TOPEKA, Kansas. –&nbsp;Lansing Correctional Facility resident Lawrence A. Brown, Jr., died Friday after being transported to St. John’s Hospital, in Leavenworth where he was pronounced deceased by hospital staff, according to a media release from the Kansas Department of Corrections.

 The cause of death is pending an autopsy, but is not believed to be COVID-19 related.

Per protocol, when a resident dies in the custody of KDOC, the death is under investigation by KDOC and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI).

Brown, 32, was currently serving a 122-month sentence for a Sedgwick County conviction (Battery of a Corrections Officer or Employee).&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635078594657.png" alt="Brown was serving a 122-month sentence for a Sedgwick County conviction for Battery of a Corrections Officer or Employee." />
 <figcaption>Brown was serving a 122-month sentence for a Sedgwick County conviction for Battery of a Corrections Officer or Employee.</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kansas. –&nbsp;Lansing Correctional Facility resident Lawrence A. Brown, Jr., died Friday after being transported to St. John’s Hospital, in Leavenworth where he was pronounced deceased by hospital staff, according to a media release from the Kansas Department of Corrections. The cause of death is pending an autopsy, but is not believed to be COVID-19 related.Per protocol, when a resident dies in the custody of KDOC, the death is under investigation by KDOC and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI).Brown, 32, was currently serving a 122-month sentence for a Sedgwick County conviction (Battery of a Corrections Officer or Employee).&nbsp;

State reports death of 32-year-old Kansas inmate 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-health-abortion-government-and-politics-ba02cd7c3f02b1eb5c87094257ee4db2">the Texas law that bans most abortions</a>&nbsp;to remain in place, but has agreed to hear arguments in the case in early November.

The justices said Friday they will decide whether the Justice Department and abortion providers can sue in federal court over a law that Justice Sonia Sotomayor said was “enacted in open disregard of the constitutional rights of women seeking abortion care in Texas.”

Answering that question will help determine whether the law should be blocked while legal challenges continue. The court is moving at an unusually fast pace that suggests it plans to make a decision quickly. Arguments are set for Nov. 1.

The court’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21a85_5h25.pdf" target="_blank">action</a>&nbsp;leaves in place for the time being a law that clinics say has led to an 80% reduction in abortions in the nation’s second-largest state.

The justices said in their order that they were deferring action on a request from the Justice Department to put the law on hold. Sotomayor wrote that she would have blocked the law now.

“The promise of future adjudication offers cold comfort, however, for Texas women seeking abortion care, who are entitled to relief now,” Sotomayor wrote.

Sotomayor was the only justice to make her views clear, but it seems there were not five votes on the nine-member court to immediately block the law Friday. It takes just four justices to decide to hear a case.

The court first declined to block the law in September, in response to an emergency filing by the abortion providers. The vote was 5-4 vote, with the three appointees of former President Donald Trump joining two other conservatives in the majority. Chief Justice John Roberts joined Sotomayor and the other two liberal justices in voting to keep the law on hold while the legal fight goes on in lower courts.

Now, though, the justices, in a rare move, have decided to weigh in before lower courts definitively decide the issues.

Kimberlyn Schwartz, a spokeswoman for Texas Right to Life, said she was happy the law remains in effect. “This is a great development for the Pro-Life movement because the law will continue to save an estimated 100 babies per day, and because the justices will actually discuss whether these lawsuits are valid in the first place,” Schwartz said in a statement.

Amy Hagstrom Miller, the chief executive of Whole Woman’s Health, said Friday’s order means patients will continue to be denied care at her four clinics in Texas, on top of the hundreds who already have been turned away. Providers say the ability of Texas’ nearly two dozen clinics to stay open is threatened the longer the law stays in effect, although Hagstrom Miller said she was not aware of any imminent closures.

But she said clinics are trying “to band together and get resources” to keep doors open. In 2013, another restrictive Texas anti-abortion law led to the closing of half the state’s 40-plus clinics. The Supreme Court ultimately struck down that law in 2016, but some clinics never reopened.

“It’s a matter of time if this law continues to be enforced,” Hagstrom Miller said. “It will cause clinics to close and further decimate the fabric of care that is needed to take care of people across the state.”

The law has been in effect since September, aside from a district court-ordered pause that lasted just 48 hours, and bans abortions once cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks and before some women know they are pregnant.

That’s well before the Supreme Court’s major abortion decisions allow states to prohibit abortion,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-abortion-15-week-ban-5d066a9dc0030a4f8297711f341c9f5a">although the court has agreed to hear an appeal from Mississippi asking it to overrule those decisions, in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey</a>.

But the Texas law was written to evade early federal court review by putting enforcement of it into the hands of private citizens, rather than state officials.

The focus of the high court arguments will not be on the abortion ban, but whether the Justice Department and the providers can sue and obtain a court order that effectively prevents the law from being enforced, the Supreme Court said in its brief order.

If the law stays in effect, “no decision of this Court is safe. States need not comply with, or even challenge, precedents with which they disagree. They may simply outlaw the exercise of whatever rights they disfavor,” the Biden administration wrote in a brief filed earlier in the day.

Other state-enforced bans on abortion before the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb, around 24 weeks, have been blocked by courts because they conflict with Supreme Court precedents.

“Texas should not obtain a different result simply by pairing its unconstitutional law with an unprecedented enforcement scheme designed to evade the traditional mechanisms for judicial review,” the administration wrote.

A day earlier, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/21/21A85/197064/20211021113524436_21A85_United%20States%20v.%20Texas_Opposition.pdf" target="_blank">state urged the court to leave the law in place</a>, saying the federal government lacked the authority to file its lawsuit challenging the Texas ban.

The Justice Department filed suit over the law after the Supreme Court rejected the earlier effort by abortion providers to put the measure on hold temporarily.

In early October, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ruled for the administration, putting the law on hold and allowing abortions to resume.

Two days later, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put the law back into effect.

The court already is hearing arguments on Dec. 1 in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-health-courts-coronavirus-pandemic-us-supreme-court-b2399021aa925d655be3942c8e2edd2b">the Mississippi case</a>&nbsp;in which that state is calling for the court to overrule the Roe and Casey decisions.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1634041318695.png" alt="Abortion protesters in Kansas City in September 2021-photo Planned Parenthood" />
 <figcaption>Abortion protesters in Kansas City in September 2021-photo Planned Parenthood</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-health-abortion-government-and-politics-ba02cd7c3f02b1eb5c87094257ee4db2">the Texas law that bans most abortions</a>&nbsp;to remain in place, but has agreed to hear arguments in the case in early November.The justices said Friday they will decide whether the Justice Department and abortion providers can sue in federal court over a law that Justice Sonia Sotomayor said was “enacted in open disregard of the constitutional rights of women seeking abortion care in Texas.”Answering that question will help determine whether the law should be blocked while legal challenges continue. The court is moving at an unusually fast pace that suggests it plans to make a decision quickly. Arguments are set for Nov. 1.The court’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21a85_5h25.pdf" target="_blank">action</a>&nbsp;leaves in place for the time being a law that clinics say has led to an 80% reduction in abortions in the nation’s second-largest state.The justices said in their order that they were deferring action on a request from the Justice Department to put the law on hold. Sotomayor wrote that she would have blocked the law now.“The promise of future adjudication offers cold comfort, however, for Texas women seeking abortion care, who are entitled to relief now,” Sotomayor wrote.Sotomayor was the only justice to make her views clear, but it seems there were not five votes on the nine-member court to immediately block the law Friday. It takes just four justices to decide to hear a case.The court first declined to block the law in September, in response to an emergency filing by the abortion providers. The vote was 5-4 vote, with the three appointees of former President Donald Trump joining two other conservatives in the majority. Chief Justice John Roberts joined Sotomayor and the other two liberal justices in voting to keep the law on hold while the legal fight goes on in lower courts.Now, though, the justices, in a rare move, have decided to weigh in before lower courts definitively decide the issues.Kimberlyn Schwartz, a spokeswoman for Texas Right to Life, said she was happy the law remains in effect. “This is a great development for the Pro-Life movement because the law will continue to save an estimated 100 babies per day, and because the justices will actually discuss whether these lawsuits are valid in the first place,” Schwartz said in a statement.Amy Hagstrom Miller, the chief executive of Whole Woman’s Health, said Friday’s order means patients will continue to be denied care at her four clinics in Texas, on top of the hundreds who already have been turned away. Providers say the ability of Texas’ nearly two dozen clinics to stay open is threatened the longer the law stays in effect, although Hagstrom Miller said she was not aware of any imminent closures.But she said clinics are trying “to band together and get resources” to keep doors open. In 2013, another restrictive Texas anti-abortion law led to the closing of half the state’s 40-plus clinics. The Supreme Court ultimately struck down that law in 2016, but some clinics never reopened.“It’s a matter of time if this law continues to be enforced,” Hagstrom Miller said. “It will cause clinics to close and further decimate the fabric of care that is needed to take care of people across the state.”The law has been in effect since September, aside from a district court-ordered pause that lasted just 48 hours, and bans abortions once cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks and before some women know they are pregnant.That’s well before the Supreme Court’s major abortion decisions allow states to prohibit abortion,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-abortion-15-week-ban-5d066a9dc0030a4f8297711f341c9f5a">although the court has agreed to hear an appeal from Mississippi asking it to overrule those decisions, in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey</a>.But the Texas law was written to evade early federal court review by putting enforcement of it into the hands of private citizens, rather than state officials.The focus of the high court arguments will not be on the abortion ban, but whether the Justice Department and the providers can sue and obtain a court order that effectively prevents the law from being enforced, the Supreme Court said in its brief order.If the law stays in effect, “no decision of this Court is safe. States need not comply with, or even challenge, precedents with which they disagree. They may simply outlaw the exercise of whatever rights they disfavor,” the Biden administration wrote in a brief filed earlier in the day.Other state-enforced bans on abortion before the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb, around 24 weeks, have been blocked by courts because they conflict with Supreme Court precedents.“Texas should not obtain a different result simply by pairing its unconstitutional law with an unprecedented enforcement scheme designed to evade the traditional mechanisms for judicial review,” the administration wrote.A day earlier, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/21/21A85/197064/20211021113524436_21A85_United%20States%20v.%20Texas_Opposition.pdf" target="_blank">state urged the court to leave the law in place</a>, saying the federal government lacked the authority to file its lawsuit challenging the Texas ban.The Justice Department filed suit over the law after the Supreme Court rejected the earlier effort by abortion providers to put the measure on hold temporarily.In early October, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ruled for the administration, putting the law on hold and allowing abortions to resume.Two days later, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put the law back into effect.The court already is hearing arguments on Dec. 1 in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-health-courts-coronavirus-pandemic-us-supreme-court-b2399021aa925d655be3942c8e2edd2b">the Mississippi case</a>&nbsp;in which that state is calling for the court to overrule the Roe and Casey decisions.___

