Ascension Healthcare Workers Still Dealing with Effects of Cyberattack
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) — Health providers say care at Ascension hospitals and clinics in Kansas is still impacted by a cyberattack that hit the health nonprofit three weeks ago. The Kansas News Service reports that nurses say they’re still locked out of many systems, including one that reduces medication dosing errors. Lisa Watson is in the nurses' union at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis in Wichita. She says the prolonged outage makes it harder for nurses to care for patients, adding that “...we are put in a situation where the double checks are gone. And this is a recipe for disaster.” Ascension did not respond to a request for comment. In a recent news release, a spokesperson said access to some network systems could begin to be restored this week. Ascension has not said whether hackers obtained patients’ private health information.
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Another Lawsuit Filed in Connection with Marion County Newspaper Raid
WICHITA, Kan. (KMUW) — Another lawsuit has been filed in connection with a raid by law enforcement in Marion, Kansas last summer. KMUW reports that former vice mayor Ruth Herbel has named several past and current city officials in her federal suit. She also is suing former police Chief Gideon Cody. Herbel’s home was searched along with the Marion County Record newspaper in August. Cody said at the time that police were investigating possible identity theft. A warrant for the search was later ruled invalid, and Cody resigned in October. Herbel and her husband are seeking damages in excess of $75 thousand dollars.
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Kansas Lawmakers Could Address Additional Issues Outside of Tax Relief in Special Session
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS/KPR) — Kansas lawmakers will reconvene on June 18th for a special session on tax relief, but they could also take up other issues. The Kansas News Service reports that after a months-long battle with Democratic Governor Laura Kelly to reduce income and property taxes, some lawmakers are frustrated that Kelly’s vetoes have sent them into overtime. But June’s special session could also give other failed bills a second chance. Legislators could revive a plan to attract the Kansas City Chiefs or Royals across the state line, using tax incentives called STAR Bonds. Republican House Speaker Dan Hawkins is not ruling out that possibility, but he says fiscal concerns will be top priority. “This special session is for taxes… it's absolutely not for all the wants that everybody has,” he added. Hawkins hopes the special session might only last one day.
(Earlier reporting...)
Kansas Special Legislative Session on Tax Cuts Set to Begin in June
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly announced Wednesday that she will call a special legislative session on tax cuts beginning June 18. The move comes after the Democratic governor vetoed three Republican plans to cut taxes this year, setting up a high-stakes election-year tussle with the GOP-controlled Kansas Legislature. “I am committed to working with the Legislature to deliver responsible, sustainable tax cuts for all Kansans,” Kelly said in a statement. “A special session provides the opportunity for bipartisan collaboration on comprehensive tax relief that does not threaten Kansas’ solid fiscal foundation. By working together, we can swiftly come to a compromise to put more money back into Kansans’ pockets.”
Hear what the governor says about tax cuts and Medicaid expansion.)
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Haskell Regents Oppose Development Near Wetlands, Seek Return of Hundreds of Acres to School Property
UNDATED (KNS) — The Haskell Indian Nations University regents are opposing development near the wetlands south of Lawrence. The Kansas News Service reports that the Haskell National Board of Regents fears damage to the wetland habitat. It also wants a ground-penetrating radar study to search for the remains of Native American children who died while fleeing forced boarding and cultural assimilation in the 1800s. Brittany Hall, president of the regents, said “...that was the time where children were taken away from their homes. They were stolen. They were not given a choice.” In addition, the Haskell regents are asking Baker University to return hundreds of acres of wetlands to the university. The federal government gave Baker University hundreds of acres of Haskell land for free in the 1960s. Baker declined to comment on the idea of returning the land.
Baker University trustees voted against selling part of the Baker Wetlands. But developers are still pursuing a separate 177 acre commercial and housing project that abuts the Baker Wetlands. The Army Corps of Engineers is considering a permit application.
