<a href="https://www.mcdonaldrobertsfuneralservice.com/obituary/virgil-english">Obituary | Virgil English of Beloit, Kansas | Roberts Family Funeral Service (mcdonaldrobertsfuneralservice.com)</a>

Virgil Marvin English passed away on Friday, February 19, 2021 at the Mitchell County Hospital in Beloit Kansas, at the age of 89 years. Virgil and his twin sister, Vonna, were born June 25, 1931 on the family farm in Asherville township, they were the youngest of five children born to Ernest and Myrtle (Jones) English. Virgil was the last surviving sibling. He graduated from Beloit High School in 1949. In 1951 Virgil entered the Army and was a Veteran of the Korean War. Upon returning from the war, he worked for his uncles on the Jones custom combine crew from Lincoln County. He later worked for Payne Motor Company in Beloit.

Virgil met his wife, Nancy Shaver, on a blind date. They were married on September 20, 1959 at the Jewell Christian Church in Jewell, Kansas and celebrated over 61 years together.

He retired from Fuller Chevrolet as an auto body repairman after working there for many years.

Virgil was a quiet man. He could repair or fix most things and liked to tinker in the garage for many hours during the day. He also liked to dismantle things to see how they were made. The grandkids enjoyed being in the garage with their Grandpa. They could usually find a small piece of board that he had left for them to pound on or use it to build something. Virgil liked to listen to polka music and watch Mollie B Polka Party on television. He liked old cars, trucks, and tractors.

For several years Virgil lived at Hilltop Lodge in Beloit. Some of his favorite things to do were music therapy, dudes coffee group, and wine Wednesday. He especially enjoyed going out to the courtyard and watching and feeding the peacocks, turtles and fish.

He is preceded in death by his Mother and Father, 3 sisters, Aileen Wilson-Spatz, Eula Wilson, twin sister Vonna Nelson, and brother, Dale English. Virgil is survived by his wife, Nancy of the home; daughter Elaine Mitchell (Terry) of Beloit, Kansas and Richard English (Michelle) of Beloit, Kansas. Grandchildren Jacob English (Jordan) of Virginia Beach, Virginia; Grant English of Manhattan, Kansas; Bethany Mitchell of Beloit, Kansas. Great-grandchildren Riley English and Astrid English of Virginia Beach, Virginia. One sister-in law Sandra Railsback of Smith Center, KS; cousins, and many nieces and nephews.

Memorial services will be at 10 AM Saturday, February 27 at the Beloit First Christian Church. Cremation has taken place. Friends may sign the register book from 9 AM to 5 PM Friday at the Roberts Family Funeral Home. 

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the Mitchell County Veterans Memorial, Mitchell County Regional Medical Foundation, or the Church.

To plant Memorial Trees in memory of&nbsp;Virgil English, please&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.mcdonaldrobertsfuneralservice.com/obituary/virgil-english/gifts?campaign=obituaryInline-gifts-textLink-obitText">click here to visit our Sympathy Store</a>.

<h2>Virgil English; Beloit</h2><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1614262688792.jpeg" alt="Virgil English" />
 <figcaption>Virgil English</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://www.mcdonaldrobertsfuneralservice.com/obituary/virgil-english">Obituary | Virgil English of Beloit, Kansas | Roberts Family Funeral Service (mcdonaldrobertsfuneralservice.com)</a>June 25, 1931 - February 19, 2021Virgil Marvin English passed away on Friday, February 19, 2021 at the Mitchell County Hospital in Beloit Kansas, at the age of 89 years. Virgil and his twin sister, Vonna, were born June 25, 1931 on the family farm in Asherville township, they were the youngest of five children born to Ernest and Myrtle (Jones) English. Virgil was the last surviving sibling. He graduated from Beloit High School in 1949. In 1951 Virgil entered the Army and was a Veteran of the Korean War. Upon returning from the war, he worked for his uncles on the Jones custom combine crew from Lincoln County. He later worked for Payne Motor Company in Beloit.Virgil met his wife, Nancy Shaver, on a blind date. They were married on September 20, 1959 at the Jewell Christian Church in Jewell, Kansas and celebrated over 61 years together.He retired from Fuller Chevrolet as an auto body repairman after working there for many years.Virgil was a quiet man. He could repair or fix most things and liked to tinker in the garage for many hours during the day. He also liked to dismantle things to see how they were made. The grandkids enjoyed being in the garage with their Grandpa. They could usually find a small piece of board that he had left for them to pound on or use it to build something. Virgil liked to listen to polka music and watch Mollie B Polka Party on television. He liked old cars, trucks, and tractors.For several years Virgil lived at Hilltop Lodge in Beloit. Some of his favorite things to do were music therapy, dudes coffee group, and wine Wednesday. He especially enjoyed going out to the courtyard and watching and feeding the peacocks, turtles and fish.He is preceded in death by his Mother and Father, 3 sisters, Aileen Wilson-Spatz, Eula Wilson, twin sister Vonna Nelson, and brother, Dale English. Virgil is survived by his wife, Nancy of the home; daughter Elaine Mitchell (Terry) of Beloit, Kansas and Richard English (Michelle) of Beloit, Kansas. Grandchildren Jacob English (Jordan) of Virginia Beach, Virginia; Grant English of Manhattan, Kansas; Bethany Mitchell of Beloit, Kansas. Great-grandchildren Riley English and Astrid English of Virginia Beach, Virginia. One sister-in law Sandra Railsback of Smith Center, KS; cousins, and many nieces and nephews.Memorial services will be at 10 AM Saturday, February 27 at the Beloit First Christian Church. Cremation has taken place. Friends may sign the register book from 9 AM to 5 PM Friday at the Roberts Family Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the Mitchell County Veterans Memorial, Mitchell County Regional Medical Foundation, or the Church. To plant Memorial Trees in memory of&nbsp;Virgil English, please&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.mcdonaldrobertsfuneralservice.com/obituary/virgil-english/gifts?campaign=obituaryInline-gifts-textLink-obitText">click here to visit our Sympathy Store</a>.

Virgil English

By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-02-18/kansas-meatpacking-workers-faced-outbreak-after-outbreak-but-still-cant-get-a-covid-vaccine">Kansas News Service</a>

Thousands of meatpacking workers in southwest Kansas continue to wait for any news about when they’ll get the COVID-19 vaccine.

That
 wait drags on even as some counties vaccinate college faculty, first 
responders and postal workers, and as Kansas launches a new program to 
get a first dose into the arm of every school worker by early April.

Meatpacking
 plants have been the state’s third-biggest source of coronavirus 
outbreaks, eclipsed only by long-term care facilities (such as nursing 
homes) and jails and prisons.

“Meatpacking workers have taken one 
of the hardest hits of this pandemic,” said Monica Vargas-Huertas, a 
political director for the United Food and Commercial Workers 
International Union Local 2 representing 7,000 meatpacking workers in 
two southwest Kansas counties. “They have been in the front lines from 
Day One.”

The factory-scale slaughterhouses stayed open when many other businesses closed under <a href="https://www.kcur.org/health/2020-03-28/kansas-governor-issues-a-statewide-stay-at-home-order-which-starts-monday" target="_blank">statewide stay-at-home</a> orders last spring.

“They kept working, securing the food (supply),” Vargas-Huertas said, “and securing the economy of the state.”

But
 state officials say meatpacking facilities took steps that greatly 
reduced transmission within their walls. In the past two weeks, they 
say, the plants have seen no fresh coronavirus outbreaks involving five 
or more cases.

And Kansas simply doesn’t receive enough vaccines 
per week from the federal government to quickly vaccinate all essential 
workers.

Ashley Goss, deputy secretary for public health, says 
Gov. Laura Kelly wants to get children back to school as soon as 
possible because missing so much in-person contact with peers and 
educators can have long-term effects on learning and mental health.

“She’s
 had to make some really tough decisions,” Goss said. “And she feels 
very strongly for our school staff to be the next push.”

Kansas 
was receiving fewer than 100,000 doses a week from the federal 
government, though shipments should soon increase to about 115,000 a 
week.

To speed shots to school workers, Kansas is redirecting some
 doses from counties that have made more progress than others on 
vaccinating their residents.

For now, it will not do the same for meatpacking workers.

Kansas
 has some of the country’s most productive beef-packing plants. The 
industry drives the economies of Dodge City, Garden City and Liberal.

The meatpacking workers are largely immigrants and people of color. <a href="https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/early-state-vaccination-data-raise-warning-flags-racial-equity/" target="_blank">Mounting evidence</a> from other states suggests people of color across the country aren’t receiving equitable access to the coronavirus vaccine.

Kansas will soon publish vaccination statistics that shed light on whether that holds true here, too.

The state’s figures on known COVID cases already show Hispanic people <a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas" target="_blank">significantly more likely</a> to catch the virus than non-Hispanic people.

Nearly 4,000 known cases of COVID-19 and two dozen deaths link directly to the slaughterhouses in Kansas.

Infections
 related to the plants continue to have serious ripple effects. Five 
ongoing outbreaks linked to the plants have led to nearly 1,800 known 
cases in their communities and 14 deaths.

<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-the-u-s-is-underestimating-covid-reinfection/" target="_blank">Scientists remain uncertain</a> how long a survivor enjoys immunity before catching the illness again, meaning workers fear re-infection.

“We want to prevent a new wave,” Vargas-Huertas said. “We cannot wait four or five months.”

Meatpacking
 workers fall into Phase 2 of the state’s vaccine rollout plan. (Phase 1
 focused on health care workers and nursing homes.)

But Phase 2 is
 a bucket so massive that it includes about 1 million people, or a third
 of the state’s population. It covers everyone over the age of 65 and a 
wide variety of other groups, such as teachers, police and grocery 
clerks.

