NEWTON, Kan. — At Tuesday’s meeting, the Newton City Commission approved final plans for the new Newton Public Library and moved ahead toward construction.

According to city manager Kelly McElroy, the new library will be 25,000 square feet on the east end of Military Park, with a new parking lot on the northwest side of the new building. After construction of the new building, the library contents will be moved into the new building and the old building will be demolished. A large green space will be created west of the building in the park. The 1880 train engine will remain in its current location.

The new library will have a drive-up book drop-off, glass-walled study rooms, large meeting rooms, young adult space with gaming area, separate space for children’s book collections and programs, technology areas, family restrooms, outdoor seating space and more.

The project cost estimate including design and construction is $10.7 million. The City has committed to fund $4.5 million toward the project, and the Library Board has pledged provide $1.2 million in cash if needed to cover budget shortfalls once final bids are received. This is in addition to the board’s original commitment of $1.3 million spread out over the life of the 20-year bonds.

A volunteer fundraising committee so far has raised $3,267,454.40 in private funds for the project. Over $1.4 million came from foundations, businesses or organizations, and $100,000 was donated by the City of North Newton. About $1.8 million was from individual donors. There are still additional donation requests on the table, and the committee continues to raise more funds. The committee is led by co-chairs Angela Becker and Ann Adrian and Library Director Cari Cusick in partnership with fundraising consultant Swanson House.

The Commission set a bid date of 11 a.m. Dec. 21. Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of next year.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1669379732525.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Hutch PostNEWTON, Kan. — At Tuesday’s meeting, the Newton City Commission approved final plans for the new Newton Public Library and moved ahead toward construction.According to city manager Kelly McElroy, the new library will be 25,000 square feet on the east end of Military Park, with a new parking lot on the northwest side of the new building. After construction of the new building, the library contents will be moved into the new building and the old building will be demolished. A large green space will be created west of the building in the park. The 1880 train engine will remain in its current location.The new library will have a drive-up book drop-off, glass-walled study rooms, large meeting rooms, young adult space with gaming area, separate space for children’s book collections and programs, technology areas, family restrooms, outdoor seating space and more.The project cost estimate including design and construction is $10.7 million. The City has committed to fund $4.5 million toward the project, and the Library Board has pledged provide $1.2 million in cash if needed to cover budget shortfalls once final bids are received. This is in addition to the board’s original commitment of $1.3 million spread out over the life of the 20-year bonds.A volunteer fundraising committee so far has raised $3,267,454.40 in private funds for the project. Over $1.4 million came from foundations, businesses or organizations, and $100,000 was donated by the City of North Newton. About $1.8 million was from individual donors. There are still additional donation requests on the table, and the committee continues to raise more funds. The committee is led by co-chairs Angela Becker and Ann Adrian and Library Director Cari Cusick in partnership with fundraising consultant Swanson House.The Commission set a bid date of 11 a.m. Dec. 21. Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of next year.

Plans approved for new Newton Public Library

By BECKY GOFF Little Apple Post

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, officers from the Riley 
County Police Department responded to the report of an injury crash near
 the intersection of Seth Child Road and Anderson Avenue.

Upon 
arrival officers found a 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse, driven by Jose Orona, 25, Manhattan, was involved in a crash with a 2006 Toyota 
Highlander driven by Sabrina Reyes, 21, also of Manhattan.

Both Orona and Reyes were transported to Ascension Via Christi in Manhattan for treatment of injuries.

Orona was later life-flighted to Stormont Vail in Topeka for treatment of bleeding on the brain.&nbsp;

The severity of Reyes injuries have not been released.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.&nbsp;

By BECKY GOFF Little Apple PostMANHATTAN, Kan. — Around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, officers from the Riley 
County Police Department responded to the report of an injury crash near
 the intersection of Seth Child Road and Anderson Avenue.Upon 
arrival officers found a 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse, driven by Jose Orona, 25, Manhattan, was involved in a crash with a 2006 Toyota 
Highlander driven by Sabrina Reyes, 21, also of Manhattan.Both Orona and Reyes were transported to Ascension Via Christi in Manhattan for treatment of injuries.Orona was later life-flighted to Stormont Vail in Topeka for treatment of bleeding on the brain.&nbsp;The severity of Reyes injuries have not been released.The cause of the crash remains under investigation.&nbsp;Corrected 3 p.m. Friday

Kan. man life-flighted to hospital after two-vehicle accident

GREAT BEND — On Oct. 3, deputies with the Barton County Sheriff’s Office responded
 to a reported theft in the 2300 block of Railroad Avenue just south the
 city of Great Bend. 

The person reporting the theft advised law 
enforcement that a 2018 Jayco Jayflight bumper-pull camper had been 
stolen sometime the night before. The estimated value of the camper was 
$20,500.

On Nov. 22, detectives obtained a search warrant to 
retrieve the camper. Detectives went to a location in Hutchinson where 
they located the camper and it was seized. Deputies transported it back 
to Barton County. 

This investigation is continuing, and 
additional search warrants and arrest warrants are expected in the near 
future. The Barton County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Reno 
County Sheriff’s Office.

Great Bend PostGREAT BEND — On Oct. 3, deputies with the Barton County Sheriff’s Office responded
 to a reported theft in the 2300 block of Railroad Avenue just south the
 city of Great Bend. The person reporting the theft advised law 
enforcement that a 2018 Jayco Jayflight bumper-pull camper had been 
stolen sometime the night before. The estimated value of the camper was 
$20,500.On Nov. 22, detectives obtained a search warrant to 
retrieve the camper. Detectives went to a location in Hutchinson where 
they located the camper and it was seized. Deputies transported it back 
to Barton County. This investigation is continuing, and 
additional search warrants and arrest warrants are expected in the near 
future. The Barton County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Reno 
County Sheriff’s Office.

Kansas police recover camper missing since early October

OMAHA, Neb. — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett donated more than $750 million in Berkshire Hathaway stock to the four foundations run by his family Wednesday, but unlike his annual gifts to charity each summer, the recipients didn't include the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation.

Buffett has been making annual donations to the same five charities every year since 2006 when he unveiled a plan to give away his fortune over time, with the Gates Foundation receiving the biggest donations. Wednesday's donations mark the first time the 92-year-old has made a second major gift within the same year.

A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed Buffett gave 1.5 million Class B shares in the Omaha, Neb.-based conglomerate he leads to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his first wife. He also gave 300,000 Class B shares apiece to the three foundations run by his children: the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation.

In June, he gave 11 million Class B shares to the Gates Foundation, 1.1 million B shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 770,218 shares apiece to his children's three foundations.

It wasn't immediately clear what prompted the new donations this week, and Buffett didn't immediately respond Wednesday to questions about them. The Gates Foundation and the Buffett family foundations that received the gifts also didn't immediately respond to questions.

The only other major change Buffett has made to his giving plans over the years came a decade ago when he significantly increased the amount pledged to the foundations his children run because he was pleased with what they had done with his money.

The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation keeps a low profile, but over the years it has been a major supporter of abortion rights, making large gifts to Planned Parenthood and other groups. Buffett hasn't announced any changes in his giving plans since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year.

Susie Buffett, 69, uses her Sherwood Foundation to strengthen early childhood education and support a number of projects around Buffett's hometown of Omaha where she also lives. Howard Buffett, 67, is helping farmers in impoverished nations produce more and working to end world hunger with his namesake foundation. Peter Buffett, 64, has dedicated his NoVo Foundation to empowering women and girls worldwide through education, collaboration and economic development to end violence against women.

Even after these latest gifts, Buffett still controls more than 31% of Berkshire’s voting power.

Berkshire Hathaway is an eclectic conglomerate that owns more than 90 companies including BNSF railroad, Geico insurance, several major utilities and an assortment of manufacturing and retail firms including Precision Castparts, Dairy Queen and Helzberg Diamonds. In addition to the companies it owns outright, Berkshire owns major investments in Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola and other companies.

Associated PressOMAHA, Neb. — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett donated more than $750 million in Berkshire Hathaway stock to the four foundations run by his family Wednesday, but unlike his annual gifts to charity each summer, the recipients didn't include the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation.Buffett has been making annual donations to the same five charities every year since 2006 when he unveiled a plan to give away his fortune over time, with the Gates Foundation receiving the biggest donations. Wednesday's donations mark the first time the 92-year-old has made a second major gift within the same year.A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed Buffett gave 1.5 million Class B shares in the Omaha, Neb.-based conglomerate he leads to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his first wife. He also gave 300,000 Class B shares apiece to the three foundations run by his children: the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation.In June, he gave 11 million Class B shares to the Gates Foundation, 1.1 million B shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 770,218 shares apiece to his children's three foundations.It wasn't immediately clear what prompted the new donations this week, and Buffett didn't immediately respond Wednesday to questions about them. The Gates Foundation and the Buffett family foundations that received the gifts also didn't immediately respond to questions.The only other major change Buffett has made to his giving plans over the years came a decade ago when he significantly increased the amount pledged to the foundations his children run because he was pleased with what they had done with his money.The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation keeps a low profile, but over the years it has been a major supporter of abortion rights, making large gifts to Planned Parenthood and other groups. Buffett hasn't announced any changes in his giving plans since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year.Susie Buffett, 69, uses her Sherwood Foundation to strengthen early childhood education and support a number of projects around Buffett's hometown of Omaha where she also lives. Howard Buffett, 67, is helping farmers in impoverished nations produce more and working to end world hunger with his namesake foundation. Peter Buffett, 64, has dedicated his NoVo Foundation to empowering women and girls worldwide through education, collaboration and economic development to end violence against women.Even after these latest gifts, Buffett still controls more than 31% of Berkshire’s voting power.Berkshire Hathaway is an eclectic conglomerate that owns more than 90 companies including BNSF railroad, Geico insurance, several major utilities and an assortment of manufacturing and retail firms including Precision Castparts, Dairy Queen and Helzberg Diamonds. In addition to the companies it owns outright, Berkshire owns major investments in Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola and other companies.

Buffett donates over $750 million to his family charities

By DAVID MEDNICOFF <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-world-cup-puts-the-spotlight-on-qatar-but-also-brings-attention-to-its-human-rights-record-and-politics-4-things-to-know-194970">The Conversation</a>

With the start of the World Cup on Nov. 20, 2022, soccer teams <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Qatar">from 32 countries</a> and <a href="https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sport/football/world-cup-2022-fans/">tens of thousands of fans</a>
 have converged on Qatar, a tiny Arab country on a peninsula in the 
Persian Gulf. But search “Qatar 2022” online, and the first nonsport 
results are about <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/11/14/qatar-rights-abuses-stain-fifa-world-cup">the country’s human rights issues</a>.

