EUDORA, Kan. (AP) — A northeast Kansas school bus driver has been fired after leaving a sleeping preschooler on a bus.

Eudora schools spokeswoman Kristin Magette says the child fell asleep Wednesday while being taken to afternoon preschool at Eudora Elementary School. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that after dropping off children, the bus driver took the bus home and went inside. A passerby noticed the preschooler crying a couple hours later and called Eudora Elementary. The school resource officer then came to take the child back to school, and the child’s parent was notified.

Magette says the school was not expecting the child because the preschooler’s parent had called about the child having an appointment.

The Eudora district requires bus drivers to walk to the back of the bus, checking each seat.

JOHN HANNA, AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and the GOP-dominated Legislature will get new revenue projections that are expected to make the state’s budget problems look worse.

Legislative researchers, officials in the Brownback administration and university economists are meeting Monday afternoon to draft a new financial forecast for state government.

It will revise revenue projections for the budget year that began in July and issue the first official numbers for the budget year beginning July 2015.

The Legislature’s nonpartisan research staff made unofficial predictions going into the meeting of a $14 million budget shortfall by July, compounding to $282 million by July 2016.

A new, more pessimistic forecast would cause the gaps to grow.

The budget problems come after legislators enacted massive personal income tax cuts at Brownback’s urging to stimulate the economy.

JAY REEVES, Associated Press

BRANDON, Miss. (AP) — A civil rights group is launching an advertising campaign aimed at softening religious opposition in the Deep South to equal rights for gay, bisexual and transgender people.

The Washington-based Human Rights Campaign is taking on the region’s longstanding church-based opposition to homosexuality in a series of television commercials, direct-mail messages and phone-bank operations. They’re designed to promote equality and legal protections to LGBT people.

The ads begin airing Monday in Mississippi, and similar spots could be used in Alabama and Arkansas.

Commercials will feature people like Mary Jane Kennedy, who’s led Bible studies in her native Mississippi for decades. She has two gay sons and believes God loves them like everyone else.

Tim Wildmon of the conservative American Family Association doubts advertising will have much effect on religious attitudes.

By Dave Ranney
KHI News Service

TOPEKA — The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services next week will convene a series of informational sessions on its efforts to renew the waivers that define the state’s Medicaid-funded home- and community-based services for frail seniors, people with physical and developmental disabilities, and those who’ve suffered traumatic brain injuries.

The Kansas Medicaid program was privatized and renamed KanCare in 2013. It’s administered by three managed care companies.

Waiver services for Kansans with developmental disabilities were not included in KanCare until January of this year due to initial opposition from family members and advocates.

The meetings are open to the public. The schedule:

• 10 a.m.–noon Nov. 12, Hughes Metropolitan Complex, 5015 E. 29th, Wichita.

• 10 a.m.–noon Nov. 13, Ambassador Hotel, 3603 Vine St., Hays.

• 10 a.m.–noon Nov. 14, Holiday Inn Hotel & Convention Center, 200 McDonald Drive, Lawrence.

Preliminary information about the meetings is posted on the KDADS website. Angela de Rocha, a spokesperson for the agency, said additional information will be posted next week.

The purpose of the meetings, she said, is to inform the public about how recent changes in federal rules — made within the past five years — may affect services in Kansas.

The changes are expected to touch on employment opportunities for the disabled, minimum wage and overtime pay requirements for attendant care workers, and less institutional community-based placements — for example, group homes.

It’s not yet clear whether the proposed waivers will include changes that could lead to reductions in services.

“We’re encouraging everyone — consumers, family members, and any and all stakeholders — to be in attendance, absolutely,” said Tim Wood, director of the Community Developmental Disability Organization of Johnson County. “It’s critical that people engage with the state and attempt to better system for the end user, which, of course, is the consumer.”

The waivers that govern the state’s Medicaid-funded services for the frail elderly, physically and developmentally disabled, and traumatic brain-injured expire Dec. 31. The informational sessions are part of the renewal process.

