SEDGWICK COUNTY&nbsp;— A suspect accused in a fatal shooting in Wichita made his first court appearance in the case on Friday.

&nbsp;Ricardo Talavera, 41, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and interference with a law enforcement officer, according to the Sedgwick. County District Attorney's office.

On August 6, the Wichita Police arrested Talavera, in connection with the shooting death of 49-year-old Ruben Parga-Quintanar.

Just before 9a.m. August 1, 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 Parga-Quintanar with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:53 a.m.

Early findings in the investigation suggested Parga-Quintanar was shot elsewhere and collapsed after fleeing on a bicycle. As the case progressed, detectives determined he was shot in the alley and then collapsed nearby.

Investigators identified Talavera as a suspect and served a search warrant at his home on Saturday. On Tuesday night, police arrested him and booked him into the Sedgwick County Jail on a requested charge of second-degree murder.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754486168417.png" alt="Talavera -photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Talavera -photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY&nbsp;— A suspect accused in a fatal shooting in Wichita made his first court appearance in the case on Friday.&nbsp;Ricardo Talavera, 41, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and interference with a law enforcement officer, according to the Sedgwick. County District Attorney's office.On August 6, the Wichita Police arrested Talavera, in connection with the shooting death of 49-year-old Ruben Parga-Quintanar.Just before 9a.m. August 1, 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 Parga-Quintanar with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:53 a.m.Early findings in the investigation suggested Parga-Quintanar was shot elsewhere and collapsed after fleeing on a bicycle. As the case progressed, detectives determined he was shot in the alley and then collapsed nearby.Investigators identified Talavera as a suspect and served a search warrant at his home on Saturday. On Tuesday night, police arrested him and booked him into the Sedgwick County Jail on a requested charge of second-degree murder.

Suspect accused of killing SW Kansas man faced a judge

WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;said Monday he’s taking over Washington's police department and activating 800 members of the National Guard in the hopes of reducing crime, even as city officials stressed crime is already falling in the nation’s capital.

The president, flanked by his attorney general, his defense secretary and the FBI director, said he was declaring a public safety emergency and his administration would be removing homeless encampments.

“We’re going to take our capital back,” Trump declared, adding he'd also be “getting rid of the slums.”

For Trump, the effort to take over public safety in Washington reflects an escalation of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/video/trump-says-there-will-be-strong-law-and-order-as-national-guard-faces-off-with-protesters-in-la-b8129d06adb34d52939dff416f8a7cea">his aggressive approach to law enforcement</a>. The District of Columbia’s status as a congressionally established federal district gives him a unique opportunity to push his tough-on-crime agenda, though he has not proposed solutions to the root causes of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/homelessness">homelessness</a>&nbsp;or crime.

Attorney General Pam Bondi will assume responsibility for Washington’s metro police department, Trump said, as he also railed against potholes and graffiti in the city and called them “embarrassing.” The president did not provide a timeline for the control of the police department, but he's limited to 30 days under statute.

As Trump spoke, demonstrators gathered outside the White House to protest his moves. And local officials rejected the Republican president's depiction of the district as crime-ridden and called his actions illegal.

“The administration’s actions are unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful,” District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said. “There is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia."

Schwalb, a Democrat, said violent crime in the district reached historic 30-year lows last year and is down another 26% this year.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said she would follow the law regarding the “so-called emergency” even as she indicated that Trump's actions were a reason why the District of Columbia should be a state with legal protections from such actions.

“While this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can’t say that given some of the rhetoric of the past, that we’re totally surprised,” Bowser said.

The president dismissed the idea Washington needed to enlarge its 3,500-officer police force, even as he seeks to have more armed personnel going through the city with the goal of reducing crime.

“What you need is rules and regulations, and you need the right people to implement them,” he said.

Trump invoked Section 740 of the District of Columbia&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/district-of-columbia-trump-takeover-3b58c1efabf17db271dce582d9a09c6d">Home Rule Act</a>&nbsp;in an executive order to declare a “crime emergency” so his administration could take over the city's police force. He signed a directive for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to activate the National Guard.

While Trump has portrayed himself as a friend to law enforcement and enjoyed the political backing from many of their groups, he pardoned or commuted the sentences of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/projects/january-6-cases/">in the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot</a>, including people convicted of assaulting police officers.

About 500 federal law enforcement officers are being tasked with deploying throughout the nation’s capital as part of Trump’s effort to combat crime, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

More than 100 FBI agents and about 40 agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are among federal law enforcement personnel being assigned to patrols in Washington, the person briefed on the plans said. The Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Marshals Service are contributing officers.

The person was not authorized to publicly discuss personnel matters and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity. The Justice Department didn’t immediately have a comment Monday morning.

Bowser, a Democrat, has previously questioned the effectiveness of using the National Guard to enforce city laws and said the federal government could be far more helpful by funding more prosecutors or filling the 15 vacancies on the D.C. Superior Court, some of which have been open for years.

Bowser cannot activate the National Guard herself, but she can submit a request to the Pentagon.

“I just think that’s not the most efficient use of our Guard,” she said Sunday on MSNBC's “The Weekend,” acknowledging it is "the president’s call about how to deploy the Guard.”

Bowser noted that violent crime in Washington has decreased since&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dc-homicides-unsolved-metropolitan-police-crime-victims-64b861dd5702a58cc4182ea094460340">a rise in 2023</a>. She stressed during a Monday news conference that she believed Trump's views of the city were shaped by the “challenging times” of the coronavirus pandemic, when he faced protests and crime spiked as the country began to recover from the outbreak.

Trump has emphasized the removal of Washington’s homeless population, though it was unclear where the thousands of people would go, and he did not give details at his news conference Monday.

“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote Sunday in a social media post. “We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong.”

Trump said last week that he was considering ways for the federal government to seize control of Washington, asserting that crime was “ridiculous” and the city was “unsafe,” after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-dc-crime-assault-doge-05aaaeb09d106ca1af673b46e89d60e1">the recent assault</a>&nbsp;of a high-profile member of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-doge-donald-trump-962778979dd35ea79d6092df9cb2cb56">the Department of Government Efficiency</a>.

<a href="https://mpdc.dc.gov/dailycrime">Police statistics</a>&nbsp;show homicides, robberies and burglaries are down this year when compared with this time in 2024. Overall, violent crime is down 26% compared with this time a year ago.

The president has criticized the district as full of “tents, squalor, filth, and Crime,” and he seems to have been set off by the attack on Edward Coristine, among the most visible figures of the bureaucracy-cutting effort known as DOGE. Police arrested two 15-year-olds in the attempted carjacking and said they were looking for others.

“This has to be the best run place in the country, not the worst run place in the country,” Trump said Wednesday.

He called Bowser “a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances.”

Trump has repeatedly suggested the rule of Washington could be returned to federal authorities. Doing so would require&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/district-of-columbia-trump-takeover-3b58c1efabf17db271dce582d9a09c6d">a repeal of the Home Rule Act</a>&nbsp;of 1973 in Congress, a step Trump said lawyers are examining.

Bowser acknowledged the law allows the president to take more control over the city's police, but only if certain conditions are met.

