By SAMANTHA GILSTRAP
KU Statehouse Wire Service

TOPEKA – The Senate last week passed Bill 77, which requires the Department of Children and Family Services to offer counseling services to children who exhibit problem sexual behavior.

This means any child under the age of 18 who has allegedly committed sexual abuse against another child, who is also under the age of 18, would be offered counseling. The bill was created to help children and their families as sexual abuse by children coincides often with the child experiencing their own form of sexual abuse within the household.

The services provided will be voluntary unless the situation is deemed to be dangerous. Proposers of the bill reason that these services are vital to reducing the risk of future sexual abuse by children. The bill will not affect investigations, but rather give help to underage offenders so that they can grow to become responsible caring adults.

After the bill was introduced in the Senate in February, it was referred to the Committee on Judiciary where the bill was amended. The bill now addresses that a child receiving the services could have multiple alleged accounts of abuse and counseling isn’t just limited to first-time offenders. Under the bill, the Judiciary Committee deemed the state must provide a referral to a child-advocacy center. This will place the responsibility of therapy on the family but still provide them resources to seek help.

The Committee on the Whole passed the amendment 38-0 and sent it along to the House. In the House the bill was referred to the Committee on Federal and State Affairs where it was passed back. Sen. Molly Baumgardner (R-Louisburg) requested the bill to be reviewed in the Senate chambers March 26 where it was heard and then moved forward.

Samantha Gilstrap is a University of Kansas senior from Charlotte, North Carolina, majoring in journalism.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the three college students who were detained after unfurling banners at the Kansas Statehouse in support of Medicaid expansion.

“Blood on their hands” banners drop in the Statehouse naming Kansas Senate President Wagle and Majority Leader Denning who are blocking over 100,000 Kansans from healthcare access #ExpandMedicaid pic.twitter.com/FpAnamSzTt

— Davis Hammet (@Davis_Hammet) March 27, 2019

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas said Thursday the Kansas restrictions suppress political expression. It seeks a court order prohibiting Kansas from enforcing what ACLU contends are flawed policies.

The litigation stems from an incident last month involving Kansas State University students who hung large banners saying Republican legislators who oppose expanding Medicaid have “blood on their hands.”

The students were initially barred from the Statehouse for a year, but have since been reinstated.

House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, a conservative Republican singled out in one of the banners, says the rule is in place to prevent damage to the Statehouse.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials are investigating whether electronic cigarettes may trigger seizures in some people who use the nicotine-vaping devices.

The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it has reviewed 35 reports of seizures among e-cigarettes users, mainly in young people. Regulators stressed it’s not yet clear whether vaping is responsible. But they said they’re concerned and encouraged the public to report information about the issue.

These cases warrant “investigation into whether there is in fact a connection,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement. Gottlieb is stepping down on Friday after nearly two years heading the agency.

Cases go back to 2010 and were reported to the FDA or poison control centers around the country. Regulators said they detected an uptick in reports beginning mid-2018. While they represent a tiny fraction of Americans who have used e-cigarettes, many safety issues with foods, supplements and other consumer products can go unrecognized because reporting is voluntary.

Most e-cigarettes heat a flavored nicotine solution into an inhalable vapor. The battery-powered devices have grown into a multibillion dollar industry though there are few standards, including how much nicotine they deliver. Additionally, many refillable e-cigarettes can be used with nicotine formulas of varying strength.

Nicotine poisoning can cause seizures, convulsions, vomiting and brain injury. The FDA has previously warned of potentially fatal nicotine poisoning in infants and children who accidentally swallowed nicotine solutions.

Seizures usually last a few seconds or minutes and rarely cause permanent injury. But they can be a sign of underlying neurological disorders that need medical attention.

Laboratory and animal studies have found a link between nicotine and hyperactivity in the brain. What needs further study is what type of e-cigarette could deliver levels of nicotine capable of causing seizures, said Maciej Goniewicz, a toxicologist at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York.

The FDA said the handful of seizure reports often lack information about the brand of e-cigarette or whether users had a medical condition that might have contributed. In some cases, e-cigarettes were being used with drugs like marijuana and amphetamines. Some seizures were reported after just a few puffs of the device, others after a day of use.

The FDA is asking consumers to report problems to an online site. The agency is seeking details about vaping brands and models and whether users who have experienced problems were also taking medications, supplements or other drugs.

A spokesman for the American Vaping Association called the FDA announcement “incredibly irresponsible,” given the uncertain connection between e-cigarettes and the handful of reports cited.

