TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday slowed<a href="https://governor.kansas.gov/governor-kelly-adds-new-phase-to-ad-astra-plan/"> down the reopening</a> of Kansas’ economy, ordering bars and bowling alleys to remain closed through the end of the month and keeping some coronavirus-inspired restrictions in place until near the end of June.

Top Republican legislators already have moved aggressively to take control of the reopening by extending a disaster declaration Kelly issued only through Memorial Day, May 25, to give lawmakers a chance to rewrite their own law guiding the process. State law gives Kelly broad power under an emergency declaration, and she had wanted the current one extended into mid-June.

The governor had expected to <a href="https://covid.ks.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Reopen-Kansas-Framework-v5-2.pdf">lift some restrictions Monday, </a>but her new order modifies that plan to reflect her administration’s concern that the spread of the novel coronavirus is not yet decreasing. A limit on public gatherings of 10 or fewer people will remain in place, rather than being increased to 30 on Monday.

<a href="https://governor.kansas.gov/governor-kelly-adds-new-phase-to-ad-astra-plan/">Kelly’s new order</a> will allow barbershops, hair salons, nail salons, tattoo parlors, tanning salons, gyms and fitness centers to reopen as planned Monday. Owners of such businesses had been among the loudest critics of Kelly’s reopening plan, saying they could resume operations safely with deep cleaning and social distancing.

Under the governor’s new order, salons still will have to take customers by appointment only, while gym and fitness centers won’t be allowed to have group classes or use their locker rooms for anything other than bathroom facilities.

Bars, night clubs, bowling alleys would remain closed until at least June 1 under Kelly’s new order, and summer camps, fairs and festivals would not be allowed until at least June 15.

The governor is allowing high school and college graduations to go forward, but only if indoor ceremonies are limited to 10 people at a time. Outdoor ceremonies are allowed, either with people 6 feet apart in a large space or as “drive-through” events in which families drive up to a stage, the graduate gets out, walks across and gets back into a car.

The changes mean that public gatherings of up to 30 people won’t be allowed until June 1, and gatherings of up to 90 people won’t be allowed until June 15. The last restrictions wouldn’t be lifted until June 29 — two weeks later than previously planned.

Meanwhile, an eastern Kansas county is defending a policy that directs business owners to collect information about their customers as an effort to help trace the contacts of infected people.

Attorneys for Linn County, its county commission and its health director filed a response Thursday to a federal lawsuit from two business operators. The county’s attorneys said a May 1 order by the local health director does not violate rights against unreasonable searches that are protected by the U.S. Constitution.

The county said in its filing that the business operators wrongly suggest that the county would make blanket demands for information when the local health department would ask only for data about specific customers in contact with infected people over the previous month.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1589486982029.png" alt="Governor Laura Kelly during her press briefing Wednesday in Topeka" />
 <figcaption>Governor Laura Kelly during her press briefing Wednesday in Topeka</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday slowed<a href="https://governor.kansas.gov/governor-kelly-adds-new-phase-to-ad-astra-plan/"> down the reopening</a> of Kansas’ economy, ordering bars and bowling alleys to remain closed through the end of the month and keeping some coronavirus-inspired restrictions in place until near the end of June.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1589490713721.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Top Republican legislators already have moved aggressively to take control of the reopening by extending a disaster declaration Kelly issued only through Memorial Day, May 25, to give lawmakers a chance to rewrite their own law guiding the process. State law gives Kelly broad power under an emergency declaration, and she had wanted the current one extended into mid-June.The governor had expected to <a href="https://covid.ks.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Reopen-Kansas-Framework-v5-2.pdf">lift some restrictions Monday, </a>but her new order modifies that plan to reflect her administration’s concern that the spread of the novel coronavirus is not yet decreasing. A limit on public gatherings of 10 or fewer people will remain in place, rather than being increased to 30 on Monday.<a href="https://governor.kansas.gov/governor-kelly-adds-new-phase-to-ad-astra-plan/">Kelly’s new order</a> will allow barbershops, hair salons, nail salons, tattoo parlors, tanning salons, gyms and fitness centers to reopen as planned Monday. Owners of such businesses had been among the loudest critics of Kelly’s reopening plan, saying they could resume operations safely with deep cleaning and social distancing.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1588354883549.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Under the governor’s new order, salons still will have to take customers by appointment only, while gym and fitness centers won’t be allowed to have group classes or use their locker rooms for anything other than bathroom facilities.Bars, night clubs, bowling alleys would remain closed until at least June 1 under Kelly’s new order, and summer camps, fairs and festivals would not be allowed until at least June 15.The governor is allowing high school and college graduations to go forward, but only if indoor ceremonies are limited to 10 people at a time. Outdoor ceremonies are allowed, either with people 6 feet apart in a large space or as “drive-through” events in which families drive up to a stage, the graduate gets out, walks across and gets back into a car.The changes mean that public gatherings of up to 30 people won’t be allowed until June 1, and gatherings of up to 90 people won’t be allowed until June 15. The last restrictions wouldn’t be lifted until June 29 — two weeks later than previously planned.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1588354966337.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Meanwhile, an eastern Kansas county is defending a policy that directs business owners to collect information about their customers as an effort to help trace the contacts of infected people.Attorneys for Linn County, its county commission and its health director filed a response Thursday to a federal lawsuit from two business operators. The county’s attorneys said a May 1 order by the local health director does not violate rights against unreasonable searches that are protected by the U.S. Constitution.The county said in its filing that the business operators wrongly suggest that the county would make blanket demands for information when the local health department would ask only for data about specific customers in contact with infected people over the previous month.___

