A man was injured in a Thursday night crash in Saline County when he hit a cow.
According to the Missouri Highway Patrol 38 year old Shane L. Williams of Slater was driving a 2008 Pontiac Grand Am on Route M near Oasis Trail at 8:30 p.m. when the cow appeared on road.
Williams suffered minor injuries. The vehicle suffered extensive damage. There is no information on injuries to the cow.
Williams was wearing a seat belt.
(AP) – A jury convicted a Joplin man of second-degree murder in the death of a man believed to have a large amount of cash and drugs. A judge gave Daniel Hartman two life sentences.
The jury convicted 18-year-old Hartman Thursday in the July 2012 shooting death of 23-year-old Jacob Wages.
Hartman was first convicted of first-degree murder and other charges but those convictions were vacated when jurors could not unanimously agree to sentence him to life in prison without parole. Jurors then found him guilty of second-degree murder and recommended life sentences with the possibility of parole.
The Joplin Globe reports Hartman and three others went to Wages’ home to rob him of a stash of Ecstasy pills and $5,000 in cash. They found no Ecstasy or cash at the house.
(AP) – A Missouri House member wants lawmakers to have a check on budget cuts enacted by the governor.
Governors can control the rate at which money is spent and reduce spending when revenues are below the estimates upon which the budget is based.
House Republican Todd Richardson is proposing a constitutional amendment that would let lawmakers override the cuts with a two-thirds vote. Richardson says the measure would provide effective legislative oversight of governors’ spending decisions.
There have been budget disputes between Gov. Jay Nixon and the Legislature. Most recently, Nixon froze $400 million in the current year’s budget, while citing concerns lawmakers would override his veto of a tax cut. The veto was sustained and much of those funds have been released.
(AP) — A Guatemalan man who was living in Kansas will serve two years in prison for his role in an identity theft scam involving the St. Joseph license office.
Twenty-nine-year-old Pedro Pablo-Solis, of Liberal, Kan., was sentenced Thursday to two years without parole for aggravated identity theft.
He pleaded guilty in September to providing false identification documents to get licenses for more than 100 illegal immigrants through a St. Joseph license office.
Prosecutors say he obtained Social Security cards and birth certificates that were used by people in the country illegally to obtain identification documents in Missouri.
(AP) — A woman who was driving the wrong way on Interstate 70 in downtown Topeka collided head-on with a police car. No one was seriously injured.
Topeka police say the woman drove east for about 9 miles in the westbound lanes of the interstate early Friday. She eventually hit a semi-trailer truck on its side and then collided with a car driven by a Kansas Capitol police officer.
The woman was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The police officer was not injured. The highway was shut down for about an hour.
An investigation into why the woman was driving the wrong way is continuing.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released interim financial results for the Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and Advance Payment ACOs, as well as preliminary evaluation results for the Pioneer ACOs and final results from the Physician Group Practice Demonstration initiatives.
According to the findings, Medicare ACOs that shared in savings under the Shared Savings Program generated shared savings totaling $128 million for the Medicare trust fund. Of the 114 ACOs that started program operations in 2012, 54 ACOs had lower expenditures than projected, and 29 will share interim savings totaling more than $126 million – a strong start this early in the program.
Heartland Regional Medical Center is one of the ACOs that is eligible to share in savings.
“As an organization we focus on the triple aim of high quality, low cost, and the patient experience,” said Mark Laney, MD, president and CEO of Heartland Health and Mosaic Life Care. “For more than 10 years, we successfully applied the accountable care model to our own employees – long before becoming an ACO under the CMS Shared Savings Program. We believed we had the right focus, the right tools and the right knowledge. This success proves that we are on the right track.”
Heartland Regional Medical Center will receive a $2.86 million payment from CMS as their portion of shared savings
The Medicare Shared Savings Program was created to facilitate coordination and cooperation among providers to improve the quality of care for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries and reduce the growth in costs. ACOs share with Medicare any savings generated from lowering the growth in health care costs while meeting standards for high quality care. Final performance year 1 results will be released later this year, but the early results are promising.
– Congressman Sam Graves (MO-06) has introduced legislation to make it easier for dependent children of military families to remain on their parents’ TRICARE health insurance plan until the age of 26. Under current law, children must enroll in their own plan through a completely separate program. Graves’ bill, the TRICARE Family Improvement Act (H.R. 3974), would streamline the process so that children are able to seamlessly remain covered by their parents’ TRICARE plan.
Currently, TRICARE coverage for children on their family plans ends when a dependent child turns 21 – or 23 if the child is enrolled in college, which is three years earlier than what is now typically allowable for non-military families. The cost of this bill will be fully offset with cuts to foreign aid accounts in the federal budget.
“Considering the sacrifice made by our military families, I don’t think it is asking too much to allow them to stay on as long as non-military children are allowed to, and save a few extra dollars on their health insurance costs,” Graves said.
“Our government already spends too much money on wasteful foreign aid programs, like green energy programs in Africa, or climate change initiatives in Asia. Cutting spending to these senseless items in order to prioritize caring for the families of brave Americans who protect our freedom on the front lines is something we should all get behind,” Graves said of his proposed plan to pay for any costs associated with the legislation.
A man was stabbed during an altercation in South Saint Joseph Friday morning. The victim told police he was stabbed in the arm shortly after midnight when some men tried to rob him.
He was taken to Heartland for treatment. Police said the injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. No arrests were made. The incident is under investigation.
Several rounds of winter weather will be possible through the next several days. For Friday a round of very light snow will occur through the day, mainly north of Interstate 70. Further south some light freezing drizzle will occur later Friday afternoon and evening, mainly south of I-70. Overnight tonight more significant snow will form across northern Missouri, bringing roughly 3-5 inches of snow, with localized areas getting perhaps 5-7 inches. South of Highway 36, freezing rain will occur overnight Friday night, bringing .10″ to .20″ of ice. Stay tuned to the forecast for updated snow and ice forecasts.
Friday Snow likely, mainly before 3pm. Cloudy, with a high near 24. East northeast wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Total daytime snow accumulation of around an inch possible.
Friday night Snow. Low around 17. East northeast wind 9 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.
Saturday A chance of snow before noon. Cloudy, with a high near 28. North northwest wind 9 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Saturday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 5. Wind chill values between -1 and -6. North northwest wind 7 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
Sunday Sunny, with a high near 21. North wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the afternoon.
Sunday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 3.
(AP) — The leading gay-rights group in Kansas is asking legislators to repeal a state law and a provision in the state constitution that both ban same-sex marriage.
The Kansas House Federal and State Affairs Committee agreed to sponsor both measures at the request of Equality Kansas executive director Tom Witt.
But committee Chairman Steve Brunk hasn’t decided whether to hold hearings on either measure.
One proposal would repeal a 1996 law barring Kansas from recognizing gay marriages. The other would repeal a provision of the Constitution voters added in 2005 to ban gay marriage.
Witt said he wants a debate about marriage because the committee is considering a bill providing new legal protections to groups, businesses and individuals that oppose gay marriage for religious reasons.
