SNAP Temporary Benefits to End in March in Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - People who got a temporary boost to their food budget early in the pandemic through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will see their benefits return to normal in March. So, those who receive SNAP benefits in Kansas, Illinois and Oklahoma will get less money next month. But those extra benefits ended even earlier in Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska. Cecelia Proffit lives in Iowa City, Iowa and says when her family’s benefits got cut back they had to strategize on how to make a limited amount of food last longer for four people. "The stress just ticks up," she said. "You start thinking again ‘how long can I make a gallon of milk last? What do I do if my kids won’t eat this?’ The mental load just gets that much heavier." Anti-hunger organizations say many low-income households will be hit hard when the emergency allotments go away.
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Kansas GOP Won't Punish Officials Straying in 2022 Elections
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Republican Party has ended efforts to punish party officials who backed non-GOP candidates in last year's elections and reversed any sanctions already imposed, its new leader announced Friday.
State Chair Mike Brown said in a statement that he and members of the Kansas party's Loyalty Committee agreed on the actions, dropping or reversing about 40 cases initiated under Brown's predecessor, Mike Kuckelman. The party's state committee on Saturday narrowly elected Brown to lead the Kansas GOP through the 2024 elections, replacing Kuckelman, who retired.
"It is time to put the things that have divided our party behind us,” Brown said.
Top party officials pursued the sanctions following Democratic Governor Laura Kelly's narrow reelection in November. Many Republicans blamed state Sen. Dennis Pyle, of Hiawatha, for Kelly's victory. Pyle is one of the Republican-controlled Legislature's most conservative members and left the GOP to run for governor as an independent.
The Loyalty Committee moved to strip Republicans who backed Pyle and non-GOP candidates in other races of party positions, such as representing voting precincts in local GOP organizations. Kuckelman did suspend the sanctions in mid-November so the affected officials could appeal to the party's larger Executive Committee.
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Kansas House Committee Okays Fentanyl Test Strips
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - A Kansas House committee has advanced a plan to legalize fentanyl test strips. The proposal is wrapped into a bill that would also create a state board to look for ways to prevent drug overdose deaths. The test strips can be used to detect whether other drugs are laced with the deadly opioid fentanyl.
Currently, the strips are considered drug paraphernalia and are illegal. Aonya Barnett of Safe Streets Wichita says the strips are cheap and effective. But being illegal makes it hard to get strips to the people who need them. “We have to be willing to think outside the box and consider non-traditional interventions to save lives," she said.
Brandy Harris, of Hutchinson, says her son Sebastian died from taking pills he thought were painkillers but were actually fentanyl. She says test strips could have saved his life. “We need to be able to learn from those mistakes and grow from those mistakes," she said. " But Sebastian is never ever going to get that chance.” Lawmakers pushed to legalize the test strips last year. But Republican senators blocked the bill over fears it would encourage drug use. Supporters of the legislation say the test strips will help curb a spike in fentanyl overdose deaths. Efforts to legalize the fentanyl test strips have previously failed in Kansas.
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Aquifer Bill Advances Out of Kansas House Committee
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - The Kansas House Water Committee has endorsed a bill that would force people in parts of western Kansas to do more to conserve the Ogallala Aquifer. Some counties in western Kansas have already used up more than half of their underground water supply, nearly all of it going to irrigate crops. This bill would require groundwater districts to submit plans for reducing water use in areas of concern, places where the aquifer’s usable lifetime is 50 years or less. Representative Kenny Titus, a Manhattan Republican, voted to advance the measure. "This bill strikes a good balance between moving the state as a whole forward, protecting natural resources, but leaving the crux of this in local control," he said.
Groundwater districts would have until July of next year to identify areas of concern and would need to submit conservation plans to the state by 2026. The bill now moves on to the full House for consideration.
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Plastic Bag Bill Dies in Kansas Senate Committee
WICHITA, Kan. (KMUW/KNS) - Kansas lawmakers have rejected a bill that would have prohibited local governments from banning single-use plastic bags at grocery stores and other retail establishments. The Kansas Chamber of Commerce introduced the bill in the Senate Commerce committee in January to discourage government regulation of businesses. But opponents of the bill said it overstepped on the rights of cities and counties to govern themselves as well as solve plastic pollution. Here's Zach Pistora, a lobbyist with the Kansas Chapter of the Sierra Club. "This is a serious problem and for Kansas communities who want to do something about it, should be able to something about it." he said.
Some lawmakers, like Republican Senator John Doll, said the bill was an overreach. "It’s disheartening, to say the least, the lack of respect we show (to) county and city governments (when) they have the ability to make decisions that are best served for their particular communities."
The bill's failure may mean a Wichita task force can move forward with its recommendation to ban plastic bags at checkout in stores in the city. A similar bill passed the Senate and House last year, but was vetoed by Governor Laura Kelly.
