By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/hillel-italie">HILLEL ITALIE</a>

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Vice President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/kamala-harris">Kamala Harris</a>&nbsp;will have a memoir out in the fall on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/harris-democratic-presidential-nomination-eb43b6b346cc644b2d195315cb2bfb20">her historic presidential run</a>.

The book is called “107 Days,” the length of her abbreviated campaign, and will be published by Simon &amp; Schuster on Sept. 23.

On Wednesday, she announced that she&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-california-governor-2026-eeea5d7315d65cebb50692c5311379fb">will not run for California governor</a>&nbsp;in 2026, but she is still regarded as a potential presidential candidate for 2028. CBS Television announced that Harris will appear Thursday night on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” her first interview since the election.

Simon &amp; Schuster, where authors also include former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, is calling the Harris book a “page-turning account,” with ”surprising and revealing insights.”

“Kamala Harris is a singular American leader,” Karp said in a statement. “‘107 DAYS’ captures the drama of running for president better than just about anything I’ve read. It’s one of the best works of political nonfiction Simon &amp; Schuster has ever published. It’s an eyewitness contribution to history and an extraordinary story.”

Financial terms for “107 Days,” which is listed at 320 pages, were not disclosed. In 2019, Penguin Books published Harris’&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/9a8a5861627846f9b378bf86e9c27966">“The Truths We Hold: An American Journey</a>,” timed to coincide with her presidential run for the 2020 election. Harris&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-ca-state-wire-politics-election-2020-kamala-harris-9f15f9bae46c54de8d88ad3e8388e4be">dropped out before the first primary</a>&nbsp;but was eventually chosen by Biden to be his running mate.

“Just over a year ago, I launched my campaign for President of the United States,” Harris said in a video announcement on Thursday. “107 days traveling the country, fighting for our future — the shortest presidential campaign in modern history. Since leaving office, I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on those days and with candor and reflection, I’ve written a behind-the-scenes account of that journey. I believe there’s value in sharing what I saw, what I learned, and what it will take to move forward.”

Simon &amp; Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp declined to offer any specifics on what Harris will write about, including her thoughts on questions about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-trump-pardon-fitness-reelection-interview-eb84cf6c3e201fa6100419b9fe616f8a">President Joe Biden’s fitness for office</a>, but said Harris “addresses everything we would want her to address.”

Harris ended up heading the Democratic ticket after Biden dropped out last July in the wake of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-2024-lawmakers-debate-2c426f98063ab30143a7675cba10a5b4">a disastrous debate performance</a>, and she was defeated last November by Republican Donald Trump. She would have been the first woman and first woman of color to become president.

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/hillel-italie">HILLEL ITALIE</a>NEW YORK (AP) — Former Vice President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/kamala-harris">Kamala Harris</a>&nbsp;will have a memoir out in the fall on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/harris-democratic-presidential-nomination-eb43b6b346cc644b2d195315cb2bfb20">her historic presidential run</a>.The book is called “107 Days,” the length of her abbreviated campaign, and will be published by Simon &amp; Schuster on Sept. 23.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">What the world saw on the campaign trail was only part of the story. My new book is a behind-the-scenes look at my experience leading the shortest presidential campaign in modern history. 107 Days is out on September 23. I can&#39;t wait for you to read it: <a href="https://t.co/G4bkeZB4NZ">https://t.co/G4bkeZB4NZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/taUof0L4hs">pic.twitter.com/taUof0L4hs</a>&mdash; Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) <a href="https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1950904316841115711?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>On Wednesday, she announced that she&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-california-governor-2026-eeea5d7315d65cebb50692c5311379fb">will not run for California governor</a>&nbsp;in 2026, but she is still regarded as a potential presidential candidate for 2028. CBS Television announced that Harris will appear Thursday night on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” her first interview since the election.Simon &amp; Schuster, where authors also include former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, is calling the Harris book a “page-turning account,” with ”surprising and revealing insights.”“Kamala Harris is a singular American leader,” Karp said in a statement. “‘107 DAYS’ captures the drama of running for president better than just about anything I’ve read. It’s one of the best works of political nonfiction Simon &amp; Schuster has ever published. It’s an eyewitness contribution to history and an extraordinary story.”Financial terms for “107 Days,” which is listed at 320 pages, were not disclosed. In 2019, Penguin Books published Harris’&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/9a8a5861627846f9b378bf86e9c27966">“The Truths We Hold: An American Journey</a>,” timed to coincide with her presidential run for the 2020 election. Harris&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-ca-state-wire-politics-election-2020-kamala-harris-9f15f9bae46c54de8d88ad3e8388e4be">dropped out before the first primary</a>&nbsp;but was eventually chosen by Biden to be his running mate.“Just over a year ago, I launched my campaign for President of the United States,” Harris said in a video announcement on Thursday. “107 days traveling the country, fighting for our future — the shortest presidential campaign in modern history. Since leaving office, I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on those days and with candor and reflection, I’ve written a behind-the-scenes account of that journey. I believe there’s value in sharing what I saw, what I learned, and what it will take to move forward.”Simon &amp; Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp declined to offer any specifics on what Harris will write about, including her thoughts on questions about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-trump-pardon-fitness-reelection-interview-eb84cf6c3e201fa6100419b9fe616f8a">President Joe Biden’s fitness for office</a>, but said Harris “addresses everything we would want her to address.”Harris ended up heading the Democratic ticket after Biden dropped out last July in the wake of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-2024-lawmakers-debate-2c426f98063ab30143a7675cba10a5b4">a disastrous debate performance</a>, and she was defeated last November by Republican Donald Trump. She would have been the first woman and first woman of color to become president.

🎥Kamala Harris memoir about presidential run a real 'page-turner'

HARVEY COUNTY —A Kansas man is going to prison for the rest of his life for violent child sex crimes.

On July 25, Harvey County District Court Judge Llamas sentenced Christopher M. McAhren, age 32, of Newton, Kansas, to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 100 years, according to the Harvey County Attorney's office.

The sentencing follows McAhren’s guilty plea entered on April 24, 2025, to Aggravated Criminal Sodomy, Aggravated Indecent Liberties with a Child, Rape of a child under the age of 14, and Aggravated Internet Trading in Child Pornography. 

The victim was under the age of 8 at the time of the offenses.

During sentencing, Harvey County Attorney Heather Figger urged the Court to impose the maximum sentence, citing the severe nature of McAhren’s crimes. “McAhren stole the victims’ innocence, documented his offenses through images, involved others, and shared those images,” Figger told the Court.

“When his crimes were uncovered, he fled the state.”

Judge Llamas agreed with the prosecution, finding McAhren to be a danger to the community and stating his actions were unconscionable.

 McAhren was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences with a 100- year minimum before parole eligibility. If ever released, McAhren would be subject to lifetime parole supervision with electronic monitoring, and sex offender registration.

McAhren’s codefendants are also awaiting sentencing:

&nbsp;Veronica Darby is scheduled to be sentenced on September 22, 2025, at 9:15 AM before Judge Wilder.

&nbsp;Cameron Durham is scheduled for sentencing on September 11, 2025, at 10:00 AM, also before Judge Wilder.

The Newton Police Department, Heart to Heart Child Advocacy Center, and the Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force assisted with the investigation and prosecution of this case.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1745593193667.png" alt="McAhren photo KBI Offender Registry" />
 <figcaption>McAhren photo KBI Offender Registry</figcaption>
 </figure>HARVEY COUNTY —A Kansas man is going to prison for the rest of his life for violent child sex crimes.On July 25, Harvey County District Court Judge Llamas sentenced Christopher M. McAhren, age 32, of Newton, Kansas, to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 100 years, according to the Harvey County Attorney's office.The sentencing follows McAhren’s guilty plea entered on April 24, 2025, to Aggravated Criminal Sodomy, Aggravated Indecent Liberties with a Child, Rape of a child under the age of 14, and Aggravated Internet Trading in Child Pornography. The victim was under the age of 8 at the time of the offenses.During sentencing, Harvey County Attorney Heather Figger urged the Court to impose the maximum sentence, citing the severe nature of McAhren’s crimes. “McAhren stole the victims’ innocence, documented his offenses through images, involved others, and shared those images,” Figger told the Court.“When his crimes were uncovered, he fled the state.”Judge Llamas agreed with the prosecution, finding McAhren to be a danger to the community and stating his actions were unconscionable. McAhren was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences with a 100- year minimum before parole eligibility. If ever released, McAhren would be subject to lifetime parole supervision with electronic monitoring, and sex offender registration.McAhren’s codefendants are also awaiting sentencing:&nbsp;Veronica Darby is scheduled to be sentenced on September 22, 2025, at 9:15 AM before Judge Wilder.&nbsp;Cameron Durham is scheduled for sentencing on September 11, 2025, at 10:00 AM, also before Judge Wilder.The Newton Police Department, Heart to Heart Child Advocacy Center, and the Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force assisted with the investigation and prosecution of this case.