Like its fellow oil-rich Arab countries, Qatar has enjoyed immense 
wealth that nurtured grand ambitions of economic growth among rulers and
 citizens alike. Qatar and its neighbors, including Bahrain and the 
United Arab Emirates, have brought <a href="https://www.ilo.org/beirut/areasofwork/labour-migration/lang--en/index.htm">in millions</a> of workers from other countries to support their fast-growing cities and businesses over the <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/QAT/qatar/immigration-statistics">past few decades</a>.

In particular, about <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60867042">30,000 workers</a>
 came from Bangladesh, India and Nepal to construct the World Cup 
stadiums. At least 37 died, according to official Qatari counts, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/16/sports/soccer/world-cup-migrant-workers.html">while building</a> the US$220 billion infrastructure for the games.

I am <a href="https://www.umass.edu/jne/member/david-mednicoff">a political scientist and legal scholar of the Middle East</a> who has lived and <a href="https://www.newswise.com/articles/middle-east-expert-mednicoff-named-lead-investigator-for-1-million-research-study?channel=">worked</a>
 in Qatar. Given the sudden media focus on the country, I think it 
helpful for both World Cup fans and people who don’t know a soccer ball 
from a hockey puck to understand four aspects of Qatar’s politics that 
relate to its human rights challenges.

A sparsely populated country in a desert, Qatar gained independence from Great Britain in 1971. With its large <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/gas/qatar-natural-gas/">oil and natural gas</a> reserves, Qatar has the <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=QA">highest income per citizen</a> in the world.

Qatar’s ruler is <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2019/01/tamim-the-glorious-portrait-goes-viral.html">popular</a> among <a href="https://bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/QAT">citizens</a>. <a href="https://www.diwan.gov.qa/hh-the-amir?sc_lang=en#data---">Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani</a>
 is part a family dynasty that has run the area’s politics since the 
1800s, even under Ottoman and British control. This makes Qatar one of 
eight Arab countries governed by hereditary kings.

Hereditary ruling monarchies <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315203195-10/contemporary-kingship-muslim-arab-societies-comparative-context-david-mednicoff">may seem archaic</a> to people living in societies with elected leaders. Yet these systems <a href="https://theconversation.com/middle-eastern-monarchies-how-do-arab-ruling-families-hold-on-to-power-159952">have held onto power, outlasting the Arab uprisings of 2011</a>. The lack of democracy in Arab countries is also part of a broader trend, as <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2022/global-expansion-authoritarian-rule">autocratic governments are generally on the rise globally</a>.

2. Yes – workers’ rights have been a problem 

Doha, the capital of Qatar, has become a major <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/">media</a>, <a href="https://www.qf.org.qa/education/education-city">educational</a>, <a href="https://raiagroup.org/qatars-tamim-is-leading-diplomacy-in-the-middle-east">diplomatic</a>
 and recreational hub over the past few decades. Its breakneck 
development also required workers from all over the world. As a result, 
foreign workers make up <a href="https://www.onlineqatar.com/visiting/tourist-information/qatar-population-and-expat-nationalities">about 85% of the country’s total population</a>, but they <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/qatar">do not have the same rights</a> as Qatari citizens. Qatari natives have been reluctant to share their <a href="https://qatarofw.com/qatar-social-security/">extraordinary social welfare benefits</a>,
 like free medical care, with millions of workers from abroad. This 
makes for a system that gives many more rights to Qatari nationals than 
the millions of others who live there.

Unusual, rapid growth like Qatar’s is a magnet for foreign contract 
workers worldwide. I enjoyed my opportunity to work there myself as a 
visiting professor and Fulbright scholar 15 years ago. Yet less 
privileged foreign workers can fare badly.

In Qatar and its oil-rich peers, control by a minority of citizens over millions of workers with fewer rights leads to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/15/migrant-workers-in-qatar-face-structural-racism-says-un-report">discrimination and abuse</a>. Human rights groups, journalists and <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/migrant-workers-recount-abuse-while-building-stadiums-for-world-cup-in-qatar">migrant workers</a> themselves have <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/02/reality-check-migrant-workers-rights-with-two-years-to-qatar-2022-world-cup/">sought to change harmful workplace practices</a>, such as withholding wages and forbidding unions.

Qatar’s summer heat, <a href="https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/qatar/doha-climate">averaging 106 degrees Fahrenheit</a>
 (41 degrees Celsius), can make working conditions especially dangerous 
for outside construction workers. Since it is hard to know whether the 
alleged worker deaths are due specifically to bad working conditions, 
work-related issues, or something else, exact mortality numbers have <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-how-many-people-have-died-for-the-qatar-world-cup/a-63763713">been disputed and may be prone to exaggeration</a>. Yet no one doubts that <a href="https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/thousands-migrant-workers-died-qatars-extreme-heat-world-cup-forced-reckoning">conditions have been terrible</a> for many of Qatar’s most vulnerable workers.

Other rights issues in Qatar have also <a href="https://news.northeastern.edu/2022/11/19/world-cup-lgbtq-fans-athletes-safety/">attracted global attention</a>. The conservative form of Islam that is part of Qatar’s identity allows little tolerance for LGBTQ rights. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/24/qatar-security-forces-arrest-abuse-lgbt-people">Human rights groups have documented</a> detentions and other routine discrimination against LGBTQ people.

While workers’ rights have received appropriate Western media attention, Qatar’s direct efforts to <a href="https://theathletic.com/3836101/2022/11/17/how-ngos-responded-to-world-cup/">respond to local and international activism</a> are less known. Qatar <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/24/qatar-significant-labor-and-kafala-reforms">enacted the most significant labor rights reforms in the Arab world</a> in 2021.

<a href="https://www.ilo.org/beirut/countries/qatar/WCMS_859880/lang--en/index.htm">Working with the International Labor Organization</a>,
 a United Nations agency that promotes fair and decent work worldwide, 
Qatar instituted a minimum wage of $275 per month, along with allowances
 for food and lodging. It also prohibited outdoor work during the peak 
of summer heat and eliminated many of the laws that gave employers 
control over their workers’ basic freedoms to leave their job or the 
country.

Because the reforms are recent, it is hard to know whether they represent <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/qatar">important steps forward</a> or <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/10/qatar-labour-reform-unfinished-and-compensation-still-owed-as-world-cup-looms/">incremental steps that will change little</a>.

In any case, legislation in and of itself cannot remedy a complicated
 challenge involving a wide range of companies and other organizations 
that Qatar’s government does not control. Whether Qatar can and will 
enforce the new regulations consistently is one concern. 

Most foreign migrants arrive in Qatar through foreign-based recruitment companies, which charge them to secure jobs. So even if <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/1/qatar-made-progress-in-labour-reforms-ilo">Qatar tries to curb labor abuses</a>, <a href="https://www.ilo.org/infostories/en-GB/Stories/Country-Focus/world-cup-qatar#domestic">recruitment companies</a>
 based in migrants’ countries of origin would still profit by charging 
workers expensive placement fees, for example. Such recruiters often 
work with <a href="https://www.business-humanrights.org/de/von-uns/briefings/wake-up-call-exploitative-recruitment-risk-to-migrant-workers-in-qatars-world-cup-hotels/">multinational companies within Qatar</a> to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelposner/2022/10/28/world-cup-abuses-led-qatar-to-change-labor-laws-but-more-protection-is-needed/?sh=6cb0b28c2062">blunt the force</a> of the kingdom’s recent reforms.

4. And Western critiques may conceal other agendas 

<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/15/qatari-minister-slams-western-media-coverage-of-world-cup-record">Qatari officials have suggested</a>
 that international attention to foreign workers’ conditions is part of a
 broader pattern of Westerners belittling Arabs and Muslims. <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/qatar-world-cup-team-depicted-terrorists-cartoon-sparks-outrage-1758928">One blatant example</a>
 is an October issue of the French right-wing satirical magazine “Le 
Canard enchaîné,” which depicted Qatari soccer players as terrorists.

Calls in some parts of Europe for <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/17/qatar-world-cup-broadcasting-boycotts-france">a widespread World Cup boycott</a> add fuel to this and <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/11/17/in-defence-of-qatars-hosting-of-the-world-cup">other arguments</a> that the European and American impression of Qatar is <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20221119-fifa-president-blasts-hypocrisy-of-western-critics-of-world-cup-host-qatar">hypocritical</a> and possibly <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221010-qatar-says-french-objections-to-fifa-world-cup-stem-from-islamophobia/">Islamophobic</a>.
 Though hardly a neutral observer, Gianni Infantino, the president of 
FIFA, which carries out the World Cup, reflected many Gulf Arabs’ views 
when he argued that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/19/fifa-chief-accuses-critics-of-qatar-of-hypocrisy-ahead-of-world-cup.html">Europe’s history of exploiting Middle Easterners and others</a> gives it little moral high ground on issues of non-Western rights.

Because no Middle Eastern or Muslim-majority country had hosted the World Cup before 2022, Qatar’s achievement is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/opinion/qatar-world-cup-arab-football.html">significant</a>. The Economist <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/11/17/in-defence-of-qatars-hosting-of-the-world-cup">argues that</a>
 Qatar’s responsiveness to pressures to improve its human rights climate
 may make it a more appropriate host for a global sporting event than 
other countries with poor human rights records, such as China or Russia.

Yet genuine global concern about rights in countries like Qatar and 
mistrust between the Middle East and the West will persist. Can new 
global awareness of Qatar lead to more nuanced understanding of both 
cross-cultural similarities and differences between Arab Islamic 
countries and the rest of the world? For the moment, this is as hard to 
know as which country will win the World Cup.

