This edition of&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/category/salina-sees-you">Salina Sees You</a>, brought to you by&nbsp;<a href="https://local.demandforce.com/b/visionsource-drscoleandcooper">Drs. Cooper &amp; Banninger, LLC Family Vision Care</a>&nbsp;(1000 E. Cloud) presents:

Ellie Riekhof (Soprano),&nbsp;Mac Sheforgen (Tenor), Madison Berndt (Soprano),&nbsp;Wyatt Angell (Tenor) and Marcos Lira (Bass) who will be performing at the historic Carnegie Hall in February 2026.&nbsp;

Legend says, a pedestrian on 57th Street sees a musician getting out of a cab and asks, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” Without pause, the artist replies wearily, “Practice.”&nbsp;

These five students have done exactly that.

Each of them share their thoughts, along with their music teacher of how they accomplished a once-and-a-lifetime dream to perform at the Big Apple, alongside musicians from across the world.

This is the first time a total of five students from Salina Central are heading to Carnegie Hall, which breaks the record of students from Central who have gone on this trip in the past.

All said they are super excited to head to New York, with a few of them being their first time ever to the Big Apple.

These students will be performing at the big stage where names such as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, The Beatles and Jay-Z to name a few have performed there.

“I don't think it has even hit us yet, that we are going to New York and it is just unreal at this point," said Angell.

“It is nice to know that I am going to be up there with the best of the best, said Lira.

“I never thought I would get the opportunity, but here we are going to New York!” said Berndt

As part of the process of getting selected to perform at Carnegie Hall, the students took songs they have previously prepared and recorded it again before sending it to the <a href="https://theinternationalchoir.com/">International Choir</a>.

Additionally, the students added their accomplishments and a selection of musical pieces they have performed before they were selected to perform at the historical venue.

Before the students met the requirements, their music teacher Ryan Holmquist nominated the students he thought could have a good chance of being selected.

Holmquist stated this is most amount of students he has taught who are going to Carnegie Hall.

“It makes my job pretty easy, to work with students who really excel at what they do and they are pretty self-motivated," Holmquist said. "This is very special group of students.”

Around one student in 2019 and a couple of students, post COVID-19 pandemic have performed at Carnegie Hall under Holmquist. Holmquist is in his 21st year of teaching and 18 years being apart of the music department at Central.

The students stated what they are looking forward to the most about performing at Carnegie Hall.

“I am excited to see how that stage feels, because we all have never performed in front of crowd of that magnitude," said Lira.

“I mostly wonder how it will sound in there and I can’t wait to see all the lights and everything that is apart of the venue," said Berndt.

“I am sure once we get there it’s going to fully hit us that we are here, it’s pretty surreal," said&nbsp;Sheforgen.

This edition of Salina Sees You is brought to you by&nbsp;<a href="https://local.demandforce.com/b/visionsource-drscoleandcooper">Drs. Cooper &amp; Banninger, LLC Family Vision Care</a>&nbsp;(1000 E. Cloud). Call&nbsp;(785) 823-6391&nbsp;or visit today, to make an appointment.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, "a threefold cord is not quickly broken" in the context of when people work together, it creates a great reward.

The friendship of these students go way back to their middle school days. They have grown up and worked together in music for awhile. The students gave their comments on how it will feel going to the big stage with each other.

“I am excited to go with this group, I have been friends with them for a long time," said&nbsp;Sheforgen.&nbsp;

“Auditioning with this group, definitely made me more confident in myself, because constantly each and every one of us have just always lifted ourselves up," said Lira.

“It all contributes to a really special relationship we have with each other. It is going to be amazing and I can’t wait to spend this time with them," said Berndt.

The students will meet all the members of the International Choir and rehearse with a world-renowned conductor. They will then perform the concert in front of thousands towards the end of the first week of February 2026.

Riekhof is currently committed to play softball at St. Olaf College, and plans to be apart of the choir at St. Olaf. She also plans to pursue a music education and vocal education career as well.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Sheforgen plans to attend college and study journalism. He is considering being apart of theatre and/or choir as well.

