By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT,&nbsp;Hays Post

What was supposed to be a benign budget meeting Thursday ended with the Ellis County Treasurer getting escorted from the commission chambers.

After previously presenting the commission with drafts, each individual department head planned to present their budget to the commission.&nbsp;

After a brief question, Commission Chair Butch Schlyer pressed County Treasurer Lisa Schlegel on adding a new employee. The commission had previously asked that any department heads who were looking to hire a new employee to discuss it with the commission first.

Schlegell did not. In March, she elected to fill a position that had been vacant in her department for several weeks.

Schlyer contended that position was open for six months. During the conversation, Schlegel interrupted Schlyer several times claiming it was four months.

“Earlier in the year, we did ask that department heads and elected officials discuss personnel issues with us,” Schlyer said. “You decided not too.”

“You never asked me about the position,” Schlegel replied.

"I didn’t know you was hiring,"&nbsp;Schlyer responded.

After Schlegel asked Schlyer, “Why are you asking now?” Schlyer said, “Because I don’t believe you needed the position and I’m going to ask the board to remove it.”

Schlegel then interrupted him and said, “You don’t know what my office does.”

“You have no bearing to make a statement that my office does not need that staff,” she said. “That’s an ignorant statement and is incorrect.”

Schlyer responded, “You’re being rude and disrepecful.”

To that Schlegel responded, “No you’re lying and you’re misrepresenting the facts. I’m standing up for myself. That’s not rude and disrespectful.”

Schlegel interrupted Schlyer several more times as he told the commission he wanted that position taken from the budget.

She then claimed he was threatened by a woman standing up to him.

Schlyer said in response, “I’m not threatened by any woman.”

Schlegel said, “We’ll sure you are. When you lie, misrepresent, call names yell and bully, that is disrespectful.”

Schlyer interrupted her and said, “you keep interrupting me so I’d appreciate it if you’d just shut up for a minute.”

Schlyer asked to board to remove the position for the treasurer’s budget.

To that, she said, “The position will not be removed.”

The position was budgeted in 2020, and Schlegel asked what had changed.

“I don’t believe you needed it because you went a long time without it,” Schlyer said. “You went through tax season without it.”

Schlyer added that she took her time to fill the position while other departments did not.

Schlegel said, “If you understood how the treasury functioned, you would understand that no treasurer is going to hire and train a new person in tax season.”

Schlegel went on to claim that Schlyer makes decisions on “non-fact (and) ignorance." While the moves she makes are based on “facts.”

She went on to claim that Schlyer has made “numerous, lies, mistruths and misrepresentations” about her since he was elected.

When pressed on what he has said, she did not provide any examples.

She then told the commission her expenditures for 2021 would be $515,000.

“That’s what its going to cost to operate the treasurer,” Schlegel said.

After Schlyer again told her that he doesn’t believe the treasurer’s office needs the extra position, she told him he does not know what he is talking about.

When Schlyer shifted the discussion to the treasurer’s advertising budget, she said she would not discuss it.

She then brought up her summer newsletter that she mailed out to residents of Ellis County. She said the money for those didn’t come from the advertising budget and said that two commissioners lied about it when they talked about it at a prior meeting.

“Which is completely ignorant,” Schlegel said, “and it breaches on stupid.”

Commissioner Dustin Roths, who addressed the newsletter at a prior meeting, asked where the funding for the newsletter came from. He was ignored.

At this time, Schlyer asked Sheriff Ed Harbin to the front of the chambers and had Schlegel escorted from the meeting.

“I’m tired of listening to this,” Schlyer said. “We’ll do her budget without her.”

When she asked why she was being escorted from the meeting, his answer was, “because you’re obnoxious.”

“You are disrespectful. And let the record state,” Schlegel said, “that you told me to shut up.”

She continued to yell as she was being escorted out of the meeting and said the number she gave them was going to be what it cost to run the treasury “whether you like it or not.”

Just outside the commission chambers, Schlegel can be heard yelling, “Butch, you’re lucky you had me escorted out because I have a lot of stuff here you don’t want the public to hear."

At that time, she was told that if she came back to the meeting she would be arrested for disorderly conduct.

The commission then proceeded to go through the 2021 budget request for the treasurer line by line.

According to numbers presented to the commission, from January 2019 through this year, the treasurer’s office only used 105 hours of overtime. That was minus one employee for the busy tax season.

“Right through her busy season tax season, she was an employee low, didn’t rehire and (then) rehired at the beginning of the year without requesting from us,” said Roths.

The commission agreed to not put that position in the 2021 budget, and Roths said this is the reason why they didn’t want to hire new employees if there wasn’t going to be a position available.

“It’s not fair to that employee,” Roths said. “What Ms. Schlegel did to that employee is not fair and who she decides to let go of next year is not fair.”

While going through more line items and made a list of questions for Sclegel to address at another time.

Some of the smaller items they trimmed were the amount of money set aside for tuition reimbursement, subsistence spending and ending a line item for employee incentives.

The commission also addressed a roughly $30,000 expenditure for bulletproof glass and chose to remove it from the budget.

Interim County Administrator Darin Myers said they aren’t really sure on the exact cost but wanted to make sure it was on the budget for approval.

Schlyer called the bulletproof glass “overkill.”

Roths said, “How bad do we have to be at customer service while people are paying their taxes to need bulletproof glass partisans between us and the person whose taking our money?”

Schlyer also called it an inconsistency to want bulletproof glass but remove security cameras in the office.

The commission discussed the current security camera setup within the treasurer’s office.

IT Director Mike Leiker told the commission that his department does have security cameras in the treasurer’s office with the recording equipment in the IT department. But Leiker said “recently” the treasurer had staff come and get the equipment.

He said while the cameras can be monitored in real-time, they currently cannot record. There are 20 cameras in the treasurer’s office, but only 18 are active because Schlegel had them disconnect two, according to Leiker.

Leiker estimated it would cost about $3,000 to get the system back to recording.

County Counselor Bill Jeter told the commission he has looked into this situation before and called it a “gray area.”

He said there isn’t any guidelines on placing camera’s in an elected official’s office, adding he couldn’t give the commission an opinion on what the outcome of the case would be.

Roths said, “Maybe it should be litigated. If Treasurer Schlegel would like to have a problem with us recording things in the treasury, that might be something we have to take up as litigation.”

“I believe we should be recording in the treasury,” Roths added, “for the safety of the treasury (and) for the safety of her employees.”

Jeter suggested the county look at installing cameras in the lobby in an effort to cover the front of the treasurer’s office.

Roths said he would be worried about fraud and mistakes in transactions.

“Those are the type of things I would expect, from my treasurer, to want to know.”

Roths said he would be in favor of zero-funding the treasurer’s capital outlay budget so the office doesn’t have the funds to do any construction on the office.

The commission also walked through the EMS and Health Services Budgets, and budgets for the county attorney, appraiser, sheriff and IT.

They will continue budget discussions Friday.

