LAWRENCE — Opinion remains divided regarding how guns should factor into American society, especially those weapons designed for military warfare.

But what do actual soldiers think about this subject?

The surprising answers are explored in a new article titled&nbsp;<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ssqu.13145">“How Do Veterans View Gun Policies? Evidence from the Guns in American Life Survey.”</a>&nbsp;It appears in Social Science Quarterly.

“Many observers might expect veterans to be less supportive of gun control than other Americans since they are relatively conservative in terms of political identity,”&nbsp;said Margaret Kelley, professor of American studies at the University of Kansas.

“On average, vets — primarily those who have experienced combat — tend to be more receptive to some forms of gun control, such as restrictions on civilian access to military-style semiautomatic rifles and so-called ‘high-capacity’ magazines. They are also open to an extended waiting period of up to 14 days for the purchase of new handguns,” she said.

Co-written with Christopher Ellison and Pablo Gonzalez of the University of Texas at San Antonio and David Leal of the University of Texas, the article utilizes data gathered from Kelley and Ellison’s Guns in American Life Survey of 2018. This Qualtrics-run survey featuring input from more than 3,000 respondents explores numerous considerations that shape experiences and attitudes concerning firearms.

“The survey had lots of questions about gun experiences and lifestyles, social attitudes and firearm policy preferences, and it took about 30 minutes to complete online,” said Kelley, who noted the assessment is unique due to the amount of female gun owners involved.

Her article discusses how guns are fundamentally “demystified” for those in the military, which may account for their being perceived more as a tool than as an object of empowerment.

“Demystified means, among other things, setting aside the politics of guns and allowing someone to focus on gaining practical knowledge and becoming a competent user,” she said.

“Soldiers learn at least the basics about firearms when they enlist, even if their service does not require regular use or combat. Veterans leave service with vastly different experiences, but this minimum training is ensured. While it is recommended by firearms instructors that gun owners practice and seek out training on an ongoing basis, civilians are not required by law to do so,” she said.

Kelley found several factors accounting for why veterans were more prone to embrace certain rifle/magazine bans and extended waiting periods.

“While they support these limits, combat veterans also tend to be more supportive of expanded gun-carrying rights for civilians, including what is called 'constitutional carry' — or permit-less — that we have in Kansas and a growing number of other states,” she said.

Although the reasons for this seeming paradox are unclear, Kelley speculated that significant numbers of veterans may see public safety benefits to restricting widespread civilian access to powerful, highly destructive weapons, at least without proper vetting.

“At the same time, it is likely that they have learned, witnessed and practiced the safe and responsible carrying of firearms,” she said. “They have also put their lives on the line to defend America and our Constitution, including the Second Amendment. They may be reluctant to surrender those rights upon returning to civilian life.”&nbsp;

Now in her seventh year at KU, Kelley is not a military veteran— but her father was.

“My dad was drafted into the Army and stationed in Germany for two years, followed by six years in the reserves. As kids, we used to sleep in his Army-issued pup tent in the backyard until it finally fell apart. It wasn’t until after he died that I learned he earned sharpshooter qualification in the Army,” she said.

The professor is tapping her Guns in American Life Survey research for a larger book project specifically focusing on the average woman firearm user in middle America.

“I think we have to ask, 'Why do some Americans love guns so much?'” she said.

“Some Americans love guns, and some hate them. Some connect them to individual freedom, and others are more interested in the sport of guns. Others believe we should get rid of all guns. Concerns about self-defense can be universal, meaning that anyone can have that need, and increasing numbers of people are acquiring guns for that reason,” Kelley said. “There are just so many narratives. From some of my research, I would say that for most owners, guns are just one part of life, not a core identity, and not something they love but something they value.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://news.ku.edu/sites/news.ku.edu/files/images/general/2022_news/june/Veterans%20and%20Guns.jpg" alt="A U.S. soldier provides perimeter security outside an Iraqi police station in the Tarmiya Province of Iraq in this 2008 image from the Department of Defense. The soldier was not involved with the KU study. (Photo courtesy U.S. Dept. of Defense)" />
 <figcaption>A U.S. soldier provides perimeter security outside an Iraqi police station in the Tarmiya Province of Iraq in this 2008 image from the Department of Defense. The soldier was not involved with the KU study. (Photo courtesy U.S. Dept. of Defense)</figcaption>
 </figure>KU News ServiceLAWRENCE — Opinion remains divided regarding how guns should factor into American society, especially those weapons designed for military warfare.But what do actual soldiers think about this subject?The surprising answers are explored in a new article titled&nbsp;<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ssqu.13145">“How Do Veterans View Gun Policies? Evidence from the Guns in American Life Survey.”</a>&nbsp;It appears in Social Science Quarterly.“Many observers might expect veterans to be less supportive of gun control than other Americans since they are relatively conservative in terms of political identity,”&nbsp;said Margaret Kelley, professor of American studies at the University of Kansas.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655758064202.jpeg" alt="Margaret Kelley (Photo by KU)" />
 <figcaption>Margaret Kelley (Photo by KU)</figcaption>
 </figure>“On average, vets — primarily those who have experienced combat — tend to be more receptive to some forms of gun control, such as restrictions on civilian access to military-style semiautomatic rifles and so-called ‘high-capacity’ magazines. They are also open to an extended waiting period of up to 14 days for the purchase of new handguns,” she said.Co-written with Christopher Ellison and Pablo Gonzalez of the University of Texas at San Antonio and David Leal of the University of Texas, the article utilizes data gathered from Kelley and Ellison’s Guns in American Life Survey of 2018. This Qualtrics-run survey featuring input from more than 3,000 respondents explores numerous considerations that shape experiences and attitudes concerning firearms.“The survey had lots of questions about gun experiences and lifestyles, social attitudes and firearm policy preferences, and it took about 30 minutes to complete online,” said Kelley, who noted the assessment is unique due to the amount of female gun owners involved.Her article discusses how guns are fundamentally “demystified” for those in the military, which may account for their being perceived more as a tool than as an object of empowerment.“Demystified means, among other things, setting aside the politics of guns and allowing someone to focus on gaining practical knowledge and becoming a competent user,” she said.“Soldiers learn at least the basics about firearms when they enlist, even if their service does not require regular use or combat. Veterans leave service with vastly different experiences, but this minimum training is ensured. While it is recommended by firearms instructors that gun owners practice and seek out training on an ongoing basis, civilians are not required by law to do so,” she said.Kelley found several factors accounting for why veterans were more prone to embrace certain rifle/magazine bans and extended waiting periods.“While they support these limits, combat veterans also tend to be more supportive of expanded gun-carrying rights for civilians, including what is called 'constitutional carry' — or permit-less — that we have in Kansas and a growing number of other states,” she said.Although the reasons for this seeming paradox are unclear, Kelley speculated that significant numbers of veterans may see public safety benefits to restricting widespread civilian access to powerful, highly destructive weapons, at least without proper vetting.“At the same time, it is likely that they have learned, witnessed and practiced the safe and responsible carrying of firearms,” she said. “They have also put their lives on the line to defend America and our Constitution, including the Second Amendment. They may be reluctant to surrender those rights upon returning to civilian life.”&nbsp;Now in her seventh year at KU, Kelley is not a military veteran— but her father was.“My dad was drafted into the Army and stationed in Germany for two years, followed by six years in the reserves. As kids, we used to sleep in his Army-issued pup tent in the backyard until it finally fell apart. It wasn’t until after he died that I learned he earned sharpshooter qualification in the Army,” she said.The professor is tapping her Guns in American Life Survey research for a larger book project specifically focusing on the average woman firearm user in middle America.So why do Americans love guns so much?“I think we have to ask, 'Why do some Americans love guns so much?'” she said.“Some Americans love guns, and some hate them. Some connect them to individual freedom, and others are more interested in the sport of guns. Others believe we should get rid of all guns. Concerns about self-defense can be universal, meaning that anyone can have that need, and increasing numbers of people are acquiring guns for that reason,” Kelley said. “There are just so many narratives. From some of my research, I would say that for most owners, guns are just one part of life, not a core identity, and not something they love but something they value.”

Research: Vets often favor more restrictive gun control legislation than civilians

By RON WILSON Kansas State University

Connections. They are a vital part of human relationships, connecting us to our past and to each other.&nbsp;

Enhancing those human connections is one of the roles of the humanities, meaning the various aspects of human society and culture. For 50 years, an organization in Kansas has worked to enhance the humanities in communities across our state.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Julie Mulvihill is executive director of Humanities Kansas. She makes her home in Jefferson County, near the rural community of Perry, population 929 people. Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;

Mulvihill recalls being motivated by the humanities when going to a museum as a student in elementary school. “Since I was a little kid, the humanities have inspired me, spurred me into action, and given me reason to pause for some serious thinking,” she said.&nbsp;

“I remember learning about the Galapagos Islands and sitting there on my carpet square and thinking, ‘there is a whole world out there that I know nothing about.’ I felt like it was an important responsibility to know more.”&nbsp;

It contributed to her lifelong love of reading and history, among other things.&nbsp;

Mulvihill earned a bachelors degree in education, social studies and english from the University of Kansas. She later earned the masters degree in historical administration and museum studies from KU. In 2002, she joined the staff of what is now called Humanities Kansas. She became executive director in 2008, now leading the organization into its second 50 years.&nbsp;

In 1972, the National Endowment for the Humanities invited Kansans to form a state-based humanities program connecting the public and humanities scholars for discussions on public issues. The state responded with the creation of the Kansas Committee for the Humanities, now known as Humanities Kansas.&nbsp;

The mission of Humanities Kansas is to connect communities with history, traditions and ideas so as to strengthen civic life.&nbsp;The organization website states: “Since our founding as an independent nonprofit in 1972, Humanities Kansas has pioneered programming, grants and partnerships that share stories to spark conversations — drawing people together and generating new ideas.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

●There are grants to support locally based, humanities-focused activities, such as interpretive exhibitions, community conversations, town halls, panel discussions, presentations and more.

