BROWN COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating three suspects on drug charges after a traffic stop.

Just after 8 p.m. Friday, a Brown County deputy initiated a traffic stop in the vicinity of 5th avenue West and 15th Street in Horton, according to Brown County Sheriff John Merchant.

The Sheriff's Department's K-9 Carla indicated on the vehicle and an investigation followed.&nbsp; 

Deputies then arrested 23-year-old John Whipple of Sioux Falls, South Dakota on requested charges of Possession of Meth, Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.&nbsp;

Eric Cournoyer, 39, of Wagner, South Dakota was arrested on requested charges of Possession of Meth, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and&nbsp; Possession of Marijuana.

 Brad Langland 56, Sioux Falls, South Dakota was arrested on requestd charges of possession of Meth, possession of Marijuana and possession of Drug Paraphernalia.&nbsp; Deputies also seized approximately 6 grams of Meth, pipes, baggies, needles, syringes and marijuana as evidence, according to Merchant.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1677527934546.png" alt="Whipple-photo Brown Co." />
 <figcaption>Whipple-photo Brown Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>BROWN COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating three suspects on drug charges after a traffic stop.Just after 8 p.m. Friday, a Brown County deputy initiated a traffic stop in the vicinity of 5th avenue West and 15th Street in Horton, according to Brown County Sheriff John Merchant. The Sheriff's Department's K-9 Carla indicated on the vehicle and an investigation followed.&nbsp; Deputies then arrested 23-year-old John Whipple of Sioux Falls, South Dakota on requested charges of Possession of Meth, Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1677527988291.png" alt="Cournoyer-photo Brown Co." />
 <figcaption>Cournoyer-photo Brown Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Eric Cournoyer, 39, of Wagner, South Dakota was arrested on requested charges of Possession of Meth, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and&nbsp; Possession of Marijuana.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1677527804668.png" alt="Langland-photo Brown Co." />
 <figcaption>Langland-photo Brown Co.</figcaption>
 </figure> Brad Langland 56, Sioux Falls, South Dakota was arrested on requestd charges of possession of Meth, possession of Marijuana and possession of Drug Paraphernalia.&nbsp; Deputies also seized approximately 6 grams of Meth, pipes, baggies, needles, syringes and marijuana as evidence, according to Merchant.

Sheriff: 3 from out of state were transporting drugs in Kansas

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Survivors of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/st-louis-shootings-crime-5aa844c9d070bb4e6fc64151da76d6a4">a deadly Missouri school shooting</a>&nbsp;on Tuesday shared art, music and stories about gun violence at the Missouri Capitol while advocating for lawmakers to act.

“We want to hear the specific actions you are taking to prevent tragedies like this one from happening again in our state and our country," 17-year-old Bryanna Love told reporters. “We — all of us — deserve more than empty promises. We deserve action.”

A 19-year-old gunman killed two people and injured seven others in an Oct. 24 shooting at the Central Visual Arts and Performing Arts High School, which Love attends. It was among the deadliest school shootings in the U.S. last year. Tenth-grader Alexzandria Bell and 61-year-old physical education teacher Jean Kuczka died before police killed the gunman, former student Orlando Harris, in an exchange of gunfire.

In a letter she read aloud, Love said “every morning you get ready for school, you are acutely aware that life is not guaranteed.”

Love and several dozen other students from the school said they want lawmakers to listen to them and do something about gun violence. Several St. Louis Democrats attended the news conference.

Republican Gov. Mike Parson on Monday signed legislation to set aside $20 million for school safety grants in response to the shooting.

Democratic lawmakers filed bills to raise the age to purchase firearms from 18 to 21 and to institute red-flag laws, which are aimed at keeping firearms away from people who may be a danger to themselves or others. But in Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature, any effort to limit access to firearms faces steep opposition.

Ryane Owens, an 18-year-old senior at Central Visual Arts and Performing Arts High School, described the anger and confusion she felt on the day of the shooting.

She said her painting, titled “Waiting for Something to Happen,” depicts mania after a traumatic event. Owens painted her friend head down on a plate of food at a table, a glass of spilled milk and a bowl of pills in milk. A lidless eye reads a newspaper about impending apocalyptic natural disasters and a picture on the wall shows an eye being held forcibly open.

Owens said she catches herself constantly checking for exits and worries about keeping her family safe.

Angel Muhammad, a 17-year-old junior,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/teaching-distance-learning-st-louis-education-dab5ea006af89d2b9871290554c9399d">and other students</a>&nbsp;sang “Pumped Up Kicks” by alternative rock band Foster the People. The song, which is a protest against gun violence, describes a school shooting from the perpetrator's perspective, warning children to “run faster than my bullets.”

Muhammad asked lawmakers to listen to students and consider passing a red-flag law.

“No one wants to see another tragedy like this happen to anyone,” Muhammad said.

Harris, 19, had a long history of mental health problems. Police said relatives monitored his mail and often checked his room&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-news-crime-shootings-school-st-louis-1e139ab0f9b9f3b06221ec38a28596f8">to make sure he did not have a weapon</a>.

In fact, Harris’ mother called police on Oct. 15 after she found an AR-15-style rifle and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-crime-shootings-school-mental-88014a3f411d8c2be1cccda7be9ab52f">wanted it removed</a>. But police said in a statement days after the shooting that officers “did not have clear authority" to seize the weapon.

Instead, someone known to the family took the gun away, but Harris was somehow able to get it back.

Love said she knows one of the officers who responded to the mother's call who couldn't remove the gun because of “legal loopholes.” She said that officer lives with guilt.

“We can prevent this from happening in the future — it begins here with you,” Love said. “The more we allow gun violence to run rampant in the streets of Missouri, the bloodier your hands become.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1677615035053.png" alt="Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Monday signed legislation to set aside $20 million for school safety grants in response to the shooting.photo courtesy Rep. Crystal Quade" />
 <figcaption>Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Monday signed legislation to set aside $20 million for school safety grants in response to the shooting.photo courtesy Rep. Crystal Quade</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) — Survivors of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/st-louis-shootings-crime-5aa844c9d070bb4e6fc64151da76d6a4">a deadly Missouri school shooting</a>&nbsp;on Tuesday shared art, music and stories about gun violence at the Missouri Capitol while advocating for lawmakers to act.“We want to hear the specific actions you are taking to prevent tragedies like this one from happening again in our state and our country," 17-year-old Bryanna Love told reporters. “We — all of us — deserve more than empty promises. We deserve action.”A 19-year-old gunman killed two people and injured seven others in an Oct. 24 shooting at the Central Visual Arts and Performing Arts High School, which Love attends. It was among the deadliest school shootings in the U.S. last year. Tenth-grader Alexzandria Bell and 61-year-old physical education teacher Jean Kuczka died before police killed the gunman, former student Orlando Harris, in an exchange of gunfire.In a letter she read aloud, Love said “every morning you get ready for school, you are acutely aware that life is not guaranteed.”Love and several dozen other students from the school said they want lawmakers to listen to them and do something about gun violence. Several St. Louis Democrats attended the news conference.Republican Gov. Mike Parson on Monday signed legislation to set aside $20 million for school safety grants in response to the shooting.Democratic lawmakers filed bills to raise the age to purchase firearms from 18 to 21 and to institute red-flag laws, which are aimed at keeping firearms away from people who may be a danger to themselves or others. But in Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature, any effort to limit access to firearms faces steep opposition.Ryane Owens, an 18-year-old senior at Central Visual Arts and Performing Arts High School, described the anger and confusion she felt on the day of the shooting.She said her painting, titled “Waiting for Something to Happen,” depicts mania after a traumatic event. Owens painted her friend head down on a plate of food at a table, a glass of spilled milk and a bowl of pills in milk. A lidless eye reads a newspaper about impending apocalyptic natural disasters and a picture on the wall shows an eye being held forcibly open.Owens said she catches herself constantly checking for exits and worries about keeping her family safe.Angel Muhammad, a 17-year-old junior,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/teaching-distance-learning-st-louis-education-dab5ea006af89d2b9871290554c9399d">and other students</a>&nbsp;sang “Pumped Up Kicks” by alternative rock band Foster the People. The song, which is a protest against gun violence, describes a school shooting from the perpetrator's perspective, warning children to “run faster than my bullets.”Muhammad asked lawmakers to listen to students and consider passing a red-flag law.“No one wants to see another tragedy like this happen to anyone,” Muhammad said.Harris, 19, had a long history of mental health problems. Police said relatives monitored his mail and often checked his room&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-news-crime-shootings-school-st-louis-1e139ab0f9b9f3b06221ec38a28596f8">to make sure he did not have a weapon</a>.In fact, Harris’ mother called police on Oct. 15 after she found an AR-15-style rifle and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-crime-shootings-school-mental-88014a3f411d8c2be1cccda7be9ab52f">wanted it removed</a>. But police said in a statement days after the shooting that officers “did not have clear authority" to seize the weapon.Instead, someone known to the family took the gun away, but Harris was somehow able to get it back.Love said she knows one of the officers who responded to the mother's call who couldn't remove the gun because of “legal loopholes.” She said that officer lives with guilt.“We can prevent this from happening in the future — it begins here with you,” Love said. “The more we allow gun violence to run rampant in the streets of Missouri, the bloodier your hands become.”

School shooting survivors call on lawmakers to act

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday her first visit to Ukraine underscored Washington's commitment to continuing its economic support for the country, as the din of air raid sirens echoed across the Ukrainian capital.

