SOUTH HUTCHINSON, Kan. — As part of the Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, the South Hutchinson Police Department reported that it took in 282 pounds of unused medication at its offices.
Another Drug Take Back Day will happen this fall, but no date has been announced.
The South Hutchinson Police Department was one of many departments across the state that participated in this event.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The State’s high court has ruled that the writings of a Hutchinson teen accused
of first-degree murder in the death of his mother and sister can go before doctors. That will determine if he is competent to stand trial.
Sam Vonachen faces two counts of first-degree murder for setting fire to the family home in September of 2013. The state argued a motion for forcing the defendant to hand over writings, or a journal, that the defendant has been doing since his arrest. Senior Assistant District Attorney Steve Maxwell argued that this was not for the state or their case, but rather for the doctors doing a mental evaluation to see if the defendant is competent to stand trial.
The defense called them privileged and asked that the state’s request be denied. On the suggestion of the state, Judge Trish Rose told the defense to provide the writings to her first and then said she’d rule whether they could be released to the doctors.
When she sided with the state, the defense filed an appeal in the case, which was denied.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Eaton Corp. says it is cutting 30 percent of its jobs at the Hutchinson plant, affecting 42 workers.
The company announced the job cuts this week to workers at the plant that makes gears and piston pump parts for agricultural and construction equipment. Kelly Jasko spokesperson for Eaton attributed the layoff to an anticipated second year of down markets, with no significant turnaround predicted for the future. The company says it is offering “voluntary separation” incentives involving a lump-sum payment. Workers interested in that option, have until tomorrow to accept.
Eaton nearly closed in 2006 when the company announced that it was shutting down the Hutchinson facility and three others, and sending the work to Mexico. The City, County, Chamber and Sate all chipped in and relieved Eaton of 700,000 sq feet of unusable space.
Nearly a year later, Hutchinson officials decided to market the extra space, rather than tear it down. Some of the $1.5 million pledged by the city and county were used to buy 286,000 square feet of space from Eaton. That area was transferred to Sunflower Wind, a wind turbine manufacturer, for about $300,000. Sunflower Wind still owns the space but it’s being used to store wheat. The rest of the unused facility was either idled or razed.
Eaton used the money to retool and train its workforce. The state also contributed $2 million that was repaid by Eaton through state withholding tax to its employees.
Still with the incentives, the Hutchinson plant lost 150 jobs and in 2009 employed just 123 workers and 42 salaried employees.
The largest workforce since then has been around 190 employees which was back in 2011. At the present the plant employs about 140 workers.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Police want to know if there is any connection between the robberies of two Dillons stores in Wichita and the robbery of the Dillons at 14th and Main on March 11.
Police say they will be in touch with Wichita detectives about the two crimes. The latest involved the Dillons store at 13415 W. Maple on Saturday. The Dillons at 3707 N. Woodlawn was robbed April 6. In all three cases a white male approached a cashier and demanded money, indicating he had a gun. While the man in the Hutchinson robbery fled on foot, the suspect in the two Wichita cases got away in a white four-door vehicle.
Police ask you to contact them at 620-694-2816 if you have any information regarding the Hutchinson robbery.
SALINE COUNTY – Two people were injured in an accident ust after 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday in Saline County.
Salina Police reported a Chevy Silverado driven by Patrick Driscoll, 32, Salina was southbound on North Ohio Street at Stimmel Road.
The pickup crossed the centerline and hit a 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe head-on.
Driscoll and the driver of the Hyundai Song Horton, 55, Salina, were transported to Salina Regional Medical Center.
Horton was then transported to a hospital in Wichita, according to police.
The crash closed a portion of North Ohio from Pacific Avenue to Interstate 70 was closed until just after 8 a.m.
The accident remains under investigation.
SALINA – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County have closed an investigation into a Sunday morning shooting death.
An investigation has determined the shooting was accidental, according to Salina Police Captain Chris Trocheck.
Just after 6:30 a.m., Bryant Sanchez, 28, was showing a .40 caliber handgun he had recently acquired other individuals in the driveway of a home in the 1900 block of Dover Drive in Salina.
The gun discharged and struck Sanchez in the head. He was transported to Salina Regional Health Center where he died.
No additional details were released.
By MEGAN HART
A statewide registry is in the works to make it easier for Medicaid patients to find qualified, reliable personal care workers.
That’s good news for Bill Stovall of Topeka and others like him who help direct care for their family members.
Stovall has a long list of complaints against personal care workers who have cared for his sister in recent years, including punctuality problems and a lack of training.
Stovall has directed care services under Medicaid for his sister Carol Miller, 58, for about 10 years. Miller has needed 24-hour care since she had a brain hemorrhage in August 2013, he said, and he has struggled to find people who are willing and able to provide the level of care she needs.
For example, some haven’t arrived on time to relieve the person caring for Miller on the previous shift, and one came with alcohol on her breath, Stovall said. Another care worker apparently didn’t know much about wheelchairs and called him to ask how fast his sister’s non-motorized chair could go, he said.
“I said, ‘It goes as fast as you want to push it,’” he said.
Several Kansas nonprofits are working on the central registry for personal care workers. The Arc of Douglas County, the Kansas Lifespan Respite Coalition and Rewarding Work, a nonprofit based in Massachusetts, hope the website will go live within a year, said Gina Ervay, chair of the Kansas Lifespan Respite Coalition.
Rewarding Work operates similar registries in seven states. People who are looking for work or Medicaid patients who need to hire a personal care worker can create profiles and search for matches.
The system will send regular reminders to workers on the registry to update their information, Ervay said. Those who do will appear at the top when Medicaid patients search for workers, she said, and those who don’t will be removed from the list after a year of inactivity.
A working relationship
According to the Kansas Department of Labor, about 18,190 people were employed in 2014 as personal care workers who care for the elderly and people with disabilities in Kansas.
Their median annual wages ranged from a high of $23,068 in Atchison County to a low of $17,711 in Labette County — meaning median hourly wages would range from about $8.50 to $11 if the person works full-time.
Mike Oxford, director of the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center, said the average hourly wage statewide for personal care services under Medicaid is $9.60, which makes it difficult to find people willing to do the work.
“We’re asking people to do some pretty icky things for about the same amount as delivering pizzas,” he said.
Groups like the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center have lists of people who report they are interested in providing home care services, but the groups don’t have the resources to regularly update them, Oxford said. The result is that a Medicaid patient may have to call quite a few numbers before finding someone who still is available and interested in doing the work, he said.
The statewide registry will better match workers and patients based on services offered, training the employee has or even whether they smoke or have similar interests, Oxford said.
“There’s a lot of social interaction between personal care attendants and people who direct their own care. It’s a relationship,” he said.
Assessed for services
Medicaid, which in Kansas is a privatized program known as KanCare, pays for home and community-based services through various waiver programs that serve people with specific types of disabilities. The three managed care organizations that administer KanCare spent a combined $188 million on home and community-based services in 2013, but their reports don’t specify how much of that spending goes toward personal care services.
For Kansans with disabilities who might need personal care services, the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services first assesses their needs, then the Kansas Department of Health and Environment determines if they meet income qualifications, KDADS spokeswoman Angela de Rocha said.
The MCO then assigns a caseworker to work on a plan spelling out what services the patient is eligible for and how many hours a month he or she will receive, she said.
The patient can choose to have a local home health agency make the arrangements or can self-direct care, de Rocha said. When a patient self-directs, the person receiving the services or his or her representative decides whom to hire and is responsible for making sure the worker performs the right tasks within the authorized hours, she said. A financial management services provider handles background checks and tax withholding.
Ervay said the groups behind the registry anticipate about $55,000 in costs to build and market the website, plus $60,000 in annual maintenance costs. They hope that the MCOs will agree to contribute toward the maintenance costs in the future if they can show improved outcomes from quickly matching patients with workers, she said.
“We’re hoping that families are going to more readily find the workers they need to help them continue living in the community,” she said. “If they can’t find the people, that can be a barrier to them living independently.”
Megan Hart is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach her on Twitter @meganhartMC
RENO COUNTY – A man and woman from Hutchinson died in an accident just after 11a.m. on Thursday in Reno County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Buick Century driven by Dakota Tate Heim, 17, Hutchinson, was northbound on Kansas 14 between Yaggy and Wilson Road.
The vehicle traveled left of center and hit a 2002 Buick Century driven by Jimmie Ray Narron,
Narron and his wife Carolyn Sue Narron, 68, were pronounced dead at the scene and transported to the Sedgwick County Forensics Center.
Heim was transported to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center.
The drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
The accident remains under investigation.
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RENO COUNTY, Kan.– Two people were killed Thursday morning in an accident northwest of Hutchinson.
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol the accident happened just before 11 a.m. just n
orth of the interchange with Nickerson Blvd and K-14/ 96 highway..
The Kansas Highway Patrol said a vehicle traveling north on K-14/ 96 when it crossed the centerline and hit another car head on killing both occupants..
The driver of the first vehicle was taken to the Hutchinson hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
No names have been released at this time.
McPherson College will offer a new music series and a student scholarship, thanks to a generous $1 million commitment to the college’s “Power the Future” campaign in honor of MC alumna and piano teacher Fern Lingenfelter, according to a media release.
Her son, Steve Clark – chairman of Clark Investment Group in Wichita, Kan. – has generously established the fund at MC to support the new Fern Lingenfelter Artist Series. This cultural series will consist of two annual music performance events with a special emphasis on piano.
Dr. Steven Gustafson, coordinator of the college’s arts and lecture series, said that the Fern Lingenfelter Artist Series will be a significant enhancement to the college’s cultural offerings, both to the campus and surrounding communities.
“Not only will the series enrich opportunities to hear great performances,” Dr. Gustafson said, “but it is also a most fitting tribute on behalf of Mr. Clark to honor his mother, Fern Lingenfelter, and her significant work as a piano teacher and advocate for music education.”
The fund will not only support great musical performances and masterclasses for the campus and community, it will also foster future generations of musicians. After establishment of the performance series, the fund will create the Fern Lingenfelter Scholarship in Music – an annual merit-based scholarship for one or more full-time MC students majoring in music.
“McPherson College has seen a rebirth in our music programs the last few years,” McPherson College President Michael Schneider said. “This gift solidifies both Steve’s commitment to his mother’s legacy and our place as a leader in performing arts across the state of Kansas.”
Lingenfelter taught piano in McPherson for years – both traditional college students on the MC campus and younger students at a studio downtown. She developed her skills studying with Jessie Brown at McPherson College – where she earned a certificate in piano in 1924 – and with Swedish pianist Oscar Thorsén at Bethany College.
Lingenfelter earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 1925 and later a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1938 from McPherson College. After marrying Layman Clark and leaving McPherson in 1940, Fern and Layman had one son together – Steve Clark. Lingenfelter later married William D. Stoebuck of Wichita.
History speaks to Lingenfelter’s dedication to teaching music and public piano performance; she was described in a 1939 “Quadrangle” McPherson College yearbook as “busy filling the air with music.”
Her schedule must have been packed. Her public performances are frequently mentioned in the 1920s through the 1940s in the “McPherson Daily Republican,” she played organ during services at the original First Baptist Church in McPherson until 1940, and the “Quadrangle” spoke of her “frequent recitals in the college chapel.”
Throughout her career, those she encountered remarked upon her patience, ability, and joy. She was credited with the large enrollment in the Junior Piano Department. Her students from elementary age through college won contests and learned with “unusual rapidity.”
But her kind, understated personality was likely her most remarkable characteristic. The 1932 “Quadrangle” remarked that, “Although very quiet, she has a ready smile and willingly gives of her talent.”
That commitment to community, strong work ethic, and a kind disposition has apparently been passed from mother to son. Steve Clark has been a central figure in the Wichita real-estate market for more than 45 years and has properties in many states. His long history of supporting the local and regional community includes work with the Greater Wichita YMCA, Wichita State University and the Kansas Board of Regents. He was honored in 2015 by the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce as Wichita’s “Uncommon Citizen” and in 2013 was inducted into the Wichita Business Hall of Fame.
Although his mother passed away in 1962, Steve said he has seen a long and lasting influence from her lifetime of work. Establishing the fund is his way to say, “Thank you,” and to support the music and the instrument she loved so much.
“Music and piano were her passion, and even years later people in McPherson would tell me, ‘Your mother was my piano teacher,’” Clark said. “One of my biggest regrets is not fulfilling her desire for me to play the piano. She always spoke fondly of McPherson College. I know she would be pleased to know what the college is now doing in her remembrance.”
MANHATTAN — Kansas State University’s College of Architecture, Planning & Design, or APDesign, has announced an $8 million gift — the largest gift in the college’s history, according to a media release.
According to APDesign Dean Tim de Noble, the alumnus and spouse, longtime Kansans, were positively impacted by their higher education and desire to help others achieve. The funds, to arrive through their estate in the future, will be invested with an expected distribution of about $400,000 annually.
A majority of annual distributions will support full-ride scholarships for Kansas students with financial need and a minimum 3.5 grade point average in at least their third year of study in the College of Architecture, Planning & Design. The donors, who asked to remain anonymous, also designated a portion of the distributions to support the dean’s excellence fund, which provides flexibility to the college’s leader to address emerging opportunities and priorities.
“Our drive toward academic excellence is fueled by alumni and friends,” de Noble said. “Our margin of excellence in scholarship, teaching, and facilities will be dramatically advanced by such a transformational gift. We are truly grateful for this investment in the college and the impact it will have now and in the future.”
The gift is a part of Kansas State University’s $1 billion Innovation and Inspiration Campaign, which includes a $28 million goal for the College of Architecture, Planning & Design. Philanthropic priorities for the college include excellence funding, student success, faculty development and $13.5 million in private support for the Seaton Complex revitalization and expansion, currently underway. To date, the college has secured private commitments of over $8 million in funding for the project, which will renovate 80,000 square feet and add 114,000 square feet of adjoining new construction.
Philanthropic contributions to Kansas State University are coordinated by theKansas State University Foundation. The KSU Foundation was established in 1944 as the official fundraising arm of Kansas State University. It is a separate, independent entity chartered by the state of Kansas as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit education corporation. The foundation is leading the $1 billion Innovation and Inspiration Campaign, which has recorded gifts of more than $850 million thus far to advance Kansas State University.