Berndt is committed to Kansas State University and plans to be apart of their choir program. She also plans to obtain a degree in media.

Angell plans on attending law school, but is considering being apart of a church choir when he gets older.

Lira plans to attend Bethany College to study being a History or English teacher, but will also consider choir and theatre as well.

Salina sees you,&nbsp;Riekhof,&nbsp;Sheforgen,&nbsp;Berndt,&nbsp;Angell and&nbsp;Lira.

If you would like to share your personal story or know anyone who may have a story that will inspire each reader, please email Salina Post News Director, Nicolas Fierro:&nbsp;nicolas.fierro@eaglemedia.com&nbsp;or&nbsp;newstips@salinapost.com&nbsp;(during regular business hours).

You can also contact:&nbsp;(785) 656-9856&nbsp;(during regular business hours).

Salina Sees You: Five Salina Central seniors to perform at historic Carnegie Hall

The annual Frosty Fun Runs by <a href="https://www.bbbssalina.org/">Big Brothers Big Sisters of Salina</a>&nbsp;is this weekend and get all your race essentials a day early here at our station, Eagle Radio Center!

Pick up will run from 8:30 am - 5:30 am at Eagle Radio Center (1825 S. Ohio St.).

Frosty Fun Runs start on Saturday, November 22 from 7:30 am - 10:00 am.

For more information, visit:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbbssalina.org/frosty.html">https://www.bbbssalina.org/frosty.html</a>

Stop by Eagle Radio Center to get your race essentials for Frosty Fun Runs!

The Salina Police Department (SPD) has announced that a deceased body was found and recovered in a wooded area near the YMCA building.

According to SPD, at 10:43 am on Thursday, dispatch&nbsp;was contacted about a deceased individual located in the wooded area between The YMCA, 570 YMCA Dr. and Kenwood Park Dr. 

Officers with SPD and members of the Salina Fire Department (SFD) responded and located the individual in the dry creek bed. The individual was evidently deceased and appeared to have been there for several days. 

No indication of foul play has been found at this time, and an autopsy will be conducted.

Currently the decedent's name is not being released pending identification and notification of next of kin.

Salina Post will provide updates.

Deceased body found and recovered in wooded area near YMCA

SALINE COUNTY - A Texas man was arrested after going over 130 mph with no headlights in Saline County.

According to the Saline County Sheriff's Office just a little over midnight on Thursday, a deputy was near the south county line around milepost 86, searching for a vehicle (2013 BMW) that had been reportedly speeding northbound on I-135 with no lights on.

The deputy found the vehicle speeding at approximately 135 mph in Saline County and pursued. After an attempted stop, the vehicle continued northbound on I-135 with no lights on.

After some time, the vehicle then went west on I-70 and continued until eventually pulling over at exit 209 in Ellsworth county.

The driver identified as Hunter Sims (22) of Denton, TX was arrested.

Sheriff's Office placed requested charges of:

Reckless Driving, Speeding, Registration Violation, Driving with no Headlights and Felony Flee and Elude.

Texas man arrested after going over 130 mph with no headlights in Saline County

A social media interaction between a man and woman, results in the man threatening to post "inappropriate photos" from the woman, if she did not send him money.

According to the Salina Police Department (SPD), a 30-year old woman reported she had been in communication with a man on TikTok for about 2 weeks.&nbsp;

Throughout the span of their interactions, SPD stated the woman sent "inappropriate photos" to the man. After some time, she told the man if he can delete them, but said he would not only if she sent him money.

He also threatened he would post the photos if she did not send him money.

The woman then sent him a $250 in Apple gift cards.&nbsp;

After she sent the gift cards, she contacted SPD about the incident.

SPD Captain James Feldman said on behalf of the police department, they want to remind everyone to be careful of the things you send to people, especially if you don't know them personally.

"You don't own what you sent anymore and you have no control over what the individual will do with it," said Feldman.