<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XKdPnYL6rJ0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT,&nbsp;Hays PostWhat was supposed to be a benign budget meeting Thursday ended with the Ellis County Treasurer getting escorted from the commission chambers.After previously presenting the commission with drafts, each individual department head planned to present their budget to the commission.&nbsp;After a brief question, Commission Chair Butch Schlyer pressed County Treasurer Lisa Schlegel on adding a new employee. The commission had previously asked that any department heads who were looking to hire a new employee to discuss it with the commission first.Schlegell did not. In March, she elected to fill a position that had been vacant in her department for several weeks.Schlyer contended that position was open for six months. During the conversation, Schlegel interrupted Schlyer several times claiming it was four months.“Earlier in the year, we did ask that department heads and elected officials discuss personnel issues with us,” Schlyer said. “You decided not too.”“You never asked me about the position,” Schlegel replied."I didn’t know you was hiring,"&nbsp;Schlyer responded.After Schlegel asked Schlyer, “Why are you asking now?” Schlyer said, “Because I don’t believe you needed the position and I’m going to ask the board to remove it.”Schlegel then interrupted him and said, “You don’t know what my office does.”“You have no bearing to make a statement that my office does not need that staff,” she said. “That’s an ignorant statement and is incorrect.”Schlyer responded, “You’re being rude and disrepecful.”To that Schlegel responded, “No you’re lying and you’re misrepresenting the facts. I’m standing up for myself. That’s not rude and disrespectful.”Schlegel interrupted Schlyer several more times as he told the commission he wanted that position taken from the budget.She then claimed he was threatened by a woman standing up to him.Schlyer said in response, “I’m not threatened by any woman.”Schlegel said, “We’ll sure you are. When you lie, misrepresent, call names yell and bully, that is disrespectful.”Schlyer interrupted her and said, “you keep interrupting me so I’d appreciate it if you’d just shut up for a minute.”Schlyer asked to board to remove the position for the treasurer’s budget.To that, she said, “The position will not be removed.”The position was budgeted in 2020, and Schlegel asked what had changed.“I don’t believe you needed it because you went a long time without it,” Schlyer said. “You went through tax season without it.”Schlyer added that she took her time to fill the position while other departments did not.Schlegel said, “If you understood how the treasury functioned, you would understand that no treasurer is going to hire and train a new person in tax season.”Schlegel went on to claim that Schlyer makes decisions on “non-fact (and) ignorance." While the moves she makes are based on “facts.”She went on to claim that Schlyer has made “numerous, lies, mistruths and misrepresentations” about her since he was elected.When pressed on what he has said, she did not provide any examples.She then told the commission her expenditures for 2021 would be $515,000.“That’s what its going to cost to operate the treasurer,” Schlegel said.After Schlyer again told her that he doesn’t believe the treasurer’s office needs the extra position, she told him he does not know what he is talking about.When Schlyer shifted the discussion to the treasurer’s advertising budget, she said she would not discuss it.She then brought up her summer newsletter that she mailed out to residents of Ellis County. She said the money for those didn’t come from the advertising budget and said that two commissioners lied about it when they talked about it at a prior meeting.“Which is completely ignorant,” Schlegel said, “and it breaches on stupid.”Commissioner Dustin Roths, who addressed the newsletter at a prior meeting, asked where the funding for the newsletter came from. He was ignored.At this time, Schlyer asked Sheriff Ed Harbin to the front of the chambers and had Schlegel escorted from the meeting.“I’m tired of listening to this,” Schlyer said. “We’ll do her budget without her.”When she asked why she was being escorted from the meeting, his answer was, “because you’re obnoxious.”“You are disrespectful. And let the record state,” Schlegel said, “that you told me to shut up.”She continued to yell as she was being escorted out of the meeting and said the number she gave them was going to be what it cost to run the treasury “whether you like it or not.”Just outside the commission chambers, Schlegel can be heard yelling, “Butch, you’re lucky you had me escorted out because I have a lot of stuff here you don’t want the public to hear."At that time, she was told that if she came back to the meeting she would be arrested for disorderly conduct.The commission then proceeded to go through the 2021 budget request for the treasurer line by line.According to numbers presented to the commission, from January 2019 through this year, the treasurer’s office only used 105 hours of overtime. That was minus one employee for the busy tax season.“Right through her busy season tax season, she was an employee low, didn’t rehire and (then) rehired at the beginning of the year without requesting from us,” said Roths.The commission agreed to not put that position in the 2021 budget, and Roths said this is the reason why they didn’t want to hire new employees if there wasn’t going to be a position available.“It’s not fair to that employee,” Roths said. “What Ms. Schlegel did to that employee is not fair and who she decides to let go of next year is not fair.”While going through more line items and made a list of questions for Sclegel to address at another time.Some of the smaller items they trimmed were the amount of money set aside for tuition reimbursement, subsistence spending and ending a line item for employee incentives.The commission also addressed a roughly $30,000 expenditure for bulletproof glass and chose to remove it from the budget.Interim County Administrator Darin Myers said they aren’t really sure on the exact cost but wanted to make sure it was on the budget for approval.Schlyer called the bulletproof glass “overkill.”Roths said, “How bad do we have to be at customer service while people are paying their taxes to need bulletproof glass partisans between us and the person whose taking our money?”Schlyer also called it an inconsistency to want bulletproof glass but remove security cameras in the office.The commission discussed the current security camera setup within the treasurer’s office.IT Director Mike Leiker told the commission that his department does have security cameras in the treasurer’s office with the recording equipment in the IT department. But Leiker said “recently” the treasurer had staff come and get the equipment.He said while the cameras can be monitored in real-time, they currently cannot record. There are 20 cameras in the treasurer’s office, but only 18 are active because Schlegel had them disconnect two, according to Leiker.Leiker estimated it would cost about $3,000 to get the system back to recording.County Counselor Bill Jeter told the commission he has looked into this situation before and called it a “gray area.”He said there isn’t any guidelines on placing camera’s in an elected official’s office, adding he couldn’t give the commission an opinion on what the outcome of the case would be.Roths said, “Maybe it should be litigated. If Treasurer Schlegel would like to have a problem with us recording things in the treasury, that might be something we have to take up as litigation.”“I believe we should be recording in the treasury,” Roths added, “for the safety of the treasury (and) for the safety of her employees.”Jeter suggested the county look at installing cameras in the lobby in an effort to cover the front of the treasurer’s office.Roths said he would be worried about fraud and mistakes in transactions.“Those are the type of things I would expect, from my treasurer, to want to know.”Roths said he would be in favor of zero-funding the treasurer’s capital outlay budget so the office doesn’t have the funds to do any construction on the office.The commission also walked through the EMS and Health Services Budgets, and budgets for the county attorney, appraiser, sheriff and IT.They will continue budget discussions Friday.

🎥 Ellis County treasurer escorted by sheriff from budget hearing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Rick Bright warned on Thursday that the U.S. lacks a plan to produce and fairly distribute a coronavirus vaccine when it becomes available. The nation could face “the darkest winter in modern history” unless leaders act decisively, he told a congressional panel.

<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?471986-1/vaccine-official-dr-rick-bright-testifies-coronavirus-pandemic-response">&nbsp;Click here to watch</a>&nbsp;a replay of this testimony

Bright alleges he was ousted from a high-level scientific post after warning the Trump administration to prepare for the pandemic.

Bright said, “We don’t have (a vaccine plan) yet, and it is a significant concern.” Asked if lawmakers should be worried, he responded, “absolutely.”

Bright, a vaccine expert who led a biodefense agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, said the country needs a plan to establish a supply chain for producing tens of millions of doses of a vaccine, and then allocating and distributing them fairly. He said experience so far with an antiviral drug that has been found to benefit COVID-19 patients has not given him much confidence about distribution. Hospital pharmacies have reported problems getting limited supplies.

The White House has begun what it calls “Operation Warp Speed” to quickly produce, distribute and administer a vaccine once it becomes available.

Appearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Bright said one of his lowest moments came when his repeated efforts to jump-start U.S. production of respirator masks went nowhere.

Bright recalled getting emails in late January from Mike Bowen, an executive at a medical supply company called Prestige Ameritech, indicating that our N95 mask supply was “completely decimated.”

“And he said, ‘We’re in deep shit. The world is. And we need to act,’” Bright said. “And I pushed that forward to the highest levels I could in HHS and got no response. From that moment I knew that we were going to have a crisis for our health care workers because we were not taking action. We were already behind the ball.”

Republican lawmakers on the panel for the most part were careful not to attack Bright directly. But Rep. Markwayne Mullins, R-Okla., slammed Bright for continuing to collect his $285,000 salary while first on sick leave for a spike in blood pressure, and now on vacation as he tries to straighten out his work situation.

“You’re too sick to go into work, but you’re well enough to come here while getting paid,” said Mullin. “I have a hard time understanding that.”

A federal watchdog agency has found&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/cf330095df7c03adcfb326fb90d48d24">“reasonable grounds”</a>&nbsp;that Bright was removed from his post as head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority after sounding the alarm at the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Our window of opportunity is closing,” Bright said in his prepared testimony. “If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities.”

Bright’s testimony follows this week’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/e64f20bbacb7d48d15e1d76339220486">warning by Dr. Anthony Fauci</a>, the government’s top infectious disease expert, that a rushed lifting of store-closing and stay-at-home restrictions could “turn back the clock,” seeding more suffering and death and complicating efforts to get the economy rolling again.

President Donald Trump on Thursday dismissed Bright in a tweet as “a disgruntled employee, not liked or respected by people I spoke to and who, with his attitude, should no longer be working for our government!” It’s a sentiment some of the president’s political allies have expressed about Fauci as well.

More than 84,000 people have died in the U.S., representing more than one-fourth of global deaths and the world’s highest toll, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html">figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University</a>. On the planet more than 4.3 million have been infected and about 298,000 have died.

Eager to restart the U.S. economy, Trump has been urging states to lift restrictions, and many governors are doing so gradually, though consumers remain leery of going back to restaurants, social events and sporting competitions.

In his prepared testimony, Bright said, “The undeniable fact is there will be a resurgence of (COVID-19) this fall, greatly compounding the challenges of seasonal influenza and putting an unprecedented strain on our health care system.”

“Without clear planning and implementation of the steps that I and other experts have outlined, 2020 will be darkest winter in modern history,” Bright wrote.

Bright, who has a doctoral degree in immunology, outlined a path forward that would be based on science, even as researchers work to develop better treatments and an effective vaccine. The steps include:

— Establishing a national testing strategy. The White House has urged states to take the lead on testing, even as the federal government pushes to make more tests and better ones widely available. Trump says the U.S. has “prevailed” on testing through this strategy, but in Congress Democrats are demanding a federal framework to encompass the whole nation.

— Doubling down on educating the public about basic safety measures such as frequent hand-washing and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/86d5776eb83a8921c6e80100fdc223eb">wearing masks in public places</a>&nbsp;as guidelines indicate. “Frankly, our leaders must lead by modeling the behavior,” said Bright, in a not-too-subtle reference to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/227fa2d005b3923157b9eb736c12e6c5">a president who conspicuously goes maskless</a>.

— Ramping up production of essential equipment and supplies, from cotton swabs for testing to protective gear for health care workers and essential workers.

As part of his whistleblower complaint, Bright is seeking to be reinstated in his old job. HHS, his employer, says it strongly disagrees with his allegations and that it reassigned him to a high-profile position helping to lead the development of new coronavirus tests at the National Institutes of Health.

— Setting up a system to fairly distribute equipment and supplies that are scarce and highly sought. Eliminating state vs. state competition would increase efficiency and reduce costs, he wrote.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. immunologist who says he lost his government job because he warned the Trump administration to prepare for the coronavirus pandemic isn't backing off his bleak forecast.&nbsp;

Dr. Rick Bright is preparing to tell Congress that America faces the “darkest winter in modern history" unless its leaders act decisively to prevent a rebound of the coronavirus.

<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?471986-1/dr-rick-bright-testifies-coronavirus-pandemic-response">Click here </a>to watch his testimony 9:05 a.m. CDT

Bright appears Thursday before the the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In prepared testimony, Bright says failing to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, could mean the pandemic will get far worse and cause unprecedented illness and fatalities.

Read his prepared testimony below:

Good morning Chairwoman, Eshoo, Ranking Member Burgess and distinguished

Members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for inviting me to testify today.

I am Dr. Rick Bright, a career public servant and a scientist who has spent 25 years of my career focused on addressing pandemic outbreaks. I received my bachelor’s degree with honors in both biology and physical sciences from Auburn University at Montgomery in Alabama. I earned my PhD in Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis from Emory University in Georgia

My dissertation was focused on pandemic avian influenza. I have spent my entire career leading teams of scientists in drugs, diagnostics and vaccine development -- in the government with CDC and BARDA, for a global non-profit organization and also in the biotechnology industry.

Regardless of my position, my job and my entire professional focus has been on saving lives. My professional background has prepared me for a moment like this – to confront and defeat a deadly virus like COVID-19 that threatens Americans and people around the globe.

