ANDOVER (AP) — Police say two southeast Kansas teenagers who hadn’t been seen since Monday were found safe in Kansas City.
Zachary Furechting and Alanna Ardanche, both 15, voluntarily left Andover Central High School on Monday.
Kansas City police said the teenagers were found together at a fast-food restaurant Wednesday morning. They are in good condition and were not with anyone else.
Further details were not immediately available.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., released the following statement today in tribute to the state of Kansas’ 153rd birthday:
“On January 29, 1861, Kansas was founded on the ideals of freedom and individual responsibility. The spirit of those early pioneers who settled our state and tamed the West still lives on today as Kansans work to improve our communities, our state and our nation.
“The story of Kansas is one about the farmers, factory workers, teachers, parents and all the unsung heroes whose hard work has built our state’s economy. Kansas has established itself as a national leader in many fields, including agriculture, aviation and research. From Amelia Earhart of Atchison to Nobel Prize winner Jack Kilby of Great Bend to Walter Chrysler of Ellis – our state has been home to some of the most brilliant and talented American minds.
“Over the years, our state has also raised many national leaders who have helped Kansas and the nation overcome many obstacles. No one better exemplifies this leadership than President Dwight D. Eisenhower – one of Kansas’ favorite sons who rose from humble beginnings to do great things. President Eisenhower is among thousands of patriotic and devoted Kansans who have answered the call to serve our country.
“I often tell folks in Washington that we live a special way of life in Kansas. In Kansas, we have strong communities, where you can raise your family, get involved and form life-long friendships. We have dedicated teachers, who not only educate our children, but instill in them a love for learning. And we have neighbors who know one another by name. This is the Kansas legacy we want to leave behind for our children and grandchildren.
“We have much to be proud of – from our rich heritage, to our talented leaders, to our diverse industries. Happy 153rd birthday to the great state of Kansas; I believe even brighter days lie ahead, and I will work hard to make certain we leave behind a stronger, freer and more prosperous state and nation for the next generation.”
TOPEKA (AP) — A Kansas Senate committee is recommending passage of a bill that would abolish a political action committee led by moderate Republicans that was involved in 2012 elections.
The Senate Ethics and Election Committee voted Wednesday to advance the bill. The PAC was led by former moderate Republican Senate leaders, including Senate President Steve Morris.
Funds remaining in the PAC’s treasury would have to be disbursed to the Republican Party, returned to donors or used for other purposes when the organization ceased to exist.
Morris was ousted in 2012 in an election cycle that swept conservative Republicans into power. The bill was introduced during the 2013 session but failed to advance out of committee.
Future PACs would have to be a subgroup of the state party.
MANHATTAN (AP) — A mother and son each pleaded not guilty to aiding and abetting the first-degree murder of a Manhattan man.
Forty-nine-year-old Christina Love and 33-year-old James McKenith, both of Manhattan, entered their pleas Monday. They are charged in the death of 68-year-old John Burroughs.
Prosecutors allege the pair helped Anthony Nichols of Kansas City, Kan., kill Burroughs last September at his home.
The Manhattan Mercury reported Nichols also is charged with first-degree murder in the death of a Junction City man the same night Burroughs was killed.
Investigators say Love drove with her son to Burroughs’ home and witnessed the stabbing. McKenith is accused of stabbing Burroughs after Nichols allegedly shot him earlier.
McKenith is scheduled to start May 5, and Love’s trial is scheduled to start June 2.
HUTCHINSON — Siemens Energy announced this week it has secured an order for a new wind farm development in Texas.
The 182-megawatt Panhandle 2 wind project is located northeast of Amarillo, Texas, and will consist of 79 Siemens wind turbines. Pattern Energy, which has partnered with Siemens on seven other wind farm projects, is project developer.
Delivery of the equipment will begin in March, and the turbines are scheduled to be commission in November.
The nacelles for the turbines will be manufactured in Hutchinson, while the 53-meter blades will originate from the Siemens facility in Fort Madison, Iowa.
TOPEKA – Kansas Mentors and Volunteer Kansas announced today an opportunity for mentoring programs to apply for funding to help offset the costs of background checks conducted through the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
In 2012-2013, Kansas Mentors was awarded $100,000 from Volunteer Kansas to distribute funds to Kansas Mentors’ Gold Star programs conducting KBI background checks on mentors. During 2014, Kansas Mentors will have $34,500 in funding for Gold Star programs, because of another grant awarded by Volunteer Kansas.
