SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas man on multiple charges after a weekend standoff.

Just before 5:30p.m. on April 16, police responded to a domestic violence disturbance with a weapon at a home in the 7000 block of West Freeman in Wichita, according to Officer Trevor Macy.&nbsp;

 A 911 caller reported a man identified as 20-year-old Markel Henderson was inside a home and threatened multiple people with a firearm. The 911 caller and another victim reported leaving the house, but Henderson was still inside.

Officers arrived at the&nbsp; home and established a perimeter as the Wichita Police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team was assembled. Officers were able to make contact with the suspect, who exited the home and was taken into custody shortly before 8:00 p.m.

Henderson was transported to the Sedgwick County Jail and booked on requested charges of aggravated assault,&nbsp; criminal threat and battery. He is being held on a $50,000 bond, according to online jail records.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1681770126430.png" alt="Henderson-photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Henderson-photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas man on multiple charges after a weekend standoff.Just before 5:30p.m. on April 16, police responded to a domestic violence disturbance with a weapon at a home in the 7000 block of West Freeman in Wichita, according to Officer Trevor Macy.&nbsp; A 911 caller reported a man identified as 20-year-old Markel Henderson was inside a home and threatened multiple people with a firearm. The 911 caller and another victim reported leaving the house, but Henderson was still inside.Officers arrived at the&nbsp; home and established a perimeter as the Wichita Police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team was assembled. Officers were able to make contact with the suspect, who exited the home and was taken into custody shortly before 8:00 p.m.Henderson was transported to the Sedgwick County Jail and booked on requested charges of aggravated assault,&nbsp; criminal threat and battery. He is being held on a $50,000 bond, according to online jail records.

Kansas man arrested after standoff with SWAT team

The Salina Public Library encourages all community members to visit the library during National Library Week, April 23-29,&nbsp;to explore all the library has to offer.

Most people know about the wealth of stories available at the library, from picture books and large print to audiobooks and ebooks. But there's so much more to the story of libraries.&nbsp;

Libraries are welcoming spaces that bring communities together for entertainment, education, and connection through book clubs, storytimes, movie nights, crafting classes, author talks, and more. The Salina Public Library offers a wide array of programs, classes and resources, including a Library of Things collection, Yoga classes, a Seed Library, and a new Genealogy workshop series.

And libraries play a critical role in the economic vitality of communities by providing internet and technology access, literacy skills, and support for job seekers, small businesses, and entrepreneurs.&nbsp;The Salina Public Library supports Saline County and the surrounding area with services such as their ESL or English as a Second Language programs and Walk in One-on-One technology help.

The Modern Woodmen have pledged up to a $2,500 match for the donations to the Salina Public Library during the month of April. The investments made from the local community are put towards improving the learning and play spaces for youth as well as the expansion of free educational programming and resources. Visit&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapubliclibrary.org/donate" target="_blank">salinapubliclibrary.org/donate</a>&nbsp;to give.

If you haven't checked out the Salina Public Library lately, you're missing the full story. Stop by for a visit to celebrate with them during National Library Week, April 23-29. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram and use the hashtag #NationalLibraryWeek to join the online celebration.&nbsp;

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association and libraries of all types across the country each April.

For more information, visit the library’s website at&nbsp;<a href="http://salinapubliclibrary.org/" target="_blank">salinapubliclibrary.org</a>.

Salina Public LibraryThe Salina Public Library encourages all community members to visit the library during National Library Week, April 23-29,&nbsp;to explore all the library has to offer.Most people know about the wealth of stories available at the library, from picture books and large print to audiobooks and ebooks. But there's so much more to the story of libraries.&nbsp;Libraries are welcoming spaces that bring communities together for entertainment, education, and connection through book clubs, storytimes, movie nights, crafting classes, author talks, and more. The Salina Public Library offers a wide array of programs, classes and resources, including a Library of Things collection, Yoga classes, a Seed Library, and a new Genealogy workshop series.And libraries play a critical role in the economic vitality of communities by providing internet and technology access, literacy skills, and support for job seekers, small businesses, and entrepreneurs.&nbsp;The Salina Public Library supports Saline County and the surrounding area with services such as their ESL or English as a Second Language programs and Walk in One-on-One technology help.The Modern Woodmen have pledged up to a $2,500 match for the donations to the Salina Public Library during the month of April. The investments made from the local community are put towards improving the learning and play spaces for youth as well as the expansion of free educational programming and resources. Visit&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapubliclibrary.org/donate" target="_blank">salinapubliclibrary.org/donate</a>&nbsp;to give.If you haven't checked out the Salina Public Library lately, you're missing the full story. Stop by for a visit to celebrate with them during National Library Week, April 23-29. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram and use the hashtag #NationalLibraryWeek to join the online celebration.&nbsp;First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association and libraries of all types across the country each April.For more information, visit the library’s website at&nbsp;<a href="http://salinapubliclibrary.org/" target="_blank">salinapubliclibrary.org</a>.

Help Salina Public Library celebrate National Library Week

Today is Tuesday, April 18, the 108th day of 2023. There are 257 days left in the year.

On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere began his famous ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Massachusetts, warning colonists that British Regular troops were approaching.

In 1865, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman near Durham Station in North Carolina.

In 1906, a devastating earthquake struck San Francisco, followed by raging fires; estimates of the final death toll range between 3,000 and 6,000.

In 1923, the first game was played at the original Yankee Stadium in New York; the Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox 4-1.

In 1954, Gamal Abdel Nasser seized power as he became prime minister of Egypt.

In 1955, physicist Albert Einstein died in Princeton, New Jersey, at age 76.

In 1966, Bill Russell was named player-coach of the Boston Celtics, becoming the NBA's first Black coach.

In 1978, the Senate approved the Panama Canal Treaty, providing for the complete turnover of control of the waterway to Panama on the last day of 1999.

In 1983, 63 people, including 17 Americans, were killed at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, by a suicide bomber.

In 2002, police arrested actor Robert Blake in the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, nearly a year earlier (Blake was acquitted at his criminal trial but found liable in a civil trial).

In 2015, a ship believed to be carrying more than 800 migrants from Africa sank in the Mediterranean off Libya; only about 30 people were rescued.

In 2016, "Hamilton," Lin-Manuel Miranda's hip-hop stage biography of America's first treasury secretary, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama.

In 2019, the final report from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation was made public; it outlined Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election but did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government.

Ten years ago: The FBI released surveillance camera images of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing and asked for the public's help in identifying them, hours after President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama attended an interfaith service at a Roman Catholic cathedral. Randy Newman, Heart, Rush, Public Enemy, Donna Summer, Albert King, and producers Quincy Jones and Lou Adler were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Los Angeles.

Five years ago: Cuba's government selected 57-year-old First Vice President Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez as the sole candidate to succeed President Raul Castro, a move that would install someone from outside the Castro family in the country's highest office for the first time in nearly six decades; the 86-year-old Castro would remain head of the Communist Party. Amid a blackout that affected much of the rest of Puerto Rico, generators helped keep the lights on at a stadium in San Juan for the second of two games between the Cleveland Indians and the Minnesota Twins. Bruno Sammartino, who had once been one of the longest-reigning champions in professional wrestling, died at the age of 82.

One year ago: Russia launched a long-feared, full-scale offensive to take control of Ukraine's east, the country's mostly Russian-speaking industrial heartland, where Moscow-backed separatists had been fighting Ukrainian forces for eight years. A federal judge in Florida voided the national mask mandate covering airlines and other public transportation as exceeding the authority of U.S. health officials in their response to the coronavirus pandemic. Alex Jones' Infowars filed for bankruptcy after the conspiracy theorist lost defamation suits over his comments that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Clive Revill is 93. Actor Robert Hooks is 86. Actor Hayley Mills is 77. Actor James Woods is 76. Actor-director Dorothy Lyman is 76. Actor Cindy Pickett is 76. Actor Rick Moranis is 70. Actor Melody Thomas Scott is 67. Actor Eric Roberts is 67. Actor John James is 67. Rock musician Les Pattinson (Echo and the Bunnymen) is 65. Author-journalist Susan Faludi is 64. Actor Jane Leeves is 62. Ventriloquist-comedian Jeff Dunham is 61. Talk show host Conan O'Brien is 60. Actor Eric McCormack is 60. Actor Maria Bello is 56. Actor Mary Birdsong is 55. Actor David Hewlett is 55. Rock musician Greg Eklund (The Oolahs) is 53. Actor Lisa Locicero is 53. Actor Tamara Braun is 52. TV chef Ludovic Lefebvre is 52. Actor Fredro Starr is 52. Actor David Tennant is 52. Rock musician Mark Tremonti is 49. R&amp;B singer Trina (Trina and Tamara) is 49. Actor Melissa Joan Hart is 47. Actor Sean Maguire is 47. Actor Kevin Rankin is 47. Actor Bryce Johnson is 46. Reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian is 44. Detroit Tigers first baseman and DH Miguel Cabrera is 40. Actor America Ferrera is 39. Actor Tom Hughes is 38. Actor Ellen Woglom (TV: "Marvel's Inhumans") is 36. Actor Vanessa Kirby is 35. Actor Alia Shawkat is 34. Actor Britt Robertson is 33. Actor Chloe Bennet is 31. Rock singer Nathan Sykes (The Wanted) is 30. Actor Moises Arias is 29.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573488868914.jpeg" alt="Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a>" />
 <figcaption>Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a></figcaption>
 </figure>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSToday is Tuesday, April 18, the 108th day of 2023. There are 257 days left in the year.Today's Highlight in History:On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere began his famous ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Massachusetts, warning colonists that British Regular troops were approaching.On this date:In 1865, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman near Durham Station in North Carolina.In 1906, a devastating earthquake struck San Francisco, followed by raging fires; estimates of the final death toll range between 3,000 and 6,000.In 1923, the first game was played at the original Yankee Stadium in New York; the Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox 4-1.In 1954, Gamal Abdel Nasser seized power as he became prime minister of Egypt.In 1955, physicist Albert Einstein died in Princeton, New Jersey, at age 76.In 1966, Bill Russell was named player-coach of the Boston Celtics, becoming the NBA's first Black coach.In 1978, the Senate approved the Panama Canal Treaty, providing for the complete turnover of control of the waterway to Panama on the last day of 1999.In 1983, 63 people, including 17 Americans, were killed at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, by a suicide bomber.In 2002, police arrested actor Robert Blake in the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, nearly a year earlier (Blake was acquitted at his criminal trial but found liable in a civil trial).In 2015, a ship believed to be carrying more than 800 migrants from Africa sank in the Mediterranean off Libya; only about 30 people were rescued.In 2016, "Hamilton," Lin-Manuel Miranda's hip-hop stage biography of America's first treasury secretary, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama.In 2019, the final report from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation was made public; it outlined Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election but did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government.Ten years ago: The FBI released surveillance camera images of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing and asked for the public's help in identifying them, hours after President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama attended an interfaith service at a Roman Catholic cathedral. Randy Newman, Heart, Rush, Public Enemy, Donna Summer, Albert King, and producers Quincy Jones and Lou Adler were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Los Angeles.Five years ago: Cuba's government selected 57-year-old First Vice President Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez as the sole candidate to succeed President Raul Castro, a move that would install someone from outside the Castro family in the country's highest office for the first time in nearly six decades; the 86-year-old Castro would remain head of the Communist Party. Amid a blackout that affected much of the rest of Puerto Rico, generators helped keep the lights on at a stadium in San Juan for the second of two games between the Cleveland Indians and the Minnesota Twins. Bruno Sammartino, who had once been one of the longest-reigning champions in professional wrestling, died at the age of 82.One year ago: Russia launched a long-feared, full-scale offensive to take control of Ukraine's east, the country's mostly Russian-speaking industrial heartland, where Moscow-backed separatists had been fighting Ukrainian forces for eight years. A federal judge in Florida voided the national mask mandate covering airlines and other public transportation as exceeding the authority of U.S. health officials in their response to the coronavirus pandemic. Alex Jones' Infowars filed for bankruptcy after the conspiracy theorist lost defamation suits over his comments that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax.Today's Birthdays: Actor Clive Revill is 93. Actor Robert Hooks is 86. Actor Hayley Mills is 77. Actor James Woods is 76. Actor-director Dorothy Lyman is 76. Actor Cindy Pickett is 76. Actor Rick Moranis is 70. Actor Melody Thomas Scott is 67. Actor Eric Roberts is 67. Actor John James is 67. Rock musician Les Pattinson (Echo and the Bunnymen) is 65. Author-journalist Susan Faludi is 64. Actor Jane Leeves is 62. Ventriloquist-comedian Jeff Dunham is 61. Talk show host Conan O'Brien is 60. Actor Eric McCormack is 60. Actor Maria Bello is 56. Actor Mary Birdsong is 55. Actor David Hewlett is 55. Rock musician Greg Eklund (The Oolahs) is 53. Actor Lisa Locicero is 53. Actor Tamara Braun is 52. TV chef Ludovic Lefebvre is 52. Actor Fredro Starr is 52. Actor David Tennant is 52. Rock musician Mark Tremonti is 49. R&amp;B singer Trina (Trina and Tamara) is 49. Actor Melissa Joan Hart is 47. Actor Sean Maguire is 47. Actor Kevin Rankin is 47. Actor Bryce Johnson is 46. Reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian is 44. Detroit Tigers first baseman and DH Miguel Cabrera is 40. Actor America Ferrera is 39. Actor Tom Hughes is 38. Actor Ellen Woglom (TV: "Marvel's Inhumans") is 36. Actor Vanessa Kirby is 35. Actor Alia Shawkat is 34. Actor Britt Robertson is 33. Actor Chloe Bennet is 31. Rock singer Nathan Sykes (The Wanted) is 30. Actor Moises Arias is 29.

