WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. lawmakers grilled the CEO of TikTok over data security and harmful content Thursday, responding skeptically during a tense committee hearing to his assurances that the hugely popular video-sharing app prioritizes user safety and should not be banned.

Shou Zi Chew's rare public appearance came at a crucial time for the company, which has 150 million American users but is under increasing pressure from U.S. officials. TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, have been swept up in a wider geopolitical battle between Beijing and Washington over trade and technology.

In a bipartisan effort to reign in the power of a major social media platform, Republican and Democratic lawmakers pressed Chew on a host of topics, ranging from TikTok’s content moderation practices, how the company plans to secure American data from Beijing, and its spying on journalists.

“Mr. Chew, you are here because the American people need the truth about the threat TikTok poses to our national and personal security,” Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican, said in her opening statement.

Chew, a 40-year-old Singapore native, told the House Committee on Energy and Commerce that TikTok prioritizes the safety of its young users and denied&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ceo-shou-zi-chew-security-risk-cc36f36801d84fc0652112fa461ef140">it's a national security risk</a>. He reiterated the company’s plan to protect U.S. user data by storing it on servers maintained and owned by the software giant Oracle.

“Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” Chew said.

TikTok has been dogged by claims that its Chinese ownership means user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government or that it could be used to promote narratives favorable to the country's Communist leaders.

In 2019, the Guardian reported that TikTok was instructing its moderators to censor videos that mention Tiananmen Square and images unfavorable to the Chinese government. The platform says it has since changed its moderation practices.

ByteDance admitted in December that it fired four employees last summer who accessed data on two journalists and people connected to them while attempting to uncover the source of a leaked report about the company.

For its part, TikTok has been trying to distance itself from its Chinese origins, saying 60% percent of ByteDance is owned by global institutional investors such as Carlyle Group.

"Ownership is not at the core of addressing these concerns,” Chew said.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-us-tiktok-security-technology-social-media-2245e433b5854010ebd99b7987fc78ca">China has also said it would oppose any U.S. attempts</a>&nbsp;to force ByteDance to sell the app.

In one of the most dramatic moments, Republican Rep. Kat Cammack played a TikTok video that showed a shooting gun with a caption that included the House committee holding the hearing, with the exact date before it was formally announced.

“You expect us to believe that you are capable of maintaining the data security, privacy and security of 150 million Americans where you can’t even protect the people in this room,” Cammack said.

TikTok spokesperson Ben Rathe said the company on Thursday removed the violent video aimed at the committee and banned the account that posted it.

Chew also noted the failure of U.S. social media companies to address the very concerns for which TikTok was being criticized.

“American social companies don’t have a good track record with data privacy and user security,” he said. "Look at Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, just one example.”

As the Energy and Commerce committee questioned Chew, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was questioned about the threat TikTok poses at a separate committee hearing Thursday. Asked by Rep. Ken Buck, a Republican of Colorado, if the platform is a security threat to the United States, Blinken said: “I believe it is.”

“Shouldn’t a threat to United States security be banned?” Buck responded.

“It should be ended one way or another. But there are different ways of doing that,” Blinken responded.

Committee members also showed a host of TikTok videos that encouraged users to harm themselves and commit suicide. Many questioned why the platform’s Chinese counterpart, Douyin, does not carry the same controversial and potentially dangerous content as the American product.

Chew responded that it depends on the laws of the country where the app is operating. He said the company has about 40,000 moderators that track harmful content and an algorithm that flags material.

Wealth management firm Wedbush described the hearing as a “disaster” for TikTok that made a ban more likely if the social media platform doesn't separate from its Chinese parent. Emile El Nems, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, said a ban would benefit TikTok rivals YouTube, Instagram and Snap, “likely resulting in higher revenue share of the total advertising wallet.”

To avoid a ban, TikTok has been trying to sell officials on a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-us-news-business-ap-top-news-hong-kong-4eab38c608901de16e92facc1ed5debd">$1.5 billion plan, Project Texas</a>, which routes all U.S. user data to Oracle. Under the project, access to U.S. data is managed by U.S. employees through a separate entity called TikTok U.S. Data Security, which is run independently of ByteDance and monitored by outside observers.

As of October, all new U.S. user data was being stored inside the country. The company started deleting all historic U.S. user data from non-Oracle servers this month, in a process expected to be completed this year, Chew said.

Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw noted that regardless of what the company does to assure lawmakers it will protect U.S. user data, the Chinese government can still have significant influence over its parent company and ask it to turn over data through its national security laws.

Congress, the White House, U.S. armed forces and more than half of U.S. states have already banned the use of the app from official devices.

But wiping away all the data tracking associated with the platform might prove difficult. In a report released this month, the Cybersecurity company Feroot said so-called tracking pixels from ByteDance, which collect user information, were found on 30 U.S state websites, including some where the app has been banned.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-privacy-cybersecurity-bytedance-china-2dce297f0aed056efe53309bbcd44a04">Other countries</a>&nbsp;including Denmark, Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand, along with the European Union, have already banned TikTok from government-issued devices.

A complete TikTok ban in the U.S. would risk political and popular backlash.

The company sent dozens of popular TikTokers to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to lobby lawmakers to preserve the platform. And a dozen civil right and free speech organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and PEN America, have signed a letter opposing a wholesale TikTok ban, arguing it would set a “dangerous precedent for the restriction of speech."

David Kennedy, a former government intelligence officer who runs the cybersecurity company TrustedSec, said he agrees with restricting TikTok access on government-issued phones but that a nationwide ban might be too extreme.

“We have Tesla in China, we have Microsoft in China, we have Apple in China. Are they going to start banning us now?" Kennedy said. “It could escalate very quickly.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679584159357.png" alt="In one of the most dramatic moments of the hearing, Republican Rep. Kat Cammack played a TikTok video that showed a shooting gun with a caption that included the House committee holding the hearing, with the exact date before it was formally announced.&nbsp;Courtesy House Energy and Commerce Committee" />
 <figcaption>In one of the most dramatic moments of the hearing, Republican Rep. Kat Cammack played a TikTok video that showed a shooting gun with a caption that included the House committee holding the hearing, with the exact date before it was formally announced.&nbsp;Courtesy House Energy and Commerce Committee</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. lawmakers grilled the CEO of TikTok over data security and harmful content Thursday, responding skeptically during a tense committee hearing to his assurances that the hugely popular video-sharing app prioritizes user safety and should not be banned.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/RepKatCammack?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepKatCammack</a> plays TikTok video: &quot;This video has been up for 41 days. It is a direct threat to the chairwoman of this committee, the people in this room and yet it still remains on this platform...&quot; <a href="https://t.co/9yyvBVGwT8">pic.twitter.com/9yyvBVGwT8</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1638923933142458368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 23, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Shou Zi Chew's rare public appearance came at a crucial time for the company, which has 150 million American users but is under increasing pressure from U.S. officials. TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, have been swept up in a wider geopolitical battle between Beijing and Washington over trade and technology.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679580589228.png" alt="Shou Zi Chew -image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Shou Zi Chew -image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>In a bipartisan effort to reign in the power of a major social media platform, Republican and Democratic lawmakers pressed Chew on a host of topics, ranging from TikTok’s content moderation practices, how the company plans to secure American data from Beijing, and its spying on journalists.“Mr. Chew, you are here because the American people need the truth about the threat TikTok poses to our national and personal security,” Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican, said in her opening statement.Chew, a 40-year-old Singapore native, told the House Committee on Energy and Commerce that TikTok prioritizes the safety of its young users and denied&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ceo-shou-zi-chew-security-risk-cc36f36801d84fc0652112fa461ef140">it's a national security risk</a>. He reiterated the company’s plan to protect U.S. user data by storing it on servers maintained and owned by the software giant Oracle.“Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” Chew said.TikTok has been dogged by claims that its Chinese ownership means user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government or that it could be used to promote narratives favorable to the country's Communist leaders.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679603507710.png" alt="Image shown during Thursday's hearing -courtesy House Energy and Commerce Committee" />
 <figcaption>Image shown during Thursday's hearing -courtesy House Energy and Commerce Committee</figcaption>
 </figure>In 2019, the Guardian reported that TikTok was instructing its moderators to censor videos that mention Tiananmen Square and images unfavorable to the Chinese government. The platform says it has since changed its moderation practices.ByteDance admitted in December that it fired four employees last summer who accessed data on two journalists and people connected to them while attempting to uncover the source of a leaked report about the company.For its part, TikTok has been trying to distance itself from its Chinese origins, saying 60% percent of ByteDance is owned by global institutional investors such as Carlyle Group."Ownership is not at the core of addressing these concerns,” Chew said.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-us-tiktok-security-technology-social-media-2245e433b5854010ebd99b7987fc78ca">China has also said it would oppose any U.S. attempts</a>&nbsp;to force ByteDance to sell the app.In one of the most dramatic moments, Republican Rep. Kat Cammack played a TikTok video that showed a shooting gun with a caption that included the House committee holding the hearing, with the exact date before it was formally announced.“You expect us to believe that you are capable of maintaining the data security, privacy and security of 150 million Americans where you can’t even protect the people in this room,” Cammack said.TikTok spokesperson Ben Rathe said the company on Thursday removed the violent video aimed at the committee and banned the account that posted it.Chew also noted the failure of U.S. social media companies to address the very concerns for which TikTok was being criticized.“American social companies don’t have a good track record with data privacy and user security,” he said. "Look at Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, just one example.”As the Energy and Commerce committee questioned Chew, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was questioned about the threat TikTok poses at a separate committee hearing Thursday. Asked by Rep. Ken Buck, a Republican of Colorado, if the platform is a security threat to the United States, Blinken said: “I believe it is.”“Shouldn’t a threat to United States security be banned?” Buck responded.“It should be ended one way or another. But there are different ways of doing that,” Blinken responded.Committee members also showed a host of TikTok videos that encouraged users to harm themselves and commit suicide. Many questioned why the platform’s Chinese counterpart, Douyin, does not carry the same controversial and potentially dangerous content as the American product.Chew responded that it depends on the laws of the country where the app is operating. He said the company has about 40,000 moderators that track harmful content and an algorithm that flags material.Wealth management firm Wedbush described the hearing as a “disaster” for TikTok that made a ban more likely if the social media platform doesn't separate from its Chinese parent. Emile El Nems, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, said a ban would benefit TikTok rivals YouTube, Instagram and Snap, “likely resulting in higher revenue share of the total advertising wallet.”To avoid a ban, TikTok has been trying to sell officials on a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-us-news-business-ap-top-news-hong-kong-4eab38c608901de16e92facc1ed5debd">$1.5 billion plan, Project Texas</a>, which routes all U.S. user data to Oracle. Under the project, access to U.S. data is managed by U.S. employees through a separate entity called TikTok U.S. Data Security, which is run independently of ByteDance and monitored by outside observers.As of October, all new U.S. user data was being stored inside the country. The company started deleting all historic U.S. user data from non-Oracle servers this month, in a process expected to be completed this year, Chew said.Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw noted that regardless of what the company does to assure lawmakers it will protect U.S. user data, the Chinese government can still have significant influence over its parent company and ask it to turn over data through its national security laws.Congress, the White House, U.S. armed forces and more than half of U.S. states have already banned the use of the app from official devices.But wiping away all the data tracking associated with the platform might prove difficult. In a report released this month, the Cybersecurity company Feroot said so-called tracking pixels from ByteDance, which collect user information, were found on 30 U.S state websites, including some where the app has been banned.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-privacy-cybersecurity-bytedance-china-2dce297f0aed056efe53309bbcd44a04">Other countries</a>&nbsp;including Denmark, Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand, along with the European Union, have already banned TikTok from government-issued devices.A complete TikTok ban in the U.S. would risk political and popular backlash.The company sent dozens of popular TikTokers to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to lobby lawmakers to preserve the platform. And a dozen civil right and free speech organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and PEN America, have signed a letter opposing a wholesale TikTok ban, arguing it would set a “dangerous precedent for the restriction of speech."David Kennedy, a former government intelligence officer who runs the cybersecurity company TrustedSec, said he agrees with restricting TikTok access on government-issued phones but that a nationwide ban might be too extreme.“We have Tesla in China, we have Microsoft in China, we have Apple in China. Are they going to start banning us now?" Kennedy said. “It could escalate very quickly.”

