KIOWA COUNTY -- Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks staff recently reviewed a trail camera photo of a mountain lion taken in Kiowa County, according to a social media report.

The adult cat was carrying a recently killed porcupine. The photo follows three earlier confirmations (20 miles total apart) in the same area 2 and a one half months ago, which biologists assumed was the same cat headed south. 

This is the first time multiple photos of a cat have been confirmed in the same area within a time frame that could indicate the presence of a resident lion. However, it’s too early to tell because it could be a different lion coincidentally in the same area. There have been 21 confirmed mountain lion sightings in Kansas since 2007, and all have appeared to be young adult cats on the move.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606701454380.png" alt="Photo courtesy KDWP&amp;T" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy KDWP&amp;T</figcaption>
 </figure>KIOWA COUNTY -- Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks staff recently reviewed a trail camera photo of a mountain lion taken in Kiowa County, according to a social media report.The adult cat was carrying a recently killed porcupine. The photo follows three earlier confirmations (20 miles total apart) in the same area 2 and a one half months ago, which biologists assumed was the same cat headed south. This is the first time multiple photos of a cat have been confirmed in the same area within a time frame that could indicate the presence of a resident lion. However, it’s too early to tell because it could be a different lion coincidentally in the same area. There have been 21 confirmed mountain lion sightings in Kansas since 2007, and all have appeared to be young adult cats on the move.

KDWP&T: Mountain lion seen on trail cam in Kansas

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is quietly amending its execution protocols, no longer requiring federal death sentences to be carried out by lethal injection and clearing the way to use other methods like firing squads and poison gas.

The amended rule, published Friday in the Federal Register, allows the U.S. government to conduct executions by lethal injection or use “any other manner prescribed by the law of the state in which the sentence was imposed.” A number of states allow other methods of execution, including electrocution, inhaling nitrogen gas or death by firing squad.

It remains unclear whether the Justice Department will seek to use any methods other than lethal injection for executions in the future. The rule – which goes into effect on Dec. 24 – comes as the Justice Department has scheduled five executions during the lame-duck period, including three just days before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

A Justice Department official said the change was made to account for the fact the Federal Death Penalty Act requires sentences be carried out in the “in the manner prescribed by the law of the state in which the sentence is imposed,″ and some of those states use methods other than lethal injection.

The official told the AP the federal government “will never execute an inmate by firing squad or electrocution unless the relevant state has itself authorized that method of execution.”

The official said two executions scheduled in December would be done by lethal injection but didn’t provide information about three others scheduled in January. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the internal department protocols.

The change is likely to set off intense criticism from Democrats and anti-death penalty advocates, as the Trump administration tries to push through a number of rule changes before Trump leaves office. A spokesperson for Biden&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-prisons-inaugurations-coronavirus-pandemic-executions-365258989e6be8d7077b2f67d8c3e190">told the AP</a>&nbsp;earlier this month that the president-elect “opposes the death penalty now and in the future” and would work to end its use. But he did not say whether executions would be paused immediately once Biden takes office.

Attorney General William Barr&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/638826b00bba1b389756126e4cfae97a">restarted federal executions</a>&nbsp;this year after a 17-year hiatus. This year, the Justice Department has put to death more people than during the previous half-century, despite waning public support from both Democrats and Republicans for its use.

All states that use the death penalty allow lethal injection – and that is the primary method in all states where other methods are allowed, according to data compiled by the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center. As lethal injection drugs become difficult to obtain, some states have begun looking at alternative methods for carrying out death sentences. Alabama joined Oklahoma and Mississippi in 2018 approving the use of nitrogen gas to execute prisoners, allowing the state to asphyxiate condemned inmates with the gas in some cases.

In some states, inmates can choose the method of their execution. In Florida, for example, an inmate can specifically ask to be put to death by electrocution and in Washington state, inmates can ask to be put to death by hanging. In Utah, prisoners sentenced before May 2004 can choose to be killed by a firing squad. The state law there also authorizes the use of a firing squad if lethal injection drugs aren’t available.

In 2014, following a botched state execution in Oklahoma, President Barack Obama directed the Justice Department to conduct a broad review of capital punishment and issues surrounding lethal injection drugs.

Barr&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/1ab434fcc31e429089eb5e14de0d1324">said in July 2019</a>&nbsp;that the review had been completed, allowing executions to resume and approved a new procedure for lethal injections that replaced the three-drug combination previously used in federal executions with one drug, pentobarbital. The one-drug protocol is similar to the procedure used in several states, including Georgia, Missouri and Texas.

Before the Trump administration resumed executions this year, the federal government had put only three inmates to death since 1988. Though there hadn’t been a federal execution since 2003, until July, the Justice Department has continued to approve death penalty prosecutions, and federal courts had continued sentencing defendants to death.

Trump has spoken often about capital punishment and his belief that executions serve as an effective deterrent and an appropriate punishment for some crimes, including mass shootings and the killings of police officers.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1602895377835.png" alt="Lisa Montgomery from Kansas is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at the U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute, Indiana, Jan. 12. She is being held at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, according to online jail records." />
 <figcaption>Lisa Montgomery from Kansas is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at the U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute, Indiana, Jan. 12. She is being held at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, according to online jail records.</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is quietly amending its execution protocols, no longer requiring federal death sentences to be carried out by lethal injection and clearing the way to use other methods like firing squads and poison gas.The amended rule, published Friday in the Federal Register, allows the U.S. government to conduct executions by lethal injection or use “any other manner prescribed by the law of the state in which the sentence was imposed.” A number of states allow other methods of execution, including electrocution, inhaling nitrogen gas or death by firing squad.It remains unclear whether the Justice Department will seek to use any methods other than lethal injection for executions in the future. The rule – which goes into effect on Dec. 24 – comes as the Justice Department has scheduled five executions during the lame-duck period, including three just days before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.A Justice Department official said the change was made to account for the fact the Federal Death Penalty Act requires sentences be carried out in the “in the manner prescribed by the law of the state in which the sentence is imposed,″ and some of those states use methods other than lethal injection.The official told the AP the federal government “will never execute an inmate by firing squad or electrocution unless the relevant state has itself authorized that method of execution.”The official said two executions scheduled in December would be done by lethal injection but didn’t provide information about three others scheduled in January. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the internal department protocols.The change is likely to set off intense criticism from Democrats and anti-death penalty advocates, as the Trump administration tries to push through a number of rule changes before Trump leaves office. A spokesperson for Biden&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-prisons-inaugurations-coronavirus-pandemic-executions-365258989e6be8d7077b2f67d8c3e190">told the AP</a>&nbsp;earlier this month that the president-elect “opposes the death penalty now and in the future” and would work to end its use. But he did not say whether executions would be paused immediately once Biden takes office.Attorney General William Barr&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/638826b00bba1b389756126e4cfae97a">restarted federal executions</a>&nbsp;this year after a 17-year hiatus. This year, the Justice Department has put to death more people than during the previous half-century, despite waning public support from both Democrats and Republicans for its use.All states that use the death penalty allow lethal injection – and that is the primary method in all states where other methods are allowed, according to data compiled by the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center. As lethal injection drugs become difficult to obtain, some states have begun looking at alternative methods for carrying out death sentences. Alabama joined Oklahoma and Mississippi in 2018 approving the use of nitrogen gas to execute prisoners, allowing the state to asphyxiate condemned inmates with the gas in some cases.In some states, inmates can choose the method of their execution. In Florida, for example, an inmate can specifically ask to be put to death by electrocution and in Washington state, inmates can ask to be put to death by hanging. In Utah, prisoners sentenced before May 2004 can choose to be killed by a firing squad. The state law there also authorizes the use of a firing squad if lethal injection drugs aren’t available.In 2014, following a botched state execution in Oklahoma, President Barack Obama directed the Justice Department to conduct a broad review of capital punishment and issues surrounding lethal injection drugs.Barr&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/1ab434fcc31e429089eb5e14de0d1324">said in July 2019</a>&nbsp;that the review had been completed, allowing executions to resume and approved a new procedure for lethal injections that replaced the three-drug combination previously used in federal executions with one drug, pentobarbital. The one-drug protocol is similar to the procedure used in several states, including Georgia, Missouri and Texas.Before the Trump administration resumed executions this year, the federal government had put only three inmates to death since 1988. Though there hadn’t been a federal execution since 2003, until July, the Justice Department has continued to approve death penalty prosecutions, and federal courts had continued sentencing defendants to death.Trump has spoken often about capital punishment and his belief that executions serve as an effective deterrent and an appropriate punishment for some crimes, including mass shootings and the killings of police officers.

New rules: Poison gas, firing squads for US executions

HOLTON, KAN. (AP) —&nbsp;Small rural hospitals in&nbsp;Kansas&nbsp;and&nbsp;Missouri&nbsp;are increasingly spending hours searching for facilities they can transfer patients to because they are struggling to cope with the surge in coronavirus cases.

As the region's hospitals fill up with COVID-19 patients, smaller hospitals like the one in Holton, Kansas, are finding it difficult to treat patients who don't have the disease but still need care.

“People don’t just stop having heart attacks or those sorts of things,” said Carrie Saia, CEO of the hospital in Holton, which is about 30 miles north of Topeka, Kansas. “I just worry that we’re going to be so consumed that we’re not really able to care for some emergency that comes in.”

The urban and rural health care systems in Missouri and Kansas are intertwined, with smaller hospitals identifying which patients need more advanced care and transferring them to larger facilities in bigger cities, the Kansas City Star reported. But lately, smaller hospitals have been spending hours searching for beds for their patients in larger facilities in places such as Wichita, Kansas City, St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri.

