COWLEY COUNTY —One person died in an accident just after 11p.m. Saturday in Cowley County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1995 Chevy Camaro was eastbound on 33rd Avenue at Meadowlark in Winfield. The car crossed the centerline, left the roadway, rolled and struck a telephone pole.

A passenger in the car identified as Nicholas R. Morris, 27, Arkansas City, was pronounced dead at the scene and transported Miles Mortuary. The driver of the vehicle fled the scene of the accident.

COWLEY COUNTY —One person died in an accident just after 11p.m. Saturday in Cowley County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1995 Chevy Camaro was eastbound on 33rd Avenue at Meadowlark in Winfield. The car crossed the centerline, left the roadway, rolled and struck a telephone pole.A passenger in the car identified as Nicholas R. Morris, 27, Arkansas City, was pronounced dead at the scene and transported Miles Mortuary. The driver of the vehicle fled the scene of the accident.

KHP: Driver fled accident that killed Kansas man

MUNICH (AP) — The United States has determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday, insisting that “justice must be served” to the perpetrators.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Harris said the international community has both a moral and a strategic interest in pursuing those crimes, pointing to a danger of other authoritarian governments taking advantage&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-taiwan-nato-politics-government-4a74d1ef5377663e003688814e921326">if international rules are undermined</a>.

“Russian forces have pursued a widespread and systemic attack against a civilian population — gruesome acts of murder, torture, rape, and deportation,” Harris said. She also cited “execution-style killings, beatings, and electrocution.”

The Biden administration formally determined last March that Russian troops had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-biden-europe-antony-blinken-nato-fa0786b41cd876208771017aa1abab13">committed war crimes</a>&nbsp;in Ukraine and said it would work with others to prosecute offenders. A determination of crimes against humanity goes a step further, indicating that attacks against civilians are being carried out in a widespread and systematic manner.

“Russian authorities have forcibly deported hundreds of thousands of people, from Ukraine to Russia, including children,” Harris said. “They have cruelly separated children from their families."

She also pointed to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/Russia-ukraine-war-mariupol-theater-c321a196fbd568899841b506afcac7a1">the attack in mid-March on a theater</a>&nbsp;in the strategic port city of Mariupol where civilians had been sheltering, which killed hundreds, and to the images of civilians' bodies left on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bucha-ukraine-war-cleansing-investigation-43e5a9538e9ba68a035756b05028b8b4">the streets of Bucha</a>&nbsp;after the Russian pullback from the Kyiv area last spring.

Harris said that, as a former prosecutor and former head of California's Department of Justice, she knows “the importance of gathering facts and holding them up against the law.”

“In the case of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, we have examined the evidence, we know the legal standards, and there is no doubt,” she said. “These are crimes against humanity.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who also was attending the Munich conference, said in a statement issued as Harris spoke that “we reserve crimes against humanity determinations for the most egregious crimes.”

The new determination underlines the “staggering extent” of suffering inflicted on Ukrainian civilians and “also reflects the deep commitment of the United States to holding members of Russia’s forces and other Russian officials accountable for their atrocities,” he said.

Russia's nearly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-one-year-anniversary-timeline-a1304c6fb319bf1c0e93635f6f6a2633">yearlong invasion of Ukraine</a>, has dominated discussions at the Munich conference, an annual gathering of security and defense officials from around the world. Harris told the assembled participants: "Let us all agree — on behalf of all the victims, both known and unknown, justice must be served.”

“Such is our moral interest,” she said. “We also have a significant strategic interest.”

“No nation is safe in a world where one country can violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of another, where crimes against humanity are committed with impunity, where a country with imperialist ambitions can go unchecked,” Harris added.

If Russian President Vladimir Putin succeeds in attacking international rules and norms, “other nations could feel emboldened to follow his violent example,” she said. “Other authoritarian powers could seek to bend the world to their will, through coercion, disinformation and even brute force.”

Harris' audience Saturday didn't include any Russian officials. Conference organizers decided not to invite them this year.

Amid the Western officials defending&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-military-technology-business-55e3f4ef1696ca381e069883d5836399">arms supplies to Ukraine</a>, China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, stood out by calling for an end to the war through peace talks, saying Beijing was “deeply worried about the expansion and long-term effect of this war."

China has refused to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine or to impose sanctions on Moscow like Western nations have done. Without naming any countries, Wang said “there may be forces” that don't want the war to stop anytime soon.

“What they care about is not the life and death of the Ukrainian people, nor the increasing damage to Europe. They probably have bigger strategic goals than Ukraine,” he said.

Wang said Beijing planned to present a “position paper on the political settlement of the Ukraine issue” that would reiterate proposals made by President Xi Jinping.

Asked on the sidelines of the event about the U.S. determination of crimes against humanity, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba replied that “Russia waged a genocidal war&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-faded-portraits-photography-a8b50e53bb240db11b9c5c727ef1526f">against Ukrainians</a>&nbsp;because they do not recognize our identity and they do not think we deserve to exist as a sovereign nation."

“Everything that stems from that is crimes against humanity, war crimes and various other atrocities committed by the Russian army in the territory of Ukraine,” he said. "Let lawyers sort out specifically which act belongs where in terms of legal qualification.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Western allies in a video address to the Munich conference on Friday to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-munich-security-conference-7ed99788ed3520b0f759e11ce67a8694">quicken their military support</a>&nbsp;for Ukraine, declaring that “it’s speed that life depends on.”

Kuleba voiced confidence that Ukraine would eventually receive fighter jets from its partners, despite their current reluctance. He noted that they initially pushed back on providing other heavy weapons that were later delivered or promised, “so the only outstanding type of weapon is planes."

In Munch on Friday, a Ukrainian deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, called for cluster munitions and phosphorous bombs, German media reported. Cluster munitions are banned by an international treaty.

Asked whether he supported calling for such weapons, Kuleba said Ukraine has evidence that Russia uses them.

“We are not party to the convention on the prohibition of cluster ammunition, so legally there are no obstacles for that,” he said. “And if we receive one, we will be using it exclusively against military forces of the Russian Federation.”

MUNICH (AP) — The United States has determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday, insisting that “justice must be served” to the perpetrators.Click below to watch the address<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FVicePresident%2Fvideos%2F611532894140850%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=28" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Harris said the international community has both a moral and a strategic interest in pursuing those crimes, pointing to a danger of other authoritarian governments taking advantage&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-taiwan-nato-politics-government-4a74d1ef5377663e003688814e921326">if international rules are undermined</a>.“Russian forces have pursued a widespread and systemic attack against a civilian population — gruesome acts of murder, torture, rape, and deportation,” Harris said. She also cited “execution-style killings, beatings, and electrocution.”The Biden administration formally determined last March that Russian troops had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-biden-europe-antony-blinken-nato-fa0786b41cd876208771017aa1abab13">committed war crimes</a>&nbsp;in Ukraine and said it would work with others to prosecute offenders. A determination of crimes against humanity goes a step further, indicating that attacks against civilians are being carried out in a widespread and systematic manner.“Russian authorities have forcibly deported hundreds of thousands of people, from Ukraine to Russia, including children,” Harris said. “They have cruelly separated children from their families."She also pointed to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/Russia-ukraine-war-mariupol-theater-c321a196fbd568899841b506afcac7a1">the attack in mid-March on a theater</a>&nbsp;in the strategic port city of Mariupol where civilians had been sheltering, which killed hundreds, and to the images of civilians' bodies left on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bucha-ukraine-war-cleansing-investigation-43e5a9538e9ba68a035756b05028b8b4">the streets of Bucha</a>&nbsp;after the Russian pullback from the Kyiv area last spring.Harris said that, as a former prosecutor and former head of California's Department of Justice, she knows “the importance of gathering facts and holding them up against the law.”“In the case of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, we have examined the evidence, we know the legal standards, and there is no doubt,” she said. “These are crimes against humanity.”U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who also was attending the Munich conference, said in a statement issued as Harris spoke that “we reserve crimes against humanity determinations for the most egregious crimes.”The new determination underlines the “staggering extent” of suffering inflicted on Ukrainian civilians and “also reflects the deep commitment of the United States to holding members of Russia’s forces and other Russian officials accountable for their atrocities,” he said.Russia's nearly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-one-year-anniversary-timeline-a1304c6fb319bf1c0e93635f6f6a2633">yearlong invasion of Ukraine</a>, has dominated discussions at the Munich conference, an annual gathering of security and defense officials from around the world. Harris told the assembled participants: "Let us all agree — on behalf of all the victims, both known and unknown, justice must be served.”“Such is our moral interest,” she said. “We also have a significant strategic interest.”“No nation is safe in a world where one country can violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of another, where crimes against humanity are committed with impunity, where a country with imperialist ambitions can go unchecked,” Harris added.If Russian President Vladimir Putin succeeds in attacking international rules and norms, “other nations could feel emboldened to follow his violent example,” she said. “Other authoritarian powers could seek to bend the world to their will, through coercion, disinformation and even brute force.”Harris' audience Saturday didn't include any Russian officials. Conference organizers decided not to invite them this year.Amid the Western officials defending&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-military-technology-business-55e3f4ef1696ca381e069883d5836399">arms supplies to Ukraine</a>, China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, stood out by calling for an end to the war through peace talks, saying Beijing was “deeply worried about the expansion and long-term effect of this war."China has refused to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine or to impose sanctions on Moscow like Western nations have done. Without naming any countries, Wang said “there may be forces” that don't want the war to stop anytime soon.“What they care about is not the life and death of the Ukrainian people, nor the increasing damage to Europe. They probably have bigger strategic goals than Ukraine,” he said.Wang said Beijing planned to present a “position paper on the political settlement of the Ukraine issue” that would reiterate proposals made by President Xi Jinping.Asked on the sidelines of the event about the U.S. determination of crimes against humanity, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba replied that “Russia waged a genocidal war&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-faded-portraits-photography-a8b50e53bb240db11b9c5c727ef1526f">against Ukrainians</a>&nbsp;because they do not recognize our identity and they do not think we deserve to exist as a sovereign nation."“Everything that stems from that is crimes against humanity, war crimes and various other atrocities committed by the Russian army in the territory of Ukraine,” he said. "Let lawyers sort out specifically which act belongs where in terms of legal qualification.”Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Western allies in a video address to the Munich conference on Friday to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-munich-security-conference-7ed99788ed3520b0f759e11ce67a8694">quicken their military support</a>&nbsp;for Ukraine, declaring that “it’s speed that life depends on.”Kuleba voiced confidence that Ukraine would eventually receive fighter jets from its partners, despite their current reluctance. He noted that they initially pushed back on providing other heavy weapons that were later delivered or promised, “so the only outstanding type of weapon is planes."In Munch on Friday, a Ukrainian deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, called for cluster munitions and phosphorous bombs, German media reported. Cluster munitions are banned by an international treaty.Asked whether he supported calling for such weapons, Kuleba said Ukraine has evidence that Russia uses them.“We are not party to the convention on the prohibition of cluster ammunition, so legally there are no obstacles for that,” he said. “And if we receive one, we will be using it exclusively against military forces of the Russian Federation.”___

