EL DORADO (AP) — Another Kansas community is reviewing its ban on pit bulls.

The Butler County Times Gazette reported requests from the public have prompted the El Dorado City Commission to study a repeal of its 1989 ban on the dogs.

El Dorado’s regulation defines a pit bull as a bull terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier, American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire or a mix of those breeds.

Commissioner Bill Young says he wants to get a history of pit bulls in El Dorado and see why the prohibition was adopted 25 years ago.

The city commission in Garden City voted this week remove pit bulls and similar breeds from its vicious dog ordinance. Residents had been allowed to own the dogs, but had to post signs or keep them in pens.

TOPEKA (AP) — A Kansas House committee has endorsed legislation that would bar people younger than 18 from using commercial tanning beds.

Thursday’s 11-4 vote by the Health and Human Services Committee sends the bill to the full House for consideration.

Businesses that allow people under 18 use their tanning beds could be fined $250 for each violation. Minors could still get commercial spray tans.

The committee amended the bill to let minors use commercial tanning beds if prescribed by a doctor to treat an identified skin condition.

Supporters of the bill cited medical studies and committee testimony that exposure to tanning bed radiation at a young age increases the risks of developing melanoma and other skin cancers.

By DAVE RANNEY
KHI News Service

TOPEKA — A Johnson County legislator has introduced a bill that would require health insurers to cover the diagnosis and treatment of many Kansas children that have autism disorders.

“In my opinion, this is the socially responsible and moral thing to do for kids with autism and for their families,” said Rep. John Rubin, a Shawnee Republican.

Similar bills pushed by Rubin and others in 2012 and 2013, failed to advance after insurance company lobbyists characterized the initiative as a mandate that would increase health care costs and cause insurers to raise premiums.

But Rubin said he thought most of the industry’s objections to the proposal were close to being resolved.

“I’ve met with representatives of all the major health insurers in Kansas: Aetna, Conventry, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, and United HealthCare,” he said. “I think there’s a general recognition that this needs to get done this year.”

House Bill 2531 has been referred to the House Insurance Committee for a hearing, though that has yet to be scheduled.

The bill would require state-regulated group- and individual-market health plans in place before enactment of the Affordable Care Act to cover the diagnosis and treatment of autism for beneficiaries who are less than 19 years old.

“It will only apply to the policies that were grandfathered in after the Affordable Care Act,” Rubin said. “That’s because there are provisions in the act that say that if a state adds something to its essential health benefit package, it has to pick up the tab for whatever additional costs there might be.”

That “tab,” he said, would be “a huge fiscal note” that would kill the bill’s chances for passage.

“We’d like to have gotten this bill passed soon enough for (autism coverage) to make it into (Kansas’) essential benefit package. But that didn’t happen,” he said. “They did in Missouri, though. Wealthy people can afford this treatment and get it for their kids, and study after study show their kids do much better. But poorer and middle-class folks just cannot afford the therapies on their own.”

Rubin said if the bill becomes law it would affect about 750 of the 8,400 children in Kansas who are thought to be autistic.

“This is not my desired outcome,” he said. “I’d like it to be more, but this is what we have to deal with.”

The expanded coverage would begin Jan. 2015.

In 2010, lawmakers agreed to add autism coverage to the state employees’ health plans, partly to find out how it might affect premiums if applied more broadly.

“The average cost comes to about 17 cents per month per policy holder,” Rubin said. “That’s based on what the experience has been in Kansas and in Missouri.”

Mary Beth Chambers, a spokesperson for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, the largest health insurer in Kansas, said the company still has reservations about the bill.

“Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas typically opposes mandated coverage because such mandated benefits tend to raise premiums for all people with insurance, whether they access the new benefits or not,” Chambers wrote in an email to KHI News Service. “We have been and will continue to work with the autism community to find a solution that does not raise premiums for all of our members or impose new taxes on all Kansans.”

Rubin, a retired Social Security administrative law judge, said he was weary of the insurance lobby’s argument against requiring the coverage.

“In case you haven’t noticed, just about everything we do up here – every bill we pass – involves a mandate of one kind or another,” he said. “So the question isn’t whether this is a mandate, the question is whether it’s good public policy, and whether it’s good for the people of Kansas. This certainly will help autistic children and their families.”

