JOHNSON COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 1:30p.m. Tuesday in Johnson County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Kia Sorrento driven by Dylan J. Garnett, 19, Shawnee, was westbound on Kansas 10 at Ridgeview. The Kia rear-ended a semi that had slowed due to traffic.
Garnett was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics.
The semi driver Michael R. Brown, 68, Topeka, was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. Both drivers were properly restrained at the the of the accident, according to the KHP.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Senate has overwhelmingly rejected a nominee for the state’s second-highest court whose political tweets offended lawmakers.
The vote Tuesday was 38-0 against confirming Labette County District Judge Jeffry Jack’s nomination to the Court of Appeals.
Democrat Laura Kelly became the first Kansas governor to have an appeals court nominee rejected. Yet the Republican-controlled Senate’s vote also allowed Kelly to name a second nominee.
Kelly herself had urged senators to reject Jack after trying to withdraw his nomination in March. The state Supreme Court ruled Friday that a 2013 law didn’t allow her to withdraw Jack’s nomination. That forced Tuesday’s vote to keep Jack off the appeals court.
“A president who is objectively ignorant, lazy and cowardly,” read one tweet.
Jack’s nomination was doomed by tweets in 2017 that included vulgar language and criticism of President Donald Trump and other Republicans.
Missouri and Kansas have joined 41 other states and Puerto Rico in a lawsuit accusing generic drug makers of conspiring to manipulate and drive up prices for more than 100 generic drugs.
The 510-page lawsuit, filed in federal court in Connecticut, names 20 drug companies and 15 executives as defendants, alleging they participated in a conspiracy led by generic drug giant Teva Pharmaceuticals USA.
The suit alleges that Teva Pharmaceuticals colluded with competing companies to carve up markets and raised prices on scores of generic drugs. BIGSTOCK
“We have hard evidence that shows the generic drug industry perpetrated a multi-billion dollar fraud on the American people,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement. “We have emails, text messages, telephone records, and former company insiders that we believe will prove a multi-year conspiracy to fix prices and divide market share for huge numbers of generic drugs.”
Tong, who is taking the lead in the case, announced the lawsuit Sunday night on “60 Minutes,” which aired a story about the case.
The lawsuit expands on an earlier case brought by Connecticut and 19 other states in December 2016. That lawsuit, which is pending, has since been joined by more than two dozen other states.
In a statement Monday, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt called the alleged conspiracy “one of the most damaging and far-reaching price fixing schemes in modern history, with certain companies inflating prices by nearly 1,000%.”
“Millions and millions of Americans rely on generic prescription drugs every day to treat diabetes, infections, depression, cancer, HIV, and more,” Schmitt said. “This price fixing scheme by Teva Pharmaceuticals and other industry giants demonstrates a level of corporate greed the state of Missouri and the country rarely sees. By joining this lawsuit we’re sending a clear message to pharmaceutical companies: if you harm any of the 6 million people that call Missouri home, we will pursue action and hold you accountable for your actions.”
Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, which is based in Pennsylvania and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries, denied wrongdoing in a statement .
“The allegations “are just that – allegations,” the company said.
“Teva continues to review the issue internally and has not engaged in any conduct that would lead to civil or criminal liability. Teva delivers high-quality medicines to patients around the world, and is committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations in doing so. We will continue to vigorously defend the company.”
Teva subsidiaries operate out of two locations in Overland Park, Kansas, where until recently they employed about 350 people. The city and state granted Teva more than $53 million in tax abatements in 2013 to erect a $46 million, five-story headquarters building at College Boulevard and Nall Avenue, where it employed back office workers in its branded drug business. A smaller facility is located a few blocks away on 107th Street.
In December 2017, Teva announced plans to slash its global workforce by 25%. The local workforce has since been reduced, although it’s not clear by how much. A spokeswoman for Teva did not immediately respond to a query about how many people it now employs in the area.
The lawsuit filed Friday in Connecticut alleges that Teva significantly raised prices on more than 100 generic drugs beginning in July 2013 and colluded with competing companies to carve up markets and raise prices on at least 86 of those drugs.