🎥Vice President sounds alarm about Russia at global conference

KANSAS CITY(AP) — Among sermon writers, there is fascination – and unease – over the fast-expanding abilities of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-artificial-intelligence-1a652de47c2d0e502c2896748d9d1d5f">artificial-intelligence chatbots</a>. For now, the evolving consensus among clergy is this: Yes, they can write a passably competent sermon. But no, they can’t replicate the passion of actual preaching.

“It lacks a soul – I don’t know how else to say it,” said Hershael York, a pastor in Kentucky who also is dean of the school of theology and a professor of Christian preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Sermons are meant to be the core of a worship service -- and often are faith leaders' best weekly shot at grabbing their congregation’s attention to impart theological and moral guidance.

Lazy pastors might be tempted to use AI for this purpose, York said, “but not the great shepherds, the ones who love preaching, who love their people.”

A rabbi in New York, Joshua Franklin, recently told his congregation at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons that he was going to deliver a plagiarized sermon – dealing with such issues as trust, vulnerability and forgiveness.

Upon finishing, he asked the worshippers to guess who wrote it. When they appeared stumped, he revealed that the writer was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-chat-gpt-ac4967a4fb41fda31c4d27f015e32660">ChatGPT</a>, responding to his request to write a 1,000-word sermon related to that week’s lesson from the Torah.

“Now, you’re clapping -- I’m deathly afraid,” Franklin said when several congregants applauded. “I thought truck drivers were going to go long before the rabbi, in terms of losing our positions to artificial intelligence.”

“ChatGPT might be really great at sounding intelligent, but the question is, can it be empathetic? And that, not yet at least, it can’t," added Franklin. He said AI has yet to develop compassion and love, and is unable to build community and relationships.

“Those are the things that bring us together,” the rabbi concluded.

Rachael Keefe, pastor of Living Table United Church of Christ in Minneapolis, undertook an experiment similar to Franklin’s. She posted a brief essay in her online Pastoral Notes in January, addressing how to attend to one’s mental health amid the stresses of the holiday season.

It was pleasant, but somewhat bland, and at the end, Keefe revealed that it was written by ChatGPT, not by herself.

“While the facts are correct, there’s something deeper missing,” she wrote. “AI cannot understand community and inclusivity and how important these things are in creating church.”

“It’s not terrible, but yes, I agree. Rather generic and a little bit eerie,” wrote Douglas Federhart. “I like what you write a lot more. It comes from an actually living being, with a great brain and a compassionate, beating heart.”

Todd Brewer, a New Testament scholar and managing editor of the Christian website Mockingbird, wrote in December about an experiment of his own -- asking ChatGPT to write a Christmas sermon for him.

He was specific, requesting a sermon “based upon Luke’s birth narrative, with quotations from Karl Barth, Martin Luther, Irenaeus of Lyon, and Barack Obama.”

Brewer wrote that he was “not prepared” when ChatGPT responded with a creation that met his criteria and “is better than several Christmas sermons I’ve heard over the years.”

“The A.I. even seems to understand what makes the birth of Jesus genuinely good news,” Brewer added.

Yet the ChatGPT sermon “lacks any human warmth,” he wrote. “The preaching of Artificial Intelligence can’t convincingly sympathize with the human plight.”

In Brentwood, Tennessee, Mike Glenn, senior pastor for 32 years at Brentwood Baptist Church, wrote a blog post in January after a computer-savvy assistant joked that Glenn could be replaced by an AI machine.

“I’m not buying it,” Glenn wrote. “AI will never be able to preach a decent sermon. Why? Because the gospel is more than words. It’s the evidence of a changed life.”

“When listening to a sermon, what a congregation is looking for is evidence that the pastor has been with Jesus,” Glenn added. “AI will always have to – literally – take someone else’s words for it... it won’t ever be a sermon that will convince anyone to come and follow Jesus.”

Also weighing in with an online essay was the Rev. Russell Moore, formerly head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy division and now editor-in-chief of the evangelical magazine Christianity Today. He confided to his readers that his first sermon, delivered at age 12, was a well-intentioned mess.

“Preaching needs someone who knows the text and can convey that to the people — but it’s not just about transmitting information,” Moore wrote. “When we listen to the Word preached, we are hearing not just a word about God but a word from God.”

“Such life-altering news needs to be delivered by a human, in person,” he added. “A chatbot can research. A chatbot can write. Perhaps a chatbot can even orate. But a chatbot can’t preach.”

The Southern Baptist department formerly led by Moore – the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission --- has been monitoring artificial-intelligence developments for several years under the direction of Jason Thacker, its chair of research in technology ethics.

He shares the view that “wise, virtuous pastors” won’t let new technology deter them from personal immersion in sermon-writing.

“But I also can see it being used in unhelpful or unethical ways," he added.

“Some young pastors may become overly reliant on these machines … and not see the imperfections of these tools,” Thacker told The Associated Press. “Many pastors are overworked, exhausted, filled with anxiety... One can see why a pastor might say, ‘I can’t do everything I’m supposed to do,’ and start passing ideas off as their own.”

Hershael York, the Kentucky pastor and professor, said some of the greatest sermons contain elements of anguish.

“Artificial intelligence can imitate that to some level. But I don’t think it can ever give any kind of a sense of suffering, grief, sorrow, the same way that a human being can,” he said. “It comes from deep within the heart and the soul -- that’s what the great preachers have, and I don’t think you can get that by proxy.”