Michael Wasmer, associate director of state government affairs for Autism Speaks, an advocacy group, said 32 states have passed bills similar to HB 2531.

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor for Kansas, released today,  shows no change from one week ago.

Some sort of drought condition is present in 63.5 percent  of Kansas.

Nearly 47 percent of the state, western and central Kansas, is in severe or extreme drought conditions.  The rest of the state remains in either moderate drought or abnormally dry conditions.

The U.S. Drought Monitor, established in 1999, is a weekly map of drought conditions that is produced jointly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

 

TOPEKA – A California auto warranty company has been fined $10,000 for violating the Kansas No-Call Act, Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced today in a news release.

“Kansans who register on the Do-Not-Call list have an expectation that telemarketers will leave them alone,” Schmidt said. “We are continuing to enforce the law against those who violate the No-Call list and are working with the legislature to strengthen the Kansas No-Call Act.”

Auto Protection Alliance, doing business as Auto Processing Center and Lead Services, agreed to a consent judgment ordering the company to pay the state $10,000 in penalties and fees for violations of the No-Call Act. The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division began investigating the company in January 2013 after receiving seven complaints from consumers in Douglas, Johnson, Lyon and Miami counties.

The investigation revealed that the company had solicited Kansans by telephone, marketing their extended auto warranty products and services. Some of the Kansas consumers who were called were on the National Do-Not-Call list. The company also agreed to refrain from future violations of the act. A consent judgment ordering the fine and injunction against future violations was approved last week by Shawnee County District Judge Larry Hendricks.

Last month, Schmidt asked the Legislature to update the Kansas No-Call Act to allow his office to enforce the act against telemarketers who call consumers’ cellphones. The bill is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Utilities Committee next week.

Last year, Schmidt’s office litigated 17 cases against violators of the No-Call Act, resulting in $3.4 million in penalties and fees.

Kansans who wish to register a phone number on the Do-Not-Call list may do so by visiting www.InYourCornerKansas.org and clicking on the “Register for the Do-Not-Call List” button.

EMPORIA (AP) — The Emporia City Commission approved tax abatement incentives for Hostess Brands planned expansion of the company’s plant.

The Emporia Gazette reported Hostess plans to add a 36,000-square-foot warehouse for $3.5 million, add $24 million in equipment and make leasehold improvements of $2.5 million.

In exchange for the 10-year tax abatement, Hostess said it will create 50 full-time jobs with a total payroll of $1.5 million.

The Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas board of directors approved the agreement on Jan. 10.

No timeline has been announced for the expansion project.

K-State News and Editorial Services

MANHATTAN — Civil rights champion, world-renowned entertainer and human rights advocate Harry Belafonte will deliver the keynote address for Kansas State University’s Black History Month celebration in February. Belafonte will speak at 4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 10, in McCain Auditorium.

This event is free and open to the public. Because seating is limited, tickets must be picked up at the McCain Auditorium box office, open from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays.

During Belafonte’s entertainment career, he broke racial barriers by becoming the first artist ever to sell a million records. Using his celebrity, he became a champion for many social and political causes during the civil rights era and with international social justice and humanitarian efforts such as the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and with UNICEF.

In the 1950s, Belafonte became a confidant of Martin Luther King Jr. He was instrumental in the civil rights movement by providing and raising funds among his Hollywood friends and using his celebrity to call attention to the numerous historical nonviolent rallies and protests. Belafonte was with King when he gave the famous “I Have A Dream” speech in Washington, D.C., and visited with civil rights leader just days before he was assassinated in 1968.

“This is a time for our campus and community to come together and witness history,” said Bryon Williams, adviser to the university’s Black Student Union. “Mr. Belafonte is one of the last living civil rights era activists and it is huge for him to visit K-State.”

The Black Student Union has a month of events to celebrate the legacy of African-Americans in the United States. Activities, most free unless otherwise noted, include:

* A viewing of “Sing Your Song,” a documentary on the life and work of Harry Belafonte, at the Black Student Union general body meeting, 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 11, Room 227 at the K-State Student Union.

* “The Essence of Black Artistry,” featuring slam poet Jasmine Mans, at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, in Salsarita’s at the Union Station, K-State Student Union. If interested in performing, contact Micaela Torres at [email protected].

* “Test Your Black History Knowledge,” in partnership with the Union Programming Council,
Partnership with Union Programming Council, at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 17, in Salsarita’s, Union Station, K-State Student Union.

