KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — An 85-year-old suburban Kansas City man convicted of killing an attorney is not competent to move forward with sentencing, a judge has ruled.

David Jungerman will be committed to the Missouri Department of Mental Health, and his competency will be reevaluated in six months following the ruling on Friday,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kctv5.com/2023/03/10/jungerman-be-committed-mental-health-facility-after-judge-rules-him-not-competent/">KCTV-TV</a>&nbsp;reported.

Jungerman was found guilty of first-degree murder in September for the 2017 killing of 39-year-old Tom Pickert, who was shot in front of his home after he returned from walking his children to school.

A judge in November ordered that Jungerman undergo a mental competency evaluation. At a hearing on Friday, experts testified that they found Jungerman incompetent. His lawyers had said Jungerman has an unspecified neurocognitive disorder.

Prosecutors didn't call any witnesses but previously presented evidence from their own expert who determined Jungerman was competent for sentencing.

At trial, prosecutors said Jungerman shot Pickert because he was upset the attorney had won a $5.75 million judgment for a homeless man who Jungerman shot in 2012 because he thought the man was stealing from one of his businesses.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/9/1663893726992.png" alt="Jungerman-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Jungerman-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — An 85-year-old suburban Kansas City man convicted of killing an attorney is not competent to move forward with sentencing, a judge has ruled.David Jungerman will be committed to the Missouri Department of Mental Health, and his competency will be reevaluated in six months following the ruling on Friday,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kctv5.com/2023/03/10/jungerman-be-committed-mental-health-facility-after-judge-rules-him-not-competent/">KCTV-TV</a>&nbsp;reported.Jungerman was found guilty of first-degree murder in September for the 2017 killing of 39-year-old Tom Pickert, who was shot in front of his home after he returned from walking his children to school.A judge in November ordered that Jungerman undergo a mental competency evaluation. At a hearing on Friday, experts testified that they found Jungerman incompetent. His lawyers had said Jungerman has an unspecified neurocognitive disorder.Prosecutors didn't call any witnesses but previously presented evidence from their own expert who determined Jungerman was competent for sentencing.At trial, prosecutors said Jungerman shot Pickert because he was upset the attorney had won a $5.75 million judgment for a homeless man who Jungerman shot in 2012 because he thought the man was stealing from one of his businesses.

Man who killed KC attorney ruled incompetent for sentencing

KANSAS CITY (AP) — When U.S. officials at the U.S.-Mexico border stamped the Ukrainian passports of Mariia and her daughter last April and gave them permission to stay for a year, she figured she would return home within months.

Now with that year almost up and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-bakhmut-a9f4d5c3d3b1c6f6fcc7e9abc69cc7b6">the war that caused them to flee still raging,</a>&nbsp;their permission to stay in the U.S. — known as humanitarian parole — is set to expire April 23.

“The word `worry’ doesn’t capture what I’m feeling,” said Mariia, who spoke through an interpreter and asked that only her first name be used over concerns that speaking publicly would hurt their immigration case. “This is something that frightens me, mainly because of my daughter and my daughter’s future.”

The 46-year-old woman and her daughter, now 13, are among 20,000 Ukrainians in a similar situation, according to resettlement agencies.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-caribbean-united-states-europe-mexico-6e12c9998ee0d167f327cd28880b3a94">Most arrived to the United States at its southern border after fleeing to Mexico,</a>&nbsp;where it was easier and faster to get a visa to enter the country in the first months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mariia's parole is tied to her work permit, enabling her to earn a living as a nanny, and makes her eligible for food stamps and other public assistance. Her husband flew to the U.S. to join them in July and received humanitarian parole for two years.

The Biden administration has said it is working on a fix but so far has issued no official guidance on what Ukrainians should do, according to advocates helping the Ukrainians. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.

Jewish Federations of North America, which provided support for the agency that helped Mariia’s family get settled, is among the organizations that have written to the&nbsp;<a href="https://cdn.fedweb.org/fed-42/2/Ukraine-HP%2520advocacy%2520sign-on%2520letter_FINAL_SIGNED%255B2%255D.pdf">Biden administration</a>&nbsp;to quickly renew humanitarian parole for Ukrainians.

Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, the CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, said people are scrambling to figure out what to do. One option would be to apply for asylum, but a war doesn't necessarily qualify someone for that.

"Even short-term solutions like individual parole extensions are unclear since there’s no uniform guidance, which leads to delays and confusion,” she said.

Some Ukrainians have considered returning to the U.S. border crossings where they entered to ask for an extension, but that leaves the decision up to the port director, O’Mara Vignarajah said. It can also be expensive to travel and requires time off work, advocates said.

Some have been told by officials to write across the top of the government's parole form “Re-Parole," since there is no option to check for an extension, according to advocates.

“It highlights how ad hoc the process is,” O’Mara Vignarajah said. “These requests often go unanswered or are transferred to different agencies, and because there is no clear process in how to handle them, sometimes they are simply denied.”

The government turned to humanitarian parole as a quick fix to deal with the fallout from the many world crises that have occurred as the U.S. refugee system that was dismantled by the previous administration was being built back up. Now numerous groups are facing their permission to remain in the United States expiring in coming months, including tens of thousands of Afghans.

“Humanitarian parole was never meant to be over relied on at the expense of refugee resettlement or asylum protections," said Meredith Owen of Church World Service.

Liliia Lukianchuk, a Ukrainian mother of four, has applied for asylum with the help of Lutheran Social Services, but she and her husband have not gotten an answer. Their parole expires April 16, and it is tied to her husband’s mechanic job in Jacksonville, Florida, where they live. She fears that if they're sent back, her 17-year-old son will end up on the front lines as a solider.

“Of course, I’m worried because the worst-case scenario would be to be returned to Ukraine, but I have to be strong for my family,” she said through an interpreter.

Mariia and her daughter arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border after trying to settle in four different countries. The lines at Poland's border were too long. In Hungary, they could find a hotel room for only one night at a time and were told by locals that the government was not in favor of hosting Ukrainians. They went on to Belgium, where many Ukrainians were arriving, but the local school had no room for her daughter. Then in Spain, they were told it would be difficult to find work and an apartment. That's when Mariia decided to go to the United States and was told Mexico was the best way.

Jewish Family Services of Greenwich helped her find a job, enroll her daughter in school and get settled in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Mariia said only recently did she and her daughter start feeling hopeful about rebuilding their lives.

“To be honest, the first five months, my eyes to that were closed. My primary goal was to just make sure my child was OK, to calm her down and reassure her that she was safe,” she said.

Tania Priatka of Jewish Family Services said Mariia's family is working with a lawyer who has advised them to wait for guidance from the government. If that doesn't happen soon, they plan to go to the nearest airport and ask Customs and Border Protection officials there for help.

For now, Mariia tries to stay hopeful, but struggles when her daughter asks what will happen.

“I feel lost. I feel hopeless." Mariia said, her voice shaking as she grew emotional. "As a mother, I should be able to give my child an answer that she will be well and that she will be safe.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1648233118305.png" alt="In March of 2022, Topeka business, government and community leaders are forming a task force to consider how to assist refugees fleeing Russia’s assault on Ukraine. Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced by the fighting. (Kansas Reflector screen capture of Topeka poster on Ukraine)" />
 <figcaption>In March of 2022, Topeka business, government and community leaders are forming a task force to consider how to assist refugees fleeing Russia’s assault on Ukraine. Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced by the fighting. (Kansas Reflector screen capture of Topeka poster on Ukraine)</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) — When U.S. officials at the U.S.-Mexico border stamped the Ukrainian passports of Mariia and her daughter last April and gave them permission to stay for a year, she figured she would return home within months.Now with that year almost up and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-bakhmut-a9f4d5c3d3b1c6f6fcc7e9abc69cc7b6">the war that caused them to flee still raging,</a>&nbsp;their permission to stay in the U.S. — known as humanitarian parole — is set to expire April 23.“The word `worry’ doesn’t capture what I’m feeling,” said Mariia, who spoke through an interpreter and asked that only her first name be used over concerns that speaking publicly would hurt their immigration case. “This is something that frightens me, mainly because of my daughter and my daughter’s future.”The 46-year-old woman and her daughter, now 13, are among 20,000 Ukrainians in a similar situation, according to resettlement agencies.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-caribbean-united-states-europe-mexico-6e12c9998ee0d167f327cd28880b3a94">Most arrived to the United States at its southern border after fleeing to Mexico,</a>&nbsp;where it was easier and faster to get a visa to enter the country in the first months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Mariia's parole is tied to her work permit, enabling her to earn a living as a nanny, and makes her eligible for food stamps and other public assistance. Her husband flew to the U.S. to join them in July and received humanitarian parole for two years.The Biden administration has said it is working on a fix but so far has issued no official guidance on what Ukrainians should do, according to advocates helping the Ukrainians. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.Jewish Federations of North America, which provided support for the agency that helped Mariia’s family get settled, is among the organizations that have written to the&nbsp;<a href="https://cdn.fedweb.org/fed-42/2/Ukraine-HP%2520advocacy%2520sign-on%2520letter_FINAL_SIGNED%255B2%255D.pdf">Biden administration</a>&nbsp;to quickly renew humanitarian parole for Ukrainians.Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, the CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, said people are scrambling to figure out what to do. One option would be to apply for asylum, but a war doesn't necessarily qualify someone for that."Even short-term solutions like individual parole extensions are unclear since there’s no uniform guidance, which leads to delays and confusion,” she said.Some Ukrainians have considered returning to the U.S. border crossings where they entered to ask for an extension, but that leaves the decision up to the port director, O’Mara Vignarajah said. It can also be expensive to travel and requires time off work, advocates said.Some have been told by officials to write across the top of the government's parole form “Re-Parole," since there is no option to check for an extension, according to advocates.“It highlights how ad hoc the process is,” O’Mara Vignarajah said. “These requests often go unanswered or are transferred to different agencies, and because there is no clear process in how to handle them, sometimes they are simply denied.”The government turned to humanitarian parole as a quick fix to deal with the fallout from the many world crises that have occurred as the U.S. refugee system that was dismantled by the previous administration was being built back up. Now numerous groups are facing their permission to remain in the United States expiring in coming months, including tens of thousands of Afghans.“Humanitarian parole was never meant to be over relied on at the expense of refugee resettlement or asylum protections," said Meredith Owen of Church World Service.Liliia Lukianchuk, a Ukrainian mother of four, has applied for asylum with the help of Lutheran Social Services, but she and her husband have not gotten an answer. Their parole expires April 16, and it is tied to her husband’s mechanic job in Jacksonville, Florida, where they live. She fears that if they're sent back, her 17-year-old son will end up on the front lines as a solider.“Of course, I’m worried because the worst-case scenario would be to be returned to Ukraine, but I have to be strong for my family,” she said through an interpreter.Mariia and her daughter arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border after trying to settle in four different countries. The lines at Poland's border were too long. In Hungary, they could find a hotel room for only one night at a time and were told by locals that the government was not in favor of hosting Ukrainians. They went on to Belgium, where many Ukrainians were arriving, but the local school had no room for her daughter. Then in Spain, they were told it would be difficult to find work and an apartment. That's when Mariia decided to go to the United States and was told Mexico was the best way.Jewish Family Services of Greenwich helped her find a job, enroll her daughter in school and get settled in Greenwich, Connecticut.Mariia said only recently did she and her daughter start feeling hopeful about rebuilding their lives.“To be honest, the first five months, my eyes to that were closed. My primary goal was to just make sure my child was OK, to calm her down and reassure her that she was safe,” she said.Tania Priatka of Jewish Family Services said Mariia's family is working with a lawyer who has advised them to wait for guidance from the government. If that doesn't happen soon, they plan to go to the nearest airport and ask Customs and Border Protection officials there for help.For now, Mariia tries to stay hopeful, but struggles when her daughter asks what will happen.“I feel lost. I feel hopeless." Mariia said, her voice shaking as she grew emotional. "As a mother, I should be able to give my child an answer that she will be well and that she will be safe.”

