DODGE CITY — Western Kansas Manufacturers Association, sponsor of the annual 3i Show, is gearing up for the 60th annual 3i Show. The show will be in Dodge City at the Western State Bank Expo Center on July 10, 11, and 12, 2014, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
Planning has begun for special events to celebrate the 60th Annual 3i Show, featuring a daily antique tractor parade and much more! The 3i SHOW is an agricultural showcase drawing thousands of crop and livestock producers from across the High Plains. In addition to all the special events being planned, the 2014 3i Show will once again feature the latest in irrigation, implements and industrial equipment, product advancements and innovations, and agricultural health. The show will also feature a pickup truck ride & drive area and a tractor GPS demonstration area as well as an antique tractor display, American Truck Historical Society display, and Vintage Saturday.
TOPEKA – Kansas consumers who have shopped at Target should take advantage of free credit monitoring services and watch out for identity theft, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said Wednesday in a press release.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt
In the wake of its massive data breach, Target has announced that it is offering a free year of credit monitoring for all consumers who have shopped at a U.S. Target store.
“All Kansans who have shopped at Target are encouraged to take advantage of this free service,” Schmidt said. “Paying close attention to accounts that may have been compromised in this data breach can help prevent fraud and identity theft. Consumers should also consider changing passwords and PIN numbers for any debit or credit card accounts they may have used at a Target store.”
Consumers can sign up for the free services online at http://creditmonitoring.target.com through April 22. The service is being offered through Experian’s ProtectMyID, and includes a copy of the consumer’s credit report, daily credit monitoring, identity theft insurance and access to personal assistance.
Schmidt said his office is participating in a multi-state investigation of the Target data breach.
More information on preventing identity theft, requesting a security freeze for your credit report, and taking steps to protect yourself when your personal data has been compromised is available on the Attorney General’s consumer protection website, www.InYourCornerKansas.org.
TOPEKA — The State Library of Kansas has announced the eighth annual Kansas Reads, one-book/one-state reading and discussion project. This year’s selection, “Bleeding Kansas” by Sara Paretsky, relates to the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. While Bleeding Kansas is a contemporary novel, its title appropriately alludes to the Bleeding Kansas era of the 1850s.
Kansas Reads: Bleeding Kansas kicks off today and runs through March 20. Part of the project will feature scholar-led book discussions at Kansas City Kansas Public Library–Wyandotte Branch, Augusta Public Library, Dodge City Public Library, Atchison Public Library and Salina Public Library.
Author Sara Paretsky also will host a book discussion through an interactive Twitter chat at 7 p.m. March 11 using the hashtag #ksreads.
This year’s title is available in a variety of formats as well as book discussion kits. For details on how you can participate in this reading and discussion project, stop by your local library or visit www.kcfb.info/ksreads2014.html.
Kansas Reads: Bleeding Kansas is supported by the Kansas Humanities Council, a nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to promoting humanities programs across Kansas. Find out more at www.kansashumanities.org.
DODGE CITY (AP) — Dodge City police arrested six people for allegedly selling liquor from their homes.
Police Chief Craig Mellecker says the four women and two men were arrested Sunday for sales in four separate homes. He says they were selling alcohol after hours and on days when alcohol sales are illegal, as well as selling to minors.
Mellecker says investigators found single cans of alcohol, 12-packs, 30-packs and two bottles of tequila, along with $2,711 in cash.
The six people face multiple counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor, evasion of liquor tax, selling alcohol with no license and nuisances of place and property.
Two also are charged with child endangerment and contributing to a child’s misconduct after they allegedly allowed their minor child to sell alcohol for them.
TOPEKA (AP) — A Kansas Senate committee is taking up proposed changes in the state’s murder statutes, including tougher penalties for attempted capital murder.
Bills before the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday are byproducts of a 2013 special session when legislators rewrote the procedure for imposing the “Hard 50” sentence for premeditated first-degree murder.
The new proposal would change the presumptive sentence for the crimes to a minimum of life without parole eligibility for 50 years, with juries weighing evidence that could reduce the sentence to a minimum of 25 years to life.
Legislators also will consider whether to increase the sentence for attempted capital murder to life without parole eligibility for 25 years, up from the current 12-year term.
OSKALOOSA (AP) — A fire in the northeast Kansas town of Oskaloosa damaged three businesses and a Masonic Lodge but no injuries were reported.