I joined the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in 2010 and from November of 2016 until April 21 of this year, I had the privilege of serving our country as its Director. During the time I was Director of BARDA we successfully partnered with private industry to achieve an unprecedented number of FDA approvals for medical countermeasures against a wide variety of national health security threats. This was a major and unprecedented accomplishment and one that I and the conscientious employees of BARDA take great pride in.

On April 21, 2020, I was removed from my positions as the Director of BARDA and HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response by HHS leadership and involuntarily transferred to a more limited and less impactful position at the National Institutes of Health. I believe this transfer was in response to my insistence that the government invest funding allocated to BARDA by Congress to address the COVID-19 pandemic into safe and scientifically vetted solutions, and not in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit. While my intention in testifying today is to be forward looking, I spoke out then and I am testifying today because science – not politics or cronyism – must lead the way to combat this deadly virus.

The world is confronting a great public health emergency which has the potential to eclipse the devastation wrought by the 1918 influenza which globally claimed over 50 million lives. 

We face a highly-transmissible and deadly virus which not only claims lives but is also disrupting the very foundations of our societies. The American health-care system is being taxed to the limit, our economy is spiraling downward -- leading to mass unemployment -- and our population is being paralyzed by fear stemming from the lack of a coordinated response and a dearth of accurate, clear communication about the path forward. Americans yearn to get back to work, to open their businesses and provide for their families. I get that. We need a national coordinated strategy to look at all of these pieces and to ensure that they fit well together. To conceive and implement this strategy, our government must draw on the guidance of the best scientific minds.

In my position as BARDA Director, I led portions of a coordinated response; development of vaccines, drugs and diagnostics. In January of this year, I pushed for our government to obtain virus samples from China and to secure more funding for BARDA to be able to get started quickly on the development of critical medical countermeasures. HHS leadership was dismissive about my dire predictions about what I assumed would be a broader outbreak and the pressing need to act, and were therefore unwilling to act with the urgency that the situation required. 

Understanding that the United States had a critical shortage of necessary supplies and PPE to deal with a pandemic, in January, February and March, 2020, I pushed HHS to ramp up US production of masks, respirators and other critical supplies, such as medicine, syringes and swabs. Again, my urgency was dismissed and I was cut out of key high-level meetings to combat COVID-19. 

When I was nevertheless able to convey these urgent concerns by speaking directly with a senior White House advisor and with members of Congress who better understood the urgency to act, I faced hostility and marginalization from HHS officials. And finally, when I resisted efforts to promote and enable broad access to an unproven drug, chloroquine, to the American people without transparent information on the potential health risks, I was removed from BARDA.

While I am unfortunately no longer leading BARDA, I am an expert in these areas and fully understand the grave risks we are facing. I continue to believe that we must act urgently to effectively combat this deadly disease. Our window of opportunity is closing. 

If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities. While it is terrifying to acknowledge the extent of the challenge that we currently confront, the undeniable fact is there will be a resurgence of the COVID19 this fall, greatly compounding the challenges of seasonal influenza and putting an unprecedented strain on our health care system. 

Without clear planning and implementation of the steps that I and other experts have outlined, 2020 will be darkest winter in modern history.

First and foremost, we need to be truthful with the American people. They want the truth. They can handle the truth. Truth, no matter how unpleasant, decreases the fear generated by uncertainty. 

The truth must be based on scientific evidence – and not filtered for political reasons. We must know and appreciate what we are up against. We have the world’s greatest scientists –they must be permitted to lead. Let them speak truthfully without fear of retribution. 

We must listen so that the government can then take the most powerful steps to save lives.

Most Americans want the same thing – a return to normal. The normal of 2019 is not going to return, but we all have an opportunity to shape the new normal of 2020 and beyond. With the participation and cooperation of every American, this can be achieved. 

We have a long history of uniting in response to adversity. Each of us can and must do our part now. However, it is critical to get this right. As my colleague Dr. Anthony Fauci testified on May 12, 2020, we must not rush blindly, or act too quickly, in returning to our daily lives. If we ignore the science, we stand a dramatically increased risk of worsening the spread of the virus in the coming months. 

This could lead to more widespread outbreaks and to many more lives lost throughout the remainder of this year.

To do our part, we need to hear one message in a voice that is clear, consistent, trustworthy, and backed by the best science available. In previous outbreaks, Americans listened to our public health experts at the CDC. They were the daily face and the voice guiding Americans during prior outbreaks including Ebola, Zika, and the H1N1 influenza pandemic. As an example, in 2009, the CDC, along with Elmo, taught Americans how to sneeze in a way that minimizes risk of contagion.

Today, we need clear and simple messages to teach us how wear a face cover, when and how to safely go outside or back to work or back to school. It’s that simple.

While waiting for a cure (which, I believe, will come, there is much we MUST do. With clear leadership, honest communication, and data-driven solutions. We must:

• Increase public education regarding the basics -- handwashing, social distancing, appropriate face covering, self- and dependent monitoring, and frankly, our leaders must lead by modeling the behavior.

o These simple measures reduce the number of people exposed and can buy us valuable time.

• Ramp up production of essential equipment and supplies, including raw materials and critical components.

o Shortages of critical supplies and protective gear increase the risk to our frontline healthcare workers; they deserve the necessary equipment to protect themselves while treating their patients. First responders must also be given protective equipment. And we now see a courageous segment of our workforce – essential workers who keep food on our tables and keep our society running. They too deserve our appreciation and support.

• Facilitate equitable distribution of essential equipment and supplies – eliminate the state vs. state competition. Establishing a national standard of procurement and distribution increases efficiency and reduces costs.

• Finally, we need a national testing strategy. The virus is out there, it’s everywhere. We need to be able to find it, to isolate it and to stop it from infecting more people. We need tests that are accurate, rapid, easy to use, low cost, and available to everyone who needs them. We need be able to trust the results so that we can trace contacts, isolate and quarantine appropriately while striving to develop a cure.

As I reflect on the past few months of this outbreak, it is painfully clear that we were not as prepared as we should have been. We missed early warning signals and we forgot important pages from our pandemic playbook. There will be plenty of time to identify gaps for improvement. 

For now, we need to focus on getting things right going forward. We need to ensure that we have a plan to recovery and that everyone knows the plan and everyone participates in the plan. Congress has taken important steps to support the response; and we have more to do. We need your help to get us through the crisis.

We Americans, working cooperatively with our global friends, can and will succeed in finding a cure for COVID19, but that success depends on what we do today. We must unite and use all available tools and measures we have to stem the damage this virus has wrought.

We will either be remembered for what we did or for what we failed to do to address this crisis.