Yellen said following talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal that the US has provided nearly $50 billion in security, economic and humanitarian assistance and announced another multibillion dollar package to boost the country's economy.

Shmyhal offered thanks to the U.S. for its support and hailed Yellen as a "friend of Ukraine.” He said Ukraine's budget deficit now stands at $38 billion and that the U.S. will provide another $10 billion in assistance by September.

Shmyhal and Yellen also discussed sanctions aimed at weakening Russia's economy as well as the possibility of using Russian frozen assets to help in Ukraine's economic recovery.

Yellen repeated U.S. President Joe Biden's message that Washington will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. She underscored the importance of fighting corruption, praising Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for enacting measures to ensure transparency in how the assistance is spent.

The U.S. official also visited a renovated school that had its windows blown out by the blast wave from a Russian missile that landed nearby in March. She also announced an additional transfer of $1.2 billion, the first tranche of the $10 billion assistance package.

“Maintaining an effective government is indispensable to Ukraine’s capacity to respond to Russian attacks and other emergencies,” said Yellen. “Our economic support is keeping essential public services running. These services maintain economic and social stability in Ukraine”.

Addressing the school's students and teachers, Yeller said they are helping to “write history" in a country that is “a central force in the history of the free world."

“America stands with you in this fight for freedom, and we will be by your side and help you rebuild”.

Yellen also met with Zelenskyy and other top officials, including the head of Ukraine’s National Bank.

Zelenskyy posted on Telegram after the meeting with Yellen that it is “necessary to strengthen further sanctions to deprive Russia of the ability to finance the war.”

Yellen also laid the flowers at the Wall of Remembrance dedicated to fallen soldiers and met Ukrainian landmine removal experts whose equipment was financed with US funds.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1677611855709.png" alt="U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Ambassador Brink&nbsp; are looking at destroyed Russian tanks in St. Michael's Square in Kyiv on Monday-Photo courtesy U.S. Dept. of Treasury" />
 <figcaption>U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Ambassador Brink&nbsp; are looking at destroyed Russian tanks in St. Michael's Square in Kyiv on Monday-Photo courtesy U.S. Dept. of Treasury</figcaption>
 </figure>KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday her first visit to Ukraine underscored Washington's commitment to continuing its economic support for the country, as the din of air raid sirens echoed across the Ukrainian capital.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">The U.S. will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. I commend <a href="https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ZelenskyyUa</a> for his leadership, and thank him for our discussion on support from the U.S. and allies – including the announcement today of the transfer of the first $1.25B in U.S. support this year. <a href="https://t.co/kHafuGjinR">pic.twitter.com/kHafuGjinR</a>&mdash; Secretary Janet Yellen (@SecYellen) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecYellen/status/1630254898854998019?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Yellen said following talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal that the US has provided nearly $50 billion in security, economic and humanitarian assistance and announced another multibillion dollar package to boost the country's economy.Shmyhal offered thanks to the U.S. for its support and hailed Yellen as a "friend of Ukraine.” He said Ukraine's budget deficit now stands at $38 billion and that the U.S. will provide another $10 billion in assistance by September.Shmyhal and Yellen also discussed sanctions aimed at weakening Russia's economy as well as the possibility of using Russian frozen assets to help in Ukraine's economic recovery.Yellen repeated U.S. President Joe Biden's message that Washington will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. She underscored the importance of fighting corruption, praising Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for enacting measures to ensure transparency in how the assistance is spent.The U.S. official also visited a renovated school that had its windows blown out by the blast wave from a Russian missile that landed nearby in March. She also announced an additional transfer of $1.2 billion, the first tranche of the $10 billion assistance package.“Maintaining an effective government is indispensable to Ukraine’s capacity to respond to Russian attacks and other emergencies,” said Yellen. “Our economic support is keeping essential public services running. These services maintain economic and social stability in Ukraine”.Addressing the school's students and teachers, Yeller said they are helping to “write history" in a country that is “a central force in the history of the free world."“America stands with you in this fight for freedom, and we will be by your side and help you rebuild”.Yellen also met with Zelenskyy and other top officials, including the head of Ukraine’s National Bank.Zelenskyy posted on Telegram after the meeting with Yellen that it is “necessary to strengthen further sanctions to deprive Russia of the ability to finance the war.”Yellen also laid the flowers at the Wall of Remembrance dedicated to fallen soldiers and met Ukrainian landmine removal experts whose equipment was financed with US funds.

Treasury Sec. announces more U.S. financial support for Ukraine  

WASHINGTON (AP) — A crucial question has eluded governments and health agencies around the world since the COVID-19 pandemic began: Did the virus originate in animals or leak from a Chinese lab?

(Click below to watch: John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, downplays COVID lab leak report)

Now, the U.S. Department of Energy has assessed with “low confidence” in that it began with a lab leak, according to a person familiar with the report who wasn’t authorized to discuss it. The report has not been made public.

But others in the U.S. intelligence community disagree.

“There is not a consensus right now in the U.S. government about exactly how COVID started,” John Kirby, the spokesman for the National Security Council, said Monday. “There is just not an intelligence community consensus.”

The DOE's conclusion was first reported over the weekend in the Wall Street Journal, which said the classified report was based on new intelligence and noted in an update to a 2021 document. The DOE oversees a national network of labs.

White House officials on Monday declined to confirm press reports about the assessment.

In 2021, officials released an intelligence report summary that said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-health-coronavirus-pandemic-2570b89545d4332b8a3bd7289982aa22">four members of the U.S. intelligence community believed</a>&nbsp;with low confidence that the virus was first transmitted from an animal to a human, and a fifth believed with moderate confidence that the first human infection was linked to a lab.

While some scientists are open to the lab-leak theory, others continue to believe the virus came from animals, mutated, and jumped into people — as has happened in the past with viruses. Experts say the true origin of the pandemic may not be known for many years — if ever.

The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the report. All 18 offices of the U.S. intelligence community had access to the information the DOE used in reaching its assessment.

Alina Chan, a molecular biologist at the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, said she isn’t sure what new intelligence the agencies had, but “it’s reasonable to infer” it relates to activities at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. She said a 2018 research proposal co-authored by scientists there and their U.S. collaborators “essentially described a blueprint for COVID-like viruses.”

“Less than two years later, such a virus was causing an outbreak in the city,” she said.

The Wuhan institute had been studying coronaviruses for years, in part because of widespread concerns — tracing back to SARS — that coronaviruses could be the source of the next pandemic.

No intelligence agency has said they believe the coronavirus that caused COVID-19 was released intentionally. The unclassified 2021 summary was clear on this point, saying: “We judge the virus was not developed as a biological weapon.”

“Lab accidents happen at a surprising frequency. A lot of people don’t really hear about lab accidents because they're not talked about publicly,” said Chan, who co-authored a book about the search for COVID-19 origins. Such accidents "underscore a need to make work with highly dangerous pathogens more transparent and more accountable.”

Last year, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-world-organization-government-and-politics-8662c2bc1784d3dea33f61caa6089ac2">World Health Organization recommended</a>&nbsp;a deeper probe into a possible lab accident. Chan said she hopes the latest report sparks more investigation in the United States.

China has called the suggestion that COVID-19 came from a Chinese laboratory “ baseless.”

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-science-health-covid-19-083bd75a801f9824e0b9ad7316062a5c">Many scientists believe</a>&nbsp;the animal-to-human theory of the coronavirus remains much more plausible. They theorize it emerged in the wild and jumped from bats to humans, either directly or through another animal.

In a 2021 research paper in the journal Cell, scientists said the COVID-19 virus is the ninth documented coronavirus to infect humans — and all the previous ones originated in animals.

Two studies, published last year by the journal Science, bolstered the animal origin theory. That research found that the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was likely the early epicenter. Scientists concluded that the virus likely spilled from animals into people two separate times.

“The scientific literature contains essentially nothing but original research articles that support a natural origin of this virus pandemic," said Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona who has extensively studied COVID-19's origins.

He said the fact that others in the intelligence community looked at the same information as the DOE and “it apparently didn't move the needle speaks volumes.” He said he takes such intelligence assessments with a grain of salt because he doesn't think the people making them “have the scientific expertise ... to really understand the most important evidence that they need to understand.”

The U.S. should be more transparent and release the new intelligence that apparently swayed the DOE, Worobey said.

The DOE conclusion comes to light as House Republicans have been using their new majority power to investigate all aspects of the pandemic, including the origin, as well as what they contend were officials’ efforts to conceal the fact that it leaked from a lab in Wuhan. Earlier this month,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-us-republican-party-brad-wenstrup-james-comer-anthony-fauci-5fdee072d1d60ae097e7044c73a5d3ca">Republicans sent letters</a>&nbsp;to Dr. Anthony Fauci, National Intelligence Director Avril Haines, Health Secretary Xavier Beccera and others as part of their investigative efforts.

The now retired Fauci, who served as the country’s top infectious disease expert under both Republican and Democratic presidents, has called the GOP criticism nonsense.

Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has asked the Biden administration to provide Congress with “a full and thorough” briefing on the report and the evidence behind it.

Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, emphasized that President Joe Biden believes it's important to know what happened "so we can better prevent future pandemics” but that such research “must be done in a safe and secure manner and as transparent as possible to the rest of the world.”

