SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a woman on drug allegations after a traffic stop.

Just before 1 a.m. Friday, a sheriff's deputy conducted a traffic stop on a 2015 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck without an operable tag light in the 1100 block of NW Topeka Boulevard, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.

During the investigation, it was discovered that the driver had a revoked driver’s license and illegal narcotics were located.

The passenger, Kimberly D. Fish, 50, of Topeka, was arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Possession of opiate, opium, narcotic or certain stimulant and&nbsp;Use/possess w/intent to use drug paraphernalia into human body.&nbsp; The driver was not arrested.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1725718597721.png" alt="Fish-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Fish-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a woman on drug allegations after a traffic stop.Just before 1 a.m. Friday, a sheriff's deputy conducted a traffic stop on a 2015 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck without an operable tag light in the 1100 block of NW Topeka Boulevard, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.During the investigation, it was discovered that the driver had a revoked driver’s license and illegal narcotics were located.The passenger, Kimberly D. Fish, 50, of Topeka, was arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Possession of opiate, opium, narcotic or certain stimulant and&nbsp;Use/possess w/intent to use drug paraphernalia into human body.&nbsp; The driver was not arrested.

Kan. driver did not know passenger was in possession of drugs 

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans on Sunday issued a scathing report on their investigation into the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-afghanistan-government-and-politics-86f939c746c7bc56bb9f11f095a95366">U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan</a>, blaming the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-taliban-takeover-timeline-df3df916cae4b07d53a302dc9a2811d8">disastrous</a>&nbsp;end of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan-september-11-d2c7426736f9f530e0e62f2295a44d28">America’s longest war</a>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-michigan-afghanistan-war-46eb2b0861939bf022747920c0ee0234">President Joe Biden’s administration</a>&nbsp;and minimizing the role of former President Donald Trump, who had signed the withdrawal deal with the Taliban.

<a href="https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/HFAC-Republican-Interim-Report-A-22Strategic-Failure22-Assessing-the-Administrations-Afghanistan-Withdrawal.pdf">Click here to read&nbsp;</a>the report

The partisan review lays out the final months of military and civilian failures, following Trump’s February 2020 withdrawal deal, that allowed America’s fundamentalist Taliban enemy to sweep through and conquer all of the country even before the last U.S. officials flew out on Aug. 30, 2021. The chaotic exit left behind many American citizens,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-withdrawal-anniversary-afghans-kabul-f6a42bfa49507f9ba7fb977a7ebb2feb">Afghan battlefield allies</a>, women activists and others at risk from the Taliban.

But House Republicans’ report breaks little new ground as the withdrawal has been exhaustively litigated through several independent reviews. Previous investigations and analyses have pointed to a systemic failure spanning the last four presidential administrations and concluded that Biden and Trump share the heaviest blame.

Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, who led the investigation as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the GOP review reveals that the Biden administration “had the information and opportunity to take necessary steps to plan for the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government, so we could safely evacuate U.S. personnel, American citizens, green card holders, and our brave Afghan allies.”

“At each step of the way, however, the administration picked optics over security,” he said in a statement.

McCaul earlier in the day denied that the timing of the report’s release ahead of the presidential election was political, or that Republicans ignored Trump’s mistakes in the U.S. withdrawal.

A White House spokesperson, Sharon Yang, said the Republican report was based on “cherry-picked facts, inaccurate characterizations, and preexisting biases.”

“Because of the bad deal former President Trump cut with the Taliban to get out of Afghanistan by May of 2021, President Biden inherited an untenable position,” either ramp up the U.S. war against a strengthened Taliban, or end it, Yang said in a statement.

House Democrats in a statement said the report by their Republican colleagues ignored facts about Trump’s role.

The more than 18-month investigation by Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee zeroed in on the months leading up to the removal of U.S. troops, saying that Biden and his administration undermined high-ranking officials and ignored warnings as the Taliban seized key cities far faster than most U.S. officials had expected or prepared for.

“I called their advance ‘the Red Blob,’'' retired Col. Seth Krummrich said of the Taliban, telling the committee that at the special operations’ central command where he was chief of staff, ”we tracked the Taliban advance daily, looking like a red blob gobbling up terrain.”

“I don’t think we ever thought — you know, nobody ever talked about, ‘Well, what’s going to happen when the Taliban come over the wall?’'' Carol Perez, the State Department’s acting undersecretary for management at the time of the withdrawal, said of what House Republicans said was minimal State Department planning before abandoning the embassy in mid-August 2021 when the Taliban swept into Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital.

The withdrawal ended a nearly two-decade occupation by U.S. and allied forces begun to rout out the al-Qaida militants responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The Taliban had allowed al-Qaida’s leader, Osama bin Laden, to shelter in Afghanistan. Committee staffers noted reports since the U.S. withdrawal of the group rebuilding in Afghanistan, such as a U.N. report of up to eight al-Qaida training camps there.

The Taliban overthrew an Afghan government and military that the U.S. had spent nearly 20 years and trillions of dollars building in hopes of keeping the country from again becoming a base for anti-Western extremists.

A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/evaluations/SIGAR-23-16-IP.pdf" target="_blank">2023 report by the U.S. government watchdog for the U.S. in Afghanistan</a>&nbsp;singles out Trump’s February 2020 deal with the Taliban agreeing to withdraw all American forces and military contractors by the spring of the next year, and both Trump’s and Biden’s determination to keep pulling out U.S. forces despite the Taliban breaking key commitments in the withdrawal deal.

House Republicans’ more than 350-page document is the product of hours of testimony — including with former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, U.S. Central Command retired Gen. Frank McKenzie and others who were senior officials at the time — seven public hearings and round-tables as well as more than 20,000 pages of State Department documents reviewed by the committees.

With Biden no longer running for reelection, Trump and his GOP allies have tried to elevate the withdrawal as a campaign issue against Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now Trump’s Democratic opponent in the presidential race.

The report by House Republican cites Harris’ overall responsibility as an adviser to Biden, but doesn’t point to specific counsel or action by Harris that contributed to the many failures.

Republicans point to testimony and records that claim the Biden administration’s reliance on input from military and civilian leaders on the ground in Afghanistan in the months before the withdrawal was “severely limited,” with most of the decision-making taking place by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan without consultation with key stakeholders.

Yang, the White House spokesperson, denied that, saying the administration had sought input from officials in Kabul and others across the U.S. government.

The report says Biden proceeded with the withdrawal even though the Taliban was failing to keep some of its agreements under the deal, including breaking its promise to enter talks with the then-U.S.- backed Afghan government.

Former State Department spokesperson Ned Price testified to the committee that adherence to the Doha Agreement was “immaterial” to Biden’s decision to withdraw, according to the report.

Earlier reviews have said Trump also carried out his early steps of the withdrawal deal, cutting the U.S. troop presence from about 13,000 to an eventual 2,500 despite early Taliban noncompliance with some parts of the deal, and despite the Taliban escalating attacks on Afghan forces.

The House report faults a longtime U.S. diplomat for Afghanistan, former Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, not Trump, for Trump administration actions in its negotiations with the Taliban. The new report says that Trump was following recommendations of American military leaders in making sharp cuts in U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan after the signing.

‘We were still in planning’ when Kabul fell

The report also goes into the vulnerability of U.S. embassy staff in Kabul as the Biden administration planned its exit. Republicans claim there was a “dogmatic insistence” by the Biden administration to maintain a large diplomatic footprint despite concerns about the lack of security afforded to personnel once U.S. forces left.

McKenzie, who was one of the two U.S. generals who oversaw the evacuation, told lawmakers that the administration’s insistence at keeping the embassy open and fully operational was the “fatal flaw that created what happened in August,” according to the report.

The committee report claims that State Department officials went as far as watering down or “even completely rewriting reports” from heads of diplomatic security and the Department of Defense that had warned of the threats to U.S. personnel as the withdrawal date got closer.