“Kansas’ mentoring programs are reporting significant declines in funding while an increase in the need for services,” said Bill Snyder, chairman of Kansas Mentors and Kansas State University football team. “These funds are a strategic investment to ensure more young Kansans have access to a safe and caring adult role model.”
Background checks are an essential component of the screening process to help ensure the safety of youth involved in mentoring programs. The cost of criminal background checks, however, is substantial considering every mentor should complete and pass a check before they can begin mentoring. This can be a huge funding barrier that can potentially limit the number of young people a program serves or even worse, put youth in danger should a mentoring program forgo the background check because of the cost.
“The goal of Volunteer Kansas is to increase volunteerism across our state. Mentoring is one of the most important and rewarding ways to volunteer,” said Nola Brown, director of Volunteer Kansas. “With budget cuts to so many mentoring programs, our fear was children would miss out on opportunities for positive direction from qualified adults simply because reputable mentoring programs could no longer afford the necessary KBI background checks. We hope this grant will bridge the gap, encourage continued recruitment of volunteer mentors and ultimately result in positive life outcomes for kids in Kansas who are matched with caring mentors.”
Kansas Mentors is currently partnered with more than 175 mentoring programs serving all 105 Kansas counties. The organization is committed to providing every young Kansan access to a caring and quality mentor through recruitment, awareness, and training efforts. Mentoring programs interested in applying for funding can visit Kansas Mentors at www.KansasMentors.org.
By MIKE SHIELDS
KHI News Service
HUTCHINSON — Citing “numerous difficulties” getting paid correctly, one of the state’s largest doctor groups sent a letter to its Medicaid patients telling them it might drop its contracts with two of the state’s three KanCare managed care companies.
The letter, sent last month by the Hutchinson Clinic, sparked concern among patients and downstream service providers who said the letter left them wondering what they could or should do now that KanCare open enrollment is upon them.
Choosing a new plan can be fraught with complications because it requires sorting out which doctors, pharmacists and other providers might be available through the plan’s network of service providers.
And the letter was interpreted by many who received it as an attempt to steer the clinic’s patients to Sunflower State Health Plan and away from the other two KanCare contractors: Amerigroup and UnitedHealthcare.
‘Promised choice’
“Steering” is a practice explicitly barred and penalized in some states that have Medicaid managed care plans and also is considered counter to federal rules intended to promote plan choice for Medicaid beneficiaries. One Kansas legislator suggested similar rules might be needed in Kansas in light of the letter.
View the letter from Hutchinson doctor group to patients.
“Our Medicaid recipients were promised choice when KanCare was launched. Any attempts to narrow or eliminate that choice by either providers or the managed care companies should not be tolerated. If it takes legislation or regulation to ensure choice, so be it,” said Sen. Laura Kelly, a Topeka Democrat, commenting on the letter after it was described last week by concerned service providers during a teleconference with state and federal Medicaid officials.
Sunflower State Health Plan officials said they had no knowledge of the letter before it was sent by the clinic and neither condoned nor endorsed it.
“We really had nothing to do with them (the clinic) sending it out,” said Monica Stoneking, communications director for Sunflower State Health Plan, “and we actually don’t want them sending something like that out.”
‘Frustrating for us’
Michael Harms, the Hutchinson Clinic’s chief financial officer, said the letter was sent without consulting any state or managed care company officials but reflected the frustration clinic officials have been experiencing since KanCare was launched Jan. 1, 2013.
Harms said the clinic has had problems with “thousands of claims” it has filed with the KanCare companies and is behind “hundreds of thousands” of dollars in payments due from them.
“It’s been frustrating for us,” Harms said in an email to KHI News Service, “because everyone wants to talk about the problems and (there is) no action. How about let’s set some hard deadlines for resolution of claims issues instead of letting the MCO companies drive the resolution of these claims problems on their terms. Let’s get the problems fixed!! It seems like the stakeholders should have some input into the resolution of the problems.”
Harms said between 5 and 10 percent of the clinic’s patients are enrolled in a KanCare health plan.
Included among them are clients of TECH, Inc., the nonprofit umbrella organization for the Reno County Community Developmental Disability Organization.
Brenda Maxey, TECH’s chief executive, said the letter had created ongoing consternation and worries among many of the 250 clients the organization serves that are on KanCare, most of whom are developmentally disabled.