ASSOCIATED PRESSWASHINGTON (AP) — A crucial question has eluded governments and health agencies around the world since the COVID-19 pandemic began: Did the virus originate in animals or leak from a Chinese lab?(Click below to watch: John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, downplays COVID lab leak report)<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWhiteHouse%2Fvideos%2F161756043333991%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=576" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>Now, the U.S. Department of Energy has assessed with “low confidence” in that it began with a lab leak, according to a person familiar with the report who wasn’t authorized to discuss it. The report has not been made public.But others in the U.S. intelligence community disagree.“There is not a consensus right now in the U.S. government about exactly how COVID started,” John Kirby, the spokesman for the National Security Council, said Monday. “There is just not an intelligence community consensus.”The DOE's conclusion was first reported over the weekend in the Wall Street Journal, which said the classified report was based on new intelligence and noted in an update to a 2021 document. The DOE oversees a national network of labs.White House officials on Monday declined to confirm press reports about the assessment.In 2021, officials released an intelligence report summary that said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-health-coronavirus-pandemic-2570b89545d4332b8a3bd7289982aa22">four members of the U.S. intelligence community believed</a>&nbsp;with low confidence that the virus was first transmitted from an animal to a human, and a fifth believed with moderate confidence that the first human infection was linked to a lab.While some scientists are open to the lab-leak theory, others continue to believe the virus came from animals, mutated, and jumped into people — as has happened in the past with viruses. Experts say the true origin of the pandemic may not be known for many years — if ever.CALLS FOR MORE INVESTIGATIONThe U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the report. All 18 offices of the U.S. intelligence community had access to the information the DOE used in reaching its assessment.Alina Chan, a molecular biologist at the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, said she isn’t sure what new intelligence the agencies had, but “it’s reasonable to infer” it relates to activities at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. She said a 2018 research proposal co-authored by scientists there and their U.S. collaborators “essentially described a blueprint for COVID-like viruses.”“Less than two years later, such a virus was causing an outbreak in the city,” she said.The Wuhan institute had been studying coronaviruses for years, in part because of widespread concerns — tracing back to SARS — that coronaviruses could be the source of the next pandemic.No intelligence agency has said they believe the coronavirus that caused COVID-19 was released intentionally. The unclassified 2021 summary was clear on this point, saying: “We judge the virus was not developed as a biological weapon.”“Lab accidents happen at a surprising frequency. A lot of people don’t really hear about lab accidents because they're not talked about publicly,” said Chan, who co-authored a book about the search for COVID-19 origins. Such accidents "underscore a need to make work with highly dangerous pathogens more transparent and more accountable.”Last year, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-world-organization-government-and-politics-8662c2bc1784d3dea33f61caa6089ac2">World Health Organization recommended</a>&nbsp;a deeper probe into a possible lab accident. Chan said she hopes the latest report sparks more investigation in the United States.China has called the suggestion that COVID-19 came from a Chinese laboratory “ baseless.”SUPPORT FOR ANIMAL THEORY<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-science-health-covid-19-083bd75a801f9824e0b9ad7316062a5c">Many scientists believe</a>&nbsp;the animal-to-human theory of the coronavirus remains much more plausible. They theorize it emerged in the wild and jumped from bats to humans, either directly or through another animal.In a 2021 research paper in the journal Cell, scientists said the COVID-19 virus is the ninth documented coronavirus to infect humans — and all the previous ones originated in animals.Two studies, published last year by the journal Science, bolstered the animal origin theory. That research found that the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was likely the early epicenter. Scientists concluded that the virus likely spilled from animals into people two separate times.“The scientific literature contains essentially nothing but original research articles that support a natural origin of this virus pandemic," said Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona who has extensively studied COVID-19's origins.He said the fact that others in the intelligence community looked at the same information as the DOE and “it apparently didn't move the needle speaks volumes.” He said he takes such intelligence assessments with a grain of salt because he doesn't think the people making them “have the scientific expertise ... to really understand the most important evidence that they need to understand.”The U.S. should be more transparent and release the new intelligence that apparently swayed the DOE, Worobey said.REACTION TO THE REPORTThe DOE conclusion comes to light as House Republicans have been using their new majority power to investigate all aspects of the pandemic, including the origin, as well as what they contend were officials’ efforts to conceal the fact that it leaked from a lab in Wuhan. Earlier this month,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-us-republican-party-brad-wenstrup-james-comer-anthony-fauci-5fdee072d1d60ae097e7044c73a5d3ca">Republicans sent letters</a>&nbsp;to Dr. Anthony Fauci, National Intelligence Director Avril Haines, Health Secretary Xavier Beccera and others as part of their investigative efforts.The now retired Fauci, who served as the country’s top infectious disease expert under both Republican and Democratic presidents, has called the GOP criticism nonsense.Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has asked the Biden administration to provide Congress with “a full and thorough” briefing on the report and the evidence behind it.Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, emphasized that President Joe Biden believes it's important to know what happened "so we can better prevent future pandemics” but that such research “must be done in a safe and secure manner and as transparent as possible to the rest of the world.”___

🎥Coronavirus origins still a mystery 3 years into pandemic

DETROIT (AP) — Nissan is recalling more than 809,000 small SUVs in the U.S. and Canada because a key problem can cause the ignition to shut off while they're being driven.

The recall covers certain Rogues from the 2014 through 2020 model years, as well as Rogue Sports from 2017 through 2022.

Nissan says the SUVs have jackknife folding keys that may not stay fully open. If driven with the key partially folded, a driver could touch the fob, inadvertently turning off the engine.

This can cause loss of engine power and power brakes, and the air bags might not inflate in a crash.

The company says it's not aware of any crashes or injuries caused by the problem.

Nissan hasn't come up with a fix yet. Owners will be notified in March with an interim letter telling them not to attach anything else to the key ring. Then they'll get another letter telling them to take their SUVs in for repairs. The automaker says owners with keys that won't stay in the open position should contact their dealers.

DETROIT (AP) — Nissan is recalling more than 809,000 small SUVs in the U.S. and Canada because a key problem can cause the ignition to shut off while they're being driven.The recall covers certain Rogues from the 2014 through 2020 model years, as well as Rogue Sports from 2017 through 2022.Nissan says the SUVs have jackknife folding keys that may not stay fully open. If driven with the key partially folded, a driver could touch the fob, inadvertently turning off the engine.This can cause loss of engine power and power brakes, and the air bags might not inflate in a crash.The company says it's not aware of any crashes or injuries caused by the problem.Nissan hasn't come up with a fix yet. Owners will be notified in March with an interim letter telling them not to attach anything else to the key ring. Then they'll get another letter telling them to take their SUVs in for repairs. The automaker says owners with keys that won't stay in the open position should contact their dealers.

Nissan recalls over 800K SUVs; key defect can cut off engine

CHEROKEE COUNTY&nbsp;–&nbsp;The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) and the Galena Police Department are investigating a man’s death after remains were found Monday afternoon in Galena, Kansas.

At around 3 p.m. Monday, the Galena Police Department received a report of a body found in a field, near 11th&nbsp;Street and Wood Street, according to a media release from the KBI. When officers responded, they located the badly decomposed remains of a man.

At this time, the man has not been identified. Due to the condition of his remains, positive identification is expected to take longer than typical cases.

Death investigations may be determined to be the result of homicide, suicide, natural causes, or an accident. An autopsy is scheduled.

CHEROKEE COUNTY&nbsp;–&nbsp;The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) and the Galena Police Department are investigating a man’s death after remains were found Monday afternoon in Galena, Kansas.At around 3 p.m. Monday, the Galena Police Department received a report of a body found in a field, near 11th&nbsp;Street and Wood Street, according to a media release from the KBI. When officers responded, they located the badly decomposed remains of a man.At this time, the man has not been identified. Due to the condition of his remains, positive identification is expected to take longer than typical cases.Death investigations may be determined to be the result of homicide, suicide, natural causes, or an accident. An autopsy is scheduled.

KBI: Body of man found in Kansas field

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a fatal shooting have captured a man wanted for alleged murder.

According to online jail records, police booked 43-year-old Larry Powell into custody Monday evening on requested charges second degree murder and criminal use of weapons. 

On February 21, police were dispatched to a shooting at a motel in the 5700 block of West Kellogg Drive in Wichita, according to Officer Juan Rebolledo.

First responders located a 50-year-old man unconscious and not breathing with a gunshot wound to his upper body. Officers began providing life-saving efforts until EMS arrived. 

The victim, from Santa Cruz, California, was transported to a local hospital where he was later pronounced deceased.&nbsp;

The investigation revealed that the victim had a verbal altercation with Powell. That argument turned physical at which point the Powell allegedly started shooting and striking the victim once.

On Feb. 22, police asked the public for help to find Powell in connection with the incident. Police have not released details on the arrest.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1677588367656.png" alt="Powell-photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Powell-photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a fatal shooting have captured a man wanted for alleged murder.According to online jail records, police booked 43-year-old Larry Powell into custody Monday evening on requested charges second degree murder and criminal use of weapons. On February 21, police were dispatched to a shooting at a motel in the 5700 block of West Kellogg Drive in Wichita, according to Officer Juan Rebolledo.First responders located a 50-year-old man unconscious and not breathing with a gunshot wound to his upper body. Officers began providing life-saving efforts until EMS arrived. <figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1677085113323.png" alt="Police on the scene of the investigation -photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene of the investigation -photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>The victim, from Santa Cruz, California, was transported to a local hospital where he was later pronounced deceased.&nbsp;The investigation revealed that the victim had a verbal altercation with Powell. That argument turned physical at which point the Powell allegedly started shooting and striking the victim once.On Feb. 22, police asked the public for help to find Powell in connection with the incident. Police have not released details on the arrest.

