TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A national credit rating service says there’s at least a 50-50 chance it could lower Kansas’ AA credit rating later this year, depending on how the Legislature handles the state’s current budget crisis.
The Kansas City Star reports Standard and Poor’s Rating Services said Monday it had placed Kansas on a “credit watch” because of the state’s budget shortfall and concerns about Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposal for filling the gap.
New revenue estimates for the state recently projected a $290 million budget shortfall through June 2017.
Brownback spokeswoman Eileen Hawley says the governor has presented three options for the Legislature to consider in balancing the budget.
The rating service says it will resolve the credit watch in 90 days, based on the Legislature’s actions.
SETH BORENSTEIN, Associated Press
KELLY P. KISSEL, Associated Press
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Meteorologists are finding that it’s easier to forecast stormy weather than it is to predict what goes on in the human mind.
As the nation’s midsection braces itself for possible tornadoes Tuesday, researchers have yet to determine when to raise a general alarm. With too much notice, people might try to flee in their cars, putting them at greater risk.
For now, the Storm Prediction Center is reminding people in general that it’s late April and tornado season is upon us. Forecasters suggest cleaning out the storm shelter and buying a weather radio — but get some gas for the chain saw just in case.
The center is telling emergency officials a severe weather outbreak is possible across Oklahoma on Tuesday, with storms also from Dallas to central Kansas.
CRAWFORD COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Crawford County are investigating a suspect in connecting with assisting a prisoner escape from the county jail.
On Saturday, deputies arrested Marlene Louise McAfee, 57, Arma, for the charge of Aiding Escape, according to a media release.
The escapees, Steven Barnes and Shaun Simpson obtained a vehicle, a Red 1999 Chevrolet Trailblazer.
It is registered to McAfee.
Investigators believe that she drove the vehicle to work at Girard Medical Center Clinic on Friday April 22.
After work, McAfee received a ride home and left the Trailblazer parked at the clinic, which is located approximately one-quarter mile from the Crawford County Jail. The vehicle was unlocked with the keys inside of it.
Barnes and Simpson
Cameras at Girard Medical Center captured Shaun Simpson and Steven Barnes running around the clinic to the location in
which the Trailblazer was parked.
Further footage shows Simpson and Barnes leaving the scene in the Trailblazer.
Fire at the motel during Saturday’s gun battle -photo courtesy WIBW -TV
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two of three federal agents injured during a fiery weekend shootout at a Kansas motel are out of the hospital, and authorities are trying to identify the body found inside the suspect’s charred motel room.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals Service’s headquarters said Monday that two deputy marshals were treated and released after sustaining gunshot wounds during the Saturday night confrontation in Topeka.
The FBI says an FBI agent also received non-life-threatening injuries, though that person’s medical status was not immediately clear Monday.
The FBI says members of a fugitive task force were trying to arrest 28-year-old robbery suspect Orlando J. Collins at the Country Club Motel when they came under fire. A fire then broke out in the room where authorities later found a body.
SALINA – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a weekend shooting death.
Just after 6:30 a.m. on Sunday officers were called to the 1900 block of Dover Drive after a 28-year-old man was shot with a handgun in the driveway of a residence, according to Police Captain Chris Trocheck.
The man, who did not live at the residence, was transported to Salina Regional Health Center, where he died.
Police are not searching for any suspects and the victim has not been identified authorities attempt to contact his next of kin, according to Trocheck.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo says he is not running for U.S. Senate, ending speculation that he would mount a primary challenge to Sen. Jerry Moran.
The Kansas Republican said in a lengthy email Monday to supporters that he is filing for re-election to the House, saying the 85 remaining days before first votes are cast preclude him running the kind of Senate campaign he wants. He cited his commitments in the House.
Moran said in an emailed statement he looks forward with working with Pompeo and the Kansas delegation to improve the state and nation.
Pompeo says he started exploring a potential Senate run over conflicting messages Moran sent out on the Supreme Court nominee. He also criticized the Republican establishment for pushing back once his possible candidacy became public.
