Kansas City (AP) —&nbsp; The new surge of the coronavirus was evident on Thursday, with record hospitalizations in St. Louis and Columbia, and the Kansas City metropolitan area experiencing its worst month ever for COVID-19 deaths.

The number of coronavirus deaths in the metro Kansas City area, which includes Kansas City as well as counties in Missouri and Kansas, was at 176 in October, the most of any month since the onset of the pandemic.

Deaths in the region have risen sharply during the fall. The metro area recorded 80 deaths in August but 172 in September.

“We would predict that November will be worse than October,” Kansas City Health Department Director Rex Archer told the Star. “December’s going to be worse than November and January’s going to be worse than December. We will continue to set records.”

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services' COVID-19 dashboard shows Missouri had the seventh-highest number of per capita deaths over the past seven days, and the 12th highest number of new cases per capita. The statewide positivity rate of 11.6% is more than twice the World Health Organization's 5% benchmark for reopening.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/6b46885a2495c6b6e9503cd2a549fda2">allowed the state to reopen</a>&nbsp;in mid-June. He has urged Missourians to take personal responsibility in preventing the spread of the virus, but there is no statewide mandate for masks or social distancing. Many local jurisdictions have implemented their own requirements.

Kansas City (AP) —&nbsp; The new surge of the coronavirus was evident on Thursday, with record hospitalizations in St. Louis and Columbia, and the Kansas City metropolitan area experiencing its worst month ever for COVID-19 deaths.The number of coronavirus deaths in the metro Kansas City area, which includes Kansas City as well as counties in Missouri and Kansas, was at 176 in October, the most of any month since the onset of the pandemic.Deaths in the region have risen sharply during the fall. The metro area recorded 80 deaths in August but 172 in September.“We would predict that November will be worse than October,” Kansas City Health Department Director Rex Archer told the Star. “December’s going to be worse than November and January’s going to be worse than December. We will continue to set records.”The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services' COVID-19 dashboard shows Missouri had the seventh-highest number of per capita deaths over the past seven days, and the 12th highest number of new cases per capita. The statewide positivity rate of 11.6% is more than twice the World Health Organization's 5% benchmark for reopening.Missouri Gov. Mike Parson&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/6b46885a2495c6b6e9503cd2a549fda2">allowed the state to reopen</a>&nbsp;in mid-June. He has urged Missourians to take personal responsibility in preventing the spread of the virus, but there is no statewide mandate for masks or social distancing. Many local jurisdictions have implemented their own requirements.

KC-area experiencing  worst month for COVID-19 deaths

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Federal agencies warned that cybercriminals are&nbsp;<a href="https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/alerts/aa20-302a" target="_blank">unleashing a wave of data-scrambling extortion attempts</a>&nbsp;against the U.S. healthcare system designed to lock up hospital information systems, which could hurt patient care just as nationwide cases of COVID-19 are spiking.

In a joint alert Wednesday, the FBI and two federal agencies warned that they had “credible information of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers.” The alert said malicious groups are targeting the sector with attacks that produce “data theft and disruption of healthcare services.”

The cyberattacks involve ransomware, which scrambles data into gibberish that can only be unlocked with software keys provided once targets pay up. Independent security experts say it has already hobbled at least five U.S. hospitals this week, and could potentially impact hundreds more.

The offensive by a Russian-speaking criminal gang coincides with the U.S. presidential election, although there is no immediate indication they were motivated by anything but profit. “We are experiencing the most significant cyber security threat we’ve ever seen in the United States,” Charles Carmakal, chief technical officer of the cybersecurity firm Mandiant, said in a statement.

Alex Holden, CEO of Hold Security, which has been closely tracking the ransomware in question for more than a year, agreed that the unfolding offensive is unprecedented in magnitude for the U.S. given its timing in the heat of a contentions presidential election and the worst global pandemic in a century.

The federal alert was co-authored by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services.

The cybercriminals launching the attacks use a strain of ransomware known as Ryuk, which is seeded through a network of zombie computers called Trickbot that Microsoft&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-malware-elections-crime-cybercrime-913ee5d56affa97fc5d9c639c4a284ab">began trying to counter</a>&nbsp;earlier in October. U.S. Cyber Command has also reportedly taken action against Trickbot. While Microsoft has had considerable success knocking its command-and-control servers offline through legal action, analysts say criminals have still been finding ways to spread Ryuk.

The U.S. has seen a plague of ransomware over the past 18 months or so, with major cities from Baltimore to Atlanta hit and local governments and schools hit especially hard.

In September, a ransomware attack&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/media-archive-21ebb97dc7b9e2a7c06244069a35b7e6">hobbled all 250 U.S. facilities</a>&nbsp;of the hospital chain Universal Health Services, forcing doctors and nurses to rely on paper and pencil for record-keeping and slowing lab work. Employees described chaotic conditions impeding patient care, including mounting emergency room waits and the failure of wireless vital-signs monitoring equipment.

Also in September, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-hacking-europe-cf8f8eee1adcec69bcc864f2c4308c94">first known fatality related to ransomware</a>&nbsp;occurred in Duesseldorf, Germany, when an IT system failure forced a critically ill patient to be routed to a hospital in another city.

Holden said he alerted federal law enforcement Friday after monitoring infection attempts at a number of hospitals, some of which may have beaten back infections. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

He said the group was demanding ransoms well above $10 million per target and that criminals involved on the dark web were discussing plans to try to infect more than 400 hospitals, clinics and other medical facilities.

“One of the comments from the bad guys is that they are expecting to cause panic and, no, they are not hitting election systems,” Holden said. “They are hitting where it hurts even more and they know it.” U.S. officials have repeatedly expressed concern about major ransomware attacks affecting the presidential election, even if the criminals are motivated chiefly by profit.

Mandiant’s Carmakal identified the criminal gang as UNC1878, saying “it is deliberately targeting and disrupting U.S. hospitals, forcing them to divert patients to other healthcare providers” and producing prolonged delays in critical care.

He called the eastern European group “one of most brazen, heartless, and disruptive threat actors I’ve observed over my career.”

While no one has proven suspected ties between the Russian government and gangs that use the Trickbot platform, Holden said he has “no doubt that the Russian government is aware of this operation — of terrorism, really.” He said dozens of different criminal groups use Ryuk, paying its architects a cut.

Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder and former chief technical officer of the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike, said there are “certainly lot of connections between Russian cyber criminals and the state,” with Kremlin-employed hackers sometimes moonlighting as cyber criminals.

Neither Holden nor Carmakal would identify the affected hospitals. Four healthcare institutions have been reported hit by ransomware so far this week, three belonging to the St. Lawrence County Health System in upstate New York and the Sky Lakes Medical Center in Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Sky Lakes acknowledged the ransomware attack in an online statement, saying it had no evidence that patient information was compromised. It said emergency and urgent care “remain available” The St. Lawrence system did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

Increasingly, ransomware criminals are stealing data from their targets before encrypting networks, using it for extortion. They often sow the malware weeks before activating it, waiting for moments when they believe they can extract the highest payments, said Brett Callow, an analyst at the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft.

A total of 59 U.S. healthcare providers/systems have been impacted by ransomware in 2020, disrupting patient care at up to 510 facilities, Callow said.

Carmakal said Mandiant had provided Microsoft on Wednesday with as much detail as it could&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2020/10/kegtap-and-singlemalt-with-a-ransomware-chaser.html" target="_blank">about the thr</a>eat so it could distribute details to its customers. A Microsoft spokesman had no immediate comment.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Federal agencies warned that cybercriminals are&nbsp;<a href="https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/alerts/aa20-302a" target="_blank">unleashing a wave of data-scrambling extortion attempts</a>&nbsp;against the U.S. healthcare system designed to lock up hospital information systems, which could hurt patient care just as nationwide cases of COVID-19 are spiking.In a joint alert Wednesday, the FBI and two federal agencies warned that they had “credible information of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers.” The alert said malicious groups are targeting the sector with attacks that produce “data theft and disruption of healthcare services.”The cyberattacks involve ransomware, which scrambles data into gibberish that can only be unlocked with software keys provided once targets pay up. Independent security experts say it has already hobbled at least five U.S. hospitals this week, and could potentially impact hundreds more.The offensive by a Russian-speaking criminal gang coincides with the U.S. presidential election, although there is no immediate indication they were motivated by anything but profit. “We are experiencing the most significant cyber security threat we’ve ever seen in the United States,” Charles Carmakal, chief technical officer of the cybersecurity firm Mandiant, said in a statement.Alex Holden, CEO of Hold Security, which has been closely tracking the ransomware in question for more than a year, agreed that the unfolding offensive is unprecedented in magnitude for the U.S. given its timing in the heat of a contentions presidential election and the worst global pandemic in a century.The federal alert was co-authored by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services.The cybercriminals launching the attacks use a strain of ransomware known as Ryuk, which is seeded through a network of zombie computers called Trickbot that Microsoft&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-malware-elections-crime-cybercrime-913ee5d56affa97fc5d9c639c4a284ab">began trying to counter</a>&nbsp;earlier in October. U.S. Cyber Command has also reportedly taken action against Trickbot. While Microsoft has had considerable success knocking its command-and-control servers offline through legal action, analysts say criminals have still been finding ways to spread Ryuk.The U.S. has seen a plague of ransomware over the past 18 months or so, with major cities from Baltimore to Atlanta hit and local governments and schools hit especially hard.In September, a ransomware attack&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/media-archive-21ebb97dc7b9e2a7c06244069a35b7e6">hobbled all 250 U.S. facilities</a>&nbsp;of the hospital chain Universal Health Services, forcing doctors and nurses to rely on paper and pencil for record-keeping and slowing lab work. Employees described chaotic conditions impeding patient care, including mounting emergency room waits and the failure of wireless vital-signs monitoring equipment.Also in September, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-hacking-europe-cf8f8eee1adcec69bcc864f2c4308c94">first known fatality related to ransomware</a>&nbsp;occurred in Duesseldorf, Germany, when an IT system failure forced a critically ill patient to be routed to a hospital in another city.Holden said he alerted federal law enforcement Friday after monitoring infection attempts at a number of hospitals, some of which may have beaten back infections. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.He said the group was demanding ransoms well above $10 million per target and that criminals involved on the dark web were discussing plans to try to infect more than 400 hospitals, clinics and other medical facilities.“One of the comments from the bad guys is that they are expecting to cause panic and, no, they are not hitting election systems,” Holden said. “They are hitting where it hurts even more and they know it.” U.S. officials have repeatedly expressed concern about major ransomware attacks affecting the presidential election, even if the criminals are motivated chiefly by profit.Mandiant’s Carmakal identified the criminal gang as UNC1878, saying “it is deliberately targeting and disrupting U.S. hospitals, forcing them to divert patients to other healthcare providers” and producing prolonged delays in critical care.He called the eastern European group “one of most brazen, heartless, and disruptive threat actors I’ve observed over my career.”While no one has proven suspected ties between the Russian government and gangs that use the Trickbot platform, Holden said he has “no doubt that the Russian government is aware of this operation — of terrorism, really.” He said dozens of different criminal groups use Ryuk, paying its architects a cut.Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder and former chief technical officer of the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike, said there are “certainly lot of connections between Russian cyber criminals and the state,” with Kremlin-employed hackers sometimes moonlighting as cyber criminals.Neither Holden nor Carmakal would identify the affected hospitals. Four healthcare institutions have been reported hit by ransomware so far this week, three belonging to the St. Lawrence County Health System in upstate New York and the Sky Lakes Medical Center in Klamath Falls, Oregon.Sky Lakes acknowledged the ransomware attack in an online statement, saying it had no evidence that patient information was compromised. It said emergency and urgent care “remain available” The St. Lawrence system did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.Increasingly, ransomware criminals are stealing data from their targets before encrypting networks, using it for extortion. They often sow the malware weeks before activating it, waiting for moments when they believe they can extract the highest payments, said Brett Callow, an analyst at the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft.A total of 59 U.S. healthcare providers/systems have been impacted by ransomware in 2020, disrupting patient care at up to 510 facilities, Callow said.Carmakal said Mandiant had provided Microsoft on Wednesday with as much detail as it could&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2020/10/kegtap-and-singlemalt-with-a-ransomware-chaser.html" target="_blank">about the thr</a>eat so it could distribute details to its customers. A Microsoft spokesman had no immediate comment.—-

FBI warns of cyberattack on U.S. hospitals, facilities

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas set new state pandemic records Wednesday for reported coronavirus cases and COVID-19-related hospitalizations, and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly said she hasn’t dropped the idea of calling the Republican-controlled Legislature into special session to impose a statewide mask mandate.