Today in History - April 18

KANSAS CITY (AP) — An 84-year-old white man in Kansas City, Missouri was charged Monday with first-degree assault for shooting a Black teen who mistakenly went to the man's home to pick up his younger brothers.

The assault charge is a class A felony. It is the highest-level offense in Missouri.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.courts.mo.gov/hosted/JUDEDintra/MOSAC/Criminal_System.html#:~:text=Class%20A%20felony%2C%20a%20term,not%20to%20exceed%20ten%20years.">Click here to read</a> details from the Sentencing Commission.

Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said at a news conference that there was a “racial component” Thursday night when Andrew Lester twice shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who is recovering at home after being released from the hospital. But nothing in the charging documents says the shooting was racially motivated, Thompson clarified.

“We understand how frustrating this has been but I can assure you the criminal justice system is working and will continue to work,” Thompson said.

The shooting outraged many in Kansas City and across the country. Civic and political leaders — including President Joe Biden — demanded justice. Some, including lawyers for Yarl, pressed the racial dimension of the case.

<a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/nf36y-cover-medical-expenses">Click here to view</a>&nbsp;the the GoFundMe to assist the family

Yarl, an honor student and all-state band member, was supposed to pick up his two younger brothers when he approached the wrong house at roughly 10 p.m. Lester came to the door and shot Yarl in the forehead -- then shot him again, in the right forearm.

No words were exchanged before the shooting, the probable cause statement said. But afterward, as Yarl got up to run, he heard Lester yell, “Don’t come around here,” the statement said.

Yarl ran to “multiple” homes asking for help before finding someone who would call the police, the statement said.

Rev. Vernon Howard, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City, called the shooting a “heinous and hate-filled crime.” Vice President Kamala Harris wrote on Twitter that "No child should ever live in fear of being shot for ringing the wrong doorbell.” The Missouri Senate held a moment of silence for Yarl on Monday.

The civil rights attorneys for Yarl’s family, Ben Crump and Lee Merritt, said in a statement that Biden called Yarl’s family and offiered “prayers for Ralph’s health and for justice.”

“Gun violence against unarmed Black individuals must stop,” the lawyers’ statement read. “Our children should feel safe, not as though they are being hunted.”

Yarl’s supporters plan to hold a rally Tuesday evening in Kansas City.

The assault charge carries a penalty of up to life in prison. Lester also was charged with armed criminal action, which has a penalty range of three to 15 years in prison. Lester was not charged with a hate crime. Thompson said Missouri’s statute is considered a lesser felony than first-degree assault, and carries a less severe penalty.

Missouri is among roughly 30 states with “Stand Your Ground” laws, which allow for the use of deadly force in self-defense, but the prosecutor determined the shooting was not in self defense.

An arrest warrant was issued but Lester was not yet in custody, Thompson said.

Lester told police that he lives alone and had just gone to bed when he heard his doorbell, according to the probable cause statement. He said he picked up his gun and went to the door, where he saw a Black male pulling on the exterior storm door handle and thought someone was breaking in.

A number for Lester was not in service on Monday evening and it was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney to speak on his behalf.

The shooting happened in a middle class neighborhood in north Kansas City. Yarl didn't have a phone with him and went to the wrong block, his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to help pay medical bills. By Monday afternoon, $1.4 million had been raised.

Police Chief Stacey Graves said that Yarl's parents asked him to pick up his brothers at a home on 115th Terrace, but he mistakenly went to 115th Street, the Kansas City Star reported.

Yarl is a bass clarinetist who earned Missouri All-State Band honorable mention and who plays several instruments in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Kansas City, Spoonmore wrote. A statement from the North Kansas City School District described Yarl as “an excellent student and talented musician.”

Spoonmore said Yarl is “doing well physically” but has a lot of trauma to overcome emotionally.

By Monday afternoon, the home where the shooting happened had been vandalized. Black spray-paint on the side of the house showed a heart with “16” in the middle. Eggs splattered the front windows and the door.

A message seeking comment from Republican Gov. Mike Parson, a staunch gun rights supporters, wasn’t immediately returned.

Crump, who has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trayvon-martin-death-of-george-floyd-florida-race-and-ethnicity-michael-brown-96d01a255bebe5762a9bf356768a5e5c">represented families</a>&nbsp;in several high-profile case of Black people being shot, including those of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/Trayvon-Martin-death-10-years-later-c68f12130b2992d9c1ba31ec1a398cdd">Trayvon Martin</a>, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, questioned why the shooter wasn't arrested and charged immediately.

“We all believe that if the roles were reversed and this was a Black citizen who shot a 16-year-old for merely ringing his doorbell, they would have arrested him, and he wouldn’t have slept in his bed that night,” Crump said.

Two days after Yarl was shot, a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fatal-shooting-wrong-driveway-new-york-dd45b17e3a806abf11d1aaf5b235fb13">20-year-old woman was killed</a>&nbsp;by a homeowner in Upstate New York Saturday after the car she was in drove to the wrong address. Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said Kaylin Gillis was in a car with three others looking for a friend’s house.

As the car was turning around, Kevin Monahan came out and fired two shots, one of which struck Gillis. Monahan was charged with second-degree murder.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1681779588169.png" alt="Lester from his Thursday night arrest booking-photo KCPD" />
 <figcaption>Lester from his Thursday night arrest booking-photo KCPD</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) — An 84-year-old white man in Kansas City, Missouri was charged Monday with first-degree assault for shooting a Black teen who mistakenly went to the man's home to pick up his younger brothers.The assault charge is a class A felony. It is the highest-level offense in Missouri.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.courts.mo.gov/hosted/JUDEDintra/MOSAC/Criminal_System.html#:~:text=Class%20A%20felony%2C%20a%20term,not%20to%20exceed%20ten%20years.">Click here to read</a> details from the Sentencing Commission.Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said at a news conference that there was a “racial component” Thursday night when Andrew Lester twice shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who is recovering at home after being released from the hospital. But nothing in the charging documents says the shooting was racially motivated, Thompson clarified.“We understand how frustrating this has been but I can assure you the criminal justice system is working and will continue to work,” Thompson said.The shooting outraged many in Kansas City and across the country. Civic and political leaders — including President Joe Biden — demanded justice. Some, including lawyers for Yarl, pressed the racial dimension of the case.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1681726215314.png" alt="Ralph Yarl-photo GoFundMe" />
 <figcaption>Ralph Yarl-photo GoFundMe</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/nf36y-cover-medical-expenses">Click here to view</a>&nbsp;the the GoFundMe to assist the familyYarl, an honor student and all-state band member, was supposed to pick up his two younger brothers when he approached the wrong house at roughly 10 p.m. Lester came to the door and shot Yarl in the forehead -- then shot him again, in the right forearm.No words were exchanged before the shooting, the probable cause statement said. But afterward, as Yarl got up to run, he heard Lester yell, “Don’t come around here,” the statement said.Yarl ran to “multiple” homes asking for help before finding someone who would call the police, the statement said.Rev. Vernon Howard, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City, called the shooting a “heinous and hate-filled crime.” Vice President Kamala Harris wrote on Twitter that "No child should ever live in fear of being shot for ringing the wrong doorbell.” The Missouri Senate held a moment of silence for Yarl on Monday.The civil rights attorneys for Yarl’s family, Ben Crump and Lee Merritt, said in a statement that Biden called Yarl’s family and offiered “prayers for Ralph’s health and for justice.”“Gun violence against unarmed Black individuals must stop,” the lawyers’ statement read. “Our children should feel safe, not as though they are being hunted.”Yarl’s supporters plan to hold a rally Tuesday evening in Kansas City.The assault charge carries a penalty of up to life in prison. Lester also was charged with armed criminal action, which has a penalty range of three to 15 years in prison. Lester was not charged with a hate crime. Thompson said Missouri’s statute is considered a lesser felony than first-degree assault, and carries a less severe penalty.Missouri is among roughly 30 states with “Stand Your Ground” laws, which allow for the use of deadly force in self-defense, but the prosecutor determined the shooting was not in self defense.An arrest warrant was issued but Lester was not yet in custody, Thompson said.Lester told police that he lives alone and had just gone to bed when he heard his doorbell, according to the probable cause statement. He said he picked up his gun and went to the door, where he saw a Black male pulling on the exterior storm door handle and thought someone was breaking in.A number for Lester was not in service on Monday evening and it was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney to speak on his behalf.The shooting happened in a middle class neighborhood in north Kansas City. Yarl didn't have a phone with him and went to the wrong block, his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to help pay medical bills. By Monday afternoon, $1.4 million had been raised.Police Chief Stacey Graves said that Yarl's parents asked him to pick up his brothers at a home on 115th Terrace, but he mistakenly went to 115th Street, the Kansas City Star reported.Yarl is a bass clarinetist who earned Missouri All-State Band honorable mention and who plays several instruments in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Kansas City, Spoonmore wrote. A statement from the North Kansas City School District described Yarl as “an excellent student and talented musician.”Spoonmore said Yarl is “doing well physically” but has a lot of trauma to overcome emotionally.By Monday afternoon, the home where the shooting happened had been vandalized. Black spray-paint on the side of the house showed a heart with “16” in the middle. Eggs splattered the front windows and the door.A message seeking comment from Republican Gov. Mike Parson, a staunch gun rights supporters, wasn’t immediately returned.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">We&#39;ve been retained by Ralph Yarl &amp; his family following the unjustifiable shooting of the 16-yo by an unidentified white male assailant. <a href="https://twitter.com/MerrittForTexas?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MerrittForTexas</a> &amp; our legal team demand Clay County prosecutors &amp; law enforcement swiftly identify, arrest, &amp; prosecute the man responsible! <a href="https://t.co/FmX2S7ZEZh">pic.twitter.com/FmX2S7ZEZh</a>&mdash; Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/AttorneyCrump/status/1647768828460298250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Crump, who has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trayvon-martin-death-of-george-floyd-florida-race-and-ethnicity-michael-brown-96d01a255bebe5762a9bf356768a5e5c">represented families</a>&nbsp;in several high-profile case of Black people being shot, including those of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/Trayvon-Martin-death-10-years-later-c68f12130b2992d9c1ba31ec1a398cdd">Trayvon Martin</a>, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, questioned why the shooter wasn't arrested and charged immediately.“We all believe that if the roles were reversed and this was a Black citizen who shot a 16-year-old for merely ringing his doorbell, they would have arrested him, and he wouldn’t have slept in his bed that night,” Crump said.Two days after Yarl was shot, a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fatal-shooting-wrong-driveway-new-york-dd45b17e3a806abf11d1aaf5b235fb13">20-year-old woman was killed</a>&nbsp;by a homeowner in Upstate New York Saturday after the car she was in drove to the wrong address. Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said Kaylin Gillis was in a car with three others looking for a friend’s house.As the car was turning around, Kevin Monahan came out and fired two shots, one of which struck Gillis. Monahan was charged with second-degree murder.

