My husband and I usually have a few disagreements around the holidays when it comes to Christmas spending. Do you have any advice for eliminating this kind of thing, and making the financial side of Christmas a little less stressful?

I imagine every couple has a few disagreements over <a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/christmas-gifts-for-our-children-when-is-enough-enough">Christmas</a>&nbsp;spending. The trick is in how you handle them, and come to a compromise you each feel is fair, smart, and affordable.&nbsp;&nbsp;

One of the keys is to start talking before you start shopping. Being on the same page—and creating a plan and sticking to it—are great ways to bring peace and togetherness into the picture. Honestly, Christmas spending can be part of your monthly cash flow plan the whole year. Get the picture? I’m talking about living on a written,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.everydollar.com/guide-to-budgeting-dave-says" target="_blank">monthly budget</a>. You know Christmas is December 25th&nbsp;every, single, year, so why not set aside a little each month leading up to the holidays?

If you haven’t planned ahead, now is a great time to become a unified team. Huddle up, not only to talk about Christmas priorities, but devise a game plan moving forward so that this doesn’t happen again next year. Together, figure all your regular monthly income and expenses into a budget. If you’ve saved anything at all for Christmas, include that, as well. We’ve all got necessities, so take of those first. Then, make a general list of everything you’d like to spend money on for Christmas—I’m talking about the things we often overlook like food, cards, party expenses, and decorations. Now, make a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/grandparent-giving-unspoken-secrets-you-must-know" target="_blank">gift list</a>. Write a dollar amount beside each name or expense on your lists, and if the grand total is the same as—or less than—your Christmas budget total, you’re ready to roll!

If you can’t agree, or the numbers don’t work, run through things again. This doesn’t mean to repeat your positions until you get what you want. It means both of you acting like mature, responsible adults, finding some middle ground, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/dustin-and-sarah-turning-point" target="_blank">making sacrifices</a>. If you really want to show your commitment, you and your spouse can sign your new budget. Signing your name is a simple, psychological signal that means you’re committed to your agreement. Then, post it somewhere you’ll both see it regularly.

Give it a try, Kellie. It just might help reinforce your commitment to the budget—and each other—when the shopping frenzy sets in!

<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 Dave 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,My husband and I usually have a few disagreements around the holidays when it comes to Christmas spending. Do you have any advice for eliminating this kind of thing, and making the financial side of Christmas a little less stressful?KellieDear Kellie,I imagine every couple has a few disagreements over <a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/christmas-gifts-for-our-children-when-is-enough-enough">Christmas</a>&nbsp;spending. The trick is in how you handle them, and come to a compromise you each feel is fair, smart, and affordable.&nbsp;&nbsp;One of the keys is to start talking before you start shopping. Being on the same page—and creating a plan and sticking to it—are great ways to bring peace and togetherness into the picture. Honestly, Christmas spending can be part of your monthly cash flow plan the whole year. Get the picture? I’m talking about living on a written,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.everydollar.com/guide-to-budgeting-dave-says" target="_blank">monthly budget</a>. You know Christmas is December 25th&nbsp;every, single, year, so why not set aside a little each month leading up to the holidays?If you haven’t planned ahead, now is a great time to become a unified team. Huddle up, not only to talk about Christmas priorities, but devise a game plan moving forward so that this doesn’t happen again next year. Together, figure all your regular monthly income and expenses into a budget. If you’ve saved anything at all for Christmas, include that, as well. We’ve all got necessities, so take of those first. Then, make a general list of everything you’d like to spend money on for Christmas—I’m talking about the things we often overlook like food, cards, party expenses, and decorations. Now, make a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/grandparent-giving-unspoken-secrets-you-must-know" target="_blank">gift list</a>. Write a dollar amount beside each name or expense on your lists, and if the grand total is the same as—or less than—your Christmas budget total, you’re ready to roll!If you can’t agree, or the numbers don’t work, run through things again. This doesn’t mean to repeat your positions until you get what you want. It means both of you acting like mature, responsible adults, finding some middle ground, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/dustin-and-sarah-turning-point" target="_blank">making sacrifices</a>. If you really want to show your commitment, you and your spouse can sign your new budget. Signing your name is a simple, psychological signal that means you’re committed to your agreement. Then, post it somewhere you’ll both see it regularly.Give it a try, Kellie. It just might help reinforce your commitment to the budget—and each other—when the shopping frenzy sets in!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 Dave 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: Don’t let money fights steal your joy

TOPEKA—The&nbsp;<a href="https://kansascourts.org/l/4Cb0PNEIneKDeL8028fuJXGiqrG4UeHMEKMscKEUAvQ" target="_blank">12th Judicial District Nominating Commission</a>&nbsp;will convene by telephone conference at 1:30 p.m. Monday to discuss the nomination process for a district magistrate judge vacancy in Washington County.

The vacancy will be created by Judge Paul Monty's Jan. 11 retirement.

The 12th Judicial District is composed of Cloud, Jewell, Lincoln, Mitchell, Republic, and Washington counties.

The meeting is open to the public. To listen:

Any person with a disability who requires accommodation to access the nominating commission meeting should notify the judicial branch ADA coordinator as early as possible:

ADA Coordinator <a href="mailto:reimere@kscourts.org" target="_blank">reimere@kscourts.org</a> 785-296-2256 TTY at 711

Nominees for this district magistrate judge must be:

●a resident of Washington County at the time of taking office and while holding office;

●a graduate of a high school, a secondary school, or the equivalent; and

●either a lawyer admitted to practice in Kansas or able to pass an examination given by the Supreme Court to become certified within 18 months.

The nominating commission seeks nominations, then convenes to interview nominees. Interviews are open to the public. The commission will then appoint a district magistrate judge.

After serving one year in office, a new judge must stand for a retention vote in the next general election to remain in the position. If retained, the incumbent will serve a four-year term.

The 12th Judicial District Nominating Commission consists of Justice K.J. Wall as the nonvoting chair; Carol Good, Barnard; William Navis, Belleville; Dwight Daniels, Curtis Frasier, and Jerry Harrison, Beloit; Dana Brewer and J. Bradley Lowell, Concordia; Tanner Johnson, Courtland; Daniel Metz, Lincoln; Darrell Miller and Roger Rightmeier, Mankato; and Bruce Meyer, Palmer.

TOPEKA—The&nbsp;<a href="https://kansascourts.org/l/4Cb0PNEIneKDeL8028fuJXGiqrG4UeHMEKMscKEUAvQ" target="_blank">12th Judicial District Nominating Commission</a>&nbsp;will convene by telephone conference at 1:30 p.m. Monday to discuss the nomination process for a district magistrate judge vacancy in Washington County.The vacancy will be created by Judge Paul Monty's Jan. 11 retirement.The 12th Judicial District is composed of Cloud, Jewell, Lincoln, Mitchell, Republic, and Washington counties.The meeting is open to the public. To listen:●call 1-877-400-9499; and ●enter conference code 2199381974Any person with a disability who requires accommodation to access the nominating commission meeting should notify the judicial branch ADA coordinator as early as possible:ADA Coordinator <a href="mailto:reimere@kscourts.org" target="_blank">reimere@kscourts.org</a> 785-296-2256 TTY at 711Eligibility requirementsNominees for this district magistrate judge must be:●a resident of Washington County at the time of taking office and while holding office;●a graduate of a high school, a secondary school, or the equivalent; and●either a lawyer admitted to practice in Kansas or able to pass an examination given by the Supreme Court to become certified within 18 months.The nominating commission seeks nominations, then convenes to interview nominees. Interviews are open to the public. The commission will then appoint a district magistrate judge.Term of officeAfter serving one year in office, a new judge must stand for a retention vote in the next general election to remain in the position. If retained, the incumbent will serve a four-year term.Nominating CommissionThe 12th Judicial District Nominating Commission consists of Justice K.J. Wall as the nonvoting chair; Carol Good, Barnard; William Navis, Belleville; Dwight Daniels, Curtis Frasier, and Jerry Harrison, Beloit; Dana Brewer and J. Bradley Lowell, Concordia; Tanner Johnson, Courtland; Daniel Metz, Lincoln; Darrell Miller and Roger Rightmeier, Mankato; and Bruce Meyer, Palmer.

12th Judicial District Nominating Commission to meet Monday

WASHINGTON (AP) — Monday seemed like the end of President Donald Trump’s relentless challenges to the election, after the federal government acknowledged President-elect Joe Biden was the “apparent winner” and Trump cleared the way for cooperation on a transition of power.

But his claims have a way of coming back. And back. And back.

By Wednesday, Trump was phoning into a local Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers’ meeting that had been orchestrated by his campaign to assert falsely, again, that the election was tainted.

“This election was rigged and we can’t let that happen,” Trump said by phone, offering no specific evidence.

The 2020 presidential race is turning into the zombie election that Trump just won’t let die. Despite dozens of legal and procedural setbacks, his campaign keeps filing new challenges that have no hope of succeeding and making fresh, unfounded claims of fraud.

But that’s the point. Trump’s strategy wasn’t to change the outcome, but to create a host of phantom claims about the 2020 presidential race that would infect the nation with doubt, even though the winner was clear and there has been no evidence of mass voter fraud.

“Zombies are dead people walking among the living — this litigation is the same thing,” said Franita Tolson, a professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. “In terms of litigation that could change the election, all these cases are basically dead men walking.”

It’s a strategy tolerated by many Republicans, most notably Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who are clinging to Trump as they face a test of retaining their own power in the form of two runoff elections in Georgia in January.

“This really is our version of a polite coup d’etat,” said Thomas Mann, senior resident scholar at the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. “It could end quickly if the Republican Party acknowledged what was going on. But they cower in the face of Trump’s connection with the base.”

