TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas House has rejected a measure that would extend out the time it would take to fully fund the state’s obligations to current and future retirees.
The House voted down the pension refinancing measure 36-87 on Thursday. Gov. Laura Kelly put forwardthe plan as part of her state budget proposal. Kelly contends that the current contribution levels aren’t affordable.
Pension officials said the refinancing plan would save the state $770 million over the next five years. But over 30 years, Kansas would ultimately have to contribute $7.4 billion more than currently projected.
The plan faced widespread opposition among Republican lawmakers, who viewed it as Kelly’s way of freeing up funds for additional spending on public schools and government programs.
The Environmental Protection Agency has rescheduled public hearings on the updated Waters of the U.S. definition. The hearings were scheduled to take place during the government shutdown, but were postponed. The hearings will be held on February 27th and 28th in Kansas City, Kansas.
The EPA, along with the Army Corps of Engineers, have submitted the proposed rule to the Federal Register. The 60-day comment period, also delayed by the government shutdown, will close on April 15th. In the Federal Register, the listing says the EPA is defining the scope of waters regulated under the Clean Water Act.
The proposed rule is intended to “increase Clean Water Act program predictability and consistency by increasing clarity as to the scope of waters of the United States.” Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, called the release of the proposal a “major step toward fair and understandable water regulation on America’s farms and ranches.”
BARNHART, Mo. (AP) A Missouri man faces charges accusing him of binding a dog’s legs and mouth with tape and throwing the animal into a ditch, where it was found 12 hours later in the bitter cold.
Garcia -photo Jefferson Co.
Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak on Thursday announced the arrest and charges against 39-year-old Paul Garcia of Barnhart. He is jailed on $50,000 bond on charges of animal abuse and armed criminal action.
The rescued black and brown dachshund, Jimmy, is improving.
The small dog was found early Saturday along Highway M. Marshak says electrical and duct tape was wrapped around Jimmy’s mouth and muzzle; the front legs were bound together by tape, as were the back legs.
A deputy found the dog. Authorities believe Jimmy had been at the spot for around 12 hours.
EMINENCE, Mo. (AP) — State conservation officials are investigating the killing of two adult elk in Shannon County.
photo MDC
The Conservation Department said the elk were shot and killed and left to rot on Feb. 8 near the Log Yard area of Shannon Creek. Another elk poaching was reported in the same area in January.
One of the elk was a 10-year-old bull that was brought to Missouri from Kentucky in 2011. The other was an adult cow born in Missouri.
Conservation agents said no parts of either animal were removed.
A conservation division chief, Randy Doman, said it appears poachers wanted to shoot elk for fun or spite.
Doman said it was the fifth known elk poaching since the elk population was restored in Missouri in 2011.
The University of Missouri filed a notice of appeal with the NCAA’s committee on infractions Thursday, beginning what could be a lengthy fight of what it considers overly harsh sanctions levied against three of its programs for academic misconduct involving a former tutor.
The NCAA banned the football, baseball and softball teams from the postseason for a year and placed the entire athletic department on probation late last month. Missouri also was docked scholarships and given recruiting restrictions among numerous other punishments.
The school immediately vowed to fight the punishments, which received widespread condemnation beyond its campus in Columbia. U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt even called upon the NCAA to take another look at the case.
“Mizzou’s case involved an isolated incident within our program,” Tigers athletic director Jim Sterk said. “However, the penalties applied are overly harsh, not in line with established precedent and negatively impact student-athletes who chose to attend the University of Missouri and had nothing to do with the actions of one rogue individual.”
The notice of appeal begins a back-and-forth between the school and the NCAA that is expected to take at least six months. Typically, any penalties are put on hold while the case is winding toward its conclusion, meaning the three programs in question would retain their postseason eligibility.
The case began in late 2016 when a former tutor, Yolanda Kumar, acknowledged she had “violated NCAA ethical conduct, academic misconduct and academic extra benefits rules when she completed academic work for 12 student-athletes.” Kumar said she felt pressured to ensure athletes passed certain courses, though the NCAA’s investigation did not support those accusations.