KANSAS CITY(AP) — Among sermon writers, there is fascination – and unease – over the fast-expanding abilities of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-artificial-intelligence-1a652de47c2d0e502c2896748d9d1d5f">artificial-intelligence chatbots</a>. For now, the evolving consensus among clergy is this: Yes, they can write a passably competent sermon. But no, they can’t replicate the passion of actual preaching.“It lacks a soul – I don’t know how else to say it,” said Hershael York, a pastor in Kentucky who also is dean of the school of theology and a professor of Christian preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.Sermons are meant to be the core of a worship service -- and often are faith leaders' best weekly shot at grabbing their congregation’s attention to impart theological and moral guidance.Lazy pastors might be tempted to use AI for this purpose, York said, “but not the great shepherds, the ones who love preaching, who love their people.”A rabbi in New York, Joshua Franklin, recently told his congregation at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons that he was going to deliver a plagiarized sermon – dealing with such issues as trust, vulnerability and forgiveness.Upon finishing, he asked the worshippers to guess who wrote it. When they appeared stumped, he revealed that the writer was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-chat-gpt-ac4967a4fb41fda31c4d27f015e32660">ChatGPT</a>, responding to his request to write a 1,000-word sermon related to that week’s lesson from the Torah.“Now, you’re clapping -- I’m deathly afraid,” Franklin said when several congregants applauded. “I thought truck drivers were going to go long before the rabbi, in terms of losing our positions to artificial intelligence.”“ChatGPT might be really great at sounding intelligent, but the question is, can it be empathetic? And that, not yet at least, it can’t," added Franklin. He said AI has yet to develop compassion and love, and is unable to build community and relationships.“Those are the things that bring us together,” the rabbi concluded.Rachael Keefe, pastor of Living Table United Church of Christ in Minneapolis, undertook an experiment similar to Franklin’s. She posted a brief essay in her online Pastoral Notes in January, addressing how to attend to one’s mental health amid the stresses of the holiday season.It was pleasant, but somewhat bland, and at the end, Keefe revealed that it was written by ChatGPT, not by herself.“While the facts are correct, there’s something deeper missing,” she wrote. “AI cannot understand community and inclusivity and how important these things are in creating church.”Several congregation members responded.“It’s not terrible, but yes, I agree. Rather generic and a little bit eerie,” wrote Douglas Federhart. “I like what you write a lot more. It comes from an actually living being, with a great brain and a compassionate, beating heart.”Todd Brewer, a New Testament scholar and managing editor of the Christian website Mockingbird, wrote in December about an experiment of his own -- asking ChatGPT to write a Christmas sermon for him.He was specific, requesting a sermon “based upon Luke’s birth narrative, with quotations from Karl Barth, Martin Luther, Irenaeus of Lyon, and Barack Obama.”Brewer wrote that he was “not prepared” when ChatGPT responded with a creation that met his criteria and “is better than several Christmas sermons I’ve heard over the years.”“The A.I. even seems to understand what makes the birth of Jesus genuinely good news,” Brewer added.Yet the ChatGPT sermon “lacks any human warmth,” he wrote. “The preaching of Artificial Intelligence can’t convincingly sympathize with the human plight.”In Brentwood, Tennessee, Mike Glenn, senior pastor for 32 years at Brentwood Baptist Church, wrote a blog post in January after a computer-savvy assistant joked that Glenn could be replaced by an AI machine.“I’m not buying it,” Glenn wrote. “AI will never be able to preach a decent sermon. Why? Because the gospel is more than words. It’s the evidence of a changed life.”“When listening to a sermon, what a congregation is looking for is evidence that the pastor has been with Jesus,” Glenn added. “AI will always have to – literally – take someone else’s words for it... it won’t ever be a sermon that will convince anyone to come and follow Jesus.”Also weighing in with an online essay was the Rev. Russell Moore, formerly head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy division and now editor-in-chief of the evangelical magazine Christianity Today. He confided to his readers that his first sermon, delivered at age 12, was a well-intentioned mess.“Preaching needs someone who knows the text and can convey that to the people — but it’s not just about transmitting information,” Moore wrote. “When we listen to the Word preached, we are hearing not just a word about God but a word from God.”“Such life-altering news needs to be delivered by a human, in person,” he added. “A chatbot can research. A chatbot can write. Perhaps a chatbot can even orate. But a chatbot can’t preach.”The Southern Baptist department formerly led by Moore – the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission --- has been monitoring artificial-intelligence developments for several years under the direction of Jason Thacker, its chair of research in technology ethics.He shares the view that “wise, virtuous pastors” won’t let new technology deter them from personal immersion in sermon-writing.“But I also can see it being used in unhelpful or unethical ways," he added.“Some young pastors may become overly reliant on these machines … and not see the imperfections of these tools,” Thacker told The Associated Press. “Many pastors are overworked, exhausted, filled with anxiety... One can see why a pastor might say, ‘I can’t do everything I’m supposed to do,’ and start passing ideas off as their own.”Hershael York, the Kentucky pastor and professor, said some of the greatest sermons contain elements of anguish.“Artificial intelligence can imitate that to some level. But I don’t think it can ever give any kind of a sense of suffering, grief, sorrow, the same way that a human being can,” he said. “It comes from deep within the heart and the soul -- that’s what the great preachers have, and I don’t think you can get that by proxy.”___

Pastors' view: Sermons written by ChatGPT will have no soul

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A federal jury convicted two Kansas men of kidnapping, drug, and gun charges in connection with the 2019 torture of a victim in Kansas City, Kansas, according to the United State's Attorney.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, David Carr, 36, of Kansas City, and James Michael Poterbin, 46, of Edwardsville, supplied methamphetamine that was sold in the Kansas City metropolitan area. 

In April 2019, Carr and Poterbin kidnapped the boyfriend of a woman whom they mistakenly believed had stolen drug money from them.

Carr and Poterbin bound the victim with zip-ties and duct-taped a shirt to his head, pistol-whipped him multiple times, smashed his fingers and beat him with a blunt object, shot him in the legs, and forced a co-conspirator to stab him in the leg.

They then wrapped him in plastic and left him alone in the house. During the torture, Carr and Poterbin used the victim’s phone to contact his girlfriend and demand money in exchange for his release.

A few days after the victim was released, Carr ordered a co-conspirator to burn the house to the ground, which he did.

A jury found Carr and Poterbin guilty of kidnapping, conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, and discharging a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking crime.

Sentencing hearings are scheduled for Carr and Poterbin on May 1. They each face a maximum of penalty of life imprisonment.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1596120381636.png" alt="Carr-photo Wyandotte Co." />
 <figcaption>Carr-photo Wyandotte Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A federal jury convicted two Kansas men of kidnapping, drug, and gun charges in connection with the 2019 torture of a victim in Kansas City, Kansas, according to the United State's Attorney.According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, David Carr, 36, of Kansas City, and James Michael Poterbin, 46, of Edwardsville, supplied methamphetamine that was sold in the Kansas City metropolitan area. In April 2019, Carr and Poterbin kidnapped the boyfriend of a woman whom they mistakenly believed had stolen drug money from them.Carr and Poterbin bound the victim with zip-ties and duct-taped a shirt to his head, pistol-whipped him multiple times, smashed his fingers and beat him with a blunt object, shot him in the legs, and forced a co-conspirator to stab him in the leg.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1596120824220.png" alt="Poterbin-photo Wyandotte Co." />
 <figcaption>Poterbin-photo Wyandotte Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>They then wrapped him in plastic and left him alone in the house. During the torture, Carr and Poterbin used the victim’s phone to contact his girlfriend and demand money in exchange for his release.A few days after the victim was released, Carr ordered a co-conspirator to burn the house to the ground, which he did.A jury found Carr and Poterbin guilty of kidnapping, conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, and discharging a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking crime.Sentencing hearings are scheduled for Carr and Poterbin on May 1. They each face a maximum of penalty of life imprisonment.

Jury: 2 men found guilty in violent Kansas kidnapping 

KANSAS CITY —A Kansas man was sentenced to 96 months in prison time followed by five years of supervised release after he admitted to possessing child pornography images, according to the United State's Attorney.

In September 2022, Justin Packham, 34, of Shawnee pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. Based on a cybertip, the Shawnee Police Department launched an investigation that revealed dozens of child pornography images had been uploaded into Google Drive using an email account in Packham’s name. 

Using a subsequent search warrant for Packham’s residence, Shawnee investigators found more than 1,000 child pornography photos and videos on various electronic devices and thumb drives.

The U.S. Secret Service and the Shawnee Police Department investigated the case.&nbsp; Packham has been listed as registered violent offender since 2011 for a felony conviction for criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling, according to the KBI Offender Registry.  

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/9/1662753880290.png" alt="-Packham has been listed as registered violent offender since 2011 for a felony conviction for criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling, according to the KBI Offender Registry.&nbsp;&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>-Packham has been listed as registered violent offender since 2011 for a felony conviction for criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling, according to the KBI Offender Registry.&nbsp;&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —A Kansas man was sentenced to 96 months in prison time followed by five years of supervised release after he admitted to possessing child pornography images, according to the United State's Attorney.In September 2022, Justin Packham, 34, of Shawnee pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. Based on a cybertip, the Shawnee Police Department launched an investigation that revealed dozens of child pornography images had been uploaded into Google Drive using an email account in Packham’s name. Using a subsequent search warrant for Packham’s residence, Shawnee investigators found more than 1,000 child pornography photos and videos on various electronic devices and thumb drives.The U.S. Secret Service and the Shawnee Police Department investigated the case.&nbsp; Packham has been listed as registered violent offender since 2011 for a felony conviction for criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling, according to the KBI Offender Registry.

Violent Kansas offender had massive child porn collection

KANSAS CITY —There is a police vehicle serving as a memorial in front of police headquarters in Kansas City in honor of Officer James Muhlbauer and K-9 Officer Champ who died in a crash on Wednesday night.

A Kansas teen has been charged in connection with the crash on Wednesday night that took the life of a Kansas City patrol officer, a pedestrian and the officer's K-9 Champ, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.

Jerron Allen Lightfoot, 18, Tonganoxie, faces two counts of Involuntary Manslaughter 1st Degree.

According to court records filed Thursday evening, Kansas City police officers responded to East Truman Road and Benton Blvd. on a vehicular crash.