Social media interaction results in man threatening to post "inappropriate photos" from woman 

OCCK, Inc. Transportation, including Salina CityGo, 81 Connection, Regional Paratransit, GoAbilene, GoConcordia, KanConnect, and OCCK OnDemand public transportation, will be closed on Thursday, November 27 for Thanksgiving.&nbsp;

CityGo service will resume on Black Friday, November 28, 2025, with hours of operation from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.&nbsp;

Regional Paratransit, GoAbilene, and GoConcordia services will be running reduced trips on Friday. 81 Connection, KanConnect, and OCCK OnDemand will be running regular routes on Friday.

Transportation services will resume normal operating hours on Saturday, November 29th.&nbsp;

For more information about OCCK, Inc., visit&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.occk.com/">www.occk.com</a>.&nbsp;

For more information about CityGo and OCCK Transportation, visit&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.salinacitygo.com/">www.salinacitygo.com</a>&nbsp;Or, contact the OCCK Transportation Center at 785-826-1583.

OCCK Transportation will be closed for Thanksgiving, reduced hours on Black Friday

Following is recent booking activity for the Saline County Jail, as provided by law enforcement. Photos, if provided, are courtesy of Saline County Jail. All persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

NAME:&nbsp;Barnes, Edwanna Machelle

REQUESTED CHARGE:&nbsp;Driving While Suspended

NAME:&nbsp;Esquivel, Tanisha Denya

REQUESTED CHARGE:&nbsp;Failure to appear

REQUESTED CHARGE:&nbsp;Probation Violation

NAME:&nbsp;Masaniai, Leileonna Genevieve Alisa

REQUESTED CHARGES:&nbsp;Domestic Battery: rude physical contact; Robbery

REQUESTED CHARGE:&nbsp;Violation of protection order; Unknown circumstance

REQUESTED CHARGE:&nbsp;Outside warrant/NCIC hit

*No image available for Sims, Hunter Shane*

REQUESTED CHARGE:&nbsp;Flee or attempt to elude; motor vehicle accident or damage property; Drive w/o lights when needed; Reckless Driving; Speeding; maximum limits

REQUESTED CHARGE:&nbsp;Aggravated kidnapping; Domestic Battery: rude physical contact; Agg robbery; Inflicts bodily harm

Saline County Jail Bookings, November 20

LINDSBORG - The Red Barn Studio Museum in Lindsborg welcomes Megan Coleman-Watkin of New Orleans, Louisiana, as Artist-in-Residence from November 16 through December 7.

Working in writing, Megan will spend her residency creating a series of essays based on conversations with Lindsborg artists about their work, creativity, and how art contributes to healing and community.&nbsp;

Megan is a licensed mental health provider and lifelong artist who uses her background in psychology, social work, and the arts to explore how creative expression supports emotional well-being. Her residency project will combine written essays with recorded interviews to document the stories of Lindsborg artists and their connection to place.&nbsp;

For more information, contact raymer@redbarnstudio.org or call 785-227-2217.

Red Barn Studio Museum welcomes New Orleans artist, creating series of essays based on conversations with Lindsborg artists 

LINCOLN, NE - The Nebraska Ag Expo, a trailblazer in advancing agricultural innovation and host of Innovation Hub – a dynamic center for groundbreaking technologies and forward-thinking ag solutions – has invited 6 companies to compete for cash prizes during the Startup Showcase at Innovation After Hours.

The expo will take place on December 9-11&nbsp;at the Sandhills Global Event Center (4100 N 84th St.)

The times will be Tuesday-Wednesday (9:00 am - 4:00 pm).

Many people in the Saline County/Salina area have attended this expo in the past.

Innovation After Hours is an exclusive evening event showcasing talented innovation and technology entrepreneurs for venture capitalists. Attendees will connect with startups, investors, and executives from innovative ag companies, as well as partners from across the country and beyond.