Kansas man fled the state after his child sex crimes were uncovered

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/tom-murphy">TOM MURPHY</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;NICKY FORSTER Associated Press

Delayed treatments, canceled doctor visits, skipped prescriptions. Losing insurance is bad for your health.

The Congressional Budget Office forecasts that the U.S. uninsured population will grow by 10 million in 2034, due to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-taxes-spending-deficit-government-spending-79e6a1bd795e7f82ca39986a407ddbef">the tax and spending bill</a>&nbsp;signed into law by President Donald Trump.

And, thanks to a natural experiment nearly two decades ago, researchers can forecast what that will mean for patient care. Among the problems they predict will develop as a direct result of these people losing coverage:

— About 2.5 million people may no longer have a personal doctor.

— About 1.6 million patients will take on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cfpb-medical-debt-credit-reports-41f212ee6b89f9902deb267d75ab8443">medical debt</a>.

— The lack of care may cause nearly 22,000 deaths annually.

“There’s really no questioning the basic reality that you can’t take health care away from 10 million people without causing many preventable deaths,” said Dr. Adam Gaffney, lead researcher on a team that explored the new law’s impact.

Here’s a deeper look at the research and challenges that could develop.

It will become harder for many people to enroll in Medicaid or&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/how-to-shop-for-health-insurance-16fa0b3d10e052e0e99699b4761a2d1a">individual insurance plans</a>&nbsp;and then stay covered. Medicaid is a state and federally funded program that covers care for people with low incomes.

States will have to verify every six months whether someone remains eligible for Medicaid. That could cause coverage lapses for people with incomes that fluctuate or for those who move and miss renewal paperwork.

Many also are expected to lose coverage as states require Medicaid recipients to work, volunteer or go to school unless exempted.

Enrollment in Medicaid has swelled in recent years. Republicans are cutting back in part to help fund tax breaks and pay for other priorities like border security.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/medicaid-cuts-trump-tax-cuts-bill-1e2b12a91a3d12ceb0420ce7053de58e">They also say</a>&nbsp;they are trying to root out waste and fraud by rightsizing Medicaid for the population it was initially designed to serve — mainly pregnant women, the disabled and children.

People covered through the Affordable Care Act’s individual insurance marketplaces also will see shorter enrollment windows and no more automatic renewals.

Gaffney, of Harvard Medical School, and other researchers looked to past studies to measure how many people would experience detrimental effects, like going without prescriptions, from the upcoming changes. Gaffney updated the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/ANNALS-25-00716" target="_blank">published analysis</a>, which was originally based on the House version of the bill, at the AP’s request.

One study in particular was critical for their work: In 2008, Oregon offered a rare opportunity to compare groups of people enrolled in Medicaid with those who were not.

After a four-year period of frozen enrollment due to budget limitations, the state determined it could enroll 10,000 more people in Medicaid. It used a lottery system to make the selection amid high demand.

That gave researchers a chance to follow people who got coverage and those who did not, similar to how scientists testing a new drug might compare patients taking it to those given a placebo.

“This is a gold standard research design because it replicates a randomized-controlled trial,” said Christine Eibner, a senior economist at RAND Corp. who was not involved in the study.

Applying results from that study and other research to the recent CBO estimate allowed Gaffney and other researchers to estimate specific effects of losing coverage.

“By taking coverage away, we are putting patients in a terrible position,” said Gaffney, a former president of Physicians for a National Health Program.

Amanda Schlesier went four days without her cancer treatment Calquence this spring and wound up in a local emergency room, delirious with pain.

The leukemia patient worries about what might happen if she stops treatment again for a longer stretch because she’s lost Medicaid.

“God forbid I forget to fill out a page of documentation, and suddenly I lose access to my medication or my doctors or any of the treatment that I’ve been going through,” the 33-year-old Farmington Hills, Michigan, resident said.

People can still receive care when they don’t have coverage, but important steps often are delayed, said Dr. Gwen Nichols, chief medical officer of The Leukemia &amp; Lymphoma Society.

Patients may be able to visit a doctor, but they would have to line up coverage or help before they can receive expensive chemotherapy. Diagnosis also may be delayed. Meanwhile, the patient’s cancer continues to grow.

“It’s a ticking time bomb,” Nichols said.

The first thing patients often ditch when they lose coverage are screenings designed to catch health problems before they become serious, said Dr. Jen Brull, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

That could mean patients skip tests for high cholesterol, which can contribute to heart disease, or colonoscopies that detect cancer. Researchers forecast that a half million fewer women will have gotten a mammogram within the past year by 2034.

When patients struggle financially and lose coverage, they focus on things like keeping a place to live and food on their table, said Brull, a Fort Collins, Colorado, physician.

“Seeing a doctor because you don’t want to get sick feels like a much lower priority,” Brull said.

Patients start taking financial hits at all ends of care when they lose coverage.

They may have to pay up front or start a payment plan before they receive care, said Erin Bradshaw, an executive vice president with the nonprofit Patient Advocate Foundation, which helps people with medical bills.

Anyone with an outstanding balance will have to pay it before the next appointment.

Financial assistance may be available,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-science-business-bills-health-886bc0d7e7bd022026555779411b749f">but patients don’t always know about it</a>. Getting help also may take time and require the submission of tax returns, pay stubs or some validation that the patient no longer has coverage.

Bradshaw said letters stating that a patient has lost Medicaid sometimes arrive a couple months after the fact. That can contribute to treatment delays or missed medication doses.

Some patients also try to avoid financial stress by skipping care. Schlesier said she delayed seeing a doctor when she first felt symptoms of her cancer returning because she had no coverage at the time.

If prescriptions are too expensive, patients may simply not get them or split the doses to stretch the medicine.

For Thomas Harper, it’s a question of priorities.

“Sometimes you have to make a choice, how well do you want to eat this week versus taking your medicine,” he said.

The West Monroe, Louisiana, truck driver has around $300 a month in prescriptions as he deals with diabetes and recovers from non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.

Harper, 57, recently returned to work. That meant he lost Medicaid, which covered more of his prescription costs. He’s balancing buying his meds with shopping for healthy food that keeps his blood sugar in check and builds his immune system.

“I’ll survive, but I know there’s people out there that cannot survive without Medicaid,” he said.