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Negro Leagues Player from Kansas Could Make it into MLB's Hall of Fame
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KPR) — A Negro Leagues baseball player from Kansas could soon make it into baseball's Hall of Fame. Major League Baseball has decided to compile the lifetime statistics of Negro League players and include them with the rest of baseball’s career numbers. And that could result in at least one player from Kansas making it into the Hall of Fame. Chet Brewer, born in Leavenworth, had his best years for the Kansas City Monarchs in the 1920s. He was 15-2 in 1929. Negro Leagues museum president Bob Kendrick says Brewer is among several others who deserve the recognition. ""We remain hopeful that even through the lens of his statistical compilation that it’ll create better opportunities for further recognition of these Negro League players by induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame." Researchers have been working since 2020 to pin down the statistics. Records were compiled from Negro Leagues games played between 1920 and 1948.
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Free Fishing in Kansas This Weekend
UNDATED (KNS) — People can fish for free in Kansas this weekend. The Kansas News Service reports that a fishing license won’t be required during the annual event. Traditionally, the first weekend in June has been designated as Free Fishing weekend in Kansas. The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks says other fishing regulations like the length and number of fish you can catch each day are still in place. But a license isn’t required on June 1st and 2nd. After that, the cost of a license varies from just over $100 for a five-year resident license to a one-day license for $6. Non-residents pay more. People who are interested in fishing this weekend or getting a license can visit ksoutdoors.com for more information.
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State of Kansas Partners with KU to Conduct Study on Access to Maternal and Child Health Services
UNDATED (KNS) — Researchers are asking Kansans about their experiences accessing maternal and child health services. The Kansas News Service reports that they’re inviting residents to share feedback in Wichita on Friday, and in other cities next month. The listening tour is a joint project by the state health department and the University of Kansas. The feedback will help officials decide which programs to fund using a federal grant for improving maternal and child health. It currently supports programs that promote breastfeeding and safe sleep habits, and a review board that studies pregnancy-related deaths. Researchers say past sessions have shown many Kansans struggle to access prenatal care, healthy food and child care.
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Schools in Basketball-Centric Leagues Face Different Economic Challenges with NCAA Settlement
UNDATED (AP) — Schools in basketball-centric leagues face the challenge of generating revenue to pay future players without the lucrative revenues from football. The NCAA and major college conferences approved the settlement of a federal class-action lawsuit on paying athletes. That includes paying $2.77 billion to former athletes over 10 years. But leagues like the Big East, Atlantic 10 and West Coast Conferences depend on basketball, which lags behind football in terms of generating revenue. That could create challenges in keeping up with teams in the power conferences when it comes to the ability to pay future players.
Bernadette McGlade leads an Atlantic 10 Conference built around basketball and focused on getting multiple bids to the NCAA men’s tournament much more than anything tied to big-time football. Yet her league is among dozens conferences and scores of schools that will feel the impact from the NCAA and major college conferences approving a $2.8 billion settlement of federal antitrust claims that calls for paying athletes with a plan framed in a football-driven college sports landscape. “We’ve got to move forward, we want to continue to preserve our rich history in basketball,” McGlade told The Associated Press. “So we have to get to the strategy table and start doing analysis.”
Schools that lean on basketball in leagues like the A-10, Big East — home to UConn, the two-time reigning men's national champion — and the West Coast Conference face the prospect of directing millions to their athletes every year. But they have to figure out the best way to do that without streams of football money flowing in. “With the opportunity that football brings, there’s a lot of (financial) obligation that football brings, too,” said Gonzaga athletic director Chris Standiford, whose WCC basketball program has gone from mid-major to national power over the past quarter-century. “So it cuts both ways. We don’t have the obligation of the operations and new expenses associated with the compensation of football players. But we don’t have the benefit of the revenues that come with it, particularly the TV revenues.”
The settlement includes the NCAA and conferences paying $2.77 billion over 10 years to more than 14,000 former and current college athletes who say now-defunct rules prevented them from earning money or endorsement deals dating to 2016. Under the plan, each school would be allowed to set aside up to around $21 million to pay athletes, a cap that could change. It could start as soon as the 2025 fall semester.
