WASHINGTON (AP) — Three conservation groups are suing the federal government to force it to protect the lesser prairie chicken and its habitats.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia by the Defenders of Wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians.

The lawsuit alleges that the U.S. Interior Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service has not done enough to protect the bird. The groups want the agency to determine whether the lesser prairie chicken is a threatened or endangered species.

The Interior Department said it cannot comment on pending litigation. The bird was listed as threatened in 2014 but a federal court overturned the designation.

The bird roams parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Colorado, but the groups said fewer than 38,000 remain.

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford is recalling over 1.3 million vehicles mainly in North America to fix rear suspension and transmission control software problems.

The largest recall covers over 1.2 million Explorer SUVs from 2011 through 2017. Ford says a rear suspension toe link can break if the suspension moves a lot. That can limit steering control. One customer reported running into a curb when a link broke, but Ford says it’s not aware of any injuries.

Dealers will replace the left and right toe links, which keep weight on the tires.

The Explorer recall will cost Ford an estimated $180 million that will show up in the company’s second-quarter results, Ford said in a filing with U.S. securities regulators.

Ford also is recalling 123,000 2013 F-150 pickups for a second time to stop transmissions from unintentionally downshifting into first gear. The recall covers pickups with 5-liter and 6.2-liter gas engines. A previous software update didn’t work.

Dealers will update it again.

BUTLER, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say a pilot killed when his small plane crashed into a western Missouri grain bin was an 80-year-old man who split his time between Florida and Kansas City.

Bates County Coroner Greg Mullinax identified him as John McConnell Jr. He was the only person aboard the eight-seat Cessna 425 when it crashed around 10:30 a.m. Monday near the airport in Butler, which is about 55 miles north of Kansas City. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

The flight tracking site FlightAware shows that the plane had left the airport in Vero Beach, Florida, where he had a home, several hours earlier. It was headed to New Century AirCenter in the Kansas City suburb of Olathe, Kansas.

By MARK DAVIS
For the Kansas News Service

Wells Fargo has agreed to a second round of payments to more than 400 members of the military whose personal vehicles the banking giant repossessed while they were on active duty.

Each service member victimized by the bank will receive $12,300 from a $5 million-plus settlement fund Wells Fargo has agreed to set up. The settlement resolves a federal class action lawsuit filed in Topeka in 2017 by Jin Nakamura,  a soldier stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas.

Julie Fogerson, a spokeswoman for Wells Fargo, said the agreement “is a step forward in making things right for customers and we remain deeply focused on caring for our neighbors, family members and team members who serve our country.”

An attorney for Nakamura did not respond to a request for comment.

Wells Fargo had previously agreed to pay the same individuals $10,000 each. Those payments came under an order by the U.S. Department of Justice and federal banking regulators to which Wells Fargo consented in 2016.

Wells Fargo, the country’s fourth largest bank, has been stained by a series of consumer scandals. The bank has agreed to more than $2 billion in settlements and government orders stemming from various complaints, including claims it opened millions of unauthorized accounts, added customers to its online banking service without their knowledge, required customers to buy unneeded car insurance and charged them excessive fees to lock in mortgage loan rates.

In the Nakamura case, Wells Fargo repossessed his car even though Nakamura had set up automatic payments for the vehicle, according to his lawsuit. By the time he figured out what was happening, the car had been sold along with some military gear he’d stowed in the vehicle.

As the lead plaintiff, Nakamura will receive a bigger payment than the other members of the class. The case required him to make two trips from his duty station in South Korea.

Court documents make it clear that payments under the settlement will be in addition to money service members were eligible to receive under the earlier government case.

In that action, the Justice Department claimed that Wells Fargo had illegally repossessed active service members’ vehicles even though they were protected under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act of 2003. The act requires lenders to get a court order before repossessing an active service member’s vehicle.

Federal investigators had responded to a North Carolina man’s complaint after Wells Fargo repossessed his used car just as he was deploying to Afghanistan in 2015. Investigators were able to corroborate the Army National Guardsman’s complaint and found “a pattern of unlawful repossessions spanning over more than seven years,” according to a Department of Justice statement.

Mark Davis is a freelance writer in Kansas City.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials want to put the brakes on vaping in public schools as usage soars.

The Kansas State Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to launch an anti-vaping campaign.

Officials say local school boards need to amend student codes of conduct and district disciplinary policy to outline sanctions for those caught vaping. The state board also agreed to formalize and expand an ad-hoc task force that recommended swift action to dampen demand by youths for the sweet-flavored alternative to smoking.

