Pat Simmons is pictured during Thursday’s stop in Junction City.
JC Post
JUNCTION CITY — One of the original Doobie Brothers is traveling cross country on a vintage 1929 Harley Davidson as part of the Cannonball Motorcycle Endurance Run.
Pat Simmons, 66, singer-songwriter-guitarist for the Doobie Brothers, is participating in the ride, which stopped in Junction City on Thursday. The group was scheduled to head west Saturday, with a lunchtime stop scheduled in Graham County.
Simmons said his bike is a 1929 JD Harley Davidson Twin 74-cubic-inch motorcycle, nicknamed “Norge” because of the similar blue color to Norge refrigerators popular in the 1950s.
He guessed the bike had a value of $15,000 or $20,000.
“We’ve probably got a lot more into it because we rebuilt the engine. We did a little bit of cosmetic stuff to it, not a lot. Nice tank anyway,” he said. “I had to acquire quite a few parts for it … a lot more than I actually thought it was going to need.”
For Simmons, the cross-country motorcycle ride from Daytona Beach, Fla., to Tacoma, Wash., is a good time.
“We’re having a ball out here. All the antique motorcycle nuts are out here,” said Simmons, whose wife Cristine is also riding in the Cannonball. “It is tiring, but it’s fun. That’s why we’re out here…to ride these old bikes.”
Simmons is an original member of the iconic Doobie Brothers, founded in 1969.
“We’re still working. We’re still out here playing,” he said. “We just finished a new album (“Southbound”),a collaboration with a bunch of Nashville artists — Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Zach Brown and Band, to name a few. It’s an album of Doobie Brothers songs with Nashville artists.
Of course, the Doobie Brothers have left their mark on American music, with anthems such as “Black Water” and “What a Fool Believes.”
Simmons was performing in a band called “Scratch” in 1969. When it broke up, he accepted an invitation to join Tom Johnston, John Hartman and Dave Shogren — and the Doobie Brothers were born.
“You know we’re just folks. We’re just people like everybody else,” Simmons said. “If we did something good along the way we’re proud of that.”
DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling about 74,000 older-model gas-electric hybrid SUVs in the U.S. and Canada to fix a stalling problem.
The recall covers Ford Escapes from the 2005 through 2008 model years and Mercury Mariners from 2006 through 2008.
The company says the coolant pump for the hybrid system could fail, causing electronics to overheat. That can shut down the engine, increasing the risk of a crash.
Ford says in documents filed with government safety regulators that it has no reports of crashes or injuries from the problem.
Ford is expected to start the recall on Oct. 27. Dealers will replace the coolant pump for free.
LCSO / South of Chillicothe at the Grand River Access
LCSO/ Levee break north of Roach Lake
A levee break is complicating flood control efforts near Chillicothe. A flood warning continues for areas near the Grand River in Livingston County until Sunday evening. According to the National Weather Service, the river rose to 35.62 feet by 6:45am Friday. The flood stage is 24 feet.
Major flooding is occurring, and remains in the forecast, according to hydrologists with the weather service.
The Grand River was expected to recede below flood stage by Saturday evening.
US-36 highway remains closed between Chillicothe and Utica Friday morning. Route-Y at Highway-190 was also closed.
Livingston County Sheriff Steve Cox released these photographs.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas will create a task force and require training in response to criticism of its handling of sexual assault complaints.
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little announced Thursday that the task force will review the university’s current policies and practices and recommend improvements.
In a message on her website, Gray-Little said she wants to ensure that students, faculty and staff take training on the subject and not completing the training will lead to sanctions.
6NewsLawrence reports the actions come after some university students and activists released a video telling prospective students that the university was not safe.
A panel discussion on sexual assault also will be held next Thursday during Sexual Assault Awareness Week. Gray-Little says she will attend the discussion.
NEW YORK (AP) — Olive Garden is hurting itself by piling on too many breadsticks, according to an investor that’s disputing how the restaurant chain is run.
