LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A 35-year-old Kansas man has been sentenced to prison after his father-in-law died while taking methadone to help the younger man cheat on a drug test.

Justin Jones was sentenced Friday to four years in prison for involuntary manslaughter in the 2017 death of 47-year-old Eric Everts. Both men lived in Baldwin City.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Jones also pleaded guilty in January to distribution of methadone.

As part of his treatment for drug addiction, Jones was required to turn in urine samples containing nothing but methadone, which treats opioid addiction.

Baldwin City investigators said in an affidavit that for months Everts took methadone and provided otherwise clean urine samples, which Jones submitted as his own. Everts was found dead at his home in September 2017.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas board has sued a man involved in an autopsy of Michael Brown after the black teenager was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

The Kansas State Board of Healing Arts alleges that pathology assistant Shawn Parcells performed autopsies without the proper oversight. Court documents also allege he made medical diagnoses and represented himself as a medical examiner and pathologist.

In a response, Parcells denied representing himself as a physician and said the board doesn’t have oversight because he’s not a health care provider.

Parcells was barred last month from working in Kansas because of a civil lawsuit filed by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office. He’s accused of violating the state’s False Claims Act and the Consumer Protection Act.

TOPEKA — The director of the Topeka Zoo says a the prognosis for the recovery of a zookeeper who was attacked by a Sumatran tiger is good.

The zookeeper was attacked Saturday while in the outdoor tiger habitat of Sanjiv, a 7-year-old male tiger.

Zoo director Brendan Wiley said the zookeeper was talking Saturday night.  She was moved out of the intensive care unit, according to a statement from city of Topeka spokesperson Molly Hadfield early Monday.

The woman has worked at the zoo since 2002 and has several years of experience with tigers.

Wiley said the zoo is conducting an investigation and will determine what protocol changes might be needed after talking to the injured employee.

The zoo has no plans to euthanize Sanjiv, who was back on display Sunday.

PHOENIX (AP) — Immigration authorities on Friday said that anyone with any involvement with marijuana, regardless of whether it’s legal in the state where they live, can be denied citizenship because the drug is still illegal under federal law.

The announcement comes weeks after officials in Colorado, where recreational marijuana is legal, began warning residents that working for a dispensary or manufacturing operation could jeopardize their citizenship bids — even if those jobs are state-sanctioned.

The updated guidance from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services states that people who use marijuana or are involved with it in any way fail to have “good moral character,” a prerequisite for people who have legal permanent residence to gain American citizenship.

About two-thirds of states allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes, and 10 allow recreational use. Washington, D.C., also allows recreational use.

“U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is required to adjudicate cases based on federal law,” spokeswoman Jessica Collins said in a statement. “Individuals who commit federal controlled substance violations face potential immigration consequences under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which applies to all foreign nationals regardless of the state or jurisdiction in which they reside.”

In Colorado, immigration attorneys say at least two green-card holders were denied citizenship because they worked or had worked in marijuana-related jobs. There are probably more, they say.

Immigrants who apply for citizenship must first fill out a 20-page form known as the “N-400.” It asks about prior work, family and criminal history, but it doesn’t specifically ask if a person has used or worked with marijuana.

Julia Gelatt, a senior policy analyst for the Migration Policy Institute, said it’s not likely that most people will disclose information about pot use. But she said the new policy could make some people nervous about applying.

“Whether or not it has a real impact is whether adjudicators decide to ask about it,” Gelatt said.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City artist has been selected to create statue of former President Harry Truman for display in the U.S. Capitol.

Sculptor Tom Corbin was chosen by Truman’s family and former and current board members of the Truman Library Institute to produce a statue of the country’s 33rd president.

Missouri lawmakers have been trying to honor Truman in Washington’s National Statuary Hall Collection for years. The state has displayed statues of Thomas Hart Benton and Francis Preston Blair since the end of the 19th century.

Both men were U.S. Senators, war-time soldiers and slavery opponents. But Missouri leaders thought it was time to have a representation of the president who ended World War II after authorizing the use of atomic bombs against Japan.

The state Senate approved a resolution in March to replace Benton’s statue with one of Truman.

Alex Burden, the institute’s executive director, said Corbin “spent a lot of time in our archives, measuring the president’s suits.”

The artist also examined hundreds of archival photographs and his proposal conveyed a strong attention to detail in Truman’s clothing, Burden said.

“President Truman was a very snappy dresser,” Burden said.

Corbin has public art installations and sculptures throughout Kansas City.

Corbin said it’s humbling to “be thinking where I was 30 years ago, getting to the point where I’m putting a piece in the Capitol Rotunda.”

The statue will be installed next year to mark the 75th anniversary of Truman’s presidency.

“I kind of look at this as something that not only will be kind of capping off my career, but it provides kind of a legacy for my family,” Corbin said. “In the future, my daughter can take her kids to see it. Plus, of course, the people of the country.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say officers responded to a brawl involving up to 300 teenagers at the Worlds of Fun amusement park in Kansas City, Missouri.

Kansas City police say several law enforcement agencies were called to the park Saturday night when an off-duty Clay County sheriff’s deputy reported several large fights involving mostly teenagers.

(2/2)The group of bad actors at WOF only represent a fraction of guests that were there to enjoy the attractions. It’s unfortunate that families & children had their evening disrupted by these events. We will continue to work with WOF to ensure the safety of their guests & staff.

— Clay County Sheriff (@SheriffClayCo) April 21, 2019

Kansas City police said Sunday that no injuries were reported and no one was arrested. But police said the Clay County Sheriff’s Office issued some citations to people at the scene.

Worlds of Fun officials said in a written statement that local and park authorities broke up the altercation and removed those involved from the park.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — New census data shows that while Missouri’s population rose slightly last year compared to 2017, more than 50 counties lost population.

Data released Thursday shows estimated county populations as of July 1, 2018, compared to the previous year. Missouri overall saw its population rise 0.3% to an estimated 6,126,452.

But the Census Bureau data shows that 52 of Missouri’s 114 counties and the city of St. Louis lost population. Southeast Missouri in particular saw significant declines.

Pemiscot County lost 3.2% of its population, the biggest decline in the state. Dunklin County had a 2.2% decline, and Carter and Mississippi counties both lost 1.8% of their populations. Six other counties in the region saw net losses.

Pemiscot County Presiding Commissioner Mark Cartee said there simply aren’t enough jobs to keep young people around once they get out of school, especially since farming has become so automated that fewer farm workers are needed.

“It’s been going on in Pemiscot County for years,” Cartee said of the decline. “At one time we were close to 30,000 people. Now we’re at 16,000.”

Turning around the decline is a tough task, Cartee said.

“We’re open for suggestions,” he said.

The state’s biggest gainer was Lincoln County, about 60 miles north of St. Louis. The county saw a 2.8% increase in population to 57,686.

Lincoln County Economic Development Director Larry Tucker said the growth is driven by people moving further out from the St. Louis area, drawn by larger lots, cheaper land and lower property taxes.

“Some people like to live in areas with fewer neighbors,” Tucker said.

The new data didn’t estimate populations for most cities but St. Louis was an exception because it is in essence its own county. The city’s population, on the decline for seven decades, fell another 5,028, or 1.6%, to 302,838. St. Louis had 856,796 residents in 1950.

St. Louis County’s population rose by fewer than 300 people to 996,945. Jefferson County saw a 0.3 percent increase to 224,347.

St. Charles County continued to grow, though not as fast as in the past. The county’s estimated population rose 1 percent to 399,182.

Jackson County saw a 0.4% rise to 700,307. Among other large counties, Greene County’s population rose 0.7 percent to 291,923, and Boone County’s population rose 0.8 percent to 180,005.

JACKSON COUNTY — Two people were injured in an accident just before 10:30p.m. Saturday in Jackson County.

A 2005 Chrysler Town and Country van was westbound on Kansas 16 just east of B Road approximately a mile from the Pottawatomie County line, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

The van rear-ended a farm tractor pulling an implement.  Life Star Ambulance flew the van driver who sustained life threatening injuries to Stormont Vail in Topeka, according to Morse. Jackson County EMS transported a front seat passenger to Stormont Vail. A third occupant in the van was not injured.

The names of the victims, both residents of Corning, Kansas, have not been released.

The accident remains under investigation, according to Morse.

Editor’s Note: Kansas will allow its state Farm Bureau to offer health care coverage that doesn’t satisfy the Affordable Care Act after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday declined to block a Republican-backed effort to circumvent former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.

By JIM MCLEAN
Kansas News Service

In a recent national survey, farmers said the biggest threat to their livelihoods wasn’t low commodity prices or global trade policies. It was the rising cost of health insurance.

It’s one of the reasons why state farm bureaus have jumped into the insurance game in Iowa, Tennessee and Nebraska, and are trying to in Kansas.

Members of the Kansas Farm Bureau spend an average of 30 to 40 percent of their annual incomes on health coverage, according to KFB President and CEO Terry Holdren.

“Those are significant costs and they’re larger for most folks than their average mortgage payment,” Holdren told a Kansas legislative committee earlier this year.

Premiums for Tim Franklin, a farmer from Goodland in northwest Kansas, nearly doubled between 2015 and 2018 — and they’re still going up.

“In 2019, we’ll be paying just under $24,000 just in premiums for our family of five,” Franklin said at a hearing in Topeka for which he made the nearly five-hour drive. “Please give us some options.”

The Kansas Farm Bureau is behind a bill that would allow it to market non-insurance “health benefit plans.” According to Holdren, these would be up to 30 percent cheaper than what’s available through the federal health insurance marketplace, mainly, he said, because they would be exempt from state and federal regulations.

“This legislation … would give us the ability to say ‘no’ to folks if they don’t meet our underwriting standards,” Holdren told lawmakers.

In other words, KFB could screen applicants and reject those with expensive health care needs, such as pregnant women or people who need substance abuse treatment or prescription drugs — things that regulated insurance companies can no longer do.

The plans are similar to those offered since the 1990s by the Tennessee Farm Bureau and to coverage that the Iowa Farm Bureau recently began marketing to its members.

The Nebraska Farm Bureau’s health coverage is a bit different. For starters, it is limited to people who work in agriculture, whereas the KFB plans are available to all members as long as they pay the annual member fee.

But importantly, Nebraska also partnered with Minnesota-based Medica in order not to exclude people with pre-existing conditions. That difference, Medica Vice President Jay McLaren told Kansas lawmakers in a letter, guarantees coverage for all Nebraska farmers and ranchers who are “desperate for more affordable solutions.”

It’s that lack of a pre-existing conditions guarantee that has critics of the KFB plans concerned.

“We think the whole concept is unfair,” said Brad Smoot, the lead lobbyist for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, the state’s largest health insurer.

Allowing the farm bureau to play by a different set of rules would result in siphoning healthy individuals from the insurance pool, leaving companies like BCBS of Kansas with people who are sicker and more expensive to cover.

Segmenting the marketplace like that would force insurers that are subject to state and federal regulations to raise premiums, former Kansas insurance commissioner Sandy Praeger said.

“The only people who benefit from chipping away at Obamacare are younger, healthier people,” said Praeger, a Republican who believes policymakers should strengthen the federal health reform law, not undermine it.

That’s happened in Iowa, according to Dennis Maggart, executive vice president of the McInnes Group, a regional insurance firm based in Kansas City, Missouri. Average premiums for regulated plans have nearly doubled since the Iowa Farm Bureau began marketing coverage similar to what the Kansas Farm Bureau is planning, he said.

And market disruption isn’t Praeger’s only concern. She believes the lack of state regulation will allow KFB to change the scope of its coverage whenever it needs to rein in costs.

“Even if you saw the plan today, it could change tomorrow and nobody would have the regulatory oversight to stop it,” she said.

Supporters of the Kansas Farm Bureau legislation acknowledge that the coverage it would authorize would be less comprehensive. But, they say, something is better than nothing.

“(Farm families) are not asking us to pass this bill, they’re begging us,” said Republican state Rep. Don Hineman, a farmer and rancher from Dighton.

But it would provide farm bureau members — like Sarah Schmidt and her husband, Jim — affordable options they don’t currently have. Schmidt said they’re trying to hang on to their family farm near Junction City, and health care costs are holding them back.

“This has been one of our greatest struggles, not only financially but emotionally,” Schmidt said, fighting to maintain her composure. “We’ve come back to our fifth-generation family farm and we would like to continue there.”

The bill made it through both chambers of the Kansas Legislature with the help of more than a dozen KFB lobbyists, and is now in the hands of new Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

Still, opponents haven’t given up, claiming there are technical problems with the bill’s language in urging Kelly to veto it.

 Jim McLean is the senior correspondent for the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks.