Yea I read it to, funny. But I was just joking about the Bill's.

__________________
Yea can't keep the words of your great leader.

Prophet Muhammad - “Do you love your creator? Love your fellow-beings first.”

Why not you keep coming yet offer no data from your area. . For the reader comments go to the site.I guess Topeka is the only city in America with a newspaper.

Medicare reduced by 10.6 percent: CJOnline / The Topeka Capital-Journal - Medicare reduced by 10.6 percent

Most Kansas lawmakers speak out against decision
By Barbara Hollingsworth
The Capital-Journal
Published Saturday, June 28, 2008
Medical care options may be reduced after lawmakers packed up and left Washington, D.C., this week without stopping a 10.6 percent decrease in Medicare reimbursements made to physicians.

Primary care physicians with the Cotton-O'Neil Clinic will stop accepting new Medicare patients on Tuesday as a result of the cuts that go into effect that day.

"We urge citizens to communicate with your elected officials and ask for their support to repeal cuts to their Medicare benefits," said Kent Palmberg, chief medical officer for Stormont-Vail HealthCare, of which Cotton-O'Neil is a division.

Legislation was needed to block cuts that otherwise occur automatically under a formula. Congress has blocked similar cuts in the past.

Jerry Slaughter, executive director of the Kansas Medical Society, said he was hopeful lawmakers could make a fix when they resume meeting July 7, following a break for the Fourth of July. Even with hopes of a change, he said the inaction this week created problems.

"At this point it will be disruptive," Slaughter said. "There's just no way to avoid that."

Nearly every member of the Kansas Congressional delegation lined up behind the Medicare legislation this week. It breezed through the House on a 355-59 vote, with the support of all four members from Kansas.

But in the Senate, the legislation fell just short of mustering the 60 votes needed to pass the measure under expedited rules. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, fell out of line with other members of the state's delegation, voting against shutting down debate so senators could vote on the measure. Phone calls and an e-mail sent to Brownback's office on Friday weren't returned.

President Bush has threatened to veto the legislation, which would cut spending on private Medicare Advantage plans — plans that studies have found to cost more than the traditional Medicare program.

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, supported the legislation.

"I urge my colleagues to put politics aside to pass this bill for seniors and our health care providers," Roberts said in a statement released by his office. "I hope the Congress and the administration can work together to adopt these reforms as soon as possible."

Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kansas, said she was shocked when she received word that the Medicare cuts weren't stopped.

"I think this is where I'm hoping there is nothing short of outrage on this," Boyda said. "Public policy follows public opinion."

In addition to eliminating the planned reduction, Boyda said the legislation would have addressed problems that are driving small pharmacies out of business and leaving some rural counties with no pharmacies. The legislation would have continued to make bonus payments to physicians working in rural areas, kept caps off of physical therapy and increased Medicare payments to doctors by 1.1 percent in January.

Boyda said she worries about seniors losing out on medical care options.

"They don't need one more thing to worry about," she said.

In the meantime, Cotton-O'Neil physicians will stop accepting new Medicare patients. Any of the 42,000 current Medicare recipients who already have a Cotton-O'Neil primary care physician and current patients who become Medicare eligible will continue to be served. Unaffected are patients seeing Cotton-O'Neil specialists, such as cardiologists.

"As costs increase and reimbursement decreases, the provision of care to an increasing Medicare population becomes more difficult," said Nancy Burkhardt spokesperson for Stormont-Vail HealthCare.

Fred Lucky, senior vice president of the Kansas Hospital Association, said he believes the 10.6 percent cut won't stand. He said he had received assurances from the offices of both Roberts and Brownback.

"While we were disappointed last night the Senate didn't act on it we are confident the Senate will act on it," he said.

__________________
Yea can't keep the words of your great leader.

Prophet Muhammad - “Do you love your creator? Love your fellow-beings first.”

After 31 years this clown is not running again. This should pi** off any normal human being. For the reader comments go to the site.

Judge strays from guidelines: CJOnline / The Topeka Capital-Journal - Judge strays from guidelines

Dowd gives three years probation to convicted sex offender
By Mike Hall
The Capital-Journal
Published Saturday, June 28, 2008
Shawnee County District Court Judge Matthew Dowd, widely criticized in 2007 for granting probation to three men convicted of sex with children, did it again Friday.

Shawnee County District Attorney Robert Hecht said Friday he would appeal both that sentence and a downward sentencing by Dowd in a similar case earlier in the week.



Matthew Dowd
Ironically, a new state law going into effect July 1 might have prevented Dowd from granting the probation in Friday's sentencing.

Dowd couldn't be reached Friday afternoon to elaborate on this week's sentencing decisions.

Harold Dean Spencer, 75, entered guilty pleas to two counts of sex with children. Hecht said one of the victims was 6 years old and one 7.

Hecht said that Kansas statutes, patterned after the national "Jessica's Law," call for a life sentence on each count.

But Dowd suspended the prison time and imposed a 36-month supervised parole period. Dowd listed a number of factors in his decision — Spencer's age, the lack of a prior criminal record and the availability of family support.

"I have never seen, nor am I aware of any case, anywhere, where the proscribed sentences are two life sentences and the court grants three years of low level probation," Hecht said.

On Tuesday, Dowd departed downward from sentencing guidelines in a case against Christopher Henderson-Brown, a 32-year-old man convicted of the rape of a 5-year-old child. In that case Dowd lowered the sentence to 155 months from a recommended 166 to 186 months.

"The attack was so violent and so egregious that multiple doctors and surgery were required to reconstruct and repair the physical damage done to this 5-year-old," Hecht wrote in a statement released Friday.

The reason for the appeal, he said, was that Dowd cited as a reason for the departure that he wanted Henderson-Brown to "see light at the end of the tunnel."

"It is this office's opinion that such reason is not a legal justification for a departure in such a crime," Hecht wrote.

Ashley Anstaett, spokeswoman for the Kansas attorney general's office, said late Friday it appears to some of the AG's legal staff that a new state law going into effect July 1 might have prevented Dowd from giving probation in the Spencer case. But she said that, with little time to research the question and with little information about the details of the two cases, the AG's attorney's couldn't make a definitive statement.

Joe Patton, a Republican member of the Kansas House of Representatives from Topeka, was a sponsor of the new law. He introduced it after learning of Dowd's 2007 departures. On Friday he said he believes his new law will prevent judges in the future from such drastic downward departures from the guidelines.

When told the details of the Henderson-Brown case, he exclaimed, "That's outrageous. The community should be outraged."

His law would allow judges to depart downward from the guidelines in cases of violent sexual crimes, but by no more than half the recommended sentences.

Dowd has announced he will retire on Sept. 1 after 31 years as a district court judge. Had he wished to remain on the bench, his name would have been on the November election ballot for voters to decide whether he should be retained in the job.

In 2007, he was criticized for three cases in which he departed from state sentencing guidelines to allow probation rather than prison time for men convicted of sex crimes.

Mike Hall can be reached at (785) 295-1209 or mike.hall@cjonline.com.

__________________
Yea can't keep the words of your great leader.

Prophet Muhammad - “Do you love your creator? Love your fellow-beings first.”

Your city might have a group of these dedicated law enforcement officers.
Reader comments at the site.

Mission is simple: Track down fugitives: CJOnline / The Topeka Capital-Journal - Mission is simple: Track down fugitives

'A good example of agencies working together'
By Ann Marie Bush
The Capital-Journal
Published Saturday, June 28, 2008
Tornado sirens blared and rain pelted hard against the windshield of John Lamb's Crown Victoria.

Although dangerous weather loomed, Lamb continued on his quest with the Kansas Apprehension Task Force to track down fugitives.



Anthony S. Bush / The Capital-Journal
Members of the Kansas Apprehension Task Force place Allen Mitchell, a parole absconder, under arrest after spotting him driving down east 4th Street. Nationwide, the initiative has led to the arrest of 37,000 fugitives.



Anthony S. Bush / The Capital-Journal
Members of the Kansas Apprehension Task Force listen for any activity during a search for a parole absconder recently in Topeka.

Click Thumbnails to View
District of Kansas

Total Warrants Cleared: 181

Wichita: 97

Topeka: 30

Kansas City: 54

Total firearms seized: 10

Wichita: 8

Topeka: 1

Kansas City: 1

Participating agencies: U.S. Marshals; Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives; Drug Enforcement Administration; Immigration and Custom Enforcement; Housing and Urban Development-Office of Inspector General; Kansas Department of Corrections, Enforcement: Sedgwick County Sheriff; Shawnee County Sheriff; Wyandotte County Sheriff; Johnson County Sheriff; Wichita Police Department; Topeka Police Department; Kansas City, Kan., Police Department; and Bel Aire Police Department.

Two notable arrests that occurred during Opearation FALCON were:

• Andray Cameron, a fugitive wanted by the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office for rape of a child under 14 years of age, aggravated criminal sodomy of a Child under 14 years of age and aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Deputy U.S. Marshals, Kansas Department of Corrections enforcement officers, Shawnee County Sheriff's deputies and Topeka Police Department officers were able to track down and arrest Cameron after a brief foot pursuit in Topeka.

