SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating six separate homicides that occurred in Wichita last week.

Just before 6:30 a.m. Friday, police were dispatched to a check welfare call in the 4800 block of N. Portwest in Wichita, according to Officer Kris Gupilan.

Officers arrived on the scene and were informed that 80-year-old Margaret O'Neil did not answer the door for a friend, which was out of the ordinary. Officers saw through a window that she was lying on the kitchen floor and forced entry into the residence to render aid.

It appeared that she was fatally shot multiple times. Her 57-year-old son identified as Michael O’Neil of Wichita, was found inside the residence with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Just before a.m.&nbsp; 4a.m. Thursday, police responded to the 300 block of North Moore after a a street sweeper operator saw two gunshot victims in a vehicle in a parking garage in Wichita's Old Town and called 911, according to Gupilan.

EMS and fire arrived on the scene and attempted life-saving measures, but the victims identified as  20-year-old Josephina Lerma-Dominguez and 21-year-old Bryan Lara-Hernandez both of Wichita died at the scene. Police arrested  19-year-old Zachary Ramirez of Maize in connection with the killing.

These were the fourth and fifth homicides in Wichita this week.

On Tuesday, a woman dropping off her child at an in-home daycare&nbsp; saw the two homicide victims through a window of a home in the 1100 Block of North Woodrow. The victims were identified as 50-year-old Vanessa Crawford and 58-year-old Donald Eckert both of Wichita.

Police arrested 62-year-old Charles Crawford in connection with the murders.&nbsp; He made a court appearance on Friday and was charged with capital murder, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.

Just after 10p.m. Monday, July 24, police responded to a call&nbsp;in the 600 block of S. Laura in Wichita. First responders located 14-year-old Malachi Sicka of Wichita nearby with a gunshot wound in the 1100 block of E. Orme. EMS transported the boy to a local hospital where he died. 

On Thursday night police reported the arrest of&nbsp;&nbsp;three juvenile male suspects on requested charges of 1st Degree Murder, Aggravated Robbery and Criminal Use of a Weapon, in the homicide Two of the suspects are 17 years old and the other is 15 years old, all from Wichita.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1690487693837.png" alt="Police at the scene of the investigation early Thursday-photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Police at the scene of the investigation early Thursday-photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating six separate homicides that occurred in Wichita last week.Just before 6:30 a.m. Friday, police were dispatched to a check welfare call in the 4800 block of N. Portwest in Wichita, according to Officer Kris Gupilan.Officers arrived on the scene and were informed that 80-year-old Margaret O'Neil did not answer the door for a friend, which was out of the ordinary. Officers saw through a window that she was lying on the kitchen floor and forced entry into the residence to render aid.It appeared that she was fatally shot multiple times. Her 57-year-old son identified as Michael O’Neil of Wichita, was found inside the residence with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.Just before a.m.&nbsp; 4a.m. Thursday, police responded to the 300 block of North Moore after a a street sweeper operator saw two gunshot victims in a vehicle in a parking garage in Wichita's Old Town and called 911, according to Gupilan.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1690507120194.png" alt="Ramirez-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Ramirez-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>EMS and fire arrived on the scene and attempted life-saving measures, but the victims identified as 20-year-old Josephina Lerma-Dominguez and 21-year-old Bryan Lara-Hernandez both of Wichita died at the scene. Police arrested 19-year-old Zachary Ramirez of Maize in connection with the killing.These were the fourth and fifth homicides in Wichita this week.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1690336820824.png" alt="Police on the scene of the deadly killing at a home day care -photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene of the deadly killing at a home day care -photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>On Tuesday, a woman dropping off her child at an in-home daycare&nbsp; saw the two homicide victims through a window of a home in the 1100 Block of North Woodrow. The victims were identified as 50-year-old Vanessa Crawford and 58-year-old Donald Eckert both of Wichita.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1690372152213.png" alt="Crawford-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Crawford-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Police arrested 62-year-old Charles Crawford in connection with the murders.&nbsp; He made a court appearance on Friday and was charged with capital murder, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.Just after 10p.m. Monday, July 24, police responded to a call&nbsp;in the 600 block of S. Laura in Wichita. First responders located 14-year-old Malachi Sicka of Wichita nearby with a gunshot wound in the 1100 block of E. Orme. EMS transported the boy to a local hospital where he died. On Thursday night police reported the arrest of&nbsp;&nbsp;three juvenile male suspects on requested charges of 1st Degree Murder, Aggravated Robbery and Criminal Use of a Weapon, in the homicide Two of the suspects are 17 years old and the other is 15 years old, all from Wichita.

Police: Deadly final week of July in Wichita

WASHINGTON –To protect Heartland Tri-State Bank depositors, Dream First Bank entered into an agreement with the FDIC to purchase and assume all deposits of Heartland Tri-State Bank. Heartland Tri-State Bank employees and customers are being welcomed to Dream First Bank during the transition this week.

Heartland Tri-State Bank of Elkhart, Kansas, was closed Friday by the Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver, according to a media release from the FDIC.

Heartland Tri-State has four branches including a location at 116 South Lincoln in Arlington; 601 Morton in Elkhart; 114 North Main in Attica and 212 Washington in Rolla.

The four branches will reopen as branches of Dream First Bank, National Association July 31, under normal business hours. 

Now a part of Dream First Bank, each of the former Heartland Tri-State Bank branches will continue to provide personal and business banking services to the community.&nbsp;

Dream First has locations in Syracuse, Johnson, Ulysses, Hugoton and two in Garden City.

“At Dream First bank, we understand this is unexpected news for Heartland Tri-State Bank customers. Most importantly, I want to confirm that the Heartland Tri-State Bank employee jobs, deposits and banking relationships are not affected by Friday's news,” said Chris Floyd, President and CEO of Dream First Bank. “Dream First staff will continue to provide exceptional customer service and be available to answer questions that employees and customers may have.”&nbsp;

Depositors of Heartland Tri-State Bank have uninterrupted access to their money by writing checks or using existing ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Depositors of Heartland Tri-State Bank will become depositors of Dream First Bank, so customers do not need to change their banking relationship to retain their deposit insurance coverage. The four branches of Heartland Tri-State Bank located in Elkhart, Rolla, Arlington and Attica, Kansas will reopen as branches of Dream First Bank, National Association, on Monday, July 31, under normal business hours. &nbsp;

The failure to Heartland Tri-State is the fifth U.S. bank failure of 2023, following the collapse of First Republic Bank, Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate Bank. There were no bank failures the past two years.

<a href="https://www.fdic.gov/news/press-releases/2023/pr23058.html">Click here for</a> additional details from the FDIC&nbsp;&nbsp;

WASHINGTON – Heartland Tri-State Bank of Elkhart, Kansas, was closed Friday by the Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver, according to a media release from the FDIC.

To protect depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Dream First Bank, National Association, of Syracuse, Kansas, to assume all of the deposits of Heartland Tri-State Bank.

That bank has four branches including a location at 116 South Lincoln in Arlington; 601 Morton in Elkhart; 114 North Main in Attica and 212 Washington in Rolla.

The four branches will reopen as branches of Dream First Bank, National Association, on Monday, July 31, under normal business hours. 

Over the weekend, depositors of Heartland Tri-State Bank can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.

Depositors of Heartland Tri-State Bank will become depositors of Dream First Bank, National Association, so customers do not need to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage. Customers of Heartland Tri-State Bank should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from Dream First Bank, National Association, that it has completed systems changes to allow its branch offices to process their accounts as well.

As of March 31, 2023, Heartland Tri-State Bank had approximately $139 million in total assets and $130 million in total deposits. In addition to assuming all of the deposits, Dream First Bank, National Association, agreed to purchase essentially all of the failed bank’s assets.

The FDIC and Dream First Bank, National Association, are also entering into a commercial&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fdic.gov/resources/resolutions/bank-failures/failed-bank-list/lossshare/">shared-loss agreement</a>&nbsp;on the loans it purchased of the former Heartland Tri-State Bank. The FDIC as receiver and Dream First Bank, National Association, will share in the losses and potential recoveries on the loans covered by the shared-loss agreement, which is projected to maximize recoveries on the assets by keeping them in the private sector. The agreement is also expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers.

Customers with questions about the transaction should call the FDIC toll-free at 1-866-431-1725. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m. Central Time (CT); on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. CT; on Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m. CT; on Monday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. CT; and thereafter from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT. Interested parties also can&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fdic.gov/resources/resolutions/bank-failures/failed-bank-list/heartlandtristate.html">visit the FDIC’s website</a>.

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fdic.gov/resources/deposit-insurance/deposit-insurance-fund/">Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF)</a>&nbsp;will be $54.2 million. Compared to other alternatives, Dream First Bank, National Association’s, acquisition was the least costly resolution for the DIF, an insurance fund created by Congress in 1933 and managed by the FDIC to protect the deposits at the nation’s banks.