Ukrainians who fled war face end of temporary US sanctuary

VATICAN CITY (AP) — So much for a short pontificate.

<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/pope-francis">Pope Francis</a>&nbsp;celebrates the 10th anniversary of his election Monday, far outpacing the “two or three” years he once envisioned for his papacy and showing no signs of slowing down.

On the contrary, with an agenda full of problems and plans and no longer encumbered by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-retirement-papacy-dcca464e7c1fd910568d07d6bf4d9994">the shadow of Pope Benedict XVI</a>, Francis, 86, has backed off from talking about retiring and recently described the papacy as a job for life.

History’s first Latin American pope already has made his mark and could have even more impact in the years to come. Yet a decade ago, the Argentine Jesuit was so convinced he wouldn’t be elected as pope that he nearly missed the final vote as he chatted with a fellow cardinal outside the Sistine Chapel.

“The master of ceremonies came out and said ‘Are you going in or not?’” Francis recalled in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “I realized afterward that it was my unconscious resistance to going in.”

He was elected the 266th pope on the next ballot.

Francis had a big learning curve on clergy sex abuse, initially downplaying the problem in ways that made survivors question whether he “got it.” He had his wake-up call five years into his pontificate after a problematic visit to Chile.

During the trip, he discovered a serious disconnect between&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2018-the-year-in-review-pope-francis-ap-top-news-chile-international-news-1d175bccdb364e5387956fc0e0672bf2">what Chilean bishops had told him</a>&nbsp;about a notorious case and the reality: Hundreds or thousands of Chilean faithful had been raped and molested by Catholic priests over decades.

“That was my conversion,” he told the AP. “That’s when the bomb went off, when I saw the corruption of many bishops in this.”

Francis has passed a series of measures since then aimed at holding the church hierarchy accountable, but the results have been mixed. Benedict removed some 800 priests, but Francis seems far less eager to defrock abusers, reflecting resistance within the hierarchy to efforts to permanently remove predators from the priesthood.

The next frontier in the crisis has already reared its head: the sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse of adults by clergy. Francis is aware of the problem — a new&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-religion-vatican-city-736fadac67811722f2a33ef94d1e789a">case concerns one of his fellow Jesuits</a>&nbsp;— but there seems to be no will to take firm action

When the history of the Francis pontificate is written, entire chapters might well be devoted to his emphasis on “synodality,” a term that has little meaning outside Catholic circles but could go down as one of Francis’ most important church contributions.

A synod is a gathering of bishops, and Francis’ philosophy that bishops must listen to one another and the laity has come to define his vision for the Catholic Church: He wants it to be a place where the faithful are welcomed, accompanied and heard.

The synods held during his first 10 years produced some of the most significant, and controversial, moments of his papacy.

After listening to the plight of divorced Catholics during a 2014-2015 synod on the family, for instance, Francis&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/b67e0b339b9d46fab29cb0ef642d5ed7">opened the door</a>&nbsp;to letting divorced and civilly remarried couples receive Communion. Calls to allow married priests marked his 2019 synod on the Amazon, although Francis&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-international-news-pope-francis-latin-america-europe-c7f3dd10f458cb02fa9fa725c096d7db">ultimately rejected the idea</a>.

His October synod has involved an unprecedented canvassing of the Catholic faithful about their hopes for the church and problems they have encountered, eliciting demands from women for greater leadership roles, including ordination.

Catholic traditionalists were wary when Francis emerged as pope for the first time on the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica without the red cape that his predecessors had worn for formal events. Yet they never expected him to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/latin-mass-pope-francis-restrictions-benedict-6f50b9bc219d423f99267fddcdf23cf6">reverse one of Benedict’s signature decisions</a>&nbsp;by reimposing restrictions on the old Latin Mass, including where and who can celebrate it,.

While the decision directly affected only a fraction of Catholic Mass-goers, his crackdown on the Tridentine Rite became the call to arms for the anti-Francis conservative opposition.

Francis justified his move by saying Benedict’s decision to liberalize the celebration of the old Mass had become a source of division in parishes. But traditionalists took the renewed restrictions as an attack on orthodoxy, one that they saw as contradicting Francis’ “all are welcome” mantra.

“Instead of integrating them into parish life, the restriction on the use of parish churches will marginalize and push to the peripheries faithful Catholics who wish only to worship,” lamented Joseph Shaw of the Latin Mass Society’s U.K. branch.

While the short-term prospects for Francis relenting are not great, the traditionalists do have time on their side, knowing that in a 2,000-year-old institution, another pope might come along who is more friendly to the old rite.

Francis’ quips about the “female genius” have long made women cringe. Women theologians are the “strawberries on the cake,” he once said. Nuns shouldn’t be “old maids,” he said. Europe shouldn’t be a barren, infertile “grandmother,” he told European Union lawmakers — a remark that got him an angry phone call from then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

But, it’s also true that Francis has done more to promote women in the church than any pope before him, including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/world-news-voting-rights-pope-francis-f89395f9d9a5e721d6b56af7b7f6116b">naming several women to high-profile positions in the Vatican</a>.

That’s not saying much given only one in four Holy See employees is female, no woman heads a dicastery, or department, and Francis has upheld church doctrine forbidding women from the priesthood.

But the trend is there and “there is no possibility of going back,” said María Lía Zervino, one of the first three women named to the Vatican office that helps the pope select bishops around the world.

Francis' insistence that long-marginalized LGBTQ Catholics can find a welcome home in the church can be summed up by two pronouncements that have book-ended his papacy to date:&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/archive-pope-benedict-xvi-pope-francis-7b465b60945f40deb3a68b3de742f84a">“Who am I to judge?”</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-gay-rights-ap-interview-1359756ae22f27f87c1d4d6b9c8ce212">“Being homosexual is not a crime.”</a>

In between making those historic statements, Francis made outreach to LGBTQ people a hallmark of his papacy more than any pope before him.

He ministers to members of a transgender community in Rome. He has counseled gay couples seeking to raise their children Catholic. During a 2015 visit to the U.S., he publicized a private meeting with a gay former student and the man's partner&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/f27eb8dd7bf744aa9fb11572c15748f4">to counter the conservative narrative</a>&nbsp;that he had received an anti-same-sex marriage activist.