“None of those conditions exist in our city right now," she said. “We are not experiencing a spike in crime. In fact, we’re watching our crime numbers go down.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754924754534.png" alt="Crime in the District of Columbia became a hot-button issue after Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, an intern for Republican Rep. Ron Estes of Kansas, was&nbsp;fatally shot&nbsp;on June 30.-Image from White House video" />
 <figcaption>Crime in the District of Columbia became a hot-button issue after Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, an intern for Republican Rep. Ron Estes of Kansas, was&nbsp;fatally shot&nbsp;on June 30.-Image from White House video</figcaption>
 </figure><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">🚨 President Trump announces he is invoking the D.C. Home Rule Act to place the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control and deploy the National Guard. &quot;This is Liberation Day in D.C. — and we&#39;re going to take our capital BACK.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/aqov60mrCW">pic.twitter.com/aqov60mrCW</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1954916584176443592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754924379692.png" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;said Monday he’s taking over Washington's police department and activating 800 members of the National Guard in the hopes of reducing crime, even as city officials stressed crime is already falling in the nation’s capital.The president, flanked by his attorney general, his defense secretary and the FBI director, said he was declaring a public safety emergency and his administration would be removing homeless encampments.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;We&#39;re declaring a public safety emergency in the District of Columbia — and <a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AGPamBondi</a> is taking command of the Metropolitan Police Department as of this moment.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/aXP0n5l0dX">pic.twitter.com/aXP0n5l0dX</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1954920633160331525?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President Trump: &quot;I&#39;m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation&#39;s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor and worse. This is Liberation Day in DC and we&#39;re going to take our capital back. We&#39;re taking it back..&quot; <a href="https://t.co/JpoblecuoB">pic.twitter.com/JpoblecuoB</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1954920835887620252?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on Making D.C. Safe Again: &quot;We are going to be removing homeless encampments from all over our parks... We&#39;re getting rid of the people from underpasses and public spaces... We&#39;ll help them as much as you can help.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Gu7O1ySWFz">pic.twitter.com/Gu7O1ySWFz</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1954923844030074956?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">This is a major moment for our country! <a href="https://t.co/pMBhoSadNF">pic.twitter.com/pMBhoSadNF</a>&mdash; JD Vance (@JDVance) <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance/status/1954964022630961160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>“We’re going to take our capital back,” Trump declared, adding he'd also be “getting rid of the slums.”For Trump, the effort to take over public safety in Washington reflects an escalation of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/video/trump-says-there-will-be-strong-law-and-order-as-national-guard-faces-off-with-protesters-in-la-b8129d06adb34d52939dff416f8a7cea">his aggressive approach to law enforcement</a>. The District of Columbia’s status as a congressionally established federal district gives him a unique opportunity to push his tough-on-crime agenda, though he has not proposed solutions to the root causes of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/homelessness">homelessness</a>&nbsp;or crime.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">The murder rate in Washington, D.C. today is greater than Bogota, Mexico City, and more ⬇️ MAKE D.C. SAFE AGAIN! <a href="https://t.co/0L9SVfY1KG">pic.twitter.com/0L9SVfY1KG</a>&mdash; The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1954916458573832272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Attorney General Pam Bondi will assume responsibility for Washington’s metro police department, Trump said, as he also railed against potholes and graffiti in the city and called them “embarrassing.” The president did not provide a timeline for the control of the police department, but he's limited to 30 days under statute.As Trump spoke, demonstrators gathered outside the White House to protest his moves. And local officials rejected the Republican president's depiction of the district as crime-ridden and called his actions illegal.“The administration’s actions are unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful,” District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said. “There is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia."Schwalb, a Democrat, said violent crime in the district reached historic 30-year lows last year and is down another 26% this year.Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said she would follow the law regarding the “so-called emergency” even as she indicated that Trump's actions were a reason why the District of Columbia should be a state with legal protections from such actions.“While this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can’t say that given some of the rhetoric of the past, that we’re totally surprised,” Bowser said.<h2>Combating crime</h2>The president dismissed the idea Washington needed to enlarge its 3,500-officer police force, even as he seeks to have more armed personnel going through the city with the goal of reducing crime.“What you need is rules and regulations, and you need the right people to implement them,” he said.Trump invoked Section 740 of the District of Columbia&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/district-of-columbia-trump-takeover-3b58c1efabf17db271dce582d9a09c6d">Home Rule Act</a>&nbsp;in an executive order to declare a “crime emergency” so his administration could take over the city's police force. He signed a directive for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to activate the National Guard.While Trump has portrayed himself as a friend to law enforcement and enjoyed the political backing from many of their groups, he pardoned or commuted the sentences of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/projects/january-6-cases/">in the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot</a>, including people convicted of assaulting police officers.About 500 federal law enforcement officers are being tasked with deploying throughout the nation’s capital as part of Trump’s effort to combat crime, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.More than 100 FBI agents and about 40 agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are among federal law enforcement personnel being assigned to patrols in Washington, the person briefed on the plans said. The Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Marshals Service are contributing officers.The person was not authorized to publicly discuss personnel matters and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity. The Justice Department didn’t immediately have a comment Monday morning.<h2>The National Guard</h2>Bowser, a Democrat, has previously questioned the effectiveness of using the National Guard to enforce city laws and said the federal government could be far more helpful by funding more prosecutors or filling the 15 vacancies on the D.C. Superior Court, some of which have been open for years.Bowser cannot activate the National Guard herself, but she can submit a request to the Pentagon.“I just think that’s not the most efficient use of our Guard,” she said Sunday on MSNBC's “The Weekend,” acknowledging it is "the president’s call about how to deploy the Guard.”Bowser noted that violent crime in Washington has decreased since&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dc-homicides-unsolved-metropolitan-police-crime-victims-64b861dd5702a58cc4182ea094460340">a rise in 2023</a>. She stressed during a Monday news conference that she believed Trump's views of the city were shaped by the “challenging times” of the coronavirus pandemic, when he faced protests and crime spiked as the country began to recover from the outbreak.<h2>Focusing on homelessness</h2>Trump has emphasized the removal of Washington’s homeless population, though it was unclear where the thousands of people would go, and he did not give details at his news conference Monday.“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote Sunday in a social media post. “We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong.”Trump said last week that he was considering ways for the federal government to seize control of Washington, asserting that crime was “ridiculous” and the city was “unsafe,” after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-dc-crime-assault-doge-05aaaeb09d106ca1af673b46e89d60e1">the recent assault</a>&nbsp;of a high-profile member of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-doge-donald-trump-962778979dd35ea79d6092df9cb2cb56">the Department of Government Efficiency</a>.<h2>Crime statistics</h2><a href="https://mpdc.dc.gov/dailycrime">Police statistics</a>&nbsp;show homicides, robberies and burglaries are down this year when compared with this time in 2024. Overall, violent crime is down 26% compared with this time a year ago.The president has criticized the district as full of “tents, squalor, filth, and Crime,” and he seems to have been set off by the attack on Edward Coristine, among the most visible figures of the bureaucracy-cutting effort known as DOGE. Police arrested two 15-year-olds in the attempted carjacking and said they were looking for others.“This has to be the best run place in the country, not the worst run place in the country,” Trump said Wednesday.He called Bowser “a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances.”Trump has repeatedly suggested the rule of Washington could be returned to federal authorities. Doing so would require&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/district-of-columbia-trump-takeover-3b58c1efabf17db271dce582d9a09c6d">a repeal of the Home Rule Act</a>&nbsp;of 1973 in Congress, a step Trump said lawyers are examining.Bowser acknowledged the law allows the president to take more control over the city's police, but only if certain conditions are met.“None of those conditions exist in our city right now," she said. “We are not experiencing a spike in crime. In fact, we’re watching our crime numbers go down.”___

🎥Trump places D.C. police under federal control, deploys troops

Deputy Elijah Ming's funeral service will be held Monday, August 11, at Children's Mercy Park, 1 Sporting Way, Kansas City, Kansas.

The service is open to the public and will begin at 11:00 AM. Parking lots will open at 9:00 AM with stadium gates opening at 9:30 AM. 

Attendees should approach Children’s Mercy Park from State Ave. Public parking will be located on the south side of the stadium in Blue Lot 2 on the grounds of the Kansas Speedway. 

Please, be aware that Village West Parkway and France Family Drive will be closed to public traffic. There will be a Law Enforcement Processional starting 30 minutes following the service, at approximately 1:30 PM. 

The route is posted below. Residents and businesses are invited to line the procession route and to display blue ribbons or signs of support for Deputy Ming’s family.

• East On France Family• South on Village West Pkwy• East on State Ave• South on I-435• East on I-70• North on N. 7th St.• West on State Ave• Ends at N. 94th St. and State AveBurial services will be private.

Deputy Ming’s service will be livestreamed on the Unified Government’s YouTube channel for those unable to attend in person.Livestream Access Link:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwZf6B6O7uA">Honoring the Life of Fallen Deputy Elijah Ming - YouTube</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/7/1753612145888.png" alt="Deputy Elijah MIng courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Deputy Elijah MIng courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>Click below to watch the service.<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/cwZf6B6O7uA?si=PNiBbm8-SwMlNoQ-&amp;controls=0" 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>Deputy Elijah Ming's funeral service will be held Monday, August 11, at Children's Mercy Park, 1 Sporting Way, Kansas City, Kansas.The service is open to the public and will begin at 11:00 AM. Parking lots will open at 9:00 AM with stadium gates opening at 9:30 AM. Attendees should approach Children’s Mercy Park from State Ave. Public parking will be located on the south side of the stadium in Blue Lot 2 on the grounds of the Kansas Speedway. Please, be aware that Village West Parkway and France Family Drive will be closed to public traffic. There will be a Law Enforcement Processional starting 30 minutes following the service, at approximately 1:30 PM. The route is posted below. Residents and businesses are invited to line the procession route and to display blue ribbons or signs of support for Deputy Ming’s family.The route is as follows -• East On France Family• South on Village West Pkwy• East on State Ave• South on I-435• East on I-70• North on N. 7th St.• West on State Ave• Ends at N. 94th St. and State AveBurial services will be private.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754906856069.png" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>Deputy Ming’s service will be livestreamed on the Unified Government’s YouTube channel for those unable to attend in person.Livestream Access Link:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwZf6B6O7uA">Honoring the Life of Fallen Deputy Elijah Ming - YouTube</a>

🎥Funeral service honoring life of Deputy Elijah Ming

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/larry-neumeister">LARRY NEUMEISTER</a>

NEW YORK (AP) — Transcripts of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/breonna-taylor-shootings-police-juries-courts-ae8527aa406ea4c7dd35fac4f7203f66">secret grand jury</a>&nbsp;testimony that led to the sex trafficking indictment of Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ghislaine-maxwell">Ghislaine Maxwell</a>&nbsp;won’t be released, a judge ruled Monday in a stinging decision belittling the government's tease of new revelations as “demonstrably false.”

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said in a written decision that the government had proposed releasing grand jury materials “casually or promiscuously,” jeopardizing the tradition of grand jury secrecy that protects the confidence of those called to testify before future grand juries.

He said the Justice Department's suggestion that the grand jury materials “would bring to light meaningful new information about Epstein’s and Maxwell’s crimes, or the Government’s investigation into them — is demonstrably false.”

After reviewing the materials the government sought to release publicly, the judge wrote that anyone familiar with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ghislaine-maxwell-sex-trafficking-conviction-2e090610b579c8313bea7c31174ae0c4">the Maxwell trial record</a>&nbsp;who looked at them would “learn next to nothing new” and “would come away feeling disappointed and misled.”

“The materials do not identify any person other than Epstein and Maxwell as having had sexual contact with a minor. They do not discuss or identify any client of Epstein’s or Maxwell’s. They do not reveal any heretofore unknown means or methods of Epstein’s or Maxwell’s crimes,” Engelmayer said.

He said the materials also don't reveal new locations where crimes occurred, new sources of Maxwell and Epstein's wealth, the circumstances of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/video/associated-press-u-s-department-of-justice-new-york-city-suicide-prisons-dd8a6317837b4f3984082114ac75eeb8">Epstein's death</a>&nbsp;or the path of the government investigation.

The best argument to release the transcripts might be that “doing so would expose as disingenuous the Government’s public explanations for moving to unseal,” Engelmayer wrote.

“A member of the public, appreciating that the Maxwell grand jury materials do not contribute anything to public knowledge, might conclude that the Government’s motion for their unsealing was aimed not at ‘transparency’ but at diversion — aimed not at full disclosure but at the illusion of such,” he said.

The Justice Department had requested public disclosure of the entire proceedings before the Maxwell grand jury, minus redactions to protect privacy.

