Kansas Lawmakers Advance Bill on Ballot Signature Problems
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A bill aimed at having Kansas election officials throw out fewer ballots over problems with voters' signatures has broad, bipartisan support. The Kansas Senate approved the measure Wednesday, 40-0, sending it to the House. The bill deals with mail-in ballots cast in advance of Election Day. Voters must sign the ballot envelope, and county election officials can toss a ballot if a voter forgets to sign the ballot or the signature does not match what's on file. The bill would require election officials to notify voters if a signature is missing or doesn't match. The change would give voters an extra week to fix the problem. Former Gov. Jeff Colyer lost last year's Republican primary by only 343 votes after hundreds of mail-in ballots weren't counted over signature problems.
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Kansas Senate GOP Blocks Governor's School Funding Proposal
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republicans in the Kansas Senate have thwarted an attempt by the chamber's top Democrat to advance Democratic Governor Laura Kelly's proposal to boost spending on public schools. The Senate vote Tuesday was 28-12 against an amendment offered by Minority Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka to a bill to clarify a law dealing with which programs for at-risk students can receive state funds. The amendment contained Kelly's proposal to increase education funding by roughly $90 million a year to comply with a Kansas Supreme Court ruling last year. No legislative committee has voted on Kelly's proposal. Republican leaders said they want a funding bill to be thoroughly reviewed. The Supreme Court said a law enacted last year to boost education funding wasn't sufficient because it didn't adequately account for inflation.
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Kansas Reduces Payments to Prison Health Care Company
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is paying the company that provides health care to the state's prisons millions less than due under its contract because the company is not meeting performance standards, such as hiring enough nurses or health workers for the prisons. The state currently has a $68.8 million contract with Tennessee-based Corizon Health but penalized the company $534,880 for not meeting performance standards in 2018, The Kansas News Service reported . It also cut $2.82 million in payments to Corizon because the company didn't provide the required number of employees and work hours last year. Keith Bradshaw, finance director of the Kansas Department of Corrections, told lawmakers recently that his agency will renew its contract for Corizon for a year, rather than the two-year option in the contract, unless the company improves its performance while serving 10,000 inmates in Kansas. Corizon currently faces 22 federal lawsuits over the care it provides to Kansas prisons, including allegations that inmates were refused medication and care for conditions such as hepatitis C.
Corizon spokeswoman Eve Hutcherson said in an email that the company was evaluating the state's information. "We take all requirements very seriously in our mission to provide exceptional care to the patients we serve as the DOC's partner," she said. "Corizon remains committed as a strong partner with Kansas Department of Corrections and the patients we serve."
The University of Kansas Medical Center audits Corizon's performance for the state, following such services as intake health assessments, sick calls and group therapy. The corrections department penalizes Corizon $100 per incident when it falls below 90 percent compliance with any of its 12 performance standards. That penalty increases if the problem isn't fixed in six months and goes up again for failures in subsequent months. For specialty services, such as X-rays, dermatology, chemotherapy, and obstetric and gynecological services, the state imposes a penalty of $300 per instance, with higher penalties the longer the problems persist. The company was 100 percent compliant only in specialty services out of nine standards audited in 2018, and its compliance rates for the other standards were well below 90 percent. State officials said this month during a presentation at the Kansas Capitol that the audits reviewed a small sample of the total medical services and do not accurately represent the overall quality of inmate health care. Bradshaw told lawmakers there were too few workers to conduct extensive evaluations for all 12 performance standards. In an interview, Bradshaw said a better measure of health care quality was the number of medical grievances filed by inmates.
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Kansas Senate Approves Bill for Openness on Missing Foster Kids
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators are moving ahead with a bill aimed at making sure they and the governor are notified whenever foster children run away or go missing. The Senate approved the measure Wednesday, 40-0, sending it to the House. The vote came two days after new Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly promised more openness about missing foster children. The state Department for Children and Families launched a new website with statistics about missing foster children to be updated daily. The bill would require contractors providing services for abused and neglected children in foster care to notify DCF within 24 hours when a child goes missing. DCF would then have 48 hours to notify the governor and lawmakers. DCF initially had concerns about missing children's names becoming public, but senators revised the bill.
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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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Kansas House Barely Approves Bill to Allow Sale of Deer Permits
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A bill that would allow Kansas landowners to resell their permits to hunt white-tail deer to non-Kansas residents has barely passed the state House. The vote Wednesday was 63-60 and sent the measure to the Senate. Some rural legislators see the bill as an economic-development measure. Republican Rep. Ken Corbet of Topeka has said it could bring 4,500 tourists a year to Kansas to hunt. Republican Rep. Joe Seiwert of Pretty Prairie said the additional hunting would decrease the number of vehicle crashes involving deer. But some state officials have worried the bill would increase poaching by trophy hunters while limiting access to Kansas residents. The Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism opposed the measure. A similar program two decades ago was suspended after poaching and violations of permit-transfer rules.