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that New England Patriots Tom Brady must serve a four-game “Deflategate” suspension imposed by the NFL, overturning a lower judge and siding with the league in a battle with the players union.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday in New York. The decision by a three-judge panel may end the legal debate over the scandal that led to months of football fans arguing over air pressure and the reputation of one of the league’s top teams.
It is also likely to fuel a fresh round of debate over what role, if any, the quarterback and top NFL star played in using underinflated footballs at the AFC championship game in January 2015.
The appeals ruling follows a September decision by Manhattan Judge Richard Berman that went against the league, letting Brady skip the suspension.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell insisted the suspension was deserved.
WICHITA – Law enforcement authorities in Sedgwick County are investigating a reported robbery from WalMart.
The suspects were belligerent with an employee at the store located at 5475 North Meridan.
They asked for an electronics case to be opened, pushed the clerk down, took 2 iPads from the case, and ran from the store, according to a social media report.
They were observed leaving in a dark, 4-door sedan with a temporary tag.
The suspects were described as being in their late teens or early twenties and spoke with an accent that the clerk didn’t recognize.
The public is asked to please contact Detective Davis at [email protected] or 316-268-4496 if you are able to provide help finding the suspects.
GIRARD, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say two inmates have escaped from a southeast Kansas jail.
The Pittsburg Morning Sun reports that Steven Ray Barnes and Shaun Steven Simpson broke out of the Crawford County Jail on Saturday. The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office says they were last seen traveling south on foot from the jail in Girard.
Authorities say they escaped by breaking a clamp on the outdoor recreation fence and then climbing the outer fence using a sweatshirt to cover the razor wire.
Barnes was being held on parole violation on a theft conviction. Simpson was being held on kidnapping and driving with a suspended license.
Simpson- photo Crawford Co.
Authorities say they have possibly left the Girard area in a 1999 Chevy Trailblazer. Authorities are urging anyone with information to come forward.
Representatives of 15 groups that advocate for Kansas Medicaid populations sent a letter to state leaders last week urging them to eliminate a Medicaid application backlog that has left thousands of Kansans awaiting coverage.
The groups have formed a coalition called the KanCare Advocates Network. They represent children, pregnant women and Kansans who are elderly or disabled.
Kansans from those populations have been waiting months, in some cases, for their Medicaid applications to process.
“These delays are placing vulnerable persons of all ages in jeopardy of short and long-term negative health outcomes due to their inability to access needed healthcare and services,” the group’s letter said.
Several members of the advocacy group plan to attend Monday’s meeting of the legislative committee that oversees KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program.
Angela de Rocha, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, said state officials share the group’s concerns and are “fully committed to ensuring that Kansans receive the services they need on a timely basis.”
“We are as concerned about this as the folks that wrote that letter,” de Rocha said.
Fifteen groups that advocate for Kansas Medicaid populations have formed a coalition called the KanCare Advocates Network.
The Medicaid backlog began last summer when the state rolled out a new computer system for determining eligibility called the Kansas Eligibility Enforcement System, or KEES.
State employees who use KEES must learn dozens of time-consuming workarounds to circumvent defects, and the system does not always transfer applications seamlessly to another computer program that sends Medicaid cards and cuts checks to health providers.
Within months of KEES going live, organizations that serve Medicaid populations began reporting longer-than-normal application processing times.
Other factors exacerbated the problem.
On Jan. 1, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment took over responsibility for processing all Medicaid applications and annual reviews, including some previously done by the Kansas Department for Children and Families.
That created a bottleneck just as the open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act was steering thousands of eligible Kansans toward Medicaid coverage.
By February there were more than 17,000 applications awaiting processing, including almost 8,000 that had been pending for more than the federal limit of 45 days.
That month the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services requested that state officials form a plan to address the backlog and submit twice-weekly status updates.
State taking steps
Internal documents and emails provided to Heartland Health Monitor partner KHI News Service show the KEES project was plagued from the beginning by lack of communication and internal strife within state agencies and between the state and its contractor, Accenture.
Two KDHE officials who appear throughout the documents have left the agency in recent weeks.
