SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating an alleged rape from 2007 have transferred a suspect captured at the U.S. Mexico border to Kansas to face charges.&nbsp;

Just after 10:30p.m. Wednesday, deputies booked 41-year-old Roman Vela into the Sedgwick County jail, according to online jail records. He is expected to make a first appearance in court Thursday afternoon, according to the Sedgwick County District attorney's office.

On April 28, the district attorney's office reported Vela&nbsp;was arrested at a border crossing between Mexico and Texas on an active Sedgwick County warrant&nbsp; for one count of rape. He was&nbsp; held in Webb County, Texas until the extradition to Kansas this week.

The arrest was the culmination of an ongoing effort between the Department of State in Mexico; Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) Mexico; HSI Kansas City, Mo., and the Sedgwick County DA's Office in Wichita. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689866371606.png" alt="Vela photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Vela photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating an alleged rape from 2007 have transferred a suspect captured at the U.S. Mexico border to Kansas to face charges.&nbsp;Just after 10:30p.m. Wednesday, deputies booked 41-year-old Roman Vela into the Sedgwick County jail, according to online jail records. He is expected to make a first appearance in court Thursday afternoon, according to the Sedgwick County District attorney's office.On April 28, the district attorney's office reported Vela&nbsp;was arrested at a border crossing between Mexico and Texas on an active Sedgwick County warrant&nbsp; for one count of rape. He was&nbsp; held in Webb County, Texas until the extradition to Kansas this week.The arrest was the culmination of an ongoing effort between the Department of State in Mexico; Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) Mexico; HSI Kansas City, Mo., and the Sedgwick County DA's Office in Wichita.

Rape suspect captured at U.S. border crossing is in a Kansas jail 

This is day 13 of the Kansas Wheat Harvest Reports, brought to you by the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, Kansas Grain and Feed Association and the Kansas Cooperative Council.

In far western Kansas, wheat harvest is well behind schedule due to weather delays that have also brought hail damage. Despite the disruptions, elevators are generally seeing a better harvest than was anticipated this spring, although hail is hindering final yields for some and test weights are declining as producers wait for conditions to dry out enough to finish cutting.&nbsp;

Harvest is still going in western Wichita County, but most producers should wrap up by the weekend across the draw area for Scott Coop, according to grain merchandiser Brinlee McNary.&nbsp;

McNary said the crop looked pretty bleak in March, but thanks to spring rains they have taken in more bushels than they expected. Combines started rolling around July 4, about 10 days behind normal, but rain delays meant most producers spent a week out of the fields before resuming cutting.&nbsp;

The wheat has been high on protein, averaging 13 percent, but test weights have been falling from initial highs due to the rain, now at 58 pounds per bushel. Producers have seen a very wide range of yields from 20 to 70 bushels per acre.&nbsp;

Overall, McNary said Scott Coop will take in about half of their five-year average. That wheat will likely stay within the United States and be sent to flour mills or Kansas gluten plants, instead of traveling south on the rail to the Gulf of Mexico for export.&nbsp;

Harvest also started at least 10 days late in Sherman County, reported Brian Linin who farms near Goodland. About half of his wheat was destroyed, with crop insurance estimates of 0.6 to 1.7 bushels per acre. Linin’s 76-year-old father can’t remember having this much trouble getting wheat up in the fall in all his years of farming.&nbsp;

Despite the initial loss, three generations still came together to run combines this year - Brian, his father Brent and his son Blair. Test weights are averaging 58.5 pounds per bushel while proteins range from 11 to 12 percent.&nbsp;

Linin's irrigated wheat is yielding 60 to 65 bushels per acre and his dryland wheat is yielding 50 to 60 bushels per acre. The range is wider than normal due to variation between heads that are not quite ripe and others that are overripe - three days ago there were still green heads in the field. Hail also hit Sherman County last week, but Linin’s wheat fields were largely spared.&nbsp;

“The only silver lining is that this wheat is this good,” Linin said, noting a big benefit from planting into stubble to set up yield potential. “The dryland fields are a big surprise.”&nbsp;

Linin will deliver his wheat to Frontier Ag or Scoular, which will go on to the domestic mill market.&nbsp;

Eric Sperber of Cornerstone Ag in Colby also noted that the Thomas County area has never started wheat harvest this late.&nbsp;The first combines finally started rolling on July 10. With high humidity, most producers can’t start cutting until early evening, but fields have finally really ripened up in the last two days.&nbsp;

He reported test weights are struggling, averaging just over 58 pounds per bushel. Overall protein is averaging 12.1 percent, but he’s seen from eight percent up to 14 percent. Recent hail did not zero out a lot of acres, but impacted fields are now yielding half of their pre-hail potential due to shattering. Yields range from 25 bushels per acre on hail-damaged fields up to 70 bushels per acre for dryland wheat.&nbsp;

Sperber said there has been a lot of variation within fields with original tillers ripening on time, followed by taller secondary tillers ripening a few days later and then suckerheads growing even taller and ripening a few days after that. Producers have faced a number of difficulties this growing season - abandoning some poor stands in the fall, battling weeds, dealing with wheat suffering from winterkill from a cold snap in December that affected wheat with poor root structure and disease pressure from rust on fields that did not have fungicide applied.&nbsp;

“It has been a challenging crop this year from planting to harvest,” Sperber said. “It’s been really weird.”

Harvest is now 50 to 60 percent complete and needs another seven days of average weather to finish up. Sperber said they need sunshine, otherwise, the current weather will mean harvest will take much longer.&nbsp;Overall, he expects they will take in about the same number of bushels as the five-year average, due to an increase in acres. He had expected more before hail struck the area.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“It’s amazing with the amount of moisture we had,” he said.&nbsp;

Harvest also has about a week left to go - if there’s no rain - for Mike Sieck near Edson in Sherman County. Harvest started on July 8 but has never really kicked into full swing because most days they cannot start until noon or later - some days as late as 4:00 in the afternoon - due to humidity and scattered rains.&nbsp;

Sieck did apply fungicide, a good decision as quite a bit of stripe rust has moved into the area in the last couple of weeks. Weeds are also a contention as they aren’t dying in the cooler weather.&nbsp;

Hail has also hit the area hard. Sieck will still harvest some of the hail-damaged fields for seed wheat, even though yields have decreased to 25 bushels per acre. His average for dryland wheat is 45 bushels per acre but ranges widely. Test weights are decent at 59 to 61 pounds per bushel and protein is excellent at 13.5 to 14.5 percent.&nbsp;

He reported WestBred’s WB 4422, a replacement for Grainfield, has done well, as have the Kansas Wheat Alliance-developed varieties - KS Providence, KS Territory and KS Hamilton. North of Bird City and St. Francis, producers caught more snow and wheat is yielding even better, some places as high as 90 bushels per acre on dryland fields.&nbsp;

With varying yields and weather delays, producers are ready to close the book on the 2023 wheat harvest. As they continue cutting, Kansas Wheat will continue to share results from the field with the next harvest report scheduled for July 20.&nbsp;Look for a special edition harvest report on the hard white wheat crop on July 19.

The 2023 Harvest Report is brought to you by the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, Kansas Grain and Feed Association and the Kansas Cooperative Council. To follow along with harvest updates on Twitter, use #wheatharvest23. Tag us at @kansaswheat on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to share your harvest story and photos.

