SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities continue their investigation surrounding a suspicious package was found at Abortion. Provider, Trust Women, 5107 East Kellogg in Wichita on August 2.

On Friday afternoon, police provided a limited update on the investigation that according to Officer juan Rebolledo is still active.&nbsp;

"Based on the investigation conducted thus far, police do not currently possess any information suggesting that this incident is linked to a particular group," according to Rebolledo. "The evidence gathered up to this point does not indicate any intent to disrupt regular business operations, or city activities, or cause fear among the public."

Evidence collected from the scene has been submitted for further examination and laboratory testing and police are waiting for the results of these tests. Police have not located valuable videos of the incident.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1691004419878.png" alt="KanDrive camera view Wednesday morning 9a.m. as police shut down Kellogg between Woodlawn and Oliver in both directions." />
 <figcaption>KanDrive camera view Wednesday morning 9a.m. as police shut down Kellogg between Woodlawn and Oliver in both directions.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities continue their investigation surrounding a suspicious package was found at Abortion. Provider, Trust Women, 5107 East Kellogg in Wichita on August 2.On Friday afternoon, police provided a limited update on the investigation that according to Officer juan Rebolledo is still active.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1691004362193.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>"Based on the investigation conducted thus far, police do not currently possess any information suggesting that this incident is linked to a particular group," according to Rebolledo. "The evidence gathered up to this point does not indicate any intent to disrupt regular business operations, or city activities, or cause fear among the public."Evidence collected from the scene has been submitted for further examination and laboratory testing and police are waiting for the results of these tests. Police have not located valuable videos of the incident.

Investigation of suspicious package near Kan. abortion provider continues

KANSAS CITY (AP) — As millions of Medicaid recipients face the potential loss of health coverage for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic, state call centers are getting inundated with questions from people needing help. In some cases, federal officials say, it’s taking too long to get answers.

Nearly one-third of the states have received warnings from federal Medicaid officials that their lengthy call center wait times may be causing people to hang up — and give up — as they attempt to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/medicaid-enrollees-removed-review-health-insurance-pandemic-bffc3c67ab2767e4e3cea8250683ea7a">renew Medicaid coverage</a>&nbsp;amid a massive nationwide effort to clean up the rolls of the government health insurance program for lower-income residents.

Some advocates have offered to function like placeholders in a long line for concert or sports tickets — waiting on hold so Medicaid recipients can do other things.

“If you call a call center and you have a sort of significant wait, you oftentimes are neglecting your work duties, you’re neglecting needs of your family, otherwise growing impatient," said Matt Slonaker, executive director of the Utah Health Policy Project, a nonprofit that assists Medicaid recipients. "What we’ve seen anecdotally over and over again is people giving up.”

Utah had an average call center wait time of 35 minutes in May, with one in four callers simply hanging up, according to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

According to the most recent CMS data, the longest wait time was in Missouri, at 48 minutes, though state officials say that figure is misleading. In Nevada, more than half the callers abandoned their calls.

States typically conduct annual eligibility reviews. But they are now dealing with a backlog of cases because the federal government prohibited states from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/access-to-health-care-48d1f565c800139bb397bb886436968f">removing people from Medicaid</a>&nbsp;during the coronavirus pandemic — a roughly three-year moratorium that ended in April.

During that time, Medicaid enrollment swelled by nearly one-third, from 71 million people in February 2020 to 94 million in April 2023.

Since then, well over 4 million people have lost Medicaid coverage during the mandatory renewal process. Most of those people were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/medicaid-health-care-coverage-77d715bdb520316820d3cccbfda9cff7">dropped for what CMS describes as procedural reasons</a>, such as failing to return renewal forms.

In letters sent last week to state Medicaid agencies, CMS raised concerns that long call center wait times and high abandonment rates “are impeding equitable access to assistance and the ability for people to apply for or renew Medicaid” and may run afoul of federal requirements. Similar warnings were sent to 16 states —Kansas, Missouri, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Utah.

Among those 16 states, the average call center wait time was 25 minutes and the average hang-up rate was 29%. That's significantly higher than the rest of the states, where the average call wait was less than 3 minutes and the average hang-up rate was less than 6%.

Though many states added staff or contractors to help handle the surge in eligibility determinations, some state Medicaid officials acknowledged difficulty in keeping up with the calls.

“For sure it has been a challenge,” said Dave Baden, interim director of the Oregon Health Authority. "With the amount of humanity we’re going through, there’s no way we could have hired up so many people to be ready for all of that.”

In some states, the same staff who make Medicaid eligibility determinations also are responsible for fielding phone calls.

“It is a tradeoff. We can’t process applications as fast if we put more people on the phones,” said Jeanne Lambrew, commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

Utah has faced a similar balancing act in splitting staff time between answering phones and processing Medicaid renewals, said Nate Checketts, deputy director of the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. Within a few months, he said, the department hopes to have improved its computer capabilities to automatically renew some people based on data compiled for other social services programs such as food assistance.

"That will help cut down on the number of individuals that need to call us to try to clarify information on their forms,” Checketts said.

Missouri's nationally high May call center wait time of 48 minutes was based on data from a general call center, said state Department of Social Services spokesperson Caitlin Whaley. Revised data from four call centers that take Medicaid calls show an average wait time of 28 minutes in May, she said.

But Missouri has taken several steps since to drive down wait times, including having whoever answers the phone address all of a caller's needs instead of potentially transferring the caller to multiple people, Whaley said. The department also has adopted “a blitz strategy” when many phones are ringing.

“During times of high call volume, it’s like an all-hands-on-deck,” she said, adding, "workers and supervisors both are answering calls to try and help more people and get those wait times down.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1588364574722.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) — As millions of Medicaid recipients face the potential loss of health coverage for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic, state call centers are getting inundated with questions from people needing help. In some cases, federal officials say, it’s taking too long to get answers.Nearly one-third of the states have received warnings from federal Medicaid officials that their lengthy call center wait times may be causing people to hang up — and give up — as they attempt to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/medicaid-enrollees-removed-review-health-insurance-pandemic-bffc3c67ab2767e4e3cea8250683ea7a">renew Medicaid coverage</a>&nbsp;amid a massive nationwide effort to clean up the rolls of the government health insurance program for lower-income residents.Some advocates have offered to function like placeholders in a long line for concert or sports tickets — waiting on hold so Medicaid recipients can do other things.“If you call a call center and you have a sort of significant wait, you oftentimes are neglecting your work duties, you’re neglecting needs of your family, otherwise growing impatient," said Matt Slonaker, executive director of the Utah Health Policy Project, a nonprofit that assists Medicaid recipients. "What we’ve seen anecdotally over and over again is people giving up.”Utah had an average call center wait time of 35 minutes in May, with one in four callers simply hanging up, according to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.According to the most recent CMS data, the longest wait time was in Missouri, at 48 minutes, though state officials say that figure is misleading. In Nevada, more than half the callers abandoned their calls.States typically conduct annual eligibility reviews. But they are now dealing with a backlog of cases because the federal government prohibited states from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/access-to-health-care-48d1f565c800139bb397bb886436968f">removing people from Medicaid</a>&nbsp;during the coronavirus pandemic — a roughly three-year moratorium that ended in April.During that time, Medicaid enrollment swelled by nearly one-third, from 71 million people in February 2020 to 94 million in April 2023.Since then, well over 4 million people have lost Medicaid coverage during the mandatory renewal process. Most of those people were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/medicaid-health-care-coverage-77d715bdb520316820d3cccbfda9cff7">dropped for what CMS describes as procedural reasons</a>, such as failing to return renewal forms.In letters sent last week to state Medicaid agencies, CMS raised concerns that long call center wait times and high abandonment rates “are impeding equitable access to assistance and the ability for people to apply for or renew Medicaid” and may run afoul of federal requirements. Similar warnings were sent to 16 states —Kansas, Missouri, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Utah.Among those 16 states, the average call center wait time was 25 minutes and the average hang-up rate was 29%. That's significantly higher than the rest of the states, where the average call wait was less than 3 minutes and the average hang-up rate was less than 6%.Though many states added staff or contractors to help handle the surge in eligibility determinations, some state Medicaid officials acknowledged difficulty in keeping up with the calls.“For sure it has been a challenge,” said Dave Baden, interim director of the Oregon Health Authority. "With the amount of humanity we’re going through, there’s no way we could have hired up so many people to be ready for all of that.”In some states, the same staff who make Medicaid eligibility determinations also are responsible for fielding phone calls.“It is a tradeoff. We can’t process applications as fast if we put more people on the phones,” said Jeanne Lambrew, commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.Utah has faced a similar balancing act in splitting staff time between answering phones and processing Medicaid renewals, said Nate Checketts, deputy director of the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. Within a few months, he said, the department hopes to have improved its computer capabilities to automatically renew some people based on data compiled for other social services programs such as food assistance."That will help cut down on the number of individuals that need to call us to try to clarify information on their forms,” Checketts said.Missouri's nationally high May call center wait time of 48 minutes was based on data from a general call center, said state Department of Social Services spokesperson Caitlin Whaley. Revised data from four call centers that take Medicaid calls show an average wait time of 28 minutes in May, she said.But Missouri has taken several steps since to drive down wait times, including having whoever answers the phone address all of a caller's needs instead of potentially transferring the caller to multiple people, Whaley said. The department also has adopted “a blitz strategy” when many phones are ringing.“During times of high call volume, it’s like an all-hands-on-deck,” she said, adding, "workers and supervisors both are answering calls to try and help more people and get those wait times down.”

