KANSAS CITY – announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for producing child pornography of a 2-year-old victim, according to Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Conner Michael Webb, 28, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to 25 years in federal prison without parole.

On Nov. 14, 2016, Webb pleaded guilty to producing child pornography.

The investigation began when the subject of a federal investigation and prosecution for child pornography in the District of Kansas was arrested in November 2015. Federal agents searched his computer and cell phone and found numerous chat conversations with Webb, who used the profile name of Kinky PedoBoy. During one of those conversations, the Kansas subject (who is not identified in court documents) sent Webb several images and videos of child pornography. Webb sent a pornographic video of the 2-year-old victim, taken with his cell phone, to the Kansas subject.

On Oct. 15, 2015, Webb asked the Kansas subject to send him something to “get me in the mood” before he picked up the 2-year-old victim, identified in court documents as “Jane Doe.” The Kansas subject sent Webb several images and videos of child pornography on his cell phone. On the afternoon of the same day, Webb sent a pornographic video he had just taken of Jane Doe to the Kansas subject’s cell phone.

A federal search warrant was executed at Webb’s residence on Dec. 2, 2015. Officers seized Webb’s computers, phones and computer media. Webb, who was at home during the search, was arrested.

Webb admitted that he been communicating with the Kansas subject for approximately six years.

By JIM MCLEAN

The drama unfolding in the Kansas Statehouse pales in comparison to the intrigue surrounding recent events in the nation’s capital.

But what’s happening — and not happening — in Topeka will determine the extent to which a group of new legislators elected last fall can fulfill the promises they made to voters to stabilize the state budget and adequately fund public schools.

The Senate’s rejection Wednesday of an income tax bill that would have generated more than $1 billion in new revenue eventually could prove to be a watershed event as lawmakers struggle to finish their work and close the 2017 session.

All 16 moderate Republicans in the 40-member Senate voted for the bill, though they acknowledged it probably would not raise enough new revenue to achieve their twin objections of balancing the budget and providing enough new money for schools to satisfy the Kansas Supreme Court.

“I think it was a good compromise,” said freshman Republican Sen. Dinah Sykes, of Lenexa. “I was disappointed in the vote.”

Two Democrats also voted for the bill, which failed 18-22.

But seven Democrats voted against it, signaling their intention to hold out for a tax bill that more fully addresses the state’s budget and school finance needs.

“Until we see what we need to spend on schools, we’re in no position to pass any kind of a tax plan,” said Sen. Tom Holland, of Baldwin City, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee.

A House committee working on a school finance plan was to release its recommendations Friday.

Moderate Republicans also were prepared to hold out until they received pressure from the Senate’s more conservative Republican leaders to support the bill, Holland said.

“I think we are at a point right now where just based on the moment we maybe have some disagreements on how we get there.”
“This was a last-minute attempt to get them (the moderates) off the dime and have them settle for something less than what we need,” he said.

A question going forward is whether the vote undermined trust among moderate Republicans and Democrats who early in the session pledged to work together on budget and school finance issues as members of a newly formed “common ground caucus.”

“That is a concern,” said Sen. Tom Hawk, a Manhattan Democrat who voted for the tax bill. “But if trust has been lost, I think it can be quickly regained.”

Asked if he thought permanent damage had been done, freshman Sen. John Skubal, an Overland Park Republican, said, “I don’t think that has happened yet.”

But Rep. Russ Jennings, a moderate Republican from Lakin who ran unsuccessfully for speaker of the House, said he now considers Senate Democrats to be “unreliable partners.”

“I have a concern with that and their position at this point,” Jennings said.

Resorting to a football analogy, Jennings said the Senate passing the tax bill would have put lawmakers seeking a structural fix for the state’s budget problems in the “red zone.” The vote, he said, set them back “quite a ways.”

“I don’t know that we’re at midfield now,” he said.

Given that, he said, moderates must now decide whether to continue to work with Democrats on a bigger tax bill, which would need to pass by veto-proof majorities, or negotiate with Gov. Sam Brownback and conservatives on a combination of smaller tax increases and spending cuts.

“The Democrats could very well sit back and do nothing and require essentially that there be a Republican solution,” he said. “Clearly if there is exclusively a Republican solution it’s going to be far more to the right and overall in my mind less satisfactory in meeting needs.”

Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, an Overland Park Republican, also said resuming negotiations with Brownback likely would be the next step in the process.

“My gut tells me now that we need to start moving toward the governor’s two-tier plan,” Denning said, referring to a plan that would adjust the state’s two current income tax brackets but would not reinstate a third, as the bill the Senate rejected would have done.

The Senate bill also would have reversed many of the income tax cuts that Brownback pushed through the Legislature in 2012, including a controversial exemption given to more than 300,000 business owners and farmers.

Earlier in the session, Brownback vetoed a similar bill that passed both houses with sizeable majorities. The House voted to override the veto, but the Senate fell a few votes short of the 27 needed for an override.

Any plan negotiated with Brownback will be difficult to pass, Holland said, explaining that it would need support from conservatives opposed to significant tax increases and moderates opposed to additional spending cuts.

“We all have the same end goal in sight,” Holland said, referring to Democrats and moderate Republicans. “I think we are at a point right now where just based on the moment we maybe have some disagreements on how we get there.”

Jim McLean is managing director of the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of  kcur.org,  Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks. 

