CDC image -Build your own Zika Prevention Kit. It should include A bed net Insect repellent Permethrin spray Standing water treatment tabs A thermometer Condoms
By ALEX SMITH
State health officials announced Friday that a southwest Kansas resident contracted the Zika virus after the resident traveled to an unspecified country where the pathogen has spread.
It’s the first confirmed case of Zika virus disease in Kansas.
Though a few cases of the virus in the United States have been spread through sexual contact, the vast majority of cases worldwide have been spread by mosquitos. So far, no transmission of the disease by mosquitos has been identified in the continental U.S.
Cassie Sparks, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Health and the Environment, says the spread of the virus via mosquitos in Kansas is still highly unlikely, but the state is taking precautions.
“We’ve been prepared for Zika virus to have a case here and working with health care providers across the state to respond to both suspected and confirmed cases,” Sparks says.
KDHE provided no further details on the Kansas case, including whether the patient is a male or female and where he or she lives.
Zika has provoked alarm by its rapid spread in South America and in Brazil in particular. Although the virus causes relatively mild symptoms in most healthy people, the virus can cause brain defects in infants, including microcephaly, a neurological condition characterized by babies born with abnormally small heads.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned pregnant women against traveling to countries where Zika has spread.
Sparks advises anyone traveling to those countries to take measures to avoid mosquito bites.
The first Zika case in Missouri was confirmed last Friday in a patient who had traveled to Haiti. Kansas City health officials say the individual is not a local resident.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it’s unable to predict how much the virus might spread in the continental United States. While many areas have the type of mosquitos that can spread the virus, the agency says that “recent outbreaks in the continental United States of chikungunya and dengue, which are spread by the same type of mosquito, have been relatively small and limited to a small area.”
Alex Smith is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a reporting collaboration based at KCUR.
MINNEAPOLIS, Kan. (AP) — A north-central Kansas man will be sentenced April 29 for the deaths of a Topeka father and daughter in a traffic collision.
An Ottawa County jury convicted Jason Jeardoe of Bennington on Friday of two felony counts of involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence of alcohol in the 2014 deaths of Jason and Emma Jo Pisocki.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Jeardoe will be held in jail until his sentencing.
The Kansas Highway Patrol says the collision occurred April 11, 2014, on Kansas 18 about three miles west of Bennington. A parked vehicle was partially in the westbound lane and Jeardoe, who was driving west, moved his pickup truck into the eastbound lane to avoid it, colliding head-on with the Pisockis vehicle. They died at the scene.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A recent report has determined that women in Kansas who work full-time, year-round earn 79 cents for every dollar made by men.
The Topeka Capital Journal reports that the University of Kansas’ Center for Science and Technology & Economic Policy was commissioned by the Women’s Foundation to analyze factors such as economic well-being, health and civic engagement of women across the state.
The report, titled “Status of Women in Kansas,” found that the median earnings of women who work full-time, year-round is about $35,560 annually. Johnson County has the highest median earnings for women, while Gove County has the lowest.
Women account for more than 49 percent of the employed individuals in Kansas.
HILL, DONNIE MARCEL Approx Picture Date 2014-03-28 – Photo courtesy Kansas Department of Corrections
MANHATTAN- A Kansas man, awaiting a trial for arson, was sentenced in Riley County Court for drug distribution on Monday.
According to the prosecutor, Donnie Hill, 43, Manhattan, was on parole for the distribution of narcotics when he was arrested in June of 2015 for the distribution of marijuana.
Hill’s attorney submitted a motion for downward departure in order to try to reduce the possible sentence time but was denied.
Judge Stutzman stated there was not sufficient reason for the departure, and Hill had a criminal history with 12 felonies, as well as a recent arrest for arson since he had entered a plea in the distribution case.
Hill was was arrested on February 20, 2016 on the offense of arson and theft in connection to a house fire at 615 Yuma street that occurred on February 12.
February house fire in Manhattan
He was found at the scene of the fire with a significant cut to his arm and was transported to Via Christi Hospital.
The Manhattan Fire Department responded to the fire, but the house was a total loss and was listed at $95,000.
