DOUGLAS COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting, have made an arrest and are asking the public for help to locate a second suspect.

On Friday, Lawrence Police, with assistance from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, arrested 18-year-old Javier Isidro Romero on a requested charge of first-degree murder in the Wednesday death of 21-year-old Christian Willis&nbsp;in the 1500 block of Kentucky Street, according to police department spokesperson Patrick Compton.

Police are also seeking information on the whereabouts of 19-year-old Andrel Darnell Spates, Jr. of Lawrence in connection with the murder.

Spates is 6-foot tall, 165 pounds and is considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone with information on Spates is encouraged to call the Lawrence Kansas Police Department at 785-832-7509 or Crime Stoppers of Douglas County at 785-843-7477. Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards and tips can be anonymous.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1631932120397.png" alt="Romero photo Douglas Co." />
 <figcaption>Romero photo Douglas Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>DOUGLAS COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting, have made an arrest and are asking the public for help to locate a second suspect.On Friday, Lawrence Police, with assistance from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, arrested 18-year-old Javier Isidro Romero on a requested charge of first-degree murder in the Wednesday death of 21-year-old Christian Willis&nbsp;in the 1500 block of Kentucky Street, according to police department spokesperson Patrick Compton.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1631931965791.png" alt="Spates is considered armed and dangerous-photo Lawrence PD" />
 <figcaption>Spates is considered armed and dangerous-photo Lawrence PD</figcaption>
 </figure>Police are also seeking information on the whereabouts of 19-year-old Andrel Darnell Spates, Jr. of Lawrence in connection with the murder.Spates is 6-foot tall, 165 pounds and is considered armed and dangerous.Anyone with information on Spates is encouraged to call the Lawrence Kansas Police Department at 785-832-7509 or Crime Stoppers of Douglas County at 785-843-7477. Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards and tips can be anonymous.

Police make arrest, search for 2nd suspect in Kansas killing

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon retreated from its defense of a drone strike that killed multiple civilians in Afghanistan last month, announcing Friday that a review revealed that only civilians were killed in the attack, not an Islamic State extremist as first believed.

“The strike was a tragic mistake,” Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, told a Pentagon news conference.

McKenzie apologized for the error and said the United States is considering making reparation payments to the family of the victims. He said the decision to strike a white Toyota Corolla sedan, after having tracked it for about eight hours, was made in an “earnest belief” — based on a standard of “reasonable certainty” — that it posed an imminent threat to American forces at Kabul airport. The car was believed to have been carrying explosives in its trunk, he said.

For days after the Aug. 29 strike, Pentagon officials asserted that it had been conducted correctly, despite 10 civilians being killed, including seven children. News organizations later raised doubts about that version of events, reporting that the driver of the targeted vehicle was a longtime employee at an American humanitarian organization and citing an absence of evidence to support the Pentagon’s assertion that the vehicle contained explosives.

The airstrike was the last of a U.S. war that ended as it had begun in 2001 — with the Taliban in power in Kabul. The speed with which the Taliban overran the country took the U.S. government by surprise and forced it to send several thousand troops to the Kabul airport for a hurried evacuation of Americans, Afghans and others. The evacuation, which began Aug. 14, unfolded under a near-constant threat of attack by the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate.

McKenzie, who oversaw U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, including a final evacuation of U.S. forces and more than 120,000 civilians from Kabul airport, expressed his condolences to the family and friends of those killed.

“I am now convinced that as many as 10 civilians, including up to seven children, were tragically killed in that strike,” McKenzie said. “Moreover, we now assess that it is unlikely that the vehicle and those who died were associated with ISIS-K or were a direct threat to U.S. forces,” he added, referring to the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate.

Prior to the strike, U.S. intelligence had indicated a likelihood that a white Toyota Corolla would be used in an attack against U.S. forces, McKenzie said. On the morning of Aug. 29, such a vehicle was detected at a compound in Kabul that U.S. intelligence in the preceding 48 hours had determined was used by the Islamic State group to plan and facilitate attacks. The vehicle was tracked by U.S. drone aircraft from that compound to numerous other locations in the city before the decision was made to attack it at a point just a couple of miles from Kabul airport, McKenzie said.

