By DAN MARGOLIES

Former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius says she thinks it will take the state “decades” to recover from the effects of the state’s current financial woes.

During an interview Friday, Sebelius was asked by KCUR host Steve Kraske what she made of the state today.

“Well, it breaks my heart,” Sebelius says, noting that the state’s revenue stream had always been “a carefully balanced dance, with a third coming from property tax, a third coming from sales tax and a third coming from income tax.”

That balance, she says, enabled the state to fund schools, infrastructure, science investments and jobs.

“That’s really been greatly undercut, and I think it will take decades to recover from what has been a very difficult period for Kansas,” Sebelius says.

Sebelius, who was secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during most of the Obama administration, also talks about the Republican bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. As head of the agency, Sebelius oversaw the law’s rollout and implementation.

“I think if you look at the bill and what the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) tells us the impact of the bill will be, it is a very troubling picture,” Sebelius says. “The bill will save some money for the federal government, that’s clear, but it in no way lives up to what President-elect and then President Trump promised, which is health insurance for everybody, at a lower cost and better coverage.”

Sebelius is particularly troubled by CBO estimates that millions would lose health care immediately if the Republican plan passes.

“Lots of people – the estimate is 24 million people over the next 10 years, 14 million immediately – will lose coverage. Huge costs will be shifted from the federal government to states for Medicaid, which has been a 50-year partnership between the state and the federal government for pregnant women and children, disabled individuals, seniors in nursing homes.”

She also says the proposal won’t deliver what Republican lawmakers have promised voters.

“What has been said – we want patient-centered care, we want people to have choices, we want health insurance for everybody – that is not the proposal that is currently before the United States Congress,” Sebelius says.

Sebelius says the congressional debate over health care has been driven more by political considerations than a focus on the people who stand to be most affected by it.

“I find it very, very troubling that there are many members of Congress who talk about this as if it is some sort of a chess match: ‘We need to add a little bit here, we’ve got to win this battle,’” Sebelius says. “This is life and death for about 20 million people who now have financial stability and now have health coverage and protection for them and their families.”

Sebelius now devotes her time to an outfit she formed called Sebelius Resources LLC. She says it’s a vehicle through which she’s working on health and wellness issues in the private sector.

Dan Margolies is KCUR’s health editor. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.

SHELBY COUNTY, MO – Six people from Southwest Kansas were injured in an accident just before 7 a.m. on Saturday in Shelby County, Missouri.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Chevy Van driven by Jose M. Gomez-Miranda, 39, Garden City, was eastbound on U.S. 36 just east of Hunnewell.

The van traveled off the right side of the road, hit a field entrance and a road sign.

Gomez-Miranda, Hayde B. Lores-Cortez, 38, and four children all of Garden City, were transported to Hannibal Regional Hospital.

A 7-year-old passenger in the vehicle was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma food company is recalling more than 466 tons (422 metric tons) of breaded chicken because of possible metal in the food.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday that OK Food, Inc. is recalling 933,272 pounds of the food shipped nationwide that was produced between Dec. 19, 2016, and March 7, 2017, and includes the number “P-7092” inside the USDA inspection mark.

The USDA said in a news release that contamination came from metal conveyor belts and was discovered Tuesday. An agency spokesman did not immediately return a phone call for further comment.

The agency says there have been no confirmed reports of injury, but consumers should either throw the product away or return it to the place of purchase.

ALLISON KITE, Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Lottery players soon might be able to buy tickets from vending machines.

The House voted this week in support of the move.

Lottery spokeswoman Sally Lunsford says the measure would increase lottery revenue and cut labor costs for retailers, where ticket buyers could bypass clerks and use the self-service machines. She says 37 other states, including Missouri, Colorado and Oklahoma, use the machines. The Kansas lottery has sought the bill for three years.

Lunsford says vending machines have increased lottery sales by up to 50 percent in other states. Kansas is counting on $12 million in growth over two years. The money would be used for mental health services.

Lottery revenue hit a record last year at $78 million.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas judge will hear a prosecutor’s bid to have a combined preliminary hearing for four people accused in the Topeka killings of three people.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Shawnee County District Judge Nancy Parrish will hold a hearing Wednesday on District Attorney Mike Kagay’s request.

The four defendants, ages 19 to 34, are charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of the victims, ages 19 to 38. Police found the bodies after being dispatched to a home to check the well-being of the occupants.

Kagay says in court filings that while the charges against the defendants are connected and warrant just a combined preliminary hearing and not one for each of them, he’s not seeking to try the four defendants in a single trial.

SEDGWICK COUNTY- A Kansas man died in an accident just after 2:30a.m. Saturday in Sedgwick County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2016 Mitsubishi passenger vehicle driven by Damien Ware, 34, Wichita, was south bound on Interstate 235 near MacArthur Road.

The vehicle left the road, entered the median, struck the guardrail, crossed over Interstate 235 to the right shoulder, struck another guardrail and came to rest in the middle of a curve.