Kansas governor slows reopening; limits to go into late June

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials on Thursday released some of their long-delayed guidance that schools, businesses and other organizations can use as states reopen from coronavirus shutdowns.

<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html">Click here</a> to read the guidelines

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted six one-page “decision tool” documents that use traffic signs and other graphics to tell organizations what they should consider before reopening.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html" target="_blank">tools</a>&nbsp;are for schools, workplaces, camps, childcare centers, mass transit systems, and bars and restaurants. The CDC originally also authored a document for churches and other religious facilities, but that wasn’t posted Thursday. The agency declined to say why.

Early versions of the documents included detailed information for churches wanting to restart in-person services, with suggestions including maintaining distance between parishioners and limiting the size of gatherings. The faith-related guidance was taken out after the White House raised concerns about the recommended restrictions, according to government emails obtained by The Associated Press and a person inside the agency who didn’t have permission to talk with reporters and spoke on condition of anonymity.

On Thursday, a Trump administration official also speaking on condition of anonymity said there were concerns about the propriety of the government making specific dictates to places of worship.

And Roger Severino, director of the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services, said “protections against religious discrimination aren’t suspended during an emergency. This means the federal government cannot single out religious conduct as somehow being more dangerous or worthy of scrutiny than comparable secular behavior.”

President Donald Trump has championed religious freedom as a way to connect with conservative evangelical voters and has shown eagerness for in-person religious services to restart. He&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/97d56433ec9ece3f8a74ec8ab2b32abf">consulted</a>&nbsp;interfaith leaders last month for suggestions on how to reopen and said on a recent Fox News town hall that “we have to get our people back to churches, and we’re going to start doing it soon.”

The CDC drafted the reopening guidance more than a month ago and it was initially shelved by the administration, the AP&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/7a00d5fba3249e573d2ead4bd323a4d4">reported</a>&nbsp;last week.

The agency also had prepared even more extensive guidance — about 57 pages of it — that has not been posted.

That&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6889330-Guidance-for-Opening-Up-America-Again-Framework.html" target="_blank">longer document</a>, which the AP obtained, would give different organizations specifics about how to reopen while still limiting spread of the virus, including by spacing workers or students 6 feet apart and closing break rooms and cafeterias to limit gatherings. Many of the suggestions already appear on federal websites but they haven’t been presented as reopening advice.

Some health experts and politicians have been pushing for the CDC to release as much guidance as possible to help businesses and organizations decide how to proceed.

“They want to be able to tell their own employees the guidance of the federal government,” Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University, said at a congressional hearing Wednesday. “They want to be able to tell their customers, ‘We’ve done everything that’s been asked of us.’”