“The pope is reminding the church that the way people treat one another in the social world is of much greater moral importance that what people may possibly do in the privacy of a bedroom,” said Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry, which advocates for greater acceptance of LGBTQ Catholics.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603292366279.png" alt="Pope Francis image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Pope Francis image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>VATICAN CITY (AP) — So much for a short pontificate.<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/pope-francis">Pope Francis</a>&nbsp;celebrates the 10th anniversary of his election Monday, far outpacing the “two or three” years he once envisioned for his papacy and showing no signs of slowing down.On the contrary, with an agenda full of problems and plans and no longer encumbered by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-retirement-papacy-dcca464e7c1fd910568d07d6bf4d9994">the shadow of Pope Benedict XVI</a>, Francis, 86, has backed off from talking about retiring and recently described the papacy as a job for life.History’s first Latin American pope already has made his mark and could have even more impact in the years to come. Yet a decade ago, the Argentine Jesuit was so convinced he wouldn’t be elected as pope that he nearly missed the final vote as he chatted with a fellow cardinal outside the Sistine Chapel.“The master of ceremonies came out and said ‘Are you going in or not?’” Francis recalled in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “I realized afterward that it was my unconscious resistance to going in.”He was elected the 266th pope on the next ballot.SEX ABUSEFrancis had a big learning curve on clergy sex abuse, initially downplaying the problem in ways that made survivors question whether he “got it.” He had his wake-up call five years into his pontificate after a problematic visit to Chile.During the trip, he discovered a serious disconnect between&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2018-the-year-in-review-pope-francis-ap-top-news-chile-international-news-1d175bccdb364e5387956fc0e0672bf2">what Chilean bishops had told him</a>&nbsp;about a notorious case and the reality: Hundreds or thousands of Chilean faithful had been raped and molested by Catholic priests over decades.“That was my conversion,” he told the AP. “That’s when the bomb went off, when I saw the corruption of many bishops in this.”Francis has passed a series of measures since then aimed at holding the church hierarchy accountable, but the results have been mixed. Benedict removed some 800 priests, but Francis seems far less eager to defrock abusers, reflecting resistance within the hierarchy to efforts to permanently remove predators from the priesthood.The next frontier in the crisis has already reared its head: the sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse of adults by clergy. Francis is aware of the problem — a new&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-religion-vatican-city-736fadac67811722f2a33ef94d1e789a">case concerns one of his fellow Jesuits</a>&nbsp;— but there seems to be no will to take firm actionSIGNIFICANCE OF SYNODSWhen the history of the Francis pontificate is written, entire chapters might well be devoted to his emphasis on “synodality,” a term that has little meaning outside Catholic circles but could go down as one of Francis’ most important church contributions.A synod is a gathering of bishops, and Francis’ philosophy that bishops must listen to one another and the laity has come to define his vision for the Catholic Church: He wants it to be a place where the faithful are welcomed, accompanied and heard.The synods held during his first 10 years produced some of the most significant, and controversial, moments of his papacy.After listening to the plight of divorced Catholics during a 2014-2015 synod on the family, for instance, Francis&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/b67e0b339b9d46fab29cb0ef642d5ed7">opened the door</a>&nbsp;to letting divorced and civilly remarried couples receive Communion. Calls to allow married priests marked his 2019 synod on the Amazon, although Francis&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-international-news-pope-francis-latin-america-europe-c7f3dd10f458cb02fa9fa725c096d7db">ultimately rejected the idea</a>.His October synod has involved an unprecedented canvassing of the Catholic faithful about their hopes for the church and problems they have encountered, eliciting demands from women for greater leadership roles, including ordination.LATIN MASSCatholic traditionalists were wary when Francis emerged as pope for the first time on the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica without the red cape that his predecessors had worn for formal events. Yet they never expected him to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/latin-mass-pope-francis-restrictions-benedict-6f50b9bc219d423f99267fddcdf23cf6">reverse one of Benedict’s signature decisions</a>&nbsp;by reimposing restrictions on the old Latin Mass, including where and who can celebrate it,.While the decision directly affected only a fraction of Catholic Mass-goers, his crackdown on the Tridentine Rite became the call to arms for the anti-Francis conservative opposition.Francis justified his move by saying Benedict’s decision to liberalize the celebration of the old Mass had become a source of division in parishes. But traditionalists took the renewed restrictions as an attack on orthodoxy, one that they saw as contradicting Francis’ “all are welcome” mantra.“Instead of integrating them into parish life, the restriction on the use of parish churches will marginalize and push to the peripheries faithful Catholics who wish only to worship,” lamented Joseph Shaw of the Latin Mass Society’s U.K. branch.While the short-term prospects for Francis relenting are not great, the traditionalists do have time on their side, knowing that in a 2,000-year-old institution, another pope might come along who is more friendly to the old rite.ROLE OF WOMENFrancis’ quips about the “female genius” have long made women cringe. Women theologians are the “strawberries on the cake,” he once said. Nuns shouldn’t be “old maids,” he said. Europe shouldn’t be a barren, infertile “grandmother,” he told European Union lawmakers — a remark that got him an angry phone call from then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel.But, it’s also true that Francis has done more to promote women in the church than any pope before him, including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/world-news-voting-rights-pope-francis-f89395f9d9a5e721d6b56af7b7f6116b">naming several women to high-profile positions in the Vatican</a>.That’s not saying much given only one in four Holy See employees is female, no woman heads a dicastery, or department, and Francis has upheld church doctrine forbidding women from the priesthood.But the trend is there and “there is no possibility of going back,” said María Lía Zervino, one of the first three women named to the Vatican office that helps the pope select bishops around the world.LGBTQ FAITHFULFrancis' insistence that long-marginalized LGBTQ Catholics can find a welcome home in the church can be summed up by two pronouncements that have book-ended his papacy to date:&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/archive-pope-benedict-xvi-pope-francis-7b465b60945f40deb3a68b3de742f84a">“Who am I to judge?”</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-gay-rights-ap-interview-1359756ae22f27f87c1d4d6b9c8ce212">“Being homosexual is not a crime.”</a>In between making those historic statements, Francis made outreach to LGBTQ people a hallmark of his papacy more than any pope before him.He ministers to members of a transgender community in Rome. He has counseled gay couples seeking to raise their children Catholic. During a 2015 visit to the U.S., he publicized a private meeting with a gay former student and the man's partner&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/f27eb8dd7bf744aa9fb11572c15748f4">to counter the conservative narrative</a>&nbsp;that he had received an anti-same-sex marriage activist.“The pope is reminding the church that the way people treat one another in the social world is of much greater moral importance that what people may possibly do in the privacy of a bedroom,” said Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry, which advocates for greater acceptance of LGBTQ Catholics.

Pope Francis at 10 years: A reformer's learning curve, plans

NEW YORK (AP) — The financial institution best known for its relationships with high-flying world technology startups and venture capital,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/svb-fed-bonds-rates-banks-inflation-a24b28b3caeede91c76cd120aa9b7966?utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_medium=TopNews&amp;utm_campaign=position_01">Silicon Valley Bank,</a>&nbsp;experienced one of the oldest problems in banking — a bank run — which led to its failure on Friday.

Its downfall is the largest failure of a financial institution since Washington Mutual collapsed at the height of the financial crisis more than a decade ago. And it had immediate effects. Some startups that had ties to the bank scrambled to pay their workers, and feared they might have to pause projects or lay off or furlough employees until they could access their funds.&nbsp; Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sundty the federal government won't bail out Silicon Valley Bank, but is working to help depositors who are concerned about their money.

How did this happen? Here's what to know about why the bank failed, who was affected most, and what to know about how it may, and may not affect, the wider banking system in the U.S.

<a href="https://www.svb.com/">Silicon Valley Bank</a>&nbsp;was hit hard by the downturn in technology stocks over the past year as well as the Federal Reserve's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/federal-reserve-powell-inflation-rates-economy-debt-89c49a1032527f2d2f1d6d674bafe187">aggressive plan</a>&nbsp;to increase interest rates to combat inflation.

The bank bought billions of dollars worth of bonds over the past couple of years, using customers' deposits as a typical bank would normally operate. These investments are typically safe, but the value of those investments fell because they paid lower interest rates than what a comparable bond would pay if issued in today's higher interest rate environment.

Typically that's not an issue, because banks hold onto those for a long time — unless they have to sell them in an emergency.

But Silicon Valley's customers were largely startups and other tech-centric companies that started becoming more needy for cash over the past year. Venture capital funding was drying up, companies were not able to get additional rounds of funding for unprofitable businesses, and therefore had to tap their existing funds — often deposited with Silicon Valley Bank, which sat in the center of the tech startup universe.

So Silicon Valley customers started withdrawing their deposits. Initially that wasn't a huge issue, but the withdrawals started requiring the bank to start selling its own assets to meet customer withdrawal requests. Because Silicon Valley customers were largely businesses and the wealthy, they likely were more fearful of a bank failure since their deposits were over $250,000, which is the government-imposed limit on deposit insurance.

That required selling typically safe bonds at a loss, and those losses added up to the point that Silicon Valley Bank became effectively insolvent. The bank tried to raise additional capital through outside investors, but was unable to find them.

The fancy tech-focused bank was brought down by the oldest issue in banking: a good ol' run on the bank. Bank regulators had no other choice but to seize Silicon Valley Bank's assets to protect the assets and deposits still remaining at the bank.

There are two large problems remaining with Silicon Valley Bank, but both could lead to further issues if not resolved quickly.

The most immediate problem is Silicon Valley Bank's large deposits. The Federal government insures deposits to $250,000, but anything above that level is considered uninsured. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said insured deposits would be available on Monday morning. However the vast majority of Silicon Valley Bank's deposits were uninsured, a unique characteristic of the bank due to its customers being largely startups and wealthy tech workers.

At the moment, all of that money can't be accessed and likely will have to be released in an orderly process. But many businesses cannot wait weeks to get access to funds to meet payroll and office expenses. It could lead to furloughs or layoffs.

Two, there's no buyer of Silicon Valley Bank. Typically bank regulators look for a stronger bank to take on the assets of a failing bank, but in this case, another bank hasn't stepped forward. A bank buying Silicon Valley Bank could go a long way to resolving some of the problems tied with the money that startups can't get to right now.

IS THIS A SIGN THAT WE COULD REPEAT WHAT HAPPENED IN 2008?

At the moment, no, and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-business-united-states-government-federal-reserve-system-financial-markets-d5182432ffb51114d779c085fd1506b9">experts don't expect</a>&nbsp;there to be any issues spreading to the broader banking sector.

Silicon Valley Bank was large but had a unique existence by servicing nearly exclusively the technology world and VC-backed companies. It did a lot of work with the particular part of the economy that was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/microsoft-job-cuts-18fe0c9b8c9ff856e932e075161b1f43">hit hard in the past year</a>.

Other banks are far more diversified across multiple industries, customer bases and geographies. The most recent round of “stress tests” by the Federal Reserve of the largest banks and financial institutions showed that all of them would survive a deep recession and a significant rise in unemployment.

However there might be economic ripple effects in the Bay Area and in the technology start up world if the remaining money can't be released quickly.

NEW YORK (AP) — Regulators rushed Friday to seize the assets of one of Silicon Valley's top banks, marking the largest failure of a U.S. financial institution since the height of the financial crisis almost 15 years ago.