Judge Stutzman sentenced Hill for 46 months for distribution of marijuana.
The arson hearing is still pending in Riley County Court.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita lawmaker’s bill would roll back a tax exemption for business owners in order to reduce sales tax on groceries.
Republican Rep. Mark Hutton’s bill is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday before the House Taxation Committee. It would remove the income tax break for owners of limited liability companies and other pass-through businesses.
The Kansas Department of Revenue says that action would raise about $261 million. That would allow the state to lower the sales tax on groceries between 2.6 percent and 2.9 percent.
The Wichita Eagle reports (https://bit.ly/1TIXTOE ) Hutton led a coalition last year that tried to remove the same income tax exemption. That effort stalled when Gov. Sam Brownback threatened to veto any bill that contained that provision. Brownback has made similar comments this session.
Contents of this shed were damaged by fire Photo: Saline County Sheriff’s Dept.
SALINE COUNTY – Two weekend fires are responsible for thousands of dollars in damage was, according to Saline County Sheriff’s Captain Roger Soldan
David Schoenig was burning weeds on his property in the 5000 block of West Slope Road on Friday afternoon and had put out the fire.
The fire rekindled a short time later and made its way into a nearby shed.
The fire damaged several items inside the shed, including a push mower and a snow blower. Total damage caused by the fire was estimated at $1,945.
Just after 9:30 p.m. Sunday evening, Matthew Hubele was burning brush on his property in the 1500 block of East Hedberg Road, when a skid loader he was using, slid off an embankment and into the fire.
The skid loader, which was destroyed, was valued at $45,000.
Hubele was not injured.
Khondoker Usama-photo Wichita State University SGA
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police are investigating a report that two college students were attacked by a man shouting racial epithets and the name of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Wichita State University student body vice president Khondoker Usama, who is Muslim, said he and a Hispanic friend witnessed a white man calling a black customer a racial epithet at a convenience store before the man turned on him and his friend Saturday.
Usama said he was pushed, and that his friend was punched and kicked. Usama said the man then rode away on his motorcycle, after circling them and shouting Trump’s name. A police report says the friend suffered a bruised lip.
Police Lt. Jeff Gilmore told The Wichita Eagle that officers are seeking surveillance video from the store.
STAFFORD -Law enforcement authorities in Stafford County continue to investigate a fatal shooting.
Just after 11 p.m. on Thursday, officers with Stafford police responded to a residence in the 300 Block of North Keystone.
They made contact with a woman of the home, Misty R. Salem, 35, who was hysterical and shouting that she shot him, according to a media release.
Emergency medical crews found the victim Samuel B. Salem, 41, on the living room floor. He suffered one gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.
A second officer recovered a weapon from the yard.
Misty Salem was taken to the Barton County Jail, interviewed, and booked on a 2nd degree murder charge with a $1million dollar bond, according to police.
Two children of the home have been placed with other family members.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is assisting with the ongoing investigation along with St. John Police Department and the Stafford County Sheriff’s Department.
Early morning robberies near the KSU campus on September 4 prompted a lockdown
MANHATTAN – A Kansas man was sentenced on Monday for his participation in an aggravated robbery that temporarily shut down the Kansas State University campus on September 4, 2015.
Sean Johnson, 20, Manhattan, appeared in Riley County Court. He was arrested on September 9, after an investigation into several robberies near the KSU campus.
Johnson’s attorney argued that his participation in the robbery spree in which three others were arrested was mitigated and that his only criminal background was a possession of marijuana charge from 2013 and that he has successfully completed probation.
Barry Disney, Senior Deputy County Attorney for Riley County, represented the State of Kansas and argued that the victims of the robbery spree were terrorized by the events and that no departure in sentencing should be granted.
“The victims of the crimes wanted those charged to serve jail time, and that preying on innocent people while they were just walking home was a serious crime deserving punishment, regardless of previous criminal history,” said Disney.
Judge Stutzman sentenced Johnson to 59 months with the Secretary of Corrections and 36 months post-incarceration supervision. He is also required to register as a violent offender since a firearm
Drivers should use an extra bit of caution today as the drowsiness associated with daylight savings time has been associated with a higher rate of car crashes, according to a media release from the Kansas Department of Transportation.