“We were still in planning” when Kabul fell, Perez, the senior U.S. diplomat, testified to the committee.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1725911207774.png" alt="Image from the Afghanistan withdrawal report" />
 <figcaption>Image from the Afghanistan withdrawal report</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans on Sunday issued a scathing report on their investigation into the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-afghanistan-government-and-politics-86f939c746c7bc56bb9f11f095a95366">U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan</a>, blaming the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-taliban-takeover-timeline-df3df916cae4b07d53a302dc9a2811d8">disastrous</a>&nbsp;end of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan-september-11-d2c7426736f9f530e0e62f2295a44d28">America’s longest war</a>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-michigan-afghanistan-war-46eb2b0861939bf022747920c0ee0234">President Joe Biden’s administration</a>&nbsp;and minimizing the role of former President Donald Trump, who had signed the withdrawal deal with the Taliban.<a href="https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/HFAC-Republican-Interim-Report-A-22Strategic-Failure22-Assessing-the-Administrations-Afghanistan-Withdrawal.pdf">Click here to read&nbsp;</a>the reportThe partisan review lays out the final months of military and civilian failures, following Trump’s February 2020 withdrawal deal, that allowed America’s fundamentalist Taliban enemy to sweep through and conquer all of the country even before the last U.S. officials flew out on Aug. 30, 2021. The chaotic exit left behind many American citizens,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-withdrawal-anniversary-afghans-kabul-f6a42bfa49507f9ba7fb977a7ebb2feb">Afghan battlefield allies</a>, women activists and others at risk from the Taliban.But House Republicans’ report breaks little new ground as the withdrawal has been exhaustively litigated through several independent reviews. Previous investigations and analyses have pointed to a systemic failure spanning the last four presidential administrations and concluded that Biden and Trump share the heaviest blame.Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, who led the investigation as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the GOP review reveals that the Biden administration “had the information and opportunity to take necessary steps to plan for the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government, so we could safely evacuate U.S. personnel, American citizens, green card holders, and our brave Afghan allies.”“At each step of the way, however, the administration picked optics over security,” he said in a statement.McCaul earlier in the day denied that the timing of the report’s release ahead of the presidential election was political, or that Republicans ignored Trump’s mistakes in the U.S. withdrawal.A White House spokesperson, Sharon Yang, said the Republican report was based on “cherry-picked facts, inaccurate characterizations, and preexisting biases.”“Because of the bad deal former President Trump cut with the Taliban to get out of Afghanistan by May of 2021, President Biden inherited an untenable position,” either ramp up the U.S. war against a strengthened Taliban, or end it, Yang said in a statement.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1725911178941.png" alt="Image from the Afghanistan withdrawal report" />
 <figcaption>Image from the Afghanistan withdrawal report</figcaption>
 </figure>House Democrats in a statement said the report by their Republican colleagues ignored facts about Trump’s role.The more than 18-month investigation by Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee zeroed in on the months leading up to the removal of U.S. troops, saying that Biden and his administration undermined high-ranking officials and ignored warnings as the Taliban seized key cities far faster than most U.S. officials had expected or prepared for.“I called their advance ‘the Red Blob,’'' retired Col. Seth Krummrich said of the Taliban, telling the committee that at the special operations’ central command where he was chief of staff, ”we tracked the Taliban advance daily, looking like a red blob gobbling up terrain.”“I don’t think we ever thought — you know, nobody ever talked about, ‘Well, what’s going to happen when the Taliban come over the wall?’'' Carol Perez, the State Department’s acting undersecretary for management at the time of the withdrawal, said of what House Republicans said was minimal State Department planning before abandoning the embassy in mid-August 2021 when the Taliban swept into Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital.The withdrawal ended a nearly two-decade occupation by U.S. and allied forces begun to rout out the al-Qaida militants responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The Taliban had allowed al-Qaida’s leader, Osama bin Laden, to shelter in Afghanistan. Committee staffers noted reports since the U.S. withdrawal of the group rebuilding in Afghanistan, such as a U.N. report of up to eight al-Qaida training camps there.The Taliban overthrew an Afghan government and military that the U.S. had spent nearly 20 years and trillions of dollars building in hopes of keeping the country from again becoming a base for anti-Western extremists.A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/evaluations/SIGAR-23-16-IP.pdf" target="_blank">2023 report by the U.S. government watchdog for the U.S. in Afghanistan</a>&nbsp;singles out Trump’s February 2020 deal with the Taliban agreeing to withdraw all American forces and military contractors by the spring of the next year, and both Trump’s and Biden’s determination to keep pulling out U.S. forces despite the Taliban breaking key commitments in the withdrawal deal.House Republicans’ more than 350-page document is the product of hours of testimony — including with former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, U.S. Central Command retired Gen. Frank McKenzie and others who were senior officials at the time — seven public hearings and round-tables as well as more than 20,000 pages of State Department documents reviewed by the committees.With Biden no longer running for reelection, Trump and his GOP allies have tried to elevate the withdrawal as a campaign issue against Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now Trump’s Democratic opponent in the presidential race.The report by House Republican cites Harris’ overall responsibility as an adviser to Biden, but doesn’t point to specific counsel or action by Harris that contributed to the many failures.Some highlights of the report:<h2>Decision to withdraw</h2>Republicans point to testimony and records that claim the Biden administration’s reliance on input from military and civilian leaders on the ground in Afghanistan in the months before the withdrawal was “severely limited,” with most of the decision-making taking place by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan without consultation with key stakeholders.Yang, the White House spokesperson, denied that, saying the administration had sought input from officials in Kabul and others across the U.S. government.The report says Biden proceeded with the withdrawal even though the Taliban was failing to keep some of its agreements under the deal, including breaking its promise to enter talks with the then-U.S.- backed Afghan government.Former State Department spokesperson Ned Price testified to the committee that adherence to the Doha Agreement was “immaterial” to Biden’s decision to withdraw, according to the report.Earlier reviews have said Trump also carried out his early steps of the withdrawal deal, cutting the U.S. troop presence from about 13,000 to an eventual 2,500 despite early Taliban noncompliance with some parts of the deal, and despite the Taliban escalating attacks on Afghan forces.The House report faults a longtime U.S. diplomat for Afghanistan, former Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, not Trump, for Trump administration actions in its negotiations with the Taliban. The new report says that Trump was following recommendations of American military leaders in making sharp cuts in U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan after the signing.<h2>‘We were still in planning’ when Kabul fell</h2>The report also goes into the vulnerability of U.S. embassy staff in Kabul as the Biden administration planned its exit. Republicans claim there was a “dogmatic insistence” by the Biden administration to maintain a large diplomatic footprint despite concerns about the lack of security afforded to personnel once U.S. forces left.McKenzie, who was one of the two U.S. generals who oversaw the evacuation, told lawmakers that the administration’s insistence at keeping the embassy open and fully operational was the “fatal flaw that created what happened in August,” according to the report.The committee report claims that State Department officials went as far as watering down or “even completely rewriting reports” from heads of diplomatic security and the Department of Defense that had warned of the threats to U.S. personnel as the withdrawal date got closer.“We were still in planning” when Kabul fell, Perez, the senior U.S. diplomat, testified to the committee.<h2>___</h2>

Read the new report on the disastrous end to US war in Afghanistan

NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/james-earl-jones">James Earl Jones,</a>&nbsp;who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen — eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, “The Lion King” and Darth Vader — has died. He was 93.

His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning at home in New York's Hudson Valley region. The cause was not immediately clear.

The pioneering Jones, who was one of the first African American actors in a continuing role on a daytime drama and worked&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/0c663181fccc4be5a06b6f63670fc7d6/james-earl-jones-happy-receive-voice-icon-award">deep into his 80s,</a>&nbsp;won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-business-earl-jones-james-earl-jones-august-wilson-b4056d456fb32a19657d1b9ff39ee0d6">Broadway theater was renamed</a>&nbsp;in his honor.

He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious work habit. In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/f5220b7049444bc9ab4e273edf022cba">a Broadway run of “The Gin Game”</a>&nbsp;having already memorized the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.

“The need to storytell has always been with us,” he told The Associated Press then. “I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn't get him."

Jones created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in “Field of Dreams,” the boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit “The Great White Hope,” the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-entertainment-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-3064de5f4a327209306fda7df7d25f14">writer Alex Haley</a>&nbsp;in “Roots: The Next Generation” and a South African minister in “Cry, the Beloved Country.”

He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader (“No, I am your father,” commonly misremembered as “Luke, I am your father”), as well as the benign dignity of King Mufasa in Disney's animated “The Lion King” and announcing “This is CNN” during station breaks. He won a 1977 Grammy for his performance on the “Great American Documents” audiobook.

“If you were an actor or aspired to be an actor, if you pounded the payment in these streets looks for jobs, one of the standards we always had was to be a James Earl Jones,” Samuel L. Jackson once said.

Some of his other films include “Dr. Strangelove,” “The Greatest” (with Muhammad Ali), “Conan the Barbarian,” “Three Fugitives” and playing an admiral in three Tom Clancy blockbuster adaptations — “The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger.” In a rare romantic comedy, “Claudine,” Jones had an onscreen love affair with Diahann Carroll.

Jones made his Broadway debut in 1958’s “Sunrise At Campobello” and would win his two Tony Awards for “The Great White Hope” (1969) and “Fences” (1987). He also was nominated for “On Golden Pond” (2005) and “Gore Vidal’s The Best Man” (2012). He was celebrated for his command of Shakespeare and Athol Fugard alike. More recent Broadway appearances include “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “The Iceman Cometh,” and “You Can’t Take It With You.”

As a rising stage and television actor, he appeared in “As the World Turns” in 1965, one of the first Black actors to have such role on daytime TV. He performed with the New York Shakespeare Festival Theater in “Othello,” “Macbeth” and “King Lear” and in off-Broadway plays.

Jones was born by the light of an oil lamp in a shack in Arkabutla, Mississippi, on Jan. 17, 1931. His father, Robert Earl Jones, had deserted his wife before the baby's arrival to pursue life as a boxer and, later, an actor.

When Jones was 6, his mother took him to her parents' farm near Manistee, Michigan. His grandparents adopted the boy and raised him.

“A world ended for me, the safe world of childhood,” Jones wrote in his autobiography, “Voices and Silences.” “The move from Mississippi to Michigan was supposed to be a glorious event. For me it was a heartbreak, and not long after, I began to stutter.”

Too embarrassed to speak, he remained virtually mute for years, communicating with teachers and fellow students with handwritten notes. A sympathetic high school teacher, Donald Crouch, learned that the boy wrote poetry, and demanded that Jones read one of his poems aloud in class. He did so faultlessly.

Teacher and student worked together to restore the boy’s normal speech. “I could not get enough of speaking, debating, orating — acting,” he recalled in his book.

At the University of Michigan, he failed a pre-med exam and switched to drama, also playing four seasons of basketball. He served in the Army from 1953 to 1955.

In New York, he moved in with his father and enrolled with the American Theater Wing program for young actors. Father and son waxed floors to support themselves while looking for acting jobs.

True stardom came suddenly in 1970 with “The Great White Hope.” Howard Sackler’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play depicted the struggles of Jack Johnson, the first Black heavyweight boxing champion, amid the racism of early 20th-century America. In 1972, Jones repeated his role in the movie version and was nominated for an Academy Award as best actor.

Jones’ two wives were also actors. He married Julienne Marie Hendricks in 1967. After their divorce, he married Cecilia Hart, best known for her role as Stacey Erickson in the CBS police drama “Paris,” in 1982. (She died in 2016.) They had a son, Flynn Earl, born in 1983.

In 2022, the Cort Theatre on Broadway&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-earl-jones-james-b2ede81ef88bedef4d17a8f08570b9dd">was renamed after Jones,</a>&nbsp;with a ceremony that included Norm Lewis singing “Go the Distance,” Brian Stokes Mitchell singing “Make Them Hear You” and words from Mayor Eric Adams, Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson Jackson.

“You can’t think of an artist that has served America more,” director Kenny Leon told the AP. “It’s like it seems like a small act, but it’s a huge action. It’s something we can look up and see that’s tangible.”

Citing his stutter as one of the reasons he wasn’t a political activist, Jones nonetheless hoped his art could change minds.

