Following Thursday's thrilling Kansas Conference tournament quarterfinal victory over Saint Mary in Mabee Arena the top-seeded Coyotes are preparing for the semifinals. The winner advances to the championship March 4 at the site of the higher seeded team.

All tickets must be purchased in advance on the KCAC ticketing portal: <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/6988bb3d-7790-4d72-b263-012730b2794f?elinkdata=20600">https://kcacsports.com/sports/2023/1/6/tickets.aspx</a>. KWU will have staff at the entry gates to assist fans with purchasing tickets through the KCAC ticketing portal, but there will be no cash sales and no point-of-sale ticket sales on site. KWU regular season passes will not be accepted at the event.

The games will be streamed live on the Coyote Sports Network, part of the KCAC Digital Network at <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/09d25fcf-be16-42e1-b2ba-193a656d40e4?elinkdata=20600">www.kcacnetwork.com/kansaswesleyan</a>

An audio-only broadcast of the game will be available online at <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/4a83e49a-dea9-42c5-b641-49fdfb74628e?elinkdata=20600">salinapost.com</a>, by listening live to 910 KINA/107.5 FM. The Voice of the Coyotes Tyler Henry and Russ Cossel will have the call of the game with Coyote Pregame Live starting at 6:30 p.m. The game can also be heard locally on 910 KINA and 107.5 FM.

Live Stats will be available as well, at <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/2dac6faa-037a-41ef-8a6b-7f5eba9c66e8?elinkdata=20600">www.kwucoyotes.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary</a>

Following Thursday's thrilling Kansas Conference tournament quarterfinal victory over Saint Mary in Mabee Arena the top-seeded Coyotes are preparing for the semifinals. The winner advances to the championship March 4 at the site of the higher seeded team.SATURDAY'S GAMEOpponent: FriendsTime: 7 p.m.Location: Mabee ArenaTICKETSAll tickets must be purchased in advance on the KCAC ticketing portal: <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/6988bb3d-7790-4d72-b263-012730b2794f?elinkdata=20600">https://kcacsports.com/sports/2023/1/6/tickets.aspx</a>. KWU will have staff at the entry gates to assist fans with purchasing tickets through the KCAC ticketing portal, but there will be no cash sales and no point-of-sale ticket sales on site. KWU regular season passes will not be accepted at the event.GAME COVERAGEThe games will be streamed live on the Coyote Sports Network, part of the KCAC Digital Network at <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/09d25fcf-be16-42e1-b2ba-193a656d40e4?elinkdata=20600">www.kcacnetwork.com/kansaswesleyan</a>An audio-only broadcast of the game will be available online at <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/4a83e49a-dea9-42c5-b641-49fdfb74628e?elinkdata=20600">salinapost.com</a>, by listening live to 910 KINA/107.5 FM. The Voice of the Coyotes Tyler Henry and Russ Cossel will have the call of the game with Coyote Pregame Live starting at 6:30 p.m. The game can also be heard locally on 910 KINA and 107.5 FM.Live Stats will be available as well, at <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/2dac6faa-037a-41ef-8a6b-7f5eba9c66e8?elinkdata=20600">www.kwucoyotes.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary</a>RECORDS<ul>
 <li>No. 1 seeded Kansas Wesleyan 23-6</li><li>No. 5 seeded Friends 18-11</li>
 </ul>THE SERIES<ul>
 <li>The Coyotes won both regular season games but trail in the series 22-20 since 2006. They won 78-65 on December 7 in Wichita and 73-69 on January 25 in Mabee Arena.</li>
 </ul>KANSAS WESLEYAN AT A GLANCE<ul>
 <li>A victory over Friends would put the Coyotes in the championship for the first time since 2013. They advanced to the semis with a hard-fought 80-77 victory over Saint Mary. A 10-2 fourth quarter run gave them the lead for good, 74-69, although USM got within 78-77 with 6.5 seconds left. <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/478dd7d1-da94-437d-bdc2-0989907214f2?elinkdata=20600">Jill Stephens</a> made 4 of 4 free throws in the final 14.1. Five Coyotes scored in double figures led by <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/14825c76-d7b2-4d89-a4cb-8b8437daa999?elinkdata=20600">LaMyah Ricks</a> with 16 and <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/dc5f1609-80c0-4362-9851-3933945aeb44?elinkdata=20600">Odessa Ozuna</a> 13. <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/4690f154-45bc-47ed-88f0-d09fd0d6e719?elinkdata=20600">Hampton Williams</a> had 12 points and 13 rebounds.</li><li>The first game with Friends this season was tied at 52 after three quarters before KWU pulled away in the final 10 minutes. KWU took a 56-55 lead into the fourth quarter. Ricks scored 20, <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/3b10fab0-6f01-41d3-a8e3-41a587e6b9b1?elinkdata=20600">Angel Lee</a> 16 and the Coyotes were 11 of 25 from 3-point range. Lee had 22 points, Ozuna 11 and Ricks and <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/c67393a7-b061-49d1-b99b-48db7e54ca02?elinkdata=20600">Paige Chauncey</a> 10 each in the second game that was close throughout. Chauncey also had 10 rebounds.</li><li>Balanced scoring is the key as seven Coyotes average between 12.1 and 6.7 points - Ricks 12.1, Lee 11.8, Williams 9.9, Stephens 9.6, Ozuna 8.8, <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/a33611cf-e915-4a90-ae12-84409b9d1901?elinkdata=20600">Paige Chauncey</a> 7.7 and Cat Bowman 6.7. KWU averages 76 points and allows 63.7. Williams pulls down a team-best 7.4 rebounds.</li>
 </ul>FRIENDS AT A GLANCE<ul>
 <li>The Falcons stayed alive with a 68-66 come-from-behind victory over Bethel on Thursday in North Newton. They trailed 41-31 at halftime and were down 12 early in the third quarter. Abigail Barr scored 12 and Taylor Jackson had 15 and 10 rebounds. Friends is 5-5 in its last 10 games.</li><li>Lauryn McIver scored 18 and Barr 17 but Jackson did not play in the first game against KWU in Wichita. Jackson had 22 points and 12 rebounds, McIver 18 points and Barr 14 in the second game in Mabee Arena.</li><li>McIver averages a team-high 15.4 points followed by Jackson at 14.5, Barr 12.3 and Kori Babcock 10.4. Jackson also averages 12.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks. Friends averages 70.6 points and allows 64.0.</li>
 </ul>

Coyotes host Friends in KCAC Semifinals on Saturday at Mabee Arena

BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/sherman-smith/">SHERMAN SMITH</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/03/kansas-state-garden-city-cc-striving-to-shrink-bachelors-degree-educational-desert/?emci=8e6f56cf-3bca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;emdi=a9416bb1-82ca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;ceid=115039">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — Senate Republicans are taking an effort to make the Kansas Supreme Court an elected office, dismantling a decades-old merit-based nomination system for justices that voters put in place after a notorious scandal.

The move is largely a response to a high court decision establishing the right to terminate a pregnancy and three decades of court-imposed compliance with a constitutional mandate to provide suitable funding for public schools.

If adopted with two-thirds majorities in both the Senate and House,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/scr1611/" target="_blank">Senate Concurrent Resolution 1611</a>&nbsp;would place a loaded question before voters on the 2026 general election ballot. The question would ask voters to replace the current nominating commission, “whose membership consists of a majority of lawyers,” with direct election of justices. The seven justice seats would be divided among the 2028, 2030 and 2032 elections, and terms would last six years.

Republicans and special interest groups that align with Republicans favor the change, which they say would shift power from an elitist organization to the people. Opponents raise concerns about reshaping the court through partisan politics and the dark money that dominates political campaigns.

“It’s putting politics where they belong,” said Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican. “They’re going to tell you, ‘Oh, it’s putting politics in the system.’ Politics are in the system. That’s the worst kind of politics. It’s veiled. It’s in the black box, you know, behind the closed door.”

Under the current system, the&nbsp;<a href="https://kscourts.gov/Judges/Become-a-Judge/Supreme-Court-Nominating-Commission" target="_blank">Supreme Court Nominating Commission</a>&nbsp;reviews applications for a vacancy and sends three finalists to the governor, who makes the appointment from those three finalists.

The commission members include one lawyer and one nonlawyer from each of the state’s four congressional districts, plus an additional lawyer who serves as chair. Kansas Bar Association members elect the lawyers who serve on the commission, and the governor appoints the nonlawyers.

The commission considers experience, education, ethics, temperament, community service, impartiality and respect of colleagues when selecting the three nominees to send to the governor.

Each justice faces a retention vote in the next general election after appointment, and again every six years.

The system was put in place following&nbsp;<a href="https://www.humanitieskansas.org/get-involved/kansas-stories/people/tv-the-triple-play-and-the-man-from-dodge" target="_blank">a 1950s political scandal known as “the triple play.”</a>

Gov. Fred Hall, viewed as liberal Republican for the era, was defeated in the 1956 primary after a single two-year term. Democrat George Docking won in the general election.

Chief Justice Bill Smith, a supporter of Hall who was prepared to retire, decided to step down before Docking took office so that Hall could resign and take his seat. Smith and Hall resigned on the same day, allowing Lt. Gov. John McCuish to be sworn in as governor and appoint Hall to fill the Supreme Court vacancy.

Hall resigned from the court the following year so he could run again for governor, but again lost in the GOP primary.

During the 1957 session, the Legislature passed a constitutional amendment that established the current merit-based system. About 70% of voters approved the constitutional amendment in 1958.

In recent years, Republicans scrutinized the system in frustration over Kansas Supreme Court decisions that require the Legislature to adequately and equitably fund public schools. The 2019 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion, and voters’ rejection of a constitutional amendment on abortion in 2022, fueled renewed interest in abolishing the merit-based system for nominating Supreme Court justices.

But Republicans haven’t been able to agree on whether to support the election of justices or adopt the federal model, where high court appointments are subject to Senate confirmation.

In a hearing Tuesday before the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee, attorney Josh Ney noted that no Supreme Court justice in the past 22 years had retired while a Republican was governor. Democratic governors have selected all but one of the justices during that period, with&nbsp;Republican Gov. Sam Brownback appointing his chief counsel, Caleb Steagall, to the court to fill a vacancy by a justice who was appointed to a federal court seat.

“We have traded the triple play for systemic double plays,” Ney said.

Fred Logan, who appeared before the committee on behalf of the Kansas Bar Association, said Kansas voters “knew exactly what they were doing in 1958 when they installed the merit selection process.”

He pointed to the fact that no justice has lost a retention vote as evidence that the process works.

Blake Shuart, an attorney with the Wichita-based Hutton Law Firm, said lawyers in the state want to protect a system that has served their clients well, win or lose.

In the past year, Shuart said, the Kansas Supreme Court has issued decisions on 31 criminal cases, seven attorney discipline matters, three individuals who were seeking compensation for wrongful conviction, and cases dealing with parentage, tax valuations, a zoning code, a gambling license, a public nuisance issue between two farmers, and other matters.

“This is not a day in, day out job by our justices to press the lever on state politics, decide elections, school funding, reproductive rights, or any other things,” Shuart said. “Those cases do come around every so often, but what they do every day, week and month of the year, is roll up their sleeves, read briefs, learn cases, ask good questions, listen to good lawyers, argue, deliberate, decide cases fairly based on even-handed application of the facts to the law, and then they sit down and have to write a long opinion.”

Rashane Hamby, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, said the proposed resolution would inject politics into the courts and erode public trust in the judiciary.

The change would threaten the rule of law, weaken separation of powers, and allow special interests to influence the highest court.

“The Supreme Court should not be for sale to the highest bidder,” Hamby said. “If this passes, it will be a radical departure from Kansas’ longstanding commitment to judicial independence.”

Sen. Caryn Tyson, a Parker Republican, said justices in the past have run TV ads supporting a retention vote, which means money is already a factor. The ads she referenced were actually paid for and produced by entities that support the justices, not the justices themselves.

Logan, who has practiced law for 48 years, told Tyson the limited ads she had seen would be amplified with “huge sums of money” if justices were elected.