Confounding the services ‘matrix’
Maxey said the organization had put considerable effort into building a “matrix” that mapped which area health care providers were aligned with which KanCare companies and what services each TECH client could receive.
She said she didn’t see how the area’s care system would work for her clients if the Hutchinson Clinic limited itself to contracting only with Sunflower.
“The Hutchinson Clinic being such a huge provider in our community, the idea of them choosing to contract with only one of the MCOs (managed care organizations) creates a huge problem,” Maxey said.
The clinic has more than 70 doctors and more than 600 employees.
That also would create problems for other Medicaid beneficiaries in outlying cities such as Great Bend, according to Mark Bitter, a businessman in that city and the guardian for a man there who has developmental disabilities.
Bitter raised several points about the clinic’s letter during last week’s teleconference with state and federal Medicaid officials.
He said his ward might end up having to travel “three hours to find the same service and there’s no promise those providers will accept the MCOs, either. How will that be addressed?”
Not entirely unusual
Kari Bruffett, director of the division of health care finance at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, told Bitter and other listeners that decisions by providers to no longer participate in a particular KanCare plan as contract terms lapse or come due for renewal is “not going to be entirely unusual.”
But she said whatever plan a beneficiary is enrolled in would be obliged by the state to make services available within a reasonable distance, even if the company had to pay a provider out-of-network rates to secure the services.
And in a follow-up email to KHI News Service, Bruffett said KDHE officials had been in touch with the Hutchinson Clinic about the letter.
“We are committed to ensuring KanCare members have access to health services,” she said. “We have continued to gather information on the issues raised related to the Hutchinson Clinic, with a focus on any effect on members. We have spoken to the clinic and have been assured that its physicians will continue to see KanCare members, regardless of the MCO with whom the member is enrolled.”
‘Reaching out and continuing dialogue’
Apparently, the clinic also heard from at least one of the managed care companies that it criticized in the letter.
“Frankly, with this provider and all our providers’ agreements and provider manuals there is some clear language that they are really prohibited from directing members to choose an MCO,” said Maureen McDonnell, Amerigroup’s vice president of external communications. “We are reaching out and continuing dialogue to see what we can do to rectify the matter with them.”
Maxey and others said today that they still hadn’t heard anything from the Hutchinson Clinic about its intentions regarding the KanCare companies.
“I haven’t heard any resolution to it,” Bitter said. “I think it’s concerning as to where it may be leading.”
But Harms told KHI News Service that the clinic has since decided to continue contracting with all three companies through 2014 though it hadn’t yet informed all its patients of that decision.
“We are working on communication with patients,” he said in an email sent near the close of business hours on Tuesday.
The KanCare open enrollment process continues through March 4 for about 330,000 of the program’s 400,000 beneficiaries.
JUNCTION CITY — Seven counties are set to join forces Friday with a formal signing ceremony that would create the Flint Hills Economic Development District.
“Seven counties coming together to collaborate together to figure out how we can grow economically,” said Bill Clark, executive director of Flint Hills Regional Council. “It also allows us to tie into funding from the federal level.”
The seven counties included are Geary, Riley, Pottawatomie, Wabaunsee, Lyon, Chase and Morris.
The new organization will work to implement a cohesive marketing strategy to promote the region’s tourism and business opportunities, and to develop a regional brand reflecting the natural and social history of the region.
HUTCHINSON — A 27-year-old Hutchinson man charged with attempted first-degree murder after he allegedly attacked Reno County Attorney Keith Schroeder is scheduled for preliminary hearing Wednesday.
Michael Sherman is charged with the attempted murder count or an alternative count of aggravated battery. The case is being prosecuted by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office and a former Reno County assistant attorney, Greg Benefiel.
Sherman is alleged to have attacked Schroeder after retired Judge William “Buck” Lyle upheld his sentence in a child sex case. Sherman is alleged to have jumped on Schroeder who was sitting at the prosecution table a few feet away. According to the complaint, he wrapped his jail chain around Schroeder’s neck. Jail officer Lance Francis then jumped on both and put Sherman into a choke hold. Schroeder received a minor cut to his right forehead as a result.
Sherman earlier was convicted of aggravated criminal sodomy of his own infant child in August 2012. He admitted he was alone with the child and was watching pornography on his cellphone, then sodomized the child.
Wednesday’s hearing will be before Judge Joe McCarville.
