WASHINGTON (AP) — NASA says a newly spotted 1,300-foot wide asteroid is not a threat to hit Earth, despite recent media reports.
NASA’s Near Earth Object program manager Donald Yeomans said the asteroid, discovered in October by Russian scientists, won’t even get that close to Earth in the next 150 years. And it isn’t a threat to any other planet, either.
Calculations by NASA and Harvard say the closest asteroid 2014 UR116, will get to Earth is about 2.7 million miles in April 2047. Yeomans said that is so far away that it doesn’t make NASA’s running list of risky near-Earth objects.
Yeomans said in-depth analysis confirmed that that the space rock would not near Earth soon.
TOPEKA — Gov. Sam Brownback announced Tuesday he will use his power of allotments to make fee sweeps and spending cuts to close a $280 million budget gap in the current fiscal year.
Brownback said in a prepared statement that the allotments come from recommendations made by Budget Director Shawn Sullivan.
“I appreciate Shawn’s hard work in identifying efficiencies and cost savings across state government,” Brownback said. “These first steps are a down payment in resolving the immediate budget issue. I look forward to presenting a full budget proposal and policy recommendations to the Legislature in January. Our job now is to address this situation through good fiscal governance while maintaining our investment in education, sustaining funding for public safety and allowing T-WORKS to be completed.”
Spending on Medicaid — the state’s largest health-related item — was not affected.
But the governor announced cuts to operating budgets for state agencies that administer programs for the disabled, poor and sick, as well as enforce environmental regulations.
He also proposed saving $5.4 million by delaying the expansion of the Meyer Building at Larned State Hospital, the state’s largest psychiatric facility.
The cuts and sweeps Brownback proposed are intended to get the the state only through July 1, 2015. Another $436 million budget gap looms in the fiscal year that begins on that date, and Brownback and lawmakers will have to find a way to close that gap when the Legislature reconvenes in January.
The state has not cut spending enough to keep pace with revenue reductions caused by income tax cuts Brownback spearheaded that have wiped out reserve funds.
The bulk of the budget fix Brownback announced Tuesday — $201 million of the $280 million — comes from transfers from fee funds. The governor’s memo denoted that those transfers are “subject to legislation,” meaning the Legislature will have a say on whether to allow them.
The biggest proposed transfers come from the state highway fund ($96 million) and Kansas Department of Health and Environment fee funds ($55 million). But the governor also proposed sweeps of everything currently in the Kansas Endowment for Youth ($14.5 million) and the Children’s Initiative Fund ($500,000) — money from litigation against tobacco companies that is intended for evidence-based early childhood education programs.
“Just a few months ago, Governor Brownback vetoed a transfer of $5 million from the KEY Fund, saying that fund was established specifically for early childhood programs and should remain available for such purposes in the future,” said Christie Appelhanz, vice president for public affairs at the Topeka nonprofit Kansas Action for Children. “We’re deeply distressed by the governor’s change of heart. The current budget crisis is of his own making, and it shouldn’t be paid for by our state’s youngest and most vulnerable children.”
The Children’s Initiative Fund receives money each year from the tobacco settlement, though the amount is expected to decline soon. The Kansas Endowment for Youth was intended to provide funding for the CIF programs after the tobacco money dries up.
The governor also proposed reducing employer contributions to the state pension system by almost $41 million, a move that does not require legislative approval. The Kansas Public Employees Retirement System recently emerged from a critically underfunded status in part because the Legislature agreed to increase state contributions to improve the system’s health.
The rest of the $78.5 million in cuts outlined in the governor’s plan come largely from a 4 percent across-the-board reduction in Cabinet agency operating budgets, which is also not subject to legislative approval. The Department for Children and Families, at almost $4 million, will receive the largest cut in raw dollars.
Annie McKay, executive director for the Kansas Center for Economic Growth, a Topeka-based think tank, said the cuts come on top of reductions made a few years earlier when Kansas was in the grips of the global recession.
“The governor’s plan is the latest sign of how unprecedented and unaffordable tax cuts are eroding key investments that make up the economic foundation of our state and continue to put Kansas’ future in jeopardy,” McKay said. “We’ve been down this road before and it’s a dead end.”
Andy Marso is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – TCU’s Gary Patterson is The Associated Press coach of the year in the Big 12 Conference.
The Horned Frogs (11-1) claimed a share of the Big 12 title in only their third season in the league. TCU and Baylor were co-champs.
Patterson got 17 of 20 votes in the balloting by media members who cover the Big 12 on a regular basis. The award was revealed Tuesday.
The other three votes went to Baylor’s Art Briles, who last season was the unanimous pick by AP voters as the league’s top coach.
Patterson ( a Kansas State University graduate ) is TCU’s winningest coach, with a 131-45 record in 14 seasons. The coach of the year honor comes a year after the defensive-minded Patterson hired co-offensive coordinators to install a more up-tempo, higher-scoring scheme.
City Council member Kent L. “Spanky” O’Dell will serve one year of probation and 25 hours of community service for his guilty plea to misdemeanor charges of Driving a Motor Vehicle with Excessive Blood Alcohol Content.
O’Dell’s lawyer, Jim Nadolski, says they could have fought the charge in court. After a fairly lengthy booking procedure, O’Dell was tested for blood alcohol and the result was .067%, which is below the legal limit of .08%. Nadolski says they might very well have prevailed in a lengthy court fight over the arrest. But Mr O’Dell decided against that.