When COVID-19 patients stress the capacity of smaller hospitals, it makes it harder to care for patients with heart attacks, strokes or other serious conditions.

“Those patients, when they come through our doors, honestly that’s a little more scary than COVID,” said Valarie Davis who is the administrator of Mercy’s smaller hospitals in Cassville and Aurora, Missouri. “We have to get them somewhere as quick as we possibly can.”

And rural hospital administrators increasingly worry about how the surge in patients is affecting their nurses and doctors.

“I’ve had one of the nurses literally break down right in front of me because of her concern for one of the patients, which is a wonderful thing but it takes a toll on the staff,” said Dennis Franks, CEO of the 25-bed Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center in Chanute, Kansas. “They’re working a lot.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606685988313.png" alt="Holton Community Hospital is 30 miles north of Topeka" />
 <figcaption>Holton Community Hospital is 30 miles north of Topeka</figcaption>
 </figure>HOLTON, KAN. (AP) —&nbsp;Small rural hospitals in&nbsp;Kansas&nbsp;and&nbsp;Missouri&nbsp;are increasingly spending hours searching for facilities they can transfer patients to because they are struggling to cope with the surge in coronavirus cases.As the region's hospitals fill up with COVID-19 patients, smaller hospitals like the one in Holton, Kansas, are finding it difficult to treat patients who don't have the disease but still need care.“People don’t just stop having heart attacks or those sorts of things,” said Carrie Saia, CEO of the hospital in Holton, which is about 30 miles north of Topeka, Kansas. “I just worry that we’re going to be so consumed that we’re not really able to care for some emergency that comes in.”The urban and rural health care systems in Missouri and Kansas are intertwined, with smaller hospitals identifying which patients need more advanced care and transferring them to larger facilities in bigger cities, the Kansas City Star reported. But lately, smaller hospitals have been spending hours searching for beds for their patients in larger facilities in places such as Wichita, Kansas City, St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri.When COVID-19 patients stress the capacity of smaller hospitals, it makes it harder to care for patients with heart attacks, strokes or other serious conditions.“Those patients, when they come through our doors, honestly that’s a little more scary than COVID,” said Valarie Davis who is the administrator of Mercy’s smaller hospitals in Cassville and Aurora, Missouri. “We have to get them somewhere as quick as we possibly can.”And rural hospital administrators increasingly worry about how the surge in patients is affecting their nurses and doctors.“I’ve had one of the nurses literally break down right in front of me because of her concern for one of the patients, which is a wonderful thing but it takes a toll on the staff,” said Dennis Franks, CEO of the 25-bed Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center in Chanute, Kansas. “They’re working a lot.”

Surge in virus cases stresses rural hospitals across Kansas

HOLTS SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) — A historic Black church in Missouri has been vandalized, leaving its congregation reeling and authorities looking to find out who did it.

The Callaway County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that the acts committed at the Mount Vernon Missionary Baptist Church in Holts Summit, Missouri, are “despicable and quite offensive,.”

Deputies responded to the property at 1:32 a.m. Thursday following an alarm call. They discovered that both the historic church building and a newer one completed in the early 2000s had been struck by vandals.

Photos show what appear to be bullet holes and boot prints on the older building’s front door. Windows are smashed and an air-conditioning unit tipped on its side. Inside there are gaping holes in the walls, pews tipped over, toilets shattered, furniture smashed. Even the blades of the ceiling fans above the sanctuary are broken.

Callaway County Sheriff Clay Chism said Friday that a final monetary estimate of the damages is still pending, but it “is significant.”

Mt. Vernon was established by slaves in the early 1800s and later rebuilt in 1869, Pastor Gordon Coleman said in a Facebook post. The church celebrated its 150th birthday in 2016.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606594815770.png" alt="Photos Callaway Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Photos Callaway Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>HOLTS SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) — A historic Black church in Missouri has been vandalized, leaving its congregation reeling and authorities looking to find out who did it.The Callaway County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that the acts committed at the Mount Vernon Missionary Baptist Church in Holts Summit, Missouri, are “despicable and quite offensive,.”Deputies responded to the property at 1:32 a.m. Thursday following an alarm call. They discovered that both the historic church building and a newer one completed in the early 2000s had been struck by vandals.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606594791592.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Photos show what appear to be bullet holes and boot prints on the older building’s front door. Windows are smashed and an air-conditioning unit tipped on its side. Inside there are gaping holes in the walls, pews tipped over, toilets shattered, furniture smashed. Even the blades of the ceiling fans above the sanctuary are broken.Callaway County Sheriff Clay Chism said Friday that a final monetary estimate of the damages is still pending, but it “is significant.”Mt. Vernon was established by slaves in the early 1800s and later rebuilt in 1869, Pastor Gordon Coleman said in a Facebook post. The church celebrated its 150th birthday in 2016.No arrests have been made.

Sheriff: Historic Black church vandalized

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska is creating the nation's largest tribal national park on a forested bluff overlooking the Missouri River and a historic site of its people.

The 444-acre park will allow the tribe to tell the story of the Ioway people and provide a rustic getaway where people can hike, camp and bird-watch, said Lance Foster, the vice chairman of the tribe.

“We’ve been here for a thousand years now and, unlike other people who can buy and sell land and move away, we can never move away,” Foster said. “This is our land forever. And we’ll be here for another 1,000 years."

The new Ioway Tribal National Park will overlook a historic trading village where the Ioway people bartered for buffalo hides and pipestones with other tribes during the 13th to 15th centuries. That site includes three burial mounds that date back 3,000 years.

The Nature Conservancy of Nebraska recently transferred 284 acres to the tribe, which plans to use the land and an adjacent 160 acres that the conservancy donated two years ago to establish the second such tribal national park in the country&nbsp;<a href="https://omaha.com/news/state-and-regional/iowa-tribe-creates-444-acre-tribal-national-park-on-nebraska-kansas-border/article_ad481bf0-5f00-5cd3-85d9-ebdf18ec0970.html">.</a>&nbsp;It is located just southeast of Rulo, Nebraska, on the Nebraska-Kansas border.

Mace Hack, executive director of the Nebraska chapter of the conservancy, said his group has worked with the Iowa Tribe for years and was aware of how well it managed property.

“It just seemed like the right thing to do,” Hack said. “We wanted to help the tribe connect even more deeply to their ancestral lands and heritage.”

Acquiring the land also fits with the tribe’s goal of restoring tribally owned lands on its reservation, which once spanned 12,000 acres on both sides of the Nebraska-Kansas border. An 1887 federal “allotment” act that subdivided the reservation to individual families resulted in the selling off of 90% of the land to local farmers.

The tribe, headquartered in White Cloud, Kansas, has now bought back about one-third of its original reservation, Foster said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606396888915.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska is creating the nation's largest tribal national park on a forested bluff overlooking the Missouri River and a historic site of its people.The 444-acre park will allow the tribe to tell the story of the Ioway people and provide a rustic getaway where people can hike, camp and bird-watch, said Lance Foster, the vice chairman of the tribe.“We’ve been here for a thousand years now and, unlike other people who can buy and sell land and move away, we can never move away,” Foster said. “This is our land forever. And we’ll be here for another 1,000 years."The new Ioway Tribal National Park will overlook a historic trading village where the Ioway people bartered for buffalo hides and pipestones with other tribes during the 13th to 15th centuries. That site includes three burial mounds that date back 3,000 years.The Nature Conservancy of Nebraska recently transferred 284 acres to the tribe, which plans to use the land and an adjacent 160 acres that the conservancy donated two years ago to establish the second such tribal national park in the country&nbsp;<a href="https://omaha.com/news/state-and-regional/iowa-tribe-creates-444-acre-tribal-national-park-on-nebraska-kansas-border/article_ad481bf0-5f00-5cd3-85d9-ebdf18ec0970.html">.</a>&nbsp;It is located just southeast of Rulo, Nebraska, on the Nebraska-Kansas border.Mace Hack, executive director of the Nebraska chapter of the conservancy, said his group has worked with the Iowa Tribe for years and was aware of how well it managed property.“It just seemed like the right thing to do,” Hack said. “We wanted to help the tribe connect even more deeply to their ancestral lands and heritage.”Acquiring the land also fits with the tribe’s goal of restoring tribally owned lands on its reservation, which once spanned 12,000 acres on both sides of the Nebraska-Kansas border. An 1887 federal “allotment” act that subdivided the reservation to individual families resulted in the selling off of 90% of the land to local farmers.The tribe, headquartered in White Cloud, Kansas, has now bought back about one-third of its original reservation, Foster said.

Largest tribal national park created on Kansas border

By PAUL JOHNSON <a href="https://kansasruralcenter.org/">Kansas Rural Center</a>

Federal farm bills direct 
Kansas agriculture. The larger farms in Kansas and their bankers farm 
the farm bill to reap a significant share of more than $1 billion 
annually in federal payments to the state.

<a href="https://www.usda.gov/farmbill">The farm bill</a>
 has fundamental flaws. Its payments go disproportionately to larger 
farms, ensuring greater consolidation of farms and driving down rural 
population and economies. It subsidizes a select number of crops at the 
expense of a healthier diet and greater diversification of farmer 
opportunities. Federal officials have abandoned any enforcement of 
antitrust and fair competition laws, leading to vertical, corporate 
consolidation of our food system at the expense of farmers and 
consumers.

Federal farm payments have been judged “<a href="https://farm.ewg.org/">public record payments</a>” to individual farms and state totals. To get a sense of consolidation, all you have to do is look at some of the numbers.

From 1995 to 2020, Kansas 
received $24.7 billion in farm payments: $13.3 billion in commodity 
payments, $6.3 billion in crop insurance subsidies, $2.01 billion in 
disaster payments, $3.04 billion in conservation payments.