• Kirby Davis, a fugitive wanted by the Kansas Department of Corrections for violation of parole. A team of Deputy U.S. Marshals, Kansas Department of Corrections enforcement officers, ATF agents and Sedgwick County Sheriff's deputies arrested Davis on June 20 in the Wichita area following a vehicle pursuit and physical altercation. A search warrant was conducted that produced two firearms and drug paraphernalia that Davis is prohibited from possessing. Federal charges are now pending for these new items.

SOURCE: U.S. Marshals
The task force is a multi-jurisdictional fugitive task force comprised of the United States Marshals Service, Topeka Police Department, Shawnee County Sheriffs Department and Kansas Department of Corrections.

Lamb is the director of enforcement for the apprehensions and investigations division of the KDOC and has several people who work with the task force.

"This is a good example of agencies working together," Lamb said.

In the month of June, the Kansas Apprehension Task Force took part in a nationwide fugitive apprehension operation coordinated by the United States Marshals Service. Operation Federal and Local Cops Organized Nationally (FALCON) uses the resources of federal, state, city and county law enforcement agencies to locate and apprehend criminals wanted for violent crimes.

This is the fifth time for the operation and it is the largest, most successful fugitive apprehension effort in U.S. history, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. To date, nearly 37,000 fugitives have been arrested and 45,300 warrants have been cleared.

In Kansas, Operation Falcon will continue through today.

The initiative so far has cleared 181 warrants, said Logan Kline, Deputy U.S. Marshal in Kansas. Operation Falcon in Kansas consisted of about 13 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, making up several arrest teams working together, Kline said. Each participating local officer was sworn in as a Special Deputy U.S. Marshal. This special authority allowed them to cross traditional lines of jurisdiction to track down and arrest targeted fugitives.

Lamb's vehicle — with its several antennas and visible lights — is clearly a law enforcement vehicle. But other vehicles used by his team, such as a Chevy Tahoe, are a little less conspicuous.

Kansas Apprehension Task Force members oftentimes find themselves driving around, knocking on doors and looking for fugitives without any luck. They peer in mailboxes, listen through doors for signs of life, look through open windows for sightings of the criminal and visit with neighbors. They work during the heat of the summer, the blizzard-like conditions in the winter and in the rain.

Oftentimes, the team makes several stops without any luck.

That was the case June 19 when this reporter and a Topeka Capital-Journal photographer rode along with Lamb and the team. Several stops into the afternoon, including a stop at the home of fugitive Allen L. Mitchell's mother, officers were coming up empty handed. Mitchell's photograph appeared on a list of warrant absconders the team was seeking out.

Team members were on their way back to Mitchell's mother's house when they spotted a car with Mitchell in it. After a few tense moments, the car pulled to a stop. Mike Custenborder, a supervisor with the KDOC apprehension enforcement and investigations division, pulled a gun and ordered Mitchell from the car. The fugitive was then handcuffed and placed in the back of a team member's vehicle. He was booked into the Shawnee County Jail at 3:49 p.m. June 19.

All of Lamb's team members have access to a Taser, a baton, 40-caliber semi-automatic Glock, a shotgun, gas, handcuffs, recorders and metal detectors. Lamb's team members can't pursue a fugitive in a car chase, but Lamb can.

Lamb has been involved in a lot of arrests, including one aboard an airplane headed to Las Vegas. He has witnessed a lot in his years in law enforcement, and said female fugitives can be more verbal and combative than males.

He also said some fugitives can be cooperative one time and be combative and dangerous the next because of drugs.

"You never know," he said.

Custenborder agreed.

"We assume they are capable of anything," he added.

Both Lamb and Custenborder said they enjoy what they do, despite the risks involved.

"I enjoy the fact that we get closure when we find somebody," Custenborder said.

Ann Marie Bush can be reached at (785) 295-1207 or ann.bush@cjonline.com.

__________________
Yea can't keep the words of your great leader.

Prophet Muhammad - “Do you love your creator? Love your fellow-beings first.”

Wow 1700+ viewers and what?

__________________
Yea can't keep the words of your great leader.

Prophet Muhammad - “Do you love your creator? Love your fellow-beings first.”

Here fill up!

__________________
Yea can't keep the words of your great leader.

Prophet Muhammad - “Do you love your creator? Love your fellow-beings first.”

Back so soon?

__________________
"Yes. That's correct. Making a statement that's 100% true can't be bigoted."

thanks, like the song another brick in the wall. I sing, another name on the ignore list.

__________________
Yea can't keep the words of your great leader.

Prophet Muhammad - “Do you love your creator? Love your fellow-beings first.”