The lawsuit targeted the so-called Power Five conferences – Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and Southeastern – as well as Notre Dame But coming up with money to pay for the settlement will hit hundreds of other Division I member schools in the form of smaller annual payouts from the organization. That revenue flows largely from the NCAA's lucrative TV contract for the men’s basketball tournament and its other championship events.
The NCAA has no role in the College Football Playoff or bowl games and TV deals for football are struck at the conference level.. Yet schools with smaller or even no football program will be shouldering a piece of the settlement before even getting into paying future athletes. “I think the real interesting angle here is: Why does men’s basketball pay for the entire overhead of college athletics and college football doesn’t contribute?” Standiford asked.
McGlade went a step further, noting that the projected CFP per-school payouts alone to the Big Ten and SEC (around $22 million) largely covers the estimated annual amount a school can pay to athletes. McGlade estimated the focus for the basketball-focused schools in her league could be generating around $3 million to $5 million in annual payments by comparison. “We knew the settlement was being discussed and I think everyone across D-I was supportive of that for this whole year,” McGlade said. “We didn’t know the gory details of what the payment model would be. The disproportionality is a real concern, and it wouldn’t have taken that much for that proportionality to get balanced a little bit more and everyone be a little bit more respectful of each other.”
Jay Bilas, a former Duke player and attorney who is also an ESPN basketball broadcaster, said NCAA member schools put themselves in this position by voting “in lockstep to restrict athletes from making money all these years.” “So, there’s no difference in culpability from the University of Georgia to Marquette,” Bilas said. “They’re all equally culpable in violating federal antitrust law. So that to me should not be lost in all this, that all of them were of like mind in saying the athletes get nothing but scholarship or stipend or whatever it is.”
It will take a lot of work to find the best answer for each school within what amounts to a vastly different economic model.
At Gonzaga, for example, the men’s basketball program generated about $19.2 million in revenue for the 2022-23 season according to Education Department figures. That represented nearly 45% of that year’s overall athletics revenues ($42.9 million).
That was similar to the Atlantic 10's Dayton, which was ranked No. 24 in the final AP Top 25 of the season. The Flyers men's basketball program accounted for 44% of athletics revenue ($40.1 million). In the Big East, men's basketball accounted for north of 48% of total revenues at football-free schools like Marquette ($42.6 million) and Creighton ($35 million).
By comparison, blueblood names like Duke and North Carolina (ACC), Kentucky (SEC) and Kansas (Big 12) from football-driven power conferences had men's basketball programs accounting for no more than 29% of total revenue that exceeded roughly $138 million in each case.
At football-crazy Alabama, a men's basketball program that was the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament and reached this year's Final Four accounted for just 10.8% of total revenue ($191.2 million) for the 2022-23 season. “I think everybody would identify that Villanova’s investment in basketball is important at Villanova, or UConn, or whoever, and they’re going to continue to do everything they can to compete at that level,” Standiford said. “And we’ll do the same. But where does that money come from?
“I don’t think it benefits us,” Standiford added. “But I also think we’re a very unique group of schools. I don’t know how you would ever attain our status if you didn’t have it already. I think that’s what it’s going to change.”
Bilas, however, remained confident that basketball-centric programs will “make it work,” noting that athletics success can fuel school-changing growth and improvements beyond sports. “These revenue streams are growing and they’re going to continue to grow because live sports is very valuable,” Bilas said. “It’s not just valuable on the football side, that’s the most valuable. But basketball’s really valuable. Women’s basketball, some of these other sports. So we’ll see how it comes out. “I see all these different institutions continuing to compete at a high level, but now they’ll have to compete for talent in the economic realm.”