The guidance relates to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/openingamerica/" target="_blank">another document</a>&nbsp;released by the Trump administration on April 17. That phased-in reopening plan broadly outlines how to move away from stay-at-home orders, school closures and other measures designed to stop the spread of the new coronavirus that has caused more than 1.3 million reported U.S. illnesses and more than 80,000 deaths.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, on Wednesday offered a resolution — blocked by Republicans — to encourage release of all the documents.

“America needs and must have the candid guidance of our best scientists unfiltered, unedited, uncensored by president Trump or his political minions. The CDC report on reopening the country is an important piece of that guidance,” Schumer said.

The decision tools have been undergoing review by different federal officials, and they’ve been edited from earlier versions.

For example, an earlier draft of the one-page document on camps obtained by the AP asked organizers if their program would limit attendance to people who live nearby. If the answer was no, the camp was advised not to reopen. That local attendance limitation was dropped and was not in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/Camps-Decision-Tree.pdf" target="_blank">the version</a>&nbsp;posted Thursday.

And in that document and others, language has been dropped that asked if the organization is in a community that is still requiring significant disease mitigation. If the answer was yes, the organization was advised not to reopen.

Many of the changes provide more wiggle room than what was in the initial versions.

For example, in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/Childcare-Decision-Tree.pdf" target="_blank">document</a>&nbsp;for people who run child care centers, the older version obtained by the AP stated that CDC recommended “checking for signs and symptoms of children and staff.” The new guidelines add “as feasible” to the end.

Similar new language about feasibility appears in sections about promoting healthy hygiene such as hand washing and employees wearing cloth masks.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1589540522116.png" alt="CDC image" />
 <figcaption>CDC image</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials on Thursday released some of their long-delayed guidance that schools, businesses and other organizations can use as states reopen from coronavirus shutdowns.<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html">Click here</a> to read the guidelinesThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted six one-page “decision tool” documents that use traffic signs and other graphics to tell organizations what they should consider before reopening.The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html" target="_blank">tools</a>&nbsp;are for schools, workplaces, camps, childcare centers, mass transit systems, and bars and restaurants. The CDC originally also authored a document for churches and other religious facilities, but that wasn’t posted Thursday. The agency declined to say why.Early versions of the documents included detailed information for churches wanting to restart in-person services, with suggestions including maintaining distance between parishioners and limiting the size of gatherings. The faith-related guidance was taken out after the White House raised concerns about the recommended restrictions, according to government emails obtained by The Associated Press and a person inside the agency who didn’t have permission to talk with reporters and spoke on condition of anonymity.On Thursday, a Trump administration official also speaking on condition of anonymity said there were concerns about the propriety of the government making specific dictates to places of worship.And Roger Severino, director of the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services, said “protections against religious discrimination aren’t suspended during an emergency. This means the federal government cannot single out religious conduct as somehow being more dangerous or worthy of scrutiny than comparable secular behavior.”President Donald Trump has championed religious freedom as a way to connect with conservative evangelical voters and has shown eagerness for in-person religious services to restart. He&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/97d56433ec9ece3f8a74ec8ab2b32abf">consulted</a>&nbsp;interfaith leaders last month for suggestions on how to reopen and said on a recent Fox News town hall that “we have to get our people back to churches, and we’re going to start doing it soon.”The CDC drafted the reopening guidance more than a month ago and it was initially shelved by the administration, the AP&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/7a00d5fba3249e573d2ead4bd323a4d4">reported</a>&nbsp;last week.The agency also had prepared even more extensive guidance — about 57 pages of it — that has not been posted.That&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6889330-Guidance-for-Opening-Up-America-Again-Framework.html" target="_blank">longer document</a>, which the AP obtained, would give different organizations specifics about how to reopen while still limiting spread of the virus, including by spacing workers or students 6 feet apart and closing break rooms and cafeterias to limit gatherings. Many of the suggestions already appear on federal websites but they haven’t been presented as reopening advice.Some health experts and politicians have been pushing for the CDC to release as much guidance as possible to help businesses and organizations decide how to proceed.“They want to be able to tell their own employees the guidance of the federal government,” Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University, said at a congressional hearing Wednesday. “They want to be able to tell their customers, ‘We’ve done everything that’s been asked of us.’”The guidance relates to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/openingamerica/" target="_blank">another document</a>&nbsp;released by the Trump administration on April 17. That phased-in reopening plan broadly outlines how to move away from stay-at-home orders, school closures and other measures designed to stop the spread of the new coronavirus that has caused more than 1.3 million reported U.S. illnesses and more than 80,000 deaths.U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, on Wednesday offered a resolution — blocked by Republicans — to encourage release of all the documents.“America needs and must have the candid guidance of our best scientists unfiltered, unedited, uncensored by president Trump or his political minions. The CDC report on reopening the country is an important piece of that guidance,” Schumer said.The decision tools have been undergoing review by different federal officials, and they’ve been edited from earlier versions.For example, an earlier draft of the one-page document on camps obtained by the AP asked organizers if their program would limit attendance to people who live nearby. If the answer was no, the camp was advised not to reopen. That local attendance limitation was dropped and was not in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/Camps-Decision-Tree.pdf" target="_blank">the version</a>&nbsp;posted Thursday.And in that document and others, language has been dropped that asked if the organization is in a community that is still requiring significant disease mitigation. If the answer was yes, the organization was advised not to reopen.Many of the changes provide more wiggle room than what was in the initial versions.For example, in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/Childcare-Decision-Tree.pdf" target="_blank">document</a>&nbsp;for people who run child care centers, the older version obtained by the AP stated that CDC recommended “checking for signs and symptoms of children and staff.” The new guidelines add “as feasible” to the end.Similar new language about feasibility appears in sections about promoting healthy hygiene such as hand washing and employees wearing cloth masks.___

