DONNA BRYSON, Associated Press

State revenue authorities across the country are battling an upsurge in identity thieves filing false tax returns.

And they’re taking new steps to combat the problem. In Kentucky, for example, state officials are telling taxpayers that refunds might take longer than usual because they need more time this year to verify returns are real.

States also are turning to outsiders for help, quizzing taxpayers more closely about their identities and tapping the experience of the IRS, which has its own problems with such fraud.

An official with the Federation of Tax Administrators says taxpayers can help, too. She recommends devising hard-to-guess passwords, changing them regularly, and using different ones for different electronic accounts.

RICE COUNTY – Two people were injured in an accident just before 3p.m. on Sunday in Rice County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Kawasaki Vulcan driven by Angela Kay Corder, 38, Holyrood, was eastbound on in the 900 Block of Avenue L in Chase.

The driver lost control and came to rest in the north ditch.

Corder and a passenger Wyatt Lee Sawyer, 15, Holyrood, were transported to the hospital in Lyons.

They were both wearing helmets at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

RENO COUNTY -A Kansas man was taken to jail early Friday morning for DUI, possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of Hydrocodone and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Joshua Stucky, 29, Pretty Prairie, was stopped by a Reno County Sheriff’s Deputy around 12:40 a.m. and was then taken to jail on the charges.

He was driving erratically on Pretty Prairie Road, according to deputies.

That led to the traffic stop where it was determined he was under the influence of some substance.

Deputies also reported they noticed a spoon on the floor board that appeared to have a white substance in it.

In a back pack, deputies found a bag of marijuana, a scale, additional baggies, a bag of meth and other paraphernalia included a pipe.

Bond in the case was set at $12.850 at the time of his arrest, but during a court appearance, Magistrate Judge Cheryl Allen, over the objection of the state, agreed to lower it to $5,500.

Stucky will be back in court on April 8, for any reading of formal charges.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A Missouri man faces May sentencing after admitting in court that he shot and wounded a therapy dog in the face during a Kansas burglary last year.

The Kansas City Star reports that 33-year-old Matthew Oden of Belton pleaded guilty Friday in Johnson County District Court to charges of burglary, firearm theft and animal cruelty.

Oden admitted breaking into an Overland Park house last October and stealing a firearm. The owner returned later and found that his 8-year-old dog, Meeko, had been shot but survived.

The dog — a golden retriever-cocker spaniel mix — is trained to provide therapy for nursing home residents.

Oden’s sentencing is scheduled for May 27.

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Board of Directors voted unanimously Saturday for Hutchinson to be the home of the NJCAA Division I Volleyball Championship, beginning in November 2017 through November 2019, according to a media release.

“We are thrilled to have been awarded this championship event for the next three years, which will provide an annual economic impact of $2.1 million to our community”, said LeAnn Cox, Vice President of Operations and Tourism for the Greater Hutchinson Convention/Visitors Bureau (CVB).

“This is why 75% of the Hutchinson voters supported the Hutchinson Sports Arena project, to bring new events and new economic impact to Hutchinson” said Rick Staab, Chairman of the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. The Volleyball Championship will utilize all of the renovated Sports Arena, including the three new auxiliary gyms, for the four-day championship.

The CVB submitted the proposal to host the Division I Championship in August 2015, and hosted the NJCAA 1st Vice President for Women, Marci Henry, for a site visit in November. “Many community partners helped roll out the red carpet for Marci during the site visit, and we want to thank each of them for their support”, said Cox. The announcement was made at the NJCAA Annual Meeting held March 29-April 2, 2016 in Colorado Springs, CO. In addition to the Volleyball Championship, 14 other championship host sites were announced.

Less than two months ago, the NJCAA and the American Legion Lysle Rishel Post #68 signed a 25-year contract to keep the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship in Hutchinson. “We would like to thank the NJCAA for their confidence in Hutchinson by awarding the Division I Volleyball Championship, which combined with the Basketball championship, will bring an estimated annual economic impact of nearly $3.5 million” said Cox.

The Division I Volleyball Championship has been held in Casper, WY since 2013 and will remain there for the 2016 championship. “In addition to the support of the community, we wish to acknowledge the valued partnership with Hutchinson Community College in helping to recruit this community event. It couldn’t happen without their support” said Cox.

Rick Staab went on to say “The Chamber leadership will continue encouraging the CVB to bring in these types of events into our community. The business community of Hutchinson applauds the CVB in their hard work and we anticipate more success from their efforts”.

WILSON COUNTY – A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 1a.m. on Sunday in Wilson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Ford Explorer driven by Holly Christine Collins, 25, Wichita, was eastbound on U.S 400 just west of the Kansas 39 and Kansas 96 North Junction.

The SUV went off the roadway on the shoulder. The driver overcorrected and the vehicle rolled multiple times.

Collins was transported to Fredonia Regional Medical Center.