No words exchanged before homeowner shot Black Kansas City teen

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday upheld former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's second-degree murder conviction in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd">killing of George Floyd</a>, and his 22 1/2-year sentence remains in place.

Chauvin's attorney&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-legal-proceedings-minnesota-minneapolis-c048e42279647ce6e28258df06028d8a">had asked the appeals court</a>&nbsp;to throw out the ex-officer’s convictions for a long list of reasons, including the massive pretrial publicity. He also argued that legal and procedural errors deprived Chauvin of a fair trial. But the three-judge panel sided with prosecutors who said Chauvin got a fair trial and just sentence.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-minneapolis-police-reform-d109eb0d3094119ddbcb560676467f19">Floyd died on May 25, 2020</a>, after Chauvin, who is white, used his knee to pin the Black man’s neck to the ground for 9 1/2 minutes. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death touched off protests around the world, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.

“Police officers undoubtedly have a challenging, difficult, and sometimes dangerous job. However, no one is above the law," Appeals Judge Peter Reyes wrote for the panel. "When they commit a crime, they must be held accountable just as those individuals that they lawfully apprehend. The law only permits police officers to use reasonable force when effecting a lawful arrest. Chauvin crossed that line here when he used unreasonable force on Floyd.”

Chauvin’s attorney, William Mohrman, argued on appeal that the trial judge should have moved the case out of Minneapolis because of extensive pretrial publicity and unprecedented security precautions due to fears of violence.

“The primary issue on this appeal is whether a criminal defendant can get a fair trial consistent with constitutional requirements in a courthouse surrounded by concrete block, barbed wire, two armored personnel carriers, and a squad of National Guard troops, all of which or whom are there for one purpose: in the event that the jury acquits the defendant,” Mohrman said in oral arguments in January.

But Neal Katyal, a special attorney for the state, argued that Chauvin got “one of the most transparent and thorough trials in our nation’s history."

Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 1/2 years after jurors found him guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin later pleaded guilty&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-george-floyd-minneapolis-race-and-ethnicity-st-paul-a8b12b1e3e0fedc1270c659e3428134e">to a separate federal civil rights charge</a>&nbsp;and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison, which he is now serving in Arizona concurrent with his state sentence.

“Judge Cahill managed this trial with enormous care, and even if Chauvin could identify some minor fault, any error is harmless,” Katyal said. “The evidence of Chauvin’s guilt was captured on video for the world to see.”

Mohrman argued that the pretrial publicity was the most extensive of any trial in Minnesota history, and that the judge should have moved the trial and sequestered the jury. He said the publicity and the riots, the city’s $27 million settlement with Floyd’s family announced during jury selection, the unrest over a police killing of a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb during jury selection, and the sealing off of the courthouse, were just some of the factors prejudicing Chauvin’s chance of a fair trial.

His appeal also focused on one juror who participated in a civil rights event commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington, a few months after Floyd’s death. Only after the trial did the juror reveal that he had been there.

But the appeals court ruled that Cahill did not abuse his discretion in deciding those issues.

The appeals court declined to address whether it was legally permissible to convict Chauvin of third-degree murder. The defense said a 2021 Minnesota Supreme Court decision&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-shootings-police-minnesota-minneapolis-2d406f6b94f00eb48ecedbc958000026">in a different police killing</a>&nbsp;case that clarified the definition of that crime meant the law no longer fit the facts of Floyd's killing. But the appeals court noted that the trial judge never formally adjudicated that conviction nor did he sentence Chauvin on that count.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1619012623324.png" alt="Derek Chauvin's booking photo following the verdict- Minnesota Dpt. of Corrections" />
 <figcaption>Derek Chauvin's booking photo following the verdict- Minnesota Dpt. of Corrections</figcaption>
 </figure>MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday upheld former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's second-degree murder conviction in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd">killing of George Floyd</a>, and his 22 1/2-year sentence remains in place.Chauvin's attorney&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-legal-proceedings-minnesota-minneapolis-c048e42279647ce6e28258df06028d8a">had asked the appeals court</a>&nbsp;to throw out the ex-officer’s convictions for a long list of reasons, including the massive pretrial publicity. He also argued that legal and procedural errors deprived Chauvin of a fair trial. But the three-judge panel sided with prosecutors who said Chauvin got a fair trial and just sentence.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-minneapolis-police-reform-d109eb0d3094119ddbcb560676467f19">Floyd died on May 25, 2020</a>, after Chauvin, who is white, used his knee to pin the Black man’s neck to the ground for 9 1/2 minutes. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death touched off protests around the world, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.“Police officers undoubtedly have a challenging, difficult, and sometimes dangerous job. However, no one is above the law," Appeals Judge Peter Reyes wrote for the panel. "When they commit a crime, they must be held accountable just as those individuals that they lawfully apprehend. The law only permits police officers to use reasonable force when effecting a lawful arrest. Chauvin crossed that line here when he used unreasonable force on Floyd.”Chauvin’s attorney, William Mohrman, argued on appeal that the trial judge should have moved the case out of Minneapolis because of extensive pretrial publicity and unprecedented security precautions due to fears of violence.“The primary issue on this appeal is whether a criminal defendant can get a fair trial consistent with constitutional requirements in a courthouse surrounded by concrete block, barbed wire, two armored personnel carriers, and a squad of National Guard troops, all of which or whom are there for one purpose: in the event that the jury acquits the defendant,” Mohrman said in oral arguments in January.But Neal Katyal, a special attorney for the state, argued that Chauvin got “one of the most transparent and thorough trials in our nation’s history."Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 1/2 years after jurors found him guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin later pleaded guilty&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-george-floyd-minneapolis-race-and-ethnicity-st-paul-a8b12b1e3e0fedc1270c659e3428134e">to a separate federal civil rights charge</a>&nbsp;and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison, which he is now serving in Arizona concurrent with his state sentence.“Judge Cahill managed this trial with enormous care, and even if Chauvin could identify some minor fault, any error is harmless,” Katyal said. “The evidence of Chauvin’s guilt was captured on video for the world to see.”Mohrman argued that the pretrial publicity was the most extensive of any trial in Minnesota history, and that the judge should have moved the trial and sequestered the jury. He said the publicity and the riots, the city’s $27 million settlement with Floyd’s family announced during jury selection, the unrest over a police killing of a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb during jury selection, and the sealing off of the courthouse, were just some of the factors prejudicing Chauvin’s chance of a fair trial.His appeal also focused on one juror who participated in a civil rights event commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington, a few months after Floyd’s death. Only after the trial did the juror reveal that he had been there.But the appeals court ruled that Cahill did not abuse his discretion in deciding those issues.The appeals court declined to address whether it was legally permissible to convict Chauvin of third-degree murder. The defense said a 2021 Minnesota Supreme Court decision&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-shootings-police-minnesota-minneapolis-2d406f6b94f00eb48ecedbc958000026">in a different police killing</a>&nbsp;case that clarified the definition of that crime meant the law no longer fit the facts of Floyd's killing. But the appeals court noted that the trial judge never formally adjudicated that conviction nor did he sentence Chauvin on that count.

Chauvin murder conviction upheld in George Floyd killing

The Friends of the Salina Public Library organization needs your help to find homes for thousands of gently used books.

The group has scheduled a Spring Used Book Sale from 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and noon-4 p.m. April 23 in the downstairs Youth Services Annex of the library, 301 W. Elm Street.

“We have thousands of books just waiting to be taken home and enjoyed,” said Gretta Kontas, Used Book Sale chair. “We have westerns, mystery, science fiction, romance as well as general fiction for adults and children. Additionally, we have hundreds of large print books and movies.”

“And our prices are so reasonable that you won’t be able to select just one. On Sunday afternoon, patrons will be able to fill a bag (supplied by Brown’s Shoes) with books for just $5,” added Laura Rhodenbaugh, friends organization treasurer.

Additionally, members of Friends of the Salina Public Library can get into the event early, from 4-6 p.m. Friday. 

Salina Public Library cardholders can sign up to become members of the Friends of the Salina Public Library at the adult circulation desk. The cost is $10 a year for an individual membership and $25 a year for a family membership. In addition to getting first dibs on used book sales, friends members do not pay fines on overdue library materials.

The used book sales offered throughout the year ultimately benefit the library and its patrons. The Friends of the Salina Public Library is a volunteer, board-guided organization that acts as a booster club for the library. 

Some of the organization's activities include providing volunteers for library events, purchasing prizes and youth activities for summer reading programs at the library, supplies for the CLASS program, and providing scholarships for teen library volunteers, the friends group noted in a news release.

“We are excited to be able to raise funds to assist with Summer Reading Programs at the library,” said Debbie Toll, vice president of the Friends Advisory Board.

For more information on Friends of the Salina Public Library, including how to become a member, visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.salinapubliclibrary.org/friends">salinapubliclibrary.org/friends</a>.

By SALINA POSTThe Friends of the Salina Public Library organization needs your help to find homes for thousands of gently used books.The group has scheduled a Spring Used Book Sale from 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and noon-4 p.m. April 23 in the downstairs Youth Services Annex of the library, 301 W. Elm Street.“We have thousands of books just waiting to be taken home and enjoyed,” said Gretta Kontas, Used Book Sale chair. “We have westerns, mystery, science fiction, romance as well as general fiction for adults and children. Additionally, we have hundreds of large print books and movies.”“And our prices are so reasonable that you won’t be able to select just one. On Sunday afternoon, patrons will be able to fill a bag (supplied by Brown’s Shoes) with books for just $5,” added Laura Rhodenbaugh, friends organization treasurer.Additionally, members of Friends of the Salina Public Library can get into the event early, from 4-6 p.m. Friday. Salina Public Library cardholders can sign up to become members of the Friends of the Salina Public Library at the adult circulation desk. The cost is $10 a year for an individual membership and $25 a year for a family membership. In addition to getting first dibs on used book sales, friends members do not pay fines on overdue library materials.The used book sales offered throughout the year ultimately benefit the library and its patrons. The Friends of the Salina Public Library is a volunteer, board-guided organization that acts as a booster club for the library. Some of the organization's activities include providing volunteers for library events, purchasing prizes and youth activities for summer reading programs at the library, supplies for the CLASS program, and providing scholarships for teen library volunteers, the friends group noted in a news release.“We are excited to be able to raise funds to assist with Summer Reading Programs at the library,” said Debbie Toll, vice president of the Friends Advisory Board.For more information on Friends of the Salina Public Library, including how to become a member, visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.salinapubliclibrary.org/friends">salinapubliclibrary.org/friends</a>.

Friends of Salina Public Library Used Book Sale opens to public Saturday

Texas Federal District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling attempting to invalidate the F.D.A.'s&nbsp; approval of the abortion pill mifepristone is remarkable in referencing many times what has become known as the Comstock Act of 1873. Despite our accusing other countries of censorship, we overlook the extensive censorship that occurred over a century ago in America centered around birth control and a wide range of other related topics.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Anthony Comstock (1844–1915) today would be shunned as an extreme prude, terribly uncomfortable with any public mention of sexuality or nudity. His was a time when women’s swim outfits had to cover the whole body. Women were considered subservient to their husbands, a philosophy called “complimentariansm.” And doctors (nearly all men) would never advise wives to say “no” to their husband during their fertile cycle, despite lack of food to feed their current children. &nbsp;

Most Americans are appalled at the subjugation of girls and women under the Taliban based on religious beliefs. Restrictions on outside travel without a male family member, denial of education, and forced wearing of a designated head scarf are some of the acts of civil oppression justified by religion in some portions of the Middle East. But we suppressed women as well, especially over reproductive rights.

“Comstockery in America: Patterns of Censorship and Control” by Robert W. Haney was published by Beacon Press in 1960 and provides a history of American cultural censorship that restricts literary, dramatic and artistic work as well as censorship of political views, female rights included.

As a young man, Anthony Comstock fought in the Union army where he was appalled at the sinful words spoken by his fellow soldiers. When he attended a Roman Catholic mass, he considered the services “mere frivolity” and he “soon became disgusted.” Comstock’s ideology would be considered an evangelical Christian nationalist position today.