AP video journalist Laura Bargfeld contributed to this report.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/tom-murphy">TOM MURPHY</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;NICKY FORSTER Associated PressDelayed treatments, canceled doctor visits, skipped prescriptions. Losing insurance is bad for your health.The Congressional Budget Office forecasts that the U.S. uninsured population will grow by 10 million in 2034, due to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-taxes-spending-deficit-government-spending-79e6a1bd795e7f82ca39986a407ddbef">the tax and spending bill</a>&nbsp;signed into law by President Donald Trump.And, thanks to a natural experiment nearly two decades ago, researchers can forecast what that will mean for patient care. Among the problems they predict will develop as a direct result of these people losing coverage:— About 2.5 million people may no longer have a personal doctor.— About 1.6 million patients will take on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cfpb-medical-debt-credit-reports-41f212ee6b89f9902deb267d75ab8443">medical debt</a>.— The lack of care may cause nearly 22,000 deaths annually.“There’s really no questioning the basic reality that you can’t take health care away from 10 million people without causing many preventable deaths,” said Dr. Adam Gaffney, lead researcher on a team that explored the new law’s impact.Here’s a deeper look at the research and challenges that could develop.<h2>How the law may affect coverage</h2>It will become harder for many people to enroll in Medicaid or&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/how-to-shop-for-health-insurance-16fa0b3d10e052e0e99699b4761a2d1a">individual insurance plans</a>&nbsp;and then stay covered. Medicaid is a state and federally funded program that covers care for people with low incomes.States will have to verify every six months whether someone remains eligible for Medicaid. That could cause coverage lapses for people with incomes that fluctuate or for those who move and miss renewal paperwork.Many also are expected to lose coverage as states require Medicaid recipients to work, volunteer or go to school unless exempted.Enrollment in Medicaid has swelled in recent years. Republicans are cutting back in part to help fund tax breaks and pay for other priorities like border security.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/medicaid-cuts-trump-tax-cuts-bill-1e2b12a91a3d12ceb0420ce7053de58e">They also say</a>&nbsp;they are trying to root out waste and fraud by rightsizing Medicaid for the population it was initially designed to serve — mainly pregnant women, the disabled and children.People covered through the Affordable Care Act’s individual insurance marketplaces also will see shorter enrollment windows and no more automatic renewals.<h2>About the research</h2>Gaffney, of Harvard Medical School, and other researchers looked to past studies to measure how many people would experience detrimental effects, like going without prescriptions, from the upcoming changes. Gaffney updated the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/ANNALS-25-00716" target="_blank">published analysis</a>, which was originally based on the House version of the bill, at the AP’s request.One study in particular was critical for their work: In 2008, Oregon offered a rare opportunity to compare groups of people enrolled in Medicaid with those who were not.After a four-year period of frozen enrollment due to budget limitations, the state determined it could enroll 10,000 more people in Medicaid. It used a lottery system to make the selection amid high demand.That gave researchers a chance to follow people who got coverage and those who did not, similar to how scientists testing a new drug might compare patients taking it to those given a placebo.“This is a gold standard research design because it replicates a randomized-controlled trial,” said Christine Eibner, a senior economist at RAND Corp. who was not involved in the study.Applying results from that study and other research to the recent CBO estimate allowed Gaffney and other researchers to estimate specific effects of losing coverage.“By taking coverage away, we are putting patients in a terrible position,” said Gaffney, a former president of Physicians for a National Health Program.<h2>Care could grow complicated</h2>Amanda Schlesier went four days without her cancer treatment Calquence this spring and wound up in a local emergency room, delirious with pain.The leukemia patient worries about what might happen if she stops treatment again for a longer stretch because she’s lost Medicaid.“God forbid I forget to fill out a page of documentation, and suddenly I lose access to my medication or my doctors or any of the treatment that I’ve been going through,” the 33-year-old Farmington Hills, Michigan, resident said.People can still receive care when they don’t have coverage, but important steps often are delayed, said Dr. Gwen Nichols, chief medical officer of The Leukemia &amp; Lymphoma Society.Patients may be able to visit a doctor, but they would have to line up coverage or help before they can receive expensive chemotherapy. Diagnosis also may be delayed. Meanwhile, the patient’s cancer continues to grow.“It’s a ticking time bomb,” Nichols said.<h2>Preventive care may lapse</h2>The first thing patients often ditch when they lose coverage are screenings designed to catch health problems before they become serious, said Dr. Jen Brull, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.That could mean patients skip tests for high cholesterol, which can contribute to heart disease, or colonoscopies that detect cancer. Researchers forecast that a half million fewer women will have gotten a mammogram within the past year by 2034.When patients struggle financially and lose coverage, they focus on things like keeping a place to live and food on their table, said Brull, a Fort Collins, Colorado, physician.“Seeing a doctor because you don’t want to get sick feels like a much lower priority,” Brull said.<h2>Financial pressure can build</h2>Patients start taking financial hits at all ends of care when they lose coverage.They may have to pay up front or start a payment plan before they receive care, said Erin Bradshaw, an executive vice president with the nonprofit Patient Advocate Foundation, which helps people with medical bills.Anyone with an outstanding balance will have to pay it before the next appointment.Financial assistance may be available,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-science-business-bills-health-886bc0d7e7bd022026555779411b749f">but patients don’t always know about it</a>. Getting help also may take time and require the submission of tax returns, pay stubs or some validation that the patient no longer has coverage.Bradshaw said letters stating that a patient has lost Medicaid sometimes arrive a couple months after the fact. That can contribute to treatment delays or missed medication doses.Some patients also try to avoid financial stress by skipping care. Schlesier said she delayed seeing a doctor when she first felt symptoms of her cancer returning because she had no coverage at the time.<h2>Staying on medications</h2>If prescriptions are too expensive, patients may simply not get them or split the doses to stretch the medicine.For Thomas Harper, it’s a question of priorities.“Sometimes you have to make a choice, how well do you want to eat this week versus taking your medicine,” he said.The West Monroe, Louisiana, truck driver has around $300 a month in prescriptions as he deals with diabetes and recovers from non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.Harper, 57, recently returned to work. That meant he lost Medicaid, which covered more of his prescription costs. He’s balancing buying his meds with shopping for healthy food that keeps his blood sugar in check and builds his immune system.“I’ll survive, but I know there’s people out there that cannot survive without Medicaid,” he said.___AP video journalist Laura Bargfeld contributed to this report.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Debt and delayed care forecast for some who lose insurance under tax and spending law

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/akaminski/">ANNA KAMINSKI</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/03/kansas-state-garden-city-cc-striving-to-shrink-bachelors-degree-educational-desert/?emci=8e6f56cf-3bca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;emdi=a9416bb1-82ca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;ceid=115039">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — Problems linger in a Kansas federal prison holding immigrant detainees, even after altering some practices that a coalition of lawyers, civil rights groups and advocates revealed were harmful to those inside.

The Federal Correction Institution at Leavenworth is one of two places in Kansas where Immigration and Customs Enforcement can detain people long term, and the coalition wrote to the prison warden in June about&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/06/06/immigrants-detained-in-leavenworth-federal-prison-live-in-squalor-without-sunlight-letters-claim/">unsanitary, inequitable and unhealthy conditions</a>.&nbsp;

Warden Crystal Carter wrote in a June 20 response letter that the prison had eliminated medical fees, added law library resources that ICE failed to provide, implemented new recreation hours and expanded Spanish-language communications.

But concerns about lockdowns and adequate phone call time remain, said Kyle Virgien, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project.

“We see a lot of problems across ICE’s detention network,” Virgien said. “Detention is difficult. It rips people from their communities. It isolates them from their families. This is a constant.”

Virgien began speaking with people inside Leavenworth in April and continues to monitor conditions.

The coalition wrote in a pair of letters in May that detained immigrants faced unsanitary and crowded living quarters, extended lockdowns, delayed and costly medical treatment, restricted contact with their families, and no access to religious services.

Some had attempted suicide, the letter said.

Carter, the warden, said things have changed.

After reviewing its procedures, the prison eliminated a $2 fee that people in ICE custody were charged for certain health visits. Staff were told to stop those charges and reverse all previous ones. To boost access for medical services, the prison created request slips written in Spanish for ICE detainees, Carter said. However, it is unclear how quickly officials respond to Spanish medical requests.&nbsp;

Carter said capacity concerns did not exist at the time of writing, and, according to the coalition, people inside have said what once were crowded cells have become less so.&nbsp;

According to July data from ICE, estimating average daily populations from the past year, about 35 people are held daily in Leavenworth for immigration reasons. Most pose little to no threat, according to ICE threat level classifications. On average, around 21 people were associated with criminal cases, and 12 were not. All are male and stay an average of 25 days.

During those 25 days, people in ICE custody now are afforded at least one hour of outdoor recreation time daily and a maximum of 300 minutes of phone calls per month, with no call lasting longer than 15 minutes.

People in ICE custody at Leavenworth are subject to the rules and policies of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which oversees operations. Some of the rules and policies are a departure from typical conditions in ICE detention facilities, Virgien said.

He has heard stories of mistreatment from guards and retaliatory lockdowns that punish many for the actions of few, he said. Lockdowns mean people are in cells for 23 hours a day and must “pack all of their life tasks into that one hour outside the cell,” Virgien said, which can include recreation, showers, legal research, religious practices and phone calls.

Carter said one instance of a lockdown has occurred in Leavenworth’s ICE detention unit for 72 hours, and another more than eight hours.

“Except for the limited and infrequent instances, all ICE detainees have time outside of their cell each day and have access to exercise, the electronic law library and phone systems,” Carter said.

The people ICE detains in Leavenworth are imprisoned alongside people awaiting criminal trials or serving criminal sentences.