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Kansas DCF to Launch Program Getting Food to Kids During Summer Break
UNDATED (KNS) — Low-income Kansas families will soon receive help paying for groceries for their children during the summer break. The Kansas News Service reports that the state Department for Children and Families is launching a new program offering $120 per child who receives food assistance or foster care benefits during the school year. The money can be used with other welfare benefits, like food stamps. Carla Whiteside-Hicks of the Department for Children and Families says the funding is meant to help during the three months when children are not in school receiving regular meals. “These dollars just allow parents to continue providing nutritious food for their children when they're not at school,” she explained. The funding can be used to buy foods like fresh vegetables and meat. Eligible families will receive the money by the end of July.
(–Related–)
Fifth Grader's Fundraiser Cleared His School of Meal Debt; School Names Award for Him
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. (AP) — As the school year drew to a close, Daken Kramer worried about children who owed money for meals at his school. So the enterprising fifth grader decided to do something about it. Daken, 11, posted a video last month challenging friends, family, and even strangers and businesses to pay off the meal debt at Thomas Ultican Elementary School in Blue Springs, a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. He was apparently convincing: He raised $7,370 — more than double his original goal of $3,500. It paid off all the debt at his school and provided nearly $4,000 to reduce meal debt at Blue Springs High School, as well. Daken, in a phone interview Wednesday, said he simply wanted to do something nice. “It was my last year," the soon-to-be middle schooler said. “I just wanted to do something kind to say thank you to the school.”
Nearly 30% of the 15,000 students in the Blue Springs School District are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, according to state data. Even at that lower cost, some students at the district's 20 schools can't keep up. Overall, the district has a meal debt of around $235,000.
Daken's video was posted April 12 on his mom's Facebook page. “Daken wanted to do something special as a thank you to his school, and has VERY high hopes for this project. I’m so proud of him for wanting to help others,” Vanessa wrote at the time. When his efforts made the local news, donations began to pour in from across the country. “Great job Daken looking out for the less fortunate in your community — you saw a problem and rose to the occasion to help,” wrote a New Jersey donor who gave $100. “You are a great leader and a role model.”
His school agreed. During fifth grade graduation May 21, Daken's teacher, Kristi Haley, announced that an annual award will be named after him — the Daken Kramer Legacy Award — to honor students who go above and beyond. “It's your heart, your drive, your determination and your grit to help others that inspires us," Haley said at the ceremony. “It was amazing," Daken said. "It definitely made me feel special.”
Eight states — California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico and Vermont — make school meals free to all students regardless of income, even after the pandemic. Vanessa said that it would be great if Missouri joined them and that if not, maybe her son's act of kindness can inspire others. “I'm trying to teach my kids that if the people who have the power to make a difference won't, it's OK to step up and be that person that will make a difference,” Vanessa said.
Program Provides Free Meals for Kids Through Summertime
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS/KMUW) — Some schools and other sites across Kansas will offer free meals for kids this summer. The free meals are part of an annual program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For kids who rely on free meals at school, summer can be a hungry time. But again this summer, hundreds of sites across Kansas are serving free meals to anyone 18 or younger. Adrea Katzenmeier with the Wichita school district says the summer food program ensures that children won’t go hungry. Many sites serve breakfast and lunch. “That’s what we’re about, we’re about feeding kids. Some kids don’t have food at home, and this gives them the opportunity to have free food.” The meals are free for any child, and there’s no qualifying paperwork. To find a site in your area, call 866-3-HUNGRY, or text “food” to 3-0-4-3-0-4.
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KU Rewards Athletic Director Goff with Long-Term Contract and Large Raise
LAWRENCE, Kansas (AP) — University of Kansas athletic director Travis Goff has signed a seven-year contract extension that keeps him with the Jayhawks through 2031 and includes a hefty raise starting at $1.3 million a year. The school announced Goff's new deal Wednesday. Goff had originally signed a five-year contract that paid him $700,000 a year. Goff's title will also change to Director of Athletics/Vice Chancellor of Athletics, according to the university's release.