Court fast tracks showdown on nation's most restrictive abortion law

ELLSWORTH COUNTY —A Salina man died in an accident just after 4:30p.m. Saturday in Ellsworth County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Chevy Impala driven by&nbsp; Lance Michael Martin, 41, Salina, was&nbsp;was westbound on Kansas 156 just west of Avenue D.

The Chevy traveled across the center line and struck an eastbound 2012 Peterbilt semi driven by Kevin Lee Cooper, 49, Longview Washington.&nbsp; 

After the vehicles collided, the Peterbilt semi traveled back into the westbound lane and was struck by a 2007 Peterbilt semi driven by Michael John Campbell, 53, of Tescott.

Martin was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to&nbsp;Parsons Funeral Home. Cooper was not transported for treatment. Campbell was not injured. All three were properly restrained, according to the KHP.

ELLSWORTH COUNTY —A Salina man died in an accident just after 4:30p.m. Saturday in Ellsworth County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Chevy Impala driven by&nbsp; Lance Michael Martin, 41, Salina, was&nbsp;was westbound on Kansas 156 just west of Avenue D.The Chevy traveled across the center line and struck an eastbound 2012 Peterbilt semi driven by Kevin Lee Cooper, 49, Longview Washington.&nbsp; After the vehicles collided, the Peterbilt semi traveled back into the westbound lane and was struck by a 2007 Peterbilt semi driven by Michael John Campbell, 53, of Tescott.Martin was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to&nbsp;Parsons Funeral Home. Cooper was not transported for treatment. Campbell was not injured. All three were properly restrained, according to the KHP.

Kansas man dies after 3-vehicle semi crash


HUTCHINSON — Despite the higher visibility of some school board races due to controversy over COVID response and what some may see as future threats in curriculum, from a fundamental standpoint, new school board members will walk in to a situation where the math problems may not change.

"It appears that the funding situation is relatively stable," said Mark Tallman with the Kansas Association of School Boards. "The system we're trying to have in place to do some things around looking at student learning, both measurements and supports are relatively stable, but that can change at any time and I guess that's the exciting thing about being part of this."

There are state issues that constrain local school board actions, to a point.

"By and large, how much money a district gets is determined by the state," Tallman said. "How we measure progress is often determined by the state. The framework of things like how you negotiate with teachers is an issue that will be coming up next spring for a lot of boards. Many new board members are not very familiar with this. It really is a balance between the powers you have that are very important, but also understanding the limits on those powers, that I think surprise many new board members."

In addition, because they are the appropriators, the legislature can pass bills to open or close the checkbook based on their political wants and needs and not those of a local district, but eventually, there is hope that local boards will be able to get back to some of the priorities they were working on before COVID challenged normal for a couple of years.

"We've had a lot of good achievements educationally," Tallman said. "We know that there are kids who still aren't getting to where we need to be and we know we're struggling with having people with the skills to do the things that we want done. Some of those efforts, I think, were really pushed out of the spotlight by the pandemic."

It's also still unknown exactly how much real learning loss there was as a result of COVID and what kinds of supports will even be possible to help patch that up, since schools are having just as hard a time hiring people as the rest of the economy.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1582221969260.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>
By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch
Post
HUTCHINSON — Despite the higher visibility of some school board races due to controversy over COVID response and what some may see as future threats in curriculum, from a fundamental standpoint, new school board members will walk in to a situation where the math problems may not change."It appears that the funding situation is relatively stable," said Mark Tallman with the Kansas Association of School Boards. "The system we're trying to have in place to do some things around looking at student learning, both measurements and supports are relatively stable, but that can change at any time and I guess that's the exciting thing about being part of this."There are state issues that constrain local school board actions, to a point."By and large, how much money a district gets is determined by the state," Tallman said. "How we measure progress is often determined by the state. The framework of things like how you negotiate with teachers is an issue that will be coming up next spring for a lot of boards. Many new board members are not very familiar with this. It really is a balance between the powers you have that are very important, but also understanding the limits on those powers, that I think surprise many new board members."In addition, because they are the appropriators, the legislature can pass bills to open or close the checkbook based on their political wants and needs and not those of a local district, but eventually, there is hope that local boards will be able to get back to some of the priorities they were working on before COVID challenged normal for a couple of years."We've had a lot of good achievements educationally," Tallman said. "We know that there are kids who still aren't getting to where we need to be and we know we're struggling with having people with the skills to do the things that we want done. Some of those efforts, I think, were really pushed out of the spotlight by the pandemic."It's also still unknown exactly how much real learning loss there was as a result of COVID and what kinds of supports will even be possible to help patch that up, since schools are having just as hard a time hiring people as the rest of the economy.

Tallman: Balance key for new school board members

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a sexual assault and have a&nbsp; suspect in custody.

Just before 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, police responded to a 911 call on N. Ash in Wichita, according to a media release.

 They contacted a female victim who reported being raped by an unknown man. The victim reported that she had been talking to the suspect online. 

After talking online, the suspect went to the victim's home. When the suspect arrived at the home, the victim realized it was not the person she thought she had been talking to. The suspect then entered her home and sexually assaulted her before leaving.

Officers identified the suspect as 35-year-old Jeffrey Scroggins. Officers located and took him into custody in the 1900 block of W. 35th Street South in Wichita.

 He was interviewed by Domestic Violence-Sex Crimes detectives and then booked into the Sedgwick County Jail&nbsp;on requested charges of Aggravated Burglary and Rape.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1634850741103.png" alt="Scroggins photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Scroggins photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a sexual assault and have a&nbsp; suspect in custody.Just before 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, police responded to a 911 call on N. Ash in Wichita, according to a media release. They contacted a female victim who reported being raped by an unknown man. The victim reported that she had been talking to the suspect online. After talking online, the suspect went to the victim's home. When the suspect arrived at the home, the victim realized it was not the person she thought she had been talking to. The suspect then entered her home and sexually assaulted her before leaving.Officers identified the suspect as 35-year-old Jeffrey Scroggins. Officers located and took him into custody in the 1900 block of W. 35th Street South in Wichita. He was interviewed by Domestic Violence-Sex Crimes detectives and then booked into the Sedgwick County Jail&nbsp;on requested charges of Aggravated Burglary and Rape.

Rape arrest: After online chat man went to Kan. woman's home

By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY Salina Post

SALINA —Police arrested a Kansas man who had an active warrant after he was found hiding in a closet under some clothing.

Just before 10p.m. Thursday, officers were dispatched to a residence in the 100 block of Baker Street for the report of a physical altercation, according to&nbsp;Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester.

Officers were told that James Mallett III, 34, of Salina, was involved in the altercation. One of the officers knew that Mallett had an active probation violation warrant from Saline County District Court, Forrester said.