The suit claims that the defendants coordinated their moves in person or by cell phone at golf outings, cocktail parties, industry dinners and other social occasions.
Besides Teva, the companies named in the suit are:
Actavis Holdco US, Inc.
Actavis Pharma Inc.
Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Apotex Corp.
Aurobindo Pharma U.S.A. Inc.
Breckenridge Pharmaceutical Inc.
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Inc.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc., USA
Greenstone LLC
Lannett Company Inc.
Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Par Pharmaceutical Companies Inc.
Pfizer Inc.
Sandoz Inc.
Taro Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.
Upsher-Smith Laboratories LLC
Wockhardt USA LLC
Zydus Pharmaceuticals (USA) Inc.
Dan Margolies is a senior reporter and editor in conjunction with the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.
SEDGWICK COUNTY — A Kansas man accused in the death of 2-year-old boy entered a guilty plea to one count of second-degree murder on Monday, according to Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett.
Elizabeth Woolheater photo Sedgwick Co.Lucas Diel photo Sedgwick Co.
Lucas Diel, 26, Wichita, and co-defendant Elizabeth Woolheater were charged with murder in the death of Anthony Bunn. In May of 2018, police responded to a residence in the 800 block of north Woodrow in Wichita where the boy was found, not breathing.
The boy was transported to an area hospital in critical condition and died two days later.
A preliminary investigation revealed the child had sustained substantial face and head injuries.
The plea agreement contemplates that based on Mr. Diel’s criminal history, he will face a sentence of 584 months in prison. Sentencing is set June, 25.
Woolheater, is scheduled for a motions hearing on May 20.
Tim Conway in 2007 / Creative Commons photo Alex ErdeBy LYNN ELBER and MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writers
NEW YORK — Tim Conway, the impish second banana to Carol Burnett who won four Emmy Awards on her TV variety show, starred aboard “McHale’s Navy” and later voiced the role of Barnacle Boy for “Spongebob Squarepants,” has died. He was 85.
Conway died Tuesday morning in a Los Angeles care facility after a long illness, according to Howard Bragman, who heads LaBrea Media. Conway’s wife, Charlene Fusco, and a daughter, Jackie, were at his side.
A native of Ohio, Conway credited his Midwestern roots for putting him on the right path to laughs, with his deadpan expression and innocent, simple-minded demeanor.
“I think the Midwest is the heart of comedy in this country, and a little bit of the South, too,” he told the Wisconsin State Journal in 2005. “For some reason, we’re just more laid-back, more understanding. … And Midwesterners have a kinder sense of humor.”
Those qualities probably contributed to his wide popularity on “The Carol Burnett Show,” which he joined in 1975 after years as a frequent guest. The show aired on CBS from 1967 to 1978 and had a short summer stint on ABC in 1979.
“We really didn’t attack people or politics or religion or whatever. We just made fun of, basically, ourselves,” he said.
The show operated with just five writers, one producer, one director and without network interference. The ensemble cast surrounding the redheaded star included Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner.
“I don’t think the network would allow a show like ‘The Carol Burnett Show’ now because we had such freedom,” Conway said in his interview with the State Journal.
While America was laughing at Conway, so were his co-stars: Burnett and Harvey Korman were often caught by the camera trying not to crack up during his performances.
The short, nondescript Conway and the tall, imposing Korman were a physical mismatch made in comedy heaven. They toured the country for years with a sketch show called “Together Again,” which drew on characters from Burnett’s show.
Besides the four Emmys he won with Burnett (three as a performer, one as a writer), he won Emmys for guest appearances in 1996 for “Coach” and in 2008 for “30 Rock.”
Conway also had a modest but steady movie career, appearing in such films as “The Apple Dumpling Gang” (1975), “The Shaggy D.A.” (1976), “Cannonball Run II” (1984), “Dear God” (1996) and “Air Bud 2” (1998).