Goff's base salary will increase by $40,000 a year the next three years of the deal, then go up by $50,000 a year after that until he will earn $1.570 million by the end of the agreement. “Travis has proven to be among the most respected athletic directors in the country and terrific fit for KU at this moment in our history,” said Douglas A. Girod, chancellor of the University of Kansas.
Goff, a graduate of Kansas, became head of the Jayhawks athletics in April 2021. Before that, he served in athletic administration at Northwestern and Tulane. Goff thanked Girod for his continued trust. “I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to continue leading Kansas athletics through a pivotal time,” he said.
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Kansas State Troopers Report 21 DUI Arrests, 3 Deaths over Memorial Day Weekend
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) — Over Memorial Day weekend, the Kansas Highway Patrol says it arrested 21 people for driving under the influence. State troopers say they issued 840 speeding tickets, 565 warnings and 92 safety belt citations to motorists in Kansas during the long holiday weekend. KSNT reports that the highway patrol also assisted with a triple fatality crash. Three people were killed in a non-DUI crash Saturday in Morris County. All three crash victims were residents of Minnesota.
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Kansas Becomes First in the Nation to Adopt New Option for Teens in Foster Care
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) — Hundreds of Kansas foster children face aging out of the state’s care at age 18 without a family or a safety net. That can lead to issues like homelessness. A new state law aims to help by letting teenage foster children choose a relative or close friend to serve as their permanent custodian. (Read more.)
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Orange Maggots Swarm into Northeast Kansas Farm Fields
MANHATTAN, Kan. (KSNT) — An insect expert with Kansas State University is warning farmers to be on the lookout for a new threat that is devouring crops in northeast Kansas. Anthony Zukoff, an entomologist with K-State, says the soybean gall midge is currently causing problems for farmers in Nemaha and Marshall counties. The pest can make life difficult for soybean farmers, potentially devastating production. KSNT reports that the soybean gall midge appears as a tiny fly which lays eggs in soybean fields. The eggs lead to maggots which begin feeding on soybean stems. Zukoff says any farmer who sees bright orange maggots should reach out to a local extension agent for help. Zukoff also encourages people concerned with the spread of the soybean gall midge to follow the Soybean Gall Midge Alert Network for updates on the problem.
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MLB Catchers, Including KC's Salvador Perez, Contributing Big-Time on Offense
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Slowed by stiff knees and bruised by foul balls and backswings, major league catchers have long been defined by what they do defensively — even if it hinders them on offense. Perhaps because of the universal designated hitter and strategic changes like one-knee squatting, that might be changing.
Major league catchers have an average OPS of .691 through Wednesday, not far from the league-wide average of .697 for players at all positions. A season hasn't ended with catchers having a higher average OPS than the league-wide mark since 1879. The closest it's come to happening since 1900 was in 1977, when catchers were at .733 while the league average was .741.
“When you have a young group of catchers like we do in our game right now, talented catchers in our game right now, you’re going to see this,” said Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, who caught in the majors from 2012-22. “The catching position is probably as good as it’s been in years, for sure.”
Leading the way are Kansas City's Salvador Perez (.923), Milwaukee's William Contreras (.903), the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Will Smith (.876), Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman (.815), Philadelphia's J.T. Realmuto (.781) and Colorado’s Elias Díaz (.774). No catcher has ended a year with an OPS of .900 or higher with at least 502 plate appearances since San Francisco’s Buster Posey at .957 in 2012.
Given the demanding nature of the position, it’s reasonable to expect catchers' hitting production to tumble in the second half. Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton, a former minor league catcher and major league hitting coach, says he believes it will level off. New York Yankees catcher Jose Trevino said it’s hard to predict what might happen but acknowledged the toll the position takes.
“It’s going to wear you down just because of the workload, right?” Trevino said. “So, yeah, I think normally it’s going to have an effect on you for sure."
Yet some catchers, such as the Contreras brothers, have bucked the trend.