<a href="https://hutchpost.com/download" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to download the Hutch Post mobile app. <a href="https://hutchpost.com/posts/5e73b532afae0f4d5f5d90ea" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689766354673.png" alt="Harvest Report Day 13" />
 <figcaption>Harvest Report Day 13</figcaption>
 </figure>Kansas WheatThis is day 13 of the Kansas Wheat Harvest Reports, brought to you by the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, Kansas Grain and Feed Association and the Kansas Cooperative Council.In far western Kansas, wheat harvest is well behind schedule due to weather delays that have also brought hail damage. Despite the disruptions, elevators are generally seeing a better harvest than was anticipated this spring, although hail is hindering final yields for some and test weights are declining as producers wait for conditions to dry out enough to finish cutting.&nbsp;Harvest is still going in western Wichita County, but most producers should wrap up by the weekend across the draw area for Scott Coop, according to grain merchandiser Brinlee McNary.&nbsp;McNary said the crop looked pretty bleak in March, but thanks to spring rains they have taken in more bushels than they expected. Combines started rolling around July 4, about 10 days behind normal, but rain delays meant most producers spent a week out of the fields before resuming cutting.&nbsp;The wheat has been high on protein, averaging 13 percent, but test weights have been falling from initial highs due to the rain, now at 58 pounds per bushel. Producers have seen a very wide range of yields from 20 to 70 bushels per acre.&nbsp;Overall, McNary said Scott Coop will take in about half of their five-year average. That wheat will likely stay within the United States and be sent to flour mills or Kansas gluten plants, instead of traveling south on the rail to the Gulf of Mexico for export.&nbsp;Harvest also started at least 10 days late in Sherman County, reported Brian Linin who farms near Goodland. About half of his wheat was destroyed, with crop insurance estimates of 0.6 to 1.7 bushels per acre. Linin’s 76-year-old father can’t remember having this much trouble getting wheat up in the fall in all his years of farming.&nbsp;Despite the initial loss, three generations still came together to run combines this year - Brian, his father Brent and his son Blair. Test weights are averaging 58.5 pounds per bushel while proteins range from 11 to 12 percent.&nbsp;Linin's irrigated wheat is yielding 60 to 65 bushels per acre and his dryland wheat is yielding 50 to 60 bushels per acre. The range is wider than normal due to variation between heads that are not quite ripe and others that are overripe - three days ago there were still green heads in the field. Hail also hit Sherman County last week, but Linin’s wheat fields were largely spared.&nbsp;“The only silver lining is that this wheat is this good,” Linin said, noting a big benefit from planting into stubble to set up yield potential. “The dryland fields are a big surprise.”&nbsp;Linin will deliver his wheat to Frontier Ag or Scoular, which will go on to the domestic mill market.&nbsp;Eric Sperber of Cornerstone Ag in Colby also noted that the Thomas County area has never started wheat harvest this late.&nbsp;The first combines finally started rolling on July 10. With high humidity, most producers can’t start cutting until early evening, but fields have finally really ripened up in the last two days.&nbsp;He reported test weights are struggling, averaging just over 58 pounds per bushel. Overall protein is averaging 12.1 percent, but he’s seen from eight percent up to 14 percent. Recent hail did not zero out a lot of acres, but impacted fields are now yielding half of their pre-hail potential due to shattering. Yields range from 25 bushels per acre on hail-damaged fields up to 70 bushels per acre for dryland wheat.&nbsp;Sperber said there has been a lot of variation within fields with original tillers ripening on time, followed by taller secondary tillers ripening a few days later and then suckerheads growing even taller and ripening a few days after that. Producers have faced a number of difficulties this growing season - abandoning some poor stands in the fall, battling weeds, dealing with wheat suffering from winterkill from a cold snap in December that affected wheat with poor root structure and disease pressure from rust on fields that did not have fungicide applied.&nbsp;“It has been a challenging crop this year from planting to harvest,” Sperber said. “It’s been really weird.”Harvest is now 50 to 60 percent complete and needs another seven days of average weather to finish up. Sperber said they need sunshine, otherwise, the current weather will mean harvest will take much longer.&nbsp;Overall, he expects they will take in about the same number of bushels as the five-year average, due to an increase in acres. He had expected more before hail struck the area.&nbsp;&nbsp;“It’s amazing with the amount of moisture we had,” he said.&nbsp;Harvest also has about a week left to go - if there’s no rain - for Mike Sieck near Edson in Sherman County. Harvest started on July 8 but has never really kicked into full swing because most days they cannot start until noon or later - some days as late as 4:00 in the afternoon - due to humidity and scattered rains.&nbsp;Sieck did apply fungicide, a good decision as quite a bit of stripe rust has moved into the area in the last couple of weeks. Weeds are also a contention as they aren’t dying in the cooler weather.&nbsp;Hail has also hit the area hard. Sieck will still harvest some of the hail-damaged fields for seed wheat, even though yields have decreased to 25 bushels per acre. His average for dryland wheat is 45 bushels per acre but ranges widely. Test weights are decent at 59 to 61 pounds per bushel and protein is excellent at 13.5 to 14.5 percent.&nbsp;He reported WestBred’s WB 4422, a replacement for Grainfield, has done well, as have the Kansas Wheat Alliance-developed varieties - KS Providence, KS Territory and KS Hamilton. North of Bird City and St. Francis, producers caught more snow and wheat is yielding even better, some places as high as 90 bushels per acre on dryland fields.&nbsp;With varying yields and weather delays, producers are ready to close the book on the 2023 wheat harvest. As they continue cutting, Kansas Wheat will continue to share results from the field with the next harvest report scheduled for July 20.&nbsp;Look for a special edition harvest report on the hard white wheat crop on July 19.The 2023 Harvest Report is brought to you by the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, Kansas Grain and Feed Association and the Kansas Cooperative Council. To follow along with harvest updates on Twitter, use #wheatharvest23. Tag us at @kansaswheat on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to share your harvest story and photos.<a href="https://hutchpost.com/download" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to download the Hutch Post mobile app. <a href="https://hutchpost.com/posts/5e73b532afae0f4d5f5d90ea" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

Day 13, Kansas Wheat Harvest Report

Virginia (Garman) Pettit, 84, of Hueytown, AL passed away on Friday, July 14, 2023, at&nbsp;Self Care Health &amp; Rehab, Hueytown, AL.

Virginia was born on August 9, 1938, on her parent’s farm north of Burr Oak, Kansas, the daughter of Robert and Helen (Miller) Garman.&nbsp; She spent her earlier years playing and working on the farm with her Brother’s and Sister’s (Jean, Robert, Daniel and Sandra).&nbsp;&nbsp;Her cherished memory was getting to go to the wheat fields to ride on the tractor with her dad when she was little.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A couple of her fondest memories with her siblings growing up was listening to the Grand Ol’ Opery show on a battery-operated radio, playing Andy andy over and on Saturday nights the whole family would load up in the car and drive into Guide Rock NE to the dances.

She attended and graduated from Burr Oak High School in 1956.

Her pride and joy were her three son’s and a daughter (Robert, Douglas, Janet and Steven) she was blessed with through the years. Along with becoming a Grandma of 7 Grandchildren (Lindsey, Lexis, Stephanie, Samantha, Wyatt, and Joshua. 9 Great-grandchildren (Eloise, Jaden, Annalise, Jo, Grayson, ZaRiyah, Cobe, Connor, and Liam).

On October 3rd, 1987 she married her childhood playmate David Pettit, who lived right up the road when they were growing up.

Always an entrepreneur at heart, through the years Virginia owned and operated 4 restaurants and an antique store in Nebraska and Kansas. She often joked that she and Dave retired and moved back to Mankato, Kansas, and retirement only lasted a few months. She saw that Bob’s Inn in Mankato had closed down. She purchased it and came out of retirement to operate it. In 2007 Virginia and Dave sold Bob’s Inn and finally retired for the final time. Never to let the grass grow under her feet, she would take order and bake kolache’s from her home during retirement. She also wrote and published her own cookbook during retirement.

Virginia loved her dog Twiggy and she also enjoyed having people come over and play cards, fishing, reading, cooking, and word puzzle books.&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;Virginia loved Jesus and attended various churches through the years. As a little girl of 8, her Aunt &amp; Uncle who were Missionaries came to visit. They took her to a tent revival meeting. A day that changed her life forever, as she walked down the aisle to the Old Rugged Cross being sung. She asked Jesus to be her Lord and Savior.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Survivors include: children, Robert Burns of Acworth, GA, Douglas (Trudy) Burns of McPherson, KS, Janet (Ed) Cox of St. Marys, GA and Steven (Gwen) Burns of Fayetteville, NC; Grandchildren, Lindsey Roman of Palm Coast, FL, Stephanie Burns, Samantha Burns of Villa Rica, GA, Lexis Hadley of Franklin, TN, Wyatt Burns of Dallas, GA, Joshua Tessen, of Kansas City, KS; Great Grandchildren, Eloise, Annalise, and Jo, Palm Coast, FL,&nbsp;&nbsp;Jadan, Villa Rica, GA, Grayson, Franklin, TN, ZaRiyah, Winston-Salem, NC, Cobe, Connor, and Liam, Kansas City, KS; Sister-in-law, Hazel Garman, Guide Rock, NE; Brother-in-law, Jon Adams, Saint Paul, MN &amp; many Nieces and Nephews of her siblings.&nbsp;

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, and her 4 siblings.&nbsp;

Visitation will be from 1-8 pm with the family will receive friends from 5-7 PM, Thursday, July 20, 2023, at Melby Mortuary, Mankato, KS.&nbsp;

Funeral Services are 10:30 AM, Friday, July 21, 2023 at Harmony United Methodist Church, Mankato, KS with Pastor Jim Rice officiating.&nbsp;&nbsp;Burial will follow at Shaffer Cemetery, rural Mankato, KS.