Silicon Valley Bank, the nation’s 16th-largest bank, failed after depositors hurried to withdraw money this week amid anxiety over the bank’s health. It was the second biggest bank failure in U.S. history after the collapse of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/08aeb5a6c9d542ccb6d6154d4fa1e3a6">Washington Mutual</a>&nbsp;in 2008.

The bank served mostly technology workers and venture capital-backed companies, including some of the industry's best-known brands.

“This is an extinction-level event for startups,” said Garry Tan, CEO of Y Combinator, a startup incubator that launched Airbnb, DoorDash and Dropbox and has referred hundreds of entrepreneurs to the bank.

“I literally have been hearing from hundreds of our founders asking for help on how they can get through this. They are asking, ‘Do I have to furlough my workers?’”

There appeared to be little chance of the chaos spreading in the broader banking sector, as it did in the months leading up to the Great Recession. The biggest banks — those most likely to cause an economic meltdown — have healthy balance sheets and plenty of capital.

Nearly half of the U.S. technology and health care companies that went public last year after getting early funding from venture capital firms were Silicon Valley Bank customers, according to the bank’s website.

The bank also boasted of its connections to leading tech companies such as Shopify, ZipRecruiter and one of the top venture capital firms, Andreesson Horowitz.

Tan estimated that nearly one-third of Y Combinator’s startups will not be able to make payroll at some point in the next month if they cannot access their money.

Internet TV provider Roku was among casualties of the bank collapse. It said in a regulatory filing Friday that about 26% of its cash — $487 million — was deposited at Silicon Valley Bank.

Roku said its deposits with SVB were largely uninsured and it didn’t know “to what extent” it would be able to recover them.

As part of the seizure, California bank regulators and the FDIC transferred the bank's assets to a newly created institution — the Deposit Insurance Bank of Santa Clara. The new bank will start paying out insured deposits on Monday. Then the FDIC and California regulators plan to sell off the rest of the assets to make other depositors whole.

There was unease in the banking sector all week, with shares tumbling by double digits. Then news of Silicon Valley Bank's distress pushed shares of almost all financial institutions even lower Friday.

The failure arrived with incredible speed. Some industry analysts suggested Friday that the bank was still a good company and a wise investment. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley Bank executives were trying to raise capital and find additional investors. However, trading in the bank’s shares was halted before stock market's opening bell due to extreme volatility.

Shortly before noon, the FDIC moved to shutter the bank. Notably, the agency did not wait until the close of business, which is the typical approach. The FDIC could not immediately find a buyer for the bank's assets, signaling how fast depositors cashed out.

The White House said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was “watching closely.” The administration sought to reassure the public that the banking system is much healthier than during the Great Recession.

“Our banking system is in a fundamentally different place than it was, you know, a decade ago,” said Cecilia Rouse, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. “The reforms that were put in place back then really provide the kind of resilience that we’d like to see.”

In 2007, the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression rippled across the globe after mortgage-backed securities tied to ill-advised housing loans collapsed in value. The panic on Wall Street led to the demise of Lehman Brothers, a firm founded in 1847. Because major banks had extensive exposure to one another, the crisis led to a cascading breakdown in the global financial system, putting millions out of work.

At the time of its failure, Silicon Valley Bank, which is based in Santa Clara, California, had $209 billion in total assets, the FDIC said. It was unclear how many of its deposits were above the $250,000 insurance limit, but previous regulatory reports showed that lots of accounts exceeded that amount.

The bank announced plans Thursday to raise up to $1.75 billion in order to strengthen its capital position. That sent investors scurrying and shares plunged 60%. They tumbled lower still Friday before the opening of the Nasdaq, where the bank's shares were traded.

As its name implied, Silicon Valley Bank was a major financial conduit between the technology sector, startups and tech workers. It was seen as good business sense to develop a relationship with the bank if a startup founder wanted to find new investors or go public.

Conceived in 1983 by co-founders Bill Biggerstaff and Robert Medearis during a poker game, the bank leveraged its Silicon Valley roots to become a financial cornerstone in the tech industry.

Bill Tyler, director of operations for TWG Supply in Grapevine, Texas, said he first realized something was wrong when his employees texted him at 6:30 a.m. Friday to complain that they did not receive their paychecks.

TWG, which has just 18 employees, had already sent the money for the checks to a payroll services provider that used Silicon Valley Bank. Tyler was scrambling to figure out how to pay his workers.

"We’re waiting on roughly $27,000," he said. "It’s already not a timely payment. It’s already an uncomfortable position. I don’t want to ask any employees, to say, ‘Hey, can you wait until mid-next week to get paid?’”

Silicon Valley Bank's ties to the tech sector added to its troubles. Technology stocks have been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-amazoncom-inc-europe-software-business-b23cd72310f20ce2320a36eadc26eded">hit hard in the past 18 months</a>&nbsp;after a growth surge during the pandemic, and layoffs have spread throughout the industry. Venture capital funding has also been declining.

At the same time, the bank was hit hard by the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-federal-reserve-interest-rates-powell-unemployment-79b7ead4530ab381a17638a6c9df2d90">Federal Reserve's fight against inflation</a>&nbsp;and an aggressive series of interest rate hikes to cool the economy.

As the Fed raises its benchmark interest rate, the value of generally stable bonds starts to fall. That is not typically a problem, but when depositors grow anxious and begin withdrawing their money, banks sometimes have to sell those bonds before they mature to cover the exodus.

That is exactly what happened to Silicon Valley Bank, which had to sell $21 billion in highly liquid assets to cover the sudden withdrawals. It took a $1.8 billion loss on that sale.

Ashley Tyrner, CEO of FarmboxRx, said she had spoken to several friends whose businesses are backed by venture capital. She described them as being “beside themselves” over the bank's failure. Tyrner's chief operating officer tried to withdraw her company's funds on Thursday but failed to do so in time.

