Kansas Lawmakers Add Cut in Tax on Food to Income Tax Bill
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Kansas have added a popular proposal to cut the state's sales tax on groceries to an income tax relief bill to make it more palatable to skeptics. But supporters acknowledged Monday that they aren't sure the move would keep Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly from vetoing the measure. The House Taxation Committee endorsed the measure on a voice vote Monday, sending it to the full chamber for debate. The GOP-controlled Senate passed the bill earlier this month as a measure designed only to keep individuals and businesses from paying more state income taxes because of federal income tax changes in 2017. Kelly called the Senate version irresponsible. The House committee's version also would lower the sales tax on groceries to 5.5 percent from 6.5 percent in October.
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Governor Promises More Openness in Kansas Foster Care System
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is pledging to give legislators and the general public more information about children who run away or go missing from the state's foster care system. The Democratic governor on Monday announced the launch of a new state Department for Children and Families website that will provide daily statistics about missing foster children. Kelly also promised that legislative committees will receive information about specific cases if they agree to keep it confidential. The announcements came less than a week after a Republican-controlled Senate committee had a hearing on a bill aimed at ensuring that the governor and Legislature would be notified within 72 hours of a foster child going missing. The Public Health and Welfare Committee endorsed the measure Monday, sending it to the full Senate.
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Lawmakers Study Bill Addressing Ballot Signature Problems
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ Kansas lawmakers are considering a proposal that would require election officials to notify voters before they throw out ballots because of problems with signatures. The proposal comes after last year's GOP primary for governor between Kris Kobach and then-Gov. Jim Colyer was decided by only a few hundred votes. Currently, Kansas law allows election officials to throw out ballots with signature problems unless the voter fixes the signature by the end of Election Day. The Wichita Eagle reports the proposed law would require election officials to try to notify voters whose advance ballots are missing signatures before the ballots are counted at county canvass meetings. The change would also apply to voters whose ballot signatures don't match signatures on file with county offices. A legislative committee on Friday sent the bill to the Senate floor.
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Regulator: Return Tax Savings to Kansas Gas Customers
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas regulators have ordered Kansas Gas Service to return more than $17.9 million in tax savings to its customers. The Kansas Corporation Commission said in a news release Monday that its order will mean a one-time bill credit of $22.78 for residential customers. The agency says the savings are the result of a federal law that reduced the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent in January of last year. The Commission had required utilities to track and keep separate savings from the tax cut pending its review. Kansas Gas Service had asked to keep the savings to offset its service costs, but the Commission determined that was not in the public interest.
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University of Kansas Professor Kevin Willmott Wins Oscar
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — University of Kansas professor Kevin Willmott is an Oscar winner. Willmott won the award for best adapted screenplay Sunday night for his contribution to the film "BlacKkKlansman." He and two other writers co-wrote the film with Spike Lee. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Willmott is the second Oscar winner connected to the University of Kansas. Spokeswoman Erinn Barcomb-Peterson said William Inge, who graduated from Kansas in 1935, won a screenplay writing Oscar for the film "Splendor in the Grass" in 1962. This was the first nomination for Willmott, who has been involved in several independent films. Set in the mid-1970s, "BlacKkKlansman" is based on the memoir of Ron Stallworth, a black police officer in Colorado Springs who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan.
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Report: Kansas Winter Wheat Doing Well Amid Wet Month
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A government report shows Kansas winter wheat is doing well with an abundance of moisture this month. The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday that 97 percent of the state had adequate to surplus topsoil moisture conditions. About 98 percent of the state had adequate to surplus subsoil moisture. The agency rated the Kansas winter wheat as 9 percent poor to very poor, 40 percent as fair, and 51 percent as good to excellent.
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Kansas to Treat Most Dire of 600 Inmates with Hepatitis C
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas corrections officials are focusing on treating the most advanced cases of hepatitis C among the nearly 600 inmates with the disease, citing budget limits and expensive treatment costs. Corrections Interim Secretary Roger Werholtz tells the Wichita Eagle that the department wants to ensure all patients get treated before their release. Werholtz says 43 inmates are considered a high priority. The Kansas Department of Corrections estimates treating all 591 inmates with hepatitis C will cost roughly $9 million. A state contract sets aside only $1.5 million annually for treatment. Several states, including neighboring Missouri, have faced lawsuits for allegations of poor or lacking treatment for inmates with hepatitis C, a viral infection that attacks the liver. Werholtz says some lawmakers have voiced concerns about limited funding.