“I realized early on, from people like Athol Fugard, that you cannot change anybody’s mind, no matter what you do,” he told the AP. “As a preacher, as a scholar, you cannot change their mind. But you can change the way they feel.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1725918777492.png" alt="FILE - James Earl Jones arrives at the American Theatre Wing benefit to honor CBS and Leslie Moonves, Chairman of CBS, Monday, April 11, 2005, in New York. Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen has died at age 93. His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning, Sept. 9, 2024, at home. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff, File)" />
 <figcaption>FILE - James Earl Jones arrives at the American Theatre Wing benefit to honor CBS and Leslie Moonves, Chairman of CBS, Monday, April 11, 2005, in New York. Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen has died at age 93. His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning, Sept. 9, 2024, at home. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff, File)</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/james-earl-jones">James Earl Jones,</a>&nbsp;who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen — eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, “The Lion King” and Darth Vader — has died. He was 93.His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning at home in New York's Hudson Valley region. The cause was not immediately clear.The pioneering Jones, who was one of the first African American actors in a continuing role on a daytime drama and worked&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/0c663181fccc4be5a06b6f63670fc7d6/james-earl-jones-happy-receive-voice-icon-award">deep into his 80s,</a>&nbsp;won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-business-earl-jones-james-earl-jones-august-wilson-b4056d456fb32a19657d1b9ff39ee0d6">Broadway theater was renamed</a>&nbsp;in his honor.He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious work habit. In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/f5220b7049444bc9ab4e273edf022cba">a Broadway run of “The Gin Game”</a>&nbsp;having already memorized the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.“The need to storytell has always been with us,” he told The Associated Press then. “I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn't get him."Jones created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in “Field of Dreams,” the boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit “The Great White Hope,” the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-entertainment-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-3064de5f4a327209306fda7df7d25f14">writer Alex Haley</a>&nbsp;in “Roots: The Next Generation” and a South African minister in “Cry, the Beloved Country.”He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader (“No, I am your father,” commonly misremembered as “Luke, I am your father”), as well as the benign dignity of King Mufasa in Disney's animated “The Lion King” and announcing “This is CNN” during station breaks. He won a 1977 Grammy for his performance on the “Great American Documents” audiobook.“If you were an actor or aspired to be an actor, if you pounded the payment in these streets looks for jobs, one of the standards we always had was to be a James Earl Jones,” Samuel L. Jackson once said.Some of his other films include “Dr. Strangelove,” “The Greatest” (with Muhammad Ali), “Conan the Barbarian,” “Three Fugitives” and playing an admiral in three Tom Clancy blockbuster adaptations — “The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger.” In a rare romantic comedy, “Claudine,” Jones had an onscreen love affair with Diahann Carroll.Jones made his Broadway debut in 1958’s “Sunrise At Campobello” and would win his two Tony Awards for “The Great White Hope” (1969) and “Fences” (1987). He also was nominated for “On Golden Pond” (2005) and “Gore Vidal’s The Best Man” (2012). He was celebrated for his command of Shakespeare and Athol Fugard alike. More recent Broadway appearances include “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “The Iceman Cometh,” and “You Can’t Take It With You.”As a rising stage and television actor, he appeared in “As the World Turns” in 1965, one of the first Black actors to have such role on daytime TV. He performed with the New York Shakespeare Festival Theater in “Othello,” “Macbeth” and “King Lear” and in off-Broadway plays.Jones was born by the light of an oil lamp in a shack in Arkabutla, Mississippi, on Jan. 17, 1931. His father, Robert Earl Jones, had deserted his wife before the baby's arrival to pursue life as a boxer and, later, an actor.When Jones was 6, his mother took him to her parents' farm near Manistee, Michigan. His grandparents adopted the boy and raised him.“A world ended for me, the safe world of childhood,” Jones wrote in his autobiography, “Voices and Silences.” “The move from Mississippi to Michigan was supposed to be a glorious event. For me it was a heartbreak, and not long after, I began to stutter.”Too embarrassed to speak, he remained virtually mute for years, communicating with teachers and fellow students with handwritten notes. A sympathetic high school teacher, Donald Crouch, learned that the boy wrote poetry, and demanded that Jones read one of his poems aloud in class. He did so faultlessly.Teacher and student worked together to restore the boy’s normal speech. “I could not get enough of speaking, debating, orating — acting,” he recalled in his book.At the University of Michigan, he failed a pre-med exam and switched to drama, also playing four seasons of basketball. He served in the Army from 1953 to 1955.In New York, he moved in with his father and enrolled with the American Theater Wing program for young actors. Father and son waxed floors to support themselves while looking for acting jobs.True stardom came suddenly in 1970 with “The Great White Hope.” Howard Sackler’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play depicted the struggles of Jack Johnson, the first Black heavyweight boxing champion, amid the racism of early 20th-century America. In 1972, Jones repeated his role in the movie version and was nominated for an Academy Award as best actor.Jones’ two wives were also actors. He married Julienne Marie Hendricks in 1967. After their divorce, he married Cecilia Hart, best known for her role as Stacey Erickson in the CBS police drama “Paris,” in 1982. (She died in 2016.) They had a son, Flynn Earl, born in 1983.In 2022, the Cort Theatre on Broadway&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-earl-jones-james-b2ede81ef88bedef4d17a8f08570b9dd">was renamed after Jones,</a>&nbsp;with a ceremony that included Norm Lewis singing “Go the Distance,” Brian Stokes Mitchell singing “Make Them Hear You” and words from Mayor Eric Adams, Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson Jackson.“You can’t think of an artist that has served America more,” director Kenny Leon told the AP. “It’s like it seems like a small act, but it’s a huge action. It’s something we can look up and see that’s tangible.”Citing his stutter as one of the reasons he wasn’t a political activist, Jones nonetheless hoped his art could change minds.“I realized early on, from people like Athol Fugard, that you cannot change anybody’s mind, no matter what you do,” he told the AP. “As a preacher, as a scholar, you cannot change their mind. But you can change the way they feel.”

James Earl Jones, acclaimed actor and voice of Darth Vader, dies at 93

HUTCHINSON —Kansas State Highway Patrol troopers are very busy at the Kansas State Fair.&nbsp; On Sunday night, troopers recovered a stolen firearm, according to a social media report from Troop Tod Hileman.

On Friday night troopers responded to a subject brandishing a weapon on the fairgrounds, according to Hileman.

The subject was placed under arrest for being a felon in possession of a firearm and for possession of a firearm while intoxicated.&nbsp;

"KHP Troopers are dedicated to your protection even while you’re having fun at the Kansas State Fair"

 The KHP released no additional details including the name of the suspect in the Friday night arrest.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1725903728220.png" alt="Photo KHP" />
 <figcaption>Photo KHP</figcaption>
 </figure>HUTCHINSON —Kansas State Highway Patrol troopers are very busy at the Kansas State Fair.&nbsp; On Sunday night, troopers recovered a stolen firearm, according to a social media report from Troop Tod Hileman.On Friday night troopers responded to a subject brandishing a weapon on the fairgrounds, according to Hileman.The subject was placed under arrest for being a felon in possession of a firearm and for possession of a firearm while intoxicated.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1725735460237.png" alt="The gun recovered on Friday -photo KHP" />
 <figcaption>The gun recovered on Friday -photo KHP</figcaption>
 </figure>"KHP Troopers are dedicated to your protection even while you’re having fun at the Kansas State Fair" The KHP released no additional details including the name of the suspect in the Friday night arrest.

Troopers recover a stolen gun at the Kansas State Fair

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple on Monday charged into the artificial intelligence craze with a new iPhone lineup that marks the company’s latest attempt to latch onto a technology trend and transform it into a cultural phenomenon.

The four different iPhone 16 models will all come equipped with special chips needed to power a suite if AI tools that Apple hopes will make its marquee product even more indispensable and reverse&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/apple-quarterly-earnings-iphone-artificial-intelligence-112e9d950a3f842ce32a4b86d0bdc0e7">a recent sales slump.</a>

Apple’s AI features are designed to turn its often-blundering virtual assistant Siri into a smarter and more versatile sidekick, automate a wide range of tedious tasks and pull off other crowd-pleasing tricks such as creating customized emojis within seconds.

After receiving a standing ovation for Monday's event, Apple CEO Tim Cook promised the AI package will unleash “innovations that will make a true difference in people’s lives.”

But the breakthroughs won't begin as soon as the new iPhones — ranging in price from $800 to $1,200 — hit the stores on September 20.

Most of Apple’s AI functions will roll out as part of a free software update to iOS 18, the operating system that will power the iPhone 16 coming out in December. English will be the featured language at launch but an update enabling other languages will come out next year, according to Apple.

It’s all part of a new approach that Apple previewed at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/apple-artificial-intelligence-siri-iphone-software-conference-4217d67977f95ead880835a71ecce098">a developers conference</a>&nbsp;three months ago to create more anticipation for a next generation of iPhones amid a rare sales slump for the well-known devices.

Since Apple’s June conference, competitors such as Samsung and Google have made greater strides in AI – a technology widely expected to trigger the most dramatic changes in computing since the first iPhone came out 17 years ago.

Just as Apple elevated fledgling smartphones it into a must-have technology in 21st-century society, the Cupertino, California, company is betting it can do something similar with its tardy arrival to artificial intelligence.

In an attempt to set itself apart from the early leaders in AI, the technology being baked into the iPhone 16 is being promoted as “Apple Intelligence.” Despite the unique branding, Apple’s new approach mimics many of the features already available in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/samsung-galaxy-smartphones-ai-apple-google-7e0a8d8d7aea1efc5b54c9301e53b684">Samsung Galaxy S24 released in January</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/google-pixel-phone-artificial-intelligence-apple-iphone-706f612f4d1b0d6ed06431026e9afcbe">Google Pixel 9 that came out last month.</a>

“Apple could have waited another year for further development, but initial take up of AI- powered devices from the likes of Samsung has been encouraging, and Apple is keen to capitalize on this market,” said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore.

As it treads into new territory, Apple is trying to preserve its long-time commitment to privacy by tailoring its AI so that most of its technological tricks can processed on the device itself instead of relying on giant banks of computers located in remote data centers. When a task need to connect to a data center, Apple promises it will be done in a tightly-controlled way that ensures that no personal data is stored remotely.

While corralling the personal information shared through Apple’s AI tools inherently reduces the chances that the data will be exploited or misused against a user’s wishes, it doesn’t guarantee iron-clad security. A device could still be stolen, for instance, or hacked through digital chicanery.

For users seeking to access even more AI tools than being offered by the iPhone, Apple is teaming up with OpenAI to give users the option of farming out more complicated tasks to the popular ChatGPT chatbot.

Although Apple is releasing a free version of its operating system to propel its on-device AI features, the chip needed to run the technology is only available on the iPhone 16 lineup and the high-end iPhone 15 models that came out a year ago.