“Let’s not kid ourselves,” Logan said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1740601607106.jpeg" alt=" Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Marla Luckert delivers her State of the Judiciary speech on Jan. 15, 2025, in the House Chamber. House Speaker Dan Hawkins, left, and Senate President Ty Masterson listen to her speech. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Marla Luckert delivers her State of the Judiciary speech on Jan. 15, 2025, in the House Chamber. House Speaker Dan Hawkins, left, and Senate President Ty Masterson listen to her speech. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/sherman-smith/">SHERMAN SMITH</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/03/kansas-state-garden-city-cc-striving-to-shrink-bachelors-degree-educational-desert/?emci=8e6f56cf-3bca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;emdi=a9416bb1-82ca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;ceid=115039">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — Senate Republicans are taking an effort to make the Kansas Supreme Court an elected office, dismantling a decades-old merit-based nomination system for justices that voters put in place after a notorious scandal.The move is largely a response to a high court decision establishing the right to terminate a pregnancy and three decades of court-imposed compliance with a constitutional mandate to provide suitable funding for public schools.If adopted with two-thirds majorities in both the Senate and House,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/scr1611/" target="_blank">Senate Concurrent Resolution 1611</a>&nbsp;would place a loaded question before voters on the 2026 general election ballot. The question would ask voters to replace the current nominating commission, “whose membership consists of a majority of lawyers,” with direct election of justices. The seven justice seats would be divided among the 2028, 2030 and 2032 elections, and terms would last six years.Republicans and special interest groups that align with Republicans favor the change, which they say would shift power from an elitist organization to the people. Opponents raise concerns about reshaping the court through partisan politics and the dark money that dominates political campaigns.“It’s putting politics where they belong,” said Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican. “They’re going to tell you, ‘Oh, it’s putting politics in the system.’ Politics are in the system. That’s the worst kind of politics. It’s veiled. It’s in the black box, you know, behind the closed door.”Under the current system, the&nbsp;<a href="https://kscourts.gov/Judges/Become-a-Judge/Supreme-Court-Nominating-Commission" target="_blank">Supreme Court Nominating Commission</a>&nbsp;reviews applications for a vacancy and sends three finalists to the governor, who makes the appointment from those three finalists.The commission members include one lawyer and one nonlawyer from each of the state’s four congressional districts, plus an additional lawyer who serves as chair. Kansas Bar Association members elect the lawyers who serve on the commission, and the governor appoints the nonlawyers.The commission considers experience, education, ethics, temperament, community service, impartiality and respect of colleagues when selecting the three nominees to send to the governor.Each justice faces a retention vote in the next general election after appointment, and again every six years.<h2>The triple play</h2>The system was put in place following&nbsp;<a href="https://www.humanitieskansas.org/get-involved/kansas-stories/people/tv-the-triple-play-and-the-man-from-dodge" target="_blank">a 1950s political scandal known as “the triple play.”</a>Gov. Fred Hall, viewed as liberal Republican for the era, was defeated in the 1956 primary after a single two-year term. Democrat George Docking won in the general election.Chief Justice Bill Smith, a supporter of Hall who was prepared to retire, decided to step down before Docking took office so that Hall could resign and take his seat. Smith and Hall resigned on the same day, allowing Lt. Gov. John McCuish to be sworn in as governor and appoint Hall to fill the Supreme Court vacancy.Hall resigned from the court the following year so he could run again for governor, but again lost in the GOP primary.During the 1957 session, the Legislature passed a constitutional amendment that established the current merit-based system. About 70% of voters approved the constitutional amendment in 1958.In recent years, Republicans scrutinized the system in frustration over Kansas Supreme Court decisions that require the Legislature to adequately and equitably fund public schools. The 2019 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion, and voters’ rejection of a constitutional amendment on abortion in 2022, fueled renewed interest in abolishing the merit-based system for nominating Supreme Court justices.But Republicans haven’t been able to agree on whether to support the election of justices or adopt the federal model, where high court appointments are subject to Senate confirmation.In a hearing Tuesday before the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee, attorney Josh Ney noted that no Supreme Court justice in the past 22 years had retired while a Republican was governor. Democratic governors have selected all but one of the justices during that period, with&nbsp;Republican Gov. Sam Brownback appointing his chief counsel, Caleb Steagall, to the court to fill a vacancy by a justice who was appointed to a federal court seat.“We have traded the triple play for systemic double plays,” Ney said.<h2>The opposition</h2>Fred Logan, who appeared before the committee on behalf of the Kansas Bar Association, said Kansas voters “knew exactly what they were doing in 1958 when they installed the merit selection process.”He pointed to the fact that no justice has lost a retention vote as evidence that the process works.“I trust Kansas voters,” Logan said.Blake Shuart, an attorney with the Wichita-based Hutton Law Firm, said lawyers in the state want to protect a system that has served their clients well, win or lose.In the past year, Shuart said, the Kansas Supreme Court has issued decisions on 31 criminal cases, seven attorney discipline matters, three individuals who were seeking compensation for wrongful conviction, and cases dealing with parentage, tax valuations, a zoning code, a gambling license, a public nuisance issue between two farmers, and other matters.“This is not a day in, day out job by our justices to press the lever on state politics, decide elections, school funding, reproductive rights, or any other things,” Shuart said. “Those cases do come around every so often, but what they do every day, week and month of the year, is roll up their sleeves, read briefs, learn cases, ask good questions, listen to good lawyers, argue, deliberate, decide cases fairly based on even-handed application of the facts to the law, and then they sit down and have to write a long opinion.”Rashane Hamby, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, said the proposed resolution would inject politics into the courts and erode public trust in the judiciary.The change would threaten the rule of law, weaken separation of powers, and allow special interests to influence the highest court.“The Supreme Court should not be for sale to the highest bidder,” Hamby said. “If this passes, it will be a radical departure from Kansas’ longstanding commitment to judicial independence.”Sen. Caryn Tyson, a Parker Republican, said justices in the past have run TV ads supporting a retention vote, which means money is already a factor. The ads she referenced were actually paid for and produced by entities that support the justices, not the justices themselves.Logan, who has practiced law for 48 years, told Tyson the limited ads she had seen would be amplified with “huge sums of money” if justices were elected.“Let’s not kid ourselves,” Logan said.

Kan. Senate Republicans take up plan to rewrite constitution to elect Supreme Court justices

Playoff basketball returns to Mabee Arena on Thursday as the KCAC Regular Season Champion and No. 1 seeded Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes host No. 8 seed University of Saint Mary Spires at 7 p.m.

All tickets must be purchased in advance on the KCAC ticketing portal: <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/242c8961-0783-4fe0-8102-9280169780a4?elinkdata=20352">https://kcacsports.com/sports/2023/1/6/tickets.aspx</a>. KWU will have staff at the entry gates to assist fans with purchasing tickets through the KCAC ticketing portal, but there will be no cash sales and no point-of-sale ticket sales on site. KWU regular season passes will not be accepted at the event.

The games will be streamed live on the Coyote Sports Network, part of the KCAC Digital Network at <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/c1fa5552-9a27-4d55-8f47-19d3aae15037?elinkdata=20352">www.kcacnetwork.com/kansaswesleyan</a>

An audio-only broadcast of the game will be available online at <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/a05a8257-2c05-4404-ab80-32c3c20e34b2?elinkdata=20352">salinapost.com</a>, by listening live to KINA Radio. The Voice of the Coyotes Tyler Henry and Russ Cossel will have the call of the game with Coyote Pregame Live starting at 6:30 p.m. The game can also be heard locally on KINA AM 910 and simulcast on 107.5 FM.

Live Stats will be available as well, at <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/4df98a32-ecef-45c3-a33f-f202fedef7ee?elinkdata=20352">www.kwucoyotes.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary</a>

KWU and Saint Mary split the regular season meetings, each winning on the opponent's home floor. KWU won 66-54 on December 14 in Leavenworth, and USM won 75-70 on February 1 in Salina.

The teams last met in the KCAC tournament on February 19, 2007, as KWU picked up a 91-45 win in the game.

In the last meeting, Summer Wieneke scored 16 points off the bench for the Spires to lead Saint Mary to the win. USM held KWU to 3 of 20 shooting in the first quarter and 3 of 18 shooting in the fourth. <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/d84e6209-9314-4b90-9924-7623819db5e5?elinkdata=20352">Hampton Williams</a> had a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds for the Coyotes in the game.

In December in Leavenworth, KWU got 15 points and 12 rebounds from Williams while <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/bf55f101-4045-4add-9abf-6ae5f00cc6dd?elinkdata=20352">Angel Lee</a> had 11 as KWU overcame a 25.9 percent shooting night, hitting 33 of 48 free throws to come away with the 12-point win.

In the all-time series, KWU leads Saint Mary 33-19.

Kansas Wesleyan enters the KCAC tournament with a 22-6 overall record and finished KCAC play 18-4 overall. KWU averages 75.8 points per game while holding opponents to 63.3. KWU shoots 44 percent from the field as a team, 34.5 percent from 3-point range and 72.3 percent from the free throw line. KWU's opponents shoot 38.3 percent from the field, 24.8 percent from 3-point range and 67.7 percent at the line. The Coyotes average 39.6 rebounds per game, outrebounding opponents by 5.6 per game.

KWU has five players averaging 9.0 points per game or better on the season led by <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/0293f2fa-a8fe-4e49-a343-0d6804647d4e?elinkdata=20352">LaMyah Ricks</a> averaging 12.0 points per game. <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/6e61df14-9edf-42df-8948-a2ee4a913fd6?elinkdata=20352">Hampton Williams</a> leads the Coyotes in rebounding at 7.3 per game.

KWU ranks second in the KCAC in scoring offense, and second in scoring defense. KWU leads the KCAC in defensive 3-point percentage and ranks 13th in the NAIA. Ricks ranks 18th in the KCAC in scoring average, and Williams ranks seventh in the KCAC in rebounding average.

This season marks only the second time in program history KWU has won the KCAC Championship outright, the other time coming in 2019-20 under Coach <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/e05405f5-dba9-412e-abe8-e3126c2f7c49?elinkdata=20352">Ryan Showman</a>. KWU was Co-Champions in 1987-88, 2008-09, and 2010-11.

Showman was named as the Lonnie Kruse KCAC Women's Basketball Coach of the Year headlining KWU's All-KCAC picks this season. <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/7f0ff6da-7076-4511-9931-fbd8eabad4cf?elinkdata=20352">LaMyah Ricks</a> was named to the All-KCAC First Team, <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/68a58dbc-7aa8-49cf-8020-f0eec914e069?elinkdata=20352">Angel Lee</a> and <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/872a41ad-e79d-4bb6-ab0b-66e20dfa7115?elinkdata=20352">Hampton Williams</a> were named to the All-KCAC Third Team, and <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/84f48094-331b-47c2-be7b-2b9185dbcc3b?elinkdata=20352">Jill Stephens</a> was named to the Honorable Mention team. Ricks also earned a spot on the All-Defensive Team.

Saint Mary is 13-15 overall and finished KCAC play with a 12-10 record. Saint Mary averages 70 points per game while shooting 38.7 percent from the field, 30.9 percent from 3-point range and 72 percent from the free throw line. The Spires average 39.6 rebounds per game.

Alanis Delgado leads the Spires averaging 15.5 points per game. Addison Schletzbaum leads the Spires in rebounding averaging 7.6 per contest.

Alanis Delgado was named to the All-KCAC Second Team and Addison Schletzbaum was named Honorable Mention. Addison Tower was named to the All-Freshman team.

All quarterfinal match-ups will be played Thursday night at the home site of the higher seeded team.In the other three quarterfinals No. 4 seed Bethel hosts No. 5 Friends, No. 3 Evangel hosts No. 6 Sterling, and No. 2 seed Tabor hosts No. 7 seed Bethany.

On Saturday will be the semifinals with games starting at 7 p.m. The KWU vs Saint Mary winner will get the winner of the Bethel vs Friends game. The winner between Tabor vs Bethany and Evangel vs Sterling will meet in the other semifinal. Both semifinal games will be played at the higher seeded team.