David Mednicoff, Chair, Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, and 
Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Public Policy, UMass 
Amherst

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1669227517151.jpeg" alt="Young girls and a woman watch a fireworks display as part of the World Cup soccer tournament FIFA fan festival in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)" />
 <figcaption>Young girls and a woman watch a fireworks display as part of the World Cup soccer tournament FIFA fan festival in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)</figcaption>
 </figure>By DAVID MEDNICOFF <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-world-cup-puts-the-spotlight-on-qatar-but-also-brings-attention-to-its-human-rights-record-and-politics-4-things-to-know-194970">The Conversation</a>With the start of the World Cup on Nov. 20, 2022, soccer teams <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Qatar">from 32 countries</a> and <a href="https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sport/football/world-cup-2022-fans/">tens of thousands of fans</a>
 have converged on Qatar, a tiny Arab country on a peninsula in the 
Persian Gulf. But search “Qatar 2022” online, and the first nonsport 
results are about <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/11/14/qatar-rights-abuses-stain-fifa-world-cup">the country’s human rights issues</a>.Like its fellow oil-rich Arab countries, Qatar has enjoyed immense 
wealth that nurtured grand ambitions of economic growth among rulers and
 citizens alike. Qatar and its neighbors, including Bahrain and the 
United Arab Emirates, have brought <a href="https://www.ilo.org/beirut/areasofwork/labour-migration/lang--en/index.htm">in millions</a> of workers from other countries to support their fast-growing cities and businesses over the <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/QAT/qatar/immigration-statistics">past few decades</a>.In particular, about <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60867042">30,000 workers</a>
 came from Bangladesh, India and Nepal to construct the World Cup 
stadiums. At least 37 died, according to official Qatari counts, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/16/sports/soccer/world-cup-migrant-workers.html">while building</a> the US$220 billion infrastructure for the games. I am <a href="https://www.umass.edu/jne/member/david-mednicoff">a political scientist and legal scholar of the Middle East</a> who has lived and <a href="https://www.newswise.com/articles/middle-east-expert-mednicoff-named-lead-investigator-for-1-million-research-study?channel=">worked</a>
 in Qatar. Given the sudden media focus on the country, I think it 
helpful for both World Cup fans and people who don’t know a soccer ball 
from a hockey puck to understand four aspects of Qatar’s politics that 
relate to its human rights challenges.<h2>1. Qatar is ruled by a popular king</h2>A sparsely populated country in a desert, Qatar gained independence from Great Britain in 1971. With its large <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/gas/qatar-natural-gas/">oil and natural gas</a> reserves, Qatar has the <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=QA">highest income per citizen</a> in the world. Qatar’s ruler is <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2019/01/tamim-the-glorious-portrait-goes-viral.html">popular</a> among <a href="https://bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/QAT">citizens</a>. <a href="https://www.diwan.gov.qa/hh-the-amir?sc_lang=en#data---">Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani</a>
 is part a family dynasty that has run the area’s politics since the 
1800s, even under Ottoman and British control. This makes Qatar one of 
eight Arab countries governed by hereditary kings.Hereditary ruling monarchies <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315203195-10/contemporary-kingship-muslim-arab-societies-comparative-context-david-mednicoff">may seem archaic</a> to people living in societies with elected leaders. Yet these systems <a href="https://theconversation.com/middle-eastern-monarchies-how-do-arab-ruling-families-hold-on-to-power-159952">have held onto power, outlasting the Arab uprisings of 2011</a>. The lack of democracy in Arab countries is also part of a broader trend, as <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2022/global-expansion-authoritarian-rule">autocratic governments are generally on the rise globally</a>. <h2>2. Yes – workers’ rights have been a problem </h2>Doha, the capital of Qatar, has become a major <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/">media</a>, <a href="https://www.qf.org.qa/education/education-city">educational</a>, <a href="https://raiagroup.org/qatars-tamim-is-leading-diplomacy-in-the-middle-east">diplomatic</a>
 and recreational hub over the past few decades. Its breakneck 
development also required workers from all over the world. As a result, 
foreign workers make up <a href="https://www.onlineqatar.com/visiting/tourist-information/qatar-population-and-expat-nationalities">about 85% of the country’s total population</a>, but they <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/qatar">do not have the same rights</a> as Qatari citizens. Qatari natives have been reluctant to share their <a href="https://qatarofw.com/qatar-social-security/">extraordinary social welfare benefits</a>,
 like free medical care, with millions of workers from abroad. This 
makes for a system that gives many more rights to Qatari nationals than 
the millions of others who live there.Unusual, rapid growth like Qatar’s is a magnet for foreign contract 
workers worldwide. I enjoyed my opportunity to work there myself as a 
visiting professor and Fulbright scholar 15 years ago. Yet less 
privileged foreign workers can fare badly.In Qatar and its oil-rich peers, control by a minority of citizens over millions of workers with fewer rights leads to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/15/migrant-workers-in-qatar-face-structural-racism-says-un-report">discrimination and abuse</a>. Human rights groups, journalists and <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/migrant-workers-recount-abuse-while-building-stadiums-for-world-cup-in-qatar">migrant workers</a> themselves have <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/02/reality-check-migrant-workers-rights-with-two-years-to-qatar-2022-world-cup/">sought to change harmful workplace practices</a>, such as withholding wages and forbidding unions. Qatar’s summer heat, <a href="https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/qatar/doha-climate">averaging 106 degrees Fahrenheit</a>
 (41 degrees Celsius), can make working conditions especially dangerous 
for outside construction workers. Since it is hard to know whether the 
alleged worker deaths are due specifically to bad working conditions, 
work-related issues, or something else, exact mortality numbers have <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-how-many-people-have-died-for-the-qatar-world-cup/a-63763713">been disputed and may be prone to exaggeration</a>. Yet no one doubts that <a href="https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/thousands-migrant-workers-died-qatars-extreme-heat-world-cup-forced-reckoning">conditions have been terrible</a> for many of Qatar’s most vulnerable workers.Other rights issues in Qatar have also <a href="https://news.northeastern.edu/2022/11/19/world-cup-lgbtq-fans-athletes-safety/">attracted global attention</a>. The conservative form of Islam that is part of Qatar’s identity allows little tolerance for LGBTQ rights. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/24/qatar-security-forces-arrest-abuse-lgbt-people">Human rights groups have documented</a> detentions and other routine discrimination against LGBTQ people.<h2>3. Yet Qatar has made major reforms</h2>While workers’ rights have received appropriate Western media attention, Qatar’s direct efforts to <a href="https://theathletic.com/3836101/2022/11/17/how-ngos-responded-to-world-cup/">respond to local and international activism</a> are less known. Qatar <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/24/qatar-significant-labor-and-kafala-reforms">enacted the most significant labor rights reforms in the Arab world</a> in 2021. <a href="https://www.ilo.org/beirut/countries/qatar/WCMS_859880/lang--en/index.htm">Working with the International Labor Organization</a>,
 a United Nations agency that promotes fair and decent work worldwide, 
Qatar instituted a minimum wage of $275 per month, along with allowances
 for food and lodging. It also prohibited outdoor work during the peak 
of summer heat and eliminated many of the laws that gave employers 
control over their workers’ basic freedoms to leave their job or the 
country.Because the reforms are recent, it is hard to know whether they represent <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/qatar">important steps forward</a> or <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/10/qatar-labour-reform-unfinished-and-compensation-still-owed-as-world-cup-looms/">incremental steps that will change little</a>. In any case, legislation in and of itself cannot remedy a complicated
 challenge involving a wide range of companies and other organizations 
that Qatar’s government does not control. Whether Qatar can and will 
enforce the new regulations consistently is one concern. Most foreign migrants arrive in Qatar through foreign-based recruitment companies, which charge them to secure jobs. So even if <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/1/qatar-made-progress-in-labour-reforms-ilo">Qatar tries to curb labor abuses</a>, <a href="https://www.ilo.org/infostories/en-GB/Stories/Country-Focus/world-cup-qatar#domestic">recruitment companies</a>
 based in migrants’ countries of origin would still profit by charging 
workers expensive placement fees, for example. Such recruiters often 
work with <a href="https://www.business-humanrights.org/de/von-uns/briefings/wake-up-call-exploitative-recruitment-risk-to-migrant-workers-in-qatars-world-cup-hotels/">multinational companies within Qatar</a> to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelposner/2022/10/28/world-cup-abuses-led-qatar-to-change-labor-laws-but-more-protection-is-needed/?sh=6cb0b28c2062">blunt the force</a> of the kingdom’s recent reforms. <h2>4. And Western critiques may conceal other agendas </h2><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/15/qatari-minister-slams-western-media-coverage-of-world-cup-record">Qatari officials have suggested</a>
 that international attention to foreign workers’ conditions is part of a
 broader pattern of Westerners belittling Arabs and Muslims. <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/qatar-world-cup-team-depicted-terrorists-cartoon-sparks-outrage-1758928">One blatant example</a>
 is an October issue of the French right-wing satirical magazine “Le 
Canard enchaîné,” which depicted Qatari soccer players as terrorists.Calls in some parts of Europe for <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/17/qatar-world-cup-broadcasting-boycotts-france">a widespread World Cup boycott</a> add fuel to this and <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/11/17/in-defence-of-qatars-hosting-of-the-world-cup">other arguments</a> that the European and American impression of Qatar is <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20221119-fifa-president-blasts-hypocrisy-of-western-critics-of-world-cup-host-qatar">hypocritical</a> and possibly <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221010-qatar-says-french-objections-to-fifa-world-cup-stem-from-islamophobia/">Islamophobic</a>.
 Though hardly a neutral observer, Gianni Infantino, the president of 
FIFA, which carries out the World Cup, reflected many Gulf Arabs’ views 
when he argued that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/19/fifa-chief-accuses-critics-of-qatar-of-hypocrisy-ahead-of-world-cup.html">Europe’s history of exploiting Middle Easterners and others</a> gives it little moral high ground on issues of non-Western rights. Because no Middle Eastern or Muslim-majority country had hosted the World Cup before 2022, Qatar’s achievement is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/opinion/qatar-world-cup-arab-football.html">significant</a>. The Economist <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/11/17/in-defence-of-qatars-hosting-of-the-world-cup">argues that</a>
 Qatar’s responsiveness to pressures to improve its human rights climate
 may make it a more appropriate host for a global sporting event than 
other countries with poor human rights records, such as China or Russia.
 Yet genuine global concern about rights in countries like Qatar and 
mistrust between the Middle East and the West will persist. Can new 
global awareness of Qatar lead to more nuanced understanding of both 
cross-cultural similarities and differences between Arab Islamic 
countries and the rest of the world? For the moment, this is as hard to 
know as which country will win the World Cup.David Mednicoff, Chair, Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, and 
Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Public Policy, UMass 
Amherst<div><iframe src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194970/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe></div>

World Cup puts spotlight on Qatar — and its human rights record 

MARSHALL COUNTY - A Marysville man was arrested in connection to the death of his wife early Thursday morning.

According to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Marshall County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call at approximately 2:30 a.m. Thursday from a man in the 1000 block of Granite Road who requested medical assistance for his wife. When deputies arrived, they found Jennifer Brown, 57, inside the residence. She was pronounced dead at the scene from apparent gunshot wounds, the KBI reported.

The Marshall County Sheriff’s Office requested KBI assistance at approximately 3:20 a.m. on Thursday.

After further investigation, Brown's husband, Gerald L. Brown, 66, was arrested on a requested charge of first-degree murder, the KBI noted. He was booked into the Marshall County Jail.

MARSHALL COUNTY - A Marysville man was arrested in connection to the death of his wife early Thursday morning.According to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Marshall County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call at approximately 2:30 a.m. Thursday from a man in the 1000 block of Granite Road who requested medical assistance for his wife. When deputies arrived, they found Jennifer Brown, 57, inside the residence. She was pronounced dead at the scene from apparent gunshot wounds, the KBI reported.The Marshall County Sheriff’s Office requested KBI assistance at approximately 3:20 a.m. on Thursday.After further investigation, Brown's husband, Gerald L. Brown, 66, was arrested on a requested charge of first-degree murder, the KBI noted. He was booked into the Marshall County Jail.The investigation is ongoing.

