By BECKY GOFF Little Apple Post

POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY - On Tuesday, February 7, the Pottawatomie County Dispatch received a 911 call around 12:43 pm reporting a structure fire in the 400 block of E. Plum Street, Louisville, Kansas.

Upon arrival crews discovered a mobile home with smoke coming from the inside.

A father and son exited the mobile home with minor injuries prior to emergency crews arriving on scene.

Sheriff's Deputies learned during the incident that a methamphetamine lab was inside the residence.

Deputies searched the residence, after executing a search warrant and the fire was extinguished.

As a result of the search warrant, two men were arrested and transported to the Pottawatomie County Jail.

Odis Leon Parker, 80, Louisville, was arrested on requested charges of Manufacturing a Controlled Substance, Criminal Use of Weapons, Possession of Paraphernalia with Intent to Manufacture a Controlled Substance, Possession of Stimulant, Possession of Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. &nbsp;He is currently confined in the Pottawatomie County Jail on a $10,000 bond

Odis Leon Parker Jr., 47, Louisville, was booked on&nbsp; requested charges of Manufacturing a Controlled Substance, Possession of Paraphernalia with Intent to Manufacture a Controlled Substance, Arson; Accidental to Dwelling by Manufacturing a Controlled Substance, and Aggravated Battery. He is currently confined in the Pottawatomie County Jail on a $10,000 bond&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office was assisted in the investigation by&nbsp;Pottawatomie County Consolidated Fire, Wamego Fire Department Pottawatomie County EMS, Kansas State Fire Marshal, Riley County Police Department, and the                                 Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

By BECKY GOFF Little Apple PostPOTTAWATOMIE COUNTY - On Tuesday, February 7, the Pottawatomie County Dispatch received a 911 call around 12:43 pm reporting a structure fire in the 400 block of E. Plum Street, Louisville, Kansas.<div><iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d1868.0815811676202!2d-96.30928380129698!3d39.25126917128262!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x87be7be99e45ed57%3A0x422edabb2e6d263a!2s400%20Plum%20St%2C%20Louisville%2C%20KS%2066547!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1676043238188!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="600" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe></div>Upon arrival crews discovered a mobile home with smoke coming from the inside.A father and son exited the mobile home with minor injuries prior to emergency crews arriving on scene.Sheriff's Deputies learned during the incident that a methamphetamine lab was inside the residence.Deputies searched the residence, after executing a search warrant and the fire was extinguished.As a result of the search warrant, two men were arrested and transported to the Pottawatomie County Jail.Odis Leon Parker, 80, Louisville, was arrested on requested charges of Manufacturing a Controlled Substance, Criminal Use of Weapons, Possession of Paraphernalia with Intent to Manufacture a Controlled Substance, Possession of Stimulant, Possession of Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. &nbsp;He is currently confined in the Pottawatomie County Jail on a $10,000 bond Odis Leon Parker Jr., 47, Louisville, was booked on&nbsp; requested charges of Manufacturing a Controlled Substance, Possession of Paraphernalia with Intent to Manufacture a Controlled Substance, Arson; Accidental to Dwelling by Manufacturing a Controlled Substance, and Aggravated Battery. He is currently confined in the Pottawatomie County Jail on a $10,000 bond&nbsp;&nbsp;The Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office was assisted in the investigation by&nbsp;Pottawatomie County Consolidated Fire, Wamego Fire Department Pottawatomie County EMS, Kansas State Fire Marshal, Riley County Police Department, and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Father, son arrested after alleged meth lab fire at Kan. home

Trump signed law setting benchmark at 21, 41 states now compliant

By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/09/kansas-physician-legislator-working-to-light-fire-under-peers-to-raise-tobacco-age-limit-to-21/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — Physician John Eplee 
hasn’t accepted hesitancy of Kansas lawmakers to raise the threshold for
 purchase, possession and consumption of cigarettes to 21 years of age 
from the current standard of 18.

Eplee, who also serves as a Republican state representative from 
Atchison, said Thursday he was convinced financial and health arguments 
for the higher age were persuasive enough to keep pushing for adoption 
of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/hb2269_00_0000.pdf">House Bill 2269</a>.
 He said many of his patients, as well as his parents in their mid-70s, 
succumbed to tobacco-related diseases. If he were king for a day, Eplee 
said he would impose a permanent ban on tobacco for all ages.

Still, Eplee told the House Federal and State Affairs Committee that he recognized some in the Capitol remained <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/02/22/kansas-legislators-consider-raising-minimum-age-for-tobacco-to-21/">unconvinced despite his years of advocacy</a>.

“I have been surprised at the pushback on this bill in past 
sessions,” he said. “We are hung up on taking someone’s rights away over
 … a product that causes long-term addiction, dependency and death. I 
thought one of government’s core values was to protect citizens from 
omnious threats, even if from within ourselves.”

<a target="_blank" href="https://time.com/5754266/trump-tobacco-age-21/">President Donald Trump signed legislation in 2019</a>
 amending the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to set the age to buy 
tobacco products at 21 or older. Incentive for states to accept the 
federal standard — so far, 41 have signed on, including Colorado, 
Nebraska and Oklahoma — was availability of millions of dollars in 
funding for state enforcement and addiction programs. If Kansas declined
 to act on the House bill or something comparable to bring the state 
into compliance, Kansas could lose $1.2 million annually in federal aid.

While the Trump administration’s tobacco reform did preempt state 
law, Kansas would lack jurisdictional authority to enforce federal law 
on tobacco products without action by the Legislature and Gov. Laura 
Kelly. Some Kansas vendors voluntarily accepted the higher age 
restriction, but all businesses wouldn’t be required to conform until 
state law was aligned with the age barrier embraced by Trump.

Kevin Gregg, who lobbies for Fuel True Independent Energy and 
Convenience, said the association of 300 petroleum distribution 
companies and convenience store retailers would support a “clean bill” 
simply raising the minimum age to buy tobacco products to 21.

He said the industry group wouldn’t support amendments attaching 
fines to punish retailers that sold tobacco products to underage 
customers. The industry’s compliance rate of 95% on tobacco sales made 
sanctions unnecessary, he said.

If the bill was implemented as written, the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/committees/ctte_h_fed_st_1/misc_documents/download_testimony/ctte_h_fed_st_1_20230209_13_testimony.html">Kansas Department of Revenue said state tobacco tax revenue</a>
 would fall $7.6 million in the upcoming fiscal year. The projection was
 based on federal reports suggesting Kansas had 17,000 smokers aged 18 
t0 20. That’s less than 5% of all adult smokers in the state.

Sara Prem, president of the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition, lauded a 
shift in the state’s minimum legal age of tobacco sales to 21, but would
 like the bill to repeal criminal penalties on youth caught purchasing, 
using or possessing tobacco products. She said penalties on youth 
weren’t an effective deterrent.

“Penalties for youth may divert attention from more effective tobacco
 control strategies, like strengthening retailer penalties who illegally
 sell tobacco, e-cigarettes and other nicotine products to youth,” Prem 
said. “It relieves the tobacco industry of responsibility for its 
marketing practices and retailers’ irresponsible sale to minors.”

Kari Rinker, who represents the American Heart Association in Kansas,
 said passage of the House bill without amendments would be a missed 
opportunity to work of the corporate tobacco inustry. She said those 
companies aggressively targeted Kansas kids with e-cigarettes and were 
developing new products containing addictive substances appealing to 
younger consumers.

She said lawmakers ought to consider repealing state sanctions on 
young smokers and updating definitions of tobacco or tobacco-like 
products in the statute book to stay ahead of the product curve.

Physician Dena Hubbard, public policy chair of the Kansas chapter of 
the American Academy of Pediatrics, had another suggestion for the House
 Federal and State Affairs Committee. She urged lawmakers to approve the
 age change, but also incorporate a ban on flavored nicotine products.

“The exponential rise of e-cigarette use by children and adolescents 
is a public health emergency,” she said. “E-cigarettes are now the most 
common tobacco product used by teens. We should not allow any flavoring 
for products as dangerous as tobacco.”

Roy Jensen, a physician and director of the University of Kansas 
Cancer Center in Kansas City, said cancer killed an estimated 5,600 
Kansans annually to rank as the state’s second leading cause of death. 
Tobacco-related disease was associated with 4,400 deaths in Kansas each 
year, he said.

“One way we can dramatically cut Kansans chances of developing cancer
 is to prevent our youth from using tobacco products and becoming 
dependent on them,” Jensen said. “For many years, adolescent smoking 
rates have been declining. However, nearly one in five high school 
seniors still use tobacco.”

He said upward shift in the legal smoking age in Kansas law would 
sqeeze the supply of tobacco purchased by people 18 to 21 and resold to 
those under 18. Raising the minimum tobacco age to 21 could reduce high 
school smoking by 50%, the doctor said.

Tara Mays, vice president of legislative relations with the Kansas 
Hospital Association, said the age change would benefit Kansans age 15 
to 20. She said research indicated 85% of daily smokers began before 21,
 and raising the minimum age from 18 could delay or reduce smoking 
rates.

Eplee said there was irony in the approach of some politicians to regulation of tobacco and marijuana.