This is the fifth U.S. bank failure of 2023, following the collapse of First Republic Bank, Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate Bank. There were no bank failures the past two years.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1690760535474.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON –To protect Heartland Tri-State Bank depositors, Dream First Bank entered into an agreement with the FDIC to purchase and assume all deposits of Heartland Tri-State Bank. Heartland Tri-State Bank employees and customers are being welcomed to Dream First Bank during the transition this week.Heartland Tri-State Bank of Elkhart, Kansas, was closed Friday by the Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver, according to a media release from the FDIC.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1690597696044.png" alt="Google image" />
 <figcaption>Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>Heartland Tri-State has four branches including a location at 116 South Lincoln in Arlington; 601 Morton in Elkhart; 114 North Main in Attica and 212 Washington in Rolla.The four branches will reopen as branches of Dream First Bank, National Association July 31, under normal business hours. Now a part of Dream First Bank, each of the former Heartland Tri-State Bank branches will continue to provide personal and business banking services to the community.&nbsp;Dream First has locations in Syracuse, Johnson, Ulysses, Hugoton and two in Garden City.“At Dream First bank, we understand this is unexpected news for Heartland Tri-State Bank customers. Most importantly, I want to confirm that the Heartland Tri-State Bank employee jobs, deposits and banking relationships are not affected by Friday's news,” said Chris Floyd, President and CEO of Dream First Bank. “Dream First staff will continue to provide exceptional customer service and be available to answer questions that employees and customers may have.”&nbsp;Depositors of Heartland Tri-State Bank have uninterrupted access to their money by writing checks or using existing ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Depositors of Heartland Tri-State Bank will become depositors of Dream First Bank, so customers do not need to change their banking relationship to retain their deposit insurance coverage. The four branches of Heartland Tri-State Bank located in Elkhart, Rolla, Arlington and Attica, Kansas will reopen as branches of Dream First Bank, National Association, on Monday, July 31, under normal business hours. &nbsp;The failure to Heartland Tri-State is the fifth U.S. bank failure of 2023, following the collapse of First Republic Bank, Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate Bank. There were no bank failures the past two years.<a href="https://www.fdic.gov/news/press-releases/2023/pr23058.html">Click here for</a> additional details from the FDIC&nbsp;&nbsp;--------------------WASHINGTON – Heartland Tri-State Bank of Elkhart, Kansas, was closed Friday by the Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver, according to a media release from the FDIC.To protect depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Dream First Bank, National Association, of Syracuse, Kansas, to assume all of the deposits of Heartland Tri-State Bank.That bank has four branches including a location at 116 South Lincoln in Arlington; 601 Morton in Elkhart; 114 North Main in Attica and 212 Washington in Rolla.The four branches will reopen as branches of Dream First Bank, National Association, on Monday, July 31, under normal business hours. Over the weekend, depositors of Heartland Tri-State Bank can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.Depositors of Heartland Tri-State Bank will become depositors of Dream First Bank, National Association, so customers do not need to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage. Customers of Heartland Tri-State Bank should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from Dream First Bank, National Association, that it has completed systems changes to allow its branch offices to process their accounts as well.As of March 31, 2023, Heartland Tri-State Bank had approximately $139 million in total assets and $130 million in total deposits. In addition to assuming all of the deposits, Dream First Bank, National Association, agreed to purchase essentially all of the failed bank’s assets.The FDIC and Dream First Bank, National Association, are also entering into a commercial&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fdic.gov/resources/resolutions/bank-failures/failed-bank-list/lossshare/">shared-loss agreement</a>&nbsp;on the loans it purchased of the former Heartland Tri-State Bank. The FDIC as receiver and Dream First Bank, National Association, will share in the losses and potential recoveries on the loans covered by the shared-loss agreement, which is projected to maximize recoveries on the assets by keeping them in the private sector. The agreement is also expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers.Customers with questions about the transaction should call the FDIC toll-free at 1-866-431-1725. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m. Central Time (CT); on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. CT; on Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m. CT; on Monday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. CT; and thereafter from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT. Interested parties also can&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fdic.gov/resources/resolutions/bank-failures/failed-bank-list/heartlandtristate.html">visit the FDIC’s website</a>.The FDIC estimates that the cost to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fdic.gov/resources/deposit-insurance/deposit-insurance-fund/">Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF)</a>&nbsp;will be $54.2 million. Compared to other alternatives, Dream First Bank, National Association’s, acquisition was the least costly resolution for the DIF, an insurance fund created by Congress in 1933 and managed by the FDIC to protect the deposits at the nation’s banks.This is the fifth U.S. bank failure of 2023, following the collapse of First Republic Bank, Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate Bank. There were no bank failures the past two years.

Failed Kansas bank set to reopen with new owner

JOHNSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting that sent a girl to the hospital for treatment.

Just before 10p.m. Friday, police were dispatched to the report of a shooting in the area of 91st Street and Pflumm in Lenexa, according to a media release.

 The victim, later learned to be a 16-year-old girl, told dispatchers that she was in a vehicle that was continuing to drive away from the area of the shooting. 

A few moments later, officers located the vehicle with the victim at 95th Street and Interstate 35 highway. She had been shot in the face and officers began first aid treatment until paramedics arrived. 

EMS then transported her to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. During the investigation, it was learned that she was seated in the front passenger seat of a vehicle, which was being driven by another 16-year-old girl.

 A 15-year-old boy in the back seat was armed with a handgun. Both girls know they boy. As the they were were driving, the handgun was fired, striking the girl in the face. The vehicle continued to drive for a short time before pulling over. 

The boy who fired the gun exited the vehicle and fled the scene prior to officers arrival. 

  A few hours later, a parent brought the boy to the Lenexa Police Department. Police took him into custody and transported&nbsp; him to the Johnson County Juvenile Detention Center. This case will be forwarded to the Johnson County District Attorneys' Office.

JOHNSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting that sent a girl to the hospital for treatment.Just before 10p.m. Friday, police were dispatched to the report of a shooting in the area of 91st Street and Pflumm in Lenexa, according to a media release. The victim, later learned to be a 16-year-old girl, told dispatchers that she was in a vehicle that was continuing to drive away from the area of the shooting. A few moments later, officers located the vehicle with the victim at 95th Street and Interstate 35 highway. She had been shot in the face and officers began first aid treatment until paramedics arrived. EMS then transported her to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. During the investigation, it was learned that she was seated in the front passenger seat of a vehicle, which was being driven by another 16-year-old girl. A 15-year-old boy in the back seat was armed with a handgun. Both girls know they boy. As the they were were driving, the handgun was fired, striking the girl in the face. The vehicle continued to drive for a short time before pulling over. The boy who fired the gun exited the vehicle and fled the scene prior to officers arrival. A few hours later, a parent brought the boy to the Lenexa Police Department. Police took him into custody and transported&nbsp; him to the Johnson County Juvenile Detention Center. This case will be forwarded to the Johnson County District Attorneys' Office.

Boy in custody after 16-year-old Kansas girl shot in the face

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China accused the United States of turning Taiwan into an “ammunition depot” after the White House announced a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-military-aid-china-support-06e61a0e0ed787ea120f839ef59885fa">$345 million military aid package</a>&nbsp;for Taipei, and the self-ruled island said Sunday it tracked six Chinese navy ships in waters off its shores.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office issued a statement late Saturday opposing the military aid to Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.

“No matter how much of the ordinary people's taxpayer money the ... Taiwanese separatist forces spend, no matter how many U.S. weapons, it will not shake our resolve to solve the Taiwan problem. Or shake our firm will to realize the reunification of our motherland,” said Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office.

“Their actions are turning Taiwan into a powder keg and ammunition depot, aggravating the threat of war in the Taiwan Strait," the statement said.

China’s People’s Liberation Army has increased its military maneuvers in recent years aimed at Taiwan, sending&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-china-warplanes-military-exercises-2732de541f0154abbc92b5e91b12a611">fighter jets and warships</a>&nbsp;to circle the island.

On Sunday, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said it tracked six Chinese navy ships near the island.

Taiwan's ruling administration, led by the Democratic Progressive Party, has stepped up its weapons purchases from the U.S. as part of a deterrence strategy against a Chinese invasion.

China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949, and Taiwan has never been governed by China’s ruling Communist Party.

Unlike previous military purchases, the latest batch of aid is part of a presidential authority approved by the U.S. Congress last year to draw weapons from current U.S. military stockpiles — so Taiwan will not have to wait for military production and sales.

While Taiwan has purchased $19 billion worth of weaponry, much of it has yet to be delivered to Taiwan. Washington will&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-military-aid-china-support-06e61a0e0ed787ea120f839ef59885fa">send man-portable air defense systems, intelligence and surveillance capabilities</a>, firearms and missiles to Taiwan.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Friday announced $345 million in military aid for Taiwan, in what is the Biden administration’s first major package drawing on America’s own stockpiles to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-china-warplanes-military-exercises-548705bdceb0763c654cfd11f9b74dfd" target="_blank">help Taiwan counter China</a>.