The school began its own investigation after Kumar claimed on social media that she had committed academic fraud. Sterk eventually sent her a later confirming she had provided impermissible benefits and that she could no longer be associated with the athletic department.
Missouri worked hand-in-hand with the NCAA during the investigation, and Sterk admitted he thought the school would receive some leniency. Instead, the punishments the Tigers received were severe.
Sterk said he’s concerned that response could set a dangerous precedent.
“It appears our cooperation throughout this process went largely unnoticed,” he said, “which I believe will have a chilling effect and force other institutions to take a different approach in dealing with these types of issues, which will not be in the best interest of the NCAA.”
In other words, schools could be less forthcoming for fear of retribution.
Missouri has retained the help of attorney Mike Glazier, an expert on intercollegiate athletics, to assist with the appeal. Glazier has been helping with the case since the initial revelations in 2016.
“We believe that the committee on infractions abused its discretion in applying penalties to the University of Missouri,” Sterk said, “and we look forward to appearing before the appeals committee in the future to present our case.”
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A man and a woman from Kansas were indicted Wednesday on federal charges of crashing a car into a Cabela’s store and stealing guns, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
Tosh -photo Wyandotte Co.Mendez-photo Wyandotte Co.
Kyle Mendez, 29, Kansas City, Kan., and Brenda Tosh, 27, Kansas City, Kan., were charged with one count of conspiring to steal guns from a federally licensed firearms dealer. In addition, Mendez was charged with two counts of unlawful possession of firearms by a convicted felon and one count of transporting a stolen 2014 Dodge Challenger across state lines. The crimes are alleged to have occurred Nov. 6, 2018, in Kansas City, Kan.
The indictment alleges the defendants entered the Cabela’s store in Kansas City, Kan., by crashing a car through an exterior door. Mendez smashed through a locked door to get into the store’s Gun Library. The defendants took long guns from the firearms section of the store and placed them into a shopping cart. The guns included two 12-gauge shotguns, a .22-caliber rifle, a .308-caliber rifle and a .223-caliber rifle.
Before the defendants could get away with the guns, however, law enforcement officers arrived at the store. Tosh was arrested at the scene. Mendez fled from the store and was arrested later.
Upon conviction, the crimes carry the following penalties:
Unlawful possession of firearms by a felon (count one and count two): Up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
Theft from a federally licensed firearms dealer (count three): Up to five years and a fine up to $250,000.
Transporting a stolen car (count four): Up to 10 years and a fine up to $250,000.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas awarded millions in grants to a troubled Florida agency to provide child welfare services, even though it earned low scores in an internal review and didn’t apply for some of the work.
Eckerd Connects was selected last year to provide services in the state’s east, west and Wichita regions under a grant process. In the past child welfare funds were typically distributed through contracts.
For the western region, Eckerd Connects was awarded $17 million, even though it didn’t initially apply. Documents show that in the other two areas its bids were considerably lower than the agencies the review panel recommended.
The Department for Children and Families officials says it’s reviewing the family preservation grants awarded during the previous administration.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Republican House Speaker Elijah Haahr says a bill to ban most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected is among top priorities for the session.
House Minority Leader Crystal Quade
But Democratic House Minority Leader Crystal Quade on Thursday warned that enacting the bill could mean the loss of federal Medicaid money.
Legislative researchers estimate that could amount to more than $7 billion in lost funding next fiscal year.
Republican Rep. Nick Schroer’s bill includes an exception for medical emergencies, but not rape or incest.
Social Services Department officials told legislative researchers that not including those exceptions could conflict with federal law and put funding at risk.
Schroer questioned whether the bill would put Missouri out of compliance. But he says he’s willing to talk about ways to ensure Missouri doesn’t lose that money.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and Kansas Department of Transportation officials outlined plans Wednesday for putting a state highway program abandoned by former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback back on track.