I call on all of us to act – to ensure the health, safety, and prosperity of all Americans. You can count on me to continue to do my part.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1589465159544.png" alt="R<a href="https://www.c-span.org/person/?rickbright">ick Bright</a>, the recent director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) testifies Thursday morning before members of&nbsp; congress who were practicing social distancing-Image courtesy House Energy and Commerce subcommittee." />
 <figcaption>R<a href="https://www.c-span.org/person/?rickbright">ick Bright</a>, the recent director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) testifies Thursday morning before members of&nbsp; congress who were practicing social distancing-Image courtesy House Energy and Commerce subcommittee.</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Rick Bright warned on Thursday that the U.S. lacks a plan to produce and fairly distribute a coronavirus vaccine when it becomes available. The nation could face “the darkest winter in modern history” unless leaders act decisively, he told a congressional panel.<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?471986-1/vaccine-official-dr-rick-bright-testifies-coronavirus-pandemic-response">&nbsp;Click here to watch</a>&nbsp;a replay of this testimonyBright alleges he was ousted from a high-level scientific post after warning the Trump administration to prepare for the pandemic.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1589465492376.png" alt="Dr. Bright prior to his testimony Thursday morning in the Rayburn House Office Building" />
 <figcaption>Dr. Bright prior to his testimony Thursday morning in the Rayburn House Office Building</figcaption>
 </figure>Bright said, “We don’t have (a vaccine plan) yet, and it is a significant concern.” Asked if lawmakers should be worried, he responded, “absolutely.”Bright, a vaccine expert who led a biodefense agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, said the country needs a plan to establish a supply chain for producing tens of millions of doses of a vaccine, and then allocating and distributing them fairly. He said experience so far with an antiviral drug that has been found to benefit COVID-19 patients has not given him much confidence about distribution. Hospital pharmacies have reported problems getting limited supplies.The White House has begun what it calls “Operation Warp Speed” to quickly produce, distribute and administer a vaccine once it becomes available.Appearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Bright said one of his lowest moments came when his repeated efforts to jump-start U.S. production of respirator masks went nowhere.Bright recalled getting emails in late January from Mike Bowen, an executive at a medical supply company called Prestige Ameritech, indicating that our N95 mask supply was “completely decimated.”“And he said, ‘We’re in deep shit. The world is. And we need to act,’” Bright said. “And I pushed that forward to the highest levels I could in HHS and got no response. From that moment I knew that we were going to have a crisis for our health care workers because we were not taking action. We were already behind the ball.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1589484712953.png" alt="Members of the&nbsp;House Energy and Commerce subcommittee during Dr. Bright's testimony -image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Members of the&nbsp;House Energy and Commerce subcommittee during Dr. Bright's testimony -image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>Republican lawmakers on the panel for the most part were careful not to attack Bright directly. But Rep. Markwayne Mullins, R-Okla., slammed Bright for continuing to collect his $285,000 salary while first on sick leave for a spike in blood pressure, and now on vacation as he tries to straighten out his work situation.“You’re too sick to go into work, but you’re well enough to come here while getting paid,” said Mullin. “I have a hard time understanding that.”A federal watchdog agency has found&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/cf330095df7c03adcfb326fb90d48d24">“reasonable grounds”</a>&nbsp;that Bright was removed from his post as head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority after sounding the alarm at the Department of Health and Human Services.“Our window of opportunity is closing,” Bright said in his prepared testimony. “If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities.”Bright’s testimony follows this week’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/e64f20bbacb7d48d15e1d76339220486">warning by Dr. Anthony Fauci</a>, the government’s top infectious disease expert, that a rushed lifting of store-closing and stay-at-home restrictions could “turn back the clock,” seeding more suffering and death and complicating efforts to get the economy rolling again.President Donald Trump on Thursday dismissed Bright in a tweet as “a disgruntled employee, not liked or respected by people I spoke to and who, with his attitude, should no longer be working for our government!” It’s a sentiment some of the president’s political allies have expressed about Fauci as well.More than 84,000 people have died in the U.S., representing more than one-fourth of global deaths and the world’s highest toll, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html">figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University</a>. On the planet more than 4.3 million have been infected and about 298,000 have died.Eager to restart the U.S. economy, Trump has been urging states to lift restrictions, and many governors are doing so gradually, though consumers remain leery of going back to restaurants, social events and sporting competitions.In his prepared testimony, Bright said, “The undeniable fact is there will be a resurgence of (COVID-19) this fall, greatly compounding the challenges of seasonal influenza and putting an unprecedented strain on our health care system.”“Without clear planning and implementation of the steps that I and other experts have outlined, 2020 will be darkest winter in modern history,” Bright wrote.Bright, who has a doctoral degree in immunology, outlined a path forward that would be based on science, even as researchers work to develop better treatments and an effective vaccine. The steps include:— Establishing a national testing strategy. The White House has urged states to take the lead on testing, even as the federal government pushes to make more tests and better ones widely available. Trump says the U.S. has “prevailed” on testing through this strategy, but in Congress Democrats are demanding a federal framework to encompass the whole nation.— Doubling down on educating the public about basic safety measures such as frequent hand-washing and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/86d5776eb83a8921c6e80100fdc223eb">wearing masks in public places</a>&nbsp;as guidelines indicate. “Frankly, our leaders must lead by modeling the behavior,” said Bright, in a not-too-subtle reference to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/227fa2d005b3923157b9eb736c12e6c5">a president who conspicuously goes maskless</a>.— Ramping up production of essential equipment and supplies, from cotton swabs for testing to protective gear for health care workers and essential workers.As part of his whistleblower complaint, Bright is seeking to be reinstated in his old job. HHS, his employer, says it strongly disagrees with his allegations and that it reassigned him to a high-profile position helping to lead the development of new coronavirus tests at the National Institutes of Health.— Setting up a system to fairly distribute equipment and supplies that are scarce and highly sought. Eliminating state vs. state competition would increase efficiency and reduce costs, he wrote.-------WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. immunologist who says he lost his government job because he warned the Trump administration to prepare for the coronavirus pandemic isn't backing off his bleak forecast.&nbsp;Dr. Rick Bright is preparing to tell Congress that America faces the “darkest winter in modern history" unless its leaders act decisively to prevent a rebound of the coronavirus.<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?471986-1/dr-rick-bright-testifies-coronavirus-pandemic-response">Click here </a>to watch his testimony 9:05 a.m. CDTBright appears Thursday before the the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In prepared testimony, Bright says failing to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, could mean the pandemic will get far worse and cause unprecedented illness and fatalities.Read his prepared testimony below:Good morning Chairwoman, Eshoo, Ranking Member Burgess and distinguishedMembers of the Subcommittee. Thank you for inviting me to testify today.I am Dr. Rick Bright, a career public servant and a scientist who has spent 25 years of my career focused on addressing pandemic outbreaks. I received my bachelor’s degree with honors in both biology and physical sciences from Auburn University at Montgomery in Alabama. I earned my PhD in Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis from Emory University in GeorgiaMy dissertation was focused on pandemic avian influenza. I have spent my entire career leading teams of scientists in drugs, diagnostics and vaccine development -- in the government with CDC and BARDA, for a global non-profit organization and also in the biotechnology industry.Regardless of my position, my job and my entire professional focus has been on saving lives. My professional background has prepared me for a moment like this – to confront and defeat a deadly virus like COVID-19 that threatens Americans and people around the globe.I joined the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in 2010 and from November of 2016 until April 21 of this year, I had the privilege of serving our country as its Director. During the time I was Director of BARDA we successfully partnered with private industry to achieve an unprecedented number of FDA approvals for medical countermeasures against a wide variety of national health security threats. This was a major and unprecedented accomplishment and one that I and the conscientious employees of BARDA take great pride in.On April 21, 2020, I was removed from my positions as the Director of BARDA and HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response by HHS leadership and involuntarily transferred to a more limited and less impactful position at the National Institutes of Health. I believe this transfer was in response to my insistence that the government invest funding allocated to BARDA by Congress to address the COVID-19 pandemic into safe and scientifically vetted solutions, and not in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit. While my intention in testifying today is to be forward looking, I spoke out then and I am testifying today because science – not politics or cronyism – must lead the way to combat this deadly virus.The world is confronting a great public health emergency which has the potential to eclipse the devastation wrought by the 1918 influenza which globally claimed over 50 million lives. We face a highly-transmissible and deadly virus which not only claims lives but is also disrupting the very foundations of our societies. The American health-care system is being taxed to the limit, our economy is spiraling downward -- leading to mass unemployment -- and our population is being paralyzed by fear stemming from the lack of a coordinated response and a dearth of accurate, clear communication about the path forward. Americans yearn to get back to work, to open their businesses and provide for their families. I get that. We need a national coordinated strategy to look at all of these pieces and to ensure that they fit well together. To conceive and implement this strategy, our government must draw on the guidance of the best scientific minds.In my position as BARDA Director, I led portions of a coordinated response; development of vaccines, drugs and diagnostics. In January of this year, I pushed for our government to obtain virus samples from China and to secure more funding for BARDA to be able to get started quickly on the development of critical medical countermeasures. HHS leadership was dismissive about my dire predictions about what I assumed would be a broader outbreak and the pressing need to act, and were therefore unwilling to act with the urgency that the situation required. Understanding that the United States had a critical shortage of necessary supplies and PPE to deal with a pandemic, in January, February and March, 2020, I pushed HHS to ramp up US production of masks, respirators and other critical supplies, such as medicine, syringes and swabs. Again, my urgency was dismissed and I was cut out of key high-level meetings to combat COVID-19. When I was nevertheless able to convey these urgent concerns by speaking directly with a senior White House advisor and with members of Congress who better understood the urgency to act, I faced hostility and marginalization from HHS officials. And finally, when I resisted efforts to promote and enable broad access to an unproven drug, chloroquine, to the American people without transparent information on the potential health risks, I was removed from BARDA.While I am unfortunately no longer leading BARDA, I am an expert in these areas and fully understand the grave risks we are facing. I continue to believe that we must act urgently to effectively combat this deadly disease. Our window of opportunity is closing. If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities. While it is terrifying to acknowledge the extent of the challenge that we currently confront, the undeniable fact is there will be a resurgence of the COVID19 this fall, greatly compounding the challenges of seasonal influenza and putting an unprecedented strain on our health care system. Without clear planning and implementation of the steps that I and other experts have outlined, 2020 will be darkest winter in modern history.First and foremost, we need to be truthful with the American people. They want the truth. They can handle the truth. Truth, no matter how unpleasant, decreases the fear generated by uncertainty. The truth must be based on scientific evidence – and not filtered for political reasons. We must know and appreciate what we are up against. We have the world’s greatest scientists –they must be permitted to lead. Let them speak truthfully without fear of retribution. We must listen so that the government can then take the most powerful steps to save lives.Most Americans want the same thing – a return to normal. The normal of 2019 is not going to return, but we all have an opportunity to shape the new normal of 2020 and beyond. With the participation and cooperation of every American, this can be achieved. We have a long history of uniting in response to adversity. Each of us can and must do our part now. However, it is critical to get this right. As my colleague Dr. Anthony Fauci testified on May 12, 2020, we must not rush blindly, or act too quickly, in returning to our daily lives. If we ignore the science, we stand a dramatically increased risk of worsening the spread of the virus in the coming months. This could lead to more widespread outbreaks and to many more lives lost throughout the remainder of this year.To do our part, we need to hear one message in a voice that is clear, consistent, trustworthy, and backed by the best science available. In previous outbreaks, Americans listened to our public health experts at the CDC. They were the daily face and the voice guiding Americans during prior outbreaks including Ebola, Zika, and the H1N1 influenza pandemic. As an example, in 2009, the CDC, along with Elmo, taught Americans how to sneeze in a way that minimizes risk of contagion.Today, we need clear and simple messages to teach us how wear a face cover, when and how to safely go outside or back to work or back to school. It’s that simple.While waiting for a cure (which, I believe, will come, there is much we MUST do. With clear leadership, honest communication, and data-driven solutions. We must:• Increase public education regarding the basics -- handwashing, social distancing, appropriate face covering, self- and dependent monitoring, and frankly, our leaders must lead by modeling the behavior.o These simple measures reduce the number of people exposed and can buy us valuable time.• Ramp up production of essential equipment and supplies, including raw materials and critical components.o Shortages of critical supplies and protective gear increase the risk to our frontline healthcare workers; they deserve the necessary equipment to protect themselves while treating their patients. First responders must also be given protective equipment. And we now see a courageous segment of our workforce – essential workers who keep food on our tables and keep our society running. They too deserve our appreciation and support.• Facilitate equitable distribution of essential equipment and supplies – eliminate the state vs. state competition. Establishing a national standard of procurement and distribution increases efficiency and reduces costs.• Finally, we need a national testing strategy. The virus is out there, it’s everywhere. We need to be able to find it, to isolate it and to stop it from infecting more people. We need tests that are accurate, rapid, easy to use, low cost, and available to everyone who needs them. We need be able to trust the results so that we can trace contacts, isolate and quarantine appropriately while striving to develop a cure.As I reflect on the past few months of this outbreak, it is painfully clear that we were not as prepared as we should have been. We missed early warning signals and we forgot important pages from our pandemic playbook. There will be plenty of time to identify gaps for improvement. For now, we need to focus on getting things right going forward. We need to ensure that we have a plan to recovery and that everyone knows the plan and everyone participates in the plan. Congress has taken important steps to support the response; and we have more to do. We need your help to get us through the crisis.We Americans, working cooperatively with our global friends, can and will succeed in finding a cure for COVID19, but that success depends on what we do today. We must unite and use all available tools and measures we have to stem the damage this virus has wrought.We will either be remembered for what we did or for what we failed to do to address this crisis.I call on all of us to act – to ensure the health, safety, and prosperity of all Americans. You can count on me to continue to do my part.