Feds concerned: Long call center wait times; millions dropped from Medicaid

JEFFERSON COUNTY—One person died in an accident just after 2p.m. Friday in Jefferson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Harley Davidson motorcycle driven by Micaleb S. Hayes, 33, Topeka, was westbound on Kansas 92 just east of Kansas 4 Highway.

The driver lost control of the motorcycle when he applied brakes hard to avoid striking a westbound 2017 GMC pickup driven by Sean O. Maher, 58,&nbsp;Mc Louth, who was stopped in traffic waiting for a vehicle to turn left onto Greenview Drive.

Hayes and a passenger were both thrown from the motorcycle. Then an eastbound Ford passenger car driven by Tim G.&nbsp;Morrison, 59,&nbsp;Meriden, struck Hayes, and left the road to the right and came to a stop.

Hayes was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to&nbsp;Barnett Funeral Home in Oskaloosa. EMS transported the motorcycle passenger identified as Katy I. Hayes, 31, Topeka, to Stormont Vail. There were no other injuries. The occupants of the motorcycle were not wearing helmets, according to the KHP.

JEFFERSON COUNTY—One person died in an accident just after 2p.m. Friday in Jefferson County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Harley Davidson motorcycle driven by Micaleb S. Hayes, 33, Topeka, was westbound on Kansas 92 just east of Kansas 4 Highway.The driver lost control of the motorcycle when he applied brakes hard to avoid striking a westbound 2017 GMC pickup driven by Sean O. Maher, 58,&nbsp;Mc Louth, who was stopped in traffic waiting for a vehicle to turn left onto Greenview Drive.Hayes and a passenger were both thrown from the motorcycle. Then an eastbound Ford passenger car driven by Tim G.&nbsp;Morrison, 59,&nbsp;Meriden, struck Hayes, and left the road to the right and came to a stop.Hayes was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to&nbsp;Barnett Funeral Home in Oskaloosa. EMS transported the motorcycle passenger identified as Katy I. Hayes, 31, Topeka, to Stormont Vail. There were no other injuries. The occupants of the motorcycle were not wearing helmets, according to the KHP.

Kan. man dead, woman injured after thrown from motorcycle

CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP) — President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed Friday to expand security and economic ties at a historic summit at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David, cementing a new agreement with the allies that are on an increasingly tense ledge in relations with China and North Korea.

Biden said the nations would establish a communications hotline to discuss responses to threats. He announced the agreements, including what the leaders termed the “Camp David Principles,” at the close of his talks with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/yoon-suk-yeol">South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/fumio-kishida">Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida</a>.

“Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together. And I know this is a belief that all three share,” Biden said

“The purpose of our trilateral security cooperation is and will remain to promote and enhance peace and stability throughout the region,” the leaders said in a joint statement.

Biden maintained, as have US, South Korean and Japanese officials, that the summit “was not about China” but was focused on broader security issues. Yet, the leaders in their joint summit concluding statement noted China's “dangerous and aggressive" action in the South China Sea and said they “strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific.”

Yoon noted in particular the threat posed by North Korea, saying the three leaders had agreed to improve “our joint response capabilities to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, which have become sophisticated more than ever.”

He said as the three appeared before reporters that “today will be remembered as a historic day, where we established a firm institutional basis and commitments to the trilateral partnership.”

Japan's Kishida said before the private talks that "the fact that we, the three leaders, have got together in this way, I believe means that we are indeed making a new history as of today. The international community is at a turning point in history.”

The visitors spoke in their home languages, their comments repeated by a translator.

The U.S., Japan and South Korea agreed to a new “duty to consult” security pledge committing them to speak with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific.

The pledge is intended to acknowledge that they share “fundamentally interlinked security environments" and that a threat to one is “a threat to all," according to a senior Biden administration official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement.

Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.

The Camp David retreat, 65 miles (104.6 kilometers) from the White House, was where President Jimmy Carter brought together Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978 for talks that established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in March 1979. In the midst of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met at the retreat — then known as Shangri-La — to plan the Italian campaign that would knock Benito Mussolini out of the war.

Kishida and Yoon were mindful of Camp David’s place in U.S. and world history, making repeated references to its past and now their place in it during their comments at the news conference after the meeting with Biden. The leaders arrived in Washington on Thursday and, as guests of Biden, on Friday were flown separately to Camp David on U.S. military helicopters like the ones Biden uses.

Biden's focus for the gathering was to nu&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-japan-south-korea-camp-david-summit-2421359ebcd5973b6252fa284cfb25ff">dge the United States' two closest Asian allies</a>&nbsp;to further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other. The historic rivals have been divided by differing views of World War II history and Japan’s colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

But under Kishida and Yoon, the two countries have begun a rapprochement as the two conservative leaders grapple with shared security challenges posed by North Korea and China. Both leaders have been upset by the stepped-up cadence of North Korea's ballistic missile tests and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-china-warplanes-military-exercises-548705bdceb0763c654cfd11f9b74dfd">Chinese military exercises near Taiwan,</a>&nbsp;the self-ruled island that is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, and other aggressive action.

Yoon proposed an initiative in March to resolve disputes stemming from compensation for wartime Korean forced laborers. He announced that South Korea would use its own funds to compensate Koreans enslaved by Japanese companies before the end of World War II.

Yoon also traveled to Tokyo that month for talks with Kishida, the first such visit by a South Korean president in more than 12 years.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/south-korea-japan-yoon-kishida-history-135badc84df0b545f44edcb2b86921fe">Kishida reciprocated with a visit to Seoul in May</a>&nbsp;and expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during Japan’s colonial rule,

The effort to sustain the trilateral relationship won’t be without challenges.

Beijing sees the tightening cooperation efforts as the first steps of a Pacific-version of NATO, the transatlantic military alliance, forming against it. U.S. officials expect that North Korea will lash out—perhaps with more ballistic missile test and certainly blistering rhetoric.

Polls show that a solid majority of South Koreans&nbsp;<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/korea-japan-rapprochement-creates-new-opportunities-in-the-indo-pacific/">oppose Yoon’s handling of the forced labor issue</a>&nbsp;that’s been central to mending relations with Japan. And many in Japan fear that bolstering security cooperation will lead the country into an economic Cold War with China, its biggest trading partner. Biden’s predecessor (and potential successor) Republican Donald Trump unnerved South Korea during his time in the White House with talk of reducing the U.S. military presence on the Korean Peninsula.

“If an ultra-leftist South Korean president and an ultra-right wing Japanese leader are elected in their next cycles, or even if Trump or someone like him wins in the U.S., then any one of them could derail all the meaningful, hard work Biden, Yoon and Kishida are putting in right now,” said Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior fellow at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnas.org/people/duyeon-kim">Center for a New American Security</a>&nbsp;’s Indo-Pacific Security Program.

CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP) — President Joe Biden opened a historic summit with Japan and South Korea at Camp David on Friday focused on strengthening security and economic ties at a time of increasing concerns about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-satellite-us-drills-summit-67262f21543d6e859f324b02dc29c75e">North Korea’s persistent nuclear threats</a>&nbsp;and China’s provocations in the Pacific.

"Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together. And I know this is a belief that all three share,” Biden declared at the start of the meeting with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/yoon-suk-yeol">South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/fumio-kishida">Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida</a>&nbsp;at the presidential retreat in Maryland.

Addressing his fellow leaders at what he called the first standalone summit of the three nations, the American president said, "I want to thank you both for your political courage that brought you here.”

Yoon said as the three appeared before reporters that “today will be remembered as a historic day, where we established a firm institutional basis and commitments to the trilateral partnership.”

And Kishida said before the private talks that "the fact that we, the three leaders, have got together in this way, I believe means that we are indeed making a new history as of today. The international community is at a turning point in history.”

The U.S., Japan and South Korea have agreed to a new security pledge committing the three countries to consult with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific. Details about the new “duty to consult” commitment emerged as the summit got underway.

Before the three-way talks, Biden met separately with Yoon and then Kishida in midmorning. The visitors' remarks were translated into English as they spoke to reporters.

The agreement is one of several joint efforts that the leaders were expected to announce at the daylong summit.

“Suffice it to say, this is a big deal," Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Friday shortly before the start of the summit. "It is a historic event, and it sets the conditions for a more peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and a stronger and more secure United States of America,"

Even before the summit began, it drew&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-us-japan-south-korea-6c626a246219c6dc3915ed8a18f34c74">harsh public criticism</a>&nbsp;from the Chinese government.

“The international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters Friday.

“Attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region,” Wang said.

Sullivan pushed back against the Chinese concerns.

“It’s explicitly not a NATO for the Pacific,” Sullivan said. “This partnership is not against anyone, it is for something. It is for a vision of the Indo-Pacific that is free, open, secure and prosperous.”

The “duty to consult” pledge is intended to acknowledge that the three countries share “fundamentally interlinked security environments" and that a threat to one of the nations is “a threat to all," according to a senior Biden administration official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the coming announcement.

The summit is the first Biden has held during his presidency at the storied Camp David. The three leaders were scheduled to hold a news conference later. Biden was hoping to use much of the day with the two leaders as a more informal opportunity to tighten their bond.

The U.S. president planned to take Kishida and Yoon on a walk on the picturesque grounds and host them—and a few senior aides— for a lunch.

The retreat 65 miles (104.6 kilometers) from the White House was where President Jimmy Carter brought together Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978 for talks that established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in March 1979. In the midst of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met at the retreat — then known as Shangri-La — to plan the Italian campaign that would knock Benito Mussolini out of the war.

Biden's focus for the gathering is to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-japan-south-korea-camp-david-summit-2421359ebcd5973b6252fa284cfb25ff">nudge the United States' two closest Asian allies</a>&nbsp;to further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other. The historic rivals have been divided by differing views of World War II history and Japan’s colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

Polls show that a solid majority of South Koreans&nbsp;<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/korea-japan-rapprochement-creates-new-opportunities-in-the-indo-pacific/">oppose Yoon’s handling of the forced labor issue</a>&nbsp;that’s been central to mending relations with Japan. And many in Japan fear that bolstering security cooperation will lead the country into an economic Cold War with China, it’s biggest trading partner. Biden’s predecessor (and potential successor) Republican Donald Trump unnerved South Korea during his time in the White House with talk of reducing the U.S. military presence on the Peninsula.

The three leaders are also expected to detail in their summit communique plans to invest in technology for a three-way crisis hotline and offer an update on progress the countries have made on sharing early-warning data on missile launches by North Korea.

Other announcements expected to come out of the summit include plans to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-yoon-kishida-camp-david-missile-defense-f3ce58da383f2255ee479624645db542">expand military cooperation</a>&nbsp;on ballistic defenses and to make the summit an annual event. Sullivan said the leaders would commit on Friday to a multiyear planning process for joint military exercises.

The leaders are also likely to discuss the long-running territorial conflicts in the disputed South China Sea involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692389228871.png" alt="South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, President Joe Biden and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, meet at Camp David, the presidential retreat-image White House" />
 <figcaption>South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, President Joe Biden and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, meet at Camp David, the presidential retreat-image White House</figcaption>
 </figure>CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP) — President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed Friday to expand security and economic ties at a historic summit at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David, cementing a new agreement with the allies that are on an increasingly tense ledge in relations with China and North Korea.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWhiteHouse%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02uNzXbM5bTXGuvh561LvGychnrQ8m1PmDeqbAHFCsxzLgSZoTfUtmcDpHbRGvZZJ5l&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="787" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>Biden said the nations would establish a communications hotline to discuss responses to threats. He announced the agreements, including what the leaders termed the “Camp David Principles,” at the close of his talks with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/yoon-suk-yeol">South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/fumio-kishida">Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida</a>.“Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together. And I know this is a belief that all three share,” Biden said“The purpose of our trilateral security cooperation is and will remain to promote and enhance peace and stability throughout the region,” the leaders said in a joint statement.Biden maintained, as have US, South Korean and Japanese officials, that the summit “was not about China” but was focused on broader security issues. Yet, the leaders in their joint summit concluding statement noted China's “dangerous and aggressive" action in the South China Sea and said they “strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific.”Yoon noted in particular the threat posed by North Korea, saying the three leaders had agreed to improve “our joint response capabilities to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, which have become sophisticated more than ever.”He said as the three appeared before reporters that “today will be remembered as a historic day, where we established a firm institutional basis and commitments to the trilateral partnership.”Japan's Kishida said before the private talks that "the fact that we, the three leaders, have got together in this way, I believe means that we are indeed making a new history as of today. The international community is at a turning point in history.”The visitors spoke in their home languages, their comments repeated by a translator.The U.S., Japan and South Korea agreed to a new “duty to consult” security pledge committing them to speak with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific.The pledge is intended to acknowledge that they share “fundamentally interlinked security environments" and that a threat to one is “a threat to all," according to a senior Biden administration official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement.Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.The Camp David retreat, 65 miles (104.6 kilometers) from the White House, was where President Jimmy Carter brought together Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978 for talks that established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in March 1979. In the midst of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met at the retreat — then known as Shangri-La — to plan the Italian campaign that would knock Benito Mussolini out of the war.Kishida and Yoon were mindful of Camp David’s place in U.S. and world history, making repeated references to its past and now their place in it during their comments at the news conference after the meeting with Biden. The leaders arrived in Washington on Thursday and, as guests of Biden, on Friday were flown separately to Camp David on U.S. military helicopters like the ones Biden uses.Biden's focus for the gathering was to nu&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-japan-south-korea-camp-david-summit-2421359ebcd5973b6252fa284cfb25ff">dge the United States' two closest Asian allies</a>&nbsp;to further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other. The historic rivals have been divided by differing views of World War II history and Japan’s colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.But under Kishida and Yoon, the two countries have begun a rapprochement as the two conservative leaders grapple with shared security challenges posed by North Korea and China. Both leaders have been upset by the stepped-up cadence of North Korea's ballistic missile tests and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-china-warplanes-military-exercises-548705bdceb0763c654cfd11f9b74dfd">Chinese military exercises near Taiwan,</a>&nbsp;the self-ruled island that is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, and other aggressive action.Yoon proposed an initiative in March to resolve disputes stemming from compensation for wartime Korean forced laborers. He announced that South Korea would use its own funds to compensate Koreans enslaved by Japanese companies before the end of World War II.Yoon also traveled to Tokyo that month for talks with Kishida, the first such visit by a South Korean president in more than 12 years.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/south-korea-japan-yoon-kishida-history-135badc84df0b545f44edcb2b86921fe">Kishida reciprocated with a visit to Seoul in May</a>&nbsp;and expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during Japan’s colonial rule,The effort to sustain the trilateral relationship won’t be without challenges.Beijing sees the tightening cooperation efforts as the first steps of a Pacific-version of NATO, the transatlantic military alliance, forming against it. U.S. officials expect that North Korea will lash out—perhaps with more ballistic missile test and certainly blistering rhetoric.Polls show that a solid majority of South Koreans&nbsp;<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/korea-japan-rapprochement-creates-new-opportunities-in-the-indo-pacific/">oppose Yoon’s handling of the forced labor issue</a>&nbsp;that’s been central to mending relations with Japan. And many in Japan fear that bolstering security cooperation will lead the country into an economic Cold War with China, its biggest trading partner. Biden’s predecessor (and potential successor) Republican Donald Trump unnerved South Korea during his time in the White House with talk of reducing the U.S. military presence on the Korean Peninsula.“If an ultra-leftist South Korean president and an ultra-right wing Japanese leader are elected in their next cycles, or even if Trump or someone like him wins in the U.S., then any one of them could derail all the meaningful, hard work Biden, Yoon and Kishida are putting in right now,” said Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior fellow at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnas.org/people/duyeon-kim">Center for a New American Security</a>&nbsp;’s Indo-Pacific Security Program.___CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP) — President Joe Biden opened a historic summit with Japan and South Korea at Camp David on Friday focused on strengthening security and economic ties at a time of increasing concerns about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-satellite-us-drills-summit-67262f21543d6e859f324b02dc29c75e">North Korea’s persistent nuclear threats</a>&nbsp;and China’s provocations in the Pacific."Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together. And I know this is a belief that all three share,” Biden declared at the start of the meeting with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/yoon-suk-yeol">South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/fumio-kishida">Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida</a>&nbsp;at the presidential retreat in Maryland.Addressing his fellow leaders at what he called the first standalone summit of the three nations, the American president said, "I want to thank you both for your political courage that brought you here.”Yoon said as the three appeared before reporters that “today will be remembered as a historic day, where we established a firm institutional basis and commitments to the trilateral partnership.”And Kishida said before the private talks that "the fact that we, the three leaders, have got together in this way, I believe means that we are indeed making a new history as of today. The international community is at a turning point in history.”The U.S., Japan and South Korea have agreed to a new security pledge committing the three countries to consult with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific. Details about the new “duty to consult” commitment emerged as the summit got underway.Before the three-way talks, Biden met separately with Yoon and then Kishida in midmorning. The visitors' remarks were translated into English as they spoke to reporters.The agreement is one of several joint efforts that the leaders were expected to announce at the daylong summit.“Suffice it to say, this is a big deal," Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Friday shortly before the start of the summit. "It is a historic event, and it sets the conditions for a more peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and a stronger and more secure United States of America,"Even before the summit began, it drew&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-us-japan-south-korea-6c626a246219c6dc3915ed8a18f34c74">harsh public criticism</a>&nbsp;from the Chinese government.“The international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters Friday.“Attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region,” Wang said.Sullivan pushed back against the Chinese concerns.“It’s explicitly not a NATO for the Pacific,” Sullivan said. “This partnership is not against anyone, it is for something. It is for a vision of the Indo-Pacific that is free, open, secure and prosperous.”The “duty to consult” pledge is intended to acknowledge that the three countries share “fundamentally interlinked security environments" and that a threat to one of the nations is “a threat to all," according to a senior Biden administration official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the coming announcement.Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.The summit is the first Biden has held during his presidency at the storied Camp David. The three leaders were scheduled to hold a news conference later. Biden was hoping to use much of the day with the two leaders as a more informal opportunity to tighten their bond.The U.S. president planned to take Kishida and Yoon on a walk on the picturesque grounds and host them—and a few senior aides— for a lunch.The retreat 65 miles (104.6 kilometers) from the White House was where President Jimmy Carter brought together Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978 for talks that established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in March 1979. In the midst of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met at the retreat — then known as Shangri-La — to plan the Italian campaign that would knock Benito Mussolini out of the war.Biden's focus for the gathering is to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-japan-south-korea-camp-david-summit-2421359ebcd5973b6252fa284cfb25ff">nudge the United States' two closest Asian allies</a>&nbsp;to further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other. The historic rivals have been divided by differing views of World War II history and Japan’s colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.But under Kishida and Yoon, the two countries have begun a rapprochement as the two conservative leaders grapple with shared security challenges posed by North Korea and China. Both leaders have been upset by the stepped-up cadence of North Korea's ballistic missile tests and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-china-warplanes-military-exercises-548705bdceb0763c654cfd11f9b74dfd">Chinese military exercises near Taiwan,</a>&nbsp;the self-ruled island that is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, and other aggressive action.Yoon proposed an initiative in March to resolve disputes stemming from compensation for wartime Korean forced laborers. He announced that South Korea would use its own funds to compensate Koreans enslaved by Japanese companies before the end of World War II.Yoon also traveled to Tokyo that month for talks with Kishida, the first such visit by a South Korean president in more than 12 years.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/south-korea-japan-yoon-kishida-history-135badc84df0b545f44edcb2b86921fe">Kishida reciprocated with a visit to Seoul in May</a>&nbsp;and expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during Japan’s colonial rule,The effort to sustain the trilateral relationship won’t be without challenges.Beijing sees the tightening cooperation efforts as the first steps of a Pacific-version of NATO, the transatlantic military alliance, forming against it. U.S. officials expect that North Korea will lash out—perhaps with more ballistic missile test and certainly blistering rhetoric.Polls show that a solid majority of South Koreans&nbsp;<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/korea-japan-rapprochement-creates-new-opportunities-in-the-indo-pacific/">oppose Yoon’s handling of the forced labor issue</a>&nbsp;that’s been central to mending relations with Japan. And many in Japan fear that bolstering security cooperation will lead the country into an economic Cold War with China, it’s biggest trading partner. Biden’s predecessor (and potential successor) Republican Donald Trump unnerved South Korea during his time in the White House with talk of reducing the U.S. military presence on the Peninsula.“If an ultra-leftist South Korean president and an ultra-right wing Japanese leader are elected in their next cycles, or even if Trump or someone like him wins in the U.S., then any one of them could derail all the meaningful, hard work Biden, Yoon and Kishida are putting in right now,” said Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior fellow at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnas.org/people/duyeon-kim">Center for a New American Security</a>&nbsp;’s Indo-Pacific Security Program.The three leaders are also expected to detail in their summit communique plans to invest in technology for a three-way crisis hotline and offer an update on progress the countries have made on sharing early-warning data on missile launches by North Korea.Other announcements expected to come out of the summit include plans to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-yoon-kishida-camp-david-missile-defense-f3ce58da383f2255ee479624645db542">expand military cooperation</a>&nbsp;on ballistic defenses and to make the summit an annual event. Sullivan said the leaders would commit on Friday to a multiyear planning process for joint military exercises.The leaders are also likely to discuss the long-running territorial conflicts in the disputed South China Sea involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.