A KEES update sent April 7 to KDHE employees stated that Jenifer Telshaw had accepted a position with another state agency. Telshaw, the KEES business support manager, raised alarms about insufficient staffing throughout the testing phase of KEES.
An internal email sent Monday to KDHE workers stated that Darin Bodenhamer, the director of Medicaid eligibility, was “no longer with the agency” but provided no further details.
Emails sent while KEES was under development show that Bodenhamer clashed with Glen Yancey, the state’s leading information technology employee on the project. A KDHE employee who uses KEES and spoke on condition of anonymity said Bodenhamer was a strong voice for workers when glitches in the system made it difficult for them to process applications.
Telshaw and Bodenhamer did not respond to phone messages, and de Rocha said she could not discuss personnel issues.
De Rocha emphasized that state officials have taken a number of steps to start paring down the backlog and moderating its effects.
KDHE has added 39 employees to help process applications and answer calls on a helpline, and some DCF staff members have been shifted to help process applications.
Nursing homes, some of which have stopped taking residents with pending Medicaid applications because of uncompensated care, have been given the opportunity to apply for half-payments for residents awaiting Medicaid processing.
Meanwhile, de Rocha said state officials are working closely with Accenture to improve processing time and accuracy to stem the application backlog.
“The state realizes that this is a problem and it’s a serious problem and we take the letter (from advocates) very seriously,” de Rocha said. “We are working 24-7 to try to address this backlog problem.”
The efforts are producing results.
The state’s most recent report to CMS stated that the total number of unprocessed applications had dropped to about 15,800 by mid-March. The number of applications pending more than 45 days had dropped to about 7,380.
De Rocha said more progress has been made since then. Unprocessed applications were down to 10,807 as of Friday and the number pending 45 days or more was 5,414, she said.
“We’re going in the right direction,” de Rocha said.
The state has reduced the number of pending applications in part by prioritizing processing them ahead of annual reviews for Medicaid beneficiaries.
Consequently, the number of unprocessed reviews has been increasing — from about 19,800 at the end of February to almost 23,000 in mid-March.
Once the backlog problems were apparent, the administration said Kansans with unprocessed reviews would not be dropped from the Medicaid rolls.
But some advocates say people they work with remain at risk of losing care if they can’t assure their providers that they still have coverage.
Provider issues
Rosie Cooper, executive director of the Kansas Association of Centers for Independent Living, is one of the advocates who signed the letter urging elimination of the backlog.
Cooper’s organization represents 10 centers statewide that connect Kansans with disabilities to service providers who can help them with daily tasks that allow them to live independently.
She said some of the Kansans she serves are reporting that their providers are still getting “Medicaid expired” messages for clients whose reviews are caught in the backlog.
KDHE officials have been quick to clarify for providers that they are still covered, but it requires an extra phone call.
“It’s another layer,” Cooper said.
Wichita resident Robin Hartzell said he found himself in that spot in February, when he went to a doctor and was told he no longer had Medicaid.
The stakes were high because Hartzell had a surgery scheduled. Without assurance of coverage, the physicians said they might have to postpone the procedure.
Hartzell contacted KanCare ombudsman Kerrie Bacon and his state legislators, Rep. Tom Sawyer and Sen. Michael O’Donnell. With help from them and a KDHE worker, Hartzell was able to clarify that he had Medicaid coverage and get the procedure.
“It was related to that software migration,” Hartzell said. “The system just kicked me out and the IT guys had to go in there and ‘flip a switch,’ as she called it, and get me back in the system.”
Hartzell said he wanted to share his story because he feared other Medicaid recipients might not know how to navigate the system.
As the state irons out issues related to the backlog, some Kansans in need are still waiting.
Ricardo Vicens, another Wichita resident, said he applied for Medicaid in December. A massive stroke left Vicens, who is 60 years old, partially paralyzed on his left side.
Vicens needs a disability determination, which extends the federal guidelines for processing his application to 90 days. But it’s been more than 100 days and he still has not received his card or any update on his case.
