Increase suggests youth shifting to substitutes for banned cartridges&nbsp;

The Federal Trade Commission’s <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/E-Cigarette%20Report%202019-20%20final.pdf">second report on e-cigarette sales and advertising nationwide</a>&nbsp;shows
 sales of flavored disposable e-cigarettes and menthol e-cigarette 
cartridges surging dramatically in 2020. This significant increase, 
which coincides with a federal ban on the flavored cartridges popular 
with young smokers, suggests that youth e-cigarette use shifted to 
substitute products rather than declined. The report also found that the
 distribution of free and discounted e-cigarettes – a practice linked to
 a rise in youth smoking – reached record highs.

“This report shows that youth are still at 
risk from flavored or deeply discounted e-cigarettes,” said Samuel 
Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.&nbsp;“Marketers 
of e-cigarettes have proven skillful at evading FDA regulation and 
hooking youth on addictive products.” 

The FTC has been reporting on tobacco
 sales annually since 1967 and smokeless tobacco sales since 1987. Last 
year, the agency expanded its studies of industry and published its 
first-ever report on e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes or vaping devices are 
battery-operated devices that people use to inhale an aerosol, which 
typically contains nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals.&nbsp;The two 
main types of e-cigarettes are cartridges and disposables. Cartridges 
are rechargeable and designed to be used multiple times. Users generally
 replace the pre-filled cartridge when it is empty. Disposables are not 
rechargeable or refillable, and are thrown away once they run out of 
charge or e-liquid. 

This year’s e-cigarette report covers
 sales and advertising data from 2019 and 2020, a period in which the 
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published an enforcement 
policy banning the sale of flavored e-cigarette cartridges other than 
menthol. Overall, the report found that total e-cigarette sales, which 
had increased from $304.2 million in 2015 to $2.046 billion in 2018, 
grew to $2.703 billion in 2019, but then declined to $2.24 billion in 
2020. The FTC report notes that the 2020 decline may not represent the 
market given major industry shifts. Key findings in the report include:

The FTC’s report provides an 
important market snapshot of the impact of the FDA’s efforts to restrict
 harmful youth e-cigarette use and a roadmap for additional steps the 
FDA can take to combat youth addiction to nicotine. There is significant
 evidence that flavored e-cigarettes remain attractive for youth, 
increasing the serious potential for more American youth to become 
addicted to nicotine and its harmful effects on the human body. This 
report shows that partial bans on certain types of flavors for certain 
types of e-cigarettes are unlikely to be successful in achieving a 
reduction in youth addiction to nicotine via e-cigarette usage. 

The FTC also is concerned about price
 discounting practices for e-cigarettes. Studies indicate that consumers
 clearly respond to price changes for tobacco products – with younger 
smokers responding more strongly than their older counterparts. Such 
studies led the U.S. Surgeon General to conclude that price discounting 
has resulted in an increase in youth tobacco use. The FTC considers 
similar discounting in the price of e-cigarettes also concerning. FDA 
efforts to restrict free e-cigarette samples seem to have engendered an 
effort by e-cigarette manufacturers to circumvent the ban by offering 
record-high discounting and nearly free e-cigarette products.&nbsp; 

The Commission vote approving the FTC’s E-Cigarette Report and related data tables for 2019-20 was 5-0.

<h2>Increase suggests youth shifting to substitutes for banned cartridges&nbsp;</h2>FTCThe Federal Trade Commission’s <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/E-Cigarette%20Report%202019-20%20final.pdf">second report on e-cigarette sales and advertising nationwide</a>&nbsp;shows
 sales of flavored disposable e-cigarettes and menthol e-cigarette 
cartridges surging dramatically in 2020. This significant increase, 
which coincides with a federal ban on the flavored cartridges popular 
with young smokers, suggests that youth e-cigarette use shifted to 
substitute products rather than declined. The report also found that the
 distribution of free and discounted e-cigarettes – a practice linked to
 a rise in youth smoking – reached record highs. “This report shows that youth are still at 
risk from flavored or deeply discounted e-cigarettes,” said Samuel 
Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.&nbsp;“Marketers 
of e-cigarettes have proven skillful at evading FDA regulation and 
hooking youth on addictive products.” The FTC has been reporting on tobacco
 sales annually since 1967 and smokeless tobacco sales since 1987. Last 
year, the agency expanded its studies of industry and published its 
first-ever report on e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes or vaping devices are 
battery-operated devices that people use to inhale an aerosol, which 
typically contains nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals.&nbsp;The two 
main types of e-cigarettes are cartridges and disposables. Cartridges 
are rechargeable and designed to be used multiple times. Users generally
 replace the pre-filled cartridge when it is empty. Disposables are not 
rechargeable or refillable, and are thrown away once they run out of 
charge or e-liquid. This year’s e-cigarette report covers
 sales and advertising data from 2019 and 2020, a period in which the 
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published an enforcement 
policy banning the sale of flavored e-cigarette cartridges other than 
menthol. Overall, the report found that total e-cigarette sales, which 
had increased from $304.2 million in 2015 to $2.046 billion in 2018, 
grew to $2.703 billion in 2019, but then declined to $2.24 billion in 
2020. The FTC report notes that the 2020 decline may not represent the 
market given major industry shifts. Key findings in the report include: <ul>
 <li>Significant shift to flavored disposable e-cigarettes: Publicly
 available sources indicate that the sale of disposable e-cigarettes – 
which are exempt from the FDA’s 2020 policy – increased substantially, 
with “other” flavored disposable products making up 77.6 percent of all 
disposables sold in December 2020. The FTC’s data did not show an 
increase in disposable sales. However, FTC’s data likely does not 
represent an accurate picture of the market for disposable e-cigarettes.
 Only two of the five companies submitting data for 2019-20 continued to
 market disposable e-cigarettes in 2020, and those that did provided 
more limited offerings. In order to improve the representativeness of 
its industry sales data for future FTC reports, the FTC recently sent 
orders to four additional e-cigarette companies. </li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Major increase in menthol cartridge sales:
 Similarly, the report found that the sale of the remaining 
non-FDA-banned flavored cartridge, menthol, increased significantly, to 
63.5 percent of all cartridges sold in 2020. </li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Record high e-cigarette discounting: The
 data also reveal that price discounting for e-cigarettes reached a 
record high of $182.3 million in 2019, and, although it decreased 
slightly in 2020, such discounting still represented the largest 
category of ad expenditures by e-cigarette manufacturers.</li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Doubling of nearly free e-cigarette samples: The
 data collected for 2019-20 suggest that spending on the sampling and 
distribution of free and deeply price-discounted e-cigarettes more than 
doubled in just two years, making it the second-largest spending 
category in 2020. This occurred because, after the FDA banned tobacco 
product sampling in 2016 to limit youth access, some companies began 
offering e-cigarettes for $1 (or even less) in an apparent attempt to 
get around the ban. </li>
 </ul>The FTC’s report provides an 
important market snapshot of the impact of the FDA’s efforts to restrict
 harmful youth e-cigarette use and a roadmap for additional steps the 
FDA can take to combat youth addiction to nicotine. There is significant
 evidence that flavored e-cigarettes remain attractive for youth, 
increasing the serious potential for more American youth to become 
addicted to nicotine and its harmful effects on the human body. This 
report shows that partial bans on certain types of flavors for certain 
types of e-cigarettes are unlikely to be successful in achieving a 
reduction in youth addiction to nicotine via e-cigarette usage. The FTC also is concerned about price
 discounting practices for e-cigarettes. Studies indicate that consumers
 clearly respond to price changes for tobacco products – with younger 
smokers responding more strongly than their older counterparts. Such 
studies led the U.S. Surgeon General to conclude that price discounting 
has resulted in an increase in youth tobacco use. The FTC considers 
similar discounting in the price of e-cigarettes also concerning. FDA 
efforts to restrict free e-cigarette samples seem to have engendered an 
effort by e-cigarette manufacturers to circumvent the ban by offering 
record-high discounting and nearly free e-cigarette products.&nbsp; The Commission vote approving the FTC’s E-Cigarette Report and related data tables for 2019-20 was 5-0.Cover image courtesy Pixabay

FTC: Drastic surge in flavored, menthol e-cigarettes

Scammers wasted no time capitalizing on the Biden Administration’s plan to cancel some federal student loan debt, <a href="https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/27471-bbb-tip-student-loan-forgiveness-is-here-heres-how-to-avoid-scams" target="_blank">as BBB predicted</a>. <a href="https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker" target="_blank">BBB Scam Tracker</a> has already received reports from consumers who have been targeted by impostor loan forgiveness calls and emails.

You receive a call or voicemail from someone claiming to represent a 
new student loan forgiveness program. To see if you qualify for 
forgiveness, the scammer insists that you need to complete an online 
application form, which asks for personal information, such as your bank
 account details.

One consumer <a href="https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker" target="_blank">reported the following experience to BBB</a>:
 “My daughter received a voicemail from ‘the Biden student loan 
forgiveness program’… She returned the call and spoke with “Peter,” who 
asked for her email address and telephone number. He asked if she wanted
 to see if she qualified for the loan, but when we started asking him 
questions… he got frustrated and ended the call.”

In other variations, the scammer insists that you need to pay an 
upfront fee or even redirect your current student loan payments to them.
 For example, another person targeted by this scam told BBB: “I got a 
"Final Notice" letter that has the debt amount listed… Thinking it was 
from the federal student loan department, I called. They had me change 
my password and got my bank account number. [And] direct payments to 
them.”

Currently, most of the student loan forgiveness scams reported to <a href="https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker" target="_blank">BBB Scam Tracker</a> are <a href="https://www.bbb.org/all/scamstudies/government_impostor_scams/government_impostor_scams_full_study" target="_blank">government impostors</a>. But watch out for new variations as scammers have time to get creative.

