KANSAS CITY – A Kansas City man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to tax evasion, according to Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney.

Steven Matthews, 48, was charged in a five-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. That indictment was unsealed and made public upon Matthews’s arrest this morning and initial court appearance this afternoon.

The federal indictment charges Matthews with one count of tax evasion, one count of corruptly impeding the due administration of the internal revenue laws and three counts of failure to file tax returns.

From May 2011 to May 2015, the indictment says, Matthews attempted to evade payment of the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty assessed against him personally for withholding that wasn’t paid for the quarters ending December 2002 through June 2003 for the trust fund taxes of Winntech Digital Systems (where he served as the Chief Financial Officer). Matthews allegedly also attempted to evade payment of income tax owed by him for 2008.

According to the indictment, Matthews used corporate funds to pay his personal expenses, created a false deed of trust for a condominium he owned, placed money into an attorney trust account that was then used to pay his personal expenses, established a corporation (SLM Consultants, LLC) using his mother’s Social Security number and listing his mother as the sole member, and dealt in cash from 2011 through 2015, all in an effort to evade payment of taxes and to impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws.

The indictment also alleges that Matthews failed to file federal income tax returns on income earned during 2012, 2014 and 2015.

Larson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

By JIM MCLEAN

Supporters of expanding Medicaid eligibility in Kansas are preparing to mount an intense lobbying campaign over the weekend to get the votes they need to override Gov. Sam Brownback’s veto of an expansion bill.

The governor vetoed the bill on Thursday, citing concerns about the cost of expanding KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program, to cover an estimated 180,000 additional low-income Kansans. He also objected to extending coverage to “able-bodied” adults as long as thousands of Kansans with disabilities remained on waiting lists for support services.

“Any attempt to expand this entitlement program should include a plan to eliminate the inherited waiting list for services to our disabled community … and have a neutral impact on the state budget,” Brownback said in his veto message. “This bill does not meet those requirements.”

 

I vetoed Medicaid expansion. It does not prioritize the vulnerable. It does not #DefundPP. It isn't responsible. It's bad for Kansas. #ksleg pic.twitter.com/ydoooJK4fV

— Sam Brownback (@govsambrownback) March 30, 2017

 

 

Reacting to the message, House Minority Leader Jim Ward, a Wichita Democrat, said the governor is unfairly pitting two groups of needy Kansans against one another.

“I’ve never heard a more dishonest statement than we just heard,” Ward said, fighting back his emotions during debate Thursday morning on the House floor after Brownback announced his veto. “The governor pits working poor against the disabled. He talks about cost without talking about benefits.”

Expansion supporters were able to delay a vote to override the governor’s veto by tabling the expansion bill Thursday. The vote is now expected to occur sometime next week.

That means groups belonging to the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, a pro-expansion coalition, will be active over the weekend, lobbying a handful of legislators to switch their votes.

“At the end of the day, this is about the governor,” said David Jordan, director of the coalition. “Are the legislators going to do the right thing and expand KanCare, or are they going to side with the governor and deny access to health care and deny their hospitals and other providers the payments they need to stay financially whole?”

The Sumner Regional Medical Center in Wellington is one of several Kansas hospitals struggling financially in part because of the state’s refusal to expand KanCare, which the Kansas Hospital Association estimates has cost providers nearly $1.8 billion in additional federal funding.

“We are one of, I think, 31 (Kansas) hospitals that were listed at risk for closure at the beginning of the year,” said Terry Deschaine, a member of the medical center’s board.

Recently, Deschaine said the hospital’s foundation and the city of Wellington helped administrators secure a $300,000 line of credit from a local bank so that they could cover operating expenses and meet the payroll.

“The financial challenges we’re facing are very significant,” Deschaine said, noting that expansion would generate an additional $750,000 a year in revenue for the medical center.

Deschaine is one of several community leaders planning to meet Friday in Wellington with Sen. Larry Alley, a first-term Republican from Winfield.  They hope to persuade Alley, who voted against the expansion bill, to change his mind and vote to override the governor’s veto.