Of the $13.3 billion in 
commodity payments, 88% went to just 20% of the recipients. That left 
only 12% for the bottom 80% of recipients.

As of the <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2017/index.php">2017 USDA Agriculture Census</a>, Kansas had 58,569 farms — down from 65,531 in 2007.

As if to reinforce U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s stated belief that “<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/agriculture-secretary-sonny-perdue-says-family-farms-might-not-survive/">the big get bigger and the small go out</a>,”
 land ownership continues to consolidate as neighbors hustle to buy any 
available land and beginning farmers struggle to find financing if they 
don’t have significant capital backing. Around 40% of Kansas farmland is
 now farmed by tenant farmers; much of this land is owned by an aging 
generation, and more speculators and insurance and investment firms are 
looking at buying land. Given the instability and uncertainty of farm 
income from a few commodities, speculators can buy land with special tax
 breaks and gamble on turning the land over in the near future.

If land ownership goes the same way as animal agriculture, Kansas will be home to mostly mega-farms.

In our free market 
capitalist economy, the farm bill selectively subsidizes just five 
crops: wheat, corn, soybeans, cotton and rice. (In Kansas, sorghum is 
another subsidized animal feed grain). Nationwide, 63% of farm subsidies
 go to grains that feed livestock, 20% to grains that feed people and 
15% to sugar, starch and oils. Fruits and vegetables account for less 
than 1%.

That contradicts the government’s own recommendation: The <a href="https://www.choosemyplate.gov/">USDA Food Plate</a> promotes five servings daily of fruits and vegetables — 50% of the plate.

Kansas, meanwhile, has an <a href="https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/annual/measure/Obesity/state/KS">adult obesity rate of 34%</a> that costs hundreds of millions annually in extra health care costs.

These taxpayer-funded feed grain farm subsidies also fuel the expansion of large confined animal feeding operations (<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/docs/understanding_cafos_nalboh.pdf">CAFOs</a>) instead of diversified pasture-based farms that improve soil health.

Kansas has a total of 953 
hog farms, but 110 of them control 2 million of the state’s 2.1 million 
hogs. There are 160,000 dairy cows and 639 dairies in the state, but 75 
of them control 145,000 of the cows.

Vertical corporate control by a very few corporations has also captured the poultry and now the swine market.

Kansas is primarily cattle
 country, accounting for $10.9 billion of the state $18.7 billion in 
total farm sales (while grains total $6 billion in sales). In Kansas, <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/09/22/what-consolidated-meat-production-costs-kansas-ranchers-and-eaters/">four beef corporations control</a>
 85% of all beef processing. Between 70-80% of all cattle sales involve 
animals that are already owned by meat packing companies, or were raised
 specifically to be sold to a particular meatpacker, thus destroying the
 remnants of any free market.

Kansans who don’t know 
much about the farm economy but who want to support a healthier farm 
bill could encourage our congressional representatives to make these 
changes to the 2020 farm bill:

As farmers continue to 
age, we need a coordinated federal and state plan to increase 
opportunities for younger, beginning farmers through loans and grants. 
While Kansas imports 95% of the produce consumed in the state, there is 
no Kansas food and farm plan to capture millions of exported food 
dollars locally to bolster rural communities.

Lawmakers in Topeka should
 also have a serious conversation about how well more than $1 billion in
 farm payments and $300 million in food stamps (Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program) succeed in reducing hunger in Kansas.

Kansans deserve a 
substantive debate and a new plan to tackle farm consolidation and 
corporate food system control — one that points the way to a brighter 
local food and farm vision for the state and its future generations.

Paul Johnson has been an organic market gardener in northeast Kansas for 30 years. He is a policy analyst and advocate for the Kansas Rural Center.

Republished courtesy the Kansas Reflector

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606165581742.jpeg" alt="Image by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay" />
 <figcaption>Image by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay</figcaption>
 </figure>By PAUL JOHNSON <a href="https://kansasruralcenter.org/">Kansas Rural Center</a>Federal farm bills direct 
Kansas agriculture. The larger farms in Kansas and their bankers farm 
the farm bill to reap a significant share of more than $1 billion 
annually in federal payments to the state.<a href="https://www.usda.gov/farmbill">The farm bill</a>
 has fundamental flaws. Its payments go disproportionately to larger 
farms, ensuring greater consolidation of farms and driving down rural 
population and economies. It subsidizes a select number of crops at the 
expense of a healthier diet and greater diversification of farmer 
opportunities. Federal officials have abandoned any enforcement of 
antitrust and fair competition laws, leading to vertical, corporate 
consolidation of our food system at the expense of farmers and 
consumers.Federal farm payments have been judged “<a href="https://farm.ewg.org/">public record payments</a>” to individual farms and state totals. To get a sense of consolidation, all you have to do is look at some of the numbers.From 1995 to 2020, Kansas 
received $24.7 billion in farm payments: $13.3 billion in commodity 
payments, $6.3 billion in crop insurance subsidies, $2.01 billion in 
disaster payments, $3.04 billion in conservation payments.Of the $13.3 billion in 
commodity payments, 88% went to just 20% of the recipients. That left 
only 12% for the bottom 80% of recipients.As of the <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2017/index.php">2017 USDA Agriculture Census</a>, Kansas had 58,569 farms — down from 65,531 in 2007.As if to reinforce U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s stated belief that “<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/agriculture-secretary-sonny-perdue-says-family-farms-might-not-survive/">the big get bigger and the small go out</a>,”
 land ownership continues to consolidate as neighbors hustle to buy any 
available land and beginning farmers struggle to find financing if they 
don’t have significant capital backing. Around 40% of Kansas farmland is
 now farmed by tenant farmers; much of this land is owned by an aging 
generation, and more speculators and insurance and investment firms are 
looking at buying land. Given the instability and uncertainty of farm 
income from a few commodities, speculators can buy land with special tax
 breaks and gamble on turning the land over in the near future.If land ownership goes the same way as animal agriculture, Kansas will be home to mostly mega-farms.In our free market 
capitalist economy, the farm bill selectively subsidizes just five 
crops: wheat, corn, soybeans, cotton and rice. (In Kansas, sorghum is 
another subsidized animal feed grain). Nationwide, 63% of farm subsidies
 go to grains that feed livestock, 20% to grains that feed people and 
15% to sugar, starch and oils. Fruits and vegetables account for less 
than 1%.That contradicts the government’s own recommendation: The <a href="https://www.choosemyplate.gov/">USDA Food Plate</a> promotes five servings daily of fruits and vegetables — 50% of the plate.Kansas, meanwhile, has an <a href="https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/annual/measure/Obesity/state/KS">adult obesity rate of 34%</a> that costs hundreds of millions annually in extra health care costs.These taxpayer-funded feed grain farm subsidies also fuel the expansion of large confined animal feeding operations (<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/docs/understanding_cafos_nalboh.pdf">CAFOs</a>) instead of diversified pasture-based farms that improve soil health.Kansas has a total of 953 
hog farms, but 110 of them control 2 million of the state’s 2.1 million 
hogs. There are 160,000 dairy cows and 639 dairies in the state, but 75 
of them control 145,000 of the cows.Vertical corporate control by a very few corporations has also captured the poultry and now the swine market.Kansas is primarily cattle
 country, accounting for $10.9 billion of the state $18.7 billion in 
total farm sales (while grains total $6 billion in sales). In Kansas, <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/09/22/what-consolidated-meat-production-costs-kansas-ranchers-and-eaters/">four beef corporations control</a>
 85% of all beef processing. Between 70-80% of all cattle sales involve 
animals that are already owned by meat packing companies, or were raised
 specifically to be sold to a particular meatpacker, thus destroying the
 remnants of any free market.Kansans who don’t know 
much about the farm economy but who want to support a healthier farm 
bill could encourage our congressional representatives to make these 
changes to the 2020 farm bill:<ul>
 <li>Cap and phase out the commodity and crop insurance public subsidies to the largest farms over the next five years.</li><li>Fully fund conservation programs that <a href="https://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/conservation-programs/conservation-reserve-program/">take land out of production to bolster commodity prices</a>, encourage <a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/csp/">stewardship practices</a>, and help producers <a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/eqip/">address environmental concerns</a>
 – and make them available to many more farms. Farmers should count on 
this conservation income to allow much greater diversification, while 
the public will benefit from less soil ending up in Kansas reservoirs.</li>
 </ul>As farmers continue to 
age, we need a coordinated federal and state plan to increase 
opportunities for younger, beginning farmers through loans and grants. 
While Kansas imports 95% of the produce consumed in the state, there is 
no Kansas food and farm plan to capture millions of exported food 
dollars locally to bolster rural communities.Lawmakers in Topeka should
 also have a serious conversation about how well more than $1 billion in
 farm payments and $300 million in food stamps (Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program) succeed in reducing hunger in Kansas.Kansans deserve a 
substantive debate and a new plan to tackle farm consolidation and 
corporate food system control — one that points the way to a brighter 
local food and farm vision for the state and its future generations.Paul Johnson has been an organic market gardener in northeast Kansas for 30 years. He is a policy analyst and advocate for the Kansas Rural Center.Republished courtesy the Kansas Reflector

How the federal farm bill hurts Kansas and how to begin fixing it

By STEPHAN BISAHA <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/post/kansas-snow-days-good-soul-pandemic-means-fewer-them-even-after-2020">Kansas News Service</a>

WICHITA — Between concerns about schools 
staying open and the challenges of learning remotely, teachers and 
students are haunted by another question that goes beyond 2020: Will 
snow days disappear forever?

Schools invested in both the knowhow and technology to teach students remotely. In the midst of a pandemic, they had no choice.