●There is a book discussion program called TALK – Talk About Literature in Kansas.

●There is a speaker’s bureau of those who can speak about a variety of topics.

 ●There are traveling exhibits provided to communities in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program. &nbsp;

In 2021, Humanities Kansas awarded nearly $285,000 in Culture Preservation, Humanities for All, and Action grants, plus provided support for community resources.&nbsp;&nbsp;These initiatives supported 361 events and 241 partnerships with local organizations in 124 communities. One out of every six Kansans was reached by a Humanities Kansas-supported program in some form.&nbsp;

Humanities Kansas has a 17 member Board of Directors from across the state. The current chair is Lori Goetsch of Manhattan.&nbsp;

“The humanities help us ask good questions: what do we value, how has that changed over time and across generations, what do we owe to one another, and where do we make adjustments to prepare for the generations to come?” Mulvihill said. “We are grounded in this ideal that the human experience is worthy of our attention. Big ideas are the only way to tackle the big topics in front of us, and there is never a shortage of big topics to cover in Kansas or anywhere.”&nbsp;

“I love the humanities because there’s an encouragement, an expectation that we should all see beyond ourselves, and connect our own experiences with those of others.”&nbsp;

For more information or to access grants and programs, go to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.humanitieskansas.org/" target="_blank">www.humanitieskansas.org</a>.&nbsp;

Connections. Whether they build connectedness with our history or with our neighbors or with new ideas, they are a fundamental part of human relationships and American democracy. We commend Julie Mulvihill, Lori Goetsch and all those involved with Humanities Kansas for making a difference by building and enhancing these ideas and relationships.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/6/1623560862487.jpeg" alt="Ron Wilson. Photos courtesy KSRE" />
 <figcaption>Ron Wilson. Photos courtesy KSRE</figcaption>
 </figure>By RON WILSON Kansas State UniversityConnections. They are a vital part of human relationships, connecting us to our past and to each other.&nbsp;Enhancing those human connections is one of the roles of the humanities, meaning the various aspects of human society and culture. For 50 years, an organization in Kansas has worked to enhance the humanities in communities across our state.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Julie Mulvihill is executive director of Humanities Kansas. She makes her home in Jefferson County, near the rural community of Perry, population 929 people. Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;Mulvihill recalls being motivated by the humanities when going to a museum as a student in elementary school. “Since I was a little kid, the humanities have inspired me, spurred me into action, and given me reason to pause for some serious thinking,” she said.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1656854483153.jpeg" alt="Julie Mulvihill" />
 <figcaption>Julie Mulvihill</figcaption>
 </figure>“I remember learning about the Galapagos Islands and sitting there on my carpet square and thinking, ‘there is a whole world out there that I know nothing about.’ I felt like it was an important responsibility to know more.”&nbsp;It contributed to her lifelong love of reading and history, among other things.&nbsp;Mulvihill earned a bachelors degree in education, social studies and english from the University of Kansas. She later earned the masters degree in historical administration and museum studies from KU. In 2002, she joined the staff of what is now called Humanities Kansas. She became executive director in 2008, now leading the organization into its second 50 years.&nbsp;In 1972, the National Endowment for the Humanities invited Kansans to form a state-based humanities program connecting the public and humanities scholars for discussions on public issues. The state responded with the creation of the Kansas Committee for the Humanities, now known as Humanities Kansas.&nbsp;The mission of Humanities Kansas is to connect communities with history, traditions and ideas so as to strengthen civic life.&nbsp;The organization website states: “Since our founding as an independent nonprofit in 1972, Humanities Kansas has pioneered programming, grants and partnerships that share stories to spark conversations — drawing people together and generating new ideas.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;For example:&nbsp;●There are grants to support locally based, humanities-focused activities, such as interpretive exhibitions, community conversations, town halls, panel discussions, presentations and more.●There is a book discussion program called TALK – Talk About Literature in Kansas.●There is a speaker’s bureau of those who can speak about a variety of topics. ●There are traveling exhibits provided to communities in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program. &nbsp;In 2021, Humanities Kansas awarded nearly $285,000 in Culture Preservation, Humanities for All, and Action grants, plus provided support for community resources.&nbsp;&nbsp;These initiatives supported 361 events and 241 partnerships with local organizations in 124 communities. One out of every six Kansans was reached by a Humanities Kansas-supported program in some form.&nbsp;Humanities Kansas has a 17 member Board of Directors from across the state. The current chair is Lori Goetsch of Manhattan.&nbsp;“The humanities help us ask good questions: what do we value, how has that changed over time and across generations, what do we owe to one another, and where do we make adjustments to prepare for the generations to come?” Mulvihill said. “We are grounded in this ideal that the human experience is worthy of our attention. Big ideas are the only way to tackle the big topics in front of us, and there is never a shortage of big topics to cover in Kansas or anywhere.”&nbsp;“I love the humanities because there’s an encouragement, an expectation that we should all see beyond ourselves, and connect our own experiences with those of others.”&nbsp;For more information or to access grants and programs, go to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.humanitieskansas.org/" target="_blank">www.humanitieskansas.org</a>.&nbsp;Connections. Whether they build connectedness with our history or with our neighbors or with new ideas, they are a fundamental part of human relationships and American democracy. We commend Julie Mulvihill, Lori Goetsch and all those involved with Humanities Kansas for making a difference by building and enhancing these ideas and relationships.&nbsp;Let’s get connected.&nbsp;

NOW THAT'S RURAL: Julie Mulvihill, Humanities Kansas

By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/06/29/sfc-approves-state-worker-pay-raises-digs-into-bonuses-for-child-care-providers/">Kansas Reflector</a>

OTTAWA — U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids had a backdrop of cattle, horses and wide-open spaces while speaking Wednesday night from a farmhouse porch to Franklin County Democrats about forming alliances in the state’s newly gerrymandered 3rd congressional district.

Davids, of course, is seeking reelection in a district dramatically altered from just two years ago, when she thumped Republican Amanda Adkins by 42,000 votes and a 53.6% to 43.5% margin.

The requirement to redraw congressional boundaries in Kansas enabled legislative allies of Adkins, who is taking another shot at Davids, to delete the top half of Democrat-rich Wyandotte County from her district and replace it with Republican-dominant counties of Miami, Anderson and Franklin. It was enough of a swing Davids sought and obtained a seat on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee.

“I want to introduce myself to you all tonight and start building the relationships we’re going to want and also what we’re going to need to have so that we can get our state moving in the best direction for, you know, the kids, the grandkids and those future generations,” she said.

This wasn’t a news conference or photo opportunity near a clogged highway in Johnson County or Kansas City, Kansas. This was an appeal to voters in the quiet, shaded lawn of educators Scott Yeargain and Polly Shteamer off a gravel road southeast of Ottawa. She began speaking to an audience of 90 sitting on folding chairs while they finished potluck dinners. The iced tea and soft drinks were available on a hay wagon.

Davids talked about being raised by a single mother, Crystal, who was at the event. She chronicled her experiences with college, law school, a White House fellowship and working on tribal issues at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

In 2018, she struggled to recruit a woman in the Democratic Party to challenge GOP incumbent U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, who was endorsed by Donald Trump. So, she ran herself. She won a six-person primary and defeated Yoder by nearly 30,000 votes.

“I hope you can see how — although on paper it’s not super clear — how someone like me ends up in Congress. I actually think paths should look more like that than the current path that we usually see of people who are representing us in the House, the Senate and the White House,” Davids said.

She said Aug. 2 primary ballots across Kansas included an amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would reverse a 2019 Kansas Supreme Court decision declaring a right to abortion existed in the state’s Bill of Rights. She opposes the amendment and was startled by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week striking down the Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion nationwide.

“We’re the first state in the country to have voters make their voices heard on this,” Davids said to applause. “With the things we’re seeing in so many other places that are so extreme, I think if — not if — when we beat back this amendment, we can send literally waves of hope through the entire rest of the country. We can do that right from the heartland.

U.S. Senate candidate Mark Holland, a Democrat who served as mayor of the Unified Government in Wyandotte County, started his stump speech by declaring lineage as a fourth-generation union Democrat and third-generation United Methodist pastor.

He said Kansas needed representatives in Washington, D.C., who understood what Americans had in common was greater than what divided them. In faith communities, he said, members didn’t segregate themselves in pews by partisan affiliation. Folks in church who disagreed philosophically worshiped together, sang in the choir together and worked in the food pantry together.

“We all want the same thing,” he said. “We all want meaningful work. We all want opportunity for our children. And, we all want to live in a community that we can be proud of.”

He’s campaigning against five other people to be the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Jerry Moran, a Republican who has served in Congress since 1997.