She was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident according to the KHP.

By JIM MCLEAN

The Kansas Statehouse is relatively quiet these days. Only the arrival of the occasional busload of school children disturbs the calm. That will change when lawmakers return April 27 to face what is expected to be more bad news about the budget. Legislative leaders are hoping to finish their wrap-up session in a matter of days.

But many involved in the process say that could be wishful thinking given a lack of consensus on how to balance the state budget in the face of continuing revenue shortfalls. Tax receipts were $54 million below official estimates in February, and lawmakers are bracing for more bad news this week when the March numbers are revealed.

Also, Shawn Sullivan, the governor’s budget director, expects the consensus revenue estimating group to once again lower its revenue targets at a meeting on April 20. “I would expect — and I think anybody who sees the balance sheet and the revenues coming in (would expect) — that it will be decreased further,” Sullivan said on a recent edition of Statehouse Blend, a podcast produced by Kansas City public radio station KCUR.

Rep. Steven Johnson, a Republican from Assaria and a key member of the House tax committee, said he is expecting revenue shortfalls in each of the final three months of the fiscal year: April, May and June.

“That’s what we’re hearing,” Johnson said, adding that he’s been warned to expect a total shortfall as large as $200 million by the end of this fiscal year.

“I think a number of us are saying, ‘How do we plan if we are at a negative $200 million? What do we do?’” he said. “The prudent thing is to have a plan. The further we get ahead of it, the better off we’ll be.”

Reimpose business tax?

There would be little that Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and lawmakers could do but to cut spending in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. But they could take action to generate more revenue for the 2017 budget year, which begins July 1. Johnson is working with several legislators on a plan to do that. It relies on a bill sponsored by Rep. Mark Hutton, a Wichita Republican, that would generate an estimated $250 million to $280 million by reimposing the tax on business income.

The income of more than 330,000 business owners was exempted by the 2012 bill championed by Brownback that also lowered individual income tax rates. Brownback and other supporters of the tax cuts argued business owners would use their tax savings to deliver a “shot of adrenaline” to the Kansas economy by creating tens of thousands of private sector jobs.

That hasn’t happened. In fact, the most recent report from the Kansas Department of Labor said the state lost more than 5,000 private sector jobs over the last year.

But the tax cuts have had an impact. Many believe they are the main reason for the dramatic decrease in state tax collections, which have fallen short of projections in 11 of the past 12 months. Brownback says the stimulative power of the tax cuts has been sapped by a weak economy, and he has warned lawmakers not to tamper with his signature legislation.

“This is an economic problem, not a tax policy problem,” Brownback said in a statement shortly after the February revenue numbers were released. “These numbers reflect a declining national and regional economy.”

“I will not support or call for a tax increase on small businesses in Kansas,” he said.

“My focus is on managing spending, not on raising taxes.” In recent days, the governor also has raised questions about the official revenue estimating process that the state has long used for budgeting purposes.

Johnson said Brownback may veto any attempt to repeal the business tax exemption, but it won’t stop lawmakers from pushing the issue. If a bipartisan coalition can pass a budget plan that requires reimposition of the business tax, he said, “we would ask (the governor) to work together and find a way to let that stand.” Sen. Les Donovan, a Wichita Republican and chairman of the Senate tax committee, has resisted attempts to revisit the 2012 tax cuts.

But he said the state’s continuing budget problems may force the governor and defenders of his tax policy to compromise. “Well, we’ll see. I can’t say any more than that,” Donovan said.

Evidence of rising tension  

Donovan’s willingness to discuss revenue options is one sign, but there is other evidence that Brownback is losing support among Republicans he could once count on to defend his tax cuts. Three Republican senators — Jim Denning and Greg Smith of Overland Park and Jeff King of Independence — have introduced a bill to repeal the business tax exemption.

“We must close the LLC (limited liability company) loophole,” Denning said. “Given the rapid deterioration of the budget, I believe we have the votes to close the loophole and send the bill to the governor.”

Evidence of rising tension between GOP lawmakers and the governor’s office also was apparent in a recent incident involving Senate President Susan Wagle. When the Wichita Republican said the state hadn’t “experienced the growth that’s necessary” to sustain its budget, Brownback’s office fired back, telling the Lawrence Journal-World that she criticized the governor because she knew the media would “reward her with positive coverage for doing so.”

If there weren’t so much at stake, Democrats might enjoy watching Republicans — who have huge majorities in both houses — fight among themselves.

But facing the prospect of additional cuts to higher education, social services and the state highway program and possible cuts in K-12 education, some Democrats are participating in the budget and revenue discussions.

Rep. Henry Helgerson, from Wichita, said Democrats want to help craft a solution but won’t support a quick fix that allows Republicans who voted for the tax cuts to sidestep the issue on the campaign trail.