“Clearly our intelligence was wrong on this particular white Toyota Corolla,” he said.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a written statement, apologized for what he called “a horrible mistake.”

“We now know that there was no connection” between the driver of the vehicle and the Islamic State group, and that the driver’s activities that day were “completely harmless and not at all related to the imminent threat we believed we faced,” Austin said.

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters two days after the attack that it appeared to have been a “righteous” strike and that at least one of the people killed was a “facilitator” for the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate, which had killed 169 Afghan civilians and 13 American service members in a suicide bombing on Aug. 26 at the Kabul airport.

After McKenzie’s remarks on Friday, Milley expressed regret.

“This is a horrible tragedy of war and it’s heart wrenching,” Milley told reporters traveling with him in Europe. “We are committed to being fully transparent about this incident.”

“In a dynamic high-threat environment, the commanders on the ground had appropriate authority and had reasonable certainty that the target was valid, but after deeper post-strike analysis our conclusion is that innocent civilians were killed,” Milley added.

Accounts from the family of the victims, documents from colleagues seen by The Associated Press, and the scene at the family home — where Zemerai Ahmadi’s car was struck by a Hellfire missile just as he pulled into the driveway — all painted a picture of a family that had worked for Americans and were trying to gain visas to the United States, fearing for their lives under the Taliban.

The family said that when the 37-year-old Zemerai, alone in his car, pulled up to the house, he honked his horn. His 11-year-old son ran out and Zemerai let the boy get in and drive the car into the driveway. The other kids ran out to watch, and the Hellfire missile incinerated the car, killing seven children and an adult son and nephew of Zemerai.

Amnesty International, the humanitarian aid group, called the U.S. military’s admission of a mistake a good first step.

“The U.S. must now commit to a full, transparent, and impartial investigation into this incident,” said Brian Castner, a senior crisis adviser with Amnesty International. “Anyone suspected of criminal responsibility should be prosecuted in a fair trial. Survivors and families of the victims should be kept informed of the progress of the investigation and be given full reparation.”

Rep. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said a fuller explanation must be provided.

“We need to know what went wrong in the hours and minutes leading up to the strike to prevent similar tragedies in the future,” he said. “I am also concerned about the accuracy and completeness of public statements made in the immediate aftermath of the strike, and whether those accounted for all of the information possessed by the government at the time.”

--------WHAT the U.S. military originally reported

WASHINGTON (AP) — Acting swiftly on President Joe Biden's promise to retaliate for the deadly suicide bombing at Kabul airport, the U.S. military said it killed two members of the Islamic State group's Afghanistan affiliate with a drone strike in the group's eastern stronghold.

The attack Saturday local time came amid what the White House called indications that IS planned to strike again as the U.S.-led evacuation from Kabul airport moved into its final days. Biden has set Tuesday as his deadline for completing the exit.

Biden authorized the drone strike and it was ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide details not yet publicly announced. It was not immediately clear whether the targeted IS members were directly involved in Thursday's airport attack. The U.S. military initially said one person was killed.

“It was a single mission to get these targets and as the assessments and information flowed over time, we were able to recognize that another was killed as well and one wounded,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a Defense Department briefing Saturday.

"They were ISIS-K planners and facilitators and that’s enough reason there alone. I won’t speak to the details of these individuals and what their specific roles might be," Kirby said. He added: "We have the ability and the means to carry over the horizon counterterrorism capabilities and we’re going to defend ourselves.’’

He declined to identify those killed but said the United States knew who they were.

The airstrike was launched from beyond Afghanistan less than 48 hours after the devastating Kabul attack that killed 13 Americans and 169 Afghans with just days left in a final U.S. withdrawal after 20 years of war. U.S. Central Command said it believed its strike killed no civilians.

The speed with which the U.S. military retaliated reflected its close monitoring of IS and years of experience in targeting extremists in remote parts of the world. But it also shows the limits of U.S. power to eliminate extremist threats, which some believe will have more freedom of movement in Afghanistan now that the Taliban is in power.

The airstrike came after Biden declared Thursday that perpetrators of the attack would not be able to hide. “We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he said. Pentagon leaders told reporters Friday that they were prepared for whatever retaliatory action the president ordered.

