WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is taking steps to roll back an Obama administration policy that protected more than half the nation’s streams from pollution.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday outlined a process for rescinding a 2015 regulation that defines which waterways are covered under the Clean Water Act.
On his social media page, First District Representative Roger Marshall wrote, “I commend and thank the Trump Administration for their decisive and effective actions to repeal the misguided Waters of the United States rule.
As Kansas farmers, ranchers, businesses and even municipalities know all to well, WOTUS dramatically expanded the reach of the federal government with minimal improvements in water quality.
Today’s announcement serves as a tremendous relief to Kansans and provides the regulatory certainty we need to grow. This is yet another exciting step in fulfilling this Administration and Congress’ promise to return government to its proper role.”
President Donald Trump issued an executive order in February ordering EPA to review the rule, which farmers, fossil fuel companies and property-rights groups have criticized as too strict. Environmentalists counter that the rule is essential to protecting water for human consumption and wildlife.
The agencies say they’ll move immediately to withdraw the existing measure as an interim step, then undergo a broader review of how far the federal government’s jurisdiction over the nation’s waters should reach.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A federal prosecutor in Kansas who said in court last year that she never listened to attorney-client phone calls at the Leavenworth Detention Center has left the U.S. Attorney’s Office after admitting to her supervisor that she did listen to the calls.
The Kansas City Star reports court documents filed June 19 show that Erin Tomasic told her supervisor she listened to the recorded phone conversations of two inmates and their attorneys. The prosecutors notified a judge in May that Tomasic was no longer working for the U.S. Attorney.
Days after Tomasic left her job, U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson expanded an investigation into the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas City, Kansas. The judge cited ongoing problems with the prosecutors’ “inconsistent” statements and the destruction of “critical evidence.”
WASHINGTON – Republican leaders Tuesday abruptly delayed the vote on their health care bill until after the July 4th recess.
The GOP faced five defections from its ranks just hours after the Congressional Budget Office said the bill would force 22 million off insurance rolls.
I am pleased with the decision to delay the vote – now is the time to take a step back and put the full legislative process to work.
Kansas Senator Jerry Moran said, “The Senate healthcare bill missed the mark for Kansans and therefore did not have my support. I am pleased with the decision to delay the vote.
Now is the time to take a step back and take the full legislative process to work. I remain committed to continuing conversations with patients and providers in Kansas to find a path forward that truly replaces Obamacare with a plan that makes certain Kansans will have access to more affordable and better quality healthcare.”
Blevins has a dealership in Wichita and this one in Clearwater, Kansas
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas car dealer has been arrested and fined for failing to pay a judgment for selling customers cars they couldn’t legally drive.
A judge ordered Justin Blevins on Friday to pay an extra $1,000 for failing to pay more than $860 in fines and court costs stemming from consumer complaints filed in December.
Avery Elofsson is chief of the Sedgwick County district attorney’s consumer protection division. He says Blevins’ dealership sold cars to more than 20 customers but didn’t give them the titles for the vehicles within 60 days, as state law requires.
Blevins was fined over the titles issues but failed to pay the money and missed a court appearance. He says he overlooked his mail and didn’t see the court summons.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Commerce Secretary Antonio Soave is resigning to pursue private business opportunities.
Gov. Sam Brownback’s office said Tuesday was Soave’s last day as top administrator for the state’s economic development programs.
Soave has served as commerce secretary since December 2015 and was the CEO of an international business consulting firm before joining the administration.
Brownback said former Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan will serve as interim commerce secretary. Jordan has been the head of the Governor’s Economic Advisory Council since December 2016.
Soave’s resignation would be the administration’s second high-profile departure this week.
Deputy Chief of Staff Kim Borchers plans to step down Friday for a job with the conservative-leaning nonprofit Foundation for Government Accountability. Borchers started as Brownback’s appointments director in 2011 and has been a key adviser.
In March, Brownback wouldn’t comment when asked about reports that he would be named the U.S. ambassador for three food and agriculture organizations in Rome.
SALINE COUNTY – Fire officials say a gas-powered generator ignited a fire that destroyed a house in New Cambria, seven miles east of Salina Monday night.
The fire killed three dogs and caused about $180,000 in damage to the residence at 100 East First Street, according to Saline County Undersheriff Brent Melander.