TOPEKA — The annual Older Worker Awards ceremony will be April 24 in Topeka, the Kansas Department of Commerce and the Older Worker Task Force announced this week. The department is now accepting nominations for the awards.
This event honors older workers who continue to play crucial roles in the Kansas workforce and economy, as well as their employers. Honorees will include older workers who are employed in both public and private sector jobs, and businesses and companies that regularly employ workers age 55 and older.
Nominations for workers 55 and older and for companies that employ older workers are due March 31. Nomination forms are available at KansasCommerce.com/OlderWorkers. For more information about the ceremony, call (785) 296-7842 or email [email protected].
Nominations are accepted for three award categories:
• Outstanding Older Worker: Bestows appreciation on an older worker who demonstrates outstanding qualities of leadership, dedication and commitment. Nominations are open to the general public. Nominees must be 55 years or older, residents of Kansas and working at least 20 hours a week in paid employment. Previous winners are not eligible.
• Oldest Worker: Celebrates the tenacity and fortitude of the experienced worker and is awarded on the basis of age of those working for pay. Previous winners are not eligible.
• Employer of the Older Worker Award: Bestows appreciation on a business that promotes, recruits, retains and develops experienced workers, and provides a positive and friendly work environment for older workers.
WASHINGTON — Statement from Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, on President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address:
“Tonight, Americans heard President Obama’s latest pitch for the same failed policies we’ve dealt with for five years: higher taxes, overregulation and irresponsible spending. Five years into the Washington Democrats’ economy, there are 10.4 million Americans unemployed, the labor force participation rate has plunged to its lowest level in nearly 40 years, median household income has fallen each year, and one in four part-time workers are living below the poverty line. The President and Senate Democrats have done next to nothing to promote pro-growth policies that would truly help individuals reach their full potential.
“Senate Democrats are more interested in pitting one group of Americans against another for temporary political gains than in creating jobs. And the President is more interested in working around Congress and the Constitution to enact his liberal agenda than in working with Congress to grow the economy. The goal of our economic policies should not be increased reliance on the minimum wage, unemployment benefits and government aid. Rather, the goal should be fostering an environment that allows individuals to find ennobling, meaningful jobs that can support their families.
“Opportunities for Americans will only come when Washington puts policies in place that promote economic growth rather than hamper it. A growing economy will create new opportunities for the poor and middle-class to find valuable work, start a business, increase their income, and advance up the economic ladder.
“Over the past five years, President Obama and Congressional Democrats have proven they not only have the wrong ideas about how to get America growing again, they also lack the credibility to be trusted to keep their promises. That’s why the majority of Americans want to elect someone new. The President and his Democratic friends in the Senate have lauded the economy for years, but their lofty rhetoric simply doesn’t match the reality for most middle-class American workers and families – not to mention the millions suffering in poverty. Worse, Senate Democrats have prevented action on measures that could provide an immediate boost to the economy at little or no cost to the American taxpayer. Americans deserve better from their elected officials in Washington. Growing our economy, getting people back to work, and making certain all Americans have the ability to climb the ladder of success are all reasons why we seek a Republican majority in the Senate.”
WICHITA (AP) — The federal trial of a Canadian man accused stealing the identity of his dead infant brother has opened in Kansas with lawyers calling the defendant by different names.
Prosecutors said in opening statements Tuesday that former Winfield resident Leslie Camick assumed the identity of Wayne Camick, who died in 1958. The government contends Leslie Camick hatched a scheme to flee Canada, where he owed child support, taxes and other obligations, and built a life under the assumed name after coming to the U.S. in 2000.
But a defense lawyer repeatedly referred to his client as Wayne Camick, saying everybody knows him by that name and that he has harmed no one by using it.
Camick is charged with aggravated identity theft, obstruction of justice, mail fraud and wire fraud.
TOPEKA (AP) — Kansas lawmakers are weighing whether to prohibit tanning parlors from letting minors use their tanning beds.
The House Health and Human Services Committee heard testimony Tuesday on the bill. The measure includes a maximum $250 fine for businesses that allow customers younger than 18 to use tanning beds.
Proponents said exposure to harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation from tanning beds increases the chances of developing melanoma later in life.
But industry representatives say the message should be one of moderation, not abstinence from UV exposure, whether from the sun or from tanning beds. While they support the proposed regulation, they argue that the conversation should be about proper skin care for all people to avoid cancer and the overuse of sunscreens.
