The Kansas Department of Commerce has announced that seven additional counties certified by the Kansas Legislature to participate in the Rural Opportunity Zones (ROZ) program have decided to partner with the state in the student loan repayment program.

Allen, Bourbon, Brown, Ellsworth, Nemaha, Osborne and Sheridan counties have voted to provide matching funds to assist qualified new residents with student loan repayments.

The ROZ program allows qualifying individuals who move to a ROZ county to have their state income taxes waived for up to five years. In addition, counties that opt to partner with the state may offer student loan repayments of up to $15,000.

Since July 2011, the Department has received 1,106 applications for participation in the student loan repayment program from residents of 41 states. Education and healthcare are the two largest professions among applicants. More than 80 percent of applicants have family connections to rural Kansas.

For more information about the ROZ program, visit KansasCommerce.com/RuralOpportunityZones.

The following counties have been certified by the Legislature as ROZ counties (italicized counties are 2013 additions):

Allen, Anderson, Barber, Bourbon, Brown, Chase, Chautauqua, Cheyenne, Clark, Clay, Cloud, Coffey, Comanche, Decatur, Doniphan, Edwards, Elk, Ellsworth, Gove, Graham, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Greenwood, Hamilton, Harper, Haskell, Hodgeman, Jackson, Jewell, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Logan, Marion, Marshall, Meade, Mitchell, Morris, Morton, Nemaha, Neosho, Ness, Norton, Osborne, Ottawa, Pawnee, Phillips, Pratt, Rawlins, Republic, Rice, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Scott, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Trego, Thomas, Wabaunsee, Wallace, Washington, Wichita, Wilson and Woodson.

Lisa Kaspar is the Kansas Department of Revenue’s new director of vehicles.

Kaspar, who has worked with the Kansas Department of Revenue in multiple divisions, including tax, communications and vehicles, led the department’s organization development and training team.

Kaspar’s team has also developed a successful training program for the state’s driver licensing examiners and she has an in-depth understanding of the Division of Vehicles’ people, processes, systems and stakeholders, said Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan.

Kasper, a resident of Topeka, has been with the Kansas Department of Revenue for all of her 30-year career. She worked on the department’s upgrade of the state’s tax system. She has also managed the department’s Learning Center and implementing multimedia initiatives and helping design and develop the department’s Certified Team Leadership program.

The beginning of November marks one of Kansas’ most prized hunting seasons – pheasant and quail – and for hunters age 16 and younger, a jump-start on the regular season can mean the difference between a decent hunt and an unforgettable season.

Nov. 2-3 is the Kansas youth pheasant and quail season, which will be open to youth hunters under adult supervision.

Established as part of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism’s Pass It On program, the youth season provides young hunters and their mentors the opportunity to be in the field before the crowds of opening day. Public lands and Walk-In Hunting Access lands are open, and hunting pressure is usually light.

Adult mentors may not hunt during the two-day youth season.

Resident youth 15 and younger do not need anything other than an adult supervisor to hunt during the youth season, although a hunter education certificate is recommended. Hunters age 16 will need a hunting license and a hunter education certificate, unless they purchase an apprentice license, which is a one-time deferral of the hunter education requirement. However, adult supervision is required at all times for an apprentice license holder, even during the regular season.

Daily bag limits during the youth pheasant and quail season are half those of the regular season; two rooster pheasants and four quail.

For more information, including where to hunt and to view the current upland bird forecast, visit ksoutdoors.com/hunting.

The Boy Scouts of America have nominated former Defense Secretary and ex-Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Robert Gates to lead the organization, according to a Wednesday news release.

Gates was raised in Wichita and is a graduate of Wichita East High School.

If approved by the Boy Scouts’ national council, the Eagle Scout will begin a two-year term as president in May. The organization, which has about 2.6 million youth members, also elected Gates to its national executive board.

Gates has long had a relationship with the organization. He is a past president of the National Eagle Scout Association and has been awarded the Silver Buffalo Award, for service to youth, and was named to the Order of the Arrow, “the highest mark of distinction and recognition for those with exceptional service and unselfish interests,” according to the Boy Scouts.

He received his bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary, where he is chancellor, his master’s degree in history from Indiana University, and his doctorate in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University. He and his wife, Becky, have two grown children.

Kansas Securities Commissioner Josh Ney has issued a cease and desist order against Robert S. Beene and Sidelight Entertainment Group, Inc. for multiple alleged violations of the Kansas Uniform Securities Act (KUSA). Sidelight Entertainment Inc. is a private, for-profit corporation located in Atchison and has been previously registered or known by other names, including Global Warrior Challenge and Pickerswarehouse, Inc.

The cease and desist order alleges that Beene and Sidelight Entertainment Group violated the KUSA by offering and selling unregistered securities and committing securities fraud by omitting certain material facts.

