TOM RAUM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s new postmaster general says the Postal Service is looking beyond its regular mail and package delivery for new sources of revenue.

And that means building on what Megan J. Brennan calls its “core competency” — the delivery of goods.

The Postal Service is testing grocery delivery in San Francisco and delivering cases of drinking water to customers in parts of New York City.

During the 2014 holiday season, it joined with Amazon to deliver packages and expand Sunday deliveries of them.

The 52-year-old Brennan — the first woman to be postmaster general — is easing into her first days on the job.

She’s a 29-year veteran of the Postal Service who started her career as a letter carrier in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.

RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly five years after President Barack Obama signed his health care law, the Supreme Court gets to decide its fate yet again.

This time it’s not just the White House that’s anxious.

Republican lawmakers and governors won’t escape the political fallout if the justices strike down insurance subsidies worth billions to consumers in more than 30 states. The law’s opponents argue that the federal government cannot subsidize coverage for consumers unless they live in a state that has set up its own insurance market. But in most Republican-led states, the federal government runs the markets.

Without financial assistance, millions of consumers would lose coverage.

In 2012, the court narrowly upheld the law’s insurance mandate, allowing implementation to proceed.

The case will be argued March 4.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republicans in the Kansas House have elected a Bonner Springs lawmaker to serve as majority party whip.

Rep. Willie Dove received 47 votes on the third and final ballot Wednesday, compared with 44 votes for Rep. Brett Hildabrand of Shawnee. The whip counts votes and lines up support for GOP leaders on major legislation.

Dove is an insurance salesman first elected to the House in 2012.

Republican Reps. Bill Sutton of Gardner and Erin Davis of Olathe also sought the whip’s job but were eliminated on the first and second ballots.

The position was open because Rep. Ron Ryckman Jr. of Olathe stepped down.

Ryckman was elected to the post in December, but House Speaker Ray Merrick later named him chairman of the budget-writing Appropriations Committee.

JIM SALTER, Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — As police in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson seek alternatives to the sort of lethal force that led to Michael Brown’s death, they’re testing a new device that attaches to a handgun barrel and turns a bullet into a projectile intended to stun but not kill.

Mayor James Knowles III says a few Ferguson officers will test the device, known as the Alternative, at a shooting range Thursday. But Knowles says the department is early in the evaluation stage and the city has not decided whether to purchase the device.

Brown, 18, was unarmed when he was fatally shot by Ferguson officer Darren Wilson in August, leading to widespread protests. The shooting also spurred a national discussion about police use of force.

The Alternative is made by Poway, California-based Alternative Ballistics.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A local St. Louis advertisement raising awareness about heroin that ran during the Super Bowl could get a national audience.

KMOX Radio reports that there was an overwhelming response — both positive and negative — to the ad that shows a mother’s grief as she finds her son dead of a heroin overdose.

The ad juxtaposes a cheerful-sounding son with the image of a young man dying on his bed after an overdose.

Howard Weissman, director of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, based in suburban St. Louis, says nearly 2,300 people in the St. Louis area have died from heroin use since 2007.
Weissman has been told by national drug abuse officials they want the local ad to air all across the country.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri senators have given initial approval to a bill to tighten ethics rules for state lawmakers and other elected officials.
Senators voted 31-0 Wednesday for a bill to stop out-of-state trips paid by lobbyists and ban lawmakers from becoming lobbyists until at least two years after they leave office.
Missouri is the only state with the trio of unlimited campaign contributions, limitless lobbyist gifts and no restrictions against state lawmakers immediately becoming lobbyists after leaving office.
The Senate bill doesn’t address campaign contributions. It would require additional reporting of lobbyist gifts, but does not set limits on those expenditures.
A final Senate vote on the bill is needed before it goes to the House.
The House also is expected to consider various ethics bills.

By MIKE SHERRY
Saint Luke’s and Liberty hospitals on Monday announced an agreement to partner on the provision of cancer care.

According to a news release, the hospitals are developing a program that will:

Provide a comprehensive cancer diagnostic and treatment program at Liberty Hospital to serve as a regional hub for cancer care in Liberty and northeast Kansas City
Expand coverage by oncologists and hematologists at Liberty Hospital
Offer multidisciplinary treatment planning
Offer patients access to industry and National Cancer Institute-sponsored clinical studies
Provide on-site infusion and chemotherapy, as well as genetic counseling, rehabilitation, survivorship and support services
The partnership will operate through the Regional Cancer Center at Liberty Hospital.

Through the affiliation, patients on the Liberty Hospital campus will have access to services such as mental health support, nutritional advice during and after treatment, support groups, fitness consultations, massage therapy, educational programs and other services.

Liberty Hospital is a public, 250-bed hospital that opened in 1974.

Saint Luke’s Hospital is part of a Kansas City-based system that includes 10 hospitals across the region, home care and hospice, behavioral health care and dozens of physician practices.

The collaboration between Liberty and Saint Luke’s follows an announcement in June 2013 that the University of Kansas Cancer Center and North Kansas City Hospital were partnering to create a new cancer program at North Kansas City Hospital.

Meanwhile, in September, HCA Midwest Health announced that it had launched an “integrated cancer initiative” with the Sarah Cannon Research Institute of Nashville, Tenn. HCA’s corporate offices are also in Nashville.

And, just last week, Olathe Medical Center announced that a 25,000-square-foot cancer center would be part of a more than $100 million expansion of the hospital.

Liberty Hospital CEO David Feess said in the release that “cancer is a chief concern for those we serve, and we want to deliver the best care possible. We’re pleased to invite Saint Luke’s Cancer Institute to our campus and help us grow this needed program.”

The CEO of Saint Luke’s Hospital, Julie Quirin, said in the release that hospital officials “look forward to collaborating on ways to provide leading-edge cancer care … to patients in Liberty and Northwest Missouri.”

 

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