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Kansas Fraud Trial for County Commissioner Begins
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Opening remarks in the trial of Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O'Donnell offered jurors contrasting portrayals of his handling of campaign funds. Trial began Monday on allegations that O'Donnell of fraudulently took $10,500 from campaign funds for his personal use. He faces 23 counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering related to his state and county campaign funds. Jury selection took up most of the first day of trial. KSNW-TV reports that the prosecution's opening statement outlined O'Donnell's extraordinary access to resources through his elected position and his access to campaign donations through his state and county campaigns. Prosecutors say he was a great fundraiser. His defense attorney in his opening remarks focused on explaining the legitimacy of the campaign funds, saying nothing illegal occurred.
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Blizzard Shuts Down Churches, Parts of I-70 in Western Kansas
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas transportation officials closed Interstate 70 from Salina to the Colorado border as a blizzard moved through the state over the weekend. Officials earlier had closed a 25-mile segment from Hays to Russell as heavy snow and howling winds covered the roadway and led to multiple crashes. The majority of the interstate in Kansas was later closed as blizzard conditions made driving too dangerous. Many other roads and highways in the state also were closed, and officials urged people to stay inside. Businesses and services also closed as the blizzard swept northeastward into Nebraska and Iowa later in the day Saturday. Dozens of churches across Kansas canceled Sunday services. Heavy snow and high winds hit western Kansas over the weekend, with Garden City getting nearly 5 inches of snow by midmorning Saturday. The National Weather Service said winds -- gusting to nearly 60 mph -- caused whiteout conditions in some areas and made driving and other travel extremely dangerous.
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Partisan Sniping Follows Passage of Kansas Pensions Measure
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A public pensions funding bill has passed the Kansas Legislature unanimously but touched off partisan sniping. The measure sent Friday to Democratic Governor Laura Kelly requires the state to make an immediate $115 million payment to its pension system for teachers and government workers. It represents a payment the state shorted the system in 2016, with interest. The vote Friday in the Republican-controlled House was 117-0. The GOP-dominated Senate approved it earlier this month, 40-0. Kelly said it's encouraging that lawmakers are fixing "past mistakes" but called on GOP leaders to "offer reasonable ideas" to avoid future problems. Senate President Susan Wagle and House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, both Wichita Republicans, fired back by criticizing Kelly's budget proposals. Wagle said Kelly "continues to point the finger" instead of leading.
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Former Kansas Lawmaker Faces Federal Fraud Trial
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A former Kansas legislator accused of fraudulently taking $10,500 from campaign funds for his personal use goes to trial Monday in federal court in Wichita. Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O'Donnell has pleaded not guilty to 23 counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering related to his state and county campaign funds. His trial is expected to last five days. O'Donnell, a Wichita Republican, was elected to the Kansas State Senate in 2012 for a term that ended in January 2017. He did not run for re-election and instead ran for and won a seat on the Sedgwick County Commission. His term began in 2017 and is set to expire in 2020. He remains free on bond and continues to serve as county commissioner.
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Man Who Made Hoax Call in Deadly 'Swatting' Incident Seeks 20 Year Term
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A California man is asking the judge for a 20-year prison sentence for making a hoax call that led police to fatally shoot a Kansas man following a dispute between online gamers. Twenty-six-year-old Tyler R. Barriss faces sentencing Friday in federal court in Wichita for making the false report resulting in a death. His attorney argued in a motion Barriss never intended for anyone to get hurt and his conduct was an outgrowth of the culture within the gaming community. Barriss pleaded guilty in November to 51 charges related to fake calls and threats across the country. He seeks the shortest term allowed in that plea deal calling for 20 to 25 years in prison. He still faces a state trial March 4 for involuntary manslaughter and other charges.