Benjamin O’Cone, a spokesman for the bureau, said in an emailed statement that it’s the mission of the bureau and Leavenworth to “operate facilities that are safe, secure and humane.”

“We take seriously our duty to protect the individuals entrusted in our custody, as well as maintaining the safety of our employees and the community,” O’Cone said. “Humane treatment of the men and women in our custody is a top priority.”

ICE did not respond to a request for comment. ICE also has not responded to the coalition’s letter, according to ACLU of Kansas spokeswoman Esmie Tseng.

Virgien said the coalition is glad the prison addressed some of the issues they raised, but concerns remain.

“Many of the people at the facility have already won their immigration cases, and ICE is still detaining them,” Virgien said.

The coalition believes ICE should release people as soon as their immigration cases are won.

In at least one case, an immigration judge determined a man could not return to his country of origin without risking torture. Others include people who have spoken out against authoritarian governments in their countries of origin or fled persecution. Some have young children. Many have come from Chicago, and a small number from Kentucky, Virgien said.

When asked about the possibility of pursuing legal action, Virgien said, “all options are on the table.”

Now, with major Congressional budget increases for ICE, Virgien fears problems will only multiply.

Congress approved more than $175 billion for ICE in its most recent budget bill, making it what the Brennan Center for Justice&nbsp;<a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/budget-bill-massively-increases-funding-immigration-detention" target="_blank">classified</a>&nbsp;as the largest federal law enforcement agency. The funds expand ICE’s ability to bring people into custody while capping the number of immigration judges in the country.

Also in Leavenworth, private prison company CoreCivic is battling the city government to reopen a shuttered prison to use as its Midwest Regional Reception Center, which would detain as many as 1,000 people. A judge<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/07/17/judge-again-blocks-corecivic-from-opening-leavenworth-prison-as-court-skirmishes-continue/">&nbsp;temporarily blocked</a>&nbsp;the company in July from housing people at its facility until the matter is worked out in court.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754061661114.png" alt=" Leavenworth Federal Correctional Institution, pictured here in 2023, is the subject of criticism from civil rights groups and immigration attorneys who say conditions for immigrants inside are inhumane. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> Leavenworth Federal Correctional Institution, pictured here in 2023, is the subject of criticism from civil rights groups and immigration attorneys who say conditions for immigrants inside are inhumane. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/akaminski/">ANNA KAMINSKI</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/03/kansas-state-garden-city-cc-striving-to-shrink-bachelors-degree-educational-desert/?emci=8e6f56cf-3bca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;emdi=a9416bb1-82ca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;ceid=115039">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — Problems linger in a Kansas federal prison holding immigrant detainees, even after altering some practices that a coalition of lawyers, civil rights groups and advocates revealed were harmful to those inside.The Federal Correction Institution at Leavenworth is one of two places in Kansas where Immigration and Customs Enforcement can detain people long term, and the coalition wrote to the prison warden in June about&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/06/06/immigrants-detained-in-leavenworth-federal-prison-live-in-squalor-without-sunlight-letters-claim/">unsanitary, inequitable and unhealthy conditions</a>.&nbsp;Warden Crystal Carter wrote in a June 20 response letter that the prison had eliminated medical fees, added law library resources that ICE failed to provide, implemented new recreation hours and expanded Spanish-language communications.But concerns about lockdowns and adequate phone call time remain, said Kyle Virgien, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project.“We see a lot of problems across ICE’s detention network,” Virgien said. “Detention is difficult. It rips people from their communities. It isolates them from their families. This is a constant.”Virgien began speaking with people inside Leavenworth in April and continues to monitor conditions.What he heard was troubling, he said.The coalition wrote in a pair of letters in May that detained immigrants faced unsanitary and crowded living quarters, extended lockdowns, delayed and costly medical treatment, restricted contact with their families, and no access to religious services.Some had attempted suicide, the letter said.Carter, the warden, said things have changed.After reviewing its procedures, the prison eliminated a $2 fee that people in ICE custody were charged for certain health visits. Staff were told to stop those charges and reverse all previous ones. To boost access for medical services, the prison created request slips written in Spanish for ICE detainees, Carter said. However, it is unclear how quickly officials respond to Spanish medical requests.&nbsp;Carter said capacity concerns did not exist at the time of writing, and, according to the coalition, people inside have said what once were crowded cells have become less so.&nbsp;According to July data from ICE, estimating average daily populations from the past year, about 35 people are held daily in Leavenworth for immigration reasons. Most pose little to no threat, according to ICE threat level classifications. On average, around 21 people were associated with criminal cases, and 12 were not. All are male and stay an average of 25 days.During those 25 days, people in ICE custody now are afforded at least one hour of outdoor recreation time daily and a maximum of 300 minutes of phone calls per month, with no call lasting longer than 15 minutes.People in ICE custody at Leavenworth are subject to the rules and policies of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which oversees operations. Some of the rules and policies are a departure from typical conditions in ICE detention facilities, Virgien said.He has heard stories of mistreatment from guards and retaliatory lockdowns that punish many for the actions of few, he said. Lockdowns mean people are in cells for 23 hours a day and must “pack all of their life tasks into that one hour outside the cell,” Virgien said, which can include recreation, showers, legal research, religious practices and phone calls.Carter said one instance of a lockdown has occurred in Leavenworth’s ICE detention unit for 72 hours, and another more than eight hours.“Except for the limited and infrequent instances, all ICE detainees have time outside of their cell each day and have access to exercise, the electronic law library and phone systems,” Carter said.The people ICE detains in Leavenworth are imprisoned alongside people awaiting criminal trials or serving criminal sentences.Benjamin O’Cone, a spokesman for the bureau, said in an emailed statement that it’s the mission of the bureau and Leavenworth to “operate facilities that are safe, secure and humane.”“We take seriously our duty to protect the individuals entrusted in our custody, as well as maintaining the safety of our employees and the community,” O’Cone said. “Humane treatment of the men and women in our custody is a top priority.”ICE did not respond to a request for comment. ICE also has not responded to the coalition’s letter, according to ACLU of Kansas spokeswoman Esmie Tseng.Virgien said the coalition is glad the prison addressed some of the issues they raised, but concerns remain.“Many of the people at the facility have already won their immigration cases, and ICE is still detaining them,” Virgien said.The coalition believes ICE should release people as soon as their immigration cases are won.In at least one case, an immigration judge determined a man could not return to his country of origin without risking torture. Others include people who have spoken out against authoritarian governments in their countries of origin or fled persecution. Some have young children. Many have come from Chicago, and a small number from Kentucky, Virgien said.When asked about the possibility of pursuing legal action, Virgien said, “all options are on the table.”Now, with major Congressional budget increases for ICE, Virgien fears problems will only multiply.Congress approved more than $175 billion for ICE in its most recent budget bill, making it what the Brennan Center for Justice&nbsp;<a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/budget-bill-massively-increases-funding-immigration-detention" target="_blank">classified</a>&nbsp;as the largest federal law enforcement agency. The funds expand ICE’s ability to bring people into custody while capping the number of immigration judges in the country.Also in Leavenworth, private prison company CoreCivic is battling the city government to reopen a shuttered prison to use as its Midwest Regional Reception Center, which would detain as many as 1,000 people. A judge<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/07/17/judge-again-blocks-corecivic-from-opening-leavenworth-prison-as-court-skirmishes-continue/">&nbsp;temporarily blocked</a>&nbsp;the company in July from housing people at its facility until the matter is worked out in court.

Federal Leavenworth prison modifies conditions for migrants after letters reveal squalor

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement investigating another homicide in Kansas City have identified the victim as 49-year-old Robert Benedict.

Just after 4:30p.m. Friday, patrol officers were dispatched to the 800 block of Benton on a reported shooting, according to Officer Phil DiMartino.