In 1999, researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Stanford wanted to find out what happens on the road when millions of drivers have their sleep disrupted.
Analyzing 21 years of fatal car crash data from the U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, they found a very small, but significant, increase of road deaths on the Monday after the clock shift in the spring: The number of deadly accidents jumped to an average of 83.5 on the “spring forward” Monday compared to an average of 78.2 on a typical Monday.
“We didn’t expect to see anything, actually,” Richard P. Allen, the Johns Hopkins neurologist who oversaw the study. “To me it was really amazing that one hour made that difference.”
Police use pepper spray during weekend rally Image Courtesy YouTube
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The police chief in Kansas City, Missouri is defending his officers’ use of pepper spray in handling protesters outside of Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s rally Saturday night.
Chief Darryl Forte says in a series of tweets and on his blog that the protesters included a “heavy presence of known anarchists” outside The Midland in downtown Kansas City.
That’s where Trump staged a rally that was repeatedly interrupted by protesters inside.
Forte says the event attracted a bomb threat and “outside agitators,” and on his blog he says pepper spray was deployed only after a crowd ignored several minutes of orders to clear the street. Forte also said tensions had mounted, including one moment when two groups numbering about 200 people prepared to fight.
GRAY COUNTY-Amtrak officials worked all night and just before 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, placed the last of the derailed train cars back on the track.
The NTSB continues to investigate Monday’s Amtrak train derailment. They expect to be on the scene for a few more days.
The Gray County Sheriff’s Department issued thanks to many who helped during the emergency.
Sheriff Jim Kramer thanked the emergency medical techs, the county fire department, Gray, Ford and Finney County emergency responders and the fire and life care helicopter for all the hard work and working together like a tight fit glove, according to a social media report.
Kramer also thanked his sheriff’s deputies, emergency management and issued special appreciation for the Gray County dispatchers.
Amtrak’s Southwest Chief was carrying more than 140 people when several rail cars derailed early Monday. Authorities say the accident happened moments after an engineer noticed a significant bend in a rail and applied the emergency brakes At least 32 people were hurt, two of them critically.
Local authorities are checking whether a vehicle crash may have damaged the track before the accident
Travelers sheltered at the Gray County 4H- Rec Center -photo courtesy Daniel Szczerba
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5:20 p.m.
A federal transportation official says the condition of the track will be the focus of the investigation into an Amtrak derailment in Kansas.
Earl Weener is part of the National Transportation Safety Board. He says it’s too soon to know what caused the derailment and that the train was traveling at the normal speed limit.
Weener says there was some initial indication of a “misalignment” on the rail. But he says it’s unclear what that was or what caused it. He also says the engineer was vigilant and noticed a variation on the track, causing him to brake.
The track was inspected last week. Investigators will also review recorded data from the train.
1:30 p.m.
Authorities say they’re investigating whether an unreported vehicle crash may have damaged the railroad tracks before an Amtrak train derailed in southwest Kansas.
Gray County sheriff’s Deputy J.G. Sharp says there was a separate vehicle accident that may have damaged the rails before the passenger train derailed early Monday outside Cimarron. A few people remain hospitalized.
Authorities are examining tire tracks leading to the train tracks and preserving the scene with crime scene tape, he said.
He says the damage doesn’t appear to have been intentional.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board have arrived at scene.
12:25 p.m.
Passengers on an Amtrak train that derailed in western Kansas say they feared for their lives.
Dave Gibbs, of Colorado says he was headed to Lawrence, Kansas, for a possible chef’s job when he felt the train “rattling back and forth” early Monday. He says the shaking lasted several seconds before the train began tipping, then coming to an abrupt stop that sent a woman tumbling into him.
Fifty-seven-year-old David Tisdale, of Arizona, says he was “waiting for the worst” and was afraid he was “going to die.”
At least 32 people were injured in the derailment, which happened near Cimarron, a rural community about 160 miles west of Wichita.
Nearly all of the injured were treated and released, but two are in critical condition.
