TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Lawmakers dropped a plan to increase oversight of Kansas’ troubled child welfare system in the final hours of their annual session, angering advocates.
The provision that was eliminated would have created a committee that could have summoned officials to explain problems, drafted legislation and provided frustrated parents with a place to vent.
Some advocates saw the panel as a way to address a system beset with problems that include child deaths and problems recruiting and retaining staff.
“I don’t think our legislators understand how hard it is to apologize to a child for ‘good intentions’ gone bad,” said Tara Wallace, president of the African American Foster Care/Adoption Coalition’s Topeka chapter. “It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but I have to for the sake of helping them get through their traumatic experiences.”
The committee would have been required to review data on child maltreatment, child welfare programs and concerns about the Department for Children and Families, which oversees foster care. Lawmakers focused on health and child-related issues would have been assigned to serve on it.
Issues arose when a coalition of Republicans and Democrats blocked the legislation to try to pressure Republican leaders in the Senate to hold a vote on Medicaid expansion. Lawmakers sent the budget back for more negotiations between the House and the Senate. Negotiators produced a new version that didn’t include the committee.
The Legislature then passed the budget Saturday night after pro-expansion Republicans stopped voting to block it.
“I think it’s clear for the legislative leadership that foster care is not a priority,” said Benet Magnuson, executive director of Kansas Appleseed, a nonprofit justice center serving vulnerable and excluded Kansans.
Rep. Susan Concannon, a Beloit Republican who chairs the House Children and Seniors Committee, noted that lawmakers can still act next year on her bill to create a child welfare oversight committee.
“It needs oversight. We need to get this bill passed,” Concannon said.
NEW YORK — Walmart said Wednesday that it will raise the minimum age to buy tobacco products and e-cigarettes at its U.S. stores to 21 amid growing pressure from regulators to cut tobacco sales and use among minors.
The world’s largest retailer also said it will also stop selling fruit and dessert flavored e-cigarettes, which critics say can hook teenagers on vaping.
The new rules will take effect in July at all its 5,300 U.S. stores, including its Sam’s Club warehouse locations. Previously, Walmart’s minimum purchase age was 18, aside from a number of states where the legal age is 21.
Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration put Walmart and 14 other retailers on notice for selling tobacco products to kids. Another retailer on the list, drugstore operator Walgreens, said last month that it would increase its minimum age for tobacco sales to 21 in September.
In a letter to the FDA Wednesday, Walmart said it will conduct its own tests this year to make sure minors can’t buy tobacco products at its stores. The company said it will retrain workers that fail its tests.
“Even a single sale to a minor is one too many, and we take seriously our responsibilities in this regard,” said John Scudder, Walmart’s chief compliance and ethics officer, in a blog post Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Drugmakers will be required to reveal the prices of their prescription medicines in those ever present TV ads, the Trump administration is set to announce on Wednesday, even as some insured patients can pay thousands of dollars for critical medications.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alez Azar testified in April before a Senate Committee photo courtesy CSPAN
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told The Associated Press the administration is finalizing regulations that will require drug companies to disclose list prices of medications costing more than $35 for a month’s supply.
“What I say to the companies is if you think the cost of your drug will scare people from buying your drugs, then lower your prices,” Azar said. “Transparency for American patients is here.”
The pricing details are expected to appear in text toward the end of commercials, when potential side effects are being disclosed. TV viewers should notice the change later this year, perhaps as early as the summer.
Other elements include regulations affecting Medicare and legislative proposals pending in Congress. With the cost of medicines a top concern for voters, Trump and lawmakers of both major political parties want accomplishments they can point to before the 2020 elections. Democrats say measures like price disclosure won’t force drugmakers to lower what they charge, and they want to authorize Medicare to negotiate.
The drug industry opposes the price reveal, saying companies would rather provide the information on their websites. But Johnson & Johnson, based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, announced this year that it would start disclosing the cost of its blood thinner Xarelto in TV advertising. That drug is used to treat and prevent blood clots that can cause strokes.
Among drug industry complaints is that the government would be infringing on First Amendment free speech rights by forcing companies to disclose prices. Azar points out that the government has for decades required carmakers to post their sticker prices on vehicles.
“Prices of automobiles are vastly less important to your health and affordability than drugs,” he said.
According to the government, the 10 most commonly advertised drugs have prices ranging from $535 to $11,000 per month or for a usual course of therapy.
The disclosure requirement will not apply to print or radio ads for the foreseeable future.
“Over $4 billion of pharma spend is in TV ads … that is their most impactful form of advertising,” Azar said. “That is where the patient has the most need of being informed.”
The disclosure requirement applies to all brand name drugs covered by Medicare and Medicaid, which is nearly all medications.
