Lula A. Masters, age 90, Columbia, Mo., formerly of LaHarpe, died Tuesday, June 18, 2019, at Boone Medical Center, Columbia, Mo.
She was born Nov. 9, 1928, in Laramie, Wyo., to Vincent Pierson and Violet E. (Canaday) Pierson.
She married Glenn R. Masters. He preceded her in death.
A graveside service with burial following will be at 2 p.m., Saturday in the LaHarpe Cemetery.
Robert (Bob) Walter Ward, 78, of Topeka, passed away Tuesday, June 18, 2019.
He was born Dec. 30, 1940 in Colony, the son of Lloyd and Alice (Clymer) Ward.
Robert graduated from Colony High School in 1958 and attended Iola Junior College.
Bob worked for the Edmiston Department Store in Iola, before working for years for P.N. Hirsch in Lawrence, Topeka and Kansas City. Starting in 1986, Bob went to work for the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka where he retired in 2010 as the operations manager. Bob loved to work in his gardens at home and had many plant sales and interested people who came just to look.
Besides his mother, father and a brother who died before him, Bob also had a daughter, Barbara, from a previous marriage who preceded him in death.
Robert married Susan (Kay) Armstrong in 1979. She survives along with his sons, Robert Dwayne Ward (Kristie), Michael Armstrong (April), Jeffrey Armstrong (Judi); 11 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren and two brothers, Charlie Ward and Larry Ward.
A memorial service will be 11 a.m. Monday at Mount Hope Cemetery and Funeral Chapel, 4700 SW 17th St. Topeka, KS 66604. Family will greet friends one hour prior at the chapel.
Memorial contributions may be given in Bobs name to Midland Care, 200 SW Frazier Circle, Topeka, KS 66606.
To leave a message for the family online, please visit www.PenwellGabelTopeka.com
WASHINGTON (AP) Roughly one in every six times someone is taken to an emergency room or checks in to the hospital, the treatment is followed by a surprise medical bill, according to a study released Thursday. And depending on where you live, the odds can be much higher.
The report from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation finds that millions of people with whats considered solid coverage from large employers are nonetheless exposed to out-of-network charges that can amount to thousands of dollars. It comes as congressional lawmakers of both parties and the Trump administration move to close the loophole, with a Senate panel scheduled to vote on legislation next week.
A patients odds of getting a surprise bill vary greatly depending on the state he or she lives in. Texas seems like a bit of a gamble, with 27% of emergency room visits and 38% of in-network hospital stays triggering at least one such bill. Minnesota looks safer, with odds of 2% and 3%, respectively.
Researcher Karen Pollitz of the Kaiser Foundation said the reasons for such wide differences are not entirely clear, but seem to be related to the breadth of hospital and doctor networks in each state, and the ways those networks are designed.
Patients in New York, Florida, New Jersey and Kansas were also more likely to get surprise bills. Among the other states where it was less likely were South Dakota, Nebraska, Maine and Mississippi.
Averaging the results nationwide, 18 percent of emergency room visits and 16 percent of stays at an in-network hospital triggered a surprise bill for patients with health insurance through a large employer, the study estimated.
Next Wednesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee plans to vote on bipartisan legislation that would limit what patients can be charged to their in-network deductibles and copays.
The bill from Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., would require insurers to pay out-of-network doctors and hospitals the median or midpoint rate paid to in-network providers. The House Energy and Commerce committee is working on similar legislation. President Donald Trump has said he wants to sign a bill.
Major industry lobbies are going to battle over the issue. Insurers and employers generally favor the approach the Alexander-Murray bill takes on how to pay out-of-network providers, using an in-network rate as the reference point. But hospitals and doctors instead want disputed bills to go to arbitration. New York has an arbitration system and a recent study found it has worked well. However, some lawmakers are concerned that on a national scale it may lead to a costly new bureaucracy.
Surprise bills can come about in different ways. In an emergency, a patient can wind up at a hospital thats not in their insurers network. Even at an in-network hospital, emergency physicians or anesthesiologists may not have a contract with the patients insurer. For a scheduled surgery at an in-network hospital, not all the doctors may be in the patients plan.
Bills can amount to tens of thousands of dollars and hit patients and their families when they are most vulnerable. Often patients are able to negotiate lower charges by working with their insurers and the medical provider. But the process usually takes months, adding stress and anxiety. When it doesnt work out bills can get sent to collection agencies.
The Kaiser estimates are based on insurance claims from 2017 for nearly 19 million people, or more than 1 in 5 of those covered by large employers. The claims details came from an IBM Health Analytics database that contains information provided by large-employer plans. Researchers excluded patients 65 or older, most of whom are covered by Medicare.
The Alexander-Murray legislation also includes other ideas aimed at lowering medical costs by promoting competition to brand-name drugs, blocking health industry contracting practices can bid up prices, and requiring greater disclosure of information. A public health section of the bill would authorize a national campaign to increase awareness of the role vaccines play in preventing disease.
WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court says a World War I memorial in the shape of a 40-foot-tall cross can continue to stand on public land in Maryland.
The court has rejected a challenge to the nearly 100-year-old memorial. The justices have ruled that its presence on public land doesnt violate the First Amendments establishment clause. That clause prohibits the government from favoring one religion over others.
The cross challengers included the District of Columbia-based American Humanist Association, a group that includes atheists and agnostics. They argued that the cross should be moved to private property or modified into a nonreligious monument such as a slab or obelisk.
Maryland officials who took over maintenance of the cross decades ago said the cross has a secular purpose and meaning.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Irans Revolutionary Guard shot down a U.S. drone today amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington over the collapsing nuclear deal with world powers, American and Iranian officials said, though they disputed the circumstances of the incident.
The Guard said it shot down the RQ-4 Global Hawk drone over Iranian airspace, while the U.S. said the downing happened over international airspace in the Strait of Hormuz. The different accounts could not be immediately reconciled.
Later, the U.S. militarys Central Command released a statement calling the downing an unprovoked attack.
Previously, the U.S. military alleged that Iran had fired a missile at another drone last week that was responding to the attack on two oil tankers near the Gulf of Oman. The U.S. blames Iran for the attack on the ships; Tehran denies it was involved.
The attacks come against the backdrop of heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran following President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw from Tehrans nuclear deal a year ago.
Separately, Saudi Arabia said today that Yemens Iranian-allied Houthi rebels launched a rocket targeting a desalination plant in the kingdom the previous night. The White House said Trump was briefed about that attack.
Iran has quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium and threatened to boost its enrichment closer to weapons-grade levels, trying to pressure Europe for new terms to the 2015 nuclear deal.
In recent weeks, the U.S. has sped an aircraft carrier to the Mideast and deployed additional troops alongside the tens of thousands already in the region.
From Yemen, the Houthis have launched bomb-laden drones into neighboring Saudi Arabia.
All this has raised fears that a miscalculation or further rise in tensions could push the U.S. and Iran into an open conflict, some 40 years after Tehrans Islamic Revolution. Todays drone incident marks the first direct Iranian-claimed attack on the U.S. amid the crisis.
We do not have any intention for war with any country, but we are fully ready for war, Revolutionary Guard commander Gen. Hossein Salami said in a televised address.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called for caution, warning any war between Iran and the U.S. would be a catastrophe for the region as a minimum.
Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which answers only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said it shot down the drone today when it entered Iranian airspace near the Kouhmobarak district in southern Irans Hormozgan province. Kouhmobarak is some 750 miles southeast of Tehran and close to the Strait of Hormuz.
The Guard said it shot down the drone at 4:05 a.m. after it collected data from Iranian territory, including the southern port of Chahbahar near Irans border with Pakistan. Iran used its air defense system known as Third of Khordad to shoot down the drone a truck-based missile system that can fire up to 18 miles (30 kilometers) into the sky, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
Irans state-run IRNA news agency, citing the Guard, identified the drone as an RQ-4 Global Hawk, which cost over $100 million apiece and can fly higher than 10 miles in altitude and stay in the air for over 24 hours at a time. They have a distinguishable hump-shaped front and an engine atop. Their wingspan is bigger than a Boeing 737 passenger jet.
