Rep. Pompeo doing TV interviews on Thursday morning- courtesy photo
WASHINGTON – Kansas congressman Mike Pompeo along with his house colleagues will interview former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today.
She takes center stage as the star witness in the Republican-led investigation into the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya.
Clinton, the Democratic front-runner for president, is riding the momentum of a solid debate performance.
Meanwhile, the panel’s Republican chairman is scrambling to deflect comments by fellow Republicans that the inquiry is aimed at hurting Clinton’s presidential bid.
“Our committee still has many unanswered questions,” according to Pompeo in a social media statement. “I am confident that these conversations will help us as we continue to try to put together the facts that explain why four Americans were murdered in Benghazi.
VALLEY CENTER, Kan. (AP) — Police are investigating after they say a man wearing only underwear approached a group of 5th grade students in Valley Center.
Officials at Valley Center Intermediate School say the man approached the students Wednesday afternoon when they were outside on the tennis courts during a physical education class, and asked them to leave the fenced area and come with him. The students notified teachers, who informed school officials and police.
An alert was sent out to parents about the incident.
According to Valley Center Police Chief Mark Hephner, police did not find anyone that fit the description of the man but officer patrols around the school will be increased for the rest of the week.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man has received three years of probation in a Wichita crash that killed a pregnant woman and the premature baby she delivered before dying.
Zachary Brown was sentenced Wednesday in the death of 21-year-old Trevadawn Pauley and Aniyiah Saiz. Brown had pleaded no contest to two counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of aggravated battery.
Prosecutors say Brown was weaving in and out of traffic on Aug. 19, 2014 when he crashed into the vehicle that Pauley was riding in. According to prosecutors, Brown thought he had been cut off by another motorist.
Pauley, who was seven months pregnant, was rushed to the hospital and gave birth via emergency cesarean section before dying. Her daughter died a week later due to trauma from the crash.
Pres. Obama during Wednesday’s community forum in West Virginia
KATHLEEN HENNESSEY, Associated Press
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Traveling to a region in the throes of a drug abuse crisis, President Barack Obama promised Wednesday to use his bully pulpit and federal programs to try to combat the “epidemic” of heroin use and prescription painkiller abuse that is upending communities across the country.
“This crisis is taking lives; it’s destroying families and shattering communities all across the country,” Obama said at a panel discussion on opioid drug abuse. “That’s the thing about substance abuse; it doesn’t discriminate. It touches everybody.”
On stage at a crowded community center, Obama heard from advocates, health care workers, law enforcement officials and policy makers about the depth of a problem that has long simmered at the state level but just recently risen to the national political stage.
Charleston Police Chief Brent Webster said his officers deal with a “community of zombies walking around” in need of treatment. A father of five daughters described what it was like to find one of them had overdosed, a needle hanging from her arm.
Obama said the stories reminded him of his teenage daughters and his own rebellious teen years.
“They’re wonderful girls, but they’re teenagers. They do some … things,” he said. “And I remember me being a teenager. I’ve written about this. I did some … stuff. And I’ve been very honest about it. And so what I think about is ‘there but for the grace of God,’ and that’s what we all have to remember.”
West Virginia has the highest rate of overdose deaths in the U.S. — more than twice the national average, according to a report by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
State officials say the problem is damaging the economy, depressing the workforce and overwhelming social services.
Obama’s trip was briefly delayed by Vice President Joe Biden’s announcement from the White House Rose Garden that he would not seek the presidency. The news threatened to overshadow Obama’s attempt to throw a national spotlight on the drug issue, but his visit was closely watched in West Virginia, where his energy policies have made him deeply unpopular.
Obama stressed that the drug abuse problem is a national one.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released in July found the number of people who reported using heroin within the past year had nearly doubled from 2002 to 2013. Heroin use was up among nearly all demographic groups, but showed particular spikes among women and non-Latino whites.
Researchers say two factors are driving the trend: the rise in abuse of opioid painkillers — drugs that are often a precursor to heroin — and the increasing availability of cheap heroin.
