ATCHISON COUNTY, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on flooding in the Midwest (all times local):
Another levee has breached as high water levels make their way down the flooding Missouri River.
Buchanan County, Missouri, Emergency Director Management Bill Brinton says an agriculture levee breached around 11 a.m. Thursday just across the river from Atchison, Kansas, where the river is expected to crest at record levels.
The Missouri towns of Winthrop and Lewis and Clark Village are at risk of taking on water as the size of the breach grows. But Brinton says most of the 200 people who live in the area already left.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the levee is one of about 20 that have breached in Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska. Crests in St. Joseph, Missouri, are expected to be the third-highest on record, although only about half a dozen homes in the city aren’t protected by a federal levee.
TOPEKA — Late Thursday morning, the Kansas House passed Medicaid expansion in 69-54 vote. The measure now moves to the State Senate for final approval.
The following statement is from Governor Laura Kelly.
“Today a bipartisan coalition in the Kansas House put politics aside and came together to pass Medicaid expansion. I’m proud of their work – and the work of so many advocates and citizens who worked tirelessly to make their voices heard on this issue.
“Medicaid expansion is one of the most critical issues impacting our state’s future. It will allow up to 150,000 more Kansans access to affordable healthcare, support local hospitals and clinics, and impact our economy for the better.
“Over 70 percent of Kansans support Medicaid expansion. I encourage the Kansas Senate to join me, this bipartisan coalition, business leaders and the overwhelming majority of Kansans in support of Medicaid expansion. The time for blocking progress has long since passed. Now is the time to expand Medicaid.”
————- ByJIM MCLEAN
A demonstration at the Kansas Statehouse came earlier this week, before the House voted to expand Medicaid coverage in the state. JIM MCLEAN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
A coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans powered past objections from conservative leaders in the Kansas House Wednesday to approve Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s Medicaid expansion proposal.
Albeit a slightly revised version.
During a debate that stretched from midday into the evening, the coalition prevailed in a rules fight and fought off several amendments aimed at making the bill more palatable to conservatives before voting 70-54 to advance it to a final vote on Thursday.
“We’ve discussed this for five years, we absolutely cannot let this chance slip through our fingers,” said Rep. Kathy Wolfe Moore, a Kansas City Democrat.
In summary, the bill would:
• Expand KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program, to cover Kansans earning less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level — $17,236 for an individual or $35,535 for a family of four. The Kansas Health Institute estimates that 90,000 of the 130,000 Kansans expected to enroll would be non-disabled adults who are not currently eligible for KanCare. The remaining 40,000 would be children.
• Require the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to refer all non-disabled adults who are unemployed or working fewer than 20 hours a week to a job training program.
Parents caring for young children would be exempt. The Commonwealth Fund estimated in a 2017 report that only 11 percent of Kansans likely to enroll in expansion coverage are unemployed. Some Republicans favor a “work requirement.” But Gov. Kelly says she won’t agree to one because it would be a “nightmare” to administer.
• Establish a working group to identify additional revenue sources to offset the state’s share of expansion costs. The Affordable Care Act requires the federal government to fund no less than 90 percent of expansion costs. Expansion opponents fear budget pressures will eventually force a reduction in that funding. Should that happen, an amendment added to the bill during Wednesday’s debate would require state officials to repeal expansion.
Cost an issue
The governor’s budget office estimates that the state’s share of expansion costs in the first full year would be approximately $34 million.
A recent estimate by the Kansas Health Institute put the cost at $41.7 million. The lion’s share of that would come from “privilege fees” paid by the managed care organizations that administer KanCare and projected savings generated from using federal dollars to cover services and programs now funded by the state.
Neither the state nor the KHI estimate include a projection of how much economic activity triggered by an infusion of nearly $1 billion in additional federal Medicaid funding would increase state revenues. New research done by economists at Kansas State University indicates the spike in revenue would be nearly enough to cover the state’s share of expansion costs.
An amendment added to the bill at the urging of Rep. Troy Waymaster, the Republican chair of the House Appropriations Committee, would also help defray expansion costs by requiring beneficiaries to pay $25 a month for their coverage. Family premiums would be capped at $100 a month. Waymaster estimated the payments would generate between $26 million and $45 million a year.
What’s next
Assuming the expansion bill clears a final vote in the House, it would go to the Senate. Expansion advocates say they believe they have to votes to also pass it there, but the margin may be narrower.
However, both Senate President Susan Wagle and Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning are opposed to it.
Denning, an Overland Park Republican, has said in a recent interview he’d “be willing to have (a) conversation with the governor” about terms of expanding Medicaid.
Multiple polls showing that sizeable majorities of Kansas voters favor expansion should motivate Denning, Wagle and others to seek a compromise, Kelly said.
“This is something,” Kelly said, “they don’t want to be talking about next year in an election year.”
The St. Joseph Police Department released the road closure information today at 10:49 am – USHY 59 from Rushville to Atchison, including the Amelia Earhart Bridge, is being closed due to flooding.
Check St. Joseph Post for more as details become available.
BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — The company that owns a duck boat that sank on a Missouri lake last year, killing 17 people , won’t operate the vessels this year and will instead open a replacement attraction in the tourist town of Branson.