“The Apple Dumpling Gang” and “Cannonball Run II” allowed him to work with his comedic hero, Don Knotts, who died in 2006.
“If there’s any reason at all I’m in the business, I think it’s Don,” Conway once said. “He’s an icon in this business. He’s an icon that’s never going to be duplicated.”
He also found success in the 1980s in a series of comedy videos based on an oddly short character named Dorf. (Carefully costumed, Conway performed the bits on his knees.) Among them were “Dorf on Golf” and “Dorf Goes Fishing.”
More recently Conway voiced the role of Barnacle Boy for the hugely popular children’s series “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
He was born Thomas Conway in 1933 in the Cleveland suburb of Willoughby. He attended Bowling Green State University and served in the U.S. Army. He got his career start on local TV in Cleveland in the 1950s, where his duties included comedy spots on a late-night movie show.
He was spotted by Rose Marie of “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” who got him an audition for “The Steve Allen Show.” He became a regular on the show in the early 1960s. It was Allen who had advised him to change his name from Tom to Tim to avoid being confused with a British actor.
Following the Allen show, Conway gained attention as the incompetent Ensign Charles Parker on the Ernest Borgnine sitcom “McHale’s Navy” from 1962-66. That led to series of his own, including “Rango” and “The Tim Conway Show,” but they were short-lived.
“McHale’s Navy” fans loved watching Ensign Parker infuriate the ever-flammable Captain Binghamton (played by Joe Flynn), but it was Conway’s work on Burnett’s show that would bring him lasting fame.
Conway and his wife, Mary Anne Dalton, married in 1961 and had six children. The marriage ended in divorce. He later married Charlene Fusco.
Saudi Arabia is blaming saboteurs for damage to two of its oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, in attacks it said posed a threat to shipping and the security of global oil supplies. Four tankers were targeted overall, as tensions with Iran escalated. Officials in the U.A.E. called it a “sabotage attack” that took place near a strategic port Sunday.
A senior source at Saudi Arabia’s ministry of energy told CNN Business that the attacks were particularly alarming because the tankers were targeted outside the Strait of Hormuz. One of the two Saudi vessels was on its way to be loaded with Saudi crude oil to be delivered to customers in the United States. A Norwegian tanker suffered hull damage after being struck by an unknown object at the waterline, according to that ship’s managers.
Weekly crude oil production figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed a slight decline from the previous week’s record high. Total production reached 12.176 million barrels per day for the week ending May 3, a drop of about a 100-thousand barrels per day.
Crude oil inventories dipped by about four million barrels. E.I.A. says that at 466.6 million barrels, stockpiles are roughly equal to the five-year seasonal average.
The government says crude oil imports averaged 6.7 million barrels per day for the week through May 3, down by 721,000 barrels per day from the week before. The four-week average is about 15% below the same four-week period a year ago.
U.S. Gasoline inventories are about two percent below the five year seasonal average, after dropping 600,000 barrels.
Independent Oil and Gas Service reported only slight changes in its weekly drilling rig count in Kansas. There are four active drilling rigs east of Wichita, which is unchanged, and 24 in Western Kansas, which is down one. Baker Hughes reported 988 active rigs across the U.S., down two drilling rigs exploring for oil. The count in New Mexico was down four rigs, Texas was up one, and Oklahoma was up two. Canada reported 63 active rigs, which was up two from the week before.
Independent reported eleven wells completed last week, four in eastern Kansas and seven west of Wichita. That’s 562 new completions so far this year.
Regulators approved 14 permits for drilling at new locations in Kansas over the last week, two east of Wichita and 12 in the western half of the state. That’s 318 drilling permits so far this year. There was one new permit filed in Barton County, two in Ellis County and one in Russell County.
A company that came to Oklahoma when it acquired another firm’s Mississippian Lime holdings in Oklahoma and Kansas in 2012 has agreed to a merger with a Houston firm and will move back to Texas. Midstates Petroleum agreed to the all-stock deal with Amplify Energy, according to reporting in the Daily Oklahoman. Amplify works oil and natural gas properties in the Rockies, offshore California, Louisiana, as well as eastern and southern Texas. Midstates produces primarily from the Mississippian Lime play in northern Oklahoma.