The
 resulting capability to hold classes that reached into students’ homes 
means that heavy snows, slick roads or sub-zero temperatures don’t have 
to shut down virtual schooling.

But Kansas school districts are reluctant to freeze out the snow day tradition entirely.

For
 one thing, months of online learning have exposed the practice as less 
effective than in-person classes. For another, educators embrace those 
weather-driven, stress-free breaks just like the kids.

“Having 
those snow days is part of the tradition of being a student, being a 
teacher,” said Tom Vontz, the director of the Master of Arts in Teaching
 program at Kansas State University. “Bucking that tradition probably 
won’t be easy for administrators.”

When
 Lori Ray’s kids were growing up, they went through all the nighttime 
rituals in hopes of making a snow day happen. Spoon under the pillow. 
PJs worn inside out. Flush an ice cube down a toilet.

Now as the 
superintendent of Parsons District Schools in southeast Kansas, Ray 
makes the snow day decisions. She’s predicting that in future years, if 
an especially bad snow storm creeps onto the radar, those students will 
learn remotely.

“If there was sometime where we knew, ‘OK, we got
 these three or four days — like Snowemagedon, it’s coming — we’re going
 to send the devices home,’” Ray said. “Make sure kids have checked out 
the hotspots if they need them.”

Kansas schools typically build a
 few snow days into their calendar. But if a stretch of nasty weather 
keeps kids out of school for long stretches, districts face an equally 
bad option to make up the time — taking days away from summer vacation.

Beyond
 those especially bad — and telegraphed — storms, Ray doesn’t expect 
snow days to go away. Remote classes can’t happen after a sudden snow 
storm if the kids weren’t sent home with the proper technology.

Plus Ray argues a day of sledding and hot cocoa is worth a missed school day.

“Snow days are magical,” Ray said. “Every kid needs to have a great snow day memory.”

Ending snow days would mean replacing a beloved tradition with a hated pandemic compromise — remote teaching.

Even
 after a spring and fall spent teaching kids remotely, school districts 
still struggle to make learning outside the classroom work. Teaching 
elementary students can be a particular <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/post/it-not-sustainable-kansas-online-teachers-are-overworked-and-quitting" target="_blank">challenge</a> because those kids can’t work as independently as middle and high school students.

“There
 doesn’t seem to be a reason you couldn’t do away with snow days,” said 
Mark Tallman, the associate director for the Kansas Association of 
School Boards. “But there’s still so much uncertainty about how 
effective that is.”

Instead, giving students that surprise day off and the mental relief that comes with it could be better than any remote lessons.

El Dorado Public Schools took advantage of that last month for its first snowfall — while this winter looks like it will be <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/us-winter-outlook-cooler-north-warmer-south-with-ongoing-la-nina" target="_blank">warmer than normal</a>, Kansas received some <a href="https://www.kctv5.com/weather/blog/first-snow-of-the-season-to-arrive-in-our-area-on-monday/article_a93443c8-1717-11eb-97e6-db566e140b7b.html" target="_blank">early snow</a>
 this year. The district declared a snow day, even for the students that
 were learning remotely. Putting away the textbooks and laptop to watch 
the roads turn white became a short break from a stressful semester.

“Everybody needed a little bit of that normalcy,” said Teresa Tosh, the El Dorado superintendent. “It was good for our soul.”

Remote learning will likely mean fewer snow days for El Dorado kids, but not a total end to the spontaneous holidays.

“Sometimes kids need to go outside and make a snowman,” Tosh said. “Sledding is not a bad thing.”

Stephan Bisaha reports on education and young adult life for the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/stevebisaha" target="_blank">@SteveBisaha</a> or email him at bisaha@kmuw.org.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606487038592.png" alt="Briana O'Higgins / KMUW " />
 <figcaption>Briana O'Higgins / KMUW </figcaption>
 </figure>By STEPHAN BISAHA <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/post/kansas-snow-days-good-soul-pandemic-means-fewer-them-even-after-2020">Kansas News Service</a>WICHITA — Between concerns about schools 
staying open and the challenges of learning remotely, teachers and 
students are haunted by another question that goes beyond 2020: Will 
snow days disappear forever?Schools invested in both the knowhow and technology to teach students remotely. In the midst of a pandemic, they had no choice.The
 resulting capability to hold classes that reached into students’ homes 
means that heavy snows, slick roads or sub-zero temperatures don’t have 
to shut down virtual schooling.But Kansas school districts are reluctant to freeze out the snow day tradition entirely.For
 one thing, months of online learning have exposed the practice as less 
effective than in-person classes. For another, educators embrace those 
weather-driven, stress-free breaks just like the kids.“Having 
those snow days is part of the tradition of being a student, being a 
teacher,” said Tom Vontz, the director of the Master of Arts in Teaching
 program at Kansas State University. “Bucking that tradition probably 
won’t be easy for administrators.”<h2>Snow days snow-more</h2>When
 Lori Ray’s kids were growing up, they went through all the nighttime 
rituals in hopes of making a snow day happen. Spoon under the pillow. 
PJs worn inside out. Flush an ice cube down a toilet.Now as the 
superintendent of Parsons District Schools in southeast Kansas, Ray 
makes the snow day decisions. She’s predicting that in future years, if 
an especially bad snow storm creeps onto the radar, those students will 
learn remotely.“If there was sometime where we knew, ‘OK, we got
 these three or four days — like Snowemagedon, it’s coming — we’re going
 to send the devices home,’” Ray said. “Make sure kids have checked out 
the hotspots if they need them.”Kansas schools typically build a
 few snow days into their calendar. But if a stretch of nasty weather 
keeps kids out of school for long stretches, districts face an equally 
bad option to make up the time — taking days away from summer vacation.Beyond
 those especially bad — and telegraphed — storms, Ray doesn’t expect 
snow days to go away. Remote classes can’t happen after a sudden snow 
storm if the kids weren’t sent home with the proper technology.Plus Ray argues a day of sledding and hot cocoa is worth a missed school day.“Snow days are magical,” Ray said. “Every kid needs to have a great snow day memory.”<h2>Remote learning’s chilly reception</h2>Ending snow days would mean replacing a beloved tradition with a hated pandemic compromise — remote teaching.Even
 after a spring and fall spent teaching kids remotely, school districts 
still struggle to make learning outside the classroom work. Teaching 
elementary students can be a particular <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/post/it-not-sustainable-kansas-online-teachers-are-overworked-and-quitting" target="_blank">challenge</a> because those kids can’t work as independently as middle and high school students.“There
 doesn’t seem to be a reason you couldn’t do away with snow days,” said 
Mark Tallman, the associate director for the Kansas Association of 
School Boards. “But there’s still so much uncertainty about how 
effective that is.”Instead, giving students that surprise day off and the mental relief that comes with it could be better than any remote lessons.El Dorado Public Schools took advantage of that last month for its first snowfall — while this winter looks like it will be <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/us-winter-outlook-cooler-north-warmer-south-with-ongoing-la-nina" target="_blank">warmer than normal</a>, Kansas received some <a href="https://www.kctv5.com/weather/blog/first-snow-of-the-season-to-arrive-in-our-area-on-monday/article_a93443c8-1717-11eb-97e6-db566e140b7b.html" target="_blank">early snow</a>
 this year. The district declared a snow day, even for the students that
 were learning remotely. Putting away the textbooks and laptop to watch 
the roads turn white became a short break from a stressful semester.“Everybody needed a little bit of that normalcy,” said Teresa Tosh, the El Dorado superintendent. “It was good for our soul.”Remote learning will likely mean fewer snow days for El Dorado kids, but not a total end to the spontaneous holidays.“Sometimes kids need to go outside and make a snowman,” Tosh said. “Sledding is not a bad thing.”Stephan Bisaha reports on education and young adult life for the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/stevebisaha" target="_blank">@SteveBisaha</a> or email him at bisaha@kmuw.org.

Pandemic could spell the end to snow days in Kan. schools

By ANNE CHRISTIANSEN-BULLERS KUMC News Service

KANSAS CITY — Men with cancer and COVID-19 may be at significantly higher risk for severe symptoms and even death as compared to females fighting both, a University of Kansas Cancer Center research team has found.

<a href="http://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/internal-medicine/divisions/medical-oncology/faculty/anup-kasi-md.html" target="_blank">Anup Kasi</a>, M.D., MPH, assistant professor of oncology at the University of Kansas Medical Center and The University of Kansas Cancer Center, and his team analyzed information from multiple studies involving patients with both cancer and COVID-19.

The odds of male cancer patients suffering severe illness or death from COVID-19 are 60 percent higher compared to female patients, their research showed.

"Knowing this propensity for poorer outcomes in males with COVID-19 and cancer will help physicians make better decisions in caring for them in clinical settings," Kasi said.

The news was initially published in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(20)30263-7/fulltext#%20" target="_blank">EClinical Medicine</a>, a clinical journal published online by The Lancet. The Lancet, a prestigious international weekly medical journal, then carried an updated version of the study in its<a href="https://info.thelancet.com/eclinm-gender-equality-collection" target="_blank">&nbsp;"Gender Equality and Health"</a>&nbsp;article collection.

Clinicians also learned of the study findings through medical news sites such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.esmo.org/oncology-news/male-patients-with-cancer-at-higher-risk-of-severe-disease-course-and-mortality-attributable-to-covid-19" target="_blank">ESMO</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.medwirenews.com/oncology/infectious-disease/male-cancer-patients-poor-covid19-outcomes/18344002" target="_blank">Medwire</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://oncology.medicinematters.com/covid-19/risk-factors/male-cancer-patients-poor-covid19-outcomes/18343990">Medicine Matters</a>.