First responders on the scene of the July 2018 lake accident -photo courtesy KYTV
Ripley Entertainment Suzanne Smagala-Potts announced plans for the new attraction, called Branson Top Op, on Thursday. She declined to comment on whether the boats would ever float again on Table Rock Lack, saying only that the company is focused on 2019 and hasn’t “looked in the future of what we may or may not do.”
The entertainment venue will include indoor laser tag and an interactive outdoor maze. It’s expected to open for Memorial Day weekend.
The company faces several lawsuits alleging that it launched the doomed boat despite warnings of severe weather.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an alleged scam aimed at registered offenders in Kansas.
According to a media release from the sheriff’s department, registered offenders reported receiving calls from a person posing as a deputy from the sheriff’s department. The caller claims the offender is not in compliance and urges the offender to send money to pay the fines or bond.
The Montgomery County sheriff reminded the public they do not call offenders or anyone to collect money. Investigators are working to learn the identity of the callers and bring them to justice, according to the release.
Anyone who receives a similar call should hang just hang up. If you received a call, the sheriff’s office wants you to contact law enforcement.
KANSAS CITY— A Kansas felon who rammed a police vehicle and crashed into two more cars while leading officers on a high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle was charged in federal court Wednesday with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Chance Ayers-photo Jackson County
Chance Ayers, 24, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, according to the United State’s Attorney.
In an affidavit filed in support of Wednesday federal criminal complaint, on March 3, 2019, a Kansas City police detective saw Ayers driving a maroon 2002 Mercury Sable, which had been reported stolen when the keys were taken during a burglary earlier that day. The detective followed Ayers to a gas station, where he pulled up next to the front of the building. A police captain, dressed in full police uniform and driving an unmarked police vehicle equipped with emergency lights and siren, arrived to conduct a car check. The captain activated his lights, got out of his vehicle, and made verbal contact with Ayers.
When Ayers saw the captain, the affidavit says, he immediately put his car in reverse and backed up until he struck the front of the captain’s police vehicle. Ayers continued to accelerate in reverse and the Mercury began pushing the parked police vehicle backward. The captain was dragged backwards through the parking lot as he struggled with Ayers through the driver’s window of the Mercury in an effort to get Ayers to stop. The captain was able to disengage from Ayers and the Mercury before it entered 11th Street. Ayers continued to push the police vehicle until it struck a wooden utility pole, which sheared off. Ayers then placed the Mercury in drive and fled westbound on 12th Street.
A civilian police department employee, who was seated in the front passenger seat of the police vehicle, was treated at a hospital for neck and back pain. The police vehicle was towed from the scene.
A Kansas City police officer soon located Ayers, who was traveling at a high rate of speed, near 12th Street and Chestnut. The officer activated his emergency lights and siren and attempted to stop the vehicle, the affidavit says, but Ayers refused to stop. Ayers allegedly ran multiple red traffic signals as he traveled at a high rate of speed. Ayers made a wide turn onto 71 Highway, almost driving off the road. Ayers continued to drive at a high rate of speed in rainy conditions on 71 Highway, the affidavit says, weaving in and out of all three lanes. When Ayers exited 71 Hwy at 39th Street, he caused an accident with another vehicle, but did not stop. The officer pursuing Ayers was unable to continue the pursuit and lost sight of Ayers after he exited at 39th Street.
Ayers eventually wrecked into a parked car on Wayne Avenue. A police sergeant saw Ayers run from the vehicle towards Highland Avenue. The sergeant located an open garage door of an abandoned residence at 4316 Highland Avenue and heard noises inside. A perimeter was set up and Ayers was eventually taken into custody inside the residence. Ayers had two 12-gauge shotgun shells in his right front pants pocket at the time of his arrest.
The Mercury had major damage, and was towed from the scene. Inside the vehicle, officers found a loaded New England 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun on the driver’s side floorboard. Two more shotgun shells were found on the floor next to the shotgun.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Ayers has prior felony convictions for burglary, theft and criminal damage, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections. He was on state parole at the time of the alleged offense.
Expect ongoing moderate to major river flooding to continue for the next several days. No precipitation is anticipated today through Friday, however, rain chances increase this weekend. Saturday morning showers will spread west to east across eastern Kansas and Missouri during the day. Not much change for Sunday, as off and on showers continue with a chance of thunderstorms. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today: Sunny, with a high near 57. Northwest wind 7 to 9 mph.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 32. West northwest wind 3 to 7 mph.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 58. Light and variable wind becoming northeast 5 to 7 mph in the morning.
Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 35. East northeast wind around 7 mph.
Saturday: A slight chance of rain and snow showers between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., then rain showers likely. Partly sunny, with a high near 55. East southeast wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Saturday Night: Showers likely, with thunderstorms also possible after 2 a.m. Cloudy, with a low around 46. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday: Showers likely, with thunderstorms also possible after 8 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 61. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Sunday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 44. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Monday: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 50. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Monday Night: A chance of showers before 8 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 52.
Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 37.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Authorities have rescued several people left stranded after flooding in northwest Missouri.