Company (Headquarters) – Description (website)

• Agriwater (Tennessee) – Agriwater transforms livestock, dairy, hog, and feedlot manure into profit with a patent-pending mobile water treatment system. (<a href="https://www.agriwater.tech/">agriwater.tech</a>)

• DARO (Nebraska) – DARO provides whole-herd, non-invasive molecular pathogen and genomic strain surveillance, enabling early disease detection and outbreak prevention in livestock. (<a href="https://www.usedaro.com/">usedaro.com</a>)

• Landoption (Nebraska) – Landoption makes land recruitment more efficient for conservation, renewable energy, and agricultural programs by leveraging trusted networks, reducing costs and time, and ultimately enabling more competitive offers to landowners. (<a href="http://landoption.com">landoption.com</a>)

• Oaken (Indiana) – Oaken is a cloud-based software platform that streamlines farmland lease management and landowner relationships for agribusinesses. (<a href="http://oaken.ag">oaken.ag</a>)

• Picketa Systems (Canada) – Picketa Systems offers real-time plant analysis for precision nutrient management. (<a href="http://picketa.com">picketa.com</a>)

• Senseen (California) – Senseen builds real-time, in-field diagnostic tools to help farmers make better decisions. (<a href="https://www.senseen.us/">https://www.senseen.us/</a>)

Innovation After Hours is presented by Farm Credit Services of America, Iowa Nebraska Equipment Dealers Association, Grit Road Partners, Invest Nebraska, The Combine, and Nebraska Innovation Campus.

For more details about the Nebraska Ag Expo visit: <a href="https://nebraskaagexpo.com">https://nebraskaagexpo.com</a>

Nebraska Ag Expo calling all local agriculturalists to attend three-day event

After the breaking news surfaced that the US Federal Court ruled the Cozy Inn can keep their&nbsp;UFO-themed mural, Salina Commissioners "may" issue comments in the next city commission meeting.

"We’re not going to have any official comment other than the <a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/3465160f-9f32-4640-8781-f1bf6a57fcc7">city’s recent press release</a> regarding the case. That may change after our executive session this coming Monday," said Salina Mayor, Greg Lenkiewicz.

The current commissioners, Lenkiewicz, Jerry Ivey, Trent Davis, Bill Longbine and Michael Hoppock, along with the City of Salina, were named as defendants in the lawsuit that the Cozy Inn filed on February 2024.&nbsp;

The next Salina city commission meeting will take place on Monday, November 24 at&nbsp;4:00 pm&nbsp;inside&nbsp;Room 107&nbsp;of the&nbsp;City-County Building,&nbsp;300 West Ash Street.

Salina Commissioners 'may' give comments about Cozy Inn lawsuit ruling in next commission meeting

KWU announced Wednesday morning that the 2026 version of Night with the Yotes, one of the university's marquee events, will be held on Friday, Feb. 20. 

Tickets will go on sale in the near future.&nbsp;Last year, more than 600 people attended and 75 corporate sponsors helped the university raise in excess of $200,000. That set a new high water mark in the event's 14 years.&nbsp;

Continued sound and light upgrades to Sams Chapel, long-term planning for KWU's strength and conditioning areas and general upgrades for Art and Design, Theatre and DECA were among the specific areas supported.

For more information on Night with the Yotes 2026, stay tuned to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kwu.edu/NWTY26">www.kwu.edu/NWTY26</a>&nbsp;or call the university's Advancement Office at 785-833-4392. You can also contact KWU Advancement to donate or support the event.

KWU announces date for 2026 Night with the Yotes

The US National Weather Service (USNWS) has issued Saline County a "Dense Fog" advisory until 11:00 am Wednesday morning.

The USNWS posted on Facebook&nbsp;a screenshot from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), of dense fog along I-70 near mile marker 229, at Lincoln Hill in central KS at 7:46 am (see above).

Please be cautious on the roads and drive safely during this advisory.

Monitor local weather updates frequently in multiple ways by listening to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weather.gov/nwr/">NOAA Weather Radio</a>, checking local news and emergency notifications. You can also stay informed by following Saline County and the National Weather Service on social media.

For the latest forecast updates, visit the National Weather Service Wichita office at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weather.gov/ict/">https://www.weather.gov/ict/</a>. To check forecasts frequently, go to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weather.gov/">weather.gov</a>.

