Johnson County names DeWeese as mental health director
Johnson County announced Thursday that it has hired a new director for its mental health center. The new hire is Tim DeWeese, a longtime staff member of the Johnson County Mental Health Center. For nearly the past two years, DeWeese has served as director of clinical services, overseeing the largest operating division of the center….
Sen. John McCain joins parade of Republicans in Kansas in support of Roberts Senate campaign
U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts was able to introduce a high-profile visitor he called “one of my heroes” to an enthusiastic crowd of GOP supporters Wednesday. Sen. John McCain, a Republican and the senior senator from Arizona, joined a handful of famous Republicans visiting Kansas to support Roberts in his campaign against Independent candidate and businessman…
Choices can cut school food waste
Lunch time at Harris Bilingual Elementary School in Fort Collins, Colo., displays all the usual trappings of a public school cafeteria: Star Wars lunch boxes, light up tennis shoes, hard plastic trays and chocolate milk cartons with little cartoon cows. It’s pizza day, the most popular of the week, and kids line up at a…
Feds expect more consumer choice in health reform insurance marketplace
Consumers in Missouri and Kansas should see more companies offering coverage through the health insurance marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act, according to preliminary estimates released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A report issued by the department, released in advance of the open enrollment period scheduled to run from…
Grocery stores waste tons of food as they woo shoppers
Grocery stores and restaurants serve up more than 400 million pounds of food each year, but nearly a third of it never makes it to a stomach. With consumers demanding large displays of un-blemished, fresh produce or massive portion sizes, many grocery stores and restaurants end up tossing a mountain of perfectly edible food. Despite…
“Big data” in Kansas City
“Big data” is a term that you hear a lot these days. Industries as wide-ranging as healthcare, fashion and television are all analyzing and using data. TeraCrunch is a Kansas City company that uses data science to provide insights and recommend actions to different businesses. Kelly Lieberman is the company’s sales director. She spoke with…
Kansas lawmakers lead fight to delay physician supervision rules
U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins and U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran are leading a congressional effort to delay enforcement of Medicare regulations requiring physician supervision of outpatient treatments like chemotherapy and intravenous infusions. The rules are intended to improve patient safety. But Jenkins, Moran and several advocacy groups, including the Kansas Hospital Association, say they would burden…
Manufacturers cut food waste to build bottom line
The long line of semi-trucks waiting to get in the gates of the Farmland Foods plant could simply wait around for a few hours to head back, fresh products on board. The trucks are loaded with hogs from several confinement operations near this factory in Milan, a small town in northeast Missouri. Within just 19…
Technology, infrastructure cut down on food waste on the farm
On a wet, grey day in Grinnell, Iowa, the rain beats a rhythm on the metal roof of a packing shed at Grinnell Heritage Farm. Crew member Whitney Brewer picks big bunches of kale out of a washing tank, lets them drip on a drying table and then packs them into cardboard boxes. Like…
Food waste weighing down U.S. food system
It’s a hot summer day outside of Lincoln, Neb., and Jack Chappelle is knee-deep in trash. He’s wading in to rotting vegetables, half-eaten burgers and tater tots. Lots of tater tots. “You can get a lot of tater tots out of schools,” Chappelle says. “It doesn’t matter if it’s elementary, middle school or high school….
KDADS analysis identifies 11 communities with greater mental health needs
A Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services official said Thursday that the agency has identified 11 communities that appear to be referring inordinate numbers of patients to the state hospitals for mentally ill or have above-average numbers of inmates in the state’s correctional systems who are known to be mentally ill. “We’ve been going…
Typecasting teachers
With debates over teacher tenure and educator evaluations happening in Kansas and Missouri, it’s easy to see how teaching may be one of the most maligned professions. This summer, as part of a course at the University of Saint Mary’s, local practicing educators took a hard look at how teachers are portrayed in television and…
Olathe Medical Center opens facility for final stage of life
Olathe Medical Center officials say they have added a building block to their vision of providing cradle-to-grave care. On Wednesday, in front of a crowd of about 300 donors, employees and other well-wishers, the hospital officially opened a freestanding inpatient hospice on its land at Interstate 35 and 151st Street. “In the early 1980s, when…
Mothers gather at interfaith vigil 1 month after Michael Brown's death
A month after the death of Michael Brown — the allegedly unarmed black teen who was shot and killed by a white police officer — community members gathered Tuesday evening at Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church in Kansas City, Missouri, for an interfaith prayer vigil. The service, titled “Mother’s Prayer,” was led by Rev. Betty…
Kansas seeks to address prison guard ‘correctional fatigue’
A new program in Kansas aims to improve conditions in prisons, but it’s not for inmates. The state Department of Corrections is one of many prison and jail systems around the country working to overcome “correctional fatigue” — the mental and physical stress that lead to corrections workers burning out. From Orange Is The New…