A day after Trump said his administration should begin working with Biden’s team, three more lawsuits were filed by allies attempting to stop the certification in two more battleground states. In Minnesota, a judge did not rule on the suit&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-jesse-ventura-minnesota-elections-0d3e71aca92857b6f50a6c1363ddc186">and the state certified the results for Biden</a>. Another was filed in Wisconsin, which doesn’t certify until Tuesday. Arizona Republicans filed a complaint over ballot inspection; the state certification is due Monday.

And the campaign legal team said state lawmakers in Arizona and Michigan would hold meetings on the election “to provide confidence that all of the legal votes have been counted and the illegal votes have not been counted in the November 3rd election.”

In Pennsylvania, where state Republican lawmakers met at Gettysburg on Wednesday to air grievances about the election, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani attended in person and Trump dialed in from the Oval Office.

“We have all the evidence,” Trump asserted. “All we need is to have some judge listen to it properly without having a political opinion.”

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-pennsylvania-elections-talk-radio-433b6efe72720d8648221f405c2111f9">But the strongest legal rebuke yet came</a>&nbsp;from a conservative Republican judge in federal court in Pennsylvania, who on Saturday dismissed the Trump team’s lawsuit seeking to throw out the results of the election. The judge admonished the Trump campaign in a scathing ruling about its lack of evidence. The campaign has appealed.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fraud-claims-aimed-trump-base-loyal-e1c3c5147d11a033fb43ebe66a29f7e8">Trump’s allies have privately acknowledged</a>&nbsp;their plan would never actually overturn the results, but rather might provide Trump an off-ramp for a loss he wasn’t owning up to and an avenue to keep his base loyal for whatever he does next.

“And then our governing and politics will be hellish, because he will continue doing what he’s doing from his private own perch,” Mann predicted.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/emily-murphy-say-transitional-launch-110eea5e33860598a0e177708081dd47">Emily Murphy, the top official at the General Services Administration,&nbsp;</a>declared Biden the “apparent winner” Monday, a procedural yet critical step that allowed for the transition to begin in earnest. She made the determination after Trump’s efforts to subvert the vote failed across battleground states. She cited “recent developments involving legal challenges and certifications of election results.”

Michigan certified Biden’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michigan-consider-certifying-joe-biden-4ee6fbfd69f9a2a4daf9be449c6fe31d">154,000-count victory Monday</a>, despite calls by Trump to the GOP members to block the vote to allow for an audit of ballots in Wayne County, where Trump claimed he was the victim of fraud. Biden crushed the president by more than 330,000 votes there.

“The board’s duty today is very clear,” said Aaron Van Langevelde, the Republican vice chair. “We have a duty to certify this election based on these returns.”

Still, the Trump legal team dismissed the certification as “simply a procedural step” and insisted it would fight on.

Trump and his allies have brought at least four cases in Michigan that sought — unsuccessfully — to block certification of election results in part or all of the state.

In Pennsylvania, after Gov. Tom Wolf certified Biden as the winner, an appeals court judge ordered state officials to halt any further steps toward certifying election results. The state has appealed to Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court.

In Arizona, just as lawyers for a woman in the Phoenix area dropped a case alleging that equipment was unable to record her ballot because she completed it with a county-issued Sharpie pen, Trump’s campaign filed its own lawsuit echoing some of the same complaints. As that suit was about to be dismissed, lawyers for the woman filed a new case reviving the claims and demanding that she be allowed to recast her ballot. All three of the cases have now been dismissed.

“The legal process seems to be unfolding the way it’s supposed to, but the Trump campaign has made clear its desire to throw wrenches in the system wherever it can,” said Lisa Marshall Manheim, a professor at the University of Washington School of Law.

WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is headed to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to continue his fight to overturn the results of the election and secure Trump a second term.

Pennsylvania has already certified its results and awarded its 20 electors to Democrat Joe Biden, who was declared the winner of the Nov. 3 election.

Giuliani is leading legal challenges to the balloting in Pennsylvania and other states as the Republican president seeks to maintain his base of supporters and keep his options open for opportunities post-presidency.

Giuliani claimed in a Wednesday interview with New York radio station AM 970 that illegal votes were cast, especially in Philadelphia, that he wants to see disqualified. But a broad coalition of top government and industry officials says the Nov. 3 election was “the most secure in American history.”

In Pennsylvania on Saturday, a conservative Republican judge shot down the Trump campaign’s biggest legal effort in the state with a scathing ruling that questioned why he was supposed to disenfranchise 7 million voters with no evidence to back its claims and an inept legal argument at best.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1605823833108.png" alt="Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for President Donald Trump during a news conference Nov. 19 in Washington -photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for President Donald Trump during a news conference Nov. 19 in Washington -photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Monday seemed like the end of President Donald Trump’s relentless challenges to the election, after the federal government acknowledged President-elect Joe Biden was the “apparent winner” and Trump cleared the way for cooperation on a transition of power.But his claims have a way of coming back. And back. And back.By Wednesday, Trump was phoning into a local Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers’ meeting that had been orchestrated by his campaign to assert falsely, again, that the election was tainted.“This election was rigged and we can’t let that happen,” Trump said by phone, offering no specific evidence.The 2020 presidential race is turning into the zombie election that Trump just won’t let die. Despite dozens of legal and procedural setbacks, his campaign keeps filing new challenges that have no hope of succeeding and making fresh, unfounded claims of fraud.But that’s the point. Trump’s strategy wasn’t to change the outcome, but to create a host of phantom claims about the 2020 presidential race that would infect the nation with doubt, even though the winner was clear and there has been no evidence of mass voter fraud.“Zombies are dead people walking among the living — this litigation is the same thing,” said Franita Tolson, a professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. “In terms of litigation that could change the election, all these cases are basically dead men walking.”It’s a strategy tolerated by many Republicans, most notably Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who are clinging to Trump as they face a test of retaining their own power in the form of two runoff elections in Georgia in January.“This really is our version of a polite coup d’etat,” said Thomas Mann, senior resident scholar at the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. “It could end quickly if the Republican Party acknowledged what was going on. But they cower in the face of Trump’s connection with the base.”A day after Trump said his administration should begin working with Biden’s team, three more lawsuits were filed by allies attempting to stop the certification in two more battleground states. In Minnesota, a judge did not rule on the suit&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-jesse-ventura-minnesota-elections-0d3e71aca92857b6f50a6c1363ddc186">and the state certified the results for Biden</a>. Another was filed in Wisconsin, which doesn’t certify until Tuesday. Arizona Republicans filed a complaint over ballot inspection; the state certification is due Monday.And the campaign legal team said state lawmakers in Arizona and Michigan would hold meetings on the election “to provide confidence that all of the legal votes have been counted and the illegal votes have not been counted in the November 3rd election.”In Pennsylvania, where state Republican lawmakers met at Gettysburg on Wednesday to air grievances about the election, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani attended in person and Trump dialed in from the Oval Office.“We have all the evidence,” Trump asserted. “All we need is to have some judge listen to it properly without having a political opinion.”<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-pennsylvania-elections-talk-radio-433b6efe72720d8648221f405c2111f9">But the strongest legal rebuke yet came</a>&nbsp;from a conservative Republican judge in federal court in Pennsylvania, who on Saturday dismissed the Trump team’s lawsuit seeking to throw out the results of the election. The judge admonished the Trump campaign in a scathing ruling about its lack of evidence. The campaign has appealed.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fraud-claims-aimed-trump-base-loyal-e1c3c5147d11a033fb43ebe66a29f7e8">Trump’s allies have privately acknowledged</a>&nbsp;their plan would never actually overturn the results, but rather might provide Trump an off-ramp for a loss he wasn’t owning up to and an avenue to keep his base loyal for whatever he does next.“And then our governing and politics will be hellish, because he will continue doing what he’s doing from his private own perch,” Mann predicted.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/emily-murphy-say-transitional-launch-110eea5e33860598a0e177708081dd47">Emily Murphy, the top official at the General Services Administration,&nbsp;</a>declared Biden the “apparent winner” Monday, a procedural yet critical step that allowed for the transition to begin in earnest. She made the determination after Trump’s efforts to subvert the vote failed across battleground states. She cited “recent developments involving legal challenges and certifications of election results.”Michigan certified Biden’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michigan-consider-certifying-joe-biden-4ee6fbfd69f9a2a4daf9be449c6fe31d">154,000-count victory Monday</a>, despite calls by Trump to the GOP members to block the vote to allow for an audit of ballots in Wayne County, where Trump claimed he was the victim of fraud. Biden crushed the president by more than 330,000 votes there.“The board’s duty today is very clear,” said Aaron Van Langevelde, the Republican vice chair. “We have a duty to certify this election based on these returns.”Still, the Trump legal team dismissed the certification as “simply a procedural step” and insisted it would fight on.Trump and his allies have brought at least four cases in Michigan that sought — unsuccessfully — to block certification of election results in part or all of the state.In Pennsylvania, after Gov. Tom Wolf certified Biden as the winner, an appeals court judge ordered state officials to halt any further steps toward certifying election results. The state has appealed to Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court.In Arizona, just as lawyers for a woman in the Phoenix area dropped a case alleging that equipment was unable to record her ballot because she completed it with a county-issued Sharpie pen, Trump’s campaign filed its own lawsuit echoing some of the same complaints. As that suit was about to be dismissed, lawyers for the woman filed a new case reviving the claims and demanding that she be allowed to recast her ballot. All three of the cases have now been dismissed.“The legal process seems to be unfolding the way it’s supposed to, but the Trump campaign has made clear its desire to throw wrenches in the system wherever it can,” said Lisa Marshall Manheim, a professor at the University of Washington School of Law.----------WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is headed to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to continue his fight to overturn the results of the election and secure Trump a second term.Pennsylvania has already certified its results and awarded its 20 electors to Democrat Joe Biden, who was declared the winner of the Nov. 3 election.Giuliani is leading legal challenges to the balloting in Pennsylvania and other states as the Republican president seeks to maintain his base of supporters and keep his options open for opportunities post-presidency.Giuliani claimed in a Wednesday interview with New York radio station AM 970 that illegal votes were cast, especially in Philadelphia, that he wants to see disqualified. But a broad coalition of top government and industry officials says the Nov. 3 election was “the most secure in American history.”In Pennsylvania on Saturday, a conservative Republican judge shot down the Trump campaign’s biggest legal effort in the state with a scathing ruling that questioned why he was supposed to disenfranchise 7 million voters with no evidence to back its claims and an inept legal argument at best.