🎥 Gun video shocks tense House hearing with TikTok CEO

NEW YORK (AP) —Track and field banned transgender athletes from international competition Thursday, while adopting new regulations that could keep Caster Semenya and other athletes with differences in sex development from competing.

In a pair of decisions expected to stoke outrage, the World Athletics Council adopted the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-swimmers-new-rules-fina-world-governing-body-c17e99d3121fa964336458b57ae266f7">same rules as swimming</a>&nbsp;did last year in deciding to bar athletes who have transitioned from male to female and have gone through male puberty. No such athletes currently compete at the highest elite levels of track.

Another set of updates, for athletes with differences in sex development (DSD), could impact up to 13 current high-level runners, WA President Sebastian Coe said. They include Semenya, a two-time Olympic champion at 800 meters, who has been barred from that event since 2019.

Semenya and others had been able to compete without restrictions in events outside the range of 400 meters through one mile but now will have to undergo hormone-suppressing treatment for six months before competing to be eligible.

Coe conceded there are no easy answers on this topic, which has turned into a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-rights-athletes-ban-kansas-711e121ea0ab00653d61f9dadf9b9c0e">societal lightning rod</a>&nbsp;involving advocates who want people assigned female at birth to be able to compete on even footing and others who don't want to discriminate against transgender and DSD athletes.

“All the decisions we've taken have their challenges,” Coe said. “If that's the case, then we will do what we have done in the past, which is vigorously defend our position. And the overarching principle for me is we will always do what we think is in the best interest of our sport.”

Athletes with sex development differences, such as Semenya and Olympic 200-meter silver medalist Christine Mboma of Namibia, are not transgender, although the two issues share similarities when it comes to sports.

Such athletes were legally identified as female at birth but have a medical condition that leads to some male traits, including high levels of testosterone that World Athletics argues gives them the same kind of unfair advantage as transgender athletes.

Semenya has been running in longer events. She finished 13th in her qualifying heat at 5,000 meters at world championships last year. In a recent interview, she said she was&nbsp;<a href="https://olympics.com/en/news/caster-semenya-adapting-distance-running-coaching-future">aiming to run in the Olympics</a>&nbsp;at a longer distance.

“I’m in the adaptation phase, and my body is starting to fit with it. I’m just enjoying myself at the moment, and things will fall into place at the right time,” the South African runner said.

Now, in order to compete at next year's Olympics, she would have to undergo hormone-suppressing treatment for six months, something she has said she will never do again, having undergone the treatment a decade ago under previous rules.

Mboma, who won her silver in Tokyo two years ago but was out of worlds last year because of an injury, has not publicly stated whether she would be willing to undergo hormone therapy.

Another athlete, Olympic 800-meter silver medalist Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi, also has said she would not undergo treatment. While Semenya struggled at longer distances, Niyonsaba had relative success, winning Diamond League titles at 3,000 and 5,000 meters and running in the 5,000 at the Tokyo Olympics.

Under the new regulations, athletes in the previously “unrestricted” events would have to suppress testosterone levels below 2.5 nanomoles per liter of blood for six months. Ultimately, they would have to stay below those levels for two years.

Previously, athletes with differences in sex development had to lower their testosterone to below 5 nanomoles per liter of blood for at least six months before competing, and the rules only applied to distances between 400 meters and one mile.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679325206316.jpg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) —Track and field banned transgender athletes from international competition Thursday, while adopting new regulations that could keep Caster Semenya and other athletes with differences in sex development from competing.In a pair of decisions expected to stoke outrage, the World Athletics Council adopted the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-swimmers-new-rules-fina-world-governing-body-c17e99d3121fa964336458b57ae266f7">same rules as swimming</a>&nbsp;did last year in deciding to bar athletes who have transitioned from male to female and have gone through male puberty. No such athletes currently compete at the highest elite levels of track.Another set of updates, for athletes with differences in sex development (DSD), could impact up to 13 current high-level runners, WA President Sebastian Coe said. They include Semenya, a two-time Olympic champion at 800 meters, who has been barred from that event since 2019.Semenya and others had been able to compete without restrictions in events outside the range of 400 meters through one mile but now will have to undergo hormone-suppressing treatment for six months before competing to be eligible.Coe conceded there are no easy answers on this topic, which has turned into a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-rights-athletes-ban-kansas-711e121ea0ab00653d61f9dadf9b9c0e">societal lightning rod</a>&nbsp;involving advocates who want people assigned female at birth to be able to compete on even footing and others who don't want to discriminate against transgender and DSD athletes.“All the decisions we've taken have their challenges,” Coe said. “If that's the case, then we will do what we have done in the past, which is vigorously defend our position. And the overarching principle for me is we will always do what we think is in the best interest of our sport.”Athletes with sex development differences, such as Semenya and Olympic 200-meter silver medalist Christine Mboma of Namibia, are not transgender, although the two issues share similarities when it comes to sports.Such athletes were legally identified as female at birth but have a medical condition that leads to some male traits, including high levels of testosterone that World Athletics argues gives them the same kind of unfair advantage as transgender athletes.Semenya has been running in longer events. She finished 13th in her qualifying heat at 5,000 meters at world championships last year. In a recent interview, she said she was&nbsp;<a href="https://olympics.com/en/news/caster-semenya-adapting-distance-running-coaching-future">aiming to run in the Olympics</a>&nbsp;at a longer distance.“I’m in the adaptation phase, and my body is starting to fit with it. I’m just enjoying myself at the moment, and things will fall into place at the right time,” the South African runner said.Now, in order to compete at next year's Olympics, she would have to undergo hormone-suppressing treatment for six months, something she has said she will never do again, having undergone the treatment a decade ago under previous rules.Mboma, who won her silver in Tokyo two years ago but was out of worlds last year because of an injury, has not publicly stated whether she would be willing to undergo hormone therapy.Another athlete, Olympic 800-meter silver medalist Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi, also has said she would not undergo treatment. While Semenya struggled at longer distances, Niyonsaba had relative success, winning Diamond League titles at 3,000 and 5,000 meters and running in the 5,000 at the Tokyo Olympics.Under the new regulations, athletes in the previously “unrestricted” events would have to suppress testosterone levels below 2.5 nanomoles per liter of blood for six months. Ultimately, they would have to stay below those levels for two years.Previously, athletes with differences in sex development had to lower their testosterone to below 5 nanomoles per liter of blood for at least six months before competing, and the rules only applied to distances between 400 meters and one mile.

World track bans transgender athletes from competition

BARTON COUNTY—A home explosion in Great Bend on Wednesday was caused by a gas leak, according to a statement from Deputy Fire Chief Brent Smith.

The explosion occurred at a home in the 700 Block of 10th Street just after 3.m. and critically injured a a man

&nbsp;The victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment. Crews were able to quickly extinguish the fire and secure the scene. Tenth street was closed for approximately an hour while debris was removed from the roadway.

Testing showed that the gas line from the main to the structure was intact and was not leaking, according to Smith.