Crude oil production as reported to the Railroad Commission of Texas for February 2019 topped out at just under 90 million barrels, compared to over 96 million barrels in February of last year. This year’s February total averaged 3.2 million [[“three point two million”]] barrels per day from 176-thousand oil wells.
US refineries have increased crude-oil imports from Iraq, Nigeria, Brazil and Angola, as a result of supply cuts of sour crude from Iran and Venezuela. That’s according to a report from Reuters Monday. May imports from those countries are expected to come in at about 1.23 million barrels per day, which is more than double April’s haul. The bump in imports from those nations versus the prior month reflects reduced supply from Venezuela and Iran due to U.S. sanctions, as well as declining OPEC production that has cut availability of heavy and medium sour grades.
Petroleum and petroleum product deliveries by rail continue to outpace last year in the U.S. and Canada. According to the Association of American Railroads, U.S. oil-by-rail shipments totaled 12,231 rail cars for the week ending May 4, which is an increase of more than 34% over last year. The total so far this year is up more than 24% above the total at the same time last year. Canada’s oil-by-rail shipments were up 36% for the period.
A federal judge has sent back to North Dakota state court a lawsuit alleging the environmental group Greenpeace conspired against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. Texas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners maintains Greenpeace and others should be held responsible for trying to disrupt pipeline construction and damage the company’s reputation and finances. Greenpeace accuses ETP of using the legal system to bully critics. The environmental group has already prevailed in federal court on the racketeering claims brought by the pipeline company. But the two sides agreed to the latest move back to state court on the remaining allegations, and U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland recently signed off on it.
Just one day after clinching a win in the very public takeover battle for Anadarko Petroleum, executives at Occidental Petroleum survived a proxy fight during that company’s annual general meeting in Houston. Bloomberg reported that CEO Vicki Hollub defended her $38 billion pursuit of Anadarko. Her defiance capped a hectic four weeks, during which her two-year quest to buy the company became public knowledge. Chevron walked away from the fight after Oxy topped Chevron’s $33 billion merger agreement.
SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a homicide and have two suspects in custody.
Royce Thomas has previous convictions for violation of offender registration from a previous sex crime in Colorado, according to the KBI offender registry
Just before 3:30p.m. Monday, sheriff’s deputies responded to report of an auto theft in progress at Englewood and MacArthur involving a stolen trailer and vehicle, according to Wichita Police Lt. Jeff Gilmore.
The investigation led authorities to a residence in the 1300 Block of South Greenwood where officers located a stolen truck and a pull-behind RV in the driveway of the home. Suspects later identified as 25-year-old Royce Thomas and 24-year-old Mikayla Spencer both of Wichita were inside the truck and arrested without incident, according to Gilmore.
While investigating the stolen vehicles, officers located 50-year-old William Callison inside the RV with multiple stab wounds. Callison who had been reported missing over the weekend was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Gilmore.
Police booked Thomas on requested charges of first-degree murder and possession of stolen property and Spencer on requested charges of first-degree murder, possession of stolen property and outstanding warrants, according to Gilmore.
FINNEY COUNTY — For the fourth time in the past month, law enforcement authorities and USD 457 officials are investigating a threat toward Horace Good Middle School in Garden City.
Just after 6p.m. Monday, police receive a report of a possible threat toward the school, according to Sgt. Lana Urtega.
An investigation identified a 13-year-old student who had made several verbal threats and arrested him Monday night.
The boy is being held in the Southwest Kansas Juvenile Detention Center on allegations of criminal threat, according to Urtega.
On April 28, Garden City Police arrested Nick Trung Hang, 14, Garden City, for allegedly making a statement on his social media account and created the message to scare students and staff.
On April 23, police identified and arrested a 15-year-old who made a social media threat in attempt to get out of school for the day.