How to avoid student loan forgiveness scams

Get more solid advice by reading the <a href="https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/27471-bbb-tip-student-loan-forgiveness-is-here-heres-how-to-avoid-scams" target="_blank">BBB Tip: Student loan forgiveness is here. Here’s how to avoid scams</a>. You can also read up on government impostor scams in this <a href="https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/22776-government-impostors-press-release" target="_blank">BBB study</a> and <a href="https://www.bbb.org/all/spot-a-scam" target="_blank">learn how to spot a scam</a>.

For information on federal student loan repayment options, visit the official government website, <a href="http://www.StudentAid.gov">StudentAid.gov</a>. This is the best way to determine if you qualify for loan forgiveness and how to receive it. &nbsp;

If you spot a student loan forgiveness scam, report it. Sharing your experience on <a href="http://www.BBB.org/ScamTracker" target="_blank">BBB.org/ScamTracker</a> can help other consumers spot the scam faster.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/1/1579883951052.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>BBBScammers wasted no time capitalizing on the Biden Administration’s plan to cancel some federal student loan debt, <a href="https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/27471-bbb-tip-student-loan-forgiveness-is-here-heres-how-to-avoid-scams" target="_blank">as BBB predicted</a>. <a href="https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker" target="_blank">BBB Scam Tracker</a> has already received reports from consumers who have been targeted by impostor loan forgiveness calls and emails.<h2>How the scam works</h2>You receive a call or voicemail from someone claiming to represent a 
new student loan forgiveness program. To see if you qualify for 
forgiveness, the scammer insists that you need to complete an online 
application form, which asks for personal information, such as your bank
 account details.One consumer <a href="https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker" target="_blank">reported the following experience to BBB</a>:
 “My daughter received a voicemail from ‘the Biden student loan 
forgiveness program’… She returned the call and spoke with “Peter,” who 
asked for her email address and telephone number. He asked if she wanted
 to see if she qualified for the loan, but when we started asking him 
questions… he got frustrated and ended the call.”In other variations, the scammer insists that you need to pay an 
upfront fee or even redirect your current student loan payments to them.
 For example, another person targeted by this scam told BBB: “I got a 
"Final Notice" letter that has the debt amount listed… Thinking it was 
from the federal student loan department, I called. They had me change 
my password and got my bank account number. [And] direct payments to 
them.”Currently, most of the student loan forgiveness scams reported to <a href="https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker" target="_blank">BBB Scam Tracker</a> are <a href="https://www.bbb.org/all/scamstudies/government_impostor_scams/government_impostor_scams_full_study" target="_blank">government impostors</a>. But watch out for new variations as scammers have time to get creative.<h2>How to avoid student loan forgiveness scams</h2><ul>
 <li>When in doubt, contact the government agency directly. If
 you receive a message that seems legitimate, but you aren’t sure, stop 
communicating with the person who contacted you. Then, verify their 
claims by contacting the government agency they say they represent. For 
details on the student loan forgiveness program, visit <a href="http://www.ED.gov" target="_blank">ED.gov</a> or <a href="http://www.studentaid.gov" target="_blank">StudentAid.gov</a>. </li><li>Never pay fees for a free government program. Government
 agencies will never ask you to pay a fee to benefit from a free 
government program. Don’t let scammers persuade you otherwise. Con 
artists may say the fee will get you relief faster or will unlock 
additional benefits, but that is all part of the scam. </li><li>Think twice about unsolicited calls, emails, or text messages. Usually,
 government agencies won’t reach out to you unless you request to be 
contacted. Out-of-the-blue communications are a red flag. </li><li>Don’t give in to scare tactics. If someone claims 
you’ll miss out if you don’t act immediately, be wary. This is an 
all-too-common tactic scammers use on their victims. Instead of 
responding, stop communications until you can verify what they say is 
true.</li>
 </ul><h2>For more information</h2>Get more solid advice by reading the <a href="https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/27471-bbb-tip-student-loan-forgiveness-is-here-heres-how-to-avoid-scams" target="_blank">BBB Tip: Student loan forgiveness is here. Here’s how to avoid scams</a>. You can also read up on government impostor scams in this <a href="https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/22776-government-impostors-press-release" target="_blank">BBB study</a> and <a href="https://www.bbb.org/all/spot-a-scam" target="_blank">learn how to spot a scam</a>.For information on federal student loan repayment options, visit the official government website, <a href="http://www.StudentAid.gov">StudentAid.gov</a>. This is the best way to determine if you qualify for loan forgiveness and how to receive it. &nbsp;If you spot a student loan forgiveness scam, report it. Sharing your experience on <a href="http://www.BBB.org/ScamTracker" target="_blank">BBB.org/ScamTracker</a> can help other consumers spot the scam faster.

Alert: New imposter scam targets student loan holders

MIAMI COUNTY, Kansas —A state hospital employee and the psychiatric patient she helped escape are in jail after after an incident Monday in Miami County.

Just before 5:30a.m. on Monday, the Osawatomie Police responded to report of a missing patient identified as  18-year-old Salvador Reyes III and 20-year-old hospital employee Jamey Anderson, according to the Miami County sheriff.

Both left the Osawatomie State Hospital in Anderson’s vehicle early Monday.

Early in the investigation, authorities located Anderson's Toyota Rav4 near 295th and Osawatomie Road. Investigators later determined the SUV ran out of gas. Anderson and Reyes left the vehicle on foot northbound on Osawatomie Road. After several sighting from the public, authorities concentrated their search in the area of Hillside Lake.

Authorities used drones, K9 units, KHP air support to located them in a tree line east of the dam where they were taken into custody.

Anderson is being held on requested charges of unlawful sexual relations, conspiracy to commit aggravated escape, aiding in escape, obstructing apprehension.&nbsp; Reyes is being held on requested charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated escape from custody, aggravated escape from custody and interference with law enforcement.

MIAMI COUNTY, Kan. —Authorities have located the state psychiatric hospital patient identified as  18-year-old Salvador Reyes III and 20-year-old Jamey Anderson, a hospital employee, according to the Miami County sheriff's office.

Authorities located Anderson’s vehicle in the area of 287th and Osawatomie Road and were believed to be in the area of Hillsdale Lake entrance on 255th Street.

Authorities released no additional details.

MIAMI COUNTY, Kan. —Law enforcement authorities including sheriff's deputies&nbsp;Kansas Highway Patrol and Kansas Department of Wildlife wardens are assisting the Osawatomie Police Department with a missing person report involving an Osawatomie State Hospital patient identified as&nbsp; 18-year-old Salvador Reyes III and 20-year-old Jamey Anderson, a hospital employee, according to the Miami County sheriff.

Authorities located Anderson’s vehicle in the area of 287th and Osawatomie Road. There is reason to believe both are in the area of Hillsdale Lake entrance on 255th Street, according to the sheriff.

Jamey Anderson is described as a white female, 5-foot-6, approximately 220 pounds, with green eyes and blonde hair. She was wearing dark grey scrubs. 

Salvador Reyes III is described as a Hispanic male, dark eyes, dark hair, 189 pounds with multiple tattoos and was wearing a black t-shirt with deer skull and blue sweatpants. 

Both are believed to be on foot in the area of the lake. There were multiple emergency personnel in the area. Reyes is considered dangerous. The sheriff asked the public to call 911 if you see them. Do not approach.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661874348919.png" alt="Reyes-photo Miami Co." />
 <figcaption>Reyes-photo Miami Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>MIAMI COUNTY, Kansas —A state hospital employee and the psychiatric patient she helped escape are in jail after after an incident Monday in Miami County.Just before 5:30a.m. on Monday, the Osawatomie Police responded to report of a missing patient identified as 18-year-old Salvador Reyes III and 20-year-old hospital employee Jamey Anderson, according to the Miami County sheriff.Both left the Osawatomie State Hospital in Anderson’s vehicle early Monday.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661874324173.png" alt="Anderson-photo Miami Co." />
 <figcaption>Anderson-photo Miami Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Early in the investigation, authorities located Anderson's Toyota Rav4 near 295th and Osawatomie Road. Investigators later determined the SUV ran out of gas. Anderson and Reyes left the vehicle on foot northbound on Osawatomie Road. After several sighting from the public, authorities concentrated their search in the area of Hillside Lake.Authorities used drones, K9 units, KHP air support to located them in a tree line east of the dam where they were taken into custody.Anderson is being held on requested charges of unlawful sexual relations, conspiracy to commit aggravated escape, aiding in escape, obstructing apprehension.&nbsp; Reyes is being held on requested charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated escape from custody, aggravated escape from custody and interference with law enforcement.--------MIAMI COUNTY, Kan. —Authorities have located the state psychiatric hospital patient identified as 18-year-old Salvador Reyes III and 20-year-old Jamey Anderson, a hospital employee, according to the Miami County sheriff's office.Both left the Osawatomie State Hospital in Anderson’s vehicle early Monday.Authorities located Anderson’s vehicle in the area of 287th and Osawatomie Road and were believed to be in the area of Hillsdale Lake entrance on 255th Street.Authorities released no additional details.-----------MIAMI COUNTY, Kan. —Law enforcement authorities including sheriff's deputies&nbsp;Kansas Highway Patrol and Kansas Department of Wildlife wardens are assisting the Osawatomie Police Department with a missing person report involving an Osawatomie State Hospital patient identified as&nbsp; 18-year-old Salvador Reyes III and 20-year-old Jamey Anderson, a hospital employee, according to the Miami County sheriff.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661786009130.png" alt="Anderson-photo Miami Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Anderson-photo Miami Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>Both left the Osawatomie State Hospital in Anderson’s vehicle early Monday.Authorities located Anderson’s vehicle in the area of 287th and Osawatomie Road. There is reason to believe both are in the area of Hillsdale Lake entrance on 255th Street, according to the sheriff.Jamey Anderson is described as a white female, 5-foot-6, approximately 220 pounds, with green eyes and blonde hair. She was wearing dark grey scrubs. Salvador Reyes III is described as a Hispanic male, dark eyes, dark hair, 189 pounds with multiple tattoos and was wearing a black t-shirt with deer skull and blue sweatpants. Both are believed to be on foot in the area of the lake. There were multiple emergency personnel in the area. Reyes is considered dangerous. The sheriff asked the public to call 911 if you see them. Do not approach.