Water Patrol Troopers worked into the night yesterday in and around Craig, Missouri, with flood water rescues. There were four people rescued from homes and three from a boat that ran out of fuel. pic.twitter.com/OZbErK3bUU
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported that water patrol troopers worked into the night Wednesday in and around Craig, pulling four people from homes and three from a boat that ran out of fuel. The town of 220 began flooding after a levee breach. An ethanol plant there also was forced to shut down.
The city tweeted multiple pictures of water-filled homes before ending the day by writing , “Sleep tight River Rats tomorrow is a new day.”
The Missouri River continues to wreak havoc as high water levels make their way downstream. The river initially was expected to crest Thursday in St. Joseph, but new forecasts call for it to crest at a slightly higher level Friday of about 12.1 feet above flood stage, the third-highest level on record.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri regulators reversed course Wednesday and gave the go-ahead to one of the nation’s largest renewable energy projects — a high-voltage power line delivering wind energy from the Midwest to a power grid for eastern states.
Grain Belt Express Mo. route- click to enlarge
The proposed Grain Belt Express transmission line would stretch 780 miles from Kansas across Missouri and Illinois before hooking into an electric grid in Indiana that serves the eastern U.S. The $2.3 billion project had twice been rejected by the Missouri Public Service Commission, but it reconsidered following a ruling last year by the state Supreme Court.
Missouri’s approval is a big step but not the final one before construction can begin.
In November, Chicago-based Invenergy announced it was buying the project from Houston-based Clean Line Energy Partners. That deal should bolster the financing, but Invenergy said the sale still needs regulatory approval in Missouri and Kansas. The transmission line also needs to regain regulatory approval in Illinois, where a state appeals court last year overturned the state’s previous approval.
The Grain Belt Express project has highlighted one of the biggest challenges facing renewable energy developers in the U.S. Converting wind into electricity is increasingly affordable, but it can sometimes be difficult to get the various governmental approvals necessary to string the power lines from the remote areas where the energy is produced to the more populated places where it’s consumed.
Clean Line had been working on the proposed direct-current power line since 2010 and had said last year that it still hoped to bring the project online by 2023 or 2024.
Invenergy spokeswoman Beth Conley said that timeline has not been changed by the proposed sale of the project. The power line would be the largest transmission project undertaken by Invenergy.
“The Grain Belt Express is important because it is a transformative infrastructure project that will provide access to more low-cost renewable power to American consumers and communities,” Conley said.
Paul Agathen, an attorney for the Missouri Landowners Alliance, which has opposed the project, said he is considering whether to appeal the regulatory ruling to a state court. The project also could face continued opposition from some counties, which grant approval for power lines to cross roads, and from individual property owners.
Some landowners “just really do not believe that a private company like Grain Belt should have the right to take their property by eminent domain in order to put a transmission line through Missouri,” Agathan said. “They sincerely believe they’re being wronged here.”
When Missouri regulators originally rejected the project in July 2015, they determined it would have little benefit for Missouri consumers and cited the burden it would impose on landowners in its path. Since then, the project was restructured to include a deal to sell some of the power to a coalition of Missouri municipal utilities. That helped persuade regulators that the project does have benefit to the state.
All five regulatory commissioners voted for the project Wednesday. Their written order said that “the broad economic, environmental, and other benefits of the project … outweigh the interests of the individual landowners.”
“I’m excited to see it go,” said commissioner Bill Kenney, who had voted against the original proposal. “We’re moving toward more renewables, and I think this project is an excellent start for us in Missouri.”
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri regulators have reversed course and given the go-ahead to one of the nation’s largest renewable energy projects.
The Grain Belt Express power line approved Wednesday would carry wind power from Kansas on a 780-mile path across Missouri and Illinois before hooking into a power grid in Indiana that serves eastern states.
The Missouri Public Service Commission had rejected the project twice previously, but it reconsidered following a ruling last year by the state Supreme Court.
In November, Chicago-based Invenergy announced it was buying the project from Houston-based Clean Line Energy Partners. That deal should bolster the financing, but the sale still needs regulatory approval.
The transmission line also would need regulatory approval in Illinois, where a state appeals court overturned the state’s previous approval.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — State officials say the flooding that swept Nebraska has caused nearly $1.4 billion in estimated losses and damage.
Gov. Pete Ricketts said Wednesday that roads, levies and other infrastructure have sustained an estimated $449 million in damage. Damage to private homes and businesses has reached $85 million so far, and farmers have experienced $400 million in cattle losses and $440 million in crop losses.
HWY 34 bridge in Plattsmouth. The impacts to transportation in Eastern Nebraska will require a great deal of patience. Thankfully Nebraskans are known for this quality! pic.twitter.com/VoSb9bsbIJ
Ricketts says an estimated 2,067 homes and 341 businesses have been damaged or destroyed in the flood.
Ricketts stressed that the numbers are preliminary and subject to change. The numbers were included in the governor’s request for expedited assistance from the federal government.
We understand how important your pets are.
So when troopers come to the rescue, the pets gets rescued too.
(Not pictured: a massive dog who got to ride in the NSP helicopter!)
