WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 23-year-old man has been taken to the hospital after being shot in the back in east Wichita.
Wichita police Lt. James Espinoza said that the man was emptying the trash at his home about 2:35 a.m. Tuesday at Eastgate Apartments when he was shot once in the back. The man was taken to Wesley Medical Center with an injury that was not considered to be life-threatening.
Espinoza that there is no information about any suspects and that the man is not cooperating with police.
WICHITA -In advance of the March 5, Caucus, the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign will open an office in Kansas today, according to a media release.
The office on East Douglas in downtown Wichita will serve as a hub for organizing activity in South Central Kansas where volunteers plan to launch phone banks, organize meetings and canvass at the location.
The office will officially open at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
DCF
TOPEKA–A new report from the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), focuses on welfare reforms in Kansas and how they have positively impacted low-income residents who previously relied on food assistance. Among some of the findings, before work requirements, 93 percent of able-bodied adults without dependent children (ABAWDs) on welfare were in poverty. Most were in severe poverty and not working at all. Within one year of leaving welfare, their incomes had more than doubled, an increase of 127 percent on average.
“Our staff worked closely with FGA to supply data,” said Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) Secretary Phyllis Gilmore. “We are pleased to see the information shared turned into a meaningful report that demonstrates for Kansas and the rest of the nation that employment is the most effective path out of poverty. And our reforms, led by Governor Sam Brownback, are empowering Kansans to achieve self-reliance.”
In September 2013, Kansas announced, as one of few states at the time, that it would allow a federal waiver to expire that made it possible for able-bodied adults between the ages of 18 and 49 to receive food assistance with no work requirement. Since Kansas made that important decision, other states have followed our lead.
Additionally, in 2015, Governor Brownback signed into law the most comprehensive welfare reform in the nation that not only added permanency to existing work requirements, but also added additional regulations to strengthen the integrity of the welfare benefits system in Kansas.
FGA found these reforms to be fiscally responsible for taxpayers. They also showed the reforms to offer Kansans previously locked into dependence on government-funded programs, a way out of poverty.
“The Kansas data clearly shows the best way to help able-bodied adults who are trapped in welfare is to get them back to work as quickly as possible,” said Johnathan Ingram, FGA Vice President of Research. “The more time people spend on welfare, the harder it is for them to get a job. But once they get back to work, their earnings skyrocket and they create a better life for themselves than welfare ever could. To policymakers who want to lift Americans out of the poverty trap—Kansas has shown you the way.”
Here’s a complete look at the report, The Power of Work: How Kansas’ Welfare Reform is Lifting Americans Out of Poverty.
For additional comment from FGA, contact Charles Siler at (202) 487-8652 or by email at [email protected].
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — More than half of the Republicans in the Kansas Senate have signed a letter asking President Susan Wagle to reinstate the former chairwoman of the chamber’s health committee.
Senators signing the letter circulated on Tuesday included Majority Leader Terry Bruce of Nickerson. The Associated Press obtained a copy signed by 17 of the 32 GOP senators.
They want Wagle to reinstate Republican Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook of Shawnee as chairwoman of the Public Health and Welfare Committee.
The Wichita Republican removed Pilcher-Cook on Friday over an attempt by Pilcher-Cook last week to force a Senate debate on a proposal to expand the state’s Medicaid program in line with the federal health overhaul.
Pilcher-Cook wanted the proposal to fail. Wagle said the move showed disrespect to the chamber.
CHICAGO (AP) — Federal authorities are poised to begin compensating customers who purchased a fraudulent weight-loss book from imprisoned infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau.
The Chicago Tribune reports that a Federal Trade Commission said in a court filing last week that it will start mailing refund checks within 30 days. It said almost 1.27 million people purchased the book.
Trudeau was sentenced in 2014 to a 10-year prison term after jurors agreed he bilked consumers through infomercials for “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About.” Prosecutors say the book generated $39 million in revenue.
The refund money will come from about $8 million worth of Trudeau’s assets that were recovered by a court-appointed receiver last summer.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma oil-and-gas regulators are making their most far-reaching directive yet in response to the spike in earthquakes in the state by asking the operators of nearly 250 injection wells to reduce the amount of wastewater they inject underground.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission released a plan Tuesday that covers more than 5,200 square miles in northwest Oklahoma. It calls for a reduction of more than 500,000 barrels of wastewater daily, or about 40 percent less than previous levels.
The number of earthquakes with a magnitude 3.0 or greater has skyrocketed in Oklahoma, from a few dozen in 2012 to more than 900 last year. Scientists have linked the quakes to the underground disposal of wastewater from oil-and-gas production.