🎥 Virus expert  tells lawmakers US lacks vaccine plan

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Top Republican lawmakers in Kansas moved aggressively Wednesday to take control of how the state reopens its coronavirus-battered economy from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, the latest of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/308ae16f3260dfe026f3b050302db5bf">several power grabs&nbsp;</a>by frustrated GOP-controlled legislatures.

Kelly and top Republicans disagree over how quickly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/abd6bb1cfc4f6349d94f853f04b12bcb">to allow some businesses to reopen,</a>&nbsp;with Republicans wanting to move faster. GOP leaders also are irritated with what they view as Kelly’s efforts to evade legislative oversight.

Six GOP leaders rejected a request from Kelly to have top lawmakers extend a disaster declaration she issued for the coronavirus pandemic into mid-June. The Republicans instead extended the declaration only through May 25, Memorial Day, to give the GOP-controlled Legislature a chance to pass a law governing the state’s coronavirus response.

“We won’t allow one dictator to determine everything,” said Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican, frequent Kelly critic and U.S. Senate candidate. “We will have a check and a balance of powers.”

The full Legislature is scheduled to reconvene May 21 for a final day in session this year, and House and Senate committees are meeting this week and next week to draft measures on a variety of issues, including the governor’s power. The Legislature began its annual spring break on March 20, about two weeks early, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Republican legislators’ efforts to undermine Democratic governors’ power have been pronounced in Michigan, Pennsylvania and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/69eeec35356f6c25cf63b855886237c3">Wisconsin,</a>&nbsp;all three of which have divided governments and are crucial in this year’s presidential race. Their governors have faced lawsuits, legislation and other moves by Republicans trying to seize control of the response to the virus.

Kansas legislators are trying to set up a situation in which they’d pass a measure curbing Kelly’s power and force her to either accept the limits or watch her current disaster declaration expire. During a contentious, hour-plus meeting, Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, a Kansas City-area Republican, told Kelly it would be in her best interest to sign such legislation, and she bristled.

“My best interests are not what’s at stake here,” Kelly said. “It’s the best interests of the citizens of the state of Kansas, and I would like you all to consider that.”

Kansas reported 7,468 confirmed and probable coronavirus cases Wednesday, nearly double the number two weeks ago, with major outbreaks in meatpacking plants and nursing homes. The state has reported 164 COVID-19-related deaths since early March.

“I know that these decisions that have been made have caused great pain for a number folks, but I’d also like to think that it’s saved a number of lives,” she said.

State laws give Kelly&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2019_20/statute/048_000_0000_chapter/048_009_0000_article/048_009_0025_section/048_009_0025_k/" target="_blank">broad authority</a>&nbsp;in emergencies but also require her to ask eight legislative leaders, six of them Republicans, to extend an emergency declaration she issued April 30 for the pandemic. The declaration was set to expire May 14, and Kelly had planned to phase out restrictions on businesses and public gatherings until June 15 after allowing a statewide stay-at-home order expire May 4.

The legislative leaders’ meeting with Kelly gave top Republicans a chance to air grievances they’ve had with her throughout the pandemic. They’ve repeatedly said that Kelly has not consulted them on decisions.

They objected to an order that limited in-person religious gatherings to 10 congregation members, something&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/1ec624a15ae111e72a20dd6818d64451">she loosened up&nbsp;</a>after two churches and their pastors filed a federal lawsuit. Wagle accused Kelly of “overreaching” in her orders.

And there’s the question of legislative oversight. Kelly issued her first disaster declaration in March, and the full Legislature extended it to May 1, agreeing to allow their leaders to extend it further but also giving them&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/37347b5c68770654119e27f910af3cc2">the authority to reject Kelly’s orders.</a>&nbsp;When top Republicans attempted to overturn Kelly’s limit on religious gatherings, she sued, and the Kansas Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/9cc005f93f1daa0edd5fcfbc581351e5">upheld the restrictions</a>&nbsp;on technical grounds.

Kelly then issued her April 30 emergency declaration so that she could continue to exercise broad emergency powers after May 1. But in Kansas, such declarations&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2019_20/statute/048_000_0000_chapter/048_009_0000_article/048_009_0024_section/048_009_0024_k/" target="_blank">expire after 15 days</a>&nbsp;unless they’re extended by lawmakers or their leaders. Some Republicans question whether Kelly can keep issuing new declarations every 15 days during the same pandemic.

Her chief counsel, Clay Britton, acknowledged it’s an open question. Britton noted that legislators have extended emergency declarations regularly in the past. Neither of Kelly’s two Republican predecessors faced a similar backlash, nor did Kelly last year when dealing with flooding.

“A disaster involving a flood doesn’t include a governor’s executive order to criminalize going to church. It doesn’t shut down businesses,” said House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, another Wichita Republican. “There has to be some trust developed, and we don’t have that right now.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1583505124412.png" alt=" Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle - photo by Jim McLean / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption> Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle - photo by Jim McLean / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By JOHN HANNATOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Top Republican lawmakers in Kansas moved aggressively Wednesday to take control of how the state reopens its coronavirus-battered economy from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, the latest of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/308ae16f3260dfe026f3b050302db5bf">several power grabs&nbsp;</a>by frustrated GOP-controlled legislatures.Kelly and top Republicans disagree over how quickly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/abd6bb1cfc4f6349d94f853f04b12bcb">to allow some businesses to reopen,</a>&nbsp;with Republicans wanting to move faster. GOP leaders also are irritated with what they view as Kelly’s efforts to evade legislative oversight.Six GOP leaders rejected a request from Kelly to have top lawmakers extend a disaster declaration she issued for the coronavirus pandemic into mid-June. The Republicans instead extended the declaration only through May 25, Memorial Day, to give the GOP-controlled Legislature a chance to pass a law governing the state’s coronavirus response.“We won’t allow one dictator to determine everything,” said Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican, frequent Kelly critic and U.S. Senate candidate. “We will have a check and a balance of powers.”The full Legislature is scheduled to reconvene May 21 for a final day in session this year, and House and Senate committees are meeting this week and next week to draft measures on a variety of issues, including the governor’s power. The Legislature began its annual spring break on March 20, about two weeks early, because of the coronavirus pandemic.Republican legislators’ efforts to undermine Democratic governors’ power have been pronounced in Michigan, Pennsylvania and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/69eeec35356f6c25cf63b855886237c3">Wisconsin,</a>&nbsp;all three of which have divided governments and are crucial in this year’s presidential race. Their governors have faced lawsuits, legislation and other moves by Republicans trying to seize control of the response to the virus.Kansas legislators are trying to set up a situation in which they’d pass a measure curbing Kelly’s power and force her to either accept the limits or watch her current disaster declaration expire. During a contentious, hour-plus meeting, Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, a Kansas City-area Republican, told Kelly it would be in her best interest to sign such legislation, and she bristled.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1588965351288.png" alt="Governor Laura Kelly listens to a reporter's question during her Monday news conference in Topeka" />
 <figcaption>Governor Laura Kelly listens to a reporter's question during her Monday news conference in Topeka</figcaption>
 </figure>“My best interests are not what’s at stake here,” Kelly said. “It’s the best interests of the citizens of the state of Kansas, and I would like you all to consider that.”Kansas reported 7,468 confirmed and probable coronavirus cases Wednesday, nearly double the number two weeks ago, with major outbreaks in meatpacking plants and nursing homes. The state has reported 164 COVID-19-related deaths since early March.“I know that these decisions that have been made have caused great pain for a number folks, but I’d also like to think that it’s saved a number of lives,” she said.State laws give Kelly&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2019_20/statute/048_000_0000_chapter/048_009_0000_article/048_009_0025_section/048_009_0025_k/" target="_blank">broad authority</a>&nbsp;in emergencies but also require her to ask eight legislative leaders, six of them Republicans, to extend an emergency declaration she issued April 30 for the pandemic. The declaration was set to expire May 14, and Kelly had planned to phase out restrictions on businesses and public gatherings until June 15 after allowing a statewide stay-at-home order expire May 4.The legislative leaders’ meeting with Kelly gave top Republicans a chance to air grievances they’ve had with her throughout the pandemic. They’ve repeatedly said that Kelly has not consulted them on decisions.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Your Senators are in the Statehouse working on your behalf. Good news: The tax committee passed bills to delay property tax deadlines, despite no executive order, and keep the income tax deadline delay even once the Emergency Declaration ends. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ksleg?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ksleg</a> <a href="https://t.co/2rxhm6ujBy">pic.twitter.com/2rxhm6ujBy</a>&mdash; Susan Wagle (@SenatorWagle) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorWagle/status/1260631832871264257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>They objected to an order that limited in-person religious gatherings to 10 congregation members, something&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/1ec624a15ae111e72a20dd6818d64451">she loosened up&nbsp;</a>after two churches and their pastors filed a federal lawsuit. Wagle accused Kelly of “overreaching” in her orders.And there’s the question of legislative oversight. Kelly issued her first disaster declaration in March, and the full Legislature extended it to May 1, agreeing to allow their leaders to extend it further but also giving them&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/37347b5c68770654119e27f910af3cc2">the authority to reject Kelly’s orders.</a>&nbsp;When top Republicans attempted to overturn Kelly’s limit on religious gatherings, she sued, and the Kansas Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/9cc005f93f1daa0edd5fcfbc581351e5">upheld the restrictions</a>&nbsp;on technical grounds.Kelly then issued her April 30 emergency declaration so that she could continue to exercise broad emergency powers after May 1. But in Kansas, such declarations&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2019_20/statute/048_000_0000_chapter/048_009_0000_article/048_009_0024_section/048_009_0024_k/" target="_blank">expire after 15 days</a>&nbsp;unless they’re extended by lawmakers or their leaders. Some Republicans question whether Kelly can keep issuing new declarations every 15 days during the same pandemic.Her chief counsel, Clay Britton, acknowledged it’s an open question. Britton noted that legislators have extended emergency declarations regularly in the past. Neither of Kelly’s two Republican predecessors faced a similar backlash, nor did Kelly last year when dealing with flooding.“A disaster involving a flood doesn’t include a governor’s executive order to criminalize going to church. It doesn’t shut down businesses,” said House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, another Wichita Republican. “There has to be some trust developed, and we don’t have that right now.”___

Top GOP lawmakers move to take control of reopening Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Chiefs players talked football with the media on Wednesday. Following are their comments.