Memorial donations can be made to Harmony United Methodist Church in care of the funeral home.&nbsp;&nbsp;For online condolences, please visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.melbymotuary.com/" target="_blank">www.melbymotuary.com</a>. Melby Mortuary, 402 N. High, PO Box 384, Mankato, KS 66956.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689733622792.jpeg" alt="Virgina Pettit" />
 <figcaption>Virgina Pettit</figcaption>
 </figure>Virginia (Garman) Pettit, 84, of Hueytown, AL passed away on Friday, July 14, 2023, at&nbsp;Self Care Health &amp; Rehab, Hueytown, AL. Virginia was born on August 9, 1938, on her parent’s farm north of Burr Oak, Kansas, the daughter of Robert and Helen (Miller) Garman.&nbsp; She spent her earlier years playing and working on the farm with her Brother’s and Sister’s (Jean, Robert, Daniel and Sandra).&nbsp;&nbsp;Her cherished memory was getting to go to the wheat fields to ride on the tractor with her dad when she was little.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A couple of her fondest memories with her siblings growing up was listening to the Grand Ol’ Opery show on a battery-operated radio, playing Andy andy over and on Saturday nights the whole family would load up in the car and drive into Guide Rock NE to the dances. She attended and graduated from Burr Oak High School in 1956. Her pride and joy were her three son’s and a daughter (Robert, Douglas, Janet and Steven) she was blessed with through the years. Along with becoming a Grandma of 7 Grandchildren (Lindsey, Lexis, Stephanie, Samantha, Wyatt, and Joshua. 9 Great-grandchildren (Eloise, Jaden, Annalise, Jo, Grayson, ZaRiyah, Cobe, Connor, and Liam). On October 3rd, 1987 she married her childhood playmate David Pettit, who lived right up the road when they were growing up. Always an entrepreneur at heart, through the years Virginia owned and operated 4 restaurants and an antique store in Nebraska and Kansas. She often joked that she and Dave retired and moved back to Mankato, Kansas, and retirement only lasted a few months. She saw that Bob’s Inn in Mankato had closed down. She purchased it and came out of retirement to operate it. In 2007 Virginia and Dave sold Bob’s Inn and finally retired for the final time. Never to let the grass grow under her feet, she would take order and bake kolache’s from her home during retirement. She also wrote and published her own cookbook during retirement. Virginia loved her dog Twiggy and she also enjoyed having people come over and play cards, fishing, reading, cooking, and word puzzle books.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Virginia loved Jesus and attended various churches through the years. As a little girl of 8, her Aunt &amp; Uncle who were Missionaries came to visit. They took her to a tent revival meeting. A day that changed her life forever, as she walked down the aisle to the Old Rugged Cross being sung. She asked Jesus to be her Lord and Savior.&nbsp;&nbsp; Survivors include: children, Robert Burns of Acworth, GA, Douglas (Trudy) Burns of McPherson, KS, Janet (Ed) Cox of St. Marys, GA and Steven (Gwen) Burns of Fayetteville, NC; Grandchildren, Lindsey Roman of Palm Coast, FL, Stephanie Burns, Samantha Burns of Villa Rica, GA, Lexis Hadley of Franklin, TN, Wyatt Burns of Dallas, GA, Joshua Tessen, of Kansas City, KS; Great Grandchildren, Eloise, Annalise, and Jo, Palm Coast, FL,&nbsp;&nbsp;Jadan, Villa Rica, GA, Grayson, Franklin, TN, ZaRiyah, Winston-Salem, NC, Cobe, Connor, and Liam, Kansas City, KS; Sister-in-law, Hazel Garman, Guide Rock, NE; Brother-in-law, Jon Adams, Saint Paul, MN &amp; many Nieces and Nephews of her siblings.&nbsp; She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, and her 4 siblings.&nbsp; Visitation will be from 1-8 pm with the family will receive friends from 5-7 PM, Thursday, July 20, 2023, at Melby Mortuary, Mankato, KS.&nbsp;Funeral Services are 10:30 AM, Friday, July 21, 2023 at Harmony United Methodist Church, Mankato, KS with Pastor Jim Rice officiating.&nbsp;&nbsp;Burial will follow at Shaffer Cemetery, rural Mankato, KS. Memorial donations can be made to Harmony United Methodist Church in care of the funeral home.&nbsp;&nbsp;For online condolences, please visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.melbymotuary.com/" target="_blank">www.melbymotuary.com</a>. Melby Mortuary, 402 N. High, PO Box 384, Mankato, KS 66956.

Virginia (Garman) Pettit

First District’s Mann separates from peers by siding with far-right GOP faction

By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/06/grieving-moms-plea-to-kansas-lawmakers-do-something-this-epidemic-is-killing-our-kids/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — The Kansas congressional delegation found rare agreement while weighing amendments to the U.S. Department of Defense budget bill by jointly opposing reduction in the number of nuclear armed intercontinental ballistic missiles deployed in the United States.

U.S. Reps. Jake LaTurner, Ron Estes and Tracey Mann, all Republicans, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids stood with an overwhelming majority in the House to block insertion of the ICBM amendment into the defense bill.

Votes on a majority of controversial amendments to the Defense Department funding deal fell along party lines, including those diluting attention to challenges of racism in the military and efforts to further restrict rights of women and transgender service members.

Mann, who serves the 1st District stretched from Colorado to Lawrence and featuring the U.S. Army based at Fort Riley, stood alone among Kansas’ representatives in Congress on three amendments tied to Ukraine’s response to an invasion by Russia.

He voted to block future military assistance to Ukraine, to end a lend-lease program with Ukraine and to forbid sale or transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine. Those amendments, which were soundly rejected by the U.S. House, were offered by U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, and Andrew Ogles, R-Tennessee.

The House forwarded the package Friday to the U.S. Senate by a margin of 219-210, with Mann, Estes and LaTurner voting “yes” and Davids casting a “no” vote. It stood little chance of passage in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

“As America faces growing threats from our adversaries, it’s vital that we strengthen our military readiness and ensure our servicemen and women have the resources they need to defend America’s interests at home and abroad,” LaTurner said.

LaTurner said the House bill would improve quality of life for troops and their families by raising wages 5.2%, broaden investment in deterring China and bring an end to “woke programs” pushed on military personnel by the administration of President Joe Biden.

Mann, Estes and LaTurner voted for — with Davids against — an amendment to end a Defense Department policy of providing time off and reimbursement to service members traveling out of state for abortion services. The amendment passed 221-213. The policy was implemented after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision granting women a nationwide right to abortion.

The same 3-1 division marked House passage of an amendment preventing the Pentagon from providing health coverage for gender reassignment surgeries or gender hormone treatments for transgender individuals. The state’s delegation split in the same manner as the House passed a measure offered by U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, to keep Defense Department schools from buying or holding books espousing a “radical gender ideology.”

Estes, who serves the 4th District around Wichita, said the House bill was a strong message against the Biden administration’s “radical political agenda that does nothing to promote military readiness.”

“In addition to prioritizing military readiness and service members’ needs,” he said, “this bill curbs waste by cutting inefficient programs, obsolete weapons and unnecessary bureaucracy in the Pentagon.”

The delegation again divided 3-1 while the full House approved culture-war amendments aimed at deleting the Pentagon’s office of diversity, equity and inclusion, preventing the Department of Defense from creating new DEI administrative positions and forbidding use of affirmative action policies on race or ethnicity in determining admissions to military academies.

The three Kansas Republicans also favored an amendment to halt federal funding of DEI training, but that measure fell short of a majority.

In addition, the three Kansas GOP members helped pass a House amendment withdrawing Defense Department funding from efforts promoting the notion of the United States as a racist country or labeling the Declaration of Independence or U.S. Constitution as racists documents.

The LaTurner, Estes and Mann coalition voted for an amendment, which failed, to exempt the Department of Defense from the federal endangered species act. The three Kansas Republicans supported an amendment that passed 217-216 to deny the Defense Department an opportunity to implement climate change executive orders issued by Biden.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689509427030.png" alt=" U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kansas, sided with some of the House’s most conservative members on a series of votes against U.S. funding of Ukraine’s war against Russia. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kansas, sided with some of the House’s most conservative members on a series of votes against U.S. funding of Ukraine’s war against Russia. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>First District’s Mann separates from peers by siding with far-right GOP faction</h2>By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/06/grieving-moms-plea-to-kansas-lawmakers-do-something-this-epidemic-is-killing-our-kids/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — The Kansas congressional delegation found rare agreement while weighing amendments to the U.S. Department of Defense budget bill by jointly opposing reduction in the number of nuclear armed intercontinental ballistic missiles deployed in the United States.U.S. Reps. Jake LaTurner, Ron Estes and Tracey Mann, all Republicans, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids stood with an overwhelming majority in the House to block insertion of the ICBM amendment into the defense bill.Votes on a majority of controversial amendments to the Defense Department funding deal fell along party lines, including those diluting attention to challenges of racism in the military and efforts to further restrict rights of women and transgender service members.Mann, who serves the 1st District stretched from Colorado to Lawrence and featuring the U.S. Army based at Fort Riley, stood alone among Kansas’ representatives in Congress on three amendments tied to Ukraine’s response to an invasion by Russia.He voted to block future military assistance to Ukraine, to end a lend-lease program with Ukraine and to forbid sale or transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine. Those amendments, which were soundly rejected by the U.S. House, were offered by U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, and Andrew Ogles, R-Tennessee.<h2>‘Defend America’s interests’</h2>The House forwarded the package Friday to the U.S. Senate by a margin of 219-210, with Mann, Estes and LaTurner voting “yes” and Davids casting a “no” vote. It stood little chance of passage in the Democratic-controlled Senate.“As America faces growing threats from our adversaries, it’s vital that we strengthen our military readiness and ensure our servicemen and women have the resources they need to defend America’s interests at home and abroad,” LaTurner said.LaTurner said the House bill would improve quality of life for troops and their families by raising wages 5.2%, broaden investment in deterring China and bring an end to “woke programs” pushed on military personnel by the administration of President Joe Biden.Mann, Estes and LaTurner voted for — with Davids against — an amendment to end a Defense Department policy of providing time off and reimbursement to service members traveling out of state for abortion services. The amendment passed 221-213. The policy was implemented after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision granting women a nationwide right to abortion.The same 3-1 division marked House passage of an amendment preventing the Pentagon from providing health coverage for gender reassignment surgeries or gender hormone treatments for transgender individuals. The state’s delegation split in the same manner as the House passed a measure offered by U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, to keep Defense Department schools from buying or holding books espousing a “radical gender ideology.”Estes, who serves the 4th District around Wichita, said the House bill was a strong message against the Biden administration’s “radical political agenda that does nothing to promote military readiness.”“In addition to prioritizing military readiness and service members’ needs,” he said, “this bill curbs waste by cutting inefficient programs, obsolete weapons and unnecessary bureaucracy in the Pentagon.”<h2>Denounce DEI policies</h2>The delegation again divided 3-1 while the full House approved culture-war amendments aimed at deleting the Pentagon’s office of diversity, equity and inclusion, preventing the Department of Defense from creating new DEI administrative positions and forbidding use of affirmative action policies on race or ethnicity in determining admissions to military academies.The three Kansas Republicans also favored an amendment to halt federal funding of DEI training, but that measure fell short of a majority.In addition, the three Kansas GOP members helped pass a House amendment withdrawing Defense Department funding from efforts promoting the notion of the United States as a racist country or labeling the Declaration of Independence or U.S. Constitution as racists documents.The LaTurner, Estes and Mann coalition voted for an amendment, which failed, to exempt the Department of Defense from the federal endangered species act. The three Kansas Republicans supported an amendment that passed 217-216 to deny the Defense Department an opportunity to implement climate change executive orders issued by Biden.