When officers arrived, Mallett opened the door inside a locked storm door. Officers asked Mallet to come outside, but he instead shut the door. Another resident allowed officers inside, and they located Mallett in a closet under some clothing, according to Forrester.

Mallett was arrested on the warrant and on a requested charge of felony interference with law enforcement officers.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1634906448286.jpeg" alt="James Mallett has three previous convictions for domestic battery over the past five years-photo Saline County" />
 <figcaption>James Mallett has three previous convictions for domestic battery over the past five years-photo Saline County</figcaption>
 </figure>By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY Salina PostSALINA —Police arrested a Kansas man who had an active warrant after he was found hiding in a closet under some clothing.Just before 10p.m. Thursday, officers were dispatched to a residence in the 100 block of Baker Street for the report of a physical altercation, according to&nbsp;Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester.Officers were told that James Mallett III, 34, of Salina, was involved in the altercation. One of the officers knew that Mallett had an active probation violation warrant from Saline County District Court, Forrester said.When officers arrived, Mallett opened the door inside a locked storm door. Officers asked Mallet to come outside, but he instead shut the door. Another resident allowed officers inside, and they located Mallett in a closet under some clothing, according to Forrester.Mallett was arrested on the warrant and on a requested charge of felony interference with law enforcement officers.

Kan. man with domestic battery convictions found hiding in closet

JACKSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas woman on drug charges after a traffic stop.

Just after 8a.m. Friday, a sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop&nbsp; on 118th Road west of US Highway 75, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

After identifying that the driver’s license was suspended.  The deputy arrested the driver, Nicole Lynn Thompson, 30, of Holton. 

She is being held in the Jackson County Jail on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of a hallucinogenic drug, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving while suspended.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1634995653451.png" alt="Thompson-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Thompson-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas woman on drug charges after a traffic stop.Just after 8a.m. Friday, a sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop&nbsp; on 118th Road west of US Highway 75, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.After identifying that the driver’s license was suspended. The deputy arrested the driver, Nicole Lynn Thompson, 30, of Holton. She is being held in the Jackson County Jail on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of a hallucinogenic drug, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving while suspended.

Sheriff: Kan. woman had suspended license, was transporting drugs

By DAVID CONDOS <a href="https://www.hppr.org/hppr-news/2021-10-25/how-a-meatpacking-plant-changed-one-kansas-town-40-years-ago-and-left-a-colorado-community-behind">Kansas News Service</a>

GARDEN CITY&nbsp;— Drivers approaching this cattle city on 
Kansas 156 watch as the scenery changes from a patchwork of southwest 
Kansas crop fields, pastures and feedlots to a collage of suburban 
sprawl.

The Home Depot stands next to the Dick’s Sporting Goods, 
which shares a parking lot with the Old Navy that just opened this 
summer.

Across the street, one of the town’s two Burger Kings 
serves up Whoppers in the shadow of the only Target store for a 
three-hour drive in any direction.

One hundred miles west, Russ Baldwin makes a left turn off Main Street into an empty parking lot in Lamar, Colorado.

“Behold: the former Burger King,” Baldwin said, lifting his hand from the steering wheel. “Home of the ex-Whopper.”

Plywood boards cover the drive-thru window. Next door, the old K-Mart sits vacant.

Within minutes, he drives past the airport that <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2014/02/07/more-on-the-cover-story-wayne-sidebar.html" target="_blank">lost its last commercial flight</a> in the early 2000s. Then the factory that used to be the town’s largest employer — until it abruptly shut down 15 years ago.

“That was pretty much the perfect storm,” Baldwin said. “You’re sitting there going, ‘What’s next, a locust invasion?’ ”

Just a few decades ago, the two outposts were basically Kansas and Colorado versions of each other. But in 1980, the <a href="https://mospace.umsystem.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10355/4939/research.pdf?sequence=3&amp;isAllowed=y" target="_blank">world’s largest meatpacking plant</a> opened on the outskirts of Garden City. Almost overnight, it became the fastest growing part of Kansas.

Thousands of new jobs. Billions of dollars in new industry. A boomtown in a region that has <a href="https://ipsr.ku.edu/ksdata/ksah/population/popmax.pdf" target="_blank">lost residents</a> for generations.

The
 plant’s arrival marked a milestone for Garden City, making it the 
epicenter of the High Plains beef industry. And the city’s decision to 
open its doors to the thousands of immigrant and refugee workers who 
would accompany the plant has — at least so far — helped it escape the 
fate of the many surrounding towns that still see an unending exodus.&nbsp;

What’s more, the diverging trajectories of Garden City and Lamar over the past 40-some years offer a glimpse at the knife’s edge between prosperity and decline in rural America.

That’s because the town that Garden City beat out to win the meatpacking plant was Lamar.

Garden City and Lamar share the same 
river, the same highway, the same railroad line and the same Dust Bowl 
past. And through the 1960s, they were roughly the same size.

But the population of Finney County — home to Garden City — has <a href="https://ipsr.ku.edu/ksdata/ksah/population/population.pdf" target="_blank">doubled</a> since 1970. It’s now over <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/finneycountykansas/PST045219" target="_blank">38,000</a>.

The number of people living in Prowers County — home to Lamar — has slowly <a href="https://www.census.gov/prod/cen1990/cph2/cph-2-7.pdf" target="_blank">slipped</a> under <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/prowerscountycolorado" target="_blank">12,000</a>.

Larry
 Jones has watched the transformation of western Kansas’ largest city 
from his farm and cattle company that sits just outside of town.

“If you’d been here 20 years ago and looked at it,” he said, “you wouldn't recognize the town.”

Next
 door to Jones’ milo field sits the giant, boxy structure that 
resuscitated Garden City: Tyson Foods’ Finney County beef plant. Inside,
 more than 3,000 workers — most of them immigrants and refugees — 
butcher <a href="https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/22036-the-smoldering-impact-of-tyson-holcomb-fire" target="_blank">6,000 head of cattle</a> every day.

So what made Garden City and Lamar the two finalists to win this sprawling slaughterhouse in the first place?

As often happens on the High Plains, it comes back to water.

Meatpacking
 plants historically operated in urban centers, such as Kansas City and 
Chicago. But in the 1960s, packers began to build plants in the 
countryside — away from big city unions and closer to cattle and the 
grain that fattens them through the last few months of their lives.

Around
 that same time, the number of water wells drilled into the Ogallala 
Aquifer underneath this region skyrocketed. Those wells plus new center 
pivot irrigation technology allowed farmers to grow more water-intensive
 crops in places that get hardly any rain.

It created an ecosystem. The aquifer waters the corn. The corn feeds the cows. The cows supply the meatpackers.

“The
 way to add value to grain is to put it in an animal,” Don Stull said. 
”And the way to add value to an animal is to slaughter it.”

Stull has <a href="http://www.ipsr.ku.edu/conferen/kepc11/HarvestofChange.pdf" target="_blank">tracked</a> the beef industry’s impact on Garden City for more than three decades as a University of Kansas professor and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Slaughterhouse-Blues-Poultry-Industry-Contemporary/dp/1111828784" target="_blank">author</a>.
 He calls it the first of rural America’s food-processing boomtowns — 
quickly transforming from what he described as a white agrarian 
community in 1980 to one of the <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/kansas-population-change-between-census-decade.html" target="_blank">most diverse</a> places in Kansas.

Yet
 the city’s metamorphosis came with growing pains. Rapid expansion 
brought plenty of challenges that it’s still dealing with, like strains 
on housing, health care, education and social services. And because many
 of the plant workers were, and are, immigrants and refugees, the type 
of growth the city experienced also worried some white residents.

“But if you ask anybody,” Stull said, “they'd rather have the problems of growth than the problems of decline.”

That’s
 why local leaders pushed hard to land the plant four decades ago — 
offering a “better package” than Lamar, Stull said — to help secure the 
town’s future economically. And so far, it has.

The beef industry now pumps around <a href="https://agriculture.ks.gov/economic-development-statistics/county-statistics-(a-h)/finney-county" target="_blank">$2 billion</a> into the county’s economy each year. The city has parlayed its growth into becoming the <a href="https://www.garden-city.org/home/showdocument?id=62" target="_blank">region’s retail hub</a>, regularly drawing shoppers from more than 100 miles away — including many from Lamar.

So what would Garden City look like today if the plant had been built somewhere else?

“Well,” Stull said, “look at Lamar.”

Russ Baldwin moved to Lamar the same year the meatpacking plant opened in Garden City. He now runs the local weekly newspaper.

As
 he ends his driving tour of shuttered businesses, he rolls to a stop in
 a parking lot on the east edge of town. Weeds grow high along the 
cracks in the pavement.