The state Department of Health and Environment added nearly 3,400 cases since Monday to its running tally for the pandemic, giving the state a rolling average of 1,084 new cases a day for the seven days ending Wednesday. The department said there have been 82,045 confirmed and probable cases in Kansas since the pandemic reached the state in early March.

The health department also said the state had another 106 hospitalizations related to the novel coronavirus, for a pandemic total of 3,752. The rolling average was 35 new hospitalizations a day for the seven days ending Wednesday.

Kansas also reported 31 additional COVID-19-related deaths since Monday, to bring its total to 1,007.

“We are just losing Kansans day in and day out,” Kelly said Wednesday during a Statehouse news conference. “This cannot continue.”

The health department said it switched this weekend to a new, automated system that allows new cases to be added to its count more quickly so that its figures catch up faster with what local officials are seeing.

The department said Wednesday that the change accounted for about 1,500 of the 3,369 new cases reported since Monday, but even with those factored out, the state had a record rolling seven-day average. The state’s previous record was 815 for the seven days ending Monday.

Kelly and top Republicans&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-topeka-nursing-homes-kansas-65df5c0f8dab0cddad84261daddb6e88">agreed in a private Zoom meeting</a>&nbsp;Tuesday to try for now to persuade counties that are coronavirus hot spots to impose mask mandates rather than having the state step in. Asked Wednesday how long she would give that approach, Kelly said: “Not long.”

“I don’t have a firm drop-dead date, but I’ll know it when we get there,” she said.

Kelly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/d205da04a32ace8ecffd4b5e8a6fb481">issued an order</a>&nbsp;July 2 requiring people to wear masks in public, but&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li_2020s/b2020s/measures/documents/summary_hb_2016_2020special" target="_blank">a state law&nbsp;</a>enacted the month before allowed the state’s 105 counties to opt out, and most did. The Republican-controlled Legislature forced Kelly to accept local control over mask rules, restrictions on businesses and limits on public gatherings after she imposed a statewide stay-at-home order for five weeks, ending in early May.

Republican leaders continue to argue that local officials are in the best position to set pandemic restrictions based on local conditions, even with rural counties being hit hard in recent weeks.

Kelly this week&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-kansas-topeka-e17aa8c98f333b072eb5c3431496c044">floated the idea&nbsp;</a>of calling a special session of the Legislature — possibly to strip counties of their authority to opt out of a statewide mask mandate — because lawmakers are not scheduled to reconvene until January.

Participants in Tuesday’s meeting said afterward that a special session of the Legislature appeared to be off the table. Kelly said Wednesday that’s not the case.

Top GOP lawmakers said a statewide mandate isn’t likely to get more people to wear masks if she and other officials didn’t build public support and educate local officials. Senate Vice President Jeff Longbine, an Emporia Republican, said Wednesday that local officials can’t enforce a mandate vigorously even if they want to do so.

“Why don’t we have a law that says if you have emphysema, that you can’t buy cigarettes?” Longbine said Wednesday. “I don’t think we as a country, we as a population, are ready for the government to take over our health care.”

Both Kelly and Longbine said the next step is for the governor and several legislative leaders to meet with representatives of the Kansas Association of Counties and the League of Kansas Municipalities and determine why local officials resist mask mandates.

“Is it political? Is it medical? Is it science? Do they need more education?” Longbine said.

In Ford County, which has among the state’s highest total per capita cases for the pandemic, officials are wary enough about what state and federal requirements they might face that the county commission has yet to accept a grant of nearly $180,000 awarded in September for expanded coronavirus testing. The county would have to sign an agreement to follow state health department and U.S. Centers for Disease Control guidelines.

The CDC recommends that people wear masks in public. Ford County commissioners opted out of Kelly’s mask mandate.

“I wanted to safeguard against us losing the local control and having the individual counties — and actually individual citizens — be able to make some of those decisions for themselves,” said Commissioner Shawn Tasset, a Republican.

The state health department said Wednesday that the language would not require a local mask mandate.

But County Administrator J.D. Gilbert said: “As a local government, you don’t ever want to commit yourself to any requirements from the state government, especially in the future because you don’t know what the state government is going to do.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603920084388.png" alt="“We are just losing Kansans day in and day out,” Kelly said Wednesday during a Statehouse news conference. “This cannot continue.”" />
 <figcaption>“We are just losing Kansans day in and day out,” Kelly said Wednesday during a Statehouse news conference. “This cannot continue.”</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas set new state pandemic records Wednesday for reported coronavirus cases and COVID-19-related hospitalizations, and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly said she hasn’t dropped the idea of calling the Republican-controlled Legislature into special session to impose a statewide mask mandate.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FGovLauraKelly%2Fvideos%2F982826705547591%2F&show_text=false&width=560" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>The state Department of Health and Environment added nearly 3,400 cases since Monday to its running tally for the pandemic, giving the state a rolling average of 1,084 new cases a day for the seven days ending Wednesday. The department said there have been 82,045 confirmed and probable cases in Kansas since the pandemic reached the state in early March.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603905113410.png" alt="Wednesday Oct. 28, 2020 KDHE image" />
 <figcaption>Wednesday Oct. 28, 2020 KDHE image</figcaption>
 </figure>The health department also said the state had another 106 hospitalizations related to the novel coronavirus, for a pandemic total of 3,752. The rolling average was 35 new hospitalizations a day for the seven days ending Wednesday.Kansas also reported 31 additional COVID-19-related deaths since Monday, to bring its total to 1,007.“We are just losing Kansans day in and day out,” Kelly said Wednesday during a Statehouse news conference. “This cannot continue.”The health department said it switched this weekend to a new, automated system that allows new cases to be added to its count more quickly so that its figures catch up faster with what local officials are seeing.The department said Wednesday that the change accounted for about 1,500 of the 3,369 new cases reported since Monday, but even with those factored out, the state had a record rolling seven-day average. The state’s previous record was 815 for the seven days ending Monday.Kelly and top Republicans&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-topeka-nursing-homes-kansas-65df5c0f8dab0cddad84261daddb6e88">agreed in a private Zoom meeting</a>&nbsp;Tuesday to try for now to persuade counties that are coronavirus hot spots to impose mask mandates rather than having the state step in. Asked Wednesday how long she would give that approach, Kelly said: “Not long.”“I don’t have a firm drop-dead date, but I’ll know it when we get there,” she said.Kelly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/d205da04a32ace8ecffd4b5e8a6fb481">issued an order</a>&nbsp;July 2 requiring people to wear masks in public, but&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li_2020s/b2020s/measures/documents/summary_hb_2016_2020special" target="_blank">a state law&nbsp;</a>enacted the month before allowed the state’s 105 counties to opt out, and most did. The Republican-controlled Legislature forced Kelly to accept local control over mask rules, restrictions on businesses and limits on public gatherings after she imposed a statewide stay-at-home order for five weeks, ending in early May.Republican leaders continue to argue that local officials are in the best position to set pandemic restrictions based on local conditions, even with rural counties being hit hard in recent weeks.Kelly this week&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-kansas-topeka-e17aa8c98f333b072eb5c3431496c044">floated the idea&nbsp;</a>of calling a special session of the Legislature — possibly to strip counties of their authority to opt out of a statewide mask mandate — because lawmakers are not scheduled to reconvene until January.Participants in Tuesday’s meeting said afterward that a special session of the Legislature appeared to be off the table. Kelly said Wednesday that’s not the case.Top GOP lawmakers said a statewide mandate isn’t likely to get more people to wear masks if she and other officials didn’t build public support and educate local officials. Senate Vice President Jeff Longbine, an Emporia Republican, said Wednesday that local officials can’t enforce a mandate vigorously even if they want to do so.“Why don’t we have a law that says if you have emphysema, that you can’t buy cigarettes?” Longbine said Wednesday. “I don’t think we as a country, we as a population, are ready for the government to take over our health care.”Both Kelly and Longbine said the next step is for the governor and several legislative leaders to meet with representatives of the Kansas Association of Counties and the League of Kansas Municipalities and determine why local officials resist mask mandates.“Is it political? Is it medical? Is it science? Do they need more education?” Longbine said.In Ford County, which has among the state’s highest total per capita cases for the pandemic, officials are wary enough about what state and federal requirements they might face that the county commission has yet to accept a grant of nearly $180,000 awarded in September for expanded coronavirus testing. The county would have to sign an agreement to follow state health department and U.S. Centers for Disease Control guidelines.The CDC recommends that people wear masks in public. Ford County commissioners opted out of Kelly’s mask mandate.“I wanted to safeguard against us losing the local control and having the individual counties — and actually individual citizens — be able to make some of those decisions for themselves,” said Commissioner Shawn Tasset, a Republican.The state health department said Wednesday that the language would not require a local mask mandate.But County Administrator J.D. Gilbert said: “As a local government, you don’t ever want to commit yourself to any requirements from the state government, especially in the future because you don’t know what the state government is going to do.”___

Gov. considers special legislative session on mask mandate

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating an officer-involved shooting in Wichita.

Just after 10:30p.m. Tuesday, a police officer on patrol in the area of 4200 East Boston in Wichita recognized a Chevy Tahoe that was part of an alert sent on Monday, according to&nbsp;Sgt. Daniel Harty with the Wichita police department's homicide division.

The alert also indicated a 38-year-old known male suspect had been involved in two incidents with police within the past couple of days.

On Saturday night, the Mulvane police department had been involved in a chase with the vehicle. During that pursuit, the suspect fired four shots at officers, according to Harty.&nbsp;

Sedgwick County Sheriff's deputies were involved in a chase with the suspect on Sunday night. At that time the suspect was able to avoid arrest.

When the officer on patrol recognized that this was the vehicle he'd read about, he attempted to make a traffic stop in the 4400 Block of East Harry in Wichita, according to Harty.

The suspect driver refused to stop, accelerated and fled. The pursuit last approximately 7 minutes in various neighborhoods in the Hilltop area at speeds of 60-70 miles per hours.

 The suspect eventually stopped in a backyard in the 4400 Block of East Bailey. He produced a handgun and fired at the officers.&nbsp; The bullet struck a home behind the officers. Five officers at the scene returned fire and the suspect was hit multiple times, according to Harty.

Officers then gave life-saving assistance, including the use of a tourniquet on the suspect's leg. EMS transported the suspect to a local hospital where he remains in stable condition, according to Harty. The suspect was alone and no officers were injured.&nbsp;As soon as the suspect is released from the hospital, he will be taken to jail.