Kan. congressional delegation takes stand on Ukraine, abortion and ‘woke’ politics

NEOSHO COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are praising the work of a K-9 officer after recent arrests.

On July 11, Kansas Game Warden Sievert and Game Warden Austin were on patrol when Kansas Highway Patrol initiated a vehicle pursuit ending in rural Neosho County, according to a social media report from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks game wardens.

KHP and the Neosho County Sheriff’s Office requested a Wildlife and Parks K-9 after both suspects ran on foot into the brush. On deployment, K-9 Apollo went into tracking profile, leading the officers across the field and into the brush where both suspects were laying in tall grass.

 Later, on an area search, Apollo located the suspect's phone and knife. 

Both individuals were arrested and booked into the Neosho County jail, and several charges were filed in Neosho and Montgomery counties.

On the morning of July 7, Game Warden Sievert and K-9 Apollo were requested following the conclusion of a vehicle pursuit with a convicted felon initiated by the Parsons Police Department. 

Once the suspect was in custody, police and Labette County Sheriff’s Office believed parts of a firearm had been discarded out in the tall grass on the side of the Highway to hide evidence. 

Upon deployment, Apollo made quick work of the road ditch, alerting on the components of the firearm that were thrown further down the highway.Apollo was rewarded with his Kong toy and a Pup Cup.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689366111369.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>NEOSHO COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are praising the work of a K-9 officer after recent arrests.On July 11, Kansas Game Warden Sievert and Game Warden Austin were on patrol when Kansas Highway Patrol initiated a vehicle pursuit ending in rural Neosho County, according to a social media report from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks game wardens.KHP and the Neosho County Sheriff’s Office requested a Wildlife and Parks K-9 after both suspects ran on foot into the brush. On deployment, K-9 Apollo went into tracking profile, leading the officers across the field and into the brush where both suspects were laying in tall grass. Later, on an area search, Apollo located the suspect's phone and knife. Both individuals were arrested and booked into the Neosho County jail, and several charges were filed in Neosho and Montgomery counties.On the morning of July 7, Game Warden Sievert and K-9 Apollo were requested following the conclusion of a vehicle pursuit with a convicted felon initiated by the Parsons Police Department. Once the suspect was in custody, police and Labette County Sheriff’s Office believed parts of a firearm had been discarded out in the tall grass on the side of the Highway to hide evidence. Upon deployment, Apollo made quick work of the road ditch, alerting on the components of the firearm that were thrown further down the highway.Apollo was rewarded with his Kong toy and a Pup Cup.

Kan. game warden's K-9 helps capture suspects, evidence

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on multiple allegations after a robbery investigation.

On Tuesday, police&nbsp;located two individuals who were being sought by&nbsp; detectives in relation to a person robbery that occurred in the 2500 Block of SW 6th on March 31, according to Police Lt. Donna Eubanks.

The two individuals were brought to the law enforcement center to speak with detectives. As a result of the investigation Justin A. Ray, 18, and Benjamin T. Unrein, 19, both of Topeka were transported to the Shawnee County Department of Corrections. Ray was booked on requested charges of Robbery and Theft.&nbsp;Unrein remains jailed on a requested charges of&nbsp;Robbery.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689457989460.png" alt="Ray-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Ray-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on multiple allegations after a robbery investigation.On Tuesday, police&nbsp;located two individuals who were being sought by&nbsp; detectives in relation to a person robbery that occurred in the 2500 Block of SW 6th on March 31, according to Police Lt. Donna Eubanks.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689457890608.png" alt="Unrein-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Unrein-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>The two individuals were brought to the law enforcement center to speak with detectives. As a result of the investigation Justin A. Ray, 18, and Benjamin T. Unrein, 19, both of Topeka were transported to the Shawnee County Department of Corrections. Ray was booked on requested charges of Robbery and Theft.&nbsp;Unrein remains jailed on a requested charges of&nbsp;Robbery.

Two Kansas teens accused of robbery in March

SEDGWICK COUNTY — A Kansas felon who spent over 40-years in prison was in court again Wednesday.

Samuel Neal, 71, Wichita, was charged with 3 counts of criminal discharge of a firearm and aggravated assault, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.&nbsp; &nbsp;

On Tuesday Police had asked the public for help to locate him.

Just after 12:30a.m. Tuesday, police responded to a shooting in the 1100 block of South Emporia, according to Officer Juan Rebolledo. Officers located a 21-year-old man with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds.

&nbsp;Through the investigation, detectives identified Samuel Neal as a suspect. He is also believed to be the suspect in another shooting on July 9.&nbsp; <a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/InmateSearch/Details.aspx?Id=741136">Police booked him into the</a> Sedgwick County Jail just after 1p.m. Tuesday on requested charges of aggravated battery, aggravated assault and parole violations, according to online jail records.

Neal was released from prison in 2019 after a manslaughter conviction on a crime that occurred in 1979, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections. His bond is currently $500,000 and he is due back in court on July 24.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689162169452.png" alt="Neal-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Neal-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY — A Kansas felon who spent over 40-years in prison was in court again Wednesday.Samuel Neal, 71, Wichita, was charged with 3 counts of criminal discharge of a firearm and aggravated assault, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.&nbsp; &nbsp;On Tuesday Police had asked the public for help to locate him.Just after 12:30a.m. Tuesday, police responded to a shooting in the 1100 block of South Emporia, according to Officer Juan Rebolledo. Officers located a 21-year-old man with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds.&nbsp;Through the investigation, detectives identified Samuel Neal as a suspect. He is also believed to be the suspect in another shooting on July 9.&nbsp; <a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/InmateSearch/Details.aspx?Id=741136">Police booked him into the</a> Sedgwick County Jail just after 1p.m. Tuesday on requested charges of aggravated battery, aggravated assault and parole violations, according to online jail records.Neal was released from prison in 2019 after a manslaughter conviction on a crime that occurred in 1979, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections. His bond is currently $500,000 and he is due back in court on July 24.

Kan. man who spent 40-years in prison is charged with new crimes

Salina Library See what's new this week at the Salina Public Library at:

*** <a href="http://wowbrary.org/nu.aspx?fb&amp;p=5578-513">http://wowbrary.org/nu.aspx?fb&amp;p=5578-513 </a>***

There are one new bestseller, two new children's books, and nine other new books.

 The new bestseller this week is "Leigh Howard and the Ghosts of Simmons-Pierce Manor."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689451971612.jpeg" alt="New titles at the Salina Library. Image Courtesy Salina Library" />
 <figcaption>New titles at the Salina Library. Image Courtesy Salina Library</figcaption>
 </figure>Salina Library See what's new this week at the Salina Public Library at:*** <a href="http://wowbrary.org/nu.aspx?fb&amp;p=5578-513">http://wowbrary.org/nu.aspx?fb&amp;p=5578-513 </a>***There are one new bestseller, two new children's books, and nine other new books. The new bestseller this week is "Leigh Howard and the Ghosts of Simmons-Pierce Manor."

Check Out New Titles at the Salina Library

WASHINGTON —The Pentagon reported on June 20 that it overestimated the value of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine by $6.2 billion over the past two years — about&nbsp;double early estimates&nbsp;— resulting in a surplus that will be used for future security packages.

Kansas U.S. Junior Senator Roger Marshall joined colleagues in a letter to the Biden administration demanding answers. "Does the Department of Defense "accidentally" send an extra $6.2 billion in additional aid to Ukraine without congressional approval?"&nbsp;As President Biden was in Lithuania for a critical NATO summit, the Senators called for limits on military aid to Ukraine and questioned the DoD’s accounting procedures.

"This raises major concerns about the Biden Administration's basic ability to do their jobs," Marshall wrote.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said a detailed review of the accounting error found that the military services used replacement costs rather than the book value of equipment that was pulled from Pentagon stocks and sent to Ukraine. She said final calculations show there was an error of $3.6 billion in the current fiscal year and $2.6 billion in the 2022 fiscal year, which ended last Sept. 30.

As the letter to the Defense Department states, "These so-called 'valuation errors' are particularly concerning given the nature and scope of U.S. aid to Ukraine—over $113 billion thus far&nbsp;[…] This is a transparent attempt to bypass Congress for additional funds, while continuing to prioritize Ukraine over more vital U.S. interests, including deterring China in the Pacific.”

"By using creative accounting to conceal the actual cost of supporting Ukraine, you appear to be circumventing the American people’s elected representatives. Congress, not DoD, possesses the power of the purse,"&nbsp;the Senators concluded.

Members of Congress have repeatedly pressed Defense Department leaders on how closely the U.S. is tracking its aid to Ukraine to ensure that it is not subject to fraud or ending up in the wrong hands. The Pentagon has said it has a “robust program” to track the aid as it crosses the border into Ukraine and to keep tabs on it once it is there, depending on the sensitivity of each weapons system.