“One friend said they couldn't make payroll today and cried when they had to inform 200 employees because of this issue,” Tyrner said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678567122405.png" alt="Silicon Vally Bank branch in Santa Clara, California -Google image" />
 <figcaption>Silicon Vally Bank branch in Santa Clara, California -Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — The financial institution best known for its relationships with high-flying world technology startups and venture capital,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/svb-fed-bonds-rates-banks-inflation-a24b28b3caeede91c76cd120aa9b7966?utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_medium=TopNews&amp;utm_campaign=position_01">Silicon Valley Bank,</a>&nbsp;experienced one of the oldest problems in banking — a bank run — which led to its failure on Friday.Its downfall is the largest failure of a financial institution since Washington Mutual collapsed at the height of the financial crisis more than a decade ago. And it had immediate effects. Some startups that had ties to the bank scrambled to pay their workers, and feared they might have to pause projects or lay off or furlough employees until they could access their funds.&nbsp; Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sundty the federal government won't bail out Silicon Valley Bank, but is working to help depositors who are concerned about their money.How did this happen? Here's what to know about why the bank failed, who was affected most, and what to know about how it may, and may not affect, the wider banking system in the U.S.WHY DID SILICON VALLEY BANK FAIL?<a href="https://www.svb.com/">Silicon Valley Bank</a>&nbsp;was hit hard by the downturn in technology stocks over the past year as well as the Federal Reserve's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/federal-reserve-powell-inflation-rates-economy-debt-89c49a1032527f2d2f1d6d674bafe187">aggressive plan</a>&nbsp;to increase interest rates to combat inflation.The bank bought billions of dollars worth of bonds over the past couple of years, using customers' deposits as a typical bank would normally operate. These investments are typically safe, but the value of those investments fell because they paid lower interest rates than what a comparable bond would pay if issued in today's higher interest rate environment.Typically that's not an issue, because banks hold onto those for a long time — unless they have to sell them in an emergency.But Silicon Valley's customers were largely startups and other tech-centric companies that started becoming more needy for cash over the past year. Venture capital funding was drying up, companies were not able to get additional rounds of funding for unprofitable businesses, and therefore had to tap their existing funds — often deposited with Silicon Valley Bank, which sat in the center of the tech startup universe.So Silicon Valley customers started withdrawing their deposits. Initially that wasn't a huge issue, but the withdrawals started requiring the bank to start selling its own assets to meet customer withdrawal requests. Because Silicon Valley customers were largely businesses and the wealthy, they likely were more fearful of a bank failure since their deposits were over $250,000, which is the government-imposed limit on deposit insurance.That required selling typically safe bonds at a loss, and those losses added up to the point that Silicon Valley Bank became effectively insolvent. The bank tried to raise additional capital through outside investors, but was unable to find them.The fancy tech-focused bank was brought down by the oldest issue in banking: a good ol' run on the bank. Bank regulators had no other choice but to seize Silicon Valley Bank's assets to protect the assets and deposits still remaining at the bank.WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?There are two large problems remaining with Silicon Valley Bank, but both could lead to further issues if not resolved quickly.The most immediate problem is Silicon Valley Bank's large deposits. The Federal government insures deposits to $250,000, but anything above that level is considered uninsured. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said insured deposits would be available on Monday morning. However the vast majority of Silicon Valley Bank's deposits were uninsured, a unique characteristic of the bank due to its customers being largely startups and wealthy tech workers.At the moment, all of that money can't be accessed and likely will have to be released in an orderly process. But many businesses cannot wait weeks to get access to funds to meet payroll and office expenses. It could lead to furloughs or layoffs.Two, there's no buyer of Silicon Valley Bank. Typically bank regulators look for a stronger bank to take on the assets of a failing bank, but in this case, another bank hasn't stepped forward. A bank buying Silicon Valley Bank could go a long way to resolving some of the problems tied with the money that startups can't get to right now.IS THIS A SIGN THAT WE COULD REPEAT WHAT HAPPENED IN 2008?At the moment, no, and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-business-united-states-government-federal-reserve-system-financial-markets-d5182432ffb51114d779c085fd1506b9">experts don't expect</a>&nbsp;there to be any issues spreading to the broader banking sector.Silicon Valley Bank was large but had a unique existence by servicing nearly exclusively the technology world and VC-backed companies. It did a lot of work with the particular part of the economy that was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/microsoft-job-cuts-18fe0c9b8c9ff856e932e075161b1f43">hit hard in the past year</a>.Other banks are far more diversified across multiple industries, customer bases and geographies. The most recent round of “stress tests” by the Federal Reserve of the largest banks and financial institutions showed that all of them would survive a deep recession and a significant rise in unemployment.However there might be economic ripple effects in the Bay Area and in the technology start up world if the remaining money can't be released quickly.--------NEW YORK (AP) — Regulators rushed Friday to seize the assets of one of Silicon Valley's top banks, marking the largest failure of a U.S. financial institution since the height of the financial crisis almost 15 years ago.Silicon Valley Bank, the nation’s 16th-largest bank, failed after depositors hurried to withdraw money this week amid anxiety over the bank’s health. It was the second biggest bank failure in U.S. history after the collapse of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/08aeb5a6c9d542ccb6d6154d4fa1e3a6">Washington Mutual</a>&nbsp;in 2008.The bank served mostly technology workers and venture capital-backed companies, including some of the industry's best-known brands.“This is an extinction-level event for startups,” said Garry Tan, CEO of Y Combinator, a startup incubator that launched Airbnb, DoorDash and Dropbox and has referred hundreds of entrepreneurs to the bank.“I literally have been hearing from hundreds of our founders asking for help on how they can get through this. They are asking, ‘Do I have to furlough my workers?’”There appeared to be little chance of the chaos spreading in the broader banking sector, as it did in the months leading up to the Great Recession. The biggest banks — those most likely to cause an economic meltdown — have healthy balance sheets and plenty of capital.Nearly half of the U.S. technology and health care companies that went public last year after getting early funding from venture capital firms were Silicon Valley Bank customers, according to the bank’s website.The bank also boasted of its connections to leading tech companies such as Shopify, ZipRecruiter and one of the top venture capital firms, Andreesson Horowitz.Tan estimated that nearly one-third of Y Combinator’s startups will not be able to make payroll at some point in the next month if they cannot access their money.Internet TV provider Roku was among casualties of the bank collapse. It said in a regulatory filing Friday that about 26% of its cash — $487 million — was deposited at Silicon Valley Bank.Roku said its deposits with SVB were largely uninsured and it didn’t know “to what extent” it would be able to recover them.As part of the seizure, California bank regulators and the FDIC transferred the bank's assets to a newly created institution — the Deposit Insurance Bank of Santa Clara. The new bank will start paying out insured deposits on Monday. Then the FDIC and California regulators plan to sell off the rest of the assets to make other depositors whole.There was unease in the banking sector all week, with shares tumbling by double digits. Then news of Silicon Valley Bank's distress pushed shares of almost all financial institutions even lower Friday.The failure arrived with incredible speed. Some industry analysts suggested Friday that the bank was still a good company and a wise investment. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley Bank executives were trying to raise capital and find additional investors. However, trading in the bank’s shares was halted before stock market's opening bell due to extreme volatility.Shortly before noon, the FDIC moved to shutter the bank. Notably, the agency did not wait until the close of business, which is the typical approach. The FDIC could not immediately find a buyer for the bank's assets, signaling how fast depositors cashed out.The White House said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was “watching closely.” The administration sought to reassure the public that the banking system is much healthier than during the Great Recession.“Our banking system is in a fundamentally different place than it was, you know, a decade ago,” said Cecilia Rouse, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. “The reforms that were put in place back then really provide the kind of resilience that we’d like to see.”In 2007, the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression rippled across the globe after mortgage-backed securities tied to ill-advised housing loans collapsed in value. The panic on Wall Street led to the demise of Lehman Brothers, a firm founded in 1847. Because major banks had extensive exposure to one another, the crisis led to a cascading breakdown in the global financial system, putting millions out of work.At the time of its failure, Silicon Valley Bank, which is based in Santa Clara, California, had $209 billion in total assets, the FDIC said. It was unclear how many of its deposits were above the $250,000 insurance limit, but previous regulatory reports showed that lots of accounts exceeded that amount.The bank announced plans Thursday to raise up to $1.75 billion in order to strengthen its capital position. That sent investors scurrying and shares plunged 60%. They tumbled lower still Friday before the opening of the Nasdaq, where the bank's shares were traded.As its name implied, Silicon Valley Bank was a major financial conduit between the technology sector, startups and tech workers. It was seen as good business sense to develop a relationship with the bank if a startup founder wanted to find new investors or go public.Conceived in 1983 by co-founders Bill Biggerstaff and Robert Medearis during a poker game, the bank leveraged its Silicon Valley roots to become a financial cornerstone in the tech industry.Bill Tyler, director of operations for TWG Supply in Grapevine, Texas, said he first realized something was wrong when his employees texted him at 6:30 a.m. Friday to complain that they did not receive their paychecks.TWG, which has just 18 employees, had already sent the money for the checks to a payroll services provider that used Silicon Valley Bank. Tyler was scrambling to figure out how to pay his workers."We’re waiting on roughly $27,000," he said. "It’s already not a timely payment. It’s already an uncomfortable position. I don’t want to ask any employees, to say, ‘Hey, can you wait until mid-next week to get paid?’”Silicon Valley Bank's ties to the tech sector added to its troubles. Technology stocks have been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-amazoncom-inc-europe-software-business-b23cd72310f20ce2320a36eadc26eded">hit hard in the past 18 months</a>&nbsp;after a growth surge during the pandemic, and layoffs have spread throughout the industry. Venture capital funding has also been declining.At the same time, the bank was hit hard by the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-federal-reserve-interest-rates-powell-unemployment-79b7ead4530ab381a17638a6c9df2d90">Federal Reserve's fight against inflation</a>&nbsp;and an aggressive series of interest rate hikes to cool the economy.As the Fed raises its benchmark interest rate, the value of generally stable bonds starts to fall. That is not typically a problem, but when depositors grow anxious and begin withdrawing their money, banks sometimes have to sell those bonds before they mature to cover the exodus.That is exactly what happened to Silicon Valley Bank, which had to sell $21 billion in highly liquid assets to cover the sudden withdrawals. It took a $1.8 billion loss on that sale.Ashley Tyrner, CEO of FarmboxRx, said she had spoken to several friends whose businesses are backed by venture capital. She described them as being “beside themselves” over the bank's failure. Tyrner's chief operating officer tried to withdraw her company's funds on Thursday but failed to do so in time.“One friend said they couldn't make payroll today and cried when they had to inform 200 employees because of this issue,” Tyrner said.

2nd-biggest bank collapse in U.S. history; what you need to know

JOHNSON COUNTY —The standoff that started Friday involving federal law enforcement agents at a Kansas apartment complex and included an exchange of gunfire finally ended Saturday.

Law enforcement eventually entered the apartment and made verbal contact with the suspect who&nbsp; shot himself. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to John Lacy of the Overland Park Police Department.

U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI attempted to serve a felony warrant around 5 p.m. Friday at the Villa Medici apartments in the 9600 Block of Rosewood.

As the suspect drove toward the complex exit, federal agents stopped the vehicle. During the attempt to make the arrest, the suspect fired shots toward the agents. The agents returned fire and the suspect was injured. The suspect ran from his vehicle, entered his apartment and barricaded himself.&nbsp; Police have not released the suspect's name.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678539308842.png" alt="Police on the scene of the standoff Friday night =photo courtesy Fox4Kansas CIty" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene of the standoff Friday night =photo courtesy Fox4Kansas CIty</figcaption>
 </figure>JOHNSON COUNTY —The standoff that started Friday involving federal law enforcement agents at a Kansas apartment complex and included an exchange of gunfire finally ended Saturday.Law enforcement eventually entered the apartment and made verbal contact with the suspect who&nbsp; shot himself. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to John Lacy of the Overland Park Police Department.U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI attempted to serve a felony warrant around 5 p.m. Friday at the Villa Medici apartments in the 9600 Block of Rosewood.As the suspect drove toward the complex exit, federal agents stopped the vehicle. During the attempt to make the arrest, the suspect fired shots toward the agents. The agents returned fire and the suspect was injured. The suspect ran from his vehicle, entered his apartment and barricaded himself.&nbsp; Police have not released the suspect's name.

 Standoff in Kan. ends after gunfire between US Marshals, suspect

By RACHEL MIPRO <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/07/kansas-state-representative-calls-rainbow-drawings-proof-of-indoctrination-at-leavenworth-school/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — A new bill would divert an estimated $1.7 million in state funding away from low-income families and into programs that promote childbirth, in an effort to reduce abortions statewide.

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/hb2429/">House Bill 2429</a>, heard in the House Health and Human Services Committee Tuesday, would require the Department for Children and Families to establish programs increasing awareness of abortion alternatives.

It is one of&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/06/as-kansas-lawmakers-target-abortion-rights-opposition-unites-at-statehouse/">several anti-abortion</a>&nbsp;bills currently introduced in the Legislature by Republicans, despite a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/08/02/kansas-voters-defeat-abortion-amendment-in-unexpected-landslide-1/">landslide defeat</a>&nbsp;in August of a constitutional amendment on abortion. Other bills include a proposed ban on an abortion pill and a tax credit proposal for nonprofit pregnancy centers.

Committee chairwoman Rep. Brenda Landwehr, a Wichita Republican, felt the program would help bolster adoption as an alternative to abortion.

“My husband wouldn’t be here today if he’d been aborted,” Landwehr said. “Some of these women just don’t realize how there is help for them out there to get to that path.”

The program would include resources such as pregnancy support assistance, maternity homes and adoption assistance, with the goal of having pregnant women who are considering abortion think of other options.