Florida lawyer Brad Edwards, who has represented nearly two dozen Epstein accusers, said he didn’t disagree with the ruling and most wanted to protect victims. “The grand jury materials contain very little in the way of evidentiary value anyway,” he said.

Maxwell lawyer Bobbi Sternheim declined comment. Messages for comment were left with the Justice Department.

Federal prosecutors had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-jeffrey-epstein-justice-department-bondi-91f911d2d7a909f78259cdca7b55d9a6">asked to unseal the documents</a>&nbsp;to calm&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-epstein-conspiracies-97200cfab77572a36bc9ab25841a8833">a whirlpool of suspicions</a>&nbsp;about what the government knows about Epstein, a well-connected financier who authorities said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/a947e0d85d31496eb5bd9ff4994c9718">killed himself</a>&nbsp;in 2019 while awaiting trial on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bb41822a39a147ccb03501acf049b58c">sex trafficking charges</a>&nbsp;involving dozens of women and girls as young as 14. Maxwell, a socialite, was later&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ghislaine-maxwell-convicted-jeffrey-epstein-trial-verdict-63a71a2825eab41184a79e37bb967e90">convicted of helping him prey on underage girls</a>.

The Justice Department has acknowledged that only an FBI agent and a New York Police Department detective testified before the grand jury in 2020 and 2021.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/epstein-maxwell-grand-jury-transcripts-trump-d7b6be64eb7cf79de765d7870069e780">Prosecutors have said</a>&nbsp;much of what was discussed behind the grand jury’s closed doors ultimately became public at Maxwell’s 2021 trial, in victims’ civil lawsuits or in public statements from victims and witnesses.

The decision about the grand jury transcripts doesn’t affect&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-jeffrey-epstein-justice-department-bondi-91f911d2d7a909f78259cdca7b55d9a6">thousands of other pages</a>&nbsp;the government possesses but has declined to release. The Justice Department has said much of the material was court-sealed to protect victims and little of it would've come out if Epstein had gone to trial.

Another federal judge is weighing whether to release grand jury transcripts from the Epstein case.

A federal judge in Florida&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/epstein-trump-grand-jury-records-florida-3254decc623fbf2a5ee2967c7adfa2e6">declined to release grand jury documents</a>&nbsp;from an investigation there in 2005 and 2007.

Maxwell, who’s appealing her conviction,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-grand-jury-transcripts-db60a21b4dfc5e312780759b41ce9eb4">opposed unsealing the documents</a>. She recently was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/epstein-maxwell-justice-department-interview-053ad2ae16f31b9d7300340d5f9349c5">interviewed by the Justice Department</a>&nbsp;and was moved from a prison in Florida to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-justice-department-prison-27d53cd22f8c53d9f2b5012cea32eb5e">a prison camp in Texas</a>. Her attorney says she testified truthfully.

The Epstein saga has again become a national flashpoint years after Epstein served jail time and registered as a sex offender after pleading guilty to Florida prostitution offenses in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-grand-jury-transcript-florida-b5dce49bdd9bcbce2969107919ddc2d0">a 2008 deal</a>&nbsp;that let him avoid federal charges then.

President Donald Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-epstein-their-words-bondi-patel-bongino-70176344eeab6f66e015bc294afbbf59">raised questions about Epstein’s death</a>, and Trump allies&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-epstein-conspiracies-97200cfab77572a36bc9ab25841a8833">stoked conspiracy theories</a>&nbsp;that dark secrets were covered up to protect powerful people. Some of those allies got powerful positions in Trump’s Justice Department and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-jeffrey-epstein-pam-bondi-trump-fa39193d5b5ff91970428bf077a5ce44">promised to pull back the curtain</a>&nbsp;on the Epstein investigation — but then announced this summer&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-justice-department-pam-bondi-03fbcd024f631440f7ed62b3c6927db3">nothing more would be released</a>&nbsp;and a long-rumored Epstein “client list” doesn’t exist.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1704416234390.png" alt="FILE —&nbsp; a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell shown during a news conference, July 2, 2020, in New York.&nbsp; (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)" />
 <figcaption>FILE —&nbsp; a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell shown during a news conference, July 2, 2020, in New York.&nbsp; (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)</figcaption>
 </figure>By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/larry-neumeister">LARRY NEUMEISTER</a>NEW YORK (AP) — Transcripts of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/breonna-taylor-shootings-police-juries-courts-ae8527aa406ea4c7dd35fac4f7203f66">secret grand jury</a>&nbsp;testimony that led to the sex trafficking indictment of Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ghislaine-maxwell">Ghislaine Maxwell</a>&nbsp;won’t be released, a judge ruled Monday in a stinging decision belittling the government's tease of new revelations as “demonstrably false.”Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said in a written decision that the government had proposed releasing grand jury materials “casually or promiscuously,” jeopardizing the tradition of grand jury secrecy that protects the confidence of those called to testify before future grand juries.He said the Justice Department's suggestion that the grand jury materials “would bring to light meaningful new information about Epstein’s and Maxwell’s crimes, or the Government’s investigation into them — is demonstrably false.”After reviewing the materials the government sought to release publicly, the judge wrote that anyone familiar with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ghislaine-maxwell-sex-trafficking-conviction-2e090610b579c8313bea7c31174ae0c4">the Maxwell trial record</a>&nbsp;who looked at them would “learn next to nothing new” and “would come away feeling disappointed and misled.”“The materials do not identify any person other than Epstein and Maxwell as having had sexual contact with a minor. They do not discuss or identify any client of Epstein’s or Maxwell’s. They do not reveal any heretofore unknown means or methods of Epstein’s or Maxwell’s crimes,” Engelmayer said.He said the materials also don't reveal new locations where crimes occurred, new sources of Maxwell and Epstein's wealth, the circumstances of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/video/associated-press-u-s-department-of-justice-new-york-city-suicide-prisons-dd8a6317837b4f3984082114ac75eeb8">Epstein's death</a>&nbsp;or the path of the government investigation.The best argument to release the transcripts might be that “doing so would expose as disingenuous the Government’s public explanations for moving to unseal,” Engelmayer wrote.“A member of the public, appreciating that the Maxwell grand jury materials do not contribute anything to public knowledge, might conclude that the Government’s motion for their unsealing was aimed not at ‘transparency’ but at diversion — aimed not at full disclosure but at the illusion of such,” he said.The Justice Department had requested public disclosure of the entire proceedings before the Maxwell grand jury, minus redactions to protect privacy.Florida lawyer Brad Edwards, who has represented nearly two dozen Epstein accusers, said he didn’t disagree with the ruling and most wanted to protect victims. “The grand jury materials contain very little in the way of evidentiary value anyway,” he said.Maxwell lawyer Bobbi Sternheim declined comment. Messages for comment were left with the Justice Department.Federal prosecutors had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-jeffrey-epstein-justice-department-bondi-91f911d2d7a909f78259cdca7b55d9a6">asked to unseal the documents</a>&nbsp;to calm&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-epstein-conspiracies-97200cfab77572a36bc9ab25841a8833">a whirlpool of suspicions</a>&nbsp;about what the government knows about Epstein, a well-connected financier who authorities said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/a947e0d85d31496eb5bd9ff4994c9718">killed himself</a>&nbsp;in 2019 while awaiting trial on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bb41822a39a147ccb03501acf049b58c">sex trafficking charges</a>&nbsp;involving dozens of women and girls as young as 14. Maxwell, a socialite, was later&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ghislaine-maxwell-convicted-jeffrey-epstein-trial-verdict-63a71a2825eab41184a79e37bb967e90">convicted of helping him prey on underage girls</a>.The Justice Department has acknowledged that only an FBI agent and a New York Police Department detective testified before the grand jury in 2020 and 2021.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/epstein-maxwell-grand-jury-transcripts-trump-d7b6be64eb7cf79de765d7870069e780">Prosecutors have said</a>&nbsp;much of what was discussed behind the grand jury’s closed doors ultimately became public at Maxwell’s 2021 trial, in victims’ civil lawsuits or in public statements from victims and witnesses.The decision about the grand jury transcripts doesn’t affect&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-jeffrey-epstein-justice-department-bondi-91f911d2d7a909f78259cdca7b55d9a6">thousands of other pages</a>&nbsp;the government possesses but has declined to release. The Justice Department has said much of the material was court-sealed to protect victims and little of it would've come out if Epstein had gone to trial.Another federal judge is weighing whether to release grand jury transcripts from the Epstein case.A federal judge in Florida&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/epstein-trump-grand-jury-records-florida-3254decc623fbf2a5ee2967c7adfa2e6">declined to release grand jury documents</a>&nbsp;from an investigation there in 2005 and 2007.Maxwell, who’s appealing her conviction,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-grand-jury-transcripts-db60a21b4dfc5e312780759b41ce9eb4">opposed unsealing the documents</a>. She recently was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/epstein-maxwell-justice-department-interview-053ad2ae16f31b9d7300340d5f9349c5">interviewed by the Justice Department</a>&nbsp;and was moved from a prison in Florida to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-justice-department-prison-27d53cd22f8c53d9f2b5012cea32eb5e">a prison camp in Texas</a>. Her attorney says she testified truthfully.The Epstein saga has again become a national flashpoint years after Epstein served jail time and registered as a sex offender after pleading guilty to Florida prostitution offenses in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-grand-jury-transcript-florida-b5dce49bdd9bcbce2969107919ddc2d0">a 2008 deal</a>&nbsp;that let him avoid federal charges then.President Donald Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-epstein-their-words-bondi-patel-bongino-70176344eeab6f66e015bc294afbbf59">raised questions about Epstein’s death</a>, and Trump allies&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-epstein-conspiracies-97200cfab77572a36bc9ab25841a8833">stoked conspiracy theories</a>&nbsp;that dark secrets were covered up to protect powerful people. Some of those allies got powerful positions in Trump’s Justice Department and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-jeffrey-epstein-pam-bondi-trump-fa39193d5b5ff91970428bf077a5ce44">promised to pull back the curtain</a>&nbsp;on the Epstein investigation — but then announced this summer&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-justice-department-pam-bondi-03fbcd024f631440f7ed62b3c6927db3">nothing more would be released</a>&nbsp;and a long-rumored Epstein “client list” doesn’t exist.