That means most consumers who are interested in taking advantage of Apple’s approach to AI will have to buy one of the iPhone 16 models – a twist that investors are counting on will fuel a surge in demand heading into the holiday season.

The anticipated sales boom is the main reason Apple’s stock price has climbed by more than 10% since the AI preview in June. But the company's shares dipped slightly in Monday's late afternoon trading after the iPhone showcase, continuing a recent downturn in tech stocks that has been driven in part by concerns about how long it will take before the industry's huge investments in AI will pay off.

Besides its latest iPhones, Apple also introduced a new version of its smartwatch that will include a feature to help detect sleep apnea as well the next generation of its wireless headphones, the AirPods Pro, that will be able to function as a hearing aid with an upcoming software update.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1711052797525.png" alt="File photo" />
 <figcaption>File photo</figcaption>
 </figure>CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple on Monday charged into the artificial intelligence craze with a new iPhone lineup that marks the company’s latest attempt to latch onto a technology trend and transform it into a cultural phenomenon.The four different iPhone 16 models will all come equipped with special chips needed to power a suite if AI tools that Apple hopes will make its marquee product even more indispensable and reverse&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/apple-quarterly-earnings-iphone-artificial-intelligence-112e9d950a3f842ce32a4b86d0bdc0e7">a recent sales slump.</a>Apple’s AI features are designed to turn its often-blundering virtual assistant Siri into a smarter and more versatile sidekick, automate a wide range of tedious tasks and pull off other crowd-pleasing tricks such as creating customized emojis within seconds.After receiving a standing ovation for Monday's event, Apple CEO Tim Cook promised the AI package will unleash “innovations that will make a true difference in people’s lives.”But the breakthroughs won't begin as soon as the new iPhones — ranging in price from $800 to $1,200 — hit the stores on September 20.Most of Apple’s AI functions will roll out as part of a free software update to iOS 18, the operating system that will power the iPhone 16 coming out in December. English will be the featured language at launch but an update enabling other languages will come out next year, according to Apple.It’s all part of a new approach that Apple previewed at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/apple-artificial-intelligence-siri-iphone-software-conference-4217d67977f95ead880835a71ecce098">a developers conference</a>&nbsp;three months ago to create more anticipation for a next generation of iPhones amid a rare sales slump for the well-known devices.Since Apple’s June conference, competitors such as Samsung and Google have made greater strides in AI – a technology widely expected to trigger the most dramatic changes in computing since the first iPhone came out 17 years ago.Just as Apple elevated fledgling smartphones it into a must-have technology in 21st-century society, the Cupertino, California, company is betting it can do something similar with its tardy arrival to artificial intelligence.In an attempt to set itself apart from the early leaders in AI, the technology being baked into the iPhone 16 is being promoted as “Apple Intelligence.” Despite the unique branding, Apple’s new approach mimics many of the features already available in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/samsung-galaxy-smartphones-ai-apple-google-7e0a8d8d7aea1efc5b54c9301e53b684">Samsung Galaxy S24 released in January</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/google-pixel-phone-artificial-intelligence-apple-iphone-706f612f4d1b0d6ed06431026e9afcbe">Google Pixel 9 that came out last month.</a>“Apple could have waited another year for further development, but initial take up of AI- powered devices from the likes of Samsung has been encouraging, and Apple is keen to capitalize on this market,” said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore.As it treads into new territory, Apple is trying to preserve its long-time commitment to privacy by tailoring its AI so that most of its technological tricks can processed on the device itself instead of relying on giant banks of computers located in remote data centers. When a task need to connect to a data center, Apple promises it will be done in a tightly-controlled way that ensures that no personal data is stored remotely.While corralling the personal information shared through Apple’s AI tools inherently reduces the chances that the data will be exploited or misused against a user’s wishes, it doesn’t guarantee iron-clad security. A device could still be stolen, for instance, or hacked through digital chicanery.For users seeking to access even more AI tools than being offered by the iPhone, Apple is teaming up with OpenAI to give users the option of farming out more complicated tasks to the popular ChatGPT chatbot.Although Apple is releasing a free version of its operating system to propel its on-device AI features, the chip needed to run the technology is only available on the iPhone 16 lineup and the high-end iPhone 15 models that came out a year ago.That means most consumers who are interested in taking advantage of Apple’s approach to AI will have to buy one of the iPhone 16 models – a twist that investors are counting on will fuel a surge in demand heading into the holiday season.The anticipated sales boom is the main reason Apple’s stock price has climbed by more than 10% since the AI preview in June. But the company's shares dipped slightly in Monday's late afternoon trading after the iPhone showcase, continuing a recent downturn in tech stocks that has been driven in part by concerns about how long it will take before the industry's huge investments in AI will pay off.Besides its latest iPhones, Apple also introduced a new version of its smartwatch that will include a feature to help detect sleep apnea as well the next generation of its wireless headphones, the AirPods Pro, that will be able to function as a hearing aid with an upcoming software update.

Apple embraces the AI craze with newly unleashed iPhone 16 lineup

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/akaminski/">ANNA KAMINSKI</a>&nbsp; <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — The Wichita Police Department’s “gang list” that targeted young Black and Latino residents based on where they lived, the clothes they wore and funerals they attended will be overhauled after a federal judge approved a settlement agreement in August in a class-action lawsuit.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Kansas Appleseed sued the City of Wichita in&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/04/15/wichita-police-unfairly-target-minorities-with-gang-list-aclu-and-kansas-appleseed-allege-in-lawsuit/">2021</a>&nbsp;alleging constitutional violations on behalf of Progeny, a Wichita-based criminal justice reform organization that focuses on youth empowerment. The suit received class action status in 2023, and the Wichita City Council voted unanimously in&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/04/09/wichita-pays-625k-to-settle-lawsuit-over-police-use-of-discriminatory-gang-list/">April</a>&nbsp;to settle the case for $625,000, which went toward litigation costs and the services of a Johnson County judge who will oversee implementation of the policy changes.

“On its inception, our clients were interested in pursuing a change in policy. They were not in it for the money, and so damages claims were never a part of the case,” said Kunyu Ching, a staff attorney at the ACLU of Kansas, in a conversation for the Kansas Reflector podcast.

Kansas&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ksrevisor.org/statutes/chapters/ch21/021_063_0013.html" target="_blank">statute</a>&nbsp;deems someone as a criminal gang member if at least three of 10 criteria are met, one of which says someone is a gang member if they adopt a “gang’s style of dress, color, use of hand signs or tattoos.”

The Wichita authorities’ interpretation of the statute resulted in a gang list that contained mostly Black and Latino residents and department policies that put people on the list based on businesses they visited, who they were photographed with and who they were friends with. The advocacy groups said police used unreliable evidence — or no evidence at all — to surveil, harass and discriminate against people they believed were gang members or associates.

The policy changes under the settlement agreement mandate the police department revise its criteria for adding someone’s name to the list, remove all gang associates and inactive gang members or associates from the list, and begin notifying people if they’re added to the list, according to the Aug. 26 written decision from Chief U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren. The new policy allows minors to avoid being added to the list, and it creates an appeals process so people can challenge the appearance of their names on the gang list.

The city plans to create a way for the public to check and see if they are on the police department’s gang list, said Megan Lovely, a City of Wichita spokeswoman, in an emailed statement.

“This mediated agreement is intended to protect the constitutional rights of the citizens of Wichita and allow law enforcement to conduct effective investigations for public safety,” she said.

Marquetta Atkins-Woods, executive director of Progeny, said in a news release the case’s outcome was a “prime example” of youth instigating policy change.

“Our youth were part of the plaintiffs in the case, which is heroic and fierce, to take on something like this,” she said. “I think this lawsuit and settlement are proof positive of how community can come together to be a catalyst for change.”

The settlement agreement also created the position of an ombudsman to oversee a new appeals process, and the Johnson County judge will ensure the agreement’s terms are implemented over the next three years.

Under Wichita’s previous policy, no one was notified if they were on the list, and there was no way to take their name off of it. If convicted of a crime, people who appeared on the list would face higher bond amounts, longer sentences and harsher probation conditions.

“So it’s designed for you to fail,” said Teresa Woody, the litigation director at Kansas Appleseed.

At the time the lawsuit was filed, Wichita’s was the only municipal police department in Kansas using a gang list. The list started as hard-copy files in a box.

“Today it’s a database,” Ching said. “But, essentially, it’s a way for the WPD to keep tabs on individuals that they believe are gang members or gang associates.”

Wichita police have used a gang list for roughly 30 years, so generations of residents have been impacted, she said. Regardless of whether criminal activity was occurring, police would scout “funerals, weddings, family celebrations, public venues, public gatherings like concerts” as reasons for adding or keeping people on the list, Ching said.

Three of the ACLU of Kansas’ clients in the suit were family members, Ching said. Their active status on the gang list was renewed when they gathered at one of their homes for a wake for an infant family member who had died. Police, referencing the nationwide association of street gangs known as the Bloods, called the wake a “Blood party” at the time, Ching said.

Black police officers testified that they avoided contact with certain family members because they feared they themselves could be added to the list, she said.

Woody said there’s no doubt in her mind that police and the Sedgwick County district attorney knew the list, and the way it was used, was wrong.

“I think it was really a way of policing these communities, or over-policing these communities, with an assumption that the folks who lived in those communities were likely criminals,” Woody said.

According to an ACLU of Kansas analysis of 2022 data, more than half of people on Wichita’s gang list were Black, nearly 30% were Latino and around 6% were white. Wichita’s population is 68% white with Black residents making up less than 8% of the population and Latino residents making up about 14%. Mostly white police officers staffed Wichita’s gang investigation unit, Woody said.