Police capture suspect wanted for Kansas motel killing 

KANSAS CITY—The new $1.5 billion Kansas City International Airport officially opened for business Tuesday morning.&nbsp;Donise Mitchell, general manager for United Airlines Kansas City posted a video to social media.

At more than 1 million square feet, the single-terminal airport is the largest single infrastructure project in the city’s history. It replaces a three-terminal airport that opened in 1972.

The new airport has 40 gates, with expansion possible to 50 gates. It provides up to 50 places to eat and shop.&nbsp; The airport also has a new web site&nbsp;<a href="https://t.co/pJT2MrpZdv" target="_blank">FlyKC.com</a>&nbsp;

KANSAS CITY—The new $1.5 billion Kansas City International Airport officially opened for business Tuesday morning.&nbsp;Donise Mitchell, general manager for United Airlines Kansas City posted a video to social media.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Exciting moment our first airplane at our new terminal. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KCIAirport?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KCIAirport</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Fly_KansasCity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Fly_KansasCity</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BuildKCI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BuildKCI</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KCTV5?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KCTV5</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/fox4kc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@fox4kc</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KSHB41?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KSHB41</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BeingUnited?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BeingUnited</a> <a href="https://t.co/4Mjsq9qLgp">pic.twitter.com/4Mjsq9qLgp</a>&mdash; Donise Mitchell (@MitchellDonise) <a href="https://twitter.com/MitchellDonise/status/1630367990322548736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>At more than 1 million square feet, the single-terminal airport is the largest single infrastructure project in the city’s history. It replaces a three-terminal airport that opened in 1972.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">First flight on its way! Thanks Kansas City for showing up this morning we appreciate you <a href="https://twitter.com/Fly_KansasCity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Fly_KansasCity</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/united?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@united</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BeingUnited?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BeingUnited</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamMCI?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamMCI</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FirstDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FirstDay</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeGotThis?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeGotThis</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NailedIt?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NailedIt</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoTeam?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoTeam</a> <a href="https://t.co/svC6ewT9Sa">pic.twitter.com/svC6ewT9Sa</a>&mdash; Donise Mitchell (@MitchellDonise) <a href="https://twitter.com/MitchellDonise/status/1630551554100023296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The new airport has 40 gates, with expansion possible to 50 gates. It provides up to 50 places to eat and shop.&nbsp; The airport also has a new web site&nbsp;<a href="https://t.co/pJT2MrpZdv" target="_blank">FlyKC.com</a>&nbsp;

🎥New Kansas City International Airport terminal is open

WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative justices holding the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court">Supreme Court's majority</a>&nbsp;pressed skeptical questions Tuesday about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-biden-plan-d9c8e18774a744187c9af634bf4eb728">President Joe Biden's plan to wipe away or reduce student loans</a>&nbsp;held by millions of Americans.

<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2022/22-506">Click here to listen&nbsp;to a replay</a>&nbsp;of the oral arguments in Biden v. Nebraska

<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2022/22-535">Click here to listen&nbsp;to a replay</a>&nbsp;of the oral arguments in Board of Ed v. Brown

The high court, with its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-clarence-thomas-scotus-9c248eeea0e8d8e24445ca95a74ec0dc">6-3 conservative majority</a>, heard&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-supreme-court-case-explained-8c62622e87c4ebff995f971263d932fc">arguments</a>&nbsp;on two challenges to the plan, which has so far been blocked by Republican-appointed judges on lower courts.

Arguments were scheduled to last two hours but were likely to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-lengthy-arguments-3972cd3bc725431545c47ad6dddf96d2">go much longer</a>. The public could listen in on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvUGa6q20yk">AP youtube channel</a>&nbsp;or on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/">court’s website</a>.

Several conservative justices spent time grilling the Biden administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, Elizabeth Prelogar, and suggested that the administration had exceeded its authority with the program.

Chief Justice John Roberts pointed to the wide impact and expense of the program, which is estimated to cost $400 billion over 30 years.

“If you're talking about this in the abstract, I think most casual observers would say if you're going to give up that much ... money. If you're going to affect the obligations of that many Americans on a subject that's of great controversy, they would think that's something for Congress to act on,” Roberts said.

Roberts’ fellow conservative, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, suggested that the administration was using an “old law” to unilaterally implement a debt relief program that Congress had rejected. He said the situation was familiar: "In the wake of Congress not authorizing the action, the executive nonetheless doing a massive new program.”

Kavanaugh noted that the administration was citing the national emergency created by the coronavirus pandemic as authority for the debt relief program. But he argued that some of the “finest moments in the court's history" have been "pushing back against presidential assertions of emergency power.”

The administration says that 26 million people have applied to have up to $20,000 in federal student loans forgiven under the plan.

“I’m confident the legal authority to carry that plan is there,” Biden said on Monday, at an event to mark Black History Month.

The president, who once doubted his own authority to broadly cancel student debt, first announced the program in August.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-student-loan-cancellation-79f7530363c7f15166d8c9cda3a6cddb">Legal challenges quickly followed</a>.

Republican-led states and lawmakers in Congress, as well as conservative legal interests, are lined up against the plan as a clear violation of Biden's executive authority. Democratic-led states and liberal interest groups are backing the Democratic administration in urging the court to allow the plan to take effect.

Without it, loan defaults would dramatically increase when the pause on loan payments ends no later than this summer, the administration says. Payments were halted in 2020 as part of the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The administration says a 2003 law, commonly known as the HEROES Act, allows the secretary of education to waive or modify the terms of federal student loans in connection with a national emergency. The law was primarily intended to keep service members from being worse off financially while they fought in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Nebraska and other states that sued say the plan is not necessary to keep the rate of defaults roughly where it was before the pandemic. The 20 million borrowers who have their entire loans erased would get a “windfall” that will leave them better off than they were before the pandemic, the states say.

Dozens of borrowers came from across the country to camp out near the court on a soggy Monday evening in hopes of getting a seat for the arguments. Among them was Sinyetta Hill, who said that Biden's plan would erase all but about $500 of the $20,000 or so she has in student loans.

“I was 18 when I signed up for college. I didn’t know it was going to be this big of a burden. No student should have to deal with this. No person should have to deal with this,” said Hill, 22, who plans to study law after she graduates from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in May.

Biden's plan could meet a frosty reception in the courtroom. The court's conservatives have been skeptical of other Biden initiatives related to the pandemic, including vaccine requirements and pauses on evictions. Those were billed largely as public health measures intended to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The loan forgiveness plan, by contrast, is aimed at countering the economic effects of the pandemic.

The national emergency is expected to end May 11, but the administration says the economic consequences will persist, despite historically low unemployment and other signs of economic strength.

In addition to the debate over the authority to forgive student debt, the court also will confront whether the states and two individuals whose challenge also is before the justices have the legal right, or standing, to sue.

Parties generally have to show that they would suffer financial harm and benefit from a court ruling in their favor. A federal judge initially found that the states would not be harmed and dismissed their lawsuit before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-business-education-st-louis-student-loans-cf8136bfc75bd70839e9326cabbbf029">an appellate panel said the case could proceed</a>.

Of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-texas-education-donald-trump-student-loans-f2e944d85e95792089fa1e2fb9858287">two individuals who sued in Texas</a>, one has student loans that are commercially held and the other is eligible for $10,000 in debt relief, not the $20,000 maximum. They would get nothing if they win their case.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court">Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;has begun hearing arguments in a partisan legal fight over&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-biden-plan-d9c8e18774a744187c9af634bf4eb728">President Joe Biden's plan to wipe away or reduce student loans</a>&nbsp;held by millions of Americans

<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/live.aspx">Click here to listen</a>&nbsp;to the live oral argument 9a.m.CST

The high court, with its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-clarence-thomas-scotus-9c248eeea0e8d8e24445ca95a74ec0dc">6-3 conservative majority</a>, heard&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-supreme-court-case-explained-8c62622e87c4ebff995f971263d932fc">arguments</a>&nbsp;on Tuesday on two challenges to the plan, which has so far been blocked by Republican-appointed judges on lower courts.

Arguments were scheduled to last two hours but were likely to go much longer. The public can listen in on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvUGa6q20yk">an outside link</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/live.aspx">the court's website</a>.

Twenty-six million people have applied, and 16 million have been approved to have up to $20,000 in federal student loans forgiven, the Biden administration says. The program is estimated to cost $400 billion over 30 years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court">Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;will hear arguments Tuesday over President Joe Biden’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-biden-plan-d9c8e18774a744187c9af634bf4eb728">student debt relief plan</a>, which impacts millions of borrowers who could see their loans wiped away or reduced.

<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/live.aspx">Click here to listen</a> to the live oral argument 9a.m.CST

So far, Republican-appointed judges have kept the Democratic president's plan from going into effect, and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-clarence-thomas-scotus-9c248eeea0e8d8e24445ca95a74ec0dc">it remains to be seen how the court, dominated 6-3 by conservatives, will respond</a>. The justices have scheduled two hours of arguments in the case Tuesday, though&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-lengthy-arguments-3972cd3bc725431545c47ad6dddf96d2">it will probably go longer</a>. The public can listen in on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/">court’s website</a>&nbsp;beginning at 10 a.m. EST.

