TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is reporting that it collected nearly $8 million more in taxes than anticipated in November, with both income and sales taxes exceeding expectations.
The state Department of Revenue said Tuesday the state collected $430 million in taxes last month instead of the $422 million projected in a new fiscal forecast issued earlier in the month. The surplus is about 1.9 percent.
Since the current fiscal year began in July, the state has collected $2.24 billion in tax revenues.
It was the first monthly report since the new and more pessimistic forecast for tax collections was issued.
Tax collections had fallen short of expectations the previous eight months.
Kansas has struggled to balance its budget since personal income taxes were dramatically cut in 2012 and 2013 to stimulate the economy.
Law enforcement authorities at the scene of the fatal crash in Manhattan
MANHATTAN -Joshua Mall, 39, Riley, appeared in Riley County Court for a status hearing on Tuesday in front of Judge Malcolm.
Mall was booked for 2nd degree murder by the Riley County Police Department after an investigation into a fatal accident on October 5.
Mall was the driver of a 2001 Ford Ranger traveling in the 2400 Block of Tuttle Creek Boulevard. He lost control of the vehicle at Northfield Road and collided with a 2013 Chevy Cruz.
Immediately following the initial impact the Ford left the roadway and collided with a tree.
A child in the Ford, Madilyn Mall, 6, Riley, was transported to Via Christi where she died.
A status check was scheduled for December 19 at 1 p.m. to determine if the defense council has enough of the evidence related to the case to hold the preliminary hearing.
The preliminary hearing for Mall was tentatively scheduled for January 26.
Photo by Mike Sherry/Heartland Health Monitor Dr. Jeffrey Burns, far right, spoke about work at the University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Center at a public forum Monday on the KU Medical Center campus in Kansas City, Kan. Seated with Burns were Dr. Russell Swerdlow, director of the Alzheimer’s center, and Linda Elam, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. –
Two University of Kansas Medical Center researchers at the forefront of national efforts to treat Alzheimer’s disease said scientists are making strides toward reducing the prevalence of a condition that affects as many as 5.1 million Americans.
Key aims include detecting the disease early and halting its progression, said Dr. Jeffrey Burns, a leader of the KU Alzheimer’s Disease Center.
“We think that day is coming,” said Burns, who spoke last week at a public forum on the KU Medical Center campus in Kansas City, Kan. The KU Alzheimer’s Disease Center co-sponsored the event with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The KU Alzheimer’s Disease Center is one of 29 federally designated centers through the National Institute on Aging.
Burns and Dr. Russell Swerdlow, the director of the center, outlined some of the research at the center, which includes studies on how exercise can prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s.
Some data suggest 75 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise a week can have a positive effect, Burns said.
Alzheimer’s researchers, he said, now have a diagnostic method in which a dye injected into the body can highlight the buildup in the brain of a protein linked to Alzheimer’s before any outward symptoms appear.
Swerdlow is researching the link between brain energy metabolism and Alzheimer’s. He also is experimenting with stem cells in animal models to stimulate growth of brain cells.
The forum also featured a number of other panelists, including representatives from local service and advocacy organizations.
Other panelists suggested the need for greater focus on people with developmental disabilities and the need for innovative ways to assist people with Alzheimer’s disease and their families – such as establishing day programs for people not yet suffering from advanced forms of the disease.
Linda Elam, a deputy assistant secretary with HHS, said the U.S. health care bill for Alzheimer’s and related dementias is about $109 billion a year. In addition, she said, family caregivers collectively miss out on about $50 billion in wages because of their responsibilities.
“Even given that dismal background, we have reason to hope,” she said.
Elam pointed to the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, established nearly five years ago with the enactment of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act. The aim of the plan is to:
coordinate Alzheimer’s disease research and services across all federal agencies.
accelerate the development of treatments that would prevent, halt or reverse the course of Alzheimer’s disease.
improve early diagnosis and coordination of care and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
decrease disparities in Alzheimer’s disease for ethnic and racial minority populations that are at higher risk for the condition.
work with international bodies to fight Alzheimer’s disease globally.
The goal is to find a way to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s by 2025.
“Will we make it by 2025? I’m not sure,” Elam said. “But we are driving very hard toward it.”
Mike Sherry is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.
WASHINGTON, D.C.– Representatives Lynn Jenkins (KS-02) and Mike Pompeo (KS-04) will be holding a special town hall meeting at the Leavenworth Heritage Center on Friday, December 11th, at 9am CT to discuss the President’s plan to transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees to a mainland United States site which could include Leavenworth, Kansas.
“The President’s proposed plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center and possibly move extremely dangerous terrorists to the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth is a major concern for Kansans,” said Representatives Jenkins and Pompeo. “This town hall will give Kansans the opportunity to gather under one roof and voice their opinions regarding the President’s plan. It is important that we come together and give everyone who has a stake in the situation a chance to share their concerns.”
WHO: Representatives Lynn Jenkins and Mike Pompeo.
WHAT: Special Town Hall Meeting On President Obama’s Plan To Possibly Transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth.