As of May 2022, roughly 5,500 people were on Wichita’s gang list. Woody said roughly two thirds of the people on the list could be removed under the police department’s revised policy, which went into effect&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wichita.gov/DocumentCenter/View/29592/Policy-527--Gang-Offenders-PDF" target="_blank">Aug. 26</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1617619872501.png" alt="File photo Wichita Police" />
 <figcaption>File photo Wichita Police</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/akaminski/">ANNA KAMINSKI</a>&nbsp; <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a> TOPEKA — The Wichita Police Department’s “gang list” that targeted young Black and Latino residents based on where they lived, the clothes they wore and funerals they attended will be overhauled after a federal judge approved a settlement agreement in August in a class-action lawsuit.The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Kansas Appleseed sued the City of Wichita in&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/04/15/wichita-police-unfairly-target-minorities-with-gang-list-aclu-and-kansas-appleseed-allege-in-lawsuit/">2021</a>&nbsp;alleging constitutional violations on behalf of Progeny, a Wichita-based criminal justice reform organization that focuses on youth empowerment. The suit received class action status in 2023, and the Wichita City Council voted unanimously in&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/04/09/wichita-pays-625k-to-settle-lawsuit-over-police-use-of-discriminatory-gang-list/">April</a>&nbsp;to settle the case for $625,000, which went toward litigation costs and the services of a Johnson County judge who will oversee implementation of the policy changes.“On its inception, our clients were interested in pursuing a change in policy. They were not in it for the money, and so damages claims were never a part of the case,” said Kunyu Ching, a staff attorney at the ACLU of Kansas, in a conversation for the Kansas Reflector podcast.Kansas&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ksrevisor.org/statutes/chapters/ch21/021_063_0013.html" target="_blank">statute</a>&nbsp;deems someone as a criminal gang member if at least three of 10 criteria are met, one of which says someone is a gang member if they adopt a “gang’s style of dress, color, use of hand signs or tattoos.”The Wichita authorities’ interpretation of the statute resulted in a gang list that contained mostly Black and Latino residents and department policies that put people on the list based on businesses they visited, who they were photographed with and who they were friends with. The advocacy groups said police used unreliable evidence — or no evidence at all — to surveil, harass and discriminate against people they believed were gang members or associates.The policy changes under the settlement agreement mandate the police department revise its criteria for adding someone’s name to the list, remove all gang associates and inactive gang members or associates from the list, and begin notifying people if they’re added to the list, according to the Aug. 26 written decision from Chief U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren. The new policy allows minors to avoid being added to the list, and it creates an appeals process so people can challenge the appearance of their names on the gang list.The city plans to create a way for the public to check and see if they are on the police department’s gang list, said Megan Lovely, a City of Wichita spokeswoman, in an emailed statement.“This mediated agreement is intended to protect the constitutional rights of the citizens of Wichita and allow law enforcement to conduct effective investigations for public safety,” she said.Marquetta Atkins-Woods, executive director of Progeny, said in a news release the case’s outcome was a “prime example” of youth instigating policy change.“Our youth were part of the plaintiffs in the case, which is heroic and fierce, to take on something like this,” she said. “I think this lawsuit and settlement are proof positive of how community can come together to be a catalyst for change.”The settlement agreement also created the position of an ombudsman to oversee a new appeals process, and the Johnson County judge will ensure the agreement’s terms are implemented over the next three years.Under Wichita’s previous policy, no one was notified if they were on the list, and there was no way to take their name off of it. If convicted of a crime, people who appeared on the list would face higher bond amounts, longer sentences and harsher probation conditions.“So it’s designed for you to fail,” said Teresa Woody, the litigation director at Kansas Appleseed.At the time the lawsuit was filed, Wichita’s was the only municipal police department in Kansas using a gang list. The list started as hard-copy files in a box.“Today it’s a database,” Ching said. “But, essentially, it’s a way for the WPD to keep tabs on individuals that they believe are gang members or gang associates.”Wichita police have used a gang list for roughly 30 years, so generations of residents have been impacted, she said. Regardless of whether criminal activity was occurring, police would scout “funerals, weddings, family celebrations, public venues, public gatherings like concerts” as reasons for adding or keeping people on the list, Ching said.Three of the ACLU of Kansas’ clients in the suit were family members, Ching said. Their active status on the gang list was renewed when they gathered at one of their homes for a wake for an infant family member who had died. Police, referencing the nationwide association of street gangs known as the Bloods, called the wake a “Blood party” at the time, Ching said.Black police officers testified that they avoided contact with certain family members because they feared they themselves could be added to the list, she said.Woody said there’s no doubt in her mind that police and the Sedgwick County district attorney knew the list, and the way it was used, was wrong.“I think it was really a way of policing these communities, or over-policing these communities, with an assumption that the folks who lived in those communities were likely criminals,” Woody said.According to an ACLU of Kansas analysis of 2022 data, more than half of people on Wichita’s gang list were Black, nearly 30% were Latino and around 6% were white. Wichita’s population is 68% white with Black residents making up less than 8% of the population and Latino residents making up about 14%. Mostly white police officers staffed Wichita’s gang investigation unit, Woody said.As of May 2022, roughly 5,500 people were on Wichita’s gang list. Woody said roughly two thirds of the people on the list could be removed under the police department’s revised policy, which went into effect&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wichita.gov/DocumentCenter/View/29592/Policy-527--Gang-Offenders-PDF" target="_blank">Aug. 26</a>.

Wichita police to overhaul ‘gang list’ after judge approves settlement agreement

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press

A judge has ordered a mental evaluation and delayed the trial of an 85-year-old white man who shot&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-kansas-city-wrong-door-b27aaabdb132fcb1544c97f7161f0027">Ralph Yarl</a>&nbsp;after the teenage Black honor student came to his Kansas City, Missouri, home by mistake.

Andrew Lester’s lawyer&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-wrong-house-missouri-mental-competence-8fa61b24a186e9923fd12ae831b071b0">requested</a>&nbsp;the evaluation last month, saying the retired aircraft mechanic's health has deteriorated so much that he now lacks the capacity to understand the proceedings against him or to assist in his own defense. The prosecution didn’t object to the request.

The trial of Lester had been scheduled to begin Oct. 7. Instead, there will be a hearing the following day.

Lester has pleaded&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-shooting-court-hearing-not-guilty-e7d992123cc9e1ea4a5237bb08345d12">not guilty</a>&nbsp;to charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the April 13, 2023, shooting of Yarl, then 16. Yarl survived the shooting and graduated from high school in the spring. But his family said the shooting took a big emotional toll and has filed a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-wrong-house-missouri-lawsuit-d97c54d302212b002351bb72bd7e2562">lawsuit</a>&nbsp;against Lester.

The shooting shocked the country and renewed national debates about gun policies and race in the U.S.

Attorney Steve Salmon has long argued that Lester was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-shooting-stand-your-ground-69f91b0a09b25f9758219897f5890278">acting in self-defense</a>, terrified by the stranger who knocked on his door as he settled into bed for the night.

Yarl showed up on Lester’s doorstep after he mixed up the streets where he was supposed to pick up his twin siblings. Yarl testified at an earlier hearing that Lester shot him in the head and uttered, “Don’t come here ever again.” Although the bullet didn’t penetrate Yarl’s brain, the impact knocked him to the ground. Yarl said Lester then shot him in the arm.

In the ensuing months, Lester has had heart issues, a broken hip and hospitalizations, Salmon said. Lester also has lost 50 pounds (23 kilograms), which Salmon blames on the stress he has experienced because of intense scrutiny from the news media and death threats.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1681844207619.png" alt="Lester photo Clay Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Lester photo Clay Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated PressA judge has ordered a mental evaluation and delayed the trial of an 85-year-old white man who shot&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-kansas-city-wrong-door-b27aaabdb132fcb1544c97f7161f0027">Ralph Yarl</a>&nbsp;after the teenage Black honor student came to his Kansas City, Missouri, home by mistake.Andrew Lester’s lawyer&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-wrong-house-missouri-mental-competence-8fa61b24a186e9923fd12ae831b071b0">requested</a>&nbsp;the evaluation last month, saying the retired aircraft mechanic's health has deteriorated so much that he now lacks the capacity to understand the proceedings against him or to assist in his own defense. The prosecution didn’t object to the request.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1681726215314.png" alt="Ralph Yarl photo GoFundMe" />
 <figcaption>Ralph Yarl photo GoFundMe</figcaption>
 </figure>The trial of Lester had been scheduled to begin Oct. 7. Instead, there will be a hearing the following day.Lester has pleaded&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-shooting-court-hearing-not-guilty-e7d992123cc9e1ea4a5237bb08345d12">not guilty</a>&nbsp;to charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the April 13, 2023, shooting of Yarl, then 16. Yarl survived the shooting and graduated from high school in the spring. But his family said the shooting took a big emotional toll and has filed a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-wrong-house-missouri-lawsuit-d97c54d302212b002351bb72bd7e2562">lawsuit</a>&nbsp;against Lester.The shooting shocked the country and renewed national debates about gun policies and race in the U.S.Attorney Steve Salmon has long argued that Lester was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-shooting-stand-your-ground-69f91b0a09b25f9758219897f5890278">acting in self-defense</a>, terrified by the stranger who knocked on his door as he settled into bed for the night.Yarl showed up on Lester’s doorstep after he mixed up the streets where he was supposed to pick up his twin siblings. Yarl testified at an earlier hearing that Lester shot him in the head and uttered, “Don’t come here ever again.” Although the bullet didn’t penetrate Yarl’s brain, the impact knocked him to the ground. Yarl said Lester then shot him in the arm.In the ensuing months, Lester has had heart issues, a broken hip and hospitalizations, Salmon said. Lester also has lost 50 pounds (23 kilograms), which Salmon blames on the stress he has experienced because of intense scrutiny from the news media and death threats.

Judge orders psych evaluation for KC homeowner who shot teen

‘We expect to win,’ a member of the coalition behind Amendment 3 said Sunday as the parties await a heading date from the Missouri Supreme Court

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/annaspoerre/">ANNA SPOERRE</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

The Missouri Supreme Court will decide whether an abortion-rights will end up on the Nov. 5 ballot after a Cole County judge ruled the proposed amendment violated state law.&nbsp;

The case bypassed the court of appeals over the weekend and headed straight to the state’s highest court, which scheduled oral arguments for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday — the same day ballots are&nbsp;supposed to be printed for those voting absentee.&nbsp;

Sunday afternoon, attorneys representing the campaign behind the amendment, which would appear on the ballot as&nbsp;<a href="https://moconstitutionalfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Missourians-for-Constitutional-Freedom-Amendment.pdf" target="_blank">Amendment 3,</a>&nbsp;filed an emergency motion asking the court to allow it to proceed to the ballot while the case plays out. Doing so, they argued, would&nbsp;“preserve the status quo and prevent irreparable harm to intervenors-appellants, election officials throughout the state and Missouri voters themselves.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

<a href="https://moconstitutionalfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Missourians-for-Constitutional-Freedom-Amendment.pdf" target="_blank">Amendment 3&nbsp;</a>would establish the constitutional right to an abortion up until fetal viability and grant constitutional protections to other reproductive health care, including in-vitro fertilization and birth control. It would also protect those who assist in an abortion from prosecution.&nbsp;

Abortion is illegal in Missouri, with limited exceptions for the life and health of the mother.