“Jerry Moran talks a moderate game, but in fact he has voted with everyone on the extremist side,” Holland said.

Holland, of Kansas City, said a frequent question on the campaign trail centered on how he expected to defeated Moran. The inquiries come from discouraged Kansans who don’t recall Democrats won three of the five past races for governor, he said.

He said the winning strategy had to focus on nominating quality candidates and getting out the vote. Five counties in Kansas hold half the state’s votes, he said, while 10 counties possessed two-thirds of the total.

“Laura Kelly won four years ago by winning nine out of 105 counties,” he said. “We need to win the big 10. In the other 95, where there are one-third of the votes, we need to take a chapter out of Stacey Abrams’ book in Georgia and be willing to lose less badly.”

Two rivals of Holland — Patrick Wiesner of Overland Park and Robert Klingenberg of Salina — were on hand to address the after-dinner group of Democrats.

Wiesner, who has campaign for U.S. Senate twice before, said if elected he would be committed to creation of quality manufacturing jobs and a robust K-12 education system. He said it was sad Trump still held sway over the Republican Party.

“Kansas is the state that gave this country Dwight Eisenhower, Father Emil Kapaun and Amelia Earhart,” he said. “These heroes stand for leadership and sacrifice and courage. Trump is a draft dodger who purposely doesn’t pay his contractors and he hires porn stars.”

Klingenberg, who worked as a truck driver, said corporate oligarchs should provide a living wage to workers because “everybody deserves the America we were promised when growing up.” He said time had come for universal health care in the United States.

Lynn Rogers, the Democratic state treasurer seeking election to that statewide office, said he had a career as an agriculture banker and served 16 years on the Wichita school board before elected to the Kansas Senate and lieutenant governor as Kelly’s running mate. He was subsequently appointed by Kelly to the vacant job of treasurer.

“Never really planned to go to Topeka,” he told the crowd. “I always kind of thought it was a bubble and people acted kind of different.”

He doesn’t have a primary opponent, but would face winner of a GOP primary between state Rep. Steven Johnson of Assaria and state Sen. Caryn Tyson of Parker. The field includes Libertarian candidate Steve Roberts. Johnson, Rogers said, models himself as a moderate but votes with the “far right” 97% of the time. He said Tyson voted with extreme Republicans “125% of the time.” Roberts, a former state Board of Education member, fit the same mold.

“We know it’s going to be hard-fought,” Rogers said. “We know that a strong state treasurer’s race, particularly me being from Wichita, will help many of our Democrats statewide. We need every Democrat, every independent and what I call principled Republican to say, ‘We don’t want to go back. We cannot afford to go back'” to policies championed by Gov. Sam Brownback.

Darrell McCune, the Democratic Party chairman in Franklin County, said he was energized after doubling the number of Democrats signed up to serve in county precinct positions. In this election cycle, he said, the tally increased from 10 to 21.

“The county party has been really growing since 2016,” said McCune, a retired school music teacher who is running for the 59th District Kansas House seat left vacant by departure of GOP Rep. Blaine Finch of Ottawa. “It’s fun.”

He said Democrats in the county were expanding door-to-door operations. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade prompted young women to call about volunteering during the current election cycle.

Nina Fricke, who lives in northern Miami County, said she had been represented by Davids for nearly four years.

“I have never in my life seen a representative work so hard,” she said. “I really hope we can get her in so you all can get to know her.”

Fricke, running for the District 6 seat in the Kansas House, has worked for 35 years as a nurse specializing in newborn intensive care. She said political debates at the Capitol on the COVID-19 pandemic and funding of K-12 public schools were troubling.

“This last year I watched the Legislature very, very closely. I didn’t like what I saw,” she said. “Saw a lot of really bad medical information being given. And, I also saw an awful lot of attacks on public education.”

By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/06/29/sfc-approves-state-worker-pay-raises-digs-into-bonuses-for-child-care-providers/">Kansas Reflector</a><figure>
 <img src="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Sharice-Davids-Ottawa-1024x768.jpg" alt="&nbsp;U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, the 3rd District Democrat, speaks to newly acquired constituents in Franklin County as she introduced herself to voters in a district gerrymandered by Republicans to undermine her reelection in 2022. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, the 3rd District Democrat, speaks to newly acquired constituents in Franklin County as she introduced herself to voters in a district gerrymandered by Republicans to undermine her reelection in 2022. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>OTTAWA — U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids had a backdrop of cattle, horses and wide-open spaces while speaking Wednesday night from a farmhouse porch to Franklin County Democrats about forming alliances in the state’s newly gerrymandered 3rd congressional district.Davids, of course, is seeking reelection in a district dramatically altered from just two years ago, when she thumped Republican Amanda Adkins by 42,000 votes and a 53.6% to 43.5% margin.The requirement to redraw congressional boundaries in Kansas enabled legislative allies of Adkins, who is taking another shot at Davids, to delete the top half of Democrat-rich Wyandotte County from her district and replace it with Republican-dominant counties of Miami, Anderson and Franklin. It was enough of a swing Davids sought and obtained a seat on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee.“I want to introduce myself to you all tonight and start building the relationships we’re going to want and also what we’re going to need to have so that we can get our state moving in the best direction for, you know, the kids, the grandkids and those future generations,” she said.This wasn’t a news conference or photo opportunity near a clogged highway in Johnson County or Kansas City, Kansas. This was an appeal to voters in the quiet, shaded lawn of educators Scott Yeargain and Polly Shteamer off a gravel road southeast of Ottawa. She began speaking to an audience of 90 sitting on folding chairs while they finished potluck dinners. The iced tea and soft drinks were available on a hay wagon.<h2>‘Waves of hope’</h2>Davids talked about being raised by a single mother, Crystal, who was at the event. She chronicled her experiences with college, law school, a White House fellowship and working on tribal issues at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.In 2018, she struggled to recruit a woman in the Democratic Party to challenge GOP incumbent U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, who was endorsed by Donald Trump. So, she ran herself. She won a six-person primary and defeated Yoder by nearly 30,000 votes.“I hope you can see how — although on paper it’s not super clear — how someone like me ends up in Congress. I actually think paths should look more like that than the current path that we usually see of people who are representing us in the House, the Senate and the White House,” Davids said.She said Aug. 2 primary ballots across Kansas included an amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would reverse a 2019 Kansas Supreme Court decision declaring a right to abortion existed in the state’s Bill of Rights. She opposes the amendment and was startled by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week striking down the Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion nationwide.“We’re the first state in the country to have voters make their voices heard on this,” Davids said to applause. “With the things we’re seeing in so many other places that are so extreme, I think if — not if — when we beat back this amendment, we can send literally waves of hope through the entire rest of the country. We can do that right from the heartland.<figure>
 <img src="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Mark-Holland-U.S.-Senate-1024x768.jpg" alt="U.S. Senate candidate Mark Holland, a Democrat who served as mayor of the Unified Government in Wyandotte County, said during a campaign near Ottawa that Democrats could win statewide campaigns in Kansas by defeating GOP nominees in the state’s 10 largest population counties and losing respectably in the other 95 counties. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>U.S. Senate candidate Mark Holland, a Democrat who served as mayor of the Unified Government in Wyandotte County, said during a campaign near Ottawa that Democrats could win statewide campaigns in Kansas by defeating GOP nominees in the state’s 10 largest population counties and losing respectably in the other 95 counties. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Abrams’ playbook</h2>U.S. Senate candidate Mark Holland, a Democrat who served as mayor of the Unified Government in Wyandotte County, started his stump speech by declaring lineage as a fourth-generation union Democrat and third-generation United Methodist pastor.He said Kansas needed representatives in Washington, D.C., who understood what Americans had in common was greater than what divided them. In faith communities, he said, members didn’t segregate themselves in pews by partisan affiliation. Folks in church who disagreed philosophically worshiped together, sang in the choir together and worked in the food pantry together.“We all want the same thing,” he said. “We all want meaningful work. We all want opportunity for our children. And, we all want to live in a community that we can be proud of.”He’s campaigning against five other people to be the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Jerry Moran, a Republican who has served in Congress since 1997.“Jerry Moran talks a moderate game, but in fact he has voted with everyone on the extremist side,” Holland said.Holland, of Kansas City, said a frequent question on the campaign trail centered on how he expected to defeated Moran. The inquiries come from discouraged Kansans who don’t recall Democrats won three of the five past races for governor, he said.He said the winning strategy had to focus on nominating quality candidates and getting out the vote. Five counties in Kansas hold half the state’s votes, he said, while 10 counties possessed two-thirds of the total.“Laura Kelly won four years ago by winning nine out of 105 counties,” he said. “We need to win the big 10. In the other 95, where there are one-third of the votes, we need to take a chapter out of Stacey Abrams’ book in Georgia and be willing to lose less badly.”<h2>And, porn stars</h2>Two rivals of Holland — Patrick Wiesner of Overland Park and Robert Klingenberg of Salina — were on hand to address the after-dinner group of Democrats.Wiesner, who has campaign for U.S. Senate twice before, said if elected he would be committed to creation of quality manufacturing jobs and a robust K-12 education system. He said it was sad Trump still held sway over the Republican Party.“Kansas is the state that gave this country Dwight Eisenhower, Father Emil Kapaun and Amelia Earhart,” he said. “These heroes stand for leadership and sacrifice and courage. Trump is a draft dodger who purposely doesn’t pay his contractors and he hires porn stars.”Klingenberg, who worked as a truck driver, said corporate oligarchs should provide a living wage to workers because “everybody deserves the America we were promised when growing up.” He said time had come for universal health care in the United States.<figure>
 <img src="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Robert-McCune-Franklin-County-1024x768.jpg" alt="Darrell McCune, standing right, the Democratic Party chairman in Franklin County and a candidate for the Kansas House, said young people were invigorated by demise of Roe v. Wade to volunteer in the current election cycle. He said the county’s Democratic Party had been growing since 2016. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Darrell McCune, standing right, the Democratic Party chairman in Franklin County and a candidate for the Kansas House, said young people were invigorated by demise of Roe v. Wade to volunteer in the current election cycle. He said the county’s Democratic Party had been growing since 2016. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Remember Brownback</h2>Lynn Rogers, the Democratic state treasurer seeking election to that statewide office, said he had a career as an agriculture banker and served 16 years on the Wichita school board before elected to the Kansas Senate and lieutenant governor as Kelly’s running mate. He was subsequently appointed by Kelly to the vacant job of treasurer.“Never really planned to go to Topeka,” he told the crowd. “I always kind of thought it was a bubble and people acted kind of different.”He doesn’t have a primary opponent, but would face winner of a GOP primary between state Rep. Steven Johnson of Assaria and state Sen. Caryn Tyson of Parker. The field includes Libertarian candidate Steve Roberts. Johnson, Rogers said, models himself as a moderate but votes with the “far right” 97% of the time. He said Tyson voted with extreme Republicans “125% of the time.” Roberts, a former state Board of Education member, fit the same mold.“We know it’s going to be hard-fought,” Rogers said. “We know that a strong state treasurer’s race, particularly me being from Wichita, will help many of our Democrats statewide. We need every Democrat, every independent and what I call principled Republican to say, ‘We don’t want to go back. We cannot afford to go back'” to policies championed by Gov. Sam Brownback.<h2>The local level</h2>Darrell McCune, the Democratic Party chairman in Franklin County, said he was energized after doubling the number of Democrats signed up to serve in county precinct positions. In this election cycle, he said, the tally increased from 10 to 21.“The county party has been really growing since 2016,” said McCune, a retired school music teacher who is running for the 59th District Kansas House seat left vacant by departure of GOP Rep. Blaine Finch of Ottawa. “It’s fun.”He said Democrats in the county were expanding door-to-door operations. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade prompted young women to call about volunteering during the current election cycle.Nina Fricke, who lives in northern Miami County, said she had been represented by Davids for nearly four years.“I have never in my life seen a representative work so hard,” she said. “I really hope we can get her in so you all can get to know her.”Fricke, running for the District 6 seat in the Kansas House, has worked for 35 years as a nurse specializing in newborn intensive care. She said political debates at the Capitol on the COVID-19 pandemic and funding of K-12 public schools were troubling.“This last year I watched the Legislature very, very closely. I didn’t like what I saw,” she said. “Saw a lot of really bad medical information being given. And, I also saw an awful lot of attacks on public education.”