The government is hoping that patients armed with price information will start discussing affordability with their doctors, and gradually that will put pressure on drugmakers to keep costs in check.
Most people rely on lower cost generic drugs to manage their health problems, but the advent of revolutionary medications for once-fatal or intractable diseases has put consumers on edge. Genetic and cellular-based treatments can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, which has put a strain on the budgets of insurers and government programs.
A recent poll from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation found that 1 in 3 Americans said they haven’t taken medications as prescribed because of costs. People who take four or more medications, those who spend $100 a month or more on meds, patients in fair to poor health and middle-aged adults are more likely to report affordability problems.
Although most patients do not pay the full list prices that will be included in ads, experts say those prices are still important. They’re the starting point for negotiations between drugmakers and insurers. Also, copays that patients face are often based on list prices. And many people who have high-deductible insurance plans pay list prices for medications because their insurance doesn’t start covering until patients have spent several thousand dollars of their own money.
In other economically advanced countries, governments negotiate drug prices to keep medications more affordable for patients. But except for some government programs like the Veterans Affairs health system, the U.S. has held back from government-set prices.
Democrats argue it’s time to abandon that practice and let Medicare take a direct role in negotiating prices. There’s no support for that route among congressional Republicans, and the Trump administration’s more activist role for government stops short.
Azar, who is leading the effort for Trump, is a former drug company executive. He held senior posts with Indianapolis-based insulin maker Eli Lilly and Co. after an earlier stint in government service during the George W. Bush administration.
The regulations will take effect 60 days after they’re published in the Federal Register.
Around 10 a.m. last Thursday, Phillips County law enforcement was called in to assist the Jewell County Sheriff’s Office, Smith County Sheriff’s Department, Smith Center Police Department, Webster County (Neb.) Sheriff’s Department, Kansas Highway Patrol and Nebraska State Patrol in a wild cross country vehicle pursuit that devolved into a foot-chase manhunt. During the course of events, aircraft from the Kansas Highway Patrol also joined in the hunt.
According to the Jewell County Sheriff, a deputy on his force tried to initiate a traffic stop on Highway 36 that morning.
Upon doing so, the targeted white Buick Century sped up before turning onto a county road into rural Jewell County.
The driver subsequently crossed the county line into Smith County where the Smith County Sheriff’s Department joined in the pursuit, resulting in the stopping of the vehicle.
At that point, three individuals exited it and fled on foot across pastures and fields.
As the Kansas Highway Patrol, Nebraska State Patrol and Webster County Sheriff’s Office joined in the search, three Phillips County deputies were deployed to the eastern reaches of Phillips County to block avenues of escape along that possible route.
With the Kansas Highway Patrol aircraft overhead, it was soon able to spot the fugitives and report they were moving north.
All three individuals eventually fled on into Nebraska. Undeterred, and pursuant to interstate mutual assistance compacts and legal rules of hot pursuit, the Kansas Highway Patrol airplane moved across the state line into Nebraska, continuing its mission.
Directly aided by the spotters in the aircraft, Webster County deputies and Nebraska State Patrol troopers were able to apprehend the individuals, with the Webster County Sheriff’s Office taking custody of two juveniles and one adult male. After further investigation it was determined the adult male was just a passenger in the vehicle, had not committed any crimes, and was released.
With the investigation continuing, all individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
RILEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an alleged child sex crime and have made an arrest.
Just after 11a.m. Tuesday, police arrested Thomas Adams, 50, of Manhattan in the 1100 block of South Seth Child Road in Manhattan, according to the Riley County Police Department activity report.
He was booked on requested charges of rape and aggravated criminal sodomy involving a victim under the age of 14. Adams remains in custody on a total bond of $500,000.00, according to the report.
Police released no additional details early Wednesday.
SEDGWICK COUNTY — The woman accused of driving a stolen SUV involved Sunday’s 3-vehicle crash that killed two people has been released from the hospital.
Mia Collins -photo Sedgwick County
Mia Collins, 24, was immediately booked on requested charges that include two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of aggravated battery, a probation violation and driving while suspended, according to Sedgwick County online jail records.
Collins led police on a chase and about one mile the car collided with a car and another SUV at an intersection, according to Wichita officer Kevin Wheeler.
First responders on the scene of the fatal Sunday accident -photo courtesy KAKE
The crash killed 70-year-old Maria Wood and 12-year-old Rosemary McElroy and critically injured 36-year-old Jenny Wood, a popular Wichita musician known for performing with children. She is Wood’s daughter and McElroy’s aunt. She remains in critical condition, according to officer Charley Davidson
Collins was on probation. A passenger in her car, 38-year-old Christopher English, is also on parole and remains hospitalized.
The driver of the SUV that was hit, 65-year-old Alfred Angle, was seriously injured and has been released from the hospital, according to Davidson.