Gov. Laura Kelly with Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz at a news conference announcing plans to resume at set of unfinished highway projects. JIM MCLEAN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
Years of lean budgets prompted annual raids of the state highway fund. With more than $2 billion siphoned off since 2011, it became known as the “bank of KDOT.”
“By reducing transfers from the state highway fund, we move closer to closing the bank of KDOT,” Kelly said at a news conference staged at the transportation agency.
Kelly said her plan to stop diverting highway dollars would pave the way for restarting T-WORKS. The 10-year transportation program was launched in 2010, but stalled a few years later when Brownback’s tax cuts tanked the state budget.
The new governor’s proposed budget reduces KDOT transfers by $160 million in the coming budget year with a goal of phasing them out entirely by 2023.
“To be clear, we still have a long way to go in order to get our transportation system where we want it to be,” Kelly said. “But this is an important incremental step.”
The immediate infusion of cash, said KDOT Secretary Julie Lorenz, would allow the agency to resume work on four of the delayed T-WORKS projects.
Work to expand a section of US-54 in Seward County and modernize a stretch of US-169 in Anderson County would start this fall. Work to modernize a portion of US-281 in Russell County and to expand a section of US-50 in Lyon County would begin in the spring of 2020.
Those projects are first in line, Lorenz said, because they are, “the only four we have ready to go immediately.”
Another 17 projects remain on the unfinished list.
The loss of funding made it impossible for the agency to complete all the preliminary work needed to get those shovel ready, Lorenz said.
“We need assurance that we’re going to continue to have stable, reliable funding so that we can continue to push forward to complete the designs and acquire the right-of-way for the remaining T-WORKS projects,” she said.
A special legislative task force on transportation recently issued its recommendations. At the top of the list was increasing funding for the “heavy maintenance” work that KDOT does to preserve roads and bridges.
The agency needs $500 million a year to keep up with the needs on the system, the secretary said. It currently has only $350 million, but Kelly is proposing an additional $50 million in her budget.
That’s enough, Lorenz said, to maintain another 200 miles of roadway.
Sen. Carolyn McGinn, the chair of the task force and the Kansas Senate’s budget writing committee, said the funding restoration proposed by the governor are the first steps in a long rebuilding process.
“Today is a new day,” said McGinn, a Wichita Republican. “I’m excited that we’re moving forward.”
In addition to the four major projects and the additional maintenance, the plan outlined Wednesday includes money to help cities maintain the state highways that pass through them.
That’s welcome news to Donald Roberts, the mayor of Edgerton, a Kansas City suburb that serves as a freight distribution hub for railroads and trucking companies.
“We’ve got to start somewhere,” Roberts said, emphasizing the need to get KDOT’s maintenance funding back to adequate levels.
“That’s a ‘pay me now’ or ‘pay me a lot more later’ situation,” he said.
An economic analysis of the ethanol industry found significant contributions to the U.S. Economy. Announced by the Renewable Fuels Association during its annual National Ethanol Conference, the organization says the study shows that despite regulatory and marketplace challenges in 2018, the industry made a “remarkable contribution” to the U.S. economy.
The analysis found that the industry supported nearly 366,000 jobs and generated nearly $46 billion in gross domestic product in 2018. According to the analysis, the production and use of 16.1 billion gallons of ethanol in 2018 generated an estimated $4.8 billion in tax revenue to the Federal Treasury and $4 billion in revenue to state and local governments.
The analysis also estimated the impact of the ethanol industry on the state economy in top ethanol-producing states. Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois were the top three states in terms of economic impacts, but states like Ohio, Kansas, Michigan, Texas, Missouri, California, and New York also benefited from ethanol plants’ contributions.
The Environmental Protection Agency has rescheduled public hearings on the updated Waters of the U.S. definition. The hearings were scheduled to take place during the government shutdown, but were postponed. The hearings will be held on February 27th and 28th in Kansas City, Kansas.
