BY MEG WINGERTER

Some Kansas lawmakers hope allowing community-based rehabilitation programs to bill Medicaid for their services will help more people with mental illnesses find work.

Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican and chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, introduced a bill earlier this month that would allow the psychosocial rehabilitation programs known as “clubhouses” to claim reimbursement from Medicaid as allowed by federal law. Some states already allow clubhouses to receive Medicaid funds.

Hawkins said officials with Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration told him last year that they would make changes to allow Medicaid reimbursement for clubhouses. They didn’t do that, he said, so he introduced a bill to advance the issue.

Kansas has only one licensed clubhouse, Breakthrough Club in Wichita. The club’s supporters testified in favor of the bill Thursday at the Statehouse. No one testified in opposition.

Despite the name, clubhouses aren’t primarily social organizations, said Barb Andres, executive director of Breakthrough Club. They have paid staff who help people with mental illnesses develop work and relationship skills, she said.

Clubhouse programs are designed to supplement the medication and therapy a client receives from a community mental health center, Andres said. Breakthrough Club serves about 250 people annually but could serve about 500 if it had more funding, she said.

Kevin Dohrer, a Breakthrough Club client, said when he joined about eight years ago, the clubhouse could offer more services, such as job coaching and case management. He said Medicaid funds could make up for some of the budget cuts the clubhouse faced in recent years.

“I hope to see us back to our former glory,” he said. “We have that potential. We just need to have that funding.”

Dohrer, who has schizoaffective disorder, said getting to know members who have similar conditions helped him to see that he still could achieve his goals. He works in an auto parts store and is attending college.

“When you start out (after a mental health diagnosis), you feel kind of lonely and hopeless, but then you meet other people who’ve been there and they’re living their lives,” he said.

The bill would set up a three-year trial period for funding clubhouses. Kansas could choose to extend payments or let them lapse at that time. Hawkins also said the committee would consider capping payments to limit the state’s expenses.

The bill is scheduled for a committee vote Tuesday.

Meg Wingerter is a reporter for kcur.org‘s Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics in Kansas. You can reach her on Twitter @MegWingerter. 

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Western Kentucky University’s Board of Regents has chosen Timothy C. Caboni from the University of Kansas to become Western’s 10th president this summer.

The 47-year-old Caboni will start work July 1, succeeding Gary A. Ransdell, who is retiring.

Caboni is vice chancellor of public affairs at Kansas. He earned a master’s degree in corporate and organizational communication from Western in 1994, a bachelor’s from Louisiana State and a doctorate from Vanderbilt. He said in a news release from Western he is excited about returning to lead his alma mater.

Before going to Kansas, Caboni was associate dean of Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt.

Ransdell is retiring after 20 years as Western’s president.

RENO COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Reno County are investigating a teen on drug charges.

On Thursday, members of the Reno County Drug Enforcement Unit served a warrant at a residence in the 800 Block of E 3rd in Hutchinson, according to a social media report.

During the search, deputies found about a quarter pound of meth, and about 19 grams of marijuana or marijuana hash, a small baggie with an unidentified substance that needs to be tested by the KBI lab, packaging material, working scales, and multiple pieces of drug paraphernalia.

A 16-year-old was placed into Police Protective Custody and charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia due to items found in her room.

No additional details were released.

TOPEKA – Kansas is now experiencing widespread influenza activity, with increased influenza cases seen in most regions of the state. Reports of outbreaks in long-term care facilities, schools and day cares have been made to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). Five outbreaks have been identified during the 2016-2017 season, according to a media release.

“It is not too late to get your seasonal influenza vaccine,” said Susan Mosier, MD, MBA, FACS, KDHE Secretary and State Health Officer. “I urge Kansans who have not yet taken this precaution to do so as soon as possible.”

Nationally, this season’s influenza vaccine appears to be a very good match to the circulating influenza viruses.

Influenza vaccine is recommended for nearly everyone six months of age and older. Infants less than six months of age are too young to be vaccinated and are more vulnerable to the complications from influenza. Being vaccinated against influenza is especially important for anyone at high risk of complications and for anyone who is caring for children younger than five years of age. It is also important for persons caring for those with medical conditions that put them at higher risk for severe complications.

Symptoms of influenza include fever, dry cough, extreme tiredness and muscle aches. Complications can include pneumonia, ear and sinus infections and dehydration. Influenza may also worsen other chronic conditions.

