TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Sen. Pat Roberts says a northeast Kansas businessman running against him isn’t truly an independent candidate but a liberal Democrat.

Roberts criticized independent candidate Greg Orman on Wednesday after a short, post-primary election rally at the Kansas Republican Party’s headquarters.

Orman is an Olathe businessman pitching himself to voters as a centrist. He said in an interview he expected such criticism from Roberts and called it a tired attack.

Roberts noted Orman’s 2007 contributions to Democrat Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and his donations to Democratic congressional candidates. Also, Orman ran for U.S. Senate briefly as a Democrat in 2007 and early 2008.

But Orman said he’s given far more money to centrist causes.

Meanwhile, Roberts does face a Democrat in November — Shawnee County district attorney Chad Taylor.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – A Missouri House member from Kansas City appears to have narrowly lost in Tuesday’s primary election.

With all precincts reporting, Democrat Bonnaye Mims trailed India Williams by 17 votes out of nearly 2,800 cast.

Mims is a freshman lawmaker who was seeking her second two-year term. The Democratic primary was pivotal, because there are no Republican candidates for the seat.

The Williams-Mims race was close, but not the closest for the state Legislature.

In Jefferson County, Rob Vescovo appeared to defeat Charles Groeteke by eight votes in the Republican primary for the 112th House District. Vescovo would face Democrat Robert Butler in a general election to succeed Democratic incumbent Paul Wieland, who is running for the state Senate.

By SHELBY ALYSSA METTLEN
K-State Research & Extension

MANHATTAN — According to the National Retail Federation, the average cost for back-to-school spending this year is projected at nearly $670 per family with children in grades K-12, which means U.S. families will spend a total of $26.5 billion for K-12 children. With college-aged kids added in the mix, that number is expected to soar to nearly $75 billion.

The greatest cost for back-to-school shoppers is clothing and accessories, followed by electronics—costs that tend to dip into one’s wallet all at once. However, K-State Research and Extension family resource management specialist Elizabeth Kiss said it pays to spread out the back-to-school buying process.

Budgeting back-to-school expenses includes activities, paper and supplies, in addition to the clothing, she said. Even if an item is not part of the budget at the moment, it might be in the future. Determine what you realistically have to spend right now and in the next couple of months.

Prioritize your purchases, Kiss said, determine what items are at the top of your school supplies list and begin checking prices. Basic supplies typically come first, and clothing can often wait.

“You may not need to buy school clothes,” Kiss said. “You can probably get by with spring and summer things before you need to head into winter clothing. That means you have an opportunity to plan ahead, watch the sales, and look for coupons and other bargains.”

Taking inventory of the previous year’s existing supplies and clothing is a good place to start, she said. Make a list of items that are needed, and fill in with new purchases. Also, beware of bargains.

“Kids grow, and if you buy it now, by January it might not fit,” Kiss said. “It’s not a bargain unless you have a younger child who might grow to fit it.”

With clothing purchases, shoppers can plan ahead, she said. Don’t buy it until you need it, and plan your buying around sales. Some regular sales to consider are Columbus Day sales, Thanksgiving and end-of-the-year holiday sales, Presidents’ Day sales and spring season sales. It pays to browse sales before doing any shopping to get an idea of what’s out there.

If local shopping is limited, buyers often plan to make a day of back-to-school shopping, including a drive of several miles, Kiss said.

“If you’re going to take children, plan ahead for their needs,” Kiss said. “Don’t try to power through it. Plan to take breaks. Bring snacks. Drink enough water. Your group will be less frustrated if you acknowledge that.”

She said it’s a good idea to talk with your junior high- and high school-aged children about spending expectations.

“Always let them know what you’re willing to do and what you expect them to do, or if there’s some give and take where that might occur,” Kiss said. “You provide the basics, and if they want something beyond that they need to either work or save up gift money.”

Determining the difference between want and need is a large factor in back-to-school shopping, she said. Wanting athletic shoes and needing soccer or football cleats, for example, are different situations.

“We all want our children to make a good impression,” Kiss said. “We all want them to have what they feel like they need and maybe what they want.”

However, she said, if the cash isn’t on hand, consider telling your child what you can spend now and think about what you will have in the future rather than charging it to a credit card.

Spreading out back-to-school purchases can be a sensible approach, and it can take some of the pressure off parents and students. Consider giving some clothing items as holiday gifts, and think about shopping garage sales and local resale shops.

“It’s really a matter of setting your own limits and doing the best you can to stick to what’s reasonable and realistic,” Kiss said.

More information on money management is available at local county and district extension offices, and on the K-State Research and Extension website, www.ksre.ksu.edu.

By Eric Whitney
Kaiser Health News

A Gallup poll released Tuesday says that the Affordable Care Act is significantly increasing the number of Americans with health insurance, especially in states that are embracing the law. It echoes previous Gallup surveys, and similar findings by the Urban Institute and RAND Corp.

The latest Gallup survey found that, nationwide, the number of uninsured Americans dropped from 18 percent in September 2013 to 13.4 percent in June 2014. States that chose to follow the ACA’s provisions most closely, both by expanding Medicaid and establishing their own new health insurance marketplaces, as a group saw their uninsured rate drop nearly twice as much as states that declined to do so.

“Those states that have not embraced those two major mechanisms have had about half of the decline in uninsured,” said Gallup’s Dan Witters. “So there’s a clear difference in the states that have implemented those mechanisms versus those who haven’t.”

Arkansas saw the biggest decline in its uninsured rate, from 22 percent to 12 percent. Kentucky, Delaware and Colorado also saw significant declines.