The state largely lets each county make its own decisions on how to prioritize within that bucket.

“We’ve
 tried to stick with public health being decentralized in our state,” 
Goss said. “Local health authorities have the ability to decide.”

This week the governor’s office announced one exception: It will start earmarking doses each week for school workers.

But meatpackers in Seward, Ford and Finney counties remain unclear when their turn will come.

UFCW
 International Local 2 represents workers at plants in Seward and Ford 
counties and communicates regularly with other workers in Finney County.

It says workers haven’t been able to get shots unless they qualify based on reasons other than their jobs.

“Only
 those workers over 65 years old have received a vaccine or an 
appointment,” Vargas-Huertas said. “The rest of the workers, they 
haven’t even received an appointment.”

The sites are eagerly 
preparing, she said. Health care workers employed by the plants have 
already gathered information from employees to prioritize which ones 
face the greatest health risks and should get the shots first when they 
become available.

State health officials say plants have applied 
to give the vaccine on site, so eventually Kansas will send doses to 
them directly.

Only, Kansas can’t get its hands on enough doses 
yet to make that happen, Goss said, despite pleading with every federal 
agency it can think of.

“Oh my gosh,” Goss said. “I’ve told anyone
 who will listen. … Anyone who has an ear in the federal government or 
is part of it. We tell them if there’s anyone’s vaccine (who) can’t use 
it, doesn’t want it, that you just want to give us — we’ll take it. 
We’re more than happy to beg and borrow.”

Early
 in the pandemic, some meatpacking workers said their plants should 
close for deep cleaning when coronavirus began spreading on the 
slaughterhouse floors. At <a href="https://www.hppr.org/post/emails-show-kansas-agencies-helped-keep-meatpacking-plants-open-despite-concerns-about" target="_blank">least one county medical officer agreed</a>.

The
 companies opposed closure, and National Beef urged the Kelly 
administration to make clear to meatpacking workers — many of whom were 
fearful of continuing to show up for work in buildings where the disease
 was spreading — that they have a “special responsibility” to do their 
jobs.

State officials said they could close the plants if 
necessary, but wanted to avoid that and require changes within the 
buildings to promote safety instead.

The Kelly and <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/emails-show-the-meatpacking-industry-drafted-an-executive-order-to-keep-plants-open" target="_blank">Trump</a> administrations threw their weight behind ramping up COVID-19 testing for meatpacking plants to keep the facilities open. <a href="https://www.hppr.org/post/emails-show-kansas-agencies-helped-keep-meatpacking-plants-open-despite-concerns-about" target="_blank">The state said</a> workers with known COVID-19 exposure could keep going to work unless they showed symptoms.

But inside the plants, true <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-05-04/despite-meatpacking-plants-efforts-kansas-workers-say-were-right-next-to-each-other" target="_blank">social distancing is impossible</a>, the union says, and plexiglass and face masks can only do so much.

Public
 announcements on the Facebook pages and websites of Seward, Finney and 
Ford counties and a southwest Kansas clinic that has helped with 
outreach and giving shots don’t say when meatpacking workers will get 
their doses.

Nor have workers been able to find that out from the state health department.

By late January, Finney County was vaccinating people over the age of 65, police officers, firefighters and clergy.

Day care workers, UPS, FedEx and postal workers, city employees and taxi drivers were among those who became eligible next.

This week, community college faculty and school employees also get their turn.

The
 most recent update on the Seward County Facebook page, meanwhile, says 
the county is scheduling people over the age of 90 or in critical 
functions, but doesn’t elaborate on the latter category.

The 
Kansas News Service has reached out to Finney, Seward and Ford counties 
seeking more information. A regional health clinic that has helped 
administer doses in southwest Kansas deferred to local health 
authorities.

Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports on consumer health and
 education for the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter 
@celia_LJ or email her at celia@kcur.org.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1613744554329.png" alt="The Cargill beefpacking plant in Dodge City. Corinne Boyer / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>The Cargill beefpacking plant in Dodge City. Corinne Boyer / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-02-18/kansas-meatpacking-workers-faced-outbreak-after-outbreak-but-still-cant-get-a-covid-vaccine">Kansas News Service</a>Thousands of meatpacking workers in southwest Kansas continue to wait for any news about when they’ll get the COVID-19 vaccine.That
 wait drags on even as some counties vaccinate college faculty, first 
responders and postal workers, and as Kansas launches a new program to 
get a first dose into the arm of every school worker by early April.Meatpacking
 plants have been the state’s third-biggest source of coronavirus 
outbreaks, eclipsed only by long-term care facilities (such as nursing 
homes) and jails and prisons.“Meatpacking workers have taken one 
of the hardest hits of this pandemic,” said Monica Vargas-Huertas, a 
political director for the United Food and Commercial Workers 
International Union Local 2 representing 7,000 meatpacking workers in 
two southwest Kansas counties. “They have been in the front lines from 
Day One.”The factory-scale slaughterhouses stayed open when many other businesses closed under <a href="https://www.kcur.org/health/2020-03-28/kansas-governor-issues-a-statewide-stay-at-home-order-which-starts-monday" target="_blank">statewide stay-at-home</a> orders last spring.“They kept working, securing the food (supply),” Vargas-Huertas said, “and securing the economy of the state.”But
 state officials say meatpacking facilities took steps that greatly 
reduced transmission within their walls. In the past two weeks, they 
say, the plants have seen no fresh coronavirus outbreaks involving five 
or more cases.And Kansas simply doesn’t receive enough vaccines 
per week from the federal government to quickly vaccinate all essential 
workers.Ashley Goss, deputy secretary for public health, says 
Gov. Laura Kelly wants to get children back to school as soon as 
possible because missing so much in-person contact with peers and 
educators can have long-term effects on learning and mental health.“She’s
 had to make some really tough decisions,” Goss said. “And she feels 
very strongly for our school staff to be the next push.”Kansas 
was receiving fewer than 100,000 doses a week from the federal 
government, though shipments should soon increase to about 115,000 a 
week.To speed shots to school workers, Kansas is redirecting some
 doses from counties that have made more progress than others on 
vaccinating their residents.For now, it will not do the same for meatpacking workers.<h2>Hot spots</h2>Kansas
 has some of the country’s most productive beef-packing plants. The 
industry drives the economies of Dodge City, Garden City and Liberal.The meatpacking workers are largely immigrants and people of color. <a href="https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/early-state-vaccination-data-raise-warning-flags-racial-equity/" target="_blank">Mounting evidence</a> from other states suggests people of color across the country aren’t receiving equitable access to the coronavirus vaccine.Kansas will soon publish vaccination statistics that shed light on whether that holds true here, too.The state’s figures on known COVID cases already show Hispanic people <a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas" target="_blank">significantly more likely</a> to catch the virus than non-Hispanic people.Nearly 4,000 known cases of COVID-19 and two dozen deaths link directly to the slaughterhouses in Kansas.Infections
 related to the plants continue to have serious ripple effects. Five 
ongoing outbreaks linked to the plants have led to nearly 1,800 known 
cases in their communities and 14 deaths.<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-the-u-s-is-underestimating-covid-reinfection/" target="_blank">Scientists remain uncertain</a> how long a survivor enjoys immunity before catching the illness again, meaning workers fear re-infection.“We want to prevent a new wave,” Vargas-Huertas said. “We cannot wait four or five months.”<h2>Phase 2 vaccines</h2>Meatpacking
 workers fall into Phase 2 of the state’s vaccine rollout plan. (Phase 1
 focused on health care workers and nursing homes.)But Phase 2 is
 a bucket so massive that it includes about 1 million people, or a third
 of the state’s population. It covers everyone over the age of 65 and a 
wide variety of other groups, such as teachers, police and grocery 
clerks.The state largely lets each county make its own decisions on how to prioritize within that bucket.“We’ve
 tried to stick with public health being decentralized in our state,” 
Goss said. “Local health authorities have the ability to decide.”This week the governor’s office announced one exception: It will start earmarking doses each week for school workers.But meatpackers in Seward, Ford and Finney counties remain unclear when their turn will come.UFCW
 International Local 2 represents workers at plants in Seward and Ford 
counties and communicates regularly with other workers in Finney County.It says workers haven’t been able to get shots unless they qualify based on reasons other than their jobs.“Only
 those workers over 65 years old have received a vaccine or an 
appointment,” Vargas-Huertas said. “The rest of the workers, they 
haven’t even received an appointment.”The sites are eagerly 
preparing, she said. Health care workers employed by the plants have 
already gathered information from employees to prioritize which ones 
face the greatest health risks and should get the shots first when they 
become available.State health officials say plants have applied 
to give the vaccine on site, so eventually Kansas will send doses to 
them directly.Only, Kansas can’t get its hands on enough doses 
yet to make that happen, Goss said, despite pleading with every federal 
agency it can think of.“Oh my gosh,” Goss said. “I’ve told anyone
 who will listen. … Anyone who has an ear in the federal government or 
is part of it. We tell them if there’s anyone’s vaccine (who) can’t use 
it, doesn’t want it, that you just want to give us — we’ll take it. 
We’re more than happy to beg and borrow.”<h2>No plant shutdowns</h2>Early
 in the pandemic, some meatpacking workers said their plants should 
close for deep cleaning when coronavirus began spreading on the 
slaughterhouse floors. At <a href="https://www.hppr.org/post/emails-show-kansas-agencies-helped-keep-meatpacking-plants-open-despite-concerns-about" target="_blank">least one county medical officer agreed</a>.The
 companies opposed closure, and National Beef urged the Kelly 
administration to make clear to meatpacking workers — many of whom were 
fearful of continuing to show up for work in buildings where the disease
 was spreading — that they have a “special responsibility” to do their 
jobs.State officials said they could close the plants if 
necessary, but wanted to avoid that and require changes within the 
buildings to promote safety instead.The Kelly and <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/emails-show-the-meatpacking-industry-drafted-an-executive-order-to-keep-plants-open" target="_blank">Trump</a> administrations threw their weight behind ramping up COVID-19 testing for meatpacking plants to keep the facilities open. <a href="https://www.hppr.org/post/emails-show-kansas-agencies-helped-keep-meatpacking-plants-open-despite-concerns-about" target="_blank">The state said</a> workers with known COVID-19 exposure could keep going to work unless they showed symptoms.<h2>Finding a shot</h2>But inside the plants, true <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-05-04/despite-meatpacking-plants-efforts-kansas-workers-say-were-right-next-to-each-other" target="_blank">social distancing is impossible</a>, the union says, and plexiglass and face masks can only do so much.Public
 announcements on the Facebook pages and websites of Seward, Finney and 
Ford counties and a southwest Kansas clinic that has helped with 
outreach and giving shots don’t say when meatpacking workers will get 
their doses.Nor have workers been able to find that out from the state health department.By late January, Finney County was vaccinating people over the age of 65, police officers, firefighters and clergy.Day care workers, UPS, FedEx and postal workers, city employees and taxi drivers were among those who became eligible next.This week, community college faculty and school employees also get their turn.The
 most recent update on the Seward County Facebook page, meanwhile, says 
the county is scheduling people over the age of 90 or in critical 
functions, but doesn’t elaborate on the latter category.The 
Kansas News Service has reached out to Finney, Seward and Ford counties 
seeking more information. A regional health clinic that has helped 
administer doses in southwest Kansas deferred to local health 
authorities.Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports on consumer health and
 education for the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter 
@celia_LJ or email her at celia@kcur.org.

