KANSAS CITY (AP) – Kansas City police say an abused 2-year-old boy has died from his injuries.

The Kansas City Star reports that the child was taken by ambulance to a hospital early Friday morning, with head, brain and internal injuries. Police Capt. Tye Grant says the child died Saturday night.

Twenty-three-year-old Mirsad Hamidovic was caring for the boy while his mother was at work. He was charged Friday with two counts of child abuse and two counts of domestic assault in the first degree. No additional charges were immediately filed against him after the boy’s death.

Police said Hamidovic told them the boy was lying on the floor when Hamidovic twice jumped off the bed and landed on the boy’s chest. It wasn’t immediately clear if Hamidovic had an attorney.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators convene next week facing a massive budget deficit and a court mandate to sharply increase funding for public schools.

A projected budget shortfall of more than $710 million for the current budget and the fiscal year that begins in July arose after aggressive personal income tax cuts engineered by Gov. Sam Brownback.

Lawmakers are challenged with finding enough spending cuts to erase the deficit against a backdrop of tax cuts that some say shouldn’t be changed.

Other legislators have suggested delaying tax cuts scheduled for ensuing years until revenues increase enough to offset spending.

Brownback’s chief of staff told The Wichita Eagle that proposals to raise tax revenue will be part of the governor’s plan to plug the budget hole and that education spending won’t remain untouched.

SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) — Suburban Kansas City police say they are looking for possible links between a botched gun shop robbery and other thefts in the area.

Shawnee Police Department spokesman Maj. Dan Tennis said “a ton of information” was coming in after 44-year-old Jon Bieker was fatally wounded Friday. Bieker was an owner of She’s a Pistol, which caters to female gun owners.

Two suspects were transported from the store in critical condition. Police said that the other two suspects, including one who suffered less serious wounds, fled but were located a short time later on the porch of a nearby home.

The Kansas City Star reports that jail booking records show all four suspects are Missouri teenagers. Two of the suspects previously had been accused of weapons-related crimes in Kansas City.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Game wardens with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism used body cameras for the first time this fall hunting season.

The St. Joseph News-Press  reports that half of the department’s 68 game wardens now wear the cameras. Department law enforcement director Kevin Jones says the agency would like all the wardens to wear the cameras but needs the Legislature to approve more money before more equipment can be purchased. So far, the department has spent $10,000 on the body cameras distributed across the state.

Jones says the department began discussing the idea in early 2014 because officers often cover more than one county and are alone in the field or in a boat. The department is working on policies for how the cameras should be used.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – A 20-year-old man has pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace for causing a brief lockdown at Lincoln University in Jefferson City.

The Jefferson City News-Tribune reports that Marquel Lewis, of Jefferson City, was sentenced to 10 days in the Cole County Jail, with credit for 10 days served. A charge of third-degree assault against Lewis was dismissed.

The lockdown occurred in November before a planned “Walk For Peace.” A Lincoln police officer said in the probable cause statement that Lewis was involved in a physical altercation on campus and threatened to shoot students. He had been suspended from Lincoln at the time.

The statement said Lewis has been arrested by Lincoln University police several times for driving while intoxicated, distribution of a controlled substance and peace disturbance.

By Andy Marso
KHI News Service

TOPEKA — Sen. David Haley says he’s made some tweaks to a bill legalizing medical marijuana for this year’s legislative session, but it’s largely the same as the bill that failed to get a hearing the last two years.

Haley, a Democrat from Kansas City, said he’s relying on an increase in public pressure to convince the Legislature’s Republican leadership to give the issue its first committee debate since 2012.

“There are constituents that are committed to natural alternatives in health care that span the political diaspora,” Haley said. “They’re all across the board. It’s not a conservative or progressive issue. It’s a health alternatives issue.”

Haley noted that the Kansas Silver Haired Legislature, an advocacy group for the state’s elderly residents, has endorsed legalizing medical marijuana.

Eric Voth, a Topeka doctor who testified against legalization at the 2012 hearing, said that science, not public pressure, should drive medical decisions.

“(Medical marijuana) is medicine by popular vote, because it bypasses the FDA (Food and Drug Administration),” Voth said of medical marijuana legalization.

