Kansas Governor, GOP Leaders Can't Break Medicaid Stalemate
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and top Republican legislators met Wednesday to try to break a stalemate on expanding Medicaid in Kansas, only to fail after she demanded that lawmakers approve a plan this year and the GOP leaders insisted on waiting until next year. Kelly set aside four hours for talks in her Statehouse office with the majority leaders and heads of the health committees in the House and Senate, who oppose her expansion proposal. The meeting broke up after about 90 minutes when it became clear that neither Kelly nor the Republicans would give on whether a plan should pass this year, participants said. The impasse sets up a high-stakes confrontation over one of the Democratic governor's biggest campaign promises after the GOP-controlled Legislature ends an annual spring break May 1. The House approved a modified version of Kelly's expansion plan last month, but the Senate has yet to take it up. Thirty-six states have either expanded Medicaid or seen voters approve ballot initiatives. Expansion enjoys bipartisan support in the Kansas Legislature but GOP leaders are still resisting, arguing that it is likely to prove costly to the state despite a promise that the federal government would cover 90 percent of the cost. Kelly and other expansion supporters have been trying to build pressure on Republican leaders to allow a Senate vote. The governor has held town hall meetings in GOP lawmakers' districts and marked the 100th day of her administration Wednesday with a statement that Senate leaders should "stop playing games with taxpayers' health care." Kelly spokeswoman Ashley All said the meeting gave Republican leaders a chance to negotiate a plan "in good faith." Kelly's health secretary, Lee Norman, who participated in the meeting, said the administration agrees with the GOP leaders that more work needs to be done on the Medicaid expansion legislation. Top Republicans have said in recent weeks they are willing to consider a more modest expansion than Kelly has advocated, as well as work requirements or drug testing for participants. Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, a conservative Kansas City-area Republican, said the legislation should also address problems with rising costs for Kansas consumers who get their health coverage through a federal marketplace. Denning committed Wednesday to a debate — but next year.
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Skeletal Remains Found in Wooded Area West of Topeka
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are searching a wooded area west of Topeka where skeletal remains were found. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Shawnee County sheriff's Lt. Harry Louderback says deputies responded Monday after receiving a report that the remains had been found near a Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism office. The remains were removed with the assistance of the Shawnee County Coroner's Office. Louderback said that because of heavy vegetation, the search was postponed until daybreak on Tuesday. No other details were announced about the nature of the remains.
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Report: Driver Says Brakes Failed Before he Killed Teen
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A 70-year-old driver told investigators that his brakes failed before his car careened onto a suburban Kansas City sidewalk where it struck and killed a 14-year-old girl and narrowly missed three other children. The Kansas City Star reports that police in Overland Park released the report Monday about the April 12 crash that killed Alexandra Rumple as she was walking home from a nearby middle school. The report says the driver had a valid license without any restriction and showed no evidence of impairment. Toxicology results are pending. Police say the car also hit a traffic light, knocking it off its base, struck a speed limit sign and destroyed about 80 feet of a wood fence. The driver told police he tried to stop, but his brakes weren't working.
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Ex-Linn County Attorney Admits Stealing from County
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A former Linn County Attorney has admitted that he stole equipment worth an estimated $75,000 from the county. The Kansas City Star reports 68-year-old John Sutherland, of Mound City, pleaded guilty Wednesday to mail fraud and lying to investigators. Sutherland was Linn County Attorney for 20 years before becoming an assistant district attorney in Wyandotte County. FBI agents who searched Sutherland's office in Wyandotte County in February found 13 items stolen from Linn County. Prosecutors say Sutherland stole 350 to 500 items, including electronics and equipment, between 2009 and when he left Linn County in 2017. In Linn County, Sutherland bought goods and services for the office. Prosecutors say he instead bought items for himself and gave some items to his children. As part of his plea, Sutherland will pay restitution and surrendered his law license.
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Henry Bloch, Co-Founder of Tax Company H&R Block, Dies at 96
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Tax preparer H&R Block says its co-founder, Henry Bloch, has died at the age of 96. The company says he died of natural causes Tuesday at St. Luke's Hospice in Kansas City. Bloch founded H&R Block in 1955 with his brother, Richard, after the Internal Revenue Service stopped providing free income tax returns service. Henry Bloch retired as the company's chief executive officer in 1992 and as chairman of the board of directors in 2000. He also was a philanthropist who started a foundation with his wife, Marion, that supported numerous charitable causes, including the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. H&R Block president and chief executive officer Richard Green said in a written statement that Bloch "embodied the best of American business."