Researchers found that most users reported using at least one other drug in combination with heroin, which contributes to high overdose rates. Between 2002 and 2013, the rate of heroin-related overdose deaths nearly quadrupled, and more than 8,200 people — by some estimates, one in every 50 addicts — died in 2013, according to the CDC.
Experts say few prescription drug health care providers are properly trained to safely prescribe painkillers, while access to medication-assisted treatment for addicts is too difficult.
Obama’s visit comes as politicians are grasping for a policy response, including presidential candidates in both parties. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has laid out a $10 billion plan that promotes treatment over incarceration. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has visited drug rehabilitation centers and talked up his work to create drug courts at home that mandate treatment over jail time for non-violent offenders.
Before leaving the White House, Obama ordered federal agencies that employ health care providers to offer training on prescribing painkillers. They also must review their health insurance plans and address policies that might prevent patients from receiving medication as part of their treatment.
Both steps are relatively modest efforts, given the budget stalemate in Congress. The White House has proposed $133 million for new treatment programs. The administration also wants to expand access to medications that can help addicts transition off other opioids, and has also pushed to expand availability of naloxone, which a drug that can reverse overdose.
Cary Dixon, of Huntington, who sat next to Obama during the panel discussion, explained how her 28-year-old son is in prison for drug-related crimes. She said he had been to multiple treatment facilities, including recovery centers, before he was locked up.
She also has a grown daughter, and “we raised both of our children with morals and values,” Dixon said. “And that’s what I try to get across to people that substance abuse, it doesn’t respect anyone. It doesn’t matter what kind of family that you came from, race or economic status. Substance abuse affects everyone.”
More than two dozen lawsuits against Ethicon, maker of a device used to treat uterine fibroids, have been consolidated at the Robert J. Dole Federal Courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas. CREDIT ROBERT J. DOLE FEDERAL COURTHOUSE
More than two dozen lawsuits alleging that a laparoscopic device used to break up fibroid tissue caused cancerous cells to spread in women’s bodies have been consolidated in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas.
The device, known as a power morcellator, was the subject of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration warning last November. The agency said it posed a risk of spreading unsuspected cancerous tissue, notably uterine sarcomas, beyond the uterus and shouldn’t be used on most women.
Lawsuits alleging manufacturers of the device failed to provide patients with adequate warning of the risks have been filed in more than a dozen states. The Wall Street Journal reported in July that a lawsuit filed against device maker Lina Medical ApS and expected to be the first to go to trial was settled on undisclosed terms.
Power morcellators are drill-like devices that surgeons can use to make small incisions and break up uterine fibroids. Most women develop such fibroids but they usually don’t cause symptoms.
In some cases, however, the fibroids can lead to prolonged menstrual bleeding, pelvic pain and other conditions.
The FDA estimated that about 1 in 350 women undergoing a hysterectomy or myomectomy – a surgical procedure to remove fibroids – for the treatment of fibroids is found to have an unsuspected uterine sarcoma, including a very rare and aggressive cancer called leiomyosarcoma.
Most of the suits consolidated in federal court Kansas City, Kansas, were brought against Ethicon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson voluntarily withdrew the device from the market last year. The cases have been assigned to U.S. District Judge Kathryn H. Vratil.
“There are other manufacturers of these devices, but it’s only the cases against (Ethicon) that were consolidated,” said Thomas J. Preuss, a Kansas City attorney representing a plaintiff in one of the actions.
He said Vratil has a lot of experience handling what is known as multi-district litigation, one reason the cases may have been consolidated here.
Dan Margolies, editor of the Heartland Health Monitor team, is based at KCUR. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A House committee has voted to issue subpoenas to five high-ranking officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs after the officials did not show up at a hearing Wednesday on alleged manipulation of the agency’s hiring system.
First District Congressman Tim Huelskamp serves on the House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs and its Health Subcommittee.
The department’s acting inspector general says two senior VA officials forced regional managers to accept job transfers — then stepped into the vacant positions themselves, keeping their pay while reducing their responsibilities.
The report said the officials also misused VA’s moving-expense system to claim more $400,000 in questionable moving expenses.