U.S. officials release edited coronavirus reopening guidance

RENO COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident during a chase by law enforcement just after 2a.m. Friday in Reno County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Pontiac G6 driven by&nbsp; Gabriel S. Mackay, 19, Tulsa, was southbound on Kansas 61 being pursued by Reno Co Sheriff's Office.

The car struck stop sticks deployed in the roadway,&nbsp; veered off the roadway into the ditch, struck a guy wire for a utility pole and overturned.&nbsp;

EMS transported Mackay to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

Authorities have not released details on what prompted the chase.

RENO COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident during a chase by law enforcement just after 2a.m. Friday in Reno County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Pontiac G6 driven by&nbsp; Gabriel S. Mackay, 19, Tulsa, was southbound on Kansas 61 being pursued by Reno Co Sheriff's Office.The car struck stop sticks deployed in the roadway,&nbsp; veered off the roadway into the ditch, struck a guy wire for a utility pole and overturned.&nbsp;EMS transported Mackay to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.Authorities have not released details on what prompted the chase.

Teen hospitalized after car overturns during chase 

BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — A civil rights group on Thursday launched “The Clemency Project” to try to secure the release of Kansas prisoners whose medical conditions make them vulnerable to the coronavirus, following a stinging defeat in court.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas filed the first round of what it anticipates will be dozens of individualized clemency petitions seeking relief for their clients from the state parole board and Gov. Laura Kelly.

The move comes days after Leavenworth District Judge David King threw out the group’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/68fecf4d297919a7b2b3c861d4246eac">class action petition</a>&nbsp;on behalf of seven inmates at the Lansing Correctional Facility, the Ellsworth Correctional Facility and the Topeka Correctional Facility and others.

The court found that the ACLU didn’t prove corrections officials failed to meet their constitutional duty to provide adequate medical care or that they acted with deliberate indifference to the inmates’ serious medical needs.

The failure at court pushed the group to take up a strategy to sidestep the courts, and The Clemency Project was born.

Even before the pandemic, the organization had been considering the clemency process to relieve the overcrowding in Kansas prisons, ACLU legal director Lauren Bonds.

“The recent decision in our case, I think, gave us a push to try to think about doing it sooner rather than later, but this is something we had been considering for a while, just given the gross overpopulation of the prisons,” she said.

The pandemic has been particularly brutal at the Lansing facility,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/3f041977393e01582007786f3be6bf86">the state’s largest prison</a>, where&nbsp;<a href="https://www.doc.ks.gov/kdoc-coronavirus-updates/kdoc-covid-19-status" target="_blank">two staff members and three inmates have died</a>. COVID-19 has infected 88 staff members and at least 750 of the approximately 1,710 men imprisoned there. The vast majority of the infected inmates, 85%, have no symptoms.