A 5.1-magnitude quake hit the area Saturday, the third largest in state history.
The USGS reported it was felt across Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Nebraska, Texas, Arkansas and Iowa.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A consulting firm being paid $2.6 million by the Kansas Legislature to review the state’s budget says taking money from school districts’ cash reserves could help pay for future education funding.
Alvarez & Marsal released a 292-page final report to lawmakers on Tuesday describing efficiencies the firm says could save the state $2 billion over the next five years.
One of the recommendations is to require school districts to have a minimum cash balance of 10 percent of their operating budget, with a maximum of 15 percent. The Wichita Eagle reports any reserves over 15 percent would be deducted from future funding.
Alvarez estimates the policy would save $193 million over five years and suggests lawmakers implement it for the next fiscal year, which begins in July.
by ANDY MARSO
Republican legislators who control energy-related House and Senate committees want to halt work on a plan to comply with federal climate change regulations now that the U.S. Supreme Court has put a temporary stay on the requirements.
But some of their colleagues say it would be prudent to keep preparing the plan in case the court ultimately rules against the state. And environmentalists say the state should move to reduce carbon emissions regardless of federal law.
Rep. Dennis Hedke, a Republican from Wichita and the chairman of the House Energy and Environment Committee, said during a Monday committee meeting that halting work on a state plan could save $1 million in each of the next two years.
He also lauded Jeff Chanay, the state’s chief deputy attorney general, for his work on the litigation that led to the Supreme Court stay.
“Thank you for the effort undertaken on behalf of the state of Kansas,” Hedke said. “I think you did a fantastic job.”
The regulation imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency seeks to reduce each state’s aggregate carbon emissions from power plants. Republican leaders in Kansas and other states have blasted the Clean Power Plan as unlawful federal overreach by President Barack Obama’s Democratic administration.
In October 2015, the Kansas Attorney General’s Office joined 26 other states in challenging the rule in federal court. Earlier that month, Kansas legislators grudgingly instructed the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to begin work on a state plan because if the state did not form one, the federal government would impose its own plan. They also instructed the Kansas Corporation Commission, which regulates the state’s utilities, to analyze the costs of any plan.
After the Supreme Court stayed the regulation on Feb. 9, Hedke said he and Sen. Rob Olson, a Republican from Olathe who chairs the Senate Utilities Committee, penned a joint letter to the state agencies requesting they stop their work.
Hedke said his committee also would soon take up Senate Bill 318, a bill Olson amended on the Senate floor to forbid work on a state plan while the stay is in effect.
Some legislators on both sides of the aisle asked whether the state needs to be better prepared if the stay is ended and the regulations are back in place.
Rep. Russ Jennings, a Republican from Lakin, asked Chanay if he thought legislators should include a “trigger mechanism” that would instruct agencies to resume their work if the stay is lifted while the Legislature is not in session.
Rep. John Carmichael, a Democrat from Wichita, said after the hearing that the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia just days after the stay was imposed could change the legal landscape. The court voted 5-4 to put the EPA rule on hold while it’s being litigated.
“Should the issue be passed to the Supreme Court again in the absence of Justice Scalia, one might expect a difference outcome,” Carmichael said.
Rep. Tom Moxley, a Republican from Council Grove, said utility companies that would be most affected have told him they would like the state to pursue parallel tracks: continue litigating while also preparing a state compliance plan in case the litigation fails.
“The utilities think we should stay engaged,” Moxley said.
Moxley also said something as consequential as the Obama climate plan should have been subject to a vote in Congress. Its imposition through regulation instead of law was a symptom of the standoff between the Obama administration and Congress that has been bad for the nation, he said.
Legislators on both sides of the issue asked pointed questions about the costs that KDHE and the KCC have incurred while forming a plan to comply with the regulation versus the resources the Kansas attorney general’s office has spent fighting it.
Zack Pistora, a lobbyist for the Kansas Sierra Club, said those costs are minimal compared to the environmental and public health costs of ignoring climate change, especially in an agriculture state with an economy sensitive to weather patterns and climate trends.
Pistora said 25 weather events have affected Kansas since 2010 that cost $1 billion or more in combined losses to states. The state should be seeking to curb carbon emissions regardless of federal regulation, he said.
“While it’s important the Supreme Court carefully reviews the constitutional viability of the law, let’s not lose sight of the pressing need of why we ought to change our energy systems,” Pistora said. “It’s because burning fossils fuels are largely causing our carbon pollution, and it’s drastically changing our global climate.”
Olson and Hedke have both said publicly that they don’t believe human activity is affecting the earth’s climate.
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
NEWTON -Three children in North Newton were taken into police custody on Tuesday.