The fire Monday night extensively damaged a cafe and realty office and did minor smoke damage to a bank branch. Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Herrig says the Masonic Lodge about the cafe also was damaged.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation but Herrig said it apparently started in the basement of the cafe.
The Lawrence Journal-World reported no damage estimates were available Tuesday.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas Medical Center has received $10 million in federal research grants.
Medical center officials announced Tuesday the grants will be used to research smoking cessation and chronic pain treatment, as well as funding a network to share patient data among research centers.
The Kansas City Star reported the projects are funded through the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. That’s an independent nonprofit organization authorized by the Affordable Care Act that receives federal funding.
TOPEKA (AP) — A million-dollar Powerball prize on a ticket sold in southwest Kansas remains unclaimed after nearly a year.
The Kansas Lottery said Tuesday the ticket matched the first five numbers but not the Powerball in the drawing of Jan. 26, 2013. Those numbers were 3-22-26-41-49, Powerball 18.
Holders of winning tickets have 365 days to come forward. If the prize isn’t claimed, the Lottery retains the jackpot money to be used in future prizes.
The Lottery said the $1 million ticket was sold in its 24-county southwest Kansas region. By policy, the agency doesn’t reveal the store where a winning ticket was sold until the prize is claimed.
MANHATTAN – News that U.S. beef and cattle prices hit record high prices early in the new year is a good sign for producers and even some consumers, according to a Kansas State University agricultural economist.
“This is a good thing for both sides,” said Glynn Tonsor, livestock marketing specialist with K-State Research and Extension, noting that while the prices may be construed as impeding some beef purchases at grocery store meat counters, some consumers are willing and able to buy at these prices.
Following a string of record-setting days, the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Jan. 13 reported choice beef cutout values at a record high $216.94 per hundredweight (cwt), up from $200.65 on Dec. 31 and $194.09 on Jan. 13, 2013.
Also after several days of increasingly higher values, the USDA reported live steer prices climbed to a record high average of $139.68 per cwt the week of Jan. 6-10, 2013 in the five-area price report, which includes Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and other states. That was up from an average $137.53 a week earlier and $126.04 a year earlier.
Overall beef demand strength has surprised analysts, playing a key role in current cattle prices throughout the industry, Tonsor said. Over the next few months, beef supplies are expected to continue their decline leading to higher retail beef prices as long as retail demand is constant or improving.
“The lower available supplies by definition means that per capita beef consumption will decline. It is important to recognize this consumption reduction not be uniform across households,” he said, adding that the amount of beef that shoppers will buy will vary by income and the overall value individual households place on beef offerings.
“In the past we’ve had per capita beef consumption of 55 to 65 pounds, but that’s coming down,” Tonsor said. Per capita consumption of beef has been going down the past two years and per capita consumption of chicken and pork have been going up. That will continue in 2014.”
The USDA reported the average price of choice sirloin beef steak at $6.80 per pound in November 2013, while the average price of boneless pork chops was $3.95 per pound. The same month the average price of boneless chicken breast was $3.45 per pound.
Overall, the beef price increases are linked to fewer cattle on U.S. farms and ranches, Tonsor said. The size of the U.S. cow herd has been down for several years – first because beef production was not profitable – and the past three years, because drought reduced forage and feed supplies, forcing producers to sell off their herds. Fewer cattle translated into less beef, which helped spur the higher prices.
In its last annual Cattle Inventory report, the USDA reported that there were 89.3 million head of cattle on U.S. farms and ranches as of Jan. 1, 2012, marking the lowest Jan. 1 inventory of all cattle and calves since 88.1 million head were reported in 1952. Another inventory report is due out Jan. 31.
ARKANSAS CITY (AP) — The former director of a south-central Kansas senior center has pleaded no contest to theft, misuse of public funds and giving false information.
The Arkansas City Traveler reported 47-year-old Edward G. Greene entered the pleas Tuesday in Cowley County District Court.
Greene resigned in September 2012 after four years as director of the Arkansas City Senior Citizens Center. He was charged last February with six felony counts, three of which were dropped under a plea agreement.
The agreement requires Greene to pay restitution of $25,000 to the senior center, $25,000 to Ark City Senior Friends and $3,000 to the city.
WASHINGTON — Enrollment in health insurance via the Obamacare marketplace surged in December, with 1.8 million people nationwide selecting a plan last month versus just 400,000 in October and November combined.