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Planning Commission Votes Against Kansas Wind Farm Project
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A proposed central Kansas wind farm has gotten some bad news after weeks of hearings. KAKE-TV reports that the Reno County Planning Commission voted 4-3 Tuesday to recommend denying the Next Era proposal near Cheney Lake. The Reno County Commission will make the final decision. They could still say yes to the project. Members spent hours debating locations and distance recommendations for the proposal. The company also submitted a new plan, which eliminated a few of the proposed windmills and moved others. Critics have raised concerns that the wind farm could hurt property values, generate noise and kill birds that fly into turbines.
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Stop Along Underground Railroad Receives Special Designation
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Civil War-era port of entry into Kansas and stop along the Underground Railroad has received a special designation from the National Park Service. The Kansas City Star reports that federal lawmakers joined local officials Tuesday to celebrate that the Quindaro ruins are now a National Commemorative Site. Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver says the designation is the beginning of what he believes will be the complete restoration of the site, which was once a flourishing abolitionist community. Before that, it was home to the native Wyandotte people. It was rediscovered during a 1980s archaeological dig. While the designation falls short of national historic landmark status, it enables the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service to enter into financial agreements to help fund the site's preservation.
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Woman Charged with Smuggling 60 Pounds of Meth into Kansas
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Los Angeles woman has been charged with smuggling more than 60 pounds (27 kilograms) of methamphetamine into Kansas. The U.S. attorney's office says 46-year-old Maria Alvarez-Buenrostro was indicted Tuesday on one count of possession with intent to distribute. The indictment says Kansas Highway Patrol troopers found 33 heat-sealed bags of meth hidden in a rear quarter panel and both rear doors of her Ford Explorer when she was stopped on Interstate 70 near Hays. If convicted, she faces a penalty of not less than 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $4 million.
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Nurse, Aide Save Fourth-Grader from Choking at Kansas School
MAIZE, Kan. (AP) — A fourth-grade Kansas student has his school nurse and an aide to thank for saving him from choking on a chicken nugget. The Maize Board of Education recognized nurse Stephany McClellan and paraprofessional Glen Shafer at this month's meeting. The district says they took turns administering the Heimlich maneuver on Keegan Dalton in January until he was able to breathe. The district tweeted a picture Tuesday of them standing next to the smiling boy. His mother, Kristina Dalton, was among those who attended the meeting. She was working as a substitute teacher at Maize South Elementary School when her son started choking.
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Taxi Driver Crossed Line in Deadly Crash on Kansas Highway
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say the driver of a taxi company's minivan veered into oncoming traffic on a Kansas highway and killed another motorist. The Wichita Eagle reports that the crash happened around 6:50 a.m. Wednesday on U.S. 160 on the eastern edge of Winfield. The victim was identified as 39-year-old Joshua Mosqueda. He was behind the wheel of the car that was hit. Cowley County Sheriff David Falletti said in a news release that the minivan was owned by Best Cabs Inc. of Wichita. The release says the van's driver was taken to a hospital for unknown injuries. Company owner Timothy Armbrust said he couldn't immediately comment because he is still trying to determine what happened. Winfield is about 35 miles south of Wichita.
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Suspect in Killing Threatened Man During Attempted Car Theft
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Court documents say one of three teens charged in suburban Kansas City killing later told someone who resisted his car theft attempt that "the last person who said that lost his life." The Kansas City Star reports that the affidavit released Tuesday in the case against 18-year-old Matthew Lee Bibee Jr. says he tried to steal the car on March 31 in Olathe. The documents say the victim initially said he wouldn't give Bibee has car. But when Bibee pulled out a gun, the man put up his hands and ran away. A responding officer shot and wounded Bibee in an exchange of gunfire. The theft attempt happened two days after 17-year-old Rowan Padgett was killed. Bibee is jailed on $1 million bond on charges that include first-degree murder.
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Zoo Investigates Animal Handling After Tiger Attacks Worker
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Officials are investigating animal handling protocols after a Sumatran tiger attacked and seriously injured a Kansas zookeeper as she was cleaning the animal's enclosure. Topeka Zoo director Brendan Wiley says problems with the enclosure aren't to blame for Saturday's attack of 40-year-old Kristyn Hayden-Ortega. He says she continues to improve at a hospital after she was moved Sunday out of intensive care. Wiley says the 7-year-old male tiger named Sanjiv was merely reacting to Hayden-Ortega being in his enclosure when he tackled her as several visitors watched. The tiger then was lured away so she could receive help. Wiley says he hasn't yet spoken to Hayden-Ortega about what happened. She has worked at the zoo since 2001. The zoo has no plans to euthanize Sanjiv, who is back on display.