Rep. Gail Finney, a Wichita Democrat, introduced the bill that had a hearing in 2012 but then died in committee. Haley said Finney may introduce a House version of his bill this year to increase the chances of a hearing.

The bill Haley pre-filed in the Senate heading into next week’s session states that medical research has confirmed the benefits of cannabis in treating symptoms like pain and nausea that accompany many illnesses.

Haley noted that Sanjay Gupta, a prominent physician who is a medical correspondent for CNN, changed his viewpoint to one supportive of medical marijuana after researching the issue the last several years.

“I think education is the key,” Haley said. “The greater the level of education, the sooner we’ll adopt something here in Kansas.”

In addition to being vice president of primary care at Stormont-Vail, Voth is chairman of the Institute on Global Drug Policy, an organization that opposes marijuana legalization.

Voth said the FDA has reviewed and approved medications that include tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive ingredient in marijuana plants.

“There’s no doubt everybody would say in the scientific world there is probably some benefit in some cannaboids,” Voth said. “But that’s not new… and nothing about that applies to marijuana.”

Voth said those who use THC by smoking or ingesting marijuana get an unregulated dose that can do more harm than good. He said studies have shown that THC’s therapeutic benefit occurs only within a small dosage window.

He said drugs like Marinol are a safer option for patients who can benefit from THC. The FDA also is reviewing a regulated alternative to “Charlotte’s Web,” a low-THC strain of marijuana used to produce cannabinoid oil that some are using to treat seizures in children, he said.

Rep. John Wilson, a Democrat from Lawrence, said he’s exploring legislation to provide a path to legal use of cannabinoid oil in Kansas. He’s inspired by a Baldwin City family who lived in his district until last year, when they moved to Colorado to obtain the oil for their son, Otis, who suffered more than 100 seizures per day.

“They seem to be doing really well,” Wilson said. “Otis is sleeping more through the night.”

Wilson said he’s waiting on a health impact assessment about medical marijuana from the Kansas Health Institute, the parent organization of the editorially independent KHI News Service, to inform his legislation.

Haley’s bill would allow Kansans with a “debilitating medical condition” certified by medical practitioners to possess up to 12 cannabis plants and six ounces of “usable cannabis.”

Qualifying medical conditions spelled out in the law include cancer, glaucoma, HIV, hepatitis C, ALS, Crohn’s disease and Alzheimer’s. But the law also makes allowances for anyone who suffers from a condition that causes symptoms like severe pain, nausea, seizures and “wasting syndrome.” It also empowers the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to add other medical conditions to the list approved for medical marijuana treatment.

Possession of the marijuana plant remains illegal under federal law, which has limited research on its medical benefits.

Despite the federal ban, nearly half the states have legalized it for medical use and a handful, including Colorado, have legalized it for recreational use.

A significant difference between using cannabis plants and FDA-approved drugs that contain THC is that the drugs don’t provide the user with a psychoactive “high,” while most of the plants do.

Voth said there are some medical marijuana advocates who are genuinely seeking symptom relief for themselves or loved ones, but some are also looking to get high without the legal risks.

“When you really peel away the onion, there’s a core of advocates who are just trying to legalize pot,” Voth said.

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

DINA CAPPIELLO, AP Writers
JONATHAN FAHEY, AP Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — A 50-percent plunge in the price of crude oil, and cheaper gasoline at the pump, raise questions about whether the Keystone pipeline is still needed — or even makes financial sense.

Opponents will use lower prices to argue that it now could pose a greater threat to the environment than first thought.

Low oil prices could make it more important to the development of oil sands projects in Canada than anticipated. So it could be more likely to increase emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases linked to global warming.

Proponents say that during periods of low oil prices, the pipeline is more important. They say oil companies would otherwise have less incentive to deliver what’s described as important oil from a reliable source to U.S. refiners on the Gulf.

By Laura Ziegler, Heartland Health Monitor

Emergency room doctors at the University of Kansas Hospital say there are a few practical ways NOT to be one of the weather-related patients they’ve been seeing during this cold snap.