Kan. state hospital employee faces sex charge after inmate escape

WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Jill Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Monday and will return to Washington on Tuesday, nearly a week after she came down with a “rebound” case of the coronavirus.

Her communications director, Elizabeth Alexander, announced the negative test in a statement Monday night.

Jill Biden had been isolating at her family's house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, since testing positive on Aug. 24, and at the time, her spokesperson said she was not experiencing any symptoms. She first tested positive for the virus on Aug. 15, when she and President Joe Biden were vacationing in Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

The president, who had his own back-to-back cases of COVID-19, was identified as a close contact of his wife and the White House said he was undergoing more frequent testing for the virus as a precaution. While Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines called for Biden to wear a face covering in close proximity to others indoors, he was seen without a mask hugging and taking selfies with supporters during an indoor rally on Thursday in the Washington suburbs.

Jill Biden, 71, and her husband, 79, have been twice-vaccinated and twice-boosted with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. She had been prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid, which has proven to be highly effective at preventing serious disease and death among those at highest risk from COVID-19. A minority of those prescribed the drug have experienced a rebound case of the virus a few days after their initial recovery.

WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Jill Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Monday and will return to Washington on Tuesday, nearly a week after she came down with a “rebound” case of the coronavirus.Her communications director, Elizabeth Alexander, announced the negative test in a statement Monday night.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">She won’t leave my side! I’m grateful to have Willow with me as I recover from COVID-19. 💕 <a href="https://t.co/UxLVE8FQwf">pic.twitter.com/UxLVE8FQwf</a>&mdash; Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1562607595466428417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Jill Biden had been isolating at her family's house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, since testing positive on Aug. 24, and at the time, her spokesperson said she was not experiencing any symptoms. She first tested positive for the virus on Aug. 15, when she and President Joe Biden were vacationing in Kiawah Island, South Carolina.The president, who had his own back-to-back cases of COVID-19, was identified as a close contact of his wife and the White House said he was undergoing more frequent testing for the virus as a precaution. While Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines called for Biden to wear a face covering in close proximity to others indoors, he was seen without a mask hugging and taking selfies with supporters during an indoor rally on Thursday in the Washington suburbs.Jill Biden, 71, and her husband, 79, have been twice-vaccinated and twice-boosted with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. She had been prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid, which has proven to be highly effective at preventing serious disease and death among those at highest risk from COVID-19. A minority of those prescribed the drug have experienced a rebound case of the virus a few days after their initial recovery.

First lady Jill Biden tests negative for COVID-19 after rebound

SEDGWICK COUNTY—A Kansas man accused in a Super Bowl weekend killing has made his first court appearance in the case.

<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=18849204">Justin Macormac, 25 of Wichita, </a>is charged with two counts of 1st degree murder, aggravated robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.

On Valentine's Day while conducting a follow-up investigations of a drive by shooting that occurred on February 7 near 13th and Lavon in Wichita, investigators identified Macormac as the suspect in the killings, according to Officer Charley Davidson.

Macormac and 21-year-old&nbsp;Brandon Prouse Jr, were accused in the shooting deaths of 38-year-old Bonnie Galloway and 30-year-old Connor O’Callaghan on February 13, at a home in the 2100 block of South Erie in Wichita.

 Officers from the Violent Crimes Community Response Team, along with assistance from the US Marshal’s Task Force, apprehended Macormac at a Wichita gas station.&nbsp;&nbsp;

While taking him into custody, officers located a stolen 9mm carbine with a high capacity magazine. Macormac is a convicted felon prohibited from possessing a firearm.&nbsp; He remains jailed on a $5,000,000 bond and is due back in court Sept 27, according to the district attorney.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655924835194.png" alt="Macormac photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Macormac photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY—A Kansas man accused in a Super Bowl weekend killing has made his first court appearance in the case.<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=18849204">Justin Macormac, 25 of Wichita, </a>is charged with two counts of 1st degree murder, aggravated robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655924767929.png" alt="While taking him into custody, officers located a stolen 9mm carbine with a high capacity magazine-photo Wichita Police" />
 <figcaption>While taking him into custody, officers located a stolen 9mm carbine with a high capacity magazine-photo Wichita Police</figcaption>
 </figure>On Valentine's Day while conducting a follow-up investigations of a drive by shooting that occurred on February 7 near 13th and Lavon in Wichita, investigators identified Macormac as the suspect in the killings, according to Officer Charley Davidson.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/2/1645065946539.png" alt="Prouse-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Prouse-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Macormac and 21-year-old&nbsp;Brandon Prouse Jr, were accused in the shooting deaths of 38-year-old Bonnie Galloway and 30-year-old Connor O’Callaghan on February 13, at a home in the 2100 block of South Erie in Wichita. Officers from the Violent Crimes Community Response Team, along with assistance from the US Marshal’s Task Force, apprehended Macormac at a Wichita gas station.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655924767929.png" alt="photo Wichita Police" />
 <figcaption>photo Wichita Police</figcaption>
 </figure>While taking him into custody, officers located a stolen 9mm carbine with a high capacity magazine. Macormac is a convicted felon prohibited from possessing a firearm.&nbsp; He remains jailed on a $5,000,000 bond and is due back in court Sept 27, according to the district attorney.&nbsp;

Kansas man jailed on $5M bond for Super Bowl weekend killing

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a robbery and have three suspects in custody.

Just before 4:30 p.m. Saturday, police were dispatched to the 800 block of SE 15th Street in Topeka on a report of a robbery, according to Lt. Kerry Connell.

As a result of the investigation, police arrested Michael C. Carpenter, 60; James F. Harvey, 39 and&nbsp;Dalton R. Hall, 23, all of Topeka.

They remain jailed in the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on a requested charge of Aggravated Robbery. Police released no additional details.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661807219476.png" alt="Carpenter-photo Shawnee County" />
 <figcaption>Carpenter-photo Shawnee County</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a robbery and have three suspects in custody.Just before 4:30 p.m. Saturday, police were dispatched to the 800 block of SE 15th Street in Topeka on a report of a robbery, according to Lt. Kerry Connell.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661807397004.png" alt="Harvey-photo Shawnee County" />
 <figcaption>Harvey-photo Shawnee County</figcaption>
 </figure>As a result of the investigation, police arrested Michael C. Carpenter, 60; James F. Harvey, 39 and&nbsp;Dalton R. Hall, 23, all of Topeka.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661807502323.png" alt="Hall-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Hall-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>They remain jailed in the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on a requested charge of Aggravated Robbery. Police released no additional details.

Police: 3 Kansas men jailed for weekend robbery

BUTLER COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a weekend homicide have identified the victim as 81-year-old Marlyn Valeta Harvey of Andover, according to Police Captain Ben Graber.

Just before 4p.m. Sunday, police responded to the report of an assault at the Summerfield Senior&nbsp;Residences, 420 Lioba Drive.&nbsp;

EMS transported Harvey to an area hospital where she died.&nbsp;

Investigators learned Harvey had picked up her 23-year-old great-grandson Tristan Weir who was released from jail and brought him to her apartment

Police located him driving the victim's car in Wichita and attempted a traffic stop. He ran from officers but was eventually arrested and remains hospitalized, according to Graber.&nbsp;

On February 27, Weir was jailed on requested charges of aggravated battery, according to the Sedgwick County booking report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661872173083.png" alt="Weir-photo Sedgwick County Jail" />
 <figcaption>Weir-photo Sedgwick County Jail</figcaption>
 </figure>BUTLER COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a weekend homicide have identified the victim as 81-year-old Marlyn Valeta Harvey of Andover, according to Police Captain Ben Graber.Just before 4p.m. Sunday, police responded to the report of an assault at the Summerfield Senior&nbsp;Residences, 420 Lioba Drive.&nbsp;EMS transported Harvey to an area hospital where she died.&nbsp;Investigators learned Harvey had picked up her 23-year-old great-grandson Tristan Weir who was released from jail and brought him to her apartmentPolice located him driving the victim's car in Wichita and attempted a traffic stop. He ran from officers but was eventually arrested and remains hospitalized, according to Graber.&nbsp;On February 27, Weir was jailed on requested charges of aggravated battery, according to the Sedgwick County booking report.

Police ID 81-year-old Kan. woman killed by her great-grandson

MOSCOW (AP) — Mikhail Gorbachev, who as the last leader of the Soviet Union waged a losing battle to salvage a crumbling empire but produced extraordinary reforms that led to the end of the Cold War, died Tuesday. He was 91.

The Central Clinical Hospital said in a statement that Gorbachev died after a long illness. No other details were given.

Though in power less than seven years, Gorbachev unleashed a breathtaking series of changes. But they quickly overtook him and resulted in the collapse of the authoritarian Soviet state, the freeing of Eastern European nations from Russian domination and the end of decades of East-West nuclear confrontation.

His decline was humiliating. His power hopelessly sapped by an attempted coup against him in August 1991, he spent his last months in office watching republic after republic declare independence until he resigned on Dec. 25, 1991. The Soviet Union wrote itself into oblivion a day later.

A quarter-century after the collapse, Gorbachev told The Associated Press that he had not considered using widespread force to try to keep the USSR together because he feared chaos in a nuclear country.

“The country was loaded to the brim with weapons. And it would have immediately pushed the country into a civil war,” he said.

Many of the changes, including the Soviet breakup, bore no resemblance to the transformation that Gorbachev had envisioned when he became the Soviet leader in March 1985.