 There was significant damage to neighboring structures and vehicles. The cause of the explosion was investigated by the Great Bend Fire Department and the Office of the Kansas State Fire Marshal.&nbsp;

Authorities have not released an update on the condition of the man injured in the explosion.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679599027514.png" alt="The cause of the explosion was investigated by the Great Bend Fire Department and the Office of the Kansas State Fire Marshal. Photo courtesy Great Bend Fire and EMS" />
 <figcaption>The cause of the explosion was investigated by the Great Bend Fire Department and the Office of the Kansas State Fire Marshal. Photo courtesy Great Bend Fire and EMS</figcaption>
 </figure>BARTON COUNTY—A home explosion in Great Bend on Wednesday was caused by a gas leak, according to a statement from Deputy Fire Chief Brent Smith.The explosion occurred at a home in the 700 Block of 10th Street just after 3.m. and critically injured a a man&nbsp;The victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment. Crews were able to quickly extinguish the fire and secure the scene. Tenth street was closed for approximately an hour while debris was removed from the roadway.Testing showed that the gas line from the main to the structure was intact and was not leaking, according to Smith. There was significant damage to neighboring structures and vehicles. The cause of the explosion was investigated by the Great Bend Fire Department and the Office of the Kansas State Fire Marshal.&nbsp;Authorities have not released an update on the condition of the man injured in the explosion.

Investigators determine cause of explosion at Kan. home

By JENNIFER SHUTT <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/07/26/gop-support-for-same-sex-marriage-protections-builds-in-u-s-senate/">States Newsroom</a>

WASHINGTON — The CEO of Moderna on Wednesday defended the company’s decision to drastically increase the price of its COVID-19 vaccine later this year, arguing that an expected drop in demand, changes to its distribution process and the overall benefit of the vaccine warrant the higher cost.

That decision was met with bipartisan condemnation from U.S. senators on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Many criticized the decision before noting the federal government invested nearly $2 billion in Moderna’s development of the vaccine as well as providing a collaboration with the National Institutes of Health.

CEO Stéphane Bancel pledged during the hearing that even with the price increasing from less than $30 to about $130 a dose, Moderna would develop a system to provide uninsured or underinsured Americans with the COVID-19 vaccine and boosters at no cost.

Bancel, however, was unable to answer numerous questions from U.S. lawmakers about how the process would work in practice, indicating the company was still working out the broad parameters as well as the details.

Bancel annoyed several members on the panel when he declined to say directly if Moderna would negotiate the new price with the federal government to reduce the cost to taxpayers for COVID-19 vaccines provided through Medicare, Medicaid, or the Veterans Affairs health care system.

Bancel also declined to say if people in the United States would pay less for the vaccine than those in other countries, whose governments didn’t invest in its development.

“The price will depend on the value in each country,” Bancel said. “The cost of health care is different in each country.”

Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin questioned if Moderna’s decision to increase the price of its COVID-19 vaccine was linked to Bancel receiving a recent performance review in which the board said he “underperformed the company’s target for sales income generated by the COVID-19 vaccine.”

Baldwin said the decision to increase the price of the vaccine “appears tied to the impact of your personal performance assessment on your bonus and how much you would stand to gain personally from increasing the price of the COVID vaccine.”

Bancel contended the two were not linked, saying the price of the vaccine is determined by the value of the product and how much money can be saved in the long term through reduced hospital stays. He noted the cost of a high-dose flu vaccine for the elderly costs about $90 and the pneumonia vaccine costs about $240.

Baldwin also asked about Moderna’s stock buybacks, which totaled $3.3 billion in 2022 and more than $800 million in 2021.

“You are one of the, if not the, largest shareholders in Moderna,” Baldwin told Bancel. “Yet, despite spending significantly to buy back stock over the last two years, Moderna’s share price has actually declined. If you had not spent nearly $5 billion on buybacks when your stock was at the highest price it’s ever been, do you think you would be under less pressure to raise the price of COVID vaccine now?”

Bancel declined any connection, saying the vaccine’s “price is not linked to the company’s performance. The price is linked to the value of the product, to the patient and to the impact on the patient. That’s how we set the price.”

Bancel said Moderna believes the price it charged the U.S. government for the COVID-19 vaccine throughout the last couple of years represents a discount, in part because the company wanted to return the investment it got from the U.S. government to develop the vaccine, and in part because the federal government was purchasing in bulk.

Indiana Republican Sen. Mike Braun told Bancel that Moderna’s price increase “is indicative of a much bigger problem facing health care” and expressed frustration that some facets of the health care industry operate like an unregulated utility by not embracing competition or transparency.

Braun challenged Bancel for saying that one of the reasons the price is going up is to account for Moderna moving from the pandemic model, where it distributed the vaccine to the U.S. government through three Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warehouses, to a regular distribution process where it will need to get the vaccine to thousands of locations throughout the country.

“A 400% price increase is preposterous, especially when you’ve been given all this government largess,” Braun said.

Bancel testified Moderna is trying to figure out how it could best set up the new distribution network, noting the company has never had a commercial product.

Christopher Morten, associate clinical professor of law at Columbia Law School, said during his testimony on a second panel that Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine costs just $3 to make. He also criticized the price increase decision, saying Moderna benefited significantly from U.S. taxpayer investment.

“Mr. Bancel claims the value of these vaccines justifies Moderna’s proposed price increase. But his testimony ignored a key question — who created that value?” Morten said. “It was the U.S. government, the American taxpayer that spent billions. It was government scientists that toiled alongside Moderna’s.”

Moderna wasn’t the primary inventor of the three key scientific features of the vaccine, with the federal government providing the company with the specific mRNA sequence used in the vaccine, according to Morten.

The U.S. government also designed and ran the early clinical trials and provided Moderna with money and resources to expand its manufacturing, he said.

“To be clear, Moderna’s scientists and engineers made many contributions of their own, as did many academic scientists. These people and their work deserve credit and celebration too,” Morten said. “But Moderna cannot claim the vaccine’s value for itself.”

By JENNIFER SHUTT <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/07/26/gop-support-for-same-sex-marriage-protections-builds-in-u-s-senate/">States Newsroom</a> WASHINGTON — The CEO of Moderna on Wednesday defended the company’s decision to drastically increase the price of its COVID-19 vaccine later this year, arguing that an expected drop in demand, changes to its distribution process and the overall benefit of the vaccine warrant the higher cost.That decision was met with bipartisan condemnation from U.S. senators on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Many criticized the decision before noting the federal government invested nearly $2 billion in Moderna’s development of the vaccine as well as providing a collaboration with the National Institutes of Health.CEO Stéphane Bancel pledged during the hearing that even with the price increasing from less than $30 to about $130 a dose, Moderna would develop a system to provide uninsured or underinsured Americans with the COVID-19 vaccine and boosters at no cost.Bancel, however, was unable to answer numerous questions from U.S. lawmakers about how the process would work in practice, indicating the company was still working out the broad parameters as well as the details.Bancel annoyed several members on the panel when he declined to say directly if Moderna would negotiate the new price with the federal government to reduce the cost to taxpayers for COVID-19 vaccines provided through Medicare, Medicaid, or the Veterans Affairs health care system.Bancel also declined to say if people in the United States would pay less for the vaccine than those in other countries, whose governments didn’t invest in its development.“The price will depend on the value in each country,” Bancel said. “The cost of health care is different in each country.”<h2>Baldwin questions motives</h2>Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin questioned if Moderna’s decision to increase the price of its COVID-19 vaccine was linked to Bancel receiving a recent performance review in which the board said he “underperformed the company’s target for sales income generated by the COVID-19 vaccine.”Baldwin said the decision to increase the price of the vaccine “appears tied to the impact of your personal performance assessment on your bonus and how much you would stand to gain personally from increasing the price of the COVID vaccine.”Bancel contended the two were not linked, saying the price of the vaccine is determined by the value of the product and how much money can be saved in the long term through reduced hospital stays. He noted the cost of a high-dose flu vaccine for the elderly costs about $90 and the pneumonia vaccine costs about $240.Baldwin also asked about Moderna’s stock buybacks, which totaled $3.3 billion in 2022 and more than $800 million in 2021.“You are one of the, if not the, largest shareholders in Moderna,” Baldwin told Bancel. “Yet, despite spending significantly to buy back stock over the last two years, Moderna’s share price has actually declined. If you had not spent nearly $5 billion on buybacks when your stock was at the highest price it’s ever been, do you think you would be under less pressure to raise the price of COVID vaccine now?”Bancel declined any connection, saying the vaccine’s “price is not linked to the company’s performance. The price is linked to the value of the product, to the patient and to the impact on the patient. That’s how we set the price.”Bancel said Moderna believes the price it charged the U.S. government for the COVID-19 vaccine throughout the last couple of years represents a discount, in part because the company wanted to return the investment it got from the U.S. government to develop the vaccine, and in part because the federal government was purchasing in bulk.<h2>Braun: ‘preposterous’ increase</h2>Indiana Republican Sen. Mike Braun told Bancel that Moderna’s price increase “is indicative of a much bigger problem facing health care” and expressed frustration that some facets of the health care industry operate like an unregulated utility by not embracing competition or transparency.Braun challenged Bancel for saying that one of the reasons the price is going up is to account for Moderna moving from the pandemic model, where it distributed the vaccine to the U.S. government through three Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warehouses, to a regular distribution process where it will need to get the vaccine to thousands of locations throughout the country.“A 400% price increase is preposterous, especially when you’ve been given all this government largess,” Braun said.Bancel testified Moderna is trying to figure out how it could best set up the new distribution network, noting the company has never had a commercial product.<h2>Taxpayer investment</h2>Christopher Morten, associate clinical professor of law at Columbia Law School, said during his testimony on a second panel that Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine costs just $3 to make. He also criticized the price increase decision, saying Moderna benefited significantly from U.S. taxpayer investment.“Mr. Bancel claims the value of these vaccines justifies Moderna’s proposed price increase. But his testimony ignored a key question — who created that value?” Morten said. “It was the U.S. government, the American taxpayer that spent billions. It was government scientists that toiled alongside Moderna’s.”Moderna wasn’t the primary inventor of the three key scientific features of the vaccine, with the federal government providing the company with the specific mRNA sequence used in the vaccine, according to Morten.The U.S. government also designed and ran the early clinical trials and provided Moderna with money and resources to expand its manufacturing, he said.“To be clear, Moderna’s scientists and engineers made many contributions of their own, as did many academic scientists. These people and their work deserve credit and celebration too,” Morten said. “But Moderna cannot claim the vaccine’s value for itself.”