SHAWNEE COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities are investigating

On April 7, a man entered the Walgreens, 1001 SW Gage Avenue in Topeka and attempted to fraudulently obtain a prescription, according to a media release.

Security camera images indicate the suspect was wearing a green t-shirt, was a large diamond and the word HUS7LE, a chain around his neck, and a tan ball cap
Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to contact the Topeka Police.

SALINE COUNTY –Law enforcement authorities in Saline County were working to identify a woman found unexpectedly in a home early Friday.

Just before 5a.m. Friday, a man who lives in the 4900 block of North 81 Highway woke up about to a noise in his home, according to Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan.

He thought it might have been his wife who works nights, so he got up and dressed.  He confronted a woman in the hallway who stated she was going to stay in the home, because it belonged to her and her husband.  Fellers and the woman began to argue after he told her she had to leave.

When deputies arrived, they found the woman hiding in the basement.  She had also had a beer, hot dog, and chips after entering the home and was dressed in clothing that she had found in the home.

Sheriff Soldan says they don’t know how she gained entrance into the home or how she got there.

Corrections officers at the Saline County Jail were trying to determine her identity after the incident.  The woman will face requested charges of burglary, and theft.

HUTCHINSON— The two sides in a civil case reached a settlement with each other Thursday morning just as the trial was about to go to the jury.

The plaintiff, Earl Stevens of Valley Falls, Kansas, was suing Butler County Community College, who did business as Grizzly Adventures, for $75,000 over injuries he suffered in an accident involving an attraction the college had at the 2013 Kansas State Fair.

On September  7, 2013 when Stevens and his family had been walking along the east end of Lake Talbot on the fairgrounds. The Zip-Line attraction crossed the sidewalk and one of the riders on that attraction struck Stevens.

Stevens and his attorneys claimed in the lawsuit filing that the operators of the Zip-Line were negligent for operating the ride when pedestrians were walking on the sidewalk. They also claim that they should have warned pedestrians and barricaded the area to prevent pedestrians from using the sidewalk while the Zip-Line was being operated. They also argued the design and construction of the ride exposed people on the ground to risk of injury.

Stevens was thrown into the cement stairs and limestone blocks. He was knocked unconscious and was taken by Reno County EMS to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. Once there, it was determined that he suffered various fractures. He apparently suffers some joint pain to this day. He also cannot control drool out of the corner of his mouth, experiences numb teeth and the inability to sense hot and cold in his mouth.

The trial was near an end with District Judge Trish Rose getting ready to read jury instructions when the two sides announced they had reached a settlement. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.

By JIM MCLEAN

With a Monday deadline approaching, it isn’t clear whether all of the health insurance companies now participating in the Affordable Care Act marketplace in Kansas will continue in 2018.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, the state’s largest health insurer, has made a preliminary decision to continue and has filed initial paperwork with the Kansas Insurance Department, said Mary Beth Chambers, a company spokeswoman.

“We have the intention of continuing both on and off the exchange in 2018 for both individual and small group plans, but at this time we have not yet filed rates,” Chambers said. “We will ultimately make our final decision in August or September.”

The company’s final decision may depend on whether the U.S. Senate rewrites the ACA replacement bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. Specifically, BCBS Kansas is concerned about the House bill’s elimination of cost-sharing subsidies that help policyholders earning less than $30,000 a year cover out-of-pocket costs such as deductibles and copayments.

“We know that the federal government has assured insurers and consumers that the (premium assistance) tax credits will be available for those that want to purchase insurance in 2018, but we really need clarity with regard to the cost-sharing reductions,” Chambers said, adding that a “large number of Kansans” depend on them.

BCBS of Kansas operates in every county except Wyandotte and Johnson, which are covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City.

Kelly Cannon, a spokeswoman for Blue KC, which also covers 30 counties in western Missouri, said the company has not decided whether to continue offering plans on the ACA marketplace.

“Like many insurers across the country, we have concerns about the sustainability of the individual market under the Affordable Care Act in its current form,” Cannon said in a prepared statement. “We have been working with legislators to address our concerns and find solutions to help stabilize the market.”

The only other company now offering plans on the Kansas marketplace, Minnesota-based Medica, also is considering its options, said spokesman Gary Bury.

“We haven’t made any decision about Kansas at this point,” Bury said.

However, concerns similar to those expressed by BCBS Kansas and Blue KC are prompting Medica officials to consider withdrawing from the individual marketplace in Iowa.

“Our ability to stay in the Iowa insurance market in any capacity is in question at this point,” said Geoff Bartsh, a Medica vice president, in a statement released May 3 to Iowa media.

Read the Medica statement on Iowa marketplace plans.

Medica entered the Kansas marketplace last year at the urging of state Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer but capped its ACA enrollment at 10,000.

To date, slightly more than 100,000 Kansans have purchased ACA coverage. Open enrollment for 2018 will begin Nov. 1 and continue through Jan. 31, 2018.

Monday is the deadline for insurers to file ACA “plan designs” with the Kansas Insurance Department. They have until mid-July to file proposed rates.

Clark Shultz, deputy insurance commissioner, said while the department will work to hold premiums down, it must allow companies to cover their costs.

“There is no doubt there will be premium increases,” Shultz said. “The question is what can we do to keep them as low as possible?”

Jim McLean is managing director of the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of  kcur.org, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks.