The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 34

MEIROPOLffnN p-ji Friday August 21 1998 The Kansas City Star M'- l) State health unit threatens to stop testing bats for rabies cian said Kansas City had submitted 120 bats to the state for testing this year compared with 40 in 1997 She said the increase was due to concerns about the rabid bats that had been found In the absence of a rabies test people unsure whether they have been bitten should seek treatment Hoff said Rabies treatment is no longer as painful as it once was but it requires at least five injections in the arm and costs $2000 to $3000 from a private physician Hoff said The city Health Department will not do it sending too many straining resources epidemiologist By -MATT CAMPBELL Staff Writer A Kansas City health official said this week that the Missouri Department of Health has threatened to stop testing bats for rabies even though there have been four confirmed animal cases in the area this year The latest was Tuesday A state epidemiologist said Kansas City was overreacting submitting more specimens than nec essary and straining lab resources Questions about bats arose Wednesday at a meeting of the City Neighborhood Development Committee Chairman Jim Glover instructed city staffers to continue sending bat brains to the state for testing and to inform city elected officials if the state refuses them The City Council on Thursday will consider amending its rabies ordinance to give the city some liability protection if the state cuts off tests The change which the Law Department suggested will reflect the position: Testing animals that come into contact with hu brains in a period of weeks If a bat is found in a bedroom or if an adult finds one in bed the animal should be tested Satalowich agreed I think Kansas City has been submitting every bat that someone calls he added If the numbers do not taper off he said the state lab might refuse further tests Satalowich said less than one-half of 1 percent of bats were rabid and that Missouri typically confirmed 20 to 30 cases a year This year there have been fewer than 10 Kathy Bard city animal techni States in the last two decades had been caused by bats Most of the victims did not even know they had been bitten because bat teeth are so small So far this year there have been three rabid bats confirmed in residences in Kansas City A rabid bat also was confirmed in Kansas City Kan Hoff said The only way to check an animal for rabies is to test its brain a procedure that is performed by state health departments FT Satalowich an epidemiologist for Missouri said Kansas City was submitting as many as 100 bat mans is in the public interest There been no recent local cases of humans with rabies But Gerald Hoff an epidemiologist with the Kansas City Health Department said the position was contrary to public health interests you wake up in the middle of the night and there is a bat flapping around in your bedroom it has got to be killed and Hoff said He added that people also need to keep their pets immunized Hoff told the committee that 90 percent of the 20 rabies deaths among humans in the United So long to summer vacation Lawsuit alleges reverse hiring bias by KCK police Wyandotte sheriff's lieutenant says he was kept out of cadet class By JOHN DAUNER Staff Writer A lieutenant in the Wyandotte County Department has filed a federal class action lawsuit alleging that the Kansas City Kan Police Department practices reverse discrimination in hiring officers Hal Walker chief counsel for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas Kan called the allegations James Eickhoff the plaintiff filed the case Wednesday in US District Court in Kansas City Kan He named the Unified Government as defendant In his petition Eickhoff said he was one of about 400 applicants in February 1997 for 10 to 20 cadet positions He said he took the entry examination in May 1997 and was told that he passed with a score of 99 percent putting him at the top of those who took the test He also passed the physical examination the complaint said Nevertheless Eickhoff said he was told on May 28 1997 that he would not be hired because he did not have a four-year college degree The petition says that under criteria published by the department a high school diploma is the only educational requirement for the position of patrol officer Eickhoff complaint says he was told that the department maintains a educational requirement for new hires that varies according to the race and sex of applicants White men who apply such as Eickhoff are required to possess a four-year college degree the petition alleges but white women applicants need have only a two-year college degree Black applicants men or women only need a high school diploma or a GED certificate the petition says The lawsuit estimates that about 300 people have been adversely affected by the alleged policy Walker said the department did -y not have separate educational wUi quirements based on race At the same time he said Police Chief James Swafford thinks the depart- ment should reflect the community and the chief wide discre- tion in choosing from those eligible the persons he believes will make the best officers and the best police The entry test is only one ofifc many factors the chief considers in selecting cadets Walker said jr 'volcf Photos by SHANE KEYSEFVThe Star High School on Thursday Construction crews are nearing completion of renovations to Overland Park Elementary School lasted only half a day for Overland Park Elementary stu- dents attending their first day of school at Old Mission Junior Two more districts head back to class By KATE BEEM Staff Writer Officials to accelerate it jv A land purchases Continued from C-1 Lisa Woodruff gave her daughter Tiffany one last hug before slipping out of a kindergarten room at Sunset Ridge Elementary Tonya students as they paused outside the Sunset Ridge library Runnels who taught the last two years at Blue Harmony Elementary said she likes her new surroundings so different but so she said Her young students agreed Audrey Willis 6 chewed on her bottom lip as she considered all the things that could happen during her first-grade year She finally hit on what looking forward to most of all going to learn how to read Audrey said Runnels laughed and nodded and Fletcher moved on toward another group of first-graders touring the new school Blue enrollment rose by 830 students over last first-day figures to 15668 In Shawnee Mission 31861 students had enrolled by Thursday afternoon 54 more students than last official enrollment of 31807 students Enrollments are unofficial and The smell of new carpet mingled with the scent of squeaky-new tennis shoes Thursday at Blue Sunset Ridge Elementary On the first day of school things were running smoothly at the newest elementary school Outside sprinklers watered the fresh sod surrounding the school at 149th and England streets in the developing Wellington Park subdivision Classes started Thursday in the Blue Valley and Shawnee Mission school districts School started earlier this week in the Olathe Spring Hill