APAW, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma-based tribe is partnering with the owner of a Las Vegas hotel to reopen a track in southeast Kansas.

Phil Ruffin is the owner of Las Vegas’ Treasure Island Hotel and Casino and Camptown Greyhound Park in Frontenac, Kansas. He’s teaming with the Quapaw Tribe’s Downstream Casino to open a state-owned, privately managed upscale casino in Crawford County, Kansas.

The state Lottery Commission must approve of the plan.

Legislation that went into effect in July lowered the investment required for a prospective casino developer from $225 million to $50 million. It also drops the fee the state charges to developers from $25 million to $5.5 million.

Camptown opened in 1995 but ran live dog races for less than six months before its owners filed for bankruptcy in early 1996.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Ken Selzer has raised nearly $235,000 through July for his campaign for Kansas insurance commissioner, leading the five GOP candidates in fundraising.

Finance reports show Selzer loaned his campaign an additional $33,100 and spent $264,000 through July 24. He is a Leawood accountant and reinsurance company executive.

His nearest rival in fundraising is Eudora health care consultant Beverly Gossage, who collected nearly $116,000 in contributions and loaned herself an additional $65,000. She spent nearly $167,000 through July 24.

State Sen. Clark Shultz, of Lindsborg, raised about $102,000 in contributions and spent $80,000.

El Dorado insurance agency president David Powell raised $19,000 and spent $9,000.

Johnson County Commissioner and former state Rep. John Toplikar of Olathe raised nearly $13,000 and spent about $9,500.

KANSAS CITY- A Missouri woman was killed in an accident just before 11 p.m. on Sunday in Wyandotte County. The accident kept portions of the highway closed most of the night.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2012 Ford Focus driven by Shaun E. Moton, 36, Kansas City, was northbound on Interstate 635 near Kansas Avenue and struck the rear of 2009 Kawasaki driven by Melody Carol Hinshaw, 61, Kansas City, Missouri.

Hinshaw was ejected from the motorcycle.

She was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to First Call Mortuary. Moton was not injured.

The KHP reported Hinshaw was wearing a helmet and protective glasses at the time of the accident.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — States are taking it upon themselves to raise revenues for roads and mass transit as federal lawmakers remain stymied on long-term highway funding.

An Associated Press review found that one-fourth of the states have enacted transportation funding increases in the past year and a half, and at least a dozen others are studying it.

Missouri voters will decide Tuesday whether to impose a three-quarters cent sales tax for transportation.

The push for more funding comes as revenues from federal and state fuel taxes are deteriorating because of more fuel efficient cars, a decline in per capita driving and stagnant tax rates.

Congress recently approved a 10-month patch for its highway trust fund but still has not addressed a long-term transportation funding plan.

By Bryan Thompson, KPR

TOPEKA — Four safety net clinics in Kansas each will receive $250,000 in federal funds to create or expand mental health services for low-income Kansans. The funding is part of almost $55 million in similar grants nationwide through the Affordable Care Act.

One of those clinics, the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas in Pittsburg, saw 2,500 patients for mental health issues last year. CEO Krista Postai intends to use the new money to integrate medical and behavioral care.
“A psychologist will be co-located with our providers. So as the physician encounters a challenge in the exam room, they can introduce the psychologist into the environment and say, ‘I’d like you to visit with this person about why you can’t control your diabetes, or why you have anxiety or stress,’ which we believe will be far more effective than saying, ‘We need to make an appointment for two weeks from now,’” Postai said.

They’re already doing that at the Health Partnership Clinic in Olathe. President and CEO Jason Wesco estimates that half the clinic’s medical patients have some kind of behavioral issues, too.

“So we’ll hire two additional behavioral health consultants, both who will be psychologists, and we’ll also hire kind of a care coordinator for behavioral health services,” Wesco said.

Even that won’t be enough, Wesco said, but it’s a good start.
A news release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says the four grants to Kansas, which total $1 million, will establish or expand behavioral health services for 4,700 Kansans.

