BARBER COUNTY – A small earthquake shook portions of Kansas on Sunday.

The quake just before 6:15p.m. measured 2.8 and was centered approximately 2 miles southeast of Medicine Lodge, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The agency recorded 7 earthquakes in March including a 2.9 quake Thursday near Belle Plaine. The USGS also recorded 6 earthquakes in February. They measured from 2.5. to 3.3.

There are no reports of damage or injury from Sunday’s quake.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Faculty and staff at the University of Kansas reported declining morale because of concerns about salary, lack of support, increased workload and the state government’s increasing role in running the university, according to a “climate” survey taken on the Lawrence and Edwards campuses last fall.

The survey, which was conducted in fall 2016 by a consulting firm hired by the university, found 64 percent of faculty and 55 percent of staff “seriously considered” leaving the university in the past year, The Lawrence Journal-World reported (https://bit.ly/2oGWKdD ).

“I don’t think it’s any secret that there’s been a morale problem with faculty and staff the last few years,” said University Senate President Joe Harrington, an English professor. “There’s a lot of factors at play.”

Harrington said state budget cuts and a law requiring state universities to allow concealed handguns on campus beginning July 1 also contributed to low morale.

The survey, which included written comments and numerical data, was conducted in fall 2016 by Rankin & Associates. Its results were released Wednesday during a meeting for senior leadership, employees and students.

The faculty’s top concerns were salary, a lack of professional development opportunities and funding, evaluation process problems, benefits and “the increasing presence of the state government in managing the institution,” an executive summary said.

Staff concerns included an “overwhelming workload” caused by fewer employees, evaluation process concerns, inequities in scheduling and workload, quality of supervision and family-related issues, according to the summary.

Minority and disabled employees reported mostly higher percentages of strongly considered leaving the university. The summary said 68 percent of American Indian, 68 percent of Hispanic, 67 percent of multiracial and 49 percent of African-American employees considered leaving, compared to 57 percent of white employees. More than 70 percent of employees with disabilities considered leaving, compared to 56 percent of employees without disabilities.

University spokeswoman Erinn Barcomb-Peterson said the survey was another tool to help the university improve.

“The University of Kansas, like peer institutions across the nation, wants to improve the campus climate,” Barcomb-Peterson said in a statement. “This survey has shown us that we are not unlike other universities: Overall, our community views our campus climate favorably, but we have work to do.”

The survey included some positives, including 71 percent of employees who said they were comfortable in their respective units and more than 80 percent of faculty said the school valued research and they felt valued by students.

Harrington gave new provost Neeli Bendapudi credit for improving management since she was hired in mid-2016 by focusing on transparency and considering input from faculty, staff and student government.

In all, 6,774 surveys were completed, a 22 percent response rate, according to the executive summary.

Principal investigator Trina Ramirez, with the university’s Office of Institutional Research and Planning, said her office will analyze the 600-page survey results to make it more useful in improving the climate at the university.

ALLEN COUNTY – A Kansas police officer was injured in an accident just before 8a.m. on Sunday in Allen County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported Tanner Allen Beauvais, 23, Jenks, OK., stole the patrol vehicle of an Iola Police Department Officer.

The officer let go of the vehicle and skidded down the road.

The vehicle continued, left the roadway striking a tree off Mississippi Road three miles south of Iola.

Beauvais and the officer Steven S. Womack, 59, Iola, were transported to the Allen County Hospital.

Details on what prompted the incident and any charges were not available early Sunday afternoon.

CHICAGO (AP) — The maker of Hunt’s Chili Kits says it is recalling some because they might be contaminated with salmonella.

Conagra Brands Inc. said Sunday that it is cooperating with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to recall “a limited amount” of the kits.  See more here.

The company says there have been no reports of people getting sick.

Conagra says there could be salmonella in a raw material used in the chili-seasoning packets. The company says consumers should return kits to the store where they bought them.

The recalled 44.8-ounce kits have “best by” dates of April 4, April 5 and May 1, and product codes 3534619500, 3534619600 and 3534622200 below the barcode.

Conagra says consumers can call the company at 1-800-921-7404 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Central time, Monday through Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials are enrolling volunteers for critical next-stage testing of an experimental vaccine to protect against Zika, the mosquito-borne virus that can cause devastating birth defects in pregnant women.