On March 3, 1873, Comstock gained Congressional approval of a censorship law that would eventually be called the Comstock Act. At the time, there were very few contraceptives and this statute defined contraceptives as obscene. It became a federal crime to disseminate birth control or related information through the mail or across state lines, thus the connection to the Texas judge’s ruling today. Comstock was then appointed as a United States Postal Inspector to suppress obscenity. Haney describes how Comstock, opening citizens’ mail, could soon boast that “...he had destroyed more that fifty tons of indecent books, almost four million obscene pictures, and 16,900 negatives for such pictures. He also credited himself with the dubious distinction of having driven fifteen people to suicide.”

Comstockery book banning continued on beyond his lifetime, including works by Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, Aldous Huxley, Theodore Dreiser, Bertrand Russell, George Bernard Shaw, etc. Although nearly all modern histories now condemn Comstock, his work is greatly praised in “Outlawed!: How Anthony Comstock Fought and Won the Purity of a Nation” by Charles G. Trumball in April 19, 2013. That publisher asserts: “Christians will only gain ground in the contemporary ‘Culture Wars’ as they recover the comprehensive approach to sexual ethics held by Comstock and his allies.”

But Comstock’s obsessions included other anti-feminist views, including opposition to women voting. “The Man Who Hated Women: Sex, Censorship, and Civil Liberties in the Gilded Age” by Amy Sohn was released July 6, 2021. Sohn profiles eight women (writers, doctors, publishers) who were charged with violating federal and state Comstock laws, including woman presidential candidate Victoria C. Woodhull, Ida C. Craddock, and Emma Goldman.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;

But most prominent was Margaret Sanger (1879–1966) who first served as a nurse. Poor women came to her for a pregnancy check, desperate that another mouth not be added to their already starving family. As founder of the birth control movement, Sanger published 100,000 copies of “Family Liberation” describing the few methods of birth control known at the time. Mailing them from varied post offices to get around Comstock’s censorship, she accumulated nine federal violations and fled the country. Comstock sent police, disguised as a poor couple, to ask her husband for a copy of the book, and arrested him when he provided it. He took the 30 days in jail rather than pay the $150 fine. Several weeks later, Comstock died.

Margaret Sanger returned from exile. The country’s attitude had changed in her favor, and she received a small penalty. Sanger would lecture worldwide and arrange for the funding of the research leading to the birth control pill. One irony in this century of cultural change is found in Margaret Sanger’s perspective on abortion. Sanger had seen the terrible outcomes and widespread death of desperate women who attempted their own coat-hanger (or back-alley) abortions a century ago. In “Family Limitation,” Sanger wrote: “no one can doubt that there are times when an abortion is justifiable but they will become unnecessary when care is taken to prevent conception. This is the only cure for abortions.”

Sanger hoped that with sex education and birth control available, there would be no “unwanted children.” Unfortunately, adequate sex education is rare in the U.S. And most school teachers are aware that there are still unwanted children today. Depending upon upcoming court actions, there may soon be even more.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling can be read here: <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23746119-read-texas-federal-judge-ruling-on-abortion-pill/" target="_blank">https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23746119-read-texas-federal-judge-ruling-on-abortion-pill/</a>

WGBH: Anthony Comstock's “Chastity” Laws are at: <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pill-anthony-comstocks-chastity-laws/" target="_blank">https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pill-anthony-comstocks-chastity-laws/</a>

John Richard Schrock has trained biology teachers for more than 30 years in Kansas. He also has lectured at 27 universities during 20 trips to China. He holds the distinction of “Faculty Emeritus” at Emporia State University.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573490075841.jpeg" alt="John Richard Schrock" />
 <figcaption>John Richard Schrock</figcaption>
 </figure>By JOHN RICHARD SCHROCKTexas Federal District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling attempting to invalidate the F.D.A.'s&nbsp; approval of the abortion pill mifepristone is remarkable in referencing many times what has become known as the Comstock Act of 1873. Despite our accusing other countries of censorship, we overlook the extensive censorship that occurred over a century ago in America centered around birth control and a wide range of other related topics.&nbsp; &nbsp; Anthony Comstock (1844–1915) today would be shunned as an extreme prude, terribly uncomfortable with any public mention of sexuality or nudity. His was a time when women’s swim outfits had to cover the whole body. Women were considered subservient to their husbands, a philosophy called “complimentariansm.” And doctors (nearly all men) would never advise wives to say “no” to their husband during their fertile cycle, despite lack of food to feed their current children. &nbsp; Most Americans are appalled at the subjugation of girls and women under the Taliban based on religious beliefs. Restrictions on outside travel without a male family member, denial of education, and forced wearing of a designated head scarf are some of the acts of civil oppression justified by religion in some portions of the Middle East. But we suppressed women as well, especially over reproductive rights. “Comstockery in America: Patterns of Censorship and Control” by Robert W. Haney was published by Beacon Press in 1960 and provides a history of American cultural censorship that restricts literary, dramatic and artistic work as well as censorship of political views, female rights included. As a young man, Anthony Comstock fought in the Union army where he was appalled at the sinful words spoken by his fellow soldiers. When he attended a Roman Catholic mass, he considered the services “mere frivolity” and he “soon became disgusted.” Comstock’s ideology would be considered an evangelical Christian nationalist position today. On March 3, 1873, Comstock gained Congressional approval of a censorship law that would eventually be called the Comstock Act. At the time, there were very few contraceptives and this statute defined contraceptives as obscene. It became a federal crime to disseminate birth control or related information through the mail or across state lines, thus the connection to the Texas judge’s ruling today. Comstock was then appointed as a United States Postal Inspector to suppress obscenity. Haney describes how Comstock, opening citizens’ mail, could soon boast that “...he had destroyed more that fifty tons of indecent books, almost four million obscene pictures, and 16,900 negatives for such pictures. He also credited himself with the dubious distinction of having driven fifteen people to suicide.” Comstockery book banning continued on beyond his lifetime, including works by Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, Aldous Huxley, Theodore Dreiser, Bertrand Russell, George Bernard Shaw, etc. Although nearly all modern histories now condemn Comstock, his work is greatly praised in “Outlawed!: How Anthony Comstock Fought and Won the Purity of a Nation” by Charles G. Trumball in April 19, 2013. That publisher asserts: “Christians will only gain ground in the contemporary ‘Culture Wars’ as they recover the comprehensive approach to sexual ethics held by Comstock and his allies.” But Comstock’s obsessions included other anti-feminist views, including opposition to women voting. “The Man Who Hated Women: Sex, Censorship, and Civil Liberties in the Gilded Age” by Amy Sohn was released July 6, 2021. Sohn profiles eight women (writers, doctors, publishers) who were charged with violating federal and state Comstock laws, including woman presidential candidate Victoria C. Woodhull, Ida C. Craddock, and Emma Goldman.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; But most prominent was Margaret Sanger (1879–1966) who first served as a nurse. Poor women came to her for a pregnancy check, desperate that another mouth not be added to their already starving family. As founder of the birth control movement, Sanger published 100,000 copies of “Family Liberation” describing the few methods of birth control known at the time. Mailing them from varied post offices to get around Comstock’s censorship, she accumulated nine federal violations and fled the country. Comstock sent police, disguised as a poor couple, to ask her husband for a copy of the book, and arrested him when he provided it. He took the 30 days in jail rather than pay the $150 fine. Several weeks later, Comstock died. Margaret Sanger returned from exile. The country’s attitude had changed in her favor, and she received a small penalty. Sanger would lecture worldwide and arrange for the funding of the research leading to the birth control pill. One irony in this century of cultural change is found in Margaret Sanger’s perspective on abortion. Sanger had seen the terrible outcomes and widespread death of desperate women who attempted their own coat-hanger (or back-alley) abortions a century ago. In “Family Limitation,” Sanger wrote: “no one can doubt that there are times when an abortion is justifiable but they will become unnecessary when care is taken to prevent conception. This is the only cure for abortions.” Sanger hoped that with sex education and birth control available, there would be no “unwanted children.” Unfortunately, adequate sex education is rare in the U.S. And most school teachers are aware that there are still unwanted children today. Depending upon upcoming court actions, there may soon be even more.&nbsp; &nbsp;Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling can be read here: <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23746119-read-texas-federal-judge-ruling-on-abortion-pill/" target="_blank">https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23746119-read-texas-federal-judge-ruling-on-abortion-pill/</a> WGBH: Anthony Comstock's “Chastity” Laws are at: <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pill-anthony-comstocks-chastity-laws/" target="_blank">https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pill-anthony-comstocks-chastity-laws/</a> John Richard Schrock has trained biology teachers for more than 30 years in Kansas. He also has lectured at 27 universities during 20 trips to China. He holds the distinction of “Faculty Emeritus” at Emporia State University.

ED FRONTLINES: Comstockery in America

Today is Monday, April 17, the 107th day of 2023. There are 258 days left in the year.

On April 17, 1961, some 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in an attempt to topple Fidel Castro, whose forces crushed the incursion by the third day.

In 1521, Martin Luther went before the Diet of Worms to face charges stemming from his religious writings. (Luther was later declared an outlaw by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.)

In 1961, "The Apartment" won the Academy Award for best picture of 1960; Burt Lancaster was named best actor for "Elmer Gantry," while the best actress award went to Elizabeth Taylor for "Butterfield 8."

In 1964, Ford Motor Co. unveiled the Mustang at the New York World's Fair.

In 1969, a jury in Los Angeles convicted Sirhan Sirhan of assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.

In 1970, Apollo 13 astronauts James A. Lovell, Fred W. Haise and Jack Swigert splashed down safely in the Pacific, four days after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft while en route to the moon.

In 1972, the Boston Marathon allowed women to compete for the first time; Nina Kuscsik was the first officially recognized women's champion, with a time of 3:10:26.

In 1973, Federal Express (later FedEx) began operations as 14 planes carrying 186 packages took off from Memphis International Airport, bound for 25 U.S. cities.

In 1975, Cambodia's five-year war ended as the capital Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge, which instituted brutal, radical policies that claimed an estimated 1.7 million lives until the regime was overthrown in 1979.

In 1986, at London's Heathrow Airport, a bomb was discovered in the bag of Anne-Marie Murphy, a pregnant Irishwoman about to board an El Al jetliner to Israel; she'd been tricked into carrying the bomb by her Jordanian fiance, Nezar Hindawi.

In 1991, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 3,000 for the first time, ending the day at 3,004.46, up 17.58.

In 1993, a federal jury in Los Angeles convicted two former police officers of violating the civil rights of beaten motorist Rodney King; two other officers were acquitted. Turkish President Turgut Ozal died at age 66.

In 2020, President Donald Trump urged supporters to "LIBERATE" three states led by Democratic governors, apparently encouraging protests against stay-at-home mandates aimed at stopping the coronavirus.

Ten years ago: Fifteen people were killed when a fertilizer plant exploded in West, Texas. Sports returned to Boston two days after the deadly Marathon bombing as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Bruins in a 3-2 shootout (players on both teams wore "Boston Strong" decals on their helmets). Senate Republicans backed by a small band of rural-state Democrats scuttled the most far-reaching gun control legislation in two decades, rejecting tighter background checks for buyers and a ban on assault weapons.

Five years ago: Barbara Bush, who was both a first lady and the mother of a president, died in Houston at the age of 92; she was survived by her husband, George H.W. Bush, with whom she had the longest marriage of any presidential couple in American history - a marriage of more than 73 years. A Southwest Airlines jet made an emergency landing in Philadelphia after the jet apparently blew an engine, got hit by debris and lost a window; a woman sitting near the window was pulled partially out of the plane and later died. Americans were given an extra day to file their taxes after key elements of the IRS website crashed on deadline day.

One year ago: Ukrainian fighters holed up in a steel plant in the last known pocket of resistance inside the shattered city of Mariupol ignored a surrender-or-die ultimatum from the Russians and continued to hold out against the capture of the strategically vital port. A container ship the length of more than three football fields was pried from the muddy bottom of the Chesapeake Bay more than a month after it ran aground. China announced it would launch three more astronauts to its newest space station after the latest crew returned following a six-month stay in orbit.

