KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police in Kansas City, Kansas, are investigating the deaths of a couple who were found in their car inside their garage.

Police said in a release that officers were called to the home Sunday morning on a report of a dead body. When police arrived they found the couple dead inside the car. Police say the couple were in the 80s, but their identities haven’t been released.

The cause of death is under investigation by the police department’s Major Case Unit.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A poor wheat crop and falling prices for corn and soybeans have Kansas farmers preparing for a sharp drop in their incomes after several prosperous years.

The Wichita Eagle reports the state’s wheat harvest is down by 26 percent from last year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics.

Abundant rain and cool temperatures in June and July have put the nation on track for the second-biggest corn crop ever and the biggest soybean crop, but the glut has driven corn prices down more than $1 a bushel in the last month.

Kansas livestock producers could benefit from low crop prices that have made feed cheaper for their animals. And with the state’s ranchers rebuilding their herds, fewer head of cattle are going to market, and profits are rising.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating after a 30-year-old Overland Park man died while serving a two-day sentence in Johnson County.

The Kansas City Star reports that Matthew C. Worsham was found Aug. 3 in his cell at Johnson County’s Olathe Central Booking facility. He had been scheduled for release later that morning.

The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office says Worsham was serving a 48-hour sentence for driving under the influence.

Master Deputy Jill Koch says staff tried to revive Worsham and called for an ambulance, and that Worsham was revived later when the ambulance arrived. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he later died.

Koch says circumstances around the death are under investigation.

By ALEX MORAN
K-State News and Editorial Services

MANHATTAN — Parents shouldn’t worry about having a first-year teacher in their child’s classroom, according to a Kansas State University education professor.

“Being a first-time teacher is an exciting and amazing experience that gets easier with time,” said Lori Goodson, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction in the university’s College of Education.

“Teachers in their first year often are just as nervous as their students,” Goodson said. “Teaching is like learning how to drive a car — it may look simple, but there are so many components that need to be mastered to be effective.”

The day-to-day experience of teaching and classroom management will help a first-time teacher grow rapidly on the job, she said.

For parents worried about a teacher’s lack of experience, Goodson said communication is key.

“Be able to communicate with the teacher. Communication will eliminate many of the concerns or problems between teachers and parents,” she said.

She also recommends parents and the teacher be available when one of them wants to connect or interact. And she says parents should be open to new and creative ideas for learning and understanding.

Support is important for new teachers. In any learning atmosphere, mentoring makes a difference — whether for a teacher or student, Goodson said.

The Kansas State Department of Education requires that each initially licensed teacher, school specialist or school leader complete a yearlong, district-administered induction and mentoring program as a prerequisite to receiving a professional license.

“This means all of our graduates teaching in Kansas schools will receive formal, structured mentoring through their first year,” Goodson said. “School districts across the country also believe in providing training for first-year teachers. Many conduct monthly meetings to give first-time faculty the opportunity to ask questions and to provide ideas and support.”

One way Kansas State University’s curriculum and instruction department will provide its new teaching graduates with support this year is through a new newsletter, Before the Bell: Supporting New Educators.

“This newsletter is designed to give specific and practical tips to help teachers navigate their first year of teaching,” Goodson said.

Some topics that will be covered in the newsletter include preparing for parent teacher conferences, setting up classrooms, rules for grading and timely issues that correspond to the school year. The first issue will be sent via email in August.

BY BLAKE HURST

The passage of Amendment #1, the Farming Rights Amendment, is great news for the future of Missouri agriculture. Although the vote was close, a majority of Missouri voters understood the issue and voiced their support for farmers. August 5th was a win for everyone who eats, as well. Our food supply is more secure because of the vote; we farmers will be able to continue doing what we do best, producing good food on family farms all across our state.

The news wasn’t all good. Although we received tremendous support from the rural counties where people know and trust farmers, we didn’t fare as well with voters in Missouri’s major cities. We lost in St. Louis and Kansas City for the very same reasons that the amendment was necessary: A generation of books, films, television shows and magazine articles has cast farmers as uncaring about the environment and the animals in their care. That’s why our opponents’ campaign, which was equal parts the worst kind of populism and jingoism, was so effective. Their ads worked because the ground had been prepared by unending attacks on agriculture from editorial boards and documentary makers willfully ignorant about farming.

As a farmer, I know I must have access to the best practices because if I don’t, I can’t compete with farmers in other places and other nations. I know those practices also make me a better steward of the environment and help keep food prices low. Consumers don’t know those things, and I haven’t been very good at telling them. Even though farmers in this state have never worked as hard on a campaign as they have in the past few weeks, there is more work to be done.

Farmers need to visit with consumers and enter the national conversation about food. It is essential to their future. Reaching out to the voters who voted “no” is as important as planting next year’s crop.

With our electoral success comes responsibility. We must continue to improve stewardship of our land and animals, because the victory we won can be lost in an instant unless we maintain the highest standards of care. In fact, we have to get better.

