Kansas to Allow Farm Bureau Health Coverage That Avoids ACA Rules
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas will allow its state Farm Bureau to offer health care coverage that doesn't satisfy the Affordable Care Act. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly decided Friday not to block a state-level effort by Republicans to circumvent former President Barack Obama's signature health care law. The proposal was part of an insurance bill Kelly declined to sign or veto, meaning it becomes law. It includes provisions that exempt the Farm Bureau from state insurance regulations for the health care coverage it offers to its members. Supporters say the bureau could offer lower-cost coverage to thousands of people. But Democratic lawmakers say it would allow the group to sell skimpy coverage. The law takes effect in July. It's patterned after one in place in Tennessee for decades and one enacted last year in Iowa.
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Police Officer Shot, Suspect Arrested at Russell Motel
RUSSELL, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a police officer has been shot in the leg and a suspect taken into custody at a Kansas motel. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says in a news release that officers were responding to a report about a possibly suicidal man Thursday night when a shot was fired through a closed door. The release says three other shots then were fired from the room within minutes. One of the shots struck a patrol sergeant in the leg. He was taken to a hospital and is in good condition. Law enforcement didn't return fire. The suspect called 911 from inside the room, and dispatchers convinced him to surrender. Charges are pending. Russell is 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Hays.
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Woman Hurt in Explosion at Kansas Plant that Makes Batteries
SALINA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a woman has been injured in an explosion at a Salina plant that makes vehicle batteries. Saline County Sheriff's Office Captain Jim Hughes says the 48-year-old woman was cleaning and servicing a machine when the explosion happened just before 6 am today (FRI) at Exide Technologies. He says the woman was struck by shrapnel and knocked over. Dispatch was told that the woman was unconscious. By the time emergency responders arrived, she was alert. The emergency crew transported her to a hospital with cuts and scrapes that didn't appear to be life-threatening. Hughes says the damage was isolated to the area where the explosion happened and that there was no fire. The cause hasn't been determined. Exide Technologies said in a statement that it is investigating to determine what happened.
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Fiscal Forecast Gives Kansas a Little More Room on Medicaid, Tax Relief
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials have issued a new fiscal forecast that is a little more optimistic about how much tax revenue the state should expect to collect over the next two years. The slightly better projections released Thursday would give the state more budget room to expand Medicaid or provide modest income tax relief. Democratic Governor Laura Kelly urged the Republican-controlled Legislature to be cautious. She wants to expand Medicaid, while income tax relief is a priority for top Republican lawmakers. The forecasting group increased its projections for tax collections during the current budget year by $45 million to almost $7.3 billion. The group boosted its projection for the 2020 budget year that begins in July by $64 million to nearly $7.5 billion. The forecasters issued their previous forecast in November.
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Southeast Kansas Police Officer Seriously Injured in School Bus Crash
TYRO, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a police officer was seriously injured when he rear-ended a stopped school bus in southeast Kansas. The Kansas Highway Patrol says the crash happened Wednesday after the bus driver stopped to drop off students along U.S. 166 about 2 miles west of Tyro. The officer had to be cut from his patrol vehicle and was flown to a hospital. The patrol says no students were hurt but that the bus driver complained of pain. Seven students from Caney Valley Schools were on the bus at the time. The Coffeyville Police Department says in a Facebook post that the officer was returning from out-of-town training and wasn't responding to an emergency when the crash happened. The officer's police dog also was in the car but wasn't seriously injured. Tyro is near the Oklahoma border about 120 miles southeast of Wichita.
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Leavenworth Woman Sentenced in Stabbing Death, Burning of Lawrence Man
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A 38-year-old woman has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years in the shooting death of a man whose body was set on fire in rural Lawrence. Christina Towell, of Leavenworth, was sentenced Thursday. She pleaded no contest last month to first-degree felony murder for her role in the November 2017 death of 34-year-old Joel Wales of Eudora. Towell's cousin, 39-year-old Tria Evans, of Lawrence, was convicted earlier of first-degree murder and other charges in Wales' death and sentenced to life without parole for 50 years. The Lawrence Journal-World reports Wales was alone housesitting for his mother when the women broke in, shot him six times and set his body and the house on fire. Evans and Wales had a child together.