Judge: Epstein grand jury records to remain sealed

KANSAS CITY —Officials are investigating the cause of a house fire in Kansas City.

Just before 5a.m. Sunday, crews&nbsp;responded to a reported house fire in the 5100 block of East 23rd Street in Kansas City, Missouri, according to Battalion Chief Riley Nolan. 

Crews reported "heavy fire and smoke" showing from a 2-story home and initiated an offensive fire attack, advancing 2 hose lines.

Searches throughout the structure came back "all clear." The fire was reported under control at 5:05 a.m.

KCFD continued with overhaul operations to expose and extinguish hot spots. No injuries were reported at this incident. Dangerous Buildings was ordered to the scene to evaluate the structure.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754827517742.png" alt="Photo Kansas City Fire Dept" />
 <figcaption>Photo Kansas City Fire Dept</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —Officials are investigating the cause of a house fire in Kansas City.Just before 5a.m. Sunday, crews&nbsp;responded to a reported house fire in the 5100 block of East 23rd Street in Kansas City, Missouri, according to Battalion Chief Riley Nolan. Crews reported "heavy fire and smoke" showing from a 2-story home and initiated an offensive fire attack, advancing 2 hose lines.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754827495943.png" alt="3" />
 <figcaption>3</figcaption>
 </figure>Searches throughout the structure came back "all clear." The fire was reported under control at 5:05 a.m.KCFD continued with overhaul operations to expose and extinguish hot spots. No injuries were reported at this incident. Dangerous Buildings was ordered to the scene to evaluate the structure.

Fire consumes 2-story Kansas City home

WASHINGTON (AP) —American businesses and consumers soon will have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-effect-05bc12428163b9f28ef80f952cf9dafd">a better idea</a>&nbsp;of how President Donald Trump's foreign trade agenda might affect them now that the United States has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-into-effect-economy-warning-signs-eafe20de9abad312573b320fd4b5fb33">imposed higher tariffs</a>&nbsp;on products from dozens of countries.

It’s been nearly 100 years since the nation had an overall import tax rate as high as the one&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-effect-05bc12428163b9f28ef80f952cf9dafd">set Thursday</a>. But the individual impact on business costs and consumer prices could vary as much as the tariffs applied to goods of nearly 70 U.S. trading partners, from complicated economies like&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/european-union-us-trump-tariffs-leyen-trade-719adddee95d0f4759f7f57cd30fdb30">the European Union</a>&nbsp;to the small African nation of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-lesotho-clothing-industry-jeans-denim-trump-ea9754135855675400b76c8ce13dde04">Lesotho</a>.

Exports from a majority of them are getting taxed at 15%. For a handful of countries&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/asia-tariffs-trump-china-trade-78d11d9d8ab4eb66898e12fdbd5aa9b4">in Asia</a>, the rate is 19%. Products from the rest are subject to taxes of 20% to 50%. Meanwhile, a 55% tariff on Chinese-made goods is scheduled to take effect next week if a U.S.-China trade deal is not agreed on before then.

Businesses in the U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/trump-tariffs-into-effect-global-trade-photos-64d75ac1cc0cc3dd11ade5ff7f878345">and abroad</a>&nbsp;have been dealing in various ways since February with Trump's fluctuating tariffs on specific products and countries. Many automakers appeared to have absorbed the costs for now. But recent government data indicated that retail prices for groceries, furniture and appliances&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-federal-reserve-economy-8c9298ce80d2e40a71a17e0c3af3c292">started creeping up</a>&nbsp;in June.

Because tariffs are a tax on imports, economists have expected U.S. consumers to foot at least part of the bill eventually.

The country-specific round enforced Thursday, together with the president's earlier tariffs on specific sectors such as automobiles and steel, will increase prices 1.8% in the short term, the Budget Lab at Yale estimated. That’s the equivalent of a $2,400 loss of income per U.S. household, according to the non-partisan policy research center

The projections were based on an analysis of duties implemented this year through Wednesday, as well as a doubling of the levy on items made in India that Trump said would be implemented near the end of August.

"Retailers have been able to hold the line on pricing so far, but the new increased tariffs will significantly raise costs for U.S. retailers, manufacturers and consumers,” Jon Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation trade group, said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press.

Here’s what to know about the tariffs and where U.S. consumers are most likely to notice effects:

Trump unveiled&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2025/trump-announces-sweeping-new-tariffs-to-promote-us-manufacturing-risking-inflation-and-trade-wars/">sweeping import taxes</a>&nbsp;on goods coming into the U.S. from 66 countries, the European Union, Taiwan and the Falkland Islands in April. He said the “reciprocal” tariffs were meant to boost domestic manufacturing and restore fairness to global trade.

The president&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-reciprocal-tariffs-higher-rates-china-9645cf4608a8c153e90bdd10263ccb01">paused</a>&nbsp;the country-specific tariffs a week later but applied a 10% tax to most imports. In early July, he began notifying countries that their exports would be subject to higher tariffs on Aug. 1 unless they reached trade deals. A week ago, he pushed the start date to Thursday.

In the meantime, Trump announced a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/canada-tariffs-drugs-trade-7d331082f313df53c9ad66271ae8a628">35% tariff on imports from Canada</a>, but delayed action on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-mexico-3b03b98296424e59c7dc19a865d21969">Mexico</a>&nbsp;while negotiations continued. However, a free trade agreement reached with Mexico and Canada during Trump's first term&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-canada-mexico-exemption-969a4cfb03638ce9d6c0ffad2b98b4b1">shields most of those countries' products</a>&nbsp;from punishing duties.

The president also ordered a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-brazil-tariffs-bolsonaro-lula-trade-imbalance-de4cf0669b00a76149e8f39f200af502">50% tariff on goods from Brazil</a>. This week, he signed an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/08/addressing-threats-to-the-united-states-by-the-government-of-the-russian-federation/">executive order</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-russia-india-9e388a55583e7007149819c52f0fd71b">take India's tariff rate</a>&nbsp;from 25% to 50% for its purchases of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-russia-oil-china-turkey-f377653aebf6d5a34a09a7466d85fd56">Russian oil</a>. The timing gives India and Russia a chance to negotiate with the Trump administration.

Other duties not specific to countries remain in place, such as a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-steel-aluminum-trade-240dbc3823ecd66d3dd05a66883f9277">50% tariff on imported aluminum and steel</a>&nbsp;announced in June. Trump also threatened 100% tariffs on computer chips that aren’t made in the U.S. The administration has said tariffs are still coming on imported pharmaceutical drugs.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported on July 31 that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-federal-reserve-economy-8c9298ce80d2e40a71a17e0c3af3c292">prices rose 2.6% in June</a>, up from an annual pace of 2.4% in May. Earlier in July, the government reported that its primary inflation measure, the Consumer Price Index, also ticked higher in June as the cost of furniture, toys and other frequently imported items increased.

Shoppers should be prepared to pay more for clothes and shoes because the combined tariffs “disproportionately affect clothing and textiles,” according to the Budget Lab at Yale. It estimates that shoe prices will go up 39% temporarily and stay 19% above where they are now. For apparel, the Budget Lab put the comparable figures at 37% and 18%.

Overall, Americans face an average tax of 18.6% for imported products, the highest rate since 1933, the research center said.

The tariffs will almost certainly result in higher food prices, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. The U.S. simply doesn't make enough of some products, like bananas or coffee, to satisfy demand. Fish, beer and liquor are also likely to get more expensive, the foundation said.

The U.S. Wine Trade Alliance and other alcohol industry trade groups sent a letter to Trump that warned a 15% tariff on European wines and spirits could result in more than 25,000 American job losses and cost the industry nearly $2 billion in lost sales.

“Mr. President, we need toasts, not tariffs, as we head into the most important season for our industry,” read the letter dated Wednesday.

Wine distributors and retailers avoided price increases before now by accelerating shipments from France and other EU countries earlier in the year. But with the EU's tariff rate raised to 15% on Thursday, customers may see European wines costing 30% more in September, U.S. Wine Trade Alliance President Ben Aneff said.

Some automakers already raised prices to counteract tariffs. Luxury sports car maker Ferrari said last week it was waiting for more details of Trump's trade deal with the EU before scaling back a 10% surcharge it put on most vehicles in the U.S.

For the most part, automakers waited for details instead of passing on tariff costs to consumers. But that could change.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/general-motors-gm-stellantis-tariff-trump-ev-6b82523319408e03ae2729ab2ebb33b8">General Motors</a>&nbsp;said on July 22 that the impact of the tariffs could get more pronounced in the third quarter of the year. GM has estimated the tariffs will cost it $4 billion to $5 billion this year.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/toyota-automaker-japan-trump-tariffs-c2d3e682b1a43adc9390f954c0f0a355">Toyota reported Thursday</a>&nbsp;a 37% drop in profits in the April-June quarter, cutting its full-year earnings forecasts largely because of Trump’s tariffs.

Even with so many new tariffs kicking in, the tariff situation remains fluid. Trump’s use of an emergency powers law to implement tariffs is being&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-court-4a2b662a908d1d6cec057d88c5059502">challenged</a>&nbsp;in the courts. The case is expected to wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Moreover, the tariffs on goods from China haven't been finalized. Consumers may start seeing more effects when the administration ends a tax exemption for small parcels sent from other countries.