Q: How has it been as a World Champion? Has it been everything you thought, more or less?

KELCE: “I think for the most part, it’s still been pretty surreal. I think the quarantine as made it almost like it was a dream because we haven’t been able to go out and be with our family members and visit everyone like we would if it wasn’t like this, but all in all, the biggest thing is that it’s very motivating. It’s very motivating to be able to do it again. I’ve already got the competitive mindset to gear up and start this thing all over again, to help recreate this team’s identity. And moving forward, we’re just excited because we have a lot of the pieces coming back.”

Q: How do you keep that hunger? How do you keep that fire going?

KELCE: “It’s ingrained in this team to fight, man, and to battle their tails off, to work their tails off. Everybody that we played with last year on the Chiefs, they made it fun to come into the office. We all enjoy being around each other, and I don’t see that chemistry changing or that camaraderie changing at all, especially with the leaders that we have coming back.”

Q: What gives you confidence with this current environment that you are going to be locked in and a step ahead? What gives you confidence that this group is going to be ready and going to handle this the right way?

KELCE: “One, the leaders, the leaders on this team and that includes Head Coach Andy Reid at the top. His scheduling, how he’s going about this whole quarantine and the virtual meetings and everything, nothing has really changed in terms of the bulk or the load of installs, the load of information that you’re going to have to be ready for once we do get out on the field. Yeah, it makes it a little bit tougher. You don’t get the opportunity to go out there and run these plays, especially the new plays the offensive minds have put together. It’s going to be a little difficult to catch up once we get out on the field and actually be able to perform these plays, but I think it’s, for the most part, the locker room guys, the core guys, everyone has the mentality of ‘We have to do this again.’ Last year doesn’t mean a thing. I don’t want to say we’ve erased it because it’s still, you know, it’s still fresh on our minds. But at the same time, it builds confidence and it builds some competitiveness to be able to repeat.”

Q: Can you talk about way this team grew last season and how that helps going into 2020?

KELCE: “Obviously, we started off with a bang, coming out and putting up 40 on Jacksonville, or however much we put up, but even from there, handling the ups and downs, handling the adversity throughout games, handling how we’re going to change the schemes at halftime. All in all, just believing in each other. All that takes it’s course to the end of the season, and then the playoffs almost start as a brand new season because you had to refocus your mindset because now it’s one-and-done. It’s an entirely different level of competitiveness. It’s a different level of accountability and what you’re doing in the office. I really think that we grew. Obviously, you can noticeably see the defense grow. Coach Spags (Steve Spagnuolo, Honey Badger (Tyrann Mathieu, 55 (Frank Clark, these guys helped mold what ended up being a championship defense. Not a lot of people saw that in the beginning, but as a player, you saw how hard everyone works throughout the week, day-to-day. You could see everyone getting better. It’s not that they weren’t good in the beginning. It was a chemistry. It was making sure that I’m being accountable for the guy next to me, knowing what the guy next to me is doing. So, it’s not that anybody was worse in the beginning of the season, it was just coming together, knowing that we had a new system. And we had a new way of doing things and just growing with that. And then on the offensive side of the ball, trying to minimize the mistakes. Trying to give Pat (Patrick Mahomes) the opportunity to throw the ball and stay on time as routes develop over the course of the season and just making sure we’re getting the ball down field and we’re putting up six because three points can get you in trouble.”

Q: What made the culture at the Chiefs attractive, and what did college teammate Frank Clark tell you about the team?

CHARLTON: “Yeah, it was a place I was looking forward to coming sort of right off waivers. So, once I cleared, me and Frank were on the phone, we were talking. Like I said, that’s why nothing else mattered to me, money-wise, nothing really mattered. I just wanted to play football, wanted to go to a good situation where I could play some good football and feel like I could add myself to a good defense.”

Q: With the opportunity to join the defending Super Bowl champions, and knowing that team continuity might be very important this upcoming season, how have you used this quarantine time to improve yourself as a player?

CHARLTON: “The good thing with me is I’ve got a home gym. I was able to add more to my home gym, and I’m still able to get a good amount of work in. And then my d-line coach is still out here in Dallas, so I’m still able to train and get a lot of work in during my quarantine. So, I’m staying in the house as much as possible, but I can work out in the house and still get a lot of work in, which is a good benefit for me.”

Q: What do you know Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and his scheme? Have you heard anything that you like or is attractive to you? Or was this more about joining the organization overall?

CHARLTON: “It was everything about the organization, from hearing how great of a coach (Head) Coach Reid is. Then once I talked to Frank, he told me how great of a coach (Defensive Coordinator) Coach Spags (Steve Spagnuolo) is, how great of a person he is, and how I’d like to play for him. That’s all I needed. Once I saw that, once I got the chance myself to talk to him and talk to (Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Line) Coach (Brendan) Daly, I was all comfortable with coming here and excited to see what I can bring here to Kansas City.”

Q: How would you describe your relationship with Frank Clark? Seems like you guys are close, but how similar are you on-the-field, off-the-field?

CHARLTON: “Me and Frank, we’re real close. Like my brother, like my big brother. He’s a person who at Michigan, he kind of took me under his wing and guided me. We continue that friendship and brotherhood whenever he left. We talk all the time. When I come to LA, I’m usually with him, or I go see him, link up with him, whatever it may be. We try to train with each other sometime during the offseason, or see each other, whatever it may be. Our friendship, our brotherhood has always been there. We always used to joke around about us playing with each other again if me and him had the opportunity. So now we have the opportunity to play with each other again and do something special. I definitely was on board with that and like I said, I’m excited.”

Q: You seem to go on and off with social media, but you came back to let people know that you were going to make Taco Charlton into a legend. What was your thought process behind that?

CLARK: “I feel like a lot of people are doubting Taco and for the first part of his career it hasn’t been to the standard that I’m sure he would want it to be. He’s had some great highlights and he’s done some good things in this league, but he has yet to do what I know he wants to do. Me and him being close friends we have a lot of talks and we talk about a lot of things and he’s been my bro since Michigan days. I spent a significant amount of time with him there. Actually, I call myself a leader and everything I’ve done. At Michigan I made a lot of mistakes but on that football field I did my share of leading those guys. One thing I did in that position room is change the way the position was being played, the rush in, and Taco followed suit. He listens and he does great things. I’m just excited. I’m excited to see what he’s going to do. Like I said, I want to turn him into a legend. First, just show him my work ethic. Show him how we do things with the Chiefs. It’s a certain standard that Coach Reid has us mounted to. There are certain things that you have to be able to live up to here. We’re the champs. We’re defending our ring and there’s going to be some standards that he has to live up to coming into that room.”

Q: During Easter you did a pretty remarkable thing. Would you talk about going out and helping on Skid Row and why you decided to do that?

CLARK: “I do a lot down there, more than I really make public or would ask for credit for. I don’t really want credit for what I do down there. I actually used to live down there. Growing up in Los Angeles, I actually spent a large portion of my life on Skid Row, particularly at the Union Mission the shelter down there. Particularly around that time, I had done it plenty of times before then, but on that time at Easter it was just in my heart. I woke up with it in my heart. I didn’t plan on doing it on Easter. I had just went down there a few days before with a few friends and we had passed out some food and some clothes and some cleaning supplies, but I just woke up that morning and it was on my heart. My family was up cooking and stuff and I just let them know I’d be back later, and I was about to go down and help with downtown. I just said I’ll be back, basically. I just left and the first place I thought of was a pizza spot. I ended up going to Little Caesars pizza, shout out to them because they did a great job. I actually went in there and I was like, ‘I need as many pizzas as you can give me’ and they were like ‘What?’ and I was like ‘Can I get 100 pizzas?” and they were like, ‘What? No, we don’t have 100.’ and there was like a line of people. I’m begging people to let me get in front of them and I’ll buy their pizzas. I’m like ‘Please!’ because it was about to close. I was like “I just need these orders please. I’m about to go down and feed the people.’ and they ended up being able to give me 55 pizzas, which is crazy. 55 pizzas, my number. They gave me 55 pizzas.

I asked for as many as they could give me and they gave me 55 and I was like ‘What? That’s a coincidence. That’s crazy.’ So they gave me 55 pizzas and I went down there, me and my friend Nick Glass. We went down there and he helped me pass out the food to the homeless. We made sure we wore our protective stuff, but I feel like I’m more in touch with them than the average person. Just being down there and spending time down there I know the streets, I know the back streets, the alleys. So, it was one of those things.”

Q: How did you view your 2019 performance and what do you see for yourself in 2020?

CLARK: “I feel like it went alright. That’s every year I feel. It will never be what you want it to be, you have to set your goals high. That’s what I do all the time. Realistically, myself I’ll never tell anybody my actual goal. It’s either met or not met. Like, my goal is to break the sack record. I’ve been telling myself I want to break the sack record for the last two years, but things come with that, everyday stuff. I might get injured, I might tweak this, that might prohibit me or slow me down. So, it’s certain things like that that will always be my goal. Setting the single-season forced fumble record, things like that. You have goals, winning five Super Bowls. You have to set your goals high because what else are you working for. You have some people that set their goals as ‘I want to make it to the Super Bowl’ or ‘I want to make it to the NFL’ and I ask them ‘Well, what do you want to do after that? What’s next?’ and some guys fall short of that long-term success because they don’t have that ‘What’s Next?’ I feel like that’s what 2020 has in store. That ‘What’s Next?’ factor. What’s next? What do you want to do next, Frank? I wanna start my clothing line. I want to win more Super Bowls. I want to help my younger guys. I want to bring the younger guys along. I want to create more and do more things special.”

