by Matt Hodapp

 

Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri is planning to expand into three new health service areas this year, including pre- and post-menopausal care, transgender care, and PrEp care, a preventative that lowers the chance of contracting HIV for patients who have a high risk of infection.

Planned Parenthood President and CEO Laura McQuade says the moves are about adapting in a changing health care landscape in the wake of the Affordable Care Act.

“There are many, many more insured patients than there were previously,” McQuade says. “We need to provide an environment and an understanding that they can now use their health care insurance with Planned Parenthood.”

Although many people view Planned Parenthood as a safety net provider, it actually has a roughly even split between insured and uninsured patients, according to McQuade.

“We’re not talking about cutting that out,” she says. “We really want to make it a both/and story so we can provide care to a full spectrum of patients.”

Pre- and post-menopausal care and PrEp will be available at Planned Parenthood’s Patty Brous Center in midtown Kansas City sometime before the middle of the year. Transgender care will only be available at Planned Parenthood’s Northland Health Center in Gladstone, MO.

Matt Hodapp produces Statehouse Blend for  KCUR a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police have identified a Wichita shooting victim as a 26-year-old man.

Wichita police Lt. Todd Ojile says JaRon V. Sanders was shot once in the head early Sunday morning as he stood in the street in front of his house. The Wichita Eagle reports that he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ojile says Sanders had hosted a party at his house earlier on Saturday. He was shot after he and a person in the street began arguing.

Police believe there were several witnesses to the shooting. Anyone with information is urged to come forward.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A former state district magistrate judge in southeast Kansas has pleaded guilty to charges accusing him of embezzling about $24,000.

The office of the U.S. Attorney for Kansas says in a release that Bill W. Lyerla of Galena pleaded guilty Monday to six counts of wire fraud.

Lyerla was a magistrate judge for the state’s Eleventh Judicial District from 1991 until he resigned in 2014.

The prosecutor’s office says Lyerla admitted that he embezzled the money from the Kansas District Magistrate Judges Association while he was that organization’s elected treasurer.

He faces up to 30 years in prison when he’s sentenced in July. He could also be fined up to $1 million on each count.

HUTCHINSON— A Kansas man convicted on a charge of criminal threat was bound over for trial Monday in a child sex case.

Kenneth Broadfoot, 24, is charged with criminal sodomy involving a 15-year-old girl.

The state alleges in the complaint that he engaged in sexual activity with the girl on September 12, 2015.

The crime occurred on the Kansas State Fairgrounds in a building the victim described as a temporary building. She also admitted that the sexual contact was consensual, however under Kansas law, it’s still unlawful for him to have any sexual contact with a child that age.
The charge against Broadfoot is a level three person felony with a minimum sentence of four years and seven months in prison.

He’ll be arraigned on the new case early next month.

In the original case, he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon where he threatened another man with a handgun. That occurred on September 26, 2015. But the state, as part of a plea agreement, let him plead to criminal threat. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on that charge on Friday.

LYON COUNTY- One person died in an accident just before 4 p.m. on Monday in Lyon County.

The Lyon County Sheriff reported a pickup driven by Gregory Graham, 40, Strong City, was southbound on 150 Road at Road F.

The vehicle traveled off the west side of the highway. The driver overcorrected and the truck rolled.

A passenger in the truck Sharon Prochaska, 67, Emporia, was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.

Graham was transported to a local hospital. They were not wearing seat belts at the time of the accident, according to the Sheriff.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has dismissed cornerback Eric Rivers and suspended linebacker Kendall Duckworth after both were arrested early Monday in connection with an alleged robbery over the weekend.

Rivers has also been accused of sexual battery and criminal restraint in a separate incident.

Jayhawks coach David Beatty said in a statement that he is still gathering information related to the cases. But he told the Lawrence Journal-World that Rivers is no longer with the team.  Duckworth, a 6-foot-1 linebacker from Naples, Florida, made three tackles in seven games during his freshman season. Rivers, a 5-9 cornerback from Arlington, Texas, redshirted last season.

 

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GREAT BEND- Administrators with USD 428 in Great Bend responded on Monday after learning of a second incident of alleged sexual assault on a school activity bus. The incident occurred during the first week of February in Saline County, according to the Saline County Sherriff’s Department.

In a message to students and parents, USD 428 said media had contacted them about the Saline County report.

The district said they are investigating the matter and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement. Once the investigation is completed and the facts determined, the district will take appropriate action, according to the email message.

The district takes this and all claims of harassment or other wrongdoing seriously and continues to be concerned about the safety, well being and fair treatment of all its students.