The unregistered securities sold by Beene included Pay-Per-View Buy-In “points” for the Global Warrior Challenge held at the Sprint Center in Kansas City on June 29, 2013. The Global Warrior Challenge was described as a group of mixed martial arts fights, which included matches between United States and United Kingdom fighters. Points were sold to the public for $5000 per point, and at least one Kansas investor purchased points.

The order also claimed that at the time the Kansas investor purchased the points for the Global Warrior Challenge, Beene failed to disclose a material fact, thus violating the KUSA.  Beene and Sidelight Entertainment Group have the opportunity to request a hearing on the matter within 30 days after service of the order.

The Kansas Securities Commissioner urges any individuals that have had dealings with Robert S. Beene or Sidelight Entertainment Group to contact the Office of the Securities Commissioner at 785-296-3307 or email [email protected].

“I’ll be a full-time Secretary of State,” Jean Schodorf said today in announcing her candidacy for that office.  Schodorf is challenging incumbent Kris Kobach.

She is a former Wichita school board president and state senator.  Schodorf  is running in the Democratic primary. Randy Rolston of Mission Hills also is running.

“The taxpayers pay for a full-time Secretary of State.  My opponent has earned a lot of money moonlighting as a lawyer, lobbyist, and consultant for outside interests on our time.  I think that’s wrong,” Schodorf said.

“Kansas families and businesses pay a lot of money in taxes and we expect government agencies to do the job they are supposed to do.  And whether you are waiting 5 hours to renew your driver’s license, or waiting 30 minutes on hold at the Secretary of State’s office, the fact is that our government is not getting the job done.”

Schodorf said Kobach is focusing on his own personal agenda and ignoring Kansans.  “In fact, instead of helping persons register to vote, he relishes the fact that 17,200 people are on the suspense list.  He calls them ‘casual registrants.’  I call them Kansans who did the right thing and registered to vote.  That is why I am running for Kansas Secretary of State.”

Schodorf outlined her agenda at a Wichita news conference:

Transparency. There will no more secrets at the Secretary of State’s office…no more six-week gaps in official schedules…no more sneaking out of state to Alabama, Arizona, Pennsylvania, or anywhere else to work on other projects.

Make the office business friendly. Schodorf will reorganize the office and employ new technologies so that people trying to register a new business will not have to wait on hold for 30 minutes or more.  She will prioritize fixing the agency’s website so Kansans can easily find what they are looking for.

Fix the voter registration mess. Because of Kris Kobach’s failed leadership, over 17,000 Kansans are being denied the right to vote. Many of them are women, seniors, and veterans. The solution is very simple:  We need to use technology to link up the Secretary of State to the Office of Vital Statistics to verify birth certificates instantaneously. There is no excuse for having two state agencies just blocks away from each other failing to communicate and coordinate.

As a state senator, Schodorf was the Assistant Majority Whip in the Senate and chaired three committees, including the Senate Education Committee.  She also served on the critical Ways and Means Committee.

Schodorf has a PhD from Wichita State University and works as a Speech/Language Pathologist.

A woman who owns a retail store in Wichita has pleaded guilty to trafficking in counterfeit designer goods, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said Tuesday.

Glenda Sue Morgan, 55, Wichita, pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in goods bearing counterfeit trademarks.

In her plea, she admitted selling the counterfeit goods as “replicas” at her business, The Fabulous Store at 9131 E. 37th North in Wichita. On April 2, 2013, undercover law enforcement officers bought about $500 worth of such items including a “Chanel” bracelet and sunglasses, a “Michael Kors” purse and a “Prada” purse. When investigators served a search warrant they seized 400 replica items with a retail value of about $14,000.

In June 2009, more than $1 million in counterfeit goods was seized by Homeland Security Investigations from the same location. At the time, Morgan forfeited ownership of the items and they were destroyed, but she was not charged criminally.

Sentencing is set for Jan. 17, 2014. She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $2 million. Grissom commended Homeland Security Investigations, the Wichita Police Department and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson for their work on the case.

The former chief financial officer for a manufacturing firm in Emporia has been charged in federal court with embezzling more than $265,000 from the company, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Sandra Moore, 57, Emporia, was charged in a criminal information filed today in U.S. District Court in Topeka with one count of embezzlement.

The criminal information alleges the crime occurred beginning in 2008 while the defendant was CFO of Sauder Custom Fabrication, Inc., in Emporia. It is alleged Moore devised a variety of schemes to divert money from her employer’s accounts to her own including:

Making unauthorized transfers from the company’s disbursement account to her personal account at ESB Financial in Emporia.
Issuing unauthorized checks and depositing them into her personal account.
Issuing unauthorized to repay loans she obtained from her 401K account.

Using those methods, she is alleged to have embezzled a total of $265,927 from the company.

If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Hathaway is prosecuting.

The chairman of the Travel Industry Association of Kansas (TIAK) Legislative Committee, Roger Hrabe, is also the Rooks County Economic Development Director, who understands the importance of funding for economic development opportunities in the state.

“Our members know firsthand the economic impact investment in tourism events has on their communities,” says Hrabe.