“At least we’ll be able to meet with him face-to-face and tell him our story and how critical it is that he sees the light,” Deschaine said.

Alley is open to the discussion but said the hospital’s continuing struggles aren’t reason enough to change his position on expansion.

“They’ve been in trouble for some time,” Alley said of the hospital. “And I don’t believe that this, right now, is the time to expand Medicaid because of the financial problems the state is having.”

Alley, like Brownback, doesn’t believe estimates compiled by the Kansas Hospital Association that show revenue and savings generated by expansion would more than cover the state’s share of the cost, 90 percent of which would be shouldered by the federal government. But he said he’s willing to be persuaded.

“I’m still open, but they’re going to have to do a good job providing that data,” he said.

Alley is one of 17 legislators that expansion advocates are targeting in this weekend’s lobbying effort, Jordan said.

“We’re hopeful that some of those legislators will change their minds,” he said. “I think we’re close, we’re three votes away in the House and two votes in the Senate.”

The House passed the expansion bill 81-44 in late February. It would take 84 votes to override the governor’s veto. In the Senate, where the bill passed 25-14 earlier this week, supporters will need 27 votes to override the veto.

Jim McLean is managing director of the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of  kcur.org, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics in Kansas. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks. 

WEST BRANCH, Mich. (AP) — Nearly two dozen semi-trailers and other trucks are delivering grain, hay, fencing and other supplies from Michigan’s Ogemaw County to ranches in Kansas that suffered damage from wildfires.

The convoy left the West Branch area Friday morning and was expected to reach Ashland, Kansas, Saturday.

Organizer Jock Kartes said the supplies were donated by farmers and businesses.

Grass fires in early March charred more than 1,000 square miles in Oklahoma and Kansas, destroying miles of fencing on ranches and farms.

A convoy of trucks carrying hay from Illinois set out Thursday to Kansas. Country music star and Oklahoma native Toby Keith partnered with the Ashland Community Foundation in southern Kansas to record a public service video asking for donations.

VALLEY CENTER, Kan. (AP) — Sedgwick County authorities say a man and woman were shot in what might have been an attempted robbery at a house in near Valley Center.

Sheriff’s Capt. Mark Pierce says the shooting occurred about 9 a.m. Saturday. One victim was taken to a hospital in critical condition and the other is in serious condition.

Authorities are looking for at least two suspects.

Pierce said he didn’t know whether the man and woman were tenants or owners at the house.

NEW YORK (AP) — Ford is recalling 53,000 2017 F-250 trucks because they can roll away even when they are parked due to a manufacturing error.

Ford says drivers should use the parking break to make sure that parked cars don’t move.

Dealers will also replace the defective part for free, but Ford doesn’t have the replacement parts yet. It will notify owners when the parts are available.

The recalled trucks have 6.2-liter engines. They were built at a Kentucky plant from October 2015 through Thursday and sold in North America.

The company says it is not aware of accidents or injuries due to this defect.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State Fair board members are discussing a master plan that would eliminate the century-old racetrack.

None of the proposals are close to being approved.

The plan would replace the southern curves of the track with a new horse exhibition area and practice arena.

Fair Manager Susan Sankey acknowledges that removing the track will be unpopular with some people. But she says it’s a business decision designed to modernize the fair and generate revenue.

The master plan also includes a permanent stage for entertainment and a new dirt area for demolition derbies and tractor pulls.

The next step is for board members to choose priorities for the plan and set a timetable.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has pleaded guilty in the killing of his 7-year-old son whose remains were found near the family’s pigs.

The Kansas City Star reports that 46-year-old Michael Jones admitted Friday to one count of first-degree murder in the death of Adrian Jones. The boy’s remains were found in November 2015 after authorities responded to a domestic disturbance and learned that he was missing.

