LABETTE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug charges.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Labette County Sheriff’s Office, and the Chetopa Police Department arrested a Kansas man Monday evening for growing marijuana in a Chetopa city park, according to a media release.
At approximately 3:30 p.m. on Monday KBI agents, Labette County Sheriff’s deputies, and officers from the Chetopa Police Department arrested Joseph “Scott” Skibo, 54, of Chetopa, for cultivation of marijuana and criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Skibo was allegedly cultivating marijuana on an island in Elmore Park. The park is located within the city limits of Chetopa, Kan. Skibo attempted to flee law enforcement in a boat, but was arrested without further incident.
FORD COUNTY — A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 8:30p.m. Monday in Ford County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a Ford County Emergency Vehicle Dodge Ram 1500 driven by Robert Boyd, 52, Dodge City, was southbound on 113th Road at Comanche Road with lights and sirens on the way to a call.
The emergency vehicle was behind a 2006 GMC Yukon driven by Sarah M. Malloy, 38, Dodge City.
The emergency vehicle attempted to pass as the Yukon turned left in front of the Dodge sideswiping the vehicle.
Boyd was transported to Western Plains Medical Center. Malloy and a passenger in the GMC were not injured. All were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
TOPEKA – “We are excited to report that we had the lowest ever recorded infant mortality rate in the history of the state in 2015 and we have maintained that rate again in 2016,” said KDHE Secretary Mosier, MD, MBA, FACS. The state recorded 223 resident infant deaths in 2016 the lowest number ever recorded. The infant mortality rate for the state was 5.9 infants per 1,000 live births. This was unchanged from the 2015 infant mortality rate. A decline in the number of births to Kansas resident women was responsible for the unchanged rate. Kansas recorded 38,048 resident births, a 2.8 percent decrease from the 39,126 births in 2015.
The long term trends for White non-Hispanic and Black non-Hispanic infant mortality rates show a decline. The Black non-Hispanic infant mortality rate in 2016 was 15.2 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, almost three times higher (2.9) than the White non-Hispanic infant mortality rate of 5.2. The infant mortality rate for Hispanic origin was 5.1 per 1,000 live births.
KDHE continues to collaborate with community providers and organizations on several key initiatives to continue the progress made in decreasing cases of infant death and disparities in infant mortality. Initiatives include the Infant Mortality Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network (IM CoIIN) and reducing the state’s early elective delivery rate.
HASKELL COUNTY —Officials are waiting for autopsy results after the death of a Kansas man in a grain elevator accident.
Just after 3:30p.m. Thursday, the Haskell County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call that an employee was trapped in a grain elevator at the Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) facility, 1892 U.S. Highway 83 in Haskell County, according to a media release.
First responders determined that 2 ADM employees were in a grain silo trying to remove another employee who was entrapped in grain within the silo. Efforts to remove the 25-year-old Javier Trejo, 25, Liberal, were unsuccessful.
Just after 6:00p.m. officials pronounced Trejo dead at the scene. An autopsy is going to be performed.
The Gray County Fire Department and Grant County Fire Departments assisted at the scene according to the sheriff’s department.
TOPEKA — Registration is open for the 2017 Kansas Energy Conference, which will be held Sept. 26 and 27 in Wichita. The 2017 conference is co-sponsored by the Kansas Department of Commerce and the Clean Energy Business Council.
The Kansas Energy Conference will highlight the latest developments in the state’s renewable energy sector, focusing on how technology will accelerate the move to a clean energy economy and the role that Kansas can play to lead this transition. The day-and-half conference will feature three general sessions and several breakout sessions focusing on public sustainability programs, wind, solar, green efficiency programs, renewable energy storage, and oil and gas.
Speakers for this year’s conference include Greg Greenwood, Senior Vice President of Strategy for Westar Energy, Jeff Glendening, State Director for Americans for Prosperity (Kansas Chapter), and JR Tolbert, Vice President of State Policy for Advanced Energy Economy.
A new optional offering this year is a Pre-Conference Wind Farm Tour, enabling conference attendees to experience wind energy production up-close. For a nominal fee, attendees will participate in an engaging tour of the Kingman Wind Energy Center.
Another bonus with this year’s conference is a post-conference Distributed Generation Workshop, ideal for those who are unable to attend the full conference. This workshop will kick-off the Clean Energy Business Council’s “Around the State” initiative, which will include a total of four community workshops aimed at increasing exposure about market opportunities in renewable energy within Kansas. The workshop is free to conference attendees and available to others for a nominal cost.
The conference will be held September 26, 8:30 a.m. – 4:45 p.m., and September 27, 8:00 a.m. – noon at the DoubleTree by Hilton Wichita Airport, 2098 S. Airport Road in Wichita. Exhibits will be open from 9:45 a.m. – 6 p.m. on September 26 and 8:00 a.m. – noon on September 27. A reception is planned from 4:45 p.m. – 6 p.m. on September 26. The Pre-Conference Wind Farm Tour will be held on Monday, September 25, from Noon – 4:00 p.m, while the Post-Conference Distributed Generation Workshop will be held Wednesday, September 27, from noon – 5:00 p.m.
SPONSORS: Next Era Energy, Polsinelli, Tradewind Energy, Apex Clean Energy, Cromwell Solar, Distributed Energy Association, EDF Renewable Energy, EDP Renewables NA, Foley Power Solutions, Grain Line Express Clean line, ITC Great Plains, Kansas Soybean Commission, Midwest Energy, MC Power, NEC Energy Solutions, Olsson Associates, Stanion Wholesale Electric Company, Stantec Consulting Services, Westar, Wilson & Company.
REGISTRATION INFO: The deadline for conference registrations is September 20. A complete itinerary and online registration is available through the Kansas Energy Conference web page at KansasCommerce.gov/EnergyConference.
State Representative 19th District- Stephanie Clayton
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A lieutenant colonel in the Kansas’ Civil Air Patrol who resigned his command after posting on Facebook that a state lawmaker should “swing from a tree” has chosen not to resume participation in the volunteer organization after being cleared to do so.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Col. Linette Lahan, commander of the Kansas Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, says Jonathan Holder is “not active.”
The Civil Air Patrol conducts emergency searches. Holder had led a squadron at the based at the Kansas National Guard Armory in Emporia.
The dispute stems from a Facebook post saying that Republican Rep. Stephanie Clayton of Overland Park ought to die for introducing what he considers an unconstitutional bill to block carrying of concealed handguns on college campuses.
Low-income Kansans are less likely to have health insurance than their counterparts in other states, according to an analysis of new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The uninsured rate among Kansans living below the federal poverty level has been worse than the national rate for many years. But the gap has widened in recent years, mainly because of the state’s rejection of Medicaid expansion, said Robert St. Peter, president and CEO of the nonpartisan Kansas Health Institute.
In Kansas, younger or low-income adults are less likely to have health insurance than their counterparts in other states, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. COURTESY KANSAS HEALTH INSTITUTE
“Since 2014 when many states expanded Medicaid, which of course is targeted to low-income families, the gap between Kansas and the rest of the country has actually increased,” St. Peter said.
In 2014 — the first year of the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansion — the national uninsured rate for families living below the poverty line was 21.3 percent, compared to 24.6 percent in Kansas. In 2016, the national rate dropped to 16 percent. The Kansas rate also declined, but only to 22 percent.
The 2016 poverty threshold was annual income of $11,880 for individuals and $24,300 for a family of four.
Efforts to expand Medicaid coverage to low-income families earning up to about a third more than the poverty level — $16,040 for an individual and $32,718 for a family of four — gained traction in the 2017 session of the Kansas Legislature. Lawmakers passed an expansion plan but failed by a few votes to override Gov. Sam Brownback’s veto of the bill.
The recent failure by Republicans in the U.S. Congress to repeal the ACA has expansion supporters in Kansas gearing up for another attempt when the 2018 legislative session convenes in January.
The latest U.S. Census numbers show Kansans losing ground in other areas as well.
Prior to implementation of the ACA, young adults in Kansas were more likely to have health coverage than 19- to 25-year-olds across the country.
“Now, young adults in Kansas are slightly more likely to be uninsured than young adults in the rest of the country,” St. Peter said.
In 2009, the national uninsured rate for young adults stood at 31.7 percent, compared to 26.8 percent in Kansas. But Kansas lost its advantage in 2016 when the decline in its rate to 15.7 percent was exceed by a drop in the national rate to 14.1 percent.
“This isn’t unique to Kansas,” St. Peter said. “I think all of the states that haven’t expanded Medicaid are seeing similar trends.”
Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia have expanded eligibility for their Medicaid programs. Kansas is among 19 states that haven’t.
Although rejection of Medicaid expansion is the main reason uninsured rates in Kansas and other non-expansion states are declining more slowly, there are other factors, St. Peter said, explaining that some states led by governors opposed to the ACA didn’t do as much as others to help people eligible for subsidies purchase insurance in the Obamacare marketplace.
Jim McLean is managing director of the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks.
Editor’s note: The Kansas Health Foundation, one of several regional health foundations that provide funding to the Kansas News Service, is also the primary funder of the Kansas Health Institute.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A patient of a psychiatrist stabbed to death in the alley behind his holistic practice in Kansas has been charged with first-degree murder.
Twenty-one-year-old Umar Dutt made his first court appearance Monday in the Sept. 13 death of Achutha Reddy at the Holistic Psychiatry Services clinic in Wichita. He is being held on a $1 million bond.
His attorney Kurt Kerns says the case is complex and sad.
An attorney for Dutt’s family released a statement offering their condolences to the doctor’s family for their loss. Raj and Azra Dutt say their family has also suffered and will continue to suffer “the terrible toll and consequences of mental illness.”