Gardner-Edgerton-Antioch and De Soto districts Catholic schools in Johnson County start on Monday Sunset Ridge Principal Jane Fletcher spent the morning wandering the curving brightly colored halls welcoming students to their new surroundings She took a moment to greet first-grade teacher ISC to this project and this comr vjv The $1 3 million is an advance ohr the $59 million that Speedway agreed to spend on the development The Kansas Department won Transportation will proceed With 1 3 the purchase of property for high- way improvements in concert with the other development partners Secretary of Transportation Dean mu Carlson said At least $8 million of the $34 million in highway improvements 1iJ will go to buy property said Wood "I Property owners who have con- tracts to sell will receive closing no- tices next week Once the paper- 'f-work is processed and they receive their money they will have six weeks to vacate the property ji Those living on 52 parcels of A land in the path of highways under a different set of guidelines Most will have 90 days to move after closing Carlson said contract in April to sell their home on North 110th Street They lost the opportunity to buy two other houses because of delays tell you how much Rudy Franz said Thursday night will immediately seek a new International commitment of $13 million was contingent on the Unified £oard of Commissioners assuming half of the risk in case the $208 million racetrack does not get built The board of commissioners agreed Thursday night to buy back $65 million worth of land from International Speedway if the project falls through The amount is within the Unified pledged $75 million contribution to the project in its 1999 budget Hays said the decision by International Speedway Corp demonstrates the commitment of can change until Sept 21 when schools report their enrollments to the state While Sunset Ridge students were exploring their new school students at Shawnee Overland Park Elementary School were anticipating their move this fall to a new building Overland Park Elementary staff and students have been holding classes at Old Mission Multi-Use Center in Roeland Park since December 1996 In early 1997 the district demolished Overland old build ing on Santa Fe Drive A new building under construction there should open this fall Principal Kathleen Murphy said Murphy said Thursday she was glad the school year began at Old Mission in surroundings students are accustomed to By the time the school moves routines will be established and academics be overshadowed by the transition she said The Alternative Education Program in Mission is on a heat schedule today classes will dismiss at noon 'sic? With the heat come health problems Continued from C-1 Agencies launch program to aid low-income cancer patients thinks is dangerous for Reeder said But when combined with conditions such as high temperatures and seasonal allergens high ozone levels can increase discomfort for people who suffer from asthma or allergies Portnoy said? Symptoms of ozone irritation include a runny nose and itchy eyes Because ozone is water soluble unless present in very high concentrations it is usually dissolved by mucus before it reaches the lungs At Mercy Portnoy said emergency room and in-patient asthma and allergy cases increased about 20 percent this week due to the ozone or the ragweed or the mold is hard to he saidr! RjHgi People who suffer from asthma should take special precautions when temperatures and ozone levels soar: Keep necessary medication on hand Get in touch with your doctor and devise an a predetermined response for treating asthma attacks Limit outdoor activity on red alert days run in the heat Ozone levels are expected to remain at red alert levels into the weekend Reeder said Staff writer Matthew Schofield contributed to this story City has been under a red alert for high ozone levels That means the compound is expected to account for more than 110 parts per billion in ground-level air samples In the upper levels of the atmosphere ozone acts as a barrier to solar radiation But at ground level a lung irritant Ozone selective like pollen mold or ragweed It affects everybody is going to cause irritation in mucus said Jay Portnoy chief of allergy at Mercy Hospital Ozone is the main component of urban smog created when sunlight hits car exhaust and chemicals emitted by industrial smokestacks and other sources On Thursday ozone levels reached 114 parts per billion at Kansas City International Airport said Jay Reeder chief meteorologist at Weather or Not Inc Most people will not have problems breathing during a low-level red alert you get to 125 parts per billion what the federal EPA ment Heimes said The program was spurred in part by a 1994 report that showed it took Kansas Citians living in the urban core an average of 176 days from the time of screening for a cancer before they received treatment The Patient Navigation program is a cooperation among Truman Medical Center the American Cancer Society and the Samuel Rodgers Community Health Center The three received a $250000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and were also given some local matching money from NationsBank The program is expected to start in the next 30 days Moylan said the program would need about 100 volunteers Anyone interested can call the American Cancer Society at 842-7111 Volunteers will link them with services ensure needs are met By RASHEEDA CRAYTON Staff Writer The poorest cancer patients tjften die of the disease because ffiey miss appointments or feel they afford treatment However a new program announced Thursday might help prevent those deaths hope to help 600 patients a said Nancy Moylan Manager of special populations St the American Cancer Society Heartland Division will reach a hand out to a patient at the time the doctor suspects Something is The Patient Navigation pro-uses volunteers of the same nic background who speak the primary language to keep in touch and make sure the needs are being met volunteers constantly in touch with the patients they can alert us to things the patient might not feel comfortable telling us or might not realize is a problem we can help said Barbara Heimes an oncology social worker at Truman Medical Center That includes helping patients find child care get financial aid recall appointments get to and from appointments and understand their treatment Patients without phones will receive cellular phones Basic things like knowing there is a dietitian available to help with nausea and other appetite problems caused by chemotherapy help improve quality of life and overall treat NOTICI TO ATAT CUSTOMMf IN KANSAS Effective August 15 1998 implemented changes to its Collect Calling Discount Plan in Kansas for customers who place Collect and Person-to-Person Collect calls over die Network by dialing an designated access number and completing an automated collect calL The following rates apply: Also the Non-Subscriber Service Charge was increased to $250 per Call to equal the interstate rate If you have any questions regarding these changes please call 1 800 222-0300.