A nonprofit organization contracted by the state treasurer would provide these services, and DCF would coordinate with the treasurer in the program’s implementation. To fund the program, an estimated $1.7 million would be diverted from families currently receiving federal aid through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, according to the bill’s fiscal note.

Several anti-abortion organizations spoke in favor of the bill, including Jeanne Gadwun with Kansans for Life, who said pregnancy resource centers would offer more opportunities for women.

“PRCs empower women with the support and the resources they need to not only choose life for their children, but also to improve their own lives as well,” Gadwun said.

Critics of the bill&nbsp;have questioned the necessity of this legislation, as the Kansas Department of Health and Environment already has a state grant program designed to help low-income women with pregnancies.&nbsp;The program&nbsp;granted $338,846 in FY 2022 to 10 agencies that provided educational and vocational support, prenatal care, and postnatal services to 834 program participants, according to the bill’s fiscal note.

Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes spokeswoman Katie Baylie brought up the lack of oversight over the nonprofit organizations in her opposition to the proposal.

“The program would divert such funding intended to directly support the most vulnerable Kansans to anti-abortion organizations who target these individuals,” Baylie said in written testimony. “Instead of this money going to essential needs, the money, at best, would be used to coerce and mislead individuals and contribute to increased inequalities.”

The legislation doesn’t stipulate a need for the nonprofit to track funding or provide the state with data on the program’s impact. In other states where similar programs have been implemented, a lack of nonprofit regulation has led to financial abuse.

Baylie mentioned a Texas pregnancy crisis center that operated under a similar program and allegedly used state funds to travel to Vegas and buy motorcycles.

Landwehr said she and others would look into oversight measures for the proposed program.

During the meeting, lawmakers also voted to favorably pass&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/sb180/">Senate Bill 180</a>, called a “women’s bill of rights,” out of committee. The bill, which would designate the “biological sex” of an individual at birth for purposes of applying state laws, rules or regulations, was approved by the Senate on a vote of 26-11,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/06/transgender-kansans-alarmed-by-bills-seeking-to-undermine-constitutional-rights/">despite heavy opposition from Kansans&nbsp;</a>who felt the legislation was sexist as well as transphobic.

The legislation would use assigned sex to decide who could use spaces such as restrooms, locker rooms and rape crisis centers, among others. Under the bill, only women with reproductive systems designed to produce ova would be allowed in these spaces, leaving out intersex and transgender women.

Rep. Christina Haswood, a Lawrence Democrat, said the bill was outdated.

“It’s 2023,” Haswood said. “Women, we are so much better than this and this bill is at its core attacking trans women. It’s very sad to see.”

The Kansas Attorney General’s Office has said the constitutionality of the legislation is likely to be challenged and the dispute could take years before validity of the law could be established through the appellate courts.

Landwehr said the bill wasn’t perfect, but it was about upholding women’s rights, and she didn’t feel transgender women were targeted by the bill.

“I really wish people would not take it that we’re targeting another group of people,” Landwehr said. “We’re just saying as women that we want to be respected. We want to be identified for the things that we have fought for and not have our rights eroded as well.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/P3071290-1024x768.jpg" alt="- Rep. Brenda Landwehr says adoption should be promoted as an alternative to abortion. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>- Rep. Brenda Landwehr says adoption should be promoted as an alternative to abortion. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By RACHEL MIPRO <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/07/kansas-state-representative-calls-rainbow-drawings-proof-of-indoctrination-at-leavenworth-school/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — A new bill would divert an estimated $1.7 million in state funding away from low-income families and into programs that promote childbirth, in an effort to reduce abortions statewide.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/hb2429/">House Bill 2429</a>, heard in the House Health and Human Services Committee Tuesday, would require the Department for Children and Families to establish programs increasing awareness of abortion alternatives.It is one of&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/06/as-kansas-lawmakers-target-abortion-rights-opposition-unites-at-statehouse/">several anti-abortion</a>&nbsp;bills currently introduced in the Legislature by Republicans, despite a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/08/02/kansas-voters-defeat-abortion-amendment-in-unexpected-landslide-1/">landslide defeat</a>&nbsp;in August of a constitutional amendment on abortion. Other bills include a proposed ban on an abortion pill and a tax credit proposal for nonprofit pregnancy centers.Committee chairwoman Rep. Brenda Landwehr, a Wichita Republican, felt the program would help bolster adoption as an alternative to abortion.“My husband wouldn’t be here today if he’d been aborted,” Landwehr said. “Some of these women just don’t realize how there is help for them out there to get to that path.”The program would include resources such as pregnancy support assistance, maternity homes and adoption assistance, with the goal of having pregnant women who are considering abortion think of other options.A nonprofit organization contracted by the state treasurer would provide these services, and DCF would coordinate with the treasurer in the program’s implementation. To fund the program, an estimated $1.7 million would be diverted from families currently receiving federal aid through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, according to the bill’s fiscal note.Several anti-abortion organizations spoke in favor of the bill, including Jeanne Gadwun with Kansans for Life, who said pregnancy resource centers would offer more opportunities for women.“PRCs empower women with the support and the resources they need to not only choose life for their children, but also to improve their own lives as well,” Gadwun said.Critics of the bill&nbsp;have questioned the necessity of this legislation, as the Kansas Department of Health and Environment already has a state grant program designed to help low-income women with pregnancies.&nbsp;The program&nbsp;granted $338,846 in FY 2022 to 10 agencies that provided educational and vocational support, prenatal care, and postnatal services to 834 program participants, according to the bill’s fiscal note.Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes spokeswoman Katie Baylie brought up the lack of oversight over the nonprofit organizations in her opposition to the proposal.“The program would divert such funding intended to directly support the most vulnerable Kansans to anti-abortion organizations who target these individuals,” Baylie said in written testimony. “Instead of this money going to essential needs, the money, at best, would be used to coerce and mislead individuals and contribute to increased inequalities.”The legislation doesn’t stipulate a need for the nonprofit to track funding or provide the state with data on the program’s impact. In other states where similar programs have been implemented, a lack of nonprofit regulation has led to financial abuse.Baylie mentioned a Texas pregnancy crisis center that operated under a similar program and allegedly used state funds to travel to Vegas and buy motorcycles.Landwehr said she and others would look into oversight measures for the proposed program.During the meeting, lawmakers also voted to favorably pass&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/sb180/">Senate Bill 180</a>, called a “women’s bill of rights,” out of committee. The bill, which would designate the “biological sex” of an individual at birth for purposes of applying state laws, rules or regulations, was approved by the Senate on a vote of 26-11,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/06/transgender-kansans-alarmed-by-bills-seeking-to-undermine-constitutional-rights/">despite heavy opposition from Kansans&nbsp;</a>who felt the legislation was sexist as well as transphobic.The legislation would use assigned sex to decide who could use spaces such as restrooms, locker rooms and rape crisis centers, among others. Under the bill, only women with reproductive systems designed to produce ova would be allowed in these spaces, leaving out intersex and transgender women.Rep. Christina Haswood, a Lawrence Democrat, said the bill was outdated.“It’s 2023,” Haswood said. “Women, we are so much better than this and this bill is at its core attacking trans women. It’s very sad to see.”The Kansas Attorney General’s Office has said the constitutionality of the legislation is likely to be challenged and the dispute could take years before validity of the law could be established through the appellate courts.Landwehr said the bill wasn’t perfect, but it was about upholding women’s rights, and she didn’t feel transgender women were targeted by the bill.“I really wish people would not take it that we’re targeting another group of people,” Landwehr said. “We’re just saying as women that we want to be respected. We want to be identified for the things that we have fought for and not have our rights eroded as well.”

 Kan. lawmakers propose state funding of anti-abortion advocacy programs

KANSAS CITY —A jury this week convicted a Kansas City woman for severely beating a child while the child was in her care in a Kansas City residence, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.

Nancy Russell, 41,&nbsp; was found guilty of four Class B felonies of Domstic Assault 1st Degree and four counts of Armed Criminal Action.&nbsp;

According to court records, in October 2017, police in Kansas City were alerted by Arkansas police of possible child abuse. A family member had come forward to say that one of the children had been abused at a home in Kansas City in the area of 53rd and Hardesty. 

The child was reportedly walking with a limp and had gashes on the head. Forensic interviews in Arkansas disclosed the defendant struck the child with a cord and metal pipe. Russell will be sentenced at a future hearing.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678322605798.png" alt="Russell-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Russell-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —A jury this week convicted a Kansas City woman for severely beating a child while the child was in her care in a Kansas City residence, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.Nancy Russell, 41,&nbsp; was found guilty of four Class B felonies of Domstic Assault 1st Degree and four counts of Armed Criminal Action.&nbsp;According to court records, in October 2017, police in Kansas City were alerted by Arkansas police of possible child abuse. A family member had come forward to say that one of the children had been abused at a home in Kansas City in the area of 53rd and Hardesty. The child was reportedly walking with a limp and had gashes on the head. Forensic interviews in Arkansas disclosed the defendant struck the child with a cord and metal pipe. Russell will be sentenced at a future hearing.

Jury: Kansas City woman guilty of using metal pipe to beat child

SEDGWICK COUNTY —A man accused in a double murder made another court appearance in the case this week.

David Baeza, 43 of Wichita, is now charged with 2 counts of 1st degree murder, possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, possession of opiate (fentanyl) with the intent to distribute, and possession of cocaine, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.&nbsp;

Just after 5 a.m. July 3, 2022, sheriff's deputies were sent to a shooting call in the 4400 block of south Rock Road in rural Sedgwick County, according to Sheriff's Lt. Benjamin Blick.&nbsp;

During a search of the rural property, deputies found the bodies of 29-year-old Gerardo Ruvalcaba-Ulloam and&nbsp;  43-year-old Saren Negrete-Perez of California. deceased in the backyard of a residence the 4300 block of South Rock Road. They died from apparent gunshot wounds.&nbsp;

At the scene, first responders also found David Baeza, 42 of Wichita, on the side of the road suffering from gunshot wounds, according to Colonel Brian White with the sheriff's department. EMS transported Baeza to an area hospital for treatment and later arrested him.