The president was warned Friday to expect another lethal attack in the closing days of a frantic U.S.-led evacuation. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden's national security team offered a grim outlook.

"They advised the president and vice president that another terror attack in Kabul is likely, but that they are taking maximum force protection measures at the Kabul airport,” Psaki said, echoing what the Pentagon has been saying since the bombing Thursday at Kabul airport.

Late Friday, the State Department again urged Americans to stay away from airport gates, including “the New Ministry of Interior gate.”

Few new details about the airport attack emerged a day later, but the Pentagon corrected its initial report that there had been suicide bombings at two locations. It said there was just one — at or near the Abbey Gate — followed by gunfire. The initial report of a second bombing at the nearby Baron Hotel proved to be false, said Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor of the Pentagon's Joint Staff; he attributed the mistake to initial confusion.

Based on a preliminary assessment, U.S. officials believe the suicide vest used in the attack, which killed at least 169 Afghans in addition to the 13 Americans, carried about 25 pounds of explosives and was loaded with shrapnel, a U.S. official said Friday. A suicide bomb typically carries five to 10 pounds of explosives, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss preliminary assessments of the bombing.

Biden still faces the problem over the longer term of containing an array of potential extremist threats based in Afghanistan, which will be harder with fewer U.S. intelligence assets and no military presence in the nation.

In an Oval Office appearance Friday, Biden again expressed his condolences to victims of the attack. The return home of U.S. military members' remains in coming days will provide painful and poignant reminders not just of the devastation at the Kabul airport but also of the costly way the war is ending. More than 2,400 U.S. service members died in the war and tens of thousands were injured over the past two decades.

The Marine Corps said 11 of the 13 Americans killed were Marines. One was a Navy sailor and one an Army soldier. Their names have not been released pending notification of their families, but the Pentagon said Saturday they would be released soon.

Still, sorrowful details of those killed were starting to emerge. One Marine from Wyoming was on his first tour in Afghanistan and his wife is expecting a baby in three weeks; another was a 20-year-old man from Missouri whose father was devastated by the loss. A third, a 20-year-old from Texas, had joined the armed services out of high school.

Biden ordered U.S. flags to half-staff across the country in honor of the 13.

They were the first U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan since February 2020, the month the Trump administration struck an agreement with the Taliban that called for the militant group to halt attacks on Americans in exchange for a U.S. agreement to remove all American troops and contractors by May 2021. Biden announced in April that he would have all forces out by September.

Psaki said the next few days of the mission to evacuate Americans and others, including vulnerable Afghans fleeing Taliban rule, “will be the most dangerous period to date.”