New this year, there will be no Park City Arena for the KCAC Championship. KCAC officials decided to make the change in the tournament and move the championship games back to the home site of the higher seeded team. The KCAC Championship will be played on Tuesday, March 4 staring at 7 p.m.

The winner of the KCAC Tournament receives an automatic berth to the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship. The second automatic berth to the NAIA Championships goes to the highest remaining seed in the KCAC tournament, regardless of tournament finish, meant to protect the regular season champion, should it lose during the tournament. If the KCAC regular season champion wins the tournament, the No. 2 seed in the tournament receives the second berth, regardless of tournament finish.

Playoff basketball returns to Mabee Arena on Thursday as the KCAC Regular Season Champion and No. 1 seeded Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes host No. 8 seed University of Saint Mary Spires at 7 p.m.TICKETSAll tickets must be purchased in advance on the KCAC ticketing portal: <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/242c8961-0783-4fe0-8102-9280169780a4?elinkdata=20352">https://kcacsports.com/sports/2023/1/6/tickets.aspx</a>. KWU will have staff at the entry gates to assist fans with purchasing tickets through the KCAC ticketing portal, but there will be no cash sales and no point-of-sale ticket sales on site. KWU regular season passes will not be accepted at the event.GAME COVERAGEThe games will be streamed live on the Coyote Sports Network, part of the KCAC Digital Network at <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/c1fa5552-9a27-4d55-8f47-19d3aae15037?elinkdata=20352">www.kcacnetwork.com/kansaswesleyan</a>An audio-only broadcast of the game will be available online at <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/a05a8257-2c05-4404-ab80-32c3c20e34b2?elinkdata=20352">salinapost.com</a>, by listening live to KINA Radio. The Voice of the Coyotes Tyler Henry and Russ Cossel will have the call of the game with Coyote Pregame Live starting at 6:30 p.m. The game can also be heard locally on KINA AM 910 and simulcast on 107.5 FM.Live Stats will be available as well, at <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/4df98a32-ecef-45c3-a33f-f202fedef7ee?elinkdata=20352">www.kwucoyotes.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary</a>THE MATCH-UPKWU and Saint Mary split the regular season meetings, each winning on the opponent's home floor. KWU won 66-54 on December 14 in Leavenworth, and USM won 75-70 on February 1 in Salina.The teams last met in the KCAC tournament on February 19, 2007, as KWU picked up a 91-45 win in the game.In the last meeting, Summer Wieneke scored 16 points off the bench for the Spires to lead Saint Mary to the win. USM held KWU to 3 of 20 shooting in the first quarter and 3 of 18 shooting in the fourth. <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/d84e6209-9314-4b90-9924-7623819db5e5?elinkdata=20352">Hampton Williams</a> had a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds for the Coyotes in the game.In December in Leavenworth, KWU got 15 points and 12 rebounds from Williams while <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/bf55f101-4045-4add-9abf-6ae5f00cc6dd?elinkdata=20352">Angel Lee</a> had 11 as KWU overcame a 25.9 percent shooting night, hitting 33 of 48 free throws to come away with the 12-point win.In the all-time series, KWU leads Saint Mary 33-19.THE COYOTESKansas Wesleyan enters the KCAC tournament with a 22-6 overall record and finished KCAC play 18-4 overall. KWU averages 75.8 points per game while holding opponents to 63.3. KWU shoots 44 percent from the field as a team, 34.5 percent from 3-point range and 72.3 percent from the free throw line. KWU's opponents shoot 38.3 percent from the field, 24.8 percent from 3-point range and 67.7 percent at the line. The Coyotes average 39.6 rebounds per game, outrebounding opponents by 5.6 per game.KWU has five players averaging 9.0 points per game or better on the season led by <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/0293f2fa-a8fe-4e49-a343-0d6804647d4e?elinkdata=20352">LaMyah Ricks</a> averaging 12.0 points per game. <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/6e61df14-9edf-42df-8948-a2ee4a913fd6?elinkdata=20352">Hampton Williams</a> leads the Coyotes in rebounding at 7.3 per game.KWU ranks second in the KCAC in scoring offense, and second in scoring defense. KWU leads the KCAC in defensive 3-point percentage and ranks 13th in the NAIA. Ricks ranks 18th in the KCAC in scoring average, and Williams ranks seventh in the KCAC in rebounding average.This season marks only the second time in program history KWU has won the KCAC Championship outright, the other time coming in 2019-20 under Coach <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/e05405f5-dba9-412e-abe8-e3126c2f7c49?elinkdata=20352">Ryan Showman</a>. KWU was Co-Champions in 1987-88, 2008-09, and 2010-11.Showman was named as the Lonnie Kruse KCAC Women's Basketball Coach of the Year headlining KWU's All-KCAC picks this season. <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/7f0ff6da-7076-4511-9931-fbd8eabad4cf?elinkdata=20352">LaMyah Ricks</a> was named to the All-KCAC First Team, <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/68a58dbc-7aa8-49cf-8020-f0eec914e069?elinkdata=20352">Angel Lee</a> and <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/872a41ad-e79d-4bb6-ab0b-66e20dfa7115?elinkdata=20352">Hampton Williams</a> were named to the All-KCAC Third Team, and <a href="http://kwucoyotes.com/services/go.ashx/84f48094-331b-47c2-be7b-2b9185dbcc3b?elinkdata=20352">Jill Stephens</a> was named to the Honorable Mention team. Ricks also earned a spot on the All-Defensive Team.THE SPIRESSaint Mary is 13-15 overall and finished KCAC play with a 12-10 record. Saint Mary averages 70 points per game while shooting 38.7 percent from the field, 30.9 percent from 3-point range and 72 percent from the free throw line. The Spires average 39.6 rebounds per game.Alanis Delgado leads the Spires averaging 15.5 points per game. Addison Schletzbaum leads the Spires in rebounding averaging 7.6 per contest.Alanis Delgado was named to the All-KCAC Second Team and Addison Schletzbaum was named Honorable Mention. Addison Tower was named to the All-Freshman team.THE KCAC TOURNAMENTAll quarterfinal match-ups will be played Thursday night at the home site of the higher seeded team.In the other three quarterfinals No. 4 seed Bethel hosts No. 5 Friends, No. 3 Evangel hosts No. 6 Sterling, and No. 2 seed Tabor hosts No. 7 seed Bethany.On Saturday will be the semifinals with games starting at 7 p.m. The KWU vs Saint Mary winner will get the winner of the Bethel vs Friends game. The winner between Tabor vs Bethany and Evangel vs Sterling will meet in the other semifinal. Both semifinal games will be played at the higher seeded team.New this year, there will be no Park City Arena for the KCAC Championship. KCAC officials decided to make the change in the tournament and move the championship games back to the home site of the higher seeded team. The KCAC Championship will be played on Tuesday, March 4 staring at 7 p.m.The winner of the KCAC Tournament receives an automatic berth to the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship. The second automatic berth to the NAIA Championships goes to the highest remaining seed in the KCAC tournament, regardless of tournament finish, meant to protect the regular season champion, should it lose during the tournament. If the KCAC regular season champion wins the tournament, the No. 2 seed in the tournament receives the second berth, regardless of tournament finish.NATIONALS

Top Seeded Coyotes host No. 8 Saint Mary on Thursday in KCAC Quarterfinals

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Missouri woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal charge accusing her of concocting a brazen plot to defraud Elvis Presley’s family by trying to auction off his Graceland mansion and property before a judge&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/graceland-sale-lawsuit-elvis-presley-bd864f24ff76205ce23885c182a56a66">halted the mysterious foreclosure sale</a>.

During a hearing in front of a Memphis federal judge, Lisa Jeanine Findley pleaded guilty to a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/graceland-elvis-presley-sale-fraudulent-d6431df76860570e5d31526e81974f7d">charge of mail fraud</a>&nbsp;related to the scheme. She previously pleaded not guilty to the two-count indictment, which also includes a count of aggravated identity theft that will now be dropped.

When asked by the judge if Findley was admitting guilt and accepting responsibility, she said “Yes.”

Findley will be sentenced on June 19. She would have faced up to 20 years if convicted, but she is expected to receive less than that under the plea deal.

Findley, of Kimberling City, falsely claimed Presley’s daughter borrowed $3.8 million from a bogus private lender and had pledged Graceland as collateral for the loan before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lisa-marie-presley-dies-9fc02552f6f31e270647897a2e4104e9">her death in January 2023</a>, prosecutors said when she was charged in August 2024. She then threatened to sell Graceland to the highest bidder if Presley’s family didn’t pay a $2.85 million settlement, according to authorities.

Findley posed as three different people allegedly involved with the fake lender, fabricated loan documents, and published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper announcing the auction of Graceland in May 2024, prosecutors said. A judge stopped the sale after Presley’s granddaughter sued.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/graceland-elvis-presley-auction-lawsuit-riley-keough-4c5d2dda1c189997319d331794e8f8d0">Experts were baffled</a>&nbsp;by the attempt to sell off one of the most storied pieces of real estate in the country using names, emails and documents that were quickly suspected to be phony.

Graceland opened as a museum and tourist attraction in 1982 and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. A large Presley-themed entertainment complex across the street from the museum is owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises. Presley died in August 1977, at the age of 42.

In May, a public notice for a foreclosure sale of the 13-acre (5-hectare) estate said Promenade Trust, which controls the Graceland museum, owes $3.8 million after failing to repay a 2018 loan.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/riley-keough">Riley Keough</a>, Presley’s granddaughter and an actor, inherited the trust and ownership of the home after the death of her mother,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/lisa-marie-presley">Lisa Marie Presley</a>.

Keough filed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/graceland-auction-elvis-presley-359098fd64877f2e826b7309dba2bbb3">a lawsuit claiming fraud,</a>&nbsp;and a judge halted the proposed auction with an injunction. Naussany Investments and Private Lending — the bogus lender authorities say Findley created — said Lisa Marie Presley had used Graceland as collateral for the loan, according to the foreclosure sale notice. Keough’s lawsuit alleged that Naussany presented fraudulent documents regarding the loan in September 2023 and that Lisa Marie Presley never borrowed money from Naussany.

Kimberly Philbrick, the notary whose name is listed on Naussany’s documents, indicated she never met Lisa Marie Presley nor notarized any documents for her, according to the estate’s lawsuit. The judge said the notary’s affidavit brings into question “the authenticity of the signature.”

The judge halted the foreclosure sale of the beloved Memphis tourist attraction, saying Elvis Presley’s estate could be successful in arguing that a company’s attempt to auction Graceland was fraudulent.

The Tennessee attorney general’s office&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/graceland-elvis-presley-foreclosure-auction-1541d4a07db1b0a9870b0557eb073307">had been investigating</a>&nbsp;the Graceland controversy, then&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elvis-presley-graceland-foreclosure-sale-lawsuit-93a42d151462e299fee88b5a6eca9743">confirmed in June</a>&nbsp;that it handed the probe over to federal authorities.

A statement emailed to The Associated Press after the judge stopped the sale said Naussany would not proceed because a key document in the case and the loan were recorded and obtained in a different state, meaning “legal action would have to be filed in multiple states.” The statement, sent from an email address listed in court documents, did not specify the other state.

After the scheme fell apart, Findley tried to make it look like the person responsible was a Nigerian identity thief, prosecutors said. An email sent May 25 to the AP from the same email as the earlier statement said in Spanish that the foreclosure sale attempt was made by a Nigerian fraud ring that targets old and dead people in the U.S. and uses the internet to steal money.

In a statement, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called the scheme “nonsense” and praised the work of federal authorities.