<a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/07/31/president-trump-ends-unfair-de-minimis-tariff-exemption-major-victory-securing#:~:text=Securing%20the%20Homeland-,President%20Trump%20Ends%20Unfair%20%E2%80%9CDe%20Minimis%E2%80%9D%20Tariff%20Exemption%2C%20A,Victory%20in%20Securing%20the%20Homeland&amp;text=WASHINGTON%20%2D%20President%20Trump%20signed%20an,value%20shipments%20from%20all%20countries.">Trump last week signed an order</a>&nbsp;to suspend the “de minimis" exemption that has allowed shipments valued at $800 or less to enter the U.S. duty-free. International e-commerce companies have widely used the rule to avoid paying customs charges.

Trump withdrew the exemption in early April for goods shipped from China and Hong Kong tariff-free. It is now set to be eliminated for low-value packages from every country on Aug. 29.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754682092204.png" alt="Google image" />
 <figcaption>Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) —American businesses and consumers soon will have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-effect-05bc12428163b9f28ef80f952cf9dafd">a better idea</a>&nbsp;of how President Donald Trump's foreign trade agenda might affect them now that the United States has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-into-effect-economy-warning-signs-eafe20de9abad312573b320fd4b5fb33">imposed higher tariffs</a>&nbsp;on products from dozens of countries.It’s been nearly 100 years since the nation had an overall import tax rate as high as the one&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-effect-05bc12428163b9f28ef80f952cf9dafd">set Thursday</a>. But the individual impact on business costs and consumer prices could vary as much as the tariffs applied to goods of nearly 70 U.S. trading partners, from complicated economies like&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/european-union-us-trump-tariffs-leyen-trade-719adddee95d0f4759f7f57cd30fdb30">the European Union</a>&nbsp;to the small African nation of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-lesotho-clothing-industry-jeans-denim-trump-ea9754135855675400b76c8ce13dde04">Lesotho</a>.Exports from a majority of them are getting taxed at 15%. For a handful of countries&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/asia-tariffs-trump-china-trade-78d11d9d8ab4eb66898e12fdbd5aa9b4">in Asia</a>, the rate is 19%. Products from the rest are subject to taxes of 20% to 50%. Meanwhile, a 55% tariff on Chinese-made goods is scheduled to take effect next week if a U.S.-China trade deal is not agreed on before then.Businesses in the U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/trump-tariffs-into-effect-global-trade-photos-64d75ac1cc0cc3dd11ade5ff7f878345">and abroad</a>&nbsp;have been dealing in various ways since February with Trump's fluctuating tariffs on specific products and countries. Many automakers appeared to have absorbed the costs for now. But recent government data indicated that retail prices for groceries, furniture and appliances&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-federal-reserve-economy-8c9298ce80d2e40a71a17e0c3af3c292">started creeping up</a>&nbsp;in June.Because tariffs are a tax on imports, economists have expected U.S. consumers to foot at least part of the bill eventually.The country-specific round enforced Thursday, together with the president's earlier tariffs on specific sectors such as automobiles and steel, will increase prices 1.8% in the short term, the Budget Lab at Yale estimated. That’s the equivalent of a $2,400 loss of income per U.S. household, according to the non-partisan policy research centerThe projections were based on an analysis of duties implemented this year through Wednesday, as well as a doubling of the levy on items made in India that Trump said would be implemented near the end of August."Retailers have been able to hold the line on pricing so far, but the new increased tariffs will significantly raise costs for U.S. retailers, manufacturers and consumers,” Jon Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation trade group, said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press.Here’s what to know about the tariffs and where U.S. consumers are most likely to notice effects:<h2>How we got here</h2>Trump unveiled&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2025/trump-announces-sweeping-new-tariffs-to-promote-us-manufacturing-risking-inflation-and-trade-wars/">sweeping import taxes</a>&nbsp;on goods coming into the U.S. from 66 countries, the European Union, Taiwan and the Falkland Islands in April. He said the “reciprocal” tariffs were meant to boost domestic manufacturing and restore fairness to global trade.The president&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-reciprocal-tariffs-higher-rates-china-9645cf4608a8c153e90bdd10263ccb01">paused</a>&nbsp;the country-specific tariffs a week later but applied a 10% tax to most imports. In early July, he began notifying countries that their exports would be subject to higher tariffs on Aug. 1 unless they reached trade deals. A week ago, he pushed the start date to Thursday.In the meantime, Trump announced a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/canada-tariffs-drugs-trade-7d331082f313df53c9ad66271ae8a628">35% tariff on imports from Canada</a>, but delayed action on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-mexico-3b03b98296424e59c7dc19a865d21969">Mexico</a>&nbsp;while negotiations continued. However, a free trade agreement reached with Mexico and Canada during Trump's first term&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-canada-mexico-exemption-969a4cfb03638ce9d6c0ffad2b98b4b1">shields most of those countries' products</a>&nbsp;from punishing duties.The president also ordered a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-brazil-tariffs-bolsonaro-lula-trade-imbalance-de4cf0669b00a76149e8f39f200af502">50% tariff on goods from Brazil</a>. This week, he signed an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/08/addressing-threats-to-the-united-states-by-the-government-of-the-russian-federation/">executive order</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-russia-india-9e388a55583e7007149819c52f0fd71b">take India's tariff rate</a>&nbsp;from 25% to 50% for its purchases of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-russia-oil-china-turkey-f377653aebf6d5a34a09a7466d85fd56">Russian oil</a>. The timing gives India and Russia a chance to negotiate with the Trump administration.Other duties not specific to countries remain in place, such as a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-steel-aluminum-trade-240dbc3823ecd66d3dd05a66883f9277">50% tariff on imported aluminum and steel</a>&nbsp;announced in June. Trump also threatened 100% tariffs on computer chips that aren’t made in the U.S. The administration has said tariffs are still coming on imported pharmaceutical drugs.<h2>Tariffs are already impacting prices</h2>The U.S. Commerce Department reported on July 31 that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-federal-reserve-economy-8c9298ce80d2e40a71a17e0c3af3c292">prices rose 2.6% in June</a>, up from an annual pace of 2.4% in May. Earlier in July, the government reported that its primary inflation measure, the Consumer Price Index, also ticked higher in June as the cost of furniture, toys and other frequently imported items increased.Shoppers should be prepared to pay more for clothes and shoes because the combined tariffs “disproportionately affect clothing and textiles,” according to the Budget Lab at Yale. It estimates that shoe prices will go up 39% temporarily and stay 19% above where they are now. For apparel, the Budget Lab put the comparable figures at 37% and 18%.Overall, Americans face an average tax of 18.6% for imported products, the highest rate since 1933, the research center said.<h2>Food and drink prices will climb</h2>The tariffs will almost certainly result in higher food prices, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. The U.S. simply doesn't make enough of some products, like bananas or coffee, to satisfy demand. Fish, beer and liquor are also likely to get more expensive, the foundation said.The U.S. Wine Trade Alliance and other alcohol industry trade groups sent a letter to Trump that warned a 15% tariff on European wines and spirits could result in more than 25,000 American job losses and cost the industry nearly $2 billion in lost sales.“Mr. President, we need toasts, not tariffs, as we head into the most important season for our industry,” read the letter dated Wednesday.Wine distributors and retailers avoided price increases before now by accelerating shipments from France and other EU countries earlier in the year. But with the EU's tariff rate raised to 15% on Thursday, customers may see European wines costing 30% more in September, U.S. Wine Trade Alliance President Ben Aneff said.<h2>Car prices hold steady — so far</h2>Some automakers already raised prices to counteract tariffs. Luxury sports car maker Ferrari said last week it was waiting for more details of Trump's trade deal with the EU before scaling back a 10% surcharge it put on most vehicles in the U.S.For the most part, automakers waited for details instead of passing on tariff costs to consumers. But that could change.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/general-motors-gm-stellantis-tariff-trump-ev-6b82523319408e03ae2729ab2ebb33b8">General Motors</a>&nbsp;said on July 22 that the impact of the tariffs could get more pronounced in the third quarter of the year. GM has estimated the tariffs will cost it $4 billion to $5 billion this year.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/toyota-automaker-japan-trump-tariffs-c2d3e682b1a43adc9390f954c0f0a355">Toyota reported Thursday</a>&nbsp;a 37% drop in profits in the April-June quarter, cutting its full-year earnings forecasts largely because of Trump’s tariffs.<h2>Still a clouded picture</h2>Even with so many new tariffs kicking in, the tariff situation remains fluid. Trump’s use of an emergency powers law to implement tariffs is being&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-court-4a2b662a908d1d6cec057d88c5059502">challenged</a>&nbsp;in the courts. The case is expected to wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.Moreover, the tariffs on goods from China haven't been finalized. Consumers may start seeing more effects when the administration ends a tax exemption for small parcels sent from other countries.<a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/07/31/president-trump-ends-unfair-de-minimis-tariff-exemption-major-victory-securing#:~:text=Securing%20the%20Homeland-,President%20Trump%20Ends%20Unfair%20%E2%80%9CDe%20Minimis%E2%80%9D%20Tariff%20Exemption%2C%20A,Victory%20in%20Securing%20the%20Homeland&amp;text=WASHINGTON%20%2D%20President%20Trump%20signed%20an,value%20shipments%20from%20all%20countries.">Trump last week signed an order</a>&nbsp;to suspend the “de minimis" exemption that has allowed shipments valued at $800 or less to enter the U.S. duty-free. International e-commerce companies have widely used the rule to avoid paying customs charges.Trump withdrew the exemption in early April for goods shipped from China and Hong Kong tariff-free. It is now set to be eliminated for low-value packages from every country on Aug. 29.___

What you can expect from new tariffs on imported goods

JASPER COUNTY, Missouri—One person died in an accident just before 10p.m. Saturday in Jasper County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Honda Accord driven by a 20-year-old Galena, Kansas woman was westbound on Route 66 one and one half miles west of Joplin. The car struck a westbound bicycle driven by a 63-year-old Joplin man.&nbsp; 

He was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to the county coroner's office.&nbsp; The Honda driver was properly restrained and not injured. The bicyclist was not wearing a helmet, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releasees names of accident victims.