“That overpopulation has really created the perfect storm for these prisons to be hotbeds for coronavirus infections, and we are seeing that in particular in Lansing,” Bonds said.

Individual clemency petitions will be filed on a rolling basis beginning with the inmates who were part of that lawsuit as well as more than 50 others who have since contacted the ACLU. And Bonds expects that number to grow.

“We are really optimistic that this is a way we can continue to work with the administration to reduce the number of folks who are incarcerated, and in particular make sure that we are giving relief to those particularly vulnerable to the virus who have no reason to be in prison right now,” Bonds said.

BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — A civil rights group on Thursday launched “The Clemency Project” to try to secure the release of Kansas prisoners whose medical conditions make them vulnerable to the coronavirus, following a stinging defeat in court.The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas filed the first round of what it anticipates will be dozens of individualized clemency petitions seeking relief for their clients from the state parole board and Gov. Laura Kelly.The move comes days after Leavenworth District Judge David King threw out the group’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/68fecf4d297919a7b2b3c861d4246eac">class action petition</a>&nbsp;on behalf of seven inmates at the Lansing Correctional Facility, the Ellsworth Correctional Facility and the Topeka Correctional Facility and others.The court found that the ACLU didn’t prove corrections officials failed to meet their constitutional duty to provide adequate medical care or that they acted with deliberate indifference to the inmates’ serious medical needs.The failure at court pushed the group to take up a strategy to sidestep the courts, and The Clemency Project was born.Even before the pandemic, the organization had been considering the clemency process to relieve the overcrowding in Kansas prisons, ACLU legal director Lauren Bonds.“The recent decision in our case, I think, gave us a push to try to think about doing it sooner rather than later, but this is something we had been considering for a while, just given the gross overpopulation of the prisons,” she said.The pandemic has been particularly brutal at the Lansing facility,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/3f041977393e01582007786f3be6bf86">the state’s largest prison</a>, where&nbsp;<a href="https://www.doc.ks.gov/kdoc-coronavirus-updates/kdoc-covid-19-status" target="_blank">two staff members and three inmates have died</a>. COVID-19 has infected 88 staff members and at least 750 of the approximately 1,710 men imprisoned there. The vast majority of the infected inmates, 85%, have no symptoms.“That overpopulation has really created the perfect storm for these prisons to be hotbeds for coronavirus infections, and we are seeing that in particular in Lansing,” Bonds said.Individual clemency petitions will be filed on a rolling basis beginning with the inmates who were part of that lawsuit as well as more than 50 others who have since contacted the ACLU. And Bonds expects that number to grow.“We are really optimistic that this is a way we can continue to work with the administration to reduce the number of folks who are incarcerated, and in particular make sure that we are giving relief to those particularly vulnerable to the virus who have no reason to be in prison right now,” Bonds said.

Spurred by pandemic, Kansas ACLU launches clemency project

PHILLIPS COUNTY&nbsp; — One person died in an accident just after 8p.m. Thursday in Phillips County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Harley Davidson Motorcycle driven by Robby W.&nbsp;Frederick, 47, Lenora, was&nbsp;northbound on Phillips Co Road 1300 six miles south of Prairie View.

The driver attempted to negotiate a curve and lost control of the motorcycle. It traveled left of center, entered the south ditch overturned and ejected the driver.

EMS transported Frederick to the Phillips County Hospital where he died. He was not wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.

PHILLIPS COUNTY&nbsp; — One person died in an accident just after 8p.m. Thursday in Phillips County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Harley Davidson Motorcycle driven by Robby W.&nbsp;Frederick, 47, Lenora, was&nbsp;northbound on Phillips Co Road 1300 six miles south of Prairie View.The driver attempted to negotiate a curve and lost control of the motorcycle. It traveled left of center, entered the south ditch overturned and ejected the driver.EMS transported Frederick to the Phillips County Hospital where he died. He was not wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.

Kansas man dies in motorcycle accident

By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT,&nbsp;Hays Post

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Schlyer called the bulletproof glass “overkill.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They will continue budget discussions Friday.