The White House’s announcement said the package would include defense, education and training for the Taiwanese. Washington will send man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS, intelligence and surveillance capabilities, firearms and missiles, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters ahead of the announcement.

U.S. lawmakers have been pressuring the Pentagon and White House to speed weapons to Taiwan. The goals are to help it counter China and to deter China from considering attacking, by providing Taipei enough weaponry that it would make the price of invasion too high.

The package is in addition to nearly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-china-taiwan-military-b7d7f4e8ee181301b0b0ceefc1dce74b" target="_blank">$19 billion in military sales</a>&nbsp;of F-16s and other major weapons systems that the U.S. has approved for Taiwan. Delivery of those weapons has been hampered by supply chain issues that started during the COVID-19 pandemic and have been exacerbated by the global defense industrial base pressures created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The difference is that this aid is part of a presidential authority approved by Congress last year to draw weapons from current U.S. military stockpiles — so Taiwan will not have to wait for military production and sales. This gets weapons delivered faster than providing funding for new weapons.

The Pentagon has used a similar authority to get billions of dollars worth of munitions to Ukraine.

Taiwan split from China in 1949 amid civil war. Chinese President Xi Jinping maintains China’s right to take over the now self-ruled island, by force if necessary. China has accused the U.S. of turning Taiwan into a “powder keg” through the billions of dollars in weapons sales it has pledged.

The U.S. maintains a “One China” policy under which it&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-china-us-military-sales-4730400c993d2e32e85ad8cf718be583" target="_blank">does not recognize</a>&nbsp;Taiwan’s formal independence and has no formal diplomatic relations with the island in deference to Beijing. However, U.S. law requires a credible defense for Taiwan and for the U.S. to treat all threats to the island as matters of “grave concern.”

Getting stockpiles of weapons to Taiwan now, before an attack begins, is one of the lessons the U.S. has learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pentagon deputy defense secretary Kathleen Hicks told The Associated Press earlier this year.

Ukraine “was more of a cold-start approach than the planned approach we have been working on for Taiwan, and we will apply those lessons,” Hicks said. Efforts to resupply Taiwan after a conflict erupted would be complicated because it is an island, she said.

China regularly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-taiwan-warships-ee3bcf774b5d979c3b36a1a3c2f6ae7d" target="_blank">sends warships and planes across the center line</a>&nbsp;in the Taiwan Strait that provides a buffer between the sides, as well as into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, in an effort to intimidate the island’s 23 million people and wear down its military capabilities.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for China’s embassy in Washington, said in a statement Friday that Beijing was “firmly opposed” to U.S. military ties with Taiwan. The U.S. should “stop selling arms to Taiwan” and “stop creating new factors that could lead to tensions in the Taiwan Strait,” Liu said.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China accused the United States of turning Taiwan into an “ammunition depot” after the White House announced a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-military-aid-china-support-06e61a0e0ed787ea120f839ef59885fa">$345 million military aid package</a>&nbsp;for Taipei, and the self-ruled island said Sunday it tracked six Chinese navy ships in waters off its shores.China's Taiwan Affairs Office issued a statement late Saturday opposing the military aid to Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.“No matter how much of the ordinary people's taxpayer money the ... Taiwanese separatist forces spend, no matter how many U.S. weapons, it will not shake our resolve to solve the Taiwan problem. Or shake our firm will to realize the reunification of our motherland,” said Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office.“Their actions are turning Taiwan into a powder keg and ammunition depot, aggravating the threat of war in the Taiwan Strait," the statement said.China’s People’s Liberation Army has increased its military maneuvers in recent years aimed at Taiwan, sending&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-china-warplanes-military-exercises-2732de541f0154abbc92b5e91b12a611">fighter jets and warships</a>&nbsp;to circle the island.On Sunday, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said it tracked six Chinese navy ships near the island.Taiwan's ruling administration, led by the Democratic Progressive Party, has stepped up its weapons purchases from the U.S. as part of a deterrence strategy against a Chinese invasion.China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949, and Taiwan has never been governed by China’s ruling Communist Party.Unlike previous military purchases, the latest batch of aid is part of a presidential authority approved by the U.S. Congress last year to draw weapons from current U.S. military stockpiles — so Taiwan will not have to wait for military production and sales.While Taiwan has purchased $19 billion worth of weaponry, much of it has yet to be delivered to Taiwan. Washington will&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-military-aid-china-support-06e61a0e0ed787ea120f839ef59885fa">send man-portable air defense systems, intelligence and surveillance capabilities</a>, firearms and missiles to Taiwan.----------------------WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Friday announced $345 million in military aid for Taiwan, in what is the Biden administration’s first major package drawing on America’s own stockpiles to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-china-warplanes-military-exercises-548705bdceb0763c654cfd11f9b74dfd" target="_blank">help Taiwan counter China</a>.The White House’s announcement said the package would include defense, education and training for the Taiwanese. Washington will send man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS, intelligence and surveillance capabilities, firearms and missiles, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters ahead of the announcement.U.S. lawmakers have been pressuring the Pentagon and White House to speed weapons to Taiwan. The goals are to help it counter China and to deter China from considering attacking, by providing Taipei enough weaponry that it would make the price of invasion too high.The package is in addition to nearly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-china-taiwan-military-b7d7f4e8ee181301b0b0ceefc1dce74b" target="_blank">$19 billion in military sales</a>&nbsp;of F-16s and other major weapons systems that the U.S. has approved for Taiwan. Delivery of those weapons has been hampered by supply chain issues that started during the COVID-19 pandemic and have been exacerbated by the global defense industrial base pressures created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The difference is that this aid is part of a presidential authority approved by Congress last year to draw weapons from current U.S. military stockpiles — so Taiwan will not have to wait for military production and sales. This gets weapons delivered faster than providing funding for new weapons.The Pentagon has used a similar authority to get billions of dollars worth of munitions to Ukraine.Taiwan split from China in 1949 amid civil war. Chinese President Xi Jinping maintains China’s right to take over the now self-ruled island, by force if necessary. China has accused the U.S. of turning Taiwan into a “powder keg” through the billions of dollars in weapons sales it has pledged.The U.S. maintains a “One China” policy under which it&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-china-us-military-sales-4730400c993d2e32e85ad8cf718be583" target="_blank">does not recognize</a>&nbsp;Taiwan’s formal independence and has no formal diplomatic relations with the island in deference to Beijing. However, U.S. law requires a credible defense for Taiwan and for the U.S. to treat all threats to the island as matters of “grave concern.”Getting stockpiles of weapons to Taiwan now, before an attack begins, is one of the lessons the U.S. has learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pentagon deputy defense secretary Kathleen Hicks told The Associated Press earlier this year.Ukraine “was more of a cold-start approach than the planned approach we have been working on for Taiwan, and we will apply those lessons,” Hicks said. Efforts to resupply Taiwan after a conflict erupted would be complicated because it is an island, she said.China regularly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-taiwan-warships-ee3bcf774b5d979c3b36a1a3c2f6ae7d" target="_blank">sends warships and planes across the center line</a>&nbsp;in the Taiwan Strait that provides a buffer between the sides, as well as into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, in an effort to intimidate the island’s 23 million people and wear down its military capabilities.Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for China’s embassy in Washington, said in a statement Friday that Beijing was “firmly opposed” to U.S. military ties with Taiwan. The U.S. should “stop selling arms to Taiwan” and “stop creating new factors that could lead to tensions in the Taiwan Strait,” Liu said.

China responds to US giving $345M in military aid to Taiwan

St. Joseph —Tragedy struck Kansas City Chiefs Training Camp in St. Joseph. Mosaic Life Care reports a fan died during the Sunday morning practice at Missouri Western State University.

Mosaic released a written statement, “We are devastated to share that one of the Kansas City Chiefs beloved fans, Jessica Tangen of Riverside, Mo., passed away Sunday morning during practice at Chiefs Training Camp.” Mosaic provided no details.

Mosaic stated its caregivers and emergency department caregivers responded. Mosaic thanked Buchanan County EMS and Missouri Western staff for reacting swiftly to the situation.

“Jessica’s family shared that she was a lifelong Chiefs fan and loved cheering for the team. Please join us in lifting up the grieving family with your thoughts and prayers."

By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostSt. Joseph —Tragedy struck Kansas City Chiefs Training Camp in St. Joseph. Mosaic Life Care reports a fan died during the Sunday morning practice at Missouri Western State University.Mosaic released a written statement, “We are devastated to share that one of the Kansas City Chiefs beloved fans, Jessica Tangen of Riverside, Mo., passed away Sunday morning during practice at Chiefs Training Camp.” Mosaic provided no details.Mosaic stated its caregivers and emergency department caregivers responded. Mosaic thanked Buchanan County EMS and Missouri Western staff for reacting swiftly to the situation.“Jessica’s family shared that she was a lifelong Chiefs fan and loved cheering for the team. Please join us in lifting up the grieving family with your thoughts and prayers."