Q: When you guys do this virtual workout program what excites you most with the core of the guys being back, with Steve Spagnuolo and what about watching yourself early last season will help you for this season?

CLARK: “Number one when you get a chance to get your guys back, your core, that’s dope. The one thing you always want to see is your boys. The same team you went through it with. You all did that camp. Once you go through that camp together it’s like we solid, we dogs. You love to see guys who go on to success and they go off and get what they deserve as far as contracts and they do things that way. Hats off to those guys. We lost one from our room, one of our main guys Emmanuel Ogbah. That was my dog. He contributed so much. We might not have thought about it, but the time when he started contributing was the time where myself, I’m hurt and not really saying nothing but fighting through it every game, and then you got Alex Okafor, he’s hurt, he’s out at the time. He stepped in and he was doing his part contributing big. He was playing better football than me at the time. So, he was picking up a lot of slack for guys, honestly as a back up defensive end, then eventually became a starter once AO (Alex Okafor) got hurt. So, it’s hard, but also like you said we get our group back and I look forward to going back to the spot and seeing all my guys in that locker room. Us being able to reminisce and talk about it and then being able to have the desire to want more. We all understand. We’ve been there, so it’s not like 50% of your team got shipped off or this happened or the coaching staff, this happens. No, everybody’s back and it’s like you said the foundation is back and we get to revisit it. Like I said, have a short memory about it and then get back on the road because that’s the goal to get back on the road and keep it going.”

--<a href="http://chiefs.com">CHIEFS</a>--

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Chiefs players talked football with the media on Wednesday. Following are their comments.TE TRAVIS KELCEQ: How has it been as a World Champion? Has it been everything you thought, more or less?KELCE: “I think for the most part, it’s still been pretty surreal. I think the quarantine as made it almost like it was a dream because we haven’t been able to go out and be with our family members and visit everyone like we would if it wasn’t like this, but all in all, the biggest thing is that it’s very motivating. It’s very motivating to be able to do it again. I’ve already got the competitive mindset to gear up and start this thing all over again, to help recreate this team’s identity. And moving forward, we’re just excited because we have a lot of the pieces coming back.”Q: How do you keep that hunger? How do you keep that fire going?KELCE: “It’s ingrained in this team to fight, man, and to battle their tails off, to work their tails off. Everybody that we played with last year on the Chiefs, they made it fun to come into the office. We all enjoy being around each other, and I don’t see that chemistry changing or that camaraderie changing at all, especially with the leaders that we have coming back.”Q: What gives you confidence with this current environment that you are going to be locked in and a step ahead? What gives you confidence that this group is going to be ready and going to handle this the right way?KELCE: “One, the leaders, the leaders on this team and that includes Head Coach Andy Reid at the top. His scheduling, how he’s going about this whole quarantine and the virtual meetings and everything, nothing has really changed in terms of the bulk or the load of installs, the load of information that you’re going to have to be ready for once we do get out on the field. Yeah, it makes it a little bit tougher. You don’t get the opportunity to go out there and run these plays, especially the new plays the offensive minds have put together. It’s going to be a little difficult to catch up once we get out on the field and actually be able to perform these plays, but I think it’s, for the most part, the locker room guys, the core guys, everyone has the mentality of ‘We have to do this again.’ Last year doesn’t mean a thing. I don’t want to say we’ve erased it because it’s still, you know, it’s still fresh on our minds. But at the same time, it builds confidence and it builds some competitiveness to be able to repeat.”Q: Can you talk about way this team grew last season and how that helps going into 2020?KELCE: “Obviously, we started off with a bang, coming out and putting up 40 on Jacksonville, or however much we put up, but even from there, handling the ups and downs, handling the adversity throughout games, handling how we’re going to change the schemes at halftime. All in all, just believing in each other. All that takes it’s course to the end of the season, and then the playoffs almost start as a brand new season because you had to refocus your mindset because now it’s one-and-done. It’s an entirely different level of competitiveness. It’s a different level of accountability and what you’re doing in the office. I really think that we grew. Obviously, you can noticeably see the defense grow. Coach Spags (Steve Spagnuolo, Honey Badger (Tyrann Mathieu, 55 (Frank Clark, these guys helped mold what ended up being a championship defense. Not a lot of people saw that in the beginning, but as a player, you saw how hard everyone works throughout the week, day-to-day. You could see everyone getting better. It’s not that they weren’t good in the beginning. It was a chemistry. It was making sure that I’m being accountable for the guy next to me, knowing what the guy next to me is doing. So, it’s not that anybody was worse in the beginning of the season, it was just coming together, knowing that we had a new system. And we had a new way of doing things and just growing with that. And then on the offensive side of the ball, trying to minimize the mistakes. Trying to give Pat (Patrick Mahomes) the opportunity to throw the ball and stay on time as routes develop over the course of the season and just making sure we’re getting the ball down field and we’re putting up six because three points can get you in trouble.”DE TACO CHARLTONQ: What made the culture at the Chiefs attractive, and what did college teammate Frank Clark tell you about the team?CHARLTON: “Yeah, it was a place I was looking forward to coming sort of right off waivers. So, once I cleared, me and Frank were on the phone, we were talking. Like I said, that’s why nothing else mattered to me, money-wise, nothing really mattered. I just wanted to play football, wanted to go to a good situation where I could play some good football and feel like I could add myself to a good defense.”Q: With the opportunity to join the defending Super Bowl champions, and knowing that team continuity might be very important this upcoming season, how have you used this quarantine time to improve yourself as a player?CHARLTON: “The good thing with me is I’ve got a home gym. I was able to add more to my home gym, and I’m still able to get a good amount of work in. And then my d-line coach is still out here in Dallas, so I’m still able to train and get a lot of work in during my quarantine. So, I’m staying in the house as much as possible, but I can work out in the house and still get a lot of work in, which is a good benefit for me.”Q: What do you know Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and his scheme? Have you heard anything that you like or is attractive to you? Or was this more about joining the organization overall?CHARLTON: “It was everything about the organization, from hearing how great of a coach (Head) Coach Reid is. Then once I talked to Frank, he told me how great of a coach (Defensive Coordinator) Coach Spags (Steve Spagnuolo) is, how great of a person he is, and how I’d like to play for him. That’s all I needed. Once I saw that, once I got the chance myself to talk to him and talk to (Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Line) Coach (Brendan) Daly, I was all comfortable with coming here and excited to see what I can bring here to Kansas City.”Q: How would you describe your relationship with Frank Clark? Seems like you guys are close, but how similar are you on-the-field, off-the-field?CHARLTON: “Me and Frank, we’re real close. Like my brother, like my big brother. He’s a person who at Michigan, he kind of took me under his wing and guided me. We continue that friendship and brotherhood whenever he left. We talk all the time. When I come to LA, I’m usually with him, or I go see him, link up with him, whatever it may be. We try to train with each other sometime during the offseason, or see each other, whatever it may be. Our friendship, our brotherhood has always been there. We always used to joke around about us playing with each other again if me and him had the opportunity. So now we have the opportunity to play with each other again and do something special. I definitely was on board with that and like I said, I’m excited.”DE FRANK CLARKQ: You seem to go on and off with social media, but you came back to let people know that you were going to make Taco Charlton into a legend. What was your thought process behind that?CLARK: “I feel like a lot of people are doubting Taco and for the first part of his career it hasn’t been to the standard that I’m sure he would want it to be. He’s had some great highlights and he’s done some good things in this league, but he has yet to do what I know he wants to do. Me and him being close friends we have a lot of talks and we talk about a lot of things and he’s been my bro since Michigan days. I spent a significant amount of time with him there. Actually, I call myself a leader and everything I’ve done. At Michigan I made a lot of mistakes but on that football field I did my share of leading those guys. One thing I did in that position room is change the way the position was being played, the rush in, and Taco followed suit. He listens and he does great things. I’m just excited. I’m excited to see what he’s going to do. Like I said, I want to turn him into a legend. First, just show him my work ethic. Show him how we do things with the Chiefs. It’s a certain standard that Coach Reid has us mounted to. There are certain things that you have to be able to live up to here. We’re the champs. We’re defending our ring and there’s going to be some standards that he has to live up to coming into that room.”Q: During Easter you did a pretty remarkable thing. Would you talk about going out and helping on Skid Row and why you decided to do that?CLARK: “I do a lot down there, more than I really make public or would ask for credit for. I don’t really want credit for what I do down there. I actually used to live down there. Growing up in Los Angeles, I actually spent a large portion of my life on Skid Row, particularly at the Union Mission the shelter down there. Particularly around that time, I had done it plenty of times before then, but on that time at Easter it was just in my heart. I woke up with it in my heart. I didn’t plan on doing it on Easter. I had just went down there a few days before with a few friends and we had passed out some food and some clothes and some cleaning supplies, but I just woke up that morning and it was on my heart. My family was up cooking and stuff and I just let them know I’d be back later, and I was about to go down and help with downtown. I just said I’ll be back, basically. I just left and the first place I thought of was a pizza spot. I ended up going to Little Caesars pizza, shout out to them because they did a great job. I actually went in there and I was like, ‘I need as many pizzas as you can give me’ and they were like ‘What?’ and I was like ‘Can I get 100 pizzas?” and they were like, ‘What? No, we don’t have 100.’ and there was like a line of people. I’m begging people to let me get in front of them and I’ll buy their pizzas. I’m like ‘Please!’ because it was about to close. I was like “I just need these orders please. I’m about to go down and feed the people.’ and they ended up being able to give me 55 pizzas, which is crazy. 55 pizzas, my number. They gave me 55 pizzas.I asked for as many as they could give me and they gave me 55 and I was like ‘What? That’s a coincidence. That’s crazy.’ So they gave me 55 pizzas and I went down there, me and my friend Nick Glass. We went down there and he helped me pass out the food to the homeless. We made sure we wore our protective stuff, but I feel like I’m more in touch with them than the average person. Just being down there and spending time down there I know the streets, I know the back streets, the alleys. So, it was one of those things.”Q: How did you view your 2019 performance and what do you see for yourself in 2020?CLARK: “I feel like it went alright. That’s every year I feel. It will never be what you want it to be, you have to set your goals high. That’s what I do all the time. Realistically, myself I’ll never tell anybody my actual goal. It’s either met or not met. Like, my goal is to break the sack record. I’ve been telling myself I want to break the sack record for the last two years, but things come with that, everyday stuff. I might get injured, I might tweak this, that might prohibit me or slow me down. So, it’s certain things like that that will always be my goal. Setting the single-season forced fumble record, things like that. You have goals, winning five Super Bowls. You have to set your goals high because what else are you working for. You have some people that set their goals as ‘I want to make it to the Super Bowl’ or ‘I want to make it to the NFL’ and I ask them ‘Well, what do you want to do after that? What’s next?’ and some guys fall short of that long-term success because they don’t have that ‘What’s Next?’ I feel like that’s what 2020 has in store. That ‘What’s Next?’ factor. What’s next? What do you want to do next, Frank? I wanna start my clothing line. I want to win more Super Bowls. I want to help my younger guys. I want to bring the younger guys along. I want to create more and do more things special.”Q: When you guys do this virtual workout program what excites you most with the core of the guys being back, with Steve Spagnuolo and what about watching yourself early last season will help you for this season?CLARK: “Number one when you get a chance to get your guys back, your core, that’s dope. The one thing you always want to see is your boys. The same team you went through it with. You all did that camp. Once you go through that camp together it’s like we solid, we dogs. You love to see guys who go on to success and they go off and get what they deserve as far as contracts and they do things that way. Hats off to those guys. We lost one from our room, one of our main guys Emmanuel Ogbah. That was my dog. He contributed so much. We might not have thought about it, but the time when he started contributing was the time where myself, I’m hurt and not really saying nothing but fighting through it every game, and then you got Alex Okafor, he’s hurt, he’s out at the time. He stepped in and he was doing his part contributing big. He was playing better football than me at the time. So, he was picking up a lot of slack for guys, honestly as a back up defensive end, then eventually became a starter once AO (Alex Okafor) got hurt. So, it’s hard, but also like you said we get our group back and I look forward to going back to the spot and seeing all my guys in that locker room. Us being able to reminisce and talk about it and then being able to have the desire to want more. We all understand. We’ve been there, so it’s not like 50% of your team got shipped off or this happened or the coaching staff, this happens. No, everybody’s back and it’s like you said the foundation is back and we get to revisit it. Like I said, have a short memory about it and then get back on the road because that’s the goal to get back on the road and keep it going.”--<a href="http://chiefs.com">CHIEFS</a>--