Arriving officers saw a man standing by a white Ford Fusion, one of the crashed vehicles. The man was later identified as Jerron Allen Lightfoot, the driver and sole occupant of the white Ford vehicle.

The other vehicle in the crash was a marked police car. The police officer, James M. Muhlbauer, was in the driver's seat, unconscious. He was wearing a seatbelt. The police K-9 Champ was deceased in the back second row of the police car. The officer was transported to an area hospital and later pronounced deceased. Police found a second deceased man under the police vehicle.

Video from the area of the crash, according to court records, showed the police officer was traveling eastbound at E. Truman Road and had a green light at the intersection. The white Ford was traveling southbound on Benton Boulevard at a high rate of speed and failed to stop at the traffic signal just prior to striking the police vehicle.

In addition, the police officer's dash cam showed he had a green light as he went through the intersection just prior to the crash.

Lightfoot told officers he tried to stop but his car's brakes did not work, prosecutors said. Lightfoot said he felt “a lot of vibration” when he applied the brakes.

A check of the white Ford's electronic ACM system showed the vehicle's brakes were working just prior to the crash and the vehicle was traveling at 85 mph or more just before impact.

Muhlbauer, who was married and a father, was a 20-year veteran of the force. Champ had been a K-9 with the force for a year.

In 2014, Muhlbauer arrested Brandon Howell, a suspect in the deaths of five people in a Kansas City neighborhood, said Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. Howell, who previously was acquitted in the killings of two Kansas teens, is serving multiple life terms, with no chance of parole, in the quintuple homicide.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker issued the following statement:

"My office spoke Thursday evening with the family of our officer victim. We have not yet been able to meet with the family of our pedestrian victim prior to this filing, but we will meet soon with that victim's family. We extend our condolences to both grieving families and the police department. We are grateful for the pace of the police department's investigative work that allowed us to file these charges so quickly."

KANSAS CITY —A Kansas City police officer, his K-9 partner and a pedestrian died in a crash Wednesday night.

Just after 10:15p.m., the officer identified as James Muhlbauer and his K9 officer Champ were on duty and on patrol in the area of Truman Road and Benton Boulevard when the patrol car was struck by another vehicle. The collision caused a secondary impact with a pedestrian.

The pedestrian and K-9 officer Champ was declared deceased at the scene, according to the release. EMS transported Muhlbauer to the hospital with critical injuries and he died.

The driver of the citizen vehicle has minor injuries and is in custody for further investigation

Muhlbauer is 20-year veteran of the KCPD and had been assigned to the K-9 Unit for nearly 3-years. His K9 partner  was an approximately 1-year veteran of the KCPD.&nbsp; &nbsp; K-9 Champ lived with Muhlbauer and his family. Mulhbauer was married and a father.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1676770053943.png" alt="Photo courtesy KCPD" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy KCPD</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —There is a police vehicle serving as a memorial in front of police headquarters in Kansas City in honor of Officer James Muhlbauer and K-9 Officer Champ who died in a crash on Wednesday night.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1676573009736.png" alt="Officer James Muhlbauer and K-9 Officer Champ-photo courtesy KCPD" />
 <figcaption>Officer James Muhlbauer and K-9 Officer Champ-photo courtesy KCPD</figcaption>
 </figure>A Kansas teen has been charged in connection with the crash on Wednesday night that took the life of a Kansas City patrol officer, a pedestrian and the officer's K-9 Champ, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.Jerron Allen Lightfoot, 18, Tonganoxie, faces two counts of Involuntary Manslaughter 1st Degree.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1676552907457.png" alt="The driver of the citizen vehicle has minor injuries and is in custody for further investigation-photo courtesy KCTV" />
 <figcaption>The driver of the citizen vehicle has minor injuries and is in custody for further investigation-photo courtesy KCTV</figcaption>
 </figure>According to court records filed Thursday evening, Kansas City police officers responded to East Truman Road and Benton Blvd. on a vehicular crash.Arriving officers saw a man standing by a white Ford Fusion, one of the crashed vehicles. The man was later identified as Jerron Allen Lightfoot, the driver and sole occupant of the white Ford vehicle.The other vehicle in the crash was a marked police car. The police officer, James M. Muhlbauer, was in the driver's seat, unconscious. He was wearing a seatbelt. The police K-9 Champ was deceased in the back second row of the police car. The officer was transported to an area hospital and later pronounced deceased. Police found a second deceased man under the police vehicle.Video from the area of the crash, according to court records, showed the police officer was traveling eastbound at E. Truman Road and had a green light at the intersection. The white Ford was traveling southbound on Benton Boulevard at a high rate of speed and failed to stop at the traffic signal just prior to striking the police vehicle.In addition, the police officer's dash cam showed he had a green light as he went through the intersection just prior to the crash.Lightfoot told officers he tried to stop but his car's brakes did not work, prosecutors said. Lightfoot said he felt “a lot of vibration” when he applied the brakes.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1676644200134.png" alt="Lightfoot-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Lightfoot-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>A check of the white Ford's electronic ACM system showed the vehicle's brakes were working just prior to the crash and the vehicle was traveling at 85 mph or more just before impact.Muhlbauer, who was married and a father, was a 20-year veteran of the force. Champ had been a K-9 with the force for a year.In 2014, Muhlbauer arrested Brandon Howell, a suspect in the deaths of five people in a Kansas City neighborhood, said Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. Howell, who previously was acquitted in the killings of two Kansas teens, is serving multiple life terms, with no chance of parole, in the quintuple homicide.Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker issued the following statement:"My office spoke Thursday evening with the family of our officer victim. We have not yet been able to meet with the family of our pedestrian victim prior to this filing, but we will meet soon with that victim's family. We extend our condolences to both grieving families and the police department. We are grateful for the pace of the police department's investigative work that allowed us to file these charges so quickly."--------------KANSAS CITY —A Kansas City police officer, his K-9 partner and a pedestrian died in a crash Wednesday night.Just after 10:15p.m., the officer identified as James Muhlbauer and his K9 officer Champ were on duty and on patrol in the area of Truman Road and Benton Boulevard when the patrol car was struck by another vehicle. The collision caused a secondary impact with a pedestrian.The pedestrian and K-9 officer Champ was declared deceased at the scene, according to the release. EMS transported Muhlbauer to the hospital with critical injuries and he died.The driver of the citizen vehicle has minor injuries and is in custody for further investigationMuhlbauer is 20-year veteran of the KCPD and had been assigned to the K-9 Unit for nearly 3-years. His K9 partner was an approximately 1-year veteran of the KCPD.&nbsp; &nbsp; K-9 Champ lived with Muhlbauer and his family. Mulhbauer was married and a father.&nbsp;

Community honors victims of crash that killed KC officer, K-9 and pedestrian

ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Jimmy Carter, who at 98 years old is the longest-lived American president, has entered home hospice care in Plains, Georgia, a statement from The Carter Center confirmed Saturday.

After a series of short hospital stays, the statement said, Carter “decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention.”

The statement said the 39th president has the full support of his medical team and family, which “asks for privacy at this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers.”

Carter was a little-known Georgia governor when he began his bid for the presidency ahead of the 1976 election. He went on to defeat then-President Gerald R. Ford, capitalizing as a Washington outsider in the wake of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal that drove Richard Nixon from office in 1974.

Carter served a single, tumultuous term and was defeated by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980, a landslide loss that ultimately paved the way for his decades of global advocacy for democracy, public health and human rights via The Carter Center.

The former president and his wife, Rosalynn, 95, opened the center in 1982. His work there garnered a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

Jason Carter, the couple's grandson who now chairs The Carter Center governing board, said Saturday in a tweet that he “saw both of my grandparents yesterday. They are at peace and—as always—their home is full of love.”

Carter, who has lived most of his life in Plains, traveled extensively into his 80s and early 90s, including annual trips to build homes with Habitat for Humanity and frequent trips abroad as part of the Carter Center's election monitoring and its effort to eradicate the Guinea worm parasite in developing countries. But the former president's health has declined over his 10th decade of life, especially as the coronavirus pandemic limited his public appearances, including at his beloved Maranatha Baptist Church where he taught Sunday School lessons for decades before standing-room-only crowds of visitors.

In August 2015, Carter had a small cancerous mass removed from his liver. The following year, Carter announced that he needed no further treatment, as an experimental drug had eliminated any sign of cancer.

Carter celebrated his most recent birthday in October with family and friends in Plains, the tiny town where he and Rosalynn were born in the years between World War I and the Great Depression.

The Carter Center last year marked 40 years of promoting its human rights agenda.

The Center has been a pioneer of election observation, monitoring at least 113 elections in Africa, Latin America, and Asia since 1989. In perhaps its most widely hailed public health effort, the organization recently announced that only 14 human cases of Guinea worm disease were reported in all of 2021, the result of years of public health campaigns to improve access to safe drinking water in Africa.

That's a staggering drop from when The Carter Center began leading the global eradication effort in 1986, when the parasitic disease infected 3.5 million people. Carter once said he hoped to live longer than the last Guinea worm parasite.