“Graceland matters so much to so many people around the world – just go to Memphis during Elvis Week and listen to all the different accents and languages of fans who make the pilgrimage,” Skrmetti said. “All of Tennessee is glad that Graceland remains safely in the possession of Elvis’s heir and that it will remain a celebrated Memphis landmark for generations to come.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1740502725805.png" alt="Findley photo Greene Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Findley photo Greene Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Missouri woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal charge accusing her of concocting a brazen plot to defraud Elvis Presley’s family by trying to auction off his Graceland mansion and property before a judge&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/graceland-sale-lawsuit-elvis-presley-bd864f24ff76205ce23885c182a56a66">halted the mysterious foreclosure sale</a>.During a hearing in front of a Memphis federal judge, Lisa Jeanine Findley pleaded guilty to a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/graceland-elvis-presley-sale-fraudulent-d6431df76860570e5d31526e81974f7d">charge of mail fraud</a>&nbsp;related to the scheme. She previously pleaded not guilty to the two-count indictment, which also includes a count of aggravated identity theft that will now be dropped.When asked by the judge if Findley was admitting guilt and accepting responsibility, she said “Yes.”Findley will be sentenced on June 19. She would have faced up to 20 years if convicted, but she is expected to receive less than that under the plea deal.Findley, of Kimberling City, falsely claimed Presley’s daughter borrowed $3.8 million from a bogus private lender and had pledged Graceland as collateral for the loan before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lisa-marie-presley-dies-9fc02552f6f31e270647897a2e4104e9">her death in January 2023</a>, prosecutors said when she was charged in August 2024. She then threatened to sell Graceland to the highest bidder if Presley’s family didn’t pay a $2.85 million settlement, according to authorities.Findley posed as three different people allegedly involved with the fake lender, fabricated loan documents, and published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper announcing the auction of Graceland in May 2024, prosecutors said. A judge stopped the sale after Presley’s granddaughter sued.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/graceland-elvis-presley-auction-lawsuit-riley-keough-4c5d2dda1c189997319d331794e8f8d0">Experts were baffled</a>&nbsp;by the attempt to sell off one of the most storied pieces of real estate in the country using names, emails and documents that were quickly suspected to be phony.Graceland opened as a museum and tourist attraction in 1982 and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. A large Presley-themed entertainment complex across the street from the museum is owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises. Presley died in August 1977, at the age of 42.In May, a public notice for a foreclosure sale of the 13-acre (5-hectare) estate said Promenade Trust, which controls the Graceland museum, owes $3.8 million after failing to repay a 2018 loan.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/riley-keough">Riley Keough</a>, Presley’s granddaughter and an actor, inherited the trust and ownership of the home after the death of her mother,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/lisa-marie-presley">Lisa Marie Presley</a>.Keough filed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/graceland-auction-elvis-presley-359098fd64877f2e826b7309dba2bbb3">a lawsuit claiming fraud,</a>&nbsp;and a judge halted the proposed auction with an injunction. Naussany Investments and Private Lending — the bogus lender authorities say Findley created — said Lisa Marie Presley had used Graceland as collateral for the loan, according to the foreclosure sale notice. Keough’s lawsuit alleged that Naussany presented fraudulent documents regarding the loan in September 2023 and that Lisa Marie Presley never borrowed money from Naussany.Kimberly Philbrick, the notary whose name is listed on Naussany’s documents, indicated she never met Lisa Marie Presley nor notarized any documents for her, according to the estate’s lawsuit. The judge said the notary’s affidavit brings into question “the authenticity of the signature.”The judge halted the foreclosure sale of the beloved Memphis tourist attraction, saying Elvis Presley’s estate could be successful in arguing that a company’s attempt to auction Graceland was fraudulent.The Tennessee attorney general’s office&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/graceland-elvis-presley-foreclosure-auction-1541d4a07db1b0a9870b0557eb073307">had been investigating</a>&nbsp;the Graceland controversy, then&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elvis-presley-graceland-foreclosure-sale-lawsuit-93a42d151462e299fee88b5a6eca9743">confirmed in June</a>&nbsp;that it handed the probe over to federal authorities.A statement emailed to The Associated Press after the judge stopped the sale said Naussany would not proceed because a key document in the case and the loan were recorded and obtained in a different state, meaning “legal action would have to be filed in multiple states.” The statement, sent from an email address listed in court documents, did not specify the other state.After the scheme fell apart, Findley tried to make it look like the person responsible was a Nigerian identity thief, prosecutors said. An email sent May 25 to the AP from the same email as the earlier statement said in Spanish that the foreclosure sale attempt was made by a Nigerian fraud ring that targets old and dead people in the U.S. and uses the internet to steal money.In a statement, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called the scheme “nonsense” and praised the work of federal authorities.“Graceland matters so much to so many people around the world – just go to Memphis during Elvis Week and listen to all the different accents and languages of fans who make the pilgrimage,” Skrmetti said. “All of Tennessee is glad that Graceland remains safely in the possession of Elvis’s heir and that it will remain a celebrated Memphis landmark for generations to come.”___

Woman enters plea to federal charge in plot to sell Graceland

NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/roberta-flack">Roberta Flack,</a>&nbsp;the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose intimate vocal and musical style made her one of the top recordings artists of the 1970s and an influential performer long after, died Monday. She was 88.

She died at home surrounded by her family, publicist Elaine Schock said in a statement. Flack announced in 2022&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/roberta-flack-als-diagnosis-403caf46fc277d8fddeb438a1f57979d">she had ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease,</a>&nbsp;and could no longer sing,

Little known before her early 30s, Flack became an overnight star after Clint Eastwood used “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” as the soundtrack for one of cinema’s more memorable and explicit love scenes, between the actor and Donna Mills in his 1971 film “Play Misty for Me.” The hushed, hymn-like ballad, with Flack’s graceful soprano afloat on a bed of soft strings and piano, topped the Billboard pop chart in 1972 and received a Grammy for record of the year.

“The record label wanted to have it re-recorded with a faster tempo, but he said he wanted it exactly as it was,”&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/music-aa6118fdbf324b23aec794c066a75e15">Flack told The Associated Press</a>&nbsp;in 2018. “With the song as a theme song for his movie, it gained a lot of popularity and then took off.”

In 1973, she matched both achievements with “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” becoming the first artist to win consecutive Grammys for best record.

She was a classically trained pianist discovered in the late 1960s by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/les-mccann-died-88-compared-to-what-587892db9a20cc4331c8c51f636e115d">jazz musician Les McCann,</a>&nbsp;who later wrote that “her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known.” Versatile enough to summon the up-tempo gospel passion of Aretha Franklin, Flack often favored a more reflective and measured approach.

For Flack’s many admirers, she was a sophisticated and bold new presence in the music world and in the social and civil rights movements of the time, her friends including the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jesse-jackson">Rev. Jesse Jackson</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/angela-davis">Angela Davis,</a>&nbsp;whom Flack visited in prison while Davis faced charges — for which she was acquitted — for murder and kidnapping. Flack sang at the funeral of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jackie-robinson">Jackie Robinson,</a>&nbsp;major league baseball’s first Black player, and was among the many guest performers on the feminist children’s entertainment project&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/parenting-celebrity-relationships-131d7b4b0bb04f258b57d218d8d9f6b2">created by Marlo Thomas,</a>&nbsp;“Free to Be ... You and Me.”

Roberta Cleopatra Flack, the daughter of musicians, was born in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and raised in Arlington, Virginia. A gospel fan as a child, she was so talented a piano player that at age 15 she received a full scholarship to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-democracy-presidency-howard-university-d383801895d8d107a9aa12af5b941821">Howard, the historically Black university.</a>

Flack’s other hits from the 1970s included the cozy “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and two duets with her close friend and former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway, “Where Is the Love” and ”The Closer I Get to You” — a partnership that ended in tragedy. In 1979, she and Hathaway were working on an album of duets when he suffered a breakdown during recording and later that night fell to his death from his hotel room in Manhattan.

“We were deeply connected creatively,” Flack told Vibe in 2022, upon the 50th anniversary of the million-selling “Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway” album. “He could play anything, sing anything. Our musical synergy was unlike (anything) I’d had before or since.”

She never matched her first run of success, although she did have a hit in the 1980s with the Peabo Bryson duet “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” and in the 1990s with the Maxi Priest duet “Set the Night to Music.” In the mid-90s, Flack received new attention&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pras-michel-fugees-concert-d2f31e013e693b516169bd4c7bcdcdab">after the Fugees recorded</a>&nbsp;a Grammy-winning cover of “Killing Me Softly,” which she eventually performed on stage with the hip-hop group.

Overall,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ba4d62572ce84d4f99c05585db7dd263">she won five Grammys</a>&nbsp;(three for “Killing Me Softly”), was nominated eight other times and was given a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2020, with John Legend and Ariana Grande among those praising her.

“I love that connection to other artists because we understand music, we live music, it’s our language,” Flack told songwriteruniverse.com in 2020. “Through music we understand what we are thinking and feeling. No matter what challenge life presents, I am at home with my piano, on a stage, with my band, in the studio, listening to music. I can find my way when I hear music.”

In 2022, Beyoncé placed Flack, Franklin and Diana Ross among others in a special pantheon of heroines name-checked in the Grammy-nominated “Queens Remix” of “Break My Soul.”

Flack was briefly married to Stephen Novosel, an interracial relationship that led to tension with each of their families, and earlier had a son, the singer and keyboardist Bernard Wright. For years, she lived in Manhattan’s Dakota apartment building, on the same floor as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who became a close friend and provided liner notes for a Flack album of Beatles covers, “Let It Be Roberta.” She also devoted extensive time to the Roberta Flack School of Music, based in New York and attended mostly by students between ages 6 to 14.

Flack had taught music in D.C.-area junior high schools for several years in her 20s, while performing after hours in clubs. She sometimes backed other singers, but her own shows at Washington’s renowned Mr. Henry’s attracted such celebrity patrons as Burt Bacharach, Ramsey Lewis and Johnny Mathis. The club’s owner, Henry Yaffe, converted an apartment directly above into a private studio, the Roberta Flack Room.

“I wanted to be successful, a serious all-round musician,” she told The Telegraph in 2015. “I listened to a lot of Aretha, the Drifters, trying to do some of that myself, playing, teaching.”

Flack was signed to Atlantic Records and her debut album, “First Take,” a blend of gospel, soul, flamenco and jazz, came out in 1969. One track was a love song by the English folk artist Ewan MacColl: “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” written in 1957 for his future wife, singer Peggy Seeger. Flack not only knew of the ballad, but used it while working with a glee club during her years as an educator.

“I was teaching at Banneker Junior High in Washington, D.C. It was part of the city where kids weren’t that privileged, but they were privileged enough to have music education. I really wanted them to read music. First, I’d get their attention. (Flack starts singing a Supremes hit) ‘Stop, in the name of love.’ Then I could teach them!” she told the Tampa Bay Times in 2012.