Where things stand ahead of the hearing as well as what to expect:

The debt forgiveness plan announced in August would cancel $10,000 in federal student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 or households with less than $250,000 in income per year. Pell Grant recipients, who typically demonstrate more financial need, would get an additional $10,000 in debt forgiven.

College students qualify if their loans were disbursed before July 1. The plan makes 43 million borrowers eligible for some debt forgiveness, with 20 million who could have their debt erased entirely, according to the Biden administration.

The White House says 26 million people have applied for debt relief, and 16 million people had already had their relief approved. The Congressional Budget Office has said the program will cost about $400 billion over the next three decades.

HOW DID THE ISSUE WIND UP AT THE SUPREME COURT?

The Supreme Court is hearing two challenges to the plan. One involves six Republican-led states that sued. The other involves a lawsuit filed by two students.

A lower court dismissed the lawsuit involving the following states: Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina. The court said the states could not challenge the program because they weren't harmed by it. But a panel of three federal appeals court judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit — all of them appointed by Republican presidents — put the program&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-business-education-st-louis-student-loans-cf8136bfc75bd70839e9326cabbbf029">on hold during an appeal</a>. The Supreme Court then&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-student-loan-cancellation-79f7530363c7f15166d8c9cda3a6cddb">agreed to weigh in</a>.

The students' case involves Myra Brown, who is ineligible for debt relief because her loans are commercially held, and Alexander Taylor, who is eligible for just $10,000 and not the full $20,000 because he didn’t receive a Pell grant. They say that the Biden administration didn't go through the proper process in enacting the plan, among other things.

Texas-based U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, an appointee of President Donald Trump,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-texas-education-donald-trump-student-loans-f2e944d85e95792089fa1e2fb9858287">sided with the students</a>&nbsp;and ruled to block the program.&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.368635/gov.uscourts.txnd.368635.37.0.pdf">Pittman ruled</a>&nbsp;that the Biden administration did not have clear authorization from Congress to implement the program. A federal appeals court left Pittman's ruling in place, and the Supreme Court agreed to take up the case along with the states' challenge.

To cancel student loan debt, the Biden administration relied on the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, commonly known as the HEROES Act. Originally enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack, the law was initially intended to keep service members from being worse off financially while they fought in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now extended, it allows the secretary of education to waive or modify the terms of federal student loans as necessary in connection with a national emergency.

Trump, a Republican, declared the COVID-19 pandemic&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-donald-trump-ap-top-news-politics-health-83b0c8e168548fd453b0c177dd1f203a">a national emergency</a>&nbsp;in March 2020, but Biden recently announced that designation&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-united-states-government-district-of-columbia-covid-public-health-2a80b547f6d55706a6986debc343b9fe">will end May 11</a>. The Biden administration has said that the end to the national emergency&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-california-state-government-delaware-new-mexico-covid-743899ad1dcbeb5d88f37f98513035c5">doesn't change the legal argument for student loan debt cancellation</a>&nbsp;because the pandemic affected millions of student borrowers who might have fallen behind on their loans during the emergency.

WHAT ARE THE JUSTICES LIKELY TO ASK ABOUT?

Expect the justices to be focused on several big issues. The first one is whether the states and the two borrowers have the right to sue over the plan in the first place, a legal concept called “standing.” If they don't, that clears the way for the Biden administration to go ahead with it. To prove they have standing, the states and borrowers will have to show in part that they're financially harmed by the plan.

Beyond standing, the justices will also be asking whether the HEROES Act gives the Biden administration the power to enact the plan and how it went about doing so.

It will likely be months before borrowers learn the outcome of the case, but there's a deadline of sorts. The court generally issues all of its decisions by the end of June before going on a summer break.