Despite outbreaks, Kan. meatpacking workers wait in line for their COVID vaccine

We’d like to own a home someday, but we know we’re not ready for that kind of financial commitment yet. Where does buying a house fit in your Baby Steps plan?

Buying a home when you’re broke is the easiest way I know to become a foreclosure statistic. I’m glad you two are being thoughtful and sensible about taking such a big step.

If you remember, in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/dave-ramsey-7-baby-steps" target="_blank">Baby Step</a>&nbsp;1 I advise people to save up a beginner emergency fund of $1,000. Baby Step 2 is paying off all consumer debt from smallest to largest using the debt snowball method. Then, Baby Step 3 is where you go back and grow your emergency fund to a full three to six months of living expenses.

With all this in mind, let’s call getting ready to buy a home Baby Step 3b. Save up for a down payment of at least 20 percent to avoid PMI (private mortgage insurance). Also, make sure any&nbsp;<a href="https://goo.gl/rsYiFK" target="_blank">mortgage</a>&nbsp;loan is a 15-year, fixed rate loan, where the payments are no more than 25 percent of your monthly take-home pay.

Doing it this way may delay your dream of being a homeowner for a while, but it will help ensure your new home is a blessing and not a financial curse!&nbsp;

How far in advance do you recommend figuring future purchases into your budget?

I recommend starting to put money aside, and including it in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.everydollar.com/guide-to-budgeting-dave-says" target="_blank">your budget</a>&nbsp;as soon as you know the need for an item is a real possibility. Waiting until things go wrong or something breaks down will leave you in a real mess, more times than not.

For example, if you’re pretty sure you’ll need another vehicle in a year or two, the smart thing is to start putting money aside now. Do some research on prices, then do the math to see how much you’ll need to set aside each month.

And remember, it’s a whole lot easier to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/askdave/budgeting/watch-your-spending-while-saving" target="_blank">save money</a>&nbsp;when you don’t have things like credit card payments and other debt hanging around your neck. That’s one of the big reasons I want to help people learn to live debt-free!

<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/" target="_blank">Dave Ramsey</a>&nbsp;is a seven-time No. 1 national best-selling author, personal finance expert, and host of The Ramsey Show, heard by more than 16 million listeners each week. He&nbsp;has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Today Show, Fox News, CNN, Fox Business, and many more. Since 1992, Dave has helped people regain control of their money, build wealth and enhance their lives. He also serves as CEO for Ramsey Solutions.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596845065840.jpeg" alt="Dave Ramsey" />
 <figcaption>Dave Ramsey</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Mortgages and Baby Steps</h2>Dear Dave,We’d like to own a home someday, but we know we’re not ready for that kind of financial commitment yet. Where does buying a house fit in your Baby Steps plan?HeatherDear Heather,Buying a home when you’re broke is the easiest way I know to become a foreclosure statistic. I’m glad you two are being thoughtful and sensible about taking such a big step.If you remember, in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/dave-ramsey-7-baby-steps" target="_blank">Baby Step</a>&nbsp;1 I advise people to save up a beginner emergency fund of $1,000. Baby Step 2 is paying off all consumer debt from smallest to largest using the debt snowball method. Then, Baby Step 3 is where you go back and grow your emergency fund to a full three to six months of living expenses.With all this in mind, let’s call getting ready to buy a home Baby Step 3b. Save up for a down payment of at least 20 percent to avoid PMI (private mortgage insurance). Also, make sure any&nbsp;<a href="https://goo.gl/rsYiFK" target="_blank">mortgage</a>&nbsp;loan is a 15-year, fixed rate loan, where the payments are no more than 25 percent of your monthly take-home pay.Doing it this way may delay your dream of being a homeowner for a while, but it will help ensure your new home is a blessing and not a financial curse!&nbsp;Dave<h2>Plan for future purchases</h2>Dear Dave,How far in advance do you recommend figuring future purchases into your budget?RobbieDear Robbie,I recommend starting to put money aside, and including it in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.everydollar.com/guide-to-budgeting-dave-says" target="_blank">your budget</a>&nbsp;as soon as you know the need for an item is a real possibility. Waiting until things go wrong or something breaks down will leave you in a real mess, more times than not.For example, if you’re pretty sure you’ll need another vehicle in a year or two, the smart thing is to start putting money aside now. Do some research on prices, then do the math to see how much you’ll need to set aside each month.And remember, it’s a whole lot easier to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/askdave/budgeting/watch-your-spending-while-saving" target="_blank">save money</a>&nbsp;when you don’t have things like credit card payments and other debt hanging around your neck. That’s one of the big reasons I want to help people learn to live debt-free!Dave<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/" target="_blank">Dave Ramsey</a>&nbsp;is a seven-time No. 1 national best-selling author, personal finance expert, and host of The Ramsey Show, heard by more than 16 million listeners each week. He&nbsp;has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Today Show, Fox News, CNN, Fox Business, and many more. Since 1992, Dave has helped people regain control of their money, build wealth and enhance their lives. He also serves as CEO for Ramsey Solutions.

DAVE SAYS: Mortgages and baby steps; Plan for future purchases

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) —Rush Limbaugh, the talk radio host who ripped into liberals and laid waste to political correctness with a merry brand of malice that made him one of the most powerful voices on the American right and foretold the rise of Donald Trump, died Wednesday. He was 70.

Limbaugh, an outspoken lover of cigars, had been diagnosed with lung cancer. His death was announced by his wife Kathryn to open her husband's radio show Wednesday and on his website.

President Trump, during a State of the Union speech, awarded Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Unflinchingly conservative, wildly partisan, bombastically self-promoting and larger than life, Limbaugh galvanized listeners for more than 30 years with his talent for vituperation and sarcasm.

He called himself an entertainer, but his rants during his three-hour weekday radio show broadcast on nearly 600 U.S. stations shaped the national political conversation, swaying ordinary Republicans and the direction of their party.

Blessed with a made-for-broadcasting voice, he delivered his opinions with such certainty that his followers, or “Ditto-heads,” as he dubbed them, took his words as sacred truth.

“In my heart and soul, I know I have become the intellectual engine of the conservative movement,” Limbaugh, with typical immodesty, told author Zev Chafets in the 2010 book “Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One.”

Forbes magazine estimated his 2018 income at $84 million, ranking him behind only Howard Stern among radio personalities.

Limbaugh took as a badge of honor the title “most dangerous man in America.” He said he was the “truth detector,” the “doctor of democracy,” a “lover of mankind,” a “harmless, lovable little fuzz ball” and an “all-around good guy.” He claimed he had “talent on loan from God.”

Long before Trump’s rise in politics, Limbaugh was pinning insulting names on his enemies and raging against the mainstream media, accusing it of feeding the public lies. He called Democrats and others on the left communists, wackos, feminazis, liberal extremists, faggots and radicals.

When actor Michael J. Fox, suffering from Parkinson’s disease, appeared in a Democratic campaign commercial, Limbaugh mocked his tremors. When a Washington advocate for the homeless killed himself, he cracked jokes. As the AIDS epidemic raged in the 1980s, he made the dying a punchline. He called 12-year-old Chelsea Clinton a dog.

He suggested that the Democrats’ stand on reproductive rights would have led to the abortion of Jesus Christ. When a woman accused Duke University lacrosse players of rape, he derided her as a “ho,” and when a Georgetown University law student supported expanded contraceptive coverage, he dismissed her as a “slut.” When Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, Limbaugh said: “I hope he fails.”

He was frequently accused of bigotry and blatant racism for such antics as playing the song “Barack the Magic Negro” on his show. The lyrics, set to the tune of “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” describe Obama as someone who “makes guilty whites feel good” and is “black, but not authentically.”

Limbaugh often enunciated the Republican platform better and more entertainingly than any party leader, becoming a GOP kingmaker whose endorsement and friendship were sought. Polls consistently found he was regarded as the voice of the party.

His idol, Ronald Reagan, wrote a letter of praise that Limbaugh proudly read on the air in 1992: “You’ve become the number one voice for conservatism.” In 1994, Limbaugh was so widely credited with the first Republican takeover of Congress in 40 years that the GOP made him an honorary member of the new class.