The two were 11-years-old and one was 14, and their adoptive parents have been arrested, according to a media release.
Police say there had been concerns about the treatment of these children who had been adopted from an orphanage in Peru.
After the children were examined at the Wesley Pediatric Malnourished Unit, it was discovered that the two 11-year-old’s, one boy and one girl, were severely malnourished and had multiple bruising, current broken bones and healing of past broken bones.
Jim and Paige Nachtigal of North Newton were arrested after a child in need of care hearing was held Tuesday at the Harvey County Courthouse.
Felony charges against the couple include abuse of a child, aggravated child endangerment and aggravated battery and will be filed through the Harvey County Attorney’s Office.
SALINA – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a suspect accused of stealing a handgun.
Mikal Terrell, 22, is alleged to have taken the gun between February 8th and February 9th from a home in the 2500 block of South Ohio Street in Salina, according to Police Captain Mike Sweeney.
When confronted about taking the gun, Terrell allegedly threatened the owner if he told police.
Police arrested Terrell on February 11th for possession of a gun as a convicted felon.
The gun’s owner reported it stolen to police on Monday.
Terrell is in jail on requested charges of burglary, theft, intimidation of a witness, and criminal possession of a weapon by a felon. He has previous a conviction in 2013 for Criminal possess firearm in Saline County.
JOHN HANNA, AP Political Writer
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget director says the state will not lose existing sales tax revenues if it pursues a project aimed at luring the annual American Royal horse and livestock exhibition to Kansas from Kansas City, Missouri.
Budget Director Shawn Sullivan said Tuesday that any development for the American Royal in Wyandotte County will be a “stand alone” project that won’t tap sales tax revenues generated in a nearby shopping and entertainment district featuring Kansas Speedway.
Some legislators are trying to prevent the project from being financed with bonds backed by state sales tax revenues.
The development could include a new hotel, children’s museum and 5,000-seat hockey arena.
The American Royal issued a statement Tuesday saying that it has been exploring options for a future location.
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A project aimed at luring the American Royal horse and livestock exhibition to the Kansas side of the Kansas City metropolitan area could include a new hotel, children’s museum and 5,000-seat arena for hockey.
A Kansas Department of Commerce report obtained Monday by The Associated Press says the proposed development “is assumed” to include those projects and 12 other elements.
The American Royal is a 2½-month exhibition each fall in Kansas City, Missouri.
But the proposal’s future is uncertain.
Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration wants to use a special economic development program to fund it. But Kansas legislators have included a provision in budget legislation to prevent the state from doing so.
They say Kansas is too cash-strapped to give up sales tax revenue as part of the program.
ANDOVER, Kan. (AP) — A south-central Kansas teenager is donating shoes to the needy after getting some help collecting them from Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West.
The Wichita Eagle reports that 17-year-old Amelia Flores is handing out 300 pairs of Adidas shoes Friday to Wichita middle school students. Amelia originally hoped to collect 2,000 pairs from donation sites she set up around nearby Andover, where she attends high school.
So whoever you are ….these shoes are for you! We will contact Soles For Souls! You reached your goal, so proud of you!!! xoxox
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 10, 2015
But the effort exploded in December when the reality star tweeted that she and West would donate 1,000 pairs of shoes to Amelia’s shoe drive for the nonprofit Soles4Souls. Those shoes were divided for distribution in Los Angeles, New Orleans and Wichita.
Kanye and I would love to donate those 1000 shoes to Soles For Souls. — Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 10, 2015
Because of the Kardashian-level attention, Amelia bumped her shoe-collection goal to 25,000 pairs. She also received a flood of interview requests.
KID
TOPEKA–Ken Selzer, CPA, Kansas Commissioner of Insurance, urges Kansans to know what exclusions might apply to their earthquake policies or earthquake policy endorsements on homeowners insurance policies.
Recent earthquake activity in Oklahoma, felt in some areas of Kansas, has prompted the need for Kansans to read their policy language carefully to know exactly what is covered, Commissioner Selzer said.
“In many cases, there are certain restrictions on what is included in their coverage,” Commissioner Selzer said. “It is wise for policyholders to go over their policies with their insurance agents or companies to fully understand the limits and exclusions.”
Concerns have been raised about whether the Oklahoma quakes have originated because of man-made oil drilling activity. Policy endorsements or special policies may or may not address this, the commissioner said.
“No one should be surprised about what is covered or excluded in any type of policy,” Commissioner Selzer said. “If you have trouble understanding your policy limits or language, contact our Consumer Assistance Division at the Kansas Insurance Department for help.”
The department’s Consumer Assistance Hotline is 1-800-432-2484.