Contreras caught a career-high 108 games for Milwaukee last year, yet his OPS improved from .773 in the first half to .873 in the second. Contreras is the younger brother of injured St. Louis Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras, a three-time All-Star whose OPS went from .754 in the first half to .959 in the second half last year. Willson Contreras is out at least six weeks after a swing by the Mets' J.D. Martinez broke his left forearm.
One possible reason for the improvement: More and more backstops in recent seasons have eschewed the traditional catchers squat for a one-knee down stance in order to improve their pitch framing. Vogt thinks the change has also helped limit the stress on their legs.
“They’re going to be able to play more,” Vogt said. “They’re going to be able to play a lot longer. They’re not going to take the pounding and the wear and tear in their knees and hips and back like a lot of the traditional catchers did.”
Fox analyst A.J. Pierzynski, who caught in the majors from 1998-2016, downplayed the impact of the one-knee-down approach on catchers' improved hitting. Pierzynski points out that catchers still face plenty of challenges physically and mentally.
“It does take some strain off of you, but you still get foul balls, you still get a lot of the same stuff,” Pierzynski said.
Pierzynski says a bigger factor is the way catchers are being used. The National League’s adoption of the designated hitter in 2022 makes it easier for catchers to stay in the lineup even when they aren’t behind the plate.
That means players aren’t having to catch as many games.
The only player to work behind the plate in at least 130 games either of the last two seasons is Realmuto, who caught 133 games each of those years. By contrast, at least four players caught 130-plus games every year from 2011-14.
Yet the best hitting catchers are actually in the lineup more often than before. William Contreras, whose .323 batting average ranks fifth in the NL, says his occasional DH assignments have helped him stay in a rhythm at the plate.
“When there was no DH in the National League, your days off were kind of your days off,” Contreras said through an interpreter. “Now we’re kind of able to treat my DH days as my days off and we’re able to keep my bat in the lineup for the team. It definitely helps.”
Rutschman has thrived as a DH, with a 1.033 OPS in 18 games there compared to a .691 OPS when he's catching.
Pierzynski said players such as the Contreras brothers, Rutschman or Perez also can stay fresher at the plate during their non-catching days because they get a break from having to concentrate on how to handle a pitching staff or how to attack an opposing lineup on those days.
“Let’s say you’re Adley Rutschman,” Pierzynski said. “(You’re thinking), ‘How are we going to get Aaron Judge out today? Guess what, I don’t have to worry about it because I’m a DH. All I've got to do is worry about is how I’m going to get a hit and drive in some runs for these guys.'"
Teams with the best offensive catchers have capitalized on this opportunity.
Perez has missed just two games and Rutschman has sat out just three this season.
Perez and Rutschman have missed just two games each this season. Perez has 13 starts at first base and seven at DH. Rutschman has 32 starts and 34 overall appearances as a catcher.
William Contreras hasn't missed a game since Aug. 20 of last season.
“It’s just something that mutually we’ve gotten to this point in the season playing pretty well, and I’m feeling really good,” said Contreras, who had made 45 starts at catcher and 10 at DH through Wednesday. “I don’t think I’m ready for that day off yet. That’s what I come to the stadium every day for, is to come and get my body ready to play and to be out there and play the game.
“At this point, we’re going to kind of keep doing it. Maybe down the line, there will be a day off in there.”
The hitting surge from catchers comes at an ideal time.
An automated ball-strike system is being used at the Triple-A level for a second straight season, raising the possibility that it eventually could reach the majors. It will become more essential for catchers to provide offense if pitch framing becomes less important.
The emergence of players such as Contreras and Rutschman has helped alter the league-wide perception of catchers, a shift that should continue to take hold even if they don’t maintain this history-making pace at the plate.
“The catching position has definitely changed,” Pierzynski said. “It’s definitely becoming a more offensive position. If you can find a catcher who can give you DH days and can throw a little bit, frame a pitch here and there but also be an offensive force, that’s value.”
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