“Tourism events in Kansas draw people to communities where they spend money and create jobs. Tourism is the third largest industry in the state, employing approximately 10% of the population.”

The majority of the Kansas travel industry have said the most important general business issue is state investment in economic development projects, according to the latest survey of legislative priorities for TIAK.   The group released its annual survey Tuesday.

Top areas by respondents on where TIAK should focus its efforts today and during the 2014 legislative session include:

• Protect and increase funding for tourism and support tax incentives;
• Better understand, advocate and protect the integrity of the Transient Guest Tax (TGT);
• Enhance legislative awareness of tourism industry’s impact to the state and its businesses;
• Funding for the transportation programs and improved tourism signage across the state;  and
• Retention of the STAR Bond program.

A recent study of the return on investment of state dollars for tourism expenditures was released in 2013.  It showed Kansas received 32 million visitors in 2011, which generated $8 billion, with each visitor spending on average $236.  Tourism is responsible for 148,228 jobs in the state, $2.5 billion in wages and salaries, and 14.4% of all state and local tax receipts.

TIAK’s legislative survey results also indicated:

• 53% of respondents say the T-WORKS program has been the most beneficial economic development program to their local communities.
• The other most important general business issues include the state tax structure, state and federal legislation with regard to immigration and the impact on the service industry business, and maintenance of the Kansas transportation system.
• Overwhelmingly, the majority of respondents support the elimination of the Kansas motor coach property tax assessed on tourism buses traveling through Kansas.

The former treasurer of the Mayetta Rural Fire District #1 in Jackson County, has been charged in federal court with embezzling more than $427,000 from the district, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Richard P. Bontrager, 67, Holton,  was charged in a criminal information filed today in U.S. District Court in Topeka with one count of embezzlement.

The criminal information alleges the crime occurred from 2008 to 2013 while Bontrager was managing the finances of the fire district, which serves a 121-square-mile area including the town and nearby rural community. Beginning in 2008, Bontrager began embezzling funds by issuing checks with forged signatures of members of the district’s five-member board of directors. He made the checks payable to a fictitious company he called “R & S Services,” to conceal the fact the money was deposited into his personal account.

The criminal information also alleges he falsified loan documents to obligate the fire district to make monthly lease payments on a Polaris Ranger UTV and a 1988 Chevrolet one-ton brush truck. He created false minutes to make it appear the board had approved the lease.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Hathaway is prosecuting.

The Kansas Cold Weather Rule takes effect November 1 and remains in effect through March 31.

“The Cold Weather Rule ensures Kansans can keep warm during winter months,” says Kansas Corporation Commission  Chairman Mark Sievers. “We encourage consumers to take steps to prepare for colder temperatures. Making sure heating equipment is in good working order, keeping your thermostat at reasonable levels, weather-stripping and caulking windows and doorways—these things can cut down on heating costs. ”

The Cold Weather Rule prohibits utility companies from disconnecting a customer’s natural gas or electric service during periods of extreme cold. The Rule requires utility companies to offer a 12-month payment plan to allow consumers to maintain or re-establish utility service.

Disconnection Conditions:

Utility companies may not initiate disconnection until temperatures are forecast to be above 35 degrees for the next 48 hours.

Utility companies must contact the customer by phone or in-person 24 hours before disconnecting service.

Utility companies are prohibited from disconnecting a customer’s service when temperatures are forecast to be at or below 35 degrees over the next 24 hours.

Any residential customer with a past due balance will qualify for payment arrangements under the Rule. However, it is the customer’s responsibility to contact the gas or electric company to make those arrangements.

Payment Plan conditions to maintain or restore service:

Customers must contact their utility company and inform that they cannot pay their bill in full.

Customers must agree to pay 1/12th of the total amount owed, 1/12th of the current bill, the full amount of any disconnection or reconnection fee, plus any applicable deposit to the utility.

Customers must agree to pay the remaining balance in equal payments over the next 11 months, in addition to their current monthly bill.

The Cold Weather Rule applies only to residential customers of electric and natural gas utility companies under the KCC’s jurisdiction.

More information about the Cold Weather Rule is available at: https://kcc.ks.gov/pi/cwr_english.htm.

Kansans may also contact their local utility company or the KCC’s Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at (800)662-0027.

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has announced Judi Stork will become Acting Bank Commissioner effective November 1. Stork is currently the Deputy Bank Commissioner and has held that position since 1991. She received her bachelor’s degree in Finance from Kansas State University.

“Judi has previous experience serving as Acting Bank Commissioner,” said Governor Brownback.  “Her knowledge and experience will ensure a seamless transition.”

Edwin Splichal, who has served as Bank Commissioner since March 2011 resigned to spend more time with his wife and family, due to an illness in the family.

The State Bank Commissioner regulates all state-chartered banks and trust companies, saving and loan companies, mortgage businesses, supervised lenders, and money transmitters. With the Banking Board as an advisor, the Bank Commissioner ensures the safety and soundness of state-chartered financial institutions.

From GALLUP Politics: