Kansas to Allow Health Coverage that Skirts 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 Governor 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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Colorado Trucker Charged in 5-Fatality Crash 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 Leavenworth 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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Police Shooting of Man Near JoCo 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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Kansas Supreme 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 justice 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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Man Charges with Shooting Police Officer 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 east of Hays.
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Man Sentenced to 20 Years for KC Police Chase Fatality
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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Woman Injured in Explosion at Salina Battery Plant
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 a.m. Friday at Exide Technologies. He says she 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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Study: Some Kansas Babies Not 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' infant deaths in recent years were caused by accidental suffocation or strangulation, or other unknown causes.