Woman dies while attending the Chiefs training camp

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for making an alleged false police report that generated a large police presence.&nbsp;

Just after 4 a.m. Friday, police were dispatched to a home in the 2900 block of SE Indiana Ave. in Topeka in reference what was reported as a hostage situation, according to a media release from police.

Given the nature of the call, significant police resources responded to the home.

During the course of the investigation, officers learned that there was no hostage situation at the home, and that a false police report was made.

Investigators quickly determined the swatting call originated from a nearby home in the same block on SE Indiana Avenue.

 The suspect, later identified as Veronica E. Freeby, 33 of Topeka, was taken into custody without incident, later arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Transmit/communicate false info to request emergency service; w/threat of violent activity ad aShawnee County warrant

Freeby and the involved parties are known to one another, and this is believed to have been an isolated incident. There were no injuries during this incident. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1690556256910.png" alt="Freeby-photo Shawnee County" />
 <figcaption>Freeby-photo Shawnee County</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for making an alleged false police report that generated a large police presence.&nbsp;Just after 4 a.m. Friday, police were dispatched to a home in the 2900 block of SE Indiana Ave. in Topeka in reference what was reported as a hostage situation, according to a media release from police.Given the nature of the call, significant police resources responded to the home.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1690556340872.png" alt="Given the nature of the call, significant police resources responded to the home.-photo courtesy WIBW TV" />
 <figcaption>Given the nature of the call, significant police resources responded to the home.-photo courtesy WIBW TV</figcaption>
 </figure>During the course of the investigation, officers learned that there was no hostage situation at the home, and that a false police report was made.Investigators quickly determined the swatting call originated from a nearby home in the same block on SE Indiana Avenue. The suspect, later identified as Veronica E. Freeby, 33 of Topeka, was taken into custody without incident, later arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Transmit/communicate false info to request emergency service; w/threat of violent activity ad aShawnee County warrantFreeby and the involved parties are known to one another, and this is believed to have been an isolated incident. There were no injuries during this incident.

Kansas woman accused of reporting fake hostage situation

KANSAS CITY— Jonathan M. Bravo-Lopez (also known as “Jonathan Vravo,” and “Shadow”), 27, a citizen of Mexico residing in Kansas City was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to life in federal prison for conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping resulting in death. Bravo-Lopez was also sentenced to 24 months for unlawful reentry, which the court ordered to be served consecutive to the life sentences, according to the United State's Attorney.

On Dec. 16, 2022, Bravo-Lopez and co-defendant Juan D. Osorio (also known as “Spexx”), 30, also a citizen of Mexico residing in Kansas City were found guilty at trial of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping resulting in death. Osorio was also found guilty of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. Bravo-Lopez was also found guilty of illegally reentering the United States after having been deported in 2016.

Osorio was sentenced on June 20, 2023, to life in federal prison without parole.

Evidence introduced during the trial indicated that Osorio and Bravo-Lopez conspired to kidnap Cristian Escutia in an attempt to rob him of money. They transported Escutia across state lines from Missouri to Kansas before fatally shooting him on April 3, 2017.

Osorio and Bravo-Lopez arranged to purchase $300 of marijuana from Escutia as a ruse to lure him into their kidnapping plan. On April 3, 2017, they met Escutia outside his residence and forced him into their vehicle, a Chrysler Pacifica, at gunpoint. Co-defendant Marco A. Sosa-Perea, 27, of Kansas City, Mo., who had remained in the car, drove them away from the scene of the kidnapping. The kidnapping was captured by the video surveillance system outside a nearby residence. When they drove to the 200 block of Donovan Road in Kansas City, Kan., they forced Escutia out of the vehicle. Escutia was shot three times and left to die on the side of the road.

Osorio, who is in the United States unlawfully, was in possession of an Action Arms Uzi .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol when he was arrested on April 7, 2017.

Sosa-Perea was sentenced on Feb. 6, 2023, to 10 years in federal prison without parole after pleading guilty to his role in the kidnapping conspiracy.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick C. Edwards and Matthew A. Moeder. It was investigated by the FBI, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1671644570715.png" alt="On April 3, 2017, the defendants met Cristian Escutia outside his residence and forced him into their vehicle, a Chrysler Pacifica, at gunpoint. photo KCPD" />
 <figcaption>On April 3, 2017, the defendants met Cristian Escutia outside his residence and forced him into their vehicle, a Chrysler Pacifica, at gunpoint. photo KCPD</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY— Jonathan M. Bravo-Lopez (also known as “Jonathan Vravo,” and “Shadow”), 27, a citizen of Mexico residing in Kansas City was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to life in federal prison for conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping resulting in death. Bravo-Lopez was also sentenced to 24 months for unlawful reentry, which the court ordered to be served consecutive to the life sentences, according to the United State's Attorney.On Dec. 16, 2022, Bravo-Lopez and co-defendant Juan D. Osorio (also known as “Spexx”), 30, also a citizen of Mexico residing in Kansas City were found guilty at trial of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping resulting in death. Osorio was also found guilty of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. Bravo-Lopez was also found guilty of illegally reentering the United States after having been deported in 2016.Osorio was sentenced on June 20, 2023, to life in federal prison without parole.Evidence introduced during the trial indicated that Osorio and Bravo-Lopez conspired to kidnap Cristian Escutia in an attempt to rob him of money. They transported Escutia across state lines from Missouri to Kansas before fatally shooting him on April 3, 2017.Osorio and Bravo-Lopez arranged to purchase $300 of marijuana from Escutia as a ruse to lure him into their kidnapping plan. On April 3, 2017, they met Escutia outside his residence and forced him into their vehicle, a Chrysler Pacifica, at gunpoint. Co-defendant Marco A. Sosa-Perea, 27, of Kansas City, Mo., who had remained in the car, drove them away from the scene of the kidnapping. The kidnapping was captured by the video surveillance system outside a nearby residence. When they drove to the 200 block of Donovan Road in Kansas City, Kan., they forced Escutia out of the vehicle. Escutia was shot three times and left to die on the side of the road.Osorio, who is in the United States unlawfully, was in possession of an Action Arms Uzi .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol when he was arrested on April 7, 2017.Sosa-Perea was sentenced on Feb. 6, 2023, to 10 years in federal prison without parole after pleading guilty to his role in the kidnapping conspiracy.This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick C. Edwards and Matthew A. Moeder. It was investigated by the FBI, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department.

Mexican national sentenced for kidnapping, murder in Kansas

RICE COUNTY—SpaceX convoy traveled south from Salina, west from McPherson, through Lyons and Great Bend before heading south on U.S. 281 just after noon Sunday.

The Kansas Department of Transportation continues to remind driver to aware as you travel, as this could affect your travel time.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1690742894269.png" alt="Photo Great Bend Post" />
 <figcaption>Photo Great Bend Post</figcaption>
 </figure>RICE COUNTY—SpaceX convoy traveled south from Salina, west from McPherson, through Lyons and Great Bend before heading south on U.S. 281 just after noon Sunday.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1690742960570.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1690499513618.png" alt="KDOT image" />
 <figcaption>KDOT image</figcaption>
 </figure>The Kansas Department of Transportation continues to remind driver to aware as you travel, as this could affect your travel time.&nbsp;

SpaceX tanks moving across Kansas on Sunday

BY SETH BORENSTEIN, CAMILLE FASSETT and MICHAEL GOLDBERG Associated Press

ROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — Many were not just killed at home. They were killed by their homes.

Angela Eason had visited Brenda Odoms' tidy mobile home before. It was a place where Odoms, who had many tragedies in her life, felt safe.

In March, a tornado ripped through this small Mississippi town and people in mobile or manufactured homes were hit the hardest. Inside a mobile morgue, Eason, the county coroner, examined Odoms' gaping fatal head wound. Odoms was found just outside of her collapsed mobile home that was tossed around by a tornado. Blunt force trauma killed her.

"The one place she felt safe she was not," Eason said. Fourteen people died in that Rolling Fork tornado, nine of them, including Odoms, were in uprooted manufactured or mobile homes.

Tornadoes in the United States are disproportionately killing more people in mobile or manufactured homes, especially in the South, often victimizing some of the most socially and economically vulnerable residents. Since 1996, tornadoes have killed 815 people in mobile or manufactured homes, representing 53% of all the people killed at home during a tornado, according to an Associated Press data analysis of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tornado deaths. Meanwhile, less than 6% of America's housing units are manufactured homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

While the dangers of tornadoes to mobile homes have long been known, and there are ways to mitigate the risk, the percentage of total tornado deaths that happen in mobile homes has been increasing. Part of the problem is that federal housing rules that call for tougher manufactured home standards, including anchoring, only apply in hurricane zones, which is most of Florida and then several counties along the coast. Those are not the areas where tornadoes usually hit.

Auburn University engineering professor David Roueche called manufactured homes in non-coastal places "death traps compared to most permanent homes" when it comes to tornadoes.