During the 2016 presidential primaries, Limbaugh said he realized early on that Trump would be the nominee, and he likened the candidate’s deep connection with his supporters to his own. In a 2018 interview, he conceded Trump is rude but said that is because he is “fearless and willing to fight against the things that no Republican has been willing to fight against.”

Trump, for his part, heaped praise on Limbaugh, and they golfed together. (The president’s Mar-a-Lago estate is eight miles down the same Palm Beach boulevard as Limbaugh’s $40 million beachfront expanse.) In honoring Limbaugh at the State of the Union, Trump called his friend “a special man beloved by millions.”

Limbaugh influenced the likes of Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly and countless other conservative commentators who pushed the boundaries of what passes as acceptable public discourse.

His brand of blunt, no-gray-area debate spread to cable TV, town hall meetings, political rallies and Congress itself, emerging during the battles over health care and the ascent of the tea party movement.

“What he did was to bring a paranoia and really mean, nasty rhetoric and hyperpartisanship into the mainstream,” said Martin Kaplan, a University of Southern California professor who is an expert on the intersection of politics and entertainment and a frequent critic of Limbaugh. “The kind of antagonism and vituperativeness that characterized him instantly became acceptable everywhere.”

In one breathless segment in 1991, he railed against the homeless, AIDS patients, criticism of Christopher Columbus, aid to the Soviet Union, condoms in schools, animal rights advocates, multiculturalism and the social safety net.

His foes accused him of trafficking in half-truths, bias and outright lies — the very tactics he decried in others. Al Franken, the comedian and one-time senator, came out with a book in 1996 called “Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations.”

In 2003, Limbaugh admitted an addiction to painkillers and went into rehab. Authorities opened an investigation into alleged “doctor shopping,” saying he received up to 2,000 pills from four doctors over six months.

He ultimately reached a deal with prosecutors in which they agreed to drop the charge if he continued with drug treatment and paid $30,000 toward the cost of the investigation.

He lost his hearing around that time. He said it was from an autoimmune disorder, while his critics said hearing loss is a known side effect of painkiller abuse. He received cochlear implants, which restored his hearing and saved his career.

A portly, round-faced figure, Limbaugh was divorced three times, after marrying Roxy Maxine McNeely in 1977, Michelle Sixta in 1983 and Marta Fitzgerald in 1994. He married his fourth wife, Kathryn Rogers, in a lavish 2010 ceremony featuring Elton John. He had no children.

Rush Hudson Limbaugh III was born Jan. 12, 1951, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. His mother was the former Mildred Armstrong, and his father, Rush Limbaugh Jr., was a lawyer.

Rusty, as the younger Limbaugh was known, was chubby and shy, with little interest in school but a passion for broadcasting. He would turn down the radio during St. Louis Cardinals baseball games, offering play-by-play, and gave running commentary during the evening news. By high school, he had snagged a radio job.

Limbaugh dropped out of Southeast Missouri State University for a string of DJ gigs, from his hometown, to McKeesport, Pennsylvania, to Pittsburgh and then Kansas City. Known as Rusty Sharpe and then Jeff Christie on the air, he mostly spun Top 40 hits and sprinkled in glimpses of his wit and conservatism.

“One of the early reasons radio interested me was that I thought it would make me popular,” he once wrote.

But he didn’t gain the following he craved and gave up on radio for several years, beginning in 1979, becoming promotions director for baseball’s Kansas City Royals. He ultimately returned to broadcasting, again in Kansas City and then Sacramento, California.

It was there in the early 1980s that Limbaugh really garnered an audience, broadcasting shows dripping with sarcasm and bravado. The stage name was gone.

Limbaugh began broadcasting nationally in 1988 from WABC in New York. While his know-it-all commentary quickly gained traction, he was dismayed by his reception in the big city. He thought he would be welcomed by Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather.

“I came to New York,” he wrote, “and I immediately became a nothing, a zero.”

Ultimately, Limbaugh moved his radio show to Palm Beach and bought his massive estate. Talkers Magazine, which covers the industry, said Limbaugh had the nation’s largest audience in 2019, with 15 million unique listeners each week.

“When Rush wants to talk to America, all he has to do is grab his microphone. He attracts more listeners with just his voice than the rest of us could ever imagine,” Beck wrote in Time magazine in 2009. “He is simply on another level.”

Limbaugh expounded on his world view in the best-selling books “The Way Things Ought to Be” and “See, I Told You So.”

He had a late-night TV show in the 1990s that got decent ratings but lackluster advertising because of his divisive message. When he guest-hosted “The Pat Sajak Show” in 1990, audience members called him a Nazi and repeatedly shouted at him.

He was fired from a short-lived job as an NFL commentator on ESPN in 2003 after he said the media had made a star out of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb because it was “very desirous that a black quarterback do well.” His racial remarks also derailed a 2009 bid to become one of the owners of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams.

“Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and just think to yourself, `I am just full of hot gas?’” David Letterman asked him in 1993 on “The Late Show.”

“I am a servant of humanity,” Limbaugh replied. “I am in the relentless pursuit of the truth. I actually sit back and think that I’m just so fortunate to have this opportunity to tell people what’s really going on.”

Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has died at the age of 70, according his wife Kathryn, who announced the news to open her husband's radio show Wednesday.

In February of 2020, Limbaugh revealed that he had advanced lung cancer. A few days later, President Trump invited Limbaugh to attend the State of the Union Address.&nbsp;

During the address, Limbaugh appeared stunned, when the President announced he was awarding the talk show legend with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.&nbsp; Others sat in silence as first lady Melania Trump draped the medal around his neck on the spot.

“Thank you for your decades of tireless devotion to our country,” Trump told Limbaugh, commending “all that you have done for our Nation, the millions of people a day that you speak to and that you inspire.”