Monday’s storm brought high winds that knocked out power to the home. The residents hooked up a gas-powered generator and brought it inside the home.
The three residents went to sleep with the generator running in the northwest side of the first floor.
Photo courtesy of the Saline County Sheriff’s Office
Just before midnight, the first-floor smoke alarms woke the residents.
Kathene Hedges, 54, went downstairs to find a small fire near the generator’s exhaust. The fire grew as first responders arrived.
She and two others including a 71-year-old woman were able to safely evacuate the home, according to Melander.
EMS treated 54-year-old Jerry Hedges for smoke inhalation at the scene.
HOLTON, Kan. (AP) — A jury has been seated in the second trial of a man facing a string of sexual assault charges that have divided the small Kansas town of Holton.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that 13 of the 23 people excused Monday from serving on 22-year-old Jacob Ewing’s jury said they couldn’t be impartial. They cited friendships and business ties to Ewing and his prominent family.
One prospective juror said her daughter had dated Ewing. As the courtroom emptied for lunch, another prospective juror exchanged a hug with the defendant’s mother.
The latest trial involves allegations from two of the five women he is charged with sexually assaulting. Additional trials are scheduled in August and October. During Ewing’s first trial in April, he was acquitted of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.
Kansas lawmakers met briefly Monday for the ceremonial end of the legislative session. They considered overriding some vetoes issued by Gov. Sam Brownback but ultimately took no action.
Republican Senate President Susan Wagle ended that chamber’s meeting quickly because she said some lawmakers were gone and overrides simply weren’t going to be possible.
House members gathered Monday for the final day of the session. CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
“We already knew that any of the overrides would not have passed in the Senate,” she said. “I decided with the Republican leadership and the Democrat leadership that we would just gavel out.”
Brownback on Sunday struck down a budget item blocking changes to Medicaid services for people with disabilities but said his administration won’t revamp the program without lawmaker approval. That took some wind out of the override efforts, said Democratic Sen. Laura Kelly.
“The need for an override didn’t seem that extreme because there were some pledges in that veto message,” she said. “We just have to take the governor at his word.”
The 2017 legislative session came in at 114 days, which tied the 2015 session for the longest in state history.
After lawmakers ended the session, Brownback criticized their decisions. To tackle a budget deficit, lawmakers raised taxes by rolling back many of the 2012 tax cuts.
“This legislative session made history, but for all the wrong reasons,” Brownback said in a statement. “This session marks a drastic departure from fiscal restraint. I trust that future legislatures will return to a pro-growth orientation.”
This #ksleg session made history for the wrong reasons:
-Largest tax hike in KS history
-Biggest budget in KS history
-Every dime spent
The governor called spending levels in the state budget “excessive” when he signed it into law, but he didn’t use his line-item veto power to make spending reductions.
Lawmakers have struggled with the state budget since the 2012 tax cuts, which slashed income tax rates and eliminated income taxes for thousands of business owners.
Republican House Majority Leader Don Hineman said those tax changes simply went too far.
“We’ve now adjusted and corrected that overreach. That gives us an opportunity to go forward knowing that we have a more stable funding source,” he said Monday.
But some budget uncertainty remains as lawmakers wait for a ruling from the Kansas Supreme Court on the state’s school spending formula. Justices previously said Kansas wasn’t adequately funding schools. In response, lawmakers approved a new formula that will add almost $300 million in aid over two years.
Next month, justices will hear arguments on whether the new funding system passes constitutional muster.
Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for KPR, a partner in the Kansas News Service.
EUDORA, Kan. (AP) — A 36-year-old man has been charged with fatally shooting a security guard outside a northeast Kansas bar after a fight.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Danny Queen, of Eudora, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 32-year-old Bo Matthew Hopson and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Queen appeared via video feed from the jail, and his bond was set at $1 million.
Eudora Police Chief Bill Edwards said the shooting happened early Saturday at the D-Dubs Bar after another bar employee asked Queen to leave. Queen’s birthday had been Friday. Edwards said Queen then got into a fight with someone outside the bar and shot Hopson when he went to check on the situation.
Queen was restrained after his gun jammed. Hopson died Sunday during surgery. Friends established a memorial fund to assist his family.