Senate rebukes plan to hike COVID vaccine price to $130 a dose

WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Jill Biden on Wednesday used a Women's History Month event at the White House to call on men to step up and fight to protect women's rights.

(click below to watch the event at the White House)

The first lady, speaking ahead of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, didn't mince words as she lamented that women find themselves relitigating “battles that we thought we had won a long time ago.”

“We need more men to hold each other accountable when women are being hurt or being left behind,” she said.

The Supreme Court declared last June that states can ban abortion. Since then, Republican-controlled legislatures across the country have rolled out regulations shortening the period when a woman can get an abortion and otherwise restricting abortion access.

"The fight for women’s equality should have an end," the first lady said.

President Biden in his remarks vowed that his administration remained focused on improving the economic status of women, and argued that all major issues facing the nation — from public safety to public health — are directly tied to improving women’s economic security and wellbeing.

“We have to recommit to the work ahead to deliver a better future for our nation’s daughters," Biden said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Jill Biden on Wednesday used a Women's History Month event at the White House to call on men to step up and fight to protect women's rights.(click below to watch the event at the White House)<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWhiteHouse%2Fvideos%2F158894350383896%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=299" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>The first lady, speaking ahead of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, didn't mince words as she lamented that women find themselves relitigating “battles that we thought we had won a long time ago.”“We need more men to hold each other accountable when women are being hurt or being left behind,” she said.The Supreme Court declared last June that states can ban abortion. Since then, Republican-controlled legislatures across the country have rolled out regulations shortening the period when a woman can get an abortion and otherwise restricting abortion access."The fight for women’s equality should have an end," the first lady said.President Biden in his remarks vowed that his administration remained focused on improving the economic status of women, and argued that all major issues facing the nation — from public safety to public health — are directly tied to improving women’s economic security and wellbeing.“We have to recommit to the work ahead to deliver a better future for our nation’s daughters," Biden said.

🎥 Jill Biden: It's time for men to step up for women's rights

SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas man involved in a fatal 2021 crash made a court appearance last week.

<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=20021402">Michael Wayne Walker</a>, 34 of Wichita, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, two counts of aggravated battery, and a misdemeanor count of drive while suspended or canceled, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.

In May of 2021, police arrested Walker on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and causing a crash that killed 74-year-old Rita Hawkins of Wichita seriously injuring others.

A vehicle driven by Walker was on the wrong side of the road when the crash occurred, according to Office Charley Davidson. EMS transported Hawkins and two others to hospitals where she died.

Walker is due back in court March 27. He is being held on a $100,000 bond, according to the district attorney's office.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679154950580.png" alt="Walker-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Walker-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas man involved in a fatal 2021 crash made a court appearance last week.<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=20021402">Michael Wayne Walker</a>, 34 of Wichita, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, two counts of aggravated battery, and a misdemeanor count of drive while suspended or canceled, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office. In May of 2021, police arrested Walker on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and causing a crash that killed 74-year-old Rita Hawkins of Wichita seriously injuring others.A vehicle driven by Walker was on the wrong side of the road when the crash occurred, according to Office Charley Davidson. EMS transported Hawkins and two others to hospitals where she died.Walker is due back in court March 27. He is being held on a $100,000 bond, according to the district attorney's office.

Kansas man charged in crash that killed 74-year-old woman

By SHERMAN SMITH <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/22/after-weeks-of-waiting-kansas-survivors-of-child-sex-abuse-eager-for-legislative-hearing/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — Every week since the beginning of the legislative session in
 January, survivors of childhood sexual abuse have staffed a table near 
the main public entrance to the Statehouse.

Every week, they have met with senators and representatives, working 
toward a compromise on legislation that would remove barriers for other 
survivors who seek justice through criminal charges and civil 
litigation.

Every week goes by without a hearing on the bill.

This week, on Thursday, a Senate panel finally plans to hold a hearing on legislation that remains a work in progress. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/sb317/">Senate Bill 317</a>
 would establish a legal climate in Kansas where there is no statute of 
limitations on criminal charges, and where survivors could seek damages 
through civil cases until they turn 31 years old. Under current law, 
children who are victimized by coaches, priests, family members and 
others must file a lawsuit before the age of 21.

Four survivors — Kim Bergman, Tess Ramirez, Lesa Patterson-Kinsey and Joe Cheray — have been prominent fixtures in <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/01/13/survivors-of-sexual-abuse-plead-for-changes-in-kansas-law-that-protects-pedophiles/">the fight for legal reforms</a>,
 although they are joined behind the scenes by dozens of others who long
 for change. The four spoke with Kansas Reflector on Tuesday about their
 concerns with delays in getting a hearing on the bill, and about the 
impact of their work.

They appear at their table armed with educational materials, images 
of themselves as children, and courage. Frequently, others approach them
 to share stories of their own traumatic experience.

After spending a day at the Statehouse, Ramirez said, she basically 
sits on her couch and does nothing the next day “because it’s so 
emotionally tolling that I’m exhausted.”

“It is triggering. It’s hard — still in therapy, probably will be 
there forever to process these things,” Ramirez said. “But in those 
moments, you just want to be there to support that person that’s telling
 the story, because you may be the first person that they’ve told. So in
 that moment, you’re just a sounding board, and you just try to provide 
them a little bit of comfort.”

Bergman said it is “sad and frustrating that people are having to come to us in this situation.”

“We can’t even get a hearing to be able to help people like this,” 
Bergman said. “So, you know, I just — I don’t know. I’ve kind of gotten 
to the frustrated point that I just want a hearing. I want an 
opportunity to be able to share our stories.”

Bergman said she was trying to tame her frustration because she has 
been encouraged by Senate President Ty Masterson’s willingness to 
negotiate.

Past efforts to change Kansas law received hearings in the House but 
met resistance in the Senate. This year, House leaders made it clear 
that any legislation would need to clear Senate hurdles before House 
consideration.

Those hurdles include educating lawmakers on the reality that 
survivors may not be ready to disclose their abuse until they are, on 
average, in their 50s. Some lawmakers simply aren’t comfortable talking 
about the subject. There are misconceptions about false allegations. 
Police were concerned about being blamed for not gathering evidence in 
old crimes.

Then there are discreet lobbying efforts by the Catholic Church, 
which could be vulnerable to lawsuits from years of clergy abuse 
confirmed by <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/01/06/kansas-catholic-clergy-sexual-abuse-investigation-targets-14-suspects-prosecutions-unlikely/">a Kansas Bureau of Investigation report</a> released in January.

Chuck Weber, executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference, declined to talk about proposed legislation for this story.

“Not to you, I’m not going to talk,” Weber said. “You are an unfair reporter. You are biased.”

Survivors had hoped to remove the statute of limitations entirely, 
but they agreed to extend the age by 10 years as part of the 
negotiations in recent weeks.

Still,&nbsp;Cheray said, it felt like lawmakers were trying to “run out the clock” on the session.

“This has been our whole life, having to fight to be heard,” Cheray 
said. “We are making strides. We are a lot further now than we were, 
say, four years ago.”

Sen. Usha Reddi, a first-term Democrat from Manhattan, has worked to advance legislation on behalf of survivors. She <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/state/2020/02/15/secrets-in-our-culture-victims-of-child-sex-abuse-urge-lawmakers-to-take-action/1699685007/">testified in support of similar legislation</a>
 in 2020, when she revealed her father had abused her as a child. At the
 age of 53, she had been able to pursue criminal charges in Virginia.

In an interview for this story, Reddi said she and her brother went 
to her mother’s house when her father was getting arrested, thinking 
they would take her home to live together.

“First thing she said is, ‘Get your dad out of jail.’ So that’s when 
you know, wow, if I did this when I was 8, 9 years old, it would not 
have been very different,” Reddi said. “So I think if that’s happening 
within my own family, how does the Legislature address any of this?

“They still make the person coming out feel like, well, why are you 
doing it now? What are you going to gain from it? Are you going to write
 a book? How are you going to get rich? They see all these ulterior 
motives, even if there isn’t any. And I think that’s what pushes the 
actual conversation aside.”

Reddi said the KBI’s clergy abuse report, which identified 188 
suspects of “criminal acts,” helped create momentum behind legislation 
this session because it showed widespread abuse. She has tried to make 
it clear that this isn’t just about clergy — children can be preyed upon
 by coaches, teachers and others.

“They’re not creepy old men in the woods,” Reddi said. “These are 
people that we work with and trust. And I think that’s the piece that 
people can’t get past.”

Sen. Cindy Holscher, D-Overland Park, said it has been difficult to build support from lawmakers for the bill.