The four-story building on the other side of a chain-link fence used to house a German <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/25/us/colorado-town-looks-to-better-days-with-a-german-bus-factory.html" target="_blank">bus manufacturer</a>. At its peak, it had roughly 600 people on the payroll. In 2006, it laid off the last 300.

“There
 were no more paychecks. Things were not being bought at grocery 
stores,” Baldwin said. “People were scrambling, and there just wasn't 
another job.”

Between 2000 and 2020, Lamar’s county lost 17% of its population.

It’s a vicious cycle that’s repeated across rural America. Having 
fewer jobs and businesses makes it hard for towns to attract and retain 
residents. Having fewer residents makes it hard for towns to get and 
keep jobs and businesses.

Today, Baldwin described Lamar as a mix 
of people who want to help turn things around for the town and those who
 still cling to the fading memory of what the town used to be.

“There’s
 an element in town that reveres the status quo and doesn’t really want 
to see too much change,” he said. “But you can’t stop change, I don’t 
care how hard you try.”

Stephanie Gonzales wants to change that outlook. She heads the regional economic development organization, <a href="https://www.seced.net/mission.html" target="_blank">SECED</a>, that tries to tempt employers to move to town.

“We have wide-open spaces, so lots of places to put a business,” she said. “You can’t beat rural America.”

She
 grew up in Lamar in the 1980s. Her parents, brothers, uncles and 
cousins were among those laid off from the bus-making plant.&nbsp;

Fifteen
 years later, she said Lamar now fights the perception that the town 
doesn’t have enough people to make it worthwhile for businesses to set 
up shop there.

Meanwhile, residents often drive over an hour to shop in Garden City, essentially dooming the few businesses left in Lamar.

“The
 growth that (Garden City has) experienced, could have ... really 
benefited Lamar,” Gonzales said, “had there been maybe some different 
mentality at the time.”

That mentality was a fear of change. Some 
people in Lamar were worried about the influx of immigrant and refugee 
workers. She said that kept Lamar from pushing harder to try to get the 
plant.

“We should have welcomed the diverse numbers of people,” she said. “that would have been employed in a facility like that.”

County Commissioner Ron Cook said Lamar has missed out on several 
opportunities over the years — in addition to the meatpacking plant — 
because of those fears. So the town has had to adjust.

“We’ve
 learned. We’re more open to diversity and changing things in the 
county,” Cook said. “I wish they were possibly a little more open with 
that back in the day.”

Lamar has seen some modest successes. A couple of data and call centers have relocated to town recently. A new $500,000 <a href="https://theprowersjournal.com/2021/09/fall-sod-covering-escondido-park-for-2022/" target="_blank">sports complex</a> plans to open early next spring. Residents will soon <a href="https://theprowersjournal.com/2021/07/lamar-marijuana-ballot-questions-approved-on-first-reading/" target="_blank">decide</a> if Lamar will join Colorado’s lucrative recreational marijuana market.

But Wendy Buxton-Andrade, another county commissioner, said the loss of the meatpacking plant continues to haunt Lamar.

“Forty years later, hindsight’s always 20/20,” Buxton-Andrade said. “It’s a shame. … We missed a huge opportunity.”

Yet in the High Plains, prosperity is no given — even for Garden City.

“If the Tyson plant were to close tomorrow,” said Stull, the KU professor, “Garden City would be in a world of hurt.”

It won’t close tomorrow. But Stull said it’s just a matter of time before this boomtown goes bust.

The end will come when the water — it’s irrigating those crops that 
feed the cows that end up in the giant slaughterhouses — runs out. Some 
meatpacking plants have <a href="https://www.manufacturing.net/operations/news/13173458/meatpackers-close-with-fewer-us-cows" target="_blank">already moved out</a> of the southern High Plains in search of <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/121558/what-climate-change-doing-texas-cattle-ranch" target="_blank">more reliable water</a> sources.

And eventually — likely <a href="http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/pic18/" target="_blank">just decades</a> from now — the Ogallala Aquifer under southwest Kansas will go dry, parching Garden City’s beef industry along with it.

“Unless
 something can be done to turn that trend around,” Stull said, 
“ultimately, western Kansas will look like eastern Colorado.”

