BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/bramsablesmith/">BRAM SABLE-SMITH</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/peggylowe/">PEGGY LOWE</a>

Six months after Gabriella Magers-Darger’s legs were burned by sparks from a ricocheted bullet at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade in February, the 14-year-old is ready to leave the past behind.

She is dreading the pitfalls of being a high school freshman, even as she looks forward to being back with friends and at color guard, dance, and volleyball. She might even join the wrestling team to get some respect at school.

At a July Fourth gathering, a family friend brought noise-canceling headphones in case the fireworks became too much. Earlier in the summer Gabriella had a hard time viewing a relative’s gun collection, the handguns in particular. And she hyperventilated when she saw a family friend’s finger after it was sliced by accident — the sight of blood reminds her of seeing a fatally wounded Lisa Lopez-Galvan minutes after she was shot outside Union Station, the only person killed that day.

Her mom, Bridget Barton, said Gabriella has had a chip on her shoulder since the parade.

“She’s lost some softness to her, some gentleness to her,” Barton said.

Children are particularly vulnerable to the stresses of gun violence, and 10 of 24 people injured by bullets at the Feb. 14 parade were under 18 years old. Countless more children like Gabriella experienced the trauma firsthand. They’ve endured fear, anger, sleep problems, and hypersensitivity to crowds and noises.

A 15-year-old girl who was shot through the jaw and shoulder effectively dropped out of school for a time and daily panic attacks kept her from summer school, too. An 11-year-old boy shot in the side described feeling angry at school for reasons he couldn’t explain. A 5-year-old girl who was on her father’s shoulders when he was hit by gunfire panics each time her dad feels sick, fearing he has been shot again.

“She’s not the same kid. I mean, she’s definitely not,” said Erika Nelson, mother of the 15-year-old, Mireya, who has scars on her jaw and face. “You never know when she’s going to snap. You never know. You might say something or someone might bring up something that reminds her of that day.”

Guns overtook motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of death for children in 2020, but a far higher number of kids are hit by gunfire and survive.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/mental-health/issue-brief/the-impact-of-gun-violence-on-children-and-adolescents/" target="_blank">Research suggests</a>&nbsp;that kids sustain nonfatal firearm injuries anywhere from two to four times more often than they are killed by guns.

Scientists say the long-term effects of gun violence on kids are little researched and poorly understood. But the harm is pervasive. Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital&nbsp;<a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2023.00587" target="_blank">researchers found</a>&nbsp;that during the first year after a firearm injury, child survivors experienced a 117% increase in pain disorders, a 68% increase in psychiatric disorders, and a 144% increase in substance use disorders. The mental health effects spill over — to mothers, fathers, siblings.

For many affected by the shooting in Kansas City, Missouri, the triggers began right away.

Just 10 days after Samuel Arellano was shot at the parade, he attended another big sporting event.

Samuel was invited to attend a University of Kansas men’s basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence. During a break in the game, with a&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/KUHoops/status/1761593643909972045?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1761593643909972045%7Ctwgr%5Ea69f3f0052dd3c1233485c50399f888e7abe6c39%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kshb.com%2Fnews%2Flocal-news%2Fparade-shooting%2Fboy-injured-in-chiefs-rally-shooting-invited-to-ku-basketball-game-receives-video-message-from-jalen-wilson" target="_blank">video camera pointed at Samuel</a>&nbsp;and his parents, former KU star Jalen Wilson appeared on the scoreboard and addressed him directly.

“I heard about your story,” Wilson, who now plays in the NBA, said on the big screen. “I’m so very thankful that you are here today and it is a blessing that we can have you to give you the love and support you truly deserve.”

Wilson asked the 16,000 fans in attendance to stand and give Samuel a round of applause. As the crowd clapped and an announcer bellowed about him being a “brave young man,” Samuel looked at his parents, then down at his feet, smiling shyly.

But minutes later when the game resumed, Samuel started to cry and had to leave the auditorium with his mom, Abigail.

“When it got pretty loud, that’s when he started breaking up again,” his dad, Antonio, said. “So she had to step out with him for a minute. So any loud places, if it’s too loud, it’s affecting him.”

Samuel, who turned 11 in March, was shot in the ribs on his right side. The scar on his back is barely noticeable now, but lingering effects from the parade shooting are obvious. He is seeing a therapist — as is his father, though Abigail has had a tough time finding a Spanish-speaking one and still hasn’t had an appointment.

Samuel had trouble sleeping in the first weeks after the shooting and often crawled in bed with his mom and dad. He used to get good grades, but that became more difficult, Abigail said. His personality has changed, which sometimes has shown up at school.

“I get mad easily,” Samuel said. “I [have] never been like this before but like, if they tell me to sit down, I get mad. I don’t know why.”

Traumatized children often have difficulty expressing emotions and may be given to outbursts of anger, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://csw.osu.edu/faculty/johnson-motoyama-michelle-ph-d/" target="_blank">Michelle Johnson-Motoyama</a>, a professor of social work at Ohio State University.

“I’m sure for that child there is a sense of tremendous injustice about what happened,” Johnson-Motoyama said.

Especially right after the shooting, Samuel had panic attacks, Antonio said, and he’d break out in a sweat. Therapists told them that was normal. But the parents also kept him off his phone for a while, as there was so much about the shooting on the news and online.

Abigail, who works at a car dealership with Antonio, is anxious about seeing her son change, his suffering and sadness. She is also concerned for her three daughters, a 16-year-old and 13-year-old twins. Her father, Victor Salas, who was with Samuel at the parade, was also reeling in its aftermath.

“I’m crying and crying and crying about what happened,” Salas said in Spanish four days after the parade. “Because it was chaos. It doesn’t mean that families don’t love their family, but everyone took off to save their own lives. I saved my grandchildren’s lives, but what happens to the rest of the people? We’re not prepared.”

On the good side, Samuel felt very supported by the community in Kansas City, Kansas. Many people from his school stopped by in the first few days to visit, including friends and even a former bus driver, who was in tears. He has a “room full of candy,” Abigail said, mostly Skittles, his favorite.

An autographed football from Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes arrived on his birthday. It made him cry, his father said, which happens pretty often.

“There are good and bad days, days that are more normal and easier, and then there are days where the family has to be a little bit more aware and supportive,” Abigail said in Spanish. “He’s always been outgoing and talkative like his mom, but that has changed since the parade.”

The Fourth of July was particularly harrowing for many of the young survivors and their families. Should they buy fireworks? Will they want to celebrate? And why do all the firecrackers going off in the neighborhood sound like gunshots?

Fourteen-year-old Gabriella needed help from her stepfather, Jason Barton, to light her fireworks this year, something she is ordinarily enthusiastic about doing herself. At the parade, like many people, the Barton family initially mistook the sound of gunfire for fireworks.

And Erika Nelson, a single mom in Belton, Missouri, feared even bringing up the holiday with Mireya, who has always loved Independence Day. Eventually Mireya said she didn’t want any big fireworks this year and wanted only her mom to set theirs off.

“Just any little trigger — I mean, it could be a light crackle — and she just clenched,” Erika Nelson said.

Patty Davis, a program manager for trauma-informed care at Children’s Mercy hospital in Kansas City, said even her clients who were at the parade but were not injured still flinch at the sounds of sirens or other loud noises. It’s a powerful response to gun violence, she said.

“So not just an accidental trauma,” she said, “but a trauma that was perpetrated for violent purposes, which can cause an increased level of anxiety for persons around that to wonder if it’s going to happen again. And how safe are they?”

Random sounds, bright lights, and crowds can catch the kids and their parents off guard. In June, Mireya Nelson was waiting for her older sister after a dance recital, hoping to see a boy she knew give a flower to a girl everyone said he had a crush on. Her mom wanted to go, but Mireya shushed her.

“Then all of a sudden, there was a loud boom,” Erika said. “She dropped low to the ground. And then she jumped back up. She goes, ‘Oh my God, I was getting shot again!’”

Mireya said it so loudly people were staring, so it was Erika’s turn to shush her and try to soothe her.

“I was like, ‘Mireya, it’s OK. You’re all right. They dropped a table. They’re just moving stuff out. It was an accident,’” Erika said.

It took a few minutes for the shock to wear off and Mireya later giggled about it, but Erika is always on watch.

Her daughter’s early sadness — she watched movies for hours, crying throughout — has since changed to a cheekiness. Half a year later, Mireya will joke about the shooting, which tears her mother up. But maybe that is part of the healing process, Erika says.

Before the Fourth of July, Mireya went to Worlds of Fun, a large amusement park, and had a good time. She felt OK because there were security guards everywhere. She also enjoyed a visit to the local FBI office with a friend who was with her the day of the shooting. But when someone suggested a trip to the ballet, Mireya squashed it quickly — it’s near Union Station, the site of the shooting. She doesn’t want to go downtown anymore.

Erika said the doctor appointments and financial strains have been a lot to juggle and that her biggest frustration as a parent is that she’s not able to fix things for her daughter.

“They have to go their own way, their own process of healing. I can’t shake her, like, ‘Get back to yourself,’” Erika said. “It could take months, years. Who knows? It could be the rest of her life. But I hope that she can overcome a little bit of it.”