The suspect's handgun was reported stolen during a home burglary in Sedgwick County in September.&nbsp; He has extensive criminal history, according to Harty.&nbsp; Police arrested him in 2012 on drug and gun charges after a lengthy pursuit where he fired shots at officers.&nbsp; He was on parole. Harty did not release his name. The KBI is assisting with the investigation.

SEDGWICK COUNTY— Police officers shot and wounded a man in an exchange of gunfire while attempting to arrest him because he is suspected of firing at an officer from a nearby town last week, according to Wichita Police.

Police reported on social media that the suspect fled Tuesday night before coming to a stop and firing at officers. The officers returned fire, striking the man. 

EMS transported the man to a hospital with serious injuries. No one else was in the car with the suspect, and no officers were injured. 

Police described the man as a “violent felon” and said he is suspected of shooting a Mulvane police officer during a vehicle pursuit. Police are expected to release more on the shooting investigation during a Wednesday afternoon news conference, according to officer Charley Davidson.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603914305229.png" alt="The stolen gun used in the exchange of gunfire and a diagram of the neighborhood where the shooting occurred-image Wichita Police" />
 <figcaption>The stolen gun used in the exchange of gunfire and a diagram of the neighborhood where the shooting occurred-image Wichita Police</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating an officer-involved shooting in Wichita.Just after 10:30p.m. Tuesday, a police officer on patrol in the area of 4200 East Boston in Wichita recognized a Chevy Tahoe that was part of an alert sent on Monday, according to&nbsp;Sgt. Daniel Harty with the Wichita police department's homicide division.The alert also indicated a 38-year-old known male suspect had been involved in two incidents with police within the past couple of days.On Saturday night, the Mulvane police department had been involved in a chase with the vehicle. During that pursuit, the suspect fired four shots at officers, according to Harty.&nbsp;Sedgwick County Sheriff's deputies were involved in a chase with the suspect on Sunday night. At that time the suspect was able to avoid arrest.When the officer on patrol recognized that this was the vehicle he'd read about, he attempted to make a traffic stop in the 4400 Block of East Harry in Wichita, according to Harty.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603903455211.png" alt="Police on the scene of the shooting investigation -photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene of the shooting investigation -photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>The suspect driver refused to stop, accelerated and fled. The pursuit last approximately 7 minutes in various neighborhoods in the Hilltop area at speeds of 60-70 miles per hours. The suspect eventually stopped in a backyard in the 4400 Block of East Bailey. He produced a handgun and fired at the officers.&nbsp; The bullet struck a home behind the officers. Five officers at the scene returned fire and the suspect was hit multiple times, according to Harty.Officers then gave life-saving assistance, including the use of a tourniquet on the suspect's leg. EMS transported the suspect to a local hospital where he remains in stable condition, according to Harty. The suspect was alone and no officers were injured.&nbsp;As soon as the suspect is released from the hospital, he will be taken to jail.The suspect's handgun was reported stolen during a home burglary in Sedgwick County in September.&nbsp; He has extensive criminal history, according to Harty.&nbsp; Police arrested him in 2012 on drug and gun charges after a lengthy pursuit where he fired shots at officers.&nbsp; He was on parole. Harty did not release his name. The KBI is assisting with the investigation.---------SEDGWICK COUNTY— Police officers shot and wounded a man in an exchange of gunfire while attempting to arrest him because he is suspected of firing at an officer from a nearby town last week, according to Wichita Police.Police reported on social media that the suspect fled Tuesday night before coming to a stop and firing at officers. The officers returned fire, striking the man. EMS transported the man to a hospital with serious injuries. No one else was in the car with the suspect, and no officers were injured. Police described the man as a “violent felon” and said he is suspected of shooting a Mulvane police officer during a vehicle pursuit. Police are expected to release more on the shooting investigation during a Wednesday afternoon news conference, according to officer Charley Davidson.

Update: Suspect shot during Kan. chase, exchange of gunfire

WICHITA — As Halloween 2020 approaches, KDHE Secretary Dr. Lee Norman wore his Colonel Sanders outfit and offered some ideas on things that you can do to celebrate safely, get creative and have fun.

In addition, AAA Kansas is raising concern for a dangerous traffic safety trifecta – increased pedestrian activity, drunk driving, and drowsy driving – all of which converge this Halloween weekend. The ghostly holiday falls on a Saturday this year, followed a few short hours later by “falling back” at the end of Daylight Saving Time (DST) at 2:00 a.m. Sunday, November 1.

Halloween festivities amid the COVID-19 pandemic will likely look different for many communities, parents, trick-or-treaters, and party goers. Traditional indoor activities, like costume parties for children and adults, can move outside in small, socially distanced settings. However those planning to celebrate should not lose sight of safety first.

A scare in good fun is expected on Halloween, but AAA Kansas warns, not when it comes to child pedestrian safety.

Creative costumes, trick-or-treating and bags full of goodies are top Halloween priorities, but safety often becomes an afterthought. Excited trick-or-treaters can forget about safety, so drivers, party-goers and parents must be even more alert, as the risk of kids being injured by moving vehicles increases.

“With an increased risk of pedestrian crashes on Halloween night, AAA Kansas urges parents to take the time to make trick-or-treaters and their costumes safer and more visible to motorists,” said Shawn Steward, AAA Kansas spokesman.&nbsp; “In addition, motorists must eliminate distractions, slow down and watch for children, as well as have a completely sober designated driver if drinking is part of a Halloween celebration.”Halloween is also a statistically dangerous night for drunk driving. The combination of drinking and increased pedestrian traffic on Halloween is a deadly combination. AAA and the&nbsp;National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) found that:

WICHITA — As Halloween 2020 approaches, KDHE Secretary Dr. Lee Norman wore his Colonel Sanders outfit and offered some ideas on things that you can do to celebrate safely, get creative and have fun.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">I love Halloween, and there are things that we can do to celebrate safely this holiday season. Get creative and have fun. Follow your county&#39;s guidelines, and find more ideas on our website: <a href="https://t.co/7KEvXPCPa6">https://t.co/7KEvXPCPa6</a>. <a href="https://t.co/E8fnwszBQy">pic.twitter.com/E8fnwszBQy</a>&mdash; Lee Norman (@SecNorman) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecNorman/status/1320748334852747264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>In addition, AAA Kansas is raising concern for a dangerous traffic safety trifecta – increased pedestrian activity, drunk driving, and drowsy driving – all of which converge this Halloween weekend. The ghostly holiday falls on a Saturday this year, followed a few short hours later by “falling back” at the end of Daylight Saving Time (DST) at 2:00 a.m. Sunday, November 1.Halloween festivities amid the COVID-19 pandemic will likely look different for many communities, parents, trick-or-treaters, and party goers. Traditional indoor activities, like costume parties for children and adults, can move outside in small, socially distanced settings. However those planning to celebrate should not lose sight of safety first.A scare in good fun is expected on Halloween, but AAA Kansas warns, not when it comes to child pedestrian safety.<ul>
 <li>According to Safe Kids Worldwide,&nbsp;children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween as any other day of the year.</li><li>The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that&nbsp;Halloween is consistently one of the top three days of the year for pedestrian injuries and fatalities.</li>
 </ul>Creative costumes, trick-or-treating and bags full of goodies are top Halloween priorities, but safety often becomes an afterthought. Excited trick-or-treaters can forget about safety, so drivers, party-goers and parents must be even more alert, as the risk of kids being injured by moving vehicles increases.“With an increased risk of pedestrian crashes on Halloween night, AAA Kansas urges parents to take the time to make trick-or-treaters and their costumes safer and more visible to motorists,” said Shawn Steward, AAA Kansas spokesman.&nbsp; “In addition, motorists must eliminate distractions, slow down and watch for children, as well as have a completely sober designated driver if drinking is part of a Halloween celebration.”Halloween is also a statistically dangerous night for drunk driving. The combination of drinking and increased pedestrian traffic on Halloween is a deadly combination. AAA and the&nbsp;National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) found that:<ul>
 <li>One-fourth of all pedestrian deaths ranging in age from 5-14 occurred in the four days leading up to Halloween (October 28-31) in 2017.</li><li>On Halloween night 2017, 89 people were fatally injured in a traffic crash, with 13 percent involving alcohol.</li><li>In 2017, more than half of pedestrian fatalities on Halloween occurred with the pedestrian outside of a marked crosswalk.</li><li>From 2013 – 2017, 158 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes on Halloween night (NHTSA)</li><li>From 2013 - 2017, 22 percent of pedestrian fatalities on Halloween night involved a drunk driver. (NHTSA)</li><li>During that period, 42 percent of all people killed in motor vehicle crashes on Halloween night were in crashes involving a drunk driver. (NHTSA)</li>
 </ul><h2>AAA Halloween Safety TipsMotorists</h2><ul>
 <li>Do not use your phone while behind the wheel, so you can focus on the road and trick-or-treaters.</li><li>Slow down in residential neighborhoods and obey all traffic signs and signals. Drive at least 5 mph below the posted speed limit to give yourself extra time to react to children who may dart into the street. Broaden your scanning by looking for children left and right into yards and on front porches.</li><li>Look for children crossing the street. They may not be paying attention to traffic and may cross the street mid-block or between parked cars.</li><li>Carefully enter and exit driveways and alleys, taking extra care if you are backing up or turning.</li><li>Turn your headlights on to make yourself more visible – even in the daylight.</li>
 </ul><figure>
 <img src="https://us.vocuspr.com/Publish/523962/vcsPRAsset_523962_94848_e6aa352c-2292-413f-b873-8720597d00e4_0.jpg" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Parents</h2><ul>
 <li>Make sure Halloween costumes are flame-retardant and light in color to improve visibility.</li><li>Be bright at night – have trick-or-treaters use glow sticks or wear retro-reflective tape on costumes and on treat buckets.</li><li>Ensure disguises don’t obstruct vision and avoid full facemasks.</li><li>Create face masks that coordinate with costumes rather than regular costume masks.&nbsp; This won’t obstruct vision and follows health and safety guidelines for COVID-19.</li><li>&nbsp;Instead, use nontoxic face paint. Also, watch the length of billowy costumes to help avoid tripping.</li><li>Ensure any props are flexible and blunt-tipped to avoid injury from tripping or horseplay.</li><li>Ask an adult or older child to supervise children under age 12.</li><li>Instruct children to travel only in familiar areas and along established routes.</li><li>Teach children to stop only at well-lit houses and to never to enter a stranger’s home or garage.</li><li>Review trick-or-treating safety precautions, including pedestrian and traffic safety rules.</li>
 </ul><h2>Trick-or-Treaters</h2><ul>
 <li>Stay on sidewalks and avoid walking in streets if possible.</li><li>If there are no sidewalks, walk on the left side of the road, facing traffic.</li><li>Look both ways and listen for traffic before crossing the street.</li><li>Watch for cars turning or backing up.</li><li>Cross streets only at the corner, using traffic signals and crosswalks, and never cross between parked vehicles or mid-block.</li><li>Trick-or-treat in a group if someone older cannot go with you.</li><li>Tell your parents where you are going.</li><li>Carry a flashlight containing fresh batteries. Never shine flashlights into the eyes of oncoming drivers.</li>
 </ul><h2>Party Goers</h2><ul>
 <li>Arrange a safe ride home and/or designate a driver before partaking in any festivities.</li><li>Always designate a sober driver.</li><li>If you are drunk, take a taxi or ride share service, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation.</li><li>Before leaving for a party, load ride share apps or put numbers of local cab companies or your designated driver(s) into your phone.</li><li>Walking impaired can be as dangerous as drunk driving. Designate a sober friend to walk you home.</li><li>If you see a drunk driver on the road, contact local law enforcement.</li><li>If you know someone who is about to drive or ride impaired, take their keys and help them make safe travel arrangements to where they are going.</li>
 </ul>

🎥 Halloween weekend safety tips from Dr. Lee Norman

LYONS, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas has man has been charged with attempted capital murder in the shooting of a central Kansas police officer, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said Wednesday.