Singh said the accounting mistake won't affect the ongoing delivery of aid to Ukraine.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689162807618.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON —The Pentagon reported on June 20 that it overestimated the value of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine by $6.2 billion over the past two years — about&nbsp;double early estimates&nbsp;— resulting in a surplus that will be used for future security packages.Kansas U.S. Junior Senator Roger Marshall joined colleagues in a letter to the Biden administration demanding answers. "Does the Department of Defense "accidentally" send an extra $6.2 billion in additional aid to Ukraine without congressional approval?"&nbsp;As President Biden was in Lithuania for a critical NATO summit, the Senators called for limits on military aid to Ukraine and questioned the DoD’s accounting procedures."This raises major concerns about the Biden Administration's basic ability to do their jobs," Marshall wrote.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1687304849422.png" alt="Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh made the unusual announcement June 20.-photo from the video of the announcement provided by DoD." />
 <figcaption>Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh made the unusual announcement June 20.-photo from the video of the announcement provided by DoD.</figcaption>
 </figure>Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said a detailed review of the accounting error found that the military services used replacement costs rather than the book value of equipment that was pulled from Pentagon stocks and sent to Ukraine. She said final calculations show there was an error of $3.6 billion in the current fiscal year and $2.6 billion in the 2022 fiscal year, which ended last Sept. 30.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689162867518.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>As the letter to the Defense Department states, "These so-called 'valuation errors' are particularly concerning given the nature and scope of U.S. aid to Ukraine—over $113 billion thus far&nbsp;[…] This is a transparent attempt to bypass Congress for additional funds, while continuing to prioritize Ukraine over more vital U.S. interests, including deterring China in the Pacific.”"By using creative accounting to conceal the actual cost of supporting Ukraine, you appear to be circumventing the American people’s elected representatives. Congress, not DoD, possesses the power of the purse,"&nbsp;the Senators concluded.Members of Congress have repeatedly pressed Defense Department leaders on how closely the U.S. is tracking its aid to Ukraine to ensure that it is not subject to fraud or ending up in the wrong hands. The Pentagon has said it has a “robust program” to track the aid as it crosses the border into Ukraine and to keep tabs on it once it is there, depending on the sensitivity of each weapons system.Singh said the accounting mistake won't affect the ongoing delivery of aid to Ukraine.

Kan. Senator demands answers for $6.2B Ukraine aid accounting error

BUTLER COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating two teenagers in connection with fentanyl distribution.

Just after 11:30a.m. Wednesday, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the United States Postal Inspection Service, conducted an undercover operation involving the controlled delivery of a package containing approximately 20,000 counterfeit M30 pills suspected of containing Fentanyl, according to Butler County Undersheriff&nbsp;Daimon Cundiff.

The estimated street value could be as high as $200,000. The package was delivered to an address in the 800 block of N. Taylor in El Dorado, Kansas. 

After a short period of time, a vehicle drove up to the residence. One of the occupants retrieved the package, took it back to the car, and started to leave as deputies, in several marked Butler County Sheriff’s Office vehicles, attempted a traffic stop.

The vehicle fled and law enforcement pursued the vehicle from El Dorado, down the Kansas Turnpike, where one of the occupants of the vehicle threw the package out, causing it to break open on the highway.

The fleeing vehicle then exited to westbound K-96 where the pursuit ended at the Hillside exit when the car became disabled after driving over a concrete median. 

The driver, 18-year-old Jordan R. Cooper as well as the male passenger, 18-year-old Kavonte Horton both of Wichita were booked into the Butler County Detention Facility on charges related to the possession of the pills as well the pursuit.

Authorities spent several hours on the turnpike cleaning up the pills to reduce the risk of Fentanyl exposure to the public.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689252765240.png" alt="Horton-photo Butler Co." />
 <figcaption>Horton-photo Butler Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>BUTLER COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating two teenagers in connection with fentanyl distribution.Just after 11:30a.m. Wednesday, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the United States Postal Inspection Service, conducted an undercover operation involving the controlled delivery of a package containing approximately 20,000 counterfeit M30 pills suspected of containing Fentanyl, according to Butler County Undersheriff&nbsp;Daimon Cundiff.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689252742208.png" alt="Cooper-photo Butler Co." />
 <figcaption>Cooper-photo Butler Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>The estimated street value could be as high as $200,000. The package was delivered to an address in the 800 block of N. Taylor in El Dorado, Kansas. After a short period of time, a vehicle drove up to the residence. One of the occupants retrieved the package, took it back to the car, and started to leave as deputies, in several marked Butler County Sheriff’s Office vehicles, attempted a traffic stop.The vehicle fled and law enforcement pursued the vehicle from El Dorado, down the Kansas Turnpike, where one of the occupants of the vehicle threw the package out, causing it to break open on the highway.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689252926882.png" alt="Law enforcement on the scene of the investigation -photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Law enforcement on the scene of the investigation -photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>The fleeing vehicle then exited to westbound K-96 where the pursuit ended at the Hillside exit when the car became disabled after driving over a concrete median. The driver, 18-year-old Jordan R. Cooper as well as the male passenger, 18-year-old Kavonte Horton both of Wichita were booked into the Butler County Detention Facility on charges related to the possession of the pills as well the pursuit.Authorities spent several hours on the turnpike cleaning up the pills to reduce the risk of Fentanyl exposure to the public.

Kan. teens jailed: Undercover operation discovers 20,000 fentanyl pills

Department of Revenue sought to lift order, extend services to transgender Kansans

By TIM CARPENTER AND SAM BAILEY <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/06/grieving-moms-plea-to-kansas-lawmakers-do-something-this-epidemic-is-killing-our-kids/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — A Shawnee County District Court judge rejected Wednesday a request by a Kansas Department of Revenue lawyer to lift a temporary restraining order prohibiting the administration of Gov. Laura Kelly from issuing driver’s licenses amended to reflect gender preferences of transgender individuals.

Judge Teresa Watson, who conducted a technology-plagued hearing by livestream, affirmed her decision to impose the restraining order to make certain the state agency abided by Senate Bill 180. The statute adopted over a veto by Kelly became law July 1, and Attorney General Kris Kobach contended the law superseded previous policy or law guiding the Department of Revenue’s handling of requests to modify gender markers on licenses to drive.

Watson sided with Kobach on preservation of the temporary injunction. Her order said issuance of driver’s licenses in conflict with state law represented an “immediate and irreparable injury” given the influx of 172 requests for gender reclassifications on driver’s licenses in June.

“Driver’s licenses are issued for a period of six years and are difficult to take back and out of circulation once issued,” Watson said. “Compliance with stated legal requirements for identifying license holders is a public safety concern.”

Department of Revenue attorney Ted Smith urged Watson to dissolve the restraining order with the understanding the driver’s license division would continue to collect information on applicants’ gender status and biological sex at birth. He said a hold had been placed on gender adjustments to driver’s licenses.

He argued the new law inspired by an out-of-state conservative organization and embraced by GOP lawmakers in Kansas was generic and didn’t apply to issuance of driver’s licenses because there was a more specific statute on the books.

“Can you tell me why Senate Bill 180, which went into effect on July 1st, is not the status quo?” the judge asked Smith.

“Senate Bill 180 … basically doesn’t overwrite any existing driver’s license statutes,” Smith replied. “We have a more specific statute that deals with gender in the context of driver’s licenses. Senate Bill 180 doesn’t deal with driver’s licenses. Nowhere in that one-page bill does it reference driver’s licenses.”

“Doesn’t Senate Bill 180 say it applies to any state law?” the judge said. “And, wouldn’t it include driver’s license statutes?”

“Basically, that’s an implicit assumption, right?” Smith said. “It’s not specific to driver’s licenses. So, we’re always going to defer to the more specific statutes.”

Smith dismissed the nonbinding legal opinion issued by Kobach that asserted the law forbid gender changes to driver’s licenses and birth certificates.

“I don’t conflate his advisory opinion or interpretation of law to be equivalent to a specific statutory legal requirement,” Smith said. “And, I think there is a good faith and reasonable argument for our interpretation. We’re not bound, again, by the attorney general’s legal theories. We’re bound by the statutes.”

Kobach said in court documents and in his oral remarks that it would be improper for the Shawnee County judge to allow the state to deflect a law requiring Kansas government agencies gathering vital statistics to document a person’s sex at birth as either male or female.

The Department of Revenue’s approach to driver’s licenses, which was endorsed by the governor’s office, amounted to violation of state law, Kobach said.

“Violation of the statute itself is an injury to the state,” the Republican attorney general said. “If a state’s statutes are being violated by a state agency or in any large-scale fashion then the state is injured.”

Kobach said controversy about implementation of the law aimed at transgender Kansans had arisen in Johnson County in terms of law enforcement’s ability to to its job. He said failure by the Department of Revenue to comply with the new law could impede identification of suspects or the issuance of search or arrest warrants.

He said allowing the Department of Revenue to decide which statutes it followed and which it sidestepped away from would defy intent of the Legislature, which was the authorizing authority for the state agency. It was common understanding, established by the Kansas Supreme Court, new law trumped old law on a subject, he said.

“The status quo is the position of the individuals affected by the law, not the agency’s process,” Kobach said. “SB180 contains the phrase, ‘notwithstanding any provision of state law to the contrary.’ Clearly, SB180 was drafted with the intent of sweeping aside any possible contrary language in any other Kansas statute.”

The livestreamed hearing had to be halted twice due to technology woes, including problems with the attorney general’s internet connection that resulted in garbling of about half of his spoken words. The initial portion of the livestream wasn’t broadcast to dozens of online viewers.

Kobach filed the lawsuit July 7 against two employees in the Department of Revenue. The judge responded with the restraining order Monday. In wake of that action, the Department of Revenue sought a hearing to argue for repeal of the order.

On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas filed a request to intervene in Kobach’s lawsuit on behalf of five transgender Kansans. No decision has been released regarding the ACLU motion.

In a statement following the judge’s decision, the ACLU of Kansas said “we will continue to fight for transgender Kansans’ right to have identification that reflects who they are, and that fight is far from over.”

Watson, an appointee of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, instructed the attorney general’s office and the Department of Revenue lawyers to confer about scheduling the filing of documents and conducting a hearing on Kobach’s request for a temporary injunction in the case. If adopted by the judge, it would prevent the Department of Revenue from taking action central to the dispute before the conflict was resolved through a trial or settlement.

<h2>Department of Revenue sought to lift order, extend services to transgender Kansans</h2>By TIM CARPENTER AND SAM BAILEY <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/06/grieving-moms-plea-to-kansas-lawmakers-do-something-this-epidemic-is-killing-our-kids/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — A Shawnee County District Court judge rejected Wednesday a request by a Kansas Department of Revenue lawyer to lift a temporary restraining order prohibiting the administration of Gov. Laura Kelly from issuing driver’s licenses amended to reflect gender preferences of transgender individuals.Judge Teresa Watson, who conducted a technology-plagued hearing by livestream, affirmed her decision to impose the restraining order to make certain the state agency abided by Senate Bill 180. The statute adopted over a veto by Kelly became law July 1, and Attorney General Kris Kobach contended the law superseded previous policy or law guiding the Department of Revenue’s handling of requests to modify gender markers on licenses to drive.Watson sided with Kobach on preservation of the temporary injunction. Her order said issuance of driver’s licenses in conflict with state law represented an “immediate and irreparable injury” given the influx of 172 requests for gender reclassifications on driver’s licenses in June.“Driver’s licenses are issued for a period of six years and are difficult to take back and out of circulation once issued,” Watson said. “Compliance with stated legal requirements for identifying license holders is a public safety concern.”<h2>Motion to dissolve</h2>Department of Revenue attorney Ted Smith urged Watson to dissolve the restraining order with the understanding the driver’s license division would continue to collect information on applicants’ gender status and biological sex at birth. He said a hold had been placed on gender adjustments to driver’s licenses.He argued the new law inspired by an out-of-state conservative organization and embraced by GOP lawmakers in Kansas was generic and didn’t apply to issuance of driver’s licenses because there was a more specific statute on the books.“Can you tell me why Senate Bill 180, which went into effect on July 1st, is not the status quo?” the judge asked Smith.“Senate Bill 180 … basically doesn’t overwrite any existing driver’s license statutes,” Smith replied. “We have a more specific statute that deals with gender in the context of driver’s licenses. Senate Bill 180 doesn’t deal with driver’s licenses. Nowhere in that one-page bill does it reference driver’s licenses.”“Doesn’t Senate Bill 180 say it applies to any state law?” the judge said. “And, wouldn’t it include driver’s license statutes?”“Basically, that’s an implicit assumption, right?” Smith said. “It’s not specific to driver’s licenses. So, we’re always going to defer to the more specific statutes.”Smith dismissed the nonbinding legal opinion issued by Kobach that asserted the law forbid gender changes to driver’s licenses and birth certificates.“I don’t conflate his advisory opinion or interpretation of law to be equivalent to a specific statutory legal requirement,” Smith said. “And, I think there is a good faith and reasonable argument for our interpretation. We’re not bound, again, by the attorney general’s legal theories. We’re bound by the statutes.”<h2>Violation of state law</h2>Kobach said in court documents and in his oral remarks that it would be improper for the Shawnee County judge to allow the state to deflect a law requiring Kansas government agencies gathering vital statistics to document a person’s sex at birth as either male or female.The Department of Revenue’s approach to driver’s licenses, which was endorsed by the governor’s office, amounted to violation of state law, Kobach said.“Violation of the statute itself is an injury to the state,” the Republican attorney general said. “If a state’s statutes are being violated by a state agency or in any large-scale fashion then the state is injured.”Kobach said controversy about implementation of the law aimed at transgender Kansans had arisen in Johnson County in terms of law enforcement’s ability to to its job. He said failure by the Department of Revenue to comply with the new law could impede identification of suspects or the issuance of search or arrest warrants.He said allowing the Department of Revenue to decide which statutes it followed and which it sidestepped away from would defy intent of the Legislature, which was the authorizing authority for the state agency. It was common understanding, established by the Kansas Supreme Court, new law trumped old law on a subject, he said.“The status quo is the position of the individuals affected by the law, not the agency’s process,” Kobach said. “SB180 contains the phrase, ‘notwithstanding any provision of state law to the contrary.’ Clearly, SB180 was drafted with the intent of sweeping aside any possible contrary language in any other Kansas statute.”The livestreamed hearing had to be halted twice due to technology woes, including problems with the attorney general’s internet connection that resulted in garbling of about half of his spoken words. The initial portion of the livestream wasn’t broadcast to dozens of online viewers.Kobach filed the lawsuit July 7 against two employees in the Department of Revenue. The judge responded with the restraining order Monday. In wake of that action, the Department of Revenue sought a hearing to argue for repeal of the order.On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas filed a request to intervene in Kobach’s lawsuit on behalf of five transgender Kansans. No decision has been released regarding the ACLU motion.In a statement following the judge’s decision, the ACLU of Kansas said “we will continue to fight for transgender Kansans’ right to have identification that reflects who they are, and that fight is far from over.”Watson, an appointee of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, instructed the attorney general’s office and the Department of Revenue lawyers to confer about scheduling the filing of documents and conducting a hearing on Kobach’s request for a temporary injunction in the case. If adopted by the judge, it would prevent the Department of Revenue from taking action central to the dispute before the conflict was resolved through a trial or settlement.

Kan. judge affirms restraining order: No driver’s licenses with gender changes

LOS ANGELES&nbsp;– A federal grand jury Wednesday returned an indictment against a man from Hays, Kansas and a man from West Los Angeles who allegedly ran a decade-long telemarketing scam primarily targeting elderly victims that fraudulently obtained more than $4.5 million via false promises to help victims sell or rent their timeshare properties.

Michael Alexai Dragunov, 44, whose aliases include “Michael Anthony Farole,” “Michael LeFleur,” “Victor Romano,” and “James Logan,” is charged in the 10-count indictment along with Christopher Michael Lang, 42, of Hays, Kansas, whose aliases include “Scott Graham,” “Don Lewis,” and “Jack Morgan.”

Both defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and email marketing targeting the elderly.

Dragunov was arrested on a federal criminal complaint in this matter on June 28 and was ordered jailed without bond. His arraignment is scheduled for July 18 in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. Lang was arrested in Kansas on June 28 and is expected to be arraigned in Los Angeles in the coming weeks.

According to the indictment, from August 2013 to June 2023, Dragunov and Lang purported to represent companies that provided advertising and other services to current or former timeshare owners. The companies included Premier Marketing LLC, CML Marketing Specialists Inc., Condo Rental Associates LLC, and Paramount Media LLC.

Dragunov and Lang allegedly contacted victims, many of whom were elderly, and, to conceal the fraudulent scheme and their true identities, the defendants also used Skype messaging service phone numbers and used aliases instead of their true names.

Victims allegedly were induced to enter into agreements with the defendants’ telemarketing companies – agreements that were formalized in documents that were faxed or sent electronically – by falsely representing that the telemarketing companies would assist the victims with selling or renting their timeshare properties for a “one time” advertising fee.

Despite the recurring fees that each victim paid, often reaching the hundreds of thousands over several years, no victim received the timeshare-related services or proceeds promised, the indictment alleges.

To dupe victims into sending them more money, Dragunov and Lang allegedly told their victims a series of lies, including that the fees being requested would be refunded or reimbursed to the victims upon completion of the sale or rental of the victims’ timeshare, that the victims still owed taxes on the timeshare properties, and if the victims tried to dispute their payments to the telemarketing companies, the victims would automatically lose their disputes and lose all funds paid and any proceeds from a sale or rental of their timeshares.

To create the false impression that the telemarketing companies were legitimate, Dragunov and Lang pretended to be the companies’ customers and engaged in hundreds of phony small transactions with the companies’ payment processing accounts, according to the indictment.

Dragunov and Lang also allegedly concealed material facts from the victims, including the fact that their money was being used to personally enrich themselves.