The driver of a southbound semi negotiating the curve saw the Mitsubishi but was unable to stop before hitting it.

Ware was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the semi Franklin Jones, 53, Wichita, af was not injured.

Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

The accident closed the interchange in south Wichita for several hours Saturday.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police in Wichita, Kansas, are investigating after an 18-year-old and two children were wounded when a handgun one of them perhaps was playing with fired.

Police Sgt. Nikki Woodrow says the three victims, including a 12-year-old boy and an 11-year-old boy, sustained injuries not considered life-threatening during the shooting about 9 p.m. Friday.

The victims’ medical statuses were not immediately known Saturday.

Police say a 42-year-old man was driving the van when the teenager shot himself in the hand. The 12-year-old was wounded in the leg and the 11-year-old in the hand.

KANSAS CITY -Law enforcement authorities are asking the public for help locating a man wanted as a suspect in an attempted murder investigation.

The Jefferson County Colorado Sheriff’s office is coordination with the FBI Denver and Kansas City Field offices and seeking the public’s assistance in locating attempted murder suspect Frank Junior Sanchez, according to a media release.

Sanchez, age 26, who may have traveled from Colorado to Kansas City area.

He is wanted on a warrant out of Jefferson County, Colorado, for his alleged involvement in the attempted murder of a man on February 21, 2017, in Littleton, Colorado. Sanchez allegedly shot a man during the commission of a crime.

Sanchez is described by authorities as a Hispanic male, 5’10” tall and 195lbs. He has black hair, brown eyes, and acne scars on his face.

Law Enforcement believes Sanchez may have contacts in the greater Kansas City area.

Sanchez should be considered armed and dangerous. If you come in contact with him authorities are urging you to call 911 immediately.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts should call (816) 474-TIPS or their local law enforcement agency. Crime Stoppers of Jefferson
County, a non-governmental organization, is offering a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Sanchez.

By STEPHEN KORANDA

A Kansas legislative committee is considering tighter amusement park regulations following the death of a lawmaker’s son last year on the Verrückt water slide in Kansas City, Kan.

The Aug. 7, 2016, death of 10-year-old Caleb Schwab, son of Rep. Scott Schwab of Olathe, prompted Rep. John Barker to look into the state’s regulations for amusement park rides. Barker is an Abilene Republican who chairs the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, which had a hearing Thursday on new regulations proposed in House Bill 2389.

“It’s the nature of the tragedy,” Barker said. “A young child gets killed at an amusement park, that’s concerning to everyone.”

Barker and other lawmakers didn’t like what they found when they compared Kansas regulations to those in other states.

“We don’t have much of anything right now,” said Rep. John Whitmer, a Wichita Republican. “Kansas is really under-regulated in this industry.”

HB 2389 would set standards for insurance, ride inspections and injury reports and would require annual inspections for stationary rides like the Verrückt. These checks would be performed by inspectors paid by the insurance companies, not the ride owners.

Current state law requires annual inspections for stationary rides, but the ride owners can hire private inspectors.

Whitmer, who has experience in the industry, said legislators face a balancing act when considering new regulations so they don’t put Kansas ride operators at a competitive disadvantage. He wants to see regulations put in place but said he can’t support the bill in its current form.

The bill likely will undergo changes as debate moves forward. The bill requires ride inspections from a licensed engineer or someone with five years of inspection experience. Whitmer said he’ll clarify what types of engineers could perform the inspections.

“If I’m a train engineer, I’m not qualified to inspect a carnival ride,” he said.

The bill also would require a qualified inspection every time a mobile ride is moved and assembled. That sounds like too much to Zachary Wilson, owner of Fun Services of Kansas City, a company that rents mobile rides.

“Are we going to have a qualified inspector on the clock at midnight for a 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. party? That seems a little burdensome,” he said.

Wilson would like to see the bill amended to allow inspections by people with industry safety training and certifications. He said they could be more knowledgeable than engineers.

“Then you put somebody in there that’s familiar with the rides,” Wilson said. “You’re much better off.”

Barker said he doesn’t know if the new regulations could have prevented the death of Caleb Schwab, but he hopes the changes will prevent future injuries.

Barker has worried about the safety of rides when taking his grandson to the county fair, and he believes the changes the bill requires can calm those fears.

“I don’t know if they were inspected or not. After we pass this legislation, I will know that it’s been inspected,” he said.

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for KPR, a partner in the Kansas News Service.

BARTON COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 10p.m. on Friday in Barton County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2005 GMC Sierra driven by Kolton G Nettleingham, 21, Olmitz, was eastbound on NW 140 Road, three miles northwest of Olmitz, driving too fast for conditions.

The driver lost control on sand road, entered the south ditch, and vehicle overturned.
Nettleingham was transported to Clara Barton Hospital.

Three others in the vehicle were not injured.
All four were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.