Kansas State Department of Education commissioner Randy Watson says estimates that half of students in Kansas high school were involved in vaping justified an aggressive statewide response. He described it as a public health epidemic.

LYON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a series of armed robberies and have second suspect in custody.

Just after 4a.m. June 5 and at 5 a.m. June 9, the Casey’s General Store at 126 S. Commercial in Emporia was robbed, according to a media release from police.  Also at 5p.m. June 9, the Angelina’s Fashion store at 328 Commercial Street in Emporia was robbed. Police believe the 3 robberies are connected. Cash and merchandise was stolen.

BEL AIRE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say 135 animals have been rescued from the home of an alleged hoarder near Wichita.

According to Bel Aire Police, the count on animals rescued during the animal hoarding investigation:
11 Dogs
81 Cats
2 Chickens
2 Guinea Pigs
7 Gerbils
1 Turtle Dove
14 Norwegian Rats
1 Red Eared Slider
15 Ornate Box Turtles
1 Flag Crown tail Beta Fish

The rescue group Beauties and Beasts so far has taken in 10 dogs and one kitten from the home. Randi Carter with Beauties and Beasts says most of those animals had been fixed but some of the older dogs need medical care.

Forty other animals, including the guinea pigs and turtles, went to a pet store, where they will be quarantined for two weeks before getting new homes.

COFFEY COUNTY — Authorities in Kansas say an emergency alert indicating an emergency at the Wolf Creek Nuclear Power plant was only a routine test.

According to a social media report for Coffey County Emergency Management, they were “conducting the required weekly test of the IPAWS/EAS system and the test message went live.” The alert was broadcast on several Emergency Alert System radio and television stations.

The system is used by national, state and local authorities to deliver important emergency information such as AMBER alerts and emergency weather information targeted to a specific area.

“Please disregard any warnings for Coffey County, the message does read it is a test.”

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say an armed man has been shot and killed while attempting to rob a suburban Kansas City cellphone store.

The man killed at the Boost Mobile store in Overland Park, Kansas, has been identified as Deshawn Brim, of Raytown, Missouri.

Police spokesman John Lacy says a man working the store opened fire Monday night when the suspect jumped over the counter with a gun in hand. KMBC-TV reports that Lacy says it’s unclear whether the worker was the manager or owner of the store.

Lacy says a woman, who was with the suspect, tried to get into the store after the shooting. But the man working at the store had locked the door. Police are questioning the woman.
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OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say an armed man has been shot and killed while attempting to rob a suburban Kansas City cellphone store.

Overland Park, Kansas, Police spokesman John Lacy says a man working at a Boost Mobile store opened fire Monday night when the suspect jumped over the counter with a gun in hand.

Lacy says it’s unclear whether the worker was the manager or owner of the store.

Lacy says a woman, who was with the suspect, tried to get into the store after the shooting. But the man working at the store had locked the door. Police are questioning the woman.

No other injuries were reported.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has signed a bill aimed at stopping an economic border war with Kansas.

Whether the bill signed Tuesday has any impact depends on Kansas officials.

We joined Senator @MikeCierpiot, Rep. Jeff Coleman, and Joe Reardon of @kcchamber in Kansas City’s Union Station to sign SB 182 — ending the unnecessary “boarder wars” with Kansas City, Kansas. This is great for BOTH states, but especially great for taxpayers! pic.twitter.com/aUSjluwW3k

— Governor Mike Parson (@GovParsonMO) June 11, 2019

Both states have spent millions of dollars luring businesses across the state line in the last decade.

The Kansas City Star reports the bill would stop Missouri from offering tax incentives to companies moving into the state from Wyandotte, Miami and Johnson counties in Kansas. It it takes effect only if Kansas does the same thing before 2021 for companies in Jackson, Platte, Clay or Cass counties in Missouri.

Parson said he and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly have discussed the issue and he is optimistic an agreement will be reached.

Kelly said in a statement Tuesday the states need to work together to lure businesses to the region.

WASHINGTON — Nursing facilities have failed to report thousands of serious cases of potential neglect and abuse of seniors on Medicare even though it’s a federal requirement for them to do so, according to a watchdog report released Wednesday that calls for a new focus on protecting frail patients.

Auditors with the Health and Human Services inspector general’s office drilled down on episodes serious enough that the patient was taken straight from a nursing facility to a hospital emergency room. Scouring Medicare billing records, they estimated that in 2016 about 6,600 cases reflected potential neglect or abuse that was not reported as required. Nearly 6,200 patients were affected.