If convicted of all charges, Dragunov and Lang would face a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for each count.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation are investigating this matter. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; the Henry County (Ohio) Sheriff’s Department; Hays (Kansas) Police Department; and United States Marshals Service provided substantial assistance.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1688408367149.png" alt="Christopher Lang was booked into the Shawnee Co. Jail June 28.&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Christopher Lang was booked into the Shawnee Co. Jail June 28.&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>LOS ANGELES&nbsp;– A federal grand jury Wednesday returned an indictment against a man from Hays, Kansas and a man from West Los Angeles who allegedly ran a decade-long telemarketing scam primarily targeting elderly victims that fraudulently obtained more than $4.5 million via false promises to help victims sell or rent their timeshare properties.Michael Alexai Dragunov, 44, whose aliases include “Michael Anthony Farole,” “Michael LeFleur,” “Victor Romano,” and “James Logan,” is charged in the 10-count indictment along with Christopher Michael Lang, 42, of Hays, Kansas, whose aliases include “Scott Graham,” “Don Lewis,” and “Jack Morgan.”Both defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and email marketing targeting the elderly.Dragunov was arrested on a federal criminal complaint in this matter on June 28 and was ordered jailed without bond. His arraignment is scheduled for July 18 in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. Lang was arrested in Kansas on June 28 and is expected to be arraigned in Los Angeles in the coming weeks.According to the indictment, from August 2013 to June 2023, Dragunov and Lang purported to represent companies that provided advertising and other services to current or former timeshare owners. The companies included Premier Marketing LLC, CML Marketing Specialists Inc., Condo Rental Associates LLC, and Paramount Media LLC.Dragunov and Lang allegedly contacted victims, many of whom were elderly, and, to conceal the fraudulent scheme and their true identities, the defendants also used Skype messaging service phone numbers and used aliases instead of their true names.Victims allegedly were induced to enter into agreements with the defendants’ telemarketing companies – agreements that were formalized in documents that were faxed or sent electronically – by falsely representing that the telemarketing companies would assist the victims with selling or renting their timeshare properties for a “one time” advertising fee.Despite the recurring fees that each victim paid, often reaching the hundreds of thousands over several years, no victim received the timeshare-related services or proceeds promised, the indictment alleges.To dupe victims into sending them more money, Dragunov and Lang allegedly told their victims a series of lies, including that the fees being requested would be refunded or reimbursed to the victims upon completion of the sale or rental of the victims’ timeshare, that the victims still owed taxes on the timeshare properties, and if the victims tried to dispute their payments to the telemarketing companies, the victims would automatically lose their disputes and lose all funds paid and any proceeds from a sale or rental of their timeshares.To create the false impression that the telemarketing companies were legitimate, Dragunov and Lang pretended to be the companies’ customers and engaged in hundreds of phony small transactions with the companies’ payment processing accounts, according to the indictment.Dragunov and Lang also allegedly concealed material facts from the victims, including the fact that their money was being used to personally enrich themselves.If convicted of all charges, Dragunov and Lang would face a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for each count.An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation are investigating this matter. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; the Henry County (Ohio) Sheriff’s Department; Hays (Kansas) Police Department; and United States Marshals Service provided substantial assistance.

Kan. man charged with wire fraud in $4.5M timeshare scheme

City commissioners says they don’t want ‘garbage’ on the public library’s shelves

By RACHEL MIPRO <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/05/kansas-lawmakers-debate-definition-of-female-and-male-for-county-jails/">Kansas Reflector</a>

ST. MARYS —&nbsp;Gerard Kleinsmith says he hates the idea of censorship.

He just wants to pull the lease for the city’s public library because he doesn’t like books about transgender people.

As a city commissioner, he feels it is his duty to remove transgender content — “garbage,” as he refers to it. Kleinsmith said during a city commission meeting that removing the library was part of his job as a city official, emphasizing “God doesn’t make mistakes,” and his belief that people can’t change genders.

“My goal is to terminate the lease with the library,” Kleinsmith said. “If they want to have their library, so be it. Go do it. Find another building to do it in, I can’t stop that. My intention is not to stop that, but I will not ever vote for any taxpayer money, facilities, anything to be used anywhere that houses this kind of garbage.”

He is supported in this stance by the other members of St. Marys’ five-person city commission, a heavily religious group that attends the Society of St. Pius X, or SSPX, an extreme religious sect that broke away from the Catholic church. The commissioners have said at previous meetings that&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/12/06/kansas-towns-library-lease-renewed-after-months-of-debate-about-lgbtq-content/">their views are influenced by their religious affiliation</a>.

“Some things are wrong,” said commissioner Richard Binsfeld, during a city commission discussion about&nbsp; transgender books and the transgender community at large. “If you live up to your morals, if you stand by your morals at all, you’d look at it and say, ‘Why do we have it?'”

The public library has been under scrutiny from local officials for months, narrowly surviving an attempt to pull the lease at the end of last year. Library director Judith Cremer said she and her staff were trying to work with the commissioners while remaining in accordance with legal guidelines for public libraries.

She’s still not sure why the commissioners have taken issue with the library in recent months when it had operated in its St. Marys location for decades without problems. Cremer has held her position since 2003, and until last year, this was a position without controversy.

“We’re not part of the city structure and the lease agreement is the only leverage that they have seemed to be able to find,” Cremer said. “They seem to be continuing down that road, which I’m disappointed with because we have still been here doing our job, trying to help people, trying to do summer reading, and I feel like it’s a misunderstanding of who we are. We are trying to do our job and we have followed the rules.”

While commissioners have no governing influence over the library, the Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library would be forced to shift locations if the lease isn’t renewed, giving up a community spot it has held for decades and depriving St. Marys residents of easily accessible library material.

The library has been housed in St. Marys since the 1980s, operating on an annual lease with the city. The library acts as the headquarters for eight locations, including Alma, Alta Vista, Eskridge, Harveyville, Olsburg, Onaga, St. Marys and Westmoreland, with county residents funding the library through taxes.

An eight-member board of trustees provides oversight of the library’s operations, with Pottawatomie and Wabaunsee County commissioners appointing members to the board to serve four-year terms. The commission doesn’t have influence over board decisions.

The library formed an advisory group in an attempt to address community concerns with library materials, but efforts toward reconciliation have been unsuccessful.

The library’s lease renewal came up for debate last year because the library refused to accept a renewal clause asking for the removal of all LGBTQ and socially divisive books from the shelves. Facing intense public pressure, the commission in December&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/12/06/kansas-towns-library-lease-renewed-after-months-of-debate-about-lgbtq-content/">renewed the lease</a>&nbsp;for one year.

Now, city commissioners have renewed their campaign against LGBTQ books, despite federal legal protections for public libraries.

During the April city commission meeting, Kleinsmith raged against the book “Rethinking Normal: A Memoir in Transition,” a coming of age story about a transgender teenager.

“This author is absolutely wrong. God does not make mistakes,” Kleinsmith said. “God cannot make a mistake. We can make mistakes. Mankind can make a mistake. God cannot make a mistake. … I will do everything I can to fight this kind of garbage.”

“If God makes you as a male, you are a male,” he added. “If God makes you a female, you are a female, no matter what.”

St. Marys Mayor Matthew Childs, who formulated the anti-LGBTQ renewal clause last year, said during the April meeting that the library’s contents would once again influence the commission’s decision to renew the lease.

“We don’t want transgender books in the library. … The elephant in the room is that we don’t want the library to be promoting certain types of material,” Childs said. “If the library is, we come back to the question, do we want to renew it at all?”

Sharon Brett, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, which warned commissioners to drop their censorship attempts during the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/12/02/troubling-and-authoritarian-kansas-aclu-warns-st-marys-officials-that-closing-town-library-is-unconstitutional/">first lease renewal discussion</a>, said city officials need to remember constitutional protections.

“Each member of the commission should remember that their own discomfort with a certain book does not justify restricting its availability to everyone else in the community,” Brett said. “Not only is this potential censorship authoritarian, it has implications under even a basic reading of our First Amendment. We urge the commission to remember their obligations under the Constitution.”

Cremer said she and the library board had been trying to cooperate with the commission and concerned residents as much as possible.

“We’re providing services to the community,” Cremer said. “We’re taking care of the same people. I don’t see why there should be a problem.”

Following the April commission meeting, she sent a letter to the commissioners asking them to directly address their concerns with library staff, as they had a process in place to review book complaints.

Library staff are also participating in the advisory committee. Cremer said the library was sending regular updates about the library and the advisory committee’s work to the city commission.

But she is still fielding criticism from religious members of the community, including during a contentious June 28 library board meeting attended by Binsfeld and other St. Marys residents.&nbsp;

“As we move forward, we would like to see that all LGBTQ+ media — whether audio files, movies, books, activities, etc. — be removed from this branch altogether and from any access, including online ordering and inter-library loans, to any minor through this branch,” resident Stephen Murtha wrote in a letter to library board members.

The library should reflect the community’s Christian majority, Murtha wrote.

Cremer said for the most part, these complaints were from a small segment of the population and that she hasn’t had problems or complaints from a majority of library customers.

But she is concerned about the future of the library.