James Lemons noticed a change in his 5-year-old daughter, Kensley, who was on his shoulders when he was shot at the parade. Before the shooting Kensley was outgoing and engaged, James said, but now she is withdrawn, like she has closed off her bubble and disconnected from people.

Large crowds and police officers remind Kensley of the parade. Both were present at a high school graduation the family attended this summer, prompting Kensley to ask repeatedly to leave. James took her to an empty football field, where, he said, she broke out in goose bumps and complained of being cold despite the sweltering heat.

Bedtime is a particular problem for the Lemons family. Kensley has been sleeping with her parents. Another child, 10-year-old Jaxson, has had bad dreams. One night, he dreamt that the shooter was coming near his dad and he tripped him, said Brandie Lemons, Jaxson’s stepmom.

Younger children like Kensley exposed to gun violence are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder than older children, according to Ohio State’s Johnson-Motoyama.

Davis, of Children’s Mercy in Kansas City, said children whose brains are not fully developed can have a hard time sleeping and understanding that they are safe in their homes at night.

James got the family a new puppy — an American bulldog that already weighs 32 pounds — to help them feel protected.

“I looked up the pedigree,” he said, “They’re real protective. They’re real loving.”

Gabriella took up boxing after the shooting. Her mother, Bridget, said it restored some of her confidence and control that dimmed after the parade.

“I like beating people up — not in a mean way, I swear,” Gabriella said in April as she molded a mouthguard to her teeth before leaving for training.

She has since stopped boxing, however, so the money can instead go toward a trip to Puerto Rico with her Spanish class. They’re paying $153 a month for 21 months to cover the trip. Boxing classes were $60 a month.

Bridget thought boxing was a good outlet for leftover anger, but by the end of July Gabriella wasn’t sure if she still had the drive to fight back that way.

“The past is the past but we’re still gonna all, like, go through stuff. Does that make sense?” Gabriella asked.

“You’re mostly OK but you still have triggers. Is that what you mean?” her mother asked.

After the shooting, Mireya Nelson tried online classes, which didn’t work well. The first few days of summer school, Mireya had a panic attack every day in the car and her mother took her home.

Mireya wants to return to high school this fall, and Erika is wary.

“You know, if I do go back to school, there’s a chance at school of being shot, because most schools nowadays get shot up,” Erika recalled her daughter saying. “And I’m like, ‘Well, we can’t think like that. You never know what’s gonna happen.’”

<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us" target="_blank">KFF Health News</a>&nbsp;is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us" target="_blank">KFF</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1723664076489.png" alt=" Ten of 24 people injured by bullets at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade were under 18 years old. Countless more children experienced the trauma firsthand. Gabriella Magers-Darger (left) was burned by sparks from a ricocheted bullet. Samuel Arellano was shot in the side (Christopher Smith for KFF Health News)" />
 <figcaption> Ten of 24 people injured by bullets at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade were under 18 years old. Countless more children experienced the trauma firsthand. Gabriella Magers-Darger (left) was burned by sparks from a ricocheted bullet. Samuel Arellano was shot in the side (Christopher Smith for KFF Health News)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/bramsablesmith/">BRAM SABLE-SMITH</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/peggylowe/">PEGGY LOWE</a>Six months after Gabriella Magers-Darger’s legs were burned by sparks from a ricocheted bullet at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade in February, the 14-year-old is ready to leave the past behind.She is dreading the pitfalls of being a high school freshman, even as she looks forward to being back with friends and at color guard, dance, and volleyball. She might even join the wrestling team to get some respect at school.But the past remains ever present.At a July Fourth gathering, a family friend brought noise-canceling headphones in case the fireworks became too much. Earlier in the summer Gabriella had a hard time viewing a relative’s gun collection, the handguns in particular. And she hyperventilated when she saw a family friend’s finger after it was sliced by accident — the sight of blood reminds her of seeing a fatally wounded Lisa Lopez-Galvan minutes after she was shot outside Union Station, the only person killed that day.Her mom, Bridget Barton, said Gabriella has had a chip on her shoulder since the parade.“She’s lost some softness to her, some gentleness to her,” Barton said.Children are particularly vulnerable to the stresses of gun violence, and 10 of 24 people injured by bullets at the Feb. 14 parade were under 18 years old. Countless more children like Gabriella experienced the trauma firsthand. They’ve endured fear, anger, sleep problems, and hypersensitivity to crowds and noises.A 15-year-old girl who was shot through the jaw and shoulder effectively dropped out of school for a time and daily panic attacks kept her from summer school, too. An 11-year-old boy shot in the side described feeling angry at school for reasons he couldn’t explain. A 5-year-old girl who was on her father’s shoulders when he was hit by gunfire panics each time her dad feels sick, fearing he has been shot again.“She’s not the same kid. I mean, she’s definitely not,” said Erika Nelson, mother of the 15-year-old, Mireya, who has scars on her jaw and face. “You never know when she’s going to snap. You never know. You might say something or someone might bring up something that reminds her of that day.”Guns overtook motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of death for children in 2020, but a far higher number of kids are hit by gunfire and survive.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/mental-health/issue-brief/the-impact-of-gun-violence-on-children-and-adolescents/" target="_blank">Research suggests</a>&nbsp;that kids sustain nonfatal firearm injuries anywhere from two to four times more often than they are killed by guns.Scientists say the long-term effects of gun violence on kids are little researched and poorly understood. But the harm is pervasive. Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital&nbsp;<a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2023.00587" target="_blank">researchers found</a>&nbsp;that during the first year after a firearm injury, child survivors experienced a 117% increase in pain disorders, a 68% increase in psychiatric disorders, and a 144% increase in substance use disorders. The mental health effects spill over — to mothers, fathers, siblings.For many affected by the shooting in Kansas City, Missouri, the triggers began right away.<h2>‘I get mad easily’</h2>Just 10 days after Samuel Arellano was shot at the parade, he attended another big sporting event.Samuel was invited to attend a University of Kansas men’s basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence. During a break in the game, with a&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/KUHoops/status/1761593643909972045?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1761593643909972045%7Ctwgr%5Ea69f3f0052dd3c1233485c50399f888e7abe6c39%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kshb.com%2Fnews%2Flocal-news%2Fparade-shooting%2Fboy-injured-in-chiefs-rally-shooting-invited-to-ku-basketball-game-receives-video-message-from-jalen-wilson" target="_blank">video camera pointed at Samuel</a>&nbsp;and his parents, former KU star Jalen Wilson appeared on the scoreboard and addressed him directly.“I heard about your story,” Wilson, who now plays in the NBA, said on the big screen. “I’m so very thankful that you are here today and it is a blessing that we can have you to give you the love and support you truly deserve.”Wilson asked the 16,000 fans in attendance to stand and give Samuel a round of applause. As the crowd clapped and an announcer bellowed about him being a “brave young man,” Samuel looked at his parents, then down at his feet, smiling shyly.But minutes later when the game resumed, Samuel started to cry and had to leave the auditorium with his mom, Abigail.“When it got pretty loud, that’s when he started breaking up again,” his dad, Antonio, said. “So she had to step out with him for a minute. So any loud places, if it’s too loud, it’s affecting him.”Samuel, who turned 11 in March, was shot in the ribs on his right side. The scar on his back is barely noticeable now, but lingering effects from the parade shooting are obvious. He is seeing a therapist — as is his father, though Abigail has had a tough time finding a Spanish-speaking one and still hasn’t had an appointment.Samuel had trouble sleeping in the first weeks after the shooting and often crawled in bed with his mom and dad. He used to get good grades, but that became more difficult, Abigail said. His personality has changed, which sometimes has shown up at school.“I get mad easily,” Samuel said. “I [have] never been like this before but like, if they tell me to sit down, I get mad. I don’t know why.”Traumatized children often have difficulty expressing emotions and may be given to outbursts of anger, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://csw.osu.edu/faculty/johnson-motoyama-michelle-ph-d/" target="_blank">Michelle Johnson-Motoyama</a>, a professor of social work at Ohio State University.“I’m sure for that child there is a sense of tremendous injustice about what happened,” Johnson-Motoyama said.Especially right after the shooting, Samuel had panic attacks, Antonio said, and he’d break out in a sweat. Therapists told them that was normal. But the parents also kept him off his phone for a while, as there was so much about the shooting on the news and online.Abigail, who works at a car dealership with Antonio, is anxious about seeing her son change, his suffering and sadness. She is also concerned for her three daughters, a 16-year-old and 13-year-old twins. Her father, Victor Salas, who was with Samuel at the parade, was also reeling in its aftermath.“I’m crying and crying and crying about what happened,” Salas said in Spanish four days after the parade. “Because it was chaos. It doesn’t mean that families don’t love their family, but everyone took off to save their own lives. I saved my grandchildren’s lives, but what happens to the rest of the people? We’re not prepared.”On the good side, Samuel felt very supported by the community in Kansas City, Kansas. Many people from his school stopped by in the first few days to visit, including friends and even a former bus driver, who was in tears. He has a “room full of candy,” Abigail said, mostly Skittles, his favorite.An autographed football from Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes arrived on his birthday. It made him cry, his father said, which happens pretty often.“There are good and bad days, days that are more normal and easier, and then there are days where the family has to be a little bit more aware and supportive,” Abigail said in Spanish. “He’s always been outgoing and talkative like his mom, but that has changed since the parade.”<h2>Fourth of July a weeklong trigger</h2>The Fourth of July was particularly harrowing for many of the young survivors and their families. Should they buy fireworks? Will they want to celebrate? And why do all the firecrackers going off in the neighborhood sound like gunshots?Fourteen-year-old Gabriella needed help from her stepfather, Jason Barton, to light her fireworks this year, something she is ordinarily enthusiastic about doing herself. At the parade, like many people, the Barton family initially mistook the sound of gunfire for fireworks.And Erika Nelson, a single mom in Belton, Missouri, feared even bringing up the holiday with Mireya, who has always loved Independence Day. Eventually Mireya said she didn’t want any big fireworks this year and wanted only her mom to set theirs off.“Just any little trigger — I mean, it could be a light crackle — and she just clenched,” Erika Nelson said.Patty Davis, a program manager for trauma-informed care at Children’s Mercy hospital in Kansas City, said even her clients who were at the parade but were not injured still flinch at the sounds of sirens or other loud noises. It’s a powerful response to gun violence, she said.“So not just an accidental trauma,” she said, “but a trauma that was perpetrated for violent purposes, which can cause an increased level of anxiety for persons around that to wonder if it’s going to happen again. And how safe are they?”<h2>Reliving getting shot</h2>Random sounds, bright lights, and crowds can catch the kids and their parents off guard. In June, Mireya Nelson was waiting for her older sister after a dance recital, hoping to see a boy she knew give a flower to a girl everyone said he had a crush on. Her mom wanted to go, but Mireya shushed her.“Then all of a sudden, there was a loud boom,” Erika said. “She dropped low to the ground. And then she jumped back up. She goes, ‘Oh my God, I was getting shot again!’”Mireya said it so loudly people were staring, so it was Erika’s turn to shush her and try to soothe her.“I was like, ‘Mireya, it’s OK. You’re all right. They dropped a table. They’re just moving stuff out. It was an accident,’” Erika said.It took a few minutes for the shock to wear off and Mireya later giggled about it, but Erika is always on watch.Her daughter’s early sadness — she watched movies for hours, crying throughout — has since changed to a cheekiness. Half a year later, Mireya will joke about the shooting, which tears her mother up. But maybe that is part of the healing process, Erika says.Before the Fourth of July, Mireya went to Worlds of Fun, a large amusement park, and had a good time. She felt OK because there were security guards everywhere. She also enjoyed a visit to the local FBI office with a friend who was with her the day of the shooting. But when someone suggested a trip to the ballet, Mireya squashed it quickly — it’s near Union Station, the site of the shooting. She doesn’t want to go downtown anymore.Erika said the doctor appointments and financial strains have been a lot to juggle and that her biggest frustration as a parent is that she’s not able to fix things for her daughter.“They have to go their own way, their own process of healing. I can’t shake her, like, ‘Get back to yourself,’” Erika said. “It could take months, years. Who knows? It could be the rest of her life. But I hope that she can overcome a little bit of it.”<h2>Goose bumps in the sweltering heat</h2>James Lemons noticed a change in his 5-year-old daughter, Kensley, who was on his shoulders when he was shot at the parade. Before the shooting Kensley was outgoing and engaged, James said, but now she is withdrawn, like she has closed off her bubble and disconnected from people.Large crowds and police officers remind Kensley of the parade. Both were present at a high school graduation the family attended this summer, prompting Kensley to ask repeatedly to leave. James took her to an empty football field, where, he said, she broke out in goose bumps and complained of being cold despite the sweltering heat.Bedtime is a particular problem for the Lemons family. Kensley has been sleeping with her parents. Another child, 10-year-old Jaxson, has had bad dreams. One night, he dreamt that the shooter was coming near his dad and he tripped him, said Brandie Lemons, Jaxson’s stepmom.Younger children like Kensley exposed to gun violence are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder than older children, according to Ohio State’s Johnson-Motoyama.Davis, of Children’s Mercy in Kansas City, said children whose brains are not fully developed can have a hard time sleeping and understanding that they are safe in their homes at night.James got the family a new puppy — an American bulldog that already weighs 32 pounds — to help them feel protected.“I looked up the pedigree,” he said, “They’re real protective. They’re real loving.”<h2>Searching for an outlet to let off steam</h2>Gabriella took up boxing after the shooting. Her mother, Bridget, said it restored some of her confidence and control that dimmed after the parade.“I like beating people up — not in a mean way, I swear,” Gabriella said in April as she molded a mouthguard to her teeth before leaving for training.She has since stopped boxing, however, so the money can instead go toward a trip to Puerto Rico with her Spanish class. They’re paying $153 a month for 21 months to cover the trip. Boxing classes were $60 a month.Bridget thought boxing was a good outlet for leftover anger, but by the end of July Gabriella wasn’t sure if she still had the drive to fight back that way.“The past is the past but we’re still gonna all, like, go through stuff. Does that make sense?” Gabriella asked.“You’re mostly OK but you still have triggers. Is that what you mean?” her mother asked.“Yeah,” she replied.After the shooting, Mireya Nelson tried online classes, which didn’t work well. The first few days of summer school, Mireya had a panic attack every day in the car and her mother took her home.Mireya wants to return to high school this fall, and Erika is wary.“You know, if I do go back to school, there’s a chance at school of being shot, because most schools nowadays get shot up,” Erika recalled her daughter saying. “And I’m like, ‘Well, we can’t think like that. You never know what’s gonna happen.’”<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us" target="_blank">KFF Health News</a>&nbsp;is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us" target="_blank">KFF</a>.