Update: President's legal team continues election fight 

By NOMIN UJIYEDIIN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-11-23/black-babies-in-kansas-are-twice-as-likely-as-white-kids-to-die-before-their-first-birthday">Kansas News Service</a>

Black and Native American babies in Kansas die at almost twice the rate as white infants in their first year of life.

Out of every 1,000 live births, 11.8 Black and
 10.4 Native American babies die before their first birthdays in Kansas.
 Meanwhile, only 5.6 out of every 1,000 white babies die in that period.

The data from 2013 to 2017 — originally gathered and published by the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/index.htm" target="_blank">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>, and newly collected in a report from the N<a href="https://www.hopeinitiative.org/" target="_blank">ational Collaborative for Health Equity</a> — suggests that race can be a major factor in a community’s health.

The
 report collects and publishes numerous health measures gathered by 
government surveys over the past decade. It shows Black people and other
 people of color in Kansas are also more likely to live in areas with a 
high density of liquor stores and a greater frequency of robberies and 
homicides.

Those factors can cause stress that can damage the 
health of mothers and their babies, said Gail Christopher, executive 
director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity.

“Safety 
is a very important factor in terms of the perception of health and 
well-being,” Christopher said. “Fear translates into a physiological, 
biochemical stress reaction.”

Black mothers may also have trouble 
getting to doctor’s appointments because they live too far from 
hospitals and other medical providers and because they don’t have 
reliable access to transportation or can’t take time off of work. 
People’s income, education level or neighborhood can also impact whether
 they can even choose healthier behaviors, she said.

“Behavior is 
driven by environment. It’s driven by context,” she said. “If there are 
no grocery stores within your vicinity that sell produce, how are you 
going to make sure that you’re getting in five servings of vegetables a 
day?”

Those factors may also have affected COVID-19’s <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/investigations-discovery/hospitalization-death-by-race-ethnicity.html" target="_blank">disproportionate impact</a> on Black, Latino, Asian and Native American communities across the U.S.

In Kansas, <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-04-23/black-kansans-at-least-7-times-more-likely-to-die-from-coronavirus-than-white-kansans" target="_blank">Black people were more likely to die</a>
 of coronavirus-related causes in the early days of the pandemic, when 
most cases were in urban parts of the state. Now that cases have risen 
in rural counties, the <a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas" target="_blank">death rate among Black Kansans</a> lags slightly behind that of white Kansans.

The
 pandemic has especially highlighted the impact that housing and food 
insecurity have on health, Christopher said. Black Kansans are about 
half as likely to own their homes when compared to white Kansans, and 
more likely to spend a large portion of their incomes on housing 
expenses.

Higher rates of illnesses and death can also be the result of racism in medicine, Christopher said.

“Everyone
 in our society carries biases,” she said. “How do we create ways of 
delivering care that help to mitigate the possibility that those biases 
are actually driving our decisions and our outcomes?”

A legacy of 
racism exists not only in society as a whole, but also among medical 
providers who may treat Black patients differently, said Dr. Michelle 
Ogunwole, a physician and health disparities researcher at Johns Hopkins
 University. <a href="https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/how-we-fail-black-patients-pain" target="_blank">Studies show</a> that doctors are less likely to take Black patients’ pain seriously.

“If you feel like something’s wrong, but that people don’t listen to you,” Ogunwole said, “that has implications for outcomes.”

Hospitals that mostly treat Black patients tend to have fewer resources, Ogunwole said. That also leads to<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22816447/" target="_blank"> poorer health outcomes</a> for <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4698019/" target="_blank">patients at those hospitals</a>, regardless of race.

One possible solution: increasing the number of Black physicians. A 2020 study found that the increase in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/35/21194" target="_blank">mortality rates for Black babies dropped by half </a>when the children were cared for by Black physicians.

Black
 physicians can also be more effective at educating Black patients about
 their health, Ogunwole said. She said she sometimes uses her own 
experiences as a Black person to relate to her patients.

“I will definitely lean into that identity,” she said. “It ends up being way more effective.”

But medical schools at historically Black colleges and universities have been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3739050/" target="_blank">less well funded</a>
 than medical schools at historically white colleges. And Black medical 
students can be affected by the same racism and lack of access to care 
that have impacted their patients’ lives.

“Those people have to be supported in a different way,” Ogunwole said, “so they can make it through the pipeline.”

Ultimately,
 Ogunwole said, Black mothers and patients don’t necessarily need to be 
treated by Black doctors, but by people who respect and value them, 
regardless of race.

“(Women) just want to be cared for and for 
people to value them and their children,” she said. “They just want what
 everybody wants, which is to live healthy and full lives.”

Nomin
 Ujiyediin reports on criminal justice and social welfare for the Kansas
 News Service. You can email her at nomin@kcur.org and follow
 her on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/nominuj" target="_blank">@NominUJ</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606170442903.png" alt="About 1% of Black babies in Kansas die before their first birthday. Chris Neal / For the Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>About 1% of Black babies in Kansas die before their first birthday. Chris Neal / For the Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By NOMIN UJIYEDIIN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-11-23/black-babies-in-kansas-are-twice-as-likely-as-white-kids-to-die-before-their-first-birthday">Kansas News Service</a>Black and Native American babies in Kansas die at almost twice the rate as white infants in their first year of life.Out of every 1,000 live births, 11.8 Black and
 10.4 Native American babies die before their first birthdays in Kansas.
 Meanwhile, only 5.6 out of every 1,000 white babies die in that period.The data from 2013 to 2017 — originally gathered and published by the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/index.htm" target="_blank">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>, and newly collected in a report from the N<a href="https://www.hopeinitiative.org/" target="_blank">ational Collaborative for Health Equity</a> — suggests that race can be a major factor in a community’s health.The
 report collects and publishes numerous health measures gathered by 
government surveys over the past decade. It shows Black people and other
 people of color in Kansas are also more likely to live in areas with a 
high density of liquor stores and a greater frequency of robberies and 
homicides.Those factors can cause stress that can damage the 
health of mothers and their babies, said Gail Christopher, executive 
director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity.“Safety 
is a very important factor in terms of the perception of health and 
well-being,” Christopher said. “Fear translates into a physiological, 
biochemical stress reaction.”Black mothers may also have trouble 
getting to doctor’s appointments because they live too far from 
hospitals and other medical providers and because they don’t have 
reliable access to transportation or can’t take time off of work. 
People’s income, education level or neighborhood can also impact whether
 they can even choose healthier behaviors, she said.“Behavior is 
driven by environment. It’s driven by context,” she said. “If there are 
no grocery stores within your vicinity that sell produce, how are you 
going to make sure that you’re getting in five servings of vegetables a 
day?”Those factors may also have affected COVID-19’s <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/investigations-discovery/hospitalization-death-by-race-ethnicity.html" target="_blank">disproportionate impact</a> on Black, Latino, Asian and Native American communities across the U.S.In Kansas, <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-04-23/black-kansans-at-least-7-times-more-likely-to-die-from-coronavirus-than-white-kansans" target="_blank">Black people were more likely to die</a>
 of coronavirus-related causes in the early days of the pandemic, when 
most cases were in urban parts of the state. Now that cases have risen 
in rural counties, the <a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas" target="_blank">death rate among Black Kansans</a> lags slightly behind that of white Kansans.The
 pandemic has especially highlighted the impact that housing and food 
insecurity have on health, Christopher said. Black Kansans are about 
half as likely to own their homes when compared to white Kansans, and 
more likely to spend a large portion of their incomes on housing 
expenses.<h2>Interpersonal and structural racism</h2>Higher rates of illnesses and death can also be the result of racism in medicine, Christopher said.“Everyone
 in our society carries biases,” she said. “How do we create ways of 
delivering care that help to mitigate the possibility that those biases 
are actually driving our decisions and our outcomes?”A legacy of 
racism exists not only in society as a whole, but also among medical 
providers who may treat Black patients differently, said Dr. Michelle 
Ogunwole, a physician and health disparities researcher at Johns Hopkins
 University. <a href="https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/how-we-fail-black-patients-pain" target="_blank">Studies show</a> that doctors are less likely to take Black patients’ pain seriously.“If you feel like something’s wrong, but that people don’t listen to you,” Ogunwole said, “that has implications for outcomes.”Hospitals that mostly treat Black patients tend to have fewer resources, Ogunwole said. That also leads to<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22816447/" target="_blank"> poorer health outcomes</a> for <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4698019/" target="_blank">patients at those hospitals</a>, regardless of race.One possible solution: increasing the number of Black physicians. A 2020 study found that the increase in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/35/21194" target="_blank">mortality rates for Black babies dropped by half </a>when the children were cared for by Black physicians.Black
 physicians can also be more effective at educating Black patients about
 their health, Ogunwole said. She said she sometimes uses her own 
experiences as a Black person to relate to her patients.“I will definitely lean into that identity,” she said. “It ends up being way more effective.”But medical schools at historically Black colleges and universities have been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3739050/" target="_blank">less well funded</a>
 than medical schools at historically white colleges. And Black medical 
students can be affected by the same racism and lack of access to care 
that have impacted their patients’ lives.“Those people have to be supported in a different way,” Ogunwole said, “so they can make it through the pipeline.”Ultimately,
 Ogunwole said, Black mothers and patients don’t necessarily need to be 
treated by Black doctors, but by people who respect and value them, 
regardless of race.“(Women) just want to be cared for and for 
people to value them and their children,” she said. “They just want what
 everybody wants, which is to live healthy and full lives.”Nomin
 Ujiyediin reports on criminal justice and social welfare for the Kansas
 News Service. You can email her at nomin@kcur.org and follow
 her on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/nominuj" target="_blank">@NominUJ</a>.