The Guard described the drone as being launched from the southern Persian Gulf but did not elaborate. American RQ-4 Global Hawks are stationed at the Al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, near the capital, Abu Dhabi. AP journalists saw the drones on the bases tarmac during a March 2016 visit by then-Vice President Joe Biden.
The CENTCOM statement said the RQ-4A Global Hawk maritime surveillance drone was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile while in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all global oil moves.
The U.S. has been worried about international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz since the limpet mine attacks in May and June.
Iranian reports that the aircraft was over Iran are false, CENTCOM said, adding that this was an unprovoked attack on a U.S. surveillance asset in international airspace.
In Iran, Salami, speaking to a crowd in the western city of Sanandaj, described the American drone as violating our national security border.
Borders are our red line, Salami said. Any enemy that violates the borders will be annihilated.
Irans Foreign Ministry separately protested the drone, saying it entered Iranian territory.
Iran has claimed to have shot down American drones in the past. In the most-famous incident, in December 2011, Iran seized an RQ-170 Sentinel flown by the CIA to monitor Iranian nuclear sites after it entered Iranian airspace from neighboring Afghanistan. The Iranians later reverse-engineered the drone to create their own variants.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said Yemens Houthi rebels fired a rocket a desalination plant in al-Shuqaiq, a city in the kingdoms Jizan province. The state-run Saudi Press Agency quoted military spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki as saying the attack caused no damage and wounded no one. The Yemeni rebel Al-Masirah satellite news channel earlier said the Houthis targeted a power plant in Jizan, near the kingdoms border with Yemen, with a cruise missile.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Trump had been briefed on the reports of a missile strike in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
We are closely monitoring the situation and continuing to consult with our partners and allies, Sanders said. It wasnt immediately clear why Trump would be briefed about an attack that caused no damage or casualties.
A Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Houthis since March 2015 in Yemen, the Arab worlds poorest nation now pushed to the brink of famine by the conflict. In recent weeks, the Houthis have launched a new campaign sending missiles and bomb-laden drones into Saudi Arabia.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) Americans prefer a space program that focuses on potential asteroid impacts, scientific research and using robots to explore the cosmos over sending humans back to the moon or on to Mars, a poll shows.
The poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research , released Thursday, one month before the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, lists asteroid and comet monitoring as the No. 1 desired objective for the U.S. space program. About two-thirds of Americans call that very or extremely important, and about a combined 9 in 10 say its at least moderately important.
The poll comes as the White House pushes to get astronauts back on the moon, but only about a quarter of Americans said moon or Mars exploration by astronauts should be among the space programs highest priorities. About another third called each of those moderately important.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on July 20, 1969, became the first humans to walk on another celestial body. In all, 12 NASA astronauts stepped on the moon.
Jan Dizard, 78, a retired environmental studies professor living in Chico, California, acknowledges theres more to learn on the moon and it would be miraculous to send astronauts to Mars. But nows not the time, he stressed.
There are all kinds of other things, not the least of which is climate change, that deserve our attention, Dizard told the AP. This other stuff can wait.
After asteroid and comet monitoring, scientific research to expand knowledge of Earth and the rest of the solar system and universe came next on the list of Americans space priorities about 6 in 10 said that was very or extremely important. Close to half said the same about sending robotic probes, rather than astronauts, to explore space, and about 4 in 10 said the same about continued funding of the International Space Station.
Searching for life on other planets came in fifth with 34% rating it at least very important, followed by 27% for human Mars expeditions and 23% for crewed moonshots.
In a dead heat for last place among the nine listed goals: setting up permanent human residences on other planets, with 21% ranking it as a very high priority, and establishing a U.S. military presence in space with 19%. While other goals were considered at least moderately important by majorities of Americans, about half called a military presence and space colonies unimportant.
President Donald Trump, who wants to create a Space Force as a new military service, said at a rally formally kicking off his reelection campaign this week that, if he wins a second term, the country will lay the foundation for landing astronauts on Mars.