"We were especially happy that ESMO highlighted our study to raise awareness among the cancer community," Kasi said. "Both ESMO and The Lancet are selective in what they choose to share."

The research team collected 17 different studies about COVID-19 and cancer from when COVID-19 first appeared to June 2020. They scoured medical-publication databases and proceedings from online conferences to study a total of 3,968 patients who battled both COVID-19 and cancer.

In addition to Kasi, the research team from The University of Kansas Cancer Center included:

In studies prior to this,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2020/20_0247.htm#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20largest%20body,fatality%20ratio%20is%20approximately%202.4" target="_blank">other researchers</a>&nbsp;had noted a higher death rate for men who contracted COVID-19. In fact, China, Italy and Ireland reported that men accounted for 70 percent of all COVID-19 deaths.

Would such gender differences also apply to cancer patients? "We didn't know if the same gender differences in severity risk would still apply or not," Kasi said.

That's because cancer and the impact of cancer treatment, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy or targeted therapy, could have drastically changed that "gender factor." Instead, they found that the rates of severe symptoms and death in male patients with cancer were comparable with the general population.

Within days of the EClinical Medicine publication, Kasi and Mehta presented related information at a meeting of the&nbsp;<a href="https://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/26/18_Supplement/PO-082.full">American Association for Cancer Research</a>. Instead of searching far and wide for a patient pool to study, the two looked closer to home. They analyzed factors that might contribute to the severity of COVID-19 symptoms in cancer patients using only patients from the University&nbsp;of Kansas Cancer Center.

Those patients were asked to join a list of cancer patients across the United States who contracted COVID-19. These lists, called registries, were set up to help researchers identify trends and treatments for this unique population fighting a very new virus.

At KU Cancer Center, patients could register for&nbsp;three different registries, including:

The University of Kansas Cancer patients who opted into the CCC-19 registry were also included in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31187-9/fulltext" target="_blank">a larger-scale study</a>&nbsp;of COVID-19's effects on cancer patients published three months earlier. That study encompassed 928 patients from the United States, Canada and Spain and included Kasi and Wulff-Burchfield as authors.

It also showed a higher mortality rate for males fighting cancer and COVID-19 as compared to females, though its focus was broader than the KU Cancer Center's EClinical Medicine study and included sex difference as only one of many factors studied.

"The data behind risk factors for COVID-19 in the general population as well as in the cancer patient population is still evolving," Kasi said. "But the takeaway message is that the male sex may be a potential risk factor in the cancer patient population for poor outcomes with COVID-19 infections.

Active chemotherapy also a risk factor for cancer patients fighting COVID-19

"...we were rather surprised at the level of increased risk."

Individuals who are receiving chemotherapy to treat cancer are also at any increased risk of death from COVID-19, according to another study co-authored by Kasi.

In this study, cancer patients actively receiving chemotherapy treatments were 51 percent more likely to die of COVID-19 than those who were not receiving chemotherapy. Other cancer treatments such as targeted therapy, immunotherapy and recent surgery were not associated with an increased risk of death.

"We had suspected that chemotherapy patients were at increased risk, but we were rather surprised at the level of increased risk," Kasi said.

<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0284186X.2020.1837946" target="_blank">The study</a>&nbsp;was published in Acta Oncologica, a leading peer-reviewed medical journal of clinical oncology.

Kasi said he would like to continue his research to see if men who are undergoing chemotherapy treatment are at even greater risk of death due to COVID-19 than women receiving chemotherapy. "It would be worth finding out if the gender risk is maintained in this population," he said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606255611581.jpeg" alt="Men with cancer have a 60 percent greater chance of severe symptoms or death from COVID-19 than women with cancer, a study by researchers from the University of Kansas Cancer Center found. Another study (see box below) showed that chemotherapy patients were also at higher risk." />
 <figcaption>Men with cancer have a 60 percent greater chance of severe symptoms or death from COVID-19 than women with cancer, a study by researchers from the University of Kansas Cancer Center found. Another study (see box below) showed that chemotherapy patients were also at higher risk.</figcaption>
 </figure>By ANNE CHRISTIANSEN-BULLERS KUMC News ServiceKANSAS CITY — Men with cancer and COVID-19 may be at significantly higher risk for severe symptoms and even death as compared to females fighting both, a University of Kansas Cancer Center research team has found.<a href="http://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/internal-medicine/divisions/medical-oncology/faculty/anup-kasi-md.html" target="_blank">Anup Kasi</a>, M.D., MPH, assistant professor of oncology at the University of Kansas Medical Center and The University of Kansas Cancer Center, and his team analyzed information from multiple studies involving patients with both cancer and COVID-19.The odds of male cancer patients suffering severe illness or death from COVID-19 are 60 percent higher compared to female patients, their research showed."Knowing this propensity for poorer outcomes in males with COVID-19 and cancer will help physicians make better decisions in caring for them in clinical settings," Kasi said.<h2>About the study</h2>The news was initially published in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(20)30263-7/fulltext#%20" target="_blank">EClinical Medicine</a>, a clinical journal published online by The Lancet. The Lancet, a prestigious international weekly medical journal, then carried an updated version of the study in its<a href="https://info.thelancet.com/eclinm-gender-equality-collection" target="_blank">&nbsp;"Gender Equality and Health"</a>&nbsp;article collection.Clinicians also learned of the study findings through medical news sites such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.esmo.org/oncology-news/male-patients-with-cancer-at-higher-risk-of-severe-disease-course-and-mortality-attributable-to-covid-19" target="_blank">ESMO</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.medwirenews.com/oncology/infectious-disease/male-cancer-patients-poor-covid19-outcomes/18344002" target="_blank">Medwire</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://oncology.medicinematters.com/covid-19/risk-factors/male-cancer-patients-poor-covid19-outcomes/18343990">Medicine Matters</a>."We were especially happy that ESMO highlighted our study to raise awareness among the cancer community," Kasi said. "Both ESMO and The Lancet are selective in what they choose to share."The research team collected 17 different studies about COVID-19 and cancer from when COVID-19 first appeared to June 2020. They scoured medical-publication databases and proceedings from online conferences to study a total of 3,968 patients who battled both COVID-19 and cancer.In addition to Kasi, the research team from The University of Kansas Cancer Center included:<ul>
 <li><a href="http://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/internal-medicine/divisions/medical-oncology/faculty/kathan-mehta.html" target="_blank">Kathan Mehta</a>, M.D., MPH, assistant professor of oncology</li><li><a href="http://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/internal-medicine/divisions/medical-oncology/faculty/weijing-sun-md-facp.html">Weijing Sun</a>, M.D., FACP, professor and division director of oncology</li><li><a href="http://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/internal-medicine/divisions/medical-oncology/faculty/elizabeth-m-wulff-burchfield-md.html">Elizabeth Wulff-Burchfield</a>, M.D., assistant professor of oncology</li>
 </ul><h2>Building on prior research</h2>In studies prior to this,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2020/20_0247.htm#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20largest%20body,fatality%20ratio%20is%20approximately%202.4" target="_blank">other researchers</a>&nbsp;had noted a higher death rate for men who contracted COVID-19. In fact, China, Italy and Ireland reported that men accounted for 70 percent of all COVID-19 deaths.Would such gender differences also apply to cancer patients? "We didn't know if the same gender differences in severity risk would still apply or not," Kasi said.That's because cancer and the impact of cancer treatment, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy or targeted therapy, could have drastically changed that "gender factor." Instead, they found that the rates of severe symptoms and death in male patients with cancer were comparable with the general population.<h2>Local cohort</h2>Within days of the EClinical Medicine publication, Kasi and Mehta presented related information at a meeting of the&nbsp;<a href="https://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/26/18_Supplement/PO-082.full">American Association for Cancer Research</a>. Instead of searching far and wide for a patient pool to study, the two looked closer to home. They analyzed factors that might contribute to the severity of COVID-19 symptoms in cancer patients using only patients from the University&nbsp;of Kansas Cancer Center.Those patients were asked to join a list of cancer patients across the United States who contracted COVID-19. These lists, called registries, were set up to help researchers identify trends and treatments for this unique population fighting a very new virus.At KU Cancer Center, patients could register for&nbsp;three different registries, including:<ul>
 <li><a href="https://ccc19.org/" target="_blank">COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.asco.org/asco-coronavirus-information/coronavirus-registry" target="_blank">American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Registry</a></li><li><a href="https://www.cancer.gov/research/key-initiatives/covid-19/coronavirus-research-initiatives/nccaps">National Cancer Institute COVID-19 in Cancer Patients Study (NCCAPS)</a></li>
 </ul><h2>Larger cohort</h2>The University of Kansas Cancer patients who opted into the CCC-19 registry were also included in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31187-9/fulltext" target="_blank">a larger-scale study</a>&nbsp;of COVID-19's effects on cancer patients published three months earlier. That study encompassed 928 patients from the United States, Canada and Spain and included Kasi and Wulff-Burchfield as authors.It also showed a higher mortality rate for males fighting cancer and COVID-19 as compared to females, though its focus was broader than the KU Cancer Center's EClinical Medicine study and included sex difference as only one of many factors studied."The data behind risk factors for COVID-19 in the general population as well as in the cancer patient population is still evolving," Kasi said. "But the takeaway message is that the male sex may be a potential risk factor in the cancer patient population for poor outcomes with COVID-19 infections.<h2>Active chemotherapy also a risk factor for cancer patients fighting COVID-19</h2><figure>
 <img src="http://www.kumc.edu/Images/news/men.cancer.covid_Kasi.JPG" alt="Anup Kasi, M.D., MPH" />
 <figcaption>Anup Kasi, M.D., MPH</figcaption>
 </figure>"...we were rather surprised at the level of increased risk."Individuals who are receiving chemotherapy to treat cancer are also at any increased risk of death from COVID-19, according to another study co-authored by Kasi.In this study, cancer patients actively receiving chemotherapy treatments were 51 percent more likely to die of COVID-19 than those who were not receiving chemotherapy. Other cancer treatments such as targeted therapy, immunotherapy and recent surgery were not associated with an increased risk of death."We had suspected that chemotherapy patients were at increased risk, but we were rather surprised at the level of increased risk," Kasi said.<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0284186X.2020.1837946" target="_blank">The study</a>&nbsp;was published in Acta Oncologica, a leading peer-reviewed medical journal of clinical oncology.Kasi said he would like to continue his research to see if men who are undergoing chemotherapy treatment are at even greater risk of death due to COVID-19 than women receiving chemotherapy. "It would be worth finding out if the gender risk is maintained in this population," he said.