David Condos covers western Kansas for High Plains Public Radio and the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/davidcondos" target="_blank">@davidcondos</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635186722644.png" alt="Local officials and meatpacking executives shovel dirt at the groundbreaking of the meatpacking plant just outside Garden City in 1979. Finney County Historical Society" />
 <figcaption>Local officials and meatpacking executives shovel dirt at the groundbreaking of the meatpacking plant just outside Garden City in 1979. Finney County Historical Society</figcaption>
 </figure>By DAVID CONDOS <a href="https://www.hppr.org/hppr-news/2021-10-25/how-a-meatpacking-plant-changed-one-kansas-town-40-years-ago-and-left-a-colorado-community-behind">Kansas News Service</a>GARDEN CITY&nbsp;— Drivers approaching this cattle city on 
Kansas 156 watch as the scenery changes from a patchwork of southwest 
Kansas crop fields, pastures and feedlots to a collage of suburban 
sprawl.The Home Depot stands next to the Dick’s Sporting Goods, 
which shares a parking lot with the Old Navy that just opened this 
summer.Across the street, one of the town’s two Burger Kings 
serves up Whoppers in the shadow of the only Target store for a 
three-hour drive in any direction.One hundred miles west, Russ Baldwin makes a left turn off Main Street into an empty parking lot in Lamar, Colorado.“Behold: the former Burger King,” Baldwin said, lifting his hand from the steering wheel. “Home of the ex-Whopper.”Plywood boards cover the drive-thru window. Next door, the old K-Mart sits vacant.Within minutes, he drives past the airport that <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2014/02/07/more-on-the-cover-story-wayne-sidebar.html" target="_blank">lost its last commercial flight</a> in the early 2000s. Then the factory that used to be the town’s largest employer — until it abruptly shut down 15 years ago.“That was pretty much the perfect storm,” Baldwin said. “You’re sitting there going, ‘What’s next, a locust invasion?’ ”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635186799155.png" alt="Lamar (left) has seen some of its businesses, like this Burger King, close over the past two decades. Garden City's Burger King (right) stands in the middle of the city's growing retail district, next to the region's only Target store. David Condos" />
 <figcaption>Lamar (left) has seen some of its businesses, like this Burger King, close over the past two decades. Garden City's Burger King (right) stands in the middle of the city's growing retail district, next to the region's only Target store. David Condos</figcaption>
 </figure>Just a few decades ago, the two outposts were basically Kansas and Colorado versions of each other. But in 1980, the <a href="https://mospace.umsystem.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10355/4939/research.pdf?sequence=3&amp;isAllowed=y" target="_blank">world’s largest meatpacking plant</a> opened on the outskirts of Garden City. Almost overnight, it became the fastest growing part of Kansas.Thousands of new jobs. Billions of dollars in new industry. A boomtown in a region that has <a href="https://ipsr.ku.edu/ksdata/ksah/population/popmax.pdf" target="_blank">lost residents</a> for generations.The
 plant’s arrival marked a milestone for Garden City, making it the 
epicenter of the High Plains beef industry. And the city’s decision to 
open its doors to the thousands of immigrant and refugee workers who 
would accompany the plant has — at least so far — helped it escape the 
fate of the many surrounding towns that still see an unending exodus.&nbsp;What’s more, the diverging trajectories of Garden City and Lamar over the past 40-some years offer a glimpse at the knife’s edge between prosperity and decline in rural America.That’s because the town that Garden City beat out to win the meatpacking plant was Lamar.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635186831709.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Fork in the road</h2>Garden City and Lamar share the same 
river, the same highway, the same railroad line and the same Dust Bowl 
past. And through the 1960s, they were roughly the same size.But the population of Finney County — home to Garden City — has <a href="https://ipsr.ku.edu/ksdata/ksah/population/population.pdf" target="_blank">doubled</a> since 1970. It’s now over <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/finneycountykansas/PST045219" target="_blank">38,000</a>.The number of people living in Prowers County — home to Lamar — has slowly <a href="https://www.census.gov/prod/cen1990/cph2/cph-2-7.pdf" target="_blank">slipped</a> under <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/prowerscountycolorado" target="_blank">12,000</a>.Larry
 Jones has watched the transformation of western Kansas’ largest city 
from his farm and cattle company that sits just outside of town.“If you’d been here 20 years ago and looked at it,” he said, “you wouldn't recognize the town.”Next
 door to Jones’ milo field sits the giant, boxy structure that 
resuscitated Garden City: Tyson Foods’ Finney County beef plant. Inside,
 more than 3,000 workers — most of them immigrants and refugees — 
butcher <a href="https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/22036-the-smoldering-impact-of-tyson-holcomb-fire" target="_blank">6,000 head of cattle</a> every day.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635186871760.png" alt="Larry Jones' farm is so close to the Tyson Foods' meatpacking plant that beef trucks often take wrong turns into his fields. The plant can be seen in the distance over his right shoulder. David Condos" />
 <figcaption>Larry Jones' farm is so close to the Tyson Foods' meatpacking plant that beef trucks often take wrong turns into his fields. The plant can be seen in the distance over his right shoulder. David Condos</figcaption>
 </figure>So what made Garden City and Lamar the two finalists to win this sprawling slaughterhouse in the first place?As often happens on the High Plains, it comes back to water.Meatpacking
 plants historically operated in urban centers, such as Kansas City and 
Chicago. But in the 1960s, packers began to build plants in the 
countryside — away from big city unions and closer to cattle and the 
grain that fattens them through the last few months of their lives.Around
 that same time, the number of water wells drilled into the Ogallala 
Aquifer underneath this region skyrocketed. Those wells plus new center 
pivot irrigation technology allowed farmers to grow more water-intensive
 crops in places that get hardly any rain.It created an ecosystem. The aquifer waters the corn. The corn feeds the cows. The cows supply the meatpackers.“The
 way to add value to grain is to put it in an animal,” Don Stull said. 
”And the way to add value to an animal is to slaughter it.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635186911563.png" alt="In this photo from 1990, two meatpacking workers trim beef carcasses inside the plant near Garden City. Finney County Historical Society" />
 <figcaption>In this photo from 1990, two meatpacking workers trim beef carcasses inside the plant near Garden City. Finney County Historical Society</figcaption>
 </figure>Stull has <a href="http://www.ipsr.ku.edu/conferen/kepc11/HarvestofChange.pdf" target="_blank">tracked</a> the beef industry’s impact on Garden City for more than three decades as a University of Kansas professor and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Slaughterhouse-Blues-Poultry-Industry-Contemporary/dp/1111828784" target="_blank">author</a>.
 He calls it the first of rural America’s food-processing boomtowns — 
quickly transforming from what he described as a white agrarian 
community in 1980 to one of the <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/kansas-population-change-between-census-decade.html" target="_blank">most diverse</a> places in Kansas.Yet
 the city’s metamorphosis came with growing pains. Rapid expansion 
brought plenty of challenges that it’s still dealing with, like strains 
on housing, health care, education and social services. And because many
 of the plant workers were, and are, immigrants and refugees, the type 
of growth the city experienced also worried some white residents.“But if you ask anybody,” Stull said, “they'd rather have the problems of growth than the problems of decline.”That’s
 why local leaders pushed hard to land the plant four decades ago — 
offering a “better package” than Lamar, Stull said — to help secure the 
town’s future economically. And so far, it has.The beef industry now pumps around <a href="https://agriculture.ks.gov/economic-development-statistics/county-statistics-(a-h)/finney-county" target="_blank">$2 billion</a> into the county’s economy each year. The city has parlayed its growth into becoming the <a href="https://www.garden-city.org/home/showdocument?id=62" target="_blank">region’s retail hub</a>, regularly drawing shoppers from more than 100 miles away — including many from Lamar.So what would Garden City look like today if the plant had been built somewhere else?“Well,” Stull said, “look at Lamar.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635186977245.png" alt="The population of Garden City's county has doubled since 1970 to more than 38,000. But the number of people living in Lamar's county has slipped under 12,000. David Condos" />
 <figcaption>The population of Garden City's county has doubled since 1970 to more than 38,000. But the number of people living in Lamar's county has slipped under 12,000. David Condos</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>The other side</h2>Russ Baldwin moved to Lamar the same year the meatpacking plant opened in Garden City. He now runs the local weekly newspaper.As
 he ends his driving tour of shuttered businesses, he rolls to a stop in
 a parking lot on the east edge of town. Weeds grow high along the 
cracks in the pavement.The four-story building on the other side of a chain-link fence used to house a German <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/25/us/colorado-town-looks-to-better-days-with-a-german-bus-factory.html" target="_blank">bus manufacturer</a>. At its peak, it had roughly 600 people on the payroll. In 2006, it laid off the last 300.“There
 were no more paychecks. Things were not being bought at grocery 
stores,” Baldwin said. “People were scrambling, and there just wasn't 
another job.”Between 2000 and 2020, Lamar’s county lost 17% of its population.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635187023255.png" alt="This building used to be home to Lamar's Neoplan bus manufacturing plant before it laid off its last 300 workers in 2006. David Condos" />
 <figcaption>This building used to be home to Lamar's Neoplan bus manufacturing plant before it laid off its last 300 workers in 2006. David Condos</figcaption>
 </figure>It’s a vicious cycle that’s repeated across rural America. Having 
fewer jobs and businesses makes it hard for towns to attract and retain 
residents. Having fewer residents makes it hard for towns to get and 
keep jobs and businesses.Today, Baldwin described Lamar as a mix 
of people who want to help turn things around for the town and those who
 still cling to the fading memory of what the town used to be.“There’s
 an element in town that reveres the status quo and doesn’t really want 
to see too much change,” he said. “But you can’t stop change, I don’t 
care how hard you try.”<h2>‘Hindsight’s always 20/20’</h2>Stephanie Gonzales wants to change that outlook. She heads the regional economic development organization, <a href="https://www.seced.net/mission.html" target="_blank">SECED</a>, that tries to tempt employers to move to town.“We have wide-open spaces, so lots of places to put a business,” she said. “You can’t beat rural America.”She
 grew up in Lamar in the 1980s. Her parents, brothers, uncles and 
cousins were among those laid off from the bus-making plant.&nbsp;Fifteen
 years later, she said Lamar now fights the perception that the town 
doesn’t have enough people to make it worthwhile for businesses to set 
up shop there.Meanwhile, residents often drive over an hour to shop in Garden City, essentially dooming the few businesses left in Lamar.“The
 growth that (Garden City has) experienced, could have ... really 
benefited Lamar,” Gonzales said, “had there been maybe some different 
mentality at the time.”That mentality was a fear of change. Some 
people in Lamar were worried about the influx of immigrant and refugee 
workers. She said that kept Lamar from pushing harder to try to get the 
plant.“We should have welcomed the diverse numbers of people,” she said. “that would have been employed in a facility like that.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635187070106.png" alt="An old convenience store sign on Lamar's Main Street misses some letters it has lost over the years. David Condos" />
 <figcaption>An old convenience store sign on Lamar's Main Street misses some letters it has lost over the years. David Condos</figcaption>
 </figure>County Commissioner Ron Cook said Lamar has missed out on several 
opportunities over the years — in addition to the meatpacking plant — 
because of those fears. So the town has had to adjust.“We’ve
 learned. We’re more open to diversity and changing things in the 
county,” Cook said. “I wish they were possibly a little more open with 
that back in the day.”Lamar has seen some modest successes. A couple of data and call centers have relocated to town recently. A new $500,000 <a href="https://theprowersjournal.com/2021/09/fall-sod-covering-escondido-park-for-2022/" target="_blank">sports complex</a> plans to open early next spring. Residents will soon <a href="https://theprowersjournal.com/2021/07/lamar-marijuana-ballot-questions-approved-on-first-reading/" target="_blank">decide</a> if Lamar will join Colorado’s lucrative recreational marijuana market.But Wendy Buxton-Andrade, another county commissioner, said the loss of the meatpacking plant continues to haunt Lamar.“Forty years later, hindsight’s always 20/20,” Buxton-Andrade said. “It’s a shame. … We missed a huge opportunity.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635187098980.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>County Commissioner Ron Cook said Lamar has missed out on several 
opportunities over the years — in addition to the meatpacking plant — 
because of those fears. So the town has had to adjust.“We’ve
 learned. We’re more open to diversity and changing things in the 
county,” Cook said. “I wish they were possibly a little more open with 
that back in the day.”Lamar has seen some modest successes. A couple of data and call centers have relocated to town recently. A new $500,000 <a href="https://theprowersjournal.com/2021/09/fall-sod-covering-escondido-park-for-2022/" target="_blank">sports complex</a> plans to open early next spring. Residents will soon <a href="https://theprowersjournal.com/2021/07/lamar-marijuana-ballot-questions-approved-on-first-reading/" target="_blank">decide</a> if Lamar will join Colorado’s lucrative recreational marijuana market.But Wendy Buxton-Andrade, another county commissioner, said the loss of the meatpacking plant continues to haunt Lamar.“Forty years later, hindsight’s always 20/20,” Buxton-Andrade said. “It’s a shame. … We missed a huge opportunity.”<h2>Going bust</h2>Yet in the High Plains, prosperity is no given — even for Garden City.“If the Tyson plant were to close tomorrow,” said Stull, the KU professor, “Garden City would be in a world of hurt.”It won’t close tomorrow. But Stull said it’s just a matter of time before this boomtown goes bust.The end will come when the water — it’s irrigating those crops that 
feed the cows that end up in the giant slaughterhouses — runs out. Some 
meatpacking plants have <a href="https://www.manufacturing.net/operations/news/13173458/meatpackers-close-with-fewer-us-cows" target="_blank">already moved out</a> of the southern High Plains in search of <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/121558/what-climate-change-doing-texas-cattle-ranch" target="_blank">more reliable water</a> sources.And eventually — likely <a href="http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/pic18/" target="_blank">just decades</a> from now — the Ogallala Aquifer under southwest Kansas will go dry, parching Garden City’s beef industry along with it.“Unless
 something can be done to turn that trend around,” Stull said, 
“ultimately, western Kansas will look like eastern Colorado.”David Condos covers western Kansas for High Plains Public Radio and the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/davidcondos" target="_blank">@davidcondos</a>.