12 p.m.
Officials say two of the people injured when a passenger train derailed in western Kansas are in critical condition.
Caytie Martin, a spokeswoman for the Northwest Texas Healthcare System, says the two were airlifted to the Amarillo, Texas, hospital after the early Monday derailment near Cimarron, a rural community about 160 miles west of Wichita.
Amtrak says 32 people were treated at hospitals and nearly all of them had been released by late morning.
A hospital in Dodge City says it admitted a patient who is in stable condition and a hospital in Garden City says it admitted a patient in good condition.
The train with 131 passengers and 14 crew members was headed from Los Angeles to Chicago. An Amtrak spokesman says one crew member was treated at the scene.
9 a.m.
A passenger aboard an Amtrak train that derailed in southwest Kansas says he felt “shaking” and realized something was “definitely wrong” when it stopped.
KWCH-TV reports that Daniel Szczerba said he was in the front of the train when it derailed early Monday about 20 miles west of Dodge City. Amtrak says the train had about 128 passengers and 14 crew members on board.
He says that when he got out, he saw several trains in the back on their sides.
Szczerba says that even though emergency responders arrived quickly to the scene, it was still chaotic for passengers. He says many were wandering around searching for relatives after becoming separated from them while making their way out of emergency exits.
7:45 a.m.
An Amtrak passenger recalls feeling “shaking” before her car and several others overturned in southwest Kansas.
Twenty-one-year-old Kelsey Wilson says she was traveling on the train to return to Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, when she was awoken early Monday. Wilson, of Pueblo, Colorado, says she hit her head as the car became disconnected and overturned about 20 miles west of Dodge City.
She says she escaped through the top of the flipped car and then slid down the side. She said she then “passed out” and was among at least 29 people taken to hospitals for treatment. She was released with a neck brace.
Her traveling companion, 21-year-old Daniel Aiken, of Lenexa, Kansas, says he heard people scream. He said they calmed down when they realized the train “wasn’t going to blow up.”
6:50 a.m.
Authorities say 29 people have been taken to hospitals after an Amtrak train derailed in rural southwest Kansas.
Grey County spokeswoman Ashley Rogers says of the 29 people hurt, none has life-threatening injuries.
NTSB is sending a team to investigate the Amtrak train derailment
in Kansas. More information will follow when the team arrives in Kansas.
An Amtrak statement says the train was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago early Monday when it derailed just after midnight about 20 miles west of Dodge City. Amtrak says the train had about 128 passengers and 14 crew members on board.
photo courtesy Daniel Szczerba
Rogers says she went to the scene and saw five cars on their sides and two others that were off the tracks but still standing. She says buses and ambulances have taken the passengers who are not hurt to a community building in the small town of Cimarron to wait while Amtrak makes arrangements to take them to their destinations.
4 a.m.
Amtrak now says about 20 passengers have been hospitalized after a train derailment in southwest Kansas.
An Amtrak statement says the train was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago early Monday when it derailed just after midnight about 20 miles west of Dodge City.
Kansas Highway Patrol communication specialist Patricia Munford says five train cars are on their side.
Amtrak says about 20 passengers were brought to hospitals in Dodge City and Garden City. All others were brought to a recreation center and will be given alternate transportation to their final destination.
Amtrak says the train consisted of two locomotives and nine cars and had about 128 passengers and 14 crew members on board.
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3:15 a.m.
An Amtrak train derailed in southwest Kansas, sending eleven people to the hospital.
An Amtrak statement says the train was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago early Monday when it derailed just after midnight about 20 miles west of Dodge City.
Kansas Highway Patrol communication specialist Patricia Munford says five train cars are on their side.
Amtrak says eleven passengers were brought to a hospital in Dodge City. All others were brought to a recreation center and will be given alternate transportation to their final destination.
Amtrak says the train consisted of two locomotives and nine cars and had about 128 passengers and 14 crew members on board.
KDHE Secretary Susan Mosier says the agency has added 20 full-time staff members to process applications and 19 more to its customer service call center, in addition to implementing other reforms. CREDIT FILE PHOTO
Federal officials are concerned about a growing backlog of Kansas Medicaid applications and have asked state leaders to provide regular updates about what they’re doing to fix the problem.