In a wide-ranging critique, the hedge fund Starboard Value says restaurants lack training and that servers bring too many breadsticks to tables at a time. That leads to waste — and cold breadsticks, Starboard says.
The document is part of Starboard’s push to take control of the board of Olive Garden’s parent company, Darden Restaurants Inc. Darden has been trying to revitalize Olive Garden, where sales fell 1.3 percent in the latest quarter.
Among Starboard’s other complaints were Olive Garden’s failure to salt the water used to boil its pasta and its liberal use of salad dressing.
Darden says it’s already been executing an improvement plan.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 40-year-old Kansas City man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possessing firearms while trafficking in drugs.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas City says Carlos Olivas, also known as “Chuco,” was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty in April.
A northwest Missouri mother and her son were sentenced on Wednesday for participating in the same meth-dealing conspiracy.
Prosecutors say 47-year-old Onis Eads — also known as Onis Jones — of Humphreys was sentenced to three years and 11 months, while her son, 25-year-old John Carr of Galt, was sentenced to eight years and 11 months.
Carr and his mother both admitted purchasing large amounts of methamphetamine from Olivas so they could sell it.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Missouri man is facing theft charges after authorities say he stole two live alligators from a pet store by stuffing them into his shorts pocket.
KMOV-TV reports 20-year-old Melvin Davis is charged with felony theft. Authorities say the incident occurred in July at a south St. Louis County pet store.
The owner of Exotic Amphibian and Reptile Center says security video footage shows Davis putting the reptiles into a cargo shorts pocket. The owner says the animals haven’t been returned.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Davis has been arrested or if he has an attorney.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Premiums for job-based insurance rose modestly for the third consecutive year, reflecting slowed spending, even as key elements of the federal health care law went into effect.
Family premiums rose 3 percent in 2014, one of the lowest increases tracked since the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust began surveying employers in 1999. (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)
Nonetheless, the cost of the average family plan rose to $16,834 annually, according to the survey of more than 2,000 employers nationwide.
While both critics and supporters of the Affordable Care Act are likely to find fodder for their positions, the report portrays 2014 as a relatively stable year for employer coverage, with little change in the type of plans offered or their costs. The percentage of firms offering health benefits (55 percent) and the percentage of workers covered at those firms (62 percent) were statistically unchanged from 2013, despite predictions of the law’s critics that many firms would drop coverage.
“We’re in a period of very modest premium increases where the feeling that the employer-based system is unsustainable may cool, at least for a while, until we see higher increases in premiums again for group insurance,” said Drew Altman, president and CEO of the foundation. “No one knows when we might see that again or how sharp those increases may be.”
Total premium costs for single coverage remained about the same, hitting $6,025 a year. And workers paid the same percentage of the premium as they have for the past several years, about 29 percent for family coverage and 18 percent for single plans.
In recent years, employers have been shifting more costs to workers, including raising workers’ deductibles, or the amount people have to pay before most benefits kick in. However, the survey found that there was no significant change in deductibles this year.
In 2014, the average deductible for single employees was $1,217, a 47 percent increase since 2009. Employees at small firms paid even more, averaging $1,797.
Among the changes noted by the survey: The percent of covered workers potentially liable for more than $6,350 in out-of-pocket costs under their plans dropped from 14 percent in 2013 to 7 percent this year. The health law caps out-of-pocket costs, although some employers could go over that amount this year.
But the report warns that insurance may look different in 2015.
For the first time, employers with 50 or more workers are slated to face fines if they don’t offer coverage, a provision that was supposed to begin this year but was delayed by the Obama administration.
Although 92 percent of companies with 50 or more workers already offer coverage, the survey notes that some of those employers may change eligibility rules or the amount they pay toward coverage. Conversely, some firms may offer workers coverage for the first time to avoid fines.