Kids who survived KC Chiefs rally shooting are scared, suffering panic attacks and sleep problems

KANSAS CITY—A woman wounded in a shooting in Kansas City last week has died.

On August 4, police were dispatched to the 600 block of E. Gregory Boulevard on medical call, according to Sheriff Daryl Forte'. 

First responders found a man and and woman in a vehicle suffering from gunshot trauma.&nbsp; Both were transported to an area hospital. He was treated and released. She died of her injuries, according to Forte'.&nbsp; Police have not released her name or reported an arrest.

KANSAS CITY—A woman wounded in a shooting in Kansas City last week has died.On August 4, police were dispatched to the 600 block of E. Gregory Boulevard on medical call, according to Sheriff Daryl Forte'. First responders found a man and and woman in a vehicle suffering from gunshot trauma.&nbsp; Both were transported to an area hospital. He was treated and released. She died of her injuries, according to Forte'.&nbsp; Police have not released her name or reported an arrest.

Sheriff: Woman wounded in Kansas City shooting has died

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a homicide&nbsp; continue asking for the public’s help in locating 19-year-old Nassir Gill of Topeka, according to a media release from police.

 Gill is a person of interest in the homicide of Brian M. Wright Jr., 23, that occurred on June 21, in the 3100 block of SW Westover Road in Topeka.

Gill is described as 5-foot-6 and weighs approximately 160 pounds. He may no longer have blue/green hair, as seen in the photo released by police.

If you see or know where Gill may be, please call or email investigators at 785-368-9551 and telltpd@topeka.org. You can also report anonymously to Shawnee County Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007 or online at www.p3tips.com/128.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719693545861.png" alt="Gill is described as 5-foot-6 and weighs approximately 160 pounds. He may no longer have blue/green hair, as seen in the photo released by police." />
 <figcaption>Gill is described as 5-foot-6 and weighs approximately 160 pounds. He may no longer have blue/green hair, as seen in the photo released by police.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a homicide&nbsp; continue asking for the public’s help in locating 19-year-old Nassir Gill of Topeka, according to a media release from police. Gill is a person of interest in the homicide of Brian M. Wright Jr., 23, that occurred on June 21, in the 3100 block of SW Westover Road in Topeka.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719001082126.png" alt="Police on the scene of the investigation -photo courtesy WIBW TV" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene of the investigation -photo courtesy WIBW TV</figcaption>
 </figure>Gill is described as 5-foot-6 and weighs approximately 160 pounds. He may no longer have blue/green hair, as seen in the photo released by police.If you see or know where Gill may be, please call or email investigators at 785-368-9551 and telltpd@topeka.org. You can also report anonymously to Shawnee County Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007 or online at www.p3tips.com/128.

Search continues for Kansas teen homicide suspect

KANSAS CITY —A Kansas City man and woman now have been charged in connection with a knife assault on Aug. 5, 2024, on a KCATA public bus as it ran its route with multiple passengers, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.

Shaunte L. Washington faces Assault in the 1st Degree and Mohummah S. Baker faces Assault in the 1st Degree.

According to court records, Washington boarded a KCATA bus and began wielding a knife and making threatening stabbing motions toward another female passenger. The victim confronted Washington and&nbsp; Baker t struck the victim several times with a fist. Washington then began stabbing the victim. One stab wound severed an artery.&nbsp;

Prosecutors asked for $75,000/10 percent bonds for each defendant..

