By Dave Ranney
KHI News Service

TOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment this week released its annual summary of vital statistics for 2013.
The 206-page report features county-by-county data on pregnancies, births, deaths, abortions, marriages and divorces.

A sampling of the findings:

• Kansas’ infant mortality rate increased from 6.3 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2012 to 6.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2013. The state recorded 248 infant deaths in 2013.

• Kansas recorded 505 resident suicides in 2012 and 426 in 2013.

• The 10 leading causes of death remained the same as 2012: cancer, heart disease, lung disease, accidents, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, kidney disease, pneumonia/influenza, diabetes and suicide.

• Tobacco use contributed to almost one in five deaths.

• Kansas’ birth rate in 2013 – 13.4 births per 1,000 populations – was the lowest since the state began compiling vital statistics in 1912. The state’s birth rate peaked at 26.8 births per 1,000 population in 1954.

• Out-of-wedlock births accounted for 36.2 percent of all Kansas births in 2013. Since 1994, the state’s out-of-wedlock birth rate has increased 45.6 percent.

• One in eight mothers reported “cigarette use” at some time during their pregnancies last year.

• In 2013, Kansas recorded 17,328 marriages, 8,869 divorces and 216 annulments.

• The state recorded 7,485 abortions last year; 3,722 involved out-of-state residents and 3,763 involved in-state residents.

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

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a new challenge to President Barack Obama’s health care law.

The justices on Friday say they will decide whether the law authorizes subsidies that help millions of low- and middle-income people afford their health insurance premiums.

A federal appeals court upheld Internal Revenue Service regulations that allow health-insurance tax credits under the Affordable Care Act for consumers in all 50 states. Opponents argue that most of the subsidies are illegal.

The long-running political and legal campaign to overturn or limit the 2010 health overhaul will be making its second appearance at the Supreme Court.

The justices upheld the heart of the law in a 5-4 decision in 2012 in which Chief Justice John Roberts provided the decisive vote.

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas wildlife official are predicting that bird populations will be 70 percent higher than a year ago when the state’s quail and pheasant seasons open this weekend.

But after the lowest pheasant and quail harvest in 75 years, Kansas Department of Wildlife small game specialist Jeff Prendergast says the numbers still will be pretty poor.

Prendergast tells The Salina Journal  that low bird numbers in recent years have discouraged some hunters, which is partly why there should be more birds when hunting season opens Saturday.

Hunting season typically provides area hotels with brisk business for about three weeks. Beloit Super 8 general manager Janet Remus says her motel is lodging hunters from as far away as South Carolina and Kentucky.

Quail and pheasant seasons run through Jan. 31.

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal judge has declared Missouri’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional but delayed the effect of the ruling pending a possible appeal by the state.

U.S. District Judge Ortrie D. Smith issued the ruling Friday in a lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of two couples who were denied marriage licenses earlier this year in Jackson County, home of Kansas City.

However, the ruling had no immediate impact because of Smith’s decision to delay its implementation.

The ruling comes just days after a St. Louis Circuit judge also ruled that Missouri’s ban on gay marriage violated the U.S. Constitution. St. Louis city and county have begun issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples as a result of that ruling, but most other counties have not.

NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. attorney Loretta Lynch has emerged as the leading choice to be the next attorney general, but President Barack Obama does not plan to make a nomination until after a trip to Asia next week.

People with knowledge of his plans say Obama has decided against pushing for confirmation in the lame duck and instead will leave it up to the Republican-controlled Senate next year.

The White House would not comment on whom Obama plans to name. But the people with knowledge of his thinking say Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney for Eastern New York, has risen to the top of his list in the past couple of weeks. If selected, she would be the first black female attorney general. Florida’s Janet Reno was the first woman attorney general.

United States Attorney

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Federal charges were filed Thursday in a Lenexa bank robbery, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

Donald Rucks, 42, was charged with one count of bank robbery. Rucks is accused of robbing the Arvest Bank in Lenexa on Nov. 4, 2014. Investigators alleged he entered the bank and was talking on a cell phone for several minutes before giving a teller a note saying, “BE QUIET, 100s, 50s and 20s PLEASE.” He put the money in the pocket of the white hoodie sweatshirt he was wearing and fled with the money.

After surveillance footage from the bank was made public, police received tips leading them to Rucks. He was arrested Nov. 5 in Olathe, Kan.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Olathe Police Department and the FBI investigated. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting.

WASHINGTON – Five Missouri schools will each receive five computers as a part of the U.S. Senate’s “Computers for Schools” program, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill announced today.

“Ensuring students’ access to basic technology is vital in preparing them to succeed in their education,” McCaskill said. “This program is a great way to connect young Missouri students with resources that can expand learning opportunities in the classroom and beyond.”

The following Missouri schools have been selected to receive computers:

Main Street Elementary – Troy
Hickman Mills Freshman Center – Kansas City
Eugene Field Elementary – Hannibal
Campbell Elementary – Springfield
Jefferson Elementary – Cape Girardeau
Each school will receive five HP Compaq dc7900 computers no longer being used in Senate offices. As part of the program, each participating Senate office distributes 25 computers to schools in their home state.

CHEROKEE, Kan. (AP) — Officials with the Southeast School District in Crawford and Cherokee counties are celebrating word that the district will receive a federal grant for a safe room.

The district found out Wednesday that it will get a $285,049 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build the storm-safe room at the Southeast Elementary School in Weir. The school district must provide another $95,016.

The Joplin Globe reports that the district, which serves several towns, has suffered severe damage from straight line winds twice in five years. It is in a high risk area for tornadoes.

District spokesman Chris Wilson says the proposed 1,886-square-foot structure will have 8-inch concrete walls and miles of steel rebar. It also will be used as the school’s music room.