The first tornado deaths this year were in Alabama in January, killing seven people, all in mobile homes. All but one were thrown at least 1,000 feet from their homes, with the seventh person thrown at least 500 feet, said Ernie Baggett, the former emergency management chief for Autauga County, Alabama. Less than 100 yards from where four of those people died was a permanent home that had little more than shingle damage, he said.

When the wind hits the mobile homes, "it's like a house of cards. They just crumble," Baggett said.

So far this year, at least 45 of the 74 people killed in the U.S. by tornadoes were in some form of manufactured housing when they died, according to NOAA data. Nine others died in site homes and the rest were killed in other places, such as in vehicles.

The manufactured housing industry — which disputes that there's any disproportionate danger — insists on calling the structures manufactured homes if they are built after hurricane-based federal standards in 1976 and mobile homes if they are built before, saying age of the home matters. Federal housing officials use the term manufactured housing. Other people, including many researchers and residents, use the terms interchangeably.

More than 70% of the 8 million manufactured homes in America were built after 1976. Because a big chunk were built in the 1980s and early 1990s, 60% of all those homes were installed before increased federal standards were adopted in 1994, the industry's trade group, Manufactured Housing Institute said.

Tornado experts say most tornadoes should be survivable.

"You just have to be in some structure that's attached to the ground. And then no matter what the tornado throws at you, you have really good odds," said NOAA social scientist Kim Klockow-McClain.

But in manufactured homes, even the weakest tornadoes are killing people in large numbers when they shouldn't be, more than a dozen experts in meteorology, disasters and engineering told The AP.

More than 240 people in mobile homes in the past 28 years have died in tornadoes with winds of 135 mph or less, the three weakest of the six categories of twisters, the AP analysis found. That's 79% of the deaths at home in the weaker tornadoes. It's only in storms with winds higher than 165 mph where most of the at home deaths are in more permanent structures.

Auburn's Roueche not only studies what happens in mobile homes during tornadoes, he grew up in one. What he sees over and over are mobile homes that fail from the bottom up because they are not secured enough to the ground, like permanent homes are.

"The whole structure is rolling or flying through air. You've got dressers falling on top of you. You've got the entire structure that's trying to crush you," said Roueche.

That March evening in Rolling Fork, when the tornado roared through Ida Cartlidge remembered the air blowing so powerfully that she couldn't breathe, the sounds of windows shattering and then utter mayhem.

"The only thing that's holding a mobile home down are the little straps in the ground," Cartlidge said. "It picked up the home one time, set it down. It picked it up again, set it down. It picked it up a third time, and we were in the air."

The tornado hit Mildred Joyner's mobile home so hard she felt the mobile home shake, heard the cracking sound of what she figured was her home coming apart and then she woke up in the hospital.

The problem is worsening in the South because tornadoes have been moving more from the Great Plains to the mid-South in recent decades and will likely to continue to do so with climate change a possible factor, studies show. Alabama has the most tornado deaths by far.

Unlike the rest of the country, which usually has most manufactured housing in parks, the South has mobile homes scattered about the countryside in ones and twos, making central tornado shelters less effective and likely to be built, said Villanova University tornado expert Stephen Strader and Northern Illinois meteorology professor Walker Ashley.

One thing scientists, emergency managers and the manufactured housing industry agree on is that anchoring mobile homes to the ground is key.

That requires expensive concrete or expensive tie down systems, said former Alabama emergency official Jonathan Gaddy, now a professor at Idaho State University.

"Why does that matter? Well, it explains why we haven't fixed the problem with anchoring because nobody can fix the problem and still make money. That's the bottom line," Gaddy said.

"Anchoring matters and has been shown to be the difference between life or death," Villanova's Strader said in an email. "However, the MH industry seems disinterested in addressing this because it would make their homes more expensive."

Manufactured Home Institute Chief Executive Officer Lesli Gooch said the industry is "very clear" about the importance of anchoring. "We also talk about making sure that a professional checks your anchoring systems on your manufactured home, especially on mobile homes built prior to (19)76," she said.

"We're very focused on making sure that there are minimum installation standards in the states," Gooch said.

Northern Illinois' Ashley said lack of state regulations and inspections, especially in much of the South, is a big problem.

Improvements in federal codes that went into effect in 1976, 1994 and 2008 make a big difference, Gooch said, arguing that the NOAA data the AP analyzed and that scientists use lump different ages of manufactured homes together and tar them with the problems of the oldest ones.

"I wouldn't want your readers to misinterpret your data to suggest that living in a manufactured home is somehow more deadly than living in a site-built home because I would tell you that I don't think that the data bears that out," Gooch said.

Gooch pointed to manufactured homes in Florida, where tighter federal Housing and Urban Development safety rules apply because it is a hurricane wind zone. "Homes in Florida that are manufactured homes are performing better than what you see in the site-built world," she said.

Several scientists and engineers said data, and history, show the situation has not improved.

"This is more of the handwaving- and misdirection-type statements that has come to represent the manufactured housing industry's take on tornado and manufactured home safety," Villanova's Strader said in an email, with Northern Illinois' Ashley agreeing.

"Our study of the Lee County Alabama EF4 tornado found that 19 of the 23 deaths were in manufactured homes (all built after 1994)," Strader said. "All of those deaths were due to a lack of anchoring or a floor-to-wall connection. There have been many prior studies that have illustrated that these homes are failing at lower wind loads than permanent homes."

If Gooch were right, the percentage of tornado deaths in mobile homes would be going down with time and they are not, NOAA National Severe Storms Lab tornado scientist Harold Brooks said, presenting data that goes back to 1975. His data showed mobile home deaths between 1975 and 1984 were 43.6% of all at-home tornado deaths and the same figure was 63.2% for the past ten years through the end of May.

A contributing factor, Strader, Ashley and Roueche said, is that federal rules for anchoring only apply in hurricane zones, mostly in Florida. Those are not the areas where tornadoes usually hit. Instead, they hit inland where the weakest federal standards are, they said. Most of tornado-prone areas, including almost all of Alabama, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas and Mississippi are in "Zone 1," where safety and anchoring of mobile homes have the most lax standards.

"People are dying in new and old Zone 1 manufactured homes," Roueche said in response to Gooch's comments. Tornado homes throughout the country would be much safer if the coastal federal requirements applied everywhere, he said.

One of the issues with mobile homes and tornadoes is that it is an intersection of risk and "different social vulnerability factors like poverty, even some issues pertaining to race, ethnicity, age," NOAA's Klockow said.

And it makes it harder for people to leave their mobile homes and head for a permanent shelter.

"I always think about the single mother who's living in a manufactured home. It's the middle of the night. She has three kids. Her car's not starting correctly and all of a sudden here comes a tornado," Strader said in an interview.

Officials tell her "to get to a storm shelter because our manufactured home isn't safe," Strader said. "Well, the problem there is that there's all these factors up against them."

Tornadoes pop down rapidly, which doesn't allow meteorologists to give much warning, maybe 10 to 15 minutes. In many cases, the National Weather Service warns days in advance that the conditions are be ripe for tornadoes, but that isn't the same as warning that one has touched down.

University of Oklahoma social scientist Justin Sharpe, who studies disaster warnings, said with poor and disabled residents the key is to avoid warnings that simply say "get out now" and nothing else.

Instead, a couple hours before a tornado is possible, meteorologists should warn people to be packed up and ready to go at a moment's notice later, Sharpe and Klockow-McClain said.

A relatively new law in Alabama could help provide more shelters. The law gives liability protection to buildings like churches and stores that open up in an emergency as a shelter if specifically-built shelters aren't available.

When this year's first deadly tornado struck just outside Montgomery, Alabama, Autauga County had about 30 minutes warning but no "safer places" to send people, the then-emergency chief, Baggett said. Seven people in mobile homes died.

The tornado continued into neighboring Elmore County, which had already set off its 30 warning sirens, used a mass notification system to make 16,772 calls to phones in the danger area and opened up 16 churches and other safer places.

People went into the temporary shelters. Homes were destroyed, but no one died.

This story has been corrected to show that Stephen Strader is affiliated with Villanova University, not Vanderbilt University.

Associated Press photographer Gerald Herbert and video journalist Stephen Smith contributed to this report. Borenstein reported from Washington and Fassett from Seattle.

Follow AP's climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Follow Seth Borenstein, Camille Fasset and Michael Goldberg on Twitter at @borenbears, @camfassett and @mikergoldberg.

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP's climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/5/1651760459335.png" alt="EF3 tornado in Andover, Kansas - photo courtesy city of Andover" />
 <figcaption>EF3 tornado in Andover, Kansas - photo courtesy city of Andover</figcaption>
 </figure>BY SETH BORENSTEIN, CAMILLE FASSETT and MICHAEL GOLDBERG Associated PressROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — Many were not just killed at home. They were killed by their homes.Angela Eason had visited Brenda Odoms' tidy mobile home before. It was a place where Odoms, who had many tragedies in her life, felt safe.In March, a tornado ripped through this small Mississippi town and people in mobile or manufactured homes were hit the hardest. Inside a mobile morgue, Eason, the county coroner, examined Odoms' gaping fatal head wound. Odoms was found just outside of her collapsed mobile home that was tossed around by a tornado. Blunt force trauma killed her."The one place she felt safe she was not," Eason said. Fourteen people died in that Rolling Fork tornado, nine of them, including Odoms, were in uprooted manufactured or mobile homes.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1690567690702.png" alt="Damage from the EF3 tornado in Andover, Kansas in April 2022-photo NWS Wichita" />
 <figcaption>Damage from the EF3 tornado in Andover, Kansas in April 2022-photo NWS Wichita</figcaption>
 </figure>Tornadoes in the United States are disproportionately killing more people in mobile or manufactured homes, especially in the South, often victimizing some of the most socially and economically vulnerable residents. Since 1996, tornadoes have killed 815 people in mobile or manufactured homes, representing 53% of all the people killed at home during a tornado, according to an Associated Press data analysis of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tornado deaths. Meanwhile, less than 6% of America's housing units are manufactured homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.While the dangers of tornadoes to mobile homes have long been known, and there are ways to mitigate the risk, the percentage of total tornado deaths that happen in mobile homes has been increasing. Part of the problem is that federal housing rules that call for tougher manufactured home standards, including anchoring, only apply in hurricane zones, which is most of Florida and then several counties along the coast. Those are not the areas where tornadoes usually hit.Auburn University engineering professor David Roueche called manufactured homes in non-coastal places "death traps compared to most permanent homes" when it comes to tornadoes.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1690567758554.png" alt="Damage from the EF3 tornado in Andover, Kansas in April 2022-photo NWS Wichita" />
 <figcaption>Damage from the EF3 tornado in Andover, Kansas in April 2022-photo NWS Wichita</figcaption>
 </figure>The first tornado deaths this year were in Alabama in January, killing seven people, all in mobile homes. All but one were thrown at least 1,000 feet from their homes, with the seventh person thrown at least 500 feet, said Ernie Baggett, the former emergency management chief for Autauga County, Alabama. Less than 100 yards from where four of those people died was a permanent home that had little more than shingle damage, he said.When the wind hits the mobile homes, "it's like a house of cards. They just crumble," Baggett said.So far this year, at least 45 of the 74 people killed in the U.S. by tornadoes were in some form of manufactured housing when they died, according to NOAA data. Nine others died in site homes and the rest were killed in other places, such as in vehicles.The manufactured housing industry — which disputes that there's any disproportionate danger — insists on calling the structures manufactured homes if they are built after hurricane-based federal standards in 1976 and mobile homes if they are built before, saying age of the home matters. Federal housing officials use the term manufactured housing. Other people, including many researchers and residents, use the terms interchangeably.More than 70% of the 8 million manufactured homes in America were built after 1976. Because a big chunk were built in the 1980s and early 1990s, 60% of all those homes were installed before increased federal standards were adopted in 1994, the industry's trade group, Manufactured Housing Institute said.Tornado experts say most tornadoes should be survivable."You just have to be in some structure that's attached to the ground. And then no matter what the tornado throws at you, you have really good odds," said NOAA social scientist Kim Klockow-McClain.But in manufactured homes, even the weakest tornadoes are killing people in large numbers when they shouldn't be, more than a dozen experts in meteorology, disasters and engineering told The AP.More than 240 people in mobile homes in the past 28 years have died in tornadoes with winds of 135 mph or less, the three weakest of the six categories of twisters, the AP analysis found. That's 79% of the deaths at home in the weaker tornadoes. It's only in storms with winds higher than 165 mph where most of the at home deaths are in more permanent structures.Auburn's Roueche not only studies what happens in mobile homes during tornadoes, he grew up in one. What he sees over and over are mobile homes that fail from the bottom up because they are not secured enough to the ground, like permanent homes are."The whole structure is rolling or flying through air. You've got dressers falling on top of you. You've got the entire structure that's trying to crush you," said Roueche.That March evening in Rolling Fork, when the tornado roared through Ida Cartlidge remembered the air blowing so powerfully that she couldn't breathe, the sounds of windows shattering and then utter mayhem."The only thing that's holding a mobile home down are the little straps in the ground," Cartlidge said. "It picked up the home one time, set it down. It picked it up again, set it down. It picked it up a third time, and we were in the air."The tornado hit Mildred Joyner's mobile home so hard she felt the mobile home shake, heard the cracking sound of what she figured was her home coming apart and then she woke up in the hospital.The problem is worsening in the South because tornadoes have been moving more from the Great Plains to the mid-South in recent decades and will likely to continue to do so with climate change a possible factor, studies show. Alabama has the most tornado deaths by far.Unlike the rest of the country, which usually has most manufactured housing in parks, the South has mobile homes scattered about the countryside in ones and twos, making central tornado shelters less effective and likely to be built, said Villanova University tornado expert Stephen Strader and Northern Illinois meteorology professor Walker Ashley.One thing scientists, emergency managers and the manufactured housing industry agree on is that anchoring mobile homes to the ground is key.That requires expensive concrete or expensive tie down systems, said former Alabama emergency official Jonathan Gaddy, now a professor at Idaho State University."Why does that matter? Well, it explains why we haven't fixed the problem with anchoring because nobody can fix the problem and still make money. That's the bottom line," Gaddy said."Anchoring matters and has been shown to be the difference between life or death," Villanova's Strader said in an email. "However, the MH industry seems disinterested in addressing this because it would make their homes more expensive."Manufactured Home Institute Chief Executive Officer Lesli Gooch said the industry is "very clear" about the importance of anchoring. "We also talk about making sure that a professional checks your anchoring systems on your manufactured home, especially on mobile homes built prior to (19)76," she said."We're very focused on making sure that there are minimum installation standards in the states," Gooch said.Northern Illinois' Ashley said lack of state regulations and inspections, especially in much of the South, is a big problem.Improvements in federal codes that went into effect in 1976, 1994 and 2008 make a big difference, Gooch said, arguing that the NOAA data the AP analyzed and that scientists use lump different ages of manufactured homes together and tar them with the problems of the oldest ones."I wouldn't want your readers to misinterpret your data to suggest that living in a manufactured home is somehow more deadly than living in a site-built home because I would tell you that I don't think that the data bears that out," Gooch said.Gooch pointed to manufactured homes in Florida, where tighter federal Housing and Urban Development safety rules apply because it is a hurricane wind zone. "Homes in Florida that are manufactured homes are performing better than what you see in the site-built world," she said.Several scientists and engineers said data, and history, show the situation has not improved."This is more of the handwaving- and misdirection-type statements that has come to represent the manufactured housing industry's take on tornado and manufactured home safety," Villanova's Strader said in an email, with Northern Illinois' Ashley agreeing."Our study of the Lee County Alabama EF4 tornado found that 19 of the 23 deaths were in manufactured homes (all built after 1994)," Strader said. "All of those deaths were due to a lack of anchoring or a floor-to-wall connection. There have been many prior studies that have illustrated that these homes are failing at lower wind loads than permanent homes."If Gooch were right, the percentage of tornado deaths in mobile homes would be going down with time and they are not, NOAA National Severe Storms Lab tornado scientist Harold Brooks said, presenting data that goes back to 1975. His data showed mobile home deaths between 1975 and 1984 were 43.6% of all at-home tornado deaths and the same figure was 63.2% for the past ten years through the end of May.A contributing factor, Strader, Ashley and Roueche said, is that federal rules for anchoring only apply in hurricane zones, mostly in Florida. Those are not the areas where tornadoes usually hit. Instead, they hit inland where the weakest federal standards are, they said. Most of tornado-prone areas, including almost all of Alabama, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas and Mississippi are in "Zone 1," where safety and anchoring of mobile homes have the most lax standards."People are dying in new and old Zone 1 manufactured homes," Roueche said in response to Gooch's comments. Tornado homes throughout the country would be much safer if the coastal federal requirements applied everywhere, he said.One of the issues with mobile homes and tornadoes is that it is an intersection of risk and "different social vulnerability factors like poverty, even some issues pertaining to race, ethnicity, age," NOAA's Klockow said.And it makes it harder for people to leave their mobile homes and head for a permanent shelter."I always think about the single mother who's living in a manufactured home. It's the middle of the night. She has three kids. Her car's not starting correctly and all of a sudden here comes a tornado," Strader said in an interview.Officials tell her "to get to a storm shelter because our manufactured home isn't safe," Strader said. "Well, the problem there is that there's all these factors up against them."Tornadoes pop down rapidly, which doesn't allow meteorologists to give much warning, maybe 10 to 15 minutes. In many cases, the National Weather Service warns days in advance that the conditions are be ripe for tornadoes, but that isn't the same as warning that one has touched down.University of Oklahoma social scientist Justin Sharpe, who studies disaster warnings, said with poor and disabled residents the key is to avoid warnings that simply say "get out now" and nothing else.Instead, a couple hours before a tornado is possible, meteorologists should warn people to be packed up and ready to go at a moment's notice later, Sharpe and Klockow-McClain said.A relatively new law in Alabama could help provide more shelters. The law gives liability protection to buildings like churches and stores that open up in an emergency as a shelter if specifically-built shelters aren't available.When this year's first deadly tornado struck just outside Montgomery, Alabama, Autauga County had about 30 minutes warning but no "safer places" to send people, the then-emergency chief, Baggett said. Seven people in mobile homes died.The tornado continued into neighboring Elmore County, which had already set off its 30 warning sirens, used a mass notification system to make 16,772 calls to phones in the danger area and opened up 16 churches and other safer places.People went into the temporary shelters. Homes were destroyed, but no one died.___This story has been corrected to show that Stephen Strader is affiliated with Villanova University, not Vanderbilt University.___Associated Press photographer Gerald Herbert and video journalist Stephen Smith contributed to this report. Borenstein reported from Washington and Fassett from Seattle.___Follow AP's climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment___Follow Seth Borenstein, Camille Fasset and Michael Goldberg on Twitter at @borenbears, @camfassett and @mikergoldberg.___Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP's climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

How living in a mobile home makes you more likely to die in a tornado

FRANKLIN COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting in rural Franklin County.

Just before 9p.m. Friday, sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call in the 1800 Block of of John Brown Road in rural Princeton, Kansas, according to a media release.

First responders found a man later identified as 42-year-old Nathan Boggs of Ottawa with an apparent gunshot wound.&nbsp; Despite efforts by law enforcement and Franklin County EMS, Boggs died at the scene.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Ottawa Police are assisting the Franklin County Sheriff with the investigation.

FRANKLIN COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting in rural Franklin County.Just before 9p.m. Friday, sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call in the 1800 Block of of John Brown Road in rural Princeton, Kansas, according to a media release.First responders found a man later identified as 42-year-old Nathan Boggs of Ottawa with an apparent gunshot wound.&nbsp; Despite efforts by law enforcement and Franklin County EMS, Boggs died at the scene.The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Ottawa Police are assisting the Franklin County Sheriff with the investigation.

Homicide: Police ID man who died in rural Kansas shooting

Disorganization could lead to closure of all school buildings in Barton County’s USD 112

By RACHEL MIPRO <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/05/kansas-lawmakers-debate-definition-of-female-and-male-for-county-jails/">Kansas Reflector</a>

CLAFLIN — Barton County residents will decide whether to break up with their school district and “start fresh” following heartbreak and anger over the closure of a rural community’s high school.

The change could result in hundreds of students displaced and three more schools shut down.

The Aug. 1 disorganization vote is a test case for rural communities that increasingly have to make decisions to shut down or consolidate as populations dwindle&nbsp;and schools face financial strain.

“This is brand new territory for the Department of Education, for the State Board of Education and basically every district in the state of Kansas,” said KSDE general counsel Scott Gordon during a June 27 meeting in Claflin.

Dissolving the district is likely to have widespread consequences for all district schools and likely will increase residents’ taxes, according to opponents of disorganization.

Wilson parent Kayla Cullens said the split needs to happen because the Claflin-based Unified School District 112 school board voted to shut down Wilson High School.

The district covers portions of five counties, including the Holyrood, Bushton, Claflin, Dorrance, Lorraine, Wilson, Beaver and Odin communities, along with other rural areas. Claflin and Wilson are a little less than a half hour apart, and the other communities mostly fall within a 10-30 minute range of each other.

Cullens, part of a disorganization campaign, said the district’s school board had long treated the Wilson community unfairly. She said the “hostility” in the decision to close the high school was the latest evidence of other schools being prioritized over Wilson.

“It’s been growing animosity between both ends of the district since consolidation, and it’s now a good time just to part ways,” Cullens said. “They weren’t willing to work with us. They weren’t willing to look at the bigger picture.”

Michael Kratky, a lifelong Wilson resident and fellow disorganization advocate, said the Wilson shutdown was a bad decision by the board. Kratky said part of his frustration stemmed from Claflin’s consolidation with Wilson, Holyrood, Bushton and Lorraine in 2010, when the Claflin school district needed financial help.

Kratky said the district didn’t extend the same help these past two years to Wilson.&nbsp;

“They’re shooting for everything to be centrally located eventually in Claflin. … (The district) helped them survive. They didn’t help us survive,” Kratky said.

The district now has three schools left: Central Plains Elementary, Central Plains Junior-Senior High School and Wilson Elementary School.

Cullens said she is aware that disorganization isn’t likely to re-open the high school, but she said the Wilson community will fare better under a different district school board.

“I do not think it will get re-opened,” Cullens said. “I hope it will, and it’s really the only chance we have of reopening it. But I don’t see a yes vote opening our high school.”

Other members of communities in the district call the move misguided.

Denise Schmidt, a Claflin resident, educator and member of the opposing&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.unitedusd112.com/">“United USD 112” campaign</a>, said the disorganization effort is driven by anger and fear.

“They will lose their elementary school, we will lose our elementary school, Central Plains Elementary, and we’ll also lose Central Plains Junior Senior High School,” Schmidt said. “We will lose everything in a yes vote.”

Some have said the disorganization campaign has been misleading, with Wilson residents encouraged to believe signing the disorganization petition would bring back the high school or allow them to create their own district. Schmidt said a sign at the local post office asked residents to go in and sign the petition to “save our schools.”&nbsp;

“Obviously it’s for the postal officials to decide, but putting it out there to patrons, ‘save our school’ or ‘we need a high school’ and then encouraging them to sign the petition is misleading, because by signing the petition, it doesn’t open the high school,” Schmidt said.

Cullens said signs about saving the school were the work of one person, and not the official campaign effort, which has put up signs asking for a “fresh start.”

If the measure doesn’t pass in the Aug. 1 vote, the USD 112 school district will stay the same, keeping the tax rate and schools intact.

If the measure passes, the Kansas State Board of Education takes over, deciding how to divide up the USD 112 territory into 10 neighboring school districts. The district’s schools will either be absorbed into the surrounding districts or shut down.

Officials from the Kansas State Department of Education held two informational meetings on June 27 to explain the repercussions of disorganization. During one of the informational meetings, Gordon, the agency attorney, said he wanted to clear up rumors that people in the school district would have some say over which school district they became a part of.

“I don’t know who came up with that,” Gordon said. “And that’s probably not going to happen.”

Gordon said Wilson High School wouldn’t be reopened unless the incorporating school district decided it was a good choice. Gordon said reassignment wouldn’t assure the future safety of any of the district’s schools, or the school staffs’ jobs.

“Do we get to guarantee that they’re going to stay open? I don’t believe so,” Gordon said. “If you vote to disorganize a school district and you disorganize the locally elected school board, it is the same as if an employer suddenly goes out of business or a business owner suddenly goes out of business. The business is gone. It is entirely up to the receiving school districts.”

According to Gordon, former USD 112 residents likely would lose any say in school district functions for a few months. After the state Board of Education makes the reassignment decision, people from the former district wouldn’t be eligible to vote in elections for about 120 days.

Gordon estimated it would take 18 months after reassignment before anyone from the former USD 112 could run for local school board.

Taxpayers will pay the rate of their new district. Because nine of the 10 neighboring districts have higher mill levy rates, it’s likely many reassigned residents would see a tax increase.

Cullens said she understood there could be negative implications for the district but that Wilson needed better representation.

“We don’t know if a school will close,” Cullens said. “That’s totally up to the receiving district. We don’t know what that looks like. … They can choose to leave as open as is. They can choose to reopen the high school here in Wilson. They could choose to shut everybody down.”

She added: “We’re putting faith in the effort that they will be looking out for what’s in the best interest of our students, which we feel they’re not getting today.”

In April 2022, the USD 112 Central Plains Board of Education voted to reassign Wilson junior and high school students to the Central Plains Junior-Senior High School because of low enrollment and financial issues.

Members of the Wilson community began to explore options of keeping the school open, such as a land transfer, which would place the building into a neighboring district.

After those unsuccessful efforts, the BOE voted in January to close Wilson High School at the end of the 2022-23 school year. The plan was that Wilson junior high and high school students would be bused to Central Plains High School in Claflin. Kindergarten through sixth grade students would continue to attend school in Wilson.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689420928876.png" alt=" Barton County residents will vote August 1, 2023, on whether to disorganize or keep the USD 112 school district intact. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> Barton County residents will vote August 1, 2023, on whether to disorganize or keep the USD 112 school district intact. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Disorganization could lead to closure of all school buildings in Barton County’s USD 112</h2>By RACHEL MIPRO <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/05/kansas-lawmakers-debate-definition-of-female-and-male-for-county-jails/">Kansas Reflector</a>CLAFLIN — Barton County residents will decide whether to break up with their school district and “start fresh” following heartbreak and anger over the closure of a rural community’s high school.The change could result in hundreds of students displaced and three more schools shut down.The Aug. 1 disorganization vote is a test case for rural communities that increasingly have to make decisions to shut down or consolidate as populations dwindle&nbsp;and schools face financial strain.“This is brand new territory for the Department of Education, for the State Board of Education and basically every district in the state of Kansas,” said KSDE general counsel Scott Gordon during a June 27 meeting in Claflin.Dissolving the district is likely to have widespread consequences for all district schools and likely will increase residents’ taxes, according to opponents of disorganization.Wilson parent Kayla Cullens said the split needs to happen because the Claflin-based Unified School District 112 school board voted to shut down Wilson High School.The district covers portions of five counties, including the Holyrood, Bushton, Claflin, Dorrance, Lorraine, Wilson, Beaver and Odin communities, along with other rural areas. Claflin and Wilson are a little less than a half hour apart, and the other communities mostly fall within a 10-30 minute range of each other.Cullens, part of a disorganization campaign, said the district’s school board had long treated the Wilson community unfairly. She said the “hostility” in the decision to close the high school was the latest evidence of other schools being prioritized over Wilson.“It’s been growing animosity between both ends of the district since consolidation, and it’s now a good time just to part ways,” Cullens said. “They weren’t willing to work with us. They weren’t willing to look at the bigger picture.”Michael Kratky, a lifelong Wilson resident and fellow disorganization advocate, said the Wilson shutdown was a bad decision by the board. Kratky said part of his frustration stemmed from Claflin’s consolidation with Wilson, Holyrood, Bushton and Lorraine in 2010, when the Claflin school district needed financial help.Kratky said the district didn’t extend the same help these past two years to Wilson.&nbsp;“They’re shooting for everything to be centrally located eventually in Claflin. … (The district) helped them survive. They didn’t help us survive,” Kratky said.The district now has three schools left: Central Plains Elementary, Central Plains Junior-Senior High School and Wilson Elementary School.Cullens said she is aware that disorganization isn’t likely to re-open the high school, but she said the Wilson community will fare better under a different district school board.“I do not think it will get re-opened,” Cullens said. “I hope it will, and it’s really the only chance we have of reopening it. But I don’t see a yes vote opening our high school.”Other members of communities in the district call the move misguided.Denise Schmidt, a Claflin resident, educator and member of the opposing&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.unitedusd112.com/">“United USD 112” campaign</a>, said the disorganization effort is driven by anger and fear.“They will lose their elementary school, we will lose our elementary school, Central Plains Elementary, and we’ll also lose Central Plains Junior Senior High School,” Schmidt said. “We will lose everything in a yes vote.”Some have said the disorganization campaign has been misleading, with Wilson residents encouraged to believe signing the disorganization petition would bring back the high school or allow them to create their own district. Schmidt said a sign at the local post office asked residents to go in and sign the petition to “save our schools.”&nbsp;“Obviously it’s for the postal officials to decide, but putting it out there to patrons, ‘save our school’ or ‘we need a high school’ and then encouraging them to sign the petition is misleading, because by signing the petition, it doesn’t open the high school,” Schmidt said.Cullens said signs about saving the school were the work of one person, and not the official campaign effort, which has put up signs asking for a “fresh start.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689420894228.png" alt=" A sign placed in a Wilson gas station tells residents to “vote yes” on the Aug. 1, 2023, petition to disorganize. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> A sign placed in a Wilson gas station tells residents to “vote yes” on the Aug. 1, 2023, petition to disorganize. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>What will happen?&nbsp;</h2>If the measure doesn’t pass in the Aug. 1 vote, the USD 112 school district will stay the same, keeping the tax rate and schools intact.If the measure passes, the Kansas State Board of Education takes over, deciding how to divide up the USD 112 territory into 10 neighboring school districts. The district’s schools will either be absorbed into the surrounding districts or shut down.Officials from the Kansas State Department of Education held two informational meetings on June 27 to explain the repercussions of disorganization. During one of the informational meetings, Gordon, the agency attorney, said he wanted to clear up rumors that people in the school district would have some say over which school district they became a part of.“I don’t know who came up with that,” Gordon said. “And that’s probably not going to happen.”Gordon said Wilson High School wouldn’t be reopened unless the incorporating school district decided it was a good choice. Gordon said reassignment wouldn’t assure the future safety of any of the district’s schools, or the school staffs’ jobs.“Do we get to guarantee that they’re going to stay open? I don’t believe so,” Gordon said. “If you vote to disorganize a school district and you disorganize the locally elected school board, it is the same as if an employer suddenly goes out of business or a business owner suddenly goes out of business. The business is gone. It is entirely up to the receiving school districts.”According to Gordon, former USD 112 residents likely would lose any say in school district functions for a few months. After the state Board of Education makes the reassignment decision, people from the former district wouldn’t be eligible to vote in elections for about 120 days.Gordon estimated it would take 18 months after reassignment before anyone from the former USD 112 could run for local school board.Taxpayers will pay the rate of their new district. Because nine of the 10 neighboring districts have higher mill levy rates, it’s likely many reassigned residents would see a tax increase.Cullens said she understood there could be negative implications for the district but that Wilson needed better representation.“We don’t know if a school will close,” Cullens said. “That’s totally up to the receiving district. We don’t know what that looks like. … They can choose to leave as open as is. They can choose to reopen the high school here in Wilson. They could choose to shut everybody down.”She added: “We’re putting faith in the effort that they will be looking out for what’s in the best interest of our students, which we feel they’re not getting today.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689420749268.png" alt=" The high school side of the Wilson school building closed at the end of the school year. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> The high school side of the Wilson school building closed at the end of the school year. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Timeline of the vote&nbsp;</h2>In April 2022, the USD 112 Central Plains Board of Education voted to reassign Wilson junior and high school students to the Central Plains Junior-Senior High School because of low enrollment and financial issues.Members of the Wilson community began to explore options of keeping the school open, such as a land transfer, which would place the building into a neighboring district.After those unsuccessful efforts, the BOE voted in January to close Wilson High School at the end of the 2022-23 school year. The plan was that Wilson junior high and high school students would be bused to Central Plains High School in Claflin. Kindergarten through sixth grade students would continue to attend school in Wilson.According to KSDE data, the Wilson high school had 73 students at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, a 50% decline over 10 years. The Claflin high school had 140 students for the same school year.Members of the community asked the board to grant an one-year extension to give the school time to find alternate solutions, such as opening a Catholic school in the space, or continuing efforts to have other school districts accept the high school.After the extension was refused, a group of community residents successfully filed a petition in May to dissolve the school district entirely. Under&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ksrevisor.org/statutes/chapters/ch72/072_006_0035.html">Kansas statute</a>, a disorganization petition with enough signatures is put on a ballot for all voters in the district.Cullens, who has lived in Wilson for about 20 years, has said the months since the closure have been difficult. Her son graduated from the high school after attending the school since preschool, and her daughter, a rising senior, was set on the same track before the closure announcement. Now, she will shift schools, splitting her up from friends she has known since kindergarten.“It’s very sad,” Cullens said. “And it’s hard on her.”She blames a “lopsided” school board for the decision. Two out of the seven board members represent Wilson, and she said the school board wasn’t advocating for her community.Cullens cited differences in janitor pay and being passed over for collaborative opportunities with other schools for athletic programs as examples of unequal treatmentShe said she’s already seen some families move away as a result.“There’s a house on the market,” Cullens said. “There’s no more local spending. … I just foresee it getting worse.”<h2>Rural communities across Kansas&nbsp;</h2>In reaction to anger from the Wilson community, and support from other rural communities, the Legislature this year voted into law&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/summary_hb_2138_2023">House Bill 2138</a>.The law allows citizens to request the state BOE to conduct an administrative review of a resolution to close a school building if 5% or more of registered voters in the school district request the review.Kratky went to Topeka multiple times to testify in support of the proposal.“Through all of this in our district, this discussion was never about education,” Kratky said in testimony submitted for a&nbsp; March 22 hearing. “It was always about one school surviving at the cost of another closing. … The current structure allows lopsided boards to overpower smaller schools in a district, and the smaller schools don’t have the ability to do what’s best for our communities. We need your help.”Following the review, the state BOE will give its opinion on closure to the local board, which will make the final decision.Schmidt said rural communities needed to find ways to cope with shrinking populations, pointing to Bushton as an example. When the district voted to shut down the Bushton middle school in 2019, her daughter was one of the students transferred to the Claflin school.Schmidt said Wilson could learn from Bushton, which has turned the former middle school building into a multi-purpose facility for community spaces. She pointed out the Bushton community didn’t “take their anger and hurt” and use the statute to disorganize the school district.“There’s always a loss,” Schmidt said. “Kind of like a death. You have to mourn the death of what was. You’re not the same community you’ve always been. But that doesn’t mean your community can’t go on, that your students can’t prosper, and that there’s good things to come.”