Initially, Baeza and Joseph Ponse, 43 of Wichita were charged with attempted 1st degree murder in connection with the deaths.

Hieu Luong, 42 of Wichita, was charged with attempted 1st degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.

Baeza remains jailed on a $500,000 bond, according to the district attorney's office.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1656781809875.png" alt="Portions of Rock Road were closed during the investigation-photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Portions of Rock Road were closed during the investigation-photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —A man accused in a double murder made another court appearance in the case this week.David Baeza, 43 of Wichita, is now charged with 2 counts of 1st degree murder, possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, possession of opiate (fentanyl) with the intent to distribute, and possession of cocaine, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1657051675461.png" alt="Baeza-photo Sedgwick County." />
 <figcaption>Baeza-photo Sedgwick County.</figcaption>
 </figure>Just after 5 a.m. July 3, 2022, sheriff's deputies were sent to a shooting call in the 4400 block of south Rock Road in rural Sedgwick County, according to Sheriff's Lt. Benjamin Blick.&nbsp;During a search of the rural property, deputies found the bodies of 29-year-old Gerardo Ruvalcaba-Ulloam and&nbsp; 43-year-old Saren Negrete-Perez of California. deceased in the backyard of a residence the 4300 block of South Rock Road. They died from apparent gunshot wounds.&nbsp;At the scene, first responders also found David Baeza, 42 of Wichita, on the side of the road suffering from gunshot wounds, according to Colonel Brian White with the sheriff's department. EMS transported Baeza to an area hospital for treatment and later arrested him.Initially, Baeza and Joseph Ponse, 43 of Wichita were charged with attempted 1st degree murder in connection with the deaths.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1657051599579.png" alt="Ponse-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Ponse-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Hieu Luong, 42 of Wichita, was charged with attempted 1st degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1657823720573.png" alt="Luong-photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Luong-photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>Baeza remains jailed on a $500,000 bond, according to the district attorney's office.&nbsp;

Kansas man charged with double-murder, drug possession

KANSAS CITY– A Kansas City man pleaded guilty in federal court this week to illegally possessing the firearm used in the fatal shooting of an Independence, Mo., firefighter during an altercation in a liquor store parking lot, according to the United State's Attorney.

Ja’Von L. Taylor, 23, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of possessing a machine gun. Taylor has been detained in federal custody without bond since his arrest.

By pleading guilty, Taylor admitted he was in possession of a Glock .40-caliber handgun, which had been converted to a machine gun. Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Taylor has prior felony convictions for robbery and distributing marijuana.

According to court documents, Independence police officers were dispatched to Liquor Land, 11100 E. U.S. 40 Highway in Independence, on a reported shooting of an Independence firefighter on Oct. 6, 2022. &nbsp;Taylor was located across the street and taken into custody.

Officers searched Taylor’s vehicle and found the Glock machine gun, a broken extended magazine, and a 15-round magazine. Taylor told investigators that he bought the gun from a guy off the street a few months ago for $500.

Under federal statutes, Taylor is subject to a sentence of up to 25 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing is scheduled on Aug. 3, 2023.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678402127365.png" alt="The weapon owned by Ja’Von L. Taylor used in the fatal shooting -image from the video of the incident released by police" />
 <figcaption>The weapon owned by Ja’Von L. Taylor used in the fatal shooting -image from the video of the incident released by police</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY– A Kansas City man pleaded guilty in federal court this week to illegally possessing the firearm used in the fatal shooting of an Independence, Mo., firefighter during an altercation in a liquor store parking lot, according to the United State's Attorney.Ja’Von L. Taylor, 23, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of possessing a machine gun. Taylor has been detained in federal custody without bond since his arrest.By pleading guilty, Taylor admitted he was in possession of a Glock .40-caliber handgun, which had been converted to a machine gun. Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Taylor has prior felony convictions for robbery and distributing marijuana.According to court documents, Independence police officers were dispatched to Liquor Land, 11100 E. U.S. 40 Highway in Independence, on a reported shooting of an Independence firefighter on Oct. 6, 2022. &nbsp;Taylor was located across the street and taken into custody.Officers searched Taylor’s vehicle and found the Glock machine gun, a broken extended magazine, and a 15-round magazine. Taylor told investigators that he bought the gun from a guy off the street a few months ago for $500.Under federal statutes, Taylor is subject to a sentence of up to 25 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing is scheduled on Aug. 3, 2023.

KC man admits owning machine gun used in killing fireman

By CHLOE ANDERSON <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/09/theyre-trying-to-silence-people-university-of-kansas-group-rallies-in-support-of-iranian-women/">Kansas Reflector</a>

LAWRENCE — Members of the University 
of Kansas Iranian Community Association gathered Wednesday in front of 
Wescoe Hall to rally in support of Iranian women.

People across the globe held International Women’s Day rallies to highlight recent <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/10/25/in-iran-women-have-put-their-lives-on-the-line-for-basic-rights-in-kansas-we-barely-notice/">violence against Iranian women</a> and demand equal rights. Iranians started protesting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s
 regime following the Sept. 13, 2022, arrest of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
 Amini, who was arrested for wearing her hijab unlawfully, died in 
police custody three days later.

Iranian security forces have killed 
hundreds of civilians since the protests began. Still, women and 
schoolgirls risk their lives every day to stand up against the 
injustices. But because independent news media were banned from 
reporting in Iran and authorities have disrupted internet usage, many 
outside of the country remain unaware of the situation.

In addition to extreme measures used 
to suppress Iranian protesters, authorities also have been poisoning 
schoolgirls with mysterious gas. According to the BBC, more than 1,000 
students <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64816750">have been hospitalized</a> since the attacks started in November.

“There’s not a lot of information 
that’s known, because that’s what the government’s trying to do — 
they’re trying to silence people,” said Mercedeh Tavacoli, a dual 
citizen born in Kansas with family in Iran. “That’s an even bigger 
issue, because this is the first ever women-led revolution.”

According to an article from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/history-matters/women-life-freedom">History Today</a>, “women, life, freedom” became the revolution’s slogan during Amini’s funeral on Sept. 17 in Saqqez.

Following her death, Iranian women 
took to the streets, removing and burning their hijabs and even cutting 
their hair. By continuing to do so, they’re risking their lives by 
defying the country’s “morality police,” an Islamic religious force 
designed to enforce the strict laws regarding women’s behavior.

Young Iranian girls and teenagers are
 involved in the uprising, removing their hijabs in schoolyards and 
chanting “women, life, freedom” in classrooms.

In the months following the uprising, Khamenei threatened punishment for protesters, saying the punishment for young women would be “special.” On Monday, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/06/iran-supreme-leader-schoolgirl-poisonings-unforgivable">he publicly acknowledged the gas attacks</a> for the first time, calling them “unforgivable” and saying the culprits should be “severely punished.”

Khamenei has downplayed the attacks 
on protesters and alleged that demonstrations were orchestrated by 
Iranian enemies like the United States and Israel. Authorities have 
denied killing peaceful demonstrators, but video footage has captured 
them shooting at civilians during protests.

Several of the KU students, staff and
 community members gathered in front of Wescoe Hall have family members 
in Iran and fear for their loved ones’ safety as tensions escalate.

“There are a lot of people who have been shot and killed who weren’t even protesting,” Tavacoli said. “They were kind of collateral damage.”

Neda Hejazi, a postdoctoral 
researcher from Isfahan, said members of her extended family are 
terrified to send their children to school following the gas attack 
Monday on the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences campus, but 
government officials won’t allow them to keep their children home.

“They’re forced — by government 
authorities — to attend in-person classes,” Hejazi said.&nbsp; “It doesn’t 
make any sense. They’re just kids.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678372901239.png" alt="Retired University of Kansas faculty Susan Elkins and Jack Winerock hold a sign reading “Iran is bleeding” during a rally March 8, 2023, in front of Wescoe Hall. (Chloe Anderson for Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Retired University of Kansas faculty Susan Elkins and Jack Winerock hold a sign reading “Iran is bleeding” during a rally March 8, 2023, in front of Wescoe Hall. (Chloe Anderson for Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By CHLOE ANDERSON <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/09/theyre-trying-to-silence-people-university-of-kansas-group-rallies-in-support-of-iranian-women/">Kansas Reflector</a>LAWRENCE — Members of the University 
of Kansas Iranian Community Association gathered Wednesday in front of 
Wescoe Hall to rally in support of Iranian women.People across the globe held International Women’s Day rallies to highlight recent <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/10/25/in-iran-women-have-put-their-lives-on-the-line-for-basic-rights-in-kansas-we-barely-notice/">violence against Iranian women</a> and demand equal rights. Iranians started protesting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s
 regime following the Sept. 13, 2022, arrest of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
 Amini, who was arrested for wearing her hijab unlawfully, died in 
police custody three days later.Iranian security forces have killed 
hundreds of civilians since the protests began. Still, women and 
schoolgirls risk their lives every day to stand up against the 
injustices. But because independent news media were banned from 
reporting in Iran and authorities have disrupted internet usage, many 
outside of the country remain unaware of the situation.In addition to extreme measures used 
to suppress Iranian protesters, authorities also have been poisoning 
schoolgirls with mysterious gas. According to the BBC, more than 1,000 
students <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64816750">have been hospitalized</a> since the attacks started in November.“There’s not a lot of information 
that’s known, because that’s what the government’s trying to do — 
they’re trying to silence people,” said Mercedeh Tavacoli, a dual 
citizen born in Kansas with family in Iran. “That’s an even bigger 
issue, because this is the first ever women-led revolution.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678372965859.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>According to an article from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/history-matters/women-life-freedom">History Today</a>, “women, life, freedom” became the revolution’s slogan during Amini’s funeral on Sept. 17 in Saqqez.Following her death, Iranian women 
took to the streets, removing and burning their hijabs and even cutting 
their hair. By continuing to do so, they’re risking their lives by 
defying the country’s “morality police,” an Islamic religious force 
designed to enforce the strict laws regarding women’s behavior.Young Iranian girls and teenagers are
 involved in the uprising, removing their hijabs in schoolyards and 
chanting “women, life, freedom” in classrooms.In the months following the uprising, Khamenei threatened punishment for protesters, saying the punishment for young women would be “special.” On Monday, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/06/iran-supreme-leader-schoolgirl-poisonings-unforgivable">he publicly acknowledged the gas attacks</a> for the first time, calling them “unforgivable” and saying the culprits should be “severely punished.”Khamenei has downplayed the attacks 
on protesters and alleged that demonstrations were orchestrated by 
Iranian enemies like the United States and Israel. Authorities have 
denied killing peaceful demonstrators, but video footage has captured 
them shooting at civilians during protests.Several of the KU students, staff and
 community members gathered in front of Wescoe Hall have family members 
in Iran and fear for their loved ones’ safety as tensions escalate.“There are a lot of people who have been shot and killed who weren’t even protesting,” Tavacoli said. “They were kind of collateral damage.”Neda Hejazi, a postdoctoral 
researcher from Isfahan, said members of her extended family are 
terrified to send their children to school following the gas attack 
Monday on the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences campus, but 
government officials won’t allow them to keep their children home.“They’re forced — by government 
authorities — to attend in-person classes,” Hejazi said.&nbsp; “It doesn’t 
make any sense. They’re just kids.”