Adam Hrabik, 40, was also charged with aggravated assault after a Lyons High School teacher was seriously injured in the crossfire.

Lyons Police Sgt. Cory Ryan, 36, was critically injured when he was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-police-kansas-wichita-7487584f520b84e877e95dca78ee84b7">shot</a>&nbsp;Oct. 19 when he responded to a man who reported he had been threatened with a gun, investigators said.

Two bystanders who saw the shooting drove the officer to a hospital and he was later transported to a Wichita hospital.&nbsp;&nbsp;Ryan was recovering and preparing to leave the hospital Wednesday.

Lyons teacher Brian Friess was seriously injured when he was caught in crossfire during the confrontation, police said. His condition on Wednesday wasn’t immediately available.

After the shooting, Hrabik went inside a home and was arrested after a long standoff.

Lyons is about 81 miles northwest of Wichita.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603932778315.png" alt="Adam Hrabik photo Rice County" />
 <figcaption>Adam Hrabik photo Rice County</figcaption>
 </figure>LYONS, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas has man has been charged with attempted capital murder in the shooting of a central Kansas police officer, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said Wednesday.Adam Hrabik, 40, was also charged with aggravated assault after a Lyons High School teacher was seriously injured in the crossfire.Lyons Police Sgt. Cory Ryan, 36, was critically injured when he was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-police-kansas-wichita-7487584f520b84e877e95dca78ee84b7">shot</a>&nbsp;Oct. 19 when he responded to a man who reported he had been threatened with a gun, investigators said.Two bystanders who saw the shooting drove the officer to a hospital and he was later transported to a Wichita hospital.&nbsp;&nbsp;Ryan was recovering and preparing to leave the hospital Wednesday.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1602896609117.png" alt="Police on the scene of the standoff&nbsp; Oct. 19-photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene of the standoff&nbsp; Oct. 19-photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>Lyons teacher Brian Friess was seriously injured when he was caught in crossfire during the confrontation, police said. His condition on Wednesday wasn’t immediately available.After the shooting, Hrabik went inside a home and was arrested after a long standoff.Lyons is about 81 miles northwest of Wichita.

Man charged in shooting of Lyons police officer, teacher

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A retired firefighter who is charged with threatening to kidnap and kill the mayor of Wichita because he was upset about the city’s mask ordinance had been texting an acquaintance on the city council for more than a month before his arrest, newly released court records show.

The document were released Tuesday in the case against 59-year-old Meredith Dowty, who was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-kansas-wichita-topeka-13c2ec68539f8ba62d0237d83a94fbb4">charged</a>&nbsp;last week three counts of criminal threat. They say Wichita City Council member James Clendenin started receiving texts from Dowty on Sept. 9, when Dowty wrote that he wanted to know where the mayor eats, sleeps and buys food and gas.

Clendenin, who voted against the mask mandate, said Dowty might have felt they were “kindred spirits” because of his stance.

Court documents say Dowty also texted about people needing to be “hung by their necks” on Sept. 24 and then described the mayor as “traitorous” in a Sept. 25 message. Clendenin said he didn’t feel the conversation went beyond “venting” until Oct. 16, when Dowty allegedly wrote that the “Mayor and all those who bankrupt us” are “viable targets for elimination.”

That’s when he reported the messages to police. Dowty said Clendenin is his friend and that he didn’t mean the texts as threats, court document say.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1602897809399.png" alt="Meredith Dowty photo Sedgwick County Jail" />
 <figcaption>Meredith Dowty photo Sedgwick County Jail</figcaption>
 </figure>WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A retired firefighter who is charged with threatening to kidnap and kill the mayor of Wichita because he was upset about the city’s mask ordinance had been texting an acquaintance on the city council for more than a month before his arrest, newly released court records show.The document were released Tuesday in the case against 59-year-old Meredith Dowty, who was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-kansas-wichita-topeka-13c2ec68539f8ba62d0237d83a94fbb4">charged</a>&nbsp;last week three counts of criminal threat. They say Wichita City Council member James Clendenin started receiving texts from Dowty on Sept. 9, when Dowty wrote that he wanted to know where the mayor eats, sleeps and buys food and gas.Clendenin, who voted against the mask mandate, said Dowty might have felt they were “kindred spirits” because of his stance.Court documents say Dowty also texted about people needing to be “hung by their necks” on Sept. 24 and then described the mayor as “traitorous” in a Sept. 25 message. Clendenin said he didn’t feel the conversation went beyond “venting” until Oct. 16, when Dowty allegedly wrote that the “Mayor and all those who bankrupt us” are “viable targets for elimination.”That’s when he reported the messages to police. Dowty said Clendenin is his friend and that he didn’t mean the texts as threats, court document say.

Man charged in threat over masks had been texting councilman

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) —&nbsp;Sixty people have been charged in a widespread magazine telemarketing scam that authorities say netted $300 million from more than 150,000 elderly and vulnerable people nationwide, the U.S. attorney's office in&nbsp;Minnesota&nbsp;announced Wednesday.&nbsp;

U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald called the scam the largest elder fraud scheme in the country.&nbsp;

The U.S. attorney's office says the fraudulent companies were operating in Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota,&nbsp;Florida,&nbsp;Georgia,&nbsp;Mississippi,&nbsp;California,&nbsp;Iowa, Illinois,&nbsp;Colorado,&nbsp;Arizona,&nbsp;New Mexico,&nbsp;North Carolina, and&nbsp;Arkansas.

MacDonald said the 60 defendants face a host of charges, including conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the Senior Citizens Against Marketing Scams Act of 1994. The defendants are from 14 states and two Canadian provinces.

“Unfortunately, we live in a world where fraudsters are willing to take advantage of seniors, who are often trusting and polite. It’s my hope that this prosecution is a call for vigilance and caution," MacDonald said in a statement.

The indictments and other court documents say that over the last 20 years, the defendants used a network of dozens of fraudulent magazine sales companies and telemarketing call centers to carry out the scam. Employees allegedly used deceptive sales scripts to trick people into making large or repeat payments to the companies.

The indictments allege that many of the defendants used a fraudulent “renewal” script in which the telemarketers falsely claimed to be calling from the victim's existing magazine subscription company with a phony offer to reduce monthly subscription costs.

In reality, the callers had no existing relationship with victims and signed them up for expensive, new magazine subscriptions. As a result, consumers ended up having multiple subscriptions with fraudulent magazine companies.

“Using a tactic like telemarketing magazine sales, these deceitful scam artists bilk hard earned money from their aging victims – leaving so many financially devastated in their retirement years and without recourse for recovery,” Michael Paul, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Minneapolis, said.

Some of the defendants are also accused of using a “cancellation” script that targeted people who had been previous victims. According to the indictments, these defendants took advantage of victims' desperation to make the subscriptions stop and offered to consolidate and cancel existing subscriptions and pay off an alleged “outstanding balance” in exchange for a large lump sum payment. In reality, victims owed no money.

The indictments charge defendants at all levels of the alleged conspiracies, including people who allegedly led the scheme, company owners, call center managers, telemarketers and others. Those who led the scheme provided the companies software programs that tracked orders, sales, and other customer information.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603906433877.png" alt="U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald announced the defendants are from 14 states and two Canadian provinces." />
 <figcaption>U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald announced the defendants are from 14 states and two Canadian provinces.</figcaption>
 </figure>MINNEAPOLIS (AP) —&nbsp;Sixty people have been charged in a widespread magazine telemarketing scam that authorities say netted $300 million from more than 150,000 elderly and vulnerable people nationwide, the U.S. attorney's office in&nbsp;Minnesota&nbsp;announced Wednesday.&nbsp;U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald called the scam the largest elder fraud scheme in the country.&nbsp;The U.S. attorney's office says the fraudulent companies were operating in Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota,&nbsp;Florida,&nbsp;Georgia,&nbsp;Mississippi,&nbsp;California,&nbsp;Iowa, Illinois,&nbsp;Colorado,&nbsp;Arizona,&nbsp;New Mexico,&nbsp;North Carolina, and&nbsp;Arkansas.MacDonald said the 60 defendants face a host of charges, including conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the Senior Citizens Against Marketing Scams Act of 1994. The defendants are from 14 states and two Canadian provinces.“Unfortunately, we live in a world where fraudsters are willing to take advantage of seniors, who are often trusting and polite. It’s my hope that this prosecution is a call for vigilance and caution," MacDonald said in a statement.The indictments and other court documents say that over the last 20 years, the defendants used a network of dozens of fraudulent magazine sales companies and telemarketing call centers to carry out the scam. Employees allegedly used deceptive sales scripts to trick people into making large or repeat payments to the companies.The indictments allege that many of the defendants used a fraudulent “renewal” script in which the telemarketers falsely claimed to be calling from the victim's existing magazine subscription company with a phony offer to reduce monthly subscription costs.In reality, the callers had no existing relationship with victims and signed them up for expensive, new magazine subscriptions. As a result, consumers ended up having multiple subscriptions with fraudulent magazine companies.“Using a tactic like telemarketing magazine sales, these deceitful scam artists bilk hard earned money from their aging victims – leaving so many financially devastated in their retirement years and without recourse for recovery,” Michael Paul, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Minneapolis, said.Some of the defendants are also accused of using a “cancellation” script that targeted people who had been previous victims. According to the indictments, these defendants took advantage of victims' desperation to make the subscriptions stop and offered to consolidate and cancel existing subscriptions and pay off an alleged “outstanding balance” in exchange for a large lump sum payment. In reality, victims owed no money.The indictments charge defendants at all levels of the alleged conspiracies, including people who allegedly led the scheme, company owners, call center managers, telemarketers and others. Those who led the scheme provided the companies software programs that tracked orders, sales, and other customer information.

Largest elder phone scam in the country operated in Kansas

WASHINGTON (AP) — With next week’s election looming, the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google were scolded by Republicans at a Senate hearing Wednesday for alleged anti-conservative bias in the companies’ social media platforms and received a warning of coming restrictions from Congress.

<a href="https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2020/10/does-section-230-s-sweeping-immunity-enable-big-tech-bad-behavior">Click here</a>&nbsp;to watch a replay of the hearing and to read the opening statements.

Lawmakers of both parties are assessing the companies’ tremendous power to disseminate speech and ideas, and are looking to challenge their long-enjoyed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/d3e09c4037e2fc17558492b9bdce1ecc">bedrock legal protections</a>&nbsp;for online speech.

The Trump administration, seizing on unfounded accusations of bias against conservative views, has asked Congress to strip some of the protections that have generally shielded the tech companies from legal responsibility for what people post on their platforms.

“The time has come for that free pass to end,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Wicker, R-Miss., said the laws governing online speech must be updated because “the openness and freedom of the internet are under attack.”Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey gives his opening statement to the committee Wednesday

He spoke at the opening of the hearing as Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai waited to testify via video.

Wicker cited the move this month by Facebook and Twitter to limit dissemination of an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-ukraine-elections-134406f28e826380924bbcf773d2c05a">unverified political story</a>&nbsp;from the conservative-leaning New York Post about Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. The story, which was not confirmed by other publications, cited unverified emails from Biden’s son Hunter that were reportedly disclosed by Trump allies.