The first volunteer was vaccinated Wednesday at Baylor College of Medicine. National Institutes of Health researchers aim to enroll at least 2,400 people in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and five at-risk countries: Brazil, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica and Peru.

The NIH says the shots passed preliminary safety tests. The larger study aims to determine whether the shots can protect.

Zika caused a large outbreak in parts of Latin America and the Caribbean last year. The U.S. risk has largely been to travelers, although mosquitoes spread the virus in parts of southern Florida and Texas last year.

KANSAS CITY – A Kansas City man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to tax evasion, according to Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney.

Steven Matthews, 48, was charged in a five-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. That indictment was unsealed and made public upon Matthews’s arrest this morning and initial court appearance this afternoon.

The federal indictment charges Matthews with one count of tax evasion, one count of corruptly impeding the due administration of the internal revenue laws and three counts of failure to file tax returns.

From May 2011 to May 2015, the indictment says, Matthews attempted to evade payment of the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty assessed against him personally for withholding that wasn’t paid for the quarters ending December 2002 through June 2003 for the trust fund taxes of Winntech Digital Systems (where he served as the Chief Financial Officer). Matthews allegedly also attempted to evade payment of income tax owed by him for 2008.

According to the indictment, Matthews used corporate funds to pay his personal expenses, created a false deed of trust for a condominium he owned, placed money into an attorney trust account that was then used to pay his personal expenses, established a corporation (SLM Consultants, LLC) using his mother’s Social Security number and listing his mother as the sole member, and dealt in cash from 2011 through 2015, all in an effort to evade payment of taxes and to impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws.

The indictment also alleges that Matthews failed to file federal income tax returns on income earned during 2012, 2014 and 2015.

Larson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

By JIM MCLEAN

Supporters of expanding Medicaid eligibility in Kansas are preparing to mount an intense lobbying campaign over the weekend to get the votes they need to override Gov. Sam Brownback’s veto of an expansion bill.

The governor vetoed the bill on Thursday, citing concerns about the cost of expanding KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program, to cover an estimated 180,000 additional low-income Kansans. He also objected to extending coverage to “able-bodied” adults as long as thousands of Kansans with disabilities remained on waiting lists for support services.

“Any attempt to expand this entitlement program should include a plan to eliminate the inherited waiting list for services to our disabled community … and have a neutral impact on the state budget,” Brownback said in his veto message. “This bill does not meet those requirements.”

 

I vetoed Medicaid expansion. It does not prioritize the vulnerable. It does not #DefundPP. It isn't responsible. It's bad for Kansas. #ksleg pic.twitter.com/ydoooJK4fV

— Sam Brownback (@govsambrownback) March 30, 2017

 

 

Reacting to the message, House Minority Leader Jim Ward, a Wichita Democrat, said the governor is unfairly pitting two groups of needy Kansans against one another.

“I’ve never heard a more dishonest statement than we just heard,” Ward said, fighting back his emotions during debate Thursday morning on the House floor after Brownback announced his veto. “The governor pits working poor against the disabled. He talks about cost without talking about benefits.”

Expansion supporters were able to delay a vote to override the governor’s veto by tabling the expansion bill Thursday. The vote is now expected to occur sometime next week.

That means groups belonging to the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, a pro-expansion coalition, will be active over the weekend, lobbying a handful of legislators to switch their votes.

“At the end of the day, this is about the governor,” said David Jordan, director of the coalition. “Are the legislators going to do the right thing and expand KanCare, or are they going to side with the governor and deny access to health care and deny their hospitals and other providers the payments they need to stay financially whole?”

The Sumner Regional Medical Center in Wellington is one of several Kansas hospitals struggling financially in part because of the state’s refusal to expand KanCare, which the Kansas Hospital Association estimates has cost providers nearly $1.8 billion in additional federal funding.

“We are one of, I think, 31 (Kansas) hospitals that were listed at risk for closure at the beginning of the year,” said Terry Deschaine, a member of the medical center’s board.

Recently, Deschaine said the hospital’s foundation and the city of Wellington helped administrators secure a $300,000 line of credit from a local bank so that they could cover operating expenses and meet the payroll.

“The financial challenges we’re facing are very significant,” Deschaine said, noting that expansion would generate an additional $750,000 a year in revenue for the medical center.