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1723558799265.png" alt="Washington-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Washington-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —A Kansas City man and woman now have been charged in connection with a knife assault on Aug. 5, 2024, on a KCATA public bus as it ran its route with multiple passengers, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.Shaunte L. Washington faces Assault in the 1st Degree and Mohummah S. Baker faces Assault in the 1st Degree.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1723558924081.png" alt="Baker photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Baker photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>According to court records, Washington boarded a KCATA bus and began wielding a knife and making threatening stabbing motions toward another female passenger. The victim confronted Washington and&nbsp; Baker t struck the victim several times with a fist. Washington then began stabbing the victim. One stab wound severed an artery.&nbsp;Prosecutors asked for $75,000/10 percent bonds for each defendant..

2 charged for knife attack on Kansas City bus 

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/ghills/">GRACE HILLS</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — The next personalized license plate will feature the Flint Hills design after more than 30,000 Kansans&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/08/05/kansas-invites-voting-on-five-design-options-for-states-new-personalized-license-plate/">voted among five potential designs</a>.

Kansas Department of Revenue spokesman Zach Denny said the design was the “clear favorite,” receiving more than 56% of the vote.

The new design will be ready for purchase in 2025 for $45.50 at county treasurer’s offices.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ksrevenue.gov/press/2020/pr01132020.html" target="_blank">“Powering the Future”</a>&nbsp;personalized plate, the 2020 design that featured a sunset and wind turbines, will no longer be available after Jan. 1, 2025. Kansans with the “Powering the Future” plate must replace their plate during their next renewal period to keep their personalized plate text, Denny said.

“We know how passionate Kansans are about license plates, and this initiative aims to give the public a direct say in selecting the next personalized plate design that will be featured on vehicles across the state for years to come,” KDOR Division of Vehicles director David Harper said in a statement at the beginning of the vote.

The new personalized plate, which is available along with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ksrevenue.gov/dovplates.html" target="_blank">many distinctive plates</a>, comes after last year’s controversy around the standard plate design.

The first design for the state’s new standard plate was met with bipartisan criticism, with complaints that it looked too much like the University of Missouri’s colors and that it looked like the state of New York’s standard plate. Gov. Laura Kelly pulled the plate from production and allowed Kansans to vote on alternate designs. More than half the votes went to a design featuring the state Capitol.

As of January 2024, KDOR started to replace the old standard plate with the new one.

A KDOR statement said feedback during the voting process for the standard plate led to the decision to hold another vote for the personalized plate.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1723474905874.png" alt="&nbsp;Kansans voted for the new personalized license plate, with the design of the Flint Hills winning more than 56% of the vote.&nbsp; (Kansas Department of Revenue)" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;Kansans voted for the new personalized license plate, with the design of the Flint Hills winning more than 56% of the vote.&nbsp; (Kansas Department of Revenue)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/ghills/">GRACE HILLS</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a> TOPEKA — The next personalized license plate will feature the Flint Hills design after more than 30,000 Kansans&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/08/05/kansas-invites-voting-on-five-design-options-for-states-new-personalized-license-plate/">voted among five potential designs</a>.Kansas Department of Revenue spokesman Zach Denny said the design was the “clear favorite,” receiving more than 56% of the vote.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1723544227052.png" alt=" The Kansas Department of Revenue is had Kansans take part in an online vote to select a new background for the state’s personalized license plates. There were five options. (Kansas Department of Revenue)" />
 <figcaption> The Kansas Department of Revenue is had Kansans take part in an online vote to select a new background for the state’s personalized license plates. There were five options. (Kansas Department of Revenue)</figcaption>
 </figure>The new design will be ready for purchase in 2025 for $45.50 at county treasurer’s offices.The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ksrevenue.gov/press/2020/pr01132020.html" target="_blank">“Powering the Future”</a>&nbsp;personalized plate, the 2020 design that featured a sunset and wind turbines, will no longer be available after Jan. 1, 2025. Kansans with the “Powering the Future” plate must replace their plate during their next renewal period to keep their personalized plate text, Denny said.“We know how passionate Kansans are about license plates, and this initiative aims to give the public a direct say in selecting the next personalized plate design that will be featured on vehicles across the state for years to come,” KDOR Division of Vehicles director David Harper said in a statement at the beginning of the vote.The new personalized plate, which is available along with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ksrevenue.gov/dovplates.html" target="_blank">many distinctive plates</a>, comes after last year’s controversy around the standard plate design.The first design for the state’s new standard plate was met with bipartisan criticism, with complaints that it looked too much like the University of Missouri’s colors and that it looked like the state of New York’s standard plate. Gov. Laura Kelly pulled the plate from production and allowed Kansans to vote on alternate designs. More than half the votes went to a design featuring the state Capitol.As of January 2024, KDOR started to replace the old standard plate with the new one.A KDOR statement said feedback during the voting process for the standard plate led to the decision to hold another vote for the personalized plate.

Kansas reveals winning personalized license plate design

TOPEKA —Kansas Governor Laura Kelly made a guest appearance on the CBS public affairs program Face the Nation on Sunday.

Kelly is the new chair of the Democratic Governors Association. She assumed leadership of the organization last week when Minnesota Governor Tim Walz resigned to join the Kamala Harris campaign as her running mate.

Kelly told Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan that Walz "is the epitome of the Midwestern dad" and "understands rural America."

Kelly also addressed abortion in the 2024 campaign.

Kelly served as vice chair of the DGA since December 2022.

TOPEKA —Kansas Governor Laura Kelly made a guest appearance on the CBS public affairs program Face the Nation on Sunday.Kelly is the new chair of the Democratic Governors Association. She assumed leadership of the organization last week when Minnesota Governor Tim Walz resigned to join the Kamala Harris campaign as her running mate.Kelly told Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan that Walz "is the epitome of the Midwestern dad" and "understands rural America."<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/GovLauraKelly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GovLauraKelly</a> of Kansas, a Democrat, says Tim Walz &quot;is the epitome of the Midwestern dad&quot; and &quot;understands rural America.&quot; &quot;You could put him at any state fair on any Main Street, and certainly in a Friday night football game in rural Kansas, and he would fit right in.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/1UTc00ihJj">pic.twitter.com/1UTc00ihJj</a>&mdash; Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1822667416909791273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Kelly also addressed abortion in the 2024 campaign.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/GovLauraKelly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GovLauraKelly</a> of Kansas, where voters upheld the right to abortion, says she does not think Democrats are miscalculating by putting abortion front-and-center as an issue, citing Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as a successful example. &quot;They have moved the needle in Michigan and… <a href="https://t.co/OMoAV7iqIe">pic.twitter.com/OMoAV7iqIe</a>&mdash; Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1822667133718802747?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Kelly served as vice chair of the DGA since December 2022.

🎥Kan. governor talks 2024 campaign, abortion on 'Face the Nation'

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>&nbsp; State's Newsroom

WASHINGTON — Congress plans to spend just 35 days between now and the end of the year in the nation’s capital, a fitting end to one of the least productive sessions in decades.

The deeply divided 118th Congress so far has placed just 78 public laws on the books, a fraction of the hundreds enacted during prior sessions, regardless of whether one party held control or voters elected a divided government. While there’s time left to enact a handful of laws, the number is nearly certain to remain low.

Over the past several decades, lawmakers have become accustomed to bundling several bills together into sweeping legislative packages instead of voting on them individually, but that doesn’t entirely account for how unproductive this Congress has been.

Members have sought to approve bipartisan legislation on immigration policy and border security, railway safety, the farm bill, tax law and children’s online safety at various points during the last 19 months — but all those major initiatives failed to make it across the finish line.

Lawmakers have been able to reach consensus on must-pass items like the annual government funding bills, but did so six months behind schedule. They are on track to miss their deadline again this year, which will mean yet another stopgap spending bill.

While election-year politics and a truncated amount of time on Capitol Hill hampered lawmakers’ productivity, there are numerous other factors dragging down this Congress.

Molly Reynolds, senior fellow in governance studies at the nonprofit Brookings Institution, said Democrats are working to flip control of the House away from Republicans’ narrow majority, while at the same time the GOP is projecting it will push Democrats out of power in the Senate.

Those ambitions add “an additional structural layer” to the typical disagreements within Congress, she said.

Infighting within each of the political parties, as well as Democrats and Republicans moving further away from each other on policy goals, has contributed to the intransigence, she said.

“Those divisions within the parties pale in comparison to the size of the difference between the parties,” Reynolds said. “And so, that does make it more challenging to find issues on which both sides are willing and interested to come to the table.”

A bipartisan trio of senators spent months negotiating a deal on immigration just to have the agreement disintegrate when Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump came out in opposition. That disappointing outcome makes members of Congress reluctant to tackle tough issues, she said.

“When members put in the hard work to try and reach a compromise and then don’t have the backing of their leadership, it doesn’t necessarily incentivize them to come back to the table and try to do that same thing again in the future,” Reynolds said.

The 118th Congress included more than its fair share of drama and bickering. The turmoil prevented the Republican House and Democratic Senate from agreeing on much of anything other than the bare minimum, with even must-pass legislation finalized months behind schedule.

House Republicans set the tone for their razor-thin majority in January 2023 when they trudged through 15 rounds of voting over several days and nights before California Rep. Kevin McCarthy secured the speaker’s gavel.

McCarthy made several backroom deals during the stalemate and elicited anger from members of the party’s right flank, who nearly came to blows on the floor as he sought to lock in the necessary support.

Less than nine months later, the House voted to oust McCarthy from the speaker’s office. The GOP then kept the chamber frozen for several weeks as members voted behind closed doors to put forward four nominees, before Louisiana’s Mike Johnson garnered the votes necessary on the floor to lead his party and the chamber.

McCarthy, who repeatedly swore he would never quit, then did just that in December.

The Senate has spent much of its time confirming President Joe Biden’s nominees, rarely breaking from that pattern to negotiate necessary items like the annual defense policy bill, government funding measures and legislation that avoided a default on the national debt.

Senators appeared to be&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/details-proposed-major-overhaul-us-immigration-law-global-aid-package-unveiled" target="_blank">on the cusp of making bipartisan changes</a>&nbsp;to the nation’s border security and immigration policy following painstaking negotiations between Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy and Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. It would have been the most sweeping immigration legislation in years.

But that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-kills-immigration-overhaul-hits-stalemate-israel-ukraine-aid" target="_blank">fell apart in February&nbsp;</a>after Trump signaled he didn’t want to lose the border and immigration as an election issue or see Biden claim a victory.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, had said the deal was necessary to move an emergency spending bill for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan through the chamber, though he later reversed course.

Congress finally&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-sends-foreign-aid-bill-biden-mcconnell-chides-gop-isolationist-movement" target="_blank">approved $95 billion</a>&nbsp;in military and humanitarian assistance in April after House Republicans added in a ban on the social media app TikTok that would kick in if ByteDance, the Chinese parent company, didn’t sell the platform — one of the most significant laws of the year as it turned out.

Congress has also failed to negotiate a new version of the five-year farm bill, following months of delays and differences of opinion on how much nutrition assistance for low-income Americans should be in the package.

The 78 laws&nbsp;<a href="https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/laws/current.html" target="_blank">enacted</a>&nbsp;this Congress pale in comparison to earlier sessions.

During the 116th Congress, when the GOP controlled the Senate and Democrats held the House, lawmakers reached agreement on 344 measures that went on to become law.

When Democrats held control of both chambers and the presidency during the 117th Congress, they approved more than 360 measures that would later become law, the vast majority of which required bipartisan support to move through the Senate.

Lawmakers have consistently enacted more than 280 public laws during their two-year sessions, going back to at least the 82nd Congress, which began in 1951 and ended the following year.

During that seven-decade span, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/public-laws/84th-congress" target="_blank">number of laws</a>&nbsp;enacted per Congress fluctuated, reaching a low of 283 during the 112th Congress, which lasted from January 2011 through January 2013, and a high of 1,028 during the 84th Congress, which took place in 1955 and 1956. The number of laws enacted was consistently in the 400s or 500s, if not higher, during those years.

Reynolds pointed out during her interview with States Newsroom that not all laws are created equal — some simply rename post offices or are confined to one issue, while others bundle several major pieces of legislation together in one package and have a much greater impact than other public laws.

Congress, she noted, used to pass the annual government spending bills individually, but over time has settled into a pattern of approving just one or two omnibus spending packages, which roll together all dozen of the bills.

Other examples of this include the Democrats’ signature health care, tax and climate change package, approved in the summer of 2022, known as the Inflation Reduction Act. When the GOP had unified control of Congress during the first two years of the Trump administration, they passed an overhaul of the nation’s tax code in just one bill.

“If we look at the data on the number of public laws, and we look at the data on the number of pages of public laws, we do see that, on average, they have been getting longer,” Reynolds said. “Having said all of that, when we actually do dig into what the 118th Congress has been up to, it has not been an especially productive Congress.”

Lawmakers are set to return from their summer recess for a three-week session in September, before breaking again until after Election Day.

Members are expected to draft and vote on a stopgap spending bill to avoid a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1. But not much else is likely to move through as attention turns even more toward Nov. 5.

The House Appropriations Committee has approved all 12 of its spending bills for fiscal 2025 while the Senate committee has voted to send 11 to the floor. The two chambers, however, are working off very different spending levels and don’t seem inclined to conference their bills until after they learn who will control Congress next year.

The lame-duck session, which spans the time between the election and when the new Congress convenes, is scheduled to last five weeks spread through late November and December.

During that time, GOP leaders in the House and Democratic leaders in the Senate may seek to pass their overdue government funding bills and the annual defense policy bill.

There are several other bills that have passed one chamber or the other with bipartisan majorities or have strong bipartisan support through co-sponsors, which lawmakers could seek to move through to the president’s desk. But much of that will be determined by the outcome of the elections as well as whether there is any violence or unrest connected with the results.

Members of Congress interviewed by States Newsroom had varying answers for what they tell constituents back home about this Congress’ accomplishments.

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, said that he speaks with voters about the laws enacted during the previous Congress, when Democrats had unified control of government, as well as this Congress.

“Well, first of all, I tend to talk about the sweep of accomplishments, right? Both this Congress but also the previous Congress where we were enormously productive, right?” Van Hollen said. “So usually I don’t limit it to that timeline.”

Van Hollen said he was optimistic that Congress would be able to complete its work on the dozen annual government funding bills later this year.

“Obviously, we’ve been able to adequately fund government agencies,” Van Hollen said. “So that may be a low bar, but in this divided Congress, it is something that I point to, because we’ve worked on the Appropriations Committee, at least in the Senate, to have bipartisan products.”

Kansas GOP Sen. Jerry Moran said he predominantly talks with constituents about his work as ranking member on the Veterans Affairs Committee as well as the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations subcommittee.

“I talk about my own particular accomplishments as compared to bragging about Congress in general,” Moran said.

Much of the work that members do while in Washington, D.C., he said, doesn’t resonate with constituents who are focused on their own lives and families.

“No, I don’t think so,” Moran said. “Most people are paying specific attention to things that matter to them.”

Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, who faces a challenging reelection bid this November, said he tends to put more emphasis on the accomplishments of the upper chamber when talking with constituents back home.

“I think the Senate’s been a lot more productive than the House, but we’ll let voters sort that out,” Casey said.

While the Senate holds the advice and consent power to confirm certain presidential nominees, legislation must pass through both chambers of Congress and avoid the president’s veto pen, if it’s to become law.

Casey said there are several occasions where the House and Senate agreed on major issues, listing off the appropriations bills for the last fiscal year, the emergency spending package for Ukraine and other U.S. allies, and a bill to address fentanyl abuse.

“I think it’s a pretty long list and there’s still more work to do in the fall,” Casey said.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, criticized the number of days the chamber spends in session every week, saying the calendar has shortened during his decades in the chamber.

“When I came to the Senate 44 years ago, we used to start at 10 a.m. on Monday and go to 4 or 5 on Friday,” Grassley said.

The Senate typically comes into session around 3 p.m. on Monday, with its first vote at 5:30 p.m. The chamber usually holds its last vote of the week on Thursday around 1:45 p.m., with the vast majority of senators heading to cars to leave shortly afterward.

The House keeps to a similar four-day schedule, though its “fly-in day” is sometimes on Tuesday, pushing its “fly-out day” to Friday. That chamber takes its first vote of the week around 6:30 p.m. with its last vote before noon on the fourth day.