KBI: Marysville man arrested in connection to death of his wife

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JOHN%20LEICESTER%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press</a>

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — European officials are scrambling to help Ukraine stay warm and keep functioning through the bitter winter months, pledging Friday to send more support that will mitigate the Russian military’s efforts to turn off the heat and lights.

Nine months after Russia invaded its neighbor, the Kremlin’s forces have zeroed in on Ukraine’s power grid and other critical civilian infrastructure in a bid to tighten the screw on Kyiv. Officials estimate that around 50% of Ukraine's energy facilities have been damaged in the recent strikes.

France is sending 100 high-powered generators to Ukraine to help people get through the coming months, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said Friday.

She said Russia is “weaponizing” winter and plunging Ukraine’s civilian population into hardship.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, arriving Friday in Kyiv for an unannounced visit, said a promised air-defense package, which Britain valued at 50 million pounds ($60 million), would help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s bombardments.

“Words are not enough. Words won’t keep the lights on this winter. Words won’t defend against Russian missiles,” Cleverly said in a tweet about the military aid.

The package includes radar and other technology to counter the Iran-supplied exploding drones that Russia has used against Ukrainian targets, especially the power grid. It comes on top of a delivery of more than 1,000 anti-air missiles that Britain announced earlier this month.

“As winter sets in, Russia is continuing to try and break Ukrainian resolve through its brutal attacks on civilians, hospitals and energy infrastructure,” Cleverly said.

Russian officials have claimed they are hitting legitimate targets. But the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday expressed his shock at the depth of civilian suffering caused by the bombing, amid broader allegations of abuses.

“Millions are being plunged into extreme hardship and appalling conditions of life by these strikes,” Volker Türk said in a statement Friday. “Taken as a whole, this raises serious problems under international humanitarian law, which requires a concrete and direct military advantage for each object attacked.”

The U.N. humanitarian office also chimed in with its concerns. “Ukraine is turning increasingly cold without power, without steady water supply and without heating,” Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the office, said Friday.

He said the global body and its partners were sending hundreds of generators to Ukraine to help the government there in its efforts to keep people warm and maintain essential services, such as health care. The World Health Organization said it is sending generators to hospitals.

Cleverly's visit came a day after European officials launched a scheme called “Generators of Hope,” which calls on more than 200 cities across the continent to donate power generators and electricity transformers.

The generators are intended to help keep essential Ukrainian facilities running, providing power to hospitals, schools and water pumping stations, among other infrastructure.

Generators may provide only a tiny amount of the energy that Ukraine will need during the cold and dark winter months.

But the comfort and relief they provide is already evident, as winter begins in earnest and power outages occur regularly. The whine and rumble of generators is becoming commonplace, allowing stores that have them to stay open and Ukraine’s ubiquitous coffee shops to keep serving hot drinks that maintain a semblance of normality.

Despite strong wind, rain, sub-zero temperatures at night, icing and broken power lines, more than 70% of Ukraine’s electricity requirements were being met on Friday morning, the country’s state power grid operator Ukrenergo said in a statement.

The electricity supply has been at least partially restored in all regions of Ukraine, and the country’s energy grid was once again connected to that of the European Union, the head of the state power grid said on Friday.

Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, CEO of Ukrenergo, added that despite that progress, about half of Ukrainian residents continue to experience disruption. He added that all three of Ukraine’s nuclear plants located in areas controlled by Kyiv have resumed operation.

“In one to two days, nuclear power plants will reach their normal scheduled capacity, and we expect that it will be possible to transfer our consumers to a planned shutdown (regime) instead of emergency (blackouts),” Kudrytskyi said on Ukrainian TV.

Ukrainian authorities are opening thousands of so-called “points of invincibility” — heated and powered spaces offering hot meals, electricity and internet connections. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said late Thursday that almost 4,400 such spaces have opened across most of the country.

He scoffed at Moscow’s attempts to intimidate Ukrainian civilians, saying that was the Russian military’s only option after a string of battlefield setbacks. “Either energy terror, or artillery terror, or missile terror — that’s all that Russia has dwindled to under its current leaders,” Zelenskyy said.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian officials and energy workers continued their push to restore supplies after a nationwide barrage Wednesday left tens of millions without power and water.

Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said Friday morning that heating was back on in a third of the capital’s households, but that half of its population still lacked electricity.

Writing on Telegram, Klitschko added that authorities hoped to provide all consumers in Kyiv with electricity for a period of three hours on Friday, following a pre-set schedule.

As of Friday morning in Kharkiv, all residents of Ukraine’s second-largest city had had their electricity supplies restored, but more than 100,000 in the outlying region continued to see interruptions, the regional governor said.

In the south, authorities in the city of Mykolayiv said that running water was set to start flowing again after supplies were cut off by Russian strikes on Thursday.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JOHN%20LEICESTER%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press</a>KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — European officials are scrambling to help Ukraine stay warm and keep functioning through the bitter winter months, pledging Friday to send more support that will mitigate the Russian military’s efforts to turn off the heat and lights.Nine months after Russia invaded its neighbor, the Kremlin’s forces have zeroed in on Ukraine’s power grid and other critical civilian infrastructure in a bid to tighten the screw on Kyiv. Officials estimate that around 50% of Ukraine's energy facilities have been damaged in the recent strikes.France is sending 100 high-powered generators to Ukraine to help people get through the coming months, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said Friday.She said Russia is “weaponizing” winter and plunging Ukraine’s civilian population into hardship.British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, arriving Friday in Kyiv for an unannounced visit, said a promised air-defense package, which Britain valued at 50 million pounds ($60 million), would help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s bombardments.“Words are not enough. Words won’t keep the lights on this winter. Words won’t defend against Russian missiles,” Cleverly said in a tweet about the military aid.The package includes radar and other technology to counter the Iran-supplied exploding drones that Russia has used against Ukrainian targets, especially the power grid. It comes on top of a delivery of more than 1,000 anti-air missiles that Britain announced earlier this month.“As winter sets in, Russia is continuing to try and break Ukrainian resolve through its brutal attacks on civilians, hospitals and energy infrastructure,” Cleverly said.Russian officials have claimed they are hitting legitimate targets. But the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday expressed his shock at the depth of civilian suffering caused by the bombing, amid broader allegations of abuses.“Millions are being plunged into extreme hardship and appalling conditions of life by these strikes,” Volker Türk said in a statement Friday. “Taken as a whole, this raises serious problems under international humanitarian law, which requires a concrete and direct military advantage for each object attacked.”The U.N. humanitarian office also chimed in with its concerns. “Ukraine is turning increasingly cold without power, without steady water supply and without heating,” Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the office, said Friday.He said the global body and its partners were sending hundreds of generators to Ukraine to help the government there in its efforts to keep people warm and maintain essential services, such as health care. The World Health Organization said it is sending generators to hospitals.Cleverly's visit came a day after European officials launched a scheme called “Generators of Hope,” which calls on more than 200 cities across the continent to donate power generators and electricity transformers.The generators are intended to help keep essential Ukrainian facilities running, providing power to hospitals, schools and water pumping stations, among other infrastructure.Generators may provide only a tiny amount of the energy that Ukraine will need during the cold and dark winter months.But the comfort and relief they provide is already evident, as winter begins in earnest and power outages occur regularly. The whine and rumble of generators is becoming commonplace, allowing stores that have them to stay open and Ukraine’s ubiquitous coffee shops to keep serving hot drinks that maintain a semblance of normality.Despite strong wind, rain, sub-zero temperatures at night, icing and broken power lines, more than 70% of Ukraine’s electricity requirements were being met on Friday morning, the country’s state power grid operator Ukrenergo said in a statement.The electricity supply has been at least partially restored in all regions of Ukraine, and the country’s energy grid was once again connected to that of the European Union, the head of the state power grid said on Friday.Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, CEO of Ukrenergo, added that despite that progress, about half of Ukrainian residents continue to experience disruption. He added that all three of Ukraine’s nuclear plants located in areas controlled by Kyiv have resumed operation.“In one to two days, nuclear power plants will reach their normal scheduled capacity, and we expect that it will be possible to transfer our consumers to a planned shutdown (regime) instead of emergency (blackouts),” Kudrytskyi said on Ukrainian TV.Ukrainian authorities are opening thousands of so-called “points of invincibility” — heated and powered spaces offering hot meals, electricity and internet connections. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said late Thursday that almost 4,400 such spaces have opened across most of the country.He scoffed at Moscow’s attempts to intimidate Ukrainian civilians, saying that was the Russian military’s only option after a string of battlefield setbacks. “Either energy terror, or artillery terror, or missile terror — that’s all that Russia has dwindled to under its current leaders,” Zelenskyy said.Elsewhere, Ukrainian officials and energy workers continued their push to restore supplies after a nationwide barrage Wednesday left tens of millions without power and water.Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said Friday morning that heating was back on in a third of the capital’s households, but that half of its population still lacked electricity.Writing on Telegram, Klitschko added that authorities hoped to provide all consumers in Kyiv with electricity for a period of three hours on Friday, following a pre-set schedule.As of Friday morning in Kharkiv, all residents of Ukraine’s second-largest city had had their electricity supplies restored, but more than 100,000 in the outlying region continued to see interruptions, the regional governor said.In the south, authorities in the city of Mykolayiv said that running water was set to start flowing again after supplies were cut off by Russian strikes on Thursday.

Europe scrambles to help Ukraine keep the heat and lights on

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22NICHOLAS%20RICCARDI%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press</a>

Before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections">Election Day</a>, anxiety mounted over potential chaos at the polls.

Election officials warned about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-politics-voting-presidential-biden-cabinet-c3d31b3b3c8957a51a2cc32e009d59be">poll watchers</a>&nbsp;who had been steeped in conspiracy theories&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-michael-pence-electoral-college-elections-health-2d9bd47a8bd3561682ac46c6b3873a10">falsely claiming</a>&nbsp;that then-President Donald Trump did not actually lose the 2020 election. Democrats and voting rights groups worried about the effects of new election laws,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-georgia-race-and-ethnicity-d4c2eaec9cbf69791c0ca8daf8b71188"></a>in some Republican-controlled states, that President Joe Biden decried as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-joe-biden-georgia-voting-martin-luther-king-jr-dc4544c23622f35fc95d63afe512554d">“Jim Crow 2.0.”</a>&nbsp;Law enforcement agencies were monitoring possible threats at the polls.