This story has been corrected to show that Hayden-Ortega has worked at the zoo since 2001, not 2002.
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Hospitals Sue over New Federal Liver Transplant Policy
ATLANTA (AP) — Hospitals and patients are suing to block a new nationwide liver transplant policy that they say will waste viable livers, lead to fewer transplants and likely cause deaths. The suit filed Monday in Atlanta federal court accuses the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the United Network for Organ Sharing of hastily adopting the new policy and basing it on faulty assumptions. At issue in the lawsuit is a change in how patients are prioritized for liver transplants. An email to Health and Human Services was not immediately returned. United Network is a nonprofit that manages the U.S. organ transplant system. It said in a statement that the new policy provides a fairer system for patients awaiting liver transplants regardless of where they live.
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Man Who Shot Chinese Missionary While on Drugs Pleads Guilty
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A man who police say was high on drugs when he shot at people in Kansas City last summer has pleaded guilty to killing a Chinese missionary. The Kansas City Star reports 19-year-old Curtrail Hudson pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder and seven other charges in the August 2018 death of 38-year-old Xindong Hao. Prosecutors say Hao was out walking in a neighborhood when Hudson, who was high on PCP, approached him and shot him. He also shot two other people, who survived. Hao had arrived in Kansas City the day before he was shot after enrolling his four children in a day camp at the International House of Prayer. Hudson told police he thought Hao knew another man Hudson had argued with moments before. That man was one of the other shooting victims.
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Kansas Governor Vetoes Mandate on Abortion "Reversal"
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas' new Democratic governor has vetoed a measure that would require abortion providers to tell patients about a disputed treatment to stop a medication abortion after it's been started. Governor Laura Kelly's action Monday sets up a confrontation with the Republican-controlled Legislature. Supporters of the abortion "reversal" bill appear to have the two-thirds majorities needed in both chambers to override Kelly's veto. Lawmakers return from a weekslong break on May 1. Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Utah, South Dakota, North Dakota and Kentucky all have similar laws. Abortion opponents contend such measures ensure that women harboring doubts about ending their pregnancies will learn that they can stop a medication abortion after the first of two pills. Abortion-rights supporters say such mandates force doctors to present patients with dubious information.
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Kansas Man Gets Life in Prison for Killing at Kansas Lake
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man convicted of killing a Lawrence man at a northeast Kansas lake has been ordered to spend life in prison with no chance of parole for 50 years. County Attorney Joshua Ney says Jonathan D. Blevins was sentenced to the "Hard 50" sentence Thursday in Jefferson County District Court. The Lawrence Journal-World reports a jury convicted Blevins in March of first-degree premeditated murder in the March 14, 2018, shooting death of 22-year-old Taylor D. Sawyer. At his trial, Blevins tried to pin the crime on Ashlyn N. Hemmerling of Baldwin City, who is set for trial June 10 on a charge of first-degree murder. Hemmerling is accused of orchestrating the killing at Perry Lake.
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LGBTQ-Friendly Wichita Church Vandalized; Not the First Time
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The pastor of a Wichita church that has been repeatedly vandalized says she believes her congregation is being targeted because it is welcoming of people who are gay, lesbian and transgender. KSNW-TV reports that Table of Hope Pastor Jackie Carter says she started crying Monday when she found 16 windows cracked, shattered and broken. The church previously was broken into and had other windows broken. She says it has "gone beyond somebody just wanting to have some fun." The pastor and her congregation believe it has something to do with their message of inclusion. The church has replaced its busted first-floor windows and will make stained glass repairs later in the week. Anyone with information is asked to call Wichita police.
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Kansas Governor Aims to Spur 2020 Census Participation
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Governor Laura Kelly is creating an advisory committee that aims to ensure every person in Kansas is counted in the 2020 Census. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the governor signed an executive order Tuesday that charged the committee with sparking public engagement in Kansas ahead of the official count. The Census dictates the amount of federal funding for 55 federal programs in Kansas. It also determines the number of U.S. House members representing the state and the redrawing of boundaries for Kansas legislative districts. Kelly appointed Brian McClendon, a University of Kansas professor and former executive at Google, to co-chair the committee along with Dodge City Commissioner Joyce Warshaw. Kansas stands to lose about $1,539 in federal funds annually for 10 years for every person not counted in the Census.