Today's Birthdays: Actor David Bradley is 81. Composer-musician Jan Hammer is 75. Actor Olivia Hussey is 72. Actor Clarke Peters is 71. Rapper Afrika Bambaataa is 66. Actor Sean Bean is 64. Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason is 62. Actor Joel Murray is 61. Rock singer Maynard James Keenan (Tool) is 59. Actor Lela Rochon is 59. Actor William Mapother is 58. Actor Leslie Bega is 56. Actor Henry Ian Cusick is 56. Actor Kimberly Elise is 56. Singer Liz Phair is 56. Director/producer Adam McKay is 55. Rapper-actor Redman is 53. Actor Jennifer Garner is 51. Singer Victoria Beckham is 49. Actor-singer Lindsay Korman is 45. Actor Tate Ellington is 44. Actor Nicholas D'Agosto is 43. Actor Charlie Hofheimer is 42. Actor Rooney Mara is 38. Actor Jacqueline MacInnes Wood is 36. Actor Paulie Litt is 28. Actor Dee Dee Davis is 27.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573488868914.jpeg" alt="Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a>" />
 <figcaption>Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a></figcaption>
 </figure>&nbsp;By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSToday is Monday, April 17, the 107th day of 2023. There are 258 days left in the year.Today's Highlight in History:On April 17, 1961, some 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in an attempt to topple Fidel Castro, whose forces crushed the incursion by the third day.On this date:In 1521, Martin Luther went before the Diet of Worms to face charges stemming from his religious writings. (Luther was later declared an outlaw by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.)In 1961, "The Apartment" won the Academy Award for best picture of 1960; Burt Lancaster was named best actor for "Elmer Gantry," while the best actress award went to Elizabeth Taylor for "Butterfield 8."In 1964, Ford Motor Co. unveiled the Mustang at the New York World's Fair.In 1969, a jury in Los Angeles convicted Sirhan Sirhan of assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.In 1970, Apollo 13 astronauts James A. Lovell, Fred W. Haise and Jack Swigert splashed down safely in the Pacific, four days after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft while en route to the moon.In 1972, the Boston Marathon allowed women to compete for the first time; Nina Kuscsik was the first officially recognized women's champion, with a time of 3:10:26.In 1973, Federal Express (later FedEx) began operations as 14 planes carrying 186 packages took off from Memphis International Airport, bound for 25 U.S. cities.In 1975, Cambodia's five-year war ended as the capital Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge, which instituted brutal, radical policies that claimed an estimated 1.7 million lives until the regime was overthrown in 1979.In 1986, at London's Heathrow Airport, a bomb was discovered in the bag of Anne-Marie Murphy, a pregnant Irishwoman about to board an El Al jetliner to Israel; she'd been tricked into carrying the bomb by her Jordanian fiance, Nezar Hindawi.In 1991, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 3,000 for the first time, ending the day at 3,004.46, up 17.58.In 1993, a federal jury in Los Angeles convicted two former police officers of violating the civil rights of beaten motorist Rodney King; two other officers were acquitted. Turkish President Turgut Ozal died at age 66.In 2020, President Donald Trump urged supporters to "LIBERATE" three states led by Democratic governors, apparently encouraging protests against stay-at-home mandates aimed at stopping the coronavirus.Ten years ago: Fifteen people were killed when a fertilizer plant exploded in West, Texas. Sports returned to Boston two days after the deadly Marathon bombing as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Bruins in a 3-2 shootout (players on both teams wore "Boston Strong" decals on their helmets). Senate Republicans backed by a small band of rural-state Democrats scuttled the most far-reaching gun control legislation in two decades, rejecting tighter background checks for buyers and a ban on assault weapons.Five years ago: Barbara Bush, who was both a first lady and the mother of a president, died in Houston at the age of 92; she was survived by her husband, George H.W. Bush, with whom she had the longest marriage of any presidential couple in American history - a marriage of more than 73 years. A Southwest Airlines jet made an emergency landing in Philadelphia after the jet apparently blew an engine, got hit by debris and lost a window; a woman sitting near the window was pulled partially out of the plane and later died. Americans were given an extra day to file their taxes after key elements of the IRS website crashed on deadline day.One year ago: Ukrainian fighters holed up in a steel plant in the last known pocket of resistance inside the shattered city of Mariupol ignored a surrender-or-die ultimatum from the Russians and continued to hold out against the capture of the strategically vital port. A container ship the length of more than three football fields was pried from the muddy bottom of the Chesapeake Bay more than a month after it ran aground. China announced it would launch three more astronauts to its newest space station after the latest crew returned following a six-month stay in orbit.Today's Birthdays: Actor David Bradley is 81. Composer-musician Jan Hammer is 75. Actor Olivia Hussey is 72. Actor Clarke Peters is 71. Rapper Afrika Bambaataa is 66. Actor Sean Bean is 64. Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason is 62. Actor Joel Murray is 61. Rock singer Maynard James Keenan (Tool) is 59. Actor Lela Rochon is 59. Actor William Mapother is 58. Actor Leslie Bega is 56. Actor Henry Ian Cusick is 56. Actor Kimberly Elise is 56. Singer Liz Phair is 56. Director/producer Adam McKay is 55. Rapper-actor Redman is 53. Actor Jennifer Garner is 51. Singer Victoria Beckham is 49. Actor-singer Lindsay Korman is 45. Actor Tate Ellington is 44. Actor Nicholas D'Agosto is 43. Actor Charlie Hofheimer is 42. Actor Rooney Mara is 38. Actor Jacqueline MacInnes Wood is 36. Actor Paulie Litt is 28. Actor Dee Dee Davis is 27.

Today in History - April 17

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer

DETROIT — Ten electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles will be eligible for a 
$7,500 U.S. tax credit, while another seven could get $3,750 under new 
federal rules that go into effect on Tuesday.

But under the Treasury Department rules and other provisions of last year's <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-signs-climate-health-bill-9a7f349fa7b07387d20ad603f2ff4875">Inflation Reduction Act</a>, most of the more than 60 electric or plug-in hybrids on sale in the U.S. won't get any tax credits.

That could slow acceptance of electric vehicles and could <a href="https://apnews.com/article/electric-vehicles-tax-credit-7500-c562cb2d3509e93dc81d3b7d395725af">delay reaching President Joe Biden's ambitious goal</a> that half of new passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. run on electricity by 2030.

The
 new rules, which govern how much battery minerals and parts can come 
from countries that don't have free trade agreements with the U.S., 
bumped nine vehicles off the tax credit eligibility list that went into 
effect Jan. 1.

The 10 vehicles eligible for the full $7,500 credit
 are Tesla's Model 3 Performance model, the Tesla Model Y, Ford's F-150 
Lightning pickup, the Chrysler Pacifica and the Lincoln Aviator Grand 
Touring plug-in hybrids. Also, General Motors will have five models 
eligible this year including its top-selling Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt 
EUV, as well as the Cadillac Lyriq, the Chevrolet Silverado electric 
pickup and the upcoming Chevy Equinox small SUV.

The seven models 
that could get a $3,750 credit include the Jeep Wrangler and Grand 
Cherokee plug-ins, Ford's Mustang Mach-E SUV, Escape plug-in and 
E-Transit electric van, the Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring plug-in and 
the standard range rear-wheel-drive version of Tesla's Model 3.

Consumers can check to see if the EV they're considering is eligible for a credit at <a href="https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/tax2023.shtml">www.fueleconomy.gov</a>.

To
 be eligible, electric vehicles or plug-ins have to be manufactured in 
North America. SUVs, vans and trucks can't have a sticker price greater 
than $80,000, while cars can't sticker for more than $55,000. There also
 are income limits for buyers.

The Treasury Department says the 
new list shows that families who want to buy an electric or plug-in 
vehicle “will continue to have a number of options to receive a full or 
partial tax credit in the near term" under rules designed to build 
electric vehicle production and a supply chain in the U.S.

The 
reduction in eligible EVs also could conflict with the administration's 
proposed strict new automobile pollution limits announced last week. The
 new standards would require up to two-thirds of new vehicles sold in 
the U.S. to be electric by 2032. That’s a nearly tenfold increase over 
current electric vehicle sales.

Many of the vehicles that aren't 
eligible for the credit are made outside of North America, but their 
manufacturers are building assembly and battery plants in the U.S., and 
more vehicles will become eligible.

Some auto industry analysts 
say that while $7,500 would be enough to entice people away from 
internal combustion vehicles, a $3,750 tax credit might not be enough to
 offset the average U.S. new EV price.

Kelley Blue Book says the 
average U.S. new EV costs about $58,600, nearly $10,000 more than the 
average new vehicle price. To be sure, average EV prices are falling as 
more people buy less-expensive models. The average EV price was $63,500 a
 year ago.

Jeff Schuster, executive vice president of LMC 
Automotive and Global Data, said half of the full tax credit isn’t 
enough. “You’re shrinking the market essentially by the vehicles not 
being affordable,” he said, adding that the average combustion engine 
vehicle isn’t affordable either.

The big issue in the rules that 
are effective Tuesday are limits on the percentage of battery parts and 
minerals that come from countries that don’t have free trade or mineral 
agreements with the United States.

This year, at least 40% of the 
value of battery minerals must be mined, processed or recycled in the 
U.S. or countries with which it has trade deals. That rises 10% every 
year until it hits 80% after 2026.

Also, at least 50% of the value
 of battery parts must be manufactured or assembled in North America 
this year. That requirement rises to 60% next year and in 2025 and jumps
 10% each year until it hits 100% after 2028.

In addition to the 
price limits, there also are income limits aimed to stop wealthier 
people from getting credits. Buyers cannot have an adjusted gross annual
 income above $150,000 if single, $300,000 if filing jointly and 
$225,000 if head of a household.

In addition, starting in 2025, 
battery minerals cannot come from a “foreign entity of concern,” mainly 
China and Russia. Battery parts cannot be sourced in those countries 
starting in 2024; minerals can’t come from those countries in 2025.

The Biden administration said rules governing that requirement are in the works.