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Quindaro Ruins Site Gets New Historical Designation
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Congress has approved a historical designation for the Quindaro Ruins, a Civil War-era port of entry into Kansas and stop along the Underground Railroad. The Kansas City Star reports that lawmakers recognized Quindaro as a national commemorative site as part of a massive public lands package approved by Congress on Tuesday. The legislation is now headed to President Donald Trump's desk. The designation comes from the National Park Service but falls short of national historic landmark status. Still, supporters say it creates opportunities for new assistance from the government to preserve the Kansas City site, which was once a flourishing abolitionist community. Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids called the Quindaro Townsite a "significant part of Kansas' history in the fight for freedom and equality."
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Kansas Committee Rejects Bill on "Child Aggressors"
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas House committee rejected a law proposed by Attorney General Derek Schmidt after a county judge called a young girl an "aggressor" in a sex crime. The House committee voted Monday to table the bill, which would prevent judges from reducing a sentence if they found a child victim younger than 14 was an aggressor in such crimes. The bill was in response to outcry after Leavenworth County District Judge Michael Gibbens sentenced a 67-year-old man in December to less than six years in prison for soliciting a 13-year-old on Facebook. The judge said the victim and another young girl were "more aggressor than a participant" in the case. The Wichita Eagle reports committee members said the legislation was well-intentioned but judges must have discretion in such cases.
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Kansas Lawmakers Add Tax Cut 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 Governor 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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Kansas Lawmakers Consider Criminal Justice Review
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Legislature is considering creation of a panel to study and recommend changes to the state's criminal justice system. The Kansas City Star reports that the group's findings could have major implications as Kansas looks to fix problems caused by prison overcrowding. Kansas prisons have a capacity of 9,971 inmates but held 10,075 as of February 22. The panel would analyze sentencing guidelines, placement of prisoners and other processes. Governor Laura Kelly has expressed interest in sentencing reform, which could potentially lower the number of new inmates coming into state prisons. Unless there are significant changes that slow population growth, corrections officials will have to look at expansion options. The bill is set for a debate in the House as soon as this week.
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Prosecutors Seek 25 Years in Prison for Deadly Kansas Hoax
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Federal prosecutors are seeking a 25-year prison sentence for a California man who made a hoax call that led police to fatally shoot a Kansas man following a dispute between online gamers. The government argued in a filing Wednesday that 26-year-old Tyler Barriss has not shown sincere remorse. It called the scope, nature and deviousness of his criminal activity staggering, saying he risked innocent life each time he engaged in swatting. Prosecutors contend some of the false calls to governmental entities were a form of domestic terrorism. Barriss faces sentencing Friday in federal court in Wichita for making the false report resulting in a death. He has pleaded guilty to 51 charges related to fake calls and threats across the country. The defense is seeking a 20-year prison sentence.
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Methodist Conference Rejects Same-Sex Marriage
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Delegates to a crucial conference of The United Methodist Church, America's second-largest Protestant denomination, have rejected a move to ease the faith's ban on same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBT clergy. Some supporters of greater LGBT inclusion were in tears, while others vented their anger after delegates, on a 449-374 vote, defeated a proposal that would have let regional and local church bodies decide for themselves on gay-friendly policies. Methodist pastor Rebecca Wilson of Detroit, who is gay, says she is devastated by the vote.
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Kansas Man Acquitted in His Mother's 2003 Shooting Death
BELOIT, Kan. (AP) — A jury has acquitted a man who was charged with his mother's murder nearly 15 years after she died. The Salina Journal reports that 46-year-old Chuckie Fleming was found not guilty of first-degree murder Monday after a trial in Mitchell County. Fleming was arrested and charged in July in the death of Carol Fleming. She was found in August 2003 shot to death as she slept in her Beloit home. His defense attorney, Julie Effenbeck, said the decision came down to a lack of evidence and a lack of credibility with the state's witnesses. Mitchell County Attorney Mark Noah argued during the trial that Carol Fleming was killed with a shotgun from one of her son's trucks, and that he received $370,000 from his parents' estate.
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Prosecutor: No Charges in Shooting Death of Wichita Boy
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors say no criminal charges will be filed in the shooting death of a 9-year-old Wichita boy who was playing with a loaded gun he got out of a locked safe. Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said Wednesday his office will not prosecute either the 11-year-old who shot Roy'Ale Spencer in the face or the owner of the gun, who had stored it in a gun safe with a malfunctioning lock. The Wichita Eagle reports that Bennett said it appears to be a tragic situation in which two young boys got access to what they thought were BB guns. One of the boys pulled the trigger and accidently shot his friend. The shooting happened Jan. 21 in the Stonegate Mobile Home Park in Wichita.