Republicans led by President Donald Trump have accused the social media platforms, without evidence, of deliberately suppressing conservative, religious and anti-abortion views.

In their prepared testimony, Dorsey, Zuckerberg and Pichai addressed the proposals for changes to a provision of a 1996 law that has served as the foundation for unfettered speech on the internet. Critics in both parties say that immunity under Section 230 enables the social media companies to abdicate their responsibility to impartially moderate content.

Zuckerberg acknowledged that Congress “should update the law to make sure it’s working as intended.”

Dorsey and Pichai urged caution in making any changes. “Undermining Section 230 will result in far more removal of online speech and impose severe limitations on our collective ability to address harmful content and protect people online,” Dorsey said.

Pichai appealed to lawmakers “to be very thoughtful about any changes to Section 230 and to be very aware of the consequences those changes might have on businesses and consumers.”

The session lacked the in-person drama of star-witness proceedings before the coronavirus. The hearing room was nearly empty except for Wicker and a few colleagues, but their questioning was sharp as tempers flared among members.

“Twitter’s conduct has by far been the most egregious,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Dorsey. Cruz cited Twitter’s limitations on the newspaper story as part of “a pattern of censorship and silencing Americans with whom Twitter disagrees.”

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, went after Republicans, saying the hearing was a “sham.”

“This is bullying,” Schatz told the CEOs. “Do not let U.S. senators bully you into carrying the water” for politicians seeking to discredit their opponents. With their questions, Schatz said, the Republicans “are trying to bully the heads of private companies into making a hit job” on political leaders

Trump earlier this year signed an executive order challenging the protections from lawsuits under the 1996 telecommunications law.

Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd told congressional leaders in a letter Tuesday that recent events have made the changes more urgent, and said the restrictions by Twitter and Facebook related to the newspaper story was “quite concerning.”

Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, an independent agency, recently announced&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-367567A1.pdf" target="_blank">plans to reexamine</a>&nbsp;the legal protections — an about-face from the agency’s previous position.

Social media giants are also under heavy scrutiny for their efforts to police&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-politics-media-misinformation-7a60e1e6005c8b3b967c9ad337cb1a6a">misinformation about the election</a>. Twitter and Facebook have imposed a misinformation label on content from the president, who has about 80 million followers. Trump has raised&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-ap-fact-check-joe-biden-donald-trump-virus-outbreak-867740a2e552b8b3d9d409c0d0ea5170">the baseless prospect of mass fraud</a>&nbsp;in the vote-by-mail process.

Starting Tuesday, Facebook didn’t accept any new political advertising. Previously booked political ads will be able to run until the polls close Nov. 3, when all political advertising will temporarily be banned. Google, which owns YouTube, also is halting political ads after the polls close. Twitter banned all political ads last year.

Democrats have focused&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-race-and-ethnicity-media-misinformation-social-media-d24e3276008c938fd861696369b0766c">their criticism of social media</a>&nbsp;mainly on hate speech, misinformation and other content that can incite violence or keep people from voting. They have criticized the tech CEOs for failing to police content, homing in on the platforms’ role in hate crimes and the rise of white nationalism in the U.S.

Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have scrambled to stem the tide of material that incites violence and spreads lies and baseless conspiracy theories.

The companies reject accusations of bias but have wrestled with how strongly they should intervene. They have often gone out of their way not to appear biased against conservative views — a posture that some say effectively tilts them toward those viewpoints. The effort has been especially strained for Facebook, which was caught off guard in 2016, when it was used as a conduit by Russian agents to spread misinformation benefiting Trump’s presidential campaign.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google are facing a grilling by senators making unfounded allegations that the tech giants show anti-conservative bias.

The Senate Commerce Committee has summoned Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai to testify for a hearing Wednesday.&nbsp; U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee is among Senators who will question them.

The executives agreed to appear remotely after being threatened with subpoenas. With the election looming, Republicans led by President Donald Trump have thrown a barrage of grievances at Big Tech’s social media platforms. They accuse the platforms without evidence of deliberately suppressing conservative, religious and anti-abortion views.

In March, Sen. Moran&nbsp;<a href="https://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?id=5C11EECE-DE43-4B2B-AEDE-76504D1D6186#:~:text=The%20Consumer%20Data%20Privacy%20and%20Security%20Act%20would%3A&amp;text=provide%20consumers%20with%20control%20over,and%20responsibly%20process%20that%20data." target="_blank">introduced</a>&nbsp;landmark federal data privacy legislation to strengthen the laws that govern consumers’ personal data and create clear standards and regulations for American businesses that collect, process and use consumers’ personally identifiable data.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603901595133.png" alt="Senator Moran opened his portion of the virtual hearing with a question to all three witnesses on how much money they spend and how many they employ to monitor online content.&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Senator Moran opened his portion of the virtual hearing with a question to all three witnesses on how much money they spend and how many they employ to monitor online content.&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — With next week’s election looming, the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google were scolded by Republicans at a Senate hearing Wednesday for alleged anti-conservative bias in the companies’ social media platforms and received a warning of coming restrictions from Congress.<a href="https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2020/10/does-section-230-s-sweeping-immunity-enable-big-tech-bad-behavior">Click here</a>&nbsp;to watch a replay of the hearing and to read the opening statements.Lawmakers of both parties are assessing the companies’ tremendous power to disseminate speech and ideas, and are looking to challenge their long-enjoyed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/d3e09c4037e2fc17558492b9bdce1ecc">bedrock legal protections</a>&nbsp;for online speech.The Trump administration, seizing on unfounded accusations of bias against conservative views, has asked Congress to strip some of the protections that have generally shielded the tech companies from legal responsibility for what people post on their platforms.“The time has come for that free pass to end,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Wicker, R-Miss., said the laws governing online speech must be updated because “the openness and freedom of the internet are under attack.”Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey gives his opening statement to the committee Wednesday<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603894904609.png" alt="Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey gives his opening statement to the committee Wednesday" />
 <figcaption>Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey gives his opening statement to the committee Wednesday</figcaption>
 </figure>He spoke at the opening of the hearing as Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai waited to testify via video.Wicker cited the move this month by Facebook and Twitter to limit dissemination of an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-ukraine-elections-134406f28e826380924bbcf773d2c05a">unverified political story</a>&nbsp;from the conservative-leaning New York Post about Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. The story, which was not confirmed by other publications, cited unverified emails from Biden’s son Hunter that were reportedly disclosed by Trump allies.Republicans led by President Donald Trump have accused the social media platforms, without evidence, of deliberately suppressing conservative, religious and anti-abortion views.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603922130265.png" alt="Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg during questioning from Senator Moran" />
 <figcaption>Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg during questioning from Senator Moran</figcaption>
 </figure>In their prepared testimony, Dorsey, Zuckerberg and Pichai addressed the proposals for changes to a provision of a 1996 law that has served as the foundation for unfettered speech on the internet. Critics in both parties say that immunity under Section 230 enables the social media companies to abdicate their responsibility to impartially moderate content.Zuckerberg acknowledged that Congress “should update the law to make sure it’s working as intended.”Dorsey and Pichai urged caution in making any changes. “Undermining Section 230 will result in far more removal of online speech and impose severe limitations on our collective ability to address harmful content and protect people online,” Dorsey said.Pichai appealed to lawmakers “to be very thoughtful about any changes to Section 230 and to be very aware of the consequences those changes might have on businesses and consumers.”The session lacked the in-person drama of star-witness proceedings before the coronavirus. The hearing room was nearly empty except for Wicker and a few colleagues, but their questioning was sharp as tempers flared among members.“Twitter’s conduct has by far been the most egregious,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Dorsey. Cruz cited Twitter’s limitations on the newspaper story as part of “a pattern of censorship and silencing Americans with whom Twitter disagrees.”Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, went after Republicans, saying the hearing was a “sham.”“This is bullying,” Schatz told the CEOs. “Do not let U.S. senators bully you into carrying the water” for politicians seeking to discredit their opponents. With their questions, Schatz said, the Republicans “are trying to bully the heads of private companies into making a hit job” on political leadersTrump earlier this year signed an executive order challenging the protections from lawsuits under the 1996 telecommunications law.Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd told congressional leaders in a letter Tuesday that recent events have made the changes more urgent, and said the restrictions by Twitter and Facebook related to the newspaper story was “quite concerning.”Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, an independent agency, recently announced&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-367567A1.pdf" target="_blank">plans to reexamine</a>&nbsp;the legal protections — an about-face from the agency’s previous position.Social media giants are also under heavy scrutiny for their efforts to police&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-politics-media-misinformation-7a60e1e6005c8b3b967c9ad337cb1a6a">misinformation about the election</a>. Twitter and Facebook have imposed a misinformation label on content from the president, who has about 80 million followers. Trump has raised&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-ap-fact-check-joe-biden-donald-trump-virus-outbreak-867740a2e552b8b3d9d409c0d0ea5170">the baseless prospect of mass fraud</a>&nbsp;in the vote-by-mail process.Starting Tuesday, Facebook didn’t accept any new political advertising. Previously booked political ads will be able to run until the polls close Nov. 3, when all political advertising will temporarily be banned. Google, which owns YouTube, also is halting political ads after the polls close. Twitter banned all political ads last year.Democrats have focused&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-race-and-ethnicity-media-misinformation-social-media-d24e3276008c938fd861696369b0766c">their criticism of social media</a>&nbsp;mainly on hate speech, misinformation and other content that can incite violence or keep people from voting. They have criticized the tech CEOs for failing to police content, homing in on the platforms’ role in hate crimes and the rise of white nationalism in the U.S.Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have scrambled to stem the tide of material that incites violence and spreads lies and baseless conspiracy theories.The companies reject accusations of bias but have wrestled with how strongly they should intervene. They have often gone out of their way not to appear biased against conservative views — a posture that some say effectively tilts them toward those viewpoints. The effort has been especially strained for Facebook, which was caught off guard in 2016, when it was used as a conduit by Russian agents to spread misinformation benefiting Trump’s presidential campaign.___WASHINGTON (AP) — The CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google are facing a grilling by senators making unfounded allegations that the tech giants show anti-conservative bias.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603894628026.png" alt="A very empty conference room at the Russell Senate Office building for Tuesday's virtual hearing -image courtesy Senate Commerce Committee." />
 <figcaption>A very empty conference room at the Russell Senate Office building for Tuesday's virtual hearing -image courtesy Senate Commerce Committee.</figcaption>
 </figure>The Senate Commerce Committee has summoned Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai to testify for a hearing Wednesday.&nbsp; U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee is among Senators who will question them.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603894904609.png" alt="Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey gives his opening statement to the committee Wednesday" />
 <figcaption>Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey gives his opening statement to the committee Wednesday</figcaption>
 </figure>The executives agreed to appear remotely after being threatened with subpoenas. With the election looming, Republicans led by President Donald Trump have thrown a barrage of grievances at Big Tech’s social media platforms. They accuse the platforms without evidence of deliberately suppressing conservative, religious and anti-abortion views.In March, Sen. Moran&nbsp;<a href="https://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?id=5C11EECE-DE43-4B2B-AEDE-76504D1D6186#:~:text=The%20Consumer%20Data%20Privacy%20and%20Security%20Act%20would%3A&amp;text=provide%20consumers%20with%20control%20over,and%20responsibly%20process%20that%20data." target="_blank">introduced</a>&nbsp;landmark federal data privacy legislation to strengthen the laws that govern consumers’ personal data and create clear standards and regulations for American businesses that collect, process and use consumers’ personally identifiable data.