Whether or not the debt gets cancelled, the case's resolution will bring changes. While federal student loan payments are currently paused, that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-government-and-politics-f524c55faae26c2066b6795a9d29bc8d">will end 60 days after the case is resolved</a>. And if the case hasn't been resolved by June 30, payments will start 60 days after that.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1677600500744.png" alt="Student debt relief advocates gather outside the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, ahead of arguments over President Joe Biden's student debt relief plan. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)" />
 <figcaption>Student debt relief advocates gather outside the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, ahead of arguments over President Joe Biden's student debt relief plan. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative justices holding the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court">Supreme Court's majority</a>&nbsp;pressed skeptical questions Tuesday about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-biden-plan-d9c8e18774a744187c9af634bf4eb728">President Joe Biden's plan to wipe away or reduce student loans</a>&nbsp;held by millions of Americans.<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2022/22-506">Click here to listen&nbsp;to a replay</a>&nbsp;of the oral arguments in Biden v. Nebraska<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2022/22-535">Click here to listen&nbsp;to a replay</a>&nbsp;of the oral arguments in Board of Ed v. BrownThe high court, with its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-clarence-thomas-scotus-9c248eeea0e8d8e24445ca95a74ec0dc">6-3 conservative majority</a>, heard&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-supreme-court-case-explained-8c62622e87c4ebff995f971263d932fc">arguments</a>&nbsp;on two challenges to the plan, which has so far been blocked by Republican-appointed judges on lower courts.Arguments were scheduled to last two hours but were likely to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-lengthy-arguments-3972cd3bc725431545c47ad6dddf96d2">go much longer</a>. The public could listen in on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvUGa6q20yk">AP youtube channel</a>&nbsp;or on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/">court’s website</a>.Several conservative justices spent time grilling the Biden administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, Elizabeth Prelogar, and suggested that the administration had exceeded its authority with the program.Chief Justice John Roberts pointed to the wide impact and expense of the program, which is estimated to cost $400 billion over 30 years.“If you're talking about this in the abstract, I think most casual observers would say if you're going to give up that much ... money. If you're going to affect the obligations of that many Americans on a subject that's of great controversy, they would think that's something for Congress to act on,” Roberts said.Roberts’ fellow conservative, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, suggested that the administration was using an “old law” to unilaterally implement a debt relief program that Congress had rejected. He said the situation was familiar: "In the wake of Congress not authorizing the action, the executive nonetheless doing a massive new program.”That, he said, “seems problematic.”Kavanaugh noted that the administration was citing the national emergency created by the coronavirus pandemic as authority for the debt relief program. But he argued that some of the “finest moments in the court's history" have been "pushing back against presidential assertions of emergency power.”The administration says that 26 million people have applied to have up to $20,000 in federal student loans forgiven under the plan.“I’m confident the legal authority to carry that plan is there,” Biden said on Monday, at an event to mark Black History Month.The president, who once doubted his own authority to broadly cancel student debt, first announced the program in August.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-student-loan-cancellation-79f7530363c7f15166d8c9cda3a6cddb">Legal challenges quickly followed</a>.Republican-led states and lawmakers in Congress, as well as conservative legal interests, are lined up against the plan as a clear violation of Biden's executive authority. Democratic-led states and liberal interest groups are backing the Democratic administration in urging the court to allow the plan to take effect.Without it, loan defaults would dramatically increase when the pause on loan payments ends no later than this summer, the administration says. Payments were halted in 2020 as part of the response to the coronavirus pandemic.The administration says a 2003 law, commonly known as the HEROES Act, allows the secretary of education to waive or modify the terms of federal student loans in connection with a national emergency. The law was primarily intended to keep service members from being worse off financially while they fought in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.Nebraska and other states that sued say the plan is not necessary to keep the rate of defaults roughly where it was before the pandemic. The 20 million borrowers who have their entire loans erased would get a “windfall” that will leave them better off than they were before the pandemic, the states say.Dozens of borrowers came from across the country to camp out near the court on a soggy Monday evening in hopes of getting a seat for the arguments. Among them was Sinyetta Hill, who said that Biden's plan would erase all but about $500 of the $20,000 or so she has in student loans.“I was 18 when I signed up for college. I didn’t know it was going to be this big of a burden. No student should have to deal with this. No person should have to deal with this,” said Hill, 22, who plans to study law after she graduates from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in May.Biden's plan could meet a frosty reception in the courtroom. The court's conservatives have been skeptical of other Biden initiatives related to the pandemic, including vaccine requirements and pauses on evictions. Those were billed largely as public health measures intended to slow the spread of COVID-19.The loan forgiveness plan, by contrast, is aimed at countering the economic effects of the pandemic.The national emergency is expected to end May 11, but the administration says the economic consequences will persist, despite historically low unemployment and other signs of economic strength.In addition to the debate over the authority to forgive student debt, the court also will confront whether the states and two individuals whose challenge also is before the justices have the legal right, or standing, to sue.Parties generally have to show that they would suffer financial harm and benefit from a court ruling in their favor. A federal judge initially found that the states would not be harmed and dismissed their lawsuit before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-business-education-st-louis-student-loans-cf8136bfc75bd70839e9326cabbbf029">an appellate panel said the case could proceed</a>.Of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-texas-education-donald-trump-student-loans-f2e944d85e95792089fa1e2fb9858287">two individuals who sued in Texas</a>, one has student loans that are commercially held and the other is eligible for $10,000 in debt relief, not the $20,000 maximum. They would get nothing if they win their case.A decision is expected by late June.-------WASHINGTON (AP) — The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court">Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;has begun hearing arguments in a partisan legal fight over&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-biden-plan-d9c8e18774a744187c9af634bf4eb728">President Joe Biden's plan to wipe away or reduce student loans</a>&nbsp;held by millions of Americans<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/live.aspx">Click here to listen</a>&nbsp;to the live oral argument 9a.m.CSTThe high court, with its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-clarence-thomas-scotus-9c248eeea0e8d8e24445ca95a74ec0dc">6-3 conservative majority</a>, heard&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-supreme-court-case-explained-8c62622e87c4ebff995f971263d932fc">arguments</a>&nbsp;on Tuesday on two challenges to the plan, which has so far been blocked by Republican-appointed judges on lower courts.Arguments were scheduled to last two hours but were likely to go much longer. The public can listen in on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvUGa6q20yk">an outside link</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/live.aspx">the court's website</a>.Twenty-six million people have applied, and 16 million have been approved to have up to $20,000 in federal student loans forgiven, the Biden administration says. The program is estimated to cost $400 billion over 30 years.“I’m confident the legal authority to carry that plan is there,” Biden said on Monday, at an event to mark Black History Month.The president, who once doubted his own authority to broadly cancel student debt, first announced the program in August.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-student-loan-cancellation-79f7530363c7f15166d8c9cda3a6cddb">Legal challenges quickly followed</a>.Republican-led states and lawmakers in Congress, as well as conservative legal interests, are lined up against the plan as a clear violation of Biden's executive authority. Democratic-led states and liberal interest groups are backing the Democratic administration in urging the court to allow the plan to take effect.Without it, loan defaults would dramatically increase when the pause on loan payments ends no later than this summer, the administration says. Payments were halted in 2020 as part of the response to the coronavirus pandemic.The administration says a 2003 law, commonly known as the HEROES Act, allows the secretary of education to waive or modify the terms of federal student loans in connection with a national emergency. The law was primarily intended to keep service members from being worse off financially while they fought in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.Nebraska and other states that sued say the plan is not necessary to keep the rate of defaults roughly where it was before the pandemic. The 20 million borrowers who have their entire loans erased would get a “windfall” that will leave them better off than they were before the pandemic, the states say.Dozens of borrowers came from across the country to camp out near the court on a soggy Monday evening in hopes of getting a seat for the arguments. Among them was Sinyetta Hill, who said that Biden's plan would erase all but about $500 of the $20,000 or so she has in student loans.“I was 18 when I signed up for college. I didn’t know it was going to be this big of a burden. No student should have to deal with this. No person should have to deal with this,” said Hill, 22, who plans to study law after she graduates from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in May.Biden's plan could meet a frosty reception in the courtroom. The court's conservatives have been skeptical of other Biden initiatives related to the pandemic, including vaccine requirements and pauses on evictions. Those were billed largely as public health measures intended to slow the spread of COVID-19.The loan forgiveness plan, by contrast, is aimed at countering the economic effects of the pandemic.The national emergency is expected to end May 11, but the administration says the economic consequences will persist, despite historically low unemployment and other signs of economic strength.In addition to the debate over the authority to forgive student debt, the court also will confront whether the states and two individuals whose challenge also is before the justices have the legal right, or standing, to sue.Parties generally have to show that they would suffer financial harm and benefit from a court ruling in their favor. A federal judge initially found that the states would not be harmed and dismissed their lawsuit before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-business-education-st-louis-student-loans-cf8136bfc75bd70839e9326cabbbf029">an appellate panel said the case could proceed</a>.Of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-texas-education-donald-trump-student-loans-f2e944d85e95792089fa1e2fb9858287">two individuals who sued in Texas</a>, one has student loans that are commercially held and the other is eligible for $10,000 in debt relief, not the $20,000 maximum. They would get nothing if they win their case.A decision is expected by late June.--------WASHINGTON (AP) — The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court">Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;will hear arguments Tuesday over President Joe Biden’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-biden-plan-d9c8e18774a744187c9af634bf4eb728">student debt relief plan</a>, which impacts millions of borrowers who could see their loans wiped away or reduced.<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/live.aspx">Click here to listen</a> to the live oral argument 9a.m.CSTSo far, Republican-appointed judges have kept the Democratic president's plan from going into effect, and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-clarence-thomas-scotus-9c248eeea0e8d8e24445ca95a74ec0dc">it remains to be seen how the court, dominated 6-3 by conservatives, will respond</a>. The justices have scheduled two hours of arguments in the case Tuesday, though&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-lengthy-arguments-3972cd3bc725431545c47ad6dddf96d2">it will probably go longer</a>. The public can listen in on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/">court’s website</a>&nbsp;beginning at 10 a.m. EST.Where things stand ahead of the hearing as well as what to expect:HOW DOES THE FORGIVENESS PLAN WORK?The debt forgiveness plan announced in August would cancel $10,000 in federal student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 or households with less than $250,000 in income per year. Pell Grant recipients, who typically demonstrate more financial need, would get an additional $10,000 in debt forgiven.College students qualify if their loans were disbursed before July 1. The plan makes 43 million borrowers eligible for some debt forgiveness, with 20 million who could have their debt erased entirely, according to the Biden administration.The White House says 26 million people have applied for debt relief, and 16 million people had already had their relief approved. The Congressional Budget Office has said the program will cost about $400 billion over the next three decades.HOW DID THE ISSUE WIND UP AT THE SUPREME COURT?The Supreme Court is hearing two challenges to the plan. One involves six Republican-led states that sued. The other involves a lawsuit filed by two students.A lower court dismissed the lawsuit involving the following states: Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina. The court said the states could not challenge the program because they weren't harmed by it. But a panel of three federal appeals court judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit — all of them appointed by Republican presidents — put the program&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-business-education-st-louis-student-loans-cf8136bfc75bd70839e9326cabbbf029">on hold during an appeal</a>. The Supreme Court then&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-student-loan-cancellation-79f7530363c7f15166d8c9cda3a6cddb">agreed to weigh in</a>.The students' case involves Myra Brown, who is ineligible for debt relief because her loans are commercially held, and Alexander Taylor, who is eligible for just $10,000 and not the full $20,000 because he didn’t receive a Pell grant. They say that the Biden administration didn't go through the proper process in enacting the plan, among other things.Texas-based U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, an appointee of President Donald Trump,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-texas-education-donald-trump-student-loans-f2e944d85e95792089fa1e2fb9858287">sided with the students</a>&nbsp;and ruled to block the program.&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.368635/gov.uscourts.txnd.368635.37.0.pdf">Pittman ruled</a>&nbsp;that the Biden administration did not have clear authorization from Congress to implement the program. A federal appeals court left Pittman's ruling in place, and the Supreme Court agreed to take up the case along with the states' challenge.HOW DID BIDEN GET TO CANCEL THE DEBT?To cancel student loan debt, the Biden administration relied on the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, commonly known as the HEROES Act. Originally enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack, the law was initially intended to keep service members from being worse off financially while they fought in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now extended, it allows the secretary of education to waive or modify the terms of federal student loans as necessary in connection with a national emergency.Trump, a Republican, declared the COVID-19 pandemic&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-donald-trump-ap-top-news-politics-health-83b0c8e168548fd453b0c177dd1f203a">a national emergency</a>&nbsp;in March 2020, but Biden recently announced that designation&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-united-states-government-district-of-columbia-covid-public-health-2a80b547f6d55706a6986debc343b9fe">will end May 11</a>. The Biden administration has said that the end to the national emergency&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-california-state-government-delaware-new-mexico-covid-743899ad1dcbeb5d88f37f98513035c5">doesn't change the legal argument for student loan debt cancellation</a>&nbsp;because the pandemic affected millions of student borrowers who might have fallen behind on their loans during the emergency.WHAT ARE THE JUSTICES LIKELY TO ASK ABOUT?Expect the justices to be focused on several big issues. The first one is whether the states and the two borrowers have the right to sue over the plan in the first place, a legal concept called “standing.” If they don't, that clears the way for the Biden administration to go ahead with it. To prove they have standing, the states and borrowers will have to show in part that they're financially harmed by the plan.Beyond standing, the justices will also be asking whether the HEROES Act gives the Biden administration the power to enact the plan and how it went about doing so.WHEN WILL BORROWERS KNOW THE OUTCOME?It will likely be months before borrowers learn the outcome of the case, but there's a deadline of sorts. The court generally issues all of its decisions by the end of June before going on a summer break.Whether or not the debt gets cancelled, the case's resolution will bring changes. While federal student loan payments are currently paused, that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-government-and-politics-f524c55faae26c2066b6795a9d29bc8d">will end 60 days after the case is resolved</a>. And if the case hasn't been resolved by June 30, payments will start 60 days after that.___

🎤Student loan forgiveness gets its day before the Supreme Court

SEWARD COUNTY—A line of fast moving thunderstorms produced widespread wind damage during the late afternoon and early evening hours Sunday in southwest Kansas. This included a short-lived tornado near Liberal.

The National Weather Service preliminary damage survey of the tornado indicates an EF-0 tornado with wind speeds at 85 miles per hour.

The tornado started just after 4:40 p.m., on the south side of Liberal. It moved quickly northeast through a housing development and trailer park, according to the report from the National Weather Service. The most extensive damage occurred to a house&nbsp; and adjacent outbuilding where garage door failures resulted in uplift of a portion of the roof deck.&nbsp;

There were reports of nine tornadoes in Kansas, Oklahoma and northwestern Texas, according to Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster for the weather service. There were no injuries reported in Kansas.