NEW YORK (AP) Zion Williamson smiled his way through nearly half an hour of questions, trying to portray himself like any player just hoping to be drafted.
Suddenly, a tall, thin newcomer pushed his way to the front of the shoulder-to-shoulder swarm surrounding Williamson and shot down that idea.
What does it feel like, Duke teammate RJ Barrett asked, to be the best prospect since LeBron James?
Williamson has similar hype. Soon, he can start showing if he has the game to match.
The powerhouse power forward will almost certainly be doing it in the uniform of the New Orleans Pelicans, who hold the No. 1 pick Thursday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
NBA teams are discouraged from announcing who they will pick, and the Pelicans confirmed nothing to Williamson when he visited recently.
They just told me that maybe theyll draft me and Im a good player or something, Williamson said.
Maybe?
It would be one of the biggest surprises anyone in the NBA conjured up in years if the Pelicans passed on a player whose combination of size, speed and skill calls to mind James and few others. Listed at 6-foot-7 and 285 pounds, Williamson averaged 22.6 points and 8.9 rebounds while shooting 68% from the field and joining Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis as the only freshmen to be voted national player of the year by The Associated Press.
His sledgehammer slams were good for college, but Williamson wants to be known for more than his above-the-rim game in the pros. In fact, he isnt eager to take part in the Slam Dunk Contest.
Instead, hes been improving his 3-point shot, and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski noted that Williamson was previously a perimeter player before bulking up and becoming a force around the basket.
Hes still only 18 years old, Krzyzewski said on his SiriusXM radio show. And as good of an athlete hes a top percentile athlete in the world, not just in the game of basketball. Hes that level of young man.
No wonder Pelicans fans are so eager to get him. Williamson said he found New Orleans to be welcoming when he walked around the city, and the locals should love him even more now after the team agreed over the weekend to trade Davis to the Lakers to play with James.
The city seems very excited if I come there, Williamson said.
Memphis has the No. 2 pick and an apparent opening at point guard for Murray States Ja Morant after agreeing to trade Mike Conley to Utah on Wednesday. Barrett is hoping hell go to the New York Knicks with the third pick, and whoever lands at No. 4 is set to be Williamsons teammate because the Lakers included the pick in the package for Davis.
Teams drafting beyond that should feel confident about their chances for success after a season in which the Toronto Raptors won the NBA title with a roster featuring no lottery picks, and Giannis Antetokounmpo emerged as an MVP finalist after being taken with the No. 15 pick in 2013. So, drafting smart seems more important than drafting high.
Still, the season-long attention on Williamson dwarfed nearly everything else, so all eyes will be on him Thursday night as he walks onto the stage to greet Commissioner Adam Silver. Williamson called himself a simple guy, so maybe he wont wear the type of flashy suit that it is the usual draft-night dress code; the striped sweater he wore Wednesday was certainly plain enough.
His game definitely isnt.
For his size, he can get everywhere he wants on the floor, said DeAndre Hunter of national champion Virginia. Hes just a very strong, dominant player.
Williamson doesnt seem caught up in the hype, seeing himself more as a team player than franchise savior. He wasnt expecting to be the No. 1 option at Duke and isnt lobbying for the job in New Orleans.
I dont really look at the expectations, Williamson said. I just want to win at the end of the day and Im just going to try to be the best version of myself, and whatever the team needs me to do Im going to be willing to do it.
But his standards are high, responding to a question about his goals by saying they include MVP, Rookie of the Year and eventually possibly Defensive Player of the Year. Hall of Famer.
Not even James has done all that.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) Hutchinson Zoo director Ryan VanZant says flooding in May covered more than one-third of the zoo.
The Hutchinson News reports the zoo except for the gift shop and train has been closed since May 21 after consecutive storms caused water to rise at the zoo.
VanZant said in a Facebook post Wednesday that five buildings and two playgrounds were affected by flood waters. He said staff moved animals to safety ahead of the rising water and built temporary housing where the animals are being kept while waiting for the water to recede and the cleanup to begin.
A Facebook fundraiser has been started to help cleanup costs.