🎥  Moran: Social media CEOs get warning from senators

TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly held a press conference Wednesday to give an update regarding COVID-19 in Kansas and to announce the framework for Kansas’ new Unified Testing Strategy.

The governor's office released a copy of her comments.

On Tuesday, I brought together a bipartisan group of legislators to ask whether they would support my efforts to call a special session for emergency legislation to implement a statewide mask requirement. I convened the meeting because, as we have discussed previously, case rates and hospitalizations are spiking in counties that opted out of my July mask order, and today Kansas surpassed 1,000 total COVID-19 deaths. To put this into context: the state did not reach five hundred COVID deaths until September, roughly six months after the pandemic began. It took a little over six weeks for another 500 Kansans to die. Yesterday’s call was productive, and I believe both sides were acting in what they felt were the best interests of the State of Kansas. I began the conversation by asking Legislative leadership to reconvene in a special session to pass bi-partisan legislation to restore my ability to require mask wearing across Kansas. In response, Republican leaders asked if - before calling a special session - I would consider a strategy of reaching out to local leaders to implement their own mask requirements. I agreed, with the stipulation that Legislative leaders, in conjunction with their caucuses, reach out with me to county and city leadership, as well as stakeholder groups, and that we move as quickly as possible. We can’t afford to wait another moment to begin this process. I have directed my staff to put all our energy into this strategy. However, if we are unable to convince communities to voluntarily implement a mask mandate, I will move expeditiously to find another way to implement a statewide mask requirement. Now on to the numbers update. Since Monday, Kansas has reported 3,369 positive COVID-19 cases and 31 new deaths.    This brings us to a total of 82,045 cases, 3,752 hospitalizations, and it is with deep sadness that I say we have reached 1,007 deaths. I offer my sincere condolences to the family, friends, and loved ones of those who have succumbed to COVID-19. In acknowledgement of their losses, today I ordered flags to be flown at half-staff statewide effective immediately until sundown, Friday, October 30, 2020. Though case numbers I shared moments ago offer some insight into Kansas’ current pandemic response, they do not tell the full story of how the virus is moving through our state. So, before I move into today’s announcement, I want to give a brief recap on what we have learned since my COVID update last Wednesday. Last week, our state’s seven-day rolling average test positivity rate was 10.54% percent - which is just above the 10 percent threshold recommended to open schools and businesses. On Monday, for the third week in a row, Kansas broke the record for the highest number of new cases of any reporting period at nearly 2,500 – which we broke again today at over 3,300. Hospitals - particularly in our rural areas - continue to see increasing numbers of COVID-19 patients, putting a strain on bed capacity and staff. Though case numbers in Kansas may be increasing, as always, there is still time to turn our virus response around. We are learning more every day about the effectiveness of COVID-19 mitigation strategies and public health guidelines - especially mask use. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Kansas found that counties with mask mandates have effectively stopped virus transmission from increasing. Counties with no mandate have seen infection rates climb. A report from the institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington showed that strict adherence to mask orders could save 130,000 American lives by the end of February. If not, United States death toll could reach 500,000 in that time. It’s clear that until a vaccine is available and widely deployed, mask usage is one our most important strategies for keeping Kansas schools and businesses open. But masks are just one piece.

We must also increase testing capacity, isolate those who test positive, identify those who have been in close contact, and communicate the importance of quarantining to keep our communities safe. This brings me to the framework for our new Unified Testing Strategy. Over the last four weeks, a team at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment - under the direction of Special Advisor to the Governor Marci Nielsen, PhD - has been working diligently to develop this strategy in a way that fits Kansas. Broadly speaking, the new strategy identifies where Kansas currently stands, and paints a picture of where we need to go - and how we can get there. To give some background: Since the pandemic began, local and state public health departments have largely focused their efforts on testing only those who have symptoms of COVID-19, or testing in areas where outbreaks are occurring. We have made great strides in improving outbreak response over the past several months. However, to effectively locate the virus in our communities, keep Kansans safe, keep kids in school, and keep our businesses open, we must do more. We need to expand testing to include regular screening for the virus before it spreads. That’s what the new Unified Testing Strategy will allow us to do. It will coordinate both public and private COVID-19 testing efforts across Kansas to allow for broader routine screening in places like schools and nursing homes, to stop community spread before it starts. With the investment of SPARK funding which was recently competitively bid and will soon be announced, we can nearly double the amount of testing we are doing in Kansas by years end. That will move us from a total of 600,000 COVID-19 tests to date, to more than one million by the end of 2020. We will also expand beyond the types of testing we are conducting from just diagnostic to screening and surveillance. KDHE will be working with our partners in the private sector to expand labs and supplies, enhance data and reporting, provide support for isolation and quarantine, and increase our public communications about controlling the virus’ spread. This is especially important for populations at high risk, but also for businesses across the state worried about keeping their workforces safe and their doors open. A unified testing strategy will be resource intensive, but will help us to save lives and rebuild our economy. The graph behind me visually demonstrates how this will work. For those populations at the highest risk, located in the green section, state and local public health officials will continue to investigate outbreaks, but also regularly screen for the virus and isolate those who test positive. For populations at medium risk, in the blue band, health officials will once again continue to investigate outbreaks but also use surveillance testing - which uses methods like testing wastewater for signs of COVID-19. Through the new strategy we have also cast a wider net when it comes to accessing information and resources for our COVID-19 response. If you recall, I recently announced that Kansas had joined the Rockefeller Foundation COVID-19 Testing Solutions Group. Today I am pleased to report that Kansas is now part of collaborative effort funded by the National Institutes of Health to improve COVID-19 testing for underserved and vulnerable populations. The University of Kansas Medical Center is one of 32 institutions across the United States that will focus on increased testing in populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Referred to as the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative, 10 counties will be working with a KUMC research team to build a learning collaborative that will help support our most vulnerable populations and help inform the work of Kansas’ unified testing strategy. I know that oftentimes when we think of testing, we may not consider the whole picture. We only think about the test itself and receiving the results on our phones afterward. But there is so much more for our public health officials to consider. We need comprehensive, accurate data that health officials can analyze to determine our most vulnerable populations or locations so that the state can respond accordingly.

We need access to labs that have sufficient testing capacity. We need reliable transportation to move samples from health facilities to labs, where they can be tested for COVID-19. The Unified Testing Strategy has all of that in mind, and more. Through this approach we can work together with local health departments to analyze what we have, what we need, and how we can get it. Last week I visited Salon Chemistry in Wichita to learn more about the owners’ COVID-19 mitigation strategies and commend them for their diligent efforts to keep Kansans safe.&nbsp;

While I was there, we talked about how hard it was for them when virus spread required my administration to close certain businesses last Spring. At that time, our state did not have access to sufficient testing supplies or PPE to ensure customers and employees could stay safe. We had little understanding of how the virus spreads, or how it manifested. We have learned a lot over the past several months.

With that evolving knowledge and understanding, with a unified testing strategy, we can provide businesses like Salon Chemistry with absolute certainty that they will be able to continue operation this winter and beyond. Adding the Unified Testing Strategy to our tool box, along with universal mask usage, social distancing, and avoidance of mass gatherings, we can contain this virus and give our scientists time to develop a vaccine that will allow us to resume our normal activities.

TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly held a press conference Wednesday to give an update regarding COVID-19 in Kansas and to announce the framework for Kansas’ new Unified Testing Strategy.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FGovLauraKelly%2Fvideos%2F982826705547591%2F&show_text=false&width=560" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>The governor's office released a copy of her comments.On Tuesday, I brought together a bipartisan group of legislators to ask whether they would support my efforts to call a special session for emergency legislation to implement a statewide mask requirement. I convened the meeting because, as we have discussed previously, case rates and hospitalizations are spiking in counties that opted out of my July mask order, and today Kansas surpassed 1,000 total COVID-19 deaths. To put this into context: the state did not reach five hundred COVID deaths until September, roughly six months after the pandemic began. It took a little over six weeks for another 500 Kansans to die. Yesterday’s call was productive, and I believe both sides were acting in what they felt were the best interests of the State of Kansas. I began the conversation by asking Legislative leadership to reconvene in a special session to pass bi-partisan legislation to restore my ability to require mask wearing across Kansas. In response, Republican leaders asked if - before calling a special session - I would consider a strategy of reaching out to local leaders to implement their own mask requirements. I agreed, with the stipulation that Legislative leaders, in conjunction with their caucuses, reach out with me to county and city leadership, as well as stakeholder groups, and that we move as quickly as possible. We can’t afford to wait another moment to begin this process. I have directed my staff to put all our energy into this strategy. However, if we are unable to convince communities to voluntarily implement a mask mandate, I will move expeditiously to find another way to implement a statewide mask requirement. Now on to the numbers update. Since Monday, Kansas has reported 3,369 positive COVID-19 cases and 31 new deaths.    This brings us to a total of 82,045 cases, 3,752 hospitalizations, and it is with deep sadness that I say we have reached 1,007 deaths. I offer my sincere condolences to the family, friends, and loved ones of those who have succumbed to COVID-19. In acknowledgement of their losses, today I ordered flags to be flown at half-staff statewide effective immediately until sundown, Friday, October 30, 2020. Though case numbers I shared moments ago offer some insight into Kansas’ current pandemic response, they do not tell the full story of how the virus is moving through our state. So, before I move into today’s announcement, I want to give a brief recap on what we have learned since my COVID update last Wednesday. Last week, our state’s seven-day rolling average test positivity rate was 10.54% percent - which is just above the 10 percent threshold recommended to open schools and businesses. On Monday, for the third week in a row, Kansas broke the record for the highest number of new cases of any reporting period at nearly 2,500 – which we broke again today at over 3,300. Hospitals - particularly in our rural areas - continue to see increasing numbers of COVID-19 patients, putting a strain on bed capacity and staff. Though case numbers in Kansas may be increasing, as always, there is still time to turn our virus response around. We are learning more every day about the effectiveness of COVID-19 mitigation strategies and public health guidelines - especially mask use. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Kansas found that counties with mask mandates have effectively stopped virus transmission from increasing. Counties with no mandate have seen infection rates climb. A report from the institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington showed that strict adherence to mask orders could save 130,000 American lives by the end of February. If not, United States death toll could reach 500,000 in that time. It’s clear that until a vaccine is available and widely deployed, mask usage is one our most important strategies for keeping Kansas schools and businesses open. But masks are just one piece.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603905113410.png" alt="Wednesday Oct. 28, 2020 KDHE image" />
 <figcaption>Wednesday Oct. 28, 2020 KDHE image</figcaption>
 </figure>We must also increase testing capacity, isolate those who test positive, identify those who have been in close contact, and communicate the importance of quarantining to keep our communities safe. This brings me to the framework for our new Unified Testing Strategy. Over the last four weeks, a team at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment - under the direction of Special Advisor to the Governor Marci Nielsen, PhD - has been working diligently to develop this strategy in a way that fits Kansas. Broadly speaking, the new strategy identifies where Kansas currently stands, and paints a picture of where we need to go - and how we can get there. To give some background: Since the pandemic began, local and state public health departments have largely focused their efforts on testing only those who have symptoms of COVID-19, or testing in areas where outbreaks are occurring. We have made great strides in improving outbreak response over the past several months. However, to effectively locate the virus in our communities, keep Kansans safe, keep kids in school, and keep our businesses open, we must do more. We need to expand testing to include regular screening for the virus before it spreads. That’s what the new Unified Testing Strategy will allow us to do. It will coordinate both public and private COVID-19 testing efforts across Kansas to allow for broader routine screening in places like schools and nursing homes, to stop community spread before it starts. With the investment of SPARK funding which was recently competitively bid and will soon be announced, we can nearly double the amount of testing we are doing in Kansas by years end. That will move us from a total of 600,000 COVID-19 tests to date, to more than one million by the end of 2020. We will also expand beyond the types of testing we are conducting from just diagnostic to screening and surveillance. KDHE will be working with our partners in the private sector to expand labs and supplies, enhance data and reporting, provide support for isolation and quarantine, and increase our public communications about controlling the virus’ spread. This is especially important for populations at high risk, but also for businesses across the state worried about keeping their workforces safe and their doors open. A unified testing strategy will be resource intensive, but will help us to save lives and rebuild our economy. The graph behind me visually demonstrates how this will work. For those populations at the highest risk, located in the green section, state and local public health officials will continue to investigate outbreaks, but also regularly screen for the virus and isolate those who test positive. For populations at medium risk, in the blue band, health officials will once again continue to investigate outbreaks but also use surveillance testing - which uses methods like testing wastewater for signs of COVID-19. Through the new strategy we have also cast a wider net when it comes to accessing information and resources for our COVID-19 response. If you recall, I recently announced that Kansas had joined the Rockefeller Foundation COVID-19 Testing Solutions Group. Today I am pleased to report that Kansas is now part of collaborative effort funded by the National Institutes of Health to improve COVID-19 testing for underserved and vulnerable populations. The University of Kansas Medical Center is one of 32 institutions across the United States that will focus on increased testing in populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Referred to as the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative, 10 counties will be working with a KUMC research team to build a learning collaborative that will help support our most vulnerable populations and help inform the work of Kansas’ unified testing strategy. I know that oftentimes when we think of testing, we may not consider the whole picture. We only think about the test itself and receiving the results on our phones afterward. But there is so much more for our public health officials to consider. We need comprehensive, accurate data that health officials can analyze to determine our most vulnerable populations or locations so that the state can respond accordingly.We need access to labs that have sufficient testing capacity. We need reliable transportation to move samples from health facilities to labs, where they can be tested for COVID-19. The Unified Testing Strategy has all of that in mind, and more. Through this approach we can work together with local health departments to analyze what we have, what we need, and how we can get it. Last week I visited Salon Chemistry in Wichita to learn more about the owners’ COVID-19 mitigation strategies and commend them for their diligent efforts to keep Kansans safe.&nbsp;While I was there, we talked about how hard it was for them when virus spread required my administration to close certain businesses last Spring. At that time, our state did not have access to sufficient testing supplies or PPE to ensure customers and employees could stay safe. We had little understanding of how the virus spreads, or how it manifested. We have learned a lot over the past several months.With that evolving knowledge and understanding, with a unified testing strategy, we can provide businesses like Salon Chemistry with absolute certainty that they will be able to continue operation this winter and beyond. Adding the Unified Testing Strategy to our tool box, along with universal mask usage, social distancing, and avoidance of mass gatherings, we can contain this virus and give our scientists time to develop a vaccine that will allow us to resume our normal activities.