Yet Election Day, and the weeks of early voting before it, went fairly smoothly. There were some reports of unruly poll watchers disrupting voting, but they were scattered.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-merrick-garland-arizona-mesa-33de85c29856dea5b3ab091c5c17061a">Groups of armed vigilantes</a>&nbsp;began watching over a handful of ballot drop boxes in Arizona until&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-arizona-phoenix-5353cfd0774727e6dd03bdbf48c12211">a judge ordered them</a>&nbsp;to stay far away to ensure they would not intimidate voters. And while it might take months to figure out their full impact,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-georgia-race-and-ethnicity-d4c2eaec9cbf69791c0ca8daf8b71188">GOP-backed voting laws</a>&nbsp;enacted after the 2020 election did not appear to cause major disruptions the way they did during the March primary in Texas.

“The entire ecosystem in a lot of ways has become more resilient in the aftermath of 2020,” said Amber McReynolds, a former Denver elections director who advises a number of voting rights organizations. “There's been a lot of effort on ensuring things went well.”

Even though some voting experts'&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-health-ohio-8dac762bb021ae511004f04b1b42db52">worst fears</a>&nbsp;didn't materialize, some voters still experienced the types of routine foul-ups that happen on a small scale in every election. Many of those fell disproportionately on Black and Hispanic voters.

"Things went better than expected,” said Amir Badat of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. “But we have to say that with a caveat: Our expectations are low.”

Badat said his organization recorded long lines at various polling places from South Carolina to Texas.

There were particular problems in Harris County, Texas, which includes Houston. Shortages of paper ballots and at least one polling location opening late led to long lines and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-state-elections-houston-4db88098bbf9eff4a1437e64d686cc46">triggered an investigation</a>&nbsp;of the predominantly Democratic county by the state's Republican authorities.

The investigation is partly a reflection of how certain voting snafus on Election Day are increasingly falling on Republican voters, who have been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-health-government-and-politics-election-2020-55f4744b484919cd20d4d5e8d72e444e?utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_medium=TopNews&amp;utm_campaign=position_03">discouraged from using mailed ballots</a>&nbsp;or using early in-person voting by Trump and his allies. But it's a very different problem from what Texas had during its March primary.

Then, a controversial new voting law that increased the requirements on mail ballots led to about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-elections-texas-voting-only-on-ap-45ba51fe9dd951a0f82015bd6bd9ff41">13% of all such ballots being rejected</a>, much higher compared with other elections. It was an ominous sign for a wave of new laws, passed after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-claims-biden-won-explained-bd53b14ce871412b462cb3fe2c563f18">Trump's loss to Biden and false claims</a>&nbsp;about mail voting, but there have been no problems of that scale reported for the general election.

Texas changed the design of its mail ballots, which solved many of the problems voters had putting identifying information in the proper place. Other states that added regulations on voting didn't appear to have widespread problems, though voting rights groups and analysts say it will take weeks of combing through data to find out the laws' impacts.

The Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law is compiling data to determine whether new voting laws in states such as Georgia contributed to a drop in turnout among Black and Hispanic voters.

Preliminary figures show&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-georgia-race-and-ethnicity-d4c2eaec9cbf69791c0ca8daf8b71188">turnout was lower this year</a>&nbsp;than in the last midterm election four years ago in Florida, Georgia, Iowa and Texas — four states that passed significant voting restrictions since the 2020 election — although there could be a number of reasons why.

“It's difficult to judge, empirically, the kind of effect these laws have on turnout because so many factors go into turnout,” said Rick Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Los Angeles law school. “You also have plenty of exaggeration on the Democratic side that any kind of change in voting laws are going to cause some major effect on the election, which has been proven not to be the case.”

In Georgia, for example, Republicans made it more complicated to apply for mailed ballots after the 2020 election — among other things, requiring voters to include their driver’s license number or some other form of identification rather than a signature. That may be one reason why&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-covid-health-georgia-united-states-2037755d325dd5d6a650fea3ff2e073e">early in-person voting soared</a>&nbsp;in popularity in the state this year, and turnout there dipped only slightly from 2018.

Jason Snead, executive director of the conservative Honest Elections Project, which advocates for tighter voting laws, said the fairly robust turnout in the midterm elections shows that fears of the new voting regulations were overblown.

“We are on the back end of an election that was supposed to be the end of democracy, and it very much was not,” Snead said.

Poll watchers were a significant concern of voting rights groups and election officials heading into Election Day. The representatives of the two major political parties are a key part of any secure election process, credentialed observers who can object to perceived violations of rules.

But this year, groups aligned with conspiracy theorists who challenged Biden's 2020 victory recruited poll watchers heavily, and some states reported that aggressive volunteers caused disruptions during the primary. But there were fewer issues in November.

In North Carolina, where several counties had reported problems with poll watchers in the May primary, the state elections board reported&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-2ef291dcb391ec46b86216c1c57f0afe">21 incidents of misbehavior at the polls</a>&nbsp;in the general election, most during the early, in-person voting period and by members of campaigns rather than poll watchers. The observers were responsible for eight of the incidents.

Voting experts were pleasantly surprised there weren't more problems with poll watchers, marking the second general election in a row when a feared threat of aggressive Republican observers did not materialize.

“This seems to be an increase over 2020. Is it a small increase? Yes,” said Michael McDonald, a political scientist at the University of Florida. “It's still a dry run for 2024, and we can't quite let down our guard.”

One of the main organizers of the poll watcher effort was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-georgia-elections-campaigns-8ea24e5b4c240aceec71fbfa703d0394">Cleta Mitchell</a>, a veteran Republican election lawyer who joined Trump on a Jan. 2, 2020, call to Georgia's top election official when the president asked that the state “find” enough votes to declare him the winner. Mitchell then launched an organization to train volunteers who wanted to keep an eye on election officials, which was seen as the driver of the poll watcher surge.

Mitchell said the relatively quiet election is vindication that groups like hers were simply concerned with election integrity rather than causing disruptions.

“Every training conducted by those of us doing such training included instruction about behavior, and that they must be ‘Peaceful, Lawful, Honest,’” Mitchell wrote in the conservative online publication The Federalist. “Yet, without evidence, the closer we got to Election Day, the more hysterical the headlines became, warning of violence at the polls resulting from too many observers watching the process. It didn't happen.”

Voting rights groups say they're relieved their fears didn't materialize, but they say threats to democracy remain on the horizon for 2024 — especially with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-2024-updates-cd5339d48064a149527e8f9a1aa7614e">Trump announcing that he's running again</a>. Wendy Weiser, a voting and elections expert at the Brennan Center, agreed that things overall went smoother than expected.

“By and large, sabotage didn’t happen,” Weiser said. “I don’t think that means we’re in the clear.”

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22NICHOLAS%20RICCARDI%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press</a>Before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections">Election Day</a>, anxiety mounted over potential chaos at the polls.Election officials warned about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-politics-voting-presidential-biden-cabinet-c3d31b3b3c8957a51a2cc32e009d59be">poll watchers</a>&nbsp;who had been steeped in conspiracy theories&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-michael-pence-electoral-college-elections-health-2d9bd47a8bd3561682ac46c6b3873a10">falsely claiming</a>&nbsp;that then-President Donald Trump did not actually lose the 2020 election. Democrats and voting rights groups worried about the effects of new election laws,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-georgia-race-and-ethnicity-d4c2eaec9cbf69791c0ca8daf8b71188"></a>in some Republican-controlled states, that President Joe Biden decried as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-joe-biden-georgia-voting-martin-luther-king-jr-dc4544c23622f35fc95d63afe512554d">“Jim Crow 2.0.”</a>&nbsp;Law enforcement agencies were monitoring possible threats at the polls.Yet Election Day, and the weeks of early voting before it, went fairly smoothly. There were some reports of unruly poll watchers disrupting voting, but they were scattered.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-merrick-garland-arizona-mesa-33de85c29856dea5b3ab091c5c17061a">Groups of armed vigilantes</a>&nbsp;began watching over a handful of ballot drop boxes in Arizona until&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-arizona-phoenix-5353cfd0774727e6dd03bdbf48c12211">a judge ordered them</a>&nbsp;to stay far away to ensure they would not intimidate voters. And while it might take months to figure out their full impact,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-georgia-race-and-ethnicity-d4c2eaec9cbf69791c0ca8daf8b71188">GOP-backed voting laws</a>&nbsp;enacted after the 2020 election did not appear to cause major disruptions the way they did during the March primary in Texas.“The entire ecosystem in a lot of ways has become more resilient in the aftermath of 2020,” said Amber McReynolds, a former Denver elections director who advises a number of voting rights organizations. “There's been a lot of effort on ensuring things went well.”Even though some voting experts'&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-health-ohio-8dac762bb021ae511004f04b1b42db52">worst fears</a>&nbsp;didn't materialize, some voters still experienced the types of routine foul-ups that happen on a small scale in every election. Many of those fell disproportionately on Black and Hispanic voters."Things went better than expected,” said Amir Badat of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. “But we have to say that with a caveat: Our expectations are low.”Badat said his organization recorded long lines at various polling places from South Carolina to Texas.There were particular problems in Harris County, Texas, which includes Houston. Shortages of paper ballots and at least one polling location opening late led to long lines and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-state-elections-houston-4db88098bbf9eff4a1437e64d686cc46">triggered an investigation</a>&nbsp;of the predominantly Democratic county by the state's Republican authorities.The investigation is partly a reflection of how certain voting snafus on Election Day are increasingly falling on Republican voters, who have been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-health-government-and-politics-election-2020-55f4744b484919cd20d4d5e8d72e444e?utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_medium=TopNews&amp;utm_campaign=position_03">discouraged from using mailed ballots</a>&nbsp;or using early in-person voting by Trump and his allies. But it's a very different problem from what Texas had during its March primary.Then, a controversial new voting law that increased the requirements on mail ballots led to about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-elections-texas-voting-only-on-ap-45ba51fe9dd951a0f82015bd6bd9ff41">13% of all such ballots being rejected</a>, much higher compared with other elections. It was an ominous sign for a wave of new laws, passed after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-claims-biden-won-explained-bd53b14ce871412b462cb3fe2c563f18">Trump's loss to Biden and false claims</a>&nbsp;about mail voting, but there have been no problems of that scale reported for the general election.Texas changed the design of its mail ballots, which solved many of the problems voters had putting identifying information in the proper place. Other states that added regulations on voting didn't appear to have widespread problems, though voting rights groups and analysts say it will take weeks of combing through data to find out the laws' impacts.The Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law is compiling data to determine whether new voting laws in states such as Georgia contributed to a drop in turnout among Black and Hispanic voters.Preliminary figures show&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-georgia-race-and-ethnicity-d4c2eaec9cbf69791c0ca8daf8b71188">turnout was lower this year</a>&nbsp;than in the last midterm election four years ago in Florida, Georgia, Iowa and Texas — four states that passed significant voting restrictions since the 2020 election — although there could be a number of reasons why.“It's difficult to judge, empirically, the kind of effect these laws have on turnout because so many factors go into turnout,” said Rick Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Los Angeles law school. “You also have plenty of exaggeration on the Democratic side that any kind of change in voting laws are going to cause some major effect on the election, which has been proven not to be the case.”In Georgia, for example, Republicans made it more complicated to apply for mailed ballots after the 2020 election — among other things, requiring voters to include their driver’s license number or some other form of identification rather than a signature. That may be one reason why&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-covid-health-georgia-united-states-2037755d325dd5d6a650fea3ff2e073e">early in-person voting soared</a>&nbsp;in popularity in the state this year, and turnout there dipped only slightly from 2018.Jason Snead, executive director of the conservative Honest Elections Project, which advocates for tighter voting laws, said the fairly robust turnout in the midterm elections shows that fears of the new voting regulations were overblown.“We are on the back end of an election that was supposed to be the end of democracy, and it very much was not,” Snead said.Poll watchers were a significant concern of voting rights groups and election officials heading into Election Day. The representatives of the two major political parties are a key part of any secure election process, credentialed observers who can object to perceived violations of rules.But this year, groups aligned with conspiracy theorists who challenged Biden's 2020 victory recruited poll watchers heavily, and some states reported that aggressive volunteers caused disruptions during the primary. But there were fewer issues in November.In North Carolina, where several counties had reported problems with poll watchers in the May primary, the state elections board reported&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-2ef291dcb391ec46b86216c1c57f0afe">21 incidents of misbehavior at the polls</a>&nbsp;in the general election, most during the early, in-person voting period and by members of campaigns rather than poll watchers. The observers were responsible for eight of the incidents.Voting experts were pleasantly surprised there weren't more problems with poll watchers, marking the second general election in a row when a feared threat of aggressive Republican observers did not materialize.“This seems to be an increase over 2020. Is it a small increase? Yes,” said Michael McDonald, a political scientist at the University of Florida. “It's still a dry run for 2024, and we can't quite let down our guard.”One of the main organizers of the poll watcher effort was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-georgia-elections-campaigns-8ea24e5b4c240aceec71fbfa703d0394">Cleta Mitchell</a>, a veteran Republican election lawyer who joined Trump on a Jan. 2, 2020, call to Georgia's top election official when the president asked that the state “find” enough votes to declare him the winner. Mitchell then launched an organization to train volunteers who wanted to keep an eye on election officials, which was seen as the driver of the poll watcher surge.Mitchell said the relatively quiet election is vindication that groups like hers were simply concerned with election integrity rather than causing disruptions.“Every training conducted by those of us doing such training included instruction about behavior, and that they must be ‘Peaceful, Lawful, Honest,’” Mitchell wrote in the conservative online publication The Federalist. “Yet, without evidence, the closer we got to Election Day, the more hysterical the headlines became, warning of violence at the polls resulting from too many observers watching the process. It didn't happen.”Voting rights groups say they're relieved their fears didn't materialize, but they say threats to democracy remain on the horizon for 2024 — especially with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-2024-updates-cd5339d48064a149527e8f9a1aa7614e">Trump announcing that he's running again</a>. Wendy Weiser, a voting and elections expert at the Brennan Center, agreed that things overall went smoother than expected.“By and large, sabotage didn’t happen,” Weiser said. “I don’t think that means we’re in the clear.”

Midterms free of feared chaos as voting experts look to 2024

By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post

HAYS — Hays artist Dennis Schiel in October finished the last of the Brush the Bricks murals in downtown Hays.

The last mural is on the north side of the Midland Marketing building, 219 E. Ninth. It depicts a farmer and horse team along with sunflowers, wheat and milo.&nbsp; The co-op helped choose the farm scene, Schiel said.

The mural is 38 feet at its tallest point by 32 feet.&nbsp; The height of the mural was a challenge, Schiel said. He had to use a lift to paint much of the mural.

The intent was that this piece would be a community mural, but Schiel struggled to find volunteers and ended up doing most of the painting on his own.

Schiel worked on the painting in September and October.

Schiel helped raise $100,000 toward the Brush Bricks mural project, which included six murals: <a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/c249f967-7e8d-4a80-897e-25bccb78992e">• The three amigos mural on the S&amp;W building by Schiel</a> <a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/274e05fe-f437-4c8a-95f7-2d33bdfb4c44">• The Arc mural on the Arc Thrift Store building by Schiel</a> <a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/6bb3bfe4-ed00-43eb-87ed-eee70888ac9a">• The buffalo dance mural on the State Glass Co. building by Matt Miller</a> <a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/d8987c98-30c5-4304-8b88-cabf4ef0efb4">• The Hays postcard mural on the side of the Golden Q building by Schiel</a> <a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/f3f18a37-8dd4-4b1c-a934-490422d12346">• The dragon mural on the side of the Sake2Me building by Matt Miller</a> • The farmer mural on the side of the Midland Marketing building by Schiel

Schiel said he hopes people will stop in Hays not only to see the murals but also Pete Felten's statues.

Schiel also hopes a local organization will produce a brochure that will highlight the Hays murals so visitors can tour the mural sites. Schiel also painted three other Hays murals that were not part of Brush the Bricks —&nbsp; a bison mural on the side of the Fox Theatre, a patriotic mural on the side of the Hays VFW and a small mural at the Hays Recreation Center.

How long the murals will last is highly dependent on how much sun and weather they receive. Murals on north walls tend to last longer — some as long as decades, Schiel said. However, he also had a mural that had to be touched up after a year.

Schiel is planning another large mural on the grain elevator that sits across from the train depot in downtown Ellis. That mural will depict the Ellis High School mascot, the Railroaders. A train will be breaking through a rock wall with athletes from the different EHS sports riding on the train.

Fundraising is ongoing for this project through the Ellis Foundation.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1669059521628.jpeg" alt="Hays artist Dennis Schiel's latest mural graces the north side of the Midland Marketing building, 219 E. Ninth. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Hays artist Dennis Schiel's latest mural graces the north side of the Midland Marketing building, 219 E. Ninth. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays PostHAYS — Hays artist Dennis Schiel in October finished the last of the Brush the Bricks murals in downtown Hays.The last mural is on the north side of the Midland Marketing building, 219 E. Ninth. It depicts a farmer and horse team along with sunflowers, wheat and milo.&nbsp; The co-op helped choose the farm scene, Schiel said. The mural is 38 feet at its tallest point by 32 feet.&nbsp; The height of the mural was a challenge, Schiel said. He had to use a lift to paint much of the mural. The intent was that this piece would be a community mural, but Schiel struggled to find volunteers and ended up doing most of the painting on his own.Schiel worked on the painting in September and October.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1669059521628.jpeg" alt="Dennis Schiel's painting on the side of the Midland Marketing building is the last of six murals in the downtown Hays Brush the Bricks project. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Dennis Schiel's painting on the side of the Midland Marketing building is the last of six murals in the downtown Hays Brush the Bricks project. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>Schiel helped raise $100,000 toward the Brush Bricks mural project, which included six murals: <a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/c249f967-7e8d-4a80-897e-25bccb78992e">• The three amigos mural on the S&amp;W building by Schiel</a> <a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/274e05fe-f437-4c8a-95f7-2d33bdfb4c44">• The Arc mural on the Arc Thrift Store building by Schiel</a> <a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/6bb3bfe4-ed00-43eb-87ed-eee70888ac9a">• The buffalo dance mural on the State Glass Co. building by Matt Miller</a> <a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/d8987c98-30c5-4304-8b88-cabf4ef0efb4">• The Hays postcard mural on the side of the Golden Q building by Schiel</a> <a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/f3f18a37-8dd4-4b1c-a934-490422d12346">• The dragon mural on the side of the Sake2Me building by Matt Miller</a> • The farmer mural on the side of the Midland Marketing building by SchielSchiel said he hopes people will stop in Hays not only to see the murals but also Pete Felten's statues.Schiel also hopes a local organization will produce a brochure that will highlight the Hays murals so visitors can tour the mural sites. Schiel also painted three other Hays murals that were not part of Brush the Bricks —&nbsp; a bison mural on the side of the Fox Theatre, a patriotic mural on the side of the Hays VFW and a small mural at the Hays Recreation Center.How long the murals will last is highly dependent on how much sun and weather they receive. Murals on north walls tend to last longer — some as long as decades, Schiel said. However, he also had a mural that had to be touched up after a year.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1669059738753.jpeg" alt="Hays artist Dennis Schiel said the murals that were painted for the Brush the Bricks project could last for decades, depending on weather exposure. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Hays artist Dennis Schiel said the murals that were painted for the Brush the Bricks project could last for decades, depending on weather exposure. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>Schiel is planning another large mural on the grain elevator that sits across from the train depot in downtown Ellis. That mural will depict the Ellis High School mascot, the Railroaders. A train will be breaking through a rock wall with athletes from the different EHS sports riding on the train.Fundraising is ongoing for this project through the Ellis Foundation.

Large mural the latest to grace downtown Hays business

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22BEN%20FINLEY%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By BEN FINLEY Associated Press</a>

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — The Walmart supervisor&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/walmart-shooting-chesapeake-virginia-b52927596381aa65efed367ce0c81c83">who shot and killed six co-workers</a>&nbsp;in Virginia seemed to target people and fired at some victims after they were already hit and appeared to be dead, said a witness who was present when the shooting started.

Jessica Wilczewski said workers were gathered in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/388036e68e8b596dd6bd05eb31d00ad6">a store break room</a>&nbsp;to begin their overnight shift late Tuesday when team leader Andre Bing entered and opened fire with a handgun. While another witness has described Bing as shooting wildly, Wilczewski said she observed him target certain people.

“The way he was acting — he was going hunting," Wilczewski told The Associated Press on Thursday. "The way he was looking at people’s faces and the way he did what he did, he was picking people out.”

She said she observed him shoot at people who were already on the ground.

“What I do know is that he made sure who he wanted dead, was dead,” she said. “He went back and shot dead bodies that were already dead. To make sure.”

Wilczewski said she had only worked at the store for five days and didn't know with whom Bing got along or had problems. She said being a new employee may have been the reason she was spared.

She said that after the shooting started, a co-worker sitting next to her pulled her under the table to hide. She said that at one point, Bing told her to get out from under the table. But when he saw who she was, he told her, “Jessie, go home.” She said she slowly got up and then ran out of the store.

Police are trying to determine a motive, while former coworkers are struggling to make sense of the rampage in Chesapeake, a city of about 250,000 people near Virginia's coast.

Some who worked with Bing, 31, said he had a reputation for being an aggressive, if not hostile, supervisor, who once admitted to having “anger issues.” But he also could make people laugh and seemed to be dealing with the typical stresses at work that many people endure.