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Overland Park Psychiatrist Loses License to Practice Medicine in Kansas
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City psychiatrist has lost his license to practice medicine in Kanas after state regulators alleged he had sex with a patient. KCUR Radio reports that 42-year-old Brian Patrick Lahey, of Overland Park, waived his right to a hearing and agreed Tuesday to an indefinite license suspension. Lahey's attorney, Nancy Crawford, said Lahey acknowledged the Kansas Board of Healing Arts had sufficient evidence to prove he violated the state's Healing Arts Act. The Kansas board suspended Lahey's license in July on an emergency basis over drug use. At the time, it was investigating whether he had sex with patients and improperly prescribed opioids and other drugs. Other allegations against Lahey include that he exploited a patient relationship for financial gain. Crawford says the board's charges remain allegations, not findings.
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Ex-Boy Scout Leader in St. Joseph Sentenced for Distributing Child Porn
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A former St. Joseph Boy Scout leader has been sentenced to six years in prison without parole for distributing child pornography over the internet. Federal prosecutors say Michael Goeller was sentenced Thursday. He was also sentenced to 10 years of supervised release after incarceration. Goeller pleaded guilty in October 2018. Goeller previously worked for the Marillac Center of Kansas City and the Family Guidance Center in St. Joseph. The investigation began in February 2017, when a law enforcement officer in Arkansas downloaded a video file containing child pornography on a network that was linked to Goeller's computer. Goeller later admitted to officers that he used his laptop to access pornographic websites to find pictures of nude children, ranging from age 10 to 15.
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Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Deadly Police Pursuit Crash
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 21-year-old man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing two passengers in a crash while fleeing from police in Kansas City, Kansas. Zackery Smith was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty in February to an amended charge of second-degree murder. As part of the plea, prosecutors dropped several other charges. Authorities say Smith crashed into a pickup truck in October 2017 as officers were pursuing suspects from a reported shoplifting at a Cabela's sporting goods store. The victims were identified as 27-year-old Jason Edwards, of Kansas City, and 23-year-old Amber Bledsoe, of Prairie Village. The pickup truck's driver was treated at a hospital.
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Kansas City Tax Preparer Sentenced for Fraudulent Tax Returns
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 45-year-old tax preparer who filed dozens of fraudulent returns has been sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison without parole. Onrea Knox-Lewis, of Kansas City, was sentenced Thursday and was ordered to pay $238,666 in restitution to the government. She pleaded guilty in September to wire fraud. Prosecutors say Knox-Lewis admitted that she claimed false refunds on income tax returns for the tax years 2012 through 2014. In some instances, she used stolen personal identification information to file the returns. After she filed the returns, Knox-Lewis had the bogus refunds loaded onto prepaid debit cards. She used most of the funds for personal expenses. The fraudulent returns involved 25 people. Court documents indicate Knox-Lewis has an extensive history of fraudulent activity, including forgery and identity theft.
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Police Shooting of Man Near Kansas School Ruled Justified
FAIRWAY, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors have found that police were justified in shooting and wounding a man believed to have been firing shots near a suburban Kansas City elementary school. KMBC-TV reports that the Johnson County, Kansas, District Attorney's Office made the announcement Friday after reviewing last month's shooting of 26-year-old Dylan Ruffin. Court records say the shooting happened after he exited a house with a gun as children were being dismissed from Highlands Elementary in the Shawnee Mission School District. Extra security was present because shots had struck the school earlier in the day. As police ordered the man to drop the weapon, parents ran and threw themselves on children. No one else was injured. Ruffin is charged with three counts of aggravated assault on an officer and discharging a gun in an occupied dwelling.