“I find it so fascinating that we live in a time where we debate the 
appropriateness of allowing young adults to ingest or smoke chemicals 
from a plant (tobacco) that has zero medicinal value and only causes 
loss, destruction and ultimately death,” he said. “And, yet, in the same
 session of this body, we will have debated on the chemicals derived 
from another plant (marijuana) that, at the margins, may have some 
medicinal value for some patients and yet is illegal for everyone. Very 
ironic.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1675979429036.png" alt="Physician and state Rep. John Eplee, center, asked the House Federal and State Affairs Committee to support raising the age to purchase, possess or consume tobacco products in Kansas from 18 to 21. The change would comply with federal law. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Physician and state Rep. John Eplee, center, asked the House Federal and State Affairs Committee to support raising the age to purchase, possess or consume tobacco products in Kansas from 18 to 21. The change would comply with federal law. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Trump signed law setting benchmark at 21, 41 states now compliant</h2>By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/09/kansas-physician-legislator-working-to-light-fire-under-peers-to-raise-tobacco-age-limit-to-21/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — Physician John Eplee 
hasn’t accepted hesitancy of Kansas lawmakers to raise the threshold for
 purchase, possession and consumption of cigarettes to 21 years of age 
from the current standard of 18.Eplee, who also serves as a Republican state representative from 
Atchison, said Thursday he was convinced financial and health arguments 
for the higher age were persuasive enough to keep pushing for adoption 
of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/hb2269_00_0000.pdf">House Bill 2269</a>.
 He said many of his patients, as well as his parents in their mid-70s, 
succumbed to tobacco-related diseases. If he were king for a day, Eplee 
said he would impose a permanent ban on tobacco for all ages.Still, Eplee told the House Federal and State Affairs Committee that he recognized some in the Capitol remained <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/02/22/kansas-legislators-consider-raising-minimum-age-for-tobacco-to-21/">unconvinced despite his years of advocacy</a>.“I have been surprised at the pushback on this bill in past 
sessions,” he said. “We are hung up on taking someone’s rights away over
 … a product that causes long-term addiction, dependency and death. I 
thought one of government’s core values was to protect citizens from 
omnious threats, even if from within ourselves.”<a target="_blank" href="https://time.com/5754266/trump-tobacco-age-21/">President Donald Trump signed legislation in 2019</a>
 amending the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to set the age to buy 
tobacco products at 21 or older. Incentive for states to accept the 
federal standard — so far, 41 have signed on, including Colorado, 
Nebraska and Oklahoma — was availability of millions of dollars in 
funding for state enforcement and addiction programs. If Kansas declined
 to act on the House bill or something comparable to bring the state 
into compliance, Kansas could lose $1.2 million annually in federal aid.While the Trump administration’s tobacco reform did preempt state 
law, Kansas would lack jurisdictional authority to enforce federal law 
on tobacco products without action by the Legislature and Gov. Laura 
Kelly. Some Kansas vendors voluntarily accepted the higher age 
restriction, but all businesses wouldn’t be required to conform until 
state law was aligned with the age barrier embraced by Trump.Kevin Gregg, who lobbies for Fuel True Independent Energy and 
Convenience, said the association of 300 petroleum distribution 
companies and convenience store retailers would support a “clean bill” 
simply raising the minimum age to buy tobacco products to 21.He said the industry group wouldn’t support amendments attaching 
fines to punish retailers that sold tobacco products to underage 
customers. The industry’s compliance rate of 95% on tobacco sales made 
sanctions unnecessary, he said.If the bill was implemented as written, the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/committees/ctte_h_fed_st_1/misc_documents/download_testimony/ctte_h_fed_st_1_20230209_13_testimony.html">Kansas Department of Revenue said state tobacco tax revenue</a>
 would fall $7.6 million in the upcoming fiscal year. The projection was
 based on federal reports suggesting Kansas had 17,000 smokers aged 18 
t0 20. That’s less than 5% of all adult smokers in the state.<h2>Other reform ideas</h2>Sara Prem, president of the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition, lauded a 
shift in the state’s minimum legal age of tobacco sales to 21, but would
 like the bill to repeal criminal penalties on youth caught purchasing, 
using or possessing tobacco products. She said penalties on youth 
weren’t an effective deterrent.“Penalties for youth may divert attention from more effective tobacco
 control strategies, like strengthening retailer penalties who illegally
 sell tobacco, e-cigarettes and other nicotine products to youth,” Prem 
said. “It relieves the tobacco industry of responsibility for its 
marketing practices and retailers’ irresponsible sale to minors.”Kari Rinker, who represents the American Heart Association in Kansas,
 said passage of the House bill without amendments would be a missed 
opportunity to work of the corporate tobacco inustry. She said those 
companies aggressively targeted Kansas kids with e-cigarettes and were 
developing new products containing addictive substances appealing to 
younger consumers.She said lawmakers ought to consider repealing state sanctions on 
young smokers and updating definitions of tobacco or tobacco-like 
products in the statute book to stay ahead of the product curve.Physician Dena Hubbard, public policy chair of the Kansas chapter of 
the American Academy of Pediatrics, had another suggestion for the House
 Federal and State Affairs Committee. She urged lawmakers to approve the
 age change, but also incorporate a ban on flavored nicotine products.“The exponential rise of e-cigarette use by children and adolescents 
is a public health emergency,” she said. “E-cigarettes are now the most 
common tobacco product used by teens. We should not allow any flavoring 
for products as dangerous as tobacco.”<h2>‘Very ironic’</h2>Roy Jensen, a physician and director of the University of Kansas 
Cancer Center in Kansas City, said cancer killed an estimated 5,600 
Kansans annually to rank as the state’s second leading cause of death. 
Tobacco-related disease was associated with 4,400 deaths in Kansas each 
year, he said.“One way we can dramatically cut Kansans chances of developing cancer
 is to prevent our youth from using tobacco products and becoming 
dependent on them,” Jensen said. “For many years, adolescent smoking 
rates have been declining. However, nearly one in five high school 
seniors still use tobacco.”He said upward shift in the legal smoking age in Kansas law would 
sqeeze the supply of tobacco purchased by people 18 to 21 and resold to 
those under 18. Raising the minimum tobacco age to 21 could reduce high 
school smoking by 50%, the doctor said.Tara Mays, vice president of legislative relations with the Kansas 
Hospital Association, said the age change would benefit Kansans age 15 
to 20. She said research indicated 85% of daily smokers began before 21,
 and raising the minimum age from 18 could delay or reduce smoking 
rates.Eplee said there was irony in the approach of some politicians to regulation of tobacco and marijuana.“I find it so fascinating that we live in a time where we debate the 
appropriateness of allowing young adults to ingest or smoke chemicals 
from a plant (tobacco) that has zero medicinal value and only causes 
loss, destruction and ultimately death,” he said. “And, yet, in the same
 session of this body, we will have debated on the chemicals derived 
from another plant (marijuana) that, at the margins, may have some 
medicinal value for some patients and yet is illegal for everyone. Very 
ironic.”

Kansas doc, legislator working to raise tobacco age limit to 21

Today is Friday, Feb. 10, the 41st day of 2023. There are 330 days left in the year.

On Feb. 10, 1962, the Soviet Union exchanged captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for Rudolf Abel, a Soviet spy held by the United States.

In 1763, Britain, Spain and France signed the Treaty of Paris, ending the Seven Years' War (also known as the French and Indian War in North America).

In 1840, Britain's Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

In 1936, Nazi Germany's Reichstag passed a law investing the Gestapo secret police with absolute authority, exempt from any legal review.

In 1959, a major tornado tore through the St. Louis area, killing 21 people and causing heavy damage.

In 1967, the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, dealing with presidential disability and succession, was ratified as Minnesota and Nevada adopted it.

In 1981, eight people were killed when a fire set by a busboy broke out at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino.

In 1989, Ron Brown was elected the first Black chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

In 1992, boxer Mike Tyson was convicted in Indianapolis of raping Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant. (Tyson served three years in prison.) "Roots" author Alex Haley died in Seattle at age 70.

In 1996, world chess champion Garry Kasparov lost the first game of a match in Philadelphia against an IBM computer dubbed "Deep Blue." (Kasparov ended up winning the match, 4 games to 2; he was defeated by Deep Blue in a rematch the following year.)

In 2005, North Korea boasted publicly for the first time that it possessed nuclear weapons.

In 2015, NBC announced it was suspending Brian Williams as "Nightly News" anchor and managing editor for six months without pay for misleading the public about his experiences covering the Iraq War. Jon Stewart announced he would step down as host of "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central later in the year.

In 2020, U.S. health officials confirmed the first case of the novel coronavirus among the hundreds of people who'd been evacuated from China to military bases in the United States; it was among the 13 confirmed cases in the U.S. Britain declared the new coronavirus a "serious and imminent threat to public health" and said people with the virus could now be forcibly quarantined.

Ten years ago: Joe Paterno's family released its response to Penn State's report on the Jerry Sandusky scandal, attacking Louis Freeh's conclusion that the coach hid sex abuse allegations against his longtime assistant. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford took charge of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. At the Grammy Awards, Fun. won song of the year for "We Are Young"; Gotye's "Somebody I Used to Know" picked up record of the year.

Five years ago: Israel carried out a wave of airstrikes in Syria that were ordered after Israel intercepted an Iranian drone that had infiltrated its airspace; it was the most serious Israeli engagement in Syria since the war erupted there almost seven years earlier. In a tweet that appeared to take aim at the rising #MeToo movement, President Donald Trump wrote that "lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation;" the tweet came in the aftermath of the resignation of a pivotal aide, Rob Porter, who'd been accused of abusing two ex-wives. The Korean women's hockey team, the first in Olympic history to combine players from the North and South, lost its debut game, 8-0, to Switzerland before a cheering, chanting sellout crowd at the Winter Olympics in South Korea.

One year ago: The U.S. Labor Department revealed that inflation over the past year had soared at its highest rate in forty years. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Ukraine crisis has grown into "the most dangerous moment" for Europe in decades, while his top diplomat held icy talks with her Moscow counterpart who said the Kremlin wouldn't accept lectures from the West.

Today's birthdays: Opera singer Leontyne Price is 96. Actor Robert Wagner is 93. Singer Roberta Flack is 86. Singer Jimmy Merchant (Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers) is 83. Rock musician Bob Spalding (The Ventures) is 76. Olympic gold-medal swimmer Mark Spitz is 73. Walt Disney Co. executive Robert Iger is 72. Rock musician and composer Cory Lerios (Pablo Cruise) is 72. World Golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman is 68. Actor Kathleen Beller is 67. Country singer Lionel Cartwright is 63. Movie director Alexander Payne is 62. ABC News correspondent George Stephanopoulos is 62. Political commentator Glenn Beck is 59. Actor Laura Dern is 56. Writer-producer-director Vince Gilligan (TV: "Breaking Bad") is 56. Country singer Dude Mowrey is 51. Actor Jason Olive is 51. Actor Elizabeth Banks is 49. Actor Julia Pace Mitchell is 45. Reggaeton singer Don Omar is 45. Actor Uzo Aduba is 42. Actor Stephanie Beatriz is 42. Actor Max Brown is 42. Actor Barry Sloane is 42. Rock singer Eric Dill is 41. Actor Trevante Rhodes is 33. Actor Emma Roberts is 32. Actor Makenzie Vega is 29. Actor Chloe Grace Moretz is 26. Actor Yara Shahidi is 23.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573488868914.jpeg" alt="Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a>" />
 <figcaption>Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a></figcaption>
 </figure>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSToday is Friday, Feb. 10, the 41st day of 2023. There are 330 days left in the year.Today's Highlight in History:On Feb. 10, 1962, the Soviet Union exchanged captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for Rudolf Abel, a Soviet spy held by the United States.On this date:In 1763, Britain, Spain and France signed the Treaty of Paris, ending the Seven Years' War (also known as the French and Indian War in North America).In 1840, Britain's Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.In 1936, Nazi Germany's Reichstag passed a law investing the Gestapo secret police with absolute authority, exempt from any legal review.In 1959, a major tornado tore through the St. Louis area, killing 21 people and causing heavy damage.In 1967, the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, dealing with presidential disability and succession, was ratified as Minnesota and Nevada adopted it.In 1981, eight people were killed when a fire set by a busboy broke out at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino.In 1989, Ron Brown was elected the first Black chairman of the Democratic National Committee.In 1992, boxer Mike Tyson was convicted in Indianapolis of raping Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant. (Tyson served three years in prison.) "Roots" author Alex Haley died in Seattle at age 70.In 1996, world chess champion Garry Kasparov lost the first game of a match in Philadelphia against an IBM computer dubbed "Deep Blue." (Kasparov ended up winning the match, 4 games to 2; he was defeated by Deep Blue in a rematch the following year.)In 2005, North Korea boasted publicly for the first time that it possessed nuclear weapons.In 2015, NBC announced it was suspending Brian Williams as "Nightly News" anchor and managing editor for six months without pay for misleading the public about his experiences covering the Iraq War. Jon Stewart announced he would step down as host of "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central later in the year.In 2020, U.S. health officials confirmed the first case of the novel coronavirus among the hundreds of people who'd been evacuated from China to military bases in the United States; it was among the 13 confirmed cases in the U.S. Britain declared the new coronavirus a "serious and imminent threat to public health" and said people with the virus could now be forcibly quarantined.Ten years ago: Joe Paterno's family released its response to Penn State's report on the Jerry Sandusky scandal, attacking Louis Freeh's conclusion that the coach hid sex abuse allegations against his longtime assistant. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford took charge of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. At the Grammy Awards, Fun. won song of the year for "We Are Young"; Gotye's "Somebody I Used to Know" picked up record of the year.Five years ago: Israel carried out a wave of airstrikes in Syria that were ordered after Israel intercepted an Iranian drone that had infiltrated its airspace; it was the most serious Israeli engagement in Syria since the war erupted there almost seven years earlier. In a tweet that appeared to take aim at the rising #MeToo movement, President Donald Trump wrote that "lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation;" the tweet came in the aftermath of the resignation of a pivotal aide, Rob Porter, who'd been accused of abusing two ex-wives. The Korean women's hockey team, the first in Olympic history to combine players from the North and South, lost its debut game, 8-0, to Switzerland before a cheering, chanting sellout crowd at the Winter Olympics in South Korea.One year ago: The U.S. Labor Department revealed that inflation over the past year had soared at its highest rate in forty years. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Ukraine crisis has grown into "the most dangerous moment" for Europe in decades, while his top diplomat held icy talks with her Moscow counterpart who said the Kremlin wouldn't accept lectures from the West.Today's birthdays: Opera singer Leontyne Price is 96. Actor Robert Wagner is 93. Singer Roberta Flack is 86. Singer Jimmy Merchant (Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers) is 83. Rock musician Bob Spalding (The Ventures) is 76. Olympic gold-medal swimmer Mark Spitz is 73. Walt Disney Co. executive Robert Iger is 72. Rock musician and composer Cory Lerios (Pablo Cruise) is 72. World Golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman is 68. Actor Kathleen Beller is 67. Country singer Lionel Cartwright is 63. Movie director Alexander Payne is 62. ABC News correspondent George Stephanopoulos is 62. Political commentator Glenn Beck is 59. Actor Laura Dern is 56. Writer-producer-director Vince Gilligan (TV: "Breaking Bad") is 56. Country singer Dude Mowrey is 51. Actor Jason Olive is 51. Actor Elizabeth Banks is 49. Actor Julia Pace Mitchell is 45. Reggaeton singer Don Omar is 45. Actor Uzo Aduba is 42. Actor Stephanie Beatriz is 42. Actor Max Brown is 42. Actor Barry Sloane is 42. Rock singer Eric Dill is 41. Actor Trevante Rhodes is 33. Actor Emma Roberts is 32. Actor Makenzie Vega is 29. Actor Chloe Grace Moretz is 26. Actor Yara Shahidi is 23.