-The Associated Press contributed to this report

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1580901433879.png" alt="Limbaugh was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom during the State of the Union address in 2020 -image courtesy White House" />
 <figcaption>Limbaugh was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom during the State of the Union address in 2020 -image courtesy White House</figcaption>
 </figure>PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) —Rush Limbaugh, the talk radio host who ripped into liberals and laid waste to political correctness with a merry brand of malice that made him one of the most powerful voices on the American right and foretold the rise of Donald Trump, died Wednesday. He was 70.Limbaugh, an outspoken lover of cigars, had been diagnosed with lung cancer. His death was announced by his wife Kathryn to open her husband's radio show Wednesday and on his website.President Trump, during a State of the Union speech, awarded Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.Unflinchingly conservative, wildly partisan, bombastically self-promoting and larger than life, Limbaugh galvanized listeners for more than 30 years with his talent for vituperation and sarcasm.He called himself an entertainer, but his rants during his three-hour weekday radio show broadcast on nearly 600 U.S. stations shaped the national political conversation, swaying ordinary Republicans and the direction of their party.Blessed with a made-for-broadcasting voice, he delivered his opinions with such certainty that his followers, or “Ditto-heads,” as he dubbed them, took his words as sacred truth.“In my heart and soul, I know I have become the intellectual engine of the conservative movement,” Limbaugh, with typical immodesty, told author Zev Chafets in the 2010 book “Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One.”Forbes magazine estimated his 2018 income at $84 million, ranking him behind only Howard Stern among radio personalities.Limbaugh took as a badge of honor the title “most dangerous man in America.” He said he was the “truth detector,” the “doctor of democracy,” a “lover of mankind,” a “harmless, lovable little fuzz ball” and an “all-around good guy.” He claimed he had “talent on loan from God.”Long before Trump’s rise in politics, Limbaugh was pinning insulting names on his enemies and raging against the mainstream media, accusing it of feeding the public lies. He called Democrats and others on the left communists, wackos, feminazis, liberal extremists, faggots and radicals.When actor Michael J. Fox, suffering from Parkinson’s disease, appeared in a Democratic campaign commercial, Limbaugh mocked his tremors. When a Washington advocate for the homeless killed himself, he cracked jokes. As the AIDS epidemic raged in the 1980s, he made the dying a punchline. He called 12-year-old Chelsea Clinton a dog.He suggested that the Democrats’ stand on reproductive rights would have led to the abortion of Jesus Christ. When a woman accused Duke University lacrosse players of rape, he derided her as a “ho,” and when a Georgetown University law student supported expanded contraceptive coverage, he dismissed her as a “slut.” When Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, Limbaugh said: “I hope he fails.”He was frequently accused of bigotry and blatant racism for such antics as playing the song “Barack the Magic Negro” on his show. The lyrics, set to the tune of “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” describe Obama as someone who “makes guilty whites feel good” and is “black, but not authentically.”Limbaugh often enunciated the Republican platform better and more entertainingly than any party leader, becoming a GOP kingmaker whose endorsement and friendship were sought. Polls consistently found he was regarded as the voice of the party.His idol, Ronald Reagan, wrote a letter of praise that Limbaugh proudly read on the air in 1992: “You’ve become the number one voice for conservatism.” In 1994, Limbaugh was so widely credited with the first Republican takeover of Congress in 40 years that the GOP made him an honorary member of the new class.During the 2016 presidential primaries, Limbaugh said he realized early on that Trump would be the nominee, and he likened the candidate’s deep connection with his supporters to his own. In a 2018 interview, he conceded Trump is rude but said that is because he is “fearless and willing to fight against the things that no Republican has been willing to fight against.”Trump, for his part, heaped praise on Limbaugh, and they golfed together. (The president’s Mar-a-Lago estate is eight miles down the same Palm Beach boulevard as Limbaugh’s $40 million beachfront expanse.) In honoring Limbaugh at the State of the Union, Trump called his friend “a special man beloved by millions.”Limbaugh influenced the likes of Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly and countless other conservative commentators who pushed the boundaries of what passes as acceptable public discourse.His brand of blunt, no-gray-area debate spread to cable TV, town hall meetings, political rallies and Congress itself, emerging during the battles over health care and the ascent of the tea party movement.“What he did was to bring a paranoia and really mean, nasty rhetoric and hyperpartisanship into the mainstream,” said Martin Kaplan, a University of Southern California professor who is an expert on the intersection of politics and entertainment and a frequent critic of Limbaugh. “The kind of antagonism and vituperativeness that characterized him instantly became acceptable everywhere.”In one breathless segment in 1991, he railed against the homeless, AIDS patients, criticism of Christopher Columbus, aid to the Soviet Union, condoms in schools, animal rights advocates, multiculturalism and the social safety net.His foes accused him of trafficking in half-truths, bias and outright lies — the very tactics he decried in others. Al Franken, the comedian and one-time senator, came out with a book in 1996 called “Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations.”In 2003, Limbaugh admitted an addiction to painkillers and went into rehab. Authorities opened an investigation into alleged “doctor shopping,” saying he received up to 2,000 pills from four doctors over six months.He ultimately reached a deal with prosecutors in which they agreed to drop the charge if he continued with drug treatment and paid $30,000 toward the cost of the investigation.He lost his hearing around that time. He said it was from an autoimmune disorder, while his critics said hearing loss is a known side effect of painkiller abuse. He received cochlear implants, which restored his hearing and saved his career.A portly, round-faced figure, Limbaugh was divorced three times, after marrying Roxy Maxine McNeely in 1977, Michelle Sixta in 1983 and Marta Fitzgerald in 1994. He married his fourth wife, Kathryn Rogers, in a lavish 2010 ceremony featuring Elton John. He had no children.Rush Hudson Limbaugh III was born Jan. 12, 1951, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. His mother was the former Mildred Armstrong, and his father, Rush Limbaugh Jr., was a lawyer.Rusty, as the younger Limbaugh was known, was chubby and shy, with little interest in school but a passion for broadcasting. He would turn down the radio during St. Louis Cardinals baseball games, offering play-by-play, and gave running commentary during the evening news. By high school, he had snagged a radio job.Limbaugh dropped out of Southeast Missouri State University for a string of DJ gigs, from his hometown, to McKeesport, Pennsylvania, to Pittsburgh and then Kansas City. Known as Rusty Sharpe and then Jeff Christie on the air, he mostly spun Top 40 hits and sprinkled in glimpses of his wit and conservatism.“One of the early reasons radio interested me was that I thought it would make me popular,” he once wrote.But he didn’t gain the following he craved and gave up on radio for several years, beginning in 1979, becoming promotions director for baseball’s Kansas City Royals. He ultimately returned to broadcasting, again in Kansas City and then Sacramento, California.It was there in the early 1980s that Limbaugh really garnered an audience, broadcasting shows dripping with sarcasm and bravado. The stage name was gone.Limbaugh began broadcasting nationally in 1988 from WABC in New York. While his know-it-all commentary quickly gained traction, he was dismayed by his reception in the big city. He thought he would be welcomed by Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather.“I came to New York,” he wrote, “and I immediately became a nothing, a zero.”Ultimately, Limbaugh moved his radio show to Palm Beach and bought his massive estate. Talkers Magazine, which covers the industry, said Limbaugh had the nation’s largest audience in 2019, with 15 million unique listeners each week.“When Rush wants to talk to America, all he has to do is grab his microphone. He attracts more listeners with just his voice than the rest of us could ever imagine,” Beck wrote in Time magazine in 2009. “He is simply on another level.”Limbaugh expounded on his world view in the best-selling books “The Way Things Ought to Be” and “See, I Told You So.”He had a late-night TV show in the 1990s that got decent ratings but lackluster advertising because of his divisive message. When he guest-hosted “The Pat Sajak Show” in 1990, audience members called him a Nazi and repeatedly shouted at him.He was fired from a short-lived job as an NFL commentator on ESPN in 2003 after he said the media had made a star out of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb because it was “very desirous that a black quarterback do well.” His racial remarks also derailed a 2009 bid to become one of the owners of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams.“Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and just think to yourself, `I am just full of hot gas?’” David Letterman asked him in 1993 on “The Late Show.”“I am a servant of humanity,” Limbaugh replied. “I am in the relentless pursuit of the truth. I actually sit back and think that I’m just so fortunate to have this opportunity to tell people what’s really going on.”--------Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has died at the age of 70, according his wife Kathryn, who announced the news to open her husband's radio show Wednesday.In February of 2020, Limbaugh revealed that he had advanced lung cancer. A few days later, President Trump invited Limbaugh to attend the State of the Union Address.&nbsp;During the address, Limbaugh appeared stunned, when the President announced he was awarding the talk show legend with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.&nbsp; Others sat in silence as first lady Melania Trump draped the medal around his neck on the spot.“Thank you for your decades of tireless devotion to our country,” Trump told Limbaugh, commending “all that you have done for our Nation, the millions of people a day that you speak to and that you inspire.”-The Associated Press contributed to this report

Conservative talk radio legend Rush Limbaugh dead at 70

The frigid weather has also caused changes to high school sports schedules.

Following are the latest days and times for Southeast of Saline basketball.

Thursday Boys only vs Inman at 6 p.m.

Saturday Girls then boys vs TMP-Marian beginning at 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 22 Girls then boys vs Ellinwood beginning at 6 p.m.

Feb. 23 Girls then boys vs Republic County beginning at 6 p.m.

If you can't make it to the games, you can listen to them on KINA (910 AM and 107.5 FM)

The frigid weather has also caused changes to high school sports schedules.Following are the latest days and times for Southeast of Saline basketball.Thursday Boys only vs Inman at 6 p.m.Saturday Girls then boys vs TMP-Marian beginning at 1:30 p.m.Feb. 22 Girls then boys vs Ellinwood beginning at 6 p.m.Feb. 23 Girls then boys vs Republic County beginning at 6 p.m.If you can't make it to the games, you can listen to them on KINA (910 AM and 107.5 FM)

SES updates girls, boys basketball schedules

The Salina Symphony's&nbsp;Percussion Ensemble and Bass Quintet will be featured in the final&nbsp;concert of the “Listen Together” series.

The Virtual Chamber Concert is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday and will be&nbsp;premiered and available for viewing on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SalinaSymphony">Facebook</a> at no cost.

The percussion ensemble program will include Blue Rondo à la Turk&nbsp; arranged by Jeff Moore, Alexis Orfaly’s Structure Set, La Llorona&nbsp; arranged by Ruth Jeanne, and Rosales’ Bolero arranged by Omar Musser. The bass quintet will present Tony Osborne’s The Pink Elephant.

Bass Quintet members include Gus Applequist, John Davis, Nelson Gutsch, David James, and Jeff Leach. The Percussion Ensemble features Dean Kranzler, Hannah Applequist, Eric Corby, John Karlin, Bridget Long, and Garret Ward with Gus Applequist on electric bass.

--<a href="http://salinasymphony.org">Salina Symphony</a>--

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1613412125735.jpeg" alt="The Salina Symphony's Percussion Ensemble. Photo courtesy Salina Symphony" />
 <figcaption>The Salina Symphony's Percussion Ensemble. Photo courtesy Salina Symphony</figcaption>
 </figure>The Salina Symphony's&nbsp;Percussion Ensemble and Bass Quintet will be featured in the final&nbsp;concert of the “Listen Together” series.The Virtual Chamber Concert is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday and will be&nbsp;premiered and available for viewing on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SalinaSymphony">Facebook</a> at no cost.The percussion ensemble program will include Blue Rondo à la Turk&nbsp; arranged by Jeff Moore, Alexis Orfaly’s Structure Set, La Llorona&nbsp; arranged by Ruth Jeanne, and Rosales’ Bolero arranged by Omar Musser. The bass quintet will present Tony Osborne’s The Pink Elephant.Bass Quintet members include Gus Applequist, John Davis, Nelson Gutsch, David James, and Jeff Leach. The Percussion Ensemble features Dean Kranzler, Hannah Applequist, Eric Corby, John Karlin, Bridget Long, and Garret Ward with Gus Applequist on electric bass.--<a href="http://salinasymphony.org">Salina Symphony</a>--

Salina Symphony virtual chamber concert set for Sunday

<a href="https://www.wilsonfamilyfuneralhome.com/obituary/darrel-l-yost">Obituary | Darrel L. Yost of Bennington, Kansas | Wilson Family Funeral Home</a>

<a href="https://www.wilsonfamilyfuneralhome.com/obituary/darrel-l-yost"></a>December 14, 1943 - February 5, 2021 Darrel Lee Yost, 77, a lifelong resident of Bennington, passed peacefully on Friday, February 5, 2021.&nbsp; Darrel was born in Salina on December 14, 1943 to Jack and Florence (Walle) Yost.

Darrel is survived by his wife, Patty of Bennington; two sons, Mike Yost of Bennington and Marty and Marissa (Livergood) Yost of Topeka; his pride and joy – granddaughter, Sydney Yost, who is a student at K-State; grandson, Derek and Beth Cox; and great-grandson, Hudson Cox all of Manhattan.

Darrel married Patty Garst on June 13, 1965.&nbsp; He attended Kansas State University focusing on electrical engineering.&nbsp; He began working for Archer Daniels Milling Company (ADM) in 1967 and worked until his early retirement in 2000 due to failing health.

Darrel was a devoted father, husband, and grandfather.&nbsp; His biggest enjoyment was Kansas State University athletics which included football and both men’s and women’s basketball.&nbsp; He also loved attending his son’s and granddaughter’s high school and sporting events.&nbsp; Darrel was a sports fanatic.&nbsp; He loved to watch, participate, and coach from the sidelines at all sporting events.