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Teenager Sentenced in Stabbing Death of a Missouri Woman
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Lee's Summit teenager has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in the stabbing death of a woman who was attacked at a car wash. Seventeen-year-old Joshua Trigg was 13 when 49-year-old Tanya Chamberlain, of Lee's Summit, was kidnapped from the car wash and killed in 2015. Lee's Summit police say the teens drove away with Chamberlain in her car. Police tried to pull the car over and the two teens ran. She had been stabbed or cut 49 times. The Kansas City Star reports Trigg's co-defendant, Trevon Henry, was sentenced in January to two life sentences plus 50 years. Henry was 14 at the time of the killing.
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Police: Man Shot in Kansas City, Kansas, Dies
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police say a man has been shot to death in in Kansas City, Kansas. Police say the shooting happened shortly after 1:30 am Saturday, when officers responding to the shooting found a man in the 200 block of Kindleberger Road. Police say the man had been shot multiple times and was taken to an area hospital, where he died. Police have not released the victim's name, but say he is in his 30s.
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Emporia VA Clinic Closing by Summer
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — The Veterans Affairs clinic in Emporia will be closed by mid-June. Joe Burks, spokesman for Kansas VA, says the organization plans to move veteran care from the clinic into the community, the Topeka VA Medical Center, or other community clinics. He said the change will improve veterans' access to treatment. The Emporia clinic is open only for two days a week and the staff is not full time. The Emporia Gazette reports Burks said employees of the Emporia clinic also staff VA clinics in Chanute and Garnett. He says that has meant only a 49 percent efficiency in appointment schedules and the VA wants 70 to 80 percent efficiency. Burks noted a federal law signed last year allows veterans to receive care covered by the VA in their own communities.
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Haskell Cultural Center and Museum to Close Indefinitely
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Haskell Indian Nations University's Cultural Center and Museum will close indefinitely because its operating grant expired Friday. Julia Good Fox, a college dean, said the university is working to secure more funding to reopen the center later this semester. Three people work at the center. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the museum's collections date back to 1884. It contains items pertaining to Haskell's history, as well as items from several tribal cultures of students, and artwork by American Indian artists, Haskell students, faculty and alumni. Good Fox says she is confident the center will reopen later this year.
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U.S. Officials Honor U.K. Man Who Tends Memorial of U.S. Airmen
LONDON (AP) — U.S. officials have honored a British man who has for decades tended a memorial for 10 U.S. World War II airmen who sacrificed their lives to save children in Sheffield, England. Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson sent a tweet Saturday thanking Tony Foulds for "remembering and honoring our Airmen." Missouri Governor Michael Parson has issued a proclamation honoring Foulds for his "profound devotion" to commemorating the crew of the B-17 nicknamed "Mi Amigo." Missouri pilot Lt. John Kriegshauser was attempting to land his damaged plane at a Sheffield park in 1944 when he pulled up to avoid a group of children and crashed into the woods. Foulds, 82, was one of those children. The U.S. and Royal Air Force honored the crew with a flypast Friday, fulfilling Foulds' lifelong dream.
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Annual Seat Belt Enforcement Planned for Next 2 Weeks
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Teen drivers in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma might see more law enforcement officers near their schools in the next two weeks. The Kansas Highway Patrol says law officers plan their annual special traffic enforcement to encourage teen drivers to wear seatbelts. The campaign will run from Monday to March 8. Kansas patrol Col. Mark Bruce says the "High Visibility Seat Belt Enforcement Campaign" involves troopers working with local law enforcement agencies to education and enforce the use of seat belts. The patrol said in a news release that last year, nearly half of all Kansas teens who died in traffic crashes were not wearing seat belts.
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'Last Chance U' Coach Resigns After Inflammatory Texts
INDEPENDENCE, Kan. (AP) — Jason Brown, the junior college football coach whose program was chronicled in the Netflix series "Last Chance U," has resigned after an inflammatory series of text messages in which he allegedly told a German player: "I'm your new Hitler." Brown said in a statement posted on social media that a story on the texts in the Montgomery County Chronicle made it "nearly impossible to stay" at Independence Community College. The story reported a text exchange between Brown and freshman Alexandros Alexiou, who had posted the messages on social media. In one text message, Brown referred to disciplinary points that the German player had accrued, berated him and said, "I'm your new Hitler." School President Dan Barwick said in a statement it was investigating the text messages. Brown's team was profiled by "Last Chance U" during the 2017 season and again last season, when the Pirates finished 2-8. That season is scheduled to air later this year.