Rep. Sharice Davids planting roots in gerrymandered district with distinctly rural flavor

Today is Sunday, July 3, the 184th day of 2022. There are 181 days left in the year.

On July 3, 1976, Israel launched its daring mission to rescue 106 passengers and Air France crew members being held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda by pro-Palestinian hijackers; the commandos succeeded in rescuing all but four of the hostages.

In 1775, Gen. George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In 1863, the three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ended in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops failed to breach Union positions during an assault known as Pickett's Charge.

In 1944, during World War II, Soviet forces recaptured Minsk from the Germans.

In 1950, the first carrier strikes of the Korean War took place as the USS Valley Forge and the HMS Triumph sent fighter planes against North Korean targets.

In 1971, singer Jim Morrison of The Doors died in Paris at age 27.

In 1979, Dan White, convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting deaths of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison. (He ended up serving five years.)

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan presided over a gala ceremony in New York Harbor that saw the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty.

In 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

In 1996, Russians went to the polls to re-elect Boris Yeltsin president over his Communist challenger, Gennady Zyuganov, in a runoff.

In 2011, Novak Djokovic won his first Wimbledon, beating defending champion Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.

In 2013, Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, was overthrown by the military after just one year by the same kind of Arab Spring uprising that had brought the Islamist leader to power.

In 2020, speaking at the foot of Mount Rushmore on the eve of Independence Day, President Donald Trump asserted that protesters pushing for racial justice were engaging in a "merciless campaign to wipe out our history."

Ten years ago: Andy Griffith, 86, who made homespun American Southern wisdom his trademark as the wise sheriff in "The Andy Griffith Show," died at his North Carolina home.

Five years ago: A federal appeals court ruled that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt overstepped his authority in trying to delay implementation of an Obama administration rule requiring oil and gas companies to monitor and reduce methane leaks.

One year ago: Crews suspended the search for the living and the dead in the rubble of a collapsed South Florida condo building so that workers could start preparing the unstable remainder of the building for demolition ahead of a tropical storm.

Today's Birthdays: Playwright Tom Stoppard is 85. Writer-producer Jay Tarses is 83. Actor Michael Cole (TV: "The Mod Squad") is 82. Attorney Gloria Allred is 81. Folk singer Judith Durham (The Seekers) is 79. Actor Kurtwood Smith is 79. Country singer Johnny Lee is 76. Humorist Dave Barry is 75. Actor Betty Buckley is 75. Actor Jan Smithers is 73. Actor Bruce Altman is 67. Talk show host Montel Williams is 66. Country singer Aaron Tippin is 64. Rock musician Vince Clarke (Erasure) is 62. Actor Tom Cruise is 60. Actor Thomas Gibson is 60. Actor Hunter Tylo is 60. Actor Connie Nielsen is 58. Actor Yeardley Smith is 58. TV chef Sandra Lee is 56. Singer Ishmael Butler is 53. Rock musician Kevin Hearn (Barenaked Ladies) is 53. Actor-singer Shawnee Smith is 53. Actor-singer Audra McDonald is 52. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is 51. Actor Patrick Wilson is 49. Country singer Trent Tomlinson is 47. Actor Andrea Barber is 46. Singer Shane Lynch (Boyzone) is 46. Actor Ian Anthony Dale is 44. Actor/comedian Julie Klausner is 44. Actor Elizabeth Hendrickson is 43. Country singer-songwriter Sarah Buxton is 42. Actor Olivia Munn is 42. Actor Shoshannah Stern is 42. Rock singer-songwriter Elle King is 33. Actor Grant Rosenmeyer is 31.

<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, July 3, the 184th day of 2022. There are 181 days left in the year.Today's Highlight in History:On July 3, 1976, Israel launched its daring mission to rescue 106 passengers and Air France crew members being held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda by pro-Palestinian hijackers; the commandos succeeded in rescuing all but four of the hostages.On this date:In 1775, Gen. George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.In 1863, the three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ended in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops failed to breach Union positions during an assault known as Pickett's Charge.In 1944, during World War II, Soviet forces recaptured Minsk from the Germans.In 1950, the first carrier strikes of the Korean War took place as the USS Valley Forge and the HMS Triumph sent fighter planes against North Korean targets.In 1971, singer Jim Morrison of The Doors died in Paris at age 27.In 1979, Dan White, convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting deaths of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison. (He ended up serving five years.)In 1986, President Ronald Reagan presided over a gala ceremony in New York Harbor that saw the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty.In 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.In 1996, Russians went to the polls to re-elect Boris Yeltsin president over his Communist challenger, Gennady Zyuganov, in a runoff.In 2011, Novak Djokovic won his first Wimbledon, beating defending champion Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.In 2013, Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, was overthrown by the military after just one year by the same kind of Arab Spring uprising that had brought the Islamist leader to power.In 2020, speaking at the foot of Mount Rushmore on the eve of Independence Day, President Donald Trump asserted that protesters pushing for racial justice were engaging in a "merciless campaign to wipe out our history."Ten years ago: Andy Griffith, 86, who made homespun American Southern wisdom his trademark as the wise sheriff in "The Andy Griffith Show," died at his North Carolina home.Five years ago: A federal appeals court ruled that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt overstepped his authority in trying to delay implementation of an Obama administration rule requiring oil and gas companies to monitor and reduce methane leaks.One year ago: Crews suspended the search for the living and the dead in the rubble of a collapsed South Florida condo building so that workers could start preparing the unstable remainder of the building for demolition ahead of a tropical storm.Today's Birthdays: Playwright Tom Stoppard is 85. Writer-producer Jay Tarses is 83. Actor Michael Cole (TV: "The Mod Squad") is 82. Attorney Gloria Allred is 81. Folk singer Judith Durham (The Seekers) is 79. Actor Kurtwood Smith is 79. Country singer Johnny Lee is 76. Humorist Dave Barry is 75. Actor Betty Buckley is 75. Actor Jan Smithers is 73. Actor Bruce Altman is 67. Talk show host Montel Williams is 66. Country singer Aaron Tippin is 64. Rock musician Vince Clarke (Erasure) is 62. Actor Tom Cruise is 60. Actor Thomas Gibson is 60. Actor Hunter Tylo is 60. Actor Connie Nielsen is 58. Actor Yeardley Smith is 58. TV chef Sandra Lee is 56. Singer Ishmael Butler is 53. Rock musician Kevin Hearn (Barenaked Ladies) is 53. Actor-singer Shawnee Smith is 53. Actor-singer Audra McDonald is 52. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is 51. Actor Patrick Wilson is 49. Country singer Trent Tomlinson is 47. Actor Andrea Barber is 46. Singer Shane Lynch (Boyzone) is 46. Actor Ian Anthony Dale is 44. Actor/comedian Julie Klausner is 44. Actor Elizabeth Hendrickson is 43. Country singer-songwriter Sarah Buxton is 42. Actor Olivia Munn is 42. Actor Shoshannah Stern is 42. Rock singer-songwriter Elle King is 33. Actor Grant Rosenmeyer is 31.