By the end of his rule he was powerless to halt the whirlwind he had sown. Yet Gorbachev may have had a greater impact on the second half of the 20th century than any other political figure.

“I see myself as a man who started the reforms that were necessary for the country and for Europe and the world,” Gorbachev told The AP in a 1992 interview shortly after he left office.

“I am often asked, would I have started it all again if I had to repeat it? Yes, indeed. And with more persistence and determination,” he said.

Gorbachev won the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the Cold War and spent his later years collecting accolades and awards from all corners of the world. Yet he was widely despised at home.

Russians blamed him for the 1991 implosion of the Soviet Union — a once-fearsome superpower whose territory fractured into 15 separate nations. His former allies deserted him and made him a scapegoat for the country’s troubles.

His run for president in 1996 was a national joke, and he polled less than 1% of the vote.

In 1997, he resorted to making a TV ad for Pizza Hut to earn money for his charitable foundation. His former allies deserted him and made him a scapegoat for the country’s troubles.

“In the ad, he should take a pizza, divide it into 15 slices like he divided up our country, and then show how to put it back together again,” quipped Anatoly Lukyanov, a one-time Gorbachev supporter.

Gorbachev never set out to dismantle the Soviet system. What he wanted to do was improve it.

Soon after taking power, Gorbachev began a campaign to end his country’s economic and political stagnation, using “glasnost” or openness, to help achieve his goal of “perestroika” or restructuring.

In his memoirs, he said he had long been frustrated that in a country with immense natural resources, tens of millions were living in poverty.

“Our society was stifled in the grip of a bureaucratic command system,” Gorbachev wrote. “Doomed to serve ideology and bear the heavy burden of the arms race, it was strained to the utmost.”

Once he began, one move led to another: He freed political prisoners, allowed open debate and multi-candidate elections, gave his countrymen freedom to travel, halted religious oppression, reduced nuclear arsenals, established closer ties with the West and did not resist the fall of Communist regimes in Eastern European satellite states.

But the forces he unleashed quickly escaped his control.

Long-suppressed ethnic tensions flared, sparking wars and unrest in trouble spots such as the southern Caucasus region. Strikes and labor unrest followed price increases and shortages of consumer goods.

In one of the low points of his tenure, Gorbachev sanctioned a crackdown on the restive Baltic republics in early 1991.

The violence turned many intellectuals and reformers against him. Competitive elections also produced a new crop of populist politicians who challenged Gorbachev’s policies and authority.

Chief among them was his former protege and eventual nemesis, Boris Yeltsin, who became Russia’s first president.

“The process of renovating this country and bringing about fundamental changes in the international community proved to be much more complex than originally anticipated,” Gorbachev told the nation as he stepped down.

“However, let us acknowledge what has been achieved so far. Society has acquired freedom; it has been freed politically and spiritually. And this is the most important achievement, which we have not fully come to grips with in part because we still have not learned how to use our freedom.”

There was little in Gorbachev’s childhood to hint at the pivotal role he would play on the world stage. On many levels, he had a typical Soviet upbringing in a typical Russian village. But it was a childhood blessed with unusual strokes of good fortune.

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was born March 2, 1931, in the village of Privolnoye in southern Russia. Both his grandfathers were peasants, collective farm chairmen and members of the Communist Party, as was his father.

Despite stellar party credentials, Gorbachev’s family did not emerge unscathed from the terror unleashed by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin: Both grandfathers were arrested and imprisoned for allegedly anti-Soviet activities.

But, rare in that period, both were eventually freed. In 1941, when Gorbachev was 10, his father went off to war, along with most of the other men from Privolnoye.

Meanwhile, the Nazis pushed across the western steppes in their blitzkrieg against the Soviet Union; they occupied Privolnoye for five months.

When the war was over, young Gorbachev was one of the few village boys whose father returned. By age 15, Gorbachev was helping his father drive a combine harvester after school and during the region’s blistering, dusty summers.

His performance earned him the order of the Red Banner of Labor, an unusual distinction for a 17-year-old. That prize and the party background of his parents helped him land admission in 1950 to the country’s top university, Moscow State.

There, he met his wife, Raisa Maximovna Titorenko, and joined the Communist Party. The award and his family’s credentials also helped him overcome the disgrace of his grandfathers’ arrests, which were overlooked in light of his exemplary Communist conduct.

In his memoirs, Gorbachev described himself as something of a maverick as he advanced through the party ranks, sometimes bursting out with criticism of the Soviet system and its leaders.

His early career coincided with the “thaw” begun by Nikita Khrushchev. As a young Communist propaganda official, he was tasked with explaining the 20th Party Congress that revealed Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s repression of millions to local party activists. He said he was met first by “deathly silence,” then disbelief.

“They said: ‘We don’t believe it. It can’t be. You want to blame everything on Stalin now that he’s dead,’” he told The Associated Press in a 2006 interview.

He was a true if unorthodox believer in socialism. He was elected to the powerful party Central Committee in 1971, took over Soviet agricultural policy in 1978, and became a full Politburo member in 1980.

Along the way he was able to travel to the West, to Belgium, Germany, France, Italy and Canada. Those trips had a profound effect on his thinking, shaking his belief in the superiority of Soviet-style socialism.

“The question haunted me: Why was the standard of living in our country lower than in other developed countries?” he recalled in his memoirs. “It seemed that our aged leaders were not especially worried about our undeniably lower living standards, our unsatisfactory way of life, and our falling behind in the field of advanced technologies.”

But Gorbachev had to wait his turn. Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev died in 1982, and was succeeded by two other geriatric leaders: Yuri Andropov, Gorbachev’s mentor, and Konstantin Chernenko.

It wasn’t until March 1985, when Chernenko died, that the party finally chose a younger man to lead the country: Gorbachev. He was 54 years old.

His tenure was filled with rocky periods, including a poorly conceived anti-alcohol campaign, the Soviet military withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

But starting in November 1985, Gorbachev began a series of attention-grabbing summit meetings with world leaders, especially U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, which led to unprecedented, deep reductions in the American and Soviet nuclear arsenals.

After years of watching a parade of stodgy leaders in the Kremlin, Western leaders practically swooned over the charming, vigorous Gorbachev and his stylish, brainy wife. But perceptions were very different at home. It was the first time since the death of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin that the wife of a Soviet leader had played such a public role, and many Russians found Raisa Gorbachev showy and arrogant.

Although the rest of the world benefited from the changes Gorbachev wrought, the rickety Soviet economy collapsed in the process, bringing with it tremendous economic hardship for the country’s 290 million people.

In the final days of the Soviet Union, the economic decline accelerated into a steep skid. Hyper-inflation robbed most older people of their life’s savings. Factories shut down. Bread lines formed.

And popular hatred for Gorbachev and his wife Raisa grew. But the couple won sympathy in summer 1999 when it was revealed that Raisa Gorbachev was dying of leukemia.

During her final days, Gorbachev spoke daily with television reporters, and the lofty-sounding, wooden politician of old was suddenly seen as an emotional family man surrendering to deep grief.

Gorbachev worked on the Gorbachev Foundation, which he created to address global priorities in the post-Cold War period, and with the Green Cross foundation, which was formed in 1993 to help cultivate “a more harmonious relationship between humans and the environment.”

Gorbachev took the helm of the small United Social Democratic Party in 2000 in hopes it could fill the vacuum left by the Communist Party, which he said had failed to reform into a modern leftist party after the breakup of the Soviet Union. He resigned from the chairmanship in 2004.

He continued to comment on Russian politics as a senior statesman — even if many of his countrymen were no longer interested in what he had to say.

“The crisis in our country will continue for some time, possibly leading to even greater upheaval,” Gorbachev wrote in a memoir in 1996. “But Russia has irrevocably chosen the path of freedom, and no one can make it turn back to totalitarianism.”

Gorbachev veered between criticism and mild praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been assailed for backtracking on the democratic achievements of the Gorbachev and Yeltsin eras.

He said Putin had done much to restore stability and prestige to Russia after the tumultuous decade following the Soviet collapse. He did, however, protest growing limitations on media freedom, and in 2006 bought one of Russia’s last investigative newspapers, Novaya Gazeta, with a businessman associate.

“We should — this is one of our goals — promote the newspaper’s qualitative development in the interests of democratic values,” he said, tacitly criticizing the Kremlin’s efforts to bring Novaya Gazeta and other independent media outlets to heel.

Gorbachev ventured into other new areas in his 70s, winning awards and kudos around the world. He won a Grammy in 2004 along with former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Italian actress Sophia Loren for their recording of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, and the United Nations named him a Champion of the Earth in 2006 for his environmental advocacy.

Gorbachev had a daughter, Irina, and two granddaughters.