As officers arrived they were directed to the intersection of 8th and Benton, just to the east. There they located Benedict suffering from gunshot wounds.&nbsp; KCFD personnel responded and medics pronounced him deceased on scene. This is being investigated as a homicide, and a subject of interest was taken into custody pending further investigation.&nbsp;

 Preliminary information revealed there was an altercation between multiple people that led to shots being fired and the victim being struck.&nbsp; Police did not release the name of the suspect.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754100469410.png" alt="Photo Sheriff Daryl Forte'" />
 <figcaption>Photo Sheriff Daryl Forte'</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement investigating another homicide in Kansas City have identified the victim as 49-year-old Robert Benedict.Just after 4:30p.m. Friday, patrol officers were dispatched to the 800 block of Benton on a reported shooting, according to Officer Phil DiMartino.As officers arrived they were directed to the intersection of 8th and Benton, just to the east. There they located Benedict suffering from gunshot wounds.&nbsp; KCFD personnel responded and medics pronounced him deceased on scene. This is being investigated as a homicide, and a subject of interest was taken into custody pending further investigation.&nbsp; Preliminary information revealed there was an altercation between multiple people that led to shots being fired and the victim being struck.&nbsp; Police did not release the name of the suspect.

Police ID victim in KC shooting, suspect taken into custody

By JOSH FUNK AP Transportation Writer

Over three days of sometimes contentious hearings this week, the National Transportation Safety Board interrogated Federal Aviation Administration and Army officials about a list of things that went wrong and contributed to a Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger jet colliding over Washington, D.C.,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-62adba7fb1f546b4cf1716e42b86482b">killing 67 people</a>.

The biggest revelations: The helicopter's altimeter gauge was broken, and controllers warned the FAA years earlier about the dangers that helicopters presented.

At one point NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy scolded the FAA for not addressing safety concerns.

“Are you kidding me? Sixty-seven people are dead! How do you explain that? Our bureaucratic process?” she said. “Fix it. Do better.”

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fatal-washington-flight-passengers-ca062f03b729c130058d4f74393dfa31">Victims of the January crash</a>&nbsp;included&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-plane-collision-victims-ee829891574aa35a30d8262b7e07e638">a group of elite young figure skaters</a>, their parents and coaches and four union steamfitters from the Washington area.

Here is a look at the major takeaways from the hearings about the collision, which alarmed travelers before a string of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/toronto-delta-crash-9c37b48b9719cffdbeba920d46e116b9">other crashes</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/southwest-airlines-plane-collision-chicago-midway-faa-e0abb86c91ea54a751cc917ae97d2d11">close calls</a>&nbsp;this year added to their worries about flying:

The helicopter was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-national-airport-aircraft-crash-ntsb-3dec2686beb43ada10ce392c857751cc">flying at 278 feet</a>&nbsp;(85 meters) — well above the 200-foot (61-meter) ceiling on that route — when it collided with the airliner. But investigators said the pilots might not have realized that because the barometric altimeter they were relying on was reading 80 to 100 feet (24 to 30 meters) lower than the altitude registered by the flight data recorder.

The NTSB subsequently found similar discrepancies in the altimeters of three other helicopters from the same unit.

An expert with Sikorsky, which makes the Black Hawks, said the one that crashed was an older model that lacked the air data computers that make for more accurate altitude readings in newer versions.

Army Chief Warrant Officer Kylene Lewis told the board that an 80- to 100-foot (24- to 30-meter) discrepancy between the different altimeters on a helicopter would not be alarming, because at lower altitudes she would be relying more on the radar altimeter than the barometric altimeter. Plus Army pilots strive to stay within 100 feet (30 meters) of target altitude on flights, so they could still do that even with their altimeters that far off.

But Rick Dressler of medevac operator Metro Aviation told the NTSB that imprecision would not fly with his helicopters. When a helicopter route like the one the Black Hawk was flying that night includes an altitude limit, Dressler said, his pilots consider that a hard ceiling.

Both tried to deflect responsibility for the crash, but the testimony highlighted plenty of things that might have been done differently. The NTSB’s final report will be done next year, but there likely will not be one single cause identified for the crash.

“I think it was a week of reckoning for the FAA and the U.S. Army in this accident,” aviation safety consultant and former crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti said.

Army officials said the greater concern is that the FAA approved routes around Ronald Reagan International Airport with separation distances as small as 75 feet (23 meters) between helicopters and planes when planes are landing on a certain runway at Reagan.

“The fact that we have less than 500-foot separation is a concern for me,” said Scott Rosengren, chief engineer in the office that manages the Army’s utility helicopters.

Army Chief Warrant Officer David Van Vechten said he was surprised the air traffic controller let the helicopter proceed while the airliner was circling to land at Reagan’s secondary runway, which is used when traffic for the main runway stacks up and accounts for about 5% of flights.

Van Vechten said he was never allowed to fly under a landing plane as the Black Hawk did, but only a handful of the hundreds of times he flew that route involved planes landing on that runway. Other pilots in the unit told crash investigators it was routine to be directed to fly under landing planes, and they believed that was safe if they stuck to the approved route.

Frank McIntosh, the head of the FAA’s air traffic control organization, said he thinks controllers at Reagan “were really dependent upon the use of visual separation” to keep traffic moving through the busy airspace. The NTSB said controllers repeatedly said they would just “make it work.” They sometimes used “squeeze plays” to land planes with minimal separation.

On the night of the crash, a controller twice asked the helicopter pilots whether they had the jet in sight, and the pilots said they did and asked for visual separation approval so they could use their own eyes to maintain distance. Testimony at the hearing raised serious questions about how well the crew could spot the plane while wearing night vision goggles and whether the pilots were even looking in the right spot.

The controller acknowledged in an interview that the plane’s pilots were never warned when the helicopter was on a collision path, but controllers did not think telling the plane would have made a difference at that point. The plane was descending to land and tried to pull up at the last second after getting a warning in the cockpit, but it was too late.

FAA was warned about the dangers of helicopter traffic in D.C.

An FAA working group tried to get a warning added to helicopter charts back in 2022 urging pilots to use caution whenever the secondary runway was in use, but the agency refused. The working group said “helicopter operations are occurring in a proximity that has triggered safety events. These events have been trending in the wrong direction and increasing year over year.”

Separately, a different group at the airport discussed moving the helicopter route, but those discussions did not go anywhere. And a manager at a regional radar facility in the area urged the FAA in writing to reduce the number of planes taking off and landing at Reagan because of safety concerns.

The NTSB has also said the FAA failed to recognize a troubling history of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dc-crash-investigation-ntsb-faa-near-misses-53cc37d586a981c3382462a07b3d99ec">85 near misses</a>&nbsp;around Reagan in the three years before the collision,

NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said “every sign was there that there was a safety risk and the tower was telling you that.” But after the accident, the FAA transferred managers out of the airport instead of acknowledging that they had been warned.

