MANHATTAN — Leaders and activists in the fight against hunger will convene in downtown Wichita in February to generate strategies and action plans for ways that college campuses can combat hunger, Kansas State University announced in a press release Thursday.

The 2014 Hunger Dialogue is Feb. 25 and 26 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The event brings together individuals from across Kansas to build awareness, advocacy and action about hunger by sharing of research, best practices and model programs. Participants will learn strategies to combat hunger both locally and globally.

Keynote speakers are Robert Egger, founder and president of L.A. Kitchen, and Cindy Jones-Nyland, executive vice president of marketing and resource management at Heifer Project International.

L.A. Kitchen recovers fresh food like fruits and vegetables from hospitality businesses and farms and uses them to fuel a culinary arts job training program for men and women coming out of foster care, or older men and women returning from incarceration.

Heifer Project International links communities and helps brings sustainable agriculture and commerce to areas with a long history of poverty. The animals provide communities with both food and reliable income, as agricultural products such as milk, eggs and honey can be traded or sold at market.

The 2014 Kansas Hunger Dialogue will kick off with a food-packaging event at 7 p.m. Feb. 25 in the Birch Room on the second floor promenade level at the Hyatt.

Registration for the 2014 Hunger Dialogue is open until Feb. 18. Cost is $75 for professionals from Kansas Campus Compact member campuses, and $80 for others. Cost for students is $50.

More information is available HERE.

LAWRENCE (AP) — The co-founder of Garmin International is donating $1 million to the University of Kansas School of Engineering.

The university announced Thursday that the gift from Min Kao’s family foundation will be used for scholarships and programs at the engineering school.

Half of the money will fund the Min H. Kao Engineering Design Studio. The university says the other half of the gift will establish the Garmin Excellence Scholarship in the school’s electrical engineering and computer science department. And Garmin plans to start a mentorship program between the Olathe-based company and the engineering school.

Kao donated more than $500,000 in scholarships in the past.

TOPEKA — Gov. Sam Brownback announced today recent appointments to boards and commissions, including two western Kansas residents.

Kansas Information Technology Executive Council

The 17-member Information Technology Executive Council is responsible for approval and maintenance of all information technology policies, IT project management procedures, statewide technical architecture and the state’s strategic information management plan.

Crysta Torson, Dighton, is being appointed to serve an 18-month term. Torson is a county clerk and election officer for Lane County and also manages the Lane County Transportation Bus Grant. She attended the National College of Business in South Dakota.

Kansas Physician Assistant Council

The Kansas Physician Assistant Council advises the Kansas Board of Healing Arts in carrying out the provisions of the Physician assistant licensure act.

Kimberly Dansel, PA-C, Weskan, is being reappointed to serve a three-year term. Dansel earned a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University and master’s degree at Wichita State University. She works as a physician’s assistant at Greeley County Health Services.

TOPEKA (AP) — A new study of Kansas elementary and middle school students makes a link between physical fitness and better performance on math and reading exams.

The research was conducted through schools participating in the Kansas Fitness Information Tracking. The study followed the fitness of 13,000 students in the 2011-12 school year. It is part of the Healthy Schools Project funded by the Kansas Health Foundation.

The results released Thursday found that students who met one or none of the fitness standards scored 50.4 percent and 41.8 percent above the proficiency standards for math and reading.

For students who met the mark for all five fitness tests, scores jumped to 73.5 percent above the standard for reading and 70.3 percent above for math.

Wichita State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship is launching a statewide competition to encourage Kansas college students to create new businesses — especially in rapid growth sectors such as technology and health care — to fuel the Kansas economy.

There will be a prize pool of more than $25,000 and an increased emphasis on students starting the businesses they create.

All Kansas college students are eligible to compete. The first deadline is Friday, Feb. 28.

For more information, email [email protected].

TOPEKA — Kansas residents can access information on state government, legislation, public policy issues and more by calling (800) 432-3924. Calls are answered by experienced reference/research librarians at the State Library of Kansas and kept confidential. Lines are open weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Callers also can leave brief messages to be delivered to legislators as well as request copies of bills, calendars, journals, committee agendas, voting records and other legislative documents.

In addition to calling the hotline, residents also can text questions to (785) 256-0733 (standard text message rates may apply), instant message at www.kslib.info/ask-a-librarian, or visit the State Library.

The State Library is located in the north wing, on the third floor of the Kansas Capitol Building.

TOPEKA — A.J. Kotich has filed paperwork to appoint a treasurer for an exploratory committee in a potential race for Kansas attorney general. The appointment, announced Thursday in a news release, allows Kotich to raise funds and test the viability of running a statewide campaign.

Kotich, a Democrat, previously has served as chief legal counsel to three state agencies under seven Kansas governors.

“I have over 30 years of exemplary public service, and I want to bring that experience to the office of Kansas Attorney General,” said Kotich. “Kansans need an attorney general with a proven track record.”

Kotich currently work sin private practice and has served as an adjunct professor at local universities for many years.

Should Kotich enter the race, he would face incumbent Republican Derek Schmidt, who has served in the statewide office since 2010.

By DAVE RANNEY
KHI News Service

TOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Corrections is working with local law enforcement officials on a plan that would help county jail keepers bill Medicaid for a portion of their inmates’ health care costs.

The move could save Kansas jails between $1.2 million and $2.4 million a year, said Viola Riggin, director of health care services at the Kansas Department of Corrections.

The state already has a system for billing Medicaid to cover the relatively few prisoners in state lock-ups who are eligible for the coverage. The plan would allow the counties to tap the state’s expertise in that area.

“KDoC has access to Medicaid for a limited number of patients; those who are over 64 or under 19, those who are severely disabled, and for women, those who are pregnant,” Riggin said.