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

🎥 Ellis County treasurer escorted by sheriff from budget hearing

JACKSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating the alleged theft of funds from the American Legion Auxiliary in Holton.

The crimes are alleged to have occurred between January 2015 and 2017, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

On Monday, deputies&nbsp;arrested Paula G. Keating, 50, of Soldier, Kansas, on a Jackson County District Court warrant in connection with the investigation.

She was booked into the Jackson County Jail for 5 counts of misdemeanor theft and four counts of felony forgery. During the time of the thefts, Keating served as the president of the Auxiliary. Keating was one of the signers on the bank account and allegedly diverted money from the account for her own personal use, according to Morse.

Some of the transfers of unauthorized funds allegedly were done by forging false signatures and documents. As a result of the monetary loss, the Auxiliary was forced to disband.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1589455517366.png" alt="Keating photo Jackson County" />
 <figcaption>Keating photo Jackson County</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating the alleged theft of funds from the American Legion Auxiliary in Holton.The crimes are alleged to have occurred between January 2015 and 2017, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.On Monday, deputies&nbsp;arrested Paula G. Keating, 50, of Soldier, Kansas, on a Jackson County District Court warrant in connection with the investigation.She was booked into the Jackson County Jail for 5 counts of misdemeanor theft and four counts of felony forgery. During the time of the thefts, Keating served as the president of the Auxiliary. Keating was one of the signers on the bank account and allegedly diverted money from the account for her own personal use, according to Morse.Some of the transfers of unauthorized funds allegedly were done by forging false signatures and documents. As a result of the monetary loss, the Auxiliary was forced to disband.

Kan. woman accused of theft from American Legion Auxiliary 

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a residential burglary and have made an arrest.

Just after 2:30a.m. on May 7, officers responded to a burglary in progress call at a residence in the 1200 block of North Harding, according to officer Charley Davidson.

A 32-year-old woman and her two daughters, ages 15 and 2 were at the home. 

The 15-year-old reported waking up to an unknown person inside of the home.&nbsp; The suspect then fled from the home on foot.

The mother provided investigators with surveillance video from inside the home, which showed a suspect later identified as 14-year-old boy roaming the residence for several minutes before leaving. &nbsp;

On Wednesday, police used social media and asked for the community’s help in identifying the suspect.&nbsp; Through a tip from the community, the 14-year-old was identified and arrested.&nbsp;

An investigation revealed that the boy entered the residence through an unlocked door and stole a tool.&nbsp; He then ran from the home after the 16-year-old girl woke up.

The 14-year-old boy is facing requested charges of aggravated burglary and theft, according to Davidson.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1589466822092.png" alt="Security camera image released by Wichita. Police" />
 <figcaption>Security camera image released by Wichita. Police</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a residential burglary and have made an arrest.Just after 2:30a.m. on May 7, officers responded to a burglary in progress call at a residence in the 1200 block of North Harding, according to officer Charley Davidson.A 32-year-old woman and her two daughters, ages 15 and 2 were at the home. <figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1589467456405.png" alt="Security camera image courtesy Angel Robinson" />
 <figcaption>Security camera image courtesy Angel Robinson</figcaption>
 </figure>The 15-year-old reported waking up to an unknown person inside of the home.&nbsp; The suspect then fled from the home on foot.The mother provided investigators with surveillance video from inside the home, which showed a suspect later identified as 14-year-old boy roaming the residence for several minutes before leaving. &nbsp;On Wednesday, police used social media and asked for the community’s help in identifying the suspect.&nbsp; Through a tip from the community, the 14-year-old was identified and arrested.&nbsp;An investigation revealed that the boy entered the residence through an unlocked door and stole a tool.&nbsp; He then ran from the home after the 16-year-old girl woke up.The 14-year-old boy is facing requested charges of aggravated burglary and theft, according to Davidson.

Teen caught on camera during Kan. home invasion burglary

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities investigating a fatal shooting have filed criminal charges against&nbsp;Vincent Dean Gonzalez-Rook, in connection to the April homicide of Joseph Hill, according to Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay

Just after 7p.m. April 24,&nbsp; law enforcement were called to 1215 NE Quincy to investigate a shooting.

