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An apartment fire hospitalized a woman Saturday after she dropped a lit cigarette on her dress, fire officials said.The unidentified woman was flown by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after suffering moderate burns, said Tommy Hemphill, shift commander of Columbia Fire Department.The fire broke out about noon at 401 Timber Trail at Cedar Point Apartments in one of the smaller, modular buildings.”She was lighting a cigarette with a match and she accidentally caught her nightgown she was wearing on fire,” Hemphill said.The woman stood up and attempted to put the fire out, but in the process caught several areas of her home on fire, including the hallway, kitchen and living room, he said.

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Most Lawrence legislators support a hefty increase in the cigarette tax if it means more money for health care.  “If we’re looking at trying to improve the health of individuals and the state, I think we need to look at a tax increase,” said state Sen. Tom Sloan, a Republican.  Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, and several key Republicans have said they will push for health care reform, including a 50-cent per pack increase in the state cigarette tax and an increase in the tax on other tobacco products.  Those would raise nearly $70 million annually and help pay for a five-year, $227 million initiative to expand health coverage for Kansans. If enacted, the tax would increase to $1.29 per pack.  But many legislative leaders, preparing for the session that starts Monday, have said the proposal is too unpopular to pass in an election year.