The Pentagon said Saturday morning that about 6,800 people were airlifted from Kabul on U.S. and coalition aircraft in the past 24 hours, and about 117,000 people have been airlifted over the last two weeks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon retreated from its defense of a drone strike that killed multiple civilians in Afghanistan last month, announcing Friday that a review revealed that only civilians were killed in the attack, not an Islamic State extremist as first believed.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">LIVE: <a href="https://twitter.com/PentagonPresSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PentagonPresSec</a> John F. Kirby and <a href="https://twitter.com/CENTCOM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CENTCOM</a> commander, Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., hold a news briefing at the Pentagon. <a href="https://t.co/qSwXqCVfoo">https://t.co/qSwXqCVfoo</a>&mdash; Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeptofDefense/status/1438941219757846530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 17, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>“The strike was a tragic mistake,” Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, told a Pentagon news conference.McKenzie apologized for the error and said the United States is considering making reparation payments to the family of the victims. He said the decision to strike a white Toyota Corolla sedan, after having tracked it for about eight hours, was made in an “earnest belief” — based on a standard of “reasonable certainty” — that it posed an imminent threat to American forces at Kabul airport. The car was believed to have been carrying explosives in its trunk, he said.For days after the Aug. 29 strike, Pentagon officials asserted that it had been conducted correctly, despite 10 civilians being killed, including seven children. News organizations later raised doubts about that version of events, reporting that the driver of the targeted vehicle was a longtime employee at an American humanitarian organization and citing an absence of evidence to support the Pentagon’s assertion that the vehicle contained explosives.The airstrike was the last of a U.S. war that ended as it had begun in 2001 — with the Taliban in power in Kabul. The speed with which the Taliban overran the country took the U.S. government by surprise and forced it to send several thousand troops to the Kabul airport for a hurried evacuation of Americans, Afghans and others. The evacuation, which began Aug. 14, unfolded under a near-constant threat of attack by the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate.McKenzie, who oversaw U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, including a final evacuation of U.S. forces and more than 120,000 civilians from Kabul airport, expressed his condolences to the family and friends of those killed.“I am now convinced that as many as 10 civilians, including up to seven children, were tragically killed in that strike,” McKenzie said. “Moreover, we now assess that it is unlikely that the vehicle and those who died were associated with ISIS-K or were a direct threat to U.S. forces,” he added, referring to the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate.Prior to the strike, U.S. intelligence had indicated a likelihood that a white Toyota Corolla would be used in an attack against U.S. forces, McKenzie said. On the morning of Aug. 29, such a vehicle was detected at a compound in Kabul that U.S. intelligence in the preceding 48 hours had determined was used by the Islamic State group to plan and facilitate attacks. The vehicle was tracked by U.S. drone aircraft from that compound to numerous other locations in the city before the decision was made to attack it at a point just a couple of miles from Kabul airport, McKenzie said.“Clearly our intelligence was wrong on this particular white Toyota Corolla,” he said.Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a written statement, apologized for what he called “a horrible mistake.”“We now know that there was no connection” between the driver of the vehicle and the Islamic State group, and that the driver’s activities that day were “completely harmless and not at all related to the imminent threat we believed we faced,” Austin said.Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters two days after the attack that it appeared to have been a “righteous” strike and that at least one of the people killed was a “facilitator” for the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate, which had killed 169 Afghan civilians and 13 American service members in a suicide bombing on Aug. 26 at the Kabul airport.After McKenzie’s remarks on Friday, Milley expressed regret.“This is a horrible tragedy of war and it’s heart wrenching,” Milley told reporters traveling with him in Europe. “We are committed to being fully transparent about this incident.”“In a dynamic high-threat environment, the commanders on the ground had appropriate authority and had reasonable certainty that the target was valid, but after deeper post-strike analysis our conclusion is that innocent civilians were killed,” Milley added.Accounts from the family of the victims, documents from colleagues seen by The Associated Press, and the scene at the family home — where Zemerai Ahmadi’s car was struck by a Hellfire missile just as he pulled into the driveway — all painted a picture of a family that had worked for Americans and were trying to gain visas to the United States, fearing for their lives under the Taliban.The family said that when the 37-year-old Zemerai, alone in his car, pulled up to the house, he honked his horn. His 11-year-old son ran out and Zemerai let the boy get in and drive the car into the driveway. The other kids ran out to watch, and the Hellfire missile incinerated the car, killing seven children and an adult son and nephew of Zemerai.Amnesty International, the humanitarian aid group, called the U.S. military’s admission of a mistake a good first step.“The U.S. must now commit to a full, transparent, and impartial investigation into this incident,” said Brian Castner, a senior crisis adviser with Amnesty International. “Anyone suspected of criminal responsibility should be prosecuted in a fair trial. Survivors and families of the victims should be kept informed of the progress of the investigation and be given full reparation.”Rep. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said a fuller explanation must be provided.“We need to know what went wrong in the hours and minutes leading up to the strike to prevent similar tragedies in the future,” he said. “I am also concerned about the accuracy and completeness of public statements made in the immediate aftermath of the strike, and whether those accounted for all of the information possessed by the government at the time.”--------WHAT the U.S. military originally reportedWASHINGTON (AP) — Acting swiftly on President Joe Biden's promise to retaliate for the deadly suicide bombing at Kabul airport, the U.S. military said it killed two members of the Islamic State group's Afghanistan affiliate with a drone strike in the group's eastern stronghold.The attack Saturday local time came amid what the White House called indications that IS planned to strike again as the U.S.-led evacuation from Kabul airport moved into its final days. Biden has set Tuesday as his deadline for completing the exit.Biden authorized the drone strike and it was ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide details not yet publicly announced. It was not immediately clear whether the targeted IS members were directly involved in Thursday's airport attack. The U.S. military initially said one person was killed.“It was a single mission to get these targets and as the assessments and information flowed over time, we were able to recognize that another was killed as well and one wounded,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a Defense Department briefing Saturday."They were ISIS-K planners and facilitators and that’s enough reason there alone. I won’t speak to the details of these individuals and what their specific roles might be," Kirby said. He added: "We have the ability and the means to carry over the horizon counterterrorism capabilities and we’re going to defend ourselves.’’He declined to identify those killed but said the United States knew who they were.The airstrike was launched from beyond Afghanistan less than 48 hours after the devastating Kabul attack that killed 13 Americans and 169 Afghans with just days left in a final U.S. withdrawal after 20 years of war. U.S. Central Command said it believed its strike killed no civilians.The speed with which the U.S. military retaliated reflected its close monitoring of IS and years of experience in targeting extremists in remote parts of the world. But it also shows the limits of U.S. power to eliminate extremist threats, which some believe will have more freedom of movement in Afghanistan now that the Taliban is in power.The airstrike came after Biden declared Thursday that perpetrators of the attack would not be able to hide. “We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he said. Pentagon leaders told reporters Friday that they were prepared for whatever retaliatory action the president ordered.The president was warned Friday to expect another lethal attack in the closing days of a frantic U.S.-led evacuation. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden's national security team offered a grim outlook."They advised the president and vice president that another terror attack in Kabul is likely, but that they are taking maximum force protection measures at the Kabul airport,” Psaki said, echoing what the Pentagon has been saying since the bombing Thursday at Kabul airport.Late Friday, the State Department again urged Americans to stay away from airport gates, including “the New Ministry of Interior gate.”Few new details about the airport attack emerged a day later, but the Pentagon corrected its initial report that there had been suicide bombings at two locations. It said there was just one — at or near the Abbey Gate — followed by gunfire. The initial report of a second bombing at the nearby Baron Hotel proved to be false, said Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor of the Pentagon's Joint Staff; he attributed the mistake to initial confusion.Based on a preliminary assessment, U.S. officials believe the suicide vest used in the attack, which killed at least 169 Afghans in addition to the 13 Americans, carried about 25 pounds of explosives and was loaded with shrapnel, a U.S. official said Friday. A suicide bomb typically carries five to 10 pounds of explosives, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss preliminary assessments of the bombing.Biden still faces the problem over the longer term of containing an array of potential extremist threats based in Afghanistan, which will be harder with fewer U.S. intelligence assets and no military presence in the nation.In an Oval Office appearance Friday, Biden again expressed his condolences to victims of the attack. The return home of U.S. military members' remains in coming days will provide painful and poignant reminders not just of the devastation at the Kabul airport but also of the costly way the war is ending. More than 2,400 U.S. service members died in the war and tens of thousands were injured over the past two decades.The Marine Corps said 11 of the 13 Americans killed were Marines. One was a Navy sailor and one an Army soldier. Their names have not been released pending notification of their families, but the Pentagon said Saturday they would be released soon.Still, sorrowful details of those killed were starting to emerge. One Marine from Wyoming was on his first tour in Afghanistan and his wife is expecting a baby in three weeks; another was a 20-year-old man from Missouri whose father was devastated by the loss. A third, a 20-year-old from Texas, had joined the armed services out of high school.Biden ordered U.S. flags to half-staff across the country in honor of the 13.They were the first U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan since February 2020, the month the Trump administration struck an agreement with the Taliban that called for the militant group to halt attacks on Americans in exchange for a U.S. agreement to remove all American troops and contractors by May 2021. Biden announced in April that he would have all forces out by September.Psaki said the next few days of the mission to evacuate Americans and others, including vulnerable Afghans fleeing Taliban rule, “will be the most dangerous period to date.”The Pentagon said Saturday morning that about 6,800 people were airlifted from Kabul on U.S. and coalition aircraft in the past 24 hours, and about 117,000 people have been airlifted over the last two weeks.___