But doctors remind those who go outside to remember:

Our immune system is highly affected by what we eat, so there are certain foods that are especially important during cold and flu season. No surprise – they’re the ones on the “most healthy” list of many diets. They include green veggies, whole grains and starchy vegetables such as potatoes, corn and pumpkin.

Get plenty of sleep to keep your immune system healthy.

The symptoms of hypothermia and dehydration can look alike. Even though grabbing a big glass of water may not seem appealing on a gray winter’s day, especially because you may not want to peel off multiple layers of clothing to go to the bathroom, it’s very important to drink a lot of water during the winter.

Be careful if you have asthma, bronchitis or heart disease. Emergency room doctors are seeing a disproportionate number of cases of chest pain brought on by extreme cold.

KU Hospital spokeswoman Jill Chadwick says two frostbite patients had been brought to the hospital’s emergency room as of Thursday afternoon.

Don’t walk or run outside alone. Even if you are healthy, if you fall and aren’t able to get back up, you are susceptible to rapid onset of frostbite or hypothermia.

 

Laura Ziegler is a Special Correspondent for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

BY REBECCA FRENCH SMITH

Back when there were only four television networks, “The French Chef” with Julia Child on PBS was one of the first cooking shows in America. Today, entire networks are devoted to food 24/7/365. Along with millions of others, I have fandom for a few TV food shows. Through them, I am afforded a “taste” before committing. They’re a virtual “Mikey,” if you remember the ‘70s Life cereal television commercials.

Over the holidays, I found myself watching part of a “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” marathon on the Food Network. As a result, I’m planning a road trip to St. Louis to try one of the featured establishments — it looked that good. On the flipside, “Bizarre Foods” on the Travel Channel has me particularly grateful I have choices. Both shows highlight foods people find interesting from classical dishes to trendy “flashes in the pan;” whether appetizing or not is questionable.

While I’m no Mikey, I have my own preferences. As I’ve gotten older, I tolerate more, like Brussel sprouts. Those became trendy in 2014, to your mother’s delight. The new vegetable, though, is kalettes, according to a recent NPR story on 2015 food trends. Fifteen years in the making, this hybrid is what you get when you cross kale and Brussel sprouts, in case you see it in a market near you.

In 2015, a few intriguing items made the trends list. Things like cannabis and crickets. “Cricket flour is already showing up in protein bars. Insects are gluten free, high in protein and emit fewer greenhouse gases than cattle,” according to NPR. While those bullet points are noteworthy, I can’t get past crickets. Nope, crickets fall into the “only if I have to” category.

Nationally, the term “marijuana edibles” is on the rise. I’m unsure what cannabis brings to a dish. How do you put that on a nutritional label? Would it go under fiber?

Spicy food is still in vogue, along with bitter, sweet and fermented food. Anything but bland. “Craft” is the new “artisan.” Quinoa is on its way out. Kaniwa is on its way in. Pork fat is making a comeback. And, we’re discovering matcha, a green tea that’s been consumed in Japan for centuries and allegedly packs an energy-boost punch.

Expect to see some of these trends on food shows; indeed, many are already being celebrated as the next big thing. Trends, though, do not always become classics, but merely something about which you can say, with a grin or a grimace, “I tried that once.”

For every new ingredient or preparation method, farmers work in the background to make sure we have what we need. So, the projection that the trend of supporting local farmers will last for the next decade isn’t surprising. I’ll wager it goes beyond that; perhaps the ultimate fandom should belong to farmers.

Rebecca French Smith, of Columbia, Mo., is a multimedia specialist for the Missouri Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization.

MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has quietly engineered a dramatic increase in the number of states that allow gay and lesbian couples to wed. The increase also has raised the chances the justices soon will step in to settle the legal debate.

The justices are weighing whether to hear a case that could lead to same-sex unions in all 50 states. With the addition of Florida this week, 36 states now allow same-sex marriage. That’s nearly twice as many as just three months ago.

The increased number may give comfort to a court that does not like to be too far ahead of the country.

The growth has come from the high court’s refusal in October to review lower-court rulings in favor of same-sex marriage or to block them from taking effect.