Today in History - Feb. 10

By RACHEL MIPRO <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/09/no-more-gender-unicorns-lawmakers-debate-new-parents-bill-of-rights-legislation/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA
 — Lawmakers on Wednesday debated a new form of parental rights 
legislation that would allow parents to withdraw their children from 
courses they find objectionable, saying some teachers are crossing the 
line into grooming and advocating radical ideas.

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/hb2236_00_0000.pdf">House Bill 2236</a>
 was discussed by the House Education Committee. The bill would allow 
parents to object to any educational materials or activities that they 
believe would harm the student or parents’ beliefs, values or 
principles. Educational materials would include reading material, 
websites, videos and textbooks.

Critics of the legislation say the 
legislation is overbroad and would hurt education across the state. 
Parents would be allowed to withdraw their student from the class or 
education program without harm to the student’s academic records. Local 
school boards would be required to adopt policies and procedures in 
accordance with the law.

Last session, <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/04/26/kansas-senate-overrides-veto-of-legislation-creating-parental-bill-of-rights-for-k-12-education/">a parental bill of rights for K-12 public education</a>&nbsp;encouraged
 skepticism of classroom instructional materials and challenges to books
 on the shelf in school libraries. It was vetoed by Gov. Laura Kelly.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Lansing 
parent Kirsten Workman said the bill was needed. Workman claimed her 
daughter, now a senior at Lansing High School, was encouraged to read a 
fairytale through a Marxist lens and given reading about moral 
relativism, gender-based identity politics, social acceptance of 
homosexuality and critical race theory.

Workman said the teacher refused to 
meet with her to discuss her concerns and later gave her daughter more 
critical reading, such as pieces dealing with the morals of pornography.
 Workman said what the teacher was doing would be considered grooming in
 another context.

“They are using taxpayer-funded resources to indoctrinate our children with communist, far-left
 political ideals,” Workman said. “And they’re doing it everywhere, 
right under our noses while no one learns to read, write or understand 
basic algebra. The union is too powerful, and parents need a fighting 
chance.”

Kansas State Board of Education 
members Ann Mah and Deena Horst wrote in opposition to the bill, saying 
its vague language would create problems.

“This bill allows a parent to object 
to materials or activities they determine to be harmful,” the testimony 
read. “What is the definition of harmful? Without a definition, parents 
could make a claim of harm that a reasonable person would find 
unlikely.”

Rep. Owen Donohoe, a Shawnee 
Republican, said teachers should be embarrassed of themselves and that 
he was encouraged by homeschooling and potential new scholarship 
options.

Other education bills would funnel money into <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/07/kansas-lawmakers-unveil-bill-to-incentivize-private-education-with-public-funds/">unregulated, unaccredited private and home schools</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/01/26/holy-tax-scams-kansas-lawmakers-fight-over-plan-to-fund-private-schools-with-tax-write-offs/">incentivize scholarship programs</a> for private schools.

“If you look at history, it’s just an
 abysmal record,” Donohoe said. “It’s embarrassing to say, I would 
think, that I’m a teacher, when we’re getting the kind of results, or 
have been, in this state. We have only a quarter of the students who are
 qualifying for college in all four categories. And yet we go on with 
these subjects and discussions and CRT, which are so far outside the 
realm of what people, what parents, what many parents, what most 
parents, want their children educated on.”

Rep. Silas Miller, D-Wichita, said 
the bill could lead to children not being taught essential knowledge and
 other viewpoints, pointing out that the vague language would allow a 
lot of leeway for parents to intervene.

“I would argue to take all of those 
things and call it history, rather than whatever national talking points
 we want to bring up at this point,” Miller said. “But personally, I 
think it’s OK to teach kids about history. I think we should not 
whitewash or sugarcoat it for the sake of coddling children’s religious 
beliefs.”

Rep. Adam Thomas, committee chairman 
and an Olathe Republican, pushed back on the idea that distrust of 
teachers is a national, not a local, issue. As an example of personal 
dissatisfaction, Thomas said his daughter was forced to do an assignment
 about a “gender unicorn.”

“My daughter, being told before she 
had to leave a classroom, had to fill out and not take home an 
assignment all about a gender unicorn, where it was gender assigned at 
birth, all these questions, these intrusive questions, about gender and 
feelings,” Thomas said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1675957188402.png" alt="Rep. Owen Donohue says during a Wednesday House Education Committee hearing he would be embarrassed to be a teacher. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Rep. Owen Donohue says during a Wednesday House Education Committee hearing he would be embarrassed to be a teacher. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By RACHEL MIPRO <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/09/no-more-gender-unicorns-lawmakers-debate-new-parents-bill-of-rights-legislation/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA
 — Lawmakers on Wednesday debated a new form of parental rights 
legislation that would allow parents to withdraw their children from 
courses they find objectionable, saying some teachers are crossing the 
line into grooming and advocating radical ideas.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/hb2236_00_0000.pdf">House Bill 2236</a>
 was discussed by the House Education Committee. The bill would allow 
parents to object to any educational materials or activities that they 
believe would harm the student or parents’ beliefs, values or 
principles. Educational materials would include reading material, 
websites, videos and textbooks.Critics of the legislation say the 
legislation is overbroad and would hurt education across the state. 
Parents would be allowed to withdraw their student from the class or 
education program without harm to the student’s academic records. Local 
school boards would be required to adopt policies and procedures in 
accordance with the law.Last session, <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/04/26/kansas-senate-overrides-veto-of-legislation-creating-parental-bill-of-rights-for-k-12-education/">a parental bill of rights for K-12 public education</a>&nbsp;encouraged
 skepticism of classroom instructional materials and challenges to books
 on the shelf in school libraries. It was vetoed by Gov. Laura Kelly.During Wednesday’s hearing, Lansing 
parent Kirsten Workman said the bill was needed. Workman claimed her 
daughter, now a senior at Lansing High School, was encouraged to read a 
fairytale through a Marxist lens and given reading about moral 
relativism, gender-based identity politics, social acceptance of 
homosexuality and critical race theory.Workman said the teacher refused to 
meet with her to discuss her concerns and later gave her daughter more 
critical reading, such as pieces dealing with the morals of pornography.
 Workman said what the teacher was doing would be considered grooming in
 another context.“They are using taxpayer-funded resources to indoctrinate our children with communist, far-left
 political ideals,” Workman said. “And they’re doing it everywhere, 
right under our noses while no one learns to read, write or understand 
basic algebra. The union is too powerful, and parents need a fighting 
chance.”Kansas State Board of Education 
members Ann Mah and Deena Horst wrote in opposition to the bill, saying 
its vague language would create problems.“This bill allows a parent to object 
to materials or activities they determine to be harmful,” the testimony 
read. “What is the definition of harmful? Without a definition, parents 
could make a claim of harm that a reasonable person would find 
unlikely.”Rep. Owen Donohoe, a Shawnee 
Republican, said teachers should be embarrassed of themselves and that 
he was encouraged by homeschooling and potential new scholarship 
options.Other education bills would funnel money into <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/07/kansas-lawmakers-unveil-bill-to-incentivize-private-education-with-public-funds/">unregulated, unaccredited private and home schools</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/01/26/holy-tax-scams-kansas-lawmakers-fight-over-plan-to-fund-private-schools-with-tax-write-offs/">incentivize scholarship programs</a> for private schools.“If you look at history, it’s just an
 abysmal record,” Donohoe said. “It’s embarrassing to say, I would 
think, that I’m a teacher, when we’re getting the kind of results, or 
have been, in this state. We have only a quarter of the students who are
 qualifying for college in all four categories. And yet we go on with 
these subjects and discussions and CRT, which are so far outside the 
realm of what people, what parents, what many parents, what most 
parents, want their children educated on.”Rep. Silas Miller, D-Wichita, said 
the bill could lead to children not being taught essential knowledge and
 other viewpoints, pointing out that the vague language would allow a 
lot of leeway for parents to intervene.“I would argue to take all of those 
things and call it history, rather than whatever national talking points
 we want to bring up at this point,” Miller said. “But personally, I 
think it’s OK to teach kids about history. I think we should not 
whitewash or sugarcoat it for the sake of coddling children’s religious 
beliefs.”Rep. Adam Thomas, committee chairman 
and an Olathe Republican, pushed back on the idea that distrust of 
teachers is a national, not a local, issue. As an example of personal 
dissatisfaction, Thomas said his daughter was forced to do an assignment
 about a “gender unicorn.”“My daughter, being told before she 
had to leave a classroom, had to fill out and not take home an 
assignment all about a gender unicorn, where it was gender assigned at 
birth, all these questions, these intrusive questions, about gender and 
feelings,” Thomas said.

Kan. lawmakers debate new parents’ bill of rights legislation

Governor Laura Kelly mentioned Kansas’ water crisis in her 2023 State of the State Address, but so far she has proposed few specific policies to alleviate the problem.&nbsp; Will this be the year that Kansas policymakers step up?

Some 90 years ago, the state endured the catastrophic Dust Bowl from 1931 to 1939.&nbsp; This tragedy was not caused by drought alone.&nbsp; The Dust Bowl was aided and abetted by the removal of natural grasslands for farmland.&nbsp; Tilling the soil made it vulnerable to drought and wind, and much of the topsoil blew away.&nbsp; Agricultural policies during the New Deal era aimed to prevent a second disaster.&nbsp; They included planting trees as windbreaks, offering incentives for low- and no-till farming, paying farmers to leave land fallow on a rotating basis, and the creation of soil and water conservation districts.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Today, we face a similar crisis with the High Plains Aquifer.&nbsp; Discovered in the late 1800s, the Aquifer is the reason why much of today’s agriculture in Western Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma is possible.&nbsp; Large-scale reliance on the Aquifer followed, with center-pivot irrigation becoming popular by the late Twentieth Century.&nbsp; Once known as the “Great American Desert,” suddenly this land could support non-drought resistant crops including soybeans and corn, in addition to winter wheat, which was already being grown there. In those earlier days, there were minimal limitations on how much water could be pumped and the level fell accordingly. &nbsp; Rainfall amounts vary greatly from year to year, and water levels vary in different places, but on balance, the water levels in the Aquifer have been falling for some time.&nbsp; Agriculture accounts for 94% of groundwater use in Kansas, according to the Kansas Geological Survey.