“I don’t think he had many people to fall back on in his personal life,” said Nathan Sinclair, who worked at the Walmart for nearly a year before leaving earlier this month.

During chats among coworkers, “We would be like ‘work is consuming my life.’ And (Bing) would be like, ‘Yeah, I don’t have a social life anyway,’” Sinclair recalled Thursday.

Sinclair said he and Bing did not get along. Bing was known for being “verbally hostile” to employees and wasn’t particularly well-liked, Sinclair said. But there were times when Bing was made fun of and not necessarily treated fairly.

“There’s no telling what he could have been thinking. … You never know if somebody really doesn’t have any kind of support group,” Sinclair said.

On balance, Bing seemed pretty normal to Janice Strausburg, who knew him from working at Walmart for 13 years before leaving in June.

Bing could be “grumpy” but could also be “placid,” she said. He made people laugh and told Strausburg he liked dance. When she invited him to church, he declined but mentioned that his mother had been a preacher.

Strausburg thought Bing’s grumpiness was due to the stresses that come with any job. He also once told her that he had “had anger issues” and complained he was going to “get the managers in trouble.”

“I think he had mental issues,” Strausburg said Thursday. “What else could it be?”

Tuesday night's violence in Chesapeake was the nation’s second high-profile mass shooting in four days. Bing was dead when officers reached the store in the state's second-largest city. Authorities said he apparently shot himself.

Police have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-virginia-f2dde6ed8eeda54ea64a0dfb3a5b0188">identified the victims</a>&nbsp;as Brian Pendleton, 38; Kellie Pyle, 52; Lorenzo Gamble, 43; and Randy Blevins, 70, who were all from Chesapeake; and Tyneka Johnson, 22, of nearby Portsmouth. The dead also included a 16-year-old boy whose name was withheld because of his age, police said.

A Walmart spokesperson confirmed in an email that all of the victims worked for the company.

Krystal Kawabata, a spokesperson for the FBI’s field office in Norfolk, Virginia, confirmed the agency is assisting police with the investigation but directed all inquiries to the Chesapeake Police Department, the lead investigative agency.

Another Walmart employee, Briana Tyler, has said Bing appeared to fire at random.

“He was just shooting all throughout the room. It didn’t matter who he hit,” Tyler told the AP Wednesday.

Six people also were wounded in the shooting, which happened just after 10 p.m. as shoppers were stocking up ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Police said they believe about 50 people were in the store at the time.

Bing was identified as an overnight team leader who had been a Walmart employee since 2010. Police said he had one handgun and several magazines of ammunition.

Tyler said the overnight stocking team of 15 to 20 people had just gathered in the break room to go over the morning plan. Another team leader had begun speaking when Bing entered the room and opened fire, Tyler and Wiczewski said.

Tyler, who started working at Walmart two months ago and had worked with Bing just a night earlier, said she never had a negative encounter with him, but others told her he was “the manager to look out for.” She said Bing had a history of writing up people for no reason.

The attack was the second major shooting in Virginia this month. Three University of Virginia football players were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-football-shootings-virginia-charlottesville-247f5b0fb4c7d1da8d418dc135aecdf8">fatally shot</a>&nbsp;on a bus Nov. 13 as they returned from a field trip. Two other students were wounded.

The Walmart shooting also comes days after a person&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-colorado-springs-e098d88261db6bcfc0774434abbb7a8f">opened fire at a gay nightclub</a>&nbsp;in Colorado Springs, Colorado — killing five and wounding 17. Tuesday night’s shooting brought back memories of another attack at a Walmart in 2019, when a gunman killed 23 at a store in El Paso, Texas.

Wilczewski, who survived Tuesday's shooting in Virginia, said she tried but could not bring herself to visit a memorial in the store's parking lot Wednesday.

“I wrote a letter and I wanted to put it out there,” she said. “I wrote to the ones I watched die. And I said that I'm sorry I wasn't louder. I'm sorry you couldn't feel my touch. But you weren't alone.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1669209736660.jpeg" alt="A law enforcement investigator wears a protective covering as they work the scene of a mass shooting at a Walmart, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022, in Chesapeake, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)" />
 <figcaption>A law enforcement investigator wears a protective covering as they work the scene of a mass shooting at a Walmart, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022, in Chesapeake, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22BEN%20FINLEY%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By BEN FINLEY Associated Press</a>CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — The Walmart supervisor&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/walmart-shooting-chesapeake-virginia-b52927596381aa65efed367ce0c81c83">who shot and killed six co-workers</a>&nbsp;in Virginia seemed to target people and fired at some victims after they were already hit and appeared to be dead, said a witness who was present when the shooting started.Jessica Wilczewski said workers were gathered in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/388036e68e8b596dd6bd05eb31d00ad6">a store break room</a>&nbsp;to begin their overnight shift late Tuesday when team leader Andre Bing entered and opened fire with a handgun. While another witness has described Bing as shooting wildly, Wilczewski said she observed him target certain people.“The way he was acting — he was going hunting," Wilczewski told The Associated Press on Thursday. "The way he was looking at people’s faces and the way he did what he did, he was picking people out.”She said she observed him shoot at people who were already on the ground.“What I do know is that he made sure who he wanted dead, was dead,” she said. “He went back and shot dead bodies that were already dead. To make sure.”Wilczewski said she had only worked at the store for five days and didn't know with whom Bing got along or had problems. She said being a new employee may have been the reason she was spared.She said that after the shooting started, a co-worker sitting next to her pulled her under the table to hide. She said that at one point, Bing told her to get out from under the table. But when he saw who she was, he told her, “Jessie, go home.” She said she slowly got up and then ran out of the store.Police are trying to determine a motive, while former coworkers are struggling to make sense of the rampage in Chesapeake, a city of about 250,000 people near Virginia's coast.Some who worked with Bing, 31, said he had a reputation for being an aggressive, if not hostile, supervisor, who once admitted to having “anger issues.” But he also could make people laugh and seemed to be dealing with the typical stresses at work that many people endure.“I don’t think he had many people to fall back on in his personal life,” said Nathan Sinclair, who worked at the Walmart for nearly a year before leaving earlier this month.During chats among coworkers, “We would be like ‘work is consuming my life.’ And (Bing) would be like, ‘Yeah, I don’t have a social life anyway,’” Sinclair recalled Thursday.Sinclair said he and Bing did not get along. Bing was known for being “verbally hostile” to employees and wasn’t particularly well-liked, Sinclair said. But there were times when Bing was made fun of and not necessarily treated fairly.“There’s no telling what he could have been thinking. … You never know if somebody really doesn’t have any kind of support group,” Sinclair said.On balance, Bing seemed pretty normal to Janice Strausburg, who knew him from working at Walmart for 13 years before leaving in June.Bing could be “grumpy” but could also be “placid,” she said. He made people laugh and told Strausburg he liked dance. When she invited him to church, he declined but mentioned that his mother had been a preacher.Strausburg thought Bing’s grumpiness was due to the stresses that come with any job. He also once told her that he had “had anger issues” and complained he was going to “get the managers in trouble.”She never expected this.“I think he had mental issues,” Strausburg said Thursday. “What else could it be?”Tuesday night's violence in Chesapeake was the nation’s second high-profile mass shooting in four days. Bing was dead when officers reached the store in the state's second-largest city. Authorities said he apparently shot himself.Police have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-virginia-f2dde6ed8eeda54ea64a0dfb3a5b0188">identified the victims</a>&nbsp;as Brian Pendleton, 38; Kellie Pyle, 52; Lorenzo Gamble, 43; and Randy Blevins, 70, who were all from Chesapeake; and Tyneka Johnson, 22, of nearby Portsmouth. The dead also included a 16-year-old boy whose name was withheld because of his age, police said.A Walmart spokesperson confirmed in an email that all of the victims worked for the company.Krystal Kawabata, a spokesperson for the FBI’s field office in Norfolk, Virginia, confirmed the agency is assisting police with the investigation but directed all inquiries to the Chesapeake Police Department, the lead investigative agency.Another Walmart employee, Briana Tyler, has said Bing appeared to fire at random.“He was just shooting all throughout the room. It didn’t matter who he hit,” Tyler told the AP Wednesday.Six people also were wounded in the shooting, which happened just after 10 p.m. as shoppers were stocking up ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Police said they believe about 50 people were in the store at the time.Bing was identified as an overnight team leader who had been a Walmart employee since 2010. Police said he had one handgun and several magazines of ammunition.Tyler said the overnight stocking team of 15 to 20 people had just gathered in the break room to go over the morning plan. Another team leader had begun speaking when Bing entered the room and opened fire, Tyler and Wiczewski said.Tyler, who started working at Walmart two months ago and had worked with Bing just a night earlier, said she never had a negative encounter with him, but others told her he was “the manager to look out for.” She said Bing had a history of writing up people for no reason.The attack was the second major shooting in Virginia this month. Three University of Virginia football players were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-football-shootings-virginia-charlottesville-247f5b0fb4c7d1da8d418dc135aecdf8">fatally shot</a>&nbsp;on a bus Nov. 13 as they returned from a field trip. Two other students were wounded.The Walmart shooting also comes days after a person&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-colorado-springs-e098d88261db6bcfc0774434abbb7a8f">opened fire at a gay nightclub</a>&nbsp;in Colorado Springs, Colorado — killing five and wounding 17. Tuesday night’s shooting brought back memories of another attack at a Walmart in 2019, when a gunman killed 23 at a store in El Paso, Texas.Wilczewski, who survived Tuesday's shooting in Virginia, said she tried but could not bring herself to visit a memorial in the store's parking lot Wednesday.“I wrote a letter and I wanted to put it out there,” she said. “I wrote to the ones I watched die. And I said that I'm sorry I wasn't louder. I'm sorry you couldn't feel my touch. But you weren't alone.”

Witness: Walmart shooter seemed to target certain people

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22ANNE%20D%27INNOCENZIO%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer</a>

NEW YORK (AP) — Black Friday marks a return to familiar holiday shopping patterns, but inflation is weighing on consumers.

Elevated prices for food, rent, gasoline and other household costs have taken a toll on shoppers. As a result, many are reluctant to spend unless there is a big sale and are being more selective with what they will buy — in many cases, trading down to cheaper stuff and less expensive stores.

Shoppers are also dipping more into their savings, turning increasingly to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-technology-economy-113f3fc36a6af9e6d9dc919aa22ca276">“buy now, pay later”</a>&nbsp;services like Afterpay that allow users to pay for items in installments, as well as running up their credit cards at a time when the Federal Reserve is hiking rates to cool the U.S. economy.

Such financial hardships could help drive shoppers to look for bargains.