“We have continued, even though that stress and controversy has been significant,” Cremer said. “My staff and I have continued forward just as we always have to provide those services, because it’s not the people that we’re serving, it’s not their fault, but they’re the ones that are going to be losing.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689185283812.png" alt=" St. Marys city commissioners have taken offense with a transgender book in the Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> St. Marys city commissioners have taken offense with a transgender book in the Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>City commissioners says they don’t want ‘garbage’ on the public library’s shelves</h2>By RACHEL MIPRO <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/05/kansas-lawmakers-debate-definition-of-female-and-male-for-county-jails/">Kansas Reflector</a>ST. MARYS —&nbsp;Gerard Kleinsmith says he hates the idea of censorship.He just wants to pull the lease for the city’s public library because he doesn’t like books about transgender people.As a city commissioner, he feels it is his duty to remove transgender content — “garbage,” as he refers to it. Kleinsmith said during a city commission meeting that removing the library was part of his job as a city official, emphasizing “God doesn’t make mistakes,” and his belief that people can’t change genders.“My goal is to terminate the lease with the library,” Kleinsmith said. “If they want to have their library, so be it. Go do it. Find another building to do it in, I can’t stop that. My intention is not to stop that, but I will not ever vote for any taxpayer money, facilities, anything to be used anywhere that houses this kind of garbage.”He is supported in this stance by the other members of St. Marys’ five-person city commission, a heavily religious group that attends the Society of St. Pius X, or SSPX, an extreme religious sect that broke away from the Catholic church. The commissioners have said at previous meetings that&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/12/06/kansas-towns-library-lease-renewed-after-months-of-debate-about-lgbtq-content/">their views are influenced by their religious affiliation</a>.“Some things are wrong,” said commissioner Richard Binsfeld, during a city commission discussion about&nbsp; transgender books and the transgender community at large. “If you live up to your morals, if you stand by your morals at all, you’d look at it and say, ‘Why do we have it?'”The public library has been under scrutiny from local officials for months, narrowly surviving an attempt to pull the lease at the end of last year. Library director Judith Cremer said she and her staff were trying to work with the commissioners while remaining in accordance with legal guidelines for public libraries.She’s still not sure why the commissioners have taken issue with the library in recent months when it had operated in its St. Marys location for decades without problems. Cremer has held her position since 2003, and until last year, this was a position without controversy.“We’re not part of the city structure and the lease agreement is the only leverage that they have seemed to be able to find,” Cremer said. “They seem to be continuing down that road, which I’m disappointed with because we have still been here doing our job, trying to help people, trying to do summer reading, and I feel like it’s a misunderstanding of who we are. We are trying to do our job and we have followed the rules.”While commissioners have no governing influence over the library, the Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library would be forced to shift locations if the lease isn’t renewed, giving up a community spot it has held for decades and depriving St. Marys residents of easily accessible library material.The library has been housed in St. Marys since the 1980s, operating on an annual lease with the city. The library acts as the headquarters for eight locations, including Alma, Alta Vista, Eskridge, Harveyville, Olsburg, Onaga, St. Marys and Westmoreland, with county residents funding the library through taxes.An eight-member board of trustees provides oversight of the library’s operations, with Pottawatomie and Wabaunsee County commissioners appointing members to the board to serve four-year terms. The commission doesn’t have influence over board decisions.The library formed an advisory group in an attempt to address community concerns with library materials, but efforts toward reconciliation have been unsuccessful.The library’s lease renewal came up for debate last year because the library refused to accept a renewal clause asking for the removal of all LGBTQ and socially divisive books from the shelves. Facing intense public pressure, the commission in December&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/12/06/kansas-towns-library-lease-renewed-after-months-of-debate-about-lgbtq-content/">renewed the lease</a>&nbsp;for one year.Now, city commissioners have renewed their campaign against LGBTQ books, despite federal legal protections for public libraries.During the April city commission meeting, Kleinsmith raged against the book “Rethinking Normal: A Memoir in Transition,” a coming of age story about a transgender teenager.“This author is absolutely wrong. God does not make mistakes,” Kleinsmith said. “God cannot make a mistake. We can make mistakes. Mankind can make a mistake. God cannot make a mistake. … I will do everything I can to fight this kind of garbage.”“If God makes you as a male, you are a male,” he added. “If God makes you a female, you are a female, no matter what.”St. Marys Mayor Matthew Childs, who formulated the anti-LGBTQ renewal clause last year, said during the April meeting that the library’s contents would once again influence the commission’s decision to renew the lease.“We don’t want transgender books in the library. … The elephant in the room is that we don’t want the library to be promoting certain types of material,” Childs said. “If the library is, we come back to the question, do we want to renew it at all?”Sharon Brett, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, which warned commissioners to drop their censorship attempts during the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/12/02/troubling-and-authoritarian-kansas-aclu-warns-st-marys-officials-that-closing-town-library-is-unconstitutional/">first lease renewal discussion</a>, said city officials need to remember constitutional protections.“Each member of the commission should remember that their own discomfort with a certain book does not justify restricting its availability to everyone else in the community,” Brett said. “Not only is this potential censorship authoritarian, it has implications under even a basic reading of our First Amendment. We urge the commission to remember their obligations under the Constitution.”Cremer said she and the library board had been trying to cooperate with the commission and concerned residents as much as possible.“We’re providing services to the community,” Cremer said. “We’re taking care of the same people. I don’t see why there should be a problem.”Following the April commission meeting, she sent a letter to the commissioners asking them to directly address their concerns with library staff, as they had a process in place to review book complaints.Library staff are also participating in the advisory committee. Cremer said the library was sending regular updates about the library and the advisory committee’s work to the city commission.But she is still fielding criticism from religious members of the community, including during a contentious June 28 library board meeting attended by Binsfeld and other St. Marys residents.&nbsp;“As we move forward, we would like to see that all LGBTQ+ media — whether audio files, movies, books, activities, etc. — be removed from this branch altogether and from any access, including online ordering and inter-library loans, to any minor through this branch,” resident Stephen Murtha wrote in a letter to library board members.The library should reflect the community’s Christian majority, Murtha wrote.Cremer said for the most part, these complaints were from a small segment of the population and that she hasn’t had problems or complaints from a majority of library customers.But she is concerned about the future of the library.“We have continued, even though that stress and controversy has been significant,” Cremer said. “My staff and I have continued forward just as we always have to provide those services, because it’s not the people that we’re serving, it’s not their fault, but they’re the ones that are going to be losing.”

St. Marys officials again threaten library because of LGBTQ books

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Two men accused in the July 2, mass shooting at the City Nightz Club in Wichita's Old Town have made their initial appearance in court.

On Tuesday 19-year-old Ameir King-Ingram was charged with aggravated battery, 6 counts of aggravated assault, 3 counts of criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, and unlawful discharge of a firearm in a city, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;John D. Houze, 27, was charged on Tuesday with 6 counts of aggravated assault, criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, and unlawful discharge of a firearm in a city. Both suspects are being held on a bond of $500,000. King-ingram and Houze are due back in court July 24.

On Tuesday evening police arrested a third suspect identified as&nbsp;23-year-old Jaylen Thomas of Wichita, according to Officer Juan Rebolledo.&nbsp; Six days ago police asked the public for help to locate Thomas. Police have not released details of the arrest. <a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/InmateSearch/Details.aspx?Id=740180\">He is being held on</a> requested charges of attempted first degree murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery.&nbsp;The facts of Thomas’ involvement will be presented to the Sedgwick County District Attorney for a charging decision.

A Missouri man arrested in the case July 3 was not charged after the district attorney determined he was acting in self defense.

Just before 1a.m. July 2, police responded to the club in the 200 Block of North Washington, according to Police Lt. Aaron Moses.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1688816302231.png" alt="King-Ingram-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>King-Ingram-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY — Two men accused in the July 2, mass shooting at the City Nightz Club in Wichita's Old Town have made their initial appearance in court.On Tuesday 19-year-old Ameir King-Ingram was charged with aggravated battery, 6 counts of aggravated assault, 3 counts of criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, and unlawful discharge of a firearm in a city, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689015131240.png" alt="Houze has previous convictions for aggravated battery, criminal possession of a weapon, fleeing police and for drugs, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections. -photo KDOC " />
 <figcaption>Houze has previous convictions for aggravated battery, criminal possession of a weapon, fleeing police and for drugs, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections. -photo KDOC </figcaption>
 </figure>&nbsp;John D. Houze, 27, was charged on Tuesday with 6 counts of aggravated assault, criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, and unlawful discharge of a firearm in a city. Both suspects are being held on a bond of $500,000. King-ingram and Houze are due back in court July 24.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689162087966.png" alt="Thomas was booked into jail just after 10p.m.. Tuesday, according to online jail records." />
 <figcaption>Thomas was booked into jail just after 10p.m.. Tuesday, according to online jail records.</figcaption>
 </figure>On Tuesday evening police arrested a third suspect identified as&nbsp;23-year-old Jaylen Thomas of Wichita, according to Officer Juan Rebolledo.&nbsp; Six days ago police asked the public for help to locate Thomas. Police have not released details of the arrest. <a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/InmateSearch/Details.aspx?Id=740180\">He is being held on</a> requested charges of attempted first degree murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery.&nbsp;The facts of Thomas’ involvement will be presented to the Sedgwick County District Attorney for a charging decision.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1688300318332.png" alt="Police on the scene of the shooting investigation July 2, -photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene of the shooting investigation July 2, -photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>A Missouri man arrested in the case July 3 was not charged after the district attorney determined he was acting in self defense.Just before 1a.m. July 2, police responded to the club in the 200 Block of North Washington, according to Police Lt. Aaron Moses.There were nine people with gunshot wounds and two people were trampled during the mass exodus out of the club.&nbsp;&nbsp;No one was killed but one person was critically injured.&nbsp; Police originally arrested a Missouri man as a suspect.&nbsp;He was released from jail after the Sedgwick County District Attorney determined he was acting in self defense.The investigation indicates there were at least four firearms discharged inside the club. Police&nbsp; also seized an additional four firearms as part of the investigation.The shooting victims included a 21-year-old man, 26-year-old man, 24-year-old woman, 34-year-old man, 21-year-old woman, 30-year-old man, 24-year-old man. The traumatic injury victims were a 31-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man, according to Moses. Two additional gunshot victims checked into the hospital later that day.