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Colorado Trucker Charged in Deaths of 5 on Kansas Turnpike
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A truck driver from Greeley, Colorado, is charged with five counts of vehicular homicide for a fiery 2017 crash that killed five people on the Kansas Turnpike near Bonner Springs. The Kansas City Star reports that 58-year-old Kenny B. Ford appeared without an attorney Friday in a Leaveworth County courtroom. The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail on each count. Traffic was backed up due to road construction on July 11, 2017, when Ford's semi struck an SUV driven by 61-year-old Teresa J. Butler of Urbana, Illinois. Butler and her passenger, 63-year-old Karen Lynn Kennedy of New Palestine, Illinois, were killed. The truck then struck two other cars, killing an elderly Topeka couple, Sheldon and Virginia Cohen, and 38-year-old Ricardo Mireles of Topeka.
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Study: Some Kansas Babies Might Not Be Sleeping Safely
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A state report says many Kansas families may not be following safe sleep practices designed to diminish the risk of infants dying in their sleep. KCUR-FM reports that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment released a study last month based on a 2017 survey of mothers. The survey found that four out of five new Kansas mothers said their babies sleep primarily on their backs. Rachel Sisson is the department's Bureau of Family Health director. She wants all parents to know that the safest place for babies to sleep is in a crib on their backs. She says babies shouldn't sleep with soft items, pillows, blankets or bedding. Nearly 20% of Kansas's infant deaths in recent years were caused by accidental suffocation or strangulation, or other unknown causes.
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Kansas High Court Overturns Second Conviction in Bar Killing
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has again overturned the murder conviction of a Topeka man who was serving a life sentence in a 2008 bar shooting. The justices ruled Friday that James Arthur Qualls III's claims that he killed 30-year-old Joseph Beier in self-defense weren't handled correctly at trial. Justice Eric Rosen wrote in the unanimous decision that Qualls found himself in a "chaotic, threatening situation" when he fired a dozen rounds. The defense said Qualls had been hit twice and believed Beier was reaching for a weapon, although none was found on Beier. Prosecutors said it wasn't self-defense because Quall fired multiple shots. An earlier conviction was overturned because a different judge refused to allow jurors to consider voluntary manslaughter as a lesser charge.
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Missouri House Backs Landowners Fighting Wind Energy Transmission Line from Kansas
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri House has passed legislation that could block the developers of one of the nation's largest wind energy projects from using eminent domain to string a high-voltage power line across the Midwest. The vote Thursday by the House targets a $2.3 billion project that would carry electricity 780 miles from Kansas windmills across Missouri and Illinois before hooking into a power grid in Indiana serving eastern states. The project won approval last month from Missouri utility regulators. That decision could allow developers to use condemnation to acquire easement rights from landowners unwilling to sell. The bill blocking that now goes to the Missouri Senate. The Grain Belt Express power line was proposed by Houston-based Clean Line Energy Partners. It's in the process of being acquired by Chicago-based Invenergy.
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Bankers Survey: March Floods in Midwest Hitting Farmers Hard
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A monthly survey of rural bankers in parts of 10 Plains and Western states shows about one of every five expects an increase in farm loan defaults stemming from last month's devastative Midwest floods. The Rural Mainstreet survey for April, released Thursday, shows the survey's overall index dropping from 52.9 in March to 50 this month. Any score above 50 suggests a growing economy, while a score below 50 indicates a shrinking economy. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, who oversees the survey, says "43.8 percent of bank CEOs indicated that the recent floods were having a negative impact on their local economy." Bankers also noted that farm loans for April surged as the borrowing index climbed to 81.3, the highest recorded since the survey began in 2006. Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.
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Record Kansas Super Cash Jackpot Claimed by Johnson County Resident
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Lottery says a Johnson County resident won a record Super Kansas Cash jackpot of nearly $7 million. The winner matched all six numbers in the April 17 drawing. Lottery officials say the winner is a resident of Olathe. Under Kansas law, the identity of the winner does not have to be made public. This marks the first time somebody has won the jackpot prize in the Super Kansas Cash game since January 10, 2018. All Super Kansas Cash jackpots are paid in one-lump sum.
