SHERMAN COUNTY – A Kansas man died in an accident just before 10a.m. Friday in Sherman County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Chevy pickup driven by George O. Schmidt, 73, Goodland was south bound stopped near the intersection Kansas 27 and Sherman County Road 60 off the roadway waiting for a vehicle to pass so he could make a U-turn.
After the vehicle passed, the driver attempted a U-turn in front of a 2007 Peterbilt semi driven by Stephen R. Smith 41, Goodland.
The semi struck Chevy in the intersection
Schmidt was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Bateman Funeral Home.
Smith was not injured.
Schmidt was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
SALINE COUNTY –Law enforcement authorities in Saline County were working to identify a woman found unexpectedly in a home early Friday.
Just before 5a.m. Friday, a man who lives in the 4900 block of North 81 Highway woke up about to a noise in his home, according to Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan.
He thought it might have been his wife who works nights, so he got up and dressed. He confronted a woman in the hallway who stated she was going to stay in the home, because it belonged to her and her husband. Fellers and the woman began to argue after he told her she had to leave.
When deputies arrived, they found the woman hiding in the basement. She had also had a beer, hot dog, and chips after entering the home and was dressed in clothing that she had found in the home.
Sheriff Soldan says they don’t know how she gained entrance into the home or how she got there.
Corrections officers at the Saline County Jail were trying to determine her identity after the incident. The woman will face requested charges of burglary, and theft.
HUTCHINSON— The two sides in a civil case reached a settlement with each other Thursday morning just as the trial was about to go to the jury.
The plaintiff, Earl Stevens of Valley Falls, Kansas, was suing Butler County Community College, who did business as Grizzly Adventures, for $75,000 over injuries he suffered in an accident involving an attraction the college had at the 2013 Kansas State Fair.
On September 7, 2013 when Stevens and his family had been walking along the east end of Lake Talbot on the fairgrounds. The Zip-Line attraction crossed the sidewalk and one of the riders on that attraction struck Stevens.
Stevens and his attorneys claimed in the lawsuit filing that the operators of the Zip-Line were negligent for operating the ride when pedestrians were walking on the sidewalk. They also claim that they should have warned pedestrians and barricaded the area to prevent pedestrians from using the sidewalk while the Zip-Line was being operated. They also argued the design and construction of the ride exposed people on the ground to risk of injury.
Stevens was thrown into the cement stairs and limestone blocks. He was knocked unconscious and was taken by Reno County EMS to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. Once there, it was determined that he suffered various fractures. He apparently suffers some joint pain to this day. He also cannot control drool out of the corner of his mouth, experiences numb teeth and the inability to sense hot and cold in his mouth.
The trial was near an end with District Judge Trish Rose getting ready to read jury instructions when the two sides announced they had reached a settlement. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.
Monday is the deadline for insurers to file Affordable Care Act “plan designs” with the Kansas Insurance Department. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas says it plans to continue to participate in the state’s ACA marketplace. FILE PHOTO / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
With a Monday deadline approaching, it isn’t clear whether all of the health insurance companies now participating in the Affordable Care Act marketplace in Kansas will continue in 2018.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, the state’s largest health insurer, has made a preliminary decision to continue and has filed initial paperwork with the Kansas Insurance Department, said Mary Beth Chambers, a company spokeswoman.
“We have the intention of continuing both on and off the exchange in 2018 for both individual and small group plans, but at this time we have not yet filed rates,” Chambers said. “We will ultimately make our final decision in August or September.”
The company’s final decision may depend on whether the U.S. Senate rewrites the ACA replacement bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. Specifically, BCBS Kansas is concerned about the House bill’s elimination of cost-sharing subsidies that help policyholders earning less than $30,000 a year cover out-of-pocket costs such as deductibles and copayments.
“We know that the federal government has assured insurers and consumers that the (premium assistance) tax credits will be available for those that want to purchase insurance in 2018, but we really need clarity with regard to the cost-sharing reductions,” Chambers said, adding that a “large number of Kansans” depend on them.
BCBS of Kansas operates in every county except Wyandotte and Johnson, which are covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City.
Kelly Cannon, a spokeswoman for Blue KC, which also covers 30 counties in western Missouri, said the company has not decided whether to continue offering plans on the ACA marketplace.
“Like many insurers across the country, we have concerns about the sustainability of the individual market under the Affordable Care Act in its current form,” Cannon said in a prepared statement. “We have been working with legislators to address our concerns and find solutions to help stabilize the market.”
The only other company now offering plans on the Kansas marketplace, Minnesota-based Medica, also is considering its options, said spokesman Gary Bury.
“We haven’t made any decision about Kansas at this point,” Bury said.
However, concerns similar to those expressed by BCBS Kansas and Blue KC are prompting Medica officials to consider withdrawing from the individual marketplace in Iowa.