In late August, a group of anti-abortion lawmakers and activists sued Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, accusing him of wrongly&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/08/13/missouri-voters-will-decide-whether-to-legalize-abortion-in-november/">certifying the citizen-led ballot initiative for the Nov. 5 ballot&nbsp;</a>nine days earlier.&nbsp;

Late Friday evening,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/09/06/judge-decides-abortion-amendment-3-missouri-ballot/">Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh&nbsp;ruled in favor of the plaintiffs,&nbsp;</a>saying the text of the initiative petition failed to list what existing laws would be repealed if it passed, as he said is required by state law.&nbsp;

He suggested the amendment be withheld from the ballot, but also left the door open for an appeal to a higher court, saying he recognized&nbsp; “the gravity of the unique issues involved in this case, and the lack of direct precedent on point.”&nbsp;

<a href="https://governor.mo.gov/press-releases/archive/governor-parson-announces-four-judicial-appointments-1" target="_blank">Limbaugh was appointed to the newly-created judicial position</a>&nbsp;in the 19th circuit on Aug. 2 by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, for whom he previously served as general counsel.&nbsp;

He was previously&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/11/23/gov-mike-parson-picks-staffer-to-replace-eric-schmitt-as-missouri-attorney-general/">a potential candidate to replace Eric Schmitt as Missouri Attorney General</a>&nbsp;after he was elected to the U.S. Senate. His father was a federal court judge and his cousin was the late Rush Limbaugh, a conservative radio host who was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/04/us/politics/rush-limbaugh-medal-of-freedom.html" target="_blank">awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom&nbsp;</a>by former President Donald Trump.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the campaign behind the amendment, quickly appealed his decision.

“Judges come from their own experience and background, and they’re not imperfect,” Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, a member of the Missourians for Constitutional Freedom coalition, said Sunday, later adding: “What we’re asking is that the Supreme Court hold us to the same standard everyone else has had.”

Missouri law requires that initiative petitions&nbsp;<a href="https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=116.050#:~:text=116.050.,pages%20of%20a%20uniform%20size." target="_blank">“include all sections of existing law or of the constitution which would be repealed by the measure.”&nbsp;</a>

Loretta Haggard, an attorney representing the campaign&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/09/06/judge-decides-abortion-amendment-3-missouri-ballot/">said during a hearingFriday&nbsp;</a>that the amendment would not literally repeal the state’s current abortion law and take it off the books, but rather would create a new law that would supersede much of the existing one.&nbsp;

She said this is because not every element of the current law would be rendered moot: the two texts overlap in that both protect women who get abortions from prosecution and both restrict abortion after fetal viability, generally seen as the point at which a fetus can outside the womb, generally around 24 weeks pregnancy.&nbsp;

Anything else that falls under the scope of the amendment would be left to the judicial system to interpret, Haggard said.&nbsp;

During the trial, Mary Catherine Martin, an attorney with the Thomas More Society&nbsp;representing the plaintiffs, also&nbsp;argued the initiative petition illegally included more than one subject, pointing to language protecting “a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom” and saying such a phrase encompasses “infinite subjects.”

Haggard contended that the single subject was clear: “reproductive freedom.”

While&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/09/06/missouri-judge-rules-abortion-amendment-vioalates-state-requirements/">Limbaugh ruled the initiative petition did not meet the sufficiency requirement&nbsp;</a>through a “failure to include any statute or provision that will be repealed, especially when many of these statutes are apparent,” he did not address the single subject claims in his decision.&nbsp;

The plaintiffs — state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, state Rep. Hannah Kelly, anti-abortion activist Kathy Forck and shelter operator Marguerite Forrest — said in a statement Friday evening that the amendment’s scope is about more than just abortion and could be interpreted to also include gender-affirming care and human cloning, though neither are mentioned by name in the amendment.&nbsp;

“There is no way to know if the proponents of this radical amendment would have gathered enough signatures to place this on the ballot if the truth about the staggering scope of laws Amendment 3 invalidates had been disclosed,” they said in a statement.&nbsp;

Wales said the campaign behind Amendment 3 remains undeterred despite the ruling.&nbsp;

“We are right on the law. The history of how initiative petitions have worked in this state has meant that they’re able to vote on their rights,” Wales said. “The constitution creates a process for citizens to engage in democracy, not one that’s intended to trip them up or hinder them from participating in democracy. We think the court is going to see that.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

In May, the campaign turned in signatures from more than<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/08/13/missouri-voters-will-decide-whether-to-legalize-abortion-in-november/">&nbsp;380,000 Missourians&nbsp;</a>across the state who supported the issue landing on the ballot. If Amendment 3 is ultimately voted on in November and wins by a simple majority, Missouri could be the first state to overturn an abortion ban by citizen-vote.

“These ballot initiatives just go through shenanigans, often at the eleventh hour, and what it does again every time is fire people up,” Wales said. “We expect to win, and we’re going to take all the energy and use it to galvanize folks to win in November.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1725887984419.png" alt=" Supporters of a proposed ballot measure to legalize abortion up until the point of fetal viability gathered at a rally hosted by Missourians for Constitutional Freedom on Feb. 6 in Kansas City (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> Supporters of a proposed ballot measure to legalize abortion up until the point of fetal viability gathered at a rally hosted by Missourians for Constitutional Freedom on Feb. 6 in Kansas City (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>‘We expect to win,’ a member of the coalition behind Amendment 3 said Sunday as the parties await a heading date from the Missouri Supreme Court</h2>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/annaspoerre/">ANNA SPOERRE</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>The Missouri Supreme Court will decide whether an abortion-rights will end up on the Nov. 5 ballot after a Cole County judge ruled the proposed amendment violated state law.&nbsp;The case bypassed the court of appeals over the weekend and headed straight to the state’s highest court, which scheduled oral arguments for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday — the same day ballots are&nbsp;supposed to be printed for those voting absentee.&nbsp;Sunday afternoon, attorneys representing the campaign behind the amendment, which would appear on the ballot as&nbsp;<a href="https://moconstitutionalfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Missourians-for-Constitutional-Freedom-Amendment.pdf" target="_blank">Amendment 3,</a>&nbsp;filed an emergency motion asking the court to allow it to proceed to the ballot while the case plays out. Doing so, they argued, would&nbsp;“preserve the status quo and prevent irreparable harm to intervenors-appellants, election officials throughout the state and Missouri voters themselves.”&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://moconstitutionalfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Missourians-for-Constitutional-Freedom-Amendment.pdf" target="_blank">Amendment 3&nbsp;</a>would establish the constitutional right to an abortion up until fetal viability and grant constitutional protections to other reproductive health care, including in-vitro fertilization and birth control. It would also protect those who assist in an abortion from prosecution.&nbsp;Abortion is illegal in Missouri, with limited exceptions for the life and health of the mother.In late August, a group of anti-abortion lawmakers and activists sued Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, accusing him of wrongly&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/08/13/missouri-voters-will-decide-whether-to-legalize-abortion-in-november/">certifying the citizen-led ballot initiative for the Nov. 5 ballot&nbsp;</a>nine days earlier.&nbsp;Late Friday evening,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/09/06/judge-decides-abortion-amendment-3-missouri-ballot/">Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh&nbsp;ruled in favor of the plaintiffs,&nbsp;</a>saying the text of the initiative petition failed to list what existing laws would be repealed if it passed, as he said is required by state law.&nbsp;He suggested the amendment be withheld from the ballot, but also left the door open for an appeal to a higher court, saying he recognized&nbsp; “the gravity of the unique issues involved in this case, and the lack of direct precedent on point.”&nbsp;<a href="https://governor.mo.gov/press-releases/archive/governor-parson-announces-four-judicial-appointments-1" target="_blank">Limbaugh was appointed to the newly-created judicial position</a>&nbsp;in the 19th circuit on Aug. 2 by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, for whom he previously served as general counsel.&nbsp;He was previously&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/11/23/gov-mike-parson-picks-staffer-to-replace-eric-schmitt-as-missouri-attorney-general/">a potential candidate to replace Eric Schmitt as Missouri Attorney General</a>&nbsp;after he was elected to the U.S. Senate. His father was a federal court judge and his cousin was the late Rush Limbaugh, a conservative radio host who was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/04/us/politics/rush-limbaugh-medal-of-freedom.html" target="_blank">awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom&nbsp;</a>by former President Donald Trump.&nbsp;&nbsp;Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the campaign behind the amendment, quickly appealed his decision.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1725887948348.png" alt=" Tori Schafer, an attorney with the ACLU of Missouri, speaks to media following a trial over Amendment 3 on Friday outside the Cole County Courthouse (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> Tori Schafer, an attorney with the ACLU of Missouri, speaks to media following a trial over Amendment 3 on Friday outside the Cole County Courthouse (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>“Judges come from their own experience and background, and they’re not imperfect,” Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, a member of the Missourians for Constitutional Freedom coalition, said Sunday, later adding: “What we’re asking is that the Supreme Court hold us to the same standard everyone else has had.”Missouri law requires that initiative petitions&nbsp;<a href="https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=116.050#:~:text=116.050.,pages%20of%20a%20uniform%20size." target="_blank">“include all sections of existing law or of the constitution which would be repealed by the measure.”&nbsp;</a>Loretta Haggard, an attorney representing the campaign&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/09/06/judge-decides-abortion-amendment-3-missouri-ballot/">said during a hearingFriday&nbsp;</a>that the amendment would not literally repeal the state’s current abortion law and take it off the books, but rather would create a new law that would supersede much of the existing one.&nbsp;She said this is because not every element of the current law would be rendered moot: the two texts overlap in that both protect women who get abortions from prosecution and both restrict abortion after fetal viability, generally seen as the point at which a fetus can outside the womb, generally around 24 weeks pregnancy.&nbsp;Anything else that falls under the scope of the amendment would be left to the judicial system to interpret, Haggard said.&nbsp;During the trial, Mary Catherine Martin, an attorney with the Thomas More Society&nbsp;representing the plaintiffs, also&nbsp;argued the initiative petition illegally included more than one subject, pointing to language protecting “a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom” and saying such a phrase encompasses “infinite subjects.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1725707612193.png" alt=" Mary Catherine Martin, an attorney with the Thomas Moore Society, represented a group of Missouri anti-abortion lawmakers and activists Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, during a trial at the Cole County Courthouse (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> Mary Catherine Martin, an attorney with the Thomas Moore Society, represented a group of Missouri anti-abortion lawmakers and activists Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, during a trial at the Cole County Courthouse (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>Haggard contended that the single subject was clear: “reproductive freedom.”While&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/09/06/missouri-judge-rules-abortion-amendment-vioalates-state-requirements/">Limbaugh ruled the initiative petition did not meet the sufficiency requirement&nbsp;</a>through a “failure to include any statute or provision that will be repealed, especially when many of these statutes are apparent,” he did not address the single subject claims in his decision.&nbsp;The plaintiffs — state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, state Rep. Hannah Kelly, anti-abortion activist Kathy Forck and shelter operator Marguerite Forrest — said in a statement Friday evening that the amendment’s scope is about more than just abortion and could be interpreted to also include gender-affirming care and human cloning, though neither are mentioned by name in the amendment.&nbsp;“There is no way to know if the proponents of this radical amendment would have gathered enough signatures to place this on the ballot if the truth about the staggering scope of laws Amendment 3 invalidates had been disclosed,” they said in a statement.&nbsp;Wales said the campaign behind Amendment 3 remains undeterred despite the ruling.&nbsp;“We are right on the law. The history of how initiative petitions have worked in this state has meant that they’re able to vote on their rights,” Wales said. “The constitution creates a process for citizens to engage in democracy, not one that’s intended to trip them up or hinder them from participating in democracy. We think the court is going to see that.”&nbsp;&nbsp;In May, the campaign turned in signatures from more than<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/08/13/missouri-voters-will-decide-whether-to-legalize-abortion-in-november/">&nbsp;380,000 Missourians&nbsp;</a>across the state who supported the issue landing on the ballot. If Amendment 3 is ultimately voted on in November and wins by a simple majority, Missouri could be the first state to overturn an abortion ban by citizen-vote.“These ballot initiatives just go through shenanigans, often at the eleventh hour, and what it does again every time is fire people up,” Wales said. “We expect to win, and we’re going to take all the energy and use it to galvanize folks to win in November.”