“What you did is you transferred people out instead of taking ownership over the fact that everybody in FAA in the tower was saying there was a problem,” Homendy said. “But you guys are pointing out, ‘Welp, our bureaucratic process. Somebody should have brought it up at some other symposium.’”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754186208424.png" alt="Image moments before the fatal crash- NTSB video" />
 <figcaption>Image moments before the fatal crash- NTSB video</figcaption>
 </figure>By JOSH FUNK AP Transportation WriterOver three days of sometimes contentious hearings this week, the National Transportation Safety Board interrogated Federal Aviation Administration and Army officials about a list of things that went wrong and contributed to a Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger jet colliding over Washington, D.C.,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-62adba7fb1f546b4cf1716e42b86482b">killing 67 people</a>.<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SQm-fRrNMjM?si=cRRGnNYIS5FEdB0c&amp;start=3" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>The biggest revelations: The helicopter's altimeter gauge was broken, and controllers warned the FAA years earlier about the dangers that helicopters presented.At one point NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy scolded the FAA for not addressing safety concerns.“Are you kidding me? Sixty-seven people are dead! How do you explain that? Our bureaucratic process?” she said. “Fix it. Do better.”<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fatal-washington-flight-passengers-ca062f03b729c130058d4f74393dfa31">Victims of the January crash</a>&nbsp;included&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-plane-collision-victims-ee829891574aa35a30d8262b7e07e638">a group of elite young figure skaters</a>, their parents and coaches and four union steamfitters from the Washington area.Here is a look at the major takeaways from the hearings about the collision, which alarmed travelers before a string of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/toronto-delta-crash-9c37b48b9719cffdbeba920d46e116b9">other crashes</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/southwest-airlines-plane-collision-chicago-midway-faa-e0abb86c91ea54a751cc917ae97d2d11">close calls</a>&nbsp;this year added to their worries about flying:<h2>The helicopter’s altimeter was wrong</h2>The helicopter was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-national-airport-aircraft-crash-ntsb-3dec2686beb43ada10ce392c857751cc">flying at 278 feet</a>&nbsp;(85 meters) — well above the 200-foot (61-meter) ceiling on that route — when it collided with the airliner. But investigators said the pilots might not have realized that because the barometric altimeter they were relying on was reading 80 to 100 feet (24 to 30 meters) lower than the altitude registered by the flight data recorder.The NTSB subsequently found similar discrepancies in the altimeters of three other helicopters from the same unit.An expert with Sikorsky, which makes the Black Hawks, said the one that crashed was an older model that lacked the air data computers that make for more accurate altitude readings in newer versions.Army Chief Warrant Officer Kylene Lewis told the board that an 80- to 100-foot (24- to 30-meter) discrepancy between the different altimeters on a helicopter would not be alarming, because at lower altitudes she would be relying more on the radar altimeter than the barometric altimeter. Plus Army pilots strive to stay within 100 feet (30 meters) of target altitude on flights, so they could still do that even with their altimeters that far off.But Rick Dressler of medevac operator Metro Aviation told the NTSB that imprecision would not fly with his helicopters. When a helicopter route like the one the Black Hawk was flying that night includes an altitude limit, Dressler said, his pilots consider that a hard ceiling.<h2>FAA and Army defend actions, shift blame</h2>Both tried to deflect responsibility for the crash, but the testimony highlighted plenty of things that might have been done differently. The NTSB’s final report will be done next year, but there likely will not be one single cause identified for the crash.“I think it was a week of reckoning for the FAA and the U.S. Army in this accident,” aviation safety consultant and former crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti said.Army officials said the greater concern is that the FAA approved routes around Ronald Reagan International Airport with separation distances as small as 75 feet (23 meters) between helicopters and planes when planes are landing on a certain runway at Reagan.“The fact that we have less than 500-foot separation is a concern for me,” said Scott Rosengren, chief engineer in the office that manages the Army’s utility helicopters.Army Chief Warrant Officer David Van Vechten said he was surprised the air traffic controller let the helicopter proceed while the airliner was circling to land at Reagan’s secondary runway, which is used when traffic for the main runway stacks up and accounts for about 5% of flights.Van Vechten said he was never allowed to fly under a landing plane as the Black Hawk did, but only a handful of the hundreds of times he flew that route involved planes landing on that runway. Other pilots in the unit told crash investigators it was routine to be directed to fly under landing planes, and they believed that was safe if they stuck to the approved route.Frank McIntosh, the head of the FAA’s air traffic control organization, said he thinks controllers at Reagan “were really dependent upon the use of visual separation” to keep traffic moving through the busy airspace. The NTSB said controllers repeatedly said they would just “make it work.” They sometimes used “squeeze plays” to land planes with minimal separation.On the night of the crash, a controller twice asked the helicopter pilots whether they had the jet in sight, and the pilots said they did and asked for visual separation approval so they could use their own eyes to maintain distance. Testimony at the hearing raised serious questions about how well the crew could spot the plane while wearing night vision goggles and whether the pilots were even looking in the right spot.The controller acknowledged in an interview that the plane’s pilots were never warned when the helicopter was on a collision path, but controllers did not think telling the plane would have made a difference at that point. The plane was descending to land and tried to pull up at the last second after getting a warning in the cockpit, but it was too late.<h2>FAA was warned about the dangers of helicopter traffic in D.C.</h2>An FAA working group tried to get a warning added to helicopter charts back in 2022 urging pilots to use caution whenever the secondary runway was in use, but the agency refused. The working group said “helicopter operations are occurring in a proximity that has triggered safety events. These events have been trending in the wrong direction and increasing year over year.”Separately, a different group at the airport discussed moving the helicopter route, but those discussions did not go anywhere. And a manager at a regional radar facility in the area urged the FAA in writing to reduce the number of planes taking off and landing at Reagan because of safety concerns.The NTSB has also said the FAA failed to recognize a troubling history of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dc-crash-investigation-ntsb-faa-near-misses-53cc37d586a981c3382462a07b3d99ec">85 near misses</a>&nbsp;around Reagan in the three years before the collision,NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said “every sign was there that there was a safety risk and the tower was telling you that.” But after the accident, the FAA transferred managers out of the airport instead of acknowledging that they had been warned.“What you did is you transferred people out instead of taking ownership over the fact that everybody in FAA in the tower was saying there was a problem,” Homendy said. “But you guys are pointing out, ‘Welp, our bureaucratic process. Somebody should have brought it up at some other symposium.’”

🎥Hearings reveal ignored warnings in fatal crash with jet from Kansas

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro as the top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital, filling the post after President Donald Trump withdrew his controversial first pick, conservative activist Ed Martin Jr.

Pirro, a former county prosecutor and elected judge, was confirmed 50-45. Kansas U.S. Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall voted with majority.

 Before becoming the acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia in May, she co-hosted the Fox News show “The Five” on weekday evenings, where she frequently interviewed Trump.

Trump yanked Martin’s nomination after a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ed-martin-prosecutor-january-6-trump-nominee-justice-7b9d392ff6a20ab6c25dd5f03b176c85">key Republican senator</a>&nbsp;said he could not support him due to Martin’s outspoken support for rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Martin now serves as the Justice Department’s pardon attorney.

In 2021, voting technology company&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/smartmatic-sues-fox-news-giuliani-2a8d83df2e6d73b750dd85f92f4fd7ef">Smartmatic USA</a>&nbsp;sued Fox News, Pirro and others for spreading false claims that the company helped “steal” the 2020 presidential election from Trump. The company’s libel suit, filed in a New York state court, sought $2.7 billion from the defendants.

Last month, Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to send Pirro’s nomination to the Senate floor after Democrats walked out to protest&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bove-justice-department-judge-nomination-trump-efea8c93ad892f1eb000321939a7283c">Emil Bove’s nomination</a>&nbsp;to become a federal appeals court judge.

Pirro, a 1975 graduate of Albany Law School, has significantly more courtroom experience than Martin, who had never served as a prosecutor or tried a case before taking office in January. She was elected as a judge in New York’s Westchester County Court in 1990 before serving three terms as the county’s elected district attorney.

In the final minutes of his first term as president, Trump issued a pardon to Pirro’s ex-husband, Albert Pirro, who was convicted in 2000 on conspiracy and tax evasion charges.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754213325459.png" alt="Pirro during her swearing in ceremony as interim U.S. Attorney- White House video" />
 <figcaption>Pirro during her swearing in ceremony as interim U.S. Attorney- White House video</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro as the top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital, filling the post after President Donald Trump withdrew his controversial first pick, conservative activist Ed Martin Jr.Pirro, a former county prosecutor and elected judge, was confirmed 50-45. Kansas U.S. Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall voted with majority.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">I am blessed to have received a Senate confirmation vote this evening of 50 to 45 to be the United States attorney for the District of Columbia the largest United States Attorney’s Office in the country. Thank you to those senators who supported my confirmation and DC- get ready…&mdash; Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) <a href="https://twitter.com/JudgeJeanine/status/1951813162732593454?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div> Before becoming the acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia in May, she co-hosted the Fox News show “The Five” on weekday evenings, where she frequently interviewed Trump.Trump yanked Martin’s nomination after a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ed-martin-prosecutor-january-6-trump-nominee-justice-7b9d392ff6a20ab6c25dd5f03b176c85">key Republican senator</a>&nbsp;said he could not support him due to Martin’s outspoken support for rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Martin now serves as the Justice Department’s pardon attorney.In 2021, voting technology company&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/smartmatic-sues-fox-news-giuliani-2a8d83df2e6d73b750dd85f92f4fd7ef">Smartmatic USA</a>&nbsp;sued Fox News, Pirro and others for spreading false claims that the company helped “steal” the 2020 presidential election from Trump. The company’s libel suit, filed in a New York state court, sought $2.7 billion from the defendants.Last month, Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to send Pirro’s nomination to the Senate floor after Democrats walked out to protest&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bove-justice-department-judge-nomination-trump-efea8c93ad892f1eb000321939a7283c">Emil Bove’s nomination</a>&nbsp;to become a federal appeals court judge.Pirro, a 1975 graduate of Albany Law School, has significantly more courtroom experience than Martin, who had never served as a prosecutor or tried a case before taking office in January. She was elected as a judge in New York’s Westchester County Court in 1990 before serving three terms as the county’s elected district attorney.In the final minutes of his first term as president, Trump issued a pardon to Pirro’s ex-husband, Albert Pirro, who was convicted in 2000 on conspiracy and tax evasion charges.