Tale of two cities: How meatpacking changed one town, left another behind

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Two people were critically injured in a road-rage shooting in Wichita. KSN-TV reports that officers responding to an 11 p.m. Friday call of a shooting arrived to find two people with gunshot wounds.

Police say one is a 26-year-old woman believed to be the driver and the other is a man in his mid-20s who is believed to be a passenger. 

Both were transported to a local hospital in critical, but stable condition. Police said they were headed eastbound on Kellogg when they were involved in some sort of road range incident with another vehicle. Several shots were fired from a white four-door car.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Two people were critically injured in a road-rage shooting in Wichita. KSN-TV reports that officers responding to an 11 p.m. Friday call of a shooting arrived to find two people with gunshot wounds.Police say one is a 26-year-old woman believed to be the driver and the other is a man in his mid-20s who is believed to be a passenger. Both were transported to a local hospital in critical, but stable condition. Police said they were headed eastbound on Kellogg when they were involved in some sort of road range incident with another vehicle. Several shots were fired from a white four-door car.

Police: 2 critically injured in Kansas road-rage shooting

By LUCIE KRISMAN <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/10/20/safer-classrooms-workgroup-talks-mental-health-covid-19-precautions-in-schools/">Kansas Reflector</a>

Kansas schools need mental health resources and continued precautions such as masking and testing, according to Wednesday’s<a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuGSY5Pka8g"> Safer Classrooms Workgroup</a> meeting.

Marci Nielsen, chief COVID-19 
coordination adviser to Gov. Laura Kelly, told the group the state’s 
daily COVID-19 cases have declined through October, along with testing 
and vaccinations. As of Wednesday, the Kansas Department of Health and 
Environment <a target="_blank" href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">reports</a> 426,923 total COVID-19 cases, 14,521 hospitalizations and 6,185 statewide deaths.

Through participation in KDHE’s 
provided school-based COVID-19 testing, Nielsen said, 595 positive cases
 have been reported across 102 districts. Active outbreaks decreased 
from last week’s total of 84 to 56 this week, and Nielsen said there 
were significantly fewer positive students in schools with&nbsp; mask 
mandates. The vaccination rate for Kansas youth currently trails the 
national rate by 7 percentage points, but pending vaccine approval for 
5- to 11-year-olds could help those numbers rise, she said.&nbsp;

“There are preventative measures that
 can help protect your children in school settings and keep those 
schools open safely, and it does start with vaccination,” Nielsen said. 
“Good news for Kansas and good news for keeping our schools open, given 
that this is really our top priority.”

Randy Watson, Kansas commissioner of 
education, said keeping students in schools takes a three-pronged 
approach, emphasizing vaccinations, masking and testing. When it comes 
to student success throughout the pandemic, Watson said the largest 
losses on a state level have been decreases in academic achievement 
(specifically in mathematics), social skills, and numbers of students 
opting for secondary education after graduation. Federal funds have been
 set aside to offset those losses, he said, with more than 90% of 
federal and state relief dollars going directly to school districts.

“We’re still in the hurricane,” 
Watson said. “But we’re starting to respond for what does it look like 
when the sun comes out after the hurricane, and what we do to mitigate 
the loss that we’re having so far.”&nbsp;

During a facilitated discussion period, group members discussed the declaration of a national <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aap.org/en/advocacy/child-and-adolescent-healthy-mental-development/aap-aacap-cha-declaration-of-a-national-emergency-in-child-and-adolescent-mental-health/">mental health emergency</a> and how it affects Kansas, following the U.S. Department of Education’s <a target="_blank" href="https://www2.ed.gov/documents/students/supporting-child-student-social-emotional-behavioral-mental-health.pdf?utm_content=&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_name=&amp;utm_source=govdelivery&amp;utm_term=">guide</a> for how schools can implement mental health resources.&nbsp;

Dena Hubbard of Children’s Mercy 
hospital in Kansas City said this is an opportunity for Kansas to invest
 in the mental health challenges that have been exacerbated by the 
pandemic, such as neglect and abuse of children. As a mother, she said, 
she has seen the effects of mental health challenges firsthand and 
schools would benefit from partnering with state providers to implement 
mental health services.&nbsp;

“It is real, and we are all 
experiencing a collective trauma,” she said. “I hope that one of the 
silver linings from the pandemic is that we are going to treat the brain
 as any other organ, and we are going to invest in our children and 
their emotional well being as part of their overall health.”

Kelli Netson-Amore of the University 
of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita said the pandemic has shown how 
communities rely on schools for vital services, such as communicating 
with children face-to-face, monitoring for child abuse and providing 
children with food. Wichita has recently seen new programs for 
psychologists to work with children and health care systems in schools, 
she said, and these programs help normalize seeking mental health 
assistance while minimizing the distance a student has to travel.&nbsp;

“I think continuing to do some of 
those things helps in the short-term and the long-term,” Netson-Amore 
said. “Everybody’s doing the best they can, but we absolutely have to 
prioritize keeping these kids alive.”&nbsp;

When it comes to easing restrictions 
such as masking throughout the state’s schools, Hubbard said it would be
 wise for Kansas schools to wait for vaccine approval for younger 
students first. She noted that while public health guidance around 
COVID-19 has changed over time as more information has become available,
 keeping students protected will keep them from experiencing more 
challenges from the pandemic.&nbsp;

“With a novel virus like this, in 
leadership, you have to act with speed and not precision,” Hubbard said.
 “If we want to keep kids safe and healthy, protect them, and improve 
their development and their academic work, we have to get a handle on 
this pandemic. And the way to do it are the things that you outline at 
the very beginning and end of every one of these: vaccines, masks and 
testing.” 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1634824446483.png" alt="In its Wednesday meeting, the Safer Classrooms Workgroup highlighted mental health resources and ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools. (Screen capture from YouTube video by Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>In its Wednesday meeting, the Safer Classrooms Workgroup highlighted mental health resources and ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools. (Screen capture from YouTube video by Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By LUCIE KRISMAN <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/10/20/safer-classrooms-workgroup-talks-mental-health-covid-19-precautions-in-schools/">Kansas Reflector</a>Kansas schools need mental health resources and continued precautions such as masking and testing, according to Wednesday’s<a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuGSY5Pka8g"> Safer Classrooms Workgroup</a> meeting.Marci Nielsen, chief COVID-19 
coordination adviser to Gov. Laura Kelly, told the group the state’s 
daily COVID-19 cases have declined through October, along with testing 
and vaccinations. As of Wednesday, the Kansas Department of Health and 
Environment <a target="_blank" href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">reports</a> 426,923 total COVID-19 cases, 14,521 hospitalizations and 6,185 statewide deaths.Through participation in KDHE’s 
provided school-based COVID-19 testing, Nielsen said, 595 positive cases
 have been reported across 102 districts. Active outbreaks decreased 
from last week’s total of 84 to 56 this week, and Nielsen said there 
were significantly fewer positive students in schools with&nbsp; mask 
mandates. The vaccination rate for Kansas youth currently trails the 
national rate by 7 percentage points, but pending vaccine approval for 
5- to 11-year-olds could help those numbers rise, she said.&nbsp;“There are preventative measures that
 can help protect your children in school settings and keep those 
schools open safely, and it does start with vaccination,” Nielsen said. 
“Good news for Kansas and good news for keeping our schools open, given 
that this is really our top priority.”Randy Watson, Kansas commissioner of 
education, said keeping students in schools takes a three-pronged 
approach, emphasizing vaccinations, masking and testing. When it comes 
to student success throughout the pandemic, Watson said the largest 
losses on a state level have been decreases in academic achievement 
(specifically in mathematics), social skills, and numbers of students 
opting for secondary education after graduation. Federal funds have been
 set aside to offset those losses, he said, with more than 90% of 
federal and state relief dollars going directly to school districts.“We’re still in the hurricane,” 
Watson said. “But we’re starting to respond for what does it look like 
when the sun comes out after the hurricane, and what we do to mitigate 
the loss that we’re having so far.”&nbsp;During a facilitated discussion period, group members discussed the declaration of a national <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aap.org/en/advocacy/child-and-adolescent-healthy-mental-development/aap-aacap-cha-declaration-of-a-national-emergency-in-child-and-adolescent-mental-health/">mental health emergency</a> and how it affects Kansas, following the U.S. Department of Education’s <a target="_blank" href="https://www2.ed.gov/documents/students/supporting-child-student-social-emotional-behavioral-mental-health.pdf?utm_content=&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_name=&amp;utm_source=govdelivery&amp;utm_term=">guide</a> for how schools can implement mental health resources.&nbsp;Dena Hubbard of Children’s Mercy 
hospital in Kansas City said this is an opportunity for Kansas to invest
 in the mental health challenges that have been exacerbated by the 
pandemic, such as neglect and abuse of children. As a mother, she said, 
she has seen the effects of mental health challenges firsthand and 
schools would benefit from partnering with state providers to implement 
mental health services.&nbsp;“It is real, and we are all 
experiencing a collective trauma,” she said. “I hope that one of the 
silver linings from the pandemic is that we are going to treat the brain
 as any other organ, and we are going to invest in our children and 
their emotional well being as part of their overall health.”Kelli Netson-Amore of the University 
of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita said the pandemic has shown how 
communities rely on schools for vital services, such as communicating 
with children face-to-face, monitoring for child abuse and providing 
children with food. Wichita has recently seen new programs for 
psychologists to work with children and health care systems in schools, 
she said, and these programs help normalize seeking mental health 
assistance while minimizing the distance a student has to travel.&nbsp;“I think continuing to do some of 
those things helps in the short-term and the long-term,” Netson-Amore 
said. “Everybody’s doing the best they can, but we absolutely have to 
prioritize keeping these kids alive.”&nbsp;When it comes to easing restrictions 
such as masking throughout the state’s schools, Hubbard said it would be
 wise for Kansas schools to wait for vaccine approval for younger 
students first. She noted that while public health guidance around 
COVID-19 has changed over time as more information has become available,
 keeping students protected will keep them from experiencing more 
challenges from the pandemic.&nbsp;“With a novel virus like this, in 
leadership, you have to act with speed and not precision,” Hubbard said.
 “If we want to keep kids safe and healthy, protect them, and improve 
their development and their academic work, we have to get a handle on 
this pandemic. And the way to do it are the things that you outline at 
the very beginning and end of every one of these: vaccines, masks and 
testing.”