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Kansas Bill Allows School Districts to Pay Board Members
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - Kansas lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow school board members to get paid for their service. The proposal in the Kansas House would not require districts to pay board members. But it would change a 50-year-old law that prohibits the practice. Jim Karleskint represents the United School Administrators of Kansas. He says most school board members are doing the job to help kids, but it does require a lot of time. “There’s some school boards that have at least two, sometimes more meetings a week, plus they have committee meetings as well. And so, there are responsibilities," he said. Under the proposal, any pay for board members would come out of the district’s budget. State law allows pay for city and county elected officials.
For the past 50 years, serving on a public school board in Kansas has been a volunteer position. Unlike city or county elected officials, school board members are prohibited by law from drawing a paycheck. But the bill gaining traction in the Kansas house would allow, not require, districts to pay board members out of their district budgets. Republican Rep. Kristey Williams, a former teacher and mayor, supports the change. She says board members in large districts often spend 30 hours a week or more on school business. “If our issues are complex enough or important enough, then maybe giving them the latitude that they can (get paid)," she said. "Because they can get as exhausted as our teachers can get.” The law banning pay for school board members has been in place since 1973.
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Johnson County District Attorney Under Scrutiny
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (KNS) - A Kansas office that oversees the conduct of attorneys is investigating the district attorney in Johnson County. This follows a complaint by the mother of a teen shot to death by Overland Park police in 2018. Sheila Albers filed a complaint with the Kansas Office of Disciplinary Administrator saying D-A Steve Howe lied in a statement he issued a month after her son John was killed. Howe said the Overland Park officer was justified in firing 13 times into Albers’ van when the allegedly suicidal teen accelerated out of a garage. A Department of Justice investigation released last year contradicted details in Howe’s narrative and criticized the officer’s actions. “There’s no more debate on what occurred the night John was killed. And that those fact contradict what Steve Howe said in his statement.” Howe’s office declined to comment. The Office of Disciplinary Administrator said it couldn’t confirm the investigation or even that a complaint was filed.
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Meatpacking Plant Cleaning Service Fined $1.5 Million for Hiring Minors
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Department of Labor says one of the country’s largest cleaning services for food processing companies employed more than 100 children in dangerous jobs at 13 meatpacking plants across the country. The agency said Friday that Wisconsin-based Packer Sanitation Services Inc. has paid over $1.5 million in civil penalties. At least three of those minors were injured on the job, burned by caustic cleaning chemicals at the JBS plant in Grand Island, Nebraska. The 13 plants where violations were found were in Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Tennessee and Texas. The ones with the most violations were the JBS plant in Grand Island, Nebraska, where PSSI employed 27 minors; the Cargill plant in Dodge City, Kansas, where 26 children worked; and a JBS plant in Worthington, Minnesota, where 22 minors worked. The Labor Department also searched a Tyson facility in Sedalia, Missouri, but found no verifiable violations there. The agency says it's seen about a 50% increase in child labor violations since 2018.
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Kansan Charged in Wreck That Killed Officer, Pedestrian, K-9
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — An 18-year-old Kansas man has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter after a crash that killed a Kansas City police officer, a pedestrian and the officer's K-9 police dog, the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office announced Friday.
Jerron Allen Lightfoot, of Tonganoxie, was speeding and ran a red light at an intersection Wednesday night before colliding with a patrol car driven by officer James Muhlbauer, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
Online court records do not name an attorney for Lightfoot.
Muhlbauer was found unconscious in the front seat, wearing his seat belt. He was transported to a hospital, where he later died. A pedestrian, a man in his 50s who has not been identified, was found deceased under Muhlbauer's patrol car. The officer's K-9 partner, Champ, died in the collision.
Video surveillance of the intersection showed Muhlbauer had a green light when he drove into the intersection, according to court documents.
Lightfoot, who was not injured, was speeding and drove through the red light before the collision, according to the documents.
Lightfoot told officers he tried to stop but his car's brakes did not work, prosecutors said. Lightfoot said he felt “a lot of vibration” when he applied the brakes.
A check of Lightfoot's vehicle showed the vehicle’s brakes were working and the vehicle was traveling at 85 mph or more just before impact, prosecutors said.
Police said Muhlbauer, who was married and a father, was a 20-year veteran of the force. Champ had been a K-9 with the force for a year.
In 2014, Muhlbauer arrested Brandon Howell, a suspect in the deaths of five people in a Kansas City neighborhood, said Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. Howell, who previously was acquitted in the killings of two Kansas teens, is serving multiple life terms, with no chance of parole, in the quintuple homicide.