Black babies in Kan. twice as likely as white kids to die before age 1

By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY Salina Post

Salina City Commissioners dealt with several COVID-19 related issues during their regular meeting this afternoon.

The meeting itself was a product of pandemic life as commissioners met via Zoom. Citizens were allowed to comment via Zoom or could simply watch the proceedings via the city's YouTube channel. The change in meeting format was a result of the county's recent public health order regarding COVID-19. The commission will continue to meet via Zoom until further notice.

READ: <a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/46682045-45df-46f2-9bc5-e1f6eec9dc0f">New county public health order puts restrictions on indoor gatherings</a>

City Manager Mike Schrage updated the commissioners concerning the county's public health order that was issued Friday. Schrage told commissioners that there wasn't necessarily any action that they needed to take in regard to the health order, however he reminded them that they could "take separate and distinct action" as it pertains to the city if they didn't agree with something in the county's order.

"That's kind of in contradiction to the motion you passed a week ago acknowledging the role of the health department and the county commission. It certainly could create a lot of disconnect and possible confusion between what we might do and what the county might do. I think our intention all along has been to be as coordinated as possible between the city and the county," he said.

Schrage reminded commissioners that the Uniform Public Offense Code, which the city typically adopts annually, includes a violation that addresses failing to abide by a health order.

"So we already have by way of our adoption of the UPOC sufficient provisions in our code to make whatever gets adopted as a health order a city code violation," he said.

Commissioners also considered revising the city's ordinance requiring the wearing of masks or face coverings in public spaces. Schrage noted that during the commission meeting a week ago, commissioners directed city staff to prepare an amendment to the ordinance for consideration this week.

"The gist of it was that you tasked staff with preparing an amendment for your consideration to clarify that facemasks should be worn in indoor public spaces regardless of social distancing when another person is present," Schrage said. 

"So essentially, the only change that this ordinance as it is presented to you currently makes is it eliminates any references to 'when social distancing can't be maintained'," he continued. "If you're in an indoor space and there's more than one person present in that space, the expectation is that you wear a mask unless you qualify for one of the exemptions stated in the ordinance."

After listening to public comment, the commissioners heard both the first and second readings of the ordinance and approved it unanimously. It will take effect as soon as it is published in the official county newspaper -- the Salina Journal -- which Schrage thought could be as early as this weekend. He said the city would notify the commissioners and the public as soon as a publication date is known.

For a draft copy of the ordinance approved, <a href="http://weblink.salina.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=456106&amp;dbid=0&amp;repo=Salina">click here</a>.

During the discussion on the ordinance, it was noted that Salina Regional Health Center (SRHC) receives COVID-19 patients from a number of area counties, some of which have no mask mandates. Commissioners discussed sending a letter to other counties in the area stressing the importance of mask mandates and other health issues that might limit the spread of COVID-19 in order to potentially lessen the patient load on SRHC. City staff was directed to draft such a letter.

Additionally, commissioners unanimously approved closing the Salina Fieldhouse on a temporary basis, given the recent county public health order, until such time as it is safe to reopen.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606189579240.png" alt="Salina City Commissioners conducted their regular meeting today/tonight via Zoom." />
 <figcaption>Salina City Commissioners conducted their regular meeting today/tonight via Zoom.</figcaption>
 </figure>By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY Salina PostSalina City Commissioners dealt with several COVID-19 related issues during their regular meeting this afternoon.The meeting itself was a product of pandemic life as commissioners met via Zoom. Citizens were allowed to comment via Zoom or could simply watch the proceedings via the city's YouTube channel. The change in meeting format was a result of the county's recent public health order regarding COVID-19. The commission will continue to meet via Zoom until further notice.READ: <a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/46682045-45df-46f2-9bc5-e1f6eec9dc0f">New county public health order puts restrictions on indoor gatherings</a>City Manager Mike Schrage updated the commissioners concerning the county's public health order that was issued Friday. Schrage told commissioners that there wasn't necessarily any action that they needed to take in regard to the health order, however he reminded them that they could "take separate and distinct action" as it pertains to the city if they didn't agree with something in the county's order."That's kind of in contradiction to the motion you passed a week ago acknowledging the role of the health department and the county commission. It certainly could create a lot of disconnect and possible confusion between what we might do and what the county might do. I think our intention all along has been to be as coordinated as possible between the city and the county," he said.Schrage reminded commissioners that the Uniform Public Offense Code, which the city typically adopts annually, includes a violation that addresses failing to abide by a health order."So we already have by way of our adoption of the UPOC sufficient provisions in our code to make whatever gets adopted as a health order a city code violation," he said.Commissioners also considered revising the city's ordinance requiring the wearing of masks or face coverings in public spaces. Schrage noted that during the commission meeting a week ago, commissioners directed city staff to prepare an amendment to the ordinance for consideration this week."The gist of it was that you tasked staff with preparing an amendment for your consideration to clarify that facemasks should be worn in indoor public spaces regardless of social distancing when another person is present," Schrage said. "So essentially, the only change that this ordinance as it is presented to you currently makes is it eliminates any references to 'when social distancing can't be maintained'," he continued. "If you're in an indoor space and there's more than one person present in that space, the expectation is that you wear a mask unless you qualify for one of the exemptions stated in the ordinance."After listening to public comment, the commissioners heard both the first and second readings of the ordinance and approved it unanimously. It will take effect as soon as it is published in the official county newspaper -- the Salina Journal -- which Schrage thought could be as early as this weekend. He said the city would notify the commissioners and the public as soon as a publication date is known.For a draft copy of the ordinance approved, <a href="http://weblink.salina.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=456106&amp;dbid=0&amp;repo=Salina">click here</a>.During the discussion on the ordinance, it was noted that Salina Regional Health Center (SRHC) receives COVID-19 patients from a number of area counties, some of which have no mask mandates. Commissioners discussed sending a letter to other counties in the area stressing the importance of mask mandates and other health issues that might limit the spread of COVID-19 in order to potentially lessen the patient load on SRHC. City staff was directed to draft such a letter.Additionally, commissioners unanimously approved closing the Salina Fieldhouse on a temporary basis, given the recent county public health order, until such time as it is safe to reopen.

City updates face coverings ordinance, closes fieldhouse

Buckle up, America. U.S. Supreme Court&nbsp;Justice Samuel Alito&nbsp;may well have pulled the “start” switch on the First Amendment’s legal equivalent of a popular carnival attraction, the Tilt-a-Whirl — a wild, spinning legislative ride propelled by a revolving wheel of judicial review.

In a speech Nov. 12 to the conservative Federalist Society,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.freedomforum.org/2020/11/17/justice-alito-sees-danger-ahead-for-first-amendment-religion-and-speech-rights/" target="_blank">Alito offered a list</a>&nbsp;of grievances about the state of individual rights in America, with a special focus on the freedoms of religion and speech.

Alito was very critical of a 5-4 Supreme Court decision this summer that rejected a church’s objection to Nevada’s COVID-19-based restrictions on attendance at religious services. He pointed out that casinos in that state were limited to 50 percent capacity, while houses of worship were subject to a smaller, flat 50-person limit.

Rejecting this “disparate treatment should not have been a very tough call,” he said. “Take a quick look at the Constitution. You will see the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, which protects religious liberty. You will not find a craps clause, or a blackjack clause, or a slot machine clause.”

Noting that comedian&nbsp;George Carlin&nbsp;once identified “seven dirty words” not allowed to be spoken on television, Alito said that “today you can see shows on your TV screen in which the dialogue appears at times to consist almost entirely of those words … But it would be easy to put together a new list called ‘Things You Can’t Say If You Are a Student or a Professor at a College or University or an Employee of Many Big Corporations.’ And there wouldn’t be just seven items on that list. Seventy times seven would be closer.”

Following the court’s legalization of same-sex marriage, which he opposed, Alito predicted vilification of those opposing the decision. In his speech, Alito claimed that “You can’t say that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. Until very recently, that’s what the vast majority of Americans thought. Now it’s considered bigotry.”

A second justice,&nbsp;Clarence Thomas, has twice this year called for the court to revisit — and perhaps reverse — a landmark 1964 free speech and free press case,&nbsp;New York Times&nbsp;v. Sullivan, which generally rules out successful defamation lawsuits by political or public persons without evidence of “actual malice.”

A new, 6-3 conservative balance on the court may provide additional support for both Alito and Thomas and for the construction of new legal shields based on religious views against anti-discrimination laws. The court will rule next spring in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, involving that city’s attempt to withhold public funds from a Catholic social work group which refuses to consider same-sex couples when placing children for adoption.

Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress seem intent on reviewing First Amendment rights and special legal protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, now enjoyed by Silicon Valley tech companies. The changes would target social media giants such as Twitter and Facebook and perhaps even attempt to reduce Google’s dominate position among search engines.

Advocates say changes and limits are needed to ensure diverse viewpoints. Removing some or all of those protections, the companies argue, would force them to adopt draconian restrictions on what we freely say online in these 21st century equivalents of the colonial public square.

Congress also is expected to quickly take up other complicated, “First Amendment-ish” aspects around free speech on the web — that is, balancing the need to fight misinformation and distortion of facts online with unfettered access by individuals to this new, electronic version of the public square.

A new conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court seems likely to heed Alito’s call to revisit both new and long-standing First Amendment rulings, particularly on religion and speech. State legislatures in more than 40 states seem bent on rewriting laws across a dizzying array of rulings, all aimed at restricting protest and assembly.

Freedom of the press will continue to be beset by both critics who would diminish its First Amendment protections and those advocates who would save independent American journalism by inserting government into the unprecedented role of at least a partial funder.

And within the First Amendment scholarly community itself, there is growing sentiment that the original 45 words, adopted in 1791, need to be reworked and revised to meet the challenges of a modern, 24/7 globally connected planetary society.