Workgroup focuses on mental health, COVID precaution in Kan. schools

PHILLIPS COUNTY — A Kansas man died in an accident just before 8p.m. Friday in Phillips County.

According to the Phillips County Sheriff, a 2008 Nissan passenger vehicle driven by Brian Martin, 39, of Smith Center, was traveling in the 200 block of East Limestone Road.

He swerved to miss a deer,&nbsp; lost control of the vehicle, which went airborne and rolled.&nbsp; A passenger in the vehicle, Lucas Martin, 42, of Phillipsburg, was ejected from the vehicle.&nbsp;

Brian Martin was able to call 911 but was unable to give an exact location. He succumbed to his injuries prior to emergency personnel locating the crash.

Disoriented, Lucas Martin wandered from the crash scene, but was eventually located by a family member. An ambulance and transported him to Phillips County Hospital. The sheriff's office did not have an update on his condition early Saturday.

PHILLIPS COUNTY — A Kansas man died in an accident just before 8p.m. Friday in Phillips County.According to the Phillips County Sheriff, a 2008 Nissan passenger vehicle driven by Brian Martin, 39, of Smith Center, was traveling in the 200 block of East Limestone Road.He swerved to miss a deer,&nbsp; lost control of the vehicle, which went airborne and rolled.&nbsp; A passenger in the vehicle, Lucas Martin, 42, of Phillipsburg, was ejected from the vehicle.&nbsp;Brian Martin was able to call 911 but was unable to give an exact location. He succumbed to his injuries prior to emergency personnel locating the crash.Disoriented, Lucas Martin wandered from the crash scene, but was eventually located by a family member. An ambulance and transported him to Phillips County Hospital. The sheriff's office did not have an update on his condition early Saturday.

Kansas man calls 911 after crash, dies from injuries

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A driver who crashed Friday evening into a tree in Kansas City was later found to have been shot, police said.

Officers were dispatched at 9:15 p.m. to an injury accident. The man was unresponsive when police and emergency medical responders arrived at the scene of the crash, police said in a news release.

Medical responders began treating him and transported him to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

It was discovered during his treatment that he had been shot. Detectives were notified a time later that he had died.

Detectives and crime scene personnel processed the scene at the time of the call. Police said they are following up in the hopes somebody saw something in the area around that time.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A driver who crashed Friday evening into a tree in Kansas City was later found to have been shot, police said.Officers were dispatched at 9:15 p.m. to an injury accident. The man was unresponsive when police and emergency medical responders arrived at the scene of the crash, police said in a news release.Medical responders began treating him and transported him to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.It was discovered during his treatment that he had been shot. Detectives were notified a time later that he had died.Detectives and crime scene personnel processed the scene at the time of the call. Police said they are following up in the hopes somebody saw something in the area around that time.

KCPD: Driver who crashed into tree had been fatally shot

NEMAHA COUNTY –&nbsp;&nbsp;A Kansas man identified as 38-year-old Kelly J. Hall, wounded in an officer-involved shooting&nbsp; outside a residence in Sabetha, Kansas, remained hospitalized in critical condition late Friday, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Just before 8 p.m. Wednesday, the Sabetha Police Department and the Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report of a man who was threatening suicide, according to the KBI.

When officers arrived at 319 N. 9th Street in Sabetha, they tried to convince Hall to come outside so they could verify his welfare. He would not exit the house, so they attempted to communicate with him over their public announcement (PA) system.

During the incident officers heard several pops coming from inside the residence. Attempts to communicate continued until Hall stepped outside the front door holding an air-powered nail gun. Officers and deputies ordered him to drop the nail gun. Hall began firing nails in the direction of officers. A deputy from the Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office and an officer from the Sabetha Police Department fired rounds at Hall, striking him. Shots were fired at around 9:45 p.m.

Hall retreated back into the residence. Officers and deputies entered the house and rendered aid to Hall. EMS responded and transported him to the Sabetha Community Hospital. He was later transferred to Stormont Vail in Topeka.

No law enforcement officers were injured during the incident.

NEMAHA COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating an officer involved shooting in Sabetha.

Just before 7:30p.m. Wednesday, officers from the Sabetha Police Department and deputies from the Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 300 block of N. 9th&nbsp;Street in Sabetha, after the report of a suicidal subject, according to KBI spokesperson Melissa Underwood.

&nbsp;At approximately 9:45 p.m., shots were fired and A 38-year-old white male was wounded. He was taken to a local hospital and then transferred to Stormont Vail in Topeka.&nbsp; No officers or deputies were injured.

NEMAHA COUNTY –&nbsp;&nbsp;A Kansas man identified as 38-year-old Kelly J. Hall, wounded in an officer-involved shooting&nbsp; outside a residence in Sabetha, Kansas, remained hospitalized in critical condition late Friday, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.Just before 8 p.m. Wednesday, the Sabetha Police Department and the Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report of a man who was threatening suicide, according to the KBI.When officers arrived at 319 N. 9th Street in Sabetha, they tried to convince Hall to come outside so they could verify his welfare. He would not exit the house, so they attempted to communicate with him over their public announcement (PA) system.During the incident officers heard several pops coming from inside the residence. Attempts to communicate continued until Hall stepped outside the front door holding an air-powered nail gun. Officers and deputies ordered him to drop the nail gun. Hall began firing nails in the direction of officers. A deputy from the Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office and an officer from the Sabetha Police Department fired rounds at Hall, striking him. Shots were fired at around 9:45 p.m.Hall retreated back into the residence. Officers and deputies entered the house and rendered aid to Hall. EMS responded and transported him to the Sabetha Community Hospital. He was later transferred to Stormont Vail in Topeka.No law enforcement officers were injured during the incident.-------------NEMAHA COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating an officer involved shooting in Sabetha.Just before 7:30p.m. Wednesday, officers from the Sabetha Police Department and deputies from the Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 300 block of N. 9th&nbsp;Street in Sabetha, after the report of a suicidal subject, according to KBI spokesperson Melissa Underwood.&nbsp;At approximately 9:45 p.m., shots were fired and A 38-year-old white male was wounded. He was taken to a local hospital and then transferred to Stormont Vail in Topeka.&nbsp; No officers or deputies were injured.------------------

Kan. man who shot nail gun at officers remains in critical condition

CHEYENNE COUNTY —A Kansas teen died in an accident just after 1:30a.m. Saturday in Cheyenne County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1993 Ford Bronco driven by Serrano, John Carlos Serrano, 17, Bird City, was westbound on U.S. 36 a quarter mile east of Bird City.