Carter was born Oct. 1, 1924, to a prominent family in rural south Georgia. He went on to the U.S. Naval Academy during World War II and pursued a career as a Cold War Naval officer before returning to Plains, Georgia, with Rosalynn and their young family to take over the family peanut business after Earl Carter's death in the 1950s.

A moderate Democrat, the younger Carter rapidly climbed from the local school board to the state Senate and then the Georgia governor's office. He began his White House bid as an underdog with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and policy plans reflecting his education as an engineer. He connected with many Americans because of his promise not to deceive the American people after Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia.

“If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter said often as he campaigned.

Carter, who came of age politically during the civil rights movement, was the last Democratic presidential nominee to sweep the Deep South, before the region shifted quickly to Reagan and the Republicans in subsequent elections.

He governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role.

Carter's foreign policy wins included brokering Mideast peace by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. At home, Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres in Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and non-whites to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation’s second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993.

Carter also built on Nixon’s opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy.

Yet Carter’s electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat.

For years after his loss, Carter largely receded from electoral politics. Democrats were hesitant to embrace him. Republicans made him a punchline, caricaturing him as a hapless liberal. In reality, Carter governed more as a technocrat, more progressive on race and gender equality than he had campaigned but a budget hawk who often angered more liberal Democrats, including Ted Kennedy, the Massachusetts senator who waged a damaging primary battle against the sitting president in 1980.

Carter said after leaving office that he had underestimated the importance of dealing with Washington power brokers, including the media and lobbying forces anchored in the nation's capital. But he insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to “protect our nation’s security and interests peacefully” and “enhance human rights here and abroad” — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term.

And years later, upon his cancer diagnosis as a nonagenarian, he expressed satisfaction with his long life.

“I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” he said in 2015. “I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1676756707229.png" alt="In this Nov. 3, 2019 file photo, former President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga. The Carter Center says Carter has entered home hospice care, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023. The foundation created by the 98-year-old former president says that after a series of short hospital stays, Carter “decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention." (AP Photo/John Amis, File)" />
 <figcaption>In this Nov. 3, 2019 file photo, former President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga. The Carter Center says Carter has entered home hospice care, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023. The foundation created by the 98-year-old former president says that after a series of short hospital stays, Carter “decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention." (AP Photo/John Amis, File)</figcaption>
 </figure>ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Jimmy Carter, who at 98 years old is the longest-lived American president, has entered home hospice care in Plains, Georgia, a statement from The Carter Center confirmed Saturday.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/1auzIG0yqy">https://t.co/1auzIG0yqy</a> <a href="https://t.co/JJQMWgg8DW">pic.twitter.com/JJQMWgg8DW</a>&mdash; The Carter Center (@CarterCenter) <a href="https://twitter.com/CarterCenter/status/1627039245025280003?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>After a series of short hospital stays, the statement said, Carter “decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention.”The statement said the 39th president has the full support of his medical team and family, which “asks for privacy at this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers.”Carter was a little-known Georgia governor when he began his bid for the presidency ahead of the 1976 election. He went on to defeat then-President Gerald R. Ford, capitalizing as a Washington outsider in the wake of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal that drove Richard Nixon from office in 1974.Carter served a single, tumultuous term and was defeated by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980, a landslide loss that ultimately paved the way for his decades of global advocacy for democracy, public health and human rights via The Carter Center.The former president and his wife, Rosalynn, 95, opened the center in 1982. His work there garnered a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.Jason Carter, the couple's grandson who now chairs The Carter Center governing board, said Saturday in a tweet that he “saw both of my grandparents yesterday. They are at peace and—as always—their home is full of love.”Carter, who has lived most of his life in Plains, traveled extensively into his 80s and early 90s, including annual trips to build homes with Habitat for Humanity and frequent trips abroad as part of the Carter Center's election monitoring and its effort to eradicate the Guinea worm parasite in developing countries. But the former president's health has declined over his 10th decade of life, especially as the coronavirus pandemic limited his public appearances, including at his beloved Maranatha Baptist Church where he taught Sunday School lessons for decades before standing-room-only crowds of visitors.In August 2015, Carter had a small cancerous mass removed from his liver. The following year, Carter announced that he needed no further treatment, as an experimental drug had eliminated any sign of cancer.Carter celebrated his most recent birthday in October with family and friends in Plains, the tiny town where he and Rosalynn were born in the years between World War I and the Great Depression.The Carter Center last year marked 40 years of promoting its human rights agenda.The Center has been a pioneer of election observation, monitoring at least 113 elections in Africa, Latin America, and Asia since 1989. In perhaps its most widely hailed public health effort, the organization recently announced that only 14 human cases of Guinea worm disease were reported in all of 2021, the result of years of public health campaigns to improve access to safe drinking water in Africa.That's a staggering drop from when The Carter Center began leading the global eradication effort in 1986, when the parasitic disease infected 3.5 million people. Carter once said he hoped to live longer than the last Guinea worm parasite.Carter was born Oct. 1, 1924, to a prominent family in rural south Georgia. He went on to the U.S. Naval Academy during World War II and pursued a career as a Cold War Naval officer before returning to Plains, Georgia, with Rosalynn and their young family to take over the family peanut business after Earl Carter's death in the 1950s.A moderate Democrat, the younger Carter rapidly climbed from the local school board to the state Senate and then the Georgia governor's office. He began his White House bid as an underdog with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and policy plans reflecting his education as an engineer. He connected with many Americans because of his promise not to deceive the American people after Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia.“If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter said often as he campaigned.Carter, who came of age politically during the civil rights movement, was the last Democratic presidential nominee to sweep the Deep South, before the region shifted quickly to Reagan and the Republicans in subsequent elections.He governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role.Carter's foreign policy wins included brokering Mideast peace by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. At home, Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres in Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and non-whites to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation’s second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993.Carter also built on Nixon’s opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy.Yet Carter’s electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat.For years after his loss, Carter largely receded from electoral politics. Democrats were hesitant to embrace him. Republicans made him a punchline, caricaturing him as a hapless liberal. In reality, Carter governed more as a technocrat, more progressive on race and gender equality than he had campaigned but a budget hawk who often angered more liberal Democrats, including Ted Kennedy, the Massachusetts senator who waged a damaging primary battle against the sitting president in 1980.Carter said after leaving office that he had underestimated the importance of dealing with Washington power brokers, including the media and lobbying forces anchored in the nation's capital. But he insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to “protect our nation’s security and interests peacefully” and “enhance human rights here and abroad” — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term.And years later, upon his cancer diagnosis as a nonagenarian, he expressed satisfaction with his long life.“I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” he said in 2015. “I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.”--------------------

Former President Jimmy Carter enters hospice care

By MIKE COURSON Great Bend Post

GREAT BEND, Kan. — Attacks on 
sports officials often grab national headlines. Two more incidents in 
the eastern United States once again drew attention to the subject last 
month. The Kansas state legislature is trying to do its part with a bill
 that would specifically target abuse of sports officials. Longtime 
official Mark Goodheart said referees can use the help.

"We're 
seeing a definite increase in violence, maybe not so much in Kansas, but
 around us," he said. "Some people are not wanting to register because 
of that possibility."

House Bill 2139 states abuse of a sports 
official is intentionally, "Striking, shoving, kicking, spitting on or 
otherwise causing physical contact with a sports official or threatening
 to engage in such conduct...". There are also provisions for other 
verbal and non-verbal attacks and threats. Common battery is already a 
Class B misdemeanor in the state of Kansas.

Last year, the 
National Federation of High School State Associations (NFHS) reported 
more than 50,000 officials had quit nationwide since the 2018-19 school 
year. The state of Kansas has lost more than 1,300 officials in the past
 decade. Goodheart said something needs to change to reverse the trend.

"They're
 also looking at doing background checks on officials more than they 
have in the past, too," he said. "I think they have to keep with the 
times and be proactive rather than reactive. They're trying to say we're
 doing what we can do to help officials, now we need people to start 
officiating."

The bill was introduced in the Kansas House on Jan. 
23, and was heard in the house on Feb. 2. Last Tuesday, the House 
Committee recommended the bill be forwarded to the Committee on 
Education.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1676646609434.jpeg" alt="Mark Goodheart (left), pictured with his son Scott, also a sports official." />
 <figcaption>Mark Goodheart (left), pictured with his son Scott, also a sports official.</figcaption>
 </figure>By MIKE COURSON Great Bend PostGREAT BEND, Kan. — Attacks on 
sports officials often grab national headlines. Two more incidents in 
the eastern United States once again drew attention to the subject last 
month. The Kansas state legislature is trying to do its part with a bill
 that would specifically target abuse of sports officials. Longtime 
official Mark Goodheart said referees can use the help."We're 
seeing a definite increase in violence, maybe not so much in Kansas, but
 around us," he said. "Some people are not wanting to register because 
of that possibility."House Bill 2139 states abuse of a sports 
official is intentionally, "Striking, shoving, kicking, spitting on or 
otherwise causing physical contact with a sports official or threatening
 to engage in such conduct...". There are also provisions for other 
verbal and non-verbal attacks and threats. Common battery is already a 
Class B misdemeanor in the state of Kansas.Last year, the 
National Federation of High School State Associations (NFHS) reported 
more than 50,000 officials had quit nationwide since the 2018-19 school 
year. The state of Kansas has lost more than 1,300 officials in the past
 decade. Goodheart said something needs to change to reverse the trend."They're
 also looking at doing background checks on officials more than they 
have in the past, too," he said. "I think they have to keep with the 
times and be proactive rather than reactive. They're trying to say we're
 doing what we can do to help officials, now we need people to start 
officiating."The bill was introduced in the Kansas House on Jan. 
23, and was heard in the house on Feb. 2. Last Tuesday, the House 
Committee recommended the bill be forwarded to the Committee on 
Education.