Moran, Marshall vote to confirm former Fox host as U.S. Attorney for DC

SEDGWICK COUNTY—A man who randoly shot at vehicles on a Kansas highway in 2024 is going to avoid any further jail time.

On Monday, Sedgwick County Judge Christopher Magana sentenced 21-year-old Kamil Lweno of Wichita to probation, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.

Lweno was charged with three counts of criminal discharge of a firearm, aggravated assault, and criminal damage to property, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.

In March of 2024, police&nbsp;responded to reports of a suspicious individual wielding a weapon in the vicinity of Interstate 235 and Central in Wichita, according to Wichita Police Lt. Aaron Moses.

Callers reported gunshots and observed a man walking along the median of the highway shooting a gun.

Simultaneously, officers were dispatched to an undisclosed accident scene near 1900 N Westdale, where they discovered a Gray Jeep Grand Cherokee involved in a single-vehicle collision, abandoned at the scene.

Upon arrival in the area, officers apprehended a man later identified as Kamil Lweno in the 1800 block of N. Interstate 235, matching the description of the suspected shooter.

Police took him into custody without resistance. Subsequent investigation revealed the shooting suspect as the registered owner of the abandoned vehicle.

Law enforcement officers recovered a firearm and multiple spent cartridge casings. During the investigation, officers identified three individuals who reported their vehicles being targets of gunfire during the incident. The victims, a 28-year-old man, an 18-year-old man and a 56-year-old woman, were unrelated to each other or the suspect. There were no reported injuries.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1710522260952.png" alt="The highway was temporarily blocked while police investigated the shooting -photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>The highway was temporarily blocked while police investigated the shooting -photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY—A man who randoly shot at vehicles on a Kansas highway in 2024 is going to avoid any further jail time.On Monday, Sedgwick County Judge Christopher Magana sentenced 21-year-old Kamil Lweno of Wichita to probation, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.Lweno was charged with three counts of criminal discharge of a firearm, aggravated assault, and criminal damage to property, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.In March of 2024, police&nbsp;responded to reports of a suspicious individual wielding a weapon in the vicinity of Interstate 235 and Central in Wichita, according to Wichita Police Lt. Aaron Moses.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1710528928816.png" alt="Lweno photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Lweno photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>Callers reported gunshots and observed a man walking along the median of the highway shooting a gun.Simultaneously, officers were dispatched to an undisclosed accident scene near 1900 N Westdale, where they discovered a Gray Jeep Grand Cherokee involved in a single-vehicle collision, abandoned at the scene.Upon arrival in the area, officers apprehended a man later identified as Kamil Lweno in the 1800 block of N. Interstate 235, matching the description of the suspected shooter.Police took him into custody without resistance. Subsequent investigation revealed the shooting suspect as the registered owner of the abandoned vehicle.Law enforcement officers recovered a firearm and multiple spent cartridge casings. During the investigation, officers identified three individuals who reported their vehicles being targets of gunfire during the incident. The victims, a 28-year-old man, an 18-year-old man and a 56-year-old woman, were unrelated to each other or the suspect. There were no reported injuries.

Surprise sentence for man who randomly shot at cars on Kan. highway

WICHITA, Kan.&nbsp;— The Wichita Police Department is investigating the death of a 49-year-old man as a homicide.

Around 8:45 a.m. Friday, officers and Wichita Fire Department crews responded to a report of a man down near the entrance to an alley in the 2400 block of North Jeanette. When fire personnel arrived, they found the man with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:53 a.m., according ot a media release from Wichita Police.

Officers secured the area, and homicide detectives were called in to investigate.

The investigation is still in its early stages, and details may change as it continues, but initial findings suggest the victim was shot somewhere else and collapsed after fleeing the scene on a bicycle.&nbsp;

Anyone with information is asked to call our homicide section at 316-268-4407. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754085592544.png" alt="photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>WICHITA, Kan.&nbsp;— The Wichita Police Department is investigating the death of a 49-year-old man as a homicide.Around 8:45 a.m. Friday, officers and Wichita Fire Department crews responded to a report of a man down near the entrance to an alley in the 2400 block of North Jeanette. When fire personnel arrived, they found the man with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:53 a.m., according ot a media release from Wichita Police.Officers secured the area, and homicide detectives were called in to investigate.The investigation is still in its early stages, and details may change as it continues, but initial findings suggest the victim was shot somewhere else and collapsed after fleeing the scene on a bicycle.&nbsp;Anyone with information is asked to call our homicide section at 316-268-4407. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.

Homicide: 49-year-old man found in Kansas alley

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/mike-stobbe">MIKE STOBBE</a>

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials have told more than a half-dozen of the nation’s top medical organizations that they will no longer help establish vaccination recommendations.

The government told the organizations on Thursday via email that their experts are being disinvited from the workgroups that have been the backbone of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

The organizations include the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

“I’m concerned and distressed,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University vaccine expert who for decades has been involved with ACIP and its workgroups.

He said the move will likely propel a confusing fragmentation of vaccine guidance, as patients may hear the government say one thing and hear their doctors say another.

One email said the organizations are “special interest groups and therefore are expected to have a ‘bias’ based on their constituency and/or population that they represent.”

A federal health official on Friday confirmed the action, which was first reported by Bloomberg.

The decision was the latest development in what has become a saga involving the ACIP. The committee, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how vaccines that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration should be used.

CDC directors have traditionally almost always approved those recommendations, which are widely heeded by doctors and greenlight insurance coverage for shots.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a leading voice in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-vaccine-trump-science-autism-9b99621b01f11b7f0bdc81e5a0b82d2b">anti-vaccine movement</a>&nbsp;before becoming the U.S. government’s top health official, and in June&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kennedy-cdc-acip-vaccines-3790c89f45b6314c5c7b686db0e3a8f9">abruptly fired</a>&nbsp;the entire ACIP after accusing them of being too closely aligned with manufacturers. He&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cdc-acip-vaccine-committee-9f58e1f004075b081718ff078de88d76">handpicked replacements</a>&nbsp;that include several vaccine skeptics.

The workgroups typically include committee members and experts from medical and scientific organizations. At workgroup meetings, members evaluate data from vaccine manufacturers and the CDC, and formulate vaccination recommendation proposals to be presented to the full committee.

The structure was created for several reasons, Schaffner said. The professional groups provide input about what might and might not be possible for doctors to implement. And it helped build respect and trust in ACIP recommendations, having the buy-in of respected medical organizations, he said.

Workgroup members are vetted for conflicts of interest, to make sure than no one who had, say, made money from working on a hepatitis vaccine was placed on the hepatitis committee, Schaffner noted.

Also disinvited from the groups were the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians, the American Geriatrics Society, the American Osteopathic Association, the National Medical Association and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

In a joint statement Friday, the AMA and several of the other organizations said: “To remove our deep medical expertise from this vital and once transparent process is irresponsible, dangerous to our nation’s health, and will further undermine public and clinician trust in vaccines.”

They urged the administration to reconsider the move “so we can continue to feel confident in its vaccine recommendations for our patients.”

Some of the professional organizations have criticized Kennedy’s changes to the ACIP, and three of the disinvited groups last month joined&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lawsuit-vaccines-kennedy-95a1aa23c3f015f7a35a570f5ef8da36">a lawsuit</a>&nbsp;against the government over Kennedy’s decision to stop recommending COVID-19 vaccines for most children and pregnant women.

In a social media post Friday, one of the Kennedy-appointed ACIP members — Retsef Levi — wrote that the working groups “will engage experts from even broader set of disciplines!”

Levi, a business management professor, also wrote that working group membership “will be based on merit &amp; expertise — not membership in organizations proven to have (conflicts of interest) and radical &amp; narrow view of public health!”