The official news agency Tass reported that Gorbachev will be buried at Moscow’s Novodevichy cemetery next to his wife.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661895504846.png" alt="A quarter-century after the Soviet Union collapsed, Gorbachev told The Associated Press that he had not considered using widespread force to try to keep the USSR together because he feared chaos in a nuclear country." />
 <figcaption>A quarter-century after the Soviet Union collapsed, Gorbachev told The Associated Press that he had not considered using widespread force to try to keep the USSR together because he feared chaos in a nuclear country.</figcaption>
 </figure>MOSCOW (AP) — Mikhail Gorbachev, who as the last leader of the Soviet Union waged a losing battle to salvage a crumbling empire but produced extraordinary reforms that led to the end of the Cold War, died Tuesday. He was 91.The Central Clinical Hospital said in a statement that Gorbachev died after a long illness. No other details were given.Though in power less than seven years, Gorbachev unleashed a breathtaking series of changes. But they quickly overtook him and resulted in the collapse of the authoritarian Soviet state, the freeing of Eastern European nations from Russian domination and the end of decades of East-West nuclear confrontation.His decline was humiliating. His power hopelessly sapped by an attempted coup against him in August 1991, he spent his last months in office watching republic after republic declare independence until he resigned on Dec. 25, 1991. The Soviet Union wrote itself into oblivion a day later.A quarter-century after the collapse, Gorbachev told The Associated Press that he had not considered using widespread force to try to keep the USSR together because he feared chaos in a nuclear country.“The country was loaded to the brim with weapons. And it would have immediately pushed the country into a civil war,” he said.Many of the changes, including the Soviet breakup, bore no resemblance to the transformation that Gorbachev had envisioned when he became the Soviet leader in March 1985.By the end of his rule he was powerless to halt the whirlwind he had sown. Yet Gorbachev may have had a greater impact on the second half of the 20th century than any other political figure.“I see myself as a man who started the reforms that were necessary for the country and for Europe and the world,” Gorbachev told The AP in a 1992 interview shortly after he left office.“I am often asked, would I have started it all again if I had to repeat it? Yes, indeed. And with more persistence and determination,” he said.Gorbachev won the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the Cold War and spent his later years collecting accolades and awards from all corners of the world. Yet he was widely despised at home.Russians blamed him for the 1991 implosion of the Soviet Union — a once-fearsome superpower whose territory fractured into 15 separate nations. His former allies deserted him and made him a scapegoat for the country’s troubles.His run for president in 1996 was a national joke, and he polled less than 1% of the vote.In 1997, he resorted to making a TV ad for Pizza Hut to earn money for his charitable foundation. His former allies deserted him and made him a scapegoat for the country’s troubles.“In the ad, he should take a pizza, divide it into 15 slices like he divided up our country, and then show how to put it back together again,” quipped Anatoly Lukyanov, a one-time Gorbachev supporter.Gorbachev never set out to dismantle the Soviet system. What he wanted to do was improve it.Soon after taking power, Gorbachev began a campaign to end his country’s economic and political stagnation, using “glasnost” or openness, to help achieve his goal of “perestroika” or restructuring.In his memoirs, he said he had long been frustrated that in a country with immense natural resources, tens of millions were living in poverty.“Our society was stifled in the grip of a bureaucratic command system,” Gorbachev wrote. “Doomed to serve ideology and bear the heavy burden of the arms race, it was strained to the utmost.”Once he began, one move led to another: He freed political prisoners, allowed open debate and multi-candidate elections, gave his countrymen freedom to travel, halted religious oppression, reduced nuclear arsenals, established closer ties with the West and did not resist the fall of Communist regimes in Eastern European satellite states.But the forces he unleashed quickly escaped his control.Long-suppressed ethnic tensions flared, sparking wars and unrest in trouble spots such as the southern Caucasus region. Strikes and labor unrest followed price increases and shortages of consumer goods.In one of the low points of his tenure, Gorbachev sanctioned a crackdown on the restive Baltic republics in early 1991.The violence turned many intellectuals and reformers against him. Competitive elections also produced a new crop of populist politicians who challenged Gorbachev’s policies and authority.Chief among them was his former protege and eventual nemesis, Boris Yeltsin, who became Russia’s first president.“The process of renovating this country and bringing about fundamental changes in the international community proved to be much more complex than originally anticipated,” Gorbachev told the nation as he stepped down.“However, let us acknowledge what has been achieved so far. Society has acquired freedom; it has been freed politically and spiritually. And this is the most important achievement, which we have not fully come to grips with in part because we still have not learned how to use our freedom.”There was little in Gorbachev’s childhood to hint at the pivotal role he would play on the world stage. On many levels, he had a typical Soviet upbringing in a typical Russian village. But it was a childhood blessed with unusual strokes of good fortune.Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was born March 2, 1931, in the village of Privolnoye in southern Russia. Both his grandfathers were peasants, collective farm chairmen and members of the Communist Party, as was his father.Despite stellar party credentials, Gorbachev’s family did not emerge unscathed from the terror unleashed by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin: Both grandfathers were arrested and imprisoned for allegedly anti-Soviet activities.But, rare in that period, both were eventually freed. In 1941, when Gorbachev was 10, his father went off to war, along with most of the other men from Privolnoye.Meanwhile, the Nazis pushed across the western steppes in their blitzkrieg against the Soviet Union; they occupied Privolnoye for five months.When the war was over, young Gorbachev was one of the few village boys whose father returned. By age 15, Gorbachev was helping his father drive a combine harvester after school and during the region’s blistering, dusty summers.His performance earned him the order of the Red Banner of Labor, an unusual distinction for a 17-year-old. That prize and the party background of his parents helped him land admission in 1950 to the country’s top university, Moscow State.There, he met his wife, Raisa Maximovna Titorenko, and joined the Communist Party. The award and his family’s credentials also helped him overcome the disgrace of his grandfathers’ arrests, which were overlooked in light of his exemplary Communist conduct.In his memoirs, Gorbachev described himself as something of a maverick as he advanced through the party ranks, sometimes bursting out with criticism of the Soviet system and its leaders.His early career coincided with the “thaw” begun by Nikita Khrushchev. As a young Communist propaganda official, he was tasked with explaining the 20th Party Congress that revealed Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s repression of millions to local party activists. He said he was met first by “deathly silence,” then disbelief.“They said: ‘We don’t believe it. It can’t be. You want to blame everything on Stalin now that he’s dead,’” he told The Associated Press in a 2006 interview.He was a true if unorthodox believer in socialism. He was elected to the powerful party Central Committee in 1971, took over Soviet agricultural policy in 1978, and became a full Politburo member in 1980.Along the way he was able to travel to the West, to Belgium, Germany, France, Italy and Canada. Those trips had a profound effect on his thinking, shaking his belief in the superiority of Soviet-style socialism.“The question haunted me: Why was the standard of living in our country lower than in other developed countries?” he recalled in his memoirs. “It seemed that our aged leaders were not especially worried about our undeniably lower living standards, our unsatisfactory way of life, and our falling behind in the field of advanced technologies.”But Gorbachev had to wait his turn. Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev died in 1982, and was succeeded by two other geriatric leaders: Yuri Andropov, Gorbachev’s mentor, and Konstantin Chernenko.It wasn’t until March 1985, when Chernenko died, that the party finally chose a younger man to lead the country: Gorbachev. He was 54 years old.His tenure was filled with rocky periods, including a poorly conceived anti-alcohol campaign, the Soviet military withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.But starting in November 1985, Gorbachev began a series of attention-grabbing summit meetings with world leaders, especially U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, which led to unprecedented, deep reductions in the American and Soviet nuclear arsenals.After years of watching a parade of stodgy leaders in the Kremlin, Western leaders practically swooned over the charming, vigorous Gorbachev and his stylish, brainy wife. But perceptions were very different at home. It was the first time since the death of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin that the wife of a Soviet leader had played such a public role, and many Russians found Raisa Gorbachev showy and arrogant.Although the rest of the world benefited from the changes Gorbachev wrought, the rickety Soviet economy collapsed in the process, bringing with it tremendous economic hardship for the country’s 290 million people.In the final days of the Soviet Union, the economic decline accelerated into a steep skid. Hyper-inflation robbed most older people of their life’s savings. Factories shut down. Bread lines formed.And popular hatred for Gorbachev and his wife Raisa grew. But the couple won sympathy in summer 1999 when it was revealed that Raisa Gorbachev was dying of leukemia.During her final days, Gorbachev spoke daily with television reporters, and the lofty-sounding, wooden politician of old was suddenly seen as an emotional family man surrendering to deep grief.Gorbachev worked on the Gorbachev Foundation, which he created to address global priorities in the post-Cold War period, and with the Green Cross foundation, which was formed in 1993 to help cultivate “a more harmonious relationship between humans and the environment.”Gorbachev took the helm of the small United Social Democratic Party in 2000 in hopes it could fill the vacuum left by the Communist Party, which he said had failed to reform into a modern leftist party after the breakup of the Soviet Union. He resigned from the chairmanship in 2004.He continued to comment on Russian politics as a senior statesman — even if many of his countrymen were no longer interested in what he had to say.“The crisis in our country will continue for some time, possibly leading to even greater upheaval,” Gorbachev wrote in a memoir in 1996. “But Russia has irrevocably chosen the path of freedom, and no one can make it turn back to totalitarianism.”Gorbachev veered between criticism and mild praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been assailed for backtracking on the democratic achievements of the Gorbachev and Yeltsin eras.He said Putin had done much to restore stability and prestige to Russia after the tumultuous decade following the Soviet collapse. He did, however, protest growing limitations on media freedom, and in 2006 bought one of Russia’s last investigative newspapers, Novaya Gazeta, with a businessman associate.“We should — this is one of our goals — promote the newspaper’s qualitative development in the interests of democratic values,” he said, tacitly criticizing the Kremlin’s efforts to bring Novaya Gazeta and other independent media outlets to heel.Gorbachev ventured into other new areas in his 70s, winning awards and kudos around the world. He won a Grammy in 2004 along with former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Italian actress Sophia Loren for their recording of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, and the United Nations named him a Champion of the Earth in 2006 for his environmental advocacy.Gorbachev had a daughter, Irina, and two granddaughters.The official news agency Tass reported that Gorbachev will be buried at Moscow’s Novodevichy cemetery next to his wife.___

Mikhail Gorbachev, who steered Soviet breakup, dead at 91

MCPHERSON — Law enforcement took a report of a possible armed subject Tuesday at McPherson High School, according to a media release.

Just after 1:15 p.m., the School Resource Officer (SRO) was notified that a student overheard another student say they saw someone outside McPherson High School with a gun/firearm.&nbsp;

The SRO notified McPherson County Emergency Communications, who notified McPherson law enforcement. The high school was placed on lockdown and McPherson Police Department officers and McPherson County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the school.

Officers and deputies searched the area outside and inside the high school, and did not find a suspect with a firearm. Officers and deputies remained at the high school until students were released and left the area.&nbsp;

MCPHERSON COUNTY —McPherson Police and McPherson County Sheriff’s Department determined that there was no known threat inside or near the vicinity of McPherson High School, 801 East First Street, as of dismissal time Tuesday, according to USD 418.

Just before 2p.m. law enforcement authorities and USD 418 officials were investigating a report of a subject with a firearm. McPherson High School was placed on lock down. 

Just before 3p.m. PreK, Elementary and Middle School students were dismissed according to standard procedures at the normal dismissal times.&nbsp; All students and staff are safe.

MCPHERSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities and USD 418 officials are investigating a report of a subject with a firearm.

McPherson High School, 801 East First, is currently on lock down.

McPherson Police Officers and Deputies are at the school searching inside and outside for a suspect . They asked the public to avoid the area

USD 418 reported "The school is safe but will remain in lockdown. Out of an abundance of caution, all other building are taking appropriate safety measures."

Check the Post for additional details as they become available.

MCPHERSON — Law enforcement took a report of a possible armed subject Tuesday at McPherson High School, according to a media release.Just after 1:15 p.m., the School Resource Officer (SRO) was notified that a student overheard another student say they saw someone outside McPherson High School with a gun/firearm.&nbsp;The SRO notified McPherson County Emergency Communications, who notified McPherson law enforcement. The high school was placed on lockdown and McPherson Police Department officers and McPherson County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the school.Officers and deputies searched the area outside and inside the high school, and did not find a suspect with a firearm. Officers and deputies remained at the high school until students were released and left the area.&nbsp;---------MCPHERSON COUNTY —McPherson Police and McPherson County Sheriff’s Department determined that there was no known threat inside or near the vicinity of McPherson High School, 801 East First Street, as of dismissal time Tuesday, according to USD 418.Just before 2p.m. law enforcement authorities and USD 418 officials were investigating a report of a subject with a firearm. McPherson High School was placed on lock down. Just before 3p.m. PreK, Elementary and Middle School students were dismissed according to standard procedures at the normal dismissal times.&nbsp; All students and staff are safe.--------MCPHERSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities and USD 418 officials are investigating a report of a subject with a firearm.McPherson High School, 801 East First, is currently on lock down.McPherson Police Officers and Deputies are at the school searching inside and outside for a suspect . They asked the public to avoid the areaUSD 418 reported "The school is safe but will remain in lockdown. Out of an abundance of caution, all other building are taking appropriate safety measures."Check the Post for additional details as they become available.

Police determine no threat after McPherson school briefly locked down

TOPEKA —Lansing Correctional Facility (LCF) resident 43-year-old Ricardo Carlos Ramirez died Tuesday, according to a media release from the Kansas Department of Corrections.&nbsp;

He was found unresponsive in his cell early Tuesday morning. Staff began life-saving measures immediately and continued after EMS arrived on the scene. Ramirez was pronounced deceased by medical staff. The cause of death is pending the results of an independent autopsy. A preliminary assessment indicates the death was not related to COVID-19

Ramirez was serving a combined 141-month sentence based on convictions in Johnson County, Kansas of Aggravated Sexual Battery; Intentional Touching GE/16, and three counts of Battery of a City or County Employee..

Per protocol, when a resident dies in the custody of the department of corrections, the death is under investigation by the KDOC and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661881572175.png" alt="Ramirez-photo KBI Offender Registry" />
 <figcaption>Ramirez-photo KBI Offender Registry</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA —Lansing Correctional Facility (LCF) resident 43-year-old Ricardo Carlos Ramirez died Tuesday, according to a media release from the Kansas Department of Corrections.&nbsp;He was found unresponsive in his cell early Tuesday morning. Staff began life-saving measures immediately and continued after EMS arrived on the scene. Ramirez was pronounced deceased by medical staff. The cause of death is pending the results of an independent autopsy. A preliminary assessment indicates the death was not related to COVID-19Ramirez was serving a combined 141-month sentence based on convictions in Johnson County, Kansas of Aggravated Sexual Battery; Intentional Touching GE/16, and three counts of Battery of a City or County Employee..Per protocol, when a resident dies in the custody of the department of corrections, the death is under investigation by the KDOC and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.&nbsp;

Kansas sex offender found dead in prison cell

WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;will deliver a prime-time address “on the continued battle for the soul of the nation” Thursday outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the White House announced Monday.

Billed as a major address just over two months before the midterm elections, Biden, the White House said, will discuss how the nation's standing in the world and its democracy are at stake.

“He will talk about the progress we have made as a nation to protect our democracy, but how our rights and freedoms are still under attack," the White House said. "And he will make clear who is fighting for those rights, fighting for those freedoms, and fighting for our democracy.”

Biden has increasingly sought to portray the November elections as a choice for voters between “ultra-MAGA Republicans” — a reference to former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan — and Democrats. He told supporters last week that they had “to vote to literally save democracy once again”&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-inflation-maryland-congress-f72f8363b9344a7cb2dd871409d77dba">— and labeled some Republican ideology as “semi-fascism."</a>

<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-give-prime-time-speech-soul-nation-voters-prepare-cast-midterm-b-rcna45358">NBC News</a>&nbsp;was first to report on Biden's plans for the address.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661814688261.png" alt="Billed as a major address just over two months before the midterm elections, Biden, the White House said, will discuss how the nation's standing in the world and its democracy are at stake-White House photo" />
 <figcaption>Billed as a major address just over two months before the midterm elections, Biden, the White House said, will discuss how the nation's standing in the world and its democracy are at stake-White House photo</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;will deliver a prime-time address “on the continued battle for the soul of the nation” Thursday outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the White House announced Monday.Billed as a major address just over two months before the midterm elections, Biden, the White House said, will discuss how the nation's standing in the world and its democracy are at stake.“He will talk about the progress we have made as a nation to protect our democracy, but how our rights and freedoms are still under attack," the White House said. "And he will make clear who is fighting for those rights, fighting for those freedoms, and fighting for our democracy.”Biden has increasingly sought to portray the November elections as a choice for voters between “ultra-MAGA Republicans” — a reference to former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan — and Democrats. He told supporters last week that they had “to vote to literally save democracy once again”&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-inflation-maryland-congress-f72f8363b9344a7cb2dd871409d77dba">— and labeled some Republican ideology as “semi-fascism."</a><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-give-prime-time-speech-soul-nation-voters-prepare-cast-midterm-b-rcna45358">NBC News</a>&nbsp;was first to report on Biden's plans for the address.

Biden to deliver prime-time speech on 'battle for soul of the nation'

By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY Salina Post

SALINA —A different kind of computer scam struck a business in Salina's south industrial area.

A human resources employee received an email she believed to be from an employee wanting to change the bank in which his paycheck was deposited, according to Sheriff Roger Soldan.

The email included all pertinent account information for the new bank.

When payday came, however, and the 61-year-old employee reported that he had not been paid, it was discovered that he also had not requested to switch banks. Instead, a scammer had spoofed the employee's email account and had the paycheck routed to a bank account the scammer set up. The incident was reported to the Saline County Sheriff's Office on Monday.

Soldan said the company went paid the employee, but is out the $1,257 that went to the scammer. The company also changed its policy for change requests from employees, eliminating the use of email in such requests.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/10/1571952029984.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY Salina PostSALINA —A different kind of computer scam struck a business in Salina's south industrial area.A human resources employee received an email she believed to be from an employee wanting to change the bank in which his paycheck was deposited, according to Sheriff Roger Soldan.The email included all pertinent account information for the new bank.When payday came, however, and the 61-year-old employee reported that he had not been paid, it was discovered that he also had not requested to switch banks. Instead, a scammer had spoofed the employee's email account and had the paycheck routed to a bank account the scammer set up. The incident was reported to the Saline County Sheriff's Office on Monday.Soldan said the company went paid the employee, but is out the $1,257 that went to the scammer. The company also changed its policy for change requests from employees, eliminating the use of email in such requests.

Scammer email allows theft of Kan. man's direct deposit paycheck

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a fatal hit-and-run accident that left 34-year-old Corey Addis&nbsp; dead are asking the public to help identify a vehicle.

Just after 8:30 a.m. August 21, police were dispatched to the alley of the 1800 block of South Spruce in Wichita regarding a dead body found, according to Officer Juan Rebolledo.

At the scene, officers located Addis who was pronounced deceased. The investigation revealed that Addis was possible run over by a vehicle.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call detectives at 316-268-4407, the See Something Say Something Hotline at 316-519-2282, or Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661873033054.png" alt="Photos Wichita Police" />
 <figcaption>Photos Wichita Police</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a fatal hit-and-run accident that left 34-year-old Corey Addis&nbsp; dead are asking the public to help identify a vehicle.Just after 8:30 a.m. August 21, police were dispatched to the alley of the 1800 block of South Spruce in Wichita regarding a dead body found, according to Officer Juan Rebolledo.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661873417798.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>At the scene, officers located Addis who was pronounced deceased. The investigation revealed that Addis was possible run over by a vehicle.Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call detectives at 316-268-4407, the See Something Say Something Hotline at 316-519-2282, or Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.

Police ask for help to ID vehicle in fatal Kan. hit-and-run

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities&nbsp; investigating a fatal weekend shooting&nbsp; have a suspect in custody.

According to Sedgwick County booking records, Derby Police arrested 22-year-old Demarc Maurice Burgess late Monday in the 200 Block of North Baltimore in connection with the alleged crime.

Just before 3 a.m. on Sunday, police responded to the report of a shooting at 1215 N. Westview in the city of Derby, according to a statement from the city.

Officers located several witnesses to the shooting and one adult male who was suffering from a gunshot wound. EMS transported the victim to a local hospital where he died.