“This isn’t necessarily a topic that people are comfortable talking 
about,” Holscher said. “We’ve had to bring it forward, the survivors 
coming every week talking to legislators.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679496524262.png" alt="Child sex abuse survivors (from left) Tess Ramirez, Joe Cheray, Lesa Patterson-Kinsey and Kim Bergman appear at their advocacy table March 21, 2023, at the Statehouse in Topeka. They have appeared at the Statehouse and met with lawmakers every week since the start of the session in hopes of passing a law to remove barriers to criminal and civil litigation. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Child sex abuse survivors (from left) Tess Ramirez, Joe Cheray, Lesa Patterson-Kinsey and Kim Bergman appear at their advocacy table March 21, 2023, at the Statehouse in Topeka. They have appeared at the Statehouse and met with lawmakers every week since the start of the session in hopes of passing a law to remove barriers to criminal and civil litigation. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By SHERMAN SMITH <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/22/after-weeks-of-waiting-kansas-survivors-of-child-sex-abuse-eager-for-legislative-hearing/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — Every week since the beginning of the legislative session in
 January, survivors of childhood sexual abuse have staffed a table near 
the main public entrance to the Statehouse.Every week, they have met with senators and representatives, working 
toward a compromise on legislation that would remove barriers for other 
survivors who seek justice through criminal charges and civil 
litigation.Every week goes by without a hearing on the bill.They are frustrated.This week, on Thursday, a Senate panel finally plans to hold a hearing on legislation that remains a work in progress. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/sb317/">Senate Bill 317</a>
 would establish a legal climate in Kansas where there is no statute of 
limitations on criminal charges, and where survivors could seek damages 
through civil cases until they turn 31 years old. Under current law, 
children who are victimized by coaches, priests, family members and 
others must file a lawsuit before the age of 21.Four survivors — Kim Bergman, Tess Ramirez, Lesa Patterson-Kinsey and Joe Cheray — have been prominent fixtures in <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/01/13/survivors-of-sexual-abuse-plead-for-changes-in-kansas-law-that-protects-pedophiles/">the fight for legal reforms</a>,
 although they are joined behind the scenes by dozens of others who long
 for change. The four spoke with Kansas Reflector on Tuesday about their
 concerns with delays in getting a hearing on the bill, and about the 
impact of their work.They appear at their table armed with educational materials, images 
of themselves as children, and courage. Frequently, others approach them
 to share stories of their own traumatic experience.After spending a day at the Statehouse, Ramirez said, she basically 
sits on her couch and does nothing the next day “because it’s so 
emotionally tolling that I’m exhausted.”“It is triggering. It’s hard — still in therapy, probably will be 
there forever to process these things,” Ramirez said. “But in those 
moments, you just want to be there to support that person that’s telling
 the story, because you may be the first person that they’ve told. So in
 that moment, you’re just a sounding board, and you just try to provide 
them a little bit of comfort.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679496591564.png" alt="Kim Bergman stands next to a chart that shows how most of her abuser’s victims were unable to seek justice because of the statute of limitations on child sex crimes and civil litigation in Kansas. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Kim Bergman stands next to a chart that shows how most of her abuser’s victims were unable to seek justice because of the statute of limitations on child sex crimes and civil litigation in Kansas. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>Bergman said it is “sad and frustrating that people are having to come to us in this situation.”“We can’t even get a hearing to be able to help people like this,” 
Bergman said. “So, you know, I just — I don’t know. I’ve kind of gotten 
to the frustrated point that I just want a hearing. I want an 
opportunity to be able to share our stories.”Bergman said she was trying to tame her frustration because she has 
been encouraged by Senate President Ty Masterson’s willingness to 
negotiate.Past efforts to change Kansas law received hearings in the House but 
met resistance in the Senate. This year, House leaders made it clear 
that any legislation would need to clear Senate hurdles before House 
consideration.Those hurdles include educating lawmakers on the reality that 
survivors may not be ready to disclose their abuse until they are, on 
average, in their 50s. Some lawmakers simply aren’t comfortable talking 
about the subject. There are misconceptions about false allegations. 
Police were concerned about being blamed for not gathering evidence in 
old crimes.Then there are discreet lobbying efforts by the Catholic Church, 
which could be vulnerable to lawsuits from years of clergy abuse 
confirmed by <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/01/06/kansas-catholic-clergy-sexual-abuse-investigation-targets-14-suspects-prosecutions-unlikely/">a Kansas Bureau of Investigation report</a> released in January.Chuck Weber, executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference, declined to talk about proposed legislation for this story.“Not to you, I’m not going to talk,” Weber said. “You are an unfair reporter. You are biased.”Survivors had hoped to remove the statute of limitations entirely, 
but they agreed to extend the age by 10 years as part of the 
negotiations in recent weeks.Still,&nbsp;Cheray said, it felt like lawmakers were trying to “run out the clock” on the session.“This has been our whole life, having to fight to be heard,” Cheray 
said. “We are making strides. We are a lot further now than we were, 
say, four years ago.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679496629215.png" alt="Sen. Usha Reddi says abusers are “people that we work with and trust,” not just “creepy old men in the woods.” (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Sen. Usha Reddi says abusers are “people that we work with and trust,” not just “creepy old men in the woods.” (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>Sen. Usha Reddi, a first-term Democrat from Manhattan, has worked to advance legislation on behalf of survivors. She <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/state/2020/02/15/secrets-in-our-culture-victims-of-child-sex-abuse-urge-lawmakers-to-take-action/1699685007/">testified in support of similar legislation</a>
 in 2020, when she revealed her father had abused her as a child. At the
 age of 53, she had been able to pursue criminal charges in Virginia.In an interview for this story, Reddi said she and her brother went 
to her mother’s house when her father was getting arrested, thinking 
they would take her home to live together.“First thing she said is, ‘Get your dad out of jail.’ So that’s when 
you know, wow, if I did this when I was 8, 9 years old, it would not 
have been very different,” Reddi said. “So I think if that’s happening 
within my own family, how does the Legislature address any of this?“They still make the person coming out feel like, well, why are you 
doing it now? What are you going to gain from it? Are you going to write
 a book? How are you going to get rich? They see all these ulterior 
motives, even if there isn’t any. And I think that’s what pushes the 
actual conversation aside.”Reddi said the KBI’s clergy abuse report, which identified 188 
suspects of “criminal acts,” helped create momentum behind legislation 
this session because it showed widespread abuse. She has tried to make 
it clear that this isn’t just about clergy — children can be preyed upon
 by coaches, teachers and others.“They’re not creepy old men in the woods,” Reddi said. “These are 
people that we work with and trust. And I think that’s the piece that 
people can’t get past.”Sen. Cindy Holscher, D-Overland Park, said it has been difficult to build support from lawmakers for the bill.“This isn’t necessarily a topic that people are comfortable talking 
about,” Holscher said. “We’ve had to bring it forward, the survivors 
coming every week talking to legislators.”

Survivors of child sex abuse eager for Kan. legislative hearing

LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri prosecutor has announced plans to seek the death penalty against a Kansas City man charged with fatally shooting a police officer during a traffic stop.

Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson said Tuesday that Joshua Rocha could qualify under Missouri law for the punishment because the July 2022 killing of North Kansas City police officer Daniel Vasquez was "wantonly vile,” the victim was a law enforcement officer and Rocha was seeking to avoid arrest.

Rocha is charged with first degree murder and armed criminal action in the killing.

According to a probable cause statement, Rocha told police after his arrest that he shot the 32-year-old officer because he didn’t want to go to jail or have his vehicle towed.

Rocha told police he was on his way to buy ammunition for a rifle he had in the vehicle when he was stopped.

Vasquez’s dashcam video shows Rocha shooting the officer once in the face after partially opening the car door, then stepping out and firing two more shots at Vasquez, who was lying on the ground, according to the statement.

The prosecutor’s office has not pursued the death penalty for a defendant since 1994, about 28 years ago, Thompson said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658339821213.png" alt="Rocha-photo Clay Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Rocha-photo Clay Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri prosecutor has announced plans to seek the death penalty against a Kansas City man charged with fatally shooting a police officer during a traffic stop.Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson said Tuesday that Joshua Rocha could qualify under Missouri law for the punishment because the July 2022 killing of North Kansas City police officer Daniel Vasquez was "wantonly vile,” the victim was a law enforcement officer and Rocha was seeking to avoid arrest.Rocha is charged with first degree murder and armed criminal action in the killing.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658265015795.png" alt="Daniel Vasquez-photo North Kansas City Police" />
 <figcaption>Daniel Vasquez-photo North Kansas City Police</figcaption>
 </figure>According to a probable cause statement, Rocha told police after his arrest that he shot the 32-year-old officer because he didn’t want to go to jail or have his vehicle towed.Rocha told police he was on his way to buy ammunition for a rifle he had in the vehicle when he was stopped.Vasquez’s dashcam video shows Rocha shooting the officer once in the face after partially opening the car door, then stepping out and firing two more shots at Vasquez, who was lying on the ground, according to the statement.The prosecutor’s office has not pursued the death penalty for a defendant since 1994, about 28 years ago, Thompson said.

Prosecutor to seek death penalty in Kansas City officer's death

WASHINGTON (AP) — The CEO of TikTok made a rare public appearance Thursday before a U.S. Congressional committee, where he faced a grilling on data security and user safety while he makes his own case for why the hugely popular video-sharing app shouldn't be banned.

<a href="https://fb.watch/js6hfEAuaY/">Click here to&nbsp;</a>watch the hearing

Shou Zi Chew's testimony comes at a crucial time for the company, which has acquired 150 million American users but is under increasing pressure from U.S. officials. TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have been swept up in a wider geopolitical battle between Beijing and Washington over trade and technology.

In her opening statement, Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican, assailed the social platform's trustworthiness because of its close ties to Beijing.

“Mr. Chew, you are here because the American people need the truth about the threat TikTok poses to our national and personal security,” McMorris Rodgers said. "TikTok has repeatedly chosen a path for more control, more surveillance and more manipulation.”

Chew, a 40-year-old Singapore native, will tell the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce that TikTok prioritizes the safety of its young users and deny&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-bytedance-china-biden-administration-14ef5f93dc2114e4ade110b2e85433fd">allegations that the app is a national security risk</a>, according to his prepared remarks released ahead of the hearing.

“There are many misconceptions about our company and I’m very proud to come here and represent them and all our users in this country,” Chew told reporters before entering the hearing.

On Wednesday, the company sent dozens of popular TikTokers to Capitol Hill to lobby lawmakers to preserve the platform. It has also been putting up ads all over Washington that tout promises of securing users data and privacy and creating a safe platform for its young users.

“We understand the popularity of Tiktok, we get that,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “But the President’s job is to make sure again that the Americans, national security is protected as well. ”

For its part, TikTok has been trying to distance itself from its Chinese origins, saying that 60% percent of its parent company ByteDance is owned by global institutional investors such as Carlyle Group. ByteDance was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs in Beijing in 2012.

A U.S. ban on an app would be unprecedented and it’s unclear how the government would go about enforcing it.