“There’s enough work for individual senators to do seven days a week if you want to work,” Grassley said. “But you can’t solve this country’s problems until you get 100 people together, and they’ve got to be together for more than two-and-a-half days a week.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/3/1614817353591.png" alt="File photo Members of the Kansas Congressional delegation - Jake LaTurner, Ron Estes, Jerry Moran, Sharice Davids, Roger Marshall and Tracey Mann&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>File photo Members of the Kansas Congressional delegation - Jake LaTurner, Ron Estes, Jerry Moran, Sharice Davids, Roger Marshall and Tracey Mann&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>&nbsp; State's NewsroomWASHINGTON — Congress plans to spend just 35 days between now and the end of the year in the nation’s capital, a fitting end to one of the least productive sessions in decades.The deeply divided 118th Congress so far has placed just 78 public laws on the books, a fraction of the hundreds enacted during prior sessions, regardless of whether one party held control or voters elected a divided government. While there’s time left to enact a handful of laws, the number is nearly certain to remain low.Over the past several decades, lawmakers have become accustomed to bundling several bills together into sweeping legislative packages instead of voting on them individually, but that doesn’t entirely account for how unproductive this Congress has been.Members have sought to approve bipartisan legislation on immigration policy and border security, railway safety, the farm bill, tax law and children’s online safety at various points during the last 19 months — but all those major initiatives failed to make it across the finish line.Lawmakers have been able to reach consensus on must-pass items like the annual government funding bills, but did so six months behind schedule. They are on track to miss their deadline again this year, which will mean yet another stopgap spending bill.<h2>What is the problem?</h2>While election-year politics and a truncated amount of time on Capitol Hill hampered lawmakers’ productivity, there are numerous other factors dragging down this Congress.Molly Reynolds, senior fellow in governance studies at the nonprofit Brookings Institution, said Democrats are working to flip control of the House away from Republicans’ narrow majority, while at the same time the GOP is projecting it will push Democrats out of power in the Senate.Those ambitions add “an additional structural layer” to the typical disagreements within Congress, she said.Infighting within each of the political parties, as well as Democrats and Republicans moving further away from each other on policy goals, has contributed to the intransigence, she said.“Those divisions within the parties pale in comparison to the size of the difference between the parties,” Reynolds said. “And so, that does make it more challenging to find issues on which both sides are willing and interested to come to the table.”A bipartisan trio of senators spent months negotiating a deal on immigration just to have the agreement disintegrate when Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump came out in opposition. That disappointing outcome makes members of Congress reluctant to tackle tough issues, she said.“When members put in the hard work to try and reach a compromise and then don’t have the backing of their leadership, it doesn’t necessarily incentivize them to come back to the table and try to do that same thing again in the future,” Reynolds said.<h2>Speaker drama set the tone</h2>The 118th Congress included more than its fair share of drama and bickering. The turmoil prevented the Republican House and Democratic Senate from agreeing on much of anything other than the bare minimum, with even must-pass legislation finalized months behind schedule.House Republicans set the tone for their razor-thin majority in January 2023 when they trudged through 15 rounds of voting over several days and nights before California Rep. Kevin McCarthy secured the speaker’s gavel.McCarthy made several backroom deals during the stalemate and elicited anger from members of the party’s right flank, who nearly came to blows on the floor as he sought to lock in the necessary support.Less than nine months later, the House voted to oust McCarthy from the speaker’s office. The GOP then kept the chamber frozen for several weeks as members voted behind closed doors to put forward four nominees, before Louisiana’s Mike Johnson garnered the votes necessary on the floor to lead his party and the chamber.McCarthy, who repeatedly swore he would never quit, then did just that in December.<h2>Senate border deal goes to pieces</h2>The Senate has spent much of its time confirming President Joe Biden’s nominees, rarely breaking from that pattern to negotiate necessary items like the annual defense policy bill, government funding measures and legislation that avoided a default on the national debt.Senators appeared to be&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/details-proposed-major-overhaul-us-immigration-law-global-aid-package-unveiled" target="_blank">on the cusp of making bipartisan changes</a>&nbsp;to the nation’s border security and immigration policy following painstaking negotiations between Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy and Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. It would have been the most sweeping immigration legislation in years.But that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-kills-immigration-overhaul-hits-stalemate-israel-ukraine-aid" target="_blank">fell apart in February&nbsp;</a>after Trump signaled he didn’t want to lose the border and immigration as an election issue or see Biden claim a victory.Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, had said the deal was necessary to move an emergency spending bill for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan through the chamber, though he later reversed course.Congress finally&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-sends-foreign-aid-bill-biden-mcconnell-chides-gop-isolationist-movement" target="_blank">approved $95 billion</a>&nbsp;in military and humanitarian assistance in April after House Republicans added in a ban on the social media app TikTok that would kick in if ByteDance, the Chinese parent company, didn’t sell the platform — one of the most significant laws of the year as it turned out.Congress has also failed to negotiate a new version of the five-year farm bill, following months of delays and differences of opinion on how much nutrition assistance for low-income Americans should be in the package.<h2>Few laws passed</h2>The 78 laws&nbsp;<a href="https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/laws/current.html" target="_blank">enacted</a>&nbsp;this Congress pale in comparison to earlier sessions.During the 116th Congress, when the GOP controlled the Senate and Democrats held the House, lawmakers reached agreement on 344 measures that went on to become law.When Democrats held control of both chambers and the presidency during the 117th Congress, they approved more than 360 measures that would later become law, the vast majority of which required bipartisan support to move through the Senate.Lawmakers have consistently enacted more than 280 public laws during their two-year sessions, going back to at least the 82nd Congress, which began in 1951 and ended the following year.During that seven-decade span, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/public-laws/84th-congress" target="_blank">number of laws</a>&nbsp;enacted per Congress fluctuated, reaching a low of 283 during the 112th Congress, which lasted from January 2011 through January 2013, and a high of 1,028 during the 84th Congress, which took place in 1955 and 1956. The number of laws enacted was consistently in the 400s or 500s, if not higher, during those years.Reynolds pointed out during her interview with States Newsroom that not all laws are created equal — some simply rename post offices or are confined to one issue, while others bundle several major pieces of legislation together in one package and have a much greater impact than other public laws.Congress, she noted, used to pass the annual government spending bills individually, but over time has settled into a pattern of approving just one or two omnibus spending packages, which roll together all dozen of the bills.Other examples of this include the Democrats’ signature health care, tax and climate change package, approved in the summer of 2022, known as the Inflation Reduction Act. When the GOP had unified control of Congress during the first two years of the Trump administration, they passed an overhaul of the nation’s tax code in just one bill.“If we look at the data on the number of public laws, and we look at the data on the number of pages of public laws, we do see that, on average, they have been getting longer,” Reynolds said. “Having said all of that, when we actually do dig into what the 118th Congress has been up to, it has not been an especially productive Congress.”<h2>Lame-duck session on the way</h2>Lawmakers are set to return from their summer recess for a three-week session in September, before breaking again until after Election Day.Members are expected to draft and vote on a stopgap spending bill to avoid a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1. But not much else is likely to move through as attention turns even more toward Nov. 5.The House Appropriations Committee has approved all 12 of its spending bills for fiscal 2025 while the Senate committee has voted to send 11 to the floor. The two chambers, however, are working off very different spending levels and don’t seem inclined to conference their bills until after they learn who will control Congress next year.The lame-duck session, which spans the time between the election and when the new Congress convenes, is scheduled to last five weeks spread through late November and December.During that time, GOP leaders in the House and Democratic leaders in the Senate may seek to pass their overdue government funding bills and the annual defense policy bill.There are several other bills that have passed one chamber or the other with bipartisan majorities or have strong bipartisan support through co-sponsors, which lawmakers could seek to move through to the president’s desk. But much of that will be determined by the outcome of the elections as well as whether there is any violence or unrest connected with the results.<h2>How to explain it</h2>Members of Congress interviewed by States Newsroom had varying answers for what they tell constituents back home about this Congress’ accomplishments.Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, said that he speaks with voters about the laws enacted during the previous Congress, when Democrats had unified control of government, as well as this Congress.“Well, first of all, I tend to talk about the sweep of accomplishments, right? Both this Congress but also the previous Congress where we were enormously productive, right?” Van Hollen said. “So usually I don’t limit it to that timeline.”Van Hollen said he was optimistic that Congress would be able to complete its work on the dozen annual government funding bills later this year.“Obviously, we’ve been able to adequately fund government agencies,” Van Hollen said. “So that may be a low bar, but in this divided Congress, it is something that I point to, because we’ve worked on the Appropriations Committee, at least in the Senate, to have bipartisan products.”Kansas GOP Sen. Jerry Moran said he predominantly talks with constituents about his work as ranking member on the Veterans Affairs Committee as well as the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations subcommittee.“I talk about my own particular accomplishments as compared to bragging about Congress in general,” Moran said.Much of the work that members do while in Washington, D.C., he said, doesn’t resonate with constituents who are focused on their own lives and families.“No, I don’t think so,” Moran said. “Most people are paying specific attention to things that matter to them.”Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, who faces a challenging reelection bid this November, said he tends to put more emphasis on the accomplishments of the upper chamber when talking with constituents back home.“I think the Senate’s been a lot more productive than the House, but we’ll let voters sort that out,” Casey said.While the Senate holds the advice and consent power to confirm certain presidential nominees, legislation must pass through both chambers of Congress and avoid the president’s veto pen, if it’s to become law.Casey said there are several occasions where the House and Senate agreed on major issues, listing off the appropriations bills for the last fiscal year, the emergency spending package for Ukraine and other U.S. allies, and a bill to address fentanyl abuse.“I think it’s a pretty long list and there’s still more work to do in the fall,” Casey said.<h2>More time at work?</h2>Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, criticized the number of days the chamber spends in session every week, saying the calendar has shortened during his decades in the chamber.“When I came to the Senate 44 years ago, we used to start at 10 a.m. on Monday and go to 4 or 5 on Friday,” Grassley said.The Senate typically comes into session around 3 p.m. on Monday, with its first vote at 5:30 p.m. The chamber usually holds its last vote of the week on Thursday around 1:45 p.m., with the vast majority of senators heading to cars to leave shortly afterward.The House keeps to a similar four-day schedule, though its “fly-in day” is sometimes on Tuesday, pushing its “fly-out day” to Friday. That chamber takes its first vote of the week around 6:30 p.m. with its last vote before noon on the fourth day.“There’s enough work for individual senators to do seven days a week if you want to work,” Grassley said. “But you can’t solve this country’s problems until you get 100 people together, and they’ve got to be together for more than two-and-a-half days a week.”

Congress limps toward the end of a disappointing session, with just 78 laws to show

SEDGWICK COUNTY —A funeral for Firefighter Ty Voth, who died battling a fire, was held at 10 a.m. on Friday at Hartman Arena, 8151 N Hartman Arena Drive in Park City.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.facebook.com/wichitafiredepartment">Click here to watch a</a> replay of the service

Before the funeral, there was a public viewing at 9 a.m. at Hartman Arena.&nbsp;

Following the service, Voth was transported to Whitewater Cemetery in Whitewater, Kansas.

Official Procession Route from the Park City Arena:

Park City Arena, 8151 N Hartman Arena Dr, Park City, KS 67147 To Whitewater Cemetery, 10881-11579 SE 72nd St, Whitewater, KS 67154

Voth was a 2015 graduate of Newton High School and attended Hutchinson Community College, graduating from the Fire Science Program in 2017. He then went on to work at the Manhattan Fire Department until 2019. From there, he was hired on to the Wichita Fire Department, to be closer to his family.