The Hutchinson Friends of the Zoo says the goal is to raise $10,000 before Family Fun Day on Aug. 17.
LE HAVRE, France (AP) The United States will finally face a tough opponent in the Womens World Cup, and its a team that embarrassed the Americans in their last significant tournament.
The defending champions wrap up the group stage today with a match against nemesis Sweden.
Which U.S. team shows up remains to be seen: The one that pounced on Thailand in the opener and celebrated every goal in a 13-0 rout, or the more staid team that downed Chile 3-0 and muted the celebration down to a golf clap.
Whats certain is that Sweden poses the biggest challenge to the United States so far.
Three years ago at the Olympics, the Swedes got to the Americans in the quarterfinals by bunkering in on defense to thwart the normally powerful U.S. attack. After a 1-1 draw, Sweden prevailed on penalties and handed the United States its earliest exit in the tournament.
Both teams go into todays match with a pair of wins, and both have clinched berths in the round of 16.
The top-ranked Americans with a win or draw could play Spain in the round of 16. That could set up a quarterfinal clash against No. 4 France in Paris, and then a meeting No. 3 England in the semifinals.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) A Florida city agreed to pay $600,000 in ransom to hackers who took over its computer system, the latest in thousands of attacks worldwide aimed at extorting money from governments and businesses.
The Riviera Beach City Council voted unanimously this week to pay the hackers demands, believing the Palm Beach suburb had no choice if it wanted to retrieve its records, which the hackers encrypted. The council already voted to spend almost $1 million on new computers and hardware after hackers captured the citys system three weeks ago.
The hackers apparently got into the citys system when an employee clicked on an email link that allowed them to upload malware. Along with the encrypted records, the city had numerous problems including a disabled email system, employees and vendors being paid by check rather than direct deposit and 911 dispatchers being unable to enter calls into the computer. The city says there was no delay in response time.
Spokeswoman Rose Anne Brown said the city of 35,000 residents has been working with outside security consultants, who recommended the ransom be paid. She conceded there are no guarantees that once the hackers received the money they will release the records. The payment is being covered by insurance. The FBI on its website says it doesnt support paying off hackers, but Riviera Beach isnt alone: many government agencies and businesses do.
We are relying on their (the consultants) advice, she said. The hackers demanded payment in the cryptocurrency bitcoin. While it is possible to trace bitcoins as they are spent, the owners of the accounts arent necessarily known, making it a favored payment method in ransomware attacks.
Numerous governments and businesses have been hit in the United States and worldwide in recent years.
Baltimore refused to pay hackers $76,000 after an attack last month. The U.S. government indicted two Iranians last year for allegedly unleashing more than 200 ransomware attacks, including against the cities of Atlanta and Newark, New Jersey. The men, who have not been arrested, received more than $6 million in payments and caused $30 million in damage to computer systems, federal prosecutors have said.
The federal government last year also accused a North Korean programmer of committing the WannaCry attack that infected government, bank, factory and hospital computers in 150 countries. He is also believed to have stolen $81 million from a Bangladesh bank. He also remains in his home country.
The FBI had no comment Wednesday on the Riviera Beach attack, but said 1,493 ransomware attacks were reported last year with victims paying $3.6 million to hackers about $2,400 per attack. Some of those were against individuals.
Tom Holt, a Michigan State University criminal justice professor, said hackers often attack common and known vulnerabilities in computer systems. He said organizations technology managers need to examine their systems for such flaws and teach their employees not to open suspicious email or click suspect links. The FBI says businesses also need to back up their data regularly on secure computers.
Holt said most attacks originate outside the U.S., making them difficult to police. He said many victims wind up like Riviera Beach: They pay their attacker because it is likely the only way to retrieve lost data.
They might not pay the initial ransom that was suggested, but they may work with a third-party provider to negotiate the ransom down, Holt said.
He said in almost all cases, the attackers decrypt the computers after payment, allowing the victims to retrieve their data. He said the WannaCry attacks were an exception the hackers took the money but often didnt release the data.
Some private WannaCry decryption attempts were successful.