Today in History - July 3

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade at a time when it has an unprecedented Catholic supermajority.

That's not a coincidence. Nor is it the whole story.

The justices who voted to overturn Roe have been shaped by a church whose catechism affirms “the moral evil of every procured abortion” and whose U.S. bishops have declared opposition to abortion their “preeminent priority" in public policy.

But that alone doesn't explain the justices' votes.

Click below to watch as President Biden convenes a virtual meeting on Friday with Governors to discuss efforts to protect access to abortion.

U.S. Catholics as a whole are far more ambivalent on abortion than their church leaders, with more than half believing it should be legal in all or most circumstances, according to the Pew Research Center.

Notable Catholics who support abortion rights include&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nato-biden-china-madrid-fe9c7fe07122413754d087e61a95a202">President Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-pope-francis-politics-religion-nancy-pelosi-249a32b2af9de647f1bae94aacb60c6e">House Speaker Nancy Pelosi</a>, both Democrats. Democratic-appointed Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a Catholic, dissented in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that overturned Roe.

But the justices in the Dobbs majority aren't simply cradle Catholics. Several have ties to intellectual and social currents within Catholicism that, for all their differences, share a doctrinal conservatism and strong opposition to abortion.

“It’s not simply choosing Catholics,” said Steven Millies, professor of public theology at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and author of “Good Intentions: A History of Catholic Voters’ Road from Roe to Trump."

“It is because they are particular kinds of Catholics, traveling in particular Catholic circles that not everyone in your local parish is identifying with," Millies said.

In Dobbs, five justices voted to overturn Roe — Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas. A sixth, Chief Justice John Roberts, balked at overturning Roe but voted to uphold the Mississippi abortion restrictions in question.

Most went to some combination of Catholic high schools, colleges or graduate schools. The one exception, Dobbs author Alito, has fondly described growing up in a home where “church and the family” were preeminent. Five of the six justices still identify as Catholic, while Gorsuch has attended an Episcopal church more recently.

The Supreme Court was dominated by Protestant justices for much of its history. The majority have been Catholic since the 1990s, and for several years in the last decade, the court had six Catholic justices, three Jews and no Protestants. (&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ketanji-brown-jackson-swearing-in-5a5115f58e163789dfda5a8af0b14221">Newly sworn-in Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson</a>&nbsp;identifies as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-stephen-breyer-us-supreme-court-religion-judiciary-e87c64f1d5eb5cb61c8125df55ff8059">Protestant</a>.)

But religious identity has mattered less of late than ideology, which is why conservative evangelicals have cheered on the Republican-nominated Catholics, said Nomi Stolzenberg, a University of Southern California Law School professor focusing on law and religion.

In fact, eight of the last nine Republican nominees to be confirmed to the Supreme Court, from the Reagan to the Trump presidencies, have had Catholic pedigrees.

That religious demographic may seem striking given Republicans' loyal evangelical Protestant constituency.

But partly it's a matter of the available talent pool: Catholic immigrants' descendants have intensely pursued legal professions.

Catholic institutions built their own intellectually rigorous law schools to aid in social assimilation and upward mobility. Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh began as a night school for working class immigrants.

In time, Catholics were studying at Ivy League schools and reaching the judicial elite.

“It’s an immigrant story, how Catholics and Jews overcame anti-Catholic and antisemitic resistance and eventually flooded into elite schools,” Stolzenberg said. A 2017 study found 28% of federal appellate judges are Catholic, and 19% are Jewish.

Millies said some of the earlier Republican-appointed justices disappointed conservatives by voting to uphold Roe.

“Republicans were looking for an identifier in the selection process that would make them safe,” he said. “By the '80s, it became Catholics.”

That, too, reflects the immigrant story, Millies said, as many midcentury Catholics sought to prove their American bona fides as staunchly anti-communist social conservatives.

“Catholics earned a marquee spot in American culture as being reliable, patriotic Americans,” he said.

Even the Catholic nominees weren’t all reliable. The now-retired Anthony Kennedy affirmed Roe and gay marriage. But later Republican administrations also scrutinized candidates’ judicial records and involvement in influential organizations such as the Federalist Society, Millies said.

Gorsuch, who like several in the Dobbs majority has appeared at multiple Federalist Society events, studied at Oxford University with Catholic legal philosopher John Finnis.

Finnis is a proponent of “natural law,” described in the Catholic catechism as “the original moral sense which enables man to discern by reason the good and the evil.” Gorsuch himself applied that principle in a book opposing assisted suicide.

“It may be the case that Gorsuch is no longer a practicing Catholic — we don’t know,” Stolzenberg said. “What we do know is that his legal philosophy is shaped by the conservative Catholic philosophy of natural law.”

Barrett has long been affiliated with People of Praise, an ecumenical Christian group with a significant Catholic membership. It combines a doctrinal and moral conservatism, including opposition to abortion.

Thomas was raised Catholic in a largely Protestant extended family and briefly attended Catholic seminary, later attending an Episcopal church before returning to Catholicism. He has praised the Catholic nuns who taught him and the grandfather who raised him, a Catholic who “worked hard to provide for his family" and “a deeply religious man who lived by the Christian virtues.”

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-us-supreme-court-gun-politics-gay-rights-marriage-b9062feb4f80c49de088c36b0f17aa7c">Thomas, concurring on Dobbs</a>, went further in saying the court should reconsider other rights that past courts granted based on legal theories similar to Roe. Such precedents voided state laws against contraception, gay sex and same-sex marriage.

In a speech at Notre Dame University in 2021, Thomas paid tribute to the influence of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, long the court's conservative stalwart.

Despite their different backgrounds — Thomas grew up in segregated Georgia in an African American family with limited education, Scalia in New Jersey as the son of a doctorate-earning Italian immigrant — “we were both Catholics, attended parochial schools and ... benefited from a common culture," Thomas said.

Scalia — who regularly attended the Latin Mass, a rite that appeals to many conservative Catholics — influenced not only Thomas but other recent appointees.

“All of these people would say, ‘We are followers of Scalia,'” Stolzenberg said. “Scalia was a conservative Catholic. That very much stamped him and marked his legal philosophy.”

But with conservatives racking up win after win on the court — overturning Roe, loosening gun restrictions and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-coach-prayer-2981a8073ea82a1a688c367270c941aa">expanding religious access to public forums</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-decision-religious-schools-aid-85645580702ed5ff125cf9760024ae89">money</a>&nbsp;— their coalition will be tested, observers said.

They long coalesced around the idea of “originalism” — that justices should interpret the Constitution based on how its writers meant or applied it.