JASPER COUNTY, Missouri—One person died in an accident just before 10p.m. Saturday in Jasper County.The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Honda Accord driven by a 20-year-old Galena, Kansas woman was westbound on Route 66 one and one half miles west of Joplin. The car struck a westbound bicycle driven by a 63-year-old Joplin man.&nbsp; He was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to the county coroner's office.&nbsp; The Honda driver was properly restrained and not injured. The bicyclist was not wearing a helmet, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releasees names of accident victims.

Patrol: Kansas driver struck and killed bicyclist

ATCHISON COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a suspect for an alleged violent knife attack.

At 6p.m. on Saturday police responded to a disturbance in an alley on the north side of the 800 block Commercial Street in Atchison, according to Police Chief Mike Wilson. It was determined two men, who were known to each other, had been involved in the disturbance and both were still at the scene.&nbsp; 

A 52-year-old man had sustained a stab wound to his arm. EMS was called to the scene but he refused transport to the hospital. Police took 42-year-old Albert Goodman into custody at the scene on requested charges of aggravated battery and aggravated assault and taken to the County Jail. Police also recovered a knife used in the stabbing, according to Wilson.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754859611217.png" alt="Goodman photo Atchison County" />
 <figcaption>Goodman photo Atchison County</figcaption>
 </figure>ATCHISON COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a suspect for an alleged violent knife attack.At 6p.m. on Saturday police responded to a disturbance in an alley on the north side of the 800 block Commercial Street in Atchison, according to Police Chief Mike Wilson. It was determined two men, who were known to each other, had been involved in the disturbance and both were still at the scene.&nbsp; A 52-year-old man had sustained a stab wound to his arm. EMS was called to the scene but he refused transport to the hospital. Police took 42-year-old Albert Goodman into custody at the scene on requested charges of aggravated battery and aggravated assault and taken to the County Jail. Police also recovered a knife used in the stabbing, according to Wilson.

Police: Kansas man jailed after stabbing during dispute

WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;is promising new steps to tackle&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-district-takeover-trump-crime-d0ebfa76584753635327d792f6c0b8fc">homelessness and crime in Washington</a>, prompting the city's mayor to voice concerns about the potential use of the National Guard to patrol the streets in the nation's capital.

Trump wrote in a social media post that he planned a White House news conference at 10 a.m. Monday to discuss his plans to make the District of Columbia “safer and more beautiful than it ever was before.”

“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote Sunday. “We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong.”

Last week the Republican president&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-washington-increased-federal-law-enforcement-takeover-33b186a95dabf111bac61db398aa7543">directed federal law enforcement agencies</a>&nbsp;to increase their presence in Washington for seven days, with the option “to extend as needed.”

On Friday night, federal agencies including the Secret Service, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service assigned more than&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-washington-increased-federal-law-enforcement-takeover-33b186a95dabf111bac61db398aa7543">120 officers and agents</a>&nbsp;to assist in Washington.

Trump said last week that he was considering ways for the federal government to seize control of Washington, asserting that crime was “ridiculous” and the city was “unsafe,” after the recent&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-dc-crime-assault-doge-05aaaeb09d106ca1af673b46e89d60e1">assault</a>&nbsp;of a high-profile member of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-doge-donald-trump-962778979dd35ea79d6092df9cb2cb56">Department of Government Efficiency</a>.

The moves Trump said he was considering included bringing in the D.C. National Guard.

Mayor Muriel Bowser questioned the effectiveness of using the Guard to enforce city laws and said the federal government could be far more helpful by funding more prosecutors or filling the 15 vacancies on the D.C. Superior Court, some of which have been open for years.

Bowser was making her first public comments since Trump started posting about crime in Washington last week. She noted that violent crime in Washington has decreased since a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dc-homicides-unsolved-metropolitan-police-crime-victims-64b861dd5702a58cc4182ea094460340">rise in 2023</a>. Trump's weekend posts depicted the district as “one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World."

For Bowser, “Any comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false.”

<a href="https://mpdc.dc.gov/dailycrime">Police statistics</a>&nbsp;show homicides, robberies and burglaries are all down this year when compared with this time in 2024. Overall violent crime is down 26% compared with this time a year ago.

Trump offered no details in Truth Social posts over the weekend about possible new actions to address crime levels that he argues are dangerous for citizens, tourists and workers alike. The White House declined to offer additional details about Monday's announcement.

The police department and the mayor’s office did not respond to questions about what Trump might do next.

The president criticized the district as full of “tents, squalor, filth, and Crime,” and he seems to have been set off by the attack on Edward Coristine, among the most visible figures of the bureaucracy-cutting effort known as DOGE. Police arrested two 15-year-olds in the attempted carjacking and said they were looking for others.

The president called Bowser “a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances.”

Trump has repeatedly suggested that the rule of Washington could be returned to federal authorities. Doing so would require a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/district-of-columbia-trump-takeover-3b58c1efabf17db271dce582d9a09c6d">repeal of the Home Rule Act</a>&nbsp;of 1973 in Congress, a step Trump said lawyers are examining. It could face steep pushback.

Bowser acknowledged that the law allows the president to take more control over the city's police, but only if certain conditions are met.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754872804646.png" alt="&nbsp;President Trump seen on Sunday in the White House residence room&nbsp; -image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;President Trump seen on Sunday in the White House residence room&nbsp; -image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;is promising new steps to tackle&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-district-takeover-trump-crime-d0ebfa76584753635327d792f6c0b8fc">homelessness and crime in Washington</a>, prompting the city's mayor to voice concerns about the potential use of the National Guard to patrol the streets in the nation's capital.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/Z9AfU5PVvW">pic.twitter.com/Z9AfU5PVvW</a>&mdash; Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1954877370625823191?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/IpKXCkTbJ7">pic.twitter.com/IpKXCkTbJ7</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1954878435182235906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/mgqy6fCsIw">pic.twitter.com/mgqy6fCsIw</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1954560175941025915?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President Trump will hold a press conference at 10AM ET tomorrow in the Briefing Room. Tune in! <a href="https://t.co/MFQNX2yeW5">pic.twitter.com/MFQNX2yeW5</a>&mdash; Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1954714380131533056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Trump wrote in a social media post that he planned a White House news conference at 10 a.m. Monday to discuss his plans to make the District of Columbia “safer and more beautiful than it ever was before.”“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote Sunday. “We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong.”<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Reactions on Day One of increased federal law enforcement in D.C.: &quot;It&#39;s awesome that we have extra police presence to keep everybody safe and have them coming back.&quot; &quot;If it&#39;s going to stop the crime, yeah — it&#39;s necessary.&quot; MAKE D.C. SAFE AGAIN! <a href="https://t.co/ExZOaLxizM">pic.twitter.com/ExZOaLxizM</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1954287936318681233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 9, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Last week the Republican president&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-washington-increased-federal-law-enforcement-takeover-33b186a95dabf111bac61db398aa7543">directed federal law enforcement agencies</a>&nbsp;to increase their presence in Washington for seven days, with the option “to extend as needed.”On Friday night, federal agencies including the Secret Service, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service assigned more than&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-washington-increased-federal-law-enforcement-takeover-33b186a95dabf111bac61db398aa7543">120 officers and agents</a>&nbsp;to assist in Washington.Trump said last week that he was considering ways for the federal government to seize control of Washington, asserting that crime was “ridiculous” and the city was “unsafe,” after the recent&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-dc-crime-assault-doge-05aaaeb09d106ca1af673b46e89d60e1">assault</a>&nbsp;of a high-profile member of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-doge-donald-trump-962778979dd35ea79d6092df9cb2cb56">Department of Government Efficiency</a>.The moves Trump said he was considering included bringing in the D.C. National Guard.Mayor Muriel Bowser questioned the effectiveness of using the Guard to enforce city laws and said the federal government could be far more helpful by funding more prosecutors or filling the 15 vacancies on the D.C. Superior Court, some of which have been open for years.Bowser cannot activate the National Guard herself, but she can submit a request to the Pentagon.“I just think that’s not the most efficient use of our Guard,” she said Sunday on MSNBC's “The Weekend,” acknowledging it is "the president’s call about how to deploy the Guard.”Bowser was making her first public comments since Trump started posting about crime in Washington last week. She noted that violent crime in Washington has decreased since a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dc-homicides-unsolved-metropolitan-police-crime-victims-64b861dd5702a58cc4182ea094460340">rise in 2023</a>. Trump's weekend posts depicted the district as “one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World."For Bowser, “Any comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false.”<a href="https://mpdc.dc.gov/dailycrime">Police statistics</a>&nbsp;show homicides, robberies and burglaries are all down this year when compared with this time in 2024. Overall violent crime is down 26% compared with this time a year ago.Trump offered no details in Truth Social posts over the weekend about possible new actions to address crime levels that he argues are dangerous for citizens, tourists and workers alike. The White House declined to offer additional details about Monday's announcement.The police department and the mayor’s office did not respond to questions about what Trump might do next.The president criticized the district as full of “tents, squalor, filth, and Crime,” and he seems to have been set off by the attack on Edward Coristine, among the most visible figures of the bureaucracy-cutting effort known as DOGE. Police arrested two 15-year-olds in the attempted carjacking and said they were looking for others.“This has to be the best run place in the country, not the worst run place in the country,” Trump said Wednesday.The president called Bowser “a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances.”Trump has repeatedly suggested that the rule of Washington could be returned to federal authorities. Doing so would require a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/district-of-columbia-trump-takeover-3b58c1efabf17db271dce582d9a09c6d">repeal of the Home Rule Act</a>&nbsp;of 1973 in Congress, a step Trump said lawyers are examining. It could face steep pushback.Bowser acknowledged that the law allows the president to take more control over the city's police, but only if certain conditions are met.“None of those conditions exist in our city right now," she said. “We are not experiencing a spike in crime. In fact, we’re watching our crime numbers go down.”___

'No Mr. Nice Guy': Trump set to clean up Washington, D.C.

