TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The leader of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment plans to leave the agency in early January.

Gov. Sam Brownback on Thursday announced Susan Mosier’s decision to leave a job she has held since Dec. 1, 2014.

Mosier, an ophthalmologist, was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 2010 and became the state’s Medicaid program director in 2012 until three private health insurers took over daily operations in 2013 and rebranded the program KanCare.

The KanCare program, which serves more than 400,000 poor, disabled and elderly residents, has been criticized for offering too few services, too quickly denying services and a large backlog of claims.

Brownback said Lt. Governor Dr. Jeff Colyer will name a replacement for Mosier in the near future.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Authorities say a suspect in a New Orleans killing has been arrested in Missouri.

Twenty-two-year-old Derik Gomez-Martinez was charged Wednesday with being a fugitive from out of state. He’s jailed without bond while awaiting extradition. No attorney is listed for him in online court records in Missouri.

Jefferson City, Missouri, police said in a news release that Gomez-Martinez initially was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of marijuana possession. The release says he provided a false name but officers eventually learned of the outstanding manslaughter warrant.

KRCG-TV reports that New Orleans police say Gomez-Martinez is a suspect in a July 2015 attack that sent a man to the hospital. The case was reclassified from aggravated battery to homicide after

FARMINGTON, Mo. (AP) – Parents of an eastern Missouri infant face child abuse charges for allegedly putting their son in a microwave, and other abuse.

Derick Boyce-Slezak and Mikala Boyce-Slezak of Park Hills were charged Tuesday and are jailed on $500,000 bond. They do not have attorneys.

The baby was taken to a St. Louis hospital in April when he was under 4 months old. Doctors found second-degree facial burns and head injuries.

A state social worker said at a hearing Monday that the mother blamed the head wounds on the father for dropping the baby while imitating a TV commercial.

The social worker said Mikala Boyce-Slezak believes the burn occurred when her husband put the baby in a microwave and briefly turned it on.

SHAWNEE COUNTY —A Kansas man died in a tractor accident on Wednesday.

Just after 6p.m. first responders were advised of a man trapped under an overturned tractor in the back of the property in the 4400 Block of NE Croco Road, according to a media release from the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Department.
Upon arrival the man identified as 67-year-old Marty L. Garren of Topeka was pronounced dead at the scene

It was determined that that Garren was using an 800 series Ford Tractor with a front loader and rear box blade attachment to do dirt work at the back of the property.

Sometime between 3pm and 6pm as he was moving dirt to level a sloped area on the property the tractor rolled over, pinning him underneath it. When family returned home he was discovered and summonsed emergency personnel.

Emergency personnel from Soldier Fire, AMR and the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office responded.

BARTON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal hit and run accident and asking the public for help to locate the vehicle.

At 7:21 p.m. Wednesday, the Great Bend Police Department and the Great Bend Fire Department ambulance personnel were dispatched to the 4200 block of 10th Street in Great Bend in reference to an injury accident, according to a media release.

When Officers arrived, they found 65-year-old James Zager, Holden, MO. laying in the roadway, unresponsive.

He was transported to Great Bend Regional Hospital in critical condition and later died of his injuries.

Witnesses described a light colored, possibly white or light blue, full size pick up with a grill guard and an “oversize load” sign on the front and unknown Oklahoma license plate traveling westbound on 10th Street.

Zager was reported to be crossing 10th Street on foot, when he was struck by the pick up. After the pick up struck Zager, the pickup continued westbound on 10th Street in Great Bend.

At this time, the vehicle has not been located. The Great Bend Police Department asks that anyone who may have any information about the accident or the vehicle, to contact the Great Bend Police Department at 620-793-4120 or Crime Stoppers at 620-792-1300 or 888-305-1300.

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House official says plan being discussed to replace Secretary of State Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

President Donald Trump selected Tillerson, the former Exxon Mobil CEO, back in December, shortly after he was elected.

A native of Wichita Falls, Texas, Tillerson came to Exxon Mobil Corp. as a production engineer straight out of the University of Texas at Austin in 1975 and never left. Groomed for an executive position, Tillerson came up in the rough-and-tumble world of oil production, holding posts in the company’s central United States, Yemen and Russian operations.

The U.S. Senate voted 66-32 to confirm Pompo’s appointment as CIA Director.

The 53-year-old Pompeo was originally elected to serve Kansas fourth congressional district in 2010

MOUND CITY –A Kansas man was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 12 years in prison for battery of a law enforcement officer and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

John Teters, 55, pleaded guilty in September to one count each of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and battery of a law enforcement officer. Teters was sentenced in Linn County District Court by Judge Terri Johnson to 142 months to be served in the Kansas Department of Corrections. The convictions stemmed from a crime that was committed in August.

Teters has previous convictions for second degree murder, theft and aggravated escape from custody, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.