Biden strengthens ties with Japan and South Korea amid China threat

KANSAS CITY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a man's murder.

Just after 12a.m. Friday, officers were dispatched to 400 block of NW 88th St. on a reported prowler call, according to Police Captain Corey Carlisle. At the scene, officers located a man in the rear of the residence.&nbsp; Officers detained this individual prompting further investigation. After preliminary investigations, detectives were directed to a residence in the 400 block of NW 88th Terrace and were given access by the occupants of the home.

Officers then discovered an man later identified a 56=year-old Daniel T. Lainson&nbsp; who was unresponsive and suffering from apparent bodily trauma.&nbsp; EMS responded and pronounced him deceased. Police have a subject of interest in custody.&nbsp; The circumstances surrounding the homicide are unknown. Homicide detectives and Crime Scene Personnel also responded to the scene to process the scene and to recover any evidence and speak to any potential witnesses.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692369347853.png" alt="Police on the scene of the investigation early Friday -photo courtesy KCTV" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene of the investigation early Friday -photo courtesy KCTV</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a man's murder.Just after 12a.m. Friday, officers were dispatched to 400 block of NW 88th St. on a reported prowler call, according to Police Captain Corey Carlisle. At the scene, officers located a man in the rear of the residence.&nbsp; Officers detained this individual prompting further investigation. After preliminary investigations, detectives were directed to a residence in the 400 block of NW 88th Terrace and were given access by the occupants of the home.Officers then discovered an man later identified a 56=year-old Daniel T. Lainson&nbsp; who was unresponsive and suffering from apparent bodily trauma.&nbsp; EMS responded and pronounced him deceased. Police have a subject of interest in custody.&nbsp; The circumstances surrounding the homicide are unknown. Homicide detectives and Crime Scene Personnel also responded to the scene to process the scene and to recover any evidence and speak to any potential witnesses.

Police respond to report of prowler, find man dead at KC home

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating one of their own for an alleged sex crime.

Just after 3p.m. August 15, deputies arrested 26=year-old Grant Cook, a member of the police force in Cheney, on a requested charge of rape, according to the Sedgwick County daily arrest report.

He is no longer in custody at the Sedgwick County Detention Facility and has been moved to another facility, according to online jail records.

"The case is currently under investigation and will be presented to the District Attorney’s Office," according Robin Bush with the sheriff's office.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692222608949.png" alt="Cook-photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Cook-photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating one of their own for an alleged sex crime.Just after 3p.m. August 15, deputies arrested 26=year-old Grant Cook, a member of the police force in Cheney, on a requested charge of rape, according to the Sedgwick County daily arrest report.He is no longer in custody at the Sedgwick County Detention Facility and has been moved to another facility, according to online jail records."The case is currently under investigation and will be presented to the District Attorney’s Office," according Robin Bush with the sheriff's office.

Kan. police officer accused of rape is moved to another jail

By SAM BAILEY <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/06/grieving-moms-plea-to-kansas-lawmakers-do-something-this-epidemic-is-killing-our-kids/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — A district judge has granted a motion allowing transgender Kansans to intervene in Attorney General Kris Kobach’s lawsuit that would require Kansas driver’s licenses to list an individual’s sex assigned at birth instead of their gender.

On July 11, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas filed the motion to intervene in the lawsuit on behalf of five transgender Kansans. Shawnee County District Court Judge Theresa Watson’s&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SN-2023-CV-000422-Order-on-Motion-to-Intervene-TLW..pdf">decision</a>&nbsp;Friday allows those directly affected by the policy to voice their concerns, broadening the case beyond Kobach and the Kansas Department of Revenue.

“We are gratified that the court has seen that our clients have a vested interest in the outcome of this case, and should be entitled to make their arguments,” said Sharon Brett, legal director of the ACLU of Kansas. “… This case is about trans Kansans’ well-being and their ability to live freely and without government-sanctioned persecution.”

Kobach in July asked the court to order KDOR’s Division of Vehicles to comply with&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/SB180/">Senate Bill 180</a>, which took effect July 1, and issue driver’s licenses that reflect a resident’s sex at birth.

Watson earlier issued a restraining order to stop all changes to gender markers on driver’s licenses until the lawsuit is completed. She presided over&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/08/16/attorneys-battle-over-request-for-transgender-kansans-to-intervene-in-drivers-license-lawsuit/">a hearing Wednesday</a>&nbsp;with Brett; a KDOR attorney; and Tony Powell, solicitor for the attorney general, to determine whether the ACLU can intervene on behalf of transgender Kansans.

“The notion that they’re being silenced is ridiculous thinking. We are happy to answer their constitutional claims,” Kobach said Wednesday. “It’s just that procedurally, those should follow the determination of what the statute means. If the court were to agree with our interpretation of the statute, then at that point our posture shifts slightly and we are defending the Department of Revenue against the constitutional claims made by the interveners.”