We have to get better at reaching out to our natural allies: the people who care how much food costs. In developing countries, many struggle with putting food on the table 365 days a year. They lack the income or resources to feed themselves and their families. In Missouri, it’s easy to suffer from a “first world” point of view and think that hunger doesn’t happen here. We have to remember there are those all over our state who struggle to make ends meet. The least we can do is keep their food choices abundant and affordable. For those who can afford artisan apples and heirloom tomatoes, farmers are more than willing to meet that demand. But for those who cannot, farmers have to make sure they have a voice in the conversation. We have to ally ourselves with those who most depend upon us. That’s the real work left to be done with the passage of Amendment #1.

Blake Hurst, of Westboro, Mo., is the president of Missouri Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization.

By Jim McLean
KHI News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new study by the Urban Institute says that not expanding Medicaid will cost hospitals in Kansas and Missouri more than $9 billion over a 10-year period.

The analysis from the nonpartisan research organization pegs the loss to Kansas hospitals at $2.6 billion between 2013 and 2022. Missouri hospitals would forfeit $6.8 billion over the same period.

Hospitals in the 24 states that have so far declined to expand Medicaid to cover more low-income adults would lose a combined total of $167.8 billion.

The report says: “First-quarter earnings reports from several interstate hospital chains described major differences between states that expanded Medicaid – where hospital finances improved as uncompensated care fell and Medicaid revenue rose, both by significant amounts – and nonexpanding states, where hospital finances worsened, with uncompensated care and self-pay patient caseloads rising and Medicaid revenue failing.”

The report says while expansion would increase Kansas’ Medicaid costs by $525 million over 10 years, it would generate an additional $5.3 billion in federal funding. Expansion would cost Missouri $1.5 billion over the same period while generating $17.8 billion in additional federal funding.

The Kansas Hospital Association has lobbied for Medicaid expansion over the last two years but has been unable to convince Gov. Sam Brownback and the Republican-controlled Legislature to take up the issue. Legislative leaders have actively blocked consideration of expansion bills.

Brownback and other opponents of Medicaid expansion have said they are not convinced the federal government can be trusted to follow through on its promise to pay 100 percent of expansion costs through 2015 and not less than 90 percent thereafter.

The Urban Institute report says while such concerns “can seem reasonable,” a review of the history of Medicaid spending shows they are largely unfounded. Budget pressures have forced Congress to cut Medicaid spending more than 100 times but only once – in 1981 – have those cuts included a reduction in the amount the federal government sends to states to cover its share of the program’s overall cost.

“More recent budget bills actually raised the federal Medicaid share, even while making other federal Medicaid cuts,” the report says.

Hospitals taking the offensive

In an attempt to force consideration of Medicaid expansion in Kansas, the hospital association is writing its own expansion bill. Tom Bell, KHA president, has said it likely will be modeled on plans crafted by Republican governors in other states.

“Our feeling is that the (Obama) administration wants to approve state plans and we ought to get something in front of them before it’s too late,” Bell said in a recent interview.

The so-called private-sector plans proposed by a handful of GOP governors use federal Medicaid dollars to help adults earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level annually – about $16,100 for an individual and $32,900 for a family of four – purchase private coverage. Some of the plans, which require federal approval, also require beneficiaries to work and contribute to the cost of their coverage and care.

Currently in Kansas, able-bodied adults without children aren’t eligible for Medicaid. Adults with children are eligible only if they earn less than 32 percent of the poverty level – annually about $3,730 for an individual and $7,630 for a family of four.

Bell said some policymakers who have resisted talking about expansion because of its connection to the controversial federal health reform law have indicated they might be willing to consider a more private-sector approach after the November election.

“We’ve had a number of people tell us that maybe after the election this is something that will be a little easier to talk about,” he said.

Expansion vs. tax incentives for business

Like other reports, including one commissioned by the Kansas Hospital Association, the Urban Institute analysis says the increased federal funding triggered by Medicaid expansion significantly “boosts state economic growth and employment.”

The report suggests that expanding Medicaid could be a more cost-effective economic development program than those that some states, including Kansas, are now using to attract business and create private-sector jobs.

The report says the approximately $52 million a year it would cost Kansas to expand Medicaid is dwarfed by the nearly $1.8 billion it spends each year on tax breaks and incentive payments for businesses.

“To place state policy choices in perspective, the 24 states not expanding Medicaid spent an estimated $44.9 billion on tax reductions and other subsidies to attract private business during the most recent single year for which data are available,” the report says. “Nonexpansion states thus spend on these business incentives more than 14 times the $3.16 billion average annual amount that would be required to finance Medicaid expansion during 2013–2022.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Volkswagen of America is recalling 151,389 Tiguan SUVs due to the possibility of stalling.

No accidents or injuries have been reported. The problem is with fuel pumps on some models from 2009 to 2014. Gas bubbles may form in the fuel system when winterized fuel is used in warmer months or warmer areas, which could lead to the car stalling.

Volkswagen is notifying all owners of the vehicles about the recall. Dealers are installing revised software in the cars to fix this issue.