The district did on Feb. 8 revise its practices regarding adult monitoring and supervision on bus trips to reduce the likelihood of any inappropriate behavior, according to the email.

The changes include cameras on all busses and requiring adults to sit with students during bus trips.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas House members gave initial approval Monday to creating an ethnic studies curriculum for grades 7-12, but rejected the bill on a final vote.

The measure was part of a larger bill to mandate teaching financial literacy in public schools. Legislators ultimately voted 43-81 against the bill.

The bill called for the state to develop a curriculum and materials on the experiences of African, Asian, Latino and Native Americans. The curriculum would have been optional for districts.

Republican Rep. Don Hineman, of Dighton, opposed the bill because he said it would strip authority of school boards. Other critics said the ethnic studies measure should be debated separately from financial literacy.

Another House bill that would encourage teaching ethnic studies is scheduled for debate on Tuesday.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas House members have approved a proposal to add a right to fish and hunt and trap wildlife to the state constitution.

The measure would add a new section to the constitution’s Bill of Rights to preserve hunting and fishing as a preferred way to manage wildlife. The House voted 117-7 in favor of it Monday, sending it to the Senate.

Several legislators said it would prevent future legislation from infringing on the right to hunt and fish. They said any future measures seeking to limit the sports would need to prove that a particular animal could become endangered.

Kansas would become one of about 20 states that make hunting and fishing a constitutional right if the Senate adopts the measure and voters approve it in the Nov. 8 election.

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. (AP) — Two people are seriously injured and eight others received minor injuries after a tractor-trailer sideswiped a tour bus that had pulled to the side of Interstate 70 east of Kansas City with a flat tire.

The Kansas City Star reports the bus carrying the driver and nine passengers was headed from St. Louis to Overland Park, Kansas, on Monday when the driver felt a tire was flat and pulled over.

Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesman Collin Stosberg says the semitrailer veered out of its lane around 10:45 a.m. and struck the bus, pushing it down an embankment.

The uninjured truck driver was cited for careless and imprudent driving.

One of the bus passengers was in critical condition Monday afternoon at an Independence hospital and one was in serious condition.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Adult education in Kansas is mirroring a nationwide trend as the lowest number of people in five years enrolled in the state’s programs in 2015.

The Kansas Board of Regents annual report on adult education says more than 7,100 Kansas residents participated in adult education in 2015. Lawrence Journal-World  reports that more than 9,000 participated in 2010.

Susan Fish, the Regents’ director of adult education, says the program’s target participants include more than 225,000 adults who don’t have a high school education and more than 57,000 with limited proficiency in English. She says this target population has declined over the years nationally and in Kansas as many adults who lack high school diplomas age.

PRATT – A Pratt man was sentenced Monday, to more than 18 years in prison for murder in the second degree and abuse of a child, according to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

Joseph David Sponaugle, 29, was sentenced in Pratt County District Court by Judge Francis D. Meisenheimer to 220 months to be served in the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Sponaugle pleaded no contest and was convicted last month of one count of second-degree murder, one count of abuse of a child and one count of endangering a child. The convictions stemmed from a crime that occurred in January 2014.
The case was investigated by the Pratt Police Department and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

DICKINSON COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Dickinson County are investigating a suspect for allegedly impersonating a police officer, according to a media release.

On January 14th, the suspect stopped a motorist in the area of Kansas 4 Highway and Jeep Road in Dickinson County, approached the driver of the vehicle and indicated that he was speeding.

The suspect indicated he was a special investigator with Dickinson County. The motorist, being suspicious asked to see some form of identification. The suspect went back to his car and sped away. The victim was able to provide the Sheriff’s Office with a partial description of the suspect and his vehicle, but no tag number.

During the early morning hours of Saturday February 20th, The Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office received another report, after a motorist called 911 indicating he had been stopped by a suspicious individual claiming to be an off duty police officer.

The motorist was stopped in the 300 block of 77 highway. The suspect was acting strangely, and at one point showed a handgun to the motorist. The motorist was able to get a license plate number.

Deputies made contact with the suspect, Trent A. Hostetter, 27, Herington.

After speaking with Hostetter, deputies were able to collect some flashing lights used to stop motorists, as well as a vest that looked similar to a police issued bullet proof vest, and a toy air soft pistol.

During an interview Hostetter, admitted to stopping three motorist in Dickinson County, as well as two in Marion County, during the last couple of months.

Hostetter is currently being held in the Dickinson County Jail on charges of false impersonation and criminal restraint.