Darrel and Patty had a farm near Salina that he and his boys would work on Saturdays and listen to the K-State football games.&nbsp; Darrel enjoyed the farm and working with his cattle.&nbsp; He raised vegetables – primarily tomatoes for whoever in Bennington would eat them.&nbsp; He enjoyed his time in the garden as this was his rest and relaxation. &nbsp;Darrel also loved his coffee time and lively conversation with “the gang” in Bennington.&nbsp; After retirement from ADM, he loved getting together with the retired crew several times a year so they could fix all the world’s and ADM’s concerns.

Darrel will be deeply missed by his family, friends, and all who knew the man he was.

Cremation has been chosen and memorial services will be in the spring.&nbsp; Memorials may be made to the Bennington E.M.S. or Bennington Fire Department and may be mailed to Wilson Family Funeral Home, P.O. Box 166, Minneapolis, KS 67467.

<h2>Darrel L. Yost; Bennington</h2><a href="https://www.wilsonfamilyfuneralhome.com/obituary/darrel-l-yost">Obituary | Darrel L. Yost of Bennington, Kansas | Wilson Family Funeral Home</a><a href="https://www.wilsonfamilyfuneralhome.com/obituary/darrel-l-yost"></a>December 14, 1943 - February 5, 2021 Darrel Lee Yost, 77, a lifelong resident of Bennington, passed peacefully on Friday, February 5, 2021.&nbsp; Darrel was born in Salina on December 14, 1943 to Jack and Florence (Walle) Yost.Darrel is survived by his wife, Patty of Bennington; two sons, Mike Yost of Bennington and Marty and Marissa (Livergood) Yost of Topeka; his pride and joy – granddaughter, Sydney Yost, who is a student at K-State; grandson, Derek and Beth Cox; and great-grandson, Hudson Cox all of Manhattan.Darrel married Patty Garst on June 13, 1965.&nbsp; He attended Kansas State University focusing on electrical engineering.&nbsp; He began working for Archer Daniels Milling Company (ADM) in 1967 and worked until his early retirement in 2000 due to failing health.Darrel was a devoted father, husband, and grandfather.&nbsp; His biggest enjoyment was Kansas State University athletics which included football and both men’s and women’s basketball.&nbsp; He also loved attending his son’s and granddaughter’s high school and sporting events.&nbsp; Darrel was a sports fanatic.&nbsp; He loved to watch, participate, and coach from the sidelines at all sporting events.Darrel and Patty had a farm near Salina that he and his boys would work on Saturdays and listen to the K-State football games.&nbsp; Darrel enjoyed the farm and working with his cattle.&nbsp; He raised vegetables – primarily tomatoes for whoever in Bennington would eat them.&nbsp; He enjoyed his time in the garden as this was his rest and relaxation. &nbsp;Darrel also loved his coffee time and lively conversation with “the gang” in Bennington.&nbsp; After retirement from ADM, he loved getting together with the retired crew several times a year so they could fix all the world’s and ADM’s concerns.Darrel will be deeply missed by his family, friends, and all who knew the man he was.Cremation has been chosen and memorial services will be in the spring.&nbsp; Memorials may be made to the Bennington E.M.S. or Bennington Fire Department and may be mailed to Wilson Family Funeral Home, P.O. Box 166, Minneapolis, KS 67467.

Darrel L. Yost

A friend told me about your Baby Steps program. I have one question, though. I noticed that according to your plan, saving for retirement should come before saving up a college fund for your kids. Why is this?

In short, college funding is not a necessity. Being able to set aside money for college is a great thing to do if parents can afford that sort of thing. But you can fund your&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/recommends/student-loan-refinancing" target="_blank">education</a>&nbsp;in other ways. There are loads of scholarships out there just for getting good grades. You can also work while you’re taking classes. And one of the biggest things when it comes to getting an education is choosing a school or training program you can afford. Trust me, I believe in education. But there are lots of ways to get a college degree, or other career training, without your parents having to foot the bill or taking out&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/student-loan-payoff-calculator" target="_blank">student loans</a>.

Another reason I advise this approach is because everyone is going to retire someday—unless, unfortunately, they happen to die before reaching&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chrishogan360.com/riq/" target="_blank">retirement</a>&nbsp;age. Retiring and eating are necessities. College is a luxury. Lots of people succeed in life without going to college, and thousands have worked their way through college. I worked 40-plus hours a week in college, and still graduated in four years. The only good way to retire is by planning for it years ahead of time, and that means saving and investing.

Sure, you should try to help your kids with their educations if you can. Even a little bit each month over the course of several years can help a lot. But some&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/askdave/debt/parents-need-to-parent" target="_blank">parents</a>&nbsp;might not be able to put a dime toward their kids’ educations after high school. That doesn’t make them bad people&nbsp;or&nbsp;bad parents. And it doesn’t mean their kids can’t still go to college,&nbsp;and&nbsp;avoid debt doing it!

<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/" target="_blank">Dave Ramsey</a>&nbsp;is a seven-time No. 1 national best-selling author, personal finance expert, and host of&nbsp;The Ramsey Show, heard by more than 16 million listeners each week. He&nbsp;has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Today Show, Fox News, CNN, Fox Business, and many more. Since 1992, Dave has helped people regain control of their money, build wealth and enhance their lives. He also serves as CEO for Ramsey Solutions.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596845065840.jpeg" alt="Dave Ramsey" />
 <figcaption>Dave Ramsey</figcaption>
 </figure>Dear Dave,A friend told me about your Baby Steps program. I have one question, though. I noticed that according to your plan, saving for retirement should come before saving up a college fund for your kids. Why is this?NatalieDear Natalie,In short, college funding is not a necessity. Being able to set aside money for college is a great thing to do if parents can afford that sort of thing. But you can fund your&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/recommends/student-loan-refinancing" target="_blank">education</a>&nbsp;in other ways. There are loads of scholarships out there just for getting good grades. You can also work while you’re taking classes. And one of the biggest things when it comes to getting an education is choosing a school or training program you can afford. Trust me, I believe in education. But there are lots of ways to get a college degree, or other career training, without your parents having to foot the bill or taking out&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/student-loan-payoff-calculator" target="_blank">student loans</a>.Another reason I advise this approach is because everyone is going to retire someday—unless, unfortunately, they happen to die before reaching&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chrishogan360.com/riq/" target="_blank">retirement</a>&nbsp;age. Retiring and eating are necessities. College is a luxury. Lots of people succeed in life without going to college, and thousands have worked their way through college. I worked 40-plus hours a week in college, and still graduated in four years. The only good way to retire is by planning for it years ahead of time, and that means saving and investing.Sure, you should try to help your kids with their educations if you can. Even a little bit each month over the course of several years can help a lot. But some&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/askdave/debt/parents-need-to-parent" target="_blank">parents</a>&nbsp;might not be able to put a dime toward their kids’ educations after high school. That doesn’t make them bad people&nbsp;or&nbsp;bad parents. And it doesn’t mean their kids can’t still go to college,&nbsp;and&nbsp;avoid debt doing it!Dave<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/" target="_blank">Dave Ramsey</a>&nbsp;is a seven-time No. 1 national best-selling author, personal finance expert, and host of&nbsp;The Ramsey Show, heard by more than 16 million listeners each week. He&nbsp;has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Today Show, Fox News, CNN, Fox Business, and many more. Since 1992, Dave has helped people regain control of their money, build wealth and enhance their lives. He also serves as CEO for Ramsey Solutions.

DAVE SAYS: Retirement funding comes before college savings

<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?508743-1/impeachment-trial">CLICK here&nbsp;</a>to watch replay of Day 3 of the trial

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dire harm from Donald Trump’s false and violent incitements will vex American democracy long into the future unless the Senate convicts him of impeachment and bars him from future office, House prosecutors insisted Thursday as they concluded two days of emotional arguments in his historic trial.

Making their case, they presented piles of new videos of last month’s deadly Capitol attack, with invaders proudly declaring they were merely obeying “the president’s orders” to fight to overturn the election results as Congress was certifying his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump is accused of inciting the invasion, which prosecutors said was a predictable culmination of the many public and explicit instructions he gave supporters long before his White House rally that unleashed the Jan. 6&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">attack.</a>

“If we pretend this didn’t happen, or worse, if we let it go unanswered, who’s to say it won’t happen again?” argued prosecutor Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo. Even out of office, Democrats warned, Trump could whip up a mob of followers for similar damage.

Trump’s defense will take the Senate floor on Friday, arguing that as terrible as the attack was, it clearly was not the president’s doing. The proceedings could finish with a vote this weekend by the senators who are sitting as impeachment jurors.

The Democrats, with little hope of conviction by two-thirds of the evenly divided Senate, are also making their most graphic case to the American public, while Trump’s lawyers and the Republicans are focused on legal rather than emotional or historic questions, hoping to get it all behind as quickly as possible. Five people died in the Capitol chaos and its aftermath, a domestic attack unparalleled in U.S. history.

Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-capitol-siege-biden-cabinet-trials-acquittals-d82d5aa64d4988ec92860d4729dfc9f8">second impeachment trial,</a>&nbsp;on a charge of incitement of insurrection, has echoes of last year’s impeachment and acquittal over the Ukraine matter, as prosecutors warn senators that Trump has shown no bounds and will pose a continuing danger to the civic order unless he is convicted. Even out of the White House, the former president holds influence over large swaths of voters.

The Democratic House members acting as prosecutors drew a direct line Thursday from Trump’s repeated comments condoning and even celebrating violence — praising “both sides” after the 2017 outbreak at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia — and urging his rally crowd last month to go to the Capitol and fight for his presidency. He spread false claims about election fraud and urged his supporters to “stop the steal” of the presidency.