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Kansas Woman Convicted in Heroin Ring, Money Laundering
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 61-year-old Kansas woman has been convicted of participating in a conspiracy to distribute drugs supplied by a drug cartel in Mexico. Christine Little Wood, of Overland Park, was found guilty Monday of being part of a ring that distributed heroin and methamphetamine from January 2010 to April 2017. She was found guilty of conspiracy, using a cell phone to aid the drug-trafficking conspiracy and of maintaining a residence for the distribution and use of heroin. Twenty of Wood's co-defendants have pleaded guilty in the conspiracy. Prosecutors say the conspirators distributed heroin and methamphetamine received from Mexico-based and Kansas City-based suppliers. Investigators who searched vehicles and homes in September 2016 found several drug-related items, along with more than $200,000 in cash and a load vehicle with hidden compartments.
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Kansas Fraud Trial for County Commissioner Begins
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Opening remarks Monday in the trial of a former Kansas legislator offered jurors contrasting portrayals of his handling of campaign funds. Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O'Donnell is accused of fraudulently taking $10,500 from campaign funds for his personal use. He faces 23 federal 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 the proceedings. The trial before U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren is expected to last five days. 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. The defense in its remarks focused on explaining the legitimacy of the campaign funds, saying nothing illegal occurred and the checks were for legitimate work done on behalf of his campaign.
The indictment alleges O'Donnell wrote a series of checks in 2015 and 2016 from his "Michael for Kansas" and "Michael for Sedgwick County" campaigns to various people who would cash the checks. Prosecutors alleged some of the money went into his personal checking account and some to friends. 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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Liberty, Missouri, School District Investigates Racist Snapchat
LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — The Liberty School District is investigating a Snapchat in which a white male Liberty North student talking to a black female classmate uses a racial slur and mentions lynching. Liberty district spokesman Dallas Ackerman said the exchange happened during the weekend. The girl shared the video on her social media. Ackerman says the district became aware of the posting when it began appearing on social media. The Kansas City Star reports a copy of the video received more than 5,000 views on Twitter. Liberty North Principal Martin Jacobs said in an email to parents that the district denounces the use of racially offensive language at the high school and across the district. He says the situation would be handled with the families involved following discipline under board policy.
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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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Lawrence Newspaper Names Chad Lawhorn as New Publisher
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The Lawrence-Journal World has announced that Editor Chad Lawhorn has been named publisher of the newspaper. Ogden Newspapers of Kansas, the paper's owner, said Tuesday that Lawhorn will also continue to serve as editor. He will oversee news, advertising, circulation and other operations of the Journal-World as well as write for the newspaper and LJWorld.com website. Lawhorn has been with the Journal-World since 2001 and has served as a reporter, managing editor and editor. Before joining the Journal-World, Lawhorn was editor and publisher of The Baldwin Ledger and the Lawrence Business Ledger and owned their parent company. He joined the Journal-World after selling those weekly newspapers to the Journal-World. Lawhorn, a fourth-generation Kansan from Melvern, replaces Scott Stanford, who has accepted a promotion within the Ogden organization.
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Kansas City Renames Roadway for Martin Luther King Jr.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City has shed its reputation as one of the largest cities in the U.S. without a public memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. The city on Monday installed the first signs along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. After an often contentious debate, the City Council voted last month to rename a 10-mile stretch of a local roadway after the civil rights leader. The Kansas City Star reports the change came after a push by religious leaders and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization King helped found. The delay was caused by some council members who didn't believe residents and businesses along Paseo Boulevard had been properly consulted about changing the name of the section of the roadway, known locally as The Paseo. The city will replace the remaining signs over the next few months.
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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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"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.
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Lawsuit: UMKC Professor Stole, Sold Student's Research
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri is accusing a pharmacy professor of stealing and selling a student's research that the school says could become a billion-dollar drug. The Kansas City Star reports that the university filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday alleging that Ashim Mitra improperly made $1.5 million from selling former graduate student Kishore Cholkar's research. The lawsuit says Mitra could potentially earn $10 million more in royalties over the next five years. Cholkar developed a more effective way to deliver drugs to the eye using nanotechnology. The lawsuit says the money belongs to the university because Cholkar conducted his research while employed as a graduate research assistant at the Kansas City campus. Mitra denies the accusations. Mitra has faced allegations in the past of coercing graduate students from India into performing personal favors, such as cleaning his basement.
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Committee Recommends New Arts Center in Wichita
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An advisory committee is recommending that Wichita build a new performance arts center rather than renovate its current center. The 12-member citizens committee made its recommendation to the city council Tuesday, and suggested the city hold a tax referendum to fund it. Mayor Jeff Longwell says he is still interested in remodeling the 50-year-old Century II center. And he said he would prefer any new performance arts center be privately funded. The Wichita Eagle reports Longwell says the committee's research found that Century II is important to many Wichita residents. The committee report said it would cost up to $252 million to renovate Century II, which it said has many structural and other problems. The committee said a new arts center and parking would cost more than $175 million.
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