TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The owner of a troubled Kansas racing facility has released a tentative 2015 schedule that includes hosting a National Hot Rod Association drag racing event in May.

Heartland Park Topeka owner Raymond Irwin says it would be irresponsible for him to not have a schedule in place for the new track operator, drivers and fans.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports a Kansas Court of Appeals panel is to hear oral arguments on Feb. 26 from Irwin’s company, Jayhawk Racing, the city of Topeka and petitioner Chris Imming.

The city wants to issue $5 million in STAR bonds to buy Heartland Park, but Imming initiated a petition drive seeking to put the purchase to a vote. The city challenged the legality of the petition, which a Shawnee County judge ruled invalid.

By Dan Margolies

With measles making a comeback in the United States after it was thought to have been eradicated 15 years ago, a new analysis finds that fewer than 90 percent of preschoolers nationwide have received the recommended vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella. Both Kansas and Missouri fell below the 90 percent threshold for preschooler vaccinations, the baseline goal set by Healthy People 2020, a federal interagency task force.

The analysis by Trust for America’s Health, a Washington, D.C.-based health policy organization, looked at MMR vaccination rates in all 50 states and found that Kansas and Missouri ranked in the bottom half: Kansas tied for 39th at 89.4 percent and Missouri tied for 35th at 89.8 percent. Health experts say that when vaccination rates drop below 90 percent, there’s a danger that “herd immunity” — the protection afforded a community when a certain percentage of the population is immune to a disease — may be lost.

Communities in which immunity falls beneath that threshold are vulnerable to measles outbreaks.  “We rely on the rest of the herd, the rest of the community to take the vaccines to protect those individuals who cannot take it,” says Lisa Hubbert, an epidemiology specialist with the Kansas City, Mo., Health Department. “And so if the anti-vaxxers choose not to take it — those parents (who) choose not to vaccinate their children — we are putting those who cannot at risk.”

Some individuals can’t take the vaccine because their immune systems are compromised, they’re allergic to ingredients in the vaccine or they’re infants whose immune systems are insufficiently developed.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued a health advisory about the measles outbreak, which has been traced to Disneyland in California and so far has afflicted more than 100 individuals in 14 states. Most of those who came down with the disease had not been vaccinated.

Recent measles outbreaks

So far, no measles cases have been reported in Kansas City this year, according to Kansas City, Mo., Health Department spokesman Jeff Hershberger. Last year, there were 22 reported measles cases in Kansas City, Mo. Several dozen people who were exposed were quarantined in their homes and weren’t allowed to leave unless they provided documentary proof that they were vaccinated. Ten of those people came down with measles, “so had we not quarantined them, they would have been working and exposed countless numbers of others,” Hubbert says.

Last summer, measles cases in Wichita were linked to the Kansas City outbreak.  Measles is highly contagious — 90 percent of those not immune to the virus will become infected if exposed to a carrier — and spreads rapidly: One infected person can infect 12 to 18 others. Worldwide, some 20 million people contract the measles and 146,000 die from it every year, according to the CDC.

The CDC recommends that all children get two doses of the MMR vaccine, one at 12 to 15 months of age and the other at 4 to 6 years of age. The vaccine is 95 percent to 97 percent effective and considered safe. Side effects are rare. Health experts attribute the recent outbreak in part to parents who refuse to vaccinate their children because they deem the vaccinations unsafe or because they have religious or philosophical objections.

Some anti-vaccine proponents have linked vaccinations to autism, a widely debunked notion that finds little support in the scientific literature. A 1998 research paper in the Lancet that first made that claim was later deemed fraudulent and withdrawn. The paper’s lead researcher was subsequently stripped of his ability to practice medicine in the United Kingdom. While visiting Kansas City last week,

Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General, said that MMR vaccines were safe and effective. He said there was no evidence it was linked to autism or other developmental disorders. “I want to say that definitively there have been studies which have proven there is no link between the measles vaccine and autism,” Murthy said. “But not everyone has gotten this message, so that’s partly why I’m here out on the road, to talk about the importance of things like immunization.”

Kansas immunization efforts

Kansas has attempted to boost preschooler immunization rates through a program called “Immunize and Win A Prize,” which was begun in 2003.

Under the program, families who timely vaccinate their children up to age 2 receive small prizes and are entered into a drawing for a $300 payment applied to their utility bills. Aimee Rosenow, a spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, says a 2010 survey done by the Kansas Foundation for Medical Care found that the program had boosted immunization rates by 78 percent.

KDHE also was a partner in the Immunize Kansas Kids project, which started in 2004 with financial support from the Kansas Health Foundation. (The Kansas Health Foundation is the primary funder of the Kansas Health Institute, which is the parent organization of the editorially independent KHI News Service.)