Experts says officials could try to force Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores, preventing new users from downloading it as well as preventing existing users from updating it, ultimately rendering it useless.

The U.S. could also block access to TikTok’s infrastructure and data, seize its domain names or force internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon to filter TikTok data traffic, said Ahmed Ghappour, a criminal law and computer security expert who teachers at Boston University School of Law.

But a tech savvy user could still get around restrictions by using a virtual private network to make it appear the user is in another country where it's not blocked, he said.

To avoid a ban, TikTok has been trying to sell officials on a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-us-news-business-ap-top-news-hong-kong-4eab38c608901de16e92facc1ed5debd">$1.5 billion plan called Project Texas</a>, which routes all U.S. user data to domestic servers owned and maintained by software giant Oracle. Under the project, access to U.S. data is managed by U.S. employees through a separate entity called TikTok U.S. Data Security, which employs 1,500 people, is run independently of ByteDance and would be monitored by outside observers.

As of October, all new U.S. user data was being stored inside the country. The company started deleting all historic U.S. user data from non-Oracle servers this month, in a process expected to be completed later this year, Chew said.

Generally, researchers have said TikTok behaves like other social media companies when it comes to data collection. In an analysis released in 2021, the University of Toronto’s nonprofit Citizen Lab found TikTok and Facebook collect similar amounts of user data, including device identifiers that can be used to track a user and other information that can piece together a user’s behavior, all valuable information for advertisers.

To block such tracking, Congress, the White House, U.S. armed forces and more than half of U.S. states have banned the use of the app from official devices.

But wiping away all the data tracking associated with the platform might prove to be difficult. In a report released this month, the Cybersecurity company Feroot said so-called tracking pixels from ByteDance, which collect user information, were found on 30 U.S state websites, including some where the app has been banned for official use.

Other countries including Denmark, Canada, and New Zealand, along with the European Union, have already banned TikTok from devices issued to government employees, citing cybersecurity concerns.

David Kennedy, a former government intelligence officer who runs the cybersecurity company TrustedSec, agrees with restricting TikTok access on government-issued phones because they might contain sensitive military information or other confidential material. A nationwide ban, however, might be too extreme, he said. He also wondered where it might lead.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The CEO of TikTok will make a high-profile appearance Thursday before a U.S. Congressional committee, where he'll face a grilling on data security and user safety while he makes his own case for why the hugely popular video-sharing app shouldn't be banned.

<a href="https://fb.watch/js6hfEAuaY/">Click here to </a>watch the hearing

<a href="https://d1dth6e84htgma.cloudfront.net/Shou_Chew_Bio_fd1abc17e1.pdf?updated_at=2023-03-21T23:58:13.616Z">Shou Zi Chew</a>'s testimony comes at a crucial time for the company, which has acquired 150 million American users but is under increasing pressure from U.S. officials. TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have been swept up in a wider geopolitical battle between Beijing and Washington over trade and technology.

Chew, a 40-year-old Singapore native, is making a rare public appearance to counter the volley of accusations that TikTok has been facing. On Wednesday, the company sent dozens of popular TikTokers to Capitol Hill&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-china-62ebef6be3c10e66d7f69f7f6d254700">to lobby lawmakers</a>&nbsp;to preserve the platform. It has also been putting up ads all over Washington that tout promises of securing users data and privacy and creating a safe platform for its young users.

<a href="https://d1dth6e84htgma.cloudfront.net/Written_Testimony_of_Shou_Chew_c07504eccf_084e8683f3.pdf?updated_at=2023-03-22T03:10:22.760Z">Chew plans to tell </a>the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce that TikTok prioritizes the safety of its young users and deny&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-bytedance-china-biden-administration-14ef5f93dc2114e4ade110b2e85433fd">allegations that the app is a national security risk</a>, according to his prepared remarks released ahead of the hearing.

A number of Western countries including Denmark, Canada, and New Zealand, along with the European Union,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/why-is-tiktok-being-banned-7d2de01d3ac5ab2b8ec2239dc7f2b20d">have already banned TikTok from devices</a>&nbsp;issued to government employees, citing cybersecurity concerns.

In the U.S., the federal government, Congress, the armed forces and more than half of states have banned the app from official devices.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679580195331.png" alt="Shou Zi Chew during Thursday's hearing -image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Shou Zi Chew during Thursday's hearing -image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The CEO of TikTok made a rare public appearance Thursday before a U.S. Congressional committee, where he faced a grilling on data security and user safety while he makes his own case for why the hugely popular video-sharing app shouldn't be banned.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FCSPAN%2Fvideos%2F212799924761754%2F&show_text=true&width=560&t=0" width="560" height="429" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div><a href="https://fb.watch/js6hfEAuaY/">Click here to&nbsp;</a>watch the hearingShou Zi Chew's testimony comes at a crucial time for the company, which has acquired 150 million American users but is under increasing pressure from U.S. officials. TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have been swept up in a wider geopolitical battle between Beijing and Washington over trade and technology.In her opening statement, Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican, assailed the social platform's trustworthiness because of its close ties to Beijing.“Mr. Chew, you are here because the American people need the truth about the threat TikTok poses to our national and personal security,” McMorris Rodgers said. "TikTok has repeatedly chosen a path for more control, more surveillance and more manipulation.”Chew, a 40-year-old Singapore native, will tell the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce that TikTok prioritizes the safety of its young users and deny&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-bytedance-china-biden-administration-14ef5f93dc2114e4ade110b2e85433fd">allegations that the app is a national security risk</a>, according to his prepared remarks released ahead of the hearing.“There are many misconceptions about our company and I’m very proud to come here and represent them and all our users in this country,” Chew told reporters before entering the hearing.On Wednesday, the company sent dozens of popular TikTokers to Capitol Hill to lobby lawmakers to preserve the platform. It has also been putting up ads all over Washington that tout promises of securing users data and privacy and creating a safe platform for its young users.TikTok has been dogged by claims that its Chinese ownership means user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government or that it could be used to promote narratives favorable to the country's Communist leaders.“We understand the popularity of Tiktok, we get that,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “But the President’s job is to make sure again that the Americans, national security is protected as well. ”For its part, TikTok has been trying to distance itself from its Chinese origins, saying that 60% percent of its parent company ByteDance is owned by global institutional investors such as Carlyle Group. ByteDance was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs in Beijing in 2012.“Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” Chew said.A U.S. ban on an app would be unprecedented and it’s unclear how the government would go about enforcing it.Experts says officials could try to force Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores, preventing new users from downloading it as well as preventing existing users from updating it, ultimately rendering it useless.The U.S. could also block access to TikTok’s infrastructure and data, seize its domain names or force internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon to filter TikTok data traffic, said Ahmed Ghappour, a criminal law and computer security expert who teachers at Boston University School of Law.But a tech savvy user could still get around restrictions by using a virtual private network to make it appear the user is in another country where it's not blocked, he said.To avoid a ban, TikTok has been trying to sell officials on a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-us-news-business-ap-top-news-hong-kong-4eab38c608901de16e92facc1ed5debd">$1.5 billion plan called Project Texas</a>, which routes all U.S. user data to domestic servers owned and maintained by software giant Oracle. Under the project, access to U.S. data is managed by U.S. employees through a separate entity called TikTok U.S. Data Security, which employs 1,500 people, is run independently of ByteDance and would be monitored by outside observers.As of October, all new U.S. user data was being stored inside the country. The company started deleting all historic U.S. user data from non-Oracle servers this month, in a process expected to be completed later this year, Chew said.Generally, researchers have said TikTok behaves like other social media companies when it comes to data collection. In an analysis released in 2021, the University of Toronto’s nonprofit Citizen Lab found TikTok and Facebook collect similar amounts of user data, including device identifiers that can be used to track a user and other information that can piece together a user’s behavior, all valuable information for advertisers.To block such tracking, Congress, the White House, U.S. armed forces and more than half of U.S. states have banned the use of the app from official devices.But wiping away all the data tracking associated with the platform might prove to be difficult. In a report released this month, the Cybersecurity company Feroot said so-called tracking pixels from ByteDance, which collect user information, were found on 30 U.S state websites, including some where the app has been banned for official use.Other countries including Denmark, Canada, and New Zealand, along with the European Union, have already banned TikTok from devices issued to government employees, citing cybersecurity concerns.David Kennedy, a former government intelligence officer who runs the cybersecurity company TrustedSec, agrees with restricting TikTok access on government-issued phones because they might contain sensitive military information or other confidential material. A nationwide ban, however, might be too extreme, he said. He also wondered where it might lead.“We have Tesla in China, we have Microsoft in China, we have Apple in China. Are they going to start banning us now?" Kennedy said. “It could escalate very quickly.”-------WASHINGTON (AP) — The CEO of TikTok will make a high-profile appearance Thursday before a U.S. Congressional committee, where he'll face a grilling on data security and user safety while he makes his own case for why the hugely popular video-sharing app shouldn't be banned.<a href="https://fb.watch/js6hfEAuaY/">Click here to </a>watch the hearing<a href="https://d1dth6e84htgma.cloudfront.net/Shou_Chew_Bio_fd1abc17e1.pdf?updated_at=2023-03-21T23:58:13.616Z">Shou Zi Chew</a>'s testimony comes at a crucial time for the company, which has acquired 150 million American users but is under increasing pressure from U.S. officials. TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have been swept up in a wider geopolitical battle between Beijing and Washington over trade and technology.Chew, a 40-year-old Singapore native, is making a rare public appearance to counter the volley of accusations that TikTok has been facing. On Wednesday, the company sent dozens of popular TikTokers to Capitol Hill&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-china-62ebef6be3c10e66d7f69f7f6d254700">to lobby lawmakers</a>&nbsp;to preserve the platform. It has also been putting up ads all over Washington that tout promises of securing users data and privacy and creating a safe platform for its young users.<a href="https://d1dth6e84htgma.cloudfront.net/Written_Testimony_of_Shou_Chew_c07504eccf_084e8683f3.pdf?updated_at=2023-03-22T03:10:22.760Z">Chew plans to tell </a>the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce that TikTok prioritizes the safety of its young users and deny&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-bytedance-china-biden-administration-14ef5f93dc2114e4ade110b2e85433fd">allegations that the app is a national security risk</a>, according to his prepared remarks released ahead of the hearing.TikTok has been dogged by claims that its Chinese ownership means user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government or that it could be used to promote narratives favorable to the country's Communist leaders.“We understand the popularity of Tiktok, we get that,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “But the President’s job is to make sure again that the Americans, national security is protected as well. ”For its part, TikTok has been trying to distance itself from its Chinese origins, saying that 60% percent of its parent company ByteDance is owned by global institutional investors such as Carlyle Group. ByteDance was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs in Beijing in 2012.“Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” Chew said.A U.S. ban on an app would be unprecedented and it’s unclear how the government would go about enforcing it.Experts says officials could try to force Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores, preventing new users from downloading it as well as preventing existing users from updating it, ultimately rendering it useless.The U.S. could also block access to TikTok’s infrastructure and data, seize its domain names or force internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon to filter TikTok data traffic, said Ahmed Ghappour, a criminal law and computer security expert who teachers at Boston University School of Law.But a tech savvy user could still get around restrictions by using a virtual private network to make it appear the user is in another country where it's not blocked, he said.To avoid a ban, TikTok has been trying to sell officials on a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-us-news-business-ap-top-news-hong-kong-4eab38c608901de16e92facc1ed5debd">$1.5 billion plan called Project Texas</a>, which routes all U.S. user data to domestic servers owned and maintained by software giant Oracle. Under the project, access to U.S. data is managed by U.S. employees through a separate entity called TikTok U.S. Data Security, which employs 1,500 people, is run independently of ByteDance and would be monitored by outside observers.As of October, all new U.S. user data was being stored inside the country. The company started deleting all historic U.S. user data from non-Oracle servers this month, in a process expected to be completed later this year, Chew said.A number of Western countries including Denmark, Canada, and New Zealand, along with the European Union,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/why-is-tiktok-being-banned-7d2de01d3ac5ab2b8ec2239dc7f2b20d">have already banned TikTok from devices</a>&nbsp;issued to government employees, citing cybersecurity concerns.In the U.S., the federal government, Congress, the armed forces and more than half of states have banned the app from official devices.David Kennedy, a former government intelligence officer who runs the cybersecurity company TrustedSec, agrees with restricting TikTok access on government-issued phones because they might contain sensitive military information or other confidential material. A nationwide ban, however, might be too extreme, he said. He also wondered where it might lead.“We have Tesla in China, we have Microsoft in China, we have Apple in China. Are they going to start banning us now?" Kennedy said. “It could escalate very quickly.”