From day one, Ty’s passion was to be a firefighter. He was a second generation firefighter, following in his father's and uncle’s footsteps. In his spare time, he was an avid outdoorsmen, spending most of his time out in the field hunting beside his grandpa, Jack; his brother, Nic; brother-in-law, Matt; cousin, Matthew; his best friends; along with his hunting dog, Mossy.

Ty’s life revolved around his family. He was always there to help when needed and made sure his mother and family were always taken care of. The help and care that he showed extended out to his buddies and their families.

Everyone has their kin family, but Ty was lucky enough to have a second family in Station Five B-Shift. Not only were they firefighters, they enjoyed time together outside of the station, taking vacations and making memories.

He was preceded in death by: his grandmother, Jeannie Belcher; his grandfather, Ray Voth; his uncle, Mike Belcher; his cousin, Ryan Booth; along with his hunting dog, Mossy Girl.

He is survived by: his mother, Angie Voth; his father, Chad Voth; his sister, Riley (Matt); his nephew, Mason; his brother, Nic (Leticia); his sister, Lindsey; his grandpa, Jack; his grandma, Sherry "Bud"; his aunts, Kathy (Tony) and Dana (Kent); his uncle, Kyle; his cousins, Matthew (Deana), Michael (Sydney), and Chad; along with his childhood buddies.

On behalf of the family, they would like to thank the Wichita Fire Department for their support and compassion during this difficult time.

There has been a memorial fund in honor of Ty Voth that may be designated to the Wichita Police and Fire Foundation, PO Box 782736, Wichita, Kansas 67278 or the Wichita Firefighters Charitable Fund, 428 N. St. Francis, Wichita, Kansas 67202.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1722607741656.png" alt="Ty Voth courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Ty Voth courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —A funeral for Firefighter Ty Voth, who died battling a fire, was held at 10 a.m. on Friday at Hartman Arena, 8151 N Hartman Arena Drive in Park City.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/wichitafiredepartment">Click here to watch a</a> replay of the service<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Below are the links for Firefighter Voth&#39;s obituary and for those who have asked, direct links to the memorials established in his honor. <a href="https://t.co/jFhklb01lI">https://t.co/jFhklb01lI</a><a href="https://t.co/dPD1epLuLB">https://t.co/dPD1epLuLB</a><a href="https://t.co/9s3dRb6YWk">https://t.co/9s3dRb6YWk</a> <a href="https://t.co/c4D8q8ZEwD">pic.twitter.com/c4D8q8ZEwD</a>&mdash; WichitaFireDept (@WichitaFireDept) <a href="https://twitter.com/WichitaFireDept/status/1821182072787968068?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Before the funeral, there was a public viewing at 9 a.m. at Hartman Arena.&nbsp;Following the service, Voth was transported to Whitewater Cemetery in Whitewater, Kansas.Official Procession Route from the Park City Arena:Park City Arena, 8151 N Hartman Arena Dr, Park City, KS 67147 To Whitewater Cemetery, 10881-11579 SE 72nd St, Whitewater, KS 67154<ol>
 <li>Exit Park City Arena using the southwest exit (E. Briar Rose Ln.)</li><li>Turn right (west) on E. Briar Rose Ln. and proceed to Broadway</li><li>Turn right (north) on Broadway and proceed approximately 9 miles</li><li>Turn right (east) onto K-196/SE 72nd and proceed east for approximately 8 miles</li><li>Cross Harvest Hill Rd. and attendants will assist in parking in the appropriate location upon arrival to the cemetery</li>
 </ol>His obituary is belowVoth was a 2015 graduate of Newton High School and attended Hutchinson Community College, graduating from the Fire Science Program in 2017. He then went on to work at the Manhattan Fire Department until 2019. From there, he was hired on to the Wichita Fire Department, to be closer to his family.From day one, Ty’s passion was to be a firefighter. He was a second generation firefighter, following in his father's and uncle’s footsteps. In his spare time, he was an avid outdoorsmen, spending most of his time out in the field hunting beside his grandpa, Jack; his brother, Nic; brother-in-law, Matt; cousin, Matthew; his best friends; along with his hunting dog, Mossy.Ty’s life revolved around his family. He was always there to help when needed and made sure his mother and family were always taken care of. The help and care that he showed extended out to his buddies and their families.Everyone has their kin family, but Ty was lucky enough to have a second family in Station Five B-Shift. Not only were they firefighters, they enjoyed time together outside of the station, taking vacations and making memories.He was preceded in death by: his grandmother, Jeannie Belcher; his grandfather, Ray Voth; his uncle, Mike Belcher; his cousin, Ryan Booth; along with his hunting dog, Mossy Girl.He is survived by: his mother, Angie Voth; his father, Chad Voth; his sister, Riley (Matt); his nephew, Mason; his brother, Nic (Leticia); his sister, Lindsey; his grandpa, Jack; his grandma, Sherry "Bud"; his aunts, Kathy (Tony) and Dana (Kent); his uncle, Kyle; his cousins, Matthew (Deana), Michael (Sydney), and Chad; along with his childhood buddies.On behalf of the family, they would like to thank the Wichita Fire Department for their support and compassion during this difficult time.There has been a memorial fund in honor of Ty Voth that may be designated to the Wichita Police and Fire Foundation, PO Box 782736, Wichita, Kansas 67278 or the Wichita Firefighters Charitable Fund, 428 N. St. Francis, Wichita, Kansas 67202.

Funeral for fallen Kansas firefighter

JERUSALEM—U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility on Thursday as part of U.S. force posture changes in the region to mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or its proxies, according to a statement from Central Command.

In addition, U.S. Forces in the Middle East continue to face daily threats.

Since Tuesday, U.S. forces successfully destroyed seven Iranian-backed Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles and one Houthi ground control station in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. 

Additionally, on Wednesday and Thursday U.S. forces successfully destroyed four Houthi uncrewed surface vessels in the Red Sea, two&nbsp; drones and one Houthi ground control station.

These weapons presented a clear and imminent threat to U.S. and coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region. This reckless and dangerous behavior by Iranian-backed Houthis continues to threaten regional stability and security.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1723133168145.png" alt="Photo U.S. Central Command" />
 <figcaption>Photo U.S. Central Command</figcaption>
 </figure>JERUSALEM—U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility on Thursday as part of U.S. force posture changes in the region to mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or its proxies, according to a statement from Central Command.In addition, U.S. Forces in the Middle East continue to face daily threats.Since Tuesday, U.S. forces successfully destroyed seven Iranian-backed Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles and one Houthi ground control station in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. Additionally, on Wednesday and Thursday U.S. forces successfully destroyed four Houthi uncrewed surface vessels in the Red Sea, two&nbsp; drones and one Houthi ground control station.These weapons presented a clear and imminent threat to U.S. and coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region. This reckless and dangerous behavior by Iranian-backed Houthis continues to threaten regional stability and security.

U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors arrive in Middle East

By ALLISON KITE &nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/09/21/missouri-judge-once-again-delays-decision-on-closing-agape-boarding-school/">Missouri Independent</a>

Missourians on Tuesday voted to require Kansas City to spend more of its municipal budget on policing, reinstating a policy that had been overturned by the state supreme court.&nbsp;

The race was called by the Associated Press at 11:30 p.m., with the amendment winning&nbsp;51% to 48%. That means the Missouri Constitution will be amended to require Kansas City to spend at least 25% of its general revenue on police, amounting to tens of millions of dollars per year.

While it provides funding for the department, Kansas City is the only major city in the U.S. that doesn’t have local control of its police. The Kansas City Police Department is governed by the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, which includes the mayor and four members appointed by the Missouri governor. That means while the City Council writes the checks for the Kansas City police, they have no control over how funds are spent.

Between the 1950s and 2022, Kansas City was required to spend at least 20% of its general revenue on police and often exceeded that. But in 2020, as racial justice protesters pushed for police reform across the nation, Kansas City sought to exert more influence over the police budget.

Following the protests, sparked by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Kansas City officials attempted to set aside $42 million in police funding —&nbsp;above its obligatory 20% spending — for “community engagement, outreach, prevention, intervention and other public services” in an attempt to increase police accountability.

But the move was lambasted by Missouri Republicans, who claimed City Hall was trying to “defund” the police.

Missouri lawmakers responded with legislation requiring Kansas City to spend at least 25% of its revenue on police, which passed in the spring of 2022 on a largely party-line vote with Republicans supporting increased police spending.&nbsp;

Voters then, in the fall of 2022, approved the legislation with 63% of the vote. The policy was unpopular, however, in the Jackson County portion of Kansas City where 61% of voters rejected it. It passed in Platte and Clay counties, which include suburban parts of Kansas City.

After the vote, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas challenged the election in court, saying a summary printed on voters’ ballots “materially misstated” the cost of the proposal.

The fiscal note summary accompanying the 2022 amendment said the requirement that Kansas City spend at least 25% of its revenue on police would result in “no additional costs or savings.” The state argued that because the city had voluntarily granted that much in the past, the amendment simply removed the city’s discretion rather than imposing a new cost.