James Scott, associate regional administrator for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent a letter to Kansas Department of Health and Environment officials Feb 17, citing concerns about “recent reports” of the Medicaid application backlog in the state of Kansas.”
Scott asked KDHE to submit within 14 days a plan to correct the backlog.
He also asked the agency to address issues at the customer service call center, or Clearinghouse, for KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program.
“Based on recent articles it can take hours for a beneficiary to get through to a KanCare representative,” Scott wrote. “Please provide call center response times and dropped call rates as well as an action plan on how the KanCare Clearinghouse plans to decrease the call times for beneficiaries.”
In a response dated March 4, KDHE Secretary Susan Mosier said the agency has added 20 full-time staff members to process applications and 19 more for the call center, in addition to implementing other reforms.
The state’s response also shows that the number of unprocessed applications ballooned from about 10,000 at the end of January to 18,216 by mid-February. Precisely 7,745 of those had been pending for more than 45 days, which is the most allowed under CMS rules unless the applicant needs a disability determination.
The call center is being run by a state contractor, Maximus, which reported average hold times of about 20 minutes for the month of February. However, some callers were kept on hold for almost an hour and a half.
Mosier’s letter says the backlog resulted from a rush of 13,000 Medicaid applications during the Affordable Care Act’s open enrollment, which ran from November through January.
The letter does not mention a computer system switch last summer that state officials have previously said contributed to the backlog.
Gov. Sam Brownback, in his budgets for the current fiscal year and the next, has banked a total of $10 million in Medicaid savings because of lagging enrollment since the implementation of the Kansas Eligibility Enforcement System, or KEES.
Scott’s letter asks state officials to set a date for eliminating the backlog but Mosier didn’t specify one in her response
Nursing home groups unsatisfied
In Kansas, Medicaid serves about 450,000 low-income children, pregnant women, people with disabilities and the elderly.
Scott’s letter requests that the state submit information on the backlog on a bi-weekly basis. He also asks state officials to describe how they plan to address unreimbursed care provided to people whose Medicaid applications are pending.
That request is of particular interest to nursing homes, which rely heavily on Medicaid and are carrying, in some cases, more than $1 million in unpaid bills.
The state’s response, which was to tell Scott that providers would be reimbursed retroactively once Medicaid applications have been processed, did not satisfy representatives of nursing home associations.
Rachel Monger, director of government affairs for LeadingAge Kansas, said the state is already required to retroactively reimburse nursing facilities and it doesn’t solve their current cash flow issues.
“The entire issue we are having is that providers are being forced to provide uncompensated care, and elders are being turned away from care, until their application is processed,” Monger said. “Our providers need payment now.”
Retroactive payments might help providers of services that allow seniors to stay in their homes.
Monger’s group, which represents non-profit nursing homes, and the Kansas Health Care Association, which represents for-profit homes, have asked the administration to give presumptive Medicaid eligibility to their residents.
Cindy Luxem, executive director of the KHCA, said her organization has heard little about the state’s response to CMS, but some of the state’s previous efforts to help have not lived up to expectations.
She said KHCA and LeadingAge met with KDHE officials recently and were told that while the backlog persists, no one waiting on a Medicaid review will be dropped.
“As soon as we send that (message) out (to members) we get an email from a member who had three folks drop off the Medicaid rolls since the first of March,” Luxem said.
Luxem said she welcomes the involvement of the federal government, which funds about 60 percent of Medicaid in Kansas.
“It’s a good sign,” Luxem said. “Something’s going to happen.”
Mitzi McFatrich, who runs an advocacy group for nursing home residents called Kansas Advocates for Better Care, said something needs to happen soon.
Her group has documented instances of frail and elderly Kansans unable to find nursing facilities that will take them while their Medicaid applications are pending for months.
“It is inexcusable that the state hasn’t followed its own rules and federal law, and a sad commentary that someone from the federal government has to point that out,” McFatrich said. “We remain hopeful but skeptical until we see the State take action and clear the backlog.”
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
