SWEET SPRINGS, Mo. (AP) — A rural hospital has been cut off from the federal Medicare program after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found serious deficiencies threatening patient health and safety.

The federal health agency pulled I-70 Community Hospital in Sweet Springs from its Medicare program on Thursday.

The 15-bed facility about 65 miles east of Kansas City closed and voluntarily suspended its license in February after state regulators found that it was “out of regulatory compliance.”

Oklahoma-based Cohesive Healthcare Management & Consulting was appointed by a court to take over the hospital’s operations. Cohesive Healthcare plans to appeal the federal agency’s decision.

The hospital’s interim CEO, Roland Gee, said the facility is working to address deficiencies so that it can reopen.

I-70 Community Hospital is the latest facility formerly run by North Kansas City-based EmpowerHMS to face regulatory and financial issues. Oswego Community Hospital in Oswego, Kansas, which was owned by EmpowerHMS, also shutteredin February, saying it was unable to pay its bills.

Two other hospitals formerly operated by EmpowerHMS, Hillsboro Community Hospital in Hillsboro, Kansas, and Fulton Medical Center in Fulton, Missouri, were placed under new management after struggling to pay employees and meet other financial obligations.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid also cited Hillsboro Community Hospital for serious deficiencies that included a failure to follow chest-pain procedures for three patients with cardiac complaints and two patients for suicidal thoughts.

The hospital’s CEO didn’t return a request for comment.

POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities have made an arrest in the homicide of 19-year-old Jacob Bouck whose body was found Christmas Eve approximately one mile West of Wamego on the Kansas River.

Detectives with the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office have arrested 23-year-old Cody Lamia-Beck of Wamego, according to Sheriff Greg Riat.

He was taken into custody Wednesday on requested charges of 2nd degree murder and is currently being held at the Pottawatomie County Jail in Westmoreland. No bond has not been set, according to Riat.

The investigation into this homicide continues. The Sheriff’s Office urges anyone who has information about this crime to contact the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office at 785-457-3353 or ptsheriff.com

By KAREN LAPIERRE
For Great Bend Post

GREAT BEND — Things are good for Ron Mason in Great Bend with a wife, children, grandchildren, and his wife’s side of the family. Still, he was missing a piece of the puzzle in his own life for more than four decades.

He had no family medical information and no known biological siblings or cousins and was curious about both.

Mason grew up in picturesque Monroe, La. hunting and fishing on the bayou, making wonderful memories with a group of boyhood friends. He was the only child of Earl and Peggy Mason.

“It was fantastic. I had a great childhood,” Mason said. “I was an only child and spoiled rotten.”

Mason’s father died when he was four and unfortunately, he has few memories of him.

When Mason was 12 years old, his mother told him he was adopted as a baby. His parents could not have children of their own.

Peggy took him to show him Sellers Baptist Children’s Home in New Orleans, La., where he was adopted from.

In the 1980s, Mason began the search that has lasted most of his life. He and Tammy would look in telephone books or in libraries for the family name.

Internet was not available at that time, nor was there fast Internet in the 1990s.

In 2000, Mason was in Louisiana for a funeral. He contacted the children’s home only to be told the records had been moved from New Orleans to Monroe Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home.

Mason stopped by, and after some persuasion, the director gave Mason a copy of the file.

Mason learned his birth father went to the U.S. Naval Academy and was a University of Alabama graduate, and his birth mothers’ date and location of birth and name, Margaret Eloise Jordan.

“I’m going to try and find them,” Mason told the director. He and Tammy continued looking through old paper records without results.

In the last couple of years, Mason saw ancestry shows on television where people found relatives through DNA analysis. In October 2017, Mason had a DNA analysis on Ancestry.

On Dec. 27, Mason got his results by email, and found that he was Irish, English and Scandinavian.

To find relatives on Ancestry, one must join. Mason took the plunge and joined, and found three people who were related by blood. They were second cousins from both sides of his birth family.

He sent those people a message through Ancestry and waited for them to contact him. On his way to a basketball game, one called.

In February 2018, they hit the jackpot. His second cousin, Bridgette, helped Mason find Margaret Eloise Jordan’s burial place in Montgomery, Ala. They contacted the cemetery for information on who had placed the plaque.

“The connection hit,” Mason said. He was given the phone number of his youngest half-brother, Richard Smith, whom Mason called right away.

Mason said that there is no easy way to tell Smith but to clearly state that he thought he was related to him.

“He’s in shock,” Mason said, after verifying their mother’s name and DOB were indeed the same.

Smith said there were 10 children on his birth mother’s side.

“That’s when we got shocked,” Tammy said, as this was on Mason’s mother’s side only.

Slowly, several of the siblings began calling. Ron’s older half-sister, Bunny, had met William Richard Stewart, Ron’s biological father, much to everyone’s surprise.

There were even pictures of Mason’s biological parents together. The couple had dated for a few years and then split up.

“We’re putting all of these puzzle pieces together and everything starts to fit,” Tammy said.

The Masons found biological father William Stewart’s obituary and saw that there were siblings on his biological dad’s side too.