The project studied barriers to improving the state’s immunization rate and used findings to create a plan to overcome them. Though project funding ended as of 2015, the coalition continues to meet. In its analysis, Trust for America’s Health reported that New Hampshire has the highest MMR vaccination rate for preschoolers, 96.3 percent, while Colorado, Ohio and West Virginia have the lowest, 86 percent.

Nationwide, the organization said, 91.1 percent of preschoolers are vaccinated. It noted, however, that more than 2 million preschoolers don’t receive all recommended vaccinations on time. “It is so important that communities maintain high levels of MMR vaccination — because measles is so infectious — and especially when outbreaks are occurring around them,” Litjen (L.J) Tan, chief strategy officer of the Immunization Action Coalition, said in a news release. “To have pockets where community immunity is below 90 percent is worrisome as they will be the ones most vulnerable to a case of measles exploding into an outbreak.”

Dan Margolies 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 University Daily Kansan is going digital with fewer print editions and more content online.

The University of Kansas’ student newspaper announced Wednesday that it will move to just two printed issues per week, rather than four, starting this fall.

The Kansan has seen its web traffic increase over the past several years, while print circulation has slumped. The Kansan says in a news release that the shift of more content to its website will better serve students and faculty.

The Kansan’s staff decided the move was necessary because of research showing the newspaper’s audience is increasingly consuming news online. The shift also was made to help prepare the student journalists that run the newspaper for today’s media environment.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas House has approved a bill closing most of a projected $344 million shortfall in the state’s current budget.

The House vote Wednesday was 88-34. Republicans relied on their large majority to push it through.

The measure mostly diverts funds from highway projects and other special funds into the state’s main bank account to cover general government expenses.

The measure goes to the GOP-dominated Senate. Top Republicans there hope to vote on the plan Thursday.

Lawmakers believe they must pass a bill by Feb. 13 for the state to pay bills on time.

New figures from legislative researchers Tuesday showed that with tax collections short of expectations through January, the bill still would leave a budget deficit of about $800,000 at the end of June.

By Kelsie Jennings
KU Statehouse Wire Service

TOPEKA – A Kansas Senate bill would substantially increase the fine for seat belt violations and the money collected from the fines would go toward promoting seat belt safety in Kansas schools.

Senate Bill 82 would increase seat belt fines from $10 to $60, and fines collected would go into the Seat Belt Safety Fund, which is a fund that would be established with the signing of the bill. The fund would pay for educational programs.
In the bill’s fiscal note, the Office of Judicial Administration estimates that the bill would create an additional $1.2 million of revenue for 2016. Of that, $981,149 would go into the Seat Belt Safety Fund.

Proponents of the bill testified on Tuesday before the Senate Transportation Committee, saying this bill is needed to continue funding for seat belt safety programs such as SAFE (Seatbelts Are For Everyone), which they credit for lowering the number of teenage vehicle fatalities.

James Hanni, AAA Allied Group executive vice president of public affairs, testified in support of the bill saying that seat belt use among teenagers in Crawford County has gone up from 38 percent to 86 percent since the SAFE program was implemented in 2008.

“There’s no question this program is making a difference,” Hanni said.
Hanni said they are seeking permanent funding for programs such as SAFE, and that the fines from this bill would provide that.
“Seat belt fines directed to a safety fund, paid for only by people who voluntarily choose to violate the law, provides the perfect source,” Hanni said.

In its written testimony, the Kansas Department of Transportation said that 55 percent of the traffic fatalities in 2013 involved unbuckled victims. It also said that 146 lives could have been saved by a seat belt.

Norraine Wingfield, program director with the Kansas Traffic Safety Resource Office, testified that teenage fatalities continue to decline because of the SAFE program.

“As SAFE has grown, the trend of unbelted fatalities in Kansas has continued to decrease. Not one fatality came from a SAFE county last year,” Wingfield said.
Wingfield said this year there are 59 Kansas counties participating in the SAFE program, compared to just one county in 2008.

She provided charts that showed unbelted fatalities for 14-to-19 year olds has declined from 33 deaths in 2008 to 17 deaths in 2013.

Although the increased fine could act as an incentive to buckle up, supporters of the bill mostly think that educational programs are key for increasing seat belt use and making it a habit that starts as a young driver.

Sen. Jacob LaTurner (R-Pittsburg) said SB 82 is personal to him because he lost a friend in high school who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was killed in a car accident. He said he supports programs such as SAFE and wants to find the correct funding for it.

“The success of this program has been a result of education, not a deterrent through fines,” LaTurner said.
Kelsie Jennings is a University of Kansas senior from Olathe, Kansas, majoring in journalism.