KU study: Men fighting COVID, cancer at higher risk than women

JACKSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect in connection with a series of robberies.

Just before 8p.m Thursday, a Kansas State Trooper stopped a 1995 Cadillac Deville south of Hoyt on US 75 75 for a traffic infraction, according to Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse.

 The Trooper requested assistance, and Sheriff Morse responded to the scene. The Trooper and Sheriff initiated a felony car stop and took 26-year-old Justin Ross Kimble, of Omaha, Nebraska into custody. 

Kimble was wanted out of the State of Oklahoma for 6 counts of robbery by force or fear. 

Further inquiry discovered the vehicle Kimble was driving had been taken in an alleged carjacking in Omaha, Nebraska earlier on Thanksgiving Day. Kimble is currently being held in the Jackson County Jail. Additional charges on Kimble are expected, according to Morse.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606566368386.png" alt="Kimble- photo Jackson County" />
 <figcaption>Kimble- photo Jackson County</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect in connection with a series of robberies.Just before 8p.m Thursday, a Kansas State Trooper stopped a 1995 Cadillac Deville south of Hoyt on US 75 75 for a traffic infraction, according to Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse. The Trooper requested assistance, and Sheriff Morse responded to the scene. The Trooper and Sheriff initiated a felony car stop and took 26-year-old Justin Ross Kimble, of Omaha, Nebraska into custody. Kimble was wanted out of the State of Oklahoma for 6 counts of robbery by force or fear. Further inquiry discovered the vehicle Kimble was driving had been taken in an alleged carjacking in Omaha, Nebraska earlier on Thanksgiving Day. Kimble is currently being held in the Jackson County Jail. Additional charges on Kimble are expected, according to Morse.

Oklahoma robbery suspect captured in Kansas

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Authorities are investigating another Kansas City killing as the homicide total for the year climbs to 174.

Police said officers found the the body Friday night near homes while responding to a report of “suspicious party"

Police spokesman Capt. David Jackson said the injuries were consistent with foul play. But police were unable to determine a cause of death at the crime scene.

The homicide total is up sharply from 2019. By this time last year, there had been 139 killings.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Authorities are investigating another Kansas City killing as the homicide total for the year climbs to 174.Police said officers found the the body Friday night near homes while responding to a report of “suspicious party"Police spokesman Capt. David Jackson said the injuries were consistent with foul play. But police were unable to determine a cause of death at the crime scene.The homicide total is up sharply from 2019. By this time last year, there had been 139 killings.

Kansas City 2020 homicide total climbs to 174

FRANKLIN COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident just after 12:30p.m. Saturday in Franklin County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1955&nbsp;Swift Gc-1B fixed wing&nbsp; airplane piloted by&nbsp; Wade Lee Mace, 66, Ottawa, was on the ground traveling westbound&nbsp; on Rock Creek Road attempting to get into the air. 

The aircraft left the roadway, veered to the northwest losing power and crashed into the open field on the northeast corner of the intersection at Montana Road.

EMS transported&nbsp; Mace to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. Authorities released no additional details.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606601234927.png" alt="Location of the crash Google map" />
 <figcaption>Location of the crash Google map</figcaption>
 </figure>FRANKLIN COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident just after 12:30p.m. Saturday in Franklin County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1955&nbsp;Swift Gc-1B fixed wing&nbsp; airplane piloted by&nbsp; Wade Lee Mace, 66, Ottawa, was on the ground traveling westbound&nbsp; on Rock Creek Road attempting to get into the air. The aircraft left the roadway, veered to the northwest losing power and crashed into the open field on the northeast corner of the intersection at Montana Road.EMS transported&nbsp; Mace to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. Authorities released no additional details.

Kan. man hospitalized after airplane accident on takeoff

ATCHISON— Authorities continue working to determine the cause&nbsp; of an explosion and fire at MGP Ingredients in Atchison.

Just after 8p.m. Friday, crews responded to the fire in the 100 Block of Commercial Street, according to Police Chief Mike Wilson. Firefighters worked on a grain fire for a period of time in the area of the explosion. Traffic was diverted from the immediate area throughout the evening but no residents were evacuated, according to Wilson.&nbsp; Employees were not injured.

In a statement Saturday, MGP said they are assessing the damage and trying to determine the cause of the fire.

MGP is a supplier of premium distilled spirits and specialty wheat proteins and starches, according to the company web site.

Earlier this year, MGP was fined $1 million for violating the federal Clean Air Act.

Check the Post for additional details as they become available.

ATCHISON— Authorities are working to determine the cause&nbsp; of an explosion and fire at MGP Ingredients in Atchison.

Just after 8p.m. Friday, crews responded to the fire in the 100 Block of Commercial Street, according to Police Chief Mike Wilson.

There are no injuries reported and nothing hazardous from the fire.

MGP is a leading supplier of premium distilled spirits and specialty wheat proteins and starches, according to the company web site.&nbsp;Earlier this year, the company was fined $1 million for violating the federal Clean Air Act.

ATCHISON— Authorities continue working to determine the cause&nbsp; of an explosion and fire at MGP Ingredients in Atchison.Just after 8p.m. Friday, crews responded to the fire in the 100 Block of Commercial Street, according to Police Chief Mike Wilson. Firefighters worked on a grain fire for a period of time in the area of the explosion. Traffic was diverted from the immediate area throughout the evening but no residents were evacuated, according to Wilson.&nbsp; Employees were not injured.In a statement Saturday, MGP said they are assessing the damage and trying to determine the cause of the fire.MGP is a supplier of premium distilled spirits and specialty wheat proteins and starches, according to the company web site.Earlier this year, MGP was fined $1 million for violating the federal Clean Air Act.Check the Post for additional details as they become available.-------ATCHISON— Authorities are working to determine the cause&nbsp; of an explosion and fire at MGP Ingredients in Atchison.Just after 8p.m. Friday, crews responded to the fire in the 100 Block of Commercial Street, according to Police Chief Mike Wilson.There are no injuries reported and nothing hazardous from the fire.MGP is a leading supplier of premium distilled spirits and specialty wheat proteins and starches, according to the company web site.&nbsp;Earlier this year, the company was fined $1 million for violating the federal Clean Air Act.Check the Post for additional details as they become available.

Update: Cause of Fire at Kan. alcohol plant under investigation

Democrat counters COVID-19 economy forces families to measure job rewards against health risks

By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/11/23/gop-legislators-kansans-choosing-jobless-benefits-cheat-system-guilty-of-complacency/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — The pandemic’s 
building strength in Kansas exacerbates the threat to public health and 
further diminishes the survivability of businesses and the availability 
of good jobs.

It also generates 
political frustration at the Capitol as hundreds of millions of dollars 
flow to the unemployed and the state trust fund built by employers to 
cover these costs rapidly dwindles. It stings more when lawmakers hear 
anecdotal reports of unemployed Kansans rejecting job offers because it 
may be possible to earn more in the short term by cashing benefit checks
 than returning to work.

Rep. Sean Tarwater, a 
Stilwell Republican, said the Kansas Department of Labor should take 
action against Kansans who refuse opportunity to get back to work. He 
encouraged an executive at a Kansas human resource company to turn such 
people into the state.

“They should stop paying 
those people when you let them know that because you’ve offered them a 
job,” Tarwater said. “Instead, we’re just paying out funds that aren’t 
ours to these people. And it’s going to be on our businesses to 
replenish this, because our governor isn’t going to stand up for him.”

Sen. Julia Lynn, a Johnson
 County Republican who chairs an interim House and Senate committee 
studying how to position the state for economic recovery from COVID-19, 
said she was disturbed by signs of sloth.

“It’s almost like there’s a — on the part of the job seekers, you know — just a lot of complacency,” she said.

The state’s unemployment 
rate spiked to 11.9% in April, but has constricted in the past six 
months to 5.3% in October. That means 80,000 Kansans were unemployed 
last month, an increase of 33,000 over October 2019 when the state 
wasn’t being ravaged by a pandemic.

Rep. Stephanie Clayton, an
 Overland Park Democrat on the Legislature’s coronavirus recovery 
committee, said decisions by Kansans thrown out of jobs and considering a
 return to work were nuanced. She said some businesses posed more 
significant health risks than others and spreading the virus from 
workplace to home wasn’t an option in some households.

“It’s people having to 
really do a lot of emotional labor and figure out what is the best job 
in order to provide for our families, which isn’t just going out and 
getting some random job where you can get sick, especially when we see a
 lot of mask mandates that aren’t being followed. Disease is spreading,”
 Clayton said.

Of the 12 committee 
members in the room with Clayton, only four were wearing a mask. It was 
Clayton, two other Democrats and a House Republican battling a serious 
medical condition. The eight other senators and representatives were 
Republicans and maskless.