On May 1, 2018, Mason received a phone call from his half-brother, Bill, Jr. on his dad’s side. They talked for an hour-and-a-half. Bill told Mason that they had never known they had another half-brother, and was certain their father had never known about Mason.

There were two siblings on his dad’s side, Bill and a half-sister, bringing the total to 12 siblings.

The Masons decided they were going to Montgomery, Ala. to meet all of the family in June, 2018.

“Everybody looked at me because I look just like my birth father,” Mason said.

Mason has visited both of his birth parent’s grave sites and saw the house where his mother lived, and visited the Stewart home in Greensboro, Ala. On his dad’s side, Bill and Beth played a tape of his father’s voice, so Mason heard his father speaking one time.

“After 62 years, he finds out he has got this huge family,” Tammy said. “I have to say they were so accepting and so nice.”

Finally, all of the pieces of Mason’s life’s puzzle have been put together.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Republican-controlled Kansas House has approved GOP income tax relief proposals and a small cut in the state’s sales tax on groceries.

The vote Friday was 76-43 on a bill aimed at preventing individuals and businesses from paying more state income taxes because of changes in federal tax laws at the end of 2017. The measure also would drop the sales tax on groceries to 5.5 percent from 6.5 percent and includes provisions to increase tax collections from internet sales.

The Senate approved the bill last month but without the sales tax provisions. Senators expect to decide next week whether to accept the House’s changes or force negotiations.

GOP leaders contend the bill prevents a tax increase but Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly said lawmakers should stabilize the budget first.

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SEDGWICK COUNTY —  Law enforcement are investigating a fatal shooting and  have made a second arrest.

Just after 6:30 p.m. February 17, police responded to a shooting call at the City Host Hotel in the 4400 Block of South Broadway in Wichita, according to Police Captain Brent Allred.

Investigators learned that there were three individuals inside a reported stolen 2004 Cadillac Deville that pulled into the motel parking lot, according to Allred.   There was an argument inside the vehicle. A suspect identified as 31-year-old Christopher Kemmerly shot 34-year-old Justin Gaston one time with a shotgun as he exited the vehicle. The disagreement was drug related, according to Allred.

A 26-year-old male witness told police he fount Gaston injured on the ground and rendered aid until EMS arrived.  Gaston died from his injuries at the scene.

On Wednesday, police arrested 34-year-old Reyna Wallace of El Dorado on one count of 1^st degree murder. She allegedly was the third suspect in the stolen Cadillac at the time of the fatal shooting. The vehicle was later located in the area of 5500 south West Street fully engulfed in flames, according to Allred.  Wallace made a first court appearance on Thursday afternoon, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney and remains jailed on a $250,000 Bond, according to online jail records.

On February 18, police arrested Kemmerly. He was under state supervision for multiple crimes committed in Butler County, including aggravated arson, aggravated intimidation of a witness or victim, criminal use of explosives, criminal damage to property and a weapons violation, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

His sentence ended in November and he is now remains jailed on charges of first-degree murder, according to the Sedgwick County inmate roster.

This fatal shooting was not a random incident and believed to be drug related.

 

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A 43-year-old man has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison without parole for operating a $4.7 million investment fraud scheme involving cattle.

Cameron Hager, of Clinton, Mo., was sentenced Tuesday and ordered to pay $3.2 million in restitution to the victims of his crime. Hager pleaded guiltyin June to wire fraud and money laundering.

Hager operated 5A Holdings. He admitted that from July 2015 to September 2017 he solicited victims to invest in a “cattle fund” that would buy herds of cattle to be sold later at a substantial profit. He said he never intended to buy any cattle.

Hager received $4.7 million dollars from 92 investors. The total loss was $3.2 million. Prosecutors say he used the money for personal expenses like mortgage payments and vehicles.

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

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and other advocates have ramped up a campaign for her proposal to expand Medicaid in Kansas after conservative lawmakers showed they currently hold enough power to block it.

Kelly held a news conference Thursday with four business leaders and kicked off a two-hour seminar on the potential economic benefits of expanding state health coverage for the needy. About two-dozen religious leaders also were at the Statehouse, partly to lobby for expansion, and supporters plan a March 19 rally.

I’m pleased to join former Senate President Dave Kerr and other business leaders to support Medicaid Expansion. Not only will it help our families, it will have significant positive economic impact in KS. #ksleg pic.twitter.com/xXkNooZUuV

— Governor Laura Kelly (@GovLauraKelly) March 7, 2019

The new Democratic governor is trying to crack Republican leaders’ hard opposition to Medicaid expansion as she seeks her first major victory in the GOP-dominated Legislature. Advocates believe they have bipartisan majorities for her proposal but are still trying to figure out how to get around Republican leaders.

“We’re seeing that there doesn’t seem to be a path forward right now,” said Moti Rieber, a Kansas City-area rabbi and executive director the clergy group lobbying Thursday. “I don’t know that we recognized the implacable opposition that was going to develop to the governor’s agenda.”

Kansas legislators hit the halfway point of their annual session last week. They are scheduled to take an extended spring break in April and wrap up in mid-May.