WICHITA, KAN. – A Salina man unlawfully received controlled prescription drugs from his wife, who was a pharmacist, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
Dalton R. Hartley, 29, Salina, Kan., pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of acquiring controlled substances through fraud. Hartley is married to co-defendant Kirsty C. Hartley, who worked at a CVS Pharmacy in Salina. In his plea, Dalton Hartley admitted he fraudulently received 450 tablets of hydrocodone with acetaminophen and 360 tablets of alprazolam from his wife. He would consume the medication himself or trade tablets to other people for marijuana.
Hartley admitted he knew his wife was altering legitimate prescriptions in order to divert the medications to him.
Co-defendant Kirsty Hartley pleaded guilty last month to one count of distributing and dispensing controlled substances without a legitimate medical reason. She admitted unlawfully dispensing more than 21,000 tablets of hydrocodone with acetaminophen.
Both parties have agreed to recommend the Hartleys be sentenced to 18 months of house arrest with 200 hours of community service. Kirsty Hartley has surrendered her pharmacist license.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — As the Mississippi River continues to surge, flash flooding along Kansas creeks and streams is forcing people from their homes, closing roads and prompting schools to call off classes.
Emergency management officials began evacuating an area about 5 miles west of Manhattan around 5 a.m. Wednesday. Evacuations also are underway in part of Marion County in the central part of the state.
Near the Oklahoma border, flooding closed a stretch of the Kansas Turnpike. And there were numerous water rescues in Augusta, which is about 25 miles east of Wichita.
Flash flood watches also are in effect in Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, as well as flood warnings along the Mississippi River. The river was expected to crest Wednesday night in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, at a level that causes thousands of acres to flood.
MARYSVILLE – A Kansas man was sentenced Tuesday to more than 27 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder and related charges, according to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
Guenther photo Marshall County
Jeffery Scott Guenther, 48, Washington, Kansas, pleaded guilty in February to one count of attempted first degree murder, two counts of attempted second degree murder, one count of aggravated robbery, one count of aggravated arson, one count of aggravated escape from custody, one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated escape from custody, two counts of criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling, one count of criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied building, one count of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, one count of criminal damage to property and one count of criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
District Judge James A. Patton sentenced Guenther to a total of 327 months in the Kansas Department of Corrections.
The crimes occurred in October 2017 in connection with an escape from the Marshall County jail when Guenther and Matson Zane Hatfield, 31, Marysville, lit a fire in a cell, causing smoke to fill the jail, according to the KBI. The two inmates then forced their way through the jail, obtained two shotguns and exited the jail into the Sheriff’s Office parking lot.
Matson Hatfield -photo Marshall County
While the two inmates were fleeing, a civilian county employee’s tan 2004 Dodge Ram pickup truck was stolen at gunpoint, and shots were fired at a Marysville Fire Department truck. A responding Marysville Police Officer fired at Guenther in the fleeing truck. Meanwhile, Hatfield reportedly fled on foot to a residence nearby the Jail, and fired shots toward a male subject standing in front of the residence. Hatfield was acquainted with the residents of the home. A short time later, Hatfield surrendered to an officer from the Marysville Police Department.
Guenther fled the area in the stolen pickup truck and headed north on Highway 77, across the state line into Nebraska. He was pursued by Marysville Police until he rolled the truck and was apprehended in rural Gage County, Neb., not far from the Kansas/Nebraska state border.
Hatfield was sentenced to more than 47 years in prison on related charges in November of 2018.
By GLENN BRINKOW Pottawatomie County farmer and rancher
It was just a pen, a simple ballpoint pen, but it brought me to my knees. We were working cattle, and someone asked me if I had a pen to write down the numbers and keep notes. I rummaged through my console and at the bottom I found a single, dusty, forgotten pen. The pen is nothing spectacular. It simply had the word “Glenn” on it with a phone number.
Earlier in the week I had gotten an e-mail that my friend Jill Casten had passed away from cancer. You don’t expect someone like Jill to be gone Even though you know it is coming, it is still a shock. She was one of the brightest stars in the Kansas Farm Bureau sky. Things had been busy, and I guess the totality hadn’t hit me until I found the pen.
Jill gave me that pen. One day in the hallway she found me and presented me with it. She explained that when she stayed at a hotel with the name of a friend, she always kept something from it to give to that friend. I remember joking with her and asked how often that happened. I asked if she had many friends by the name of Hilton or Marriot.
I also remember coming away feeling like I mattered to Jill. For her to think of me meant the world. I am sure she was busy on that trip and had many more important things to be thinking of than me. That is how most of us would have thought, but not Jill. No, Jill was always thinking of others and cultivating relationships. She had this special talent, and everyone in her life felt like they mattered.