Depending on the severity of the influenza season, five percent to 20 percent of the population may get influenza each year. During the peak of the 2015-2016 influenza season in Kansas, approximately three percent of all health care visits in clinics were due to influenza-like illness. Influenza or pneumonia contributed to or was the direct cause of 903 deaths among Kansas residents during the 2015-2016 influenza season. Influenza and pneumonia were eighth among leading causes of death in 2015 in Kansas.

Additional ways to avoid spreading influenza include covering your mouth when you cough and sneeze, washing your hands and staying home when you are sick.

For information on receiving the influenza vaccine, please contact your health care provider or your local health department. Please visit www.kdheks.gov/flu for influenza facts.

SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a fatal crash and have made an arrest.

On Thursday, police booked Aaron Finch, 29, Riley County, into the Saline County jail for a fatal, July head-on crash

Just after 6:30 a.m. on July 20, a car driven by Finch was westbound on Interstate 70 at Niles Road.
The vehicle traveled through the median and hit an eastbound vehicle driven by David Widner, 45, Salina, head-on, according to Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan.

Widner was pronounced dead at the scene.

Finch, who was trapped in the wreckage for a time, was transported to Salina Regional Health Center for treatment of injuries.

He was booked Thursday on charges of improper crossover on a divided highway, improper driving on laned roadway and involuntary manslaughter.

NEWTON, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas prosecutor plans to seek the death penalty against one of two people accused of killing three people before fleeing to Mexico.

Harvey County Attorney David Yoder announced the plans to seek the death penalty against 35-year-old Jereme Nelson in a news release Friday. Yoder didn’t say whether he would seek the death penalty against 31-year-old Myrta Rangel.

Nelson and Rangel are charged with one count of capital murder and three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 33-year-old Travis Street, 37-year-old Angela May Graves and 52-year-old Richard Prouty. The victims’ bodies were found in October outside a rural home near Moundridge. An

18-month-old child was found unharmed.

Nelson and Rangel were extradited Thursday to Kansas, and the prosecutor’s office declined to say whether they have attorneys.

By SAM ZEFF

Mothers, college professors, pastors, teachers and students packed a Capitol hearing room Thursday morning to make this plea to lawmakers: Roll back a law that in July will make it legal for almost anyone to carry a concealed gun on Kansas college campuses and in other public buildings.

So big was the roll-back contingent that many there to testify had to be hailed to the room from down the hallway.

But nobody who testified received a bigger reaction than Kansas State University student Regan Tokos from Omaha, who told legislators: “If I knew this law was going to take effect, I would have stayed in Nebraska.”

Jo Ella Hoye, a mother from Lenexa, testified wearing a Moms Demand Action T-shirt.

“It disappoints me to think my son won’t be able to attend my graduate alma mater in the future because the risk of having guns on campus is too grave,” she said.

She’s not worried so much about crime but has concerns about some decisions that young people make.

“I was a college student 10 years ago,” she said. “I understand what it’s like to wake up in the morning and not have a good memory of what happened the night before. And the thought of guns in that environment scares me.”

The Legislature passed the campus concealed carry bill four years ago but gave colleges and universities four years to prepare. The law allows the banning of guns but only if the school provides metal detectors and security guards, which is a much-too-expensive proposition because of the number of buildings and doorways on college campuses.

Some law enforcement officials opposed to the law, including Chief Greg Schneider of Kansas City Kansas Community College.

“Somebody doesn’t pass a test and they lose their scholarship, they get kicked off the athletic team or they’re going to get kicked out of the nursing program or whatever program they’re in,” he said. “Those pressures are great. If they can’t handle it right and a weapon is readily available, that poses a danger not only to themselves but to the college community as well.”

To prepare for the new law, the University of Kansas Medical Center has hired three police officers, bringing its strength up to 45 total.

A spokesperson said KU Med will hire more officers in the future, but just how many depends on whether the law as currently written takes effect later this year.

While more than two dozen people signed up to testify Thursday on behalf of the roll back, five people spoke in favor of concealed carry. Three of them were former Kansas lawmakers, including Forrest Knox from Altoona who lost his Senate seat in the August primary.

Knox was one of the driving forces behind the law and returned to the Capitol to defend it.

“You don’t solve crime by taking guns away from law-abiding citizens,” he told his former colleagues.