But originalism, with its purported moral neutrality, is “not any longer going to serve the needs of the pro-life coalition," said Bruce Ledewitz, a Duquesne University School of Law professor focused on constitutional law and religion. Some are talking about legislation declaring fetal personhood, and “originalism doesn't get you there,” he said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1656105291910.png" alt="Protesters outside the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24.-photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Protesters outside the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24.-photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>By PETER SMITH, Associated PressThe Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade at a time when it has an unprecedented Catholic supermajority.That's not a coincidence. Nor is it the whole story.The justices who voted to overturn Roe have been shaped by a church whose catechism affirms “the moral evil of every procured abortion” and whose U.S. bishops have declared opposition to abortion their “preeminent priority" in public policy.But that alone doesn't explain the justices' votes.Click below to watch as President Biden convenes a virtual meeting on Friday with Governors to discuss efforts to protect access to abortion.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWhiteHouse%2Fvideos%2F1017171738987366%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=100" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>U.S. Catholics as a whole are far more ambivalent on abortion than their church leaders, with more than half believing it should be legal in all or most circumstances, according to the Pew Research Center.Notable Catholics who support abortion rights include&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nato-biden-china-madrid-fe9c7fe07122413754d087e61a95a202">President Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-pope-francis-politics-religion-nancy-pelosi-249a32b2af9de647f1bae94aacb60c6e">House Speaker Nancy Pelosi</a>, both Democrats. Democratic-appointed Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a Catholic, dissented in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that overturned Roe.But the justices in the Dobbs majority aren't simply cradle Catholics. Several have ties to intellectual and social currents within Catholicism that, for all their differences, share a doctrinal conservatism and strong opposition to abortion.“It’s not simply choosing Catholics,” said Steven Millies, professor of public theology at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and author of “Good Intentions: A History of Catholic Voters’ Road from Roe to Trump."“It is because they are particular kinds of Catholics, traveling in particular Catholic circles that not everyone in your local parish is identifying with," Millies said.In Dobbs, five justices voted to overturn Roe — Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas. A sixth, Chief Justice John Roberts, balked at overturning Roe but voted to uphold the Mississippi abortion restrictions in question.All six were raised Catholic.Most went to some combination of Catholic high schools, colleges or graduate schools. The one exception, Dobbs author Alito, has fondly described growing up in a home where “church and the family” were preeminent. Five of the six justices still identify as Catholic, while Gorsuch has attended an Episcopal church more recently.The Supreme Court was dominated by Protestant justices for much of its history. The majority have been Catholic since the 1990s, and for several years in the last decade, the court had six Catholic justices, three Jews and no Protestants. (&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ketanji-brown-jackson-swearing-in-5a5115f58e163789dfda5a8af0b14221">Newly sworn-in Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson</a>&nbsp;identifies as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-stephen-breyer-us-supreme-court-religion-judiciary-e87c64f1d5eb5cb61c8125df55ff8059">Protestant</a>.)But religious identity has mattered less of late than ideology, which is why conservative evangelicals have cheered on the Republican-nominated Catholics, said Nomi Stolzenberg, a University of Southern California Law School professor focusing on law and religion.In fact, eight of the last nine Republican nominees to be confirmed to the Supreme Court, from the Reagan to the Trump presidencies, have had Catholic pedigrees.That religious demographic may seem striking given Republicans' loyal evangelical Protestant constituency.But partly it's a matter of the available talent pool: Catholic immigrants' descendants have intensely pursued legal professions.Catholic institutions built their own intellectually rigorous law schools to aid in social assimilation and upward mobility. Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh began as a night school for working class immigrants.In time, Catholics were studying at Ivy League schools and reaching the judicial elite.“It’s an immigrant story, how Catholics and Jews overcame anti-Catholic and antisemitic resistance and eventually flooded into elite schools,” Stolzenberg said. A 2017 study found 28% of federal appellate judges are Catholic, and 19% are Jewish.Millies said some of the earlier Republican-appointed justices disappointed conservatives by voting to uphold Roe.“Republicans were looking for an identifier in the selection process that would make them safe,” he said. “By the '80s, it became Catholics.”That, too, reflects the immigrant story, Millies said, as many midcentury Catholics sought to prove their American bona fides as staunchly anti-communist social conservatives.“Catholics earned a marquee spot in American culture as being reliable, patriotic Americans,” he said.Even the Catholic nominees weren’t all reliable. The now-retired Anthony Kennedy affirmed Roe and gay marriage. But later Republican administrations also scrutinized candidates’ judicial records and involvement in influential organizations such as the Federalist Society, Millies said.Gorsuch, who like several in the Dobbs majority has appeared at multiple Federalist Society events, studied at Oxford University with Catholic legal philosopher John Finnis.Finnis is a proponent of “natural law,” described in the Catholic catechism as “the original moral sense which enables man to discern by reason the good and the evil.” Gorsuch himself applied that principle in a book opposing assisted suicide.“It may be the case that Gorsuch is no longer a practicing Catholic — we don’t know,” Stolzenberg said. “What we do know is that his legal philosophy is shaped by the conservative Catholic philosophy of natural law.”Barrett has long been affiliated with People of Praise, an ecumenical Christian group with a significant Catholic membership. It combines a doctrinal and moral conservatism, including opposition to abortion.Thomas was raised Catholic in a largely Protestant extended family and briefly attended Catholic seminary, later attending an Episcopal church before returning to Catholicism. He has praised the Catholic nuns who taught him and the grandfather who raised him, a Catholic who “worked hard to provide for his family" and “a deeply religious man who lived by the Christian virtues.”<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-us-supreme-court-gun-politics-gay-rights-marriage-b9062feb4f80c49de088c36b0f17aa7c">Thomas, concurring on Dobbs</a>, went further in saying the court should reconsider other rights that past courts granted based on legal theories similar to Roe. Such precedents voided state laws against contraception, gay sex and same-sex marriage.In a speech at Notre Dame University in 2021, Thomas paid tribute to the influence of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, long the court's conservative stalwart.Despite their different backgrounds — Thomas grew up in segregated Georgia in an African American family with limited education, Scalia in New Jersey as the son of a doctorate-earning Italian immigrant — “we were both Catholics, attended parochial schools and ... benefited from a common culture," Thomas said.Scalia — who regularly attended the Latin Mass, a rite that appeals to many conservative Catholics — influenced not only Thomas but other recent appointees.“All of these people would say, ‘We are followers of Scalia,'” Stolzenberg said. “Scalia was a conservative Catholic. That very much stamped him and marked his legal philosophy.”But with conservatives racking up win after win on the court — overturning Roe, loosening gun restrictions and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-coach-prayer-2981a8073ea82a1a688c367270c941aa">expanding religious access to public forums</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-decision-religious-schools-aid-85645580702ed5ff125cf9760024ae89">money</a>&nbsp;— their coalition will be tested, observers said.They long coalesced around the idea of “originalism” — that justices should interpret the Constitution based on how its writers meant or applied it.But originalism, with its purported moral neutrality, is “not any longer going to serve the needs of the pro-life coalition," said Bruce Ledewitz, a Duquesne University School of Law professor focused on constitutional law and religion. Some are talking about legislation declaring fetal personhood, and “originalism doesn't get you there,” he said.

🎥Anti-Roe justices a part of Catholicism's conservative wing

MCPHERSON COUNTY—The Kansas Department of Health has&nbsp;<a href="https://khap2.kdhe.state.ks.us/OIDS/OIDS_ViewFacility.aspx?facilitysearch=pQ6%2fNNqOehPH%2fyl06ro2NaFtvgxEoDQrWI0c72s04Bc5b1cSYNv2vffzR%2bnLzsdQefZnslPgIsI%3d">suspended the license of the Daycare</a>&nbsp;in McPherson following an arrest of the&nbsp;<a href="https://khap2.kdhe.state.ks.us/OIDS/OIDS_ViewFacility.aspx?facilitysearch=pQ6%2fNNqOehPH%2fyl06ro2NaFtvgxEoDQrWI0c72s04Bc5b1cSYNv2vffzR%2bnLzsdQefZnslPgIsI%3d">daycare provider</a> for alleged child endangerment.&nbsp;

Just before 11a.m. Wednesday, police responded to report of young children and a dog found unsupervised in someone’s backyard near a pool, according to Police Captain&nbsp;Mark Brinck.

When officers arrived, they found four children between the ages of 2 and 5-years-old in the area. Officers determined the children had left a daycare in the 700 Block of East Kansas Avenue and walked to this area.

Officers contacted 47-year-old Tracy Barr and another child in the 700 Block of East Kansas Avenue. According to online records Barr is the owner and program<a href="https://khap2.kdhe.state.ks.us/OIDS/OIDS_ViewFacility.aspx?facilitysearch=pQ6%2fNNqOehPH%2fyl06ro2NaFtvgxEoDQrWI0c72s04Bc5b1cSYNv2vffzR%2bnLzsdQefZnslPgIsI%3d"> director for&nbsp;Golden Explorers,</a> 722 East Kansas Avenue, a Licensed Day Care Home in McPherson with a maximum capacity of 10 children.

 Officers took the children into protective custody and later released them to their parents or guardians. 

Officers arrested Barr on requested charges of Aggravated Endangering a Child and Driving Under the Influence, according to the release.

(<a href="https://khap2.kdhe.state.ks.us/OIDS/OIDS_ViewFacilityFindings.aspx?vn=1anlkfdkEy3LXT4y%2f0Pwn8noWE6KKLBIy7x24OeT5mWHQBhXLLQyq4uNKTq%2bjXfF60Lp5RJoijRpqpecC0J8EcTdPtK4NMxV3q4dNYRqH%2b7N4pS67WBHZg%3d%3d">Click here to read the</a> May 2022 KDHE Survey results for Golden Explorers Daycare)

Barr was booked into the McPherson County Jail and her bond was set at $13,750.00.&nbsp; On Thursday afternoon, the Kansas Department of Health has <a href="https://khap2.kdhe.state.ks.us/OIDS/OIDS_ViewFacility.aspx?facilitysearch=pQ6%2fNNqOehPH%2fyl06ro2NaFtvgxEoDQrWI0c72s04Bc5b1cSYNv2vffzR%2bnLzsdQefZnslPgIsI%3d">suspended the license of the Daycare.</a>

