.
Members of Bleeding Kansas, one of the state’s largest medical marijuana advocacy groups, rallied Wednesday at the Capitol to urge legislators to ditch Senate Bill 489.
Christine Gordon and others said the bill would only add fees and regulatory hurdles to cannabidiol, or CBD oil — a substance that already can be accessed legally at the federal level.
“I have CBD sitting in my kitchen,” she said. “I have CBD sitting with me right here today.”
Gordon illustrated the point by producing a small bottle of CBD oil and giving a dose to her 4-year-old daughter, Autumn, who suffers from persistent seizures.
A 2014 farm bill made it legal federally to sell CBD oil with up to 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is the substance that produces the euphoric “high” coveted by recreational marijuana users when absorbed in higher doses.
Gordon said her daughter receives some seizure relief from the CBD oil, but she believes Autumn could benefit more from an oil with a higher concentration of THC.
A bill that previously passed the House would have allowed oil with up to 3 percent THC to be used to treat persistent seizure disorders.
The Senate added other qualifying conditions like cancer and Alzheimer’s to SB 489 but restricted the THC limits to 0.3 percent for children and 1 percent for adult users. It also specified that the preparations must come from other states.
Rep. John Wilson, a Democrat from Lawrence who spearheaded the House-approved bill, said he shared Bleeding Kansas’ frustrations with the Senate changes. He said the group was correct in saying that legislation passed in other states with similar restrictions had proved nearly unworkable for patients.
“If that’s the bill that would ultimately hit the governor’s desk, I’d have trouble supporting it myself,” Wilson said.
But he’s unsure the bill will even come up for a Senate vote given the timeline of the legislative session. Meanwhile, he’s still working with House and Senate members to try to forge a compromise that is more similar to his original proposal.
Bleeding Kansas members said Wednesday they’re holding out for full legalization of medical marijuana with no restrictions on THC or qualifying medical conditions — as laid out in House Bill 2691.
Tracy Robles of Wichita said her 7-year-old daughter needs a higher level of THC than 3 percent, so she and her family will move this summer to Colorado, which has legalized marijuana for both medical and recreational use.
Tracy Robles of Wichita says her 7-year-old daughter needs a higher level of THC than 3 percent, so she and her family will move this summer to Colorado, which has legalized marijuana for both medical and recreational use. CREDIT ANDY MARSO / HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR
Lisa Sublett, founder of Bleeding Kansas, said the departure from the state of someone like Robles, who has a master’s degree, should give lawmakers pause.
“Congratulations Kansas,” Sublett said. “You’re running off your talent, your taxpayers and families we love and care about.”
Wilson said he was sympathetic to the position of those looking for broader medical marijuana legalization.
But he said bills like that have gone nowhere in the last six legislative sessions, and it might be another six years before the group has a Legislature willing to give it a shot.
Meanwhile, he said he’s still hearing from some Kansas families that believe a 3 percent THC solution could be of some benefit to loved ones who experience dozens of seizures a day.
“In my opinion, the choice is: Do you want to help a few people or nobody at all?” Wilson said. “Do you want to kind of work within the political realities of the state or not? I’m trying to work within the political realities.”
Andy Marso is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach him on Twitter @andymarso
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have confirmed that lightning caused a fire that destroyed a suburban Kansas City home.
The Overland Park Fire Department said in a news release that the lightning struck the electrical service on the outside of the house before crews arrived early Wednesday. Because the home was vacant, the fire wasn’t noticed immediately. The home was a total loss.
The fire didn’t spread to neighboring homes, although they were evacuated while crews fought the blaze. No injuries were reported.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A government review shows a Veterans Affairs regional office in Kansas listed erroneous medical conditions for three dozen patients who filed appeals after having their claims rejected.
In a report released Tuesday, the VA’s inspector general’s office says management instructed staff at the Wichita facility to enter the same “placeholder” diagnostic code for a specific bone infection on 36 appeal claims. None of the patients had the listed condition.
Investigators found that a backlog of mail may have contributed to the erroneous records. They found the claim assistants weren’t trained on how to enter accurate patient conditions into the computer system.
The VA did not immediately return phone messages seeking comment.
A veterans’ advocacy group says data manipulation has been a national problem recently amid greater scrutiny of the VA.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — U.S. forecasters will review whether they went too far out on a limb to warn people about bad weather that didn’t fully develop.
The Storm Prediction Center had said last week there was a good chance the central U.S. would see huge hail, high winds and strong tornadoes on Tuesday. For the first time, forecasters talked of a “possible outbreak” six days ahead of the storms.
The hail and winds came as promised, but tornadoes were small.
A social scientist says the National Weather Service should review how the public processed the information. Many criticized the forecast as a “bust,” even though it was largely correct. Another researcher said many people think mainly of tornadoes whenever severe weather is mentioned.
Forecasters received more than 500 reports of severe weather Tuesday.
WICHITA–“In an election cycle where both Republican and Democrat voters are demonstrating their outrage with establishment politics, the Libertarian Party of Kansas sees opportunity,” said state LPKS chairman Rob Hodgkinson in a news release Tuesday.
“For the last decade, the Libertarian Party of Kansas has been the fastest growing political party in Kansas and they expect that trend to not only continue but accelerate as voters look for a better option to the candidates that are being offered by both major parties.
“At this time, it seems likely that the establishment parties will offer two candidates viewed as unfavorable by most voters nationwide. If that happens, the Libertarian Party of Kansas believes that people will be actively looking for a better third option. The Libertarian Candidate for President will likely be the only non-establishment candidate to appear on the general election ballot in all 50 states.
“Excitement within the Libertarian Party is running high after they witnessed the historic first-ever nationally televised Libertarian Primary Debate on the Fox Business Channel in April. That debate featured the party’s three leading candidate for their nomination: Governor Gary Johnson, Austin Peterson, and John McAfee.”
Libertarian delegates will choose their party’s presidential candidate at their National Convention the last week of May in Orlando, Florida.
The Libertarian Party of Kansas will hold their state convention this weekend in Salina. Saturday, April 30, will be filled with party business, nomination of party leadership, and nomination of party candidates for state offices. Featured speakers at the convention will be political commentator Julie Borowski and Mark Rutherford, a candidate for chairman of the Libertarian National Committee.
The convention is open to the public, but only registered Libertarians can vote on party business.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Three Republican senators are proposing a bill to reinstate income taxes for more than 330,000 Kansas business owners.