“Our ability to stay in the Iowa insurance market in any capacity is in question at this point,” said Geoff Bartsh, a Medica vice president, in a statement released May 3 to Iowa media.
To date, slightly more than 100,000 Kansans have purchased ACA coverage. Open enrollment for 2018 will begin Nov. 1 and continue through Jan. 31, 2018.
Monday is the deadline for insurers to file ACA “plan designs” with the Kansas Insurance Department. They have until mid-July to file proposed rates.
Clark Shultz, deputy insurance commissioner, said while the department will work to hold premiums down, it must allow companies to cover their costs.
“There is no doubt there will be premium increases,” Shultz said. “The question is what can we do to keep them as low as possible?”
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. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Fiat Chrysler is recalling approximately 1 million trucks in North America due to a software glitch that could prevent side air bags and seatbelts from deploying during a rollover.
The company’s U.S. division said Friday that it is aware of one death, two injuries and two accidents that may be related to the problem.
The recall includes some 2013-16 Ram 1500 and 2500 pickups and 2014-2016 Ram 3500 pickups.
According to the company, after some trucks experience significant underbody impact, a computer module may incorrectly determine that one of its sensors has failed, temporarily disabling the side air bag and seat belt pretensioner. If the vehicle is turned off and then back on, those restraints become functional again.
The company plans to reprogram the software in effected vehicles.
BURLINGTON, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has been sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison in the shooting death of his mother.
KVOE-AM reports that 30-year-old Daniel Harris was sentenced Thursday in Coffey County District Court for involuntary manslaughter in the death of 61-year-old Niki Harris.
Court documents say Daniel Harris’ mother came to his Burlington home on Feb. 1 after he argued with his wife over alcohol use.
Two guns were present, and Niki Harris picked up one of them. Her intoxicated son then retrieved the second gun, threatened to hurt himself and turned the handgun on his mother. When she advanced toward him, he fired once, hitting her in the abdomen. The bullet also narrowly missed Harris’ wife and baby. Niki Harris died several days later.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 28-year-old man is jailed on $1 million bond after being charged in connection with the shooting deaths of three people in Kansas City, Kansas.
Tucker is also charged with attempted capital murder for allegedly wounding a man.
Police have said that survivor was struck in the head and shot in the back late Tuesday at a home, where officers later found the bodies of 47-year-olds Bernadette Gosserand and Vincent Rocha, and 26-year-old Jeremy Rocha.
Police say three children who were at the home during the shootings were unharmed.
It was not immediately clear Thursday if Tucker has an attorney. He has no listed home telephone number.
RENO COUNTY — A jury found Kansas man guilty of attempted second-degree murder and aggravated battery Thursday.
In August of 2016, Venancio Vigil Jr., 40 stabbed Francisco Gracia Jr, several times during an altercation at a home in the 300 Block of Logan in Hutchinson.
The victim spent five days in ICU at a Wichita hospital after the attack.
Gracia said the stabbing occurred because he went to police with information about Vigil’s involvement with a gang known as the Texas Syndicate.
The defense couldn’t get past the defendant’s testimony that Vigil was the one who stabbed him and the fact that the victim’s blood was on Vigil’s shoe.
The jury spent about five hours deliberating before reaching a verdict.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 15. He could be sentenced to 20 years because of his past criminal history, according to District Attorney Keith Schroeder. Vigil has a previous conviction for aggravated indecent liberties with a victim under the age of 16.
SEWARD COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in southwest Kansas are investigating two suspects on drug charges.
On Wednesday evening, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Investigations and the KBI developed information which led them to believe a suspicious aircraft would be landing at the Liberal Mid-America Regional Airport, according to a media release.
The Seward County Sheriff’s Office was requested to conduct a ramp check, a review of the documentation and identification of the pilot and aircraft.
Just before 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, the aircraft landed and was detained by authorities. After contact was made with the plane’s occupants, over 65 kilograms (or 144 pounds) of cocaine were discovered. The cocaine is estimated to have a street value of approximately $2 million.
The KBI and the Seward County Sheriff’s Office seized the Beechcraft Queen Air and the approximately 65 kilograms (or 144 pounds) of cocaine found. The pilot and passenger of the aircraft were arrested soon after. Arrested were a 51-year-old black male and a 26-year-old Hispanic male.
WICHITA,– A Kansas man was sentenced Thursday to 293 months in federal prison for human trafficking, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.
Daederick Lacy, 26, Wichita, was found guilty in a jury trial in February on one count of sex trafficking of a minor, one count of sex trafficking of an adult by force, fraud or coercion and one count of interstate transportation of a minor in furtherance of prostitution.
During trial prosecutors, presented evidence that three female victims – two minors and an adult – were trafficked for sex by Lacy. Lacy advertised victims on an adult Web site, rented rooms at motels for sex, transported victims to meetings with men who paid for sex, and drove a minor victim from Kansas to Texas to serve as a prostitute.