First responders on the scene of Sunday’s incident in Wichita-photo courtesy KWCH
SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a drowning.
Just after 3pm. Sunday, first responders were dispatched to a drowning at an apartment in the 2400 Block of South Woodlawn, according to officer Charlie Davidson.
An investigation revealed a 24-year-old man was giving a bath to a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old in a tub in a second-floor bathroom. The children were left alone in the tub while the man stepped into an adjacent shower. One of the children was able to turn the water back on and the tub overflowed.
The one-year-old was found face down in the water and transported to an area hospital in critical condition, according to Davidson.
There was also a 22-year-old woman, a 20-year-old man and two other small children in the home at the time of the incident.
TOPEKA — The Kansas Supreme Court announced today it has selected a vendor to provide a centralized case management system that will allow all district and appellate case data to reside on a single web-based platform and transform the way the state court system serves the people of Kansas.
The court selected the Odyssey Case Manager™ developed by Tyler Technologies of Plano, Texas, paving the way for the project to move into contract negotiations.
“Of the options offered, the Odyssey system most closely meets the needs of our district and appellate courts, the legal community, and the public,” said Chief Justice Lawton Nuss. “It will require some customization, as we would expect with any off-the-shelf product, but it’s an evergreen solution that won’t require us to make costly upgrades every few years.”
Odyssey was recommended by the eCourt Steering Committee, which was formed in 2015 to identify key requirements for a centralized case management system and to review proposals made by vendors through a competitive bid process. Justice Dan Biles serves as chair of the committee and its members include representatives of the appellate and district courts, including justices, judges, court administrators, clerks, and information technology staff. eCourt subcommittees with wider ranging representation of court personnel and members of the legal community focused on specific areas such as infrastructure, requirements, and rules, and their findings were reported to the steering committee.
“Odyssey will integrate well with our existing electronic document filing system to create a central case processing environment amounting to a statewide web-based courthouse,” Biles said. “We anticipate this will improve overall court efficiency and ensure that judges have complete, real-time information with which to make the most effective dispositions.”
Tyler Technologies said it will offer at a discount its prosecutor module within the Odyssey suite to any district or county attorney offices that want to use it. This will encourage greater statewide usage of the technology for a significant portion of the court’s caseload.
The installation of the centralized case management system is a key component in the Kansas Supreme Court’s eCourt plan. It will complete the conversion from local, paper-driven processes to a statewide electronic one. It will provide attorneys, judges, and court personnel using an internet connection immediate access to authorized case information, details, and records from across the state.
The primary goals of the centralized case management system implementation are to:
Improve case processing in the district and appellate courts.
Increase the efficiency of information delivery to district and appellate court judges.
Increase operational efficiency and effectiveness through automating certain activities and streamlining other operations.
Improve data quality and integrity.
Improve performance measurement, analysis, and reporting through enhanced information collection, storage, retrieval, and analysis.
Enable work sharing between district courts, primarily among clerks and court services officers.
Maintain and improve data sharing between various governmental and public entities.
Maintain and improve the ability to process electronic payments.
Enable web-based sharing of public information.
The conversion to the centralized case management system is expected to take three to four years. Once the system is designed and completed, it will be launched in pilot courts before a statewide rollout.
The 2014 Legislature established the Electronic Filing and Case Management Fund with deposits from docket fees dedicated to finalizing the efiling project and implementing centralized case management under the Supreme Court’s eCourt plan. By statute, each year through fiscal year 2019, the first $3.1 million received in docket fee revenue will be deposited into that fund. In fiscal year 2020 and later years, the first $1 million in docket fee revenue is directed into the fund for things such as maintaining eCourt components.
POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities have identified the teen who died in a weekend 3-vehicle accident.
Just before 5p.m. Saturday, a Volkswagen Jetta driven by Daniel McDonald, 18, Wamego, was eastbound on Highway 24 just east of Schoeman Road, according to Sheriff Greg Riat.
The vehicle crossed the center line and was then struck by 2 west bound vehicles including 2006 Volvo V50 driven by Corey Swisher, 44, St. Mary’s and 1997 Ford Expedition driven by Joshua Asbury, 35, St. George.
McDonald was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Riat. Asbury was transported to the hospital in Manhattan. Swisher was not injured.
FINNEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a child’s near drowning.
Just after 4 p.m. Saturday, police were dispatched to the 600 block of Emerson Street in Garden City reference a 3-year- old male child that had fallen in an above ground swimming pool, according to a media release.
The investigation revealed that several children were playing in the backyard when one of the children pulled a chair over to the pool making the pool accessible by the child. Family members removed the child from the pool and began performing CPR and were able to revive him.
Finney County EMS transported the child to St. Catherin’s Hospital. Life-saving efforts continued by hospital staff until the child was stable enough to be flown to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita.
Police did not release an update on the child’s condition early Monday.