Saline County under "Dense Fog" advisory Wednesday morning

<a href="https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Salina&amp;state=KS&amp;site=ICT&amp;lat=38.8158&amp;lon=-97.6178">For a full look at the weather forecast, click here.</a>

Three day weather forecast Salina, November 19 - November 21

Three day weather forecast Salina, November 17 - November 19

Four day weather forecast Salina, November 14 - November 17

Three day weather forecast Salina, November 12 - November 14

Three day weather forecast Salina, November 10 - November 12

Four day weather forecast Salina, November 7 - November 10

Three day weather forecast Salina, November 5 - November 7

Three day weather forecast Salina, November 3 - November 5

Three day weather forecast Salina, October 31 - November 2

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/meg-kinnard">MEG KINNARD</a> Associated Press

President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;on Thursday accused half a dozen Democratic lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH” after the lawmakers — all veterans of the armed services and intelligence community — called on U.S. military members to uphold the Constitution and defy “illegal orders.”

(click below to watch the controversial video)

The 90-second video was first posted early Tuesday from Sen.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/slotkin-democratic-response-text-trump-congress-6ba1012264201e715c290da1b8f45bc4">Elissa Slotkin’s</a>&nbsp;X account. In it, the six lawmakers — Slotkin, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, and Reps. Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander and Chrissy Houlahan — speak directly to U.S. service members, whom Slotkin acknowledges are “under enormous stress and pressure right now.”

“The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution,” Slotkin wrote in the X post.

Trump on Thursday reposted messages from others about the video, amplifying it with his own words. It marked another flashpoint in the political rhetoric that at times has been thematic in his administrations, as well as among some in his MAGA base. Some Democrats accused him of acting like a king and trying to distract from the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-jeffrey-epstein-justice-department-4872c23a3ed03bf3d4c526581d3aed59">soon-to-be-released files</a>&nbsp;about disgraced financier and sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein.

With pieces of dialogue spliced together from different members, the lawmakers introduce themselves and their background. They go on to say the Trump administration “is pitting our uniformed military against American citizens. They call for service members to “refuse illegal orders” and “stand up for our laws.”

The lawmakers conclude the video by encouraging service members, “Don’t give up the ship,” a War of 1812-era phrase attributed to a U.S. Navy captain’s dying command to his crew.

Although the lawmakers didn’t mention specific circumstances in the video, its release comes as the Trump administration continues attempts at deployment of National Guard troops into U.S. cities for various roles, although some have been pulled back, and others held up in court.

Are U.S. troops allowed to disobey orders?

Troops, especially uniformed commanders, have a specific obligation to reject an order that’s unlawful, if they make that determination.

However, while commanders have military lawyers on their staffs to consult with in helping make such a determination, rank-and-file troops who are tasked with carrying out those orders are rarely in a similar position.

Broad legal precedence holds that just following orders, colloquially known as the “Nuremberg defense” as it was used unsuccessfully by senior Nazi officials to justify their actions under Adolf Hitler, doesn’t absolve troops.

However, the U.S. military legal code, known as the Uniform Code of Military Justice or UCMJ, will punish troops for failing to follow an order should it turn out to be lawful. Troops can be criminally charged with Article 90 of the UCMJ, willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer, and Article 92, failure to obey an order.

On Thursday, Trump reposted to social media an article about the video, adding his own commentary that it was “really bad, and Dangerous to our Country.”

“SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!!” Trump went on. “LOCK THEM UP???” He called for the lawmakers’ arrest and trial, adding in a separate post that it was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH.”

Trump also reposted more than a dozen comments from other accounts criticizing Democrats, including one that stated “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”

Asked during a White House briefing on Thursday about the intent of Trump’s messages, press secretary Karoline Leavitt instead honed in on the Democrats’ message, which she posited “perhaps is punishable by law.” Leavitt went on to say that any incitement to “defy the chain of command, not to follow lawful orders” is “a very dangerous thing for sitting members of Congress to do, and they should be held accountable, and that’s what the president wants to see.”

Democrats were swift to react to Trump’s words, with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer warning in a floor speech that the president was “lighting a match in a country soaked with political gasoline.”