Even the relatively new doctrine of “government speech” is gaining ground — that government itself has free speech rights, as in what slogans are banned from state-issued license plates, or which religious symbols are allowed in public spaces. As it happens, Justice Alito has played both a major role in court decisions advancing the doctrine, but also cautioning against its overuse.

For nearly 100 years, First Amendment law has been largely focused on protecting the free expression of individual viewpoints, particularly those considered “fringe” or “extreme.” Now in vogue: Claims to a “right” not to hear someone’s views.

Many of these new voices and approaches in the marketplace of ideas echo Alito’s basic pitch: It’s time for conservative views and limits to take over from what they see as overly broad, liberal expansions across the five freedoms.

Keep both hands and feet firmly inside the whirling legal constructs, dear fellow citizens. And pay close attention to what people are saying in the upcoming debates over balancing our core freedoms with other values.

Hang on through the ride and listen to the debates as if the very meaning and application of the First Amendment for the next generation depends on it — because it will.

Gene Policinski is a senior fellow for the First Amendment at the Freedom Forum, and president and chief operating officer of the Freedom Forum Institute. He can be reached at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:gpolicinski@freedomforum.org" target="_blank">gpolicinski@freedomforum.org</a>, or follow him on Twitter at&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/@genefac" target="_blank">@genefac</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1593729871227.png" alt="Gene Policinski. Photo courtesy Freedom Forum" />
 <figcaption>Gene Policinski. Photo courtesy Freedom Forum</figcaption>
 </figure>By GENE POLICINSKIBuckle up, America. U.S. Supreme Court&nbsp;Justice Samuel Alito&nbsp;may well have pulled the “start” switch on the First Amendment’s legal equivalent of a popular carnival attraction, the Tilt-a-Whirl — a wild, spinning legislative ride propelled by a revolving wheel of judicial review.In a speech Nov. 12 to the conservative Federalist Society,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.freedomforum.org/2020/11/17/justice-alito-sees-danger-ahead-for-first-amendment-religion-and-speech-rights/" target="_blank">Alito offered a list</a>&nbsp;of grievances about the state of individual rights in America, with a special focus on the freedoms of religion and speech.Alito was very critical of a 5-4 Supreme Court decision this summer that rejected a church’s objection to Nevada’s COVID-19-based restrictions on attendance at religious services. He pointed out that casinos in that state were limited to 50 percent capacity, while houses of worship were subject to a smaller, flat 50-person limit.Rejecting this “disparate treatment should not have been a very tough call,” he said. “Take a quick look at the Constitution. You will see the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, which protects religious liberty. You will not find a craps clause, or a blackjack clause, or a slot machine clause.”Noting that comedian&nbsp;George Carlin&nbsp;once identified “seven dirty words” not allowed to be spoken on television, Alito said that “today you can see shows on your TV screen in which the dialogue appears at times to consist almost entirely of those words … But it would be easy to put together a new list called ‘Things You Can’t Say If You Are a Student or a Professor at a College or University or an Employee of Many Big Corporations.’ And there wouldn’t be just seven items on that list. Seventy times seven would be closer.”Following the court’s legalization of same-sex marriage, which he opposed, Alito predicted vilification of those opposing the decision. In his speech, Alito claimed that “You can’t say that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. Until very recently, that’s what the vast majority of Americans thought. Now it’s considered bigotry.”A second justice,&nbsp;Clarence Thomas, has twice this year called for the court to revisit — and perhaps reverse — a landmark 1964 free speech and free press case,&nbsp;New York Times&nbsp;v. Sullivan, which generally rules out successful defamation lawsuits by political or public persons without evidence of “actual malice.”A new, 6-3 conservative balance on the court may provide additional support for both Alito and Thomas and for the construction of new legal shields based on religious views against anti-discrimination laws. The court will rule next spring in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, involving that city’s attempt to withhold public funds from a Catholic social work group which refuses to consider same-sex couples when placing children for adoption.Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress seem intent on reviewing First Amendment rights and special legal protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, now enjoyed by Silicon Valley tech companies. The changes would target social media giants such as Twitter and Facebook and perhaps even attempt to reduce Google’s dominate position among search engines.Advocates say changes and limits are needed to ensure diverse viewpoints. Removing some or all of those protections, the companies argue, would force them to adopt draconian restrictions on what we freely say online in these 21st century equivalents of the colonial public square.Congress also is expected to quickly take up other complicated, “First Amendment-ish” aspects around free speech on the web — that is, balancing the need to fight misinformation and distortion of facts online with unfettered access by individuals to this new, electronic version of the public square.A new conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court seems likely to heed Alito’s call to revisit both new and long-standing First Amendment rulings, particularly on religion and speech. State legislatures in more than 40 states seem bent on rewriting laws across a dizzying array of rulings, all aimed at restricting protest and assembly.Freedom of the press will continue to be beset by both critics who would diminish its First Amendment protections and those advocates who would save independent American journalism by inserting government into the unprecedented role of at least a partial funder.And within the First Amendment scholarly community itself, there is growing sentiment that the original 45 words, adopted in 1791, need to be reworked and revised to meet the challenges of a modern, 24/7 globally connected planetary society.Even the relatively new doctrine of “government speech” is gaining ground — that government itself has free speech rights, as in what slogans are banned from state-issued license plates, or which religious symbols are allowed in public spaces. As it happens, Justice Alito has played both a major role in court decisions advancing the doctrine, but also cautioning against its overuse.For nearly 100 years, First Amendment law has been largely focused on protecting the free expression of individual viewpoints, particularly those considered “fringe” or “extreme.” Now in vogue: Claims to a “right” not to hear someone’s views.Many of these new voices and approaches in the marketplace of ideas echo Alito’s basic pitch: It’s time for conservative views and limits to take over from what they see as overly broad, liberal expansions across the five freedoms.Keep both hands and feet firmly inside the whirling legal constructs, dear fellow citizens. And pay close attention to what people are saying in the upcoming debates over balancing our core freedoms with other values.Hang on through the ride and listen to the debates as if the very meaning and application of the First Amendment for the next generation depends on it — because it will.Gene Policinski is a senior fellow for the First Amendment at the Freedom Forum, and president and chief operating officer of the Freedom Forum Institute. He can be reached at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:gpolicinski@freedomforum.org" target="_blank">gpolicinski@freedomforum.org</a>, or follow him on Twitter at&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/@genefac" target="_blank">@genefac</a>.

FIRST FIVE: Buckle up America; We're in for a wild First Amendment ride

Salina Art Center was recently awarded the Excellence in Graphic Design Award from the Kansas Museums Association. 

The work by&nbsp;Abby&nbsp;Crawford, in-house graphic artist for the Art Center, was created as part of "Birdwatchers" a summer exhibition by artist Fidencio Fifield-Perez."

Abby&nbsp;creates beautiful&nbsp;work. Her materials are vehicles to share information with our audiences both in-person and online. From hand-stitching books to designing the title graphic by hand,&nbsp;Abby&nbsp;did a superb job of respecting the artist, celebrating his work, and creating a well-branded exhibition." Misty Serene, executive director, Salina Art Center.

Fidencio Fifield-Perez creates art that reflects his experience as a Latino immigrant in America. His mixed-media art is inspired by everyday life and examines borders, edges, and the people who must traverse them. When planning the exhibition, the Art Center commissioned an essay by Ruslana Lichtzier. Together, Ruslana and Fidencio developed the Birdwatchers exhibition title.&nbsp;Abby developed an identity for the exhibition and surrounding programming that would connect, engage, inform, and challenge audiences while respecting and celebrating the talents of the artist and writer. In one of her early Zoom meetings with Fidencio,&nbsp;Abby&nbsp;was able to explore his work through images and listen to what he said about each. After that meeting, Abby&nbsp;developed the base “Birdwatchers” title designed with a handmade font. In that one small design element,&nbsp;Abby&nbsp;mimicked elements present in Fidencio’s own drawings and weavings. From there, she continued to design a series of digital and print materials branded with a unique style very connected to the artist’s work. She used envelope motifs, weaving patterns, and color schemes that complemented the work in the gallery and created a social media presence that was easily identifiable as “Birdwatchers.”

The highlight of her design skill for this exhibition was a limited-edition exhibition guide. The guide was presented in a branded manila envelope, a nod to Fidencio’s “dacaments.” The 24-page guide was hand-stitched and included images of work in the exhibition. The guide also contained a full version of the essay by Ruslana Lichtzier, artist bios, exhibition statement from Gretchen Boyum, and funding recognitions. All print materials for the exhibition were printed in both English and Spanish.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1605931783705.jpeg" alt="Abby Crawford. Photo courtesy Salina Art Center" />
 <figcaption>Abby Crawford. Photo courtesy Salina Art Center</figcaption>
 </figure>Salina Art Center was recently awarded the Excellence in Graphic Design Award from the Kansas Museums Association. The work by&nbsp;Abby&nbsp;Crawford, in-house graphic artist for the Art Center, was created as part of "Birdwatchers" a summer exhibition by artist Fidencio Fifield-Perez."Abby&nbsp;creates beautiful&nbsp;work. Her materials are vehicles to share information with our audiences both in-person and online. From hand-stitching books to designing the title graphic by hand,&nbsp;Abby&nbsp;did a superb job of respecting the artist, celebrating his work, and creating a well-branded exhibition." Misty Serene, executive director, Salina Art Center.Fidencio Fifield-Perez creates art that reflects his experience as a Latino immigrant in America. His mixed-media art is inspired by everyday life and examines borders, edges, and the people who must traverse them. When planning the exhibition, the Art Center commissioned an essay by Ruslana Lichtzier. Together, Ruslana and Fidencio developed the Birdwatchers exhibition title.&nbsp;Abby developed an identity for the exhibition and surrounding programming that would connect, engage, inform, and challenge audiences while respecting and celebrating the talents of the artist and writer. In one of her early Zoom meetings with Fidencio,&nbsp;Abby&nbsp;was able to explore his work through images and listen to what he said about each. After that meeting, Abby&nbsp;developed the base “Birdwatchers” title designed with a handmade font. In that one small design element,&nbsp;Abby&nbsp;mimicked elements present in Fidencio’s own drawings and weavings. From there, she continued to design a series of digital and print materials branded with a unique style very connected to the artist’s work. She used envelope motifs, weaving patterns, and color schemes that complemented the work in the gallery and created a social media presence that was easily identifiable as “Birdwatchers.”The highlight of her design skill for this exhibition was a limited-edition exhibition guide. The guide was presented in a branded manila envelope, a nod to Fidencio’s “dacaments.” The 24-page guide was hand-stitched and included images of work in the exhibition. The guide also contained a full version of the essay by Ruslana Lichtzier, artist bios, exhibition statement from Gretchen Boyum, and funding recognitions. All print materials for the exhibition were printed in both English and Spanish.&nbsp;