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Unionized Nurses Rally in Wichita for Contract
WICHITA, Kan. (KMUW/KNS) - Unionized nurses rallied outside of St. Francis hospital in Wichita this week as they began negotiating a new contract with Ascension via Christi. More than three months after St. Francis nurses voted to form a union, they’re finally able to start bargaining for the demands that led them to unionize in the first place. They’re asking the hospital to provide more staff and safer working conditions as they respond to illnesses like the flu, RSV,and COVID. Nurses at the rally say if they do secure a good contract for more than 650 nurses at St. Francis, they hope it will inspire more nurses in Wichita and the rest of the state to unionize as well. Nurses at St. Joseph also filed for a union election earlier this month and are awaiting their vote.
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Flags Lowered Across Kansas in Honor of 10,000 Who Have Died from COVID-19
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNW) — Flags across Kansas have been lowered to honor the 10,000 people in Kansas who have now died as a result of COVID-19. Governor Laura Kelly has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff until sundown Friday to honor COVID victims and the families they left behind.
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Kansas Hospitals Lagging in Transparency Compliance
WICHITA, Kan. (KMUW/KNS) - A new report finds that hospitals across the country are not entirely complying with price transparency rules. The Kansas News Service reports that only three of the 20 largest hospitals in Kansas were fully obeying requirements. The report from Patient Rights Advocate argues that when hospitals provide detailed price lists, consumers are able to shop around and save money. Founder Cynthia Fisher says making hospitals reveal prices is the first step in addressing high health care costs. "The only way we can get there is to be able to see the wide variety of prices that there are now and to comparatively see what's happening across the State of Kansas on pricing," she said. The report called out Western Kansas hospital operator Centura by name. The organization said in a statement that they are following federal guidelines and offer a price estimate tool for patients. Fisher says the tools don’t provide enough information and are only estimates.
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Nebraska Landfill Agrees to Take Kansas Oil Spill Waste
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Kan. (KNS) - A Nebraska landfill has agreed to take oil-drenched soil and other waste from the Keystone pipeline spill in north-central Kansas. The December 7 oil spill contaminated several acres of prairie, cropland and creek. Trucks are hauling contaminated soil from the site to a landfill near Omaha. Contaminated creek water goes into huge tanks for treatment. Some will go into a five-acre pond being built for that purpose, too. Workers separate the oil from the water and send the oil to a refinery. Then they have to filter and treat the water - potentially repeatedly - until state environment officials say it is clean enough to go back into Mill Creek.
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Former Wichita Teacher Guilty of Child Sex Crimes
WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - A former Wichita teacher has been found guilty of child sex crimes. Christin Covel has pleaded no contest to two counts of aggravated indecent solicitation of a child. KAKE TV reports that Covel had been employed as a teacher at Mead Middle School until she left the district in 2020. The case against her involved a 13-year-old student. She was teaching math at Edison Preparatory School in Tulsa when she was arrested last year. Covel will be sentenced in May.
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U.S. Marshals Capture Hundreds of Fugitives, Including Dozens in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A month-long operation by the U.S. Marshals Service has resulted in hundreds of arrests nationwide, including dozens in the Kansas City area. Operation North Star II led to the apprehension of 833 fugitives, violent criminals, sex offenders and self-identified gang members in 10 U.S. cities. KCTV reports the operation focused on fugitives wanted for the most serious and violent offenses. Investigators in Kansas City arrested more than 51 people wanted for crimes including homicide, rape, robbery and assault.
“A small number of people commit the most crime in the community,” said U.S. Marshal Scott Seeling. “If we can locate and arrest those individuals it takes them off the street and we know that saves lives.”
In addition to Kansas City, arrests were made in Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. The operation was also carried out in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Buffalo, New York; Jackson, Mississippi; Oakland, California, and Puerto Rico.
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Unionized Nurses Begin Contract Negotiations
WICHITA, Kan. (KMUW/KNS) - Unionized nurses at St. Francis Hospital in Wichita have begun negotiating a new contract with Ascension Via Christi. Several nurses rallied outside of the hospital to show support for the union and lay out some of the workplace issues they face - like short staffing and violence from patients. Sara Wilson has been a nurse at St. Francis Hospital for four years. She says she and her colleagues want a contract that ensures safe working conditions. “That’s why people are leaving the bedside," she said. "They can’t and don’t want to do it anymore. I mean it makes you feel like a bad nurse when you can’t give your patients the care they deserve.” More than 650 nurses at St. Francis are being represented by National Nurses United. Nurses at St. Joseph Hospital also filed for a union election earlier this month and are awaiting their vote.
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This summary of area news is curated by KPR news staffers, including J. Schafer, Laura Lorson, Tom Parkinson and Kaye McIntyre. Our headlines are generally posted by 10 am weekdays. These ad-free headlines are made possible by KPR members. Become one today. And follow KPR News on Twitter.