Speaker Mike Johnson said he did not believe Trump was calling for violence in the social media posts, saying Trump was merely “defining a crime,” and calling the Democrats’ video “wildly inappropriate.”

“Think of the threat that is to our national security and what it means for our institution,” Johnson added.

Trump’s allies balked at the video. On Wednesday on Fox News, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called the messaging “insurrection — plainly, directly, without question” and said it represented “a general call for rebellion from the CIA and the armed services of the United States, by Democrat lawmakers.”

On X, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth commented on the video Tuesday as “Stage 4 TDS,” referring to “Trump Derangement Syndrome” — a term used by Trump to describe voters so angry and opposed to him that they are incapable of seeing any good in what he does.

The Steady State, which describes itself as “a network of 300+ national and homeland security experts standing for strong and principled policy, rule of law, and democracy,” wrote in a Substack post on Thursday that the lawmakers’ call was “only a restatement of what every officer and enlisted servicemember already knows: illegal orders can and should be refused. This is not a political opinion. It is doctrine.”

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell challenged the theory that illegal orders were being issued.

“Our military follows orders, and our civilians give legal orders,” Parnell told The Associated Press on Thursday. “We love the Constitution. These politicians are out of their minds.”

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves and Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.

🎥 See the video that made Trump accuse Dems of ‘sedition, punishable by death'

KANSAS CITY—Law enforcement in Kansas City, Missouri are investigating a deadly Tuesday night shooting have identified the victim as 18-year-old&nbsp;Ke’Ron D. Brown, according to&nbsp;KCPD Captain Jake Becchina.

Just before 11p.m. Tuesday, police were dispatched to a shooting the 8200 block of President Court, according to Becchina.

Several 911 callers heard the sound of gunfire and believed someone had been shot at the apartment complex.

First responders located Brown unresponsive in the parking lot there. Officers called for EMS, who responded and transported him to the hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries. 

Preliminary investigation indicates Brown had an interaction with one or more suspects in the parking lot at the apartment complex there that led to gunfire that struck him. The unknown suspects then left the scene. 

In the early hours of Wednesday, detectives were notified that Brown died at the hospital from his injuries. The KCPD Homicide Unit has taken over the investigation.

Teen identified as KC apartment parking lot homicide victim

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington National Cathedral on Thursday hosted a bipartisan show of respect and remembrance for Dick Cheney, the consequential and polarizing vice president who in later years became an acidic scold of fellow Republican President Donald Trump.

Trump, who has been publicly silent about&nbsp;<a href="https://079591b529f048489650e7569bc675d2/">Cheney’s death Nov. 3</a>, was not invited to the memorial service. <a href="https://www.c-span.org/program/public-affairs-event/funeral-of-vice-president-dick-cheney/669349">Click here to watch a replay of the service.</a>

Two ex-presidents came: Republican George W. Bush, who eulogized the man who served him as vice president, and Democrat Joe Biden, who once called Cheney “the most dangerous vice president we’ve had probably in American history” but now&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dick-cheney-funeral-biden-trump-tradition-58afafb7fbf2a3d1f7380cdf1b9fd70d">honors his commitment</a>&nbsp;to his family and to his values.

“Solid and rare and reliable,” Bush said of his vice president, praising a man whose “talent and his restraint” exceeded his ego. “Smart and polished, without airs.”

Among the eulogists, Liz Cheney, his eldest daughter, only obliquely addressed what amounted to a father-daughter feud with the president — a man her dad had called a “coward” for trying to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.

She spoke of her father’s conviction that when confronted with a choice between defending the country and a political party, the country must come first. “Bonds of party must always yield to the single bond we share as Americans,” she said.

A former high-ranking House member whose Republican political career was shredded by Trump’s MAGA movement, Liz Cheney chose not to speak directly of Trump. She spoke of seeing clouds in the shape of angels just before her father died.

A Who’s Who of Washington without President Trump

Moments before the service began, figures of recent but now receded power mingled: Bush and Biden and their wives sitting in a row together, former Vice Presidents Kamala Harris and Mike Pence chatting side by side in their pew with Al Gore and Dan Quayle together behind them.

