GUILFORD – A Missouri woman was injured in an accident just after 10 a.m. on Monday in Nodaway County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan driven by Kathleen M. McCrary, 63, Conception Junction, was northbound on Route AH just north of Guilford.
The driver fell asleep, drove off the east side of the road and hit a concrete culvert. The van went airborne and continued north into a ditch.
A private vehicle transported McCrary to St. Francis Hospital.
The MSHP reported she was properly restrained at the time of the accident.
Dr. Robert Moser, former secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.-photo by Phil Cauthon
By Dave Ranney
KHI News Service
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Dr. Robert Moser, who last month resigned as secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, has a new job.
Earlier this week, Moser was named executive director for the Kansas Heart and Stroke Collaborative at the University of Kansas Hospital.
Bob Hallinan, a spokesperson for the hospital, confirmed the hiring late Thursday afternoon.
“I can confirm that it happened, but it just happened,” Hallinan said. “We’ll be putting out a news release on it shortly.”
In his new role, Moser will administer a three-year, $12.5 million federal grant for improving heart disease and stroke care in western Kansas, using telehealth technology, data exchanges, preventive screenings, case management and patient education.
According to KDHE’s latest “Annual Summary of Vital Statistics,” 1,306 Kansans died of cerebrovascular disease (stroke) in 2013; 5,331 died of heart disease.
Heart disease and stroke were the state’s second and fifth leading causes of death, respectively.
“The highest mortality rates were in rural communities,” Barbara MacArthur, vice president for cardiac services at the KU Hospital, said in an earlier prepared statement. “Many deaths and long term disabilities from heart disease and stroke can be prevented if the right standards of medical care are accessed immediately. Under this program, hospitals working together can provide a continuum of high quality care with much better outcomes.”
The collaborative’s members include the critical access hospitals in Cheyenne, Gove, Ness, Norton, Pawnee, Phillips, Russell, Sheridan, Thomas and Trego counties, and the regional safety net clinics in Hays and Great Bend.
Moser, 55, practiced family medicine for 22 years in Tribune, his hometown, before joining KDHE in January 2011. He left the agency Nov. 28.
Dave Ranney is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Missouri is preparing to execute Paul Goodwin for killing a neighbor woman with a hammer. It would be the state’s 10th execution this year.
Goodwin is scheduled to die by injection at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday at the state prison in Bonne Terre. His attorney has filed court appeals and a clemency petition to Gov. Jay Nixon, claiming Goodwin is mentally disabled.
Missouri’s nine executions so far tie the record set in 1999. Only Texas, with 10, has performed more executions this year.
Goodwin is 48. He sexually assaulted and killed Joan Crotts, a 63-year-old widow, in St. Louis County in 1998.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The country’s seven largest school districts are joining more than 50 others to start offering introductory computer science to all their students.
The commitments by the school districts in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Houston and elsewhere are being announced Monday at the White House. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will also meet with students at an “hour of code” computing event.
The College Board, which runs the Advanced Placement program for high school students, is introducing a new college-level course called AP Computer Science Principles. There’s already one AP course in basic computer science, but the White House says this course is multidisciplinary and focuses on real-world applications.
Charitable groups are also pledging $20 million to train more teachers in computer science by fall 2016.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Topeka police department has ended its reserve program, which allowed trained volunteers to carry firearms and help stop crime with the same authority as official law enforcement officers.
The program began more than 60 years ago but had dwindled to only five people before it was officially ended Dec. 1.
Topeka officials say the program was eliminated because Kansas law doesn’t provide guidance for reserve officers and there was concern about liability issues.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports reserve officers didn’t need a law enforcement background but underwent all necessary police training and received equipment free of charge. They needed to complete 340 hours of classes and then attending monthly training and to volunteer 16 hours of assistance per month.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union is asking a judge to stop officials in Kansas from prohibiting same-sex weddings and denying benefits offered to opposite-sex married couples.
The ACLU filed the request for a preliminary injunction Monday in federal court, saying that its case is likely to succeed.
The U.S. Supreme Court last month blocked Kansas from enforcing its ban on same-sex marriages while the lawsuit proceeds in federal court. Same-sex couples in Kansas have since been marrying in some but not all of the state’s 105 counties.
But the ACLU’s motion notes that the state isn’t recognizing same-sex marriages for spousal health insurance benefits, state tax filing purposes and driver’s license name changes.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has vowed to uphold the state’s ban on same-sex nuptials.
EFFINGHAM- A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 4 a.m. on Monday in Atchison County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2003 Nissan Maxima driven by David C. Robertson, 43, Atchison, was traveling north on U.S.159. five miles east of Effingham.
The vehicle left the roadway and rolled many times before coming to rest on its top.
SEDALIA— A Missouri man died and five others were injured in an accident just before 9 p.m. on Saturday in Pettis County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2003 Cadillac CTS driven by Brian R. Barr, 41, Sedalia, was westbound on Route HH just east of Route EE.
The vehicle crossed the centerline and struck a 2008 Ford Excursion driven by Elmer E. Knox, 34, Sedalia, head-on.
Barr was transported to University Hospital where he died.
Knox, Diane R. Knox, 34, and 3 children of Sedalia were transported to Bothwell Regional Medical Center.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported the occupants of the Ford were not wearing seat belts and that it was unknown if the drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident.
DETROIT (AP) — At least 38 people have died and 51 have been injured in crashes involving General Motors cars with defective ignition switches.
Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, who was hired by GM to compensate victims, updated the totals Monday.
Feinberg says he has received 239 death claims and 2,023 injury claims since August.
The fund so far has deemed a total of 89 claims eligible for compensation.
GM knew about faulty ignition switches in Chevrolet Cobalts and other small cars for more than a decade but didn’t recall them until February. The switches can slip out of the “on” position, which causes the cars to stall, knocks out power steering and turns off the air bags.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri lawmaker is trying to lower the state voting age to 16.
Democratic Rep. Karla May of St. Louis this week filed a joint resolution to amend the state constitution to reduce the legal age to vote from 18 years old.
If passed by both the state House and Senate, the measure would go to a public vote.
Missouri is one of only a few states that have attempted to lower the voting age to 16.
Similar measures failed in Hawaii and Arizona.
Several state legislatures are considering allowing 17-year-olds to register to vote for an upcoming election or to vote in a primary.
GUILFORD – A Missouri woman was injured in an accident just after 10 a.m. on Monday in Nodaway County.