SHERMAN COUNTY—A pilot avoided injured after a incident while landing just after 3:30p.m. Sunday in Sherman County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported an Air Tractor crop duster piloted by Rosemarie L Surette, 48, Vail, Colorado, was attempting to land at Goodland Municipal Airport.&nbsp; The aircraft caught a gust of wind, came down and rotated, snapping off the left landing gear.

Surette was not injured. The KHP released no additional details. The incident remains under investigation.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754907945540.png" alt="Google Map" />
 <figcaption>Google Map</figcaption>
 </figure>SHERMAN COUNTY—A pilot avoided injured after a incident while landing just after 3:30p.m. Sunday in Sherman County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported an Air Tractor crop duster piloted by Rosemarie L Surette, 48, Vail, Colorado, was attempting to land at Goodland Municipal Airport.&nbsp; The aircraft caught a gust of wind, came down and rotated, snapping off the left landing gear.Surette was not injured. The KHP released no additional details. The incident remains under investigation.

Pilot in Kan. avoids injury after crop duster lost landing gear

BARTON COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a woman for an alleged violent crime.

Just before 3:30p.m. August 6, police&nbsp;were dispatched to the 2900 block of Gano Street in Great in reference to a subject who had been shot in the face with a pellet gun, according to a media release.

Officers located an 80-year-old man&nbsp; with injuries to his face. He was later transported to the hospital in Great Bend for treatment of his injuries. 

Officers and Detectives began interviewing subjects on scene.&nbsp; Officers arrested 46-year-old Janie Strange at the scene on requested charges of Aggravated Battery, and transported her the Barton County Jail.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754607863723.png" alt="Strange photo Barton Co." />
 <figcaption>Strange photo Barton Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>BARTON COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a woman for an alleged violent crime.Just before 3:30p.m. August 6, police&nbsp;were dispatched to the 2900 block of Gano Street in Great in reference to a subject who had been shot in the face with a pellet gun, according to a media release.Officers located an 80-year-old man&nbsp; with injuries to his face. He was later transported to the hospital in Great Bend for treatment of his injuries. Officers and Detectives began interviewing subjects on scene.&nbsp; Officers arrested 46-year-old Janie Strange at the scene on requested charges of Aggravated Battery, and transported her the Barton County Jail.

Police: Kan. woman shot 80-year-old in the face with a pellet gun

NEOSHO COUNTY&nbsp;– The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) and the Neosho County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a murder that occurred in Stark, Kansas, according to a media release from the KBI.

Just before 7p.m. on Saturday, a 911 call reported a disturbance at a residence in Stark, and Neosho County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to 307 S Washington.

When deputies arrived, they observed blood on the front porch. They later found the victim, Scott Stevens, 65, of Stark, deceased. The investigation led to identifying the suspect as Luke Shepard, 45, of Uniontown. Shepard had fled the scene and was later arrested by the Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office at his home without incident.

Shepard was transported to the Neosho County Sheriff’s Office jail and booked on a requested charge of first-degree murder.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754866015644.png" alt="Shepard photo Neosho County" />
 <figcaption>Shepard photo Neosho County</figcaption>
 </figure>NEOSHO COUNTY&nbsp;– The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) and the Neosho County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a murder that occurred in Stark, Kansas, according to a media release from the KBI.Just before 7p.m. on Saturday, a 911 call reported a disturbance at a residence in Stark, and Neosho County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to 307 S Washington.When deputies arrived, they observed blood on the front porch. They later found the victim, Scott Stevens, 65, of Stark, deceased. The investigation led to identifying the suspect as Luke Shepard, 45, of Uniontown. Shepard had fled the scene and was later arrested by the Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office at his home without incident.Shepard was transported to the Neosho County Sheriff’s Office jail and booked on a requested charge of first-degree murder.

KBI: Deputies track down Kansas murder suspect 

A train derailment Sunday left Halstead Avenue closed between 4th and 11th avenues in Hutchinson, with no timeline for reopening.

According to Hutchinson Police, three empty railcars derailed, blocking the roadway.&nbsp;Drivers are advised to use alternate routes until the area is reopened.

No injuries were reported in connection with the incident.

Check the Post for more information as it becomes available.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754864222337.jpeg" alt="Photo courtesy Ryan Leonard " />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Ryan Leonard </figcaption>
 </figure>MARC JACOBS Hutch Post&nbsp;A train derailment Sunday left Halstead Avenue closed between 4th and 11th avenues in Hutchinson, with no timeline for reopening.According to Hutchinson Police, three empty railcars derailed, blocking the roadway.&nbsp;Drivers are advised to use alternate routes until the area is reopened.No injuries were reported in connection with the incident.Check the Post for more information as it becomes available.&nbsp;

Train derailment blocks streets in Hutchinson

OSAGE COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating two suspects on drug&nbsp; and theft allegations. Just after 2p.m. August 7,&nbsp; the Osage County Sheriff’s Office executed a narcotic search warrant in the 200 block of North 4th Street in Carbondale, according to Sheriff Chris Wells.

 Illegal narcotics and a vehicle that had been stolen from Topeka were located. Two subjects were taken into custody and transported to the Osage County Jail Facility on suspicion of request charges:

Sophia D. Munoz, 31, of Topeka: Possession of methamphetamine, Possession of drug paraphernalia, Possession of marijuana and Possession of stolen property

Paden B. Guthrie, 20, of Topeka, Possession of methamphetamine and Possession of drug paraphernalia.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754681041913.png" alt="Guthrie photo Osage&nbsp; Co." />
 <figcaption>Guthrie photo Osage&nbsp; Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>OSAGE COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating two suspects on drug&nbsp; and theft allegations. Just after 2p.m. August 7,&nbsp; the Osage County Sheriff’s Office executed a narcotic search warrant in the 200 block of North 4th Street in Carbondale, according to Sheriff Chris Wells. Illegal narcotics and a vehicle that had been stolen from Topeka were located. Two subjects were taken into custody and transported to the Osage County Jail Facility on suspicion of request charges:<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754680898816.png" alt="Munoz photo Osage&nbsp; Co." />
 <figcaption>Munoz photo Osage&nbsp; Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Sophia D. Munoz, 31, of Topeka: Possession of methamphetamine, Possession of drug paraphernalia, Possession of marijuana and Possession of stolen propertyPaden B. Guthrie, 20, of Topeka, Possession of methamphetamine and Possession of drug paraphernalia.

Kansas couple caught with drugs and stolen vehicle

Lesley Mathis knows what her daughter said was wrong. But she never expected the 13-year-old girl would get arrested for it.

The teenage girl made an offensive joke while chatting online with her classmates, triggering the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ai-school-chromebook-gaggle-goguardian-securly-25a3946727397951fd42324139aaf70f">school’s surveillance software</a>.

Before the morning was even over, the Tennessee eighth grader was under arrest. She was interrogated, strip-searched and spent the night in a jail cell, her mother says.

Earlier in the day, her friends had teased the teen about her tanned complexion and called her “Mexican,” even though she’s not. When a friend asked what she was planning for Thursday, she wrote: “on Thursday we kill all the Mexico’s.”

Mathis said the comments were “wrong” and “stupid,” but context showed they were not a threat.

“It made me feel like, is this the America we live in?” Mathis said of her daughter's arrest. “And it was this stupid, stupid technology that is just going through picking up random words and not looking at context.”

Surveillance systems in American schools increasingly monitor everything students write on school accounts and devices.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ai-school-chromebook-surveillance-gaggle-investigation-takeaways-381fa82978f27eb85f20d03236820711">Thousands of school districts</a>&nbsp;across the country use software like Gaggle and Lightspeed Alert to track kids’ online activities, looking for signs they might hurt themselves or others. With the help of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ai-school-shooting-threat-prevention-bark-c7e89f29b13d0a8470ee44b91d7651ed">artificial intelligence</a>, technology can dip into online conversations and immediately notify both school officials and law enforcement.

Educators say the technology has saved lives. But critics warn it can criminalize children for careless words.

"It has routinized law enforcement access and presence in students’ lives, including in their home,” said Elizabeth Laird, a director at the Center for Democracy and Technology.

In a country weary of school shootings, several states have taken a harder line on threats to schools. Among them is Tennessee, which passed a 2023 zero-tolerance law requiring any threat of mass violence against a school to be reported immediately to law enforcement.

The 13-year-old girl arrested in August 2023 had been texting with friends on a chat function tied to her school email at Fairview Middle School, which uses Gaggle to monitor students' accounts. (The Associated Press is withholding the girl’s name to protect her privacy. The school district did not respond to a request for comment.)

Taken to jail, the teen was interrogated and strip-searched, and her parents weren't allowed to talk to her until the next day, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.tnmd.99558/gov.uscourts.tnmd.99558.14.0.pdf">lawsuit</a>&nbsp;they filed against the school system. She didn’t know why her parents weren’t there.

“She told me afterwards, ‘I thought you hated me.’ That kind of haunts you,” said Mathis, the girl's mother.

A court ordered eight weeks of house arrest, a psychological evaluation and 20 days at an alternative school for the girl.

Gaggle's CEO, Jeff Patterson, said in an interview that the school system did not use Gaggle the way it is intended. The purpose is to find early warning signs and intervene before problems escalate to law enforcement, he said.

“I wish that was treated as a teachable moment, not a law enforcement moment,” said Patterson.

Private student chats face unexpected scrutiny

Students who think they are chatting privately among friends often do not realize they are under constant surveillance, said Shahar Pasch, an education lawyer in Florida.

One teenage girl she represented made a joke about school shootings on a private Snapchat story. Snapchat’s automated detection software picked up the comment, the company alerted the FBI, and the girl was arrested on school grounds within hours.