🎥TikTok CEO faces off with Congress; social media giant faces U.S. ban 

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal accident and have identified 2-year-old&nbsp;as Ximena Perez of Topeka as the child who died.&nbsp;

The accident occurred Tuesday afternoon in the 3100 block of SE California Avenue, according to Police Spokesperson Rosie Nichols. 

A vehicle struck the girl and she died from the injuries.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Topeka Police Department made contact with all individuals involved and no arrests have been made. Upon conclusion of the investigation, police will present the accident findings to the District Attorney’s office for any charging consideration.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679425013324.png" alt="First responders near the fatal accident scene-photo courtesy WIBW TV" />
 <figcaption>First responders near the fatal accident scene-photo courtesy WIBW TV</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal accident and have identified 2-year-old&nbsp;as Ximena Perez of Topeka as the child who died.&nbsp;The accident occurred Tuesday afternoon in the 3100 block of SE California Avenue, according to Police Spokesperson Rosie Nichols. A vehicle struck the girl and she died from the injuries.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Topeka Police Department made contact with all individuals involved and no arrests have been made. Upon conclusion of the investigation, police will present the accident findings to the District Attorney’s office for any charging consideration.

Investigation of accident that killed 2-year-old Kan. girl continues

MIAMI &amp; LINN COUNTY&nbsp;–&nbsp;On Wednesday morning, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Miami County Sheriff’s Office, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, the Osawatomie Police Department, and the Pleasanton Police Department arrested six individuals in Miami and Linn counties for distribution of methamphetamine and other charges, according to a media release from the KBI.

The investigation began in December of 2022, when the Osawatomie Police Department developed information about area drug sales. Then, on Wednesday, March 22, between 6 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., KBI agents and investigators executed search warrants and arrest warrants at a residence in rural Osawatomie, Kansas, and at two residences in La Cygne, Kansas. 

During the searches, law enforcement located methamphetamine and over $12,000 in cash. During the joint investigation, over 1.5 pounds of methamphetamine was seized, some of which is believed to contain fentanyl.

Bernie E. Stuteville, 60, of La Cygne, was arrested on a requested charge of distribution of a controlled substance, conspiracy, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Charles Eslick Jr., 49, of Osawatomie, was arrested on a requested charge of distribution of a controlled substance, conspiracy, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, and distribution or possession of a controlled substance using a communication facility.

Deanne Burkhart, 55, of Osawatomie, was arrested on a requested charge of distribution of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Julia R. Spears, 50, of Osawatomie, was arrested on a requested charge of distribution of a controlled substance, conspiracy, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Danny R. Harper, 58, of Osawatomie, was arrested&nbsp;on a requested charge of of controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Cindy M. Ballou, 45, of Osawatomie, was arrested during the search warrant for having outstanding warrants for driving while suspended with no proof of insurance.

Following their arrests, the subjects were each booked into the Miami County Jail. Formal charges are pending. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Also assisting in this investigation were Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP), the La Cygne Police Department, the Ottawa Police Department, and the Paola Police Department. The investigation is ongoing.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679566267770.png" alt="Stuteville has four previous drug conviction, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections" />
 <figcaption>Stuteville has four previous drug conviction, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections</figcaption>
 </figure>MIAMI &amp; LINN COUNTY&nbsp;–&nbsp;On Wednesday morning, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Miami County Sheriff’s Office, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, the Osawatomie Police Department, and the Pleasanton Police Department arrested six individuals in Miami and Linn counties for distribution of methamphetamine and other charges, according to a media release from the KBI.The investigation began in December of 2022, when the Osawatomie Police Department developed information about area drug sales. Then, on Wednesday, March 22, between 6 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., KBI agents and investigators executed search warrants and arrest warrants at a residence in rural Osawatomie, Kansas, and at two residences in La Cygne, Kansas. During the searches, law enforcement located methamphetamine and over $12,000 in cash. During the joint investigation, over 1.5 pounds of methamphetamine was seized, some of which is believed to contain fentanyl.Six subjects were arrested.Bernie E. Stuteville, 60, of La Cygne, was arrested on a requested charge of distribution of a controlled substance, conspiracy, and possession of drug paraphernalia.Charles Eslick Jr., 49, of Osawatomie, was arrested on a requested charge of distribution of a controlled substance, conspiracy, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, and distribution or possession of a controlled substance using a communication facility.Deanne Burkhart, 55, of Osawatomie, was arrested on a requested charge of distribution of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.Julia R. Spears, 50, of Osawatomie, was arrested on a requested charge of distribution of a controlled substance, conspiracy, and possession of drug paraphernalia.Danny R. Harper, 58, of Osawatomie, was arrested&nbsp;on a requested charge of of controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.Cindy M. Ballou, 45, of Osawatomie, was arrested during the search warrant for having outstanding warrants for driving while suspended with no proof of insurance.Following their arrests, the subjects were each booked into the Miami County Jail. Formal charges are pending. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.Also assisting in this investigation were Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP), the La Cygne Police Department, the Ottawa Police Department, and the Paola Police Department. The investigation is ongoing.

KBI: Drug operation finds meth with fentanyl, $12,000 cash

DENVER (AP) — A body found in the Colorado woods near an abandoned car was that of a 17-year-old student accused of wounding two administrators in a shooting at his Denver high school, a coroner's office said.

Park County Sheriff Tom McGraw said the body was discovered Wednesday not far from the student's car in a remote mountain area about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Denver, near the small town of Bailey, in Park County. The town had been ordered to shelter in place while while officers from a number of agencies including the FBI combed the forest.

Earlier in the day, Denver police identified the suspect as Austin Lyle. The Park County coroner's office confirmed in a Facebook post that the body was that of Lyle's. Cause of death wasn't released, pending the completion of an autopsy.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shooting-east-high-school-denver-b7db159105dcaea44a816a8841ffd965">shooting occurred at East High School</a>&nbsp;in Denver, not far from downtown, while two administrators searched Lyle for weapons, a daily requirement because of the boy’s behavioral issues, authorities said. Lyle fled after the shooting.

It occurred at a school shaken by frequent lockdowns and violence, including the recent killing outside the school of a classmate that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/teen-gun-violence-denver-march-20b6acfd88edbc6e5c949a08aba45941">prompted East High School students to march</a>&nbsp;on the Colorado Capitol earlier this month. Parents who converged on the 2,500-student campus on Wednesday voiced frustration that officials had not done enough to protect their children.

“I am sick of it,” said Jesse Haase, who planned to talk with her daughter about taking her out of classes for the rest of the school year.

Amid the flurry of criticism over lax security, Denver school officials said after the shooting that they would once again put armed officers into the city’s public high schools.

There were no school resource officers on campus at the time of Wednesday’s shooting, said Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/school-shootings">shooting</a>&nbsp;happened just before 10 a.m. in an office area as Lyle was undergoing a search as part of a “safety plan" that required him to be patted down daily, officials said.