🎥 Gov. on framework for unified virus testing in Kansas

STAFFORD COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple charges after a drug bust on a rural Kansas home.

During the course that investigation in Stafford County it was discovered that an individual may be in possession of drugs and unlawful weapons and a search warrant was obtained for a residence in rural northwestern Stafford County, according to Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir.

Just after 1p.m. Tuesday,&nbsp; multiple law enforcement agencies arrived at 1331 NW. 80th Avenue in Stafford County and executed the warrant. Barton County deputies participated at the request of Stafford County officials.

Law enforcement seized suspected heroin, marijuana and what are believed to be multiple full automatic firearms. A sawed-off shotgun was also located. No federal paperwork was located for the automatic weapons. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has been notified, according to Bellendir.

Deputies arrested 32-year-old Allen E. Standish on requested charges of distribution of marijuana, criminal use of a firearm while addicted to drugs, criminal use of a firearm and possession of methamphetamine. 

Standish is being held in lieu of a $50,000 bond on that case. In a related incident from the day before Standish was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer when he allegedly swerved his vehicle at a detective conducting surveillance operations. He is being held on an additional $20,000 bond related to that charge, according to Bellendir.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603913453605.jpeg" alt="Deputies at the scene of the drug bust -photo courtesy Barton Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Deputies at the scene of the drug bust -photo courtesy Barton Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>STAFFORD COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple charges after a drug bust on a rural Kansas home.During the course that investigation in Stafford County it was discovered that an individual may be in possession of drugs and unlawful weapons and a search warrant was obtained for a residence in rural northwestern Stafford County, according to Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir.Just after 1p.m. Tuesday,&nbsp; multiple law enforcement agencies arrived at 1331 NW. 80th Avenue in Stafford County and executed the warrant. Barton County deputies participated at the request of Stafford County officials.Law enforcement seized suspected heroin, marijuana and what are believed to be multiple full automatic firearms. A sawed-off shotgun was also located. No federal paperwork was located for the automatic weapons. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has been notified, according to Bellendir.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603913501478.png" alt="Standish" />
 <figcaption>Standish</figcaption>
 </figure>Deputies arrested 32-year-old Allen E. Standish on requested charges of distribution of marijuana, criminal use of a firearm while addicted to drugs, criminal use of a firearm and possession of methamphetamine. Standish is being held in lieu of a $50,000 bond on that case. In a related incident from the day before Standish was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer when he allegedly swerved his vehicle at a detective conducting surveillance operations. He is being held on an additional $20,000 bond related to that charge, according to Bellendir.

Deputies seize automatic weapons, drugs at Kan. home

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas mother whose estranged husband is charged with killing the couple's two sons before fleeing with their two daughters is thanking the people who helped track down the girls nearly 400 miles away in Oklahoma.

Tara Jackson's attorney, Gary Nelson, also described the deaths of 14-year-old Logan Jackson and 12-year-old Austin Jackson as “traumatic" in a statement released Wednesday. He asked for privacy “during the next very few hard few weeks and months that Tara and her family have ahead of them."

The Leavenworth County Sheriff's Office said she went to the home of Donny Ray Jackson Jr., 40, on Saturday with the children's paternal grandmother after one of the siblings didn't show up for a soccer game. They found one of the boys dead, and law enforcement then discovered the other body.

The boys' younger sisters, 3-year-old Aven Jackson and 7-year-old Nora Jackson, were found unharmed near Erick, Oklahoma, after a massive search. And their father was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-news-oklahoma-kansas-leavenworth-4f619ac3b5fc3d46e2030cae5fb462f0">charged&nbsp;</a>Tuesday with capital murder and two alternative counts of first-degree murder.

Nelson said there are “a lot of unanswered questions" regarding what happened the day of the killing and in the preceding months. But he said he couldn't answer further questions because the investigation is ongoing.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603742787603.png" alt="The Jackson children photo -GoFundMe" />
 <figcaption>The Jackson children photo -GoFundMe</figcaption>
 </figure>LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas mother whose estranged husband is charged with killing the couple's two sons before fleeing with their two daughters is thanking the people who helped track down the girls nearly 400 miles away in Oklahoma.Tara Jackson's attorney, Gary Nelson, also described the deaths of 14-year-old Logan Jackson and 12-year-old Austin Jackson as “traumatic" in a statement released Wednesday. He asked for privacy “during the next very few hard few weeks and months that Tara and her family have ahead of them."<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603712471699.png" alt="Donny Jackson remains jailed in Beckham Co. Oklahoma following his arrest on Saturday evening" />
 <figcaption>Donny Jackson remains jailed in Beckham Co. Oklahoma following his arrest on Saturday evening</figcaption>
 </figure>The Leavenworth County Sheriff's Office said she went to the home of Donny Ray Jackson Jr., 40, on Saturday with the children's paternal grandmother after one of the siblings didn't show up for a soccer game. They found one of the boys dead, and law enforcement then discovered the other body.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603573521812.png" alt="Aven and Nora Jackson -courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Aven and Nora Jackson -courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>The boys' younger sisters, 3-year-old Aven Jackson and 7-year-old Nora Jackson, were found unharmed near Erick, Oklahoma, after a massive search. And their father was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-news-oklahoma-kansas-leavenworth-4f619ac3b5fc3d46e2030cae5fb462f0">charged&nbsp;</a>Tuesday with capital murder and two alternative counts of first-degree murder.Nelson said there are “a lot of unanswered questions" regarding what happened the day of the killing and in the preceding months. But he said he couldn't answer further questions because the investigation is ongoing.

Mother of slain Kan. boys expresses thanks, asks for privacy

TOPEKA — Kansas surpassed 1,000 Kansas deaths due to COVID-19. In honor of the lives lost and the families they left behind, Gov. Laura Kelly has directed that flags be lowered to half-staff throughout the state effective immediately to sundown, Friday, Oct. 30.

“It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of 1,007 Kansans who lost their lives to COVID-19,” Kelly said. “One of the many terrible impacts of this virus has been that families are unable to hold in-person services to mourn the passing of their loved ones. Each one of these Kansans was someone’s child, parent, or grandparent. They were part of a community. Today, I’m directing that flags be lowered to half-staff, so that we may honor and remember them.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603907027503.jpeg" alt="Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash" />
 <figcaption>Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash</figcaption>
 </figure>Office of the GovernorTOPEKA — Kansas surpassed 1,000 Kansas deaths due to COVID-19. In honor of the lives lost and the families they left behind, Gov. Laura Kelly has directed that flags be lowered to half-staff throughout the state effective immediately to sundown, Friday, Oct. 30.“It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of 1,007 Kansans who lost their lives to COVID-19,” Kelly said. “One of the many terrible impacts of this virus has been that families are unable to hold in-person services to mourn the passing of their loved ones. Each one of these Kansans was someone’s child, parent, or grandparent. They were part of a community. Today, I’m directing that flags be lowered to half-staff, so that we may honor and remember them.”

Kan. governor orders flags at half-staff to honor COVID victims

TOPEKA— The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kansas increased by 3,369 to a total of 82,045 the state health department reported Wednesday afternoon.&nbsp;

Coronavirus deaths were reported at 1007, an increase of&nbsp; 31.

<a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">Click here&nbsp;</a>for additional numbers from the KDHE.

TOPEKA— The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kansas increased by 3,369 to a total of 82,045 the state health department reported Wednesday afternoon.&nbsp;Coronavirus deaths were reported at 1007, an increase of&nbsp; 31.<a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">Click here&nbsp;</a>for additional numbers from the KDHE.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603905113410.png" alt="Wednesday Oct. 28, 2020 KDHE image" />
 <figcaption>Wednesday Oct. 28, 2020 KDHE image</figcaption>
 </figure>

KDHE: Latest coronavirus numbers in Kansas

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Kansas City police say a would-be robber is in custody after picking the wrong guy to victimize — a Judo champion.

<a href="https://fox4kc.com/news/kansas-city-judo-champion-foils-armed-robbery-by-grappling-suspect/">WDAF-TV</a>&nbsp;reports that 36-year-old Josh Henges was in the Midtown area Monday night when someone came up from behind, grabbed his shoulder and tried to rob him. Henges has traveled around the world competing in Judo events and training others. He's a former member of the national Judo team.

Henges turned to see a gun pointed directly at him. He took the suspect to the ground, pinned him, and called police.

Henges says he forgives the 20-year-old suspect and he's glad he didn't permanently injure him.