Fate of Missouri abortion-rights amendment in hands of state Supreme Court

LONDON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/princess-kate">Kate, the princess of Wales</a>, has completed chemotherapy and will make a limited number of public appearances in the coming months, bolstering Britain’s royal family after it was rocked by the twin cancer diagnoses of the princess and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/king-charles-iii/">King Charles III</a>.

The 42-year-old wife of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/prince-william">Prince William</a>&nbsp;on Monday&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kate-middleton-princess-cancer-chemotherapy-treatment-completed-896ae4939b19eb208f556916836e3680">released a video</a>&nbsp;in which she appeared alongside her husband and children as she described how difficult the past nine months have been for her family and expressed “relief” at completing her course of treatment.

“Life as you know it can change in an instant, and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown,’’ she said in the video, which was shot in a woodland near the family’s summer home in Norfolk. “The cancer journey is complex, scary and unpredictable for everyone, especially those closest to you. With humility, it also brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities in a way you have never considered before, and with that, a new perspective on everything.”

The royal family has been buffeted by health concerns for much of this year, beginning with the announcement in January that the king would receive treatment for an enlarged prostate and Kate would undergo&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kate-princess-of-wales-operation-uk-royals-eea1a111a295152b8820b94fd257c12d">abdominal surgery</a>. In February, Buckingham Palace announced that Charles was receiving treatment for an undisclosed type of cancer. Six weeks later, Kate said she, too, was undergoing treatment for cancer, quieting the relentless speculation about her condition that had circulated on social media since her surgery.

While the announcements triggered an outpouring of good wishes for the ailing royals, they also put the royal family under tremendous pressure. Queen Camilla and Princess Anne, the king’s sister, took on additional duties to cover the seemingly endless list of public events that make up the daily routine of the House of Windsor. William also took time off to support his wife and their three young children.

Charles began his return to public duties in late April when he visited a cancer treatment center in London. He is scheduled to make the first long-haul trip since his diagnosis when he travels to Australia and Samoa in the fall.

Kate said Monday that while she had completed her chemotherapy treatment, the path to full recovery would be long and she would “take each day as it comes.”

“William and I are so grateful for the support we have received and have drawn great strength from all those who are helping us at this time,” she said. “Everyone’s kindness, empathy and compassion has been truly humbling.”

In June, the princess acknowledged that she had good days and bad days while undergoing treatment.

While she stepped away from most public duties during her treatment, Kate has made two appearances this year. First, during the king’s birthday parade in June,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/video/royalty-wales-united-kingdom-london-27b973f7da6e4f07a32170149c4b555f">known as Trooping the Colour</a>, and most&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/princess-wales-kate-wimbledon-db06da1f82fdc81a95992b08748b99bf">recently during the men’s final at Wimbledon in July</a>, where she received a standing ovation.

“To all those who are continuing their own cancer journey — I remain with you, side by side, hand in hand,” Kate said Monday.

“Out of darkness, can come light, so let that light shine bright.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718467978018.png" alt="File photo Kate Princess of Wales&nbsp;(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)" />
 <figcaption>File photo Kate Princess of Wales&nbsp;(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)</figcaption>
 </figure>LONDON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/princess-kate">Kate, the princess of Wales</a>, has completed chemotherapy and will make a limited number of public appearances in the coming months, bolstering Britain’s royal family after it was rocked by the twin cancer diagnoses of the princess and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/king-charles-iii/">King Charles III</a>.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">A message from Catherine, The Princess of Wales As the summer comes to an end, I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment. The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family. Life as you know it can change in an… <a href="https://t.co/9S1W8sDHUL">pic.twitter.com/9S1W8sDHUL</a>&mdash; The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) <a href="https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1833165733368574081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 9, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The 42-year-old wife of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/prince-william">Prince William</a>&nbsp;on Monday&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kate-middleton-princess-cancer-chemotherapy-treatment-completed-896ae4939b19eb208f556916836e3680">released a video</a>&nbsp;in which she appeared alongside her husband and children as she described how difficult the past nine months have been for her family and expressed “relief” at completing her course of treatment.“Life as you know it can change in an instant, and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown,’’ she said in the video, which was shot in a woodland near the family’s summer home in Norfolk. “The cancer journey is complex, scary and unpredictable for everyone, especially those closest to you. With humility, it also brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities in a way you have never considered before, and with that, a new perspective on everything.”The royal family has been buffeted by health concerns for much of this year, beginning with the announcement in January that the king would receive treatment for an enlarged prostate and Kate would undergo&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kate-princess-of-wales-operation-uk-royals-eea1a111a295152b8820b94fd257c12d">abdominal surgery</a>. In February, Buckingham Palace announced that Charles was receiving treatment for an undisclosed type of cancer. Six weeks later, Kate said she, too, was undergoing treatment for cancer, quieting the relentless speculation about her condition that had circulated on social media since her surgery.While the announcements triggered an outpouring of good wishes for the ailing royals, they also put the royal family under tremendous pressure. Queen Camilla and Princess Anne, the king’s sister, took on additional duties to cover the seemingly endless list of public events that make up the daily routine of the House of Windsor. William also took time off to support his wife and their three young children.Charles began his return to public duties in late April when he visited a cancer treatment center in London. He is scheduled to make the first long-haul trip since his diagnosis when he travels to Australia and Samoa in the fall.Kate said Monday that while she had completed her chemotherapy treatment, the path to full recovery would be long and she would “take each day as it comes.”“William and I are so grateful for the support we have received and have drawn great strength from all those who are helping us at this time,” she said. “Everyone’s kindness, empathy and compassion has been truly humbling.”In June, the princess acknowledged that she had good days and bad days while undergoing treatment.While she stepped away from most public duties during her treatment, Kate has made two appearances this year. First, during the king’s birthday parade in June,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/video/royalty-wales-united-kingdom-london-27b973f7da6e4f07a32170149c4b555f">known as Trooping the Colour</a>, and most&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/princess-wales-kate-wimbledon-db06da1f82fdc81a95992b08748b99bf">recently during the men’s final at Wimbledon in July</a>, where she received a standing ovation.“To all those who are continuing their own cancer journey — I remain with you, side by side, hand in hand,” Kate said Monday.“Out of darkness, can come light, so let that light shine bright.”___

Princess of Wales makes announcement on health recovery

WICHITA, KAN. – A federal grand jury in Wichita returned an indictment charging a Texas man with charges related to drug trafficking.

According to court documents, Mario Guerrero, Jr, 33, of Houston is charged with one count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and one count of possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute.

The Drug Enforcement Administration is investigating the case.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1725653408423.png" alt="Guerrero is being held in Kiowa County" />
 <figcaption>Guerrero is being held in Kiowa County</figcaption>
 </figure>WICHITA, KAN. – A federal grand jury in Wichita returned an indictment charging a Texas man with charges related to drug trafficking.According to court documents, Mario Guerrero, Jr, 33, of Houston is charged with one count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and one count of possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute.The Drug Enforcement Administration is investigating the case.

Suspect accused of attempting to sell fentanyl in Kansas

NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/kamala-harris">Kamala Harris</a>&nbsp;will debate for the first — and perhaps, last — time on Tuesday night as the presidential candidates fight to sway voters on the biggest stage in U.S. politics.

The meeting comes just 75 days after President Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance triggered a political earthquake that ultimately&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-drops-out-2024-election-ddffde72838370032bdcff946cfc2ce6">forced him from the race</a>. Few expect such a transformative result this time, but Trump is on a mission to end Harris' “honeymoon."

Harris, a former courtroom prosecutor, will enter the night with relatively high expectations against a Republican opponent with 34 felony convictions and a penchant for false statements. The question is whether Harris, who did not particularly stand out during primary debates in her 2020 presidential campaign, can&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fcb3329def3d47b58b1ef735ea18b0a3">prosecute Trump's glaring liabilities</a>&nbsp;in a face-to-face meeting on live television with the world watching.

The 90-minute meeting begins at 8 p.m. CDT Tuesday inside Philadelphia's National Constitutional Center. It will be moderated by ABC News anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis. In accordance with rules negotiated by both campaigns, there will be no live audience.