“These awards will further reduce the barriers that too often prevent Kansans from getting the help they need for mental health problems,” said HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell. “Health centers in Kansas with these awards are on the front lines of better integrating mental health into primary care and improving access to care through the Affordable Care Act.”

Community health centers operate more than 52 service delivery sites that provide care to more than 155,000 patients in Kansas. In 2013, Kansas health centers saw more than 5,045 behavioral health patients.

The other Kansas clinics receiving mental health grants are the Flint Hills Community Health Center, in Emporia and Eureka, and Prairie Star Health Center in Hutchinson.

Grants of a quarter-million dollars were also awarded to three health centers in Missouri: the Betty Jean Kerr – People’s Health Centers and the Family Care Health Centers, both in St. Louis, and Community Treatment Inc. in Festus.

BROWNVILLE, Neb. (AP) — Another erroneous warning has been sent about a supposed problem at the Cooper Nuclear Station in southeast Nebraska.

Nebraska Public Power District says the warning was sent around 3:50 p.m. Sunday to cellular customers by the National Weather Service. The district says a correction was sent about 10 minutes later and a correction message was placed on the weather service website.

The district says that as part of its emergency response efforts, the weather service will broadcast alert messages to the media, various agencies and the public. On Sunday weather service personnel were updating the wording programmed into a computer system, and the message was mistakenly issued.

On July 24 an erroneous evacuation warning about a hazardous material spill was broadcast in Nemaha, a village that sits near the plant.

 

FORT LEONARD WOOD (AP) – The U.S. Army is seeking public comment on possible future cuts at Missouri’s Fort Leonard Wood and other installations nationwide.

The Army estimates the southern Missouri installation could lose more than 5,000 civilian and military positions by 2020 after a round of much smaller cuts last year. The Army anticipates trimming its overall forces by more than 140,000 in that time period after 13 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan

The Sustainable Ozarks Partnership, which promotes economic development in the four counties that surround Fort Leonard Wood, is encouraging the public to weigh in by the Aug. 25 deadline for comments. The group’s website offers a link to the Army’s comment site

OSWEGO, Kan. (AP) — Officials in a southeast Kansas county are preparing to add about $150,000 to the 2015 budget to cover the likely expenses of a capital murder trial.

David C. Bennett Jr. is charged in Labette County with multiple counts in the killings of Cami Umbarger and her three children in Parsons last Nov. 25.

The Parsons Sun reports the Kansas attorney general’s office is prosecuting the case, but Labette County must pay for juror fees, witness travel, jury summonses and printing and mailing jury questionnaires. If the jury is sequestered during the trial, the expenses could be even higher.

The County Commission was told at a recent meeting the county’s total costs could reach $350,000 or more, but some of those expenses probably wouldn’t be incurred until 2016.

 

PITTSBURG, Kan- A Missouri man was injured in a Sunday motorcycle accident in Cherokee County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reports a 2009 Harley Davidson driven by Dennis L. Lamberson, 57, Joplin, Mo., was eastbound on US 400.

The vehicle had just passed another vehicle in a no passing zone.

A 2000 Toyota Corolla driven by Brittany Kratz, 17, Weir, was eastbound on US 400 five miles south of Pittsburg attempting to turn north in to a private drive. The Harley Davidson was unable to stop and struck the right rear of the Corolla.

Lamberson was transported to Via Christi in Pittsburg. Kratz and two children in the Corolla were not injured.

The KHP reported Lamberson was not wearing a helmet.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Sens. Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill are joining an effort to honor veterans of World War I with a commemorative coin.
The senators are co-sponsoring legislation that would establish a competition to design a commemorative World War I coin that would be produced by the U.S. Treasury.
Proceeds from the coin would help cover the expenses and go to the World War I Centennial Commission for activities that recognize the war.
World War I lasted from 1914 to 1918.
The coin legislation also has been backed by other members of Congress.