TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two Republican state representatives are proposing a constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right to hunt, fish and trap in Kansas.

Rep. Adam Lusker, of Frontenac, says the amendment is a reaction to bans or restrictions pushed by animal rights supporters in other states. For example, trapping is banned in Arizona, California, Colorado, Massachusetts and Washington.

The Joplin Globe reports 18 states have constitutional amendments guaranteeing the right to hunt and fish. A similar effort failed in Missouri last year but a sponsor says he plans to pursue the idea again.

Kristin Simon, who works with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, says the group opposes such amendments because they make it difficult to ban hunting and trapping methods the some people consider cruel.

By ANDY MARSO

As the state runs out of money, legislators are running out of patience with a costly computer upgrade that is now almost two years behind schedule.

Lawmakers who sit on the House Appropriations Committee are requesting an audit of the Kansas Eligibility Enforcement System, or KEES, to determine why the system is not fully implemented more than a year after the original target date. The system is intended to knit together programs that determine Kansans’ eligibility for social services, including Medicaid, for greater efficiency.

The state’s information technology office, which is working with government contractor Accenture, reports having spent $93.5 million on the project. While much of that is federal funds, Rep. Jerry Lunn, a Republican from Overland Park, asked Rep. Will Carpenter if he had used his role as chairman of a budget subcommittee to question the Kansas Department of Health and Environment about the spending.

“I would like to understand why they’re behind,” Lunn said. “What’s the money gone to?” “I don’t disagree with you at all,” said Carpenter, a Republican from El Dorado. Carpenter said he had asked KDHE Acting Secretary Susan Mosier those questions and she said testing had revealed some flaws in the system, but a portion should be ready to go live next month. The original target date for KEES was October 2013.

That date came and went. Glen Yancey, chief information technology officer for KDHE, told legislators a few months later that the system was not ready but he was confident it would be sometime in 2014. By November 2014 it became apparent that was not the case. In an update to lawmakers, Yancey said the program was close but not ready for full rollout.

Last month he said the agency was still testing the system and declined to give a new target date for rollout.

Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, a Shawnee Republican who chairs the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee, expressed frustration with the lack of information explaining the continuous delays.

Those frustrations were echoed this week by House Appropriations Committee members, who voted to recommend that the Legislative Post Audit Committee order a comprehensive review of KEES.

Rep. Kyle Hoffman, a Republican from Coldwater, said he hoped auditing the program would spur more accountability on future government IT projects. “I’ve been here five years, and it seems like every one of these IT programs is millions of dollars and then it doesn’t work in the end,” Hoffman said.

Andy Marso is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas judiciary has a far smaller percentage of minorities than the overall state population.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the Office of Judicial Administration says that throughout the state judicial system, racial minorities make up just 3 percent of the 287 judges at the district, appellate and Supreme Court levels. There are four African-American judges, five Hispanics, and one Asian-American.

But the most recent census estimates that 23 percent of the state’s population isn’t white.

Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission chairwoman Anne Burke calls it a “terrible situation.” The commission receives applications for appointments to the state’s highest court and provides three names to the governor, who makes the final appointment.

Burke says part of the problem is that very few minority lawyers apply.

JOAN LOWY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Today’s cars can come with many high-tech features that interact wirelessly with the electronic systems. Tiny, built-in computers control increasing numbers of vehicle functions, making keeping track of what they control or how well protected that data is difficult.

Internet access. Navigation systems. WiFi. Bluetooth. Keyless entry. Remote starting. Anti-theft systems. Tire-pressure monitoring.

And more gadgets and applications are on the way for our connected vehicles.

It’s all part of the wave of developments from consumer electronics companies — along with health trackers and “smart” home appliances, for example.

A top federal regulator is pressing the tech industry to make data security a priority as new products become available — and to give consumers more control over how their data is used.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers are working to reduce the state’s prison population and costs, but parallel legislation to toughen penalties could stymie their efforts.

The Kansas Sentencing Commission has submitted bills to the Legislature that would free up 150 beds in state prisons and save $3.6 million. One measure would keep offenders out of prison on their first two marijuana possession convictions. Another would allow some prisoners to get out of jail earlier for good behavior.

Kansas’ prisons are already over capacity and their populations are growing. Furthermore, the state faces a projected budget shortfall of almost $600 million for the next fiscal year.

But the Legislature is also considering bills to lengthen sentences for drunk driving, home burglary and scrap theft. These could nullify the effect of the sentencing commission’s efforts.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Cybersecurity experts say the hacking attack against a health insurance database could be a sign that hackers have shifted their focus away from retailers and toward other targets.