The ACLU of Kansas posted on its website that if Kobach’s suit was successful, “irreparably harm” would be caused by an “unconstitutional effort” to ban and reverse gender markers on driver’s licenses.

Watson previously set a hearing date for Nov. 1, but in the order allowing the intervention, she said the proposed intervenors have potential to raise issues that will affect the schedule.

“The primary legal question remains the same: Does a state agency have to follow the plain meaning of a law passed by our duly-elected legislators?” Kobach said Friday. “With respect to the constitutional challenge raised by the ACLU, we look forward to rebutting their novel theories in court.”

Rose Saxe, deputy director of the ACLU’s LGBTQ &amp; HIV Project, said she is thankful the court will hear from transgender Kansans.

“The policy change being pursued by the Attorney General is a degrading and discriminatory affront to transgender Kansans’ liberty and their safety, and the voices of transgender Kansans in defense of their personhood shall not and will not be silenced,” Saxe said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692390996441.png" alt=" Adam Kellogg speaks during rally in support of transgender rights May 5, 2023, at the Statehouse in Topeka. Kellogg is one of the five transgender Kansan's represented by the ACLU in a case involving gender markers on driver's licenses. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> Adam Kellogg speaks during rally in support of transgender rights May 5, 2023, at the Statehouse in Topeka. Kellogg is one of the five transgender Kansan's represented by the ACLU in a case involving gender markers on driver's licenses. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By SAM BAILEY <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/06/grieving-moms-plea-to-kansas-lawmakers-do-something-this-epidemic-is-killing-our-kids/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — A district judge has granted a motion allowing transgender Kansans to intervene in Attorney General Kris Kobach’s lawsuit that would require Kansas driver’s licenses to list an individual’s sex assigned at birth instead of their gender.On July 11, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas filed the motion to intervene in the lawsuit on behalf of five transgender Kansans. Shawnee County District Court Judge Theresa Watson’s&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SN-2023-CV-000422-Order-on-Motion-to-Intervene-TLW..pdf">decision</a>&nbsp;Friday allows those directly affected by the policy to voice their concerns, broadening the case beyond Kobach and the Kansas Department of Revenue.“We are gratified that the court has seen that our clients have a vested interest in the outcome of this case, and should be entitled to make their arguments,” said Sharon Brett, legal director of the ACLU of Kansas. “… This case is about trans Kansans’ well-being and their ability to live freely and without government-sanctioned persecution.”Kobach in July asked the court to order KDOR’s Division of Vehicles to comply with&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/SB180/">Senate Bill 180</a>, which took effect July 1, and issue driver’s licenses that reflect a resident’s sex at birth.Watson earlier issued a restraining order to stop all changes to gender markers on driver’s licenses until the lawsuit is completed. She presided over&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/08/16/attorneys-battle-over-request-for-transgender-kansans-to-intervene-in-drivers-license-lawsuit/">a hearing Wednesday</a>&nbsp;with Brett; a KDOR attorney; and Tony Powell, solicitor for the attorney general, to determine whether the ACLU can intervene on behalf of transgender Kansans.“The notion that they’re being silenced is ridiculous thinking. We are happy to answer their constitutional claims,” Kobach said Wednesday. “It’s just that procedurally, those should follow the determination of what the statute means. If the court were to agree with our interpretation of the statute, then at that point our posture shifts slightly and we are defending the Department of Revenue against the constitutional claims made by the interveners.”The ACLU of Kansas posted on its website that if Kobach’s suit was successful, “irreparably harm” would be caused by an “unconstitutional effort” to ban and reverse gender markers on driver’s licenses.Watson previously set a hearing date for Nov. 1, but in the order allowing the intervention, she said the proposed intervenors have potential to raise issues that will affect the schedule.“The primary legal question remains the same: Does a state agency have to follow the plain meaning of a law passed by our duly-elected legislators?” Kobach said Friday. “With respect to the constitutional challenge raised by the ACLU, we look forward to rebutting their novel theories in court.”Rose Saxe, deputy director of the ACLU’s LGBTQ &amp; HIV Project, said she is thankful the court will hear from transgender Kansans.“The policy change being pursued by the Attorney General is a degrading and discriminatory affront to transgender Kansans’ liberty and their safety, and the voices of transgender Kansans in defense of their personhood shall not and will not be silenced,” Saxe said.

Judge allows transgender Kansans to intervene in driver’s license lawsuit

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fire and have made an arrest.

Just after 11:30 a.m. August 15, crews responded to a fire alarm at an apartment at 1312 SW Polk Street in Topeka, according to fire department spokesperson Rosie Nichols. 

&nbsp;Fire crews found smoke and flames coming from the apartment and kept the blaze confined to the building where the fire started.&nbsp;&nbsp;No injuries were reported.

Investigators determined the fire was intentionally set. As a result of the investigation, on Wednesday, police arrested 62-year-old Rose A. Wilson, 62, of Topeka, on requested charges of&nbsp;Aggravated Arson.

The estimated loss was $500, all of which is associated with content loss. Investigators did find working smoke detectors in the apartment, according to Nichols.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692305589950.png" alt="Wilson photo Shawnee County" />
 <figcaption>Wilson photo Shawnee County</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fire and have made an arrest.Just after 11:30 a.m. August 15, crews responded to a fire alarm at an apartment at 1312 SW Polk Street in Topeka, according to fire department spokesperson Rosie Nichols. &nbsp;Fire crews found smoke and flames coming from the apartment and kept the blaze confined to the building where the fire started.&nbsp;&nbsp;No injuries were reported.Investigators determined the fire was intentionally set. As a result of the investigation, on Wednesday, police arrested 62-year-old Rose A. Wilson, 62, of Topeka, on requested charges of&nbsp;Aggravated Arson.The estimated loss was $500, all of which is associated with content loss. Investigators did find working smoke detectors in the apartment, according to Nichols.&nbsp;

Kansas woman accused of setting apartment fire

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Florida man who used a flagpole to attack officers who were trying to defend the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison.

Michael Steven Perkins, 40, of Plant City, was sentenced in District of Columbia federal court, according to court records. His co-defendant, Joshua Christopher Doolin, 25, of Lakeland, received one year and six months on Wednesday.

Both were convicted earlier this year of felony civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.

Doolin was also convicted of theft of government property. Perkins was separately convicted of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon and engaging in acts of physical violence while on the restricted Capitol grounds.

Doolin and Perkins were arrested on June 30, 2021, along with co-defendants Joseph Hutchinson and Olivia Pollock, officials said. A federal judge issued&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-capitol-riot-defendants-fugitives-c5e18267f95c2a5873f6d4fd80ee283f">bench warrants for Hutchinson and Pollock in March</a>&nbsp;after the FBI reported that they had tampered with or removed their ankle monitors and disappeared.

A fifth co-defendant, Jonathan Pollock, has not yet been apprehended, and the FBI is offering a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/tampa/news/press-releases/fbi-increases-reward-offered-for-central-florida-man-wanted-on-charges-from-the-us-capitol-breach">reward of up to $30,000</a>&nbsp;in exchange for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

According to court documents, Doolin and Perkins joined with others in objecting to Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over then-President Donald Trump. A mob attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying election results for Biden over the Republican Trump, authorities said. Five people died in the violence.

According to evidence and testimony presented at trial, Doolin and Perkins were on the west side of the Capitol on Jan. 6. Hutchinson, pushed from behind by Perkins, charged a line of police officers in an effort to break through the line, prosecutors said.

As officers descended into the crowd to help another officer, Perkins picked up a flagpole and thrust it into the chest of an approaching officer, authorities said. Perkins then raised the flagpole over his head and swung it down, striking two officers in the back of their heads, officials said.

Doolin and Perkins then advanced closer to the Capitol building, where Doolin acquired a Metropolitan Police Department crowd-control spray cannister and a U.S. Capitol Police riot shield, prosecutors said. Doolin eventually re-located to a Capitol building entrance passageway, where he used the stolen riot shield to join the crowd of rioters pushing against the police officers inside the passageway in an effort to break through and enter the Capitol, officials said.

Doolin's attorney said in an email that Doolin plans to appeal his convictions. An attorney for Perkins didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment from The Associated Press.