Even then, covered in the grime of working cattle, in the middle of my dusty truck, I smiled touched again by the simple effort she made to let me know I mattered. That was why she was so effective as a leader and as a trainer.She modeled all the traits of a great leader.
I am saddened that I will never again see my friend or learn what it is to be a leader and an advocate from her. For that, I owe her a great deal. However, I am uplifted at the thought of who Jill Casten was and what I learned from her. Jill taught me to value relationships, to live in the moment, savor friends and family and to make the world around me a more welcoming place.
All of us who knew Jill experienced a great loss, and it will take time to heal that wound. We must take solace in knowing that we can live by the example she gave us. The legacy of Jill Casten will live on through the vast network of friends she collected. Godspeed my friend, until we meet again.
“Insight” is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.
RENO COUNTY — Authorities are working to determine the cause of a fire at a home in Hutchinson.
Photo courtesy Hutchinson Fire Department
Just after 3a.m. Wednesday, fire crews responded to 541 E. Avenue A in Hutchinson for a reported structure fire. Upon arrival crews found a single story home with fire showing from the roof of the home, according to Fire Chief Steve Beer.
First in crews made an aggressive interior attack and a primary search of the residence. 3 occupants, including one adult and two children, narrowly escaped the structure thanks in part to a passerby on a bicycle who noticed the smoke in the area and notified the occupants of the fire.
HFD was able to rescue 4 dogs and 2 cats from the fire. Fire was contained to the area of origin but extensive smoke and heat damage was sustained thorough out the residence. Crews remained on on scene monitoring hot spots while the investigation is being conducted.
Red Cross was notified for assistance for the occupants. This residence did not have smoke detectors to alert the occupants of the fire. No injuries were reported.
TOPEKA – The last time the state of Kansas established a comprehensive plan for economic development was in 1986, with the Redwood-Krider report. Kansas Governor Laura Kelly and Secretary of Commerce David Toland believe it’s time for a new plan.
“Economic development in Kansas needs to be modernized, and that means we need a new thoughtful, strategic plan to guide us forward,” Kelly said. “The economic challenges facing Kansas require innovative solutions and a well-coordinated approach. It is vital that we determine the best comprehensive strategy to encourage growth in the years ahead.”
The Kansas Department of Commerce, in partnership with key economic development organizations, is seeking professional consulting services to research and analyze Kansas economic development and deliver a comprehensive economic development blueprint, one with innovative strategies for business retention and business recruitment.
“The Redwood-Krider report was a great blueprint,” Toland said. “It set the stage for economic development in Kansas, including the formation of the Department of Commerce. But the world has changed quite a bit in the last 33 years. It’s time for Kansas economic development to join the 21st Century.”
The governor and secretary believe Kansas needs an aggressive new plan to restore the State’s place as a leader in economic growth. With significant, rapid changes in today’s global economy, the state must identify and pursue new and nimble best practices.
“Kansas cannot settle for business as usual,” Toland said. “We want to be ‘best in class’ in state-led economic development. Bold, innovative strategies would breathe new life into economic development efforts that help create a better place to live and work now and for future generations.”
The selection of a consultant will consist of a two-part process. In the initial round, Commerce has requested the qualifications of a firm, or team of firms, that speak to their depth of experience, along with a framework of methods they would use to accomplish their proposed plan.
The Selection Committee then will narrow the list to no more than five firms. Those firms will be asked to submit a full-scale proposal, including a cost breakdown, process, timelines and deliverables.
The goal is to exceed the slow-to-moderate growth of past decades and achieve progress in communities large and small, urban, suburban and rural. As cited in the Request for Proposal (RFP): “More populous urban and suburban areas remain a high priority. They are home to major economic engines in the State and continued growth in those areas translates to continued growth in the Kansas economy. Less populous rural areas demand a much more significant amount of attention. Young Kansans from rural areas need compelling reasons to stay or return home. Designing regional and affordable solutions for infrastructure enhancements (including broadband) will be critical to rural stabilization.”
“It may be time to explore a different approach to economic development that addresses strategies and tools unique to rural areas and another set of strategies and tools for urban and suburban areas to ensure the sustainability of both,” Toland said.
According to the RFP: “Kansas is a place of diversity in population and thought, which has created a foundation for long-term prosperity. The best economic development strategy would reflect and build on workforce diversity woven into the colorful fabric of the State and its history.”
“Following years of lackluster economic growth, Kansas needs new ideas and new energy,” Kelly said. “I look forward to working with experts, as well as economic development stakeholders across the state, to build a deliberate and comprehensive strategy for growth.”
The state of Kansas will use the official Request for Proposal process through the Department of Administration for this project. The process is set to begin on May 31.