Former Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome Gorman declined to discuss reports that the child’s remains were fed to pigs, but said the boy’s remains were found near swine on the family’s Kansas City, Kansas, property.

Adrian’s stepmother, Heather Jones, was sentenced previously to life in prison in the killing. She said she felt helpless to protect the child or herself from her abusive husband.

MORTON COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 12:30 a.m. Saturday in Morton County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2017 Freightliner Semi driven by Derek J. Munn, 28, Kismet was westbound on Road D seven miles south of Rolla.

The truck hit a cow that entered the roadway from the south.

The driver made an evasive maneuver and lost control of the vehicle. It rolled twice into a wheat field.

Munn was transported to the Morton County Hospital. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

By SAM ZEFF

A Kansas legislative committee worked eight hours Thursday night and didn’t come up with a new school funding formula.

But we now know the goal for how much new money will be added to try and satisfy the state Supreme Court which has ruled school funding in Kansas is inadequate.

“Our target was a $150 million over a period of five years, to escalate up slowly to a more constitutionally appropriate number,” says Rep. Melissa Rooker, a Republican from Fairway and a driving force to find more money for public education.

By adding $150 million more each year for the next five years, lawmakers will gradually increase public school funding by $750 million. Most believe that final figure will pass constitutional muster.

Rep. Ed Trimmer from Winfield, the ranking Democrat on the K-12 Budget Committee, says that’s the minimum the Legislature has to find. “Otherwise we’ll be back here doing this same thing again after the court tells us that’s not enough money.”

There is concern by some on the committee that a five year ramp up may not be quick enough to satisfy the court. Lawyers for the plaintiff school districts that sued the state have said they would accept some phase in of new money.

“So as long as the court stays engaged and there is a commitment that gets fulfilled, we can figure out how to make it work,” says David Smith, chief of staff in the Kansas City, Kansas school district, which is one of the plaintiff districts in the Gannon school funding case.

The chairman of the committee, Rep. Larry Campbell from Olathe, said he’s aiming for the $150 million figure. But it appears some conservatives on the K-12 Budget Committee as well as some in the GOP House leadership may have a problem with that much more money.

Leadership delayed the hearing for two days in part to arm twist some Republican members into supporting putting only $75 million more into schools.

The hard ball apparently continued Thursday night as several amendments that added money into public education passed the committee on close votes. During an extended break, a number of people saw Republicans called into the office of House Speaker Ron Ryckman from Olathe. After the break, several moderate and Democratic amendments failed.

One of the swing votes on the committee was Rep. Adam Smith, a freshman from Weskan, which is right next to the Colorado border. He voted for several amendments backed by moderates and Democrats on the panel.

He says he wasn’t pressured by leadership. “Most of my interest lies with my district back home, and the people I talk to back home on the programs that are important to them that’s what I tried to support the most.”

The amendment that held up final action dealt with adding more state aid into student transportation. There wasn’t an immediate figure for what that would cost. It’s a pretty big item, so Campbell decided to wait until a dollar figure was available.

Campbell says the committee will finish its work Monday and then the bill will head to the Kansas House floor.

There are a couple of looming deadlines. First, the Legislature has its first adjournment next Friday. And if a new, constitutional funding formula isn’t on the books by June 30, the high court has said it will shut down public schools.

Sam Zeff  covers education for  KCUR.org and the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @SamZeff. 

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett has cleared a Wichita police officer of wrongdoing in the 2015 fatal shooting that began with a traffic stop.

The announcement Friday comes in the shooting of 26-year-old Nicholas Garner in Wichita.

KWCH-TV reports that after struggling with the officer for control of the vehicle, Garner drove in circles around Sam’s Club gas pumps. Garner hit the officer’s parked patrol car and another parked car while dragging the officer. He then tried to drive into the wrong way into traffic, hitting another car head-on.

The district attorney’s report says that’s when the officer gathered himself and shot three times, killing Garner.

A Crown Royal whiskey bag was found at the scene filled with methamphetamine.