Even
 though the rules are effective Tuesday, the Biden administration is 
taking public comments, and they can be modified later, including the 
addition of countries that negotiate trade agreements with the U.S.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1681753178354.jpg" alt="Ten electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles will be eligible for a $7,500 U.S. tax credit, while another seven could get $3,750 under new federal rules that go into effect on Tuesday. Pixabay photo" />
 <figcaption>Ten electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles will be eligible for a $7,500 U.S. tax credit, while another seven could get $3,750 under new federal rules that go into effect on Tuesday. Pixabay photo</figcaption>
 </figure>By TOM KRISHER AP Auto WriterDETROIT — Ten electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles will be eligible for a 
$7,500 U.S. tax credit, while another seven could get $3,750 under new 
federal rules that go into effect on Tuesday.But under the Treasury Department rules and other provisions of last year's <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-signs-climate-health-bill-9a7f349fa7b07387d20ad603f2ff4875">Inflation Reduction Act</a>, most of the more than 60 electric or plug-in hybrids on sale in the U.S. won't get any tax credits.That could slow acceptance of electric vehicles and could <a href="https://apnews.com/article/electric-vehicles-tax-credit-7500-c562cb2d3509e93dc81d3b7d395725af">delay reaching President Joe Biden's ambitious goal</a> that half of new passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. run on electricity by 2030.The
 new rules, which govern how much battery minerals and parts can come 
from countries that don't have free trade agreements with the U.S., 
bumped nine vehicles off the tax credit eligibility list that went into 
effect Jan. 1.The 10 vehicles eligible for the full $7,500 credit
 are Tesla's Model 3 Performance model, the Tesla Model Y, Ford's F-150 
Lightning pickup, the Chrysler Pacifica and the Lincoln Aviator Grand 
Touring plug-in hybrids. Also, General Motors will have five models 
eligible this year including its top-selling Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt 
EUV, as well as the Cadillac Lyriq, the Chevrolet Silverado electric 
pickup and the upcoming Chevy Equinox small SUV.The seven models 
that could get a $3,750 credit include the Jeep Wrangler and Grand 
Cherokee plug-ins, Ford's Mustang Mach-E SUV, Escape plug-in and 
E-Transit electric van, the Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring plug-in and 
the standard range rear-wheel-drive version of Tesla's Model 3.Consumers can check to see if the EV they're considering is eligible for a credit at <a href="https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/tax2023.shtml">www.fueleconomy.gov</a>.To
 be eligible, electric vehicles or plug-ins have to be manufactured in 
North America. SUVs, vans and trucks can't have a sticker price greater 
than $80,000, while cars can't sticker for more than $55,000. There also
 are income limits for buyers.The Treasury Department says the 
new list shows that families who want to buy an electric or plug-in 
vehicle “will continue to have a number of options to receive a full or 
partial tax credit in the near term" under rules designed to build 
electric vehicle production and a supply chain in the U.S.The 
reduction in eligible EVs also could conflict with the administration's 
proposed strict new automobile pollution limits announced last week. The
 new standards would require up to two-thirds of new vehicles sold in 
the U.S. to be electric by 2032. That’s a nearly tenfold increase over 
current electric vehicle sales.Many of the vehicles that aren't 
eligible for the credit are made outside of North America, but their 
manufacturers are building assembly and battery plants in the U.S., and 
more vehicles will become eligible.Some auto industry analysts 
say that while $7,500 would be enough to entice people away from 
internal combustion vehicles, a $3,750 tax credit might not be enough to
 offset the average U.S. new EV price.Kelley Blue Book says the 
average U.S. new EV costs about $58,600, nearly $10,000 more than the 
average new vehicle price. To be sure, average EV prices are falling as 
more people buy less-expensive models. The average EV price was $63,500 a
 year ago.Jeff Schuster, executive vice president of LMC 
Automotive and Global Data, said half of the full tax credit isn’t 
enough. “You’re shrinking the market essentially by the vehicles not 
being affordable,” he said, adding that the average combustion engine 
vehicle isn’t affordable either.The big issue in the rules that 
are effective Tuesday are limits on the percentage of battery parts and 
minerals that come from countries that don’t have free trade or mineral 
agreements with the United States.This year, at least 40% of the 
value of battery minerals must be mined, processed or recycled in the 
U.S. or countries with which it has trade deals. That rises 10% every 
year until it hits 80% after 2026.Also, at least 50% of the value
 of battery parts must be manufactured or assembled in North America 
this year. That requirement rises to 60% next year and in 2025 and jumps
 10% each year until it hits 100% after 2028.In addition to the 
price limits, there also are income limits aimed to stop wealthier 
people from getting credits. Buyers cannot have an adjusted gross annual
 income above $150,000 if single, $300,000 if filing jointly and 
$225,000 if head of a household.In addition, starting in 2025, 
battery minerals cannot come from a “foreign entity of concern,” mainly 
China and Russia. Battery parts cannot be sourced in those countries 
starting in 2024; minerals can’t come from those countries in 2025.The Biden administration said rules governing that requirement are in the works.Even
 though the rules are effective Tuesday, the Biden administration is 
taking public comments, and they can be modified later, including the 
addition of countries that negotiate trade agreements with the U.S.

Is your electric vehicle eligible for a tax credit?

Today is Sunday, April 16, the 106th day of 2023. There are 259 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History: On April 16, 1945, a Soviet submarine in the Baltic Sea torpedoed and sank the MV Goya, which Germany was using to transport civilian refugees and wounded soldiers; it's estimated that up to 7,000 people died.

On this date: In 1789, President-elect George Washington left Mount Vernon, Virginia, for his inauguration in New York.

In 1889, comedian and movie director Charles Chaplin was born in London.

In 1945, In his first speech to Congress, President Harry S. Truman pledged to carry out the war and peace policies of his late predecessor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1947, the cargo ship Grandcamp, carrying ammonium nitrate, blew up in the harbor in Texas City, Texas; a nearby ship, the High Flyer, which was carrying ammonium nitrate and sulfur, caught fire and exploded the following day; the blasts and fires killed nearly 600 people.

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his "Letter from Birmingham Jail" in which the civil rights activist responded to a group of local clergymen who had criticized him for leading street protests; King defended his tactics, writing, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

In 1972, Apollo 16 blasted off on a voyage to the moon with astronauts John W. Young, Charles M. Duke Jr. and Ken Mattingly on board.

In 1977, Alex Haley, author of the best-seller "Roots," visited the Gambian village of Juffure, where, he believed, his ancestor Kunte Kinte was captured as a slave in 1767.

In 1996, Britain's Prince Andrew and his wife, Sarah, the Duchess of York, announced they were in the process of divorcing.

In 2003, Michael Jordan played his last NBA game with the Washington Wizards, who lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 107-87.

In 2007, in one of America's worst school attacks, a college senior killed 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech before taking his own life.

In 2010, the U.S government accused Wall Street's most powerful firm of fraud, saying Goldman Sachs &amp; Co. had sold mortgage investments without telling buyers the securities were crafted with input from a client who was betting on them to fail. (In July 2010, Goldman agreed to pay $550 million in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but did not admit wrongdoing.)

In 2020, the Trump administration gutted an Obama-era rule that compelled the country's coal plants to cut back emissions of mercury and other human health hazards.

Ten years ago: Federal agents zeroed in on how the Boston Marathon bombing the day before was carried out — with kitchen pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails and other lethal shrapnel — but said they didn't know yet who had done it, or why. An envelope addressed to Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., tested positive for ricin (RY'-sin), a potentially fatal poison. (A Mississippi man later pleaded guilty to sending letters dusted with ricin to Wicker, President Barack Obama and a judge.) NFL player-turned-broadcaster Pat Summerall, 82, died in Dallas.

Five years ago: The New York Times and The New Yorker won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for breaking the Harvey Weinstein scandal with reporting that galvanized the #MeToo movement. Rap star Kendrick Lamar was awarded the Pulitzer for music, becoming the first non-classical or non-jazz artist to win the prize. American pastor Andrew Brunson went on trial in Turkey in a case that strained ties between that country and the United States; he denied accusations that he aided terror groups or spied against Turkey. (Brunson was convicted but sentenced to time served and was freed from house arrest in October to return to the United States.) Actor Harry Anderson, best known for playing an off-the-wall judge working the night shift of a Manhattan court room on the comedy series "Night Court," was found dead in his North Carolina home; he was 65.

One year ago: Russian forces accelerated scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond, a sign that the entire country was still under assault despite Russia's pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east. Nine people were shot and wounded in a shooting at a shopping mall in Columbia, South Carolina. (Three suspects were arrested and charged with attempted murder and other crimes in the subsequent days.) Rosario Ibarra, whose long struggle to learn the fate of her disappeared son helped develop Mexico's human rights movement and led her to become the country's first female presidential candidate, died at age 95.

Today's Birthdays: Singer Bobby Vinton is 88. Denmark's Queen Margrethe II is 83. Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 76. Former Massachusetts first lady Ann Romney is 74. NFL coach Bill Belichick is 71. Rock singer (Midnight Oil) and former politician Peter Garrett is 70. Actor Ellen Barkin is 69. Actor Michel Gill is 63. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is 61. Rock musician Jason Scheff (Chicago) is 61. Singer Jimmy Osmond is 60. Rock singer David Pirner (Soul Asylum) is 59. Actor-comedian Martin Lawrence is 58. Actor Jon Cryer is 58. Actor Peter Billingsley is 52. Actor Lukas Haas is 47. Actor-singer Kelli O'Hara is 47. Actor Claire Foy (TV: "The Crown") is 39. Figure skater Mirai Nagasu is 30. Actor Sadie Sink is 21.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573488868914.jpeg" alt="Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a>" />
 <figcaption>Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a></figcaption>
 </figure>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSToday is Sunday, April 16, the 106th day of 2023. There are 259 days left in the year.Today's Highlight in History: On April 16, 1945, a Soviet submarine in the Baltic Sea torpedoed and sank the MV Goya, which Germany was using to transport civilian refugees and wounded soldiers; it's estimated that up to 7,000 people died.On this date: In 1789, President-elect George Washington left Mount Vernon, Virginia, for his inauguration in New York.In 1889, comedian and movie director Charles Chaplin was born in London.In 1945, In his first speech to Congress, President Harry S. Truman pledged to carry out the war and peace policies of his late predecessor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt.In 1947, the cargo ship Grandcamp, carrying ammonium nitrate, blew up in the harbor in Texas City, Texas; a nearby ship, the High Flyer, which was carrying ammonium nitrate and sulfur, caught fire and exploded the following day; the blasts and fires killed nearly 600 people.In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his "Letter from Birmingham Jail" in which the civil rights activist responded to a group of local clergymen who had criticized him for leading street protests; King defended his tactics, writing, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."In 1972, Apollo 16 blasted off on a voyage to the moon with astronauts John W. Young, Charles M. Duke Jr. and Ken Mattingly on board.In 1977, Alex Haley, author of the best-seller "Roots," visited the Gambian village of Juffure, where, he believed, his ancestor Kunte Kinte was captured as a slave in 1767.In 1996, Britain's Prince Andrew and his wife, Sarah, the Duchess of York, announced they were in the process of divorcing.In 2003, Michael Jordan played his last NBA game with the Washington Wizards, who lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 107-87.In 2007, in one of America's worst school attacks, a college senior killed 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech before taking his own life.In 2010, the U.S government accused Wall Street's most powerful firm of fraud, saying Goldman Sachs &amp; Co. had sold mortgage investments without telling buyers the securities were crafted with input from a client who was betting on them to fail. (In July 2010, Goldman agreed to pay $550 million in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but did not admit wrongdoing.)In 2020, the Trump administration gutted an Obama-era rule that compelled the country's coal plants to cut back emissions of mercury and other human health hazards.Ten years ago: Federal agents zeroed in on how the Boston Marathon bombing the day before was carried out — with kitchen pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails and other lethal shrapnel — but said they didn't know yet who had done it, or why. An envelope addressed to Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., tested positive for ricin (RY'-sin), a potentially fatal poison. (A Mississippi man later pleaded guilty to sending letters dusted with ricin to Wicker, President Barack Obama and a judge.) NFL player-turned-broadcaster Pat Summerall, 82, died in Dallas.Five years ago: The New York Times and The New Yorker won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for breaking the Harvey Weinstein scandal with reporting that galvanized the #MeToo movement. Rap star Kendrick Lamar was awarded the Pulitzer for music, becoming the first non-classical or non-jazz artist to win the prize. American pastor Andrew Brunson went on trial in Turkey in a case that strained ties between that country and the United States; he denied accusations that he aided terror groups or spied against Turkey. (Brunson was convicted but sentenced to time served and was freed from house arrest in October to return to the United States.) Actor Harry Anderson, best known for playing an off-the-wall judge working the night shift of a Manhattan court room on the comedy series "Night Court," was found dead in his North Carolina home; he was 65.One year ago: Russian forces accelerated scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond, a sign that the entire country was still under assault despite Russia's pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east. Nine people were shot and wounded in a shooting at a shopping mall in Columbia, South Carolina. (Three suspects were arrested and charged with attempted murder and other crimes in the subsequent days.) Rosario Ibarra, whose long struggle to learn the fate of her disappeared son helped develop Mexico's human rights movement and led her to become the country's first female presidential candidate, died at age 95. Today's Birthdays: Singer Bobby Vinton is 88. Denmark's Queen Margrethe II is 83. Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 76. Former Massachusetts first lady Ann Romney is 74. NFL coach Bill Belichick is 71. Rock singer (Midnight Oil) and former politician Peter Garrett is 70. Actor Ellen Barkin is 69. Actor Michel Gill is 63. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is 61. Rock musician Jason Scheff (Chicago) is 61. Singer Jimmy Osmond is 60. Rock singer David Pirner (Soul Asylum) is 59. Actor-comedian Martin Lawrence is 58. Actor Jon Cryer is 58. Actor Peter Billingsley is 52. Actor Lukas Haas is 47. Actor-singer Kelli O'Hara is 47. Actor Claire Foy (TV: "The Crown") is 39. Figure skater Mirai Nagasu is 30. Actor Sadie Sink is 21.

Today in History - April 16

By ROBERT ZULLO <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/10/inside-the-battle-over-who-gets-to-build-the-grid-of-the-future/">States Newsroom</a>

The U.S. Department of Energy issued a
 draft report in February that found a “pressing need” for new electric 
transmission infrastructure across the country to improve reliability, 
connect a rapidly growing number of solar, wind and battery storage 
projects, supply increasing electric demand and alleviate scattered 
pockets of consistently high prices across the country.