Prosecutors used the rioters’ own videos from that day to pin responsibility on Trump. “We were invited here,” said one. “Trump sent us,” said another. “He’ll be happy. We’re fighting for Trump.”

“They truly believed that the whole intrusion was at the president’s orders,” said Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado. “The president told them to be there.”

At the White House, President Biden said he believed “some minds may be changed” after senators saw chilling security video Wednesday of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/78104aea082995bbd7412a6e6cd13818">deadly insurrection at the Capitol</a>, including of rioters searching menacingly for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence.

Biden said he didn’t watch any of the previous day’s proceedings live but later saw news coverage.

Though most of the Senate jurors seem to have made up their minds, making Trump’s acquittal likely, the never-before-seen audio and video released Wednesday became a key exhibit.

Senators sat riveted as the jarring video played in the chamber. The footage showed the mob smashing into the building and rioters engaging in hand-to-hand combat with police, with audio of officers pleading for backup. Rioters roamed the halls chanting, “Hang Mike Pence,” and eerily singing out, “Where are you, Nancy?” in search of Pelosi.

Videos of the siege have been circulating since the day of the riot, but the graphic compilation offered a moment-by-moment retelling of one of the nation’s most alarming days. And it underscored how dangerously close the rioters came to the nation’s leaders, shifting the focus of the trial from an academic debate about the Constitution to a raw retelling of the assault.

Trump attorney David Schoen took issue, saying that the presentation was “offensive” and that the Democrats “haven’t tied it in any way to Trump.”

He told reporters Thursday at the Capitol that he believed Democrats were making the public relive the tragedy in a way that “tears at the American people” and impedes efforts at unity in the country.

And by Thursday, senators sitting through a second full day of arguments appeared somewhat fatigued, slouching in their chairs, crossing their arms and walking around to stretch.

One Republican, Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, said during a break: “To me, they’re losing credibility the longer they talk.”

The goal of the two-day presentation by prosecutors from the House, which impeached the outgoing president last month a week after the siege, was to cast Trump not as an innocent bystander but rather as the “inciter in chief” who spent months spreading falsehoods and revving up supporters to challenge the election.

“This attack never would have happened but for Donald Trump,” Rep. Madeleine Dean, one of the impeachment managers, said as she choked back emotion. “And so they came, draped in Trump’s flag, and used our flag, the American flag, to batter and to bludgeon.”

Trump’s lawyers are likely to blame the rioters themselves for the violence.

The first president to face an impeachment trial after leaving office, Trump is also the first to be twice impeached.

His lawyers say he cannot be convicted because he is already gone from the White House. Even though the Senate rejected that argument in Tuesday’s vote to proceed to trial, the issue could resonate with Senate Republicans eager to acquit Trump without being seen as condoning his behavior.

While six Republicans joined with Democrats to vote to proceed with the trial on Tuesday, the 56-44 vote was far from the two-thirds threshold of 67 votes needed for conviction.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump incited a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, put his own vice president in danger and later expressed solidarity with rioters who attempted to overturn the 2020 election in his name, Democrats argued Thursday as they wrapped up opening arguments in Trump’s impeachment trial.

Over two days of testimony, the Democrats asserted that Trump deliberately ordered his supporters to “fight like hell” and “go by very different rules” or they “wouldn’t have a country anymore.” They bolstered their case with accounts from the rioters themselves, some of whom said they were acting on Trump’s orders.

The former president’s defense team insists Trump’s speech near the White House was protected under the First Amendment. And they argue he shouldn’t be on trial in the Senate because he is no longer in office — an argument Democrats reject.

“The First Amendment does not create some superpower immunity from impeachment,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat who is leading the prosecution. “If you don’t find this a high crime and misdemeanor today, you have set a new terrible standard for presidential misconduct.”

“Fight for Trump.” “Trump sent us.” “We are listening to Trump.” “We wait and take orders from our president”

Democrats focused intently on words offered by rioters to rationalize their storming of the Capitol. It was part of a broader effort to directly link the president’s call for his loyalists to “fight like hell” with the death, destruction and mayhem that followed his speech on Jan. 6.

In many cases, rioters, who sought to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, explained that they were acting at Trump’s behest.

To underscore their point, Democrats showed videos using rioters own words. Among them was Jennifer Ryan, a Texas real estate agent who was criminally charged but insists she was just “following my president.”

One video showed a man in the Capitol during the siege, who suggested to his friends that they pick up an office phone and call Trump to say, “We love you, bro!”

Another captured a man shouting at police: “We were invited here.”

Democratic impeachment managers also noted that many left after Trump released an online video hours after the attack, urging them to go home.

“Today is ours. We won the day,” a man with a bullhorn can be heard saying in one clip. He then added that Trump wanted “everybody to go home.”

The violence at the Capitol shocked the nation. But Democratic impeachment managers said that, in hindsight, it should have been no surprise.

Ever since Trump descended a golden escalator in his New York tower to launch his presidential bid in 2016, he has openly stoked and incited his supporters to violence, they said. Then they showed an exhibit cataloging his past incendiary remarks.

When Trump supporters attacked a protester at a 2016 campaign rally, the then-candidate called it “very, very appropriate.”

Another time, he urged supporters to “knock the crap out of” a protester and promised to pay their legal fees.

In 2017, after a woman in Charlottesville, Virginia, was stuck and killed by a car driven by a white supremacist during violent clashes, Trump said there were “fine people on both sides.”

And last year, after armed protesters surged into the Michigan statehouse to protest pandemic lockdown measures, he criticized Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and tweeted “LIBERATE MICHIGAN.”

“These are very good people but they are angry. They want their lives back again,” Trump said.

The FBI later broke up a plot to kidnap Whitmer by anti-government extremists upset over coronavirus restrictions she had imposed in the state.