Official: Kan. being proactive with proposal to protect referees

CRAWFORD COUNTY– The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Pittsburg Police Department, and the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office are conducting an investigation into the death of a man from Weir, Kansas, according to a media release from the KBI. Preliminary indications are the death is a result of homicide and two suspects are in custody.

Just after 2:30p.m. Friday, Pittsburg Police received a 911 call from Collin Pal Gebford, 43, reporting someone was shot. Police located the victim, David Duane Mays, 51, of Weir, Kan., in the roadway near 1023 N Main in Pittsburg. Mays suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest.

At approximately 3:00pm, the KBI Crime Scene Response Team and investigative was requested by the Crawford County Sheriff. During the course of the investigation, it was determined there was an altercation that resulted in gunfire.

Investigators identified another suspect who was questioned by police and released.

Police arrested Gebford on requested charges of attempted premeditated first degree murder and felony murder. Gebford is being held the Crawford Count Jail, according to the KBI.

Authorities also located and arrested&nbsp;Travis Blake Conness, 32, of Neosho, Mo. on requestged charges of attempted premeditated first degree murder and felony murder. Conness was arrested without incident and booked into the Crawford County Jail.

CRAWFORD COUNTY– The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Pittsburg Police Department, and the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office are conducting an investigation into the death of a man from Weir, Kansas, according to a media release from the KBI. Preliminary indications are the death is a result of homicide.

Travis Blake Conness, 32, of Neosho, Mo., is a suspect and wanted for questioning. Conness has not been located and is still at large. Anyone with information about the possible whereabouts of Conness should contact the Crawford County Sherriff’s Office at (620)724-8274 or the KBI at (800) KS-CRIME. An autopsy on Mays will be performed Tuesday, according to the KBI.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1676742536466.png" alt="Travis Blake Conness, 32, of Neosho, Mo., is a suspect and wanted for questioning.-photo KBI" />
 <figcaption>Travis Blake Conness, 32, of Neosho, Mo., is a suspect and wanted for questioning.-photo KBI</figcaption>
 </figure>CRAWFORD COUNTY– The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Pittsburg Police Department, and the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office are conducting an investigation into the death of a man from Weir, Kansas, according to a media release from the KBI. Preliminary indications are the death is a result of homicide and two suspects are in custody.Just after 2:30p.m. Friday, Pittsburg Police received a 911 call from Collin Pal Gebford, 43, reporting someone was shot. Police located the victim, David Duane Mays, 51, of Weir, Kan., in the roadway near 1023 N Main in Pittsburg. Mays suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest.At approximately 3:00pm, the KBI Crime Scene Response Team and investigative was requested by the Crawford County Sheriff. During the course of the investigation, it was determined there was an altercation that resulted in gunfire.Investigators identified another suspect who was questioned by police and released.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1676742578462.png" alt="Gebford-photo KBI" />
 <figcaption>Gebford-photo KBI</figcaption>
 </figure>Police arrested Gebford on requested charges of attempted premeditated first degree murder and felony murder. Gebford is being held the Crawford Count Jail, according to the KBI.Authorities also located and arrested&nbsp;Travis Blake Conness, 32, of Neosho, Mo. on requestged charges of attempted premeditated first degree murder and felony murder. Conness was arrested without incident and booked into the Crawford County Jail.-------CRAWFORD COUNTY– The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Pittsburg Police Department, and the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office are conducting an investigation into the death of a man from Weir, Kansas, according to a media release from the KBI. Preliminary indications are the death is a result of homicide.Just after 2:30p.m. Friday, Pittsburg Police received a 911 call from Collin Pal Gebford, 43, reporting someone was shot. Police located the victim, David Duane Mays, 51, of Weir, Kan., in the roadway near 1023 N Main in Pittsburg. Mays suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest.At approximately 3:00pm, the KBI Crime Scene Response Team and investigative was requested by the Crawford County Sheriff. During the course of the investigation, it was determined there was an altercation that resulted in gunfire.Investigators identified another suspect who was questioned by police and released.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1676742578462.png" alt="Gebford-photo KBI" />
 <figcaption>Gebford-photo KBI</figcaption>
 </figure>Police arrested Gebford on requested charges of attempted premeditated first degree murder and felony murder. Gebford is being held the Crawford Count Jail, according to the KBI.Travis Blake Conness, 32, of Neosho, Mo., is a suspect and wanted for questioning. Conness has not been located and is still at large. Anyone with information about the possible whereabouts of Conness should contact the Crawford County Sherriff’s Office at (620)724-8274 or the KBI at (800) KS-CRIME. An autopsy on Mays will be performed Tuesday, according to the KBI.

KBI: Two suspects accused in Kansas man's murder

By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/17/senate-adopts-bill-urging-kansas-public-schools-to-offer-nra-gun-safety-curriculum-in-grades-k-8/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — Sen. John Doll voted with a heavy heart for a Kansas Senate 
bill requiring the state Board of Education to approve gun-safety 
curriculum standards tied to a National Rifle Association initiative and
 hunter education program of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and 
Parks.

He cherished memories of being taught to shoot by his father, and was
 convinced firearm safety should be part of parent-child bonding. He 
pointed with sorrow to statistics collected over the years on school 
shootings in the United States. One account listed 366 since the 
massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado on April 20, 1999. This 
national registry of horror included the death of 26 people in 
Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012.

There were 42 U.S. school shootings in 2021 and 46 last year, more than any year since Columbine.

“I like to read,” said Doll, a Garden City Republican. “One of the 
toughest books I’ve ever had to read was ‘Sandy Hook.’ I had to put it 
down and cry about three times. Just killed me.”

Doll said he was apprehensive Senate Bill 116 — approved 30-8 by the 
Senate and forwarded to the House — would increase political pressure on
 local school boards to offer prescribed instruction on gun safety and 
contribute to blaming educators for tragedies in public schools 
involving gun violence.

“What I’m afraid is going to happen, if school shootings continue to happen, is we’re going to pin it on schools,” Doll said.

Sen. Chase Blasi, the Wichita Republican carrying his first bill on 
the Senate floor Thursday, said he was taught to shoot by his dad, but 
many Kansas children didn’t have an equivalent opportunity to learn 
about discharging firearms or what to do with an unsecured weapon. He 
said that reality affirmed need for standardized Kansas curriculum 
standards on gun safety argued for reliance on established programs 
sponsored by the NRA and the state wildlife agency.

Under the bill, the state Board of Education would be directed to 
adopt a curriculum guidelines — constitutional questions about such a 
mandate weren’t resolved — and local school boards would be left to 
decide whether to offer the curriculum to students. The NRA’s “Eddie 
Eagle” cartoon version of gun safety instruction would be available to 
K-8 students, while the state park training regime could be relied upon 
by students in grades 6-12. At least two organizations advocating for 
the Senate bill said it was an opportunity to market the culture of 
firearms or hunting to a new generation.

“Local school districts may provide these programs,” Blasi said. 
“This legislation does not require local school districts to provide the
 safety education courses.”

The Legislature adopted a comparable bill in 2021 vetoed by 
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. She objected to the Legislature trampling 
curriculum authority held by the state Board of Education under the 
Kansas Constitution. She characterized as “legislative overreach” past 
actions by the House and Senate to implement a gun-safety curriculum.

Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat, had three amendments 
to the Senate gun bill blocked by colleagues. Her first would have 
delcared in state law no one delivering firearm instruction could bring a
 gun into a school. Blasi said addition of that language was 
unnecessary, and it was defeated 12-25.

“We don’t want any confusion for firearms instructors affiliated with
 this program to think because of this they’re allowed to bring guns 
in,” Holscher said.

Another of Holscher’s amendments would create crimes for unsafe 
storage of firearms, but it was ruled out of order by the Senate. Her 
final amendment, rejected on an unrecorded vote, would have prohibited 
classroom materials used in the gun-safety curriculum to link to 
information about the National Rifle Association, including the 
organization’s plea to join, donate or learn about political positions 
and candidate endorsements by the NRA.

“Is this really about safety or about cultivating a new market?” Holscher said.

Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, said a “clean” bill should be approved
 by the Senate without amendments, arguing tweaks could potentially 
weaken the legislation. He spoke against Holscher’s attempt to derail 
the NRA’s “gold standard” program on firearm safety instruction.

“This is the gold standard,” Thompson said. “Why would we not want 
this in our schools? This is a good program. I stand behind the bill as 
written.”

Holscher said claims about excellence of the NRA curriculum were 
misleading. She said a 2004 study of 2,000 children who completed the 
NRA program showed two-thirds of those tested picked up a gun, one-third
 pulled the trigger and one child who informed a teacher about finding a
 gun was teased by peers.

The NRA trademarked Eddie Eagle program was designed to convince 
students encountering an unattended gun to stop, don’t touch, run away 
and tell an adult. The NRA advertised Eddie Eagle as suitable for pre-K 
through fourth grades, but the Kansas bill envisioned Eddie Eagle 
working for students through the 8th grade.

Senate Democratic Leader Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, offered an amendment 
to require parents receive notice from the school of gun safety 
instruction four months in advance. She also wanted parents to affirm 
through an opt-in process they wanted their children undergoing training
 on firearm safety at school. A similar opt-in approach was approved by 
the Legislature for participation in national opinion surveys of 
students, she said.

Her notification amendment went down 8-27 after Senate President Ty 
Masterson, R-Andover, said Sykes’ proposal singled out a particular 
curriculum subject for discrimination.

Sen. Usha Reddi, a Democrat from Manhattan, voted against the bill. 
She said Kansas was among states that didn’t require purchasers of 
firearms to complete a gun safety course. Kansas’ “constitutional carry”
 law enabled adults to carry concealed weapons without taking a gun 
education course.

“Schools and children are not the problem here,” Reddi said. “They’re
 not the ones who need to be trained. We live in a state that doesn’t 
require adults who are purchasing weapons to be trained.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1676675296121.png" alt="Sen. John Doll, R-Garden City, voted for a Senate bill instructing the Kansas Board of Education adopt a gun-safety curriculum and urging local districts to incorporate an NRA-sponsored gun program for grades K-8 with the option of using a state hunting program in grades 6-12. The Senate voted 30-8 to send Senate Bill 116 to the House. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Sen. John Doll, R-Garden City, voted for a Senate bill instructing the Kansas Board of Education adopt a gun-safety curriculum and urging local districts to incorporate an NRA-sponsored gun program for grades K-8 with the option of using a state hunting program in grades 6-12. The Senate voted 30-8 to send Senate Bill 116 to the House. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/17/senate-adopts-bill-urging-kansas-public-schools-to-offer-nra-gun-safety-curriculum-in-grades-k-8/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — Sen. John Doll voted with a heavy heart for a Kansas Senate 
bill requiring the state Board of Education to approve gun-safety 
curriculum standards tied to a National Rifle Association initiative and
 hunter education program of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and 
Parks.He cherished memories of being taught to shoot by his father, and was
 convinced firearm safety should be part of parent-child bonding. He 
pointed with sorrow to statistics collected over the years on school 
shootings in the United States. One account listed 366 since the 
massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado on April 20, 1999. This 
national registry of horror included the death of 26 people in 
Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012.There were 42 U.S. school shootings in 2021 and 46 last year, more than any year since Columbine.“I like to read,” said Doll, a Garden City Republican. “One of the 
toughest books I’ve ever had to read was ‘Sandy Hook.’ I had to put it 
down and cry about three times. Just killed me.”Doll said he was apprehensive Senate Bill 116 — approved 30-8 by the 
Senate and forwarded to the House — would increase political pressure on
 local school boards to offer prescribed instruction on gun safety and 
contribute to blaming educators for tragedies in public schools 
involving gun violence.“What I’m afraid is going to happen, if school shootings continue to happen, is we’re going to pin it on schools,” Doll said.<h2>Eddie Eagle flies high</h2>Sen. Chase Blasi, the Wichita Republican carrying his first bill on 
the Senate floor Thursday, said he was taught to shoot by his dad, but 
many Kansas children didn’t have an equivalent opportunity to learn 
about discharging firearms or what to do with an unsecured weapon. He 
said that reality affirmed need for standardized Kansas curriculum 
standards on gun safety argued for reliance on established programs 
sponsored by the NRA and the state wildlife agency.Under the bill, the state Board of Education would be directed to 
adopt a curriculum guidelines — constitutional questions about such a 
mandate weren’t resolved — and local school boards would be left to 
decide whether to offer the curriculum to students. The NRA’s “Eddie 
Eagle” cartoon version of gun safety instruction would be available to 
K-8 students, while the state park training regime could be relied upon 
by students in grades 6-12. At least two organizations advocating for 
the Senate bill said it was an opportunity to market the culture of 
firearms or hunting to a new generation.“Local school districts may provide these programs,” Blasi said. 
“This legislation does not require local school districts to provide the
 safety education courses.”The Legislature adopted a comparable bill in 2021 vetoed by 
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. She objected to the Legislature trampling 
curriculum authority held by the state Board of Education under the 
Kansas Constitution. She characterized as “legislative overreach” past 
actions by the House and Senate to implement a gun-safety curriculum.Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat, had three amendments 
to the Senate gun bill blocked by colleagues. Her first would have 
delcared in state law no one delivering firearm instruction could bring a
 gun into a school. Blasi said addition of that language was 
unnecessary, and it was defeated 12-25.“We don’t want any confusion for firearms instructors affiliated with
 this program to think because of this they’re allowed to bring guns 
in,” Holscher said.Another of Holscher’s amendments would create crimes for unsafe 
storage of firearms, but it was ruled out of order by the Senate. Her 
final amendment, rejected on an unrecorded vote, would have prohibited 
classroom materials used in the gun-safety curriculum to link to 
information about the National Rifle Association, including the 
organization’s plea to join, donate or learn about political positions 
and candidate endorsements by the NRA.“Is this really about safety or about cultivating a new market?” Holscher said.<h2>The gold bullet?</h2>Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, said a “clean” bill should be approved
 by the Senate without amendments, arguing tweaks could potentially 
weaken the legislation. He spoke against Holscher’s attempt to derail 
the NRA’s “gold standard” program on firearm safety instruction.“This is the gold standard,” Thompson said. “Why would we not want 
this in our schools? This is a good program. I stand behind the bill as 
written.”Holscher said claims about excellence of the NRA curriculum were 
misleading. She said a 2004 study of 2,000 children who completed the 
NRA program showed two-thirds of those tested picked up a gun, one-third
 pulled the trigger and one child who informed a teacher about finding a
 gun was teased by peers.The NRA trademarked Eddie Eagle program was designed to convince 
students encountering an unattended gun to stop, don’t touch, run away 
and tell an adult. The NRA advertised Eddie Eagle as suitable for pre-K 
through fourth grades, but the Kansas bill envisioned Eddie Eagle 
working for students through the 8th grade.Senate Democratic Leader Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, offered an amendment 
to require parents receive notice from the school of gun safety 
instruction four months in advance. She also wanted parents to affirm 
through an opt-in process they wanted their children undergoing training
 on firearm safety at school. A similar opt-in approach was approved by 
the Legislature for participation in national opinion surveys of 
students, she said.Her notification amendment went down 8-27 after Senate President Ty 
Masterson, R-Andover, said Sykes’ proposal singled out a particular 
curriculum subject for discrimination.Sen. Usha Reddi, a Democrat from Manhattan, voted against the bill. 
She said Kansas was among states that didn’t require purchasers of 
firearms to complete a gun safety course. Kansas’ “constitutional carry”
 law enabled adults to carry concealed weapons without taking a gun 
education course.“Schools and children are not the problem here,” Reddi said. “They’re
 not the ones who need to be trained. We live in a state that doesn’t 
require adults who are purchasing weapons to be trained.”

Kansas Senate: Teach NRA gun safety in grades K-8

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a burglary and have two suspects in custody.

Just before 1:30a.m. Thursday, with icy winter weather in the forecast, police responded to report of a suspicious vehicle at 2129 NE Meriden in Topeka, according to Police Lt. Edward Stanley.

At the scene, officers found that two suspects later identified as 50-year-old Brian R. Stevenson and 60-year-old Francis L. Stadler both of Topeka. They were allegedly working to burglarize the property, according to Stanley.

Police arrested both men and they are being held on requested charges of felony theft and burglary, according to Stanley.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1676559888302.png" alt="Stadler-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Stadler-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a burglary and have two suspects in custody.Just before 1:30a.m. Thursday, with icy winter weather in the forecast, police responded to report of a suspicious vehicle at 2129 NE Meriden in Topeka, according to Police Lt. Edward Stanley.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1676559829794.png" alt="Stevenson-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Stevenson-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>At the scene, officers found that two suspects later identified as 50-year-old Brian R. Stevenson and 60-year-old Francis L. Stadler both of Topeka. They were allegedly working to burglarize the property, according to Stanley.Police arrested both men and they are being held on requested charges of felony theft and burglary, according to Stanley.