To meet the future envisioned by the 
federal infrastructure act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which both 
contain major provisions to boost clean energy, the country needs to 
increase its current transmission system by an eye-popping 57% by 2035, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-02/022423-DRAFTNeedsStudyforPublicComment.pdf">the report says</a>. Princeton University’s <a target="_blank" href="https://netzeroamerica.princeton.edu/?explorer=year&amp;state=national&amp;table=2020&amp;limit=200">Net-Zero America</a>
 study estimates expanding transmission capacity by 60% by 2030 will 
cost $330 billion and tripling it by 2050 will cost $2.2 trillion.

But in Kansas and other states, bills
 that have been pushed by utilities to give them exclusive or 
preferential treatment for building regional transmission lines, called 
“right-of-first-refusal” laws, mean customers might pay more than they 
should for all those wires and towers, critics say.

“What’s important to note is that the
 clean energy transition is going to require a significant amount of new
 transmission. Because of that, that’s why you have these protectionist 
battles going on across the country,” said Sharon Segner, senior vice 
president of transmission policy at LS Power, a company that owns about 
680 miles of transmission lines and has been awarded more than $4 
billion worth of competitively bid transmission projects.

“The incumbent utilities are trying to obtain a monopoly for the clean energy transition.”

The Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned electric utilities and<a target="_blank" href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/utilities-ferc-transmission-eei-rates-consumers-rofr-refusal-peg/608370/"> has pushed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission</a>
 to grant utilities rights of first refusal for regional transmission 
lines, did not respond to a request for comment on the rationale for 
right-of-first refusal laws. However, in statehouses across the country,
 <a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/03/20/missouri-kansas-utilities-back-bills-to-reestablish-monopoly-on-transmission-projects/">proponents have argued</a>
 that such laws actually benefit consumers because they remove the 
incentive to offer unrealistic lowball bids to win solicitations, avoid 
delays dealing with procurement, preserve state regulatory oversight and
 result in streamlined, more efficient projects because local utilities 
know their communities better.

But they also represent a potential windfall for utilities.

“The more capital they spend, the 
more profit they make under government-guaranteed rates of return,” said
 Josiah Neeley, a senior fellow at the R Street Institute, a 
right-leaning free market think tank, in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.rstreet.org/outreach/opposition-to-anti-competitive-right-of-first-refusal-rorf-laws-for-electric-transmission/">testimony</a> on a <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2021/proposals/sb838#:~:text=An%20Act%20to%20create%20196.485,and%20maintain%20certain%20transmission%20facilities.">failed </a>right-of-first refusal<a target="_blank" href="https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2021/proposals/sb838#:~:text=An%20Act%20to%20create%20196.485,and%20maintain%20certain%20transmission%20facilities."> bill</a>
 in Wisconsin last year. “Historically, the absence of transmission 
competition has resulted in a severe lack of economic discipline — 
leading to cost overruns, with captive consumers footing the bill.”

Last month, after a lawsuit by LS Power and another company, the Iowa Supreme Court <a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/03/29/citing-crony-capitalism-iowa-supreme-court-blasts-late-night-legislative-logrolling/">halted legislation</a>
 from 2020 that gave a right of first refusal for transmission projects 
to utilities operating in Iowa. The court, which ruled based on the 
manner in which the bill was passed, not its substance, nevertheless 
called it “quintessentially crony capitalism” and “rent-seeking, 
protectionist legislation” that will “impose higher costs on Iowans.”

That ruling comes as the U.S. Supreme Court <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/justices-ask-government-input-texas-electric-grid-dispute-2023-03-06/">weighs</a>
 whether to take up a case involving Texas’ even more extreme 2019 law, 
which says the ability to build, own and operate new transmission lines 
that connect directly to an existing utility facility “may be granted 
only to the owner of that existing facility.” The U.S. Court of Appeals 
for the 5th Circuit<a target="_blank" href="https://ecf.ca5.uscourts.gov/n/beam/servlet/TransportRoom?servlet=ShowDocMulti&amp;incPdfHeader=Y&amp;pacer=t&amp;CSRF=csrf_-2846796520857721805&amp;incPdfHeaderDisp=Y&amp;caseId=193949&amp;dktType=dktPublic&amp;outputType=doc&amp;d=9928280&amp;outputForm=view&amp;incPdfFooter=&amp;dls=6452772%252C6452777"> held in August</a>
 that the Texas law may violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. 
Constitution, reversing a lower court ruling that upheld the law. The 
5th Circuit, calling the law a “ban on new entrants in a market” 
remanded the case to the district court to consider whether Texas 
regulators can show they have “no other means to advance a legitimate 
local purpose.’’

Writing for the conservative Cato 
Institute, Vanderbilt University law professor Jim Rossi called 
right-of-first-refusal laws (ROFR) “constitutionally suspect” and noted 
that of more than $10 billion in transmission projects recently approved
 by the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.misoenergy.org/about/">Midcontinent Independent System Operator</a>,
 which operates the electric grid in all or part of 15 states, more than
 90% will be built by incumbent utilities rather than competitively bid.

“State transmission ROFR laws reflect
 bad policy choices that thwart reliability in competitive regional 
power supply markets and, at bottom, are harmful to customers,” <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cato.org/regulation/winter-2022-2023/promoting-cost-effective-grid-modernization#how-state-rofr-laws-harm-customers">Rossi wrote.</a>
 “Transmission ROFRs pose a barrier to a coordinated approach to grid 
expansion, making it more difficult to promote reliability and new 
technological approaches that enable the lowest‐​cost power supply 
options for customers.”

According to the National Conference 
of State Legislatures, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North 
Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota have laws on the books that grant 
utilities right-of-first-refusal privileges to build local or regional 
transmission lines. <a target="_blank" href="https://legiscan.com/MS/text/SB2341/2023">Mississippi</a> passed similar legislation this year. Bills to add new ROFR rights or expand existing ones have been <a target="_blank" href="https://dailyenergyinsider.com/policy/33837-two-more-states-consider-bills-giving-utilities-first-go-on-transmission-projects/">introduced</a> in <a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/03/20/missouri-kansas-utilities-back-bills-to-reestablish-monopoly-on-transmission-projects/">Missouri</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://electricitytransmissioncompetitioncoalition.org/montana-right-of-first-refusal-law/">Montana</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.minnpost.com/other-nonprofit-media/2022/02/wisconsin-bill-would-grant-utilities-a-monopoly-on-building-transmission-projects/">Wisconsin</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.oklahoman.com/story/opinion/2023/02/24/oklahoma-law-on-electricity-should-be-based-on-whats-good-for-consumers/69925284007/">Oklahoma</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/20/missouri-kansas-utilities-back-bills-to-reestablish-monopoly-on-transmission-projects/">Kansas</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2023/bills/house/1420#digest-heading">Indiana</a>.

“If you want to see more clean energy
 we need more transmission and you want to keep all the options on the 
table for who’s going to develop those projects,” said Ari Peskoe, 
director of the Electricity Law Initiative at the Harvard Law School.

Current right-of-first-refusal laws at the state level have their origins in reaction to a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.powermag.com/ferc-rule-1000-what-does-it-mean/">FERC order in 2011</a>
 that sought to promote more competition in regional electric 
transmission projects in part by removing federal rights of first 
refusal for certain transmission projects.

“The agency reasoned that federal 
rights of first refusal might ‘be leading to rates … that are unjust and
 unreasonable,’ in large part because ‘it is not in the economic 
self-interest of incumbent[s] to permit new entrants to develop 
transmission facilities,’ even if those facilities ‘would result in a 
more efficient or cost-effective solution,’” the 5th Circuit judges 
wrote in their opinion.

Utilities, Peskoe said, “saw it coming and went to their legislatures and said ‘please protect us from this competition.’ ”

Just 3% of today’s projects are competitively bid, according to the<a target="_blank" href="https://electricitytransmissioncompetitioncoalition.org/"> Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition</a>,
 which includes 70 companies and organizations from 48 states, including
 manufacturers, consumer advocates, transmission developers, retail 
electric customers and public power representatives.

The legal battles over right-of-first
 refusal laws come as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission grapples 
with a suite of issues surrounding transmission planning and 
construction, including whether to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/justice-doj-ftc-ferc-transmission-competition-utilities-rofr/629966/">reinstate</a> a federal right of first refusal for utilities, a move that is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-and-federal-trade-commission-issue-joint-comment-federal-energy-regulatory">opposed</a> by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.

“American consumers and businesses 
should not be denied the benefits of competition when paying for this 
significant transmission investment,” the agencies said.

FERC, which regulates interstate electric transmission, is also exploring the concept of an <a target="_blank" href="https://dailyenergyinsider.com/policy/33837-two-more-states-consider-bills-giving-utilities-first-go-on-transmission-projects/">independent transmission monitor</a>.
 That’s because some state regulators and consumer advocates say that as
 transmission spending by utilities is becoming an increasing portion of
 electric customers’ bills, projects are escaping rigorous oversight 
because of varying regulatory regimes, a lack of expertise at the state 
level and too little transparency. FERC also has a <a target="_blank" href="https://ferc.gov/news-events/news/ferc-issues-transmission-nopr-addressing-planning-cost-allocation">draft rule</a> out that would alter how regional transmission projects are planned and costs allocated.

And what’s more, some critics argue, 
many utilities aren’t incentivized to build the types of interregional 
transmission projects that the Department of Energy <a target="_blank" href="https://youtu.be/L-7MEMlf-zk">reported</a> have the best benefits for customers.

The Texas case, they contend, is a textbook example of what’s wrong with the status quo.

Building power plants, Peskoe said, 
has always been the major source of profit for utilities. New 
transmission lines that might bring in cheaper power from elsewhere 
reduce the need for those pricey new facilities.

“You’re sort of cutting yourself off 
at the knees because you’re reducing the opportunity to build power 
plants in the future,” he said. “Bringing in energy from elsewhere may 
be good for the consumers but maybe bad for utility shareholders.”

‘They ran to their state legislature’