“You have to do all sorts of things when you’re dealing with kids in the inner-city,” she said. “I knew they’d like the part where (‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’) goes ‘The first time ever I kissed your mouth.’ Ooh, ‘Kissed your mouth!’ Once the kids got past the giggles, we were good.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1740411515381.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/roberta-flack">Roberta Flack,</a>&nbsp;the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose intimate vocal and musical style made her one of the top recordings artists of the 1970s and an influential performer long after, died Monday. She was 88.She died at home surrounded by her family, publicist Elaine Schock said in a statement. Flack announced in 2022&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/roberta-flack-als-diagnosis-403caf46fc277d8fddeb438a1f57979d">she had ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease,</a>&nbsp;and could no longer sing,Little known before her early 30s, Flack became an overnight star after Clint Eastwood used “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” as the soundtrack for one of cinema’s more memorable and explicit love scenes, between the actor and Donna Mills in his 1971 film “Play Misty for Me.” The hushed, hymn-like ballad, with Flack’s graceful soprano afloat on a bed of soft strings and piano, topped the Billboard pop chart in 1972 and received a Grammy for record of the year.“The record label wanted to have it re-recorded with a faster tempo, but he said he wanted it exactly as it was,”&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/music-aa6118fdbf324b23aec794c066a75e15">Flack told The Associated Press</a>&nbsp;in 2018. “With the song as a theme song for his movie, it gained a lot of popularity and then took off.”In 1973, she matched both achievements with “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” becoming the first artist to win consecutive Grammys for best record.She was a classically trained pianist discovered in the late 1960s by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/les-mccann-died-88-compared-to-what-587892db9a20cc4331c8c51f636e115d">jazz musician Les McCann,</a>&nbsp;who later wrote that “her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known.” Versatile enough to summon the up-tempo gospel passion of Aretha Franklin, Flack often favored a more reflective and measured approach.For Flack’s many admirers, she was a sophisticated and bold new presence in the music world and in the social and civil rights movements of the time, her friends including the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jesse-jackson">Rev. Jesse Jackson</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/angela-davis">Angela Davis,</a>&nbsp;whom Flack visited in prison while Davis faced charges — for which she was acquitted — for murder and kidnapping. Flack sang at the funeral of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jackie-robinson">Jackie Robinson,</a>&nbsp;major league baseball’s first Black player, and was among the many guest performers on the feminist children’s entertainment project&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/parenting-celebrity-relationships-131d7b4b0bb04f258b57d218d8d9f6b2">created by Marlo Thomas,</a>&nbsp;“Free to Be ... You and Me.”Roberta Cleopatra Flack, the daughter of musicians, was born in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and raised in Arlington, Virginia. A gospel fan as a child, she was so talented a piano player that at age 15 she received a full scholarship to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-democracy-presidency-howard-university-d383801895d8d107a9aa12af5b941821">Howard, the historically Black university.</a>Flack’s other hits from the 1970s included the cozy “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and two duets with her close friend and former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway, “Where Is the Love” and ”The Closer I Get to You” — a partnership that ended in tragedy. In 1979, she and Hathaway were working on an album of duets when he suffered a breakdown during recording and later that night fell to his death from his hotel room in Manhattan.“We were deeply connected creatively,” Flack told Vibe in 2022, upon the 50th anniversary of the million-selling “Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway” album. “He could play anything, sing anything. Our musical synergy was unlike (anything) I’d had before or since.”She never matched her first run of success, although she did have a hit in the 1980s with the Peabo Bryson duet “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” and in the 1990s with the Maxi Priest duet “Set the Night to Music.” In the mid-90s, Flack received new attention&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pras-michel-fugees-concert-d2f31e013e693b516169bd4c7bcdcdab">after the Fugees recorded</a>&nbsp;a Grammy-winning cover of “Killing Me Softly,” which she eventually performed on stage with the hip-hop group.Overall,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ba4d62572ce84d4f99c05585db7dd263">she won five Grammys</a>&nbsp;(three for “Killing Me Softly”), was nominated eight other times and was given a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2020, with John Legend and Ariana Grande among those praising her.“I love that connection to other artists because we understand music, we live music, it’s our language,” Flack told songwriteruniverse.com in 2020. “Through music we understand what we are thinking and feeling. No matter what challenge life presents, I am at home with my piano, on a stage, with my band, in the studio, listening to music. I can find my way when I hear music.”In 2022, Beyoncé placed Flack, Franklin and Diana Ross among others in a special pantheon of heroines name-checked in the Grammy-nominated “Queens Remix” of “Break My Soul.”Flack was briefly married to Stephen Novosel, an interracial relationship that led to tension with each of their families, and earlier had a son, the singer and keyboardist Bernard Wright. For years, she lived in Manhattan’s Dakota apartment building, on the same floor as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who became a close friend and provided liner notes for a Flack album of Beatles covers, “Let It Be Roberta.” She also devoted extensive time to the Roberta Flack School of Music, based in New York and attended mostly by students between ages 6 to 14.Flack had taught music in D.C.-area junior high schools for several years in her 20s, while performing after hours in clubs. She sometimes backed other singers, but her own shows at Washington’s renowned Mr. Henry’s attracted such celebrity patrons as Burt Bacharach, Ramsey Lewis and Johnny Mathis. The club’s owner, Henry Yaffe, converted an apartment directly above into a private studio, the Roberta Flack Room.“I wanted to be successful, a serious all-round musician,” she told The Telegraph in 2015. “I listened to a lot of Aretha, the Drifters, trying to do some of that myself, playing, teaching.”Flack was signed to Atlantic Records and her debut album, “First Take,” a blend of gospel, soul, flamenco and jazz, came out in 1969. One track was a love song by the English folk artist Ewan MacColl: “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” written in 1957 for his future wife, singer Peggy Seeger. Flack not only knew of the ballad, but used it while working with a glee club during her years as an educator.“I was teaching at Banneker Junior High in Washington, D.C. It was part of the city where kids weren’t that privileged, but they were privileged enough to have music education. I really wanted them to read music. First, I’d get their attention. (Flack starts singing a Supremes hit) ‘Stop, in the name of love.’ Then I could teach them!” she told the Tampa Bay Times in 2012.“You have to do all sorts of things when you’re dealing with kids in the inner-city,” she said. “I knew they’d like the part where (‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’) goes ‘The first time ever I kissed your mouth.’ Ooh, ‘Kissed your mouth!’ Once the kids got past the giggles, we were good.”

Roberta Flack, Grammy-winning singer with an intimate style, dies at 88

BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/tim-carpenter/">TIM CARPENTER</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/sherman-smith/">SHERMAN SMITH</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/03/kansas-state-garden-city-cc-striving-to-shrink-bachelors-degree-educational-desert/?emci=8e6f56cf-3bca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;emdi=a9416bb1-82ca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;ceid=115039">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — An intense confrontation between a Republican and Democrat on the Kansas House floor Thursday during a gun debate forced the chamber into a two-hour recess as leadership worked to deescalate tensions.

Democrats accused&nbsp;Rep. Nick Hoheisel, a Wichita Republican, of trying to start a fight with Rep. Ford Carr, a Wichita Democrat, by launching obscenities at Carr. The confrontation took place at Carr’s desk on the House floor.

The incident happened during debate over&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/hb2104/" target="_blank">House Bill 2104,</a>&nbsp;which would require school districts to implement an NRA program known as Eddie Eagle in public elementary schools, starting in kindergarten, if the schools want to teach gun safety. It was among dozens of bills the House has debated this week ahead of a deadline to advance legislation.

Rep. Kirk Haskins, a Topeka Democrat, interrupted legislators debating the NRA curriculum bill and called for a point of order, citing “a need for decorum.” Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat, then came to the front of the House chamber and asked for Hoheisel to be admonished.

“While I did not observe everything that occurred, I heard exactly what happened,” Carmichael said. “The member strolled through the Democratic seats using profanity, and in my view, from what I heard, was attempting to incite a fight. And I ask that the member be admonished never to do that again.”

In an interview, Carmichael said Hoheisel thumped a finger on Carr’s desk and repeatedly said, “That’s bulls***.”

After House Republican leadership recessed the House to break the tension, House Democrats banned reporters from a secret meeting at the Capitol to discuss the situation. Kansas Reflector obtained an audio recording of that meeting, in which members raise concerns about Hoheisel’s behavior and whether he was carrying a gun.

Hoheisel declined to comment for this story but disputed claims made by Democrats.

“I’m not going to dignify any of those false and outlandish allegations with a response,” Hoheisel said in a text message.

Carr didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment, but in the secret meeting, he joked about his willingness to get in a fight. Last month, he shoved another Democratic legislator to the ground during a bar fracas with a Wichita councilman. Democrats laughed at the reference during their secret meeting.

“I know that side of the aisle, and they constantly vote for gun rights,” Carr said. “I also know that some of them carry guns. I have one in my office. There’s a strong possibility that that gun will be on my person unless something is done, right?”

Carr continued: “He got up, he came over to me, and he made attacks. I can’t honestly see how someone of his stature would feel comfortable making those kind of attacks at me” — he paused for laughter — “unless, of course, he feels like he has some sort of an equalizer. So at this point, I feel like I need to equal and level the playing field.”

Rep. Barbara Ballard, a Lawrence Democrat who runs House Democratic caucus meetings, said in the caucus meeting: “I understand what you’re saying along those lines, but what we’re asking is that we deescalate what happened.”

House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard, a Lenexa Democrat, told his caucus: “Everyone needs to breathe.”

“Him coming up to you on the floor and saying that s*** is bull****, but we can’t stoop to the low level of Republicans,” Woodard said during the closed meeting of Democrats.

Several Democrats, including Rep. Heather Meyer, an Overland Park Democrat, said they didn’t feel safe on the House floor.

Meyer asked her fellow Democrats “to remember that some of us have extensive, long-term trauma from gun violence, and we need to be chill.”

“This kind of talk makes me nervous, makes me not want to go back on the floor today, makes me want to go the f*** home,” Meyer said. “I am done with gun violence, and I just need you guys to remember that. Because I’m sitting here listening to this conversation thinking if I even want to be here, because it’s f***ing scary, and I am tired of being put in the line of fire.”

When the House reconvened, with a larger than usual Capitol Police presence on the floor, Republican leadership canceled the scheduled votes on the Eddie Eagle bill, as well as a proposed constitutional amendment that would assert a God-given right to own guns, ammunition and firearm accessories.

House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, and Woodard issued a joint statement on the “events that transpired on the House floor,” but didn’t respond to a request to explain what happened.

“The House of Representatives remains focused on the 2025 legislative session and completing the work we have been sent here to do,” they said in the joint statement. “The legislative session is an immense undertaking that requires a unified effort. We appreciate the continued dedication of our House members to the people of Kansas.”

Carmichael, who said he declined to participate in the meeting of House Democrats because it wasn’t open to the press, said Republican leadership did the right thing in the moment by shutting down debate and skipping over the gun bills.

“In the longer term,” Carmichael said, “leadership is going to have to have long conversations with some of their members.”