Other employers, especially small ones, may decide to drop coverage, sending workers to state and federal marketplaces to buy individual policies. That was also a concern this year, but the survey found that the percentage of firms offering coverage was 55 percent, down from 57 percent the prior year, a change that wasn’t statistically significant.
On Tuesday, the credit rating firm Moody’s also issued a report, noting that employers did not drop coverage this year “primarily because [they] were not ready to ‘dump’ their employees into an untested public exchange.”
Moody’s analysts said they did not think employer fines in 2015 will have much effect because “most employers already are providing health benefits to their employees.”
Still, if the economy improves and spending on health care ticks up as consumers seek elective care they had previously delayed, that could drive up premiums, the Kaiser report notes.
Since 1999, premiums have risen an average 191 percent, with the fastest growth seen between 1999 and 2004, the report found. Even as employees’ share of the total premium has remained about the same, the total dollar amount has climbed. This year, workers paid an average $1,801 toward the premium for a single plan and $4,823 toward a family plan premium.
Since the mid-2000s, annual premium increases slowed to less than 10 percent each year. This year tied with 2010 for the smallest increase, at 3 percent for family coverage.
Because those are averages, some employers and workers have seen higher increases.
Gordon Gondek, co-owner of Dixie Restaurants in Little Rock, Ark., has about 100 employees eligible for health benefits. He said his premiums went up 12 percent this year, “which was pretty much to be expected,” said Gondek.
He’s not sure what increase he may see next year, but said the company is “doing everything that we can to hold down our costs.”
Smaller rate increases during the past three years are attributed mainly to lower growth in health care spending overall, related to the slow U.S. economy.
Some employers already are getting a glimpse at next year’s costs.
Debby Terzo, the chief operating officer at Shattuck National Bank in Shattuck, Okla., said its insurer quoted a 30 percent increase next year to cover 15 full-time employees. “I kind of looked at it, and I thought, ‘wow.’ I put it in a drawer because I didn’t want to think about it,” she said.
Employers facing such increases often take steps to lower premiums by increasing deductibles, or the amount workers pay out-of-pocket for doctor office visits, drugs or hospital care.
About 41 percent of workers have an annual deductible of at least $1,000, while 18 percent pay at least $2,000 a year, according to the survey.
“One of the reasons why we have moderate premium increases is because deductibles are going up, plans are becoming less generous and it makes people more sensitive to whether they use health care,” said Paul Fronstin of the Employer Benefit Research Institute, a Washington think tank.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill on Thursday released the following statement after a report she requested from the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General (DHS IG) showed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) failed to follow good business practices and paid at least $4.6 million more than it should have for employee housing in Ajo, Ariz.:
“This audit shows an extremely troubling and pervasive waste of taxpayer dollars and a failure to effectively manage what should have been a basic project. I’m thankful someone came forward to blow the whistle on this project—whistleblowers are critical in our efforts to guard against this kind of waste and misconduct in government—and I look forward to working with the Department on how we can better manage housing efforts for our hardworking agents at the southern border.”
McCaskill, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight, requested the audit from DHS after being contacted by a whistleblower. The audit found that CBP paid an average of $680,000 each to build 21 single-family homes in Ajo, where home prices average $86,500. The units are for CBP employees stationed on and near the U.S.-Mexico border.
Senator Claire McCaskill’s comments about militarization of the police are not sitting well with many in law enforcement. Captain Tiger Parsons of the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office says good equipment, some of which might look military, is designed to protect officers so they can protect the public. “When we’re not safe, the public’s not safe,” he said.
Parsons says law enforcement is in a sort of “arms race” with criminals who are using body armor and more powerful weapons. He says if law enforcement doesn’t keep up we’re all in trouble. Parsons says the militarization issue is perception and political spin…and it’s frustrating for those in law enforcement.
“We’re still working. We’re still out here playing,” he said. “We just finished a new album (“Southbound”),a collaboration with a bunch of Nashville artists — Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Zach Brown and Band, to name a few. It’s an album of Doobie Brothers songs with Nashville artists.