The suspect faces one count of attempted robbery. The gun turned out to be a BB gun.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603899051706.png" alt="Josh Henges photo courtesy&nbsp;Shingitai Jujitsu Association" />
 <figcaption>Josh Henges photo courtesy&nbsp;Shingitai Jujitsu Association</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) — Kansas City police say a would-be robber is in custody after picking the wrong guy to victimize — a Judo champion.<a href="https://fox4kc.com/news/kansas-city-judo-champion-foils-armed-robbery-by-grappling-suspect/">WDAF-TV</a>&nbsp;reports that 36-year-old Josh Henges was in the Midtown area Monday night when someone came up from behind, grabbed his shoulder and tried to rob him. Henges has traveled around the world competing in Judo events and training others. He's a former member of the national Judo team.Henges turned to see a gun pointed directly at him. He took the suspect to the ground, pinned him, and called police.Henges says he forgives the 20-year-old suspect and he's glad he didn't permanently injure him.The suspect faces one count of attempted robbery. The gun turned out to be a BB gun.

Suspect in KC picked wrong victim: Judo Champion

By SHERMAN SMITH <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/10/28/manufactured-crisis-mask-hater-enlists-followers-to-defy-mandates-at-topeka-manhattan-businesses/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — The 
facemask-despising owner of a martial arts school in St. Marys is 
enlisting like-minded science deniers to participate in mandate-defying 
flash mobs at Topeka and Manhattan businesses.

Jason Harpe claims 
COVID-19 is a “manufactured crisis” and mask mandates are a plot to test
 the public’s willingness to comply with government demands.

His views are outlined at <a href="http://unmasktogether.com/">unmasktogether.com</a>,
 a new website that directs anti-maskers to sign up for notifications 
for when and where they should show up as a large, unmasked shopping 
group, in open defiance of Shawnee and Riley county public health 
orders.

A notification sent late 
Wednesday directed supporters to show up at 1 p.m. Saturday at the 
Walmart Supercenter on S.W. Wanamaker in Topeka, and then at 2:30 p.m. 
Saturday at the Aldi grocery store nearby.

The goal is to enlist at least 20 people to show up at each demonstration.

“Wearing a mask isn’t 
based on science and is more about submission,” Harpe says on the 
website. “This physical mark dehumanizes people and hides a person of 
their identity and individuality.”

Science shows cloth facemasks restrict the spewing of droplets that transmit the virus from one person to another.

Harpe declined a request 
for an interview, saying he couldn’t find a news story at 
kansasreflector.com that he was interested in adding to the cauldron of 
discredited and murky sources featured on his own website.

In a Sept. 3 introductory 
message, Harpe complained about Gov. Laura Kelly’s early July statewide 
order to wear masks in public. Of the state’s 105 counties, 80 initially
 opted out.

Large counties that 
adopted the mask mandate saw their rate of new infections decrease while
 the spread of the virus in more rural counties remained flat up until 
the return of college students to university campuses in late August. 
Communities across the state suffered unprecedented, widespread 
transmission of the the coronavirus and a spike in deaths from COVID-19 
in the weeks that followed.

As of Monday, the Kansas 
Department of Health and Environment reported 976 Kansans have died 
because they contracted COVID-19. The agency has recorded an additional 
78,676 infections, which can cause long-term damage to brains, hearts 
and lungs.

Faced with the 
increasingly rapid spread of the disease, Kelly called Republican and 
Democratic lawmakers into closed-door meetings Tuesday <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/10/21/gov-laura-kelly-seeks-bipartisan-house-senate-talks-on-new-mask-mandate/">to discuss the prospects of a new mandate</a> on wearing facemasks in public.

“Legislative leadership 
agreed to work with me through a strategy of engagement with 
municipalities, counties and stakeholders to increase the use of masks 
and mask requirements across the state of Kansas,” Kelly said. “It is my
 hope that this bipartisan outreach strategy will avert the need for 
emergency legislation through a special session.”

House Republican 
leadership issued a joint statement saying all parties agreed to improve
 public education and voluntary cooperation.

“We call on all Kansans to
 practice personal responsibility and compassion for their fellow 
Kansans by wearing a mask, practicing social distancing and proper 
hygiene,” the statement said. “This is the right thing to do. In the 
words of the former U.S. Senate Chaplain, Peter Marshall, ‘May we think 
of freedom not as the right to do as we please but as the opportunity to
 do what is right.’ ”

In recent weeks, infections have surged in <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/10/21/nortons-covid-19-infection-rate-highest-ever-recorded-in-kansas/">rural areas of the state that had been largely isolated</a>
 from the pandemic. St. Marys straddles the boundary between 
Pottawatomie and Wabaunsee counties, which have recorded fewer than 500 
cases combined.

Harpe said it has been 
“business as usual” at Motion Fitness, his St. Marys martial arts 
school: No social distancing, no masks, and no class-size reductions. He
 relished the lack of precautions in the local chamber’s 4th of July 
celebration.

“I believe this to be a 
manufactured crisis, and it’s being used as a tool for testing 
compliance of the public,” Harpe wrote. “The mask mandate doesn’t make 
sense and takes away our right to make our own decisions regarding our 
health.”

He said he personally has 
friends who had COVID-19 but were all asymptomatic. He falsely claims 
that only 6% of the nation’s 226,000 COVID-19 deaths actually died from 
COVID-19, <a href="https://www.livescience.com/covid-19-comorbidities.html">a discredited but frequently cited misinterpretation</a>
 of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He then 
concludes without explanation that the real number of deaths is 40,000 —
 “much like the seasonal flu.” The CDC <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2019-2020.html">reported 22,000 influenza deaths</a> for the 2019-2020 flu season.

“There is a cost to remaining silent on the mask wearing issue,” Harpe wrote. “What is next? Mandatory vaccines?”

He urges followers to 
unmask together “by signing up to receive announcements to attend large 
shopping groups at local stores now requiring masks for service.” And, 
if they are interested, he is offering $22 Unmask Together T-shirts.

By SHERMAN SMITH <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/10/28/manufactured-crisis-mask-hater-enlists-followers-to-defy-mandates-at-topeka-manhattan-businesses/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — The 
facemask-despising owner of a martial arts school in St. Marys is 
enlisting like-minded science deniers to participate in mandate-defying 
flash mobs at Topeka and Manhattan businesses.Jason Harpe claims 
COVID-19 is a “manufactured crisis” and mask mandates are a plot to test
 the public’s willingness to comply with government demands.His views are outlined at <a href="http://unmasktogether.com/">unmasktogether.com</a>,
 a new website that directs anti-maskers to sign up for notifications 
for when and where they should show up as a large, unmasked shopping 
group, in open defiance of Shawnee and Riley county public health 
orders.A notification sent late 
Wednesday directed supporters to show up at 1 p.m. Saturday at the 
Walmart Supercenter on S.W. Wanamaker in Topeka, and then at 2:30 p.m. 
Saturday at the Aldi grocery store nearby.The goal is to enlist at least 20 people to show up at each demonstration.“Wearing a mask isn’t 
based on science and is more about submission,” Harpe says on the 
website. “This physical mark dehumanizes people and hides a person of 
their identity and individuality.”Science shows cloth facemasks restrict the spewing of droplets that transmit the virus from one person to another.Harpe declined a request 
for an interview, saying he couldn’t find a news story at 
kansasreflector.com that he was interested in adding to the cauldron of 
discredited and murky sources featured on his own website.In a Sept. 3 introductory 
message, Harpe complained about Gov. Laura Kelly’s early July statewide 
order to wear masks in public. Of the state’s 105 counties, 80 initially
 opted out.Large counties that 
adopted the mask mandate saw their rate of new infections decrease while
 the spread of the virus in more rural counties remained flat up until 
the return of college students to university campuses in late August. 
Communities across the state suffered unprecedented, widespread 
transmission of the the coronavirus and a spike in deaths from COVID-19 
in the weeks that followed.As of Monday, the Kansas 
Department of Health and Environment reported 976 Kansans have died 
because they contracted COVID-19. The agency has recorded an additional 
78,676 infections, which can cause long-term damage to brains, hearts 
and lungs.Faced with the 
increasingly rapid spread of the disease, Kelly called Republican and 
Democratic lawmakers into closed-door meetings Tuesday <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/10/21/gov-laura-kelly-seeks-bipartisan-house-senate-talks-on-new-mask-mandate/">to discuss the prospects of a new mandate</a> on wearing facemasks in public.“Legislative leadership 
agreed to work with me through a strategy of engagement with 
municipalities, counties and stakeholders to increase the use of masks 
and mask requirements across the state of Kansas,” Kelly said. “It is my
 hope that this bipartisan outreach strategy will avert the need for 
emergency legislation through a special session.”House Republican 
leadership issued a joint statement saying all parties agreed to improve
 public education and voluntary cooperation.“We call on all Kansans to
 practice personal responsibility and compassion for their fellow 
Kansans by wearing a mask, practicing social distancing and proper 
hygiene,” the statement said. “This is the right thing to do. In the 
words of the former U.S. Senate Chaplain, Peter Marshall, ‘May we think 
of freedom not as the right to do as we please but as the opportunity to
 do what is right.’ ”In recent weeks, infections have surged in <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/10/21/nortons-covid-19-infection-rate-highest-ever-recorded-in-kansas/">rural areas of the state that had been largely isolated</a>
 from the pandemic. St. Marys straddles the boundary between 
Pottawatomie and Wabaunsee counties, which have recorded fewer than 500 
cases combined.Harpe said it has been 
“business as usual” at Motion Fitness, his St. Marys martial arts 
school: No social distancing, no masks, and no class-size reductions. He
 relished the lack of precautions in the local chamber’s 4th of July 
celebration.“I believe this to be a 
manufactured crisis, and it’s being used as a tool for testing 
compliance of the public,” Harpe wrote. “The mask mandate doesn’t make 
sense and takes away our right to make our own decisions regarding our 
health.”He said he personally has 
friends who had COVID-19 but were all asymptomatic. He falsely claims 
that only 6% of the nation’s 226,000 COVID-19 deaths actually died from 
COVID-19, <a href="https://www.livescience.com/covid-19-comorbidities.html">a discredited but frequently cited misinterpretation</a>
 of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He then 
concludes without explanation that the real number of deaths is 40,000 —
 “much like the seasonal flu.” The CDC <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2019-2020.html">reported 22,000 influenza deaths</a> for the 2019-2020 flu season.“There is a cost to remaining silent on the mask wearing issue,” Harpe wrote. “What is next? Mandatory vaccines?”He urges followers to 
unmask together “by signing up to receive announcements to attend large 
shopping groups at local stores now requiring masks for service.” And, 
if they are interested, he is offering $22 Unmask Together T-shirts.Followers are supposed to 
enter the store, then unmask together in silence. They are directed not 
to bring signs and to be respectful of others.It wasn’t clear who else might be associated with Harpe’s movement or his professionally designed website.Craig Barnes, who serves 
as a spokesman for the Shawnee County Health Department, said public 
officials were aware of the potential demonstrations.“We’re reaching out to 
those organizations that potentially could be affected to just kind of 
talk with them about the mask mandate, make them aware of the situation 
and how that could potentially expose their staff and the patrons that 
are there shopping,” Barnes said.Officials were less 
certain about how best to resolve the situation if a large number of 
people refused to put on a mask or leave a business.“Police would respond to 
calls for service associated with situations like this, particularly in 
the event of a disturbance or if a business was seeking the removal of a
 person,” said Gretchen Spiker, spokeswoman for Topeka police.Sherman Smith has written award-winning news stories about the instability of the Kansas foster care system, misconduct by government officials, sexual abuse, technology, education, and the Legislature. He spent 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal, where he started on the copy desk, then oversaw digital operations, was the managing editor and reported from the Statehouse.&nbsp;