Isela Dalencia, who was shopping for household essentials like detergent at a Walmart in Secaucus, New Jersey, earlier this week, said she's delaying buying holiday gifts until Cyber Monday — the Monday after Thanksgiving — when online sales rev up. Then, she will wait again until the week before Christmas to get the best deals, unlike last year when she started buying before Black Friday.

“I am shopping less,” Dalencia said, noting she will spend about $700 for holiday gifts this year, one-third less than last year.

Katie Leach, a social worker in Manhattan, was also browsing the aisles at Walmart but said she will start holiday shopping during the first week of December as usual. This time, however, she'll be relying more on bargains, her credit card and “buy now, pay later” services to get her through the shopping season because of surging prices on food and other household expenses.

“The money is not going as far as last year," Leach said.

This year's trends are a contrast from a year ago when consumers were buying early out of fear of not getting what they needed amid clogs in the supply network. Stores didn't have to discount much because they were struggling to bring in items.

But some pandemic habits are sticking around. Many retailers that closed stores on Thanksgiving Day and instead pushed discounts on their websites to thin out crowds at stores are still holding onto those strategies, despite a return to normalcy.

Major retailers including Walmart and Target are again closing their stores on Thanksgiving. And many moved away from doorbusters, the deeply marked down items offered for a limited time that drew crowds. Instead, the discounted items are available throughout the month, on Black Friday or the holiday weekend.

Against today's economic backdrop, the National Retail Federation — the largest retail trade group — expects holiday sales growth will slow to a range of 6% to 8%, from the blistering 13.5% growth of a year ago. However, these figures, which include online spending, aren't adjusted for inflation so real spending could even be down from a year ago.

Adobe Analytics expects online sales to be up 2.5% from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, a slowdown from last year's 8.6% pace when shoppers were uncertain about returning to physical stores.

Analysts consider the five-day Black Friday weekend, which includes Cyber Monday, a key barometer of shoppers' willingness to spend, particularly this year. The two-month period between Thanksgiving and Christmas represents about 20% of the retail industry’s annual sales.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22ANNE%20D%27INNOCENZIO%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer</a>NEW YORK (AP) — Black Friday marks a return to familiar holiday shopping patterns, but inflation is weighing on consumers.Elevated prices for food, rent, gasoline and other household costs have taken a toll on shoppers. As a result, many are reluctant to spend unless there is a big sale and are being more selective with what they will buy — in many cases, trading down to cheaper stuff and less expensive stores.Shoppers are also dipping more into their savings, turning increasingly to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-technology-economy-113f3fc36a6af9e6d9dc919aa22ca276">“buy now, pay later”</a>&nbsp;services like Afterpay that allow users to pay for items in installments, as well as running up their credit cards at a time when the Federal Reserve is hiking rates to cool the U.S. economy.Such financial hardships could help drive shoppers to look for bargains.Isela Dalencia, who was shopping for household essentials like detergent at a Walmart in Secaucus, New Jersey, earlier this week, said she's delaying buying holiday gifts until Cyber Monday — the Monday after Thanksgiving — when online sales rev up. Then, she will wait again until the week before Christmas to get the best deals, unlike last year when she started buying before Black Friday.“I am shopping less,” Dalencia said, noting she will spend about $700 for holiday gifts this year, one-third less than last year.Katie Leach, a social worker in Manhattan, was also browsing the aisles at Walmart but said she will start holiday shopping during the first week of December as usual. This time, however, she'll be relying more on bargains, her credit card and “buy now, pay later” services to get her through the shopping season because of surging prices on food and other household expenses.“The money is not going as far as last year," Leach said.This year's trends are a contrast from a year ago when consumers were buying early out of fear of not getting what they needed amid clogs in the supply network. Stores didn't have to discount much because they were struggling to bring in items.But some pandemic habits are sticking around. Many retailers that closed stores on Thanksgiving Day and instead pushed discounts on their websites to thin out crowds at stores are still holding onto those strategies, despite a return to normalcy.Major retailers including Walmart and Target are again closing their stores on Thanksgiving. And many moved away from doorbusters, the deeply marked down items offered for a limited time that drew crowds. Instead, the discounted items are available throughout the month, on Black Friday or the holiday weekend.Against today's economic backdrop, the National Retail Federation — the largest retail trade group — expects holiday sales growth will slow to a range of 6% to 8%, from the blistering 13.5% growth of a year ago. However, these figures, which include online spending, aren't adjusted for inflation so real spending could even be down from a year ago.Adobe Analytics expects online sales to be up 2.5% from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, a slowdown from last year's 8.6% pace when shoppers were uncertain about returning to physical stores.Analysts consider the five-day Black Friday weekend, which includes Cyber Monday, a key barometer of shoppers' willingness to spend, particularly this year. The two-month period between Thanksgiving and Christmas represents about 20% of the retail industry’s annual sales.

Inflation hovers over shoppers heading into Black Friday

By BLAISE MESA <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-11-22/the-cost-of-talking-to-family-from-prison-strains-ties-that-help-inmates-thrive-after-release">Kansas News Service</a>

TOPEKA — Trish Gaston spends $50 a week talking to her two sons at the Lansing Correctional Facility.

Gaston has tried cutting back to save some money, but she said “I need to hear their voice every day.”

“That’s their only contact to the outside world and to feel somewhat normal,” she said.

Even convicted felons, Gaston said, deserve to talk to their family.

That
 desire for connection with friends and family grows more urgent around 
the holidays. The buzz of Christmas gatherings or Thanksgiving feasts 
feels emptier without every loved one around, but inmates and their 
families make do with phone calls or messages.

Families of 
prisoners in Kansas say the phone calls, emails or even postcards that 
keep inmates in touch with loved ones come with unreasonable hassle and 
cost — barriers that could leave them isolated and less likely blend 
into a law-abiding world when they finally get paroled.

The people
 who run Kansas prisons argue they do what they can to balance the need 
of inmates to communicate with the outside against ways those contacts 
can channel the smuggling of drugs into prison or accommodate schemes 
that could put people in danger inside and outside prison.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1669147177266.png" alt="Phone calls cost 14 cents a minute while in prison. Blaise Mesa / Kansas News Service " />
 <figcaption>Phone calls cost 14 cents a minute while in prison. Blaise Mesa / Kansas News Service </figcaption>
 </figure>By BLAISE MESA <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-11-22/the-cost-of-talking-to-family-from-prison-strains-ties-that-help-inmates-thrive-after-release">Kansas News Service</a>TOPEKA — Trish Gaston spends $50 a week talking to her two sons at the Lansing Correctional Facility.Gaston has tried cutting back to save some money, but she said “I need to hear their voice every day.”“That’s their only contact to the outside world and to feel somewhat normal,” she said.Even convicted felons, Gaston said, deserve to talk to their family.That
 desire for connection with friends and family grows more urgent around 
the holidays. The buzz of Christmas gatherings or Thanksgiving feasts 
feels emptier without every loved one around, but inmates and their 
families make do with phone calls or messages.Families of 
prisoners in Kansas say the phone calls, emails or even postcards that 
keep inmates in touch with loved ones come with unreasonable hassle and 
cost — barriers that could leave them isolated and less likely blend 
into a law-abiding world when they finally get paroled.The people
 who run Kansas prisons argue they do what they can to balance the need 
of inmates to communicate with the outside against ways those contacts 
can channel the smuggling of drugs into prison or accommodate schemes 
that could put people in danger inside and outside prison.So 
they’ve devised ways that give wardens more control of how prisoners can
 communicate with the outside — ways that leave inmates and their 
families increasingly frustrated.That holiday card the family 
sent? It might get caught up in the mailroom for weeks. And the prisoner
 might only get a photocopy because prison officials worry about drugs 
that might get soaked into the paperboard.Electronic messages can
 get delayed, and sometimes denied, with explanations that families say 
can feel contrived — or without any explanation.Then comes the cost.From
 July 2016 to July 2021, 5,238 inmates got released from Kansas prisons 
on indigent status. That means someone had less than $12 in their inmate
 bank account.At 25 cents a message, around $10 per video call 
and 14 cents a minute for a phone call, parents and inmates say people 
who make a few dozen dollars a month can’t afford to talk. Phone calls 
also come with hefty fees. Adding $20 of phone time buys just under two 
hours of phone time.Abigail Reed, an inmate at the Topeka 
Correctional Facility, is not able to work any kind of job because she 
is seven months pregnant. She would feel better if she could talk more 
with her mother, but medical bills make it hard for her mother to add 
money to talk.Her mother will take her child once it’s born, but 
Reed worries she won’t be able to keep in touch with her mother because 
of cost.“I would feel better if I could see (and) talk to her more regularly,” she said. “She does what she can for me.”Inmates
 with financial backing, either from their prison jobs or from their 
families, may not struggle to pay. But those with tight budgets say the 
costs run too high.The Kansas Department of Corrections says it 
does provide low-income inmates up to four free letters a month so they 
can keep in touch with the outside.The department does have to 
balance safety with open communication. A message is delayed because it 
needs to be reviewed before being approved, and mail might move slow 
because it was flagged as a safety concern.In September 2021, the
 Ellsworth Correctional Facility began a pilot program that photocopied 
mail because officials there said drugs were getting into the prison 
through the postal system. Corrections Secretary Jeff Zmuda said in a 
letter to inmates and families that mailed drugs led to two deaths in 
the prison system.“This threatens not only the lives of these 
residents, but the health and safety of other residents and staff who 
come into contact with the substance or with second-hand exposures,” he 
said.California and Connecticut have made calls from prison free, and more sweeping changes could be coming.The
 Federal Communications Commission has looked into lowering rates 
before, but courts said they lack authority to do so and can only lower 
rates of phone calls between states. A bill in the U.S. Senate would 
give the agency power to adjust rates for in-state calls and video 
visits.“This is a complicated problem, but it is one we have got to solve,” FCC Chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/10/23/1130782415/incarcerated-people-pay-about-5-dollars-for-a-30-minute-phone-call-a-new-bill-wa" target="_blank">told NPR in late October</a>.
 “You and I make a phone call — if we don't like a provider, we just 
choose someone else. A jail or prison develops an exclusive contract 
with one provider.”Rosenworcel said that 2.7 million U.S. 
children have parents in jail or prison and that constant communication 
with loved ones can reduce recidivism.Gaston, the mother with 
children in Lansing, knows keeping in touch with her children will only 
help them in the long run, but she said the prison doesn’t make it easy.It may not seem like much, but she said holiday cards and regular phone calls let someone know they are loved.“It’s
 got to lift your spirits somewhat, they have very little in there to 
lift their spirits,” she said. “Something simple like that does make a 
difference.”Blaise Mesa reports on criminal justice and social services for the 
Kansas News Service in Topeka. You can follow him on Twitter 
@Blaise_Mesa or email him at blaise@kcur.org.