On April 18, police identified a 14-year-old Garden City student who made a social media threat that depicted the general use of firearms to harm students at the school.
Police and the school district encouraged parents to monitor their student’s social media and report any school safety related issues to administrators, school staff or law enforcement.
Statehouse insiders are already thinking ahead to next session and whether the near-certain veto of a tax-cut bill now on the governor’s desk is actually a political gift to lawmakers.
What? No tax cut this year? How can that be good?
Well, it will be. And here’s why.
First, it gives Republicans something to gripe about all summer, and into next winter, when the House and Senate both stand for election, and they’re going to want something to show their constituents that they got for them. We all like legislators who get us something we want, whether it’s legalizing crossing the highway on your ATV…or maybe a tax cut.
And remember that memories are relatively short while you’re in the voting booth or standing at the tall TV trays in the voting place checking off names on the ballot.
That crossing the highway on your ATV (that’s un-licensed All-Terrain Vehicle for us city folks who don’t have one or don’t have room in the garage for one if we even wanted one)? It’s also on the governor’s desk, House Bill 2248: For those of you who want to get T-shirts printed up it is likely to be signed into law. Expect a Statehouse rally by ATV owners? Even for the diehard off-roaders it’s probably not going to cost any legislators seeking reelection a vote.
That’s a gift for all but that handful of legislators who cast a vote for their ATV-riding constituents can pridefully tell their ATV-issue voters (who generally crossed those highways anyway but can do it legally now) that they fought for them. Not much of a fight; 110 House members and 39 Senate members voted for the bill.
Now, that’s nice, but what if the governor, as expected, vetoes the half-price tax cut bill that lawmakers sent her after she vetoed the jumbo tax-cut bill which sent most of that cut to corporations which do business in foreign countries?
Well, it means that those tax-cutting legislators get another chance to vote for tax cuts in an election year when it’s going to be recalled and a major campaign issue while most voters will remember the fight and can congratulate that tax-cut Statehouse crowd at the polling place.
A veto this year on the bill sets up the best campaign issue legislators can wish for next session.
And while a tax cut is political candy, the real fight is again going to be how next year’s state tax-cut effort (or, for conservatives, returning the state tax increases that the federal government’s tax cuts, that they liked, caused) will be targeted.
It can be either an income tax cut for low-income Kansans or a reduction in the state’s sales tax on groceries or a gift for upper middle-income Kansas taxpayers. But probably not a big a major reduction for those corporations with substantial overseas earnings which saw their state tax bills rise while their federal tax bills shrank.
Those corporations don’t vote, their employees do. So, whose name do you put on the tax-cut gift card? Probably voters. It’ll cost candidates some contributions from corporations, but not votes. The political decision next year comes down to whether a candidate’s constituents want food sales taxes or income taxes cut, or some sharing of the revenue shortfall that the state will see from either choice.
Governors don’t generally hold photo-ops when they sign a veto report, but there’s always the chance that the tax-cut champions might want to stand behind her at her desk, rending their garments as she signs the veto message that sets them up for an election year trophy with next session’s tax cut effort.
Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com
GREAT BEND — The Great Bend USD 428 school board Monday night reviewed the master plan for districtwide improvements prepared by SJCF Architecture. The total amount for Phase 1 would be $39.5 million dollars which would make improvement to all Great Bend Public Schools. Those improvements include securing entrances, creating storm shelters, and making space for preschool by moving 6th graders to the middle school.
Phase 1 does include the construction of a new transportation building at the District Education Center on Patton Road that would carry a price tag of $4.1 million dollars, but those plans have not been finalized. If the new building was not included, the bond amount would be for $35.1 million.
If the bond issue were for 20-years, homeowners of a $100,000 house in Great Bend would see a 12.000 mill increase which would mean and additional $138.00 per year in property taxes. If the bond were for 25 years, the mill levy increase would be 10.25 mills for an increase of $117.88 per year in taxes.
The master phasing plan does include Phase 2 and Phase 3 improvement that would not be done immediately and are separate from the Phase 1 improvements that voters will be asked to vote on.