“I do not feel safe on the floor under these circumstances,” Carmichael added. “This situation with immature hotheads with guns on the floor needs to end.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1740238444068.png" alt=" Rep. Nick Hoheisel, R-Wichita, checks the voting board during an April 27, 2023, session of the House. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> Rep. Nick Hoheisel, R-Wichita, checks the voting board during an April 27, 2023, session of the House. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/tim-carpenter/">TIM CARPENTER</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/sherman-smith/">SHERMAN SMITH</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/03/kansas-state-garden-city-cc-striving-to-shrink-bachelors-degree-educational-desert/?emci=8e6f56cf-3bca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;emdi=a9416bb1-82ca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;ceid=115039">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — An intense confrontation between a Republican and Democrat on the Kansas House floor Thursday during a gun debate forced the chamber into a two-hour recess as leadership worked to deescalate tensions.Democrats accused&nbsp;Rep. Nick Hoheisel, a Wichita Republican, of trying to start a fight with Rep. Ford Carr, a Wichita Democrat, by launching obscenities at Carr. The confrontation took place at Carr’s desk on the House floor.The incident happened during debate over&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/hb2104/" target="_blank">House Bill 2104,</a>&nbsp;which would require school districts to implement an NRA program known as Eddie Eagle in public elementary schools, starting in kindergarten, if the schools want to teach gun safety. It was among dozens of bills the House has debated this week ahead of a deadline to advance legislation.Rep. Kirk Haskins, a Topeka Democrat, interrupted legislators debating the NRA curriculum bill and called for a point of order, citing “a need for decorum.” Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat, then came to the front of the House chamber and asked for Hoheisel to be admonished.“While I did not observe everything that occurred, I heard exactly what happened,” Carmichael said. “The member strolled through the Democratic seats using profanity, and in my view, from what I heard, was attempting to incite a fight. And I ask that the member be admonished never to do that again.”In an interview, Carmichael said Hoheisel thumped a finger on Carr’s desk and repeatedly said, “That’s bulls***.”After House Republican leadership recessed the House to break the tension, House Democrats banned reporters from a secret meeting at the Capitol to discuss the situation. Kansas Reflector obtained an audio recording of that meeting, in which members raise concerns about Hoheisel’s behavior and whether he was carrying a gun.Hoheisel declined to comment for this story but disputed claims made by Democrats.“I’m not going to dignify any of those false and outlandish allegations with a response,” Hoheisel said in a text message.Carr didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment, but in the secret meeting, he joked about his willingness to get in a fight. Last month, he shoved another Democratic legislator to the ground during a bar fracas with a Wichita councilman. Democrats laughed at the reference during their secret meeting.“I know that side of the aisle, and they constantly vote for gun rights,” Carr said. “I also know that some of them carry guns. I have one in my office. There’s a strong possibility that that gun will be on my person unless something is done, right?”Carr continued: “He got up, he came over to me, and he made attacks. I can’t honestly see how someone of his stature would feel comfortable making those kind of attacks at me” — he paused for laughter — “unless, of course, he feels like he has some sort of an equalizer. So at this point, I feel like I need to equal and level the playing field.”Rep. Barbara Ballard, a Lawrence Democrat who runs House Democratic caucus meetings, said in the caucus meeting: “I understand what you’re saying along those lines, but what we’re asking is that we deescalate what happened.”House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard, a Lenexa Democrat, told his caucus: “Everyone needs to breathe.”“Him coming up to you on the floor and saying that s*** is bull****, but we can’t stoop to the low level of Republicans,” Woodard said during the closed meeting of Democrats.Several Democrats, including Rep. Heather Meyer, an Overland Park Democrat, said they didn’t feel safe on the House floor.Meyer asked her fellow Democrats “to remember that some of us have extensive, long-term trauma from gun violence, and we need to be chill.”“This kind of talk makes me nervous, makes me not want to go back on the floor today, makes me want to go the f*** home,” Meyer said. “I am done with gun violence, and I just need you guys to remember that. Because I’m sitting here listening to this conversation thinking if I even want to be here, because it’s f***ing scary, and I am tired of being put in the line of fire.”When the House reconvened, with a larger than usual Capitol Police presence on the floor, Republican leadership canceled the scheduled votes on the Eddie Eagle bill, as well as a proposed constitutional amendment that would assert a God-given right to own guns, ammunition and firearm accessories.House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, and Woodard issued a joint statement on the “events that transpired on the House floor,” but didn’t respond to a request to explain what happened.“The House of Representatives remains focused on the 2025 legislative session and completing the work we have been sent here to do,” they said in the joint statement. “The legislative session is an immense undertaking that requires a unified effort. We appreciate the continued dedication of our House members to the people of Kansas.”Carmichael, who said he declined to participate in the meeting of House Democrats because it wasn’t open to the press, said Republican leadership did the right thing in the moment by shutting down debate and skipping over the gun bills.“In the longer term,” Carmichael said, “leadership is going to have to have long conversations with some of their members.”“I do not feel safe on the floor under these circumstances,” Carmichael added. “This situation with immature hotheads with guns on the floor needs to end.”

‘Everyone needs to breathe’: Intense confrontation on Kansas House floor forces two-hour recess

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/mitch-mcconnell">Sen. Mitch McConnell</a>&nbsp;announced on Thursday that he won’t seek reelection next year, ending a decadeslong tenure as a power broker who championed conservative causes but ultimately ceded ground to the fierce GOP populism of President Donald Trump.

McConnell, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-montana-united-states-senate-new-york-city-mitch-mcconnell-41f4326218e7c2d8439ca02d09c6683b">longest-serving Senate party leader</a>&nbsp;in U.S. history, chose his 83rd birthday to share his decision not to run for another term in Kentucky and to retire when his current term ends. He informed The Associated Press of his decision before he addressed colleagues in a speech on the Senate floor.

“Seven times, my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate,” McConnell said, as aides lined the back chamber and several senators listened from seats. “Every day in between I’ve been humbled by the trust they’ve placed in me to do their business here. Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last.”

His announcement begins the epilogue of a storied career as a master strategist, one in which he helped forge&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-presidential-election-trump-harris-ed91f084599d0f25b00f44bb71620528">a conservative Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;and steered the Senate through&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2d9e099660064f2b8a8fc2237b4e7e4e">tax cuts</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-impeachment-trial-0d0916330d20cc139c64f73af5ef4647">presidential impeachment trials</a>&nbsp;and fierce political fights.

McConnell, first elected in 1984, intends to serve the remainder of his term ending in January 2027. The Kentuckian has dealt with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mcconnell-senate-fall-republican-8d58004d3f14c1995d83c11319d77d72">a series of medical episodes</a>&nbsp;in recent years, including injuries sustained from falls and times when&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/senate-gop-leader-mcconnell-health-freeze-up-c5b43745251daa0bb63636ceff4edce2">his face briefly froze</a>&nbsp;while he was speaking.

The senator delivered his speech in a chamber the famously taciturn McConnell revered as a young intern long before joining its back benches as a freshman lawmaker in the mid-1980s. His dramatic announcement comes almost a year after his decision to relinquish&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mitch-mcconnell-senate-republican-leader-stepping-down-ba478d570a4561aa7baf91a204d7e366">his leadership post</a>&nbsp;after the November 2024 election.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/senate-leader-thune-cornyn-scott-mcconnell-trump-c3c1c451a420729136ae641a14d9d5d6">South Dakota Sen. John Thune</a>, a top McConnell deputy, replaced him as majority leader.

McConnell's looming departure reflects the changing dynamics of the Trump-led GOP. He's seen his power diminish on a parallel track with both his health and his relationship with Trump, who once praised him as an ally but has taken to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/video/trump-slams-mcconnell-for-rfk-jr-vote-calling-him-bitter-and-questioning-his-childhood-polio-bcf92bb6f7a54c71b81ba861d4180575">criticizing him in caustic terms</a>.

In Kentucky, McConnell's departure will mark the loss of a powerful advocate and will set off a competitive GOP primary next year for what will now be an open Senate seat. Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, seen as a rising star in his party for winning statewide office in Republican territory, has said he has no interest in the Senate, though he is widely viewed as a contender for higher office.

McConnell, a diehard adherent to Ronald Reagan’s brand of traditional conservatism and muscular foreign policy, increasingly found himself out of step with a GOP shifting toward the fiery, often isolationist populism espoused by Trump.

McConnell still champions providing Ukraine with weapons and other aid to fend off Russia’s invasion, even as Trump ratchets up criticism of the country and its leader,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-kellogg-zelenskyy-437f4c8fa4531059007dd3ab00c23458">Volodymyr Zelenskyy</a>. The senator plans to make it clear Thursday that national defense remains at the forefront of his agenda.

“Thanks to Ronald Reagan’s determination, the work of strengthening American hard power was well underway when I arrived in the Senate,” McConnell said in his prepared remarks. "But since then, we’ve allowed that power to atrophy. And today, a dangerous world threatens to outpace the work of rebuilding it. So, lest any of our colleagues still doubt my intentions for the remainder of my term: I have some unfinished business to attend to."

McConnell and Trump were partners during Trump's first term, but the relationship was severed after McConnell blamed Trump for “disgraceful” acts in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-confirm-joe-biden-78104aea082995bbd7412a6e6cd13818">the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack by his supporters</a>. A momentary thaw in 2024 when&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mitch-mcconnell-endorsement-donald-trump-super-tuesday-422a2ec6f19917b46804b4cf6ee40371">McConnell endorsed Trump</a>&nbsp;didn't last.

Last week,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-mitch-mcconnell-polio-rfk-vaccines-06a03dd5ca2024317f01e1c4f5171678">Trump referred to McConnell</a>&nbsp;as a "very bitter guy” after McConnell, who battled polio as a child, opposed vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as the nation’s top health official. McConnell referred to Trump as a “despicable human being” and a “narcissist” in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mcconnell-trump-biography-election-0a861001d95287e689336504abc2281f">a biography of the senator</a>&nbsp;by The Associated Press' deputy Washington bureau chief, Michael Tackett.

Before their falling out, Trump and McConnell pushed through&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/6a409d3266be46dcaa2f1267fd947a12">a tax overhaul</a>&nbsp;largely focused on reductions for businesses and higher-earning taxpayers. They joined forces to reshape the Supreme Court when Trump nominated three justices and McConnell guided them to Senate confirmation, tilting the high court to the right.

McConnell set a new precedent for hardball partisan tactics in 2016 by refusing to even give a hearing to Democratic President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/united-states-government-6fe101b4bef54f989d939bccc81873fc">Barack Obama’s pick of Merrick Garland</a>&nbsp;to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Putting the brakes on the Senate's “advise and consent” role for judicial nominees, McConnell said the vacancy should be filled by the next president so voters could have their say.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/f5a557876d5546cca4ebd53b4860e2ed">Trump filled the vacancy</a>&nbsp;once he took office, and McConnell later called the stonewalling of Garland's nomination his “most consequential” achievement.

Later, when liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died weeks before the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden, McConnell&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-virus-outbreak-ruth-bader-ginsburg-amy-coney-barrett-82a02a618343c98b80ca2b6bf9eafe07">rushed Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation</a>&nbsp;through the Senate, waving off allegations of hypocrisy.

McConnell also guided the Senate — and Trump — through two impeachment trials that ended in acquittals.

In the second impeachment, weeks after the deadly Capitol attack by a mob hoping to overturn Trump’s 2020 reelection defeat, McConnell joined all but seven Republicans in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-capitol-siege-riots-trials-impeachments-b245b52fd7d4a079ae199c954baba452">voting to acquit</a>. McConnell said he believed Trump couldn’t be convicted because he’d already left office, but the senator also condemned Trump as “practically and morally responsible” for the insurrection.

McConnell over the years swung back and forth from majority to minority leader, depending on which party held power. He defended President George W. Bush’s handling of the Iraq war and failed to block Obama’s health care overhaul.

McConnell, the longest-serving senator ever from Kentucky, ensured that the Bluegrass State received plenty of federal funding. Back home he was a key architect in his party's rise to power in a state long dominated by Democrats.

He is married to Elaine Chao, and they have long been a power couple in Washington. In his prepared remarks Thursday, the senator referred to her as his “ultimate teammate and confidante.” Chao was labor secretary for Bush and transportation secretary during Trump's first term, though&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/national-security-michael-pence-01e30bccef96ccd73fe642f8f96f8519">she resigned</a>&nbsp;after the Capitol insurrection, saying it had “deeply troubled” her.

McConnell's parting words reflected his devotion to the Senate and his disdain for his detractors.