City Hall, however, argued the mandate could potentially cost other departments up to $38.7 million in budget cuts.

The Missouri Supreme Court agreed with the city and ordered the results of that election be tossed and a new vote be held, paving the way for Tuesday’s vote.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1690892603114.png" alt="File photo&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>File photo&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>By ALLISON KITE &nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/09/21/missouri-judge-once-again-delays-decision-on-closing-agape-boarding-school/">Missouri Independent</a>Missourians on Tuesday voted to require Kansas City to spend more of its municipal budget on policing, reinstating a policy that had been overturned by the state supreme court.&nbsp;The race was called by the Associated Press at 11:30 p.m., with the amendment winning&nbsp;51% to 48%. That means the Missouri Constitution will be amended to require Kansas City to spend at least 25% of its general revenue on police, amounting to tens of millions of dollars per year.While it provides funding for the department, Kansas City is the only major city in the U.S. that doesn’t have local control of its police. The Kansas City Police Department is governed by the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, which includes the mayor and four members appointed by the Missouri governor. That means while the City Council writes the checks for the Kansas City police, they have no control over how funds are spent.Between the 1950s and 2022, Kansas City was required to spend at least 20% of its general revenue on police and often exceeded that. But in 2020, as racial justice protesters pushed for police reform across the nation, Kansas City sought to exert more influence over the police budget.Following the protests, sparked by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Kansas City officials attempted to set aside $42 million in police funding —&nbsp;above its obligatory 20% spending — for “community engagement, outreach, prevention, intervention and other public services” in an attempt to increase police accountability.But the move was lambasted by Missouri Republicans, who claimed City Hall was trying to “defund” the police.Missouri lawmakers responded with legislation requiring Kansas City to spend at least 25% of its revenue on police, which passed in the spring of 2022 on a largely party-line vote with Republicans supporting increased police spending.&nbsp;Voters then, in the fall of 2022, approved the legislation with 63% of the vote. The policy was unpopular, however, in the Jackson County portion of Kansas City where 61% of voters rejected it. It passed in Platte and Clay counties, which include suburban parts of Kansas City.After the vote, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas challenged the election in court, saying a summary printed on voters’ ballots “materially misstated” the cost of the proposal.The fiscal note summary accompanying the 2022 amendment said the requirement that Kansas City spend at least 25% of its revenue on police would result in “no additional costs or savings.” The state argued that because the city had voluntarily granted that much in the past, the amendment simply removed the city’s discretion rather than imposing a new cost.City Hall, however, argued the mandate could potentially cost other departments up to $38.7 million in budget cuts.The Missouri Supreme Court agreed with the city and ordered the results of that election be tossed and a new vote be held, paving the way for Tuesday’s vote.&nbsp;

Voters approve amendment requiring more police spending in Kansas City

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/sherman-smith/">SHERMAN SMITH</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/mayasmith/">MAYA SMITH</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/ghills/">GRACE HILLS</a>&nbsp;- <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

LAWRENCE — Kansas voters on Tuesday ousted an incumbent Senate Republican and House Democrat who were seen as traitors by their parties, expanding an expected shakeup of the Legislature and setting the stage for a high-stakes general election.

In the 40-member Senate, there will be at least 12 newcomers by January. In the 125-member House, there will be at least 21 newcomers. Those numbers could increase, depending on November results, when Democrats hope to break GOP supermajorities in both chambers.

Democratic voters in Kansas City favored educator Wanda Brownlee Paige over incumbent Rep. Marvin Robinson, who voted almost exclusively with Republicans for most of his single term in office. He was backed by GOP-aligned special interest groups, which flooded the district with mailers favorable to Robinson. But Paige prevailed with 49% of the vote, compared with 22% for Robinson, 20% for Michelle Watley and 9% for Kimberly DeWitt.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/7/1720316487639.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/sherman-smith/">SHERMAN SMITH</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/mayasmith/">MAYA SMITH</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/ghills/">GRACE HILLS</a>&nbsp;- <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>LAWRENCE — Kansas voters on Tuesday ousted an incumbent Senate Republican and House Democrat who were seen as traitors by their parties, expanding an expected shakeup of the Legislature and setting the stage for a high-stakes general election.In the 40-member Senate, there will be at least 12 newcomers by January. In the 125-member House, there will be at least 21 newcomers. Those numbers could increase, depending on November results, when Democrats hope to break GOP supermajorities in both chambers.Democratic voters in Kansas City favored educator Wanda Brownlee Paige over incumbent Rep. Marvin Robinson, who voted almost exclusively with Republicans for most of his single term in office. He was backed by GOP-aligned special interest groups, which flooded the district with mailers favorable to Robinson. But Paige prevailed with 49% of the vote, compared with 22% for Robinson, 20% for Michelle Watley and 9% for Kimberly DeWitt.“I am so excited, grateful, thankful and just want to continue to turn the page,” Paige said. “After I noticed this man wasn’t going for the people in the district, he voted with the Republicans and for the Republicans, I thought we needed to do something to help the people.”Sen. Dennis Pyle, a Hiawatha Republican who has represented his district for 20 years, finished in third place. Pyle rankled party members who accused him of helping Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly win reelection by running as an independent candidate for governor in 2022. He also routinely challenged Senate leadership, who redrew his district to make it more difficult for him to win reelection.Craig Bowser, a U.S. Army Reserve veteran from Holton, was leading the race with 41% of the vote over Rep. John Eplee, an Atchison physician, with 37%. Pyle had 23%.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1723043984598.png" alt="Democratic Sen. Marci Francisco waits for results at her watch party Aug. 6, 2024, at Black Stag Brewery and Pub in Lawrence. Francisco defeated Rep. Christina Haswood. (Maya Smith for Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Democratic Sen. Marci Francisco waits for results at her watch party Aug. 6, 2024, at Black Stag Brewery and Pub in Lawrence. Francisco defeated Rep. Christina Haswood. (Maya Smith for Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>In a Democratic primary in Lawrence, five-term Sen. Marci Francisco held off a challenge from Rep. Christina Haswood, who was backed by former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.In a victory speech Tuesday night at Black Stag Brewery and Pub, Francisco told supporters she “absolutely did not get here on my own.”“I have had so many people come out, be willing to walk, be willing to talk to their friends, be willing to write postcards, give me advice, give me endorsements,” Francisco said.Francisco emphasized her experience as a legislator, during which she has never missed a vote, in a race where there was little policy difference between the two candidates.“I mean, it was two people who are essentially saying the same thing, right?” Francisco said. “We want to expand Medicaid. We want to be concerned about the environment. We want to fund public education.”In a Democratic Senate primary in Topeka, Navy veteran Patrick Schmidt won 54% of the vote to defeat longtime legislator and House Minority Leader Vic Miller, who had 34%, and educator ShaMecha King Simms with 12%.Republican Sens. Chase Blasi, of Wichita; Brenda Dietrich, of Topeka; Beverly Gossage, of Eudora; Caryn Tyson, of Parker; Tim Shallenburger, of Baxter Springs; and Elaine Bowers, of Concordia, defeated or held large leads over primary challengers. Democratic Sen. David Haley, of Kansas City, also defeated a challenger.Rep. Tory Marie Blew, of Great Bend, defeated John Sturn, of Ellinwood, in the GOP primary for a Senate seat.Seven other House members who are seeking a Senate seat didn’t have a primary opponent.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1723044047344.png" alt="Rep. Mark Schreiber appears at an April 25, 2024, event in Emporia with Gov. Laura Kelly to promote Medicaid expansion. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Rep. Mark Schreiber appears at an April 25, 2024, event in Emporia with Gov. Laura Kelly to promote Medicaid expansion. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>Among contested House races, Leavenworth County Commissioner Mike Stieben led Rep. Lance Neelly, of Tonganoxie, by 41 votes after all ballots were counted Tuesday night in the GOP primary for Neelly’s House seat. But the outcome could depend on mail-in ballots, as long as they are postmarked by Tuesday and received by Friday, as well as provisional ballots.Rep. Mark Schreiber, an Emporia Republican, won 64% of the vote to defeat businessman Will Spencer.Micah Kubic, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, praised voters for favoring Schreiber, who is viewed as a moderate, and for disposing of Robinson, who cast anti-LGBTQ+ votes. The ACLU of Kansas PAC targeted both races with “educational materials.”“Kansans have had enough of politicians’ misinformation or misrepresentation of their positions,” Kubic said. “When given truthful, reliable, and accurate sources focused on issues of civil liberties and civil rights, voters prioritize those issues even amidst the noise of the campaign season.”Former Rep. Steve Huebert, a Valley Center Republican, won 64% of the vote in a four-way race for a seat he held until two years ago. Rep. Carl Maughan, of Colwich, was on the ballot but stopped campaigning after the Kansas Supreme Court in June suspended his law license for engaging in a conflict of interest. Maughan also was arrested in March after driving drunk.Alexis Simmons, a Topeka Democrat who was the spokeswoman for House Democrats, won 85% of the vote in Miller’s House district.Brooklynne Mosley, a Lawrence Democrat and Air Force veteran, won 67% of the vote in a three-way race for a House seat.In the House, 33 Republicans and 19 Democrats will be unopposed in November. In the Senate, six Republicans and three Democrats will run unopposed in November.

Kbct