In Finney County, U.S. 50 from Holcomb to Anderson Road in both directions is closed as crews repair downed power lines from the storm. Tyson employees, other motorists are advised they cannot take the highway to the plant.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1677539990607.png" alt="Path of Sunday's tornado-image courtesy National Weather Service" />
 <figcaption>Path of Sunday's tornado-image courtesy National Weather Service</figcaption>
 </figure>SEWARD COUNTY—A line of fast moving thunderstorms produced widespread wind damage during the late afternoon and early evening hours Sunday in southwest Kansas. This included a short-lived tornado near Liberal.The National Weather Service preliminary damage survey of the tornado indicates an EF-0 tornado with wind speeds at 85 miles per hour.The tornado started just after 4:40 p.m., on the south side of Liberal. It moved quickly northeast through a housing development and trailer park, according to the report from the National Weather Service. The most extensive damage occurred to a house&nbsp; and adjacent outbuilding where garage door failures resulted in uplift of a portion of the roof deck.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1677521233983.png" alt="&nbsp;A 345-kv transmission line belonging to Sunflower Electric, the power supplier for Wheatland Electric that was damaged in Sunday's storms-photo courtesy Wheatland Electric" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;A 345-kv transmission line belonging to Sunflower Electric, the power supplier for Wheatland Electric that was damaged in Sunday's storms-photo courtesy Wheatland Electric</figcaption>
 </figure>There were reports of nine tornadoes in Kansas, Oklahoma and northwestern Texas, according to Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster for the weather service. There were no injuries reported in Kansas.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1677497478715.png" alt="-80 mph winds in Haskell County in southwest Kansas caused damage Sunday night.-photo courtesy Thunder Strike Bowling in Sublette" />
 <figcaption>-80 mph winds in Haskell County in southwest Kansas caused damage Sunday night.-photo courtesy Thunder Strike Bowling in Sublette</figcaption>
 </figure>In Finney County, U.S. 50 from Holcomb to Anderson Road in both directions is closed as crews repair downed power lines from the storm. Tyson employees, other motorists are advised they cannot take the highway to the plant.

NWS: Tornado in southwest Kansas rated EF0

OSAGE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug allegations.

Just after 10:30p.m. Feb. 25, an Osage County Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop at 229th and K-368 Highway, near Vassar, for a traffic violation, according to Sheriff Chris Wells. During the stop, the deputy found narcotics.

The driver of the vehicle, Andrea R. Conus, 46, of Ottawa, was taken into custody and transported to the Osage County Jail on requested charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of drug paraphernalia, Driving while license suspended and a&nbsp;Warrant. She has a previous drug conviction, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1677520166811.png" alt="Conus has a previous drug conviction, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections-photo Osage Co." />
 <figcaption>Conus has a previous drug conviction, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections-photo Osage Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>OSAGE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug allegations.Just after 10:30p.m. Feb. 25, an Osage County Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop at 229th and K-368 Highway, near Vassar, for a traffic violation, according to Sheriff Chris Wells. During the stop, the deputy found narcotics.The driver of the vehicle, Andrea R. Conus, 46, of Ottawa, was taken into custody and transported to the Osage County Jail on requested charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of drug paraphernalia, Driving while license suspended and a&nbsp;Warrant. She has a previous drug conviction, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Sheriff: Wanted Kansas felon caught transporting meth

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is giving all federal agencies 30 days to wipe&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-canada-justin-trudeau-china-b10829a5503776fe9439ceb3d3835996">TikTok</a>&nbsp;off all government devices, as the Chinese-owned social media app comes under increasing scrutiny in Washington over security concerns.

The Office of Management and Budget calls the guidance, issued Monday, a “critical step forward in addressing the risks presented by the app to sensitive government data.” Some agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and State, already have restrictions in place; the guidance calls on the rest of the federal government to follow suit within 30 days.

The White House already does not allow TikTok on its devices.

“The Biden-Harris Administration has invested heavily in defending our nation’s digital infrastructure and curbing foreign adversaries’ access to Americans’ data,” said Chris DeRusha, the federal chief information security officer. “This guidance is part of the Administration’s ongoing commitment to securing our digital infrastructure and protecting the American people’s security and privacy.”

The guidance was first reported by Reuters.

Congress passed the “No TikTok on Government Devices Act” in December as part of a sweeping government funding package. The legislation does allow for TikTok use in certain cases, including for national security, law enforcement and research purposes.

TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said Monday: “The ban of TikTok on federal devices passed in December without any deliberation, and unfortunately that approach has served as a blueprint for other world governments. These bans are little more than political theater."

House Republicans are expected to move forward Tuesday with a bill that would give Biden the power to ban TikTok nationwide. The legislation, proposed by Rep. Mike McCaul, looks to circumvent the challenges the administration would face in court if it moved forward with sanctions against the social media company.

If passed, the proposal would allow the administration to ban not only TikTok but any software applications that threaten national security. McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, has been a vocal critic of the app, saying it is being used by the Chinese Communist Party to “manipulate and monitor its users while it gobbles up Americans’ data to be used for their malign activities.”

“Anyone with TikTok downloaded on their device has given the CCP a backdoor to all their personal information. It’s a spy balloon into your phone,” the Texas Republican said in a statement Monday.

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., his counterpart in the Senate, did not shut down the idea of the chamber taking up a proposal that would empower Biden to take action against TikTok, saying it was “certainly something to consider.”

Oberwetter said: “We hope that when it comes to addressing national security concerns about TikTok beyond government devices, Congress will explore solutions that won’t have the effect of censoring the voices of millions of Americans.”

TikTok, owned by ByteDance Ltd., remains extremely popular and is used by two-thirds of teens in the U.S. But there is increasing concern that Beijing could obtain control of American user data that the app has obtained.

The company&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-politics-d33e58c76bb3c13297c72816ef4e6231">has been dismissive of the ban</a>&nbsp;for federal devices and has noted that it is developing security and data privacy plans as part of the Biden administration’s ongoing national security review.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-mobile-apps-canada-government-united-states-justin-trudeau-43b27a80a1c2bf3b55e5ccf2ce573684">Canada</a>&nbsp;also announced Monday that it is banning TikTok from all government-issued mobile devices. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-politics-united-states-government-privacy-business-29a52f0eee4177f6c2a596d12459feec">European Union’s executive branch</a>&nbsp;said last week it has temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is giving all federal agencies 30 days to wipe&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-canada-justin-trudeau-china-b10829a5503776fe9439ceb3d3835996">TikTok</a>&nbsp;off all government devices, as the Chinese-owned social media app comes under increasing scrutiny in Washington over security concerns.The Office of Management and Budget calls the guidance, issued Monday, a “critical step forward in addressing the risks presented by the app to sensitive government data.” Some agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and State, already have restrictions in place; the guidance calls on the rest of the federal government to follow suit within 30 days.The White House already does not allow TikTok on its devices.“The Biden-Harris Administration has invested heavily in defending our nation’s digital infrastructure and curbing foreign adversaries’ access to Americans’ data,” said Chris DeRusha, the federal chief information security officer. “This guidance is part of the Administration’s ongoing commitment to securing our digital infrastructure and protecting the American people’s security and privacy.”The guidance was first reported by Reuters.Congress passed the “No TikTok on Government Devices Act” in December as part of a sweeping government funding package. The legislation does allow for TikTok use in certain cases, including for national security, law enforcement and research purposes.TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said Monday: “The ban of TikTok on federal devices passed in December without any deliberation, and unfortunately that approach has served as a blueprint for other world governments. These bans are little more than political theater."House Republicans are expected to move forward Tuesday with a bill that would give Biden the power to ban TikTok nationwide. The legislation, proposed by Rep. Mike McCaul, looks to circumvent the challenges the administration would face in court if it moved forward with sanctions against the social media company.If passed, the proposal would allow the administration to ban not only TikTok but any software applications that threaten national security. McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, has been a vocal critic of the app, saying it is being used by the Chinese Communist Party to “manipulate and monitor its users while it gobbles up Americans’ data to be used for their malign activities.”“Anyone with TikTok downloaded on their device has given the CCP a backdoor to all their personal information. It’s a spy balloon into your phone,” the Texas Republican said in a statement Monday.Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., his counterpart in the Senate, did not shut down the idea of the chamber taking up a proposal that would empower Biden to take action against TikTok, saying it was “certainly something to consider.”Oberwetter said: “We hope that when it comes to addressing national security concerns about TikTok beyond government devices, Congress will explore solutions that won’t have the effect of censoring the voices of millions of Americans.”TikTok, owned by ByteDance Ltd., remains extremely popular and is used by two-thirds of teens in the U.S. But there is increasing concern that Beijing could obtain control of American user data that the app has obtained.The company&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-politics-d33e58c76bb3c13297c72816ef4e6231">has been dismissive of the ban</a>&nbsp;for federal devices and has noted that it is developing security and data privacy plans as part of the Biden administration’s ongoing national security review.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-mobile-apps-canada-government-united-states-justin-trudeau-43b27a80a1c2bf3b55e5ccf2ce573684">Canada</a>&nbsp;also announced Monday that it is banning TikTok from all government-issued mobile devices. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-politics-united-states-government-privacy-business-29a52f0eee4177f6c2a596d12459feec">European Union’s executive branch</a>&nbsp;said last week it has temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure.

White House: No more TikTok on gov't devices within 30 days

DOUGLAS COUNTY —&nbsp; A Kansas man was sentenced Friday for child sex crimes.

&nbsp;Kenneth W. Mills, 36, of De Soto, was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility for parole for 25 years for criminal sodomy of a three- to four-year-old girl at the time of offense, according to Douglas County District Attorney&nbsp;Suzanne Valdez.