Thirty-seven years ago, author Marc Reisner’s 1986 book Cadillac Desert concluded that the Aquifer would one day reach a level where no more water could be pumped, effectively shutting down most agriculture in and around Western Kansas.&nbsp; Reisner also chronicled various proposals, some of which were downright bizarre, such as making entire rivers flow in the opposite direction.&nbsp; Wisely, policymakers rejected such foolishness.&nbsp; Not so wisely, they chose instead to implement only limited solutions.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Today, climate change complicates the problem further.&nbsp; Droughts have become more common, and average temperatures around here have risen by 1.5 degrees.&nbsp; Hotter temperatures mean more evaporation.&nbsp; Rainfall patterns throughout the year are changing, necessitating more adaptations.

Unfortunately, our farmers still face strong incentives to pump as much water as possible.&nbsp; Water rights have been set for well users for some time, but regulation and compliance are complicated.&nbsp; Droplines reduce lost water from center-pivot systems, but they are not enough without additional changes such as increased crop rotation.&nbsp; The United States continues to overproduce corn, a water-intensive, heat-sensitive crop that is not the best fit for Western Kansas’ climate, though newer farm legislation has begun to move away from that.&nbsp; Other waterways are threatened, too.

Without strong, bipartisan leadership, this issue could be yet another one sucked into our country’s wider culture wars, sowing distrust and making it harder to reach agreements between farmers and other conservation advocates.&nbsp; That would be a shame.&nbsp; Kansas farmers proudly help feed the world.&nbsp; The decisions we make today will decide if they can do so in the future.

Michael A. Smith is a professor at Emporia State University.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/12/1639601062071.jpeg" alt="Michael A. Smith" />
 <figcaption>Michael A. Smith</figcaption>
 </figure>By MICHAEL A. SMITHGovernor Laura Kelly mentioned Kansas’ water crisis in her 2023 State of the State Address, but so far she has proposed few specific policies to alleviate the problem.&nbsp; Will this be the year that Kansas policymakers step up?Some 90 years ago, the state endured the catastrophic Dust Bowl from 1931 to 1939.&nbsp; This tragedy was not caused by drought alone.&nbsp; The Dust Bowl was aided and abetted by the removal of natural grasslands for farmland.&nbsp; Tilling the soil made it vulnerable to drought and wind, and much of the topsoil blew away.&nbsp; Agricultural policies during the New Deal era aimed to prevent a second disaster.&nbsp; They included planting trees as windbreaks, offering incentives for low- and no-till farming, paying farmers to leave land fallow on a rotating basis, and the creation of soil and water conservation districts.&nbsp;&nbsp;Today, we face a similar crisis with the High Plains Aquifer.&nbsp; Discovered in the late 1800s, the Aquifer is the reason why much of today’s agriculture in Western Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma is possible.&nbsp; Large-scale reliance on the Aquifer followed, with center-pivot irrigation becoming popular by the late Twentieth Century.&nbsp; Once known as the “Great American Desert,” suddenly this land could support non-drought resistant crops including soybeans and corn, in addition to winter wheat, which was already being grown there. In those earlier days, there were minimal limitations on how much water could be pumped and the level fell accordingly. &nbsp; Rainfall amounts vary greatly from year to year, and water levels vary in different places, but on balance, the water levels in the Aquifer have been falling for some time.&nbsp; Agriculture accounts for 94% of groundwater use in Kansas, according to the Kansas Geological Survey.Thirty-seven years ago, author Marc Reisner’s 1986 book Cadillac Desert concluded that the Aquifer would one day reach a level where no more water could be pumped, effectively shutting down most agriculture in and around Western Kansas.&nbsp; Reisner also chronicled various proposals, some of which were downright bizarre, such as making entire rivers flow in the opposite direction.&nbsp; Wisely, policymakers rejected such foolishness.&nbsp; Not so wisely, they chose instead to implement only limited solutions.&nbsp;&nbsp;Today, climate change complicates the problem further.&nbsp; Droughts have become more common, and average temperatures around here have risen by 1.5 degrees.&nbsp; Hotter temperatures mean more evaporation.&nbsp; Rainfall patterns throughout the year are changing, necessitating more adaptations.Unfortunately, our farmers still face strong incentives to pump as much water as possible.&nbsp; Water rights have been set for well users for some time, but regulation and compliance are complicated.&nbsp; Droplines reduce lost water from center-pivot systems, but they are not enough without additional changes such as increased crop rotation.&nbsp; The United States continues to overproduce corn, a water-intensive, heat-sensitive crop that is not the best fit for Western Kansas’ climate, though newer farm legislation has begun to move away from that.&nbsp; Other waterways are threatened, too.Without strong, bipartisan leadership, this issue could be yet another one sucked into our country’s wider culture wars, sowing distrust and making it harder to reach agreements between farmers and other conservation advocates.&nbsp; That would be a shame.&nbsp; Kansas farmers proudly help feed the world.&nbsp; The decisions we make today will decide if they can do so in the future.Michael A. Smith is a professor at Emporia State University.

INSIGHT KANSAS: Not a drop to drink

NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/burt-bacharach">Burt Bacharach,</a>&nbsp;the singularly gifted and popular composer who delighted millions with the quirky arrangements and unforgettable melodies of "Walk on By," "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" and dozens of other hits, has died at 94.

The Grammy, Oscar and Tony-winning Bacharach died Wednesday at home in Los Angeles of natural causes, publicist Tina Brausam said Thursday.

Over the past 70 years, only Lennon-McCartney, Carole King and a handful of others rivaled his genius for instantly catchy songs that remained performed, played and hummed long after they were written. He had a run of top 10 hits from the 1950s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-virus-outbreak-burt-bacharach-3c75337777bf897b635fbf518d200a13">into the 21st century,</a>&nbsp;and his music was heard everywhere from movie soundtracks and radios to home stereo systems and iPods, whether “Alfie” and “I Say a Little Prayer” or “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” and “This Guy’s in Love with You.”

Dionne Warwick was his favorite interpreter, but Bacharach, usually in tandem with lyricist Hal David, also created prime material for Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones and many others. Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Frank Sinatra were among the countless artists who covered his songs, with more recent performers who sung or sampled him including White Stripes, Twista and Ashanti. “Walk On By” alone was covered by everyone from Warwick and Isaac Hayes to the British punk band the Stranglers and Cyndi Lauper.

Bacharach was both an innovator and throwback, and his career seemed to run parallel to the rock era. He grew up on jazz and classical music and had little taste for rock when he was breaking into the business in the 1950s. His sensibility often seemed more aligned with Tin Pan Alley than with Bob Dylan, John Lennon and other writers who later emerged, but rock composers appreciated the depth of his seemingly old-fashioned sensibility.

“The shorthand version of him is that he’s something to do with easy listening,” Elvis Costello, who wrote the 1998 album “Painted from Memory” with Bacharach, said in a 2018 interview with The Associated Press. “It may be agreeable to listen to these songs, but there’s nothing easy about them. Try playing them. Try singing them.”

A box set, “The Songs of Bacharach &amp; Costello,” is due to come out March 3.

He triumphed in many artforms. He was an eight-time Grammy winner, a prize-winning&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-lifestyle-arts-and-entertainment-theater-music-3075cfa46c71a754a41d382b81a51c63">Broadway composer</a>&nbsp;for “Promises, Promises” and a three-time Oscar winner. He received two Academy Awards in 1970, for the score of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and for the song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” (shared with David). In 1982, he and his then-wife, lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, won for “Best That You Can Do,” the theme from “Arthur. His other movie soundtracks included “What’s New, Pussycat?”, “Alfie” and the 1967 James Bond spoof “Casino Royale.”

Bacharach was well rewarded, and well connected. He was a frequent guest at the White House, whether the president was Republican or Democrat. And in 2012, he was presented the Gershwin Prize by Barack Obama, who had sung a few seconds of “Walk on By” during a campaign appearance.

In his life, and in his music, he stood apart. Fellow songwriter Sammy Cahn liked to joke that the smiling, wavy-haired Bacharach was the first composer he ever knew who didn’t look like a dentist. Bacharach was a “swinger,” as they called such men in his time, whose many romances included actor Angie Dickinson, to whom he was married from 1965-80, and Sager, his wife from 1982-1991.

Married four times, he formed his most lasting ties to work. He was a perfectionist who took three weeks to write “Alfie” and might spend hours tweaking a single chord. Sager once observed that Bacharach’s life routines essentially stayed the same — only the wives changed.

It began with the melodies — strong yet interspersed with changing rhythms and surprising harmonics. He credited much of his style to his love of bebop and to his classical education, especially under the tutelage of Darius Milhaud, the famed composer. He once played a piece for piano, violin and oboe for Milhaud that contained a melody he was ashamed to have written, as 12-point atonal music was in vogue at the time. Milhaud, who liked the piece, advised the young man, "Never be afraid of the melody."

"That was a great affirmation for me," Bacharach recalled in 2004.

Bacharach was essentially a pop composer, but his songs became hits for country artists (Marty Robbins), rhythm and blues performers (Chuck Jackson), soul (Franklin, Luther Vandross) and synth-pop (Naked Eyes). He reached a new generation of listeners in the 1990s with the help of Costello and others.

Mike Myers would recall hearing the sultry “The Look of Love” on the radio and finding fast inspiration for his “Austin Powers” retro spy comedies, in which Bacharach made cameos.

In the 21st century, he was still testing new ground, writing his own lyrics and recording with rapper Dr. Dre.

He was married to his first wife, Paula Stewart, from 1953-58, and married for a fourth time, to Jane Hansen, in 1993. He is survived by Hansen, as well as his children Oliver, Raleigh and Cristopher, Brausam said. He was preceded in death by his daughter with Dickinson, Nikki Bacharach.

Bacharach knew the very heights of acclaim, but he remembered himself as a loner growing up, a short and self-conscious boy so uncomfortable with being Jewish he even taunted other Jews. His favorite book as a kid was Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”; he related to the sexually impotent Jake Barnes, regarding himself as “socially impotent.”

He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, but soon moved to New York City. His father was a syndicated columnist, his mother a pianist who encouraged the boy to study music. Although he was more interested in sports, he practiced piano every day after school, not wanting to disappoint his mother. While still a minor, he would sneak into jazz clubs, bearing a fake ID, and hear such greats as Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie.

“They were just so incredibly exciting that all of a sudden, I got into music in a way I never had before,” he recalled in the memoir “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” published in 2013. “What I heard in those clubs turned my head around.”

He was a poor student, but managed to gain a spot at the music conservatory at McGill University in Montreal. He wrote his first song at McGill and listened for months to Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song.” Music also may have saved Bacharach’s life. He was drafted into the Army in the late 1940s and was still on active duty during the Korean War. But officers stateside soon learned of his gifts and wanted him around. When he did go overseas, it was to Germany, where he wrote orchestrations for a recreation center on the local military base.

After his discharge, he returned to New York and tried to break into the music business. He had little success at first as a songwriter, but he became a popular arranger and accompanist, touring with Vic Damone, the Ames Brothers and Stewart, his eventual first wife. When a friend who had been touring with Marlene Dietrich was unable to make a show in Las Vegas, he asked Bacharach to step in.

The young musician and ageless singer quickly clicked and Bacharach traveled the world with her in the late 1950s and early '60s. During each performance, she would introduce him in grand style: “I would like you to meet the man, he’s my arranger, he’s my accompanist, he’s my conductor, and I wish I could say he’s my composer. But that isn’t true. He’s everybody’s composer ... Burt Bacharach!”

Meanwhile, he had met his ideal songwriter partner — David, as businesslike as Bacharach was mercurial, so domesticated that he would leave each night at 5 to catch the train back to his family on Long Island. Working in a tiny office in Broadway’s celebrated Brill Building, they produced their first million-seller, "Magic Moments," sung in 1958 by Perry Como. In 1962, they spotted a backup singer for the Drifters, Warwick, who had a “very special kind of grace and elegance,” Bacharach recalled.