“The Senate is still equipped for work of great consequence," he said. "And, to the disappointment of my critics, I’m still here on the job.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1740070424167.png" alt="Mitch McConnell spoke about his decision on the Senate Floor Thursday morning just moments after voting to advance the nomination of Kash Patel to be Director of the FBI-image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Mitch McConnell spoke about his decision on the Senate Floor Thursday morning just moments after voting to advance the nomination of Kash Patel to be Director of the FBI-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/mitch-mcconnell">Sen. Mitch McConnell</a>&nbsp;announced on Thursday that he won’t seek reelection next year, ending a decadeslong tenure as a power broker who championed conservative causes but ultimately ceded ground to the fierce GOP populism of President Donald Trump.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">Sen. Mitch McConnell (<a href="https://twitter.com/SenMcConnell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenMcConnell</a>): &quot;Seven times my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate...Representing our Commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/b33cR7I36e">pic.twitter.com/b33cR7I36e</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1892621015370399750?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>McConnell, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-montana-united-states-senate-new-york-city-mitch-mcconnell-41f4326218e7c2d8439ca02d09c6683b">longest-serving Senate party leader</a>&nbsp;in U.S. history, chose his 83rd birthday to share his decision not to run for another term in Kentucky and to retire when his current term ends. He informed The Associated Press of his decision before he addressed colleagues in a speech on the Senate floor.“Seven times, my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate,” McConnell said, as aides lined the back chamber and several senators listened from seats. “Every day in between I’ve been humbled by the trust they’ve placed in me to do their business here. Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last.”His announcement begins the epilogue of a storied career as a master strategist, one in which he helped forge&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-presidential-election-trump-harris-ed91f084599d0f25b00f44bb71620528">a conservative Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;and steered the Senate through&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2d9e099660064f2b8a8fc2237b4e7e4e">tax cuts</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-impeachment-trial-0d0916330d20cc139c64f73af5ef4647">presidential impeachment trials</a>&nbsp;and fierce political fights.McConnell, first elected in 1984, intends to serve the remainder of his term ending in January 2027. The Kentuckian has dealt with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mcconnell-senate-fall-republican-8d58004d3f14c1995d83c11319d77d72">a series of medical episodes</a>&nbsp;in recent years, including injuries sustained from falls and times when&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/senate-gop-leader-mcconnell-health-freeze-up-c5b43745251daa0bb63636ceff4edce2">his face briefly froze</a>&nbsp;while he was speaking.The senator delivered his speech in a chamber the famously taciturn McConnell revered as a young intern long before joining its back benches as a freshman lawmaker in the mid-1980s. His dramatic announcement comes almost a year after his decision to relinquish&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mitch-mcconnell-senate-republican-leader-stepping-down-ba478d570a4561aa7baf91a204d7e366">his leadership post</a>&nbsp;after the November 2024 election.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/senate-leader-thune-cornyn-scott-mcconnell-trump-c3c1c451a420729136ae641a14d9d5d6">South Dakota Sen. John Thune</a>, a top McConnell deputy, replaced him as majority leader.McConnell's looming departure reflects the changing dynamics of the Trump-led GOP. He's seen his power diminish on a parallel track with both his health and his relationship with Trump, who once praised him as an ally but has taken to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/video/trump-slams-mcconnell-for-rfk-jr-vote-calling-him-bitter-and-questioning-his-childhood-polio-bcf92bb6f7a54c71b81ba861d4180575">criticizing him in caustic terms</a>.In Kentucky, McConnell's departure will mark the loss of a powerful advocate and will set off a competitive GOP primary next year for what will now be an open Senate seat. Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, seen as a rising star in his party for winning statewide office in Republican territory, has said he has no interest in the Senate, though he is widely viewed as a contender for higher office.McConnell, a diehard adherent to Ronald Reagan’s brand of traditional conservatism and muscular foreign policy, increasingly found himself out of step with a GOP shifting toward the fiery, often isolationist populism espoused by Trump.McConnell still champions providing Ukraine with weapons and other aid to fend off Russia’s invasion, even as Trump ratchets up criticism of the country and its leader,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-kellogg-zelenskyy-437f4c8fa4531059007dd3ab00c23458">Volodymyr Zelenskyy</a>. The senator plans to make it clear Thursday that national defense remains at the forefront of his agenda.“Thanks to Ronald Reagan’s determination, the work of strengthening American hard power was well underway when I arrived in the Senate,” McConnell said in his prepared remarks. "But since then, we’ve allowed that power to atrophy. And today, a dangerous world threatens to outpace the work of rebuilding it. So, lest any of our colleagues still doubt my intentions for the remainder of my term: I have some unfinished business to attend to."McConnell and Trump were partners during Trump's first term, but the relationship was severed after McConnell blamed Trump for “disgraceful” acts in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-confirm-joe-biden-78104aea082995bbd7412a6e6cd13818">the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack by his supporters</a>. A momentary thaw in 2024 when&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mitch-mcconnell-endorsement-donald-trump-super-tuesday-422a2ec6f19917b46804b4cf6ee40371">McConnell endorsed Trump</a>&nbsp;didn't last.Last week,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-mitch-mcconnell-polio-rfk-vaccines-06a03dd5ca2024317f01e1c4f5171678">Trump referred to McConnell</a>&nbsp;as a "very bitter guy” after McConnell, who battled polio as a child, opposed vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as the nation’s top health official. McConnell referred to Trump as a “despicable human being” and a “narcissist” in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mcconnell-trump-biography-election-0a861001d95287e689336504abc2281f">a biography of the senator</a>&nbsp;by The Associated Press' deputy Washington bureau chief, Michael Tackett.Before their falling out, Trump and McConnell pushed through&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/6a409d3266be46dcaa2f1267fd947a12">a tax overhaul</a>&nbsp;largely focused on reductions for businesses and higher-earning taxpayers. They joined forces to reshape the Supreme Court when Trump nominated three justices and McConnell guided them to Senate confirmation, tilting the high court to the right.McConnell set a new precedent for hardball partisan tactics in 2016 by refusing to even give a hearing to Democratic President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/united-states-government-6fe101b4bef54f989d939bccc81873fc">Barack Obama’s pick of Merrick Garland</a>&nbsp;to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Putting the brakes on the Senate's “advise and consent” role for judicial nominees, McConnell said the vacancy should be filled by the next president so voters could have their say.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/f5a557876d5546cca4ebd53b4860e2ed">Trump filled the vacancy</a>&nbsp;once he took office, and McConnell later called the stonewalling of Garland's nomination his “most consequential” achievement.Later, when liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died weeks before the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden, McConnell&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-virus-outbreak-ruth-bader-ginsburg-amy-coney-barrett-82a02a618343c98b80ca2b6bf9eafe07">rushed Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation</a>&nbsp;through the Senate, waving off allegations of hypocrisy.McConnell also guided the Senate — and Trump — through two impeachment trials that ended in acquittals.In the second impeachment, weeks after the deadly Capitol attack by a mob hoping to overturn Trump’s 2020 reelection defeat, McConnell joined all but seven Republicans in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-capitol-siege-riots-trials-impeachments-b245b52fd7d4a079ae199c954baba452">voting to acquit</a>. McConnell said he believed Trump couldn’t be convicted because he’d already left office, but the senator also condemned Trump as “practically and morally responsible” for the insurrection.McConnell over the years swung back and forth from majority to minority leader, depending on which party held power. He defended President George W. Bush’s handling of the Iraq war and failed to block Obama’s health care overhaul.McConnell, the longest-serving senator ever from Kentucky, ensured that the Bluegrass State received plenty of federal funding. Back home he was a key architect in his party's rise to power in a state long dominated by Democrats.He is married to Elaine Chao, and they have long been a power couple in Washington. In his prepared remarks Thursday, the senator referred to her as his “ultimate teammate and confidante.” Chao was labor secretary for Bush and transportation secretary during Trump's first term, though&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/national-security-michael-pence-01e30bccef96ccd73fe642f8f96f8519">she resigned</a>&nbsp;after the Capitol insurrection, saying it had “deeply troubled” her.McConnell's parting words reflected his devotion to the Senate and his disdain for his detractors.“The Senate is still equipped for work of great consequence," he said. "And, to the disappointment of my critics, I’m still here on the job.”___Schreiner reported from Louisville, Ky.

🎥Mitch McConnell, longest-serving Senate leader, won't seek reelection

WASHINGTON (AP) — The crew of the Army helicopter that collided in midair with an American Airlines jet near Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National Airport may have had inaccurate altitude readings in the moments before the crash, and also may not have heard key instructions from air traffic controllers to move behind the plane, investigators said Friday.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy told reporters that the recording from the Black Hawk helicopter cockpit suggested an incomplete radio transmission may have left the crew without understanding how it should shift position just before the Jan. 29 crash, in which all&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fatal-washington-flight-passengers-ca062f03b729c130058d4f74393dfa31" target="_blank">67 aboard</a>&nbsp;the two aircraft were killed,

“That transmission was interrupted -– it was stepped on,” she said, leaving them unable to hear the words “pass behind the” because the helicopter’s microphone key was pressed at the same moment.

(click here to listen to the full news conference)

Homendy said the helicopter was on a “check” flight that night where the pilot was undergoing an annual test and a test on using night vision goggles. Investigators believe the crew was wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight.

It will take more than a year to get the final NTSB report on the collision, and Homendy warned reporters that many issues were still being probed.

“We’re only a couple weeks out,” from the crash, she said. “We have a lot of work to do.”

The collision was the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-crashes-history-washington-ee55776ea0c5f9e322fc77ea1ea452d1" target="_blank">deadliest plane crash in the U.S.</a>&nbsp;since 2001, when a jet slammed into a New York City neighborhood just after takeoff, killing all 260 people on board and five more on the ground.

The collision likely occurred at an altitude of about 325 feet, investigators have said, which would put the Black Hawk above its 200-foot limit for that location.

Cockpit conversations a few minutes before the crash indicated conflicting altitude data, Homendy said, with the helicopter’s pilot calling out that they were then at 300 feet, but the instructor pilot saying it was 400 feet, Homendy said.

“We are looking at the possibility there may be bad data,” she said.

That generation of Black Hawks typically has two types of altimeters – one relying on barometric pressure and the other on radio frequency signals bounced off the ground. Helicopter pilots typically rely on barometric readings while flying, but the helicopter’s black box captures its radio altitude.

The radio altitude at the time of the impact put the Black Hawk at 278 feet, Homendy said.

“But I want to caution, that does not mean that’s what the Black Hawk crew was seeing on the barometric altimeters in the cockpit,” she said.

The Army has said the Black Hawk crew was highly experienced, and accustomed to the crowded skies aroung the nation’s capital.

The Army identified the crew as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dc-crash-helicopter-airliner-army-pilot-50b3e82d8ec3713cc4ae1ac3a327104c" target="_blank">Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach</a>&nbsp;of Durham, North Carolina; Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia; and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland. O’Hara was the crew chief and Eaves and Lobach were pilots.

Lobach’s friends and fellow soldiers called her deeply meticulous, “brilliant and fearless.”

The American Airlines jet, which was flying from Wichita, Kansas, and preparing to land at the time of the crash, was piloted by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/plane-crash-kansas-dc-american-airlines-army-4fb9cd89ef9023fa848fc2331b24ee8e" target="_blank">34-year-old Jonathan Campos,</a>&nbsp;whose relatives said had dreamed of flying since he was 3.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fatal-washington-flight-passengers-ca062f03b729c130058d4f74393dfa31">The jet’s passengers</a>&nbsp;ranged from a group of hunters to students and parents from northern Virginia schools to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dc-helicopter-jet-crash-figure-skaters-391a4c7bd0e617a08d9532a8faab206b" target="_blank">members of the Skating Club of Boston</a>. They were returning from a development camp for elite junior skaters that followed the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-figure-skating-championships-winter-olympics-18cdb192224d27ec76c3abaca862ab4a" target="_blank">2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships</a>&nbsp;in Wichita.

Almost immediately after the crash, President Donald Trump publicly faulted the helicopter for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-325edc6c0c2439dd6c1e73a81e382c0e" target="_blank">flying too high</a>. He also blamed federal diversity and inclusion efforts, particularly regarding air traffic controllers. When&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/plane-crash-washington-dc-trump-dei-claims-3ac5486ec594d81e919e8ebbd9733869">pressed</a>&nbsp;by reporters, the president could not back up those claims. A few days later, Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-plane-crash-air-traffic-control-ab195790634af66534a45cdec2d80aa8" target="_blank">placed the blame</a>&nbsp;on what he called an “obsolete” air traffic control system.