Also there to defend the law was Travis Couture-Lovelady, a former state representative from Palco who resigned his seat in 2015 to lobby for the National Rifle Association. He said if universities and colleges don’t want guns in campus buildings, they should install metal detectors and hire guards.

“If you’re not going to do that, you need to allow everyone an equal playing field. You need to allow law-abiding citizens the opportunity to defend themselves,” he said.

The push to roll back the law is a test of just how much strength the new moderate Republicans and Democrats have in the Legislature.

The state Senate and House Federal and State Affairs Committees are heavy with conservatives, and many believe getting the bill out of committee will be difficult. So the bill may have to be maneuvered on the floors, where moderates and Democrats think they have enough votes to win.

That means this is also a test of how adroit the roll-back proponents are at the legislative process.

Sam Zeff covers education for KCUR.org and the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @SamZeff.

OTTAWA COUNTY – Five people were injured in an accident just before 7p.m. on Thursday in Ottawa County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2015 Scion Station Wagon driven by Jeffrey D. Weiland, 33, Bennington, was northbound on 170th Road two miles north of Bennington.

The Scion started to make a turn onto Kansas18 and collided with a 2013 Chevy Impala driven by Dakota Monasmith, 21, Bennington, that was southbound on Kansas 18.

Monasmith, Emily C. Carter, 20, Bennington and three children in the Chevy were transported to Salina Regional Medical Center.

Weiland was not injured.

Carter and two of the children in the Impala were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.

WICHITA — A Kansas man facing a federal indictment for robbing several grocery stores in Kansas entered pleas in two of those cases in US District Court Thursday.

Austan Kinnaird, 26, Goddard, pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery involving the Golf Headquarters in Wichita and the Intrust Bank branch inside a Dillon’s grocery store on E. Harry Street in Wichita.

The robbery of the other three Dillon’s stores including one in Hutchinson was dismissed.

Kinnaird will be sentenced April 17.

Kinnaird was arrested in connection with robbing the North Main Dillon’s store on March 11, 2016.

He was originally arrested for the bank robbery and was then indicted on the other four counts later following further investigation.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman already facing sentencing for stealing thousands of dollars in merchandise has pleaded guilty to another shoplifting charge.

Kelli Jo Bauer’s plea Thursday to felony theft was the fourth time since 2008 she had pleaded guilty to shoplifting clothes from Kansas City-area stores.

The Kansas City Star reports the 47-year-old Bauer was arrested for stealing five bras from a Lenexa Kohl’s story in November, the day before she was to be sentenced for stealing more than $25,000 from stores. In that case, police recovered truckloads of clothing from her home in an exclusive Overland Park home.

Bauer pleaded guilty in May to felony theft and two misdemeanor theft counts.

Sentencing in both cases will be March 24.

She was also convicted of theft in 2008 and 2013.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City man has been charged with abandoning his girlfriend’s body after she apparently was shot accidentally during a road-rage confrontation.

Jackson County prosecutors say the abandonment and unlawful firearm possession charges against 25-year-old Eric Marquez stems from the fatal shooting of Brenda Vera.

Court records say Marquez told his brother that the shooting happened when another driver brandished a gun after a collision. Marquez told his brother he was firing at the driver when he accidentally shot Vera.

The Kansas City Star reports that investigators don’t know when or where the shooting happened. Vera was found dead last week inside a truck that had been stolen from Kansas City, Kansas.

A standoff ensued, but Marquez was gone when officers entered the home and isn’t in custody.

Marquez has weapons and drug convictions from Allen County in 2014, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

HARVEY COUNTY- With the cooperation of the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office, both Jereme
Nelson, 35, and Myrta Rangel, 31, have been safely and successfully extradited back to Harvey County.

They arrived in Newton around 5:45 Thursday evening, according to a media release.

Harvey County prosecutors have charged Nelson and Rangel each with one count of capital murder and three counts of first-degree murder.

They were arrested earlier this month in Mexico and were returned to the U.S., where they remain jailed in California until their return to Kansas.

Authorities have said the bodies of 33-year-old Travis Street and 37-year-old Angela May Graevs, both of

Moundridge, and 52-year-old Richard Prouty of Newton, were found Oct. 30 outside a rural home near Moundridge.

An 18-month-old child was found unharmed.

Nelson and Rangel are currently being housed in the Harvey County Detention Center.