Vicens said he’s confined to a wheelchair inside a home that is not accessible for people with disabilities. He’s been paying out of pocket for follow-up care at GraceMed, a community health center that allows patients without insurance to pay on a sliding scale based on income.
But he can’t afford physical therapy to try to regain some of what the stroke took from him.
“That’s my top priority, physical therapy, because I cannot move my left hand,” Vicens said. “It’s getting worse and worse.”
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
HANNOVER, Germany (AP) — The Latest on President Barack Obama’s visit to Germany (all times local):
President Barack Obama says he’s sending up to 250 more troops to Syria to “keep up this momentum” against Islamic State group.
Obama is speaking at a trade fair in Hannover, Germany. He says the additional troops won’t be leading the fight on the ground, but they’ll be “essential.” He says their goal will be to drive IS back from territory.
Obama says existing U.S. special forces in Syria have been critical in lending expertise to local forces. Obama says some of the additional troops he’s sending will be special forces.
The president’s announcement brings to 300 the number of U.S. forces battling extremists in war-torn Syria.
———
12:15 p.m.
President Barack Obama says “we can’t turn our backs on fellow human beings who are here now and need our help now.”
Obama is speaking in Hannover, Germany. He is crediting German Chancellor Angela Merkel for setting that tone and he is calling for every nation to step up and share responsibility for helping those fleeing violence in the Middle East, including the United States.
Obama says Europe and the U.S. are more secure when welcoming people of all backgrounds and faiths, including Muslims.
___
12:00 p.m.
President Barack Obama says Europe has sometimes been complacent in its own defense.
Obama is urging European countries to step up their spending on defense during a speech in Hannover, Germany.
Obama says he wants good relations with Russia. But he says the global community must keep up sanctions on Russia until it fully implements its commitments under a Ukraine deal struck in Minsk.
___
11:55 a.m.
President Barack Obama says a united Europe is vital to the world, saying it promotes peace and prosperity.
Obama is making the case that a strong Europe is needed to enhance the world’s security, and he says that Europe and NATO can still do more, particularly in Syria and Iraq.
Obama says all NATO members should be contributing at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product to defense. He says that some European nations have become complacent on defense spending.
___
11:40 a.m.
President Barack Obama says when it comes to demonizing minorities, loud voices get attention.
Obama is alluding to American presidential candidate Donald Trump in a speech in Hannover, Germany. He says this is a defining moment.
Obama says inequality and other trends have created concerns and anxieties in the U.S. and Europe that are legitimate and mustn’t be ignored. But Obama says they shouldn’t lead to a mentality where people blame their problems on each other.
Obama is decrying a mindset of singling out people who look or pray differently, whether it’s immigrants or Muslims. Obama says that’s the kind of politics that the European system was set up to work against.
A look at Sunday storm looking north near the I-70 and I-135 Junction-photo KHP
Severe thunderstorms brought heavy rain, large hail, and reports of brief tornadoes to central and Northeast Kansas on Sunday.
Severe thunderstorms began in Barton County, moved northeast across Ellsworth, Lincoln, Saline, Ottawa, McPherson, Dickinson and moved into Geary and Riley Counties.
Brief tornado touchdowns were reported near Holyrood in southwest Ellsworth County, and south of Glendale in northwest Saline County.
Hail the size of baseballs was reported in Ottawa, Saline, Ellsworth McPherson Geary counties.
Heavy rain was reported across portions of Ottawa, Clay, northern Dickinson and Riley Counties prompting flash flood warnings from the National Weather Service.
The storm injured two people in Republic County, according to Joe Herrick, a dispatcher for Republic County emergency communications.
Authorities are surveying storm damage in Munden, where at least one trailer home was destroyed. Herrick says two people who were storm spotting were taken to a hospital with injuries. The National Weather Service plans to survey the area Monday.
The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado Warning for the City of Manhattan and KSU Campus until 0:00 ?m. Take Shelter Immediately!
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A national credit rating service says there’s at least a 50-50 chance it could lower Kansas’ AA credit rating later this year, depending on how the Legislature handles the state’s current budget crisis.