“It would actually be highly unusual if zero consumers of a product used by millions of adults over the last decade reported suffering a seizure,” spokesman Gregory Conley said in a statement.

It’s not the first time the FDA has flagged a potential health hazard with vaping devices — the agency has warned of rare burns and explosions related to overheating of batteries that power the devices.

The latest concern comes amid a nationwide push to fight underage use of e-cigarettes, which have surged in popularity among high school and middle school students. Last month the FDA outlined new restrictions on retail and online sales of most flavored e-cigarettes. Meanwhile, local and state officials are considering age restrictions, taxes and flavor bans to keep the products away from teenagers.

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By JOHN HANNA

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators in Kansas are moving closer to passing Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s plan to boost spending on public schools after some GOP lawmakers dropped their push for an alternative Wednesday night with a court deadline looming.

It’s time to do the right thing and fund our schools. Call your legislators and tell them you support our plan and the Senate position on school funding. 1 (800) 432-3924. #ksleg pic.twitter.com/JmZZFHpcJK

— Laura Kelly (@LauraKellyKS) April 4, 2019

Kelly’s proposal to increase education funding by roughly $90 million a year is designed to satisfy a Kansas Supreme Court ruling last year that lawmakers aren’t spending enough on schools. The court gave the state’s attorneys until April 15 to file a written report on lawmakers’ response.

House and Senate negotiators agreed Wednesday night on the final version of a bill containing Kelly’s funding proposal and a few education policy changes, including a requirement for an online, one-page state performance report on each public school. The House plans to consider the bill first on Thursday, and if both chambers approve it, the measure goes to Kelly.

The GOP-controlled Senate approved Kelly’s plan last month with strong bipartisan support. Top Republicans in the GOP-controlled House wanted to tie the new money to education policy changes and earmark much of it to programs for at-risk students but couldn’t find enough support in their chamber.

The House has yet to pass a funding proposal but narrowly approved a policy bill last week. That action was enough for the House and Senate to begin talks Monday on both money and policy.

Senate negotiators would not back off supporting Kelly’s funding proposal because the full House had not voted on one. The talks grew contentious over three days, but House Republicans eventually caved in.

Their lead negotiator, Rep. Kristey Williams, a Wichita-area Republican, said senators were working “hand in hand” with the governor’s office, adding, “What else could we do?”

Senators dismissed the criticism, saying they were sticking with the funding approach most likely to satisfy the Supreme Court.

“It was a difficult task for the House, since they had never passed anything,” said lead Senate negotiator Molly Baumgardner, an eastern Kansas Republican.

Four school districts sued Kansas over education funding in 2010. The Supreme Court has issued six rulings since February 2014 requiring lawmakers to increase it, so that it’s now more than $4 billion a year.

A 2018 law promised to phase in a $548 million increase by the 2022-23 school year, but the Supreme Court said it wasn’t sufficient because lawmakers didn’t account for inflation.

LYON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects for an incident that led to the temporary lockdown of schools and a Hobby Lobby in Emporia.

On Wednesday morning, the two later identified as 18-year-old Jennifer Guerrero and 24-year-old Jose Martinez, both of Guymon, Oklahoma, checked out of the Candlewood Suites, 2602 Candlewood Drive in Emporia and returned later to look for an item they thought they left in their room, according to a media release from Emporia Police.

While back at the hotel Martinez saw two female hotel employees leaving work and followed them as they drove away.

The women told police Martinez followed closely in the couple’s Chevy Silverado, acted aggressively and brandished a gun at them.

They made it just over a block before the women crashed into a retaining wall in the Hobby Lobby parking lot, according to the release.
The women were not injured and ran into the store for help, yelling the man had a gun. That prompted the report of an active shooter.

While law enforcement authorities investigated, the store and several schools in the area including Emporia High School, Emporia Middle School and Timmerman Elementary School were placed on lockdown.

No shots were fired, according to police and Martinez drove away. The Kansas Highway Patrol stopped the truck in Greenwood County and arrested the couple, according to the release.

Martinez and Guerrero remain in custody in the Lyon County jail on requested charges that include possession of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana, possession of depressants with intent to sell and felony possession of drug paraphernalia. Martinez was also booked on suspicion of charges including felon in possession of a firearm, aggravated assault, and aggravated criminal threat.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Top Republican lawmakers in Kansas struggled Wednesday to find enough GOP votes to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a tax relief bill despite a strong push to save the measure from the state Republican Party.