The gun used in the shooting was not immediately recovered, Thomas said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679508065013.png" alt="The school, not far from downtown near a busy street that cuts through the city, was placed on lockdown as police investigated the shooting.-photo courtesy KMGH-TV" />
 <figcaption>The school, not far from downtown near a busy street that cuts through the city, was placed on lockdown as police investigated the shooting.-photo courtesy KMGH-TV</figcaption>
 </figure>DENVER (AP) — A body found in the Colorado woods near an abandoned car was that of a 17-year-old student accused of wounding two administrators in a shooting at his Denver high school, a coroner's office said.Park County Sheriff Tom McGraw said the body was discovered Wednesday not far from the student's car in a remote mountain area about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Denver, near the small town of Bailey, in Park County. The town had been ordered to shelter in place while while officers from a number of agencies including the FBI combed the forest.Earlier in the day, Denver police identified the suspect as Austin Lyle. The Park County coroner's office confirmed in a Facebook post that the body was that of Lyle's. Cause of death wasn't released, pending the completion of an autopsy.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shooting-east-high-school-denver-b7db159105dcaea44a816a8841ffd965">shooting occurred at East High School</a>&nbsp;in Denver, not far from downtown, while two administrators searched Lyle for weapons, a daily requirement because of the boy’s behavioral issues, authorities said. Lyle fled after the shooting.It occurred at a school shaken by frequent lockdowns and violence, including the recent killing outside the school of a classmate that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/teen-gun-violence-denver-march-20b6acfd88edbc6e5c949a08aba45941">prompted East High School students to march</a>&nbsp;on the Colorado Capitol earlier this month. Parents who converged on the 2,500-student campus on Wednesday voiced frustration that officials had not done enough to protect their children.“I am sick of it,” said Jesse Haase, who planned to talk with her daughter about taking her out of classes for the rest of the school year.Amid the flurry of criticism over lax security, Denver school officials said after the shooting that they would once again put armed officers into the city’s public high schools.There were no school resource officers on campus at the time of Wednesday’s shooting, said Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/school-shootings">shooting</a>&nbsp;happened just before 10 a.m. in an office area as Lyle was undergoing a search as part of a “safety plan" that required him to be patted down daily, officials said.The gun used in the shooting was not immediately recovered, Thomas said.One of the wounded administrators was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon and the second was in serious condition, said Heather Burke, a spokesperson for Denver Health hospital.Hundreds of students on March 3 skipped class and marched in support of stricter gun laws following the death of Luis Garcia, 16, who was shot while sitting in a car near East High School.In June 2020, amid a summer of protests over racial injustice following the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-us-news-ap-top-news-hip-hop-and-rap-houston-a55d2662f200ead0da4fed9e923b60a7">murder of George Floyd</a>, Denver Public Schools became one of the districts around the US that decided to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-news-ap-top-news-wisconsin-az-state-wire-racial-injustice-bc5b750085a89e03e132d7d3dda09a99">phase out its use of police officers in school buildings</a>. That push was fueled by criticism that school resource officers disproportionately arrested Black students, sweeping them into the criminal justice system.After Wednesday’s shooting, two armed officers will be posted at East High School through the end of the school year, and other city high schools also will each get an officer, said Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero.In a Wednesday letter to the city's Board of Education, Marrero said his decision violated district's policies but added he “can no longer stand on the sidelines.”“I am the leader of this district who is charged with keeping our scholars and staff safe every day,” he wrote. The school board said it supported the decision.Gun violence at schools has become&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/uvalde-school-shooting-health-texas-violence-928c177ee8e09b59507c88d9c5b6ce51">increasingly common</a>&nbsp;in the U.S. with more than 1,300 shooting incidents recorded between 2000 and June 2022, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chds.us/sssc/data-map/">government researchers</a>. Those shootings killed 377 people and wounded 1,025, according to a database maintained by the researchers.Students from East High School had been scheduled to testify Wednesday afternoon before the Colorado Legislature on gun safety bills.“This is the reality of being young in America: sitting through a shooting and waiting for information just hours before you’re scheduled to testify in support of gun safety bills,” said Gracie Taub, a 16-year-old East High School sophomore and volunteer with Students Demand Action in Colorado.Lyle transferred to East High School after being disciplined and removed from a high school in nearby Aurora last school year because of unspecified violations of school policies, said Cherry Creek School District spokesperson Lauren Snell.Marrero said safety plans for students are enacted in response to “past educational and also behavioral experiences,” adding that it’s a common practice throughout Colorado’s public schools. Officials did not give further details on why Lyle was searched daily.But daily pat downs are rare, said Franci Crepeau-Hobson, a University of Colorado Denver professor specializing in school violence prevention.“Clearly they were concerned,” said Crepeau-Hobson. “I can’t imagine they’d do that if there wasn’t a history of the kid carrying a weapon.”Safety plans often follow threatening or suicidal behavior from a student, said Christine Harms with the Colorado School Safety Resource Center.In response to the shooting, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeated&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-guns-mass-shooting-monterey-park-uvalde-489c236fd6ed12ab5d74a67ce5ecd501">President Joe Biden’s calls for stricter gun laws</a>, including bans on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines, and for Congress to “do something” on gun control.Wednesday was also the second anniversary of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/boulder-supermarket-shooting">10 people being shot and killed</a>&nbsp;at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.---------------DENVER (AP) — A body was found Wednesday night in the Colorado woods near the abandoned car that belonged to a 17-year-old student accused of shooting two administrators at his Denver high school earlier in the day, a sheriff said.Park County Sheriff Tom McGraw said the body was discovered not far from the car in a remote mountain area about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Denver, near the small town of Bailey, in Park County. The town had been ordered to shelter in place while while officers from a number of agencies including the FBI combed the forest.But, authorities said they have not yet identified who it was and McGraw declined to say if it was a man or reveal the cause of death.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679518079688.png" alt="" />
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 </figure>Earlier in the day, Denver police identified the suspect as Austin Lyle.The shooting occurred at East High School in Denver while two administrators searched Lyle for weapons, a daily requirement because of the boy’s behavioral issues, authorities said. Lyle fled after the shooting.It occurred at a school shaken by frequent lockdowns and violence, including the recent killing outside the school of a classmate that prompted East High School students to march on the Colorado Capitol earlier this month. Parents who converged on the 2,500-student campus on Wednesday voiced frustration that officials had not done enough to protect their children.“I am sick of it,” said Jesse Haase, who planned to talk with her daughter about taking her out of classes for the rest of the school year.Amid the flurry of criticism over lax security, Denver school officials said after the shooting that they would once again put armed officers into the city’s public high schools.There were no school resource officers on campus at the time of Wednesday’s shooting, said Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/school-shootings">shooting</a>&nbsp;happened just before 10 a.m. in an office area as Lyle was undergoing a search as part of a “safety plan" that required him to be patted down daily, officials said.The gun used in the shooting was not immediately recovered, Thomas said.One of the wounded administrators was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon and the second remained in serious condition, said Heather Burke, a spokesperson for Denver Health hospital.Hundreds of students on March 3 skipped class and marched in support of stricter gun laws following the death of Luis Garcia, 16, who was shot while sitting in a car near East High School.In June 2020, amid a summer of protests over racial injustice following the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-us-news-ap-top-news-hip-hop-and-rap-houston-a55d2662f200ead0da4fed9e923b60a7">murder of George Floyd</a>, Denver Public Schools became one of the districts around the US that decided to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-news-ap-top-news-wisconsin-az-state-wire-racial-injustice-bc5b750085a89e03e132d7d3dda09a99">phase out its use of police officers in school buildings</a>. That push was fueled by criticism that school resource officers disproportionately arrested Black students, sweeping them into the criminal justice system.After Wednesday’s shooting, two armed officers will be posted at East High School through the end of the school year, and other city high schools also will each get an officer, said Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero.In a Wednesday letter to the city's Board of Education, Marrero said his decision violated district's policies but added he “can no longer stand on the sidelines.”“I am the leader of this district who is charged with keeping our scholars and staff safe every day,” he wrote. The school board said it supported the decision.Gun violence at schools has become&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/uvalde-school-shooting-health-texas-violence-928c177ee8e09b59507c88d9c5b6ce51">increasingly common</a>&nbsp;in the U.S. with more than 1,300 shooting incidents recorded between 2000 and June 2022, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chds.us/sssc/data-map/">government researchers</a>. Those shootings killed 377 people and wounded 1,025, according to a database maintained by the researchers.Students from East High School had been scheduled to testify Wednesday afternoon before the Colorado Legislature on gun safety bills.“This is the reality of being young in America: sitting through a shooting and waiting for information just hours before you’re scheduled to testify in support of gun safety bills,” said Gracie Taub, a 16-year-old East High School sophomore and volunteer with Students Demand Action in Colorado.Lyle transferred to East High School after being disciplined and removed from a high school in nearby Aurora last school year because of unspecified violations of school policies, said Cherry Creek School District spokesperson Lauren Snell.Marrero said safety plans for students are enacted in response to “past educational and also behavioral experiences,” adding that it’s a common practice throughout Colorado’s public schools. Officials did not give further details on why Lyle was searched daily.But daily pat downs are rare, said Franci Crepeau-Hobson, a University of Colorado Denver professor specializing in school violence prevention.“Clearly they were concerned,” said Crepeau-Hobson. “I can’t imagine they’d do that if there wasn’t a history of the kid carrying a weapon.”Safety plans often follow threatening or suicidal behavior from a student, said Christine Harms with the Colorado School Safety Resource Center.East High School, not far from downtown, was locked down as police investigated the shooting, and hundreds of parents lined up along a road outside the school.Some parents and students vented frustration over violence at the school as they surrounded the police chief. Thomas listened quietly, nodding and promising to engage with the school board.At the edge of the crowd, a man said the city's school board members should be recalled for getting rid of police in school, telling a nearby officer “I just want you to be able to do your job.”In response to the shooting, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeated President Joe Biden’s called for stricter gun laws, including bans on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines, and for Congress to “do something” on gun control.Wednesday was also the second anniversary of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/boulder-supermarket-shooting">10 people being shot and killed</a>&nbsp;at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.__