Month: October 2014

Kansas City, Kan., police reports

Sept. 16
Theft, 50th and State Avenue, cash, cell phone, identification card, purse, $1,314 value.

Sept. 15
Burglary, 200 block of South 11th, 40 quarters, two necklaces, $1,010 value.
Burglary, 700 block of Splitlog, currency, $300 value.
Burglary, criminal damage, 2200 block of Everett Avenue, screen, window, window air conditioner, $350 value.
Burglary, criminal damage, 1100 block of Oakland Avenue, window, tablets, video game system, $3,150 value.
Theft, 3100 block of Cleveland, air-conditioning unit, $2,100 value.
Forgery, 3100 block of Suntree Plaza, check.
Theft, 4800 block of Shawnee Drive, Ford Taurus, $3,000 value.

Sept. 14
Attempted burglary, 1700 block of Orville Avenue.
Burglary, 1800 block of Minnesota, two televisions, tablet, $950 value.
Theft, auto, 3rd and Quindaro, BMW.
Theft, auto, 100 block of South 25th, Chevy Malibu, $5,000 value.

Sept. 3
Forgery, 7200 block of State Avenue, credit union, cash, $6,890 value.

Aug. 19
Forgery, theft, 10700 block of Parallel Parkway, check, $935 value.
Forgery, theft, 7500 block of State Avenue, check, $476 value.

Aug. 12
Forgery, theft, 10700 block of Parallel Parkway, check, $420 value.

Experts recommend safety in walking and biking to school

Today is International Walk to School Day, and Safe Kids Kansas is reminding students to walk or bike safely to schools.

Walking is one of the easiest ways to get physically active, especially when you can incorporate it into your everyday routine. Walk to School day is also an opportunity to talk about safety – how to be safe on sidewalks and roadways.

Unintentional pedestrian injuries are the fifth leading cause of injury-related death in the United States for children ages 5 to 19. Teenagers are now at greatest risk. Teens have a death rate twice that of younger children and account for half of all child pedestrian deaths. So, when you talk to your children about being safe pedestrians, don’t forget to include your teenagers and talk about how distractions, such as texting, playing portable video games, or listening to music, can put you at risk. Remind them to put the technology down and pay attention when around vehicles.
Top safety tips
• Talk to your kids about how to be safe while walking. It’s always best to walk on sidewalks or paths and cross at street corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks.
• Teach kids at an early age to put down their devices and then look left, right and left again when crossing the street.
• Children under 10 should cross the street with an adult. Every child is different, but developmentally, it can be hard for kids to judge speed and distance of cars until age 10.
• Remind kids to make eye contact with drivers before crossing the street and to watch out for cars that are turning or backing up.
• When driving, be especially alert in residential neighborhoods and school zones and be on the lookout for bikers, walkers or runners who may be distracted or may step into the street unexpectedly.

Safe Kids Kansas also encourages parents to get out and walk along with their children.

“It is one thing to tell students about pedestrian safety, but it’s even better to show them,” said Cherie Sage, state director of Safe Kids Kansas. “Walk with them and identify hazards along the way, act as role models for making good choices, and give them the tools to be safer pedestrians.”

State losing ground in efforts to help disabled land jobs

by Jim McLean, KHI News Service

Topeka — State officials are intensifying their efforts to help Kansans with disabilities get jobs.

But advocates in the disability community are skeptical that an initiative announced Monday will be enough to reverse a recent trend that has seen a steady decline in the number of Kansans with disabilities placed in jobs.

The initiative, dubbed “End-Dependence Kansas,” will provide $25 million in mostly federal funds over the next five years to organizations that operate programs that help people with disabilities find employment.

“Work is an essential component of self-sufficiency, greater self-esteem, a healthy lifestyle and being fully included in society,” said Phyllis Gilmore, secretary of the Kansas Department for Children and Families.

State officials say their goal is to help 2,000 Kansans with disabilities find “integrated employment,” meaning competitive jobs rather than so-called “sheltered employment.”

Rocky Nichols, a former Democratic legislator from Topeka who now heads the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, welcomed the initiative but said he’s concerned that it won’t be enough to reverse several years of underperformance by the state’s vocational rehabilitation program.

“On the one hand, I don’t want to be too critical because it’s providing enhanced funding. But, man, this is a big challenge, and I think it’s going to take something more than a hopefully well-intentioned news release a month before the election to turn this thing around,” Nichols said.

Michael Donnelly, director of rehabilitation services at DCF, agreed that finding meaningful employment for people with disabilities is challenging.

“The (U.S.) Department of Labor reports that only 18 percent of Kansans with disabilities are involved at all in the workforce,” Donnelly said. “So that’s 80 percent who are not. That’s a lot of people.”

Even so, Donnelly said he believes the new effort will pay dividends because it’s being coordinated among five state agencies.

“We believe that we can put Kansas on a path to have the highest employment rates of people with disabilities,” he said.

Annual reports issued by the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston show that Kansas has work to do in achieving that goal. The most recent report shows that the number of Kansans with disabilities placed in integrated employment declined from 79,141 in 2010 – the year Gov. Sam Brownback was elected – to 77,454 in 2012.

The numbers reveal other concerns. While the number of people with disabilities getting competitive, regular jobs has declined, the number having to settle for non-competitive, sheltered-workshop jobs has increased substantially. In addition, more working-age Kansans with disabilities are living in poverty – increasing from 12.3 percent in 2010 to 13.3 percent in 2012. The poverty rate among all Kansans with disabilities increased from 23.3 percent in 2010 to 28.5 percent in 2012.

“Those (numbers) are huge red flags and huge warning signs to our state that we’ve got to do a lot more,” Nichols said.

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