Kan. ice storm didn't prevent arrest of 2 burglary suspects

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Friday that it has ended its search for airborne objects that were shot down near Deadhorse, Alaska, and over Lake Huron on Feb. 10 and 12.

The statement released late Friday came hours after officials said the U.S. has finished efforts to recover the remnants of the large balloon that was shot down Feb. 4 off the coast of South Carolina, and analysis of the debris so far reinforces conclusions that it was a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chinese-balloon-military-involvement-e45c759cb00294e83989fa35970935bc">Chinese spy balloon</a>.

Officials said the U.S. believes that Navy, Coast Guard and FBI personnel collected all of that balloon's debris off the ocean floor, which included key equipment from the payload that could reveal what information it was able to monitor and collect. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said a significant amount of debris was recovered and it included “electronics and optics” from the payload. He declined to say what, if anything, the U.S. has learned from the wreckage so far.

U.S. Northern Command said in a statement that the recovery operations ended Thursday and the final pieces are on their way to the FBI lab in Virginia for analysis. It said air and maritime restrictions off South Carolina have been lifted.

Northern Command said later that the decision to end the search for the objects shot down over Alaska and Lake Huron came after the U.S. and Canada “conducted systematic searches of each area using a variety of capabilities, including airborne imagery and sensors, surface sensors and inspections, and subsurface scans, and did not locate debris.” Northern Command said air and maritime safety perimeters were also being lifted at both those sites.

The announcements capped three dramatic weeks that saw U.S. fighter jets shoot down four airborne objects — the large Chinese balloon on Feb. 4 and three much smaller objects about a week later over Canada, Alaska and Lake Huron. They are the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-charles-schumer-jake-sullivan-china-acc1a333326c50ee9649760c569c300f">first known peacetime shootdowns</a>&nbsp;of unauthorized objects in U.S. airspace.

While the military is confident the balloon shot down off South Carolina was a surveillance airship operated by China, the Biden administration has admitted that the three smaller objects were likely civilian-owned balloons that were targeted during the heightened response, after U.S. homeland defense radars were recalibrated to detect slower moving airborne items.

Much of the Chinese balloon fell into about 50 feet (15 meters) of water, and the Navy was able to collect remnants floating on the surface, and divers and unmanned naval vessels pulled up the rest from the bottom of the ocean. Northern Command said Friday that all of the Navy and Coast Guard ships have left the area.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden directed national security adviser Jake Sullivan to lead an interagency team&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-united-states-government-guam-karine-jean-pierre-6457aaf3e7322dd24e2b7274c3ba4813">to establish “sharper rules”</a>&nbsp;to track, monitor and potentially shoot down unknown aerial objects.

Meanwhile, key questions about the Chinese balloon remain unanswered, including what, if any, intelligence it was able to collect as it flew over sensitive military sites in the United States, and whether it was able to transmit anything back to China.

The U.S. tracked it for several days after it left China, said a U.S. official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. It appears to have been blown off its initial trajectory, which was toward the U.S. territory of Guam, and ultimately flew over the continental U.S., the official said.

Balloons and other unidentified objects have been previously spotted over Guam, a strategic hub for the U.S. Navy and Air Force in the western Pacific.

It’s unclear how much control China retained over the balloon once it veered from its original trajectory. A second U.S. official said the balloon could have been externally maneuvered or directed to loiter over a specific target, but it’s unclear whether Chinese forces did so.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Friday that it has ended its search for airborne objects that were shot down near Deadhorse, Alaska, and over Lake Huron on Feb. 10 and 12.The statement released late Friday came hours after officials said the U.S. has finished efforts to recover the remnants of the large balloon that was shot down Feb. 4 off the coast of South Carolina, and analysis of the debris so far reinforces conclusions that it was a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chinese-balloon-military-involvement-e45c759cb00294e83989fa35970935bc">Chinese spy balloon</a>.Officials said the U.S. believes that Navy, Coast Guard and FBI personnel collected all of that balloon's debris off the ocean floor, which included key equipment from the payload that could reveal what information it was able to monitor and collect. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said a significant amount of debris was recovered and it included “electronics and optics” from the payload. He declined to say what, if anything, the U.S. has learned from the wreckage so far.U.S. Northern Command said in a statement that the recovery operations ended Thursday and the final pieces are on their way to the FBI lab in Virginia for analysis. It said air and maritime restrictions off South Carolina have been lifted.Northern Command said later that the decision to end the search for the objects shot down over Alaska and Lake Huron came after the U.S. and Canada “conducted systematic searches of each area using a variety of capabilities, including airborne imagery and sensors, surface sensors and inspections, and subsurface scans, and did not locate debris.” Northern Command said air and maritime safety perimeters were also being lifted at both those sites.The announcements capped three dramatic weeks that saw U.S. fighter jets shoot down four airborne objects — the large Chinese balloon on Feb. 4 and three much smaller objects about a week later over Canada, Alaska and Lake Huron. They are the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-charles-schumer-jake-sullivan-china-acc1a333326c50ee9649760c569c300f">first known peacetime shootdowns</a>&nbsp;of unauthorized objects in U.S. airspace.While the military is confident the balloon shot down off South Carolina was a surveillance airship operated by China, the Biden administration has admitted that the three smaller objects were likely civilian-owned balloons that were targeted during the heightened response, after U.S. homeland defense radars were recalibrated to detect slower moving airborne items.Much of the Chinese balloon fell into about 50 feet (15 meters) of water, and the Navy was able to collect remnants floating on the surface, and divers and unmanned naval vessels pulled up the rest from the bottom of the ocean. Northern Command said Friday that all of the Navy and Coast Guard ships have left the area.On Thursday, President Joe Biden directed national security adviser Jake Sullivan to lead an interagency team&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-united-states-government-guam-karine-jean-pierre-6457aaf3e7322dd24e2b7274c3ba4813">to establish “sharper rules”</a>&nbsp;to track, monitor and potentially shoot down unknown aerial objects.Meanwhile, key questions about the Chinese balloon remain unanswered, including what, if any, intelligence it was able to collect as it flew over sensitive military sites in the United States, and whether it was able to transmit anything back to China.The U.S. tracked it for several days after it left China, said a U.S. official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. It appears to have been blown off its initial trajectory, which was toward the U.S. territory of Guam, and ultimately flew over the continental U.S., the official said.Balloons and other unidentified objects have been previously spotted over Guam, a strategic hub for the U.S. Navy and Air Force in the western Pacific.It’s unclear how much control China retained over the balloon once it veered from its original trajectory. A second U.S. official said the balloon could have been externally maneuvered or directed to loiter over a specific target, but it’s unclear whether Chinese forces did so.

US ends search for UFOs shot down over Alaska, Lake Huron

BARTON COUNTY—Firefighters found two dogs dead in fire at a home in Great Bend.

On Friday afternoon, fire crews responded to a fire in the 1800 block of Broadway Avenue just east of the Barton County Sheriff's Office, according to a media release.

Upon arrival a large amount of smoke and fire were coming from an attached garage with fire spreading to the attic of the house. Initial crews made an aggressive interior fire attack to find heavy fire, smoke, and heat throughout the house and garage.&nbsp;

Crews made a search of the structure and found no occupants inside the residence. During this search two dogs were discovered deceased. Due to the amount of fire and the size of the structure, a mutual aid request was made to the Ellinwood Fire Department who responded with an Engine and firefighters to assist. 

The home suffered extensive heat and smoke damage with fire damage contained to the garage and attic space at the rear of the structure.&nbsp; &nbsp;The cause of the fire was determined to be accidental in nature and was investigated by fire investigators from the Great Bend Fire Department, Kansas State Fire Marshal Office, and Great Bend Police detectives.&nbsp; Several streets were blocked off in the area due to smoke and fire hoses crossing roads.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1676665207536.jpeg" alt="The home suffered extensive heat and smoke damage with fire damage contained to the garage and attic space at the rear of the structure.&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>The home suffered extensive heat and smoke damage with fire damage contained to the garage and attic space at the rear of the structure.&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>BARTON COUNTY—Firefighters found two dogs dead in fire at a home in Great Bend.On Friday afternoon, fire crews responded to a fire in the 1800 block of Broadway Avenue just east of the Barton County Sheriff's Office, according to a media release.Upon arrival a large amount of smoke and fire were coming from an attached garage with fire spreading to the attic of the house. Initial crews made an aggressive interior fire attack to find heavy fire, smoke, and heat throughout the house and garage.&nbsp; Crews made a search of the structure and found no occupants inside the residence. During this search two dogs were discovered deceased. Due to the amount of fire and the size of the structure, a mutual aid request was made to the Ellinwood Fire Department who responded with an Engine and firefighters to assist. The home suffered extensive heat and smoke damage with fire damage contained to the garage and attic space at the rear of the structure.&nbsp; &nbsp;The cause of the fire was determined to be accidental in nature and was investigated by fire investigators from the Great Bend Fire Department, Kansas State Fire Marshal Office, and Great Bend Police detectives.&nbsp; Several streets were blocked off in the area due to smoke and fire hoses crossing roads.