Chiefs' Kelce, Charlton, Clark talk football

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators in Kansas are joining a broader effort to shield doctors, hospitals and businesses from lawsuits stemming from the coronavirus, with business and medical groups pushing them to act quickly.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3ZhwJRwvbg">Click here to watch</a> Wednesday's Kansas House judiciary committee hearing on the issue. It begins at 3:30p.m.

The effort faces strong opposition from labor unions, trial lawyers and some Democrats. They fear that such measures could be too broad and keep patients, consumers and employees from using the court system to hold businesses and medical providers accountable for negligence or misconduct.

Similar efforts are underway&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/349c07ce4b3e6321b0d5f1c2a706a67c">in Congress,</a>&nbsp;with Derek Schmidt of Kansas joining other GOP state attorneys general in calling for legislation to head off “frivolous” lawsuits. Legislators&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/2e91a7747f673558df1abf8e9e802d1a">in multiple states,</a>&nbsp;including Mississippi, North Carolina and Utah, are considering their own laws.

In Kansas, the state House Judiciary Committee planned to have the first of three Zoom meetings on the issue on Wednesday.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3ZhwJRwvbg">Click here to watch</a> and listen to the meeting that begins at 3:30p.m.

The Senate counterpart is expected to meet on the topic next week. 

The full GOP-controlled Legislature plans to meet May 21 for its last remaining day in session this year.

“What about a company who re-purposes their facilities because they’re closed as nonessential but they have the equipment to manufacture masks?” said Eric Stafford, a Kansas Chamber of Commerce lobbyist. “Somebody who’s trying to do a good deed, should they be punished, for liability for failure to prevent someone from getting sick?”

Groups pushing for quick legislative action said they fear businesses that reopened after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/9892bd95f6f6179dc01c4769adbab428">lifted a statewide stay-at-home order</a>&nbsp;on May 4 will face lawsuits if customers or employees get sick, or that customers or employees will sue businesses that were deemed essential and remained open while others closed.

Stafford said the chamber wants to ensure that businesses are protected if they followed health officials’ guidelines for operating safely.

The debate also comes after President Donald Trump directed meatpacking plants to stay open despite the spread of the coronavirus among workers. Kansas has seen seven large outbreaks at such plants, accounting for nearly 1,300 confirmed cases, or 18% of the state’s total, with two COVID-19-related deaths.

Dr. Beth Oller, a family physician in Rooks County in northwestern Kansas, said she thinks businesses should face legal liability if, for example, they won’t provide proper protective equipment for employees. But, she said, it could be “a bad precedent” to allow lawsuits when one customer of a business following health guidelines gets the virus from another customer.

She also said in nursing homes, even with aggressive steps to contain the virus if there’s one case, “It’s going to be exceptionally difficult to prevent the spread of any cases.”

Health care providers worry that they could face lawsuits if a patient’s health declined or a patient dies after providers delayed surgeries or other care because of concerns about spreading the virus.

Chad Austin, the Kansas Hospital Association’s executive vice president, said the group wants to protect medical providers “who did what they were asked to do” by focusing on combating the coronavirus.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1589403059623.png" alt="Members of the House Judiciary committee meet online Wednesday" />
 <figcaption>Members of the House Judiciary committee meet online Wednesday</figcaption>
 </figure>By JOHN HANNATOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators in Kansas are joining a broader effort to shield doctors, hospitals and businesses from lawsuits stemming from the coronavirus, with business and medical groups pushing them to act quickly.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3ZhwJRwvbg">Click here to watch</a> Wednesday's Kansas House judiciary committee hearing on the issue. It begins at 3:30p.m.The effort faces strong opposition from labor unions, trial lawyers and some Democrats. They fear that such measures could be too broad and keep patients, consumers and employees from using the court system to hold businesses and medical providers accountable for negligence or misconduct.Similar efforts are underway&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/349c07ce4b3e6321b0d5f1c2a706a67c">in Congress,</a>&nbsp;with Derek Schmidt of Kansas joining other GOP state attorneys general in calling for legislation to head off “frivolous” lawsuits. Legislators&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/2e91a7747f673558df1abf8e9e802d1a">in multiple states,</a>&nbsp;including Mississippi, North Carolina and Utah, are considering their own laws.In Kansas, the state House Judiciary Committee planned to have the first of three Zoom meetings on the issue on Wednesday.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3ZhwJRwvbg">Click here to watch</a> and listen to the meeting that begins at 3:30p.m.The Senate counterpart is expected to meet on the topic next week. The full GOP-controlled Legislature plans to meet May 21 for its last remaining day in session this year.“What about a company who re-purposes their facilities because they’re closed as nonessential but they have the equipment to manufacture masks?” said Eric Stafford, a Kansas Chamber of Commerce lobbyist. “Somebody who’s trying to do a good deed, should they be punished, for liability for failure to prevent someone from getting sick?”Groups pushing for quick legislative action said they fear businesses that reopened after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/9892bd95f6f6179dc01c4769adbab428">lifted a statewide stay-at-home order</a>&nbsp;on May 4 will face lawsuits if customers or employees get sick, or that customers or employees will sue businesses that were deemed essential and remained open while others closed.Stafford said the chamber wants to ensure that businesses are protected if they followed health officials’ guidelines for operating safely.The debate also comes after President Donald Trump directed meatpacking plants to stay open despite the spread of the coronavirus among workers. Kansas has seen seven large outbreaks at such plants, accounting for nearly 1,300 confirmed cases, or 18% of the state’s total, with two COVID-19-related deaths.Dr. Beth Oller, a family physician in Rooks County in northwestern Kansas, said she thinks businesses should face legal liability if, for example, they won’t provide proper protective equipment for employees. But, she said, it could be “a bad precedent” to allow lawsuits when one customer of a business following health guidelines gets the virus from another customer.She also said in nursing homes, even with aggressive steps to contain the virus if there’s one case, “It’s going to be exceptionally difficult to prevent the spread of any cases.”Health care providers worry that they could face lawsuits if a patient’s health declined or a patient dies after providers delayed surgeries or other care because of concerns about spreading the virus.Chad Austin, the Kansas Hospital Association’s executive vice president, said the group wants to protect medical providers “who did what they were asked to do” by focusing on combating the coronavirus.“They were focused probably where they were instructed to be focused for sure, but you never know, there could be somebody forgoing care at that time who ended up having an issue,” added Cindy Samuelson, the association’s membership vice president.David Morantz, a Leawood attorney and the Kansas Trial Lawyers’ Association president, said medical providers already aren’t subject to paying damages for injuries if they can show they followed generally accepted standards of care. He said adhering to government recommendations or directives to cancel elective surgeries because of the pandemic would qualify.While Kelly has been open to proposals for protecting medical professionals, Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat and key ally of the governor’s, said the issue is too big, too complex and too contentious for lawmakers to tackle before adjourning May 21.And labor unions have been quick to object to the proposals to prevent lawsuits, both in Kansas and nationally. The Working Kansas Alliance, a coalition of union groups, called it a “dangerous agenda” that would put workers at risk for “saving a buck on the corporate balance sheet.”Morantz said he fears that any new law could be “pushed beyond what anybody ever intended” to cover actions or cases not directly involving the coronavirus. He also said shielding businesses from lawsuits will give them an incentive not to be as safe and would make consumers wary.“If it’s safe reopen the economy, why is immunity needed?” Morantz said. “If immunity’s there, it’s going to make people scared and it’s going to delay rebooting the economy.”___