WASHINGTON (AP) — Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell says health care sign-ups are off to an encouraging start, but a lot of work is still needed to make the second open enrollment season for the federal insurance market a success.
Burwell says 1.9 million new customers have picked a plan through the federal market as of Dec. 19. It serves 37 states.
Another 4.5 million have renewed existing coverage, with most automatically re-enrolled.
The numbers don’t include states running their own insurance exchanges.
Burwell said Tuesday the administration will release a full 50-state report next week.
With the HealthCare.gov website running much better this year, the administration has set a goal of 9.1 million customers signed up and paying premiums in 2015.
National Weather Service office in Dodge City, Kansas
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
Larry Ruthi is the Meteorologist In Charge at the National Weather Service in Dodge City.
He’s been in the business for 36 years.
Ruthi said growing up on a farm in rural Osborne County where he “watched thunderstorms develop” sparked his interest in becoming a meteorologist. His degree is from the internationally-reknown School of Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma.
When he first started, “forecasting the weather was 70 percent art and just 30 percent science,” Ruthi recalls.
Now with improved technology worldwide, weather forecasting is much more accurate, but “it’s not an exact science,” he cautioned.
“If you put five meteorologists in a room with the same information, they’ll come up with five slightly different forecasts. There’s a lot of room for interpretation, depending on (the person’s) experience.
“The forecasts we put out at the National Weather Service are kind of generic. Anybody can look at the forecast and use it or adjust it as he sees fit. We’re kind of the base meteorological support,” Ruthi said.
The five Doppler radars scanning the sky across Kansas that can be seen on forecasts by meteorologists at Wichita televisions are NWS Doppler radars. The satellite pictures come from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) satellites.
“If we were to take away all the government support, all the NOAA support for the radars, the numerical models, the satellites, the observations–a lot of which are NWS or FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) supported–we wouldn’t have a whole lot to talk about.
“On the other hand, the news media are absolutely essential in communicating the weather information to the public–when you should take action, when you should take cover and what you should do.”
Ruthi believes “the whole process works extremely well when we’re working together.”
There are six National Weather Service bureaus covering Kansas among the 122 NWS forecast offices in the United States.
ATLANTA (AP) — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials say a lab technician is being monitored for possible exposure to the Ebola virus.
CDC spokeswoman Barbara Reynolds says in an emailed statement Wednesday that the person working in a secure laboratory in Atlanta may have come into contact with a small amount of a live virus that was part of an Ebola experiment.
Reynolds says the potential exposure is under internal investigation and has been reported to Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell. Reynolds says additional employees have been notified, but none has required monitoring.
CDC Director Tom Frieden says he’s troubled by the employee’s potential exposure.
In June, at least 52 workers at the CDC took antibiotics as a precaution because a lab safety problem was thought to have exposed them to anthrax.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Army says it has prosecuted about 1,900 cases of desertion since 2001.
However, tens of thousands of soldiers have fled the service in the face of deadly combat, long and multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan and strains on military families.
The data reflects how rarely the military takes desertion cases to court.
And it underscores the complexities of such cases as a top military commander begins to review the investigation of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
Bergdahl left his Afghanistan post in 2009 and was captured and held by the Taliban for five years.
According to Army data, more than 20,000 soldiers have been dropped from the rolls as deserters since 2006. Totals for earlier years were not available, but likely include thousands more.
Gov. and Mrs. Brownback visit with Santa- courtesy photo
Topeka — Governor Sam Brownback today issued the following statement in honor of Christmas and the upcoming New Year’s holiday.
“Christmas is a joyous time of year when both young and old enjoy the wonders of the season. It is a time to renew our faith and share the spirit of Christmas fully with others. At this time of year in particular, as we gather with friends and family, take a moment to remember those who are without their families as they serve our nation in far-off places. Remember that to those in need, even the smallest act of kindness can make a difference. And remember that this season of peace offers an opportunity for reconciliation and renewal in our relationships.
“As the new year draws near, it holds the promise of challenges well met and blessings gratefully acknowledged. It reminds us that Kansans have always aimed high – to the stars – and that despite the difficulties we may encounter, we continue to aspire, achieve and believe in greater possibilities.
“May God bless you and your family.
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Islamic State militants have captured a Jordanian pilot after his warplane crashed in Syria while carrying out airstrikes today.
Activists say the plane went down near the city of Raqqa, the group’s de facto capital. The Raqqa Media Center has published a photograph said to be of the pilot being pulled by gunmen out of what appears to be a lake.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Jordan’s military said only that the warplane went down in Syria. A coalition official told The Associated Press that there were no immediate indications it was shot down.
Jordan’s information minister had said his country believed the plane was shot down, but added that it was “difficult to confirm.”
The Jordanian pilot is the first foreign military member to fall into the extremists’ hands since U.S.-led coalition launched its bombing campaign against the group months ago.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sony is making “The Interview” available on a variety of digital platforms this afternoon.
Streaming partners include Google Play, YouTube Movies, Microsoft’s Xbox Video and a separate Sony website.
The film about a plot to assassinate North Korea leader Kim Jong Un generated threats from hackers to attack theaters screening the movie. That prompted Sony to cancel the theatrical release, as major chains dropped plans to show the film.
The studio reversed course yesterday, after much criticism, announcing a limited release in about 300 independently owned theaters.
In announcing the digital on demand release, Sony Pictures chair and CEO Michael Lynton says it was “essential” for the studio to release “The Interview” after what he describes as “an assault” on the company and its employees “by those who wanted to stop free speech.”
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Melody McKenzie headed to the Lawrence Wal-Mart this week planning to remove an item from layaway that she had intended to purchase for her 12-year-old daughter before money got too tight for that to happen.
The Lawrence woman thought she stilled owed $87 on the karaoke machine after paying $15 to have it put on layaway, but when she told the clerk to put the toy back on Monday, she was shocked when informed that she owed only one penny.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports the clerk told her a good Samaritan had paid off the rest.
Wal-Mart Supercenter manager Shawn Jacobson says that since Thanksgiving about 10 people had come in to pay off strangers’ layaway balances, amounting to between $2,500 and $3,000 in payment
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Volunteers at the North American Aerospace Defense Command are getting ready to monitor Santa Claus as he makes his fabled Christmas Eve flight.
Technology and social media have become key to the annual effort, and NORAD Tracks Santa has already attracted a record 1.5 million Facebook “likes.”
NORAD volunteers will spend Wednesday answering phone calls and emails from children wondering when Santa Claus is comin’ to town. The helpers also post on Facebook, Twitter and www.NORADSanta.org to provide updates on the storybook journey.
The 59-year-old program began with a typo in a Colorado Springs newspaper ad that had kids calling a high-level military hotline asking for Santa.
Last year, volunteers took 117,000 phone calls and answered 9,600 emails.
LAWRENCE – A Kansas man died in an accident just after 4 p.m. on Tuesday in Douglas County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Mazda Tribute drive by Alexander G. Tsiovkh, 63, Lawrence, was westbound on Kansas 10 just east of 1200 Road.
The vehicle crossed left of center and collided with a Volvo semi tractor driven by Mohamed Igal, 34, Kansas City.
Tsiovkh was pronounced dead at the scene.
Igal was transported to KU Medical Center.
The KHP reported both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident.
RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press