Biden greeted Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, the former longtime Senate leader, and his wife, former labor and transportation secretary Elaine Chao. Behind them sat Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker. All gathered in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-church-religion-funeral-cheney-d11870c1ed3bef6a272cd394ca3d9308">grand cathedral</a>&nbsp;known as “a spiritual home for the nation.”

Others delivering tributes at Thursday’s funeral were Cheney’s longtime cardiologist, Jonathan Reiner; former NBC News correspondent Pete Williams, who was Cheney’s spokesman at the Pentagon; and the former vice president’s grandchildren. Six grandchildren were there — a seventh is about to give birth.

“I’m happy to report that I haven’t given many eulogies," Reiner said in his remarks. “Nobody wants a doctor who is great at funerals."

Reiner recalled doctors telling Cheney decades ago, after the first of multiple heart attacks, that he should abandon his political ambitions then. Yet he kept winning elections as a Wyoming congressman for years after that.

Cheney, he said, was always the “calmest person in the room."

Cheney had lived with heart disease for decades and, after the Bush administration, with a heart transplant. He died at age 84 from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, his family said.

Trump's vice president, JD Vance, on stage at another event in the morning, was asked about Cheney and said: “Obviously there’s some political disagreements there but he was a guy who served his country. We certainly wish his family all the best in this moment of grieving."

Vance was also not invited to the funeral, according to a person familiar with the details who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The White House lowered its flags to half-staff after Cheney's death, as it said the law calls for, but Trump did not issue the presidential proclamation that often accompanies the death of notable figures, nor has he commented publicly on his passing.

The deeply conservative Cheney's influence in the Bush administration was legendary and, to his critics, tragic.

He advocated for the U.S. invasion of Iraq on the basis of what proved to be faulty intelligence and consistently defended the extraordinary tools of surveillance, detention and inquisition employed in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Bush credited him with helping to keep the country safe and stable in a perilous time.

After the 2020 election won by Biden, Liz Cheney served as vice chair of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-capitol-riot-hearings-live-updates-eefb79f2cffb705f04bf43ea164db20f">Democratic-led special House committee</a>&nbsp;that investigated the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-confirm-joe-biden-78104aea082995bbd7412a6e6cd13818">Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol</a>. She accused Trump of summoning the violent mob and plunging the nation into “a moment of maximum danger.”

For that, she was stripped of her Republican leadership position and ultimately defeated in a 2022 Republican primary in Wyoming. In a campaign TV ad made for his daughter, Dick Cheney branded Trump a “coward” who “tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him.”

Last year, it&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-cheney-criticism-insurrection-capitol-election-cc4b74dcb34f1df516aa89169a8650d5">did not sit well</a>&nbsp;with Trump when Cheney said he would vote for the Democrat, Harris, in the presidential election.

Trump told Arab and Muslim voters that Dick Cheney’s support for Harris should give them pause, because he “killed more Arabs than any human being on Earth. He pushed Bush, and they went into the Middle East.”

Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

🎥Bipartisan tributes at former Vice President Dick Cheney's funeral 

SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas man accused in the child abuse death of his toddler stepson is due back in court Thursday.

Shawn D. Lewis, 33, is scheduled for an arraignment hearing in Judge Rodger Wood's courtroom, according to the Segwick County District Attorney's office.

Lewis was charged with first degree murder and child abuse in the death of 2-year-old John Landon Delano, according to the District Attorneys office.

On July 3, police responded to Wesley Medical Center after being notified of a two-year-old boy who was brought to the hospital with severe injuries after a reported fall, according to Wichita Police Captain Aaron Moses.

During the investigation, it was determined that the injuries sustained by the child were inconsistent with the facts provided by Lewis who was caring for the child at the time the boy was injured.&nbsp;

Patrol officers and investigators from the Exploited Missing Children’s Unit and the WPD Homicide Unit began investigating this case due to the severity of the injuries.&nbsp;

On July 3, police arrested Lewis, on requested charges of Aggravated Battery, head trauma/permanent and Child Abuse. Two days later, the boy died of his injuries.&nbsp;

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