The waiver-renewal process requires KDADS to solicit public input on each of the proposed waivers. It also allows the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services to temporarily extend the waivers.

Kansas’ waivers for the brain-injured and the developmentally disabled expired June 30 but were extended to Dec. 31.

“We don’t know for sure at this point, but it’s looking like at least some of the information that’s going to be provided next week will be of very high interest for people with disabilities, advocates, family members and direct support workers,” said Mike Oxford, executive director at the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center. “This could affect all those groups.”

TOPEKA — People who love Kansas are invited to enter the annual Kansas Factual Story Contest, sponsored by the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas.

This contest encourages Kansans to preserve the factual,unpublished happenings and anecdotes in their lives from today and yesterday. The contest is open to everyone.

Stories must be true and unpublished, take place in Kansas, and limited to 750 words. Entries must be submitted electronically by email no later than November 28, 2014. One entry per person; they will not be returned. Essays should include the author’s name, mailing address, and phone number. Send entries to: Terry Marmet, Kansas Historical Foundation, membership@kshs.org. Include “Beech Memorial Contest” in the subject line of the email. The Kansas Historical Society may preserve all stories in their collections.

Olive Ann Beech, Wichita, provided winners with cash awards for over 30 years. Following her death, her daughter, Mary Lynn Oliver, Wichita, has continued this support. The Beech Memorial cash awards are: first place, $175; second place, $125; third place, $100; and $50 each for two honorable mentions.

A panel from the Historical Society and the Foundation will judge entries. Judges will look for quality of writing, interesting anecdotal stories of Kansas. Winners will be announced and recognized at the annual meeting of the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas on Jan. 30 in Topeka.

For more information, contact Terry Marmet, director of operations, Kansas Historical Foundation, (785) 272-8681, ext. 209; membership@kshs.org.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials have revoked the license of a nurse who was fired and later charged with sexually assaulting three patients.

The Kansas City Star reports that the Kansas State Board of Nursing took the final steps to strip Dennis Clark of his license Friday. The 47-year-old Gardner man was charged last month in Wyandotte County District Court with three counts of aggravated sexual battery.

Prosecutors said in a written statement that the alleged assaults occurred from December through May while Clark worked in a post-anesthesia care unit at Providence Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. Law enforcement officials in Wyandotte County and Johnson County, where Clark worked previously, are continuing to investigate.

Clark’s attorney hasn’t returned phone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.

 

RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says starting this weekend, consumers can get an early peek at 2015 premiums and plans under the president’s health law.

Open enrollment starts Nov. 15, a week from Saturday. But Lori Lodes, spokeswoman for HealthCare.gov, said Friday that consumers will be able to “window shop” for plans before then.
The lack of such a feature was one of the initial problems last year for HealthCare.gov.

Most e-commerce sites allow people to browse anonymously and don’t require account creation until consumers are ready to buy. As originally designed, the

Obama administration’s website worked the opposite way, overloading the balky system.
Consumers will have to set up an account — or go back to their existing account — to enroll in a plan for 2015.

MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald says his agency is considering disciplinary action against more than 1,000 employees as the VA. The agency is struggling to correct systemic problems that led to long wait times for veterans seeking health care and falsification of records to cover up delays.

MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers increased their borrowing in September with gains in credit card debt and auto and student loans.

The Federal Reserve says overall borrowing rose $15.9 billion following a $14 billion gain in August and a $22.8 billion July increase. The gains have pushed total consumer debt to a record level of $3.27 trillion.

The category that includes credit cards showed a $1.44 billion increase in September after having dropped by $201 million the previous month. The category that covers auto loans and student loans increased $14.48 billion after a $14.23 billion increase in August.

Rising levels of consumer borrowing coupled with strong employment growth are viewed as good signs that consumers are confident about taking on more debt to boost purchases.