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and former Kansas governor, Kathleen Sebelius.
In Kansas, according to federal officials:
• 14,242 people had selected a marketplace plan;
• 5,508 were steered to Medicaid by the marketplace;
• 27,763 have completed applications, that possibly would cover 45,228 lives; and
• 18,896 were determined to be eligible for financial aid.
The figures are part of new enrollment data released today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Administration officials touted the numbers as proof of strong interest in the benefits of the health reform law.
“We’re pleased to see such a strong response and heavy demand for the health insurance marketplace,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a teleconference with news reporters. “The numbers show that there is a very strong national demand for affordable health care made possible by the Affordable Care Act.”
Of the 2.2 million people who have so far selected a private insurance plan via HealthCare.gov:
• 55 percent are ages 45 to 64
• 30 percent are ages 26 to 44
• 54 percent are female
• 79 percent will receive tax subsidies
• 60 percent selected a Silver plan
• 20 percent selected a Bronze plan
• 13 percent selected a Gold plan
• 7 percent selected a Platinum plan
• 1 percent selected catastrophic coverage
Michael Hash, Director of the Office of Health Reform, said enrollment so far mirrored the expectation that older people would enroll first, while younger people would wait until the deadline. Open enrollment for 2014 ends March 31.
“The trends so far, as we’ve released in this report, are suggestive of an appropriate mix in the marketplace. But we’re only halfway through the open enrollment period and we expect an increase in the proportion of young adults,” Hash said.
Sheldon Weisgrau — director of the Health Reform Resource Project, a foundation-funded initiative to educate Kansas consumers and businesses about the health reform law — said it would be difficult to draw many conclusions from the data released today.
“The key to appropriate risk balance in insurance pools is really healthy versus unhealthy. Because we no longer ask about health status on insurance applications, we usually use age as a proxy for health status. That’s appropriate for the most part, but is not the whole story. For example, an insurer would probably prefer a healthy, older enrollee to a sick, younger enrollee. But we don’t have these details,” Weisgrau said.
“That said, the percentage of younger enrollees is lower than ideal given their representation in the population,” he said, citing a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation that estimated that people ages 18 to 34 make up about 40 percent of the eligible population.
“So, the hope would be that they make up about 40 percent of enrollees,” Weisgrau said. So far, 24 percent of those who have selected plans are ages 18 to 34.
“But it’s much too early to draw conclusions. It was entirely predictable that the first people to sign up would be those most desperate for insurance coverage — people with pre-existing conditions who were previously denied coverage, people with very high premiums because of poor health status, etc.,” he said.
Weisgrau said he expected enrollment figures would spike in March as the enrollment deadline approaches.
Projections are that less than one-third of the uninsured population in Kansas would buy coverage via the insurance marketplace, Weisgrau said.
“So, assuming 360,000 uninsured in Kansas, at most 120,000 would be expected to purchase in the marketplace; 45,228 lives is about 38 percent of that number…that’s not bad,” he said.
Among the main things that stood out in the report to officials at the Kansas Insurance Department was the relatively high percentage of Kansans who selected Gold plans: 25 percent versus the national average of 13 percent.
“That is interesting because it may show some recognition on the part of some of our consumers that they are willing to pay a bit more in their monthly premiums in exchange for a bit more control over their out of pocket costs throughout the plan year,” said Linda Sheppard, Director of Health Care Policy and Analysis at the insurance department.
DURHAM — A Sawyer man was hospitalized after a single-vehicle accident west of McPherson at 7:22 a.m. Tuesday.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported Jake F. Schellhamer, 37, was northbound on Kansas 15 just south of Durham when his 1992 GMC Sierra left the roadway and hit a driveway culvert. The pickup rolled once, coming to rest on its wheels, and a horse trailer being towed by the truck separated from the vehicle.
Schellhamer was transported to Wesley Medical Center, Wichita, for treatment. The KHP said he was not wearing a seat belt.
LINCOLN — A Lincoln man was killed in a one-vehicle accident at 10:40 p.m. Monday, the Kansas Highway Patrol reported.
The KHP said a 2001 Ford Ranger driven by Kenneth G. Wacker, 63, was northbound on Kansas 14 just south of Lincoln when it drifted off the east shoulder and over-corrected, crossing both lanes of traffic. The pickup entered the west ditch, rolled and came to rest on its passenger side.