Police asked the public for help to locate a&nbsp; suspect described as a Black male, approximately mid 20s, with a slender build and a street name of “D” or possibly “Dee”.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Burgess is<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=20078401"> being held on requested </a>charges of 2nd degree murder, intentional, according to online jail records.

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting and looking for a suspect.

Police are looking for a suspect described as a Black male, approximately mid 20s, with a slender build. He has a street name of “D” or possibly “Dee”. &nbsp;

Anyone who knows the identity of this person should contact the Derby Police&nbsp; at 788-1557, 911 or Crime Stoppers at 267-2111. Please do not try to approach or apprehend this person. &nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661865777856.png" alt="Burgess-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Burgess-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities&nbsp; investigating a fatal weekend shooting&nbsp; have a suspect in custody.According to Sedgwick County booking records, Derby Police arrested 22-year-old Demarc Maurice Burgess late Monday in the 200 Block of North Baltimore in connection with the alleged crime.Just before 3 a.m. on Sunday, police responded to the report of a shooting at 1215 N. Westview in the city of Derby, according to a statement from the city.Officers located several witnesses to the shooting and one adult male who was suffering from a gunshot wound. EMS transported the victim to a local hospital where he died.Police asked the public for help to locate a&nbsp; suspect described as a Black male, approximately mid 20s, with a slender build and a street name of “D” or possibly “Dee”.&nbsp;&nbsp;Burgess is<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=20078401"> being held on requested </a>charges of 2nd degree murder, intentional, according to online jail records.-------SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting and looking for a suspect.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661726235566.png" alt="Dee-photo City of Derby" />
 <figcaption>Dee-photo City of Derby</figcaption>
 </figure>Just before 3 a.m. on Sunday, police responded to the report of a shooting at 1215 N. Westview in the city of Derby, according to a statement from the city.Officers located several witnesses to the shooting and one adult male who was suffering from a gunshot wound. EMS transported the victim to a local hospital where he died.Police are looking for a suspect described as a Black male, approximately mid 20s, with a slender build. He has a street name of “D” or possibly “Dee”. &nbsp;Anyone who knows the identity of this person should contact the Derby Police&nbsp; at 788-1557, 911 or Crime Stoppers at 267-2111. Please do not try to approach or apprehend this person. &nbsp;

Police arrest suspect in weekend killing at Kan. home

KANSAS CITY (AP) —More than 1 million construction workers across the U.S. won't have to comply with a federal COVID-19 vaccination requirement, but an appeals court cleared the way for President Joe Biden's administration to potentially enforce the mandate on some federal contractors.

Biden's Office of Management and Budget said Monday that federal attorneys were still reviewing&nbsp;<a href="https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/202114269.pdf">the ruling</a>&nbsp;issued Friday and that no immediate steps have been taken to implement it.

The vaccine requirement for employees of federal contractors has been on hold nationwide since a U.S. district judge in Georgia&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-joe-biden-health-business-augusta-684571e6fb81014caed440c66e2b7fa2">issued an order in December barring its enforcement.</a>

A split ruling by a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta lifted that nationwide injunction but continues to bar enforcement of the vaccine mandate against seven states that sued — Georgia, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia. It also bars enforcement against members of Associated Builders and Contractors — which joined the lawsuit — or any of their subcontractors on federal projects.

The association, which has about 21,000 member companies employing more than 1 million workers, called the ruling a “huge victory” even though it narrows the scope of the previous injunction.

“A lot of the contractors were concerned about the record-keeping" and the potential to lose workers, said Ben Brubeck, the association’s vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs. "There’s a lot of employees who didn’t want to get vaccinated in the construction industry.”

Taking into account previous court orders stemming from lawsuits by other states, the vaccine mandate now is blocked for federal contracts involving half the states but allowed in the other half. It's unclear whether, when or how Biden's administration will seek to enforce the mandate.

The contractor requirement had been part of Biden's broader plan to fight COVID-19 by boosting vaccination rates. Separate orders had mandated vaccinations for health care employers participating in Medicare or Medicaid and had mandated employers with at least 100 workers to either require vaccinations or make employees wear masks and get regularly tested for COVID-19.

The vaccine mandates spawned a bevy of lawsuits, primarily from Republican-led states, but also from some employers. The U.S. Supreme Court in January&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-vaccine-mandate-eb5899ae1fe5b62b6f4d51f54a3cd375">blocked the vaccine requirement for large private employers but allowed it to proceed for most health care workers.</a>

In requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for federal contractors, Biden's administration contended that a federal procurement law gives the president broad authority to implement workplace safety guidelines. The appeals court panel disagreed and said Biden likely exceeded his authority. But it said the lower court judge also pushed the boundaries of judicial power by applying an injunction nationwide instead of limiting it only to those involved in the lawsuit.

The appellate decision was written by Circuit Judge Britt C. Grant, who was appointed by former Republican President Donald Trump in 2018. Senior Circuit Judge J. L. Edmondson, an appointee of former Republican President Ronald Reagan, concurred in the decision.

Senior Circuit Judge R. Lanier Anderson III, an appointee of former Democratic President Jimmy Carter, wrote that he believes Biden had the legal authority to issue the vaccine requirement.

KANSAS CITY (AP) —More than 1 million construction workers across the U.S. won't have to comply with a federal COVID-19 vaccination requirement, but an appeals court cleared the way for President Joe Biden's administration to potentially enforce the mandate on some federal contractors.Biden's Office of Management and Budget said Monday that federal attorneys were still reviewing&nbsp;<a href="https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/202114269.pdf">the ruling</a>&nbsp;issued Friday and that no immediate steps have been taken to implement it.The vaccine requirement for employees of federal contractors has been on hold nationwide since a U.S. district judge in Georgia&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-joe-biden-health-business-augusta-684571e6fb81014caed440c66e2b7fa2">issued an order in December barring its enforcement.</a>A split ruling by a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta lifted that nationwide injunction but continues to bar enforcement of the vaccine mandate against seven states that sued — Georgia, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia. It also bars enforcement against members of Associated Builders and Contractors — which joined the lawsuit — or any of their subcontractors on federal projects.The association, which has about 21,000 member companies employing more than 1 million workers, called the ruling a “huge victory” even though it narrows the scope of the previous injunction.“A lot of the contractors were concerned about the record-keeping" and the potential to lose workers, said Ben Brubeck, the association’s vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs. "There’s a lot of employees who didn’t want to get vaccinated in the construction industry.”Taking into account previous court orders stemming from lawsuits by other states, the vaccine mandate now is blocked for federal contracts involving half the states but allowed in the other half. It's unclear whether, when or how Biden's administration will seek to enforce the mandate.The contractor requirement had been part of Biden's broader plan to fight COVID-19 by boosting vaccination rates. Separate orders had mandated vaccinations for health care employers participating in Medicare or Medicaid and had mandated employers with at least 100 workers to either require vaccinations or make employees wear masks and get regularly tested for COVID-19.The vaccine mandates spawned a bevy of lawsuits, primarily from Republican-led states, but also from some employers. The U.S. Supreme Court in January&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-vaccine-mandate-eb5899ae1fe5b62b6f4d51f54a3cd375">blocked the vaccine requirement for large private employers but allowed it to proceed for most health care workers.</a>In requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for federal contractors, Biden's administration contended that a federal procurement law gives the president broad authority to implement workplace safety guidelines. The appeals court panel disagreed and said Biden likely exceeded his authority. But it said the lower court judge also pushed the boundaries of judicial power by applying an injunction nationwide instead of limiting it only to those involved in the lawsuit.The appellate decision was written by Circuit Judge Britt C. Grant, who was appointed by former Republican President Donald Trump in 2018. Senior Circuit Judge J. L. Edmondson, an appointee of former Republican President Ronald Reagan, concurred in the decision.Senior Circuit Judge R. Lanier Anderson III, an appointee of former Democratic President Jimmy Carter, wrote that he believes Biden had the legal authority to issue the vaccine requirement.

Court narrows hold on COVID vaccine mandate for contractors

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement and USD 259 authorities are investigating after a gun was found at West High School, 820 S Osage Street in Wichita on Monday.

A student alerted school officials about another student with a gun, according to a letter sent home to parents.&nbsp; Police took the student into custody.&nbsp;

“There were no threats made and no one was hurt. The school district followed all safety protocols in this matter to ensure the safety of students and staff,” according to the communication sent to parents. 

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement and USD 259 authorities are investigating after a gun was found at West High School, 820 S Osage Street in Wichita on Monday.A student alerted school officials about another student with a gun, according to a letter sent home to parents.&nbsp; Police took the student into custody.&nbsp;“There were no threats made and no one was hurt. The school district followed all safety protocols in this matter to ensure the safety of students and staff,” according to the communication sent to parents. Police released no additional details.

Student in custody after gun found at Kansas high school

BAGHDAD (AP) — Supporters of an influential Iraqi Shiite cleric fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns into Iraq's Green Zone and security forces returned fire Tuesday, a serious escalation of a months-long political crisis gripping the nation.