“The siege of the Michigan statehouse was effectively a state-level dress rehearsal,” Raskin said. “It was a preview of the coming insurrection.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1613085041579.png" alt="In his final remarks, House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said&nbsp;“The First Amendment does not create some superpower immunity from impeachment." -photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>In his final remarks, House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said&nbsp;“The First Amendment does not create some superpower immunity from impeachment." -photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?508743-1/impeachment-trial">CLICK here&nbsp;</a>to watch replay of Day 3 of the trialWASHINGTON (AP) — Dire harm from Donald Trump’s false and violent incitements will vex American democracy long into the future unless the Senate convicts him of impeachment and bars him from future office, House prosecutors insisted Thursday as they concluded two days of emotional arguments in his historic trial.Making their case, they presented piles of new videos of last month’s deadly Capitol attack, with invaders proudly declaring they were merely obeying “the president’s orders” to fight to overturn the election results as Congress was certifying his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump is accused of inciting the invasion, which prosecutors said was a predictable culmination of the many public and explicit instructions he gave supporters long before his White House rally that unleashed the Jan. 6&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">attack.</a>“If we pretend this didn’t happen, or worse, if we let it go unanswered, who’s to say it won’t happen again?” argued prosecutor Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo. Even out of office, Democrats warned, Trump could whip up a mob of followers for similar damage.Trump’s defense will take the Senate floor on Friday, arguing that as terrible as the attack was, it clearly was not the president’s doing. The proceedings could finish with a vote this weekend by the senators who are sitting as impeachment jurors.The Democrats, with little hope of conviction by two-thirds of the evenly divided Senate, are also making their most graphic case to the American public, while Trump’s lawyers and the Republicans are focused on legal rather than emotional or historic questions, hoping to get it all behind as quickly as possible. Five people died in the Capitol chaos and its aftermath, a domestic attack unparalleled in U.S. history.Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-capitol-siege-biden-cabinet-trials-acquittals-d82d5aa64d4988ec92860d4729dfc9f8">second impeachment trial,</a>&nbsp;on a charge of incitement of insurrection, has echoes of last year’s impeachment and acquittal over the Ukraine matter, as prosecutors warn senators that Trump has shown no bounds and will pose a continuing danger to the civic order unless he is convicted. Even out of the White House, the former president holds influence over large swaths of voters.The Democratic House members acting as prosecutors drew a direct line Thursday from Trump’s repeated comments condoning and even celebrating violence — praising “both sides” after the 2017 outbreak at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia — and urging his rally crowd last month to go to the Capitol and fight for his presidency. He spread false claims about election fraud and urged his supporters to “stop the steal” of the presidency.Prosecutors used the rioters’ own videos from that day to pin responsibility on Trump. “We were invited here,” said one. “Trump sent us,” said another. “He’ll be happy. We’re fighting for Trump.”“They truly believed that the whole intrusion was at the president’s orders,” said Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado. “The president told them to be there.”At the White House, President Biden said he believed “some minds may be changed” after senators saw chilling security video Wednesday of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/78104aea082995bbd7412a6e6cd13818">deadly insurrection at the Capitol</a>, including of rioters searching menacingly for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence.Biden said he didn’t watch any of the previous day’s proceedings live but later saw news coverage.Though most of the Senate jurors seem to have made up their minds, making Trump’s acquittal likely, the never-before-seen audio and video released Wednesday became a key exhibit.Senators sat riveted as the jarring video played in the chamber. The footage showed the mob smashing into the building and rioters engaging in hand-to-hand combat with police, with audio of officers pleading for backup. Rioters roamed the halls chanting, “Hang Mike Pence,” and eerily singing out, “Where are you, Nancy?” in search of Pelosi.Videos of the siege have been circulating since the day of the riot, but the graphic compilation offered a moment-by-moment retelling of one of the nation’s most alarming days. And it underscored how dangerously close the rioters came to the nation’s leaders, shifting the focus of the trial from an academic debate about the Constitution to a raw retelling of the assault.Trump attorney David Schoen took issue, saying that the presentation was “offensive” and that the Democrats “haven’t tied it in any way to Trump.”He told reporters Thursday at the Capitol that he believed Democrats were making the public relive the tragedy in a way that “tears at the American people” and impedes efforts at unity in the country.And by Thursday, senators sitting through a second full day of arguments appeared somewhat fatigued, slouching in their chairs, crossing their arms and walking around to stretch.One Republican, Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, said during a break: “To me, they’re losing credibility the longer they talk.”The goal of the two-day presentation by prosecutors from the House, which impeached the outgoing president last month a week after the siege, was to cast Trump not as an innocent bystander but rather as the “inciter in chief” who spent months spreading falsehoods and revving up supporters to challenge the election.“This attack never would have happened but for Donald Trump,” Rep. Madeleine Dean, one of the impeachment managers, said as she choked back emotion. “And so they came, draped in Trump’s flag, and used our flag, the American flag, to batter and to bludgeon.”Trump’s lawyers are likely to blame the rioters themselves for the violence.The first president to face an impeachment trial after leaving office, Trump is also the first to be twice impeached.His lawyers say he cannot be convicted because he is already gone from the White House. Even though the Senate rejected that argument in Tuesday’s vote to proceed to trial, the issue could resonate with Senate Republicans eager to acquit Trump without being seen as condoning his behavior.While six Republicans joined with Democrats to vote to proceed with the trial on Tuesday, the 56-44 vote was far from the two-thirds threshold of 67 votes needed for conviction.-----WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump incited a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, put his own vice president in danger and later expressed solidarity with rioters who attempted to overturn the 2020 election in his name, Democrats argued Thursday as they wrapped up opening arguments in Trump’s impeachment trial.Over two days of testimony, the Democrats asserted that Trump deliberately ordered his supporters to “fight like hell” and “go by very different rules” or they “wouldn’t have a country anymore.” They bolstered their case with accounts from the rioters themselves, some of whom said they were acting on Trump’s orders.The former president’s defense team insists Trump’s speech near the White House was protected under the First Amendment. And they argue he shouldn’t be on trial in the Senate because he is no longer in office — an argument Democrats reject.“The First Amendment does not create some superpower immunity from impeachment,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat who is leading the prosecution. “If you don’t find this a high crime and misdemeanor today, you have set a new terrible standard for presidential misconduct.”Highlights from the trial on Thursday:‘WE WERE INVITED HERE’“Fight for Trump.” “Trump sent us.” “We are listening to Trump.” “We wait and take orders from our president”Democrats focused intently on words offered by rioters to rationalize their storming of the Capitol. It was part of a broader effort to directly link the president’s call for his loyalists to “fight like hell” with the death, destruction and mayhem that followed his speech on Jan. 6.In many cases, rioters, who sought to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, explained that they were acting at Trump’s behest.To underscore their point, Democrats showed videos using rioters own words. Among them was Jennifer Ryan, a Texas real estate agent who was criminally charged but insists she was just “following my president.”One video showed a man in the Capitol during the siege, who suggested to his friends that they pick up an office phone and call Trump to say, “We love you, bro!”Another captured a man shouting at police: “We were invited here.”Democratic impeachment managers also noted that many left after Trump released an online video hours after the attack, urging them to go home.“Today is ours. We won the day,” a man with a bullhorn can be heard saying in one clip. He then added that Trump wanted “everybody to go home.”___A HISTORY OF VIOLENCEThe violence at the Capitol shocked the nation. But Democratic impeachment managers said that, in hindsight, it should have been no surprise.Ever since Trump descended a golden escalator in his New York tower to launch his presidential bid in 2016, he has openly stoked and incited his supporters to violence, they said. Then they showed an exhibit cataloging his past incendiary remarks.When Trump supporters attacked a protester at a 2016 campaign rally, the then-candidate called it “very, very appropriate.”Another time, he urged supporters to “knock the crap out of” a protester and promised to pay their legal fees.In 2017, after a woman in Charlottesville, Virginia, was stuck and killed by a car driven by a white supremacist during violent clashes, Trump said there were “fine people on both sides.”And last year, after armed protesters surged into the Michigan statehouse to protest pandemic lockdown measures, he criticized Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and tweeted “LIBERATE MICHIGAN.”“These are very good people but they are angry. They want their lives back again,” Trump said.The FBI later broke up a plot to kidnap Whitmer by anti-government extremists upset over coronavirus restrictions she had imposed in the state.“The siege of the Michigan statehouse was effectively a state-level dress rehearsal,” Raskin said. “It was a preview of the coming insurrection.”___A QUICK DEFENSETrump attorney David Schoen said Thursday that the defense’s case should go quickly on Friday, making clear they have no intention of using the 16 hours available to them.“There’s no reason for us to be out there a long time,” Schoen said during an appearance on Fox News before blasting Democrats for the “harm this is causing to the American people.”Schoen told reporters that the Democrats’ video presentations during the trial were “offensive” and that they “haven’t tied it in any way to Trump.” He said he believed Democrats were effectively making the public relive the tragedy in a way that “tears at the American people” and impedes efforts at unity in the country.Trump senior adviser Jason Miller said he expects the defense will wrap up in less than a day.___POST RIOT RESIGNATIONSMany Senate Republicans have indicated they will not vote to impeach Trump, a sign of cooling of emotions that had run hot just over a month ago.As Democrats look to secure the 67 votes needed for a conviction, they used a slideshow presentation on Thursday to remind Senate jurors of the widespread outrage voiced in the wake of the attack, when many in the party directly blamed Trump — including Republicans who had worked for him.“Today’s violent assault on our Capitol, an effort to subjugate American democracy by mob rule, was fomented by Mr. Trump,” read a statement issued by James Mattis, Trump’s former secretary of defense, hours after the attack.Another slide showed a statement from John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff, who said the violence was “a direct result of (Trump) poisoning the minds of people with the lies and the fraud.”“The invasion of our Capitol by a mob, incited by lies from some entrusted with power, is a disgrace to all who sacrificed to build our Republic,” read another, which showed a tweet from former Republican House Speaker John Boehner.Democrats also showed a chart of the 16 administration officials and Cabinet members who resigned in the aftermath of the attack on the Capitol, including Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.“There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me,” DeVos said at the time.WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats prosecuting President Donald Trump’s impeachment have wrapped up their opening arguments.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1613077374687.png" alt="House impeachment manager Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado during his presentation Thursday afternoon." />
 <figcaption>House impeachment manager Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado during his presentation Thursday afternoon.</figcaption>
 </figure>Rep. Jamie Raskin implored senators in his closing speech to exercise “common sense about what just took place in our country” and find Trump guilty of inciting an insurrection. Raskin is the lead prosecutor for the House.He said senators have the power under the Constitution to find Trump guilty of having betrayed the oath of office the nation's founders wrote into the Constitution.Another impeachment manager warned senators that acquitting Trump could have lasting consequences for the country. Rep. Joe Neguse said that “if we pretend this didn’t happen, or worse, if we let it go unanswered, who’s to say it won’t happen again.”Trump’s lawyers will begin their arguments when the trial resumes at noon Friday.WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic prosecutors in Donald Trump's impeachment trial say rioters believed they were are acting on the “president’s orders” to storm the Capitol to undo Joe Biden's election victory. The House is ready to wrap up opening arguments. Biden says he believes “some minds may be changed” after the previous day's gripping video of the deadly siege The Democrats are laying out the physical and mental harm caused by the Capitol attack and discussing Trump’s lack of action as it unfolded. Thursday's session follows the previous day's raw and visceral video of last month’s deadly insurrection. The Trump legal team gets its chance to make its case Friday and Saturday.---------<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1613061767146.png" alt="<a href="https://www.c-span.org/series/?theSenate">The Senate</a>&nbsp;impeachment trial of former&nbsp;<a href="https://www.c-span.org/person/?donaldtrump">President Donald Trump&nbsp;</a>continues Thursday with House managers presenting more of their case.-image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption><a href="https://www.c-span.org/series/?theSenate">The Senate</a>&nbsp;impeachment trial of former&nbsp;<a href="https://www.c-span.org/person/?donaldtrump">President Donald Trump&nbsp;</a>continues Thursday with House managers presenting more of their case.-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic prosecutors in Donald Trump's impeachment trial say rioters believed they were are acting on the “president’s orders” to storm the Capitol to undo Joe Biden's election victory. The House is ready to wrap up opening arguments. Biden says he believes “some minds may be changed” after the previous day's gripping video of the deadly siege The Democrats are laying out the physical and mental harm caused by the Capitol attack and discussing Trump’s lack of action as it unfolded. Thursday's session follows the previous day's raw and visceral video of last month’s deadly insurrection. The Trump legal team gets its chance to make its case Friday and Saturday.---------WASHINGTON (AP) — The House managers are continuing their case Thursday in the historic impeachment trial. Trump’s lawyers are expected to launch their defense by week’s end.<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?508743-1/impeachment-trial">CLICK here </a>to watch Day 3 of the trialPresident Joe Biden said&nbsp; he believes “some minds may be changed” in former President Trump’s&nbsp; trial after the display of <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?508741-101/senate-impeachment-trial-day-2-part-2">searing, graphic videos</a> of the assault on the U.S. Capitol.Biden told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday that he didn’t watch any of the previous day’s proceedings live but later saw news coverage. The Democratic House impeachment managers used security video as part of their case, and the violent images of the riot shook senators and TV viewers alike.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">The &#39;Not Guilty&#39; vote is growing after today. I think most Republicans found the presentation by the House Managers offensive and absurd.&mdash; Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) <a href="https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1359695883906998277?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Biden has steadfastly refused to weigh in on the trial and again on Thursday said his focus was on fulfilling his campaign promise to battle the coronavirus pandemic. Biden says the nation has “to move on.” Aides have said Biden will address the proceedings after a verdict is reached.Trump’s lawyers are expected to launch their defense by week’s end.