Medicaid reimbursements for state prisoners cover about $750,000 of the department’s health care costs each year, she said.

Most of the department’s health care costs are covered by the state’s $49.3 million contract with Correct Care Solutions, Inc., a Tennessee-based company that provides prison health services.

KDoC is responsible for providing health care to approximately 9,500 inmates in 14 correctional facilities across the state.

County jails, Riggin said, also could be billing Medicaid for services to eligible inmates. But the jails often lack staff and expertise to handling the program’s complicated billing procedures.

KDoC, Riggin said, is looking for ways to expand its current Medicaid contract to include the county jails.

The arrangement, she said, would be similar to an existing department’s program that allows local jails to buy prescription drugs for inmates through KDoC, which purchases at discount in large quantities.

Riggin said the expanded Medicaid plan should be up and running by July 1. It does not require legislative approval, officials said, though agency managers have included several legislators in their discussions.

The planning, she said, has involved the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, which is the state’s lead Medicaid agency, the Kansas Association of Counties and the Kansas Sheriff’s Association.

“This would help all of the jails in Kansas reduce some of the costs that they incur in treating the inmates who are in their custody,” said Johnson County Sheriff Frank Denning, head of the sheriff association’s legislative committee.

Johnson County is the state’s most populous and Denning said his department is large enough to bill Medicaid on its own.

“But what happens now,” he said, “is that most sheriffs can’t afford to take on the responsibility of paying for these individuals’ medical bills. So what they’ll do when they go out to pick somebody up, they’ll take them to the (hospital) emergency room first, wait until they’re treated, and then make an arrest. That’s just not a good way of doing things.”

That arrangement, he said, has the effect of shifting much of the jails’ would-be medical costs for the inmates onto the hospitals.

Denning is the brother of State Sen. Jim Denning, an Overland Park Republican.

The 2014 edition of “Kansas Outdoors,” the official guide to the Sunflower State’s outdoor destinations and experiences is now available Published by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, “Kansas Outdoors” is crammed with 57 pages of photographs and brief descriptions of a variety of outdoor opportunities, such as camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, wildlife watching, boating, biking and Kansas Byway driving.

The “2014 Kansas Travel Guide” features more than 130 pages of stunning photography; brief stories about a variety of Kansas destinations, activities and events along with hundreds of listings for things to see and do and places to stay or eat. Subscribers to Kansas! magazine will find the travel guide bundled with their magazine.

“Kansas Outdoors” and the “2014 Kansas Travel Guide” are companions to KDWPT’s two websites – TravelKS.com and KSOutdoors.com.

To request a guide, visit TravelKS.com and click on the Travel Guide photo at the top of the page, or call (800) 2Kansas or email [email protected].

TOPEKA (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback is trying to make sure propane gets to families who need it to heat their homes by easing trucking regulations and directing state officials to provide help to poor families.

Brownback announced a series of actions Wednesday to deal with propane shortages and high costs.

The national average price for propane spiked earlier this week at more than $4 a gallon, up more than $1 a gallon since last week. Industry and state officials say supplies were depleted after last year’s harvest when farmers needed to dry an unusually large amount of grain.

Brownback is directing the Department for Children and Families to give priority to propane users in a state program assisting poor families with utility costs.

About 83,000 Kansans homes use propane for heat.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The owners of a framing company in Spring Hill, Kan., were sentenced Wednesday to federal prison for harboring undocumented workers, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said Wednesday in a news release.

James Humbert, 45, owner of Advantage Framing Systems, Inc., was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison.

Kimberly Humbert, 47, wife of James Humbert and co-owner of company, was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison.

Charles Stevens II, 51, brother of Kim Humbert and part-owner of the company, was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison.

The company provided local builders and contractors with engineered floor, prebuilt wall panel, and roof truss systems, along with onsite framing erection labor.

Each of the three defendants pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens for commercial advantage. In their pleas, they admitted:

In March 2012, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service received information that the owners of company engaged foreign citizens who were not lawfully present in the United States.

To pay undocumented workers who were members of framing crews, the defendants devised a method of payment requiring crew leaders to obtain insurance. The company paid the crew leaders, who were responsible for paying the undocumented workers on their crews.

The company paid approximately $4.6 million to framing crews while the defendants were aware that some of the crew leaders and their crew members were not lawfully present in the United States.

Grissom commended the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble for their work on the case.

LAWRENCE (AP) — A 19-year-old woman charged with killing a Lawrence businessman has agreed to return to Kansas from Florida, where she was arrested over the weekend while camping in Everglades National Park.

The Lawrence Journal-World reported Sarah Brooke Gonzales McLinn waived an extradition hearing Wednesday in federal court in Miami.

McLinn is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 52-year-old Harold Sasko, who owned pizza restaurants in Lawrence and Topeka. McLinn was an employee, and Sasko’s relatives have said he let her move into his home while she was having personal problems.

McLinn’s family reported her missing around the same time Sasko was found dead Jan. 17 in his home. Douglas County authorities allege Sasko was killed with an “edged instrument” after being subdued.

CHICAGO (AP) — An increase in rail shipments of oil crude from the northern Plains is being partly blamed for disruptions to an Amtrak route linking Chicago and the West Coast.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers wrote to U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx this week urging him to intervene.

Amtrak’s Empire Builder service runs along a BNSF Railway route that has seen an increase in oil shipments from the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana.

Winter weather has exacerbated several months of disruptions. Westbound Amtrak trains this week have had to bypass stops across much of North Dakota. Delays have reached up to 10 hours.

A BNSF spokeswoman could not be reached.

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari says BNSF has said disruptions could continue for months.