Diana Rubens, director of the Philadelphia regional office for the Veterans Benefits Administration, and Kimberly Graves, director of the St. Paul regional office for the VBA, face possible criminal prosecution.
Rubens and Graves skipped Wednesday’s hearing, as did three other VA officials.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A pet food company has announced plans to cut 44 information technology jobs in Topeka.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Hill’s Pet Nutrition will eliminate the 44 information technology jobs in Topeka over the next year. Hill’s told employees it will move some information technology jobs to centers owned by Colgate-Palmolive in New Jersey, Mexico City and India.
Hill’s spokeswoman Edisa Chacin says employees can apply for other information technology jobs in the company.
She says more than 900 people work at Hill’s operations in Topeka and Emporia.
2015 wheat harvest near Danville, Kan., in Harper County. Photo by Brittany Van Driesten (Courtesy NWF)
National Wheat Foundation
The National Wheat Foundation (NWF) launched the 2015 Wheat Harvest Photo Contest in June to celebrate America’s wheat harvest and wheat farmers. NWF is proud to announce the winners of that contest.
Over 300 photos were submitted through e-mail and shared on NWF’s Facebook page and website. NWF’s directors voted to determine the winning photos.
First place, receiving an iPad, is Michelle Jones. Michelle’s photo was taken near Broadview, Mont. The three runners up, each receiving a $50 gift card, are Brittany Van Driesten’s photo taken near Danville, Kan., in Harper County, Casey Graham’s photo taken near Simla, Colo., and Brenna Rietmann’s photo taken near Ione, Ore. The winning photos will be displayed in the Wheat Growers office in Washington, D.C.
“We are extremely honored to have launched this contest that truly showcased the heart of America’s wheat harvest,” said NWF chairman and Colorado wheat farmer, Dusty Tallman. “This contest was created to thank America’s wheat farmers, and the entries did a whole lot more than just sending thanks. The entries commemorated and illustrated the importance of our 2015 wheat harvest. Thank you to everyone who entered the contest and shared the American wheat harvest story.”
abortionTOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Court of Appeals is taking the rare step of having all of its judges hear a legal challenge to a ban on a common second-trimester abortion procedure to speed up the court’s review.
Supporters and critics of the law said Wednesday the court is signaling that it views the case as important and wants it to go quickly to the Kansas Supreme Court to settle whether the state can enforce the ban.
The law was supposed to take effect in July, but a Shawnee County judge blocked it while a lawsuit against it proceeds. Attorney General Derek Schmidt appealed.
Oral arguments in the case are set for Dec. 9.
Court officials believe it is the first time since 1989 that all judges will participate in such a hearing.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas congressman Tim Huelskamp is resisting Paul Ryan’s appeals for GOP lawmakers to rally behind him as House speaker and questions the Wisconsin Republican’s interest in the job.
Huelskamp said Wednesday that conditions Ryan has outlined for taking the job leaves the impression with him that Ryan doesn’t really want to be speaker.
Huelskamp is a tea party favorite who represents the 1st District of western and central Kansas.
He is among the hard-line GOP conservatives who forced House Speaker John Boehner to announce plans to retire at the end of the month. Boehner stripped Huelskamp of plum committee assignments late in 2012.
Ryan is insisting on Republican unity and rules changes before he formally seeks the speaker’s job.
Huelskamp said, “I don’t think they are all reasonable demands.”
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Attorneys for a Kansas man convicted of killing a 14-year-old girl in 1999 have asked the court to vacate his first-degree murder conviction.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that lawyers for Floyd S. Bledsoe filed a motion Tuesday in Jefferson County to vacate Bledsoe’s first-degree murder conviction in the 1999 death of of Zetta Arfmann.
Bledsoe’s lawyers are members of the Midwest Innocence Project and are working the University of Kansas School of Law. They’ve asked the judge to release Bledsoe based on DNA evidence they say shows that two other men had contact with Arfmann’s body. Results of that DNA test became available earlier this year.
Bledsoe was sentenced to life in prison in 2000 and briefly released in 2008 before an appeals court reinstated his conviction.
