Month: September 2019

No eviction tomorrow for T-Bones; team will stay another month

The Kansas City T-Bones won’t be evicted from their baseball stadium on Friday.

The Unified Government announced today it would give them another 30 days.

Mike Taylor, UG spokesman, said that the T-Bones and American Association made a $50,000 payment, and the UG gave them 30 more days.

The team has told the UG a couple of different groups are interested in buying the team and it will take a little more time to happen, Taylor said.

In August, the UG stated that the T-Bones were more than three-quarters of a million dollars behind in their utility and stadium payments to the city of Kansas City, Kansas, and the Board of Public Utilities.

The UG issued an eviction notice to the T-Bones in a letter dated Aug. 16, for an eviction on Sept. 13.

According to Taylor, the one-month extension was granted in order for the team and the American Association to negotiate the sale of the team to a new owner.

“The T-Bones, the American Association of Independent American Baseball, and the Unified Government have been committed to playing the 2020 season and beyond. This agreement with the UG is a good reinforcement of that mutual commitment,” Joshua Schaub, the commissioner of the American Association, said in a news release.

The Unified Government owns the stadium and in 2017 reworked the management agreement with the T-Bones in an effort to keep the team in the stadium. Under the agreement, the T-Bones are responsible for paying current utility bills, past due utility bills and past due payments for use of the stadium, the UG news release stated. The T-Bones failed to make most of those payments.

Team owners have stated they are in the process of selling the team and indicated the back debts could be paid when the sale is confirmed. The extension gives the T-Bones and American Association 30 days to negotiate and complete the sale of the team and payment of the debt. The payment of the $50,000 and extension of the eviction does not relieve the T-Bones organization of paying the remainder of the debt owed, the UG stated.

“The Unified Government looks forward to the sale of the team to new owners and repayment of the debt. More importantly, we look forward to keeping a baseball team in our stadium because we view the team as a community asset and an important part of our successful Village West tourism district,” County Administrator Doug Bach stated.

The 30-day extension runs until 5 p.m. Oct. 13.

Three Vibrant Health clinics in Wyandotte County receive $650,000 federal grant with help of Rep. Davids

Rep. Sharice Davids helped secure $650,000 in federal funding for Vibrant Health, a local health center in Wyandotte Country, to increase access to affordable and quality health care services in the area.

Vibrant Health provides medical, dental, mental health and women’s health services to underserved and uninsured children and adults in Wyandotte County. Across three locations, Vibrant Health sees approximately 10,000 patients a year.

“This is an exciting day for Wyandotte County. Vibrant Health provides critical medical, dental and behavioral health services across Wyandotte County, and I was proud to help them secure the federal funding needed to increase access to these services and care for more families in our community. Health care continues to be a top priority for people across the 3rd District, and I will keep working to ensure every Kansan has access to quality, affordable health care,” Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist., said.

Vibrant Health was one of the 77 health centers across the country selected for a New Access Points grant and full designation as a Federally Qualified Health Center from the US. Department of Health and Human Services out of an estimated 700 applicants. Rep. Davids advocated for the grant and designation through a letter of support sent to the department.

“Wyandotte County has historically ranked 99 out of 103 counties in Kansas when it comes to health outcomes. Vibrant Health is committed to providing quality and accessible health care to members of the community and this grant award allows us the opportunity to increase access that community members need and deserve,” Vibrant Health CEO Patrick Sallee said.

In addition to direct federal funding, the Federally Qualified Health Center designation will provide enhanced Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, and allow Vibrant Health to offer valuable medication discounts to patients through a 340B Drug Pricing Program Pharmacy.

Leavenworth prisoner will get opioid addiction treatment after his lawsuit is settled quickly

by Nomin Ujiyediin, Kansas News Service

The federal Bureau of Prisons will provide opioid addiction treatment for a prisoner at the Leavenworth penitentiary, according to a settlement reached Wednesday.


The American Civil Liberties Union in Kansas and Missouri had sued earlier in the week on behalf of Leaman Crews. He began a three-year sentence at the prison earlier this month and had been using buprenorphine, a medication used to counter the effects of opioid withdrawal.


With the help of the medication, Crews had not used drugs for 15 months prior to entering Leavenworth.


An ACLU press release said Crews and the Bureau of Prisons reached a settlement agreement in which Crews would start getting buprenorphine on Wednesday evening.


“When he was deprived of medication for the last week, until we were able to reach this agreement with the Bureau of Prisons, he’d been suffering tremendously,” said Lauren Bonds, legal director of the ACLU of Kansas. “He’s dealt with withdrawal from the medication he was receiving, so it’s very important for our client’s health.”


The ACLU had argued that denying inmates access to buprenorphine treatment is a violation of the 8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which forbids cruel and unusual punishment. The group also contended a denial ran afoul of the Rehabilitation Act, which bans federal programs from discriminating against people with disabilities.


The settlement does not address treatment for other inmates in the federal system. The ACLU said in the release that it’ll pursue lawsuits in the future to get other prisoners access to opioid treatment.


Bonds said in a phone interview that ultimately, the organization will push for a change in the Bureau of Prisons’ policy.


“Then we wouldn’t have to deal with this on such an ad hoc, case-by-case basis,” she said. “It would just ensure everyone who needs this medication is just getting it.”


The suit alleged that the agency denied Crews access to buprenorphine as part of a policy to only give inmates the medication while they are detoxing and to wean them off the medication after several days.


That lawsuit said Crews is recovering from a decade-long addiction to opioids following a car accident and had been taking buprenorphine throughout his recovery.


According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ latest data from 2004, about half of the people incarcerated in federal prisons had symptoms of substance abuse or dependency.


In an email, the Bureau of Prisons said it does not comment on litigation. The agency said it gives methadone or buprenorphine to inmates on a case-by-case basis and gives Vivitrol, another medication used to treat opioid addiction, to inmates two months before release.

Note: This story was updated at 10 a.m. on Sept. 12, 2019, to reflect comments from the Bureau of Prisons.

Nomin Ujiyediin reports on criminal justice and social welfare for the Kansas News Service. Follow her on Twitter @NominUJ or email nomin (at) kcur (dot) org.
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on the health and well-being of Kansans, their communities and civic life. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
See more at https://www.kcur.org/post/leavenworth-prisoner-will-get-opioid-addiction-treatment-after-his-lawsuit-settled-quickly