The trio produced hit after hit. The songs were as complicated to record as they were easy to hear. Bacharach liked to experiment with time signatures and arrangements, such as having two pianists play on “Walk on By,” their performances just slightly out of sync to give the song “a jagged kind of feeling,” he wrote in his memoir.

The Bacharach-David partnership ended with the dismal failure of a 1973 musical remake of "Lost Horizon." Bacharach became so depressed he isolated himself in his Del Mar vacation home and refused to work.

"I didn't want to write with Hal or anybody," he told the AP in 2004. Nor did he want to fulfill a commitment to record Warwick. She and David both sued him.

Bacharach and David eventually reconciled. When David died in 2012, Bacharach praised him for writing lyrics “like a miniature movie.”

Meanwhile, Bacharach kept working, vowing never to retire, always believing that a good song could make a difference.

“Music softens the heart, makes you feel something if it’s good, brings in emotion that you might not have felt before,” he told the AP in 2018. “It’s a very powerful thing if you’re able to do to it, if you have it in your heart to do something like that.”

NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/burt-bacharach">Burt Bacharach,</a>&nbsp;the singularly gifted and popular composer who delighted millions with the quirky arrangements and unforgettable melodies of "Walk on By," "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" and dozens of other hits, has died at 94.The Grammy, Oscar and Tony-winning Bacharach died Wednesday at home in Los Angeles of natural causes, publicist Tina Brausam said Thursday.Over the past 70 years, only Lennon-McCartney, Carole King and a handful of others rivaled his genius for instantly catchy songs that remained performed, played and hummed long after they were written. He had a run of top 10 hits from the 1950s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-virus-outbreak-burt-bacharach-3c75337777bf897b635fbf518d200a13">into the 21st century,</a>&nbsp;and his music was heard everywhere from movie soundtracks and radios to home stereo systems and iPods, whether “Alfie” and “I Say a Little Prayer” or “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” and “This Guy’s in Love with You.”Dionne Warwick was his favorite interpreter, but Bacharach, usually in tandem with lyricist Hal David, also created prime material for Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones and many others. Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Frank Sinatra were among the countless artists who covered his songs, with more recent performers who sung or sampled him including White Stripes, Twista and Ashanti. “Walk On By” alone was covered by everyone from Warwick and Isaac Hayes to the British punk band the Stranglers and Cyndi Lauper.Bacharach was both an innovator and throwback, and his career seemed to run parallel to the rock era. He grew up on jazz and classical music and had little taste for rock when he was breaking into the business in the 1950s. His sensibility often seemed more aligned with Tin Pan Alley than with Bob Dylan, John Lennon and other writers who later emerged, but rock composers appreciated the depth of his seemingly old-fashioned sensibility.“The shorthand version of him is that he’s something to do with easy listening,” Elvis Costello, who wrote the 1998 album “Painted from Memory” with Bacharach, said in a 2018 interview with The Associated Press. “It may be agreeable to listen to these songs, but there’s nothing easy about them. Try playing them. Try singing them.”A box set, “The Songs of Bacharach &amp; Costello,” is due to come out March 3.He triumphed in many artforms. He was an eight-time Grammy winner, a prize-winning&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-lifestyle-arts-and-entertainment-theater-music-3075cfa46c71a754a41d382b81a51c63">Broadway composer</a>&nbsp;for “Promises, Promises” and a three-time Oscar winner. He received two Academy Awards in 1970, for the score of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and for the song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” (shared with David). In 1982, he and his then-wife, lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, won for “Best That You Can Do,” the theme from “Arthur. His other movie soundtracks included “What’s New, Pussycat?”, “Alfie” and the 1967 James Bond spoof “Casino Royale.”Bacharach was well rewarded, and well connected. He was a frequent guest at the White House, whether the president was Republican or Democrat. And in 2012, he was presented the Gershwin Prize by Barack Obama, who had sung a few seconds of “Walk on By” during a campaign appearance.In his life, and in his music, he stood apart. Fellow songwriter Sammy Cahn liked to joke that the smiling, wavy-haired Bacharach was the first composer he ever knew who didn’t look like a dentist. Bacharach was a “swinger,” as they called such men in his time, whose many romances included actor Angie Dickinson, to whom he was married from 1965-80, and Sager, his wife from 1982-1991.Married four times, he formed his most lasting ties to work. He was a perfectionist who took three weeks to write “Alfie” and might spend hours tweaking a single chord. Sager once observed that Bacharach’s life routines essentially stayed the same — only the wives changed.It began with the melodies — strong yet interspersed with changing rhythms and surprising harmonics. He credited much of his style to his love of bebop and to his classical education, especially under the tutelage of Darius Milhaud, the famed composer. He once played a piece for piano, violin and oboe for Milhaud that contained a melody he was ashamed to have written, as 12-point atonal music was in vogue at the time. Milhaud, who liked the piece, advised the young man, "Never be afraid of the melody.""That was a great affirmation for me," Bacharach recalled in 2004.Bacharach was essentially a pop composer, but his songs became hits for country artists (Marty Robbins), rhythm and blues performers (Chuck Jackson), soul (Franklin, Luther Vandross) and synth-pop (Naked Eyes). He reached a new generation of listeners in the 1990s with the help of Costello and others.Mike Myers would recall hearing the sultry “The Look of Love” on the radio and finding fast inspiration for his “Austin Powers” retro spy comedies, in which Bacharach made cameos.In the 21st century, he was still testing new ground, writing his own lyrics and recording with rapper Dr. Dre.He was married to his first wife, Paula Stewart, from 1953-58, and married for a fourth time, to Jane Hansen, in 1993. He is survived by Hansen, as well as his children Oliver, Raleigh and Cristopher, Brausam said. He was preceded in death by his daughter with Dickinson, Nikki Bacharach.Bacharach knew the very heights of acclaim, but he remembered himself as a loner growing up, a short and self-conscious boy so uncomfortable with being Jewish he even taunted other Jews. His favorite book as a kid was Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”; he related to the sexually impotent Jake Barnes, regarding himself as “socially impotent.”He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, but soon moved to New York City. His father was a syndicated columnist, his mother a pianist who encouraged the boy to study music. Although he was more interested in sports, he practiced piano every day after school, not wanting to disappoint his mother. While still a minor, he would sneak into jazz clubs, bearing a fake ID, and hear such greats as Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie.“They were just so incredibly exciting that all of a sudden, I got into music in a way I never had before,” he recalled in the memoir “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” published in 2013. “What I heard in those clubs turned my head around.”He was a poor student, but managed to gain a spot at the music conservatory at McGill University in Montreal. He wrote his first song at McGill and listened for months to Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song.” Music also may have saved Bacharach’s life. He was drafted into the Army in the late 1940s and was still on active duty during the Korean War. But officers stateside soon learned of his gifts and wanted him around. When he did go overseas, it was to Germany, where he wrote orchestrations for a recreation center on the local military base.After his discharge, he returned to New York and tried to break into the music business. He had little success at first as a songwriter, but he became a popular arranger and accompanist, touring with Vic Damone, the Ames Brothers and Stewart, his eventual first wife. When a friend who had been touring with Marlene Dietrich was unable to make a show in Las Vegas, he asked Bacharach to step in.The young musician and ageless singer quickly clicked and Bacharach traveled the world with her in the late 1950s and early '60s. During each performance, she would introduce him in grand style: “I would like you to meet the man, he’s my arranger, he’s my accompanist, he’s my conductor, and I wish I could say he’s my composer. But that isn’t true. He’s everybody’s composer ... Burt Bacharach!”Meanwhile, he had met his ideal songwriter partner — David, as businesslike as Bacharach was mercurial, so domesticated that he would leave each night at 5 to catch the train back to his family on Long Island. Working in a tiny office in Broadway’s celebrated Brill Building, they produced their first million-seller, "Magic Moments," sung in 1958 by Perry Como. In 1962, they spotted a backup singer for the Drifters, Warwick, who had a “very special kind of grace and elegance,” Bacharach recalled.The trio produced hit after hit. The songs were as complicated to record as they were easy to hear. Bacharach liked to experiment with time signatures and arrangements, such as having two pianists play on “Walk on By,” their performances just slightly out of sync to give the song “a jagged kind of feeling,” he wrote in his memoir.The Bacharach-David partnership ended with the dismal failure of a 1973 musical remake of "Lost Horizon." Bacharach became so depressed he isolated himself in his Del Mar vacation home and refused to work."I didn't want to write with Hal or anybody," he told the AP in 2004. Nor did he want to fulfill a commitment to record Warwick. She and David both sued him.Bacharach and David eventually reconciled. When David died in 2012, Bacharach praised him for writing lyrics “like a miniature movie.”Meanwhile, Bacharach kept working, vowing never to retire, always believing that a good song could make a difference.“Music softens the heart, makes you feel something if it’s good, brings in emotion that you might not have felt before,” he told the AP in 2018. “It’s a very powerful thing if you’re able to do to it, if you have it in your heart to do something like that.”___

Burt Bacharach, KC native, legendary composer of pop songs, dies

AAA Kansas provides tips for party-goers and party hosts to avoid drunk driving tragedy

WICHITA – Festivities for Sunday’s big game are fast approaching, with scores of Chiefs fans and others making plans for where to watch and what they will eat and drink. AAA Kansas advises party planners and football fans to prepare by designating a sober driver or arranging for alternate transportation options before the party starts.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities often spike on holidays and popular drinking days, like Super Bowl Sunday. Every day, about 32 people in the U.S die in drunk driving crashes – that’s one person every 45 minutes. In 2020, 11,654 people nationwide died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic crashes – a 14% increase from 2019. These deaths were all preventable.

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) tracks crash statistics on Super Bowl weekend. From 2017 to 2021, during the 78-hour reporting period surrounding the big game, there were an average of 25 alcohol-related crashes, resulting in an average of,13 injuries and 16 instances of property damage only each year. According to KDOT Super Bowl weekend statistics from 2021, the most recent official data available, there were 33 alcohol-related crashes, resulting in 19 instances of property damage, 22 people injured and one fatality.

Drunk driving is an ongoing and significant traffic safety problem. For the year 2021, 86 people were killed on Kansas roads in alcohol-related crashes, accounting for 20.3% of all crash fatalities in the state.

“Drinking and driving is not a game – it’s a deadly combination and a crime,” said Shawn Steward, AAA Kansas spokesman. “Make your winning drive a sober one and designate a driver or make plans for a ride share or cab home&nbsp;before&nbsp;indulging in alcohol. Drunk driving only leads to disaster and tragedy, and it is 100 percent preventable.”

●If you plan to drink, select a designated driver and give them your car keys. If you don’t have a designated driver, ask a sober friend for a ride home; arrange a ride share or cab, or stay where you are and sleep it off until you are sober.

●Buckle up—it’s your best defense against other impaired drivers.

●Collect all drivers' keys in a bowl when guests arrive.

●Designate someone who's not drinking to assess guests when they are ready to leave and make sure they are not intoxicated. The "roadwise" host is in charge of the bowl of keys and hands them out only to those who aren't showing signs of intoxication.

●Offer food and non-alcoholic beverages.

●Mix drinks yourself; avoid open bars. Limit mixing drinks with carbonated beverages; they increase alcohol absorption.

●Stop serving alcohol at the end of the third quarter of the game. Don’t offer “one for the road.” Only TIME can make guests sober- not coffee or cold showers. It takes about 1 hour to burn off an average drink, 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer or 1 ½ ounces of liquor. They all contain about the same amount of alcohol.

●Guests who are sleepy, giddy, overly talkative or uncoordinated could be too impaired to drive. Arrange rides for them or invite them to sleep over. If guests get irate, 'hide' their keys until they find a ride home.