“To drop 10 percent in the uninsured rate within really just six months is really an incredible achievement,” said Arkansas Surgeon General Joe Thompson. Thompson lobbied for his state’s unique, bipartisan Medicaid expansion, which uses federal funding to buy private insurance for low-income people. He says about 80 percent of those with new, private insurance in Arkansas purchased it with Medicaid subsidies.

“Clearly we are having an impact that benefits our citizens,” Thompson said. “Those other states that have chosen not to make something good happen out of the Affordable Care Act are missing that opportunity on behalf of their citizens.”

Kansas saw its uninsurance rate pop up by 5.1 percentage points, and Virginia and Iowa also saw slight increases in their uninsurance rates that were within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 1 to 2 percentage points.

Among the states that didn’t expand Medicaid or set up their own exchanges are Georgia, Indiana and Mississippi, all of which saw their uninsured rates drop less than 2 percentage points.

Sam Mims, a Republican state legislator from southwest Mississippi, said the Affordable Care Act is still not the right way to go for his state.

“Access to health care is not expanding Medicaid,” Mims said. “I still believe Mississippi cannot afford it for several reasons. Mainly from a financial standpoint we simply cannot afford to expand Medicaid and we will not expand Medicaid.”

He said the legislature is taking steps to expand access to health care, such as allocating more money to federal clinics, expanding mental health clinics and working on programs to get more doctors and dentists to the state.

Not every state that expanded Medicaid saw big drops in the percentage of uninsured. Massachusetts and Hawaii saw declines of less than 1 percentage point, for example. Gallup’s Witters said that’s because those states already had very low uninsured rates prior to the ACA. California, which fully embraced the law but has a higher number of uninsured than any other state, saw a decrease of 5.3 percentage points in its uninsurance rate, according to the survey.

The telephone poll was part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, and it included more than 178,000 people interviewed in 2013 and more than 88,000 people surveyed in the first half of 2014.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – FBI Director James Comey says a new Missouri constitutional amendment on digital privacy is an appropriate legal protection that won’t hinder law enforcement.

Comey visited the FBI’s St. Louis field office Wednesday, one day after Missouri voters approved a constitutional safeguard that requires police to obtain warrants before searching or seizing cell phones, emails, computer flash drives and other electronic data.

State lawmakers who pushed for the amendment said they wanted to limit excessive government intrusion such as the recent National Security Agency eavesdropping scandal.

Comey met with leaders of nearly a dozen state and local law enforcement agencies, including St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson. He said the bureau wants to help the city reduce violent crime but declined to discuss specific approaches.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas primary elections tested a dual voting system that counts votes for federal offices cast by people who registered using a federal form without proving their citizenship.

It’s unclear how many of those registrants actually voted Tuesday. But the Sedgwick County election office said Wednesday a “quick check” of 1,100 provisional ballots did not reveal any names that matched its list of federal registration applicants.

Secretary of State Kris Kobach has instructed counties to give provisional ballots to voters who registered on the national form without documentation of citizenship. That potentially affects 172 voters across 16 counties, including 85 in Sedgwick County.

Election officials were told to count only their votes for federal races.

TONGANOXIE, Kan. (AP) — An 18-year-old recent high school graduate has won a Democratic primary and will compete in November for a seat in the Kansas House of Representatives.

The Leavenworth Times reports Austin Lee Harris of Tonganoxie beat 51-year-old Harold Fevurly Jr. of rural Easton on Tuesday by a vote of 302-241, according to unofficial results.

Harris next will face incumbent 67-year-old Republican Rep. Connie O’Brien of Tonganoxie in the Nov. 4 general election.

Harris is a recent Tonganoxie High School graduate who says he hopes to provide a voice for moderates in the 42nd House District.

The district includes western Leavenworth County and southern Douglas County, including the cities of Easton, Tonganoxie and Eudora.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic challenger Chad Taylor’s campaign manager says that the results of the Kansas Republican primary show U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts is vulnerable as he runs for re-election.

Taylor campaign manager Brandon Naylor noted Wednesday that the three-term incumbent couldn’t get a majority of votes in winning his GOP primary race against tea party challenger Milton Wolf.

Final, unofficial results showed Roberts with 48 percent to Wolf’s 41 percent. Two lesser-known candidates split the rest.

Taylor is the Shawnee County district attorney and won the Democratic primary over Lawrence attorney Patrick Wiesner with 53 percent.

Taylor immediately challenged Roberts to debates in each of the state’s 105 counties. Roberts spokesman Leroy Towns said the senator already has agreed to a debate at the Kansas State Fair in September.

KIRKSVILLE, Missouri (AP) – A fire that killed two women in a northeast Missouri mobile has been traced to a lit cigarette.

Kirksville firefighters found 78-year-old Bernice Johnson and her 54-year-old daughter, Lynice Newton, dead in the home at Shockey’s Trailer Court on the morning of June 24.

The Kirksville Daily Express reports an autopsy and toxicology report is now complete, and Kirksville Fire Chief Tom Collins says the fire’s probable cause is listed as mishandling cigarettes. The blaze was ruled accidental.

Functioning smoke and carbon monoxide detectors were sounding inside the trailer when firefighters arrived.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri transportation officials are cautioning that the state could see a rise in traffic fatalities and bridge closures following the defeat of a proposed sales tax.

State transportation commissioners held a subdued meeting Wednesday, a day after voters rejected a three-quarters cent sales tax for transportation by 59 percent of the vote. The proposal would have raised at least $540 million annually for the next decade and funded over 800 transportation projects.

Without additional revenue, transportation commissioners say that by 2017 they won’t have enough money to adequately maintain roads and bridges.

Commissioners fear traffic fatalities will go up if they can’t improve rural two-lane roads that lack shoulders. They said the state could have to close some bridges if it lacks the money to repair them.