Biden&nbsp;administration official John Kirby on Monday expressed concern about the violence unfolding in Iraq but denied that personnel were being evacuated from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661809188063.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>BAGHDAD (AP) — Supporters of an influential Iraqi Shiite cleric fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns into Iraq's Green Zone and security forces returned fire Tuesday, a serious escalation of a months-long political crisis gripping the nation.Biden&nbsp;administration official John Kirby on Monday expressed concern about the violence unfolding in Iraq but denied that personnel were being evacuated from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.<a href="https://iq.usembassy.gov/demonstration-alert-u-s-embassy-baghdad-iraq-august-29-2022/">Click here to read </a>the alert from the U.S. EmbassyThe death toll rose to at least 30 people after two days of unrest, officials said.After cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced Monday he would resign from politics, his supporters stormed the Green Zone, once the stronghold of the U.S. military that's now home to Iraqi government offices and foreign embassies. At least one country evacuated its embassy amid the chaos.Iraq’s government has been deadlocked since al-Sadr’s party won the largest share of seats in October parliamentary elections but not enough to secure a majority government — unleashing months of infighting between different Shiite factions. Al-Sadr refused to negotiate with his Iran-backed Shiite rivals, and his withdrawal Monday catapulted Iraq into political uncertainty and volatility with no clear path out.Iran closed its borders to Iraq on Tuesday — a sign of Tehran’s concern that the chaos could spread, though streets beyond the capital's government quarter largely remained calm. The country's vital oil continued to flow, with global benchmark Brent crude trading slightly down at $103 a barrel.A day after the stormed the Green Zone, supporters of al-Sadr could be seen on live television firing both heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades into the heavily area through a section of pulled-down concrete walls. Security forces armed with machine guns inside the zone sporadically returned fire.Some bystanders filmed the gunfight with their mobile phones, though most hid behind still-standing segments of wall, wincing when rounds cracked nearby. As al-Sadr's forces fired, a line of armored tanks stood on the other side of the barriers that surround the Green Zone, though they did not use their heavy guns.At least one wounded man from al-Sadr's forces was taken away in a three-wheel rickshaw, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry visible in the background. Heavy black smoke at one point rose over the area, visible from kilometers (miles) away.At least 30 people have been killed and over 400 wounded, two Iraqi medical officials said. The toll included both al-Sadr loyalists killed in protests the day before and clashes overnight. Those figures are expected to rise, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information to journalists.Members of Iraq's majority Shiite Muslim population were oppressed when Saddam Hussein ruled the country for decades. The 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam, a Sunni, reversed the political order. Just under two-thirds of Iraq is Shiite, with a third Sunni.Now, the Shiites are fighting among themselves after the Americans largely withdrew from the nation, with Iranian-backed Shiites and Iraqi-nationalist Shiites jockeying for power, influence and state resources.It’s an explosive rivalry in a country where many remain way of the Iranian government’s influence even though trade and ties remain strong between its peoples. Iraq and Iran fought a bloody war in the 1980s that saw a million people killed.Al-Sadr’s nationalist rhetoric and reform agenda resonates powerfully with his supporters, who largely hail from Iraq’s poorest sectors of society and were historically shut out of the political system under Saddam.Al-Sadr's announcement that he is leaving politics has implicitly given his supporters the freedom to act as they see fit.Iranian state television cited unrest and a military-imposed curfew in Iraqi cities for the reason for the border closures. It urged Iranians avoid any travel to the neighboring country. The decision came as millions were preparing to visit Iraq for an annual pilgrimage to Shiite sites, and Tehran encouraged any Iranian pilgrims already in Iraq to avoid further travel between cities.Kuwait, meanwhile, called on its citizens to leave Iraq. The state-run KUNA news agency also encouraged those hoping to travel to Iraq to delay their plans.The tiny Gulf Arab sheikhdom of Kuwait shares a 254-kilometer- (158-mile-) long border with Iraq.The Netherlands evacuated its embassy in the Green Zone, Foreign Affairs Minister Wopke Hoekstra tweeted early Tuesday.“There are firefights around the embassy in Baghdad. Our staff are now working at the German embassy elsewhere in the city,” Hoekstra wrote.Dubai's long-haul carrier Emirates stopped flights to Baghdad on Tuesday over the ongoing unrest. The carrier said that it was “monitoring the situation closely.” It did not say when flights would resume.On Monday, protesters loyal to al-Sadr pulled down the cement barriers outside the government palace with ropes and breached the palace gates. Many rushed into the lavish salons and marbled halls of the palace, a key meeting place for Iraqi heads of state and foreign dignitaries.Iraq’s military announced a nationwide curfew, and the caretaker premier suspended Cabinet sessions in response to the violence.-----------BAGHDAD (AP) — An influential Shiite cleric announced Monday that he would resign from Iraqi politics, prompting hundreds of his angry followers to storm the government palace and sparking clashes with security forces. At least 15 protesters were killed.Protesters loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr pulled down the cement barriers outside the government palace with ropes and breached the palace gates. Many rushed into the lavish salons and marbled halls of the palace, a key meeting place for Iraqi heads of state and foreign dignitaries.Iraq’s military announced a nationwide curfew, and the caretaker premier suspended Cabinet sessions in response to the violence. Medical officials said dozens of protesters were wounded by gunfire and tear gas and physical altercations with riot police.As night fell, Saraya Salam, a militia aligned with al-Sadr clashed with the Popular Mobilization Forces security group. A small force from the special forces division and Iraqi Army's 9th Division also joined to contain the militants as the clashes continued for hours inside the Green Zone, the seat of Iraq's government.At least one soldier from the special forces division, which is responsible for security in the Green Zone, was killed. Many others, including a civilian woman, were wounded, two security officials said. Several mortar rounds were heard.The crackle of machine gun fire echoed throughout central Baghdad.The PMF is an umbrella group composed of state-sanctioned paramilitary groups, the most powerful of which are aligned with al-Sadr's rivals in the Iran-backed political camp.Security officials said mortars and rocket-propelled grenades were used in the clashes, a culmination of intractable political impasse between the rival camps.Iraq’s government has been deadlocked since al-Sadr’s party won the largest share of seats in October parliamentary elections but not enough to secure a majority government. His refusal to negotiate with his Iran-backed Shiite rivals and subsequent exit from the talks has catapulted the country into political uncertainty and volatility amid intensifying intra-Shiite wrangling.Iraq's majority Muslim population is split into two sects, Shiites and Sunnis. Under Saddam Hussein, the Shiites were oppressed until the U.S.-led invasion reversed the political order. Now the Shiites are fighting among themselves, with the dispute centering around power and state resources but also influence over the Shiite street.To further his political interests, al-Sadr has wrapped his rhetoric with a nationalist and reform agenda that resonates powerfully among his broad grassroots base of supporters who hail from Iraq’s poorest sectors of society and have historically been shut out from the political system.Many were first followers of his father, a revered figure in Shiite Islam. They are calling for the dissolution of parliament and early elections without the participation of Iran-backed Shiite groups, which they see as responsible for the status quo.During Monday's clashes, Saraya Salam, a militia aligned with al-Sadr gathered in the capital’s Tahrir Square to “protect” protesters, one of its commanders said.A senior medical official confirmed at least 15 protesters were killed by gunfire.Iraq’s caretaker premier said he would open an investigation into the shootings and said the use of live ammunition against protesters was forbidden.Protests also broke out in the Shiite-majority southern provinces, with al-Sadr’s supporters burning tires and blocking roads in the oil-rich province of Basra and hundreds demonstrating outside the governorate building in Missan.Iran considers intra-Shiite disharmony as a threat to its influence in Iraq and has repeatedly attempted to broker dialogue with al-Sadr.In&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-religion-iran-iraq-0a7cb71ade4896ea393bedee0f7b86d7">July, Al-Sadr's supporters broke into the parliament</a>&nbsp;to deter his rivals in the Coordination Framework, an alliance of mostly Iran-aligned Shiite parties, from forming a government. Hundreds have been staging a sit-in outside the building for over four weeks. His bloc has also resigned from parliament. The Framework is led by al-Sadr's chief nemesis, former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.This is not the first time al-Sadr, who has called for early elections and the dissolution of parliament, has announced his retirement from politics — and many dismissed Monday's move as another bluff to gain greater leverage against his rivals&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-iran-elections-legislature-middle-east-235ad514977355cb1d7cad31d31fc901">amid a worsening stalemate</a>. The cleric has used the tactic on previous occasions when political developments did not go his way.But many are concerned that it's a risky gambit and are worried how it will affect Iraq’s fragile political climate. By stepping out of the political process, al-Sadr is giving his followers, most disenfranchised from the political system, the green light to act as they see fit.Al-Sadr also commands a militia and maintains a great degree of influence within Iraq's state institutions through the appointments of key civil servant positions.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-religion-iran-saudi-arabia-iraq-d8e8b5fca9a92022e1249381892860ca">His Iran-backed rivals also have militia groups.</a>Iraq’s military swiftly called on the cleric's supporters to withdraw immediately from the heavily fortified government zone and to practice self-restraint “to prevent clashes or the spilling of Iraqi blood,” according to a statement.“The security forces affirm their responsibility to protect government institutions, international missions, public and private properties,” the statement said.Iraq's caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi also demanded that al-Sadr call on his followers to withdraw from government institutions.The U.N. mission in Iraq said Monday’s protests were an “extremely dangerous escalation” and called on demonstrators to vacate all government buildings to allow the caretaker government to continue running the state.It urged all to remain peaceful and “refrain from acts that could lead to an unstoppable chain of events.”“The very survival of the state is at stake,” the statement said.Al-Sadr announced his withdrawal from politics in a tweet, and ordered the closure of his party offices. Religious and cultural institutions will remain open, it said.The true motivations behind al-Sadr’s announcement appeared to be a reaction to the retirement of Shiite spiritual leader Ayatollah Kadhim al-Haeri, who counts many of al-Sadr’s supporters as followers.In a surprise announcement Sunday, al-Haeri said he would be stepping down as a religious authority for health reasons and called on his followers to throw their allegiance behind Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rather than the Shiite spiritual center in Iraq's holy city of Najaf.The move was a blow to al-Sadr, who despite harboring ambitions to be a religious authority lacks the scholarly credentials to be an ayatollah. Al-Haeri, who resides in the Iranian holy city of Qom, once provided him with the legitimacy he lacked by designating al-Sadr as his representative in Iraq. He cut ties shortly after with the cleric, but continued to enjoy the support of his followers.By calling on his followers to side with Khamenei, al-Haeri brought on a crisis of legitimacy for al-Sadr.In his tweet, al-Sadr said al-Haeri's stepping down “was not out of his own volition.”