●The&nbsp;first ability affected by alcohol is judgment and decision-making. For some people, it only takes one drink for reflexes and judgment needed for driving to be impaired. It's not a weakness. It's a reality.

●If a guest would be unsafe behind the wheel,&nbsp;call a cab or ride-share service such as Lyft or Uber.

About AAA AAA provides automotive, travel, and insurance services to more than 63&nbsp;million&nbsp;members nationwide and more than 350,000 members in Kansas.&nbsp;AAA advocates for the safety and mobility of its members and has been committed to outstanding road service for more than 100 years. AAA is a&nbsp;non-stock, membership corporation working&nbsp;on behalf of motorists, who can map a route, access a&nbsp;<a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUZq7fhzRb2URGDQo-2F50oBEr-2Fbwhu8fPUyM1UGHM2bacFFA3Jf5NCJEcqU1rYMpo-2B7BEohQndgte3obSbPOg00n9FouHS9x9pGXl1JHu0Vl-2FaLIg69vty8Q3jtYMEA-2BXbOA-3D-3DDgjX_t63W6VOpNaQzFln0mRpIPwKWfC8tUIiPKNeIQzfdtyfQoXXVWW7tXyuBqGeFvk2cNuQE8DSUNhLYK5rhxUJJqnr36Bz-2FX7x-2BRJfm1jhyKW-2FTCp5aY-2FVJ4JCxnjvk-2FRRD1CsAa4SoFVlUx0KAH1XjUZ-2B9M-2BhFBVpmJBPcqFgmrh5kOUvDshxr0kg3EGHuOSX3WajGDySa9qlPZV0g1Ey53oE7RIdIjzVjVErbcfv7F0kHhCFCOdeQWpzw7USe9aabDj3EdHf5Z-2B0C1vRKwaiAieqpDj6pKg8L2MEyfHBlftoKMNBlZaSnh4tnOweOTv9NFTK1kJR1NwbMSdVM35dAodUgcaee6TdR-2F7QhwNYZFJE-3D" target="_blank">COVID travel restriction map</a>, find local gas prices and&nbsp;<a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUf5vDzC6voLYAPhUgWPKW1SAOm0OriNB3cOVo30c-2Fc520vJb_t63W6VOpNaQzFln0mRpIPwKWfC8tUIiPKNeIQzfdtyfQoXXVWW7tXyuBqGeFvk2cNuQE8DSUNhLYK5rhxUJJqnr36Bz-2FX7x-2BRJfm1jhyKW-2FTCp5aY-2FVJ4JCxnjvk-2FRRD1CsAa4SoFVlUx0KAH1XjUZ-2B9M-2BhFBVpmJBPcqFgmrh5kOUvDshxr0kg3EGHuOSX3WajGDySa9qlPZV0g1Ey53hoHpNuXadihbBsFqjQthYwzWE9pYxYFgqG9lBs9jIMvPqUAW03psJD0re-2F7QsbdBx7dXng4EwYi6pfyi51n7muupMaHKyWpt25MqaVqzzPKfqx3S6xld7htbpMQStvv7vAVuTdhwPhWtkJfcCcnFCA-3D" target="_blank">electric vehicle charging stations</a>,&nbsp;discover discounts, book a hotel, and track their roadside assistance service with the AAA Mobile app (<a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=TeZUXWpUv-2B6TCY38pVLo9hd7gt5w4RnNVYldceL1C0Mr-2BgWuTHSr0gcdduVCeTe62Dce_t63W6VOpNaQzFln0mRpIPwKWfC8tUIiPKNeIQzfdtyfQoXXVWW7tXyuBqGeFvk2cNuQE8DSUNhLYK5rhxUJJqnr36Bz-2FX7x-2BRJfm1jhyKW-2FTCp5aY-2FVJ4JCxnjvk-2FRRD1CsAa4SoFVlUx0KAH1XjUZ-2B9M-2BhFBVpmJBPcqFgmrh5kOUvDshxr0kg3EGHuOSX3WajGDySa9qlPZV0g1Ey53s2eXDGQ1t7d-2B6dfEkPhHcEyxevzeBmS-2FGThsnDeJjTeRMitZeAf6X7GNRKKt9Xa2nCeWTyVot8FvN4PAeVOSf4XJN7oaPpOE9l068yFgD3tMM-2Ftnylv4n0giygAz-2FL8MyaKvEajrUWxjfxGBmSchhA-3D" target="_blank">AAA.com/mobile</a>) for iPhone, iPad and Android. For more information on joining or renewing a Membership, visit&nbsp;<a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=TeZUXWpUv-2B6TCY38pVLo9jbf-2FfQz5ExMUplWZDyodiQ-3DJIMn_t63W6VOpNaQzFln0mRpIPwKWfC8tUIiPKNeIQzfdtyfQoXXVWW7tXyuBqGeFvk2cNuQE8DSUNhLYK5rhxUJJqnr36Bz-2FX7x-2BRJfm1jhyKW-2FTCp5aY-2FVJ4JCxnjvk-2FRRD1CsAa4SoFVlUx0KAH1XjUZ-2B9M-2BhFBVpmJBPcqFgmrh5kOUvDshxr0kg3EGHuOSX3WajGDySa9qlPZV0g1Ey53g-2BWORPyZDpLXD-2BZYybb44w9-2F89QmtEffMbLGfmOJD2zQSXFyj8vrBOooZyBtuacn950JnJxaaXdwD-2Bvijbx0pHdmt0gbUnfj6CG-2Btu2KB3V8x-2BRLB4narWgDL-2BCkyn8W0oXyOLYGx-2B6P99CMlkOQKM-3D" target="_blank">www.AAA.com</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1675911338354.png" alt="Image courtesy AAA" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy AAA</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>AAA Kansas provides tips for party-goers and party hosts to avoid drunk driving tragedy</h2>WICHITA – Festivities for Sunday’s big game are fast approaching, with scores of Chiefs fans and others making plans for where to watch and what they will eat and drink. AAA Kansas advises party planners and football fans to prepare by designating a sober driver or arranging for alternate transportation options before the party starts.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities often spike on holidays and popular drinking days, like Super Bowl Sunday. Every day, about 32 people in the U.S die in drunk driving crashes – that’s one person every 45 minutes. In 2020, 11,654 people nationwide died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic crashes – a 14% increase from 2019. These deaths were all preventable.The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) tracks crash statistics on Super Bowl weekend. From 2017 to 2021, during the 78-hour reporting period surrounding the big game, there were an average of 25 alcohol-related crashes, resulting in an average of,13 injuries and 16 instances of property damage only each year. According to KDOT Super Bowl weekend statistics from 2021, the most recent official data available, there were 33 alcohol-related crashes, resulting in 19 instances of property damage, 22 people injured and one fatality.Drunk driving is an ongoing and significant traffic safety problem. For the year 2021, 86 people were killed on Kansas roads in alcohol-related crashes, accounting for 20.3% of all crash fatalities in the state.“Drinking and driving is not a game – it’s a deadly combination and a crime,” said Shawn Steward, AAA Kansas spokesman. “Make your winning drive a sober one and designate a driver or make plans for a ride share or cab home&nbsp;before&nbsp;indulging in alcohol. Drunk driving only leads to disaster and tragedy, and it is 100 percent preventable.” <h2>Tips for a safe big game party</h2>Be a responsible party-goer:●If you plan to drive, don’t drink.●If you plan to drink, select a designated driver and give them your car keys. If you don’t have a designated driver, ask a sober friend for a ride home; arrange a ride share or cab, or stay where you are and sleep it off until you are sober.●Buckle up—it’s your best defense against other impaired drivers.Be a responsible host:●Collect all drivers' keys in a bowl when guests arrive.●Designate someone who's not drinking to assess guests when they are ready to leave and make sure they are not intoxicated. The "roadwise" host is in charge of the bowl of keys and hands them out only to those who aren't showing signs of intoxication.●Offer food and non-alcoholic beverages.●Mix drinks yourself; avoid open bars. Limit mixing drinks with carbonated beverages; they increase alcohol absorption.●Stop serving alcohol at the end of the third quarter of the game. Don’t offer “one for the road.” Only TIME can make guests sober- not coffee or cold showers. It takes about 1 hour to burn off an average drink, 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer or 1 ½ ounces of liquor. They all contain about the same amount of alcohol.●Guests who are sleepy, giddy, overly talkative or uncoordinated could be too impaired to drive. Arrange rides for them or invite them to sleep over. If guests get irate, 'hide' their keys until they find a ride home.●The&nbsp;first ability affected by alcohol is judgment and decision-making. For some people, it only takes one drink for reflexes and judgment needed for driving to be impaired. It's not a weakness. It's a reality.●If a guest would be unsafe behind the wheel,&nbsp;call a cab or ride-share service such as Lyft or Uber.About AAA AAA provides automotive, travel, and insurance services to more than 63&nbsp;million&nbsp;members nationwide and more than 350,000 members in Kansas.&nbsp;AAA advocates for the safety and mobility of its members and has been committed to outstanding road service for more than 100 years. AAA is a&nbsp;non-stock, membership corporation working&nbsp;on behalf of motorists, who can map a route, access a&nbsp;<a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUZq7fhzRb2URGDQo-2F50oBEr-2Fbwhu8fPUyM1UGHM2bacFFA3Jf5NCJEcqU1rYMpo-2B7BEohQndgte3obSbPOg00n9FouHS9x9pGXl1JHu0Vl-2FaLIg69vty8Q3jtYMEA-2BXbOA-3D-3DDgjX_t63W6VOpNaQzFln0mRpIPwKWfC8tUIiPKNeIQzfdtyfQoXXVWW7tXyuBqGeFvk2cNuQE8DSUNhLYK5rhxUJJqnr36Bz-2FX7x-2BRJfm1jhyKW-2FTCp5aY-2FVJ4JCxnjvk-2FRRD1CsAa4SoFVlUx0KAH1XjUZ-2B9M-2BhFBVpmJBPcqFgmrh5kOUvDshxr0kg3EGHuOSX3WajGDySa9qlPZV0g1Ey53oE7RIdIjzVjVErbcfv7F0kHhCFCOdeQWpzw7USe9aabDj3EdHf5Z-2B0C1vRKwaiAieqpDj6pKg8L2MEyfHBlftoKMNBlZaSnh4tnOweOTv9NFTK1kJR1NwbMSdVM35dAodUgcaee6TdR-2F7QhwNYZFJE-3D" target="_blank">COVID travel restriction map</a>, find local gas prices and&nbsp;<a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUf5vDzC6voLYAPhUgWPKW1SAOm0OriNB3cOVo30c-2Fc520vJb_t63W6VOpNaQzFln0mRpIPwKWfC8tUIiPKNeIQzfdtyfQoXXVWW7tXyuBqGeFvk2cNuQE8DSUNhLYK5rhxUJJqnr36Bz-2FX7x-2BRJfm1jhyKW-2FTCp5aY-2FVJ4JCxnjvk-2FRRD1CsAa4SoFVlUx0KAH1XjUZ-2B9M-2BhFBVpmJBPcqFgmrh5kOUvDshxr0kg3EGHuOSX3WajGDySa9qlPZV0g1Ey53hoHpNuXadihbBsFqjQthYwzWE9pYxYFgqG9lBs9jIMvPqUAW03psJD0re-2F7QsbdBx7dXng4EwYi6pfyi51n7muupMaHKyWpt25MqaVqzzPKfqx3S6xld7htbpMQStvv7vAVuTdhwPhWtkJfcCcnFCA-3D" target="_blank">electric vehicle charging stations</a>,&nbsp;discover discounts, book a hotel, and track their roadside assistance service with the AAA Mobile app (<a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=TeZUXWpUv-2B6TCY38pVLo9hd7gt5w4RnNVYldceL1C0Mr-2BgWuTHSr0gcdduVCeTe62Dce_t63W6VOpNaQzFln0mRpIPwKWfC8tUIiPKNeIQzfdtyfQoXXVWW7tXyuBqGeFvk2cNuQE8DSUNhLYK5rhxUJJqnr36Bz-2FX7x-2BRJfm1jhyKW-2FTCp5aY-2FVJ4JCxnjvk-2FRRD1CsAa4SoFVlUx0KAH1XjUZ-2B9M-2BhFBVpmJBPcqFgmrh5kOUvDshxr0kg3EGHuOSX3WajGDySa9qlPZV0g1Ey53s2eXDGQ1t7d-2B6dfEkPhHcEyxevzeBmS-2FGThsnDeJjTeRMitZeAf6X7GNRKKt9Xa2nCeWTyVot8FvN4PAeVOSf4XJN7oaPpOE9l068yFgD3tMM-2Ftnylv4n0giygAz-2FL8MyaKvEajrUWxjfxGBmSchhA-3D" target="_blank">AAA.com/mobile</a>) for iPhone, iPad and Android. For more information on joining or renewing a Membership, visit&nbsp;<a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=TeZUXWpUv-2B6TCY38pVLo9jbf-2FfQz5ExMUplWZDyodiQ-3DJIMn_t63W6VOpNaQzFln0mRpIPwKWfC8tUIiPKNeIQzfdtyfQoXXVWW7tXyuBqGeFvk2cNuQE8DSUNhLYK5rhxUJJqnr36Bz-2FX7x-2BRJfm1jhyKW-2FTCp5aY-2FVJ4JCxnjvk-2FRRD1CsAa4SoFVlUx0KAH1XjUZ-2B9M-2BhFBVpmJBPcqFgmrh5kOUvDshxr0kg3EGHuOSX3WajGDySa9qlPZV0g1Ey53g-2BWORPyZDpLXD-2BZYybb44w9-2F89QmtEffMbLGfmOJD2zQSXFyj8vrBOooZyBtuacn950JnJxaaXdwD-2Bvijbx0pHdmt0gbUnfj6CG-2Btu2KB3V8x-2BRLB4narWgDL-2BCkyn8W0oXyOLYGx-2B6P99CMlkOQKM-3D" target="_blank">www.AAA.com</a>.