“What Democrats are concerned about is that Republicans would just try to get by the election,” Helgerson said.

“We want to change the direction of the state.” Realizing there will be pressure to act quickly during the wrap-up session, Helgerson is willing to go along with plans to initially use the revenue generated by the reimposition of the business tax to fill holes in the budget. But after two years he wants to use the money to gradually buy down the statewide sales tax on food, which now is among the highest in the nation at 6.5 percent.

Thirty-five states exempt food from the sales tax. Several others tax it at something less than their full rates. Kansas is among only a handful of states that levy their full rates. Helgerson and other Democrats also want use the budget plan to boost funding for public schools and to create a rainy day fund. And it would be nice, Helgerson said, if Republicans would agree to abandon Brownback’s effort to reduce individual income tax rates to zero over the next several years.

“The rational approach over the next five years is to first put the business tax back on,” Helgerson said. “We then have to go back to a better balance of sales tax, income tax and property taxes. And finally we need to start building a rainy day fund even if we have to go very slowly on that in the next 10 years.”

It’s unlikely that Republicans will agree to all of that. But Johnson said he and others also want a long-term solution to the state’s revenue and budget problems.

“We want to be careful not only to handle the symptom of the revenue shortfall but also the cause,” he said. “So, we’re looking at what erodes the sales tax base and what might affect the income tax base and hopefully have something more stable moving forward.”

Jim McLean is executive editor of KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.

DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Though congressional Republicans’ bid to defund Planned Parenthood was vetoed by President Barack Obama, anti-abortion activists and politicians are achieving a growing portion of their goal with an aggressive state-by-state strategy.

Over the past year, more than a dozen states have sought to halt or reduce public funding for Planned Parenthood. Some of the efforts have been blocked by court action, but in other states the cutbacks are forcing Planned Parenthood to drop contraceptive services, health screenings and other programs serving thousands of low-income women.

Kansas legislators are moving to make permanent an annual budget policy that prevents the state from providing federal family planning dollars to Planned Parenthood.

The Kansas Senate has approved the bill on a 31-9 vote, sending the measure to the House.

The latest state joining the offensive was Florida; GOP Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill  that bars Planned Parenthood from accessing state funds.

Planned Parenthood is a national target because of its role as the largest U.S. abortion provider.

BRENHAM, Texas (AP) — Blue Bell Creameries has told federal inspectors that it believes listeria bacteria spread at its Oklahoma plant through a drainage system.

The Texas-based ice cream company revealed the findings in documents sent to the Food and Drug Administration.

KXAS-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth reported Friday that Blue Bell says it believes the bacteria found at its plant in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, spread through the drainage system, released into the air and then settled on nearby equipment.

The company said it couldn’t identify a single source of listeria that contaminated equipment at its plant in Brenham, Texas, but that the listeria likely entered from various potential sources.

The contamination last year was linked to three deaths in Kansas and several illnesses.

The company has since reintroduced products back into its markets.

HARVEY COUNTY- Three Kansas teen were injured in an accident just before 7p.m. on Saturday in Harvey County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Toyota Rav4 driven by Samantha Oakes, 15, Bentley, was eastbound near the intersection of Southwest 36th and Anderson Road.

The vehicle lost traction, left the roadway and overturned in the north ditch.

Oakes and passengers Willow Chesky, 15, and Virgina Thielen, 15, both of Halstead, were transported to Newton Medical Center.

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

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Weather officials say a dry winter has left much of Kansas back in the grip of some level of drought.

Recent data from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that nearly 75 percent of Kansas was experiencing some drought at the end of March. That compared with barely 2 percent just three months ago.

The Wichita Eagle reports  that about half the state is “abnormally dry.” Southwest Kansas is in moderate drought.

Dodge City and Garden City are more than 2 inches below normal since the start of the year. Garden City has had only a fraction of an inch of rain so far this year.

Only northern sections of Kansas and eastern sections south of Kansas City are not in some form of drought.

SALINE COUNTY- One person was injured in an accident just before 2:30 p.m. on Saturday in Saline County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Chevy Silverado driven by Matthew Gibbons, 21, Salina, was southbound on Interstate 135 just south of Crawford Street.

The pickup rear-ended a 2000 Ford passenger car driven by Cindy Spratlin, 50, Tampa, FL., that had slowed to make an illegal turn in the median.

Spratlin was transported to Salina Regional Medical Center.
Gibbons was not injured.

Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Investigators say they believe a house fire that killed a man was purposely set.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Fernando Alvarez’s body was found inside his home after the fire early Wednesday.

Lawrence Police Sgt. Trent McKinley says that officers responded to the home to investigate a reported domestic dispute involving claims that a man was displaying a handgun and threatening a woman and children.

McKinley says that while talking with the woman outside the home, officers saw a flickering light from inside the home moments before noticing the residence was on fire.

The cause of Alvarez’s death was not immediately disclosed.