In August, a jury convicted Mills of engaging in sexual contact with a child who was under his care and residing in his Lawrence home in 2010 and 2011.

“Children are among the most vulnerable in our community,” District Attorney Valdez said. “Perpetrators never get to define the time, place or manner in which their victims disclose the assaults. These are always difficult cases and we will continue to pursue them to the best of our ability in order to uphold justice and community safety.”

Mills registered as a sex offender in August, according to online records.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1677339281866.png" alt="Mills-photo KBI Offender Registry" />
 <figcaption>Mills-photo KBI Offender Registry</figcaption>
 </figure>DOUGLAS COUNTY —&nbsp; A Kansas man was sentenced Friday for child sex crimes.&nbsp;Kenneth W. Mills, 36, of De Soto, was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility for parole for 25 years for criminal sodomy of a three- to four-year-old girl at the time of offense, according to Douglas County District Attorney&nbsp;Suzanne Valdez.In August, a jury convicted Mills of engaging in sexual contact with a child who was under his care and residing in his Lawrence home in 2010 and 2011.“Children are among the most vulnerable in our community,” District Attorney Valdez said. “Perpetrators never get to define the time, place or manner in which their victims disclose the assaults. These are always difficult cases and we will continue to pursue them to the best of our ability in order to uphold justice and community safety.”Mills registered as a sex offender in August, according to online records.

Kan. man sentenced for sex crimes involving 3-year-old

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press

BOSTON — Lawyers for former Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick filed a motion Monday to dismiss a case <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-religion-sexual-abuse-by-clergy-53924dd479cab20f7a11cb7eb47f686d">charging him with sexually assaulting a boy decades ago</a>, saying the 92-year-old once-powerful American prelate has dementia and is not competent to stand trial.

McCarrick <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-religion-sexual-abuse-by-clergy-fe52aa3c7e9766599b191e14c7360752">pleaded not guilty in September 2021</a>
 in the Massachusetts case that alleges the priest sexually abused the 
boy at a wedding reception at Wellesley College in June 1974. He is the 
only U.S. Catholic cardinal, current or former, ever to be criminally 
charged with child sex crimes.

His attorneys said in their motion 
to dismiss that McCarrick was examined by a professor of psychiatry and 
behavioral science at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 
who concluded the former cardinal suffers from dementia, likely due to 
Alzheimer's disease.

“While he has a limited understanding of the 
criminal proceedings against him, his progressive and irreparable 
cognitive deficits render him unable to meaningfully consult with 
counsel or to effectively assist in his own defense,” McCarrick's 
lawyers wrote. They say McCarrick maintains his innocence of all 
charges.

A prosecutor told the judge during a hearing earlier 
Monday at the Dedham District Court that the Norfolk District Attorney's
 Office would be hiring its own expert to conduct a second opinion on 
competency, according to David Traub, a spokesperson for that office. 
The prosecutors' office declined further comment on the defense motion.

McCarrick,
 who lives in Dittmer, Missouri, faces three counts of indecent assault 
and battery on a person over 14. He can still face charges because he 
wasn’t a Massachusetts resident and had left the state, stopping the 
clock on the statute of limitations.

Mitchell Garabedian, a 
well-known lawyer for church sexual abuse victims who is representing 
the man accusing McCarrick, said Monday that his client has “shown a lot
 of courage in coming forward to report the crimes and he intends to see
 this matter through to the end.”

“Experience has taught me that 
the closer in time to trial the more an accused priest becomes 
incompetent,” Garabedian said in an email.

No trial date has been set in McCarrick's case.

The
 man told authorities during a 2021 interview that McCarrick, who was 
close to the man's family when he was growing up, began abusing him as a
 young boy. Prosecutors say McCarrick would attend family gatherings and
 travel on vacations with them and that the victim referred to the 
priest as “Uncle Ted.”

Prosecutors say the abuse continued 
throughout the years and happened again when the boy, who was then 16, 
was at his brother's wedding reception at Wellesley College.

Prosecutors
 say McCarrick told the boy his dad wanted him to have a talk with the 
priest because the boy was “being mischievous at home and not attending 
church.” The man told investigators that they took a walk around campus,
 and McCarrick groped him before they went back to the party. The man 
said McCarrick also sexually assaulted him in a coat room after they 
returned to the reception, authorities wrote in the documents.

Prosecutors say McCarrick told the boy to say the "Hail Mary" and “Our Father” prayers before leaving the room.

The
 Associated Press generally doesn’t identify people who report sexual 
assault unless they agree to be named publicly, which the victim in this
 case has not done.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/7/1627579902766.png" alt="Disgraced former Catholic cardinal Theodore McCarrick moved to the St. Fidelis Friary in Victoria, Kansas in 2018. He moved from Northwest Kansas in January 2020 Credit: US Institute of Peace. CC BY NC&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Disgraced former Catholic cardinal Theodore McCarrick moved to the St. Fidelis Friary in Victoria, Kansas in 2018. He moved from Northwest Kansas in January 2020 Credit: US Institute of Peace. CC BY NC&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated PressBOSTON — Lawyers for former Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick filed a motion Monday to dismiss a case <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-religion-sexual-abuse-by-clergy-53924dd479cab20f7a11cb7eb47f686d">charging him with sexually assaulting a boy decades ago</a>, saying the 92-year-old once-powerful American prelate has dementia and is not competent to stand trial.McCarrick <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-religion-sexual-abuse-by-clergy-fe52aa3c7e9766599b191e14c7360752">pleaded not guilty in September 2021</a>
 in the Massachusetts case that alleges the priest sexually abused the 
boy at a wedding reception at Wellesley College in June 1974. He is the 
only U.S. Catholic cardinal, current or former, ever to be criminally 
charged with child sex crimes.His attorneys said in their motion 
to dismiss that McCarrick was examined by a professor of psychiatry and 
behavioral science at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 
who concluded the former cardinal suffers from dementia, likely due to 
Alzheimer's disease.“While he has a limited understanding of the 
criminal proceedings against him, his progressive and irreparable 
cognitive deficits render him unable to meaningfully consult with 
counsel or to effectively assist in his own defense,” McCarrick's 
lawyers wrote. They say McCarrick maintains his innocence of all 
charges.A prosecutor told the judge during a hearing earlier 
Monday at the Dedham District Court that the Norfolk District Attorney's
 Office would be hiring its own expert to conduct a second opinion on 
competency, according to David Traub, a spokesperson for that office. 
The prosecutors' office declined further comment on the defense motion.McCarrick,
 who lives in Dittmer, Missouri, faces three counts of indecent assault 
and battery on a person over 14. He can still face charges because he 
wasn’t a Massachusetts resident and had left the state, stopping the 
clock on the statute of limitations.Mitchell Garabedian, a 
well-known lawyer for church sexual abuse victims who is representing 
the man accusing McCarrick, said Monday that his client has “shown a lot
 of courage in coming forward to report the crimes and he intends to see
 this matter through to the end.”“Experience has taught me that 
the closer in time to trial the more an accused priest becomes 
incompetent,” Garabedian said in an email.No trial date has been set in McCarrick's case.The
 man told authorities during a 2021 interview that McCarrick, who was 
close to the man's family when he was growing up, began abusing him as a
 young boy. Prosecutors say McCarrick would attend family gatherings and
 travel on vacations with them and that the victim referred to the 
priest as “Uncle Ted.”Prosecutors say the abuse continued 
throughout the years and happened again when the boy, who was then 16, 
was at his brother's wedding reception at Wellesley College.Prosecutors
 say McCarrick told the boy his dad wanted him to have a talk with the 
priest because the boy was “being mischievous at home and not attending 
church.” The man told investigators that they took a walk around campus,
 and McCarrick groped him before they went back to the party. The man 
said McCarrick also sexually assaulted him in a coat room after they 
returned to the reception, authorities wrote in the documents.Prosecutors say McCarrick told the boy to say the "Hail Mary" and “Our Father” prayers before leaving the room.The
 Associated Press generally doesn’t identify people who report sexual 
assault unless they agree to be named publicly, which the victim in this
 case has not done.Ordained as a priest in New York City in 1958,
 McCarrick ascended the church ranks despite apparently common knowledge
 in the U.S. and Vatican leadership that “Uncle Ted,” as he was known, 
slept with seminarians.McCarrick became one of the most visible 
Catholic Church officials in the U.S. and even served as the spokesman 
for fellow U.S. bishops when they enacted a “zero tolerance” policy 
against sexually abusive priests in 2002.His fall began in 2017, 
when a former altar boy came forward to report the priest had groped him
 in New York when he was a teenager.The next year, the 
Archdiocese of New York announced McCarrick had been removed from 
ministry after finding the allegation to be “credible and 
substantiated,” and two New Jersey dioceses revealed they had settled 
claims against him in the past of sexual misconduct involving adults.Pope Francis defrocked McCarrick in 2019 after a Vatican investigation determined he sexually abused minors, as well as adults.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/theodore-mccarrick-vatican-investigation-0204b0d67e0685d658bae71cf558383a">A two-year internal investigation</a>
 found that three decades of bishops, cardinals and popes downplayed or 
dismissed reports of sexual misconduct. Correspondence showed they 
repeatedly rejected the information as rumor and excused it as an 
“imprudence.”The findings released in 2020 pinned much of the 
blame on Pope John Paul II, who appointed McCarrick archbishop of 
Washington, D.C., despite having commissioned an inquiry that confirmed 
McCarrick slept with seminarians.