AAA: Make Sunday’s big game about friends, family, football, not fatalities

Today is Thursday, Feb. 9, the 40th day of 2023. There are 331 days left in the year.

On Feb. 9, 1971, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in California's San Fernando Valley claimed 65 lives. The crew of Apollo 14 returned to Earth after man's third landing on the moon.

In 1825, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes.

In 1942, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff held its first formal meeting to coordinate military strategy during World War II.

In 1943, the World War II battle of Guadalcanal in the southwest Pacific ended with an Allied victory over Japanese forces.

In 1950, in a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin charged that the State Department was riddled with Communists.

In 1962, an agreement was signed to make Jamaica an independent nation within the British Commonwealth later in the year.

In 1963, the Boeing 727 went on its first-ever flight as it took off from Renton, Washington.

In 1964, the Beatles made their first live American television appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show," broadcast from New York on CBS. The G.I. Joe action figure was introduced at the American International Toy Fair in New York.

In 1984, Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov, 69, died 15 months after succeeding Leonid Brezhnev; he was followed by Konstantin U. Chernenko.

In 1986, during its latest visit to the solar system, Halley's Comet came closest to the sun (its next return will be in 2061).

In 2002, Britain's Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, died in London at age 71.

In 2009, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs, telling ESPN he'd used banned substances while with the Texas Rangers for three years.

In 2020, "Parasite," from South Korea, won the best picture Oscar, becoming the first foreign-language film to take home the biggest honor in film.

Ten years ago: Hundreds of mourners and dignitaries, including first lady Michelle Obama, packed the funeral service for Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old honor student who was shot and killed Jan. 29 as she stood with friends at a neighborhood park about a mile from President Barack Obama's Chicago home in the Kenwood neighborhood.

Five years ago: President Donald Trump signed a $400 billion budget deal that sharply boosted spending, swelling the federal deficit; the measure ended a brief overnight federal government shutdown. At the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in South Korea, North and South Korean athletes entered Olympic Stadium together, waving flags showing a unified Korea; it was their first joint Olympic march in more than a decade.

One year ago: It was revealed that Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian figure skating superstar who had just led her team to an Olympic gold medal, tested positive for a banned heart medication before the Beijing Games. Actor Bob Saget's family revealed that it was an accidental blow to the head that led to his death in a Florida hotel room a month earlier.

Today's birthdays:&nbsp;Actor Janet Suzman is 84. Nobel Prize-winning author J.M. Coetzee is 83. Actor-politician Sheila James Kuehl (TV: "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis") is 82. Singer-songwriter Carole King is 81. Actor Joe Pesci is 80. Singer Barbara Lewis is 80. Author Alice Walker is 79. Actor Mia Farrow is 78. Former Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., is 77. Singer Joe Ely is 76. Actor Judith Light is 74. Actor Charles Shaughnessy is 68. Actor Ed Amatrudo is 67. Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is 66. Jazz musician Steve Wilson is 62. Country singer Travis Tritt is 60. Actor Julie Warner is 58. Country singer Danni Leigh is 53. Actor Sharon Case is 52. Actor Jason George is 51. Actor Amber Valletta is 49. Actor-producer Charlie Day is 47. Rock singer Chad Wolf (Carolina Liar) is 47. Actor A.J. Buckley is 46. Rock musician Richard On (O.A.R.) is 44. Actor Ziyi Zhang is 44. Olympic silver and bronze medal figure skater Irina Slutskaya is 44. Actor Tom Hiddleston is 42. Actor David Gallagher is 38. Actor Michael B. Jordan is 36. Actor Rose Leslie is 36. Actor Camille Winbush is 33. Actor Jimmy Bennett is 27. Actor Evan Roe (TV: "Madam Secretary") is 23.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573488868914.jpeg" alt="Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a>" />
 <figcaption>Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a></figcaption>
 </figure>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSToday is Thursday, Feb. 9, the 40th day of 2023. There are 331 days left in the year.Today's Highlight in History:On Feb. 9, 1971, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in California's San Fernando Valley claimed 65 lives. The crew of Apollo 14 returned to Earth after man's third landing on the moon.On this date:In 1825, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes.In 1942, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff held its first formal meeting to coordinate military strategy during World War II.In 1943, the World War II battle of Guadalcanal in the southwest Pacific ended with an Allied victory over Japanese forces.In 1950, in a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin charged that the State Department was riddled with Communists.In 1962, an agreement was signed to make Jamaica an independent nation within the British Commonwealth later in the year.In 1963, the Boeing 727 went on its first-ever flight as it took off from Renton, Washington.In 1964, the Beatles made their first live American television appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show," broadcast from New York on CBS. The G.I. Joe action figure was introduced at the American International Toy Fair in New York.In 1984, Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov, 69, died 15 months after succeeding Leonid Brezhnev; he was followed by Konstantin U. Chernenko.In 1986, during its latest visit to the solar system, Halley's Comet came closest to the sun (its next return will be in 2061).In 2002, Britain's Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, died in London at age 71.In 2009, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs, telling ESPN he'd used banned substances while with the Texas Rangers for three years.In 2020, "Parasite," from South Korea, won the best picture Oscar, becoming the first foreign-language film to take home the biggest honor in film.Ten years ago: Hundreds of mourners and dignitaries, including first lady Michelle Obama, packed the funeral service for Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old honor student who was shot and killed Jan. 29 as she stood with friends at a neighborhood park about a mile from President Barack Obama's Chicago home in the Kenwood neighborhood.Five years ago: President Donald Trump signed a $400 billion budget deal that sharply boosted spending, swelling the federal deficit; the measure ended a brief overnight federal government shutdown. At the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in South Korea, North and South Korean athletes entered Olympic Stadium together, waving flags showing a unified Korea; it was their first joint Olympic march in more than a decade.One year ago: It was revealed that Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian figure skating superstar who had just led her team to an Olympic gold medal, tested positive for a banned heart medication before the Beijing Games. Actor Bob Saget's family revealed that it was an accidental blow to the head that led to his death in a Florida hotel room a month earlier.Today's birthdays:&nbsp;Actor Janet Suzman is 84. Nobel Prize-winning author J.M. Coetzee is 83. Actor-politician Sheila James Kuehl (TV: "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis") is 82. Singer-songwriter Carole King is 81. Actor Joe Pesci is 80. Singer Barbara Lewis is 80. Author Alice Walker is 79. Actor Mia Farrow is 78. Former Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., is 77. Singer Joe Ely is 76. Actor Judith Light is 74. Actor Charles Shaughnessy is 68. Actor Ed Amatrudo is 67. Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is 66. Jazz musician Steve Wilson is 62. Country singer Travis Tritt is 60. Actor Julie Warner is 58. Country singer Danni Leigh is 53. Actor Sharon Case is 52. Actor Jason George is 51. Actor Amber Valletta is 49. Actor-producer Charlie Day is 47. Rock singer Chad Wolf (Carolina Liar) is 47. Actor A.J. Buckley is 46. Rock musician Richard On (O.A.R.) is 44. Actor Ziyi Zhang is 44. Olympic silver and bronze medal figure skater Irina Slutskaya is 44. Actor Tom Hiddleston is 42. Actor David Gallagher is 38. Actor Michael B. Jordan is 36. Actor Rose Leslie is 36. Actor Camille Winbush is 33. Actor Jimmy Bennett is 27. Actor Evan Roe (TV: "Madam Secretary") is 23.

Today in History - Feb. 9

FORD COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating an alleged threat at a southwest Kansas school.

On Wednesday, an upset parent made a call to Sunnyside Elementary, 511, Sunnyside Avenue in Dodge City, and threatened to blow up the school, according to a media release from police.

The parent arrived at the school shortly after the call&nbsp;to pick up her children and police were notified.&nbsp;&nbsp;When officers arrived, they contacted a 31-year old woman from Dodge City in the building entryway. 

Due to security measures at the school, she only entered the entry doors and not the locked interior doors.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Officers arrested her immediately without incident. They found no explosive materials. 

She was booked into the Ford County Jail on a requested felony charge of criminal threat and the case will be forwarded to the Ford County Attorney's office. Police did not release her name.

FORD COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating an alleged threat at a southwest Kansas school.On Wednesday, an upset parent made a call to Sunnyside Elementary, 511, Sunnyside Avenue in Dodge City, and threatened to blow up the school, according to a media release from police.The parent arrived at the school shortly after the call&nbsp;to pick up her children and police were notified.&nbsp;&nbsp;When officers arrived, they contacted a 31-year old woman from Dodge City in the building entryway. Due to security measures at the school, she only entered the entry doors and not the locked interior doors.&nbsp;&nbsp;Officers arrested her immediately without incident. They found no explosive materials. She was booked into the Ford County Jail on a requested felony charge of criminal threat and the case will be forwarded to the Ford County Attorney's office. Police did not release her name.

Police: SW Kan. woman threatened to blow up elementary school

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities investigating an abduction have made an arrest.

Just after 12:30p.m. Tuesday, police responded to the 1200 block of E. Mt. Vernon in Wichita for a disturbance, abduction call, according to Officer Juan Rebolledo. 

A witnesses reported seeing two men arguing with a woman and forcibly placing her inside a vehicle and leaving the area.

Officers immediately began checking the area for the vehicle, and with the information provided by one of the witnesses following Atkinson’s vehicle, officers were able to locate the vehicle and attempted a traffic stop, but a suspect later identified as 26-year-old Daivon Atkinson refused to stop, and a chase ensued.

Officers were able to stop Atkinson’s vehicle after a brief pursuit at the intersection of 10th Street North and Madison.&nbsp; The officers arrested Atkinson after a foot pursuit.