* “The Talented Tenth: Redefining Black Student Leadership,” Myra Gordon, university associate provost for diversity, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18, in Room 227, Union.

* “The Story,” a theatrical performance by Ebony Theater, at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 20-22 and 2:30 p.m. Feb. 23 in East Stadium’s Purple Masque Theatre. Tickets can be purchased by calling 785-532-6428 or online at http://www.k-state.edu/mccain. Tickets also will be sold at the door, if available.

* A viewing of “12 Years a Slave,” in partnership with the Union Programming Council and K-State Alumni Association, will be at 7:30 p.m. in Forum Hall, Union.

TOPEKA (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback has scheduled a Statehouse news conference to discuss the state’s response to the winter storm that dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of Kansas.

Brownback will be joined at Thursday morning’s conference by Transportation Secretary Mike King, Deputy Emergency Management Director Angee Morgan and Highway Patrol Maj. John Eichkorn.

The storm prompted Brownback to close state offices in Shawnee County on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Legislature also canceled all of its meetings for those two days.

COLWICH (AP) — A suburban Wichita man is accused of pointing a shotgun at a FedEx driver who delivered a package to the wrong house.

The Sedgwick County sheriff’s office says the incident happened around noon Tuesday near Colwich, in the northwestern part of the county.

The driver told deputies he had just left the package at a home when a man opened the door, pointed a shotgun at him and told him to come and take it away. The driver obeyed, then called 911.

Deputies arrested the 71-year-old man and booked him into jail on suspicion of aggravated assault.

Sheriff’s Lt. Dave Mattingly says the package should have been delivered to the house next door, but authorities still aren’t sure why the resident reacted to the mix-up with a firearm.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he’s convinced the effects of climate change have already had a negative impact on agriculture and forestry in the United States.

Vilsack is citing the intensity and frequency of recent storms, plus droughts, snowstorms and subzero weather. He says the nation must play an active role in preparing for climate change.

Vilsack spoke at the White House as the Obama administration announced it is creating seven regional hubs to help coordinate and distribute information about the effects of climate change.

The hubs will be based at Agriculture Department facilities. They’ll assess local climate risks, such as drought and wildfire, then develop plans for dealing with them.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers appear ready to embrace a proposed truce with Kansas in a tax-break battle for businesses.

Missouri House and Senate committees each heard testimony Wednesday on legislation that would call for a moratorium on tax incentives for businesses in the Kansas City region relocating from one side of the state line to another.

The legislation would apply to businesses moving between the Missouri counties of Jackson, Clay, Platte and Cass and the Kansas counties of Wyandotte, Johnson, Douglas and Miami.

Missouri’s bill says its moratorium will kick in as soon as Kansas takes a similar action. No one testified against it Wednesday.

A study by the Hall Family Foundation found that Kansas and Missouri have waived $217 million of taxes through two programs to shuffle businesses in recent years.

TOPEKA (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback says state government offices will resume normal operating hours Thursday after being closed for two days because of a winter storm.

The governor had ordered state offices in the Topeka area shut down Tuesday, when the storm dumped more than a foot of snow on the state capital. He gave agencies the discretion to close offices elsewhere across the state.

Brownback kept offices in the Topeka area closed Wednesday because of frigid temperatures and winds that could cause snow drifts on roads.

The Legislature also called off two days of meetings at the Statehouse, but the House speaker’s office confirmed that the chamber would resume its normal schedule Thursday.

Brownback also scheduled a Thursday morning briefing on the storm.

HESSTON (AP) — The Kansas Highway Patrol said a fatal crash of two trucks on Interstate 135 in south-central Kansas appears to have been weather-related, making it the third fatality linked to a winter storm.

The patrol reported that a northbound Chevy truck went out of control Tuesday morning on I-135 just north of Hesston and spun through the median into the southbound lanes. Another Chevy truck struck it.

The driver of the first truck died Wednesday at a hospital. The patrol identified him as 58-year-old Richard Lynn Conquest of Moundridge.

Earlier, the patrol had reported that a weather-related, two-car crash Tuesday afternoon on U.S. 69 near Pittsburg left two people dead.

A winter storm hit Kansas on Tuesday, dumping heavy snow and making driving conditions hazardous.