“Mandatory reporting is not always happening, and beneficiaries deserve to be better protected,” said Gloria Jarmon, head of the inspector general’s audit division.

Overall, unreported cases worked out to 18% of about 37,600 episodes in which a Medicare beneficiary was taken to the emergency room from a nursing facility in circumstances that raised red flags.

Responding to the report, Administrator Seema Verma said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services does not tolerate abuse and mistreatment and slaps significant fines on nursing homes that fail to report cases.

Verma said the agency, known as CMS, is already moving to improve supervision of nursing homes in critical areas such as abuse and neglect and care for patients with dementia.

CMS officially agreed with the inspector general’s recommendations to ramp up oversight by providing clearer guidance to nursing facilities about what kinds of episodes must be reported, improving training for facility staff, requiring state nursing home inspectors to record and track all potential cases and monitoring cases referred to law enforcement agencies.

Neglect and abuse of elderly patients can be difficult to uncover. Investigators say many cases are not reported because vulnerable older people may be afraid to tell even friends and relatives much less the authorities. In some cases, neglect and abuse can be masked by medical conditions.

The report cited the example of a 65-year-old woman who arrived at the emergency room in critical condition. She was struggling to breathe, suffering from kidney failure and in a state of delirium. The patient turned out to have opioid poisoning, due to an error at the nursing facility. The report said a nurse made a mistake copying doctor’s orders, and the patient was getting much bigger doses of pain medication as a result. The woman was treated and sent back to the same nursing facility. The nurse got remedial training, but the facility did not report what happened. The report called it an example of neglect that should have been reported.

The nursing facilities covered by the report provide skilled nursing and therapy services to Medicare patients recovering from surgeries or hospitalization. Many facilities also play a dual role, combining a rehabilitation wing with long-term care nursing home beds.

Investigators said they faced a challenge scoping out the extent of unreported cases. They couldn’t query a database and get a number, since they were looking for cases that weren’t being reported to state nursing home inspectors.

To get their estimate, auditors put together a list of Medicare billing codes that previous investigations had linked to potential neglect and abuse. Common problems were not on the list. Instead it included red flags such as fractures, head injuries, foreign objects swallowed by patients, gangrene and shock.

The investigators found a total of 37,600 records representing 34,800 patients. Auditors then pulled a sample of cases and asked state inspectors to tell them which ones should have been reported. Based on the expert judgment of state inspectors, federal auditors came up with their estimate of 6,600 unreported cases of potential neglect and abuse.

Investigators found that nursing facility staff and even state inspectors had an unclear and inconsistent understanding of reporting requirements.

Medicare did not challenge the estimates but instead said that billing data comes with a built-in time lag and may not be useful for spotting problems in real time.

Separately, the report also flagged potential problems with state nursing home inspectors reporting documented cases of abuse or neglect to local law enforcement. Federal auditors pulled a sample of 69 cases across five states in which inspectors verified that nursing facility patients suffered neglect or abuse. Only two were reported to local law enforcement, although reporting is required.

In one case, a male resident was sitting in the facility’s dining room when an employee walked by and pushed the back of his head, then kept walking. The employee denied it, but his actions were captured on surveillance video. The report said state inspectors verified what happened but did not report it to local law enforcement.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Court records say a man secretly snapped pictures of a 15-year-old trying on swimsuits in a Kansas store as he began serving probation for photographing women in the dressing room of another store.

Anthony DeLapp, of Joplin, is again charged with breach of privacy by photo or video in Johnson County District Court. Court records say the teen confronted DeLapp on May 31 when she noticed a phone being held over her changing room door at a Target store in Olathe, Kansas. Surveillance video showed him running out of the store.

He had been sentenced just one day earlier for photographing women in 2017 at a Forever 21 store at Oak Park Mall in Overland Park, Kansas. DeLapp has denied the latest allegations.

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a burglary and have two suspects in custody.

Just after 1a.m. Sunday, deputies were dispatched to the 3100 block of SE 45th St on a report of a suspicious vehicle on the property of a residence, according to Sgt. Todd Stallbaumer.

When deputies arrived at the residence they found a white Cadillac Escalade, unoccupied, parked in the bushes. Deputies investigated further and located an adult male on the property and detained him. With the assistance of a Topeka Police Department K9 unit, another male was located hiding in a room in the residence. The house had been fully rummaged through with items missing as well as other items piled up.

Deputies booked Vincent A. Reyner, 42, and Travis L Russell, 35, both of Topeka, into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Burglary, Theft and Criminal Damage, according to Stallbaumer.