The nation’s second-largest insurer, Anthem, says the hackers got into a database storing information for about 80 million people. They were able to get information including names, birthdates and Social Security numbers. But the company says it has no evidence that medical information was targeted or taken.

Now that retailers like Target and Home Depot that have been the victims of previous hacking attacks have shored-up their defenses, experts say hackers are looking elsewhere. Mark Bower of the cybersecurity firm Voltage security says security practices in health care are not as mature as they are in other industries. And he says hackers have multiple ways to get into a system that links insurers, care providers, labs and others.

The head of another cybersecurity firm, Hexadite, says medical data can also be used to extort patients, with hackers demanding money to prevent the release of sensitive information. Eran Barak says this attack may have been a probe to test the company’s defenses.

By DAVE RANNEY

For the second time in three months, federal officials have notified Osawatomie State Hospital that it’s on the brink of losing its Medicare payments because it is out of compliance with health and safety standards.

The latest warning, issued Jan. 30, stemmed from a Jan. 23 inspection that resulted in the hospital being cited for deficiencies in medication management and infection control, and for not doing enough to prevent suicidal patients from hanging themselves.

The hospital, according to state reports, is expected to receive $6.88 million in Medicare receipts for the current fiscal year. That’s almost 23 percent of the facility’s total budget.

Osawatomie State Hospital is the largest of the state’s two inpatient facilities for adults with severe and persistent mental illnesses.

Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services Secretary Kari Bruffett, during an appearance Wednesday before the House Social Service Budget Committee, said hospital officials had submitted a plan to correct the deficiencies, most of which involve “environmental issues.” The plan includes changes such as replacing or modifying furniture, removing closet doors, sealing electrical outlets and taking down framed pictures and glass mirrors.

“We believe that the hospital remains in compliance,” Bruffett said. “But it’s also very important to comply with the survey findings and ensure that we have removed any jeopardy for patients.”

In keeping with the hospital’s correction plan, she said KDADS will spend $250,000 on new beds.

The money, Bruffett said, will be taken from the $1.9 million received from the recent sale of the former Rainbow Mental Health Facility property in Kansas City.

The total cost for implementing the correction plan, she said, is not yet known.

Security concerns raised during inspections last month and last fall have caused the hospital to enact policies directing staff to check on each patients’ well-being every 15 minutes, KDADS spokesperson Angela de Rocha said in an email.

KDADS has not yet released copies of the Jan. 30 inspection report.

Since 2008, de Rocha said, Osawatomie State Hospital has reported one patient suicide.

In November, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regional office in Kansas City, Mo., warned the hospital that its Medicare funding was in jeopardy after surveyors cited it for being overcrowded and for not doing enough to ensure proper medical care.

In an effort to reduce the hospital’s census, KDADS in December suspended voluntary admissions and launched a concentrated effort aimed at finding residential alternatives for approximately 50 patients.

“Some of these folks had been in the hospital for years and years,” Bruffett said. “Sometimes that’s appropriate, and sometimes it’s because there’s not a place to discharge them to, or it’s difficult to discharge them and get them the services they need because of the complexity of their diagnoses.

“What we’re seeing more and more is that as patients age, their medical fragility increases as well,” she said. “And finding places that can care for both their physical and mental health needs can be challenging.”

The search for residential alternatives, Bruffett said, resulted in most of the 50 patients being discharged to community-based settings in a “span of a few weeks.”

CMS officials later accepted the hospital’s plan for reducing its census and improving medical care, allowing its Medicare receipts to continue.

Bruffett said CMS officials are expected to conduct a follow-up inspection on the latest correction plan sometime before Feb. 23.

Dave Ranney is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 25-year-old man has been charged in the shooting death of a man in Kansas City, Kansas.

The Wyandotte County prosecutor’s office announced Saturday in a news release that Andrew M. Farish, of the Johnson County town of Westwood, faces one count of second-degree murder in the death of Gerardo Jimenez. Police found the body of the 35-year-old Kansas City, Kansas, man on Friday in a home in the Rosedale area of the city.

Farish was arrested later Friday in Kansas City, Missouri, and is jailed there on $1 million bond pending extradition. It’s not immediately clear if he has an attorney.

Farish also was charged Saturday with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He pleaded guilty in 2008 in Wyandotte County to a felony robbery charge.

FORT SCOTT – A Kansas man died in an accident just after 10:30 a.m. on Saturday in Bourbon County

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Honda ATV driven by Billy Gale Minor, 25, Bronson, was eastbound on Maple Road four miles west of Fort Scott.

For an unknown reason the ATV rear-ended another ATV, flipped and ejected the driver.

Minor was transported to Freeman Hospital in Joplin where he died.

The other ATV rider Jeremiah Nevada Dawson, 23, Bronson, was not injured.