The measure Kelly vetoed last week was designed to prevent individuals and businesses from paying more in state income taxes because of changes in federal tax laws at the end of 2017. Republican leaders made it their top priority this year and argue that failing to return the revenue “windfall” represents an unlegislated tax increase.

Kelly framed the bill as a return to a tax-cutting experiment under former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback that made Kansas nationally notorious because of the persistent budget woes that followed.

Republicans hold the two-thirds majorities in both chambers necessary to override a veto, but their leaders worry that too many GOP lawmakers will bolt, side with Democrats and vote against overriding the veto. Lawmakers who want to overturn Kelly’s veto must act this week, before the Legislature starts its annual spring break.

The Kansas Republican Party launched a text-based petition this week to show support for an override and a Facebook ad criticizing Kelly, saying that in three months in office, she’s already broken a campaign pledge not to raise taxes. GOP State Chairman Mike Kuckelman and Secretary Emily Wellman issued statements Wednesday calling for a veto override.

“As a taxpayer, I might not even understand that Kansas took additional taxes from me that was intended to go in my pocket,” Kuckelman said during a telephone interview. “I don’t think as a party, the Republican Party, we should stand by and allow that to happen.”

However, it wasn’t clear that the campaign would sway GOP holdouts. State Sen. John Skubal, a moderate Republican, said he was elected in his Kansas City-area district in 2016 to help “fix’ state government.

“To do that, we have to have some money,” he said.

Republican lawmakers slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback’s urging, but voters later turned on Brownback’s policies because of the state’s budget problems. Bipartisan legislative majorities repealed most of the tax cuts in 2017, and Kelly ran against Brownback’s political legacy last year.

“My district supports the veto,” said Rep. Jan Kessinger, another moderate Kansas City-area Republican, calling this year’s tax bill “something Kansas can’t afford right now.”

Kelly’s administration estimated that the bill would have cost the state $209 million during the budget year beginning in July, undercutting her plans to boost spending on public schools and expand Medicaid health coverage for the needy. Much of the taxpayer savings would have gone to corporations, particularly those with operations outside the U.S.

The governor’s veto message said Kansas is recovering after being “on the brink of financial disaster” and this year’s tax bill “would absolutely dismantle all the progress we’ve made.”

Republicans who support the bill said it’s unfair to paint it as a return to Brownback’s policies.

Like other states, Kansas faced the issue of revising its income tax code because it is tied to the federal tax code. Changes in federal tax laws championed by President Donald Trump lowered rates but also included provisions that raised money for Kansas, in part by discouraging individual filers from claiming itemized deductions.

“It has zero to do with anything Gov. Brownback did when he was governor,” Kuckelman said.

The bill vetoed by Kelly would have provided relief to taxpayers who have itemized on their state returns. It would have allowed them to keep itemizing even if they don’t on their federal returns, something previously prohibited.

“The message is — it’s universal — that Kansans do not want their taxes raised,” said House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., a Kansas City-area Republican.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas felon found asleep in a vehicle.

Just after 3a.m. Wednesday, police responded to the area of 27th and Colorado in Topeka for a vehicle that had been sitting in the roadway running for over an hour, according to Lt. Kelvin Johnson.

Police made contact with the driver of the car who was passed out with a handgun visible to the officers. The subject identified as Akeem Miller, 28, was taken into custody without incident for felon in possession of a firearm, DUI, possession of stolen property, and open container.

This is the 36th case in 2019 with a charge involving a felon in possession of a firearm reported by the Topeka Police Department.

BROWN COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 1p.m. Wednesday in Brown County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Ford passenger car driven by Marlene A. Watts. 78, Hiawatha, was northbound on U.S. 73.

The driver attempted to make a left turn and head west on 230th Street. She failed to yield the right-of-way.

A southbound 2006 Peterbilt semi driven by Brent D. Wikle, 39, Morrill, struck the Ford in the passenger side doors.

Both vehicles traveled off the roadway to the southwest of the intersection and down into the grass ditch.

Watts was pronounced dead at the scene. She was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP. Wikle was not injured.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects caught driving a stolen vehicle.

Just after 3 a.m. Tuesday, police responded to a suspicious character call at the Trail Motel, 827 S. Broadway in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.

An officer observed a maroon Chevrolet Impala leave the parking lot and remembered tag number being broadcast as a stolen vehicle earlier in the day.

The officer attempted to stop the vehicle in the area of Indianapolis and Topeka when the driver later identified as 37-year-old Delaura Hopkins refused to stop, accelerated and fled from police.