The SUV began to pass a semi to the left while the roadway curved. The vehicle continued straight left the roadway into the south ditch and collided with a concrete barrier.

EMS transported Serrano to St. Francis Hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

CHEYENNE COUNTY —A Kansas teen died in an accident just after 1:30a.m. Saturday in Cheyenne County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1993 Ford Bronco driven by Serrano, John Carlos Serrano, 17, Bird City, was westbound on U.S. 36 a quarter mile east of Bird City.The SUV began to pass a semi to the left while the roadway curved. The vehicle continued straight left the roadway into the south ditch and collided with a concrete barrier.EMS transported Serrano to St. Francis Hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

Kansas teen dies after SUV strikes concrete barrier

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than six weeks after promising a new vaccination-or-testing rule covering the millions of Americans at companies with 100 or more workers, President Joe Biden’s most aggressive move yet to combat the COVID-19 pandemic is almost ready to see the light of day.

The three largest public universities in Kansas will require all employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Officials with Kansas State, the University of Kansas and Wichita State all announced Friday that employees will need to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8. The announcement came after the Board of Regents determined that an executive order from President Joe Biden applies to universities that work on federal contracts.&nbsp;

An obscure White House office is expected to give the green light any day to the rule’s fine print detailing how and when companies will have to require their employees to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing.

The full enforcement deadline, which could carry penalties of about $14,000 per violation, may not take effect until after the new year. That’s why Biden and his aides have for weeks encouraged businesses to act as though the rule was already in effect and start imposing vaccination requirements.

The regulation, to be published in the Federal Register, was drafted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration under emergency authorities to protect worker safety and will cover an estimated 80 million U.S. workers. The White House sees it as a potent tool to winnow down the ranks of roughly 65 million Americans who have thus far refused to get a shot.

Unlike healthcare providers or federal employees, who may not have a testing alternative to vaccination, private sector workers won’t necessarily face termination if they don’t get vaccinated. But some businesses may choose to impose their own more stringent vaccination mandate, and it’s possible that businesses may be allowed to pass on the cost of weekly COVID-19 testing to their unvaccinated employees.

White House officials declined to discuss when the rule will be published or go into details on when businesses will have to comply.

For the last week, federal officials have hosted more than two dozen listening sessions with industry groups, businesses and advocacy organizations. Some have been supportive of the rule, others vehemently opposed, but all are eager to learn more about the fine print of the regulation.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other groups that represent large employers are worried that the proposal’s threshold -– applying to companies with 100 or more employees – could cause workers to migrate to jobs at smaller employers where they won’t need to be vaccinated.

“We really stressed the concern about employers losing employees, and what that would mean in the context of current supply-chain challenges and the upcoming holiday season,” said Marc Freedman, vice president for employment policy at the Chamber of Commerce. “You could start to see some very serious disruptions.”

Freedman, who took part in the chamber’s call with administration officials, said the 100-worker threshold would also hurt job creation by giving employers who have 90 or 95 employees a reason not to expand.

The experience of United Airlines and health-care providers that acted early to require vaccination suggests that very few employees will give up their jobs because of a vaccine mandate. United says about 200 of its 67,000 U.S. workers face termination for refusing to get vaccinated and another 2,000 are still seeking medical or religious exemptions.

State government vaccination mandate deadlines went into effect this week in Washington state, Massachusetts and New Jersey after a host of legal challenges by state employees and first responders’ unions.

In Washington, the state patrol lost 127 employees, including 67 troopers, who left due to the COVID-19 vaccination mandate for state employees, about 6% of the agency’s staff, officials said.

The Northwest state’s mandate also led to the high-profile firing of Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich and his four assistants, who wouldn’t get vaccinated.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1631817363595.png" alt="President Biden says,"just get the shot." However, White House officials declined to discuss when the rule will be published or go into details on when businesses will have to comply.-photo courtesy White House" />
 <figcaption>President Biden says,"just get the shot." However, White House officials declined to discuss when the rule will be published or go into details on when businesses will have to comply.-photo courtesy White House</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — More than six weeks after promising a new vaccination-or-testing rule covering the millions of Americans at companies with 100 or more workers, President Joe Biden’s most aggressive move yet to combat the COVID-19 pandemic is almost ready to see the light of day.The three largest public universities in Kansas will require all employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Officials with Kansas State, the University of Kansas and Wichita State all announced Friday that employees will need to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8. The announcement came after the Board of Regents determined that an executive order from President Joe Biden applies to universities that work on federal contracts.&nbsp;An obscure White House office is expected to give the green light any day to the rule’s fine print detailing how and when companies will have to require their employees to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing.The full enforcement deadline, which could carry penalties of about $14,000 per violation, may not take effect until after the new year. That’s why Biden and his aides have for weeks encouraged businesses to act as though the rule was already in effect and start imposing vaccination requirements.The regulation, to be published in the Federal Register, was drafted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration under emergency authorities to protect worker safety and will cover an estimated 80 million U.S. workers. The White House sees it as a potent tool to winnow down the ranks of roughly 65 million Americans who have thus far refused to get a shot.Unlike healthcare providers or federal employees, who may not have a testing alternative to vaccination, private sector workers won’t necessarily face termination if they don’t get vaccinated. But some businesses may choose to impose their own more stringent vaccination mandate, and it’s possible that businesses may be allowed to pass on the cost of weekly COVID-19 testing to their unvaccinated employees.White House officials declined to discuss when the rule will be published or go into details on when businesses will have to comply.For the last week, federal officials have hosted more than two dozen listening sessions with industry groups, businesses and advocacy organizations. Some have been supportive of the rule, others vehemently opposed, but all are eager to learn more about the fine print of the regulation.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other groups that represent large employers are worried that the proposal’s threshold -– applying to companies with 100 or more employees – could cause workers to migrate to jobs at smaller employers where they won’t need to be vaccinated.“We really stressed the concern about employers losing employees, and what that would mean in the context of current supply-chain challenges and the upcoming holiday season,” said Marc Freedman, vice president for employment policy at the Chamber of Commerce. “You could start to see some very serious disruptions.”Freedman, who took part in the chamber’s call with administration officials, said the 100-worker threshold would also hurt job creation by giving employers who have 90 or 95 employees a reason not to expand.The experience of United Airlines and health-care providers that acted early to require vaccination suggests that very few employees will give up their jobs because of a vaccine mandate. United says about 200 of its 67,000 U.S. workers face termination for refusing to get vaccinated and another 2,000 are still seeking medical or religious exemptions.State government vaccination mandate deadlines went into effect this week in Washington state, Massachusetts and New Jersey after a host of legal challenges by state employees and first responders’ unions.In Washington, the state patrol lost 127 employees, including 67 troopers, who left due to the COVID-19 vaccination mandate for state employees, about 6% of the agency’s staff, officials said.The Northwest state’s mandate also led to the high-profile firing of Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich and his four assistants, who wouldn’t get vaccinated.In Massachusetts, nearly 1,600 state employees had not proved they were vaccinated or had sought a vaccine exemption by a Sunday deadline. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker announced in August that some 44,000 executive branch workers and contractors would be required to get vaccinated or face suspension and ultimately the loss of their jobs.The National Association of Manufacturers is arguing that companies should get credit — perhaps an exemption from the rules — for taking early steps to get a high percentage of workers vaccinated. Manufacturers have expressed worry that they could see higher quit rates because many plants are located in rural areas where opposition to vaccination is stronger.The manufacturers, the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups are also pushing the administration to let employers make unvaccinated workers pay for their own weekly COVID-19 testing.“A lot of our members feel strongly that the vaccine is widely available, it is free, and so if a person opts not to be vaccinated potentially the onus of the test can and should fall on the employee who has made a choice not to vaccinate,” said Robyn Boerstling, a NAM vice president. She said employers should pay for testing if an employee has a medical condition or a “proven and true” religious reason for seeking an exemption.Business groups, however, are not optimistic on the test-cost issue, saying that OSHA has a history of making employers bear the cost of new regulations.Retailers are worried about the timing of the new regulation taking effect as they prepare for the critical holiday season. They want to push the rule’s effective date into next year.Several people who took part in the discussions with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which is doing the final review of the proposal, said they got no hints whether their arguments would sway the administration. They described conference-call meetings –- virtual because of the pandemic -– in which White House staffers listened and did not respond to their arguments.It is not clear how the business community will respond once the final rule is published.Business officials said legal challenges are more likely to come from Republican-led states such as Texas. And Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of the conservative Job Creators Network, reiterated his pledge Tuesday after meeting with the White House officials to sue to block the rule’s implementation. Two dozen attorneys general in GOP states vowed last month to use “every available legal option” to kill the mandate.