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Child Support Evader Site that Caught 1 Man is Taken Down
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas government website designed to nab child support evaders has been taken down after it caught only one man in a year. The Wichita Eagle reports that the Kansas Department for Children and Families spokesman Mike Deines says the Child Support Evaders website "had little to no traffic and was not an effective tool." He says it's important not to make detection efforts public because that helps evaders. Former Governor Jeff Colyer announced the website in April 2018 as the state struggled to improve child support collections. It listed people who owed more than $5,000 in late child support and included the person's name, mug shot, the amount owed and where they were last seen. Similar online photo name-and-shame campaigns have been undertaken in Arizona, Texas, Louisiana and Georgia.
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Former Kansas Guard Charlie Moore Transfers to DePaul
CHICAGO (AP) — Former University of Kansas guard Charlie Moore is returning home to Chicago to play for DePaul. Coach Dave Leitao announced the move Tuesday, making DePaul Moore's third school. He began his career at California and played one season at KU. Moore averaged 2.9 points in 35 games as a sophomore after sitting out the Jayhawks' 2017-18 Final Four season. He scored 12.2 points per game as a freshman at California in 2016-17. Moore announced last month he was transferring, with Kansas coach Bill Self saying then he wanted to be closer to family. Moore starred at Morgan Park High School on Chicago's South Side and was the 2015-16 Illinois Mr. Basketball. DePaul went 19-17 and reached the College Basketball Invitational championship game.
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DA Declines to Charge Chiefs' Hill in Domestic Violence Case
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) _ A Kansas district attorney has declined to charge Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill with a crime in a domestic incident that involved his fiance and their 3-year-old child. Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said Wednesday ``we believe a crime has occurred, however, the evidence in this case does not conclusively establish who committed this crime.'' Police were called to the home of Hill and Crystal Espinal twice last month, and the investigators said their child had been injured. Howe said there will be ``a continued involvement by state officials'' but declined to discuss the health of the child. He described the case as a difficult one because of the child's involvement.
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KU Announces Extension of Deal with Adidas Through 2031
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas and Adidas announced Wednesday an extension of their contract through 2031, despite an FBI investigation centered on the footwear and apparel company that cast a negative light on the Jayhawks' athletic programs. The Jayhawks have worn Adidas gear since 2005. The original eight-year agreement was extended by six years through 2019, then another extension was put on hold last fall amid the investigation. The new deal is worth $14 million annually.
"This commitment is much more than the standard sponsorship product-allowance agreement," Kansas athletic director Jeff Long said in a statement. "Adidas has demonstrated a genuine commitment to the long-term growth of Kansas Athletics."
Still, the extension comes amid a tense time for both Kansas and college sports in general.
The FBI investigation into college basketball corruption involved former Adidas executive James Gatto and implicated several schools. Kansas became involved last year when an indictment alleged that Gatto and the coach of an Adidas-sponsored AAU team paid prospects to steer them to the Jayhawks. As part of the fallout, forward Silvio De Sousa was suspended all of last season and the upcoming season. De Sousa has declared for the draft while the school appeals to have him reinstated. Gatto, former Adidas consultant Merl Code and agent runner Christian Dawkins have been convicted of felony charges of wire fraud in the case. Earlier this month, Gatto entered an agreement to pay nearly $350,000 in restitution to Kansas and North Carolina State to cover legal fees and scholarship amounts that each player named in the investigation received from the schools.
"We cooperated fully with the authorities during the course of the investigation," Adidas said in a statement last October. "We look forward to continuing to work with the NCAA and other stakeholders in a collaborative and constructive manner to improve the environment around college basketball."
University of Kansas chancellor Douglas Girod said "both we and Adidas have done our due diligence and thoroughly evaluated all factors related to this partnership." He also acknowledged that included "the current environment related to college basketball." The extension covers all 18 programs and more than 460 student-athletes at Kansas, and includes footwear, uniforms and other gear. But it comes at a particularly crucial time for its high-profile hoops program and its long-suffering football program. The basketball team is coming off a disappointing season by its lofty standards, failing to win a share of the Big 12 title for the first time in 15 years. The Jayhawks also failed to escape the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, and the FBI's investigation has hurt them on the recruiting trail. The football team is trying to build some momentum behind new coach Les Miles, who led LSU to a national title but inherited a team that hasn't had a winning season in more than a decade.