KMA recognizes Salina Art Center for Excellence in Graphic Design

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid, as well as players Le'Veon Bell and Ben Niemann, talked football during a Friday presser. From <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KansasCityChiefs">The Kansas City Chiefs</a> Facebook page:

You can listen to the Chiefs' games on KINA (910 AM and 107.5 FM) and 99KG (99.9 FM), your local Chiefs Radio Network stations.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid, as well as players Le'Veon Bell and Ben Niemann, talked football during a Friday presser. From <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KansasCityChiefs">The Kansas City Chiefs</a> Facebook page:<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FKansasCityChiefs%2Fvideos%2F217791156448011%2F&show_text=true&width=560" width="560" height="429" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>You can listen to the Chiefs' games on KINA (910 AM and 107.5 FM) and 99KG (99.9 FM), your local Chiefs Radio Network stations.

📹Chiefs' Reid, Bell, and Niemann talk football Friday

After more than an hour of listening to citizen comments and sharing their own opinions, the Saline County Commissioners this afternoon made two changes to a Saline County Public Health Order that goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.

County Health Officer Jason Tiller issued the order "to mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Saline County."

READ: <a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/8698ae30-77c4-45dc-8645-8a4d120452ef">Saline County: 152 new confirmed new COVID-19 cases since Wednesday</a>

The entire health order can be seen below, however, here are the highlights:

No group of more than 15 individuals shall gather within any indoor space within Saline County, with the following exceptions.

●Due to the transitory nature of their business, a retail establishment may have more than 15 individuals present within a single indoor space. However, such establishments shall endeavor to provide adequate social distancing and to enforce the provisions of local ordinances or resolutions relating to the wearing of face coverings.

●A bar, restaurant or congregate eating space may have more than 15 individuals present within a single indoor space, provided that no party in excess of eight individuals may be seated at a common table and that all seated parties must be placed at least six feet apart from other seated parties (between tables and/or booths), or when that is not feasible a barrier such as Plexiglas or other partition shall divide booths or tables closer than six feet. Such establishments may not be open to the public before 5:00 a.m. or after 12:00 midnight.

●A commercial gym or fitness center may have more than 15 individuals present within a single indoor space, provided that they shall be limited to not more than 50 percent of the capacity permitted under the applicable fire code. Such establishments must frequently clean common touchpoints, including but not limited to benches, seating and lockers.

●Personal service and medical facilities such as nail salons, barber/beauty shops, dentist’s and doctor’s offices shall attempt to limit the number of persons in any common waiting room to fewer than 15 individuals at any given time. Such establishments should prohibit walk-ins and see clients only via appointment.

●An auditorium, exhibit hall, event space or theater may have more than 15 individuals present within a single indoor space, provided that they shall be limited to not more than 25 percent of the capacity permitted under the applicable fire code and shall require all individuals present to wear a face covering.

●The following establishments may have more than 15 individuals present within a single indoor space, but shall attempt to provide social distancing and encourage use of face coverings:

e. Schools and activities within the purview of a school’s governing body;

Additionally, individuals gathering in outdoor facilities -- parks, stadiums, or open-air venues -- need to "maintain social distancing to the maximum extent possible and any individuals who are not actively participating in a sporting activity shall wear a face covering."

The two changes made by the four commissioners were to change the closing time for bars from 11 a.m. to midnight and to add funeral homes to the list of indoor exemptions.

As the meeting began, Commissioner Monte Shadwick recused himself, to avoid a perceived conflict of interest, "specifically because of any discussions on the health mandate as it pertains to limitations on restaurants and bars."

"My hope was to be part of this conversation as it has a huge impact on the health and safety of our citizens, but I do not want any of my questions of staff or conversations with my fellow commissioners to seem that I am promoting or protecting my business or trade," Shadwick said. "This will be my first recusal in 14 years of being on the city and county commissions. I know I was elected to make tough decisions and I haven't shied away from any in the past, but I'm confident the four of you, with citizen input will make the proper decision."

Following is a copy of the health order as provided to Salina Post by County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes.

You also can find a copy of the health order on the county's <a href="https://www.saline.org/Coronavirus">Coronavirus webpage</a>.

After more than an hour of listening to citizen comments and sharing their own opinions, the Saline County Commissioners this afternoon made two changes to a Saline County Public Health Order that goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.County Health Officer Jason Tiller issued the order "to mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Saline County."READ: <a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/8698ae30-77c4-45dc-8645-8a4d120452ef">Saline County: 152 new confirmed new COVID-19 cases since Wednesday</a>The entire health order can be seen below, however, here are the highlights:No group of more than 15 individuals shall gather within any indoor space within Saline County, with the following exceptions.●Due to the transitory nature of their business, a retail establishment may have more than 15 individuals present within a single indoor space. However, such establishments shall endeavor to provide adequate social distancing and to enforce the provisions of local ordinances or resolutions relating to the wearing of face coverings.●A bar, restaurant or congregate eating space may have more than 15 individuals present within a single indoor space, provided that no party in excess of eight individuals may be seated at a common table and that all seated parties must be placed at least six feet apart from other seated parties (between tables and/or booths), or when that is not feasible a barrier such as Plexiglas or other partition shall divide booths or tables closer than six feet. Such establishments may not be open to the public before 5:00 a.m. or after 12:00 midnight.●A commercial gym or fitness center may have more than 15 individuals present within a single indoor space, provided that they shall be limited to not more than 50 percent of the capacity permitted under the applicable fire code. Such establishments must frequently clean common touchpoints, including but not limited to benches, seating and lockers.●Personal service and medical facilities such as nail salons, barber/beauty shops, dentist’s and doctor’s offices shall attempt to limit the number of persons in any common waiting room to fewer than 15 individuals at any given time. Such establishments should prohibit walk-ins and see clients only via appointment.●An auditorium, exhibit hall, event space or theater may have more than 15 individuals present within a single indoor space, provided that they shall be limited to not more than 25 percent of the capacity permitted under the applicable fire code and shall require all individuals present to wear a face covering.●The following establishments may have more than 15 individuals present within a single indoor space, but shall attempt to provide social distancing and encourage use of face coverings:a. Religious institutions;b. Airports;c. Election polling places;d. Licensed childcare facilities;e. Schools and activities within the purview of a school’s governing body;f. Court facilities; andg. Funeral homes.Additionally, individuals gathering in outdoor facilities -- parks, stadiums, or open-air venues -- need to "maintain social distancing to the maximum extent possible and any individuals who are not actively participating in a sporting activity shall wear a face covering."The two changes made by the four commissioners were to change the closing time for bars from 11 a.m. to midnight and to add funeral homes to the list of indoor exemptions.As the meeting began, Commissioner Monte Shadwick recused himself, to avoid a perceived conflict of interest, "specifically because of any discussions on the health mandate as it pertains to limitations on restaurants and bars.""My hope was to be part of this conversation as it has a huge impact on the health and safety of our citizens, but I do not want any of my questions of staff or conversations with my fellow commissioners to seem that I am promoting or protecting my business or trade," Shadwick said. "This will be my first recusal in 14 years of being on the city and county commissions. I know I was elected to make tough decisions and I haven't shied away from any in the past, but I'm confident the four of you, with citizen input will make the proper decision."Following is a copy of the health order as provided to Salina Post by County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1605914872689.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1605914897260.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1605914918781.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>You also can find a copy of the health order on the county's <a href="https://www.saline.org/Coronavirus">Coronavirus webpage</a>.

New county public health order puts restrictions on indoor gatherings

I let my fiancée use my car to get back and forth to work, and it has a lot of miles on it and a few mechanical issues. The money we’ve put into the car to fix the issues is about the same or more than the car is actually worth. We just started your plan a couple of months ago, and we’ve almost got a beginner emergency fund saved up. We also have very little consumer debt to pay off. I’m afraid, though, if we get into a second $1,000 to $2,000 car, we’ll just experience the same kinds of issues and it will turn into another money pit. I bring home about $5,000 a month, and she works part-time and goes to school. How do you think we should handle things?&nbsp;

Well, if you’re serious about following&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/dave-ramsey-7-baby-steps" target="_blank">the plan</a>, you don’t really have a choice right now. But you’re bringing home a nice paycheck, man. You ought to be able to buy a better $1,500 to $2,000 car with cash in a month or so, just to give you some relief. Then, stick some money aside each month until spring and get something that’s a big step up in the $5,000 to $6,000 range.

Listen, I don’t want anyone driving around in a rust bucket longer than they have to. And it sounds like you really need to get up out of the junk. But if you do some research and buy wisely, you can get a good year or two out of a $1,500 car. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/askdave/saving/finding-a-used-car" target="_blank">car</a>&nbsp;may not look like much, but you’re not trying to catch a girl’s eye. You’ve already got a fiancée. If you find an old Honda or Toyota that’s still mechanically sound—and yes, they’re out there—it’ll get you by while you save up for something a lot better.