Deschaine is one of several community leaders planning to meet Friday in Wellington with Sen. Larry Alley, a first-term Republican from Winfield.  They hope to persuade Alley, who voted against the expansion bill, to change his mind and vote to override the governor’s veto.

“At least we’ll be able to meet with him face-to-face and tell him our story and how critical it is that he sees the light,” Deschaine said.

Alley is open to the discussion but said the hospital’s continuing struggles aren’t reason enough to change his position on expansion.

“They’ve been in trouble for some time,” Alley said of the hospital. “And I don’t believe that this, right now, is the time to expand Medicaid because of the financial problems the state is having.”

Alley, like Brownback, doesn’t believe estimates compiled by the Kansas Hospital Association that show revenue and savings generated by expansion would more than cover the state’s share of the cost, 90 percent of which would be shouldered by the federal government. But he said he’s willing to be persuaded.

“I’m still open, but they’re going to have to do a good job providing that data,” he said.

Alley is one of 17 legislators that expansion advocates are targeting in this weekend’s lobbying effort, Jordan said.

“We’re hopeful that some of those legislators will change their minds,” he said. “I think we’re close, we’re three votes away in the House and two votes in the Senate.”

The House passed the expansion bill 81-44 in late February. It would take 84 votes to override the governor’s veto. In the Senate, where the bill passed 25-14 earlier this week, supporters will need 27 votes to override the veto.

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 in Kansas. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks. 

WEST BRANCH, Mich. (AP) — Nearly two dozen semi-trailers and other trucks are delivering grain, hay, fencing and other supplies from Michigan’s Ogemaw County to ranches in Kansas that suffered damage from wildfires.

The convoy left the West Branch area Friday morning and was expected to reach Ashland, Kansas, Saturday.

Organizer Jock Kartes said the supplies were donated by farmers and businesses.

Grass fires in early March charred more than 1,000 square miles in Oklahoma and Kansas, destroying miles of fencing on ranches and farms.

A convoy of trucks carrying hay from Illinois set out Thursday to Kansas. Country music star and Oklahoma native Toby Keith partnered with the Ashland Community Foundation in southern Kansas to record a public service video asking for donations.

VALLEY CENTER, Kan. (AP) — Sedgwick County authorities say a man and woman were shot in what might have been an attempted robbery at a house in near Valley Center.

Sheriff’s Capt. Mark Pierce says the shooting occurred about 9 a.m. Saturday. One victim was taken to a hospital in critical condition and the other is in serious condition.

Authorities are looking for at least two suspects.

Pierce said he didn’t know whether the man and woman were tenants or owners at the house.

NEW YORK (AP) — Ford is recalling 53,000 2017 F-250 trucks because they can roll away even when they are parked due to a manufacturing error.

Ford says drivers should use the parking break to make sure that parked cars don’t move.

Dealers will also replace the defective part for free, but Ford doesn’t have the replacement parts yet. It will notify owners when the parts are available.

The recalled trucks have 6.2-liter engines. They were built at a Kentucky plant from October 2015 through Thursday and sold in North America.

The company says it is not aware of accidents or injuries due to this defect.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State Fair board members are discussing a master plan that would eliminate the century-old racetrack.

None of the proposals are close to being approved.

The plan would replace the southern curves of the track with a new horse exhibition area and practice arena.

Fair Manager Susan Sankey acknowledges that removing the track will be unpopular with some people. But she says it’s a business decision designed to modernize the fair and generate revenue.

The master plan also includes a permanent stage for entertainment and a new dirt area for demolition derbies and tractor pulls.

The next step is for board members to choose priorities for the plan and set a timetable.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has pleaded guilty in the killing of his 7-year-old son whose remains were found near the family’s pigs.

The Kansas City Star reports that 46-year-old Michael Jones admitted Friday to one count of first-degree murder in the death of Adrian Jones. The boy’s remains were found in November 2015 after authorities responded to a domestic disturbance and learned that he was missing.

Former Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome Gorman declined to discuss reports that the child’s remains were fed to pigs, but said the boy’s remains were found near swine on the family’s Kansas City, Kansas, property.

Adrian’s stepmother, Heather Jones, was sentenced previously to life in prison in the killing. She said she felt helpless to protect the child or herself from her abusive husband.