While the House’s health committee had “round-table” discussions on Medicaid expansion this week, there’s no indication any committee in either chamber plans to ever vote on a bill.

“Nothing has changed in Medicaid expansion: It’s a bad deal,” said House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, a conservative Republican.

Three dozen states have expanded Medicaid or seen voters approve ballot initiatives for expansion, including Republican-led Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska and Ohio. The federal Affordable Care Act of 2010 encouraged expansion by promising states that the federal government would pick up the bulk of the extra cost.

Kelly, a former state senator, told reporters, “I’m anything but naive,” but added, “I’m confident we can get this done.”

Supporters argue Medicaid expansion is likely to be a net financial plus to the state, leveraging $1 billion or more a year in federal dollars to boost struggling rural hospitals and generate new health care jobs and tax revenues.

“The net cost to the state is modest for an enormous amount of good,” said GOP former state Senate President Dave Kerr.

Kansas resisted Medicaid expansion because former Republican Govs. Sam Brownback and Jeff Colyer and many GOP legislators were strong critics of the 2010 health care overhaul championed by former President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

Medicaid expansion supporters passed a bill in 2017 with large bipartisan majorities, only to see Brownback veto it.

Conservative Republicans argue that expanding Medicaid could saddle the state with unexpected and rising health coverage costs while greatly expanding government’s reach.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan Kansas Health Institute said this week that Kelly’s plan would provide Medicaid coverage for about 129,000 residents and nearly 55,000 of them would be adults and children switching from private insurance.

The institute projected a net cost to the state of $47 million for the first full year of expansion — 40 percent higher than the $34 million projected by Kelly’s administration.

“If they just want to cram it down people’s throats, it’s going to be a mistake and they’re going scream and holler when people have to get cut off from services because we’ve got a hole coming in our budget,” said Rep. Brenda Landwehr, a conservative Republican and chairwoman of the House health committee.

While Kelly’s proposal has the backing of the Kansas Hospital Association and local chambers of commerce, their support and advocates’ arguments don’t seem likely to sway the opponents holding key leadership jobs in the Legislature.

“Am I going to change? No,” Hawkins said.

___

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A University of Kansas engineering professor says administrators removed him from teaching a course for the rest of the semester after he told a student to “learn English.”

Gary Minden, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science, said he was told Thursday that students were upset by his comment.

Minden says he made the comment because the student was using a translator on a cellphone. He says the student didn’t seem to be offended but other students complained. The comment prompted an hour-long discussion in the class.

University spokeswoman Erinn Barcomb-Peterson said the university assigned a different instructor to the class because several students raised concerns about the comment. The instructor will remain in the class while the investigation continues.

RENO COUNTY — The state has charged two Hutchinson Correctional Facility inmates with battery of corrections officers.

Mark Anthony Baker, 33, is charged for an incident on Dec. 6, 2018. He is also charged with trafficking contraband for having what was described as a homemade weapon used for stabbing.

Baker is serving time for numerous convictions from Labette County including first-degree murder, abuse of a child, theft, obstruction, possession of drugs and paraphernalia.

Christopher Lyons is charged for an attack on Jan. 19, 2019, while the officer was performing duties at the prison.

Lyons is serving time for aggravated assault, battery and violating the offender registration act. His crimes occurred in Sedgwick County in 2013 and 2016.

Both made an appearance in Reno County District Court this week.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The operators of a sweepstakes scam that affected senior citizens and others will forfeit $30 million in cash and assets under a record settlement announced Thursday by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office and the Federal Trade Commission.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said in a statement that the settlement sends “a clear message” that those who commit fraud in Missouri won’t “go unpunished.”

Kevin Brandes, William Graham and Charles Floyd Anderson sent deceptive mailers to consumers worldwide starting in 2013, the agencies said. The trio operated out of Kansas City  along with corporations under their control.

The mailers falsely stated the recipients won large cash prizes but had to pay fees of up to $140 to get them, according to the agencies. Other mailers invited recipients to play “games of skill,” but failed to disclose the fees to play or the fact that the final round of the game involved a complex mathematical puzzle that was virtually impossible to solve.

“These defendants tricked millions of people — many of them older adults — into paying money to collect prizes that never materialized,” said Andrew Smith, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

The defendants must turn over more than $21 million in cash along with property that will be liquidated to help pay back the victims. The property includes two luxury homes, a yacht and a Bentley automobile.

Originally filed in February 2018, the attorney general’s office said many victims in this case paid several times before realizing they had been scammed.

The agencies said the settlement is a record for a sweepstakes scam for both the attorney general and FTC.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors have upgraded charges against a 35-year-old Kansas man accused of shooting at police during a standoff last year.

Abdul Jalil Hussein was charged with several crimes after a June 29 standoff at his house.

Prosecutors upgraded a charge of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer to attempted first-degree murder.

However, Hussein was found incompetent to stand trial last year and is being treated at Larned State Hospital.

In June 2018, Hussein allegedly battered an officer before going inside his home. He allegedly came back outside wearing body armor and pointed a gun at the officer. The two men exchanged fire but neither was hit.

He faces several other charges after an hours-long police standoff in December 2017 and violent incidents at his mother’s home.