“He decided that for his sake, for the city’s sake, and most importantly for his family’s sake, that the better part of valor would be to put this behind him,” Nadolski said.
“I don’t believe the police were targeting my client. There was a large crowd of people gathered nearby for a rock concert, so it’s possible police were keeping an eye on the crowd, but I don’t believe they were targeting Mr Odell.”
Mr Nadolski says his client is 58 years old, has never been in trouble with the law, and has a spotless driving record. With that in mind, Associate Circuit Judge Ronald Taylor said he would treat O’Dell the same as he treats anyone else.
Judge Taylor ordered a suspended imposition of sentence, and placed O’Dell on one year probation. He ordered O’Dell not to drink any alcohol during that period, and to complete 25 hours of community service. If O’Dell successfully completes the probation requirements, the arrest will be expunged from his record.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — “I can’t breathe!” — the exclamation made by a black man, Eric Garner, while being placed in a police chokehold — has been chosen as the most notable quote of the year in an annual list released by a Yale University librarian.
It was one of several quotes chosen for the list that reflect tumult over race in America in 2014, particularly in the criminal justice system.
Also making the list Tuesday was “Hands up! Don’t shoot!” — a chant of demonstrators protesting the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old killed during a confrontation with a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.
Senator Pat Roberts’ quote tied for tenth on this year’s list.
“Every time I get an opponent – I mean, every time I get a chance – I’m home.” – Kansas Senator Pat Roberts responding to questioning about whether he actually resides in Kansas, from a KCMO radio interview, July 3.
The original “Yale Book of Quotations” was published in 2006, and librarian Fred Shapiro has updated it with an annual list of the top 10 quotes.
BRADLEY KLAPPER, Associated Press
KEN DILANIAN, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate investigators have delivered a damning indictment of CIA interrogation practices after the 9/11 attacks, accusing the agency of inflicting pain and suffering on prisoners with tactics that went well beyond legal limits.
The torture report released Tuesday by the Senate Intelligence Committee says the CIA deceived the nation with its insistence that the harsh interrogation tactics had saved lives. It says those claims are unsubstantiated by the CIA’s own records.
The 500-page report represents the executive summary and conclusions from a still-classified 6,700-page full investigation.
PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas City suburb of Prairie Village, Kansas, is considering efforts to reduce the use of plastic grocery bags.
Similar efforts in other U.S. cities have met with resistance. But some cities, such as Seattle, have banned the bags. Chicago and the state of California have enacted bans that will take effect next year.
The Kansas City Star reports Roeland Park and Garden City, Kansas, both studied the issue but dropped it.
Ben Claypool, chairman of a citizens committee studying the issue in Prairie Village, says the idea is getting a lot of support. The committee is considering an outright ban or fining shoppers who use plastic.
Columbia, Missouri, also is considering an ordinance that would prohibit anyone selling perishable food from providing the bags.
DETROIT (AP) — Nissan is recalling about 470,000 cars and SUVs worldwide to fix a problem that can cause fuel leaks.
In the U.S., the recall covers about 134,000 vehicles with direct fuel injection engines. That includes Nissan’s Juke SUV from the 2012 through 2014 model years, and the Infiniti M56 and QX56 from 2012 and 2013. Also affected are Infiniti QX70 and QX80 SUVs from 2014 and 2015.
Documents posted by U.S. safety regulators say a fuel pressure sensor may not have been tightened properly. That can cause a leak and fire. No fires or injuries have been reported to Nissan.
Other Nissan and Infiniti models are affected in Japan, North America, Europe, the Middle East, China, Latin America, Africa and other markets.
Dealers will tighten the sensors starting in January.
Hyundai is recalling nearly 43,000 luxury cars in the U.S. because the brake lights can fail to illuminate.
The recall covers certain Genesis cars from the 2009 to 2011 model years and the some Equus (ECK-was) vehicles from 2011.
Hyundai documents posted Tuesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration say the agency contacted Hyundai about the problem in October after noticing consumer complaints. There are no reports of crashes or injuries.
Dealers will repair the stop lamp switch circuit for free. Hyundai expects to begin notifying owners early next year.
The affected Genesis cars were made from April 30, 2008, to Nov. 21, 2010. Equus models being recalled were made from July 31, 2010, to Nov. 21, 2010.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The city of Topeka is paying a $16,000 demolition fee originally billed to a family grieving the death of an 18-year-old woman in a house fire last month.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that City Manager Jim Colson said Monday that he apologized to the family of Morgan Duncan, who died in a Nov. 20 fire.
The bill was for the weeklong demolition of the home in which Duncan lived. Her mother received the bill last week, just days before a memorial service.
Colson said he ordered an investigation, and the city concluded that the demolition was necessary to put out the fire and keep fire and emergency personnel safe.
Colson said that made the city responsible for the cost of hiring a private company to do the work.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Board of Regents reports fall enrollment grew slightly at all six state universities, led by an increase of 453 students, or 3.11 percent, at Wichita State University.
Fort Hays State saw its enrollment climb by 384 students, Kansas State University had a bump of 185 students and the University of Kansas added 177 students.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports official enrollment numbers represent enrollment at each school as of the 20th day of class during the fall semestery.
Washburn University, a municipal university in Topeka, saw its enrollment decline by 196 students, or a 2.41 percent drop.