University of Kansas group rallies in support of Iranian women

By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/22/house-passes-kansas-bill-creating-method-of-anonymously-surrendering-an-infant/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — The Kansas House approved a $17 million sales tax exemption on equipment purchases by telecommunication companies after rejecting amendments to exclude hygiene products from the state’s 6.5% sales tax and to increase an exemption on state property tax collected to finance K-12 public schools.

The House also sent the Senate a bill Thursday requiring counties to alter annual property tax notices to include information about the previous four tax years rather than a single year. Another bill moved across the Capitol rotunda would require the state to pay for mailing notices to taxpayers when a county intended to raise more tax revenue.

Haysville Rep. Brian Bergkamp, who described himself as a skeptic of sales tax breaks, said a sense of fairness compelled him to speak up for House Bill 2106’s concession to the telecommunication industry. Kansas chose not to assess a general sales tax on business-to-business machinery and equipment transactions, he said, but that treatment hadn’t been extended to communications companies.

He said 24 states had a comparable sales tax exemption for equipment acquisitions by telecommunication businesses.

“Some of you might be asking, ‘Why in the wide world am I up here talking about a sales tax exemption?'” Bergkamp said. “To me, one of the most important things we can do as a body is to create fairness across the playing field. It’s about creating parity across different industries.”

Rep. Randy Garber, a Sabetha Republican, said he understood reasoning for the new exemption, but was weary of steady growth in the state’s roster of sales tax exemptions. He said exemptions from sales tax cost the state treasury an estimated $8 billion annually.

“Now, we’re going to add another one,” Garber said. “When are we going to stop giving sales tax exemptions to just a certain group of people?”

To punctuate the point, Garber proposed an amendment setting a five-year expiration date on the telecommunication sales tax exemption. The House approved his idea 64-47, despite arguments the industry’s timeline for infrastructure projects extended went well beyond five years and a 2028 expiration would be a nuisance for the industry’s lobbyists.

The GOP-led House rejected the $20 million sales tax exemption on hygiene products sought by Rep. Vic Miller, D-Topeka. He said tax relief approved by the Legislature ought to be directed at people who would benefit most from changes in the tax code.

Miller also was rebuffed when he proposed an amendment to House Bill 2201 that would raise the exemption on residential property taxes assessed to finance K-12 public schools. The state collects a 20-mill tax for education. For years, the first $20,000 of a home’s valuation was exempted. The 2022 Legislature doubled the exemption to $40,000. In his amendment, Miller wanted to boost the exemption to $65,000.

The House didn’t have a chance to vote on Miller’s property tax relief idea because a parliamentary maneuver led to a ruling the amendment wasn’t germane to the underlying bill.

Rep. Francis Awerkamp, R-St. Marys, said House Bill 2201 would simply require annual property valuation notices to include appraised and assessed values for each property for the current year and the previous four years. County officials are currently required to provide information on the current and last tax year.

<figure>
 <img src="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/P3031908-2-1024x576.jpg" alt="- Rep. Brian Bergkamp, R-Haysville, seen during a March 2021 committee hearing, convinced the House to pass a bill delivering a sales tax exemption on equipment purchases by the telecommunications industry. Two dozen states have comparable laws, and if implemented in Kansas it would cost the state about $17 million annually. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>- Rep. Brian Bergkamp, R-Haysville, seen during a March 2021 committee hearing, convinced the House to pass a bill delivering a sales tax exemption on equipment purchases by the telecommunications industry. Two dozen states have comparable laws, and if implemented in Kansas it would cost the state about $17 million annually. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/22/house-passes-kansas-bill-creating-method-of-anonymously-surrendering-an-infant/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — The Kansas House approved a $17 million sales tax exemption on equipment purchases by telecommunication companies after rejecting amendments to exclude hygiene products from the state’s 6.5% sales tax and to increase an exemption on state property tax collected to finance K-12 public schools.The House also sent the Senate a bill Thursday requiring counties to alter annual property tax notices to include information about the previous four tax years rather than a single year. Another bill moved across the Capitol rotunda would require the state to pay for mailing notices to taxpayers when a county intended to raise more tax revenue.Haysville Rep. Brian Bergkamp, who described himself as a skeptic of sales tax breaks, said a sense of fairness compelled him to speak up for House Bill 2106’s concession to the telecommunication industry. Kansas chose not to assess a general sales tax on business-to-business machinery and equipment transactions, he said, but that treatment hadn’t been extended to communications companies.He said 24 states had a comparable sales tax exemption for equipment acquisitions by telecommunication businesses.“Some of you might be asking, ‘Why in the wide world am I up here talking about a sales tax exemption?'” Bergkamp said. “To me, one of the most important things we can do as a body is to create fairness across the playing field. It’s about creating parity across different industries.”Rep. Randy Garber, a Sabetha Republican, said he understood reasoning for the new exemption, but was weary of steady growth in the state’s roster of sales tax exemptions. He said exemptions from sales tax cost the state treasury an estimated $8 billion annually.“Now, we’re going to add another one,” Garber said. “When are we going to stop giving sales tax exemptions to just a certain group of people?”To punctuate the point, Garber proposed an amendment setting a five-year expiration date on the telecommunication sales tax exemption. The House approved his idea 64-47, despite arguments the industry’s timeline for infrastructure projects extended went well beyond five years and a 2028 expiration would be a nuisance for the industry’s lobbyists.<figure>
 <img src="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/P2130962-1024x576.jpg" alt="-Rep. Vic Miller, D-Topeka, was unable to convince the Kansas House to support a $20 million state sales tax exemption on hygiene products and expansion of a residential property tax exemption tied to state funding of K-12 public education. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>-Rep. Vic Miller, D-Topeka, was unable to convince the Kansas House to support a $20 million state sales tax exemption on hygiene products and expansion of a residential property tax exemption tied to state funding of K-12 public education. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Property, sales tax ideas</h2>The GOP-led House rejected the $20 million sales tax exemption on hygiene products sought by Rep. Vic Miller, D-Topeka. He said tax relief approved by the Legislature ought to be directed at people who would benefit most from changes in the tax code.Miller also was rebuffed when he proposed an amendment to House Bill 2201 that would raise the exemption on residential property taxes assessed to finance K-12 public schools. The state collects a 20-mill tax for education. For years, the first $20,000 of a home’s valuation was exempted. The 2022 Legislature doubled the exemption to $40,000. In his amendment, Miller wanted to boost the exemption to $65,000.The House didn’t have a chance to vote on Miller’s property tax relief idea because a parliamentary maneuver led to a ruling the amendment wasn’t germane to the underlying bill.Rep. Francis Awerkamp, R-St. Marys, said House Bill 2201 would simply require annual property valuation notices to include appraised and assessed values for each property for the current year and the previous four years. County officials are currently required to provide information on the current and last tax year.“It’s a decent amount of information for the property owner just so they can better see the trends over five years,” Awerkamp said.Miller, in collaboration with other House Democrats, complained Republicans were tone deaf to spiking home property tax valuations in Kansas. Here are average increases for selected counties: Wallace County, 20%; Leavenworth County, 14.8%; Shawnee County, 13%; Johnson County, 12%; and Douglas County, 9%.“I am certain my colleagues across the aisle are hearing from their constituents about property valuations just as much as I’m hearing from mine, if not more,” Miller said.<h2>Taxpayer notices</h2>The House approved a bill advocated by Rep. Brett Fairchild, R-St. John, that shifted the burden of paying for notices to taxpayers whenever county governments wanted to raise property taxesExisting law required the state pay printing and postage costs of notifications in tax years 2022 and 2023. The bill would permanently place responsibility with the state government for the estimated $1.3 million annual cost of the notices, he said.More than 100 House members voted for that bill, but Topeka GOP Rep. Ken Corbet said the state was sending counties the wrong message by picking up the tab for mailings related to county plans to hike spending. The idea for the disclosure law, he said, was to put pressure on counties to contain expenditures.“Whoever in the county that busts that line should pay for the mailing,” Corbet said. “It’s silly for us to reward people in the county for raising your taxes.”