But remember, you and your fiancée don’t need to own anything together until you’re&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/recommends/life-insurance-for-married-couples" target="_blank">married</a>. The kind of arrangement you have now can cause real problems. If you guys get married and combine your resources and dreams, it’ll be better for everyone relationally&nbsp;and&nbsp;financially. You’re playing house already, so you might as well go ahead and get married and combine your lives on every level.

It’s time to paint or get off the ladder, dude!

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596845065840.jpeg" alt="Dave Ramsey" />
 <figcaption>Dave Ramsey</figcaption>
 </figure>Dear Dave,I let my fiancée use my car to get back and forth to work, and it has a lot of miles on it and a few mechanical issues. The money we’ve put into the car to fix the issues is about the same or more than the car is actually worth. We just started your plan a couple of months ago, and we’ve almost got a beginner emergency fund saved up. We also have very little consumer debt to pay off. I’m afraid, though, if we get into a second $1,000 to $2,000 car, we’ll just experience the same kinds of issues and it will turn into another money pit. I bring home about $5,000 a month, and she works part-time and goes to school. How do you think we should handle things?&nbsp;ThaddeusDear Thaddeus,Well, if you’re serious about following&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/dave-ramsey-7-baby-steps" target="_blank">the plan</a>, you don’t really have a choice right now. But you’re bringing home a nice paycheck, man. You ought to be able to buy a better $1,500 to $2,000 car with cash in a month or so, just to give you some relief. Then, stick some money aside each month until spring and get something that’s a big step up in the $5,000 to $6,000 range.Listen, I don’t want anyone driving around in a rust bucket longer than they have to. And it sounds like you really need to get up out of the junk. But if you do some research and buy wisely, you can get a good year or two out of a $1,500 car. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/askdave/saving/finding-a-used-car" target="_blank">car</a>&nbsp;may not look like much, but you’re not trying to catch a girl’s eye. You’ve already got a fiancée. If you find an old Honda or Toyota that’s still mechanically sound—and yes, they’re out there—it’ll get you by while you save up for something a lot better.But remember, you and your fiancée don’t need to own anything together until you’re&nbsp;<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/recommends/life-insurance-for-married-couples" target="_blank">married</a>. The kind of arrangement you have now can cause real problems. If you guys get married and combine your resources and dreams, it’ll be better for everyone relationally&nbsp;and&nbsp;financially. You’re playing house already, so you might as well go ahead and get married and combine your lives on every level.It’s time to paint or get off the ladder, dude!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 Dave 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: Save up to get out of the rust bucket

As the need for blood donations continues to become ever-more critical, the American Red Cross is partnering with Eagle Radio to both raise awareness and funding for the organization.

In conjunction with the Robert E &amp; Patricia A. Schmidt Foundation, Eagle Radio markets in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri will also be raising funds in an effort to help bolster the Red Cross vehicle fleet.

Donations will help the Red Cross purchase new community emergency vehicles that deliver critical blood needs across the region.

Donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Schmidt Foundation.

“The mission of the American Red Cross is more important today than ever, and Eagle Radio is proud to help strengthen the organization and its life-saving efforts,” said Eagle Radio Chairman Gary Shorman, who is also the Schmidt Foundation chairman of the board. “We urge our listeners and readers to consider helping this great cause — and strengthen the health and safety of our community at the same time.”

• Text to give:&nbsp;You can be a part of our community emergency vehicle campaign by texting the word RCFLEET to 41411 to make a donation.&nbsp;

•&nbsp;<a href="https://bit.ly/donateeagleradioschmidt">Eagle Radio microsite</a>

•&nbsp;<a href="https://bit.ly/GoFundMeEagleRadioRedCross">GoFundMe</a>

• Mail:&nbsp;American Red Cross 707 N. Main St., Wichita, KS 67203. Please indicate&nbsp;Eagle Radio Blood Fleet Campaign&nbsp;on the memo line of your check. Or you can download a mail-in donation form&nbsp;<a href="https://www.redcross.org/content/dam/redcross/donations/2019_Updated%20IRF%20Form_v1_FINAL_RSG00000MCDF.PDF">HERE</a>.

Last year, in the Eagle Radio markets, Red Cross collected over 370,000 units of lifesaving blood in support of more than 200 area hospitals.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1604516844861.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>As the need for blood donations continues to become ever-more critical, the American Red Cross is partnering with Eagle Radio to both raise awareness and funding for the organization.In conjunction with the Robert E &amp; Patricia A. Schmidt Foundation, Eagle Radio markets in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri will also be raising funds in an effort to help bolster the Red Cross vehicle fleet.Donations will help the Red Cross purchase new community emergency vehicles that deliver critical blood needs across the region.Donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Schmidt Foundation.“The mission of the American Red Cross is more important today than ever, and Eagle Radio is proud to help strengthen the organization and its life-saving efforts,” said Eagle Radio Chairman Gary Shorman, who is also the Schmidt Foundation chairman of the board. “We urge our listeners and readers to consider helping this great cause — and strengthen the health and safety of our community at the same time.”Donations can be made by:• Text to give:&nbsp;You can be a part of our community emergency vehicle campaign by texting the word RCFLEET to 41411 to make a donation.&nbsp;•&nbsp;<a href="https://bit.ly/donateeagleradioschmidt">Eagle Radio microsite</a>•&nbsp;<a href="https://bit.ly/GoFundMeEagleRadioRedCross">GoFundMe</a>• Mail:&nbsp;American Red Cross 707 N. Main St., Wichita, KS 67203. Please indicate&nbsp;Eagle Radio Blood Fleet Campaign&nbsp;on the memo line of your check. Or you can download a mail-in donation form&nbsp;<a href="https://www.redcross.org/content/dam/redcross/donations/2019_Updated%20IRF%20Form_v1_FINAL_RSG00000MCDF.PDF">HERE</a>.Last year, in the Eagle Radio markets, Red Cross collected over 370,000 units of lifesaving blood in support of more than 200 area hospitals.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1604516806024.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>

Eagle Radio teams with Red Cross to replenish vehicle fleet

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs' coordinators talked football with the media on Thursday. From The Kansas City Chiefs Facebook page:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs' coordinators talked football with the media on Thursday. From The Kansas City Chiefs Facebook page:<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FKansasCityChiefs%2Fvideos%2F869450577214939%2F&show_text=true&width=560" width="560" height="429" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>You can listen to the Chiefs' games on KINA (910 AM and 107.5 FM) and 99KG (99.9 FM), your local Chiefs Radio Network stations.

📹Chiefs' coordinators talk football with the media Thursday

Catholics split almost evenly in supporting Donald Trump or Joe Biden in the presidential election. Now they’re sharply divided over a declaration by the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that the president-elect’s support for abortion rights presents the church with a “difficult and complex situation.”

The USCCB’s president, Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, made that statement Tuesday near the close of the conference’s national meeting and announced the formation of a working group of bishops to assess the dilemma. Some experts said it’s possible the group will discuss whether Biden — a practicing Roman Catholic — should be barred from partaking in Holy Communion.

Catholic anti-abortion activists hope the bishops follow through with tough words and action, making clear that Catholic politicians who support abortion are in breach of church teaching.

Biden’s policy agenda “is incompatible with the Catholic position on abortion and the protection of innocent human life,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a leading anti-abortion group.

But others criticized the USCCB as setting the stage for potential conflict with the president-elect just days after he received a congratulatory call from Pope Francis. Biden said he hopes to work with the pontiff on issues such as climate change, poverty and immigration.

“The USCCB leadership simply can’t embrace the idea of engagement and goodwill that Pope Francis has asked of them,” said David Gibson, director of Fordham University’s Center on Religion and Culture. “That the pope called to congratulate Biden and discussed working together while the American bishops capped their meeting with plans to do battle with the incoming president says it all.”

Natalia Imperatori-Lee, a professor of religious studies at Manhattan College, also was dismayed by the USCCB.

“It seems they’d like to start an antagonistic relationship with only the second Catholic to be elected the president of this country,” she said via email. “This is appalling.”

“The bishops have chosen to continue the culture war that uses abortion to drive wedges in our church and our society, because they see that as a winning issue for them,” she wrote.

Gomez has welcomed many of Biden’s stances, including on immigration, racial justice and climate change. But some conservative bishops, citing the church’s opposition to abortion, have been outspoken in their criticism after Gomez congratulated Biden on his victory.

On Tuesday, as the USCCB ended the public portion of its meeting, Gomez read a statement that arose from discussions with some of the agitated bishops.

“The president-elect has given us reason to think he will support some good policies” but also some that “undermine our preeminent priority of the elimination of abortion,” the archbishop said.

“These policies pose a serious threat to the common good,” Gomez added. “When politicians who profess the Catholic faith support them ... it creates confusion among the faithful about what the church actually teaches on these questions.”

Gomez said he would form a working group to address the matter, headed by the USCCB’s vice president, Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron.

Two Catholic academics, responding to queries from The Associated Press, did not rule out the possibility that the working group could discuss whether Biden should be barred from partaking in Holy Communion because of his abortion stance.

That question “does not turn on what political office he holds, but on his public conduct as a Catholic,” said Edward Peters, professor of canon law at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.

“His prominence in public life makes his case more visible, certainly,” Peters added. “But, in the end, it is his own behavior that determines whether he should be refused Holy Communion.”

Thomas Groome, a theology professor at Boston College, said conservative bishops on the working group would likely push for Biden to be denied Communion. But he noted that Biden’s support for abortion rights is, according to many surveys, shared by most U.S. Catholics.

Groome called Gomez’s statement “dreadfully unfortunate” and said “the bishops should be helping bring us together rather than driving us apart.”

Chieko Noguchi, a USCCB spokeswoman, said the working group has not yet met and declined to comment on whether it would discuss a potential Communion ban for Biden. There has been no response by Biden’s transition team to AP requests for comment.

Divisions within the USCCB’s ranks over the president-elect have been stark, with some, such as Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, balking at recognizing his victory.