The McPherson Police Department referred this incident to the Kansas Department of Children and Families and the McPherson County Attorney’s Office.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1656613239408.png" alt="Barr-photo McPherson Co. Jail" />
 <figcaption>Barr-photo McPherson Co. Jail</figcaption>
 </figure>MCPHERSON COUNTY—The Kansas Department of Health has&nbsp;<a href="https://khap2.kdhe.state.ks.us/OIDS/OIDS_ViewFacility.aspx?facilitysearch=pQ6%2fNNqOehPH%2fyl06ro2NaFtvgxEoDQrWI0c72s04Bc5b1cSYNv2vffzR%2bnLzsdQefZnslPgIsI%3d">suspended the license of the Daycare</a>&nbsp;in McPherson following an arrest of the&nbsp;<a href="https://khap2.kdhe.state.ks.us/OIDS/OIDS_ViewFacility.aspx?facilitysearch=pQ6%2fNNqOehPH%2fyl06ro2NaFtvgxEoDQrWI0c72s04Bc5b1cSYNv2vffzR%2bnLzsdQefZnslPgIsI%3d">daycare provider</a> for alleged child endangerment.&nbsp;Just before 11a.m. Wednesday, police responded to report of young children and a dog found unsupervised in someone’s backyard near a pool, according to Police Captain&nbsp;Mark Brinck.When officers arrived, they found four children between the ages of 2 and 5-years-old in the area. Officers determined the children had left a daycare in the 700 Block of East Kansas Avenue and walked to this area.Officers contacted 47-year-old Tracy Barr and another child in the 700 Block of East Kansas Avenue. According to online records Barr is the owner and program<a href="https://khap2.kdhe.state.ks.us/OIDS/OIDS_ViewFacility.aspx?facilitysearch=pQ6%2fNNqOehPH%2fyl06ro2NaFtvgxEoDQrWI0c72s04Bc5b1cSYNv2vffzR%2bnLzsdQefZnslPgIsI%3d"> director for&nbsp;Golden Explorers,</a> 722 East Kansas Avenue, a Licensed Day Care Home in McPherson with a maximum capacity of 10 children. Officers took the children into protective custody and later released them to their parents or guardians. Officers arrested Barr on requested charges of Aggravated Endangering a Child and Driving Under the Influence, according to the release.(<a href="https://khap2.kdhe.state.ks.us/OIDS/OIDS_ViewFacilityFindings.aspx?vn=1anlkfdkEy3LXT4y%2f0Pwn8noWE6KKLBIy7x24OeT5mWHQBhXLLQyq4uNKTq%2bjXfF60Lp5RJoijRpqpecC0J8EcTdPtK4NMxV3q4dNYRqH%2b7N4pS67WBHZg%3d%3d">Click here to read the</a> May 2022 KDHE Survey results for Golden Explorers Daycare)Barr was booked into the McPherson County Jail and her bond was set at $13,750.00.&nbsp; On Thursday afternoon, the Kansas Department of Health has <a href="https://khap2.kdhe.state.ks.us/OIDS/OIDS_ViewFacility.aspx?facilitysearch=pQ6%2fNNqOehPH%2fyl06ro2NaFtvgxEoDQrWI0c72s04Bc5b1cSYNv2vffzR%2bnLzsdQefZnslPgIsI%3d">suspended the license of the Daycare.</a>The McPherson Police Department referred this incident to the Kansas Department of Children and Families and the McPherson County Attorney’s Office.

Kansas daycare license suspended after owner arrested

By JEAN KOZUBOWSKI Kansas Wesleyan University

A small college in central Kansas is not usually considered a center of formal philosophic thought.

But Meredith (Trexler) Drees, Ph.D, assistant professor and chair of the Department of Religion &amp; Philosophy, at Kansas Wesleyan University, could change that.

Drees has been named a research fellow for 2022-23 at the Center for Philosophy and Religion at the University of Notre Dame. Other fellows have been from the top universities in the country and the world.

She will be the aesthetics speaker at the 2022 Rutgers Summer Institute for Diversity in Philosophy, representing the American Society for Aesthetics.

And she has been asked to talk about her 2021 book at the Iris Murdoch Society this summer in Chichester, England. Murdoch was a 20th-century Irish-English novelist and philosopher.

These invitations have come partly because of her book, “Aesthetic Experience and Moral Vision in Plato, Kant, and Murdoch: Looking Good/Being Good.”

The book’s editor and someone who had reviewed it recommended Drees for the fellowship at Notre Dame, which will start Aug. 15 and go through May 15.

“I had written an outline of another book, which results from some questions that came out of the first one,” Drees said. “This outline is for another eight-chapter long book. They expect me to have that completed by the time I leave in May — a chapter a month!”

The first book addresses the ways in which Plato, Kant, and Iris Murdoch share the thesis that aesthetic experience is connected to morality. Immanuel Kant was an 18th-century philosopher.

The subtitle is a pun, Drees said: “Looking good” doesn’t refer to being attractive but to being good at looking.

“The reason for my title is that Iris Murdoch’s view of what it means to be good is to truly look at other people, as to be able to see them for who they truly are.”

The second book will look at questions mostly centered around Kant’s religion and questions Murdoch raises. One of the questions is, is forgiveness possible without God. This book won’t include Plato.

“Then I’ll be looking at interpretations of love and virtue and forgiveness,” she said, because that is also the theme of the fellowship.

The Rutgers Summer Institute will be all about diversity, equity and inclusion, Drees said.

“I’m going to be talking about how this idea of looking that Murdoch has helps us to really see other people and pay attention to them and in that sense promotes inclusion, she said. “We’re not ‘othering,’ we’re including, appreciating other people.”

Despite all the recent attention Drees is getting, she’s far from an overnight success.

“I spent nearly 20 years working on some of these topics,” she said. “I started working as an undergraduate on the connections between ethics and aesthetics.”

She worked on the final edits of her book while undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer.

It was a tough time, she admitted, but she had to “transition to gratitude to get through it. If you see it as this thing that’s negative, it can just eat away at you. But if you see it as something positive, you can grow from it.

“When I had cancer, I was focusing on goals and dreams, because I didn’t want to focus on I’m going through chemo. Looking ahead is part of what got me through it. It served a purpose – it propelled me forward to the other side.”

Drees has been at KWU since 2013, when she joined the faculty as an adjunct, teaching ethics. In 2015 she became a full-time faculty member, and this spring passed her tenure review.

She’s as enthusiastic about teaching as she is about her research. She was voted KWU’s 2019-20 Exemplary Teacher of the Year.

The stereotype is you have to be a researcher or a teacher, but Drees thinks it’s possible to do high-level research and teach.

“You can do it all – you can be really connected and support your students, and your research should inform what you’re doing with your students,” Drees said. “My secret is I’ve tried to make it all holistic and make it work together.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1656729054604.jpeg" alt="Kansas Wesleyan University's&nbsp;Meredith (Trexler) Drees. Photo courtesy KWU" />
 <figcaption>Kansas Wesleyan University's&nbsp;Meredith (Trexler) Drees. Photo courtesy KWU</figcaption>
 </figure>By JEAN KOZUBOWSKI Kansas Wesleyan UniversityA small college in central Kansas is not usually considered a center of formal philosophic thought.But Meredith (Trexler) Drees, Ph.D, assistant professor and chair of the Department of Religion &amp; Philosophy, at Kansas Wesleyan University, could change that.Drees has been named a research fellow for 2022-23 at the Center for Philosophy and Religion at the University of Notre Dame. Other fellows have been from the top universities in the country and the world.She will be the aesthetics speaker at the 2022 Rutgers Summer Institute for Diversity in Philosophy, representing the American Society for Aesthetics.And she has been asked to talk about her 2021 book at the Iris Murdoch Society this summer in Chichester, England. Murdoch was a 20th-century Irish-English novelist and philosopher.These invitations have come partly because of her book, “Aesthetic Experience and Moral Vision in Plato, Kant, and Murdoch: Looking Good/Being Good.”The book’s editor and someone who had reviewed it recommended Drees for the fellowship at Notre Dame, which will start Aug. 15 and go through May 15.“I had written an outline of another book, which results from some questions that came out of the first one,” Drees said. “This outline is for another eight-chapter long book. They expect me to have that completed by the time I leave in May — a chapter a month!”The first book addresses the ways in which Plato, Kant, and Iris Murdoch share the thesis that aesthetic experience is connected to morality. Immanuel Kant was an 18th-century philosopher.The subtitle is a pun, Drees said: “Looking good” doesn’t refer to being attractive but to being good at looking.“The reason for my title is that Iris Murdoch’s view of what it means to be good is to truly look at other people, as to be able to see them for who they truly are.”The second book will look at questions mostly centered around Kant’s religion and questions Murdoch raises. One of the questions is, is forgiveness possible without God. This book won’t include Plato.“Then I’ll be looking at interpretations of love and virtue and forgiveness,” she said, because that is also the theme of the fellowship.The Rutgers Summer Institute will be all about diversity, equity and inclusion, Drees said.“I’m going to be talking about how this idea of looking that Murdoch has helps us to really see other people and pay attention to them and in that sense promotes inclusion, she said. “We’re not ‘othering,’ we’re including, appreciating other people.”Despite all the recent attention Drees is getting, she’s far from an overnight success.“I spent nearly 20 years working on some of these topics,” she said. “I started working as an undergraduate on the connections between ethics and aesthetics.”She worked on the final edits of her book while undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer.It was a tough time, she admitted, but she had to “transition to gratitude to get through it. If you see it as this thing that’s negative, it can just eat away at you. But if you see it as something positive, you can grow from it.“When I had cancer, I was focusing on goals and dreams, because I didn’t want to focus on I’m going through chemo. Looking ahead is part of what got me through it. It served a purpose – it propelled me forward to the other side.”Drees has been at KWU since 2013, when she joined the faculty as an adjunct, teaching ethics. In 2015 she became a full-time faculty member, and this spring passed her tenure review.She’s as enthusiastic about teaching as she is about her research. She was voted KWU’s 2019-20 Exemplary Teacher of the Year.The stereotype is you have to be a researcher or a teacher, but Drees thinks it’s possible to do high-level research and teach.“You can do it all – you can be really connected and support your students, and your research should inform what you’re doing with your students,” Drees said. “My secret is I’ve tried to make it all holistic and make it work together.”