WHEN: Friday, December 11th at 9am CT.
WHERE: Leavenworth Heritage Center – 109 Delaware St. Leavenworth, KS 66048
Pres. Obama during Tuesday’s press conference in Paris
JOSH LEDERMAN, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is proposing to offer governors individualized reports about refugees in their states.
White House chief of staff Denis McDonough says in letters to all 50 governors that upon receiving a governor’s request, the State Department would send back a “tailored report” on refugees resettled in the last month and throughout the year so far.
A copy of the letter sent to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was obtained by The Associated Press.
McDonough says the State Department would update the information monthly on a password-protected website. He says it would break down refugees by nationality, gender and age range.
The new system comes as governors have sought to block Obama from placing Syrian refugees in their states following the Paris attacks linked to the Islamic State group.
HUTCHINSON — A Kansas man who fled from police last year and started a fire was sentenced Monday in Reno County court.
Scott Lutz, 26, Hutchinson, convicted on a felony charge of arson and two misdemeanors in one case, and felony flee and elude and possession of stolen property in another will spend just over seven years in jail.
Lutz was charged with aggravated arson, but as part of a plea agreement, he entered a plea to arson, a level five felony when it should have been a level six.
The state attempted to get the agreement set aside. Judge Chambers who then sentenced Lutz to half the sentence the state recommended denied that.
On October 8, 2014, Lutz led law enforcement on a high-speed chase, which reached speeds of over 100 miles per hour.
The pursuit was called off after Lutz passed a school bus and there was a concern on the part of law enforcement for public safety. He was last seen around 108th and Halstead in extreme northeast Reno County.
Four days later police got information that Lutz was hiding in an attic of a residence in the 400 Block of East B Street.
Officers responded to the home and established verbal contact with him, but he refused to comply and set a small fire in the attic. With the assistance of the Hutchinson Fire Department and the Reno County Sheriff’s Office, officers gained access to the attic and placed Lutz into custody without incident.
Lutz will also get credit for time served while waiting for disposition in the two cases.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Doctors have concluded a 17-month-old girl died of severe child abuse after being left in the care of her mother’s boyfriend.
A police document released Monday says hospital staff found bruises and bite marks on the girl’s body, swelling and bleeding of her brain, a fractured leg and a cut in one of her internal organs that came from a direct blow to her abdomen.
The Wichita Eagle reports that Grace Harris died at a local hospital on Nov. 14, five days after she was taken there by paramedics when she was found unresponsive. A coroner determined she died of blunt-force trauma to her head and neck.
Her mother’s boyfriend, 21-year-old Michael C. Ross, faces first-degree felony murder and child abuse charges in her death. Ross has previously told police that Grace fell.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials will learn soon whether the state’s tax collections in November met expectations.
The report due Tuesday from the Department of Revenue is coming less than a month after state officials and university economists issued a new, more pessimistic forecast for tax collections through June 2017.
The new forecast reflected economic slumps in agriculture and energy production and a softness in recent months in consumer spending.
Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget director immediately announced $124 million in budget adjustments to allow the state to keep paying its bills on time.
Kansas has struggled to balance its budget since GOP legislators cut personal income taxes dramatically in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback’s urging in an effort to stimulate the economy. Republican lawmakers raised sales and cigarette taxes in July.
WICHITA- The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office is asking for help from the public to identify a vehicle that was at the scene of a fatality traffic collision on Rock Road near 47th South on Sunday at about 2 p.m.
Investigators believe that a white, older model midsize car with a beveled or curved rear end, was northbound on Rock Road from 47th Street South just prior to the collision, and may have had some involvement in the accident, according to a Sheriff’s Department media release.
Tessa Ann Wilson, 23-months, died as a result of injuries from the crash.
The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department reported a vehicle driven by Caitlin V. Wilson, 28, was southbound in the 4500 Block of South Rock Road. The vehicle slid across the centerline and collided with a northbound pickup
Anyone who has any information about this vehicle, or anyone who witnessed the collision and has not yet spoken to deputies is asked to call 911 or the Sheriff’s Records Section at 316-660-3888.
HUTCHINSON -A Kansas man taken to a Wichita hospital for treatment after a house fire in Hutchinson Saturday afternoon has died.
The Hutchinson Fire Department reports that 47-year-old David Sprague died of smoke inhalation early Sunday morning.
Fire crews responded to the blaze at a home in the 500 block of East C Street just after 2 p.m., according to a media release from Hutchinson Fire Department.
Initial reports had advised of an occupant inside the home. First arriving units made entry into a second story window with a ground ladder to rescue that individual.
The occupant was removed out of the window and released to Reno County EMS for treatment and was sent to Wichita for further treatment.
Fire crews remained on scene for several hours conducting the investigation and overhaul procedures.
Fire damage is estimated at $25,000 and remains under investigation.
SHAWNEE COUNTY- A Kansas man was injured in an accident during a pursuit by law enforcement just before 8a.m. on Tuesday in Shawnee County.