Alexa Manganiotis, 16, said she was startled by how quickly monitoring software works. West Palm Beach's Dreyfoos School of the Arts, which she attends, last year piloted&nbsp;<a href="https://www.themuseatdreyfoos.com/news/2024/12/05/district-pilots-ai-student-surveillance-program/">Lightspeed Alert</a>, a surveillance program. Interviewing a teacher for her school newspaper, Alexa discovered two students once typed something threatening about that teacher on a school computer, then deleted it. Lightspeed picked it up, and “they were taken away like five minutes later,” Alexa said.

Teenagers face steeper consequences than adults for what they write online, Alexa said.

“If an adult makes a super racist joke that’s threatening on their computer, they can delete it, and they wouldn’t be arrested," she said.

Amy Bennett, chief of staff for Lightspeed Systems, said that the software helps understaffed schools “be proactive rather than punitive” by identifying early warning signs of bullying, self-harm, violence or abuse.

The technology can also involve law enforcement in responses to mental health crises. In Florida's Polk County Schools, a district of more than 100,000 students, the school safety program received nearly 500 Gaggle alerts over four years, officers said in public Board of Education meetings. This led to 72 involuntary hospitalization cases under the Baker Act, a state law that allows authorities to require mental health evaluations for people against their will if they pose a risk to themselves or others.

“A really high number of children who experience involuntary examination remember it as a really traumatic and damaging experience — not something that helps them with their mental health care,” said Sam Boyd, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Polk and West Palm Beach school districts did not provide comments.

An analysis shows a high rate of false alarms

Information that could allow schools to assess the software’s effectiveness, such as the rate of false alerts, is closely held by technology companies and unavailable publicly unless schools track the data themselves.

Gaggle alerted more than 1,200 incidents to the Lawrence, Kansas, school district in a recent 10-month period. But almost two-thirds of those alerts were deemed by school officials to be nonissues — including over 200 false alarms from student homework, according to an Associated Press analysis of data received via a public records request.

Students in one&nbsp;<a href="https://lhsbudget.com/news/2024/02/09/art-students-push-back-against-potential-gaggle-censorship/">photography class</a>&nbsp;were called to the principal’s office over concerns Gaggle had detected nudity. The photos had been automatically deleted from the students’ Google Drives, but students who had backups of the flagged images on their own devices showed it was a false alarm. District officials said they later adjusted the software's settings to reduce false alerts.

Natasha Torkzaban, who graduated in 2024, said she was flagged for editing a friend’s college essay because it had the words “mental health.”

“I think ideally we wouldn’t stick a new and shiny solution of AI on a deep-rooted issue of teenage mental health and the suicide rates in America, but that’s where we’re at right now,” Torkzaban said. She was among a group of student journalists and artists at Lawrence High School who filed a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26040279-lawrence-board-of-education-gaggle-complaint/">lawsuit</a>&nbsp;against the school system last week, alleging Gaggle subjected them to unconstitutional surveillance.

School officials have said they take concerns about Gaggle seriously, but also say the technology has detected dozens of imminent threats of suicide or violence.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754772171917.png" alt="Google image" />
 <figcaption>Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>By SHARON LURYE AP Education WriterLesley Mathis knows what her daughter said was wrong. But she never expected the 13-year-old girl would get arrested for it.The teenage girl made an offensive joke while chatting online with her classmates, triggering the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ai-school-chromebook-gaggle-goguardian-securly-25a3946727397951fd42324139aaf70f">school’s surveillance software</a>.Before the morning was even over, the Tennessee eighth grader was under arrest. She was interrogated, strip-searched and spent the night in a jail cell, her mother says.Earlier in the day, her friends had teased the teen about her tanned complexion and called her “Mexican,” even though she’s not. When a friend asked what she was planning for Thursday, she wrote: “on Thursday we kill all the Mexico’s.”Mathis said the comments were “wrong” and “stupid,” but context showed they were not a threat.“It made me feel like, is this the America we live in?” Mathis said of her daughter's arrest. “And it was this stupid, stupid technology that is just going through picking up random words and not looking at context.”Surveillance systems in American schools increasingly monitor everything students write on school accounts and devices.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ai-school-chromebook-surveillance-gaggle-investigation-takeaways-381fa82978f27eb85f20d03236820711">Thousands of school districts</a>&nbsp;across the country use software like Gaggle and Lightspeed Alert to track kids’ online activities, looking for signs they might hurt themselves or others. With the help of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ai-school-shooting-threat-prevention-bark-c7e89f29b13d0a8470ee44b91d7651ed">artificial intelligence</a>, technology can dip into online conversations and immediately notify both school officials and law enforcement.Educators say the technology has saved lives. But critics warn it can criminalize children for careless words."It has routinized law enforcement access and presence in students’ lives, including in their home,” said Elizabeth Laird, a director at the Center for Democracy and Technology.<h2>Schools ratchet up vigilance for threats</h2>In a country weary of school shootings, several states have taken a harder line on threats to schools. Among them is Tennessee, which passed a 2023 zero-tolerance law requiring any threat of mass violence against a school to be reported immediately to law enforcement.The 13-year-old girl arrested in August 2023 had been texting with friends on a chat function tied to her school email at Fairview Middle School, which uses Gaggle to monitor students' accounts. (The Associated Press is withholding the girl’s name to protect her privacy. The school district did not respond to a request for comment.)Taken to jail, the teen was interrogated and strip-searched, and her parents weren't allowed to talk to her until the next day, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.tnmd.99558/gov.uscourts.tnmd.99558.14.0.pdf">lawsuit</a>&nbsp;they filed against the school system. She didn’t know why her parents weren’t there.“She told me afterwards, ‘I thought you hated me.’ That kind of haunts you,” said Mathis, the girl's mother.A court ordered eight weeks of house arrest, a psychological evaluation and 20 days at an alternative school for the girl.Gaggle's CEO, Jeff Patterson, said in an interview that the school system did not use Gaggle the way it is intended. The purpose is to find early warning signs and intervene before problems escalate to law enforcement, he said.“I wish that was treated as a teachable moment, not a law enforcement moment,” said Patterson.<h2>Private student chats face unexpected scrutiny</h2>Students who think they are chatting privately among friends often do not realize they are under constant surveillance, said Shahar Pasch, an education lawyer in Florida.One teenage girl she represented made a joke about school shootings on a private Snapchat story. Snapchat’s automated detection software picked up the comment, the company alerted the FBI, and the girl was arrested on school grounds within hours.Alexa Manganiotis, 16, said she was startled by how quickly monitoring software works. West Palm Beach's Dreyfoos School of the Arts, which she attends, last year piloted&nbsp;<a href="https://www.themuseatdreyfoos.com/news/2024/12/05/district-pilots-ai-student-surveillance-program/">Lightspeed Alert</a>, a surveillance program. Interviewing a teacher for her school newspaper, Alexa discovered two students once typed something threatening about that teacher on a school computer, then deleted it. Lightspeed picked it up, and “they were taken away like five minutes later,” Alexa said.Teenagers face steeper consequences than adults for what they write online, Alexa said.“If an adult makes a super racist joke that’s threatening on their computer, they can delete it, and they wouldn’t be arrested," she said.Amy Bennett, chief of staff for Lightspeed Systems, said that the software helps understaffed schools “be proactive rather than punitive” by identifying early warning signs of bullying, self-harm, violence or abuse.The technology can also involve law enforcement in responses to mental health crises. In Florida's Polk County Schools, a district of more than 100,000 students, the school safety program received nearly 500 Gaggle alerts over four years, officers said in public Board of Education meetings. This led to 72 involuntary hospitalization cases under the Baker Act, a state law that allows authorities to require mental health evaluations for people against their will if they pose a risk to themselves or others.“A really high number of children who experience involuntary examination remember it as a really traumatic and damaging experience — not something that helps them with their mental health care,” said Sam Boyd, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Polk and West Palm Beach school districts did not provide comments.<h2>An analysis shows a high rate of false alarms</h2>Information that could allow schools to assess the software’s effectiveness, such as the rate of false alerts, is closely held by technology companies and unavailable publicly unless schools track the data themselves.Gaggle alerted more than 1,200 incidents to the Lawrence, Kansas, school district in a recent 10-month period. But almost two-thirds of those alerts were deemed by school officials to be nonissues — including over 200 false alarms from student homework, according to an Associated Press analysis of data received via a public records request.Students in one&nbsp;<a href="https://lhsbudget.com/news/2024/02/09/art-students-push-back-against-potential-gaggle-censorship/">photography class</a>&nbsp;were called to the principal’s office over concerns Gaggle had detected nudity. The photos had been automatically deleted from the students’ Google Drives, but students who had backups of the flagged images on their own devices showed it was a false alarm. District officials said they later adjusted the software's settings to reduce false alerts.Natasha Torkzaban, who graduated in 2024, said she was flagged for editing a friend’s college essay because it had the words “mental health.”“I think ideally we wouldn’t stick a new and shiny solution of AI on a deep-rooted issue of teenage mental health and the suicide rates in America, but that’s where we’re at right now,” Torkzaban said. She was among a group of student journalists and artists at Lawrence High School who filed a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26040279-lawrence-board-of-education-gaggle-complaint/">lawsuit</a>&nbsp;against the school system last week, alleging Gaggle subjected them to unconstitutional surveillance.School officials have said they take concerns about Gaggle seriously, but also say the technology has detected dozens of imminent threats of suicide or violence.“Sometimes you have to look at the trade for the greater good,” said Board of Education member Anne Costello in a July 2024 board meeting.Two years after their ordeal, Mathis said her daughter is doing better, although she’s still “terrified” of running into one of the school officers who arrested her. One bright spot, she said, was the compassion of the teachers at her daughter’s alternative school. They took time every day to let the kids share their feelings and frustrations, without judgment.“It’s like we just want kids to be these little soldiers, and they’re not,” said Mathis. “They’re just humans.”___This reporting reviewed school board meetings posted on YouTube, courtesy of DistrictView, a dataset created by researchers Tyler Simko, Mirya Holman and Rebecca Johnson.___