“It’s important for 
mothers and fathers to stay healthy and not end up putting their kids in
 quarantine,” said Clayton, who is a participant in the part-time worker
 economy. “So, these people are not being lazy. They’re being smart and 
they’re playing the long games for their families. I really do think 
that we can all work together and find solutions, but I’ve got to be a 
voice for these folks.”

Wichita Sen. Gene 
Suellentrop, a Republican skeptic of the Democratic governor’s 
leadership in the pandemic, said Clayton’s analysis was cause for 
concern. Kansans who decline jobs to keep unemployment checks flowing 
are turning their backs on essential workers who stock grocery shelves, 
deliver fuel to gas stations and perform other important services, he 
said.

“They expect all this from
 everyone else. And they themselves won’t do their part. So, I’m not 
feeling much sympathy for those folks right now,” he said.

Much has happened since 
March to bring the state to this juncture. The pandemic threw tens of 
thousands out of work and they quickly overwhelmed the Department of 
Labor in a quest to obtain unemployment benefits. Exasperating computer 
woes at the agency delayed payment of claims as Kansas’ jobless rate 
surged to double digits. There was the temporary school and business 
shutdown designed to slow spread of COVID-19. Families have suffered 
both medically and financially. Businesses are struggling. The state 
began the unexpectedly difficult task of spending $1.2 billion in 
federal aid. The state’s labor secretary was sacked in June.

New unemployment benefit 
programs authorized by Congress and President Donald Trump haven’t been 
easy for states to manage. There’s been an upswing in partisan 
finger-pointing as a wave of fraudulent jobless claims landed at the 
Department of Labor. The state’s unemployment rate has fallen for six 
consecutive months.

At this point, more than 
1,400 Kansans with the virus have died. The state is on pace for nearly 
500 people to perish in November alone. Kelly revised her statewide mask
 order in an attempt to gain broader acceptance. Cities and counties are
 taking steps to limit mass gatherings capable of spreading the virus.

Absent a miracle 
contraction of COVID-19, the state’s unemployment fund built up by 
employers to more than $900 million in early 2020 could drop into the 
red by spring.

Kansas has an opportunity 
to borrow from the federal government to fill a shortfall, but Kansas 
employeers will eventually face higher taxes to recharge the fund. That 
obligation led Republican legislators to convince Kelly of the need to 
earmark for the trust fund any of the $1.2 billion in federal 
coronavirus relief funding left at the end-of-year spending deadline.

In an interview, Kelly 
said the outdated labor department computer system was not set up to 
handle the crush of applicants nor the sudden addition of new 
unemployment benefit programs. She said the labor department deserved 
credit for responding as it has to unprecedented challenges during a 
global pandemic.

Sen. Richard Hilderbrand, a
 Galena Republican, said he was frustrated Pandemic Unemployment 
Assistance benefits made available to people not typically covered by 
unemployment programs had yet to be paid to Kansas who legitimately 
qualified. At the same time, he said, the state was allowing an 
undetermined number of people to claim jobless funds through fraudulent 
means.

“It’s just irritating 
knowing that we have people still today, and I’m gonna harp on this 
until they get paid, PUA applicants since March and April that still 
have not received a paycheck. Fraudulent claims are being paid above 
these people,” Hilderbrand said.

Peter Brady, deputy 
secretary of the state Department of Labor, said the agency had thwarted
 more than 100,000 attempts to defraud the unemployment system in 
Kansas.

He said he would be 
willing to reveal more about the agency’s obstacles and tactics in a 
closed-door session with legislators, which is expected to occur in 
December before the joint House and Senate committee working on COVID-19
 recovery strategy.

Rep. Tom Burroughs, a 
Democrat from Kansas City, Kansas, said he had been around the Capitol 
long enough to know Republican and Democrat legislators and governors 
shared culpability for information technology problems that persist at 
the labor department and were the target of GOP critiques.

“There’s enough blame in 
this room to go around everywhere in reference to the continuity and 
past administrations,” he said. “We’re attacking everything and not 
looking at what needs to be done.”

Tim Carpenter has reported on Kansas for 35 years. He covered the Capitol for 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal and previously worked for the Lawrence Journal-World and United Press International.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606238403818.png" alt="Stilwell Republican Rep. Sean Tarwater and other Republican legislators are frustrated with reports people made jobless by the COVID-19 pandemic are declining offers for work because they make more money collecting unemployment that if hired. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Stilwell Republican Rep. Sean Tarwater and other Republican legislators are frustrated with reports people made jobless by the COVID-19 pandemic are declining offers for work because they make more money collecting unemployment that if hired. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Democrat counters COVID-19 economy forces families to measure job rewards against health risks</h2>By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/11/23/gop-legislators-kansans-choosing-jobless-benefits-cheat-system-guilty-of-complacency/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — The pandemic’s 
building strength in Kansas exacerbates the threat to public health and 
further diminishes the survivability of businesses and the availability 
of good jobs.It also generates 
political frustration at the Capitol as hundreds of millions of dollars 
flow to the unemployed and the state trust fund built by employers to 
cover these costs rapidly dwindles. It stings more when lawmakers hear 
anecdotal reports of unemployed Kansans rejecting job offers because it 
may be possible to earn more in the short term by cashing benefit checks
 than returning to work.Rep. Sean Tarwater, a 
Stilwell Republican, said the Kansas Department of Labor should take 
action against Kansans who refuse opportunity to get back to work. He 
encouraged an executive at a Kansas human resource company to turn such 
people into the state.“They should stop paying 
those people when you let them know that because you’ve offered them a 
job,” Tarwater said. “Instead, we’re just paying out funds that aren’t 
ours to these people. And it’s going to be on our businesses to 
replenish this, because our governor isn’t going to stand up for him.”<div><iframe width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/934224730&color=%232b7fb4&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/kansas-reflector-podcast" title="Reflector Podcast" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Reflector Podcast</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/kansas-reflector-podcast/sparks-fly-as-kansas-legislators-debate-pandemic-recovery" title="Sparks fly as Kansas legislators debate pandemic recovery" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Sparks fly as Kansas legislators debate pandemic recovery</a></div></div>Sen. Julia Lynn, a Johnson
 County Republican who chairs an interim House and Senate committee 
studying how to position the state for economic recovery from COVID-19, 
said she was disturbed by signs of sloth.“It’s almost like there’s a — on the part of the job seekers, you know — just a lot of complacency,” she said.The state’s unemployment 
rate spiked to 11.9% in April, but has constricted in the past six 
months to 5.3% in October. That means 80,000 Kansans were unemployed 
last month, an increase of 33,000 over October 2019 when the state 
wasn’t being ravaged by a pandemic.<h2>‘Not being lazy’</h2>Rep. Stephanie Clayton, an
 Overland Park Democrat on the Legislature’s coronavirus recovery 
committee, said decisions by Kansans thrown out of jobs and considering a
 return to work were nuanced. She said some businesses posed more 
significant health risks than others and spreading the virus from 
workplace to home wasn’t an option in some households.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606238532913.jpeg" alt="Rep. Stephanie Clayton, a Democrat from Johnson County, says her legislative colleagues should understand nuanced reasons a person might not accept a job offered during the pandemic, including the potential of catching COVID-19 and spreading it to family members. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Rep. Stephanie Clayton, a Democrat from Johnson County, says her legislative colleagues should understand nuanced reasons a person might not accept a job offered during the pandemic, including the potential of catching COVID-19 and spreading it to family members. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>“It’s people having to 
really do a lot of emotional labor and figure out what is the best job 
in order to provide for our families, which isn’t just going out and 
getting some random job where you can get sick, especially when we see a
 lot of mask mandates that aren’t being followed. Disease is spreading,”
 Clayton said.Of the 12 committee 
members in the room with Clayton, only four were wearing a mask. It was 
Clayton, two other Democrats and a House Republican battling a serious 
medical condition. The eight other senators and representatives were 
Republicans and maskless.“It’s important for 
mothers and fathers to stay healthy and not end up putting their kids in
 quarantine,” said Clayton, who is a participant in the part-time worker
 economy. “So, these people are not being lazy. They’re being smart and 
they’re playing the long games for their families. I really do think 
that we can all work together and find solutions, but I’ve got to be a 
voice for these folks.”Wichita Sen. Gene 
Suellentrop, a Republican skeptic of the Democratic governor’s 
leadership in the pandemic, said Clayton’s analysis was cause for 
concern. Kansans who decline jobs to keep unemployment checks flowing 
are turning their backs on essential workers who stock grocery shelves, 
deliver fuel to gas stations and perform other important services, he 
said.“They expect all this from
 everyone else. And they themselves won’t do their part. So, I’m not 
feeling much sympathy for those folks right now,” he said.<h2>A quick summary</h2>Much has happened since 
March to bring the state to this juncture. The pandemic threw tens of 
thousands out of work and they quickly overwhelmed the Department of 
Labor in a quest to obtain unemployment benefits. Exasperating computer 
woes at the agency delayed payment of claims as Kansas’ jobless rate 
surged to double digits. There was the temporary school and business 
shutdown designed to slow spread of COVID-19. Families have suffered 
both medically and financially. Businesses are struggling. The state 
began the unexpectedly difficult task of spending $1.2 billion in 
federal aid. The state’s labor secretary was sacked in June.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606238567283.jpeg" alt="Gov. Laura Kelly says the Kansas Department of Labor’s antiquated computer system for processing unemployment benefits was overwhelmed by claims as COVID-19 began to grip the state, but the agency deserves credit for its response during the the public health emergency. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Gov. Laura Kelly says the Kansas Department of Labor’s antiquated computer system for processing unemployment benefits was overwhelmed by claims as COVID-19 began to grip the state, but the agency deserves credit for its response during the the public health emergency. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>New unemployment benefit 
programs authorized by Congress and President Donald Trump haven’t been 
easy for states to manage. There’s been an upswing in partisan 
finger-pointing as a wave of fraudulent jobless claims landed at the 
Department of Labor. The state’s unemployment rate has fallen for six 
consecutive months.At this point, more than 
1,400 Kansans with the virus have died. The state is on pace for nearly 
500 people to perish in November alone. Kelly revised her statewide mask
 order in an attempt to gain broader acceptance. Cities and counties are
 taking steps to limit mass gatherings capable of spreading the virus.Absent a miracle 
contraction of COVID-19, the state’s unemployment fund built up by 
employers to more than $900 million in early 2020 could drop into the 
red by spring.Kansas has an opportunity 
to borrow from the federal government to fill a shortfall, but Kansas 
employeers will eventually face higher taxes to recharge the fund. That 
obligation led Republican legislators to convince Kelly of the need to 
earmark for the trust fund any of the $1.2 billion in federal 
coronavirus relief funding left at the end-of-year spending deadline.In an interview, Kelly 
said the outdated labor department computer system was not set up to 
handle the crush of applicants nor the sudden addition of new 
unemployment benefit programs. She said the labor department deserved 
credit for responding as it has to unprecedented challenges during a 
global pandemic.<h2>Delays, fraud</h2>Sen. Richard Hilderbrand, a
 Galena Republican, said he was frustrated Pandemic Unemployment 
Assistance benefits made available to people not typically covered by 
unemployment programs had yet to be paid to Kansas who legitimately 
qualified. At the same time, he said, the state was allowing an 
undetermined number of people to claim jobless funds through fraudulent 
means.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606238598636.jpeg" alt="Galena Republican Rep. Richard Hilderbrand, right, says the Kansas Department of Labor has made strides since March, but continues to struggle with payment legitimate unemployment claims at the same time perpetrators of fraud have made their way into the state’s computer system. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Galena Republican Rep. Richard Hilderbrand, right, says the Kansas Department of Labor has made strides since March, but continues to struggle with payment legitimate unemployment claims at the same time perpetrators of fraud have made their way into the state’s computer system. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>“It’s just irritating 
knowing that we have people still today, and I’m gonna harp on this 
until they get paid, PUA applicants since March and April that still 
have not received a paycheck. Fraudulent claims are being paid above 
these people,” Hilderbrand said.Peter Brady, deputy 
secretary of the state Department of Labor, said the agency had thwarted
 more than 100,000 attempts to defraud the unemployment system in 
Kansas.He said he would be 
willing to reveal more about the agency’s obstacles and tactics in a 
closed-door session with legislators, which is expected to occur in 
December before the joint House and Senate committee working on COVID-19
 recovery strategy.Rep. Tom Burroughs, a 
Democrat from Kansas City, Kansas, said he had been around the Capitol 
long enough to know Republican and Democrat legislators and governors 
shared culpability for information technology problems that persist at 
the labor department and were the target of GOP critiques.“There’s enough blame in 
this room to go around everywhere in reference to the continuity and 
past administrations,” he said. “We’re attacking everything and not 
looking at what needs to be done.”Tim Carpenter has reported on Kansas for 35 years. He covered the Capitol for 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal and previously worked for the Lawrence Journal-World and United Press International.