 Upon arrival, officers located 26-year-old Joseph Hill suffering from a single gunshot wound. Hill died as a result of his injury. The investigation resulted in the district attorney filing two felony charges against Gonzalez-Rook, Murder in the First Degree, Premeditated&nbsp; and Criminal Possession of a Firearm. 

With the assistance of the US Marshalls, Gonzalez-Rook was located and taken into custody in California, according to Kagay.

The DA's office has initiated proceedings to have Gonzalez-Rook transferred back to Topeka for the prosecution of this case.

The Topeka Police Department is handling the investigation of this case.&nbsp;

TOPEKA, Kan. – Law enforcement authorities are investigating a homicide that occurred Friday evening and asking the public for help to locate two persons-of-interest.

Just after 6:30 p.m. Friday, the Shawnee County Emergency Communications Center began receiving multiple calls about a possible shooting in the 1200 block of NE Quincy Street in Topeka, according to police spokesperson Gretchen Koenen.

22-year-old Vincent D. Gonzalez-Rook of Topeka -photo Topeka PD

At the scene officers located an adult male victim identified as&nbsp; Joseph Hill, 26, of Topeka outside a residence in the area suffering from life-threatening injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police&nbsp; asked community members in the area to review their home security camera footage and are attempting to locate two persons of interest in the homicide.

Police say, if you see Flores or Gonzalez-Rook, do not attempt to apprehend them yourself. Call 911 immediately. To report past sightings, please email&nbsp;telltpd@topeka.org&nbsp;or call the Topeka Police Criminal Investigation Bureau at 785-368-9400. Anonymous tips can be made by calling Shawnee County Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007. You can also make anonymous tips online at www.p3tips.com/128.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1588622331728.png" alt="Gonzalez-Rook -photo Topeka Police" />
 <figcaption>Gonzalez-Rook -photo Topeka Police</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities investigating a fatal shooting have filed criminal charges against&nbsp;Vincent Dean Gonzalez-Rook, in connection to the April homicide of Joseph Hill, according to Shawnee County District Attorney Mike KagayJust after 7p.m. April 24,&nbsp; law enforcement were called to 1215 NE Quincy to investigate a shooting. Upon arrival, officers located 26-year-old Joseph Hill suffering from a single gunshot wound. Hill died as a result of his injury. The investigation resulted in the district attorney filing two felony charges against Gonzalez-Rook, Murder in the First Degree, Premeditated&nbsp; and Criminal Possession of a Firearm. With the assistance of the US Marshalls, Gonzalez-Rook was located and taken into custody in California, according to Kagay.The DA's office has initiated proceedings to have Gonzalez-Rook transferred back to Topeka for the prosecution of this case.The Topeka Police Department is handling the investigation of this case.&nbsp;-------TOPEKA, Kan. – Law enforcement authorities are investigating a homicide that occurred Friday evening and asking the public for help to locate two persons-of-interest.Just after 6:30 p.m. Friday, the Shawnee County Emergency Communications Center began receiving multiple calls about a possible shooting in the 1200 block of NE Quincy Street in Topeka, according to police spokesperson Gretchen Koenen.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1588622331728.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>22-year-old Vincent D. Gonzalez-Rook of Topeka -photo Topeka PDAt the scene officers located an adult male victim identified as&nbsp; Joseph Hill, 26, of Topeka outside a residence in the area suffering from life-threatening injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene.Police&nbsp; asked community members in the area to review their home security camera footage and are attempting to locate two persons of interest in the homicide.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1588622128765.png" alt="25-year-old Michael D. Flores of Topeka -photo Topeka PD&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>25-year-old Michael D. Flores of Topeka -photo Topeka PD&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>Police say, if you see Flores or Gonzalez-Rook, do not attempt to apprehend them yourself. Call 911 immediately. To report past sightings, please email&nbsp;telltpd@topeka.org&nbsp;or call the Topeka Police Criminal Investigation Bureau at 785-368-9400. Anonymous tips can be made by calling Shawnee County Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007. You can also make anonymous tips online at www.p3tips.com/128.

U.S. Marshals arrest Kansas murder suspect in California

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read his prepared testimony below:

Good morning Chairwoman, Eshoo, Ranking Member Burgess and distinguished

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

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

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

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

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

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

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