HHS officials have not said which people are going to be added to the ACIP workgroups.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600861747887.png" alt="Photo Johnson &amp; Johnson" />
 <figcaption>Photo Johnson &amp; Johnson</figcaption>
 </figure>By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/mike-stobbe">MIKE STOBBE</a>NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials have told more than a half-dozen of the nation’s top medical organizations that they will no longer help establish vaccination recommendations.The government told the organizations on Thursday via email that their experts are being disinvited from the workgroups that have been the backbone of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.The organizations include the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.“I’m concerned and distressed,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University vaccine expert who for decades has been involved with ACIP and its workgroups.He said the move will likely propel a confusing fragmentation of vaccine guidance, as patients may hear the government say one thing and hear their doctors say another.One email said the organizations are “special interest groups and therefore are expected to have a ‘bias’ based on their constituency and/or population that they represent.”A federal health official on Friday confirmed the action, which was first reported by Bloomberg.The decision was the latest development in what has become a saga involving the ACIP. The committee, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how vaccines that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration should be used.CDC directors have traditionally almost always approved those recommendations, which are widely heeded by doctors and greenlight insurance coverage for shots.U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a leading voice in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-vaccine-trump-science-autism-9b99621b01f11b7f0bdc81e5a0b82d2b">anti-vaccine movement</a>&nbsp;before becoming the U.S. government’s top health official, and in June&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kennedy-cdc-acip-vaccines-3790c89f45b6314c5c7b686db0e3a8f9">abruptly fired</a>&nbsp;the entire ACIP after accusing them of being too closely aligned with manufacturers. He&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cdc-acip-vaccine-committee-9f58e1f004075b081718ff078de88d76">handpicked replacements</a>&nbsp;that include several vaccine skeptics.The workgroups typically include committee members and experts from medical and scientific organizations. At workgroup meetings, members evaluate data from vaccine manufacturers and the CDC, and formulate vaccination recommendation proposals to be presented to the full committee.The structure was created for several reasons, Schaffner said. The professional groups provide input about what might and might not be possible for doctors to implement. And it helped build respect and trust in ACIP recommendations, having the buy-in of respected medical organizations, he said.Workgroup members are vetted for conflicts of interest, to make sure than no one who had, say, made money from working on a hepatitis vaccine was placed on the hepatitis committee, Schaffner noted.Also disinvited from the groups were the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians, the American Geriatrics Society, the American Osteopathic Association, the National Medical Association and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.In a joint statement Friday, the AMA and several of the other organizations said: “To remove our deep medical expertise from this vital and once transparent process is irresponsible, dangerous to our nation’s health, and will further undermine public and clinician trust in vaccines.”They urged the administration to reconsider the move “so we can continue to feel confident in its vaccine recommendations for our patients.”Some of the professional organizations have criticized Kennedy’s changes to the ACIP, and three of the disinvited groups last month joined&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lawsuit-vaccines-kennedy-95a1aa23c3f015f7a35a570f5ef8da36">a lawsuit</a>&nbsp;against the government over Kennedy’s decision to stop recommending COVID-19 vaccines for most children and pregnant women.In a social media post Friday, one of the Kennedy-appointed ACIP members — Retsef Levi — wrote that the working groups “will engage experts from even broader set of disciplines!”Levi, a business management professor, also wrote that working group membership “will be based on merit &amp; expertise — not membership in organizations proven to have (conflicts of interest) and radical &amp; narrow view of public health!”HHS officials have not said which people are going to be added to the ACIP workgroups.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

AMA and other medical associations are kicked out of CDC vaccine workgroups

BY&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/mchilson/">MORGAN CHILSON</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — A Kansas woman owes more than $21,000 in late fees for failing to pay her rent in 2020, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled last week.

Sherri Foster rented a Prairie Village house in November 2018, paying $1,900 per month in rent to John Schutt. Schutt also employed Foster to work on renovations of rental properties, attorney Jadh Kerr told Supreme Court justices.&nbsp;

“The lease had a late-fee provision that $20 for each day was due for rents that remain unpaid after the due date, which is the first of the month,” Kerr said.&nbsp;

Foster did not pay rent for three months in early 2020, but she and Schutt agreed to bring her current as of June 2020, Kerr said. Foster again missed three months of rent, which ultimately brought the two before the Johnson County District Court.&nbsp;

“Normally, under a landlord-tenant action, you would go to trial within 14 days,” Kerr said. “That did not happen here. It took from September of 2020 to March 2 of 2023 for this case to get to trial.”

The district court ruled that Foster owed $5,700 in unpaid rent and $21,240 in late fees, which was calculated by assessing $20 per day for 1,062 days between the first missed rent payment and the judgment date.

However, Schutt also owed Foster $545 for failing to pay her for managing construction work on his rental properties, according to court documents.

Foster’s attorney Eric Kraft appealed the district court ruling to the Kansas Court of Appeals, claiming that $21,000 in late fees was “unconscionable,” a legal term meaning a contract is so unfair or oppressive for one party that it offends the conscience of the court. In Kansas, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/consumer-protection-kansas#:~:text=THE%20KANSAS%20CONSUMER%20PROTECTION%20ACT,CONSUMERS%20HOW%20TO%20OBTAIN%20REDRESS." target="_blank">Consumer Protection Law</a>&nbsp;focuses on “misleading, deceptive and unconscionable trade practices.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754061564815.png" alt=" Attorney Jadh Kerr testifies before the Kansas Supreme Court about the validity of $21,000 in late fees in a landlord-tenant case. (Kansas Reflector screen capture of Kansas Supreme Court proceeding)" />
 <figcaption> Attorney Jadh Kerr testifies before the Kansas Supreme Court about the validity of $21,000 in late fees in a landlord-tenant case. (Kansas Reflector screen capture of Kansas Supreme Court proceeding)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/mchilson/">MORGAN CHILSON</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — A Kansas woman owes more than $21,000 in late fees for failing to pay her rent in 2020, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled last week.Sherri Foster rented a Prairie Village house in November 2018, paying $1,900 per month in rent to John Schutt. Schutt also employed Foster to work on renovations of rental properties, attorney Jadh Kerr told Supreme Court justices.&nbsp;“The lease had a late-fee provision that $20 for each day was due for rents that remain unpaid after the due date, which is the first of the month,” Kerr said.&nbsp;Foster did not pay rent for three months in early 2020, but she and Schutt agreed to bring her current as of June 2020, Kerr said. Foster again missed three months of rent, which ultimately brought the two before the Johnson County District Court.&nbsp;“Normally, under a landlord-tenant action, you would go to trial within 14 days,” Kerr said. “That did not happen here. It took from September of 2020 to March 2 of 2023 for this case to get to trial.”The district court ruled that Foster owed $5,700 in unpaid rent and $21,240 in late fees, which was calculated by assessing $20 per day for 1,062 days between the first missed rent payment and the judgment date.However, Schutt also owed Foster $545 for failing to pay her for managing construction work on his rental properties, according to court documents.Foster’s attorney Eric Kraft appealed the district court ruling to the Kansas Court of Appeals, claiming that $21,000 in late fees was “unconscionable,” a legal term meaning a contract is so unfair or oppressive for one party that it offends the conscience of the court. In Kansas, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/consumer-protection-kansas#:~:text=THE%20KANSAS%20CONSUMER%20PROTECTION%20ACT,CONSUMERS%20HOW%20TO%20OBTAIN%20REDRESS." target="_blank">Consumer Protection Law</a>&nbsp;focuses on “misleading, deceptive and unconscionable trade practices.”The appeals court agreed with Foster and lowered the late fee assessment to $1,700, which covered the days between when Foster failed to pay her rent and when the case went before the district court. But Schutt then appealed that decision to the Kansas Supreme Court.Kraft said the district court judge, John McEntee, was new, and Kraft believed the former judge in district court would have limited the late fees.“As much as we try to protect the tenants in the landlord and tenant act, this smacks that completely upside down,” Kraft told the Supreme Court.&nbsp;While Supreme Court justices peppered Schutt’s lawyer with questions about the fairness of late fees accruing through an unusually long court proceeding, they ultimately found in favor of Schutt.The&nbsp;<a href="https://searchdro.kscourts.gov/documents/pdf/caseDecisions/e8a35794-dc62-47c6-9184-09c89c4b9bda_126555.pdf" target="_blank">unanimous decision</a>&nbsp;from the Supreme Court reversed the appeals court’s decision. It said that Foster did not appropriately raise the issue of unconscionability, and the Court of Appeals should not have taken that into account when reversing the district court’s initial decision.&nbsp;