Here’s what we’re watching for on a historic night:

Biden set an incredibly low bar for Harris in the June 27 debate. The president struggled to offer coherent arguments or even finish his sentences. But the anti-Trump coalition was most disappointed that he failed to take advantage of Trump's obvious political liabilities — whether on abortion, the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, character issues or his legal trouble.

Harris is expected to do much better. Polls suggest the Democratic vice president is now even with the Republican former president in some swing states.

But even with such fertile terrain, scoring points against Trump on the debate stage is easier said than done. Trump may be the most experienced debater in modern presidential history. As a former reality television star, he knows how to dominate television coverage. And he clearly likes to fight.

Harris recently suggested that she may be looking forward to a political brawl. “Donald,” she told a cheering audience last month in Atlanta, “if you've got something to say, say it to my face.”

Can she back up the tough talk? The world is about to find out.

Trump is not known for his discipline or preparation. His debate performances, like his governing style, are typically fueled much more by instinct than thoughtful analysis.

Therefore, few expect Trump to offer a clear and concise line of attack against Harris on Tuesday night. Still, he needs to do better than the kitchen-sink approach he's been testing on the campaign trail for much of the last month.

Trump has questioned Harris' racial identity. He's falsely called her a communist. He's questioned her strength. He's jabbed her as a San Francisco liberal. And he's reminded voters that she has served in the Biden White House for nearly four years and would presumably continue the president's policies for another four years if she wins.

It is the Biden connection that many Republicans, inside and outside of Trump's campaign, believe is most effective. They want him to evoke Ronald Reagan's 1980 debate-stage jab — “Are you better off?” — early and often.

The question is whether Trump can deliver that message in a way that isn't immediately overshadowed by a much more controversial statement. Recent history offers reasons to be skeptical.

There will, of course, be an obvious gender dynamic on stage Tuesday night.

Fair or not, body language and tone are viewed differently in a debate between a man and a woman. Just ask Hillary Clinton. She said Trump made her “skin crawl” when he stood behind her as she was speaking during a town hall-style debate in 2016.

The candidates — who have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-harris-walz-interview-94eff1aa1247e471b48948d03faf0edf">never met in person before</a>&nbsp;— will be expected to stay behind their podiums on Tuesday night. But Republicans are hopeful that Trump will avoid any other provocations like pointing, yelling or otherwise approaching Harris in a way that might be off-putting to suburban women or other swing voters.

Harris, too, will face unique challenges related to her race and gender as voters consider whether to make her the nation's first female president. Some voters still say they're not comfortable with the idea. If she comes across as angry, she risks playing into racist tropes about Black women.

While the gender dynamic looms, do not underestimate the significance of their age difference, either.

Harris is almost two decades younger than the 78-year-old Trump. Age was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-age-biden-trump-gaffes-flubs-c46427d30471f79ee695d3e76f4d17f4">viewed as a political advantage</a>&nbsp;for Trump when he was facing the 81-year-old Biden, but the situation is now reversed against the 59-year-old Harris. If he wins, Trump would be the oldest U.S. president ever elected.

The format will be somewhat different as well, in accordance with a set of rules the candidates agreed upon this week.

There will be no live audience, no opening statements and no props allowed. Candidates’ microphones will be muted when their opponent is on the clock, a stipulation that created some controversy in recent days.

Trump reluctantly agreed to the mute function when he faced Biden in June, but after that debate, his team determined it was a net positive if voters did not hear from the Republican former president while his opponent was speaking. Harris' team was pushing to return to a normal format without mute buttons.

Policy sometimes plays second to personality in presidential debates, but there are dramatic differences between the candidates on key issues that are on the minds of millions of voters.

Republicans hope Trump makes immigration a defining issue of the debate.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1724867447394.png" alt="File photo Associated Press" />
 <figcaption>File photo Associated Press</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/kamala-harris">Kamala Harris</a>&nbsp;will debate for the first — and perhaps, last — time on Tuesday night as the presidential candidates fight to sway voters on the biggest stage in U.S. politics.The meeting comes just 75 days after President Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance triggered a political earthquake that ultimately&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-drops-out-2024-election-ddffde72838370032bdcff946cfc2ce6">forced him from the race</a>. Few expect such a transformative result this time, but Trump is on a mission to end Harris' “honeymoon."Harris, a former courtroom prosecutor, will enter the night with relatively high expectations against a Republican opponent with 34 felony convictions and a penchant for false statements. The question is whether Harris, who did not particularly stand out during primary debates in her 2020 presidential campaign, can&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fcb3329def3d47b58b1ef735ea18b0a3">prosecute Trump's glaring liabilities</a>&nbsp;in a face-to-face meeting on live television with the world watching.The 90-minute meeting begins at 8 p.m. CDT Tuesday inside Philadelphia's National Constitutional Center. It will be moderated by ABC News anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis. In accordance with rules negotiated by both campaigns, there will be no live audience.Here’s what we’re watching for on a historic night:<h2>Can Harris do what Biden could not?</h2>Biden set an incredibly low bar for Harris in the June 27 debate. The president struggled to offer coherent arguments or even finish his sentences. But the anti-Trump coalition was most disappointed that he failed to take advantage of Trump's obvious political liabilities — whether on abortion, the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, character issues or his legal trouble.Harris is expected to do much better. Polls suggest the Democratic vice president is now even with the Republican former president in some swing states.But even with such fertile terrain, scoring points against Trump on the debate stage is easier said than done. Trump may be the most experienced debater in modern presidential history. As a former reality television star, he knows how to dominate television coverage. And he clearly likes to fight.Harris recently suggested that she may be looking forward to a political brawl. “Donald,” she told a cheering audience last month in Atlanta, “if you've got something to say, say it to my face.”Can she back up the tough talk? The world is about to find out.<h2>Can Trump focus?</h2>Trump is not known for his discipline or preparation. His debate performances, like his governing style, are typically fueled much more by instinct than thoughtful analysis.Therefore, few expect Trump to offer a clear and concise line of attack against Harris on Tuesday night. Still, he needs to do better than the kitchen-sink approach he's been testing on the campaign trail for much of the last month.Trump has questioned Harris' racial identity. He's falsely called her a communist. He's questioned her strength. He's jabbed her as a San Francisco liberal. And he's reminded voters that she has served in the Biden White House for nearly four years and would presumably continue the president's policies for another four years if she wins.It is the Biden connection that many Republicans, inside and outside of Trump's campaign, believe is most effective. They want him to evoke Ronald Reagan's 1980 debate-stage jab — “Are you better off?” — early and often.The question is whether Trump can deliver that message in a way that isn't immediately overshadowed by a much more controversial statement. Recent history offers reasons to be skeptical.<h2>Body language matters</h2>There will, of course, be an obvious gender dynamic on stage Tuesday night.Fair or not, body language and tone are viewed differently in a debate between a man and a woman. Just ask Hillary Clinton. She said Trump made her “skin crawl” when he stood behind her as she was speaking during a town hall-style debate in 2016.The candidates — who have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-harris-walz-interview-94eff1aa1247e471b48948d03faf0edf">never met in person before</a>&nbsp;— will be expected to stay behind their podiums on Tuesday night. But Republicans are hopeful that Trump will avoid any other provocations like pointing, yelling or otherwise approaching Harris in a way that might be off-putting to suburban women or other swing voters.Harris, too, will face unique challenges related to her race and gender as voters consider whether to make her the nation's first female president. Some voters still say they're not comfortable with the idea. If she comes across as angry, she risks playing into racist tropes about Black women.While the gender dynamic looms, do not underestimate the significance of their age difference, either.Harris is almost two decades younger than the 78-year-old Trump. Age was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-age-biden-trump-gaffes-flubs-c46427d30471f79ee695d3e76f4d17f4">viewed as a political advantage</a>&nbsp;for Trump when he was facing the 81-year-old Biden, but the situation is now reversed against the 59-year-old Harris. If he wins, Trump would be the oldest U.S. president ever elected.The format will be somewhat different as well, in accordance with a set of rules the candidates agreed upon this week.There will be no live audience, no opening statements and no props allowed. Candidates’ microphones will be muted when their opponent is on the clock, a stipulation that created some controversy in recent days.Trump reluctantly agreed to the mute function when he faced Biden in June, but after that debate, his team determined it was a net positive if voters did not hear from the Republican former president while his opponent was speaking. Harris' team was pushing to return to a normal format without mute buttons.<h2>Abortion vs Immigration</h2>Policy sometimes plays second to personality in presidential debates, but there are dramatic differences between the candidates on key issues that are on the minds of millions of voters.Republicans hope Trump makes immigration a defining issue of the debate.The GOP has effectively condemned the Biden administration's handling of illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border for much of the last four years. Once an issue that appealed mostly to the Republican base, illegal immigration — and related concerns about drugs, crime and national security — is now a top issue for voters across the political spectrum.Harris will be eager to remind voters that Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-ukraine-aid-border-security-386dcc54b29a5491f8bd87b727a284f8">helped kill a bipartisan immigration bill</a>&nbsp;that would have done much to fix the problem. But overall, Harris is likely to be on the defensive when the issue comes up.Democrats, meanwhile, want to focus on abortion.Trump, of course, appointed three Supreme Court justices who later overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that protected a woman's right to choose abortion. Trump has repeatedly said he was proud that Roe was defeated. But aware that such a view isn't popular among many women, he has tried to moderate his stance on the divisive issue.Harris won't make that easy. Stating the obvious, as a woman, she is positioned to be a much more effective messenger on the issue than Biden was. And Trump can't afford to lose many more female voters.<h2>Look out for wild card Trump</h2>If you ask Trump's previous debate opponents what they're watching for on Tuesday night — and we did — many say the same thing: Look out for the thing he says or does that Harris can't possibly prepare for.Trump is the ultimate wild card who has found tremendous political success by ignoring the traditional rules of politics. He will say or do whatever he thinks is best in the moment. And Harris, who has dedicated several days to debate prep, can't make a plan for everything.At this point, it's hard to imagine Trump surprising anyone with new material. He has praised dictators, talked about genitalia size, suggested suspending the U.S. Constitution and said that Harris only recently “turned Black.”Trump's own team doesn't know what he'll do or say on any given day. That's incredibly risky for Trump. But it also puts enormous pressure on Harris.