A short vehicle pursuit ensued and the vehicle stopped after striking a curb at 21st and Erie. Hopknis was taken into custody without further incident. A passenger  Theodore Mitchell, 49, Wichita,  fled from the vehicle on foot and was taken into custody after a short foot pursuit.

Hopkins is being held on requested charges of auto theft, drive on suspended license, unlawful possession of methamphetamine, unlawful possession of cocaine, unlawful possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, flee and elude police, hit and run, transport open container, multiple traffic charges and an outstanding warrant. Mitchell is being held on requested charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and obstruct.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a 16-year-old girl has been charged with murder in the killing of another teenage boy in a suburban Kansas City community.

On Wednesday, the Olathe girl was charged in Johnson County Juvenile court with first-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Rowan Padgett of Overland Park. The girl was also charged with felony obstruction of justice for allegedly giving false information to investigators.

The charges allege Friday’s killing in a suburban cul-de-sac occurred during a drug deal involving the anxiety drug Xanax.

Prosecutors requested she be tried as an adult.

Padgett, an Olathe East High School senior, was just weeks from celebrating his 18th birthday when he died. The suspect is a runaway who at one time also attended the same school.

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LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — One of three Kansas men charged in a triple homicide in downtown Lawrence has pleaded guilty to attempted voluntary manslaughter.

23-year-old Ahmad Rayton was scheduled to go to trial Monday but accepted the plea deal Wednesday. He had previously been charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 8.

The shootings in October 2017 involved two groups of Topeka men who had previous confrontations. They fired about 20 shots, killing three and injuring two others.

Twenty-year-old Dominique McMillon pleaded guilty in March to misdemeanor battery and was released from jail.

A third suspect, 22-year-old Anthony Roberts Jr. is scheduled for trial in June on three counts of murder.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Just weeks after winning a key regulatory approval, one the nation’s largest wind energy projects is facing a new obstacle from Missouri legislation that could prevent the proposed high-voltage power line from being strung across the property of uncooperative landowners.

A Missouri House panel advanced legislation Wednesday that would prohibit the use of eminent domain to acquire easements for the Grain Belt Express project. The proposed 750-mile

transmission line would carry wind power from Kansas across Missouri and Illinois into Indiana, where it would connect to a power grid that serves eastern states.

The $2.3 billion project has been repeatedly delayed by regulatory hurdles and court battles but won a significant victory in March, when Missouri’s utility regulatory commission reversed its previous denials and approved the project. Missouri’s “certificate of convenience and necessity” deems it a public utility, which allows it to pursue condemnation cases in local courts against landowners who refuse to sell easements.

The legislation is intended to block that — either forcing the power line to zig zag around unwilling sellers or zapping it altogether.

Clean Line Energy Partners, based in Houston, has been pursuing the project since 2010. In November, Chicago-based Invenergy announced it was buying the project — a deal that would strengthen the project’s finances but still needs regulatory approval.

Unlike traditional power line projects, the Grain Belt Express is not part of an existing energy distribution system and would not carry power directly to residential customers. It instead would sell power to other utilities. A coalition of Missouri municipal utilities has agreed to purchase some of the energy, but the vast majority would go to eastern states.

That’s sparked opposition from some Missouri landowners and politicians.

“We’re asking our Missouri farmers and rural areas to give up their land and their rights so that people further east can save on their energy bills? I don’t think that’s good for Missourians,” said Republican Rep. Dean Plocher, the chairman of the committee that advanced the eminent domain legislation.

Invenergy spokeswoman Beth Conley said the legislation would delay or prevent residents in dozens of Missouri communities that agreed to purchase the wind power from saving millions of dollars annually through cheaper rates.

While approving the project last month, the Missouri Public Service Commission concluded that “the broad economic, environmental, and other benefits of the project … outweigh the interests of the individual landowners.”

At a legislative hearing this week, Marilyn O’Bannon vowed that she and her relatives never would agree to provide easements for the transmission line to pass through about 5 miles of her family’s farmland near Madison. She expressed concerns that their farms would be harmed by the construction without benefiting from any of the electricity passing overhead. Her family’s farms get their power from a rural electricity cooperative.

“They think we’re just out here complaining because it’s our land, but every acre really counts, especially when the commodity prices are where they are today,” O’Bannon told The Associated Press.

Other property owners appear more willing to sell easement rights without going through condemnation proceedings.

“I really believe in renewable energy,” said Donna Inglis, whose Huntsville property lies in the path of the power line. She added: “I think a lot of the people on the line are being very selfish, because they’re worried about me. They’re not worried about the better good.”