“I appreciate Archbishop Gomez’ acknowledgment that Vice President Biden’s proposed policies are divergent from Catholic teaching in significant ways,” Strickland tweeted Tuesday. “It remains troubling that the USCCB treats the election as certified when it is not &amp; it continues to be a source of division.”

Journalists for Catholic news outlets pointed out that the USCCB did not wait for election results to be certified in 2016, when it swiftly congratulated Trump after Election Day.

Kristan Hawkins, a Catholic who is president of Students for Life of America, said leaders of the U.S. church need to be blunter in condeming Catholic politicians who support abortion rights.

“This pretense that ending preborn life is negotiable with the church does create chaos and confusion,” Hawkins said. “This failure of leadership gives women who know that abortion is wrong the permission they’re looking for to get an abortion.”

However, Jamie Manson, president of Catholics for Choice, said Gomez’s claim that Biden’s position creates confusion among church members is “condescending.”

“They are, in fact, well-informed and have used their consciences in their choice both to elect President-elect Biden and to support reproductive health care,” she said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1605698274321.png" alt="His Excellence Mgr José Horacio GOMEZ, Metropolitan Archbishop of Los Angeles and President of the USCCB during this week's virtual annual meeting-photo Catholic News Service" />
 <figcaption>His Excellence Mgr José Horacio GOMEZ, Metropolitan Archbishop of Los Angeles and President of the USCCB during this week's virtual annual meeting-photo Catholic News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By DAVID CRARY, Associated PressCatholics split almost evenly in supporting Donald Trump or Joe Biden in the presidential election. Now they’re sharply divided over a declaration by the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that the president-elect’s support for abortion rights presents the church with a “difficult and complex situation.”The USCCB’s president, Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, made that statement Tuesday near the close of the conference’s national meeting and announced the formation of a working group of bishops to assess the dilemma. Some experts said it’s possible the group will discuss whether Biden — a practicing Roman Catholic — should be barred from partaking in Holy Communion.Catholic anti-abortion activists hope the bishops follow through with tough words and action, making clear that Catholic politicians who support abortion are in breach of church teaching.Biden’s policy agenda “is incompatible with the Catholic position on abortion and the protection of innocent human life,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a leading anti-abortion group.But others criticized the USCCB as setting the stage for potential conflict with the president-elect just days after he received a congratulatory call from Pope Francis. Biden said he hopes to work with the pontiff on issues such as climate change, poverty and immigration.“The USCCB leadership simply can’t embrace the idea of engagement and goodwill that Pope Francis has asked of them,” said David Gibson, director of Fordham University’s Center on Religion and Culture. “That the pope called to congratulate Biden and discussed working together while the American bishops capped their meeting with plans to do battle with the incoming president says it all.”Natalia Imperatori-Lee, a professor of religious studies at Manhattan College, also was dismayed by the USCCB.“It seems they’d like to start an antagonistic relationship with only the second Catholic to be elected the president of this country,” she said via email. “This is appalling.”“The bishops have chosen to continue the culture war that uses abortion to drive wedges in our church and our society, because they see that as a winning issue for them,” she wrote.Gomez has welcomed many of Biden’s stances, including on immigration, racial justice and climate change. But some conservative bishops, citing the church’s opposition to abortion, have been outspoken in their criticism after Gomez congratulated Biden on his victory.On Tuesday, as the USCCB ended the public portion of its meeting, Gomez read a statement that arose from discussions with some of the agitated bishops.“The president-elect has given us reason to think he will support some good policies” but also some that “undermine our preeminent priority of the elimination of abortion,” the archbishop said.“These policies pose a serious threat to the common good,” Gomez added. “When politicians who profess the Catholic faith support them ... it creates confusion among the faithful about what the church actually teaches on these questions.”Gomez said he would form a working group to address the matter, headed by the USCCB’s vice president, Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron.Two Catholic academics, responding to queries from The Associated Press, did not rule out the possibility that the working group could discuss whether Biden should be barred from partaking in Holy Communion because of his abortion stance.That question “does not turn on what political office he holds, but on his public conduct as a Catholic,” said Edward Peters, professor of canon law at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.“His prominence in public life makes his case more visible, certainly,” Peters added. “But, in the end, it is his own behavior that determines whether he should be refused Holy Communion.”Thomas Groome, a theology professor at Boston College, said conservative bishops on the working group would likely push for Biden to be denied Communion. But he noted that Biden’s support for abortion rights is, according to many surveys, shared by most U.S. Catholics.Groome called Gomez’s statement “dreadfully unfortunate” and said “the bishops should be helping bring us together rather than driving us apart.”Chieko Noguchi, a USCCB spokeswoman, said the working group has not yet met and declined to comment on whether it would discuss a potential Communion ban for Biden. There has been no response by Biden’s transition team to AP requests for comment.Divisions within the USCCB’s ranks over the president-elect have been stark, with some, such as Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, balking at recognizing his victory.“I appreciate Archbishop Gomez’ acknowledgment that Vice President Biden’s proposed policies are divergent from Catholic teaching in significant ways,” Strickland tweeted Tuesday. “It remains troubling that the USCCB treats the election as certified when it is not &amp; it continues to be a source of division.”Journalists for Catholic news outlets pointed out that the USCCB did not wait for election results to be certified in 2016, when it swiftly congratulated Trump after Election Day.Kristan Hawkins, a Catholic who is president of Students for Life of America, said leaders of the U.S. church need to be blunter in condeming Catholic politicians who support abortion rights.“This pretense that ending preborn life is negotiable with the church does create chaos and confusion,” Hawkins said. “This failure of leadership gives women who know that abortion is wrong the permission they’re looking for to get an abortion.”However, Jamie Manson, president of Catholics for Choice, said Gomez’s claim that Biden’s position creates confusion among church members is “condescending.”“They are, in fact, well-informed and have used their consciences in their choice both to elect President-elect Biden and to support reproductive health care,” she said.In the election, 50% of Catholic voters backed Trump and 49% favored Biden, according to VoteCast, a survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.---------By DAVID CRARY, Associated PressThe head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops told colleagues Tuesday that President-elect Joe Biden’s policy positions, including support for abortion rights, pose a “difficult and complex situation” for the church.Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, completing his first year as the USCCB’s president, welcomes many of Biden’s stances, including on immigration, racial justice and climate change. But some conservative bishops, noting the church’s strong opposition to abortion, were upset last week when Gomez congratulated Biden — a fellow Catholic — on his victory.On Tuesday, as the USCCB ended the public portion of its two-day national meeting, Gomez departed from the official agenda to broach the issue.“We are facing a unique moment in our history,” he said. “The president-elect has given us reason to think he will support some good policies" but also some that "undermine our preeminent priority of the elimination of abortion.”“These policies pose a serious threat to the common good,” Gomez said. “When politicians who profess the Catholic faith support them ... it creates confusion among the faithful about what the church actually teaches on these questions.”Gomez said he would form a working group to address the matter, headed by the USCCB's vice president, Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron.There was no immediate response by Biden’s transition team to an AP request for comment.Gomez’s unexpected remarks followed a two-hour session in which bishops from across the U.S., meeting online due to the coronavirus outbreak, shared their dioceses’ efforts to cope with the pandemic and to combat systemic racism.Some who spoke during the racial injustice discussion represent communities that have seen protests and occasional violence after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May.Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore was among several who described church-organized listening sessions for community members to share their experiences with racism and their thoughts on how to curtail it.“These conversations can be difficult, painful,” Lori said. “A lot of people don’t think they need those conversations because they don’t have a racist bone in their body. The reality is much different.”As one of several race-related initiatives, Lori said his archdiocese is building a new K-8 Catholic school in one of Baltimore’s poorest neighborhoods.Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski of St. Louis said his archdiocese is seeking to promote racial equity in its hiring practices and has hired a diversity officer for a group of Catholic schools.Rozanski recently toured predominantly Black neighborhoods including a stop in nearby Ferguson, where he prayed at the site where Michael Brown, an 18-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by a white police officern in 2014.Mark Seitz, the bishop of El Paso, Texas, recalled the 2019 mass killing of 23 people at a Walmart by a gunman who said he was targeting Mexicans.“It brought home the fact that white supremacy is not a harmless fringe ideology. It’s a death-dealing ideology,” Seitz said. “It reminded us that words matter — words that denigrate immigrants and other people of color really matter and feed into these ways of thinking.”Seitz said the diocese is looking at forming a truth commission exploring the history and current status of racism in the region, and how it has impacted Native Americans, Hispanics, immigrants and others.Tuesday's discussion was led by Bishop Shelton Fabre of the Louisiana diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, who heads the USCCB’s Committee Against Racism.“The work is hard, the work is slow, but the work is being done,” he said. “In my diocese, hearts are being changed.”Amid the protests following Floyd’s killing, some Black Catholics were outspoken in urging the church to take substantive steps conveying that their presence is valued. There have been calls for some form of reparations, and for the teaching of Black Catholic history in Catholic schools.Black Catholics’ somewhat marginal place in the U.S. church is illustrated by statistics compiled by the USCCB: There are about 3 million African American members of the faith, roughly 4% of the nation’s 69 million Catholics, but as of January there were just 250 Black priests, or less than 1% of the total of 36,500.Also Tuesday, a dozen bishops shared their experiences coping with the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced many dioceses to halt or sharply reduce in-person worship.Bishop Oscar Cantú of San Jose, California, described outreach efforts aimed at sick and older adult parishioners and recounted the painful decision to lay off 15% of the diocese staff due to reduced income from offerings.Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, where several priests and an auxiliary bishop have died of COVID-19, said a specially trained team of priests that was equipped with state-of-the-art protective equipment won permission to administer end-of-life sacraments to Catholic patients in hospitals.John Wester, the archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico, said many parishioners were angry when restrictions forced the cancellation of in-person Masses at which they could receive Holy Communion.“We’re grateful for that devotion,” Wester said. “On the other hand, we’re trying to keep people safe."