No vote was taken Monday night to proceed with the bond issue but that decision is expected to be made at the next school board meeting in early June. With only a certain amount of bonds available each year, the district needs to be approved by the Kansas State Board of Education for the bond amount by July 1.
Superintendent Chris Thexton indicated that the district is planning for a mail in ballot election that could be held as early as late summer or early fall. Those details will be revealed at the June meeting.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a man has been charged with sexually assaulting three teenage girls in the pool area of YMCA in downtown Wichita.
Magoon photo Sedgwick County
31-year-old Keith Magoon was charged Monday with one count of rape and four counts of aggravated sexual battery. His bond was set at $150,000.
Wichita police say two 16-year-old girls and a 17-year-old girl reported being sexually assaulted in the indoor pool area by a man they didn’t know.
Magoon described himself as homeless and unemployed in court documents. His next court appearance was scheduled for May 30, and he will be appointed a public defender.
Last month, a former YMCA worker was sentenced to 27 1/2 years in prison for molesting two young girls in the downtown YMCA’s daycare.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A former employee of a suburban Kansas City sports medicine clinic alleges in a lawsuit that she was sexually harassed by a surgeon.
Kansas City Spine and Sports Medicine Center google image
The former medical assistant at the Kansas City Spine and Sports Medicine Center in Overland Park, Kansas, sued last month. The suit says she complained to management multiple times that Dr. Glenn Amundson regularly made sexual comments and touched her inappropriately in front of other employees, including management.
The medical assistant says that when she spoke to human resources, the department determined that she should transfer. The suit described the conditions as “intolerable.”
Amundson declined to discuss the allegations with The Star. The Kansas City Spine and Sports Medicine Center says Amundson is no longer with the company.
Farmers buffeted by depressed market prices, trade disputes and weather
K-State Research and Extension
MANHATTAN — Kansas net farm income rose last year despite weather extremes, trade disputes and depressed market prices, but the increase came with a catch.
Average net farm income across the state climbed to $100,000 in 2018, marking the third year in a row of gains after a precipitous slide in net income in 2015. The data came from an annual summary of the records of Kansas Farm Management Association member farms. Not all farms are KFMA members, but on a year-to-year basis, the numbers reflect the state of Kansas agriculture, according to Kevin Herbel, KFMA executive director.
Saying that farmers’ average net income was $100,000 can be deceiving however, Herbel said, because 63% of net farm net income came from crop insurance and government payments in a continuing era of tight margins and cash flow constraints. In fact the total of government payments received by KFMA farms alone was nearly 55% of net income. That included traditional farm program payments, livestock payments, conservation payments and payments linked to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market Facilitation Program to help producers affected by retaliatory tariffs and loss of export markets.
Listen to more in this special, extended interview
MFP payments comprised an estimated 37% of net income for the average farm. The numbers varied across the state based on the types of crops grown and crop yields.
Crop insurance income less premiums paid by producers for the policies totaled 8% of net farm income statewide. In northwest Kansas where hail resulted in large crop losses, crop insurance receipts were above the premiums paid by an amount equal to 2% of net farm income. In the three southern regions, crop insurance premiums paid were greater than income received from crop losses, Herbel said. For example, southwest Kansas farms saw -3% of net income, while south central and southeast were -1%.
“The impact of drought conditions was greatest in northeast and north-central Kansas with those areas showing net crop insurance income equal to 40% and 21% of net farm income, respectively,” he said.
“As occurs each year, there is much variability between farms – differences in production, from record yields to drought or hail, differences in financial position and cost structure, and differences in decision making and management of risk,” Herbel said.
The overall value of farm production across the state in 2018 was $615,472, up from $607,187 the previous year and $571,318 two years earlier.
“We have entered 2019 with continued expectations for market prices at levels that are below cost of production unless above average farm yields are achieved,” Herbel said in a report accompanying the annual KFMA data. “As such, the comfort level for many producers is not very high. It is important for farm managers to assess their financial position and make adjustments as needed.”