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1681249872508.jpg" alt="Image courtesy of Pixabay" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy of Pixabay</figcaption>
 </figure>By ROBERT ZULLO <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/10/inside-the-battle-over-who-gets-to-build-the-grid-of-the-future/">States Newsroom</a>The U.S. Department of Energy issued a
 draft report in February that found a “pressing need” for new electric 
transmission infrastructure across the country to improve reliability, 
connect a rapidly growing number of solar, wind and battery storage 
projects, supply increasing electric demand and alleviate scattered 
pockets of consistently high prices across the country.To meet the future envisioned by the 
federal infrastructure act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which both 
contain major provisions to boost clean energy, the country needs to 
increase its current transmission system by an eye-popping 57% by 2035, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-02/022423-DRAFTNeedsStudyforPublicComment.pdf">the report says</a>. Princeton University’s <a target="_blank" href="https://netzeroamerica.princeton.edu/?explorer=year&amp;state=national&amp;table=2020&amp;limit=200">Net-Zero America</a>
 study estimates expanding transmission capacity by 60% by 2030 will 
cost $330 billion and tripling it by 2050 will cost $2.2 trillion.But in Kansas and other states, bills
 that have been pushed by utilities to give them exclusive or 
preferential treatment for building regional transmission lines, called 
“right-of-first-refusal” laws, mean customers might pay more than they 
should for all those wires and towers, critics say.“What’s important to note is that the
 clean energy transition is going to require a significant amount of new
 transmission. Because of that, that’s why you have these protectionist 
battles going on across the country,” said Sharon Segner, senior vice 
president of transmission policy at LS Power, a company that owns about 
680 miles of transmission lines and has been awarded more than $4 
billion worth of competitively bid transmission projects.“The incumbent utilities are trying to obtain a monopoly for the clean energy transition.”The Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned electric utilities and<a target="_blank" href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/utilities-ferc-transmission-eei-rates-consumers-rofr-refusal-peg/608370/"> has pushed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission</a>
 to grant utilities rights of first refusal for regional transmission 
lines, did not respond to a request for comment on the rationale for 
right-of-first refusal laws. However, in statehouses across the country,
 <a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/03/20/missouri-kansas-utilities-back-bills-to-reestablish-monopoly-on-transmission-projects/">proponents have argued</a>
 that such laws actually benefit consumers because they remove the 
incentive to offer unrealistic lowball bids to win solicitations, avoid 
delays dealing with procurement, preserve state regulatory oversight and
 result in streamlined, more efficient projects because local utilities 
know their communities better.But they also represent a potential windfall for utilities.“The more capital they spend, the 
more profit they make under government-guaranteed rates of return,” said
 Josiah Neeley, a senior fellow at the R Street Institute, a 
right-leaning free market think tank, in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.rstreet.org/outreach/opposition-to-anti-competitive-right-of-first-refusal-rorf-laws-for-electric-transmission/">testimony</a> on a <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2021/proposals/sb838#:~:text=An%20Act%20to%20create%20196.485,and%20maintain%20certain%20transmission%20facilities.">failed </a>right-of-first refusal<a target="_blank" href="https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2021/proposals/sb838#:~:text=An%20Act%20to%20create%20196.485,and%20maintain%20certain%20transmission%20facilities."> bill</a>
 in Wisconsin last year. “Historically, the absence of transmission 
competition has resulted in a severe lack of economic discipline — 
leading to cost overruns, with captive consumers footing the bill.”<h2>‘Crony capitalism’</h2>Last month, after a lawsuit by LS Power and another company, the Iowa Supreme Court <a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/03/29/citing-crony-capitalism-iowa-supreme-court-blasts-late-night-legislative-logrolling/">halted legislation</a>
 from 2020 that gave a right of first refusal for transmission projects 
to utilities operating in Iowa. The court, which ruled based on the 
manner in which the bill was passed, not its substance, nevertheless 
called it “quintessentially crony capitalism” and “rent-seeking, 
protectionist legislation” that will “impose higher costs on Iowans.”That ruling comes as the U.S. Supreme Court <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/justices-ask-government-input-texas-electric-grid-dispute-2023-03-06/">weighs</a>
 whether to take up a case involving Texas’ even more extreme 2019 law, 
which says the ability to build, own and operate new transmission lines 
that connect directly to an existing utility facility “may be granted 
only to the owner of that existing facility.” The U.S. Court of Appeals 
for the 5th Circuit<a target="_blank" href="https://ecf.ca5.uscourts.gov/n/beam/servlet/TransportRoom?servlet=ShowDocMulti&amp;incPdfHeader=Y&amp;pacer=t&amp;CSRF=csrf_-2846796520857721805&amp;incPdfHeaderDisp=Y&amp;caseId=193949&amp;dktType=dktPublic&amp;outputType=doc&amp;d=9928280&amp;outputForm=view&amp;incPdfFooter=&amp;dls=6452772%252C6452777"> held in August</a>
 that the Texas law may violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. 
Constitution, reversing a lower court ruling that upheld the law. The 
5th Circuit, calling the law a “ban on new entrants in a market” 
remanded the case to the district court to consider whether Texas 
regulators can show they have “no other means to advance a legitimate 
local purpose.’’Writing for the conservative Cato 
Institute, Vanderbilt University law professor Jim Rossi called 
right-of-first-refusal laws (ROFR) “constitutionally suspect” and noted 
that of more than $10 billion in transmission projects recently approved
 by the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.misoenergy.org/about/">Midcontinent Independent System Operator</a>,
 which operates the electric grid in all or part of 15 states, more than
 90% will be built by incumbent utilities rather than competitively bid.“State transmission ROFR laws reflect
 bad policy choices that thwart reliability in competitive regional 
power supply markets and, at bottom, are harmful to customers,” <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cato.org/regulation/winter-2022-2023/promoting-cost-effective-grid-modernization#how-state-rofr-laws-harm-customers">Rossi wrote.</a>
 “Transmission ROFRs pose a barrier to a coordinated approach to grid 
expansion, making it more difficult to promote reliability and new 
technological approaches that enable the lowest‐​cost power supply 
options for customers.”According to the National Conference 
of State Legislatures, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North 
Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota have laws on the books that grant 
utilities right-of-first-refusal privileges to build local or regional 
transmission lines. <a target="_blank" href="https://legiscan.com/MS/text/SB2341/2023">Mississippi</a> passed similar legislation this year. Bills to add new ROFR rights or expand existing ones have been <a target="_blank" href="https://dailyenergyinsider.com/policy/33837-two-more-states-consider-bills-giving-utilities-first-go-on-transmission-projects/">introduced</a> in <a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/03/20/missouri-kansas-utilities-back-bills-to-reestablish-monopoly-on-transmission-projects/">Missouri</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://electricitytransmissioncompetitioncoalition.org/montana-right-of-first-refusal-law/">Montana</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.minnpost.com/other-nonprofit-media/2022/02/wisconsin-bill-would-grant-utilities-a-monopoly-on-building-transmission-projects/">Wisconsin</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.oklahoman.com/story/opinion/2023/02/24/oklahoma-law-on-electricity-should-be-based-on-whats-good-for-consumers/69925284007/">Oklahoma</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/20/missouri-kansas-utilities-back-bills-to-reestablish-monopoly-on-transmission-projects/">Kansas</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2023/bills/house/1420#digest-heading">Indiana</a>.“If you want to see more clean energy
 we need more transmission and you want to keep all the options on the 
table for who’s going to develop those projects,” said Ari Peskoe, 
director of the Electricity Law Initiative at the Harvard Law School.Current right-of-first-refusal laws at the state level have their origins in reaction to a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.powermag.com/ferc-rule-1000-what-does-it-mean/">FERC order in 2011</a>
 that sought to promote more competition in regional electric 
transmission projects in part by removing federal rights of first 
refusal for certain transmission projects.“The agency reasoned that federal 
rights of first refusal might ‘be leading to rates … that are unjust and
 unreasonable,’ in large part because ‘it is not in the economic 
self-interest of incumbent[s] to permit new entrants to develop 
transmission facilities,’ even if those facilities ‘would result in a 
more efficient or cost-effective solution,’” the 5th Circuit judges 
wrote in their opinion.Utilities, Peskoe said, “saw it coming and went to their legislatures and said ‘please protect us from this competition.’ ”Just 3% of today’s projects are competitively bid, according to the<a target="_blank" href="https://electricitytransmissioncompetitioncoalition.org/"> Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition</a>,
 which includes 70 companies and organizations from 48 states, including
 manufacturers, consumer advocates, transmission developers, retail 
electric customers and public power representatives.<h2>Transmission tension</h2>The legal battles over right-of-first
 refusal laws come as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission grapples 
with a suite of issues surrounding transmission planning and 
construction, including whether to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/justice-doj-ftc-ferc-transmission-competition-utilities-rofr/629966/">reinstate</a> a federal right of first refusal for utilities, a move that is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-and-federal-trade-commission-issue-joint-comment-federal-energy-regulatory">opposed</a> by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.“American consumers and businesses 
should not be denied the benefits of competition when paying for this 
significant transmission investment,” the agencies said.FERC, which regulates interstate electric transmission, is also exploring the concept of an <a target="_blank" href="https://dailyenergyinsider.com/policy/33837-two-more-states-consider-bills-giving-utilities-first-go-on-transmission-projects/">independent transmission monitor</a>.
 That’s because some state regulators and consumer advocates say that as
 transmission spending by utilities is becoming an increasing portion of
 electric customers’ bills, projects are escaping rigorous oversight 
because of varying regulatory regimes, a lack of expertise at the state 
level and too little transparency. FERC also has a <a target="_blank" href="https://ferc.gov/news-events/news/ferc-issues-transmission-nopr-addressing-planning-cost-allocation">draft rule</a> out that would alter how regional transmission projects are planned and costs allocated.And what’s more, some critics argue, 
many utilities aren’t incentivized to build the types of interregional 
transmission projects that the Department of Energy <a target="_blank" href="https://youtu.be/L-7MEMlf-zk">reported</a> have the best benefits for customers.The Texas case, they contend, is a textbook example of what’s wrong with the status quo.Building power plants, Peskoe said, 
has always been the major source of profit for utilities. New 
transmission lines that might bring in cheaper power from elsewhere 
reduce the need for those pricey new facilities.“You’re sort of cutting yourself off 
at the knees because you’re reducing the opportunity to build power 
plants in the future,” he said. “Bringing in energy from elsewhere may 
be good for the consumers but maybe bad for utility shareholders.”<h2>‘They ran to their state legislature’</h2>The Texas right-of-first-refusal law 
is being challenged by NextEra Energy Transmission, a subsidiary of 
utility giant NextEra Energy, which owns Florida Power &amp; Light, the 
nation’s <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fpl.com/about/company-profile.html#:~:text=As%20America's%20largest%20electric%20utility,more%20than%2012%20million%20people.">largest utility</a>.NextEra had won a competitive bidding
 process in 2018 held by MISO to build, own and operate a 500-kilovolt 
line to be sited in a portion of east Texas covered by MISO but in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.entergy-texas.com/userfiles/content/energy_efficiency/documents/Map_EntergyServiceAres.pdf">Entergy Texas’ service area</a>.
 The estimated cost at the time was $115 million. The next year, the 
Texas legislature passed the right of first refusal law, effectively 
allowing Entergy, which has three million electric customers in 
Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, to take over construction of
 the line.“The Texas utilities lost a 
legitimate competitive bidding process so they ran to their state 
legislature and passed a right of first refusal,” said Segner, the LS 
Power executive.Then, in 2020, Entergy issued a request for proposals for a 1,200-megawatt combined cycle gas power plant in the same “<a target="_blank" href="https://www.iso-ne.com/participate/support/glossary-acronyms/#j">load pocket</a>”
 (a term for a part of the electric grid where the transmission system 
doesn’t have enough capacity to meet demand and requires local power 
generation) that would have been served by the transmission line. 
Entergy later decided it would “self build” the project, which is 
expected to cost about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.powermag.com/entergy-picks-epc-team-for-massive-hydrogen-capable-ccgt-project-in-texas/#:~:text=Construction%20of%20the%20%241.19%20billion,slated%20to%20begin%20this%20year.">$1.2 billion</a>.“If you don’t build transmission, you
 end up with load pockets. Entergy’s now using those load pockets to 
justify *billions* in gas unit installations instead of spending 
*millions* on transmission,” tweeted Simon Mahan, executive director of 
the Southern Renewable Energy Association, a nonprofit trade association
 that unsuccessfully urged FERC to deny <a target="_blank" href="https://cdn.misoenergy.org/20220829%20HSJ%20-%20Public%20Notice%20of%20Outcome%20-%20rvFinal626143.pdf">MISO’s request</a> to terminate the transmission line project.&nbsp;SREA sees a disturbing trend, noting 
that a similar transmission project in Entergy’s Louisiana service 
territory, the Waterford-Churchill line, was also canceled after its 
cost-benefit analysis was “eradicated by local bottom-up transmission 
projects as well as the $870 million <a target="_blank" href="https://www.entergynewsroom.com/news/st-charles-power-station-connected-serving-customers/">Entergy-built St. Charles </a>(gas power plant).”SREA said Entergy “appears to be 
using an anti-competitive strategy of capturing, delaying, and/or 
canceling transmission projects with local generation assets at 
significant cost to local ratepayers, while at the same time, not 
resolving underlying load pocket problems.”Entergy rejects that argument.The Orange County, Texas, plant “was 
needed to address a large and growing shortfall of generation for 
Entergy Texas,” said company spokeswoman Kendra James, adding that 
growing electric demand and the retirement of older power plants from 
the 1970s were also factors.“The OCAPS plant will address issues 
that the Hartburg-Sabine Junction Project could not, even under the most
 favorable assumptions for that transmission line,”&nbsp; James said. “There 
is no reasonable argument that Hartburg-Sabine was a substitute for 
OCAPS.”Entergy, James added, has more than 
doubled its capital investment in transmission since 2014 to improve 
reliability, connect new customers and reduce congestion on its system.“To provide reliable and affordable 
electric service, public utilities such as Entergy must invest in 
electric generation, transmission, distribution, and other aspects of 
the utility’s business,” she said. “Every investment decision we make is
 based on what we think is in our customers’ best interests.”