Sullivan reported from Minneapolis. Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1739539274693.jpeg" alt="NTSB investigators document the wreckage of the involved in the mid-air collision near DCA All major pieces of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) RJ Aviation (Bombardier) CRJ700 and the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk involved in the Jan. 29 mid-air collision near Ronald Reagan National Airport have now been recovered to a secure airport facility for further examination and documentation." />
 <figcaption>NTSB investigators document the wreckage of the involved in the mid-air collision near DCA All major pieces of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) RJ Aviation (Bombardier) CRJ700 and the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk involved in the Jan. 29 mid-air collision near Ronald Reagan National Airport have now been recovered to a secure airport facility for further examination and documentation.</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The crew of the Army helicopter that collided in midair with an American Airlines jet near Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National Airport may have had inaccurate altitude readings in the moments before the crash, and also may not have heard key instructions from air traffic controllers to move behind the plane, investigators said Friday.National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy told reporters that the recording from the Black Hawk helicopter cockpit suggested an incomplete radio transmission may have left the crew without understanding how it should shift position just before the Jan. 29 crash, in which all&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fatal-washington-flight-passengers-ca062f03b729c130058d4f74393dfa31" target="_blank">67 aboard</a>&nbsp;the two aircraft were killed,<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">NTSB Chair <a href="https://twitter.com/JenniferHomendy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JenniferHomendy</a>: &quot;17 seconds before impact, a radio transmission from the tower...directing the Blackhawk to pass behind...the portion of the transmission that stated &#39;pass behind the&#39; may not have been received by the Blackhawk crew.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/jq8QnqBCoc">pic.twitter.com/jq8QnqBCoc</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1890487986220916878?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>“That transmission was interrupted -– it was stepped on,” she said, leaving them unable to hear the words “pass behind the” because the helicopter’s microphone key was pressed at the same moment.(click here to listen to the full news conference)<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rbJVFLPcbGo?si=N_zKrgwsn6ZYEZE9&amp;start=69" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1739560505556.png" alt="Helicopter routes map - NTSB" />
 <figcaption>Helicopter routes map - NTSB</figcaption>
 </figure>Homendy said the helicopter was on a “check” flight that night where the pilot was undergoing an annual test and a test on using night vision goggles. Investigators believe the crew was wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1739539122711.png" alt="The NTSB recovers the debris of a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk involved in a mid-air collision near DCA in Arlington, VA." />
 <figcaption>The NTSB recovers the debris of a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk involved in a mid-air collision near DCA in Arlington, VA.</figcaption>
 </figure>It will take more than a year to get the final NTSB report on the collision, and Homendy warned reporters that many issues were still being probed.“We’re only a couple weeks out,” from the crash, she said. “We have a lot of work to do.”The collision was the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-crashes-history-washington-ee55776ea0c5f9e322fc77ea1ea452d1" target="_blank">deadliest plane crash in the U.S.</a>&nbsp;since 2001, when a jet slammed into a New York City neighborhood just after takeoff, killing all 260 people on board and five more on the ground.The collision likely occurred at an altitude of about 325 feet, investigators have said, which would put the Black Hawk above its 200-foot limit for that location.Cockpit conversations a few minutes before the crash indicated conflicting altitude data, Homendy said, with the helicopter’s pilot calling out that they were then at 300 feet, but the instructor pilot saying it was 400 feet, Homendy said.“We are looking at the possibility there may be bad data,” she said.That generation of Black Hawks typically has two types of altimeters – one relying on barometric pressure and the other on radio frequency signals bounced off the ground. Helicopter pilots typically rely on barometric readings while flying, but the helicopter’s black box captures its radio altitude.The radio altitude at the time of the impact put the Black Hawk at 278 feet, Homendy said.“But I want to caution, that does not mean that’s what the Black Hawk crew was seeing on the barometric altimeters in the cockpit,” she said.<h2>The victims</h2>The Army has said the Black Hawk crew was highly experienced, and accustomed to the crowded skies aroung the nation’s capital.The Army identified the crew as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dc-crash-helicopter-airliner-army-pilot-50b3e82d8ec3713cc4ae1ac3a327104c" target="_blank">Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach</a>&nbsp;of Durham, North Carolina; Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia; and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland. O’Hara was the crew chief and Eaves and Lobach were pilots.Lobach’s friends and fellow soldiers called her deeply meticulous, “brilliant and fearless.”The American Airlines jet, which was flying from Wichita, Kansas, and preparing to land at the time of the crash, was piloted by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/plane-crash-kansas-dc-american-airlines-army-4fb9cd89ef9023fa848fc2331b24ee8e" target="_blank">34-year-old Jonathan Campos,</a>&nbsp;whose relatives said had dreamed of flying since he was 3.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fatal-washington-flight-passengers-ca062f03b729c130058d4f74393dfa31">The jet’s passengers</a>&nbsp;ranged from a group of hunters to students and parents from northern Virginia schools to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dc-helicopter-jet-crash-figure-skaters-391a4c7bd0e617a08d9532a8faab206b" target="_blank">members of the Skating Club of Boston</a>. They were returning from a development camp for elite junior skaters that followed the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-figure-skating-championships-winter-olympics-18cdb192224d27ec76c3abaca862ab4a" target="_blank">2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships</a>&nbsp;in Wichita.Almost immediately after the crash, President Donald Trump publicly faulted the helicopter for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ronald-reagan-national-airport-crash-325edc6c0c2439dd6c1e73a81e382c0e" target="_blank">flying too high</a>. He also blamed federal diversity and inclusion efforts, particularly regarding air traffic controllers. When&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/plane-crash-washington-dc-trump-dei-claims-3ac5486ec594d81e919e8ebbd9733869">pressed</a>&nbsp;by reporters, the president could not back up those claims. A few days later, Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-plane-crash-air-traffic-control-ab195790634af66534a45cdec2d80aa8" target="_blank">placed the blame</a>&nbsp;on what he called an “obsolete” air traffic control system.___Sullivan reported from Minneapolis. Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.

🎥NTSB reveals shocking new detail in deadly mid-air crash 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a>&nbsp;called on Thursday for the United States to “delete entire agencies” from the federal government as part of his push under&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;to radically cut spending and restructure its priorities.

(Click below to listen to Musk's statement on deleting agencies)

Musk offered a wide-ranging survey via a videocall to the World Governments Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, of what he described as the priorities of the Trump administration interspersed with multiple references to “thermonuclear warfare” and the possible dangers of artificial intelligence.

(click below to listen to the full interview with Musk)

“We really have here rule of the bureaucracy as opposed to rule of the people — democracy,” Musk said, wearing a black T-shirt that read: “Tech Support.” He also joked that he was the “White House’s tech support,” borrowing from his profile on the social platform X, which he owns.

“I think we do need to delete entire agencies as opposed to leave a lot of them behind,” Musk said. “If we don’t remove the roots of the weed, then it’s easy for the weed to grow back.”

While Musk has spoken to the summit in the past, his appearance on Thursday comes as he has consolidated control over large swaths of the government with Trump’s blessing since assuming leadership of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-doge-ce55aa7ca8c921511d18e837c2a2db64">Department of Government Efficiency</a>. That’s included sidelining career officials, gaining access to sensitive databases and inviting a constitutional clash over&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-executive-orders-power-border-tiktok-history-e77458bc0312c60f3f2b0eeb131d0056">the limits of presidential authority</a>.

Musk's new role imbued his comments with more weight beyond being the world’s wealthiest person through his investments in SpaceX and electric carmaker Tesla.

His remarks also offered a more-isolationist view of American power in the Middle East, where the U.S. has fought wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

“A lot of attention has been on USAID for example,” Musk said, referring to Trump's dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development. “There's like the National Endowment for Democracy. But I’m like, ‘Okay, well, how much democracy have they achieved lately?’”

He added that the U.S. under Trump is “less interested in interfering with the affairs of other countries.”

There are “times the United States has been kind of pushy in international affairs, which may resonate with some members of the audience,” Musk said, speaking to the crowd in the UAE, an autocratically ruled nation of seven sheikhdoms.

"Basically, America should mind its own business, rather than push for regime change all over the place,” he said.

He also noted the Trump administration's focus on eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion work, at one point linking it to AI.

“If hypothetically, AI is designed for DEI, you know, diversity at all costs, it could decide that there’s too many men in power and execute them,” Musk said.

On AI, Musk said he believed X's newly updated AI chatbot, Grok 3, would be ready in about two weeks, calling it at one point “kind of scary.”

He criticized Sam Altman's management of OpenAI,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-sam-altman-openai-bid-chatgpt-58d9bc3d59497468d7b37ecd5d9ff5e6">which Musk just led a $97.4 billion takeover bid for</a>, describing it as akin to a nonprofit aimed at saving the Amazon rainforest becoming a "lumber company that chops down the trees.” A court filing Wednesday on Musk's behalf in the OpenAI dispute said he'd withdraw his bid if&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-sam-altman-openai-chatgpt-ai-f024aca265ad8ee9f30b699a0c74066c">the ChatGPT maker drops its plan to convert into a for-profit company</a>.

Musk also announced plans for a “Dubai Loop” project in line with his work in the Boring Company — which is digging tunnels in Las Vegas to speed transit.

A later statement from Dubai's crown prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, said the city-state and the Boring Company “will explore the development” of a 17-kilometer (10.5-mile) underground network with 11 stations that could transport over 20,000 passengers an hour. He offered no financial terms for the deal.

“It’s going to be like a wormhole," Musk promised. "You just wormhole from one part of the city — boom — and you're out in another part of the city.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1739454902556.png" alt="Musk spoke Thursday to the&nbsp;World Governments Summit-image from the video" />
 <figcaption>Musk spoke Thursday to the&nbsp;World Governments Summit-image from the video</figcaption>
 </figure>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a>&nbsp;called on Thursday for the United States to “delete entire agencies” from the federal government as part of his push under&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;to radically cut spending and restructure its priorities.(Click below to listen to Musk's statement on deleting agencies)<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1IoygzQ9xi0?si=EB8kkNk9JvCGPBXK&amp;start=2106" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>Musk offered a wide-ranging survey via a videocall to the World Governments Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, of what he described as the priorities of the Trump administration interspersed with multiple references to “thermonuclear warfare” and the possible dangers of artificial intelligence.(click below to listen to the full interview with Musk)<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1IoygzQ9xi0?si=XObFE3TebT-gQLGH&amp;start=1687" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>“We really have here rule of the bureaucracy as opposed to rule of the people — democracy,” Musk said, wearing a black T-shirt that read: “Tech Support.” He also joked that he was the “White House’s tech support,” borrowing from his profile on the social platform X, which he owns.“I think we do need to delete entire agencies as opposed to leave a lot of them behind,” Musk said. “If we don’t remove the roots of the weed, then it’s easy for the weed to grow back.”While Musk has spoken to the summit in the past, his appearance on Thursday comes as he has consolidated control over large swaths of the government with Trump’s blessing since assuming leadership of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-doge-ce55aa7ca8c921511d18e837c2a2db64">Department of Government Efficiency</a>. That’s included sidelining career officials, gaining access to sensitive databases and inviting a constitutional clash over&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-executive-orders-power-border-tiktok-history-e77458bc0312c60f3f2b0eeb131d0056">the limits of presidential authority</a>.Musk's new role imbued his comments with more weight beyond being the world’s wealthiest person through his investments in SpaceX and electric carmaker Tesla.His remarks also offered a more-isolationist view of American power in the Middle East, where the U.S. has fought wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.“A lot of attention has been on USAID for example,” Musk said, referring to Trump's dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development. “There's like the National Endowment for Democracy. But I’m like, ‘Okay, well, how much democracy have they achieved lately?’”He added that the U.S. under Trump is “less interested in interfering with the affairs of other countries.”There are “times the United States has been kind of pushy in international affairs, which may resonate with some members of the audience,” Musk said, speaking to the crowd in the UAE, an autocratically ruled nation of seven sheikhdoms."Basically, America should mind its own business, rather than push for regime change all over the place,” he said.He also noted the Trump administration's focus on eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion work, at one point linking it to AI.“If hypothetically, AI is designed for DEI, you know, diversity at all costs, it could decide that there’s too many men in power and execute them,” Musk said.On AI, Musk said he believed X's newly updated AI chatbot, Grok 3, would be ready in about two weeks, calling it at one point “kind of scary.”He criticized Sam Altman's management of OpenAI,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-sam-altman-openai-bid-chatgpt-58d9bc3d59497468d7b37ecd5d9ff5e6">which Musk just led a $97.4 billion takeover bid for</a>, describing it as akin to a nonprofit aimed at saving the Amazon rainforest becoming a "lumber company that chops down the trees.” A court filing Wednesday on Musk's behalf in the OpenAI dispute said he'd withdraw his bid if&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-sam-altman-openai-chatgpt-ai-f024aca265ad8ee9f30b699a0c74066c">the ChatGPT maker drops its plan to convert into a for-profit company</a>.Musk also announced plans for a “Dubai Loop” project in line with his work in the Boring Company — which is digging tunnels in Las Vegas to speed transit.A later statement from Dubai's crown prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, said the city-state and the Boring Company “will explore the development” of a 17-kilometer (10.5-mile) underground network with 11 stations that could transport over 20,000 passengers an hour. He offered no financial terms for the deal.“It’s going to be like a wormhole," Musk promised. "You just wormhole from one part of the city — boom — and you're out in another part of the city.”