GOP legislators: Kansans choosing jobless benefits guilty of ‘complacency’

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal prison system will be among the first government agencies to receive the coronavirus vaccine, though initial allotments of the vaccine will be given to staff and not to inmates, even though sickened prisoners vastly outnumber sickened staff, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Officials at the federal Bureau of Prisons have been instructing wardens and other staff members to prepare to receive the vaccine within weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. The people could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

The internal Bureau of Prisons documents, obtained by the AP, say initial allotments of the vaccine “will be reserved for staff.” It was not immediately clear how many doses would be made available to the Bureau of Prisons.

As of Monday, there were 3,624 federal inmates and 1,225 Bureau of Prisons staff members who have tested positive for COVID-19.

Since the first case was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ec49cc7f4d1b00bc5010dfb6d935e042">reported in March</a>, 18,467 inmates and 1,736 staff have recovered from the virus. So far, 141 federal inmates and two staff members have died.

There have been more than 12 million cases in the U.S. and over 257,000 deaths. But prisons are a particular concern because social distancing is virtually nonexistent behind bars, inmates sleep in close quarters and share bathrooms with strangers. In the early days of the pandemic, prisoners and staff members said the Bureau of Prisons had run short of even the most basic supplies, like soap.

The internal Bureau of Prisons records obtained by the AP also detail how the agency has been working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Trump administration’s vaccine program, known as “Operation Warp Speed,” to secure the vaccines. The documents say the administration’s initial distribution will include the federal prison system.

Health officials have been warning for more than a decade about the dangers of epidemics for those incarcerated.

Nearly 25% of all inmate cases and 30% of the staff cases have been reported within just the last month. Some staff members said they are apprehensive about receiving the vaccine because of what they feared was a lack of long-term testing and possible side effects.

Though the virus is also rising in state prisons nationwide, any plans for administering doses in those prisons would be handled by the states.

Government guidance has suggested that states should be ready to receive initial doses of the vaccine within weeks, though officials have said initial supplies of the vaccine will be scarce and rationed. While health care workers may be among those to receive initial doses, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s leading infectious disease expert, has said the general population can likely expect first doses of a vaccine starting in April.

No vaccine has been approved by the Trump administration yet — a necessary step before any doses can be delivered. Pfizer formally asked U.S. regulators Friday to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine, starting the clock on a process that could bring limited first shots as early as next month.

Advocates say the federal government should be doing more to ensure vulnerable, at-risk inmates have access to the vaccine as soon as possible.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600183865325.png" alt="The federal prison in Leavenworth houses about 1,600 inmates in a medium-security facility and minimum-security camp. photo by Nomin Ujiyediin / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>The federal prison in Leavenworth houses about 1,600 inmates in a medium-security facility and minimum-security camp. photo by Nomin Ujiyediin / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal prison system will be among the first government agencies to receive the coronavirus vaccine, though initial allotments of the vaccine will be given to staff and not to inmates, even though sickened prisoners vastly outnumber sickened staff, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.Officials at the federal Bureau of Prisons have been instructing wardens and other staff members to prepare to receive the vaccine within weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. The people could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.The internal Bureau of Prisons documents, obtained by the AP, say initial allotments of the vaccine “will be reserved for staff.” It was not immediately clear how many doses would be made available to the Bureau of Prisons.As of Monday, there were 3,624 federal inmates and 1,225 Bureau of Prisons staff members who have tested positive for COVID-19.Since the first case was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ec49cc7f4d1b00bc5010dfb6d935e042">reported in March</a>, 18,467 inmates and 1,736 staff have recovered from the virus. So far, 141 federal inmates and two staff members have died.There have been more than 12 million cases in the U.S. and over 257,000 deaths. But prisons are a particular concern because social distancing is virtually nonexistent behind bars, inmates sleep in close quarters and share bathrooms with strangers. In the early days of the pandemic, prisoners and staff members said the Bureau of Prisons had run short of even the most basic supplies, like soap.The internal Bureau of Prisons records obtained by the AP also detail how the agency has been working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Trump administration’s vaccine program, known as “Operation Warp Speed,” to secure the vaccines. The documents say the administration’s initial distribution will include the federal prison system.Health officials have been warning for more than a decade about the dangers of epidemics for those incarcerated.Nearly 25% of all inmate cases and 30% of the staff cases have been reported within just the last month. Some staff members said they are apprehensive about receiving the vaccine because of what they feared was a lack of long-term testing and possible side effects.Though the virus is also rising in state prisons nationwide, any plans for administering doses in those prisons would be handled by the states.Government guidance has suggested that states should be ready to receive initial doses of the vaccine within weeks, though officials have said initial supplies of the vaccine will be scarce and rationed. While health care workers may be among those to receive initial doses, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s leading infectious disease expert, has said the general population can likely expect first doses of a vaccine starting in April.No vaccine has been approved by the Trump administration yet — a necessary step before any doses can be delivered. Pfizer formally asked U.S. regulators Friday to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine, starting the clock on a process that could bring limited first shots as early as next month.Advocates say the federal government should be doing more to ensure vulnerable, at-risk inmates have access to the vaccine as soon as possible.“If true, it’s a disgrace,” David Patton, the head of the federal defender office in New York, said of the Bureau of Prisons plan. “Prisoners are among the very highest-risk groups for contracting COVID-19. The conditions of confinement make social distancing and proper hygiene and sanitation nearly impossible. The government should certainly prioritize prison staff, but to not also prioritize the people incarcerated is irresponsible and inhumane.”The Bureau of Prisons has been accused of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/The%20vaccines%20only%20go%20to%20the%20federal%20prison%20system,%20though%20the%20virus%20is%20also%20rising%20in%20state%20prisons%20nationwide,%20those%20would%20be%20handled%20by%20the%20states." target="_blank">missteps and scattershot policies</a>&nbsp;since the virus reached the U.S. earlier this year.An inspector general’s office&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-health-prisons-louisiana-coronavirus-pandemic-95dbb1d1c432fb11ddfb0945fde002a3">report last week</a>&nbsp;concluded that at one prison complex in Louisiana, which emerged as an early coronavirus hotspot, prison officials had failed to comply with federal health guidance and left inmates with the virus in their housing units for a week without being isolated. Staff members, advocates and inmates at other prisons around the country described a hodgepodge of coronavirus policies, being told by supervisors they don’t need to wear masks and having broken thermometers for temperature checks.A spokesman for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.