KWU's Drees continues philosophic journey at Notre Dame

Today is Saturday, July 2, the 183rd day of 2022. There are 182 days left in the year.

On July 2, 1937, aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first round-the-world flight along the equator.

In 1566, French astrologer, physician and professed prophesier Nostradamus died in Salon.

In 1776, the Continental Congress passed a resolution saying that "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States."

In 1881, President James A. Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau at the Washington railroad station; Garfield died the following September. (Guiteau was hanged in June 1882.)

In 1917, rioting erupted in East St. Louis, Illinois, as white mobs attacked Black residents; nearly 50 people, mostly Blacks, are believed to have died in the violence.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law a sweeping civil rights bill passed by Congress.

In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Gregg v. Georgia, ruled 7-2 that the death penalty was not inherently cruel or unusual.

In 1979, the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin was released to the public.

In 1986, ruling in a pair of cases, the Supreme Court upheld affirmative action as a remedy for past job discrimination.

In 1990, more than 1,400 Muslim pilgrims were killed in a stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel near Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

In 1997, Academy Award-winning actor James Stewart died in Beverly Hills, California, at age 89.

In 2018, rescue divers in Thailand found 12 boys and their soccer coach, who had been trapped by flooding as they explored a cave more than a week earlier.

In 2020, a statement posted on his Twitter account revealed that former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain was being treated for the coronavirus at an Atlanta-area hospital, less than two weeks after attending President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Cain died on July 30 of complications from the virus.) British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested in New Hampshire on charges that she had helped lure at least three girls – one as young as 14 – to be sexually abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. (Maxwell would be convicted on five of six counts.)

Ten years ago: Jim Yong Kim began his new job as president of the World Bank, promising to immediately focus on helping poor countries navigate a fragile global economy. The U.S. Justice Department said British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline would pay $3 billion in fines for criminal and civil violations involving 10 drugs taken by millions of people.

Five years ago: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was photographed with his family soaking up the sun on a beach he had closed to the public for the Fourth of July weekend because of a government shutdown.

One year ago: After nearly 20 years, U.S. forces in Afghanistan vacated the biggest U.S. air base there, Bagram Airfield, as part of the final U.S. withdrawal from the country; an Afghan official said dozens of looters then stormed through the gates before Afghan forces regained control. The city of North Miami Beach ordered the evacuation of a condominium building after a review found unsafe conditions about 5 miles from the site of the deadly building collapse eight days earlier. The Supreme Court declined to take up the case of a florist who refused to provide services for a same-sex wedding, leaving in place a decision that she broke Washington state anti-discrimination laws.

Today's Birthdays: Former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos is 93. Jazz musician Ahmad Jamal is 92. Actor Robert Ito is 91. Actor Polly Holliday is 85. Racing Hall of Famer Richard Petty is 85. Former White House chief of staff and former New Hampshire governor John H. Sununu is 83. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox is 80. Writer-director-comedian Larry David is 75. Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson, is 75. Actor Saul Rubinek is 74. Rock musician Roy Bittan (Bruce Springsteen &amp; the E Street Band) is 73. Actor Wendy Schaal is 68. Actor-model Jerry Hall is 66. Actor Jimmy McNichol is 61. Country singer Guy Penrod is 59. Rock musician Dave Parsons (Bush) is 57. Actor Yancy Butler is 52. Contemporary Christian musician Melodee DeVevo (Casting Crowns) is 46. Actor Owain Yeoman is 44. Race car driver Sam Hornish Jr. is 43. NHL center Joe Thornton is 43. Singer Michelle Branch is 39. Actor Vanessa Lee Chester is 38. Figure skater Johnny Weir is 38. Actor Nelson Franklin is 37. Actor-singer Ashley Tisdale is 37. Actor Lindsay Lohan is 36. Actor Margot Robbie is 32. U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Murphy 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>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSToday is Saturday, July 2, the 183rd day of 2022. There are 182 days left in the year.Today's Highlight in History:On July 2, 1937, aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first round-the-world flight along the equator.On this date:In 1566, French astrologer, physician and professed prophesier Nostradamus died in Salon.In 1776, the Continental Congress passed a resolution saying that "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States."In 1881, President James A. Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau at the Washington railroad station; Garfield died the following September. (Guiteau was hanged in June 1882.)In 1917, rioting erupted in East St. Louis, Illinois, as white mobs attacked Black residents; nearly 50 people, mostly Blacks, are believed to have died in the violence.In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law a sweeping civil rights bill passed by Congress.In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Gregg v. Georgia, ruled 7-2 that the death penalty was not inherently cruel or unusual.In 1979, the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin was released to the public.In 1986, ruling in a pair of cases, the Supreme Court upheld affirmative action as a remedy for past job discrimination.In 1990, more than 1,400 Muslim pilgrims were killed in a stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel near Mecca, Saudi Arabia.In 1997, Academy Award-winning actor James Stewart died in Beverly Hills, California, at age 89.In 2018, rescue divers in Thailand found 12 boys and their soccer coach, who had been trapped by flooding as they explored a cave more than a week earlier.In 2020, a statement posted on his Twitter account revealed that former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain was being treated for the coronavirus at an Atlanta-area hospital, less than two weeks after attending President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Cain died on July 30 of complications from the virus.) British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested in New Hampshire on charges that she had helped lure at least three girls – one as young as 14 – to be sexually abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. (Maxwell would be convicted on five of six counts.)Ten years ago: Jim Yong Kim began his new job as president of the World Bank, promising to immediately focus on helping poor countries navigate a fragile global economy. The U.S. Justice Department said British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline would pay $3 billion in fines for criminal and civil violations involving 10 drugs taken by millions of people.Five years ago: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was photographed with his family soaking up the sun on a beach he had closed to the public for the Fourth of July weekend because of a government shutdown.One year ago: After nearly 20 years, U.S. forces in Afghanistan vacated the biggest U.S. air base there, Bagram Airfield, as part of the final U.S. withdrawal from the country; an Afghan official said dozens of looters then stormed through the gates before Afghan forces regained control. The city of North Miami Beach ordered the evacuation of a condominium building after a review found unsafe conditions about 5 miles from the site of the deadly building collapse eight days earlier. The Supreme Court declined to take up the case of a florist who refused to provide services for a same-sex wedding, leaving in place a decision that she broke Washington state anti-discrimination laws.Today's Birthdays: Former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos is 93. Jazz musician Ahmad Jamal is 92. Actor Robert Ito is 91. Actor Polly Holliday is 85. Racing Hall of Famer Richard Petty is 85. Former White House chief of staff and former New Hampshire governor John H. Sununu is 83. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox is 80. Writer-director-comedian Larry David is 75. Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson, is 75. Actor Saul Rubinek is 74. Rock musician Roy Bittan (Bruce Springsteen &amp; the E Street Band) is 73. Actor Wendy Schaal is 68. Actor-model Jerry Hall is 66. Actor Jimmy McNichol is 61. Country singer Guy Penrod is 59. Rock musician Dave Parsons (Bush) is 57. Actor Yancy Butler is 52. Contemporary Christian musician Melodee DeVevo (Casting Crowns) is 46. Actor Owain Yeoman is 44. Race car driver Sam Hornish Jr. is 43. NHL center Joe Thornton is 43. Singer Michelle Branch is 39. Actor Vanessa Lee Chester is 38. Figure skater Johnny Weir is 38. Actor Nelson Franklin is 37. Actor-singer Ashley Tisdale is 37. Actor Lindsay Lohan is 36. Actor Margot Robbie is 32. U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Murphy is 27.

Today in History - July 2

&nbsp;JACKSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple charges after a high speed chase.

On June 29, sheriff's deputies received a report of a possible intoxicated driver in black Kia northbound on U.S. 75 Highway in northern Shawnee County, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

Shortly, after the report, a Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputy observed a 2008 black Kia Sorento northbound on U.S. 75 in southern Jackson County allegedly traveling at speeds in excess of 100 mph. 

 Eventually, a pursuit ensued and the vehicle headed westbound on 158th Road.  The pursuit headed south near L. Road as the suspect vehicle continued to evade law enforcement driving through yards at an area apartment complex. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1656603798898.png" alt="Kitchkommie-photo Jackson County" />
 <figcaption>Kitchkommie-photo Jackson County</figcaption>
 </figure>&nbsp;JACKSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple charges after a high speed chase.On June 29, sheriff's deputies received a report of a possible intoxicated driver in black Kia northbound on U.S. 75 Highway in northern Shawnee County, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.Shortly, after the report, a Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputy observed a 2008 black Kia Sorento northbound on U.S. 75 in southern Jackson County allegedly traveling at speeds in excess of 100 mph. Eventually, a pursuit ensued and the vehicle headed westbound on 158th Road. The pursuit headed south near L. Road as the suspect vehicle continued to evade law enforcement driving through yards at an area apartment complex. The pursuit ended on Buffalo Drive where the suspect was taken into custody. Lucas Michael Kitchkommie, 42, of Mayetta was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail for on requested charges of aggravated assault on law enforcement, reckless driving, fleeing and eluding law enforcement, driving under the influence, driving while suspended, criminal littering, and interference with law enforcement. The PBPN Police and the Kansas Highway Patrol assisted with this incident.