Since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,100 people have been arrested for crimes related to the breach of the Capitol, officials said. More than 350 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692361109183.png" alt="Perkins-photo Dept. of Justice" />
 <figcaption>Perkins-photo Dept. of Justice</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — A Florida man who used a flagpole to attack officers who were trying to defend the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison.Michael Steven Perkins, 40, of Plant City, was sentenced in District of Columbia federal court, according to court records. His co-defendant, Joshua Christopher Doolin, 25, of Lakeland, received one year and six months on Wednesday.Both were convicted earlier this year of felony civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.Doolin was also convicted of theft of government property. Perkins was separately convicted of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon and engaging in acts of physical violence while on the restricted Capitol grounds.Doolin and Perkins were arrested on June 30, 2021, along with co-defendants Joseph Hutchinson and Olivia Pollock, officials said. A federal judge issued&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-capitol-riot-defendants-fugitives-c5e18267f95c2a5873f6d4fd80ee283f">bench warrants for Hutchinson and Pollock in March</a>&nbsp;after the FBI reported that they had tampered with or removed their ankle monitors and disappeared.A fifth co-defendant, Jonathan Pollock, has not yet been apprehended, and the FBI is offering a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/tampa/news/press-releases/fbi-increases-reward-offered-for-central-florida-man-wanted-on-charges-from-the-us-capitol-breach">reward of up to $30,000</a>&nbsp;in exchange for information leading to his arrest and conviction.According to court documents, Doolin and Perkins joined with others in objecting to Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over then-President Donald Trump. A mob attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying election results for Biden over the Republican Trump, authorities said. Five people died in the violence.According to evidence and testimony presented at trial, Doolin and Perkins were on the west side of the Capitol on Jan. 6. Hutchinson, pushed from behind by Perkins, charged a line of police officers in an effort to break through the line, prosecutors said.As officers descended into the crowd to help another officer, Perkins picked up a flagpole and thrust it into the chest of an approaching officer, authorities said. Perkins then raised the flagpole over his head and swung it down, striking two officers in the back of their heads, officials said.Doolin and Perkins then advanced closer to the Capitol building, where Doolin acquired a Metropolitan Police Department crowd-control spray cannister and a U.S. Capitol Police riot shield, prosecutors said. Doolin eventually re-located to a Capitol building entrance passageway, where he used the stolen riot shield to join the crowd of rioters pushing against the police officers inside the passageway in an effort to break through and enter the Capitol, officials said.Doolin's attorney said in an email that Doolin plans to appeal his convictions. An attorney for Perkins didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment from The Associated Press.Since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,100 people have been arrested for crimes related to the breach of the Capitol, officials said. More than 350 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

Man who attacked officers with flagpole Jan. 6 is going to prison

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting that injured a man and teen.

Just after 3:30a.m. Thursday, police were dispatched to a shooting call at the 9500 block of East Champions Street in Wichita, according to Officer Juan Rebolledo.

First responders located a 42-year-old victim with a gunshot wound to his upper body and the 18-year-old victim with gunshot wounds to his torso and left forearm. 

EMS transported both victims&nbsp;to a local hospital in serious condition but with non-life-threatening injuries. The victims were reported in stable condition Thursday evening, according to Rebolledo.

The investigation revealed that the victims got into a verbal argument outside the residence and at one point during the incident, both victims produced handguns and started to shoot at each other.

The investigators are still working to fully determine what led up to the shooting.&nbsp; Police released no names or additional details.

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting that injured a man and teen.Just after 3:30a.m. Thursday, police were dispatched to a shooting call at the 9500 block of East Champions Street in Wichita, according to Officer Juan Rebolledo.First responders located a 42-year-old victim with a gunshot wound to his upper body and the 18-year-old victim with gunshot wounds to his torso and left forearm. EMS transported both victims&nbsp;to a local hospital in serious condition but with non-life-threatening injuries. The victims were reported in stable condition Thursday evening, according to Rebolledo.The investigation revealed that the victims got into a verbal argument outside the residence and at one point during the incident, both victims produced handguns and started to shoot at each other.The investigators are still working to fully determine what led up to the shooting.&nbsp; Police released no names or additional details.

Police: Kan. man, teen settle argument with gunfight 

TOPEKA&nbsp;–&nbsp;Governor Laura Kelly announced Thursday that in order to stay ahead of&nbsp;the progression of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology, she has directed Executive Branch agencies to adopt a statewide generative AI policy, according to a media release from her office.

&nbsp;Click&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDIsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vZ292ZXJub3Iua2Fuc2FzLmdvdi93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvMjAyMy8wOC9QODIwMC4wMC1HZW5lcmF0aXZlLUFydGlmaWNpYWwtSW50ZWxsaWdlbmNlLVNpZ25lZC5wZGYiLCJidWxsZXRpbl9pZCI6IjIwMjMwODE3LjgxMjg2MDMxIn0.hokEvcv46zzbzO_okmiCBJ5v6Br8rs1-U1zG2oosPqw/s/1303160919/br/224431701019-l" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;to view the full policy

The policy, created and introduced by the Kansas Office of Information Technology Services (OITS), outlines how Kansas can responsibly embrace and use the technology while also protecting the State of Kansas.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"It is essential that we be proactive in finding the best way to use any technology that can pose risks to Kansans’ data and privacy,”&nbsp;Governor Laura Kelly said.&nbsp;"With the adoption of this policy, Kansas serves as a model for what an enterprising, effective government can do to stay at the forefront of technological advancements." &nbsp;&nbsp;

The policy comes as state and federal elected officials across the country grapple with the challenges of generative AI, which are computer-based tools used to automate certain tasks. With this policy, Kansas is staying ahead of the curve as many states continue to consider ways to regulate the use of generative AI.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"The full potential of generative AI has yet to be seen,”&nbsp;said Interim Chief Information Technology Officer and Chief Information Security Officer Jeff Maxon. “We have only scratched the surface in our understanding of what this technology can do. With the adoption of this policy, it allows agencies to safely explore how we can use generative AI to enhance our work and, ultimately, better serve Kansans.”&nbsp;

The policy serves as the primary governing document for the usage of generative AI for users or related activities by the entities. This policy applies to all business uses involving the State of Kansas, including but not limited to the development of software code, written documentation (i.e., policy, legislation, or regulations), and correspondence (such as memorandums, letters, text messages, and emails), research, the summarization and proofreading of documents, and the making of business decisions.&nbsp;

The policy outlines that responses created from generative AI outputs must be reviewed for accuracy, appropriateness, privacy, and security before being acted upon or disseminated. It also lays out that state information and/or&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDEsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vZWJpdC5rcy5nb3YvaXRlYy9yZXNvdXJjZXMvcG9saWNpZXMvaXRlYy04MDEwLWEta2Fuc2FzLWRhdGEtcmV2aWV3LWJvYXJkLXN0YW5kYXJkcyIsImJ1bGxldGluX2lkIjoiMjAyMzA4MTcuODEyODYwMzEifQ.gKGXzIa8Ah78_HlN2A-TdBMcOR8-mgbbKZi1QVEBZx8/s/1303160919/br/224431701019-l" target="_blank">Restricted Use Information (RUI)</a>&nbsp;shall not be provided when interacting with generative AI.&nbsp;

Agencies are to ensure contractors disclose in their contracts the use of generative AI or integrations with generative AI platforms. Contractors are also prohibited from using State of Kansas RUI or other confidential data in generative AI queries or for building or training proprietary generative AI programs unless explicitly approved. Contractors utilizing generative AI to build software must demonstrate positive control over all data input into the system.&nbsp;

Software code generative by generative AI shall only be implemented after the entity has identified and mitigated all business and security risks related to its use. All usage of software code generated by generative AI shall be annotated.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689956124232.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA&nbsp;–&nbsp;Governor Laura Kelly announced Thursday that in order to stay ahead of&nbsp;the progression of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology, she has directed Executive Branch agencies to adopt a statewide generative AI policy, according to a media release from her office.&nbsp;Click&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDIsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vZ292ZXJub3Iua2Fuc2FzLmdvdi93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvMjAyMy8wOC9QODIwMC4wMC1HZW5lcmF0aXZlLUFydGlmaWNpYWwtSW50ZWxsaWdlbmNlLVNpZ25lZC5wZGYiLCJidWxsZXRpbl9pZCI6IjIwMjMwODE3LjgxMjg2MDMxIn0.hokEvcv46zzbzO_okmiCBJ5v6Br8rs1-U1zG2oosPqw/s/1303160919/br/224431701019-l" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;to view the full policyThe policy, created and introduced by the Kansas Office of Information Technology Services (OITS), outlines how Kansas can responsibly embrace and use the technology while also protecting the State of Kansas.&nbsp;&nbsp;"It is essential that we be proactive in finding the best way to use any technology that can pose risks to Kansans’ data and privacy,”&nbsp;Governor Laura Kelly said.&nbsp;"With the adoption of this policy, Kansas serves as a model for what an enterprising, effective government can do to stay at the forefront of technological advancements." &nbsp;&nbsp;The policy comes as state and federal elected officials across the country grapple with the challenges of generative AI, which are computer-based tools used to automate certain tasks. With this policy, Kansas is staying ahead of the curve as many states continue to consider ways to regulate the use of generative AI.&nbsp;&nbsp;"The full potential of generative AI has yet to be seen,”&nbsp;said Interim Chief Information Technology Officer and Chief Information Security Officer Jeff Maxon. “We have only scratched the surface in our understanding of what this technology can do. With the adoption of this policy, it allows agencies to safely explore how we can use generative AI to enhance our work and, ultimately, better serve Kansans.”&nbsp;The policy serves as the primary governing document for the usage of generative AI for users or related activities by the entities. This policy applies to all business uses involving the State of Kansas, including but not limited to the development of software code, written documentation (i.e., policy, legislation, or regulations), and correspondence (such as memorandums, letters, text messages, and emails), research, the summarization and proofreading of documents, and the making of business decisions.&nbsp;The policy outlines that responses created from generative AI outputs must be reviewed for accuracy, appropriateness, privacy, and security before being acted upon or disseminated. It also lays out that state information and/or&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDEsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vZWJpdC5rcy5nb3YvaXRlYy9yZXNvdXJjZXMvcG9saWNpZXMvaXRlYy04MDEwLWEta2Fuc2FzLWRhdGEtcmV2aWV3LWJvYXJkLXN0YW5kYXJkcyIsImJ1bGxldGluX2lkIjoiMjAyMzA4MTcuODEyODYwMzEifQ.gKGXzIa8Ah78_HlN2A-TdBMcOR8-mgbbKZi1QVEBZx8/s/1303160919/br/224431701019-l" target="_blank">Restricted Use Information (RUI)</a>&nbsp;shall not be provided when interacting with generative AI.&nbsp;Agencies are to ensure contractors disclose in their contracts the use of generative AI or integrations with generative AI platforms. Contractors are also prohibited from using State of Kansas RUI or other confidential data in generative AI queries or for building or training proprietary generative AI programs unless explicitly approved. Contractors utilizing generative AI to build software must demonstrate positive control over all data input into the system.&nbsp;Software code generative by generative AI shall only be implemented after the entity has identified and mitigated all business and security risks related to its use. All usage of software code generated by generative AI shall be annotated.&nbsp;