The investigation revealed that Atkinson confronted his girlfriend, the 33-year-old victim, over an unknown circumstance. Atkinson told the victim to get in the car, and she refused. Atkinson and an acquaintance of the victim grabbed her and placed her inside the vehicle before fleeing the area.

This case would not have been solved so quickly without our officers’ and DIVERT officer’s quick response and help from the witnesses. Atkinson was booked on requested traffic charges and a requested aggravated assault charge not related to the initial disturbance, according to Rebolledo.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1675860596880.png" alt="ATKINSON-photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>ATKINSON-photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities investigating an abduction have made an arrest.Just after 12:30p.m. Tuesday, police responded to the 1200 block of E. Mt. Vernon in Wichita for a disturbance, abduction call, according to Officer Juan Rebolledo. A witnesses reported seeing two men arguing with a woman and forcibly placing her inside a vehicle and leaving the area.Officers immediately began checking the area for the vehicle, and with the information provided by one of the witnesses following Atkinson’s vehicle, officers were able to locate the vehicle and attempted a traffic stop, but a suspect later identified as 26-year-old Daivon Atkinson refused to stop, and a chase ensued.Officers were able to stop Atkinson’s vehicle after a brief pursuit at the intersection of 10th Street North and Madison.&nbsp; The officers arrested Atkinson after a foot pursuit.The investigation revealed that Atkinson confronted his girlfriend, the 33-year-old victim, over an unknown circumstance. Atkinson told the victim to get in the car, and she refused. Atkinson and an acquaintance of the victim grabbed her and placed her inside the vehicle before fleeing the area.This case would not have been solved so quickly without our officers’ and DIVERT officer’s quick response and help from the witnesses. Atkinson was booked on requested traffic charges and a requested aggravated assault charge not related to the initial disturbance, according to Rebolledo.

Kansas man accused in girlfriend's abduction 

DICKINSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug allegations after a traffic stop on Interstate 70.

Just after 10a.m. Tuesday, a Dickinson County Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop with a 2017 Dodge Ram 3500 pickup for a traffic infraction on Interstate 70, according to Undersheriff Jeff Vaughan.

The deputy made contact with the driver of the vehicle identified as Darren James Denter, 49, out of Old Monroe, Missouri.

The deputy detected the strong odor of marijuana during the traffic stop which led to a search of the vehicle. The search revealed 182 pounds of marijuana, 49 pounds of THC wax, 1000 Psilocybin Mushroom candy bars, 11 pounds of Psilocybin Mushrooms, 550 pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes packaged for sale, and 128 pre-packaged four gram marijuana packages. The estimated street value is over $500,000.

The sheriff booked Denter into the Dickinson County Jail on requested charges of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession with intent to distribute certain hallucinogenic and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The Sheriff’s Office encouraged parents to talk to their children about accepting and consuming anything they don’t know the origin of as items such as chocolate bars and candy can be laced with illegal and harmful substances.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1675873348652.png" alt="Psilocybin Mushroom candy bars -photo Dickinson Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Psilocybin Mushroom candy bars -photo Dickinson Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>DICKINSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug allegations after a traffic stop on Interstate 70.Just after 10a.m. Tuesday, a Dickinson County Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop with a 2017 Dodge Ram 3500 pickup for a traffic infraction on Interstate 70, according to Undersheriff Jeff Vaughan.The deputy made contact with the driver of the vehicle identified as Darren James Denter, 49, out of Old Monroe, Missouri.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1675873309102.png" alt="photo Dickinson Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>photo Dickinson Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>The deputy detected the strong odor of marijuana during the traffic stop which led to a search of the vehicle. The search revealed 182 pounds of marijuana, 49 pounds of THC wax, 1000 Psilocybin Mushroom candy bars, 11 pounds of Psilocybin Mushrooms, 550 pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes packaged for sale, and 128 pre-packaged four gram marijuana packages. The estimated street value is over $500,000.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1675873639265.png" alt="Denter-photo Dickinson co." />
 <figcaption>Denter-photo Dickinson co.</figcaption>
 </figure>The sheriff booked Denter into the Dickinson County Jail on requested charges of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession with intent to distribute certain hallucinogenic and possession of drug paraphernalia.The Sheriff’s Office encouraged parents to talk to their children about accepting and consuming anything they don’t know the origin of as items such as chocolate bars and candy can be laced with illegal and harmful substances.

More than $500K worth of pot, mushroom candy seized on I-70

Today is Wednesday, Feb. 8, the 39th day of 2023. There are 332 days left in the year.

On Feb. 8, 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England after she was implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

In 1693, a charter was granted for the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg in the Virginia Colony.

In 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated.

In 1922, President Warren G. Harding had a radio installed in the White House.

In 1924, the first execution by gas in the United States took place at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City as Gee Jon, a Chinese immigrant convicted of murder, was put to death.

In 1952, Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed her accession to the British throne following the death of her father, King George VI.

In 1960, work began on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Los Angeles.

In 1965, Eastern Air Lines Flight 663, a DC-7, crashed shortly after takeoff from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport; all 84 people on board were killed. The Supremes' record "Stop! In the Name of Love!" was released by Motown.

In 1968, three Black students were killed in a confrontation between demonstrators and highway patrolmen at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg in the wake of protests over a whites-only bowling alley.

In 1971, NASDAQ, the world's first electronic stock exchange, held its first trading day.

In 1973, Senate leaders named seven members of a select committee to investigate the Watergate scandal, including its chairman, Democrat Sam J. Ervin of North Carolina.

In 2007, model, actor and tabloid sensation Anna Nicole Smith died in Hollywood, Florida, at age 39 of an accidental drug overdose.

In 2020, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said a 60-year-old U.S. citizen who'd been diagnosed with the coronavirus had died on Feb. 5 in Wuhan; it was apparently the first American fatality from the virus.

Ten years ago: A massive storm packing hurricane-force winds and blizzard conditions began sweeping through the Northeast, dumping nearly 2 feet of snow on New England and knocking out power to more than a half a million customers.

Five years ago: The federal government stumbled into a shutdown that would end by morning, its second in less than a month, as rogue Senate Republicans blocked a speedy vote on a massive, bipartisan, budget-busting spending deal. For the second time in a week, the Dow Jones industrials plunged by more than 1,000 points as a sell-off in the stock market deepened. Hundreds of thousands lined the streets of Philadelphia as the Eagles celebrated their Super Bowl victory with a parade.

One year ago: Retired Pope Benedict XVI asked forgiveness for any "grievous faults" in his handling of clergy sex abuse cases, but denied any personal or specific wrongdoing after an independent report criticized his actions in four cases while he was archbishop of Munich, Germany. "The Power of the Dog" topped the 2022 Oscar nominations with 10. (It would go on to win just one, best director for Jane Campion.)

Today's birthdays: Composer-conductor John Williams is 91. Broadcast journalist Ted Koppel is 83. Actor Nick Nolte is 82. Comedian Robert Klein is 81. Actor-rock musician Creed Bratton is 80. Singer Ron Tyson is 75. Actor Brooke Adams is 74. Actor Mary Steenburgen is 70. Author John Grisham is 68. Retired NBA All-Star and College Basketball Hall of Famer Marques Johnson is 67. Actor Henry Czerny is 64. Rock singer Vince Neil (Motley Crue) is 62. Former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa P. Jackson is 61. Movie producer Toby Emmerich is 60. Actor Missy Yager is 55. Actor Mary McCormack is 54. Basketball Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning is 53. Actor Susan Misner is 52. Dance musician Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (Daft Punk) is 49. Actor Seth Green is 49. Actor Joshua Morrow is 49. Rock musician Phoenix (Linkin Park) is 46. Actor William Jackson Harper is 43. Actor Jim Parrack is 42. Folk singer-musician Joey Ryan (Milk Carton Kids) is 41. Actor-comedian Cecily Strong is 39. Rock musician Jeremy Davis is 38. Hip-hop artist Anderson.Paak is 37. Actor Ryan Pinkston is 35. NBA star Klay Thompson is 33. Professional surfer Bethany Hamilton is 33. Actor Karle Warren is 31.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573488868914.jpeg" alt="Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a>" />
 <figcaption>Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a></figcaption>
 </figure>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSToday is Wednesday, Feb. 8, the 39th day of 2023. There are 332 days left in the year.Today's Highlight in History:On Feb. 8, 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England after she was implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.On this date:In 1693, a charter was granted for the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg in the Virginia Colony.In 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated.In 1922, President Warren G. Harding had a radio installed in the White House.In 1924, the first execution by gas in the United States took place at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City as Gee Jon, a Chinese immigrant convicted of murder, was put to death.In 1952, Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed her accession to the British throne following the death of her father, King George VI.In 1960, work began on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Los Angeles.In 1965, Eastern Air Lines Flight 663, a DC-7, crashed shortly after takeoff from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport; all 84 people on board were killed. The Supremes' record "Stop! In the Name of Love!" was released by Motown.In 1968, three Black students were killed in a confrontation between demonstrators and highway patrolmen at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg in the wake of protests over a whites-only bowling alley.In 1971, NASDAQ, the world's first electronic stock exchange, held its first trading day.In 1973, Senate leaders named seven members of a select committee to investigate the Watergate scandal, including its chairman, Democrat Sam J. Ervin of North Carolina.In 2007, model, actor and tabloid sensation Anna Nicole Smith died in Hollywood, Florida, at age 39 of an accidental drug overdose.In 2020, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said a 60-year-old U.S. citizen who'd been diagnosed with the coronavirus had died on Feb. 5 in Wuhan; it was apparently the first American fatality from the virus.Ten years ago: A massive storm packing hurricane-force winds and blizzard conditions began sweeping through the Northeast, dumping nearly 2 feet of snow on New England and knocking out power to more than a half a million customers.Five years ago: The federal government stumbled into a shutdown that would end by morning, its second in less than a month, as rogue Senate Republicans blocked a speedy vote on a massive, bipartisan, budget-busting spending deal. For the second time in a week, the Dow Jones industrials plunged by more than 1,000 points as a sell-off in the stock market deepened. Hundreds of thousands lined the streets of Philadelphia as the Eagles celebrated their Super Bowl victory with a parade.One year ago: Retired Pope Benedict XVI asked forgiveness for any "grievous faults" in his handling of clergy sex abuse cases, but denied any personal or specific wrongdoing after an independent report criticized his actions in four cases while he was archbishop of Munich, Germany. "The Power of the Dog" topped the 2022 Oscar nominations with 10. (It would go on to win just one, best director for Jane Campion.)Today's birthdays: Composer-conductor John Williams is 91. Broadcast journalist Ted Koppel is 83. Actor Nick Nolte is 82. Comedian Robert Klein is 81. Actor-rock musician Creed Bratton is 80. Singer Ron Tyson is 75. Actor Brooke Adams is 74. Actor Mary Steenburgen is 70. Author John Grisham is 68. Retired NBA All-Star and College Basketball Hall of Famer Marques Johnson is 67. Actor Henry Czerny is 64. Rock singer Vince Neil (Motley Crue) is 62. Former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa P. Jackson is 61. Movie producer Toby Emmerich is 60. Actor Missy Yager is 55. Actor Mary McCormack is 54. Basketball Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning is 53. Actor Susan Misner is 52. Dance musician Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (Daft Punk) is 49. Actor Seth Green is 49. Actor Joshua Morrow is 49. Rock musician Phoenix (Linkin Park) is 46. Actor William Jackson Harper is 43. Actor Jim Parrack is 42. Folk singer-musician Joey Ryan (Milk Carton Kids) is 41. Actor-comedian Cecily Strong is 39. Rock musician Jeremy Davis is 38. Hip-hop artist Anderson.Paak is 37. Actor Ryan Pinkston is 35. NBA star Klay Thompson is 33. Professional surfer Bethany Hamilton is 33. Actor Karle Warren is 31.