Kansas issues statewide AI policy for government agencies

RENO COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating another report of cattle theft in Kansas.

The Reno County Sheriff's Office is seeking information on cattle that went missing earlier this month.&nbsp;Circle H Cattle Company reported 15 400 to 500 pound calves stolen from the area of US 50 and Sterling Road, according to a social media report. The cattle went missing sometime between July 29, and August 6.

Earlier this week, a member of the Kansas Livestock Associated reported 17-head of 200-350 pound calves were stolen in mid July ten miles northeast of Atwood, according to a media release from the Rawlins County sheriff's office. The calves are carry fresh brands of V arrow high on the right hip.

The Kansas Livestock Association is offering a $5000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.

In April, the Sheridan County Sheriff's Department asked for the public's assistance in a case involving eighty 80 head of cattle missing from South of Hoxie, Kansas.

If anyone has any information on the Reno County cattle please contact the Reno County Sheriff’s Office 620-694-2735 and request to speak with Deputy Matt Lutz.&nbsp;

RENO COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating another report of cattle theft in Kansas.The Reno County Sheriff's Office is seeking information on cattle that went missing earlier this month.&nbsp;Circle H Cattle Company reported 15 400 to 500 pound calves stolen from the area of US 50 and Sterling Road, according to a social media report. The cattle went missing sometime between July 29, and August 6.Earlier this week, a member of the Kansas Livestock Associated reported 17-head of 200-350 pound calves were stolen in mid July ten miles northeast of Atwood, according to a media release from the Rawlins County sheriff's office. The calves are carry fresh brands of V arrow high on the right hip.The Kansas Livestock Association is offering a $5000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.In April, the Sheridan County Sheriff's Department asked for the public's assistance in a case involving eighty 80 head of cattle missing from South of Hoxie, Kansas.If anyone has any information on the Reno County cattle please contact the Reno County Sheriff’s Office 620-694-2735 and request to speak with Deputy Matt Lutz.&nbsp;

More cattle thefts reported in Kansas

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities continue their investigating after an&nbsp;8-year-old girl died after a school bus struck and killed her in Wichita.

Just before 7:30a.m. Wednesday, Sedgwick County Deputies responded to the 3300 block of East Locust where a Derby School District 260, 2012 Yellow Blue Bird School Bus struck&nbsp;8-year-old Harmoney Harper of Wichita, according to Robin Bush with the Sheriff's Department.&nbsp; The girl was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators believe the child ran into the street and was struck by the oncoming bus while it was driving eastbound on Locust. No charges are anticipated at this time, according to Bush.&nbsp; The family has established an <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/harmony-funeral-fund?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&amp;utm_medium=sms&amp;utm_source=customer">online fundraiser</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692292678760.png" alt="Harmony Harper-photo GoFundMe" />
 <figcaption>Harmony Harper-photo GoFundMe</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities continue their investigating after an&nbsp;8-year-old girl died after a school bus struck and killed her in Wichita.Just before 7:30a.m. Wednesday, Sedgwick County Deputies responded to the 3300 block of East Locust where a Derby School District 260, 2012 Yellow Blue Bird School Bus struck&nbsp;8-year-old Harmoney Harper of Wichita, according to Robin Bush with the Sheriff's Department.&nbsp; The girl was pronounced dead at the scene.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692221177825.png" alt="Sheriff's deputies at the scene of the fatal accident early Wednesday-photo courtesy KWCH TV" />
 <figcaption>Sheriff's deputies at the scene of the fatal accident early Wednesday-photo courtesy KWCH TV</figcaption>
 </figure>Investigators believe the child ran into the street and was struck by the oncoming bus while it was driving eastbound on Locust. No charges are anticipated at this time, according to Bush.&nbsp; The family has established an <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/harmony-funeral-fund?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&amp;utm_medium=sms&amp;utm_source=customer">online fundraiser</a>.

Sheriff: No charges expected in accident that killed Kan. girl

SEDGWICK COUNTY —For second time in three months, law enforcement authorities are investigating vandalism at the Great Plains Transportation Museum, 700 East Douglas in Wichita.

On July 22, vandals caused thousands of dollars in damage at the museum and police need the public's help&nbsp;with information on suspects.

In May, vandals damaged museum equipment on display adjacent to the Union Station platform level in Old Town including a locomotive, passenger car, two cabooses and a converted passenger car used as a repair and fabrication shop. A museum building window was also smashed.&nbsp;The Wichita Police Department apprehended three suspects for those crimes.

If you have any information about the suspect in the recent vandalism, please call Crime Stoppers of Wichita/Sedgwick County at 316-267-2111 or download the free P3 App to submit an ANNONYMOUS tip.If your tip leads to an arrest, you could be eligible for a CASH reward of up to $2500!

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692316679027.png" alt="Photos Great Plains Transportation Museum" />
 <figcaption>Photos Great Plains Transportation Museum</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —For second time in three months, law enforcement authorities are investigating vandalism at the Great Plains Transportation Museum, 700 East Douglas in Wichita.On July 22, vandals caused thousands of dollars in damage at the museum and police need the public's help&nbsp;with information on suspects.In May, vandals damaged museum equipment on display adjacent to the Union Station platform level in Old Town including a locomotive, passenger car, two cabooses and a converted passenger car used as a repair and fabrication shop. A museum building window was also smashed.&nbsp;The Wichita Police Department apprehended three suspects for those crimes.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692316657209.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>If you have any information about the suspect in the recent vandalism, please call Crime Stoppers of Wichita/Sedgwick County at 316-267-2111 or download the free P3 App to submit an ANNONYMOUS tip.If your tip leads to an arrest, you could be eligible for a CASH reward of up to $2500!

Vandals cause damage again at Kansas museum

PAWNEE COUNTY — A corrections officer at the Larned State Correctional Facility accused of&nbsp;distribution of a controlled substance at the Facility made his first court appearance in court Thursday.

 Jessie Smith, II, 51 of Larned,&nbsp;&nbsp;is charged with Possession of 63.0 Grams of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute; and Traffic in Contraband in a Correctional Facility by an Employee, according to Pawnee County Attorney Doug McNett.

 The charges are alleged to have occurred at the Larned State Correctional Facility on August 13, 2023. He was arrested without incident following an internal investigation by the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Smith faces between 92 months and 144 months in the custody of the Department of Corrections depending on his criminal history.

Smith was released on a supervised bond. A Preliminary Hearing has been scheduled for August 31, according to McNett

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692292868798.png" alt="Smith-photo Pawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Smith-photo Pawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>PAWNEE COUNTY — A corrections officer at the Larned State Correctional Facility accused of&nbsp;distribution of a controlled substance at the Facility made his first court appearance in court Thursday. Jessie Smith, II, 51 of Larned,&nbsp;&nbsp;is charged with Possession of 63.0 Grams of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute; and Traffic in Contraband in a Correctional Facility by an Employee, according to Pawnee County Attorney Doug McNett. The charges are alleged to have occurred at the Larned State Correctional Facility on August 13, 2023. He was arrested without incident following an internal investigation by the Kansas Department of Corrections.Smith faces between 92 months and 144 months in the custody of the Department of Corrections depending on his criminal history.Smith was released on a supervised bond. A Preliminary Hearing has been scheduled for August 31, according to McNett

Jail officer accused of distributing meth at Larned Correctional Facility

NEW YORK (AP) —The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed this week to its highest level in more than 20 years, grim news for would-be homebuyers already challenged by a housing market that remains competitive due to a dearth of homes for sale.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 7.09% from 6.96% last week. A year ago, the rate averaged 5.13%.

It’s the fourth consecutive weekly increase for the average rate and the highest since early April 2002, when it averaged 7.13%. The last time the average rate was above 7% was last November, when it stood at 7.08%.

High rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already unaffordable to many Americans.

“With prices even higher than they were a year ago in many markets, crossing the 7% mortgage rate threshold again could be what sets in motion a major contraction in the housing market this fall,” said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist for Bright MLS.

The latest increase in rates follows a sharp uptick in the 10-year Treasury yield, which has been above 4% this month and climbing. The yield, which lenders use to price rates on mortgages and other loans, touched its highest level since October on Thursday morning, and it’s close to where it was in 2007.

The yield has been rising as bond traders react to more reports showing the U.S. economy remains remarkably resilient, which could keep upward pressure on inflation, giving the Federal Reserve reason to keep interest rates higher for longer.

“The economy continues to do better than expected and the 10-year Treasury yield has moved up, causing mortgage rates to climb,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Demand has been impacted by affordability headwinds, but low inventory remains the root cause of stalling home sales.”

High inflation drove the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark interest rate 11 times since March 2022, lifting the fed funds rate to the highest level in 22 years.

Mortgage rates don’t necessarily mirror the Fed’s rate increases, but tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Investors’ expectations for future inflation, global demand for U.S. Treasurys and what the Fed does with interest rates can influence rates on home loans.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage remains more than double what it was two years ago, when it was just 2.86%. Those ultra-low rates spurred a wave of home sales and refinancing. The sharply higher rates now are contributing to a dearth of available homes, as homeowners who locked in those lower borrowing costs two years ago are now reluctant to sell and jump into a higher rate on a new property.

The lack of housing supply is also a big reason&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/housing-home-sales-real-estate-home-prices-1cab95227f68f2acd36919e6f4594d45">home sales are down 23% through the first half of this year.</a>

The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with those refinancing their homes, rose to 6.46% from 6.34% last week. A year ago, it averaged 4.55%, Freddie Mac said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1647549682911.jpeg" alt="&nbsp;High rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already unaffordable to many Americans. photo by James Bell" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;High rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already unaffordable to many Americans. photo by James Bell</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) —The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed this week to its highest level in more than 20 years, grim news for would-be homebuyers already challenged by a housing market that remains competitive due to a dearth of homes for sale.Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 7.09% from 6.96% last week. A year ago, the rate averaged 5.13%.It’s the fourth consecutive weekly increase for the average rate and the highest since early April 2002, when it averaged 7.13%. The last time the average rate was above 7% was last November, when it stood at 7.08%.High rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already unaffordable to many Americans.“With prices even higher than they were a year ago in many markets, crossing the 7% mortgage rate threshold again could be what sets in motion a major contraction in the housing market this fall,” said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist for Bright MLS.The latest increase in rates follows a sharp uptick in the 10-year Treasury yield, which has been above 4% this month and climbing. The yield, which lenders use to price rates on mortgages and other loans, touched its highest level since October on Thursday morning, and it’s close to where it was in 2007.The yield has been rising as bond traders react to more reports showing the U.S. economy remains remarkably resilient, which could keep upward pressure on inflation, giving the Federal Reserve reason to keep interest rates higher for longer.“The economy continues to do better than expected and the 10-year Treasury yield has moved up, causing mortgage rates to climb,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Demand has been impacted by affordability headwinds, but low inventory remains the root cause of stalling home sales.”High inflation drove the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark interest rate 11 times since March 2022, lifting the fed funds rate to the highest level in 22 years.Mortgage rates don’t necessarily mirror the Fed’s rate increases, but tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Investors’ expectations for future inflation, global demand for U.S. Treasurys and what the Fed does with interest rates can influence rates on home loans.The average rate on a 30-year mortgage remains more than double what it was two years ago, when it was just 2.86%. Those ultra-low rates spurred a wave of home sales and refinancing. The sharply higher rates now are contributing to a dearth of available homes, as homeowners who locked in those lower borrowing costs two years ago are now reluctant to sell and jump into a higher rate on a new property.The lack of housing supply is also a big reason&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/housing-home-sales-real-estate-home-prices-1cab95227f68f2acd36919e6f4594d45">home sales are down 23% through the first half of this year.</a>The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with those refinancing their homes, rose to 6.46% from 6.34% last week. A year ago, it averaged 4.55%, Freddie Mac said.

Home buyers in shock: Mortgage rates hit 21-year high

FINNEY COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects for alleged human trafficking.

On Tuesday, Sheriff’s Deputies responded to an address in Finney County in reference to a landlord versus tenant dispute, according to a media release.

Deputies learned the situation involved immigrants from multiple countries being housed at the residence for work. Preliminary investigation discovered the occupants, including some minor children, weren’t being paid or cared for properly. 

This information led to an investigation into human trafficking. Multiple search warrants were applied for and granted for the identified addresses where at least 16 individuals were found, some of which were minors.

Deputies arrested 32-year-old Jose Castillo-Alegria and 38-year-old Betty Palomino on requested charges of human trafficking for transporting at least sixteen individuals into Finney County and housing them at several properties in and around the Garden City, Finney County, KS area for the purposes of labor.

Castillo-Alegria is being held in the Finney County Jail on requested charges of Aggravated Human Trafficking; Recruit/Harbor/Transport Child &gt; 14• Human Trafficking; Threaten to Withhold Food, Shelter, or Clothes, Crimes of Human Smuggling and Aggravated Human Smuggling

Palomino is jailed on requested charges:of Aggravated Human Trafficking; Recruit/Harbor/Transport Child &gt; 14• Human Trafficking; Threaten to Withhold Food, Shelter, or Clothes and&nbsp; Interference of a Law Enforcement Officer

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692228909410.png" alt="Castillo-Alegria-photo Finney Co." />
 <figcaption>Castillo-Alegria-photo Finney Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>FINNEY COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects for alleged human trafficking.On Tuesday, Sheriff’s Deputies responded to an address in Finney County in reference to a landlord versus tenant dispute, according to a media release.Deputies learned the situation involved immigrants from multiple countries being housed at the residence for work. Preliminary investigation discovered the occupants, including some minor children, weren’t being paid or cared for properly. This information led to an investigation into human trafficking. Multiple search warrants were applied for and granted for the identified addresses where at least 16 individuals were found, some of which were minors.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692229054475.png" alt="Palomino-photo Finney Co." />
 <figcaption>Palomino-photo Finney Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Deputies arrested 32-year-old Jose Castillo-Alegria and 38-year-old Betty Palomino on requested charges of human trafficking for transporting at least sixteen individuals into Finney County and housing them at several properties in and around the Garden City, Finney County, KS area for the purposes of labor.Castillo-Alegria is being held in the Finney County Jail on requested charges of Aggravated Human Trafficking; Recruit/Harbor/Transport Child &gt; 14• Human Trafficking; Threaten to Withhold Food, Shelter, or Clothes, Crimes of Human Smuggling and Aggravated Human SmugglingPalomino is jailed on requested charges:of Aggravated Human Trafficking; Recruit/Harbor/Transport Child &gt; 14• Human Trafficking; Threaten to Withhold Food, Shelter, or Clothes and&nbsp; Interference of a Law Enforcement Officer

Sheriff: Children among SW Kan. human trafficking victims 

JACKSON COUNTY, Kan. —Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspect on multiple drug allegations.

Just before 1:30 A.M. August 14,, a Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a 2007 Honda Odyssey for an alleged traffic violation near 330th Road and U.S. Highway 75. according to Sheriff Tim Morse.&nbsp; 

During the traffic stop, the driver, Melissa Marie Marshall, 32, of Twin Falls, Idaho, allegedly provided a false name and date of birth to the deputy.&nbsp; &nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692189700918.png" alt="McCoy-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>McCoy-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY, Kan. —Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspect on multiple drug allegations.Just before 1:30 A.M. August 14,, a Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a 2007 Honda Odyssey for an alleged traffic violation near 330th Road and U.S. Highway 75. according to Sheriff Tim Morse.&nbsp; During the traffic stop, the driver, Melissa Marie Marshall, 32, of Twin Falls, Idaho, allegedly provided a false name and date of birth to the deputy.&nbsp; &nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692189676767.png" alt="Marshall-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Marshall-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>During the stop, a probable cause search of the vehicle led to the discovery of distribution amounts of methamphetamine and psychedelic mushrooms, as well as hallucinogenic drugs and multiple items of drug paraphernalia. In addition, a firearm was also recovered from the vehicle. Marshall and the front seat passenger, Joshua Clay McCoy, 42, of Topeka was arrested.Marshall was jailed on requested charges of distribution of methamphetamine, distribution of a hallucinogenic drug, possession of hallucinogenic drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia, felony interference with law enforcement, criminal use of weapons and driving without a driver’s license.McCoy was arrested on a requested charge for distribution of methamphetamine, distribution of a hallucinogenic drug, possession of hallucinogenic drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia and interference with law enforcement.