Tragic mistake: U.S. airstrike killed 7 children, no terrorists

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on multiple charges after an unusual traffic stop.

Just before 6 p.m. Sept. 15, a deputy conducted a traffic stop on a dark green 2004 GMC Envoy without a license plate in the 3900 block of NW Rochester Road, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.

During the investigation, it was discovered that the male passenger had a warrant for his arrest. The deputies with the assistance of a K9 Unit also located illegal narcotics in the vehicle.

Deputies arrested the driver, Latosha L. Mahkuk (32) of Mayetta, was booked her on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine and driving a vehicle without a license plate.

The passenger, Gino V. Vicchiullo (28) of Topeka, was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections for a warrant out of the City of Topeka.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1631831462971.png" alt="Vicchiullo-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Vicchiullo-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on multiple charges after an unusual traffic stop.Just before 6 p.m. Sept. 15, a deputy conducted a traffic stop on a dark green 2004 GMC Envoy without a license plate in the 3900 block of NW Rochester Road, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.During the investigation, it was discovered that the male passenger had a warrant for his arrest. The deputies with the assistance of a K9 Unit also located illegal narcotics in the vehicle.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1631831286571.png" alt="Makhuk photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Makhuk photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Deputies arrested the driver, Latosha L. Mahkuk (32) of Mayetta, was booked her on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine and driving a vehicle without a license plate.The passenger, Gino V. Vicchiullo (28) of Topeka, was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections for a warrant out of the City of Topeka.

Wanted Kan. man caught traveling in SUV without license plate

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A woman died and two children were injured in a hit-and-run crash early Friday in Kansas City, police said.

Police spokesman Sgt. Jacob Becchina said an SUV ran a stop sign early Friday at an east Kansas City intersection and collided with a Hyundai sedan.

The driver of the Hyundai died at the scene. Becchina said two children, ages 4 and 10, in the car were taken to a hospital with injures that did not appear to be life threatening.

It was not immediately clear if the woman and two children were related.

The driver and a passenger in the SUV fled the scene.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A woman died and two children were injured in a hit-and-run crash early Friday in Kansas City, police said.Police spokesman Sgt. Jacob Becchina said an SUV ran a stop sign early Friday at an east Kansas City intersection and collided with a Hyundai sedan.The driver of the Hyundai died at the scene. Becchina said two children, ages 4 and 10, in the car were taken to a hospital with injures that did not appear to be life threatening.It was not immediately clear if the woman and two children were related.The driver and a passenger in the SUV fled the scene.No names have been released.

Police: Woman dead, children injured in Kansas City hit-and-run

RENO COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities investigating the double homicide in Reno County on August have released the names of the two victims&nbsp;as 56-year-old Marion Edward Bates and 58-year-old Phillip Duane Anstine.

Prosecutors have charged 37-year-old Kyle Hardwick with two counts of premeditated first-degree murder and one count of theft.&nbsp;

Authorities in Maize arrested Hardwick on Sept. 1 after the Reno County Sheriff listed him as a person of interest when two bodies were discovered at a property in eastern Reno County.

Deputies went to that location for a check welfare call for a missing person. While searching the property, deputies believed they found the missing person, so they got a warrant to search the entire property and found a second man dead.

RENO COUNTY—Authorities investigating a double-homicide in Reno County have charged 37-year-old Kyle Hardwick&nbsp;with two counts of premeditated first degree murder and one count of theft.

Police in Maize arrested Hardwick Wednesday. He made his first appearance in the case Thursday morning. He’s being held on a bond of $2-million and is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 9. 

The case has been sealed by Judge Daniel Gilligan at this time. Authorities have not released names of the victims.

On Friday, the Reno County Sheriff's department listed Hardwick as a person of interest in the case after two bodies were discovered on a property in eastern Reno County.

Deputies were sent to that location for a check welfare call. While searching the property, deputies believed they found the missing person, so they got a warrant to search the entire property and found a second man dead.

The murder charges against Hardwick carry a life sentence without parole for 50 years.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1630599777911.png" alt="Hardwick-photo Reno County" />
 <figcaption>Hardwick-photo Reno County</figcaption>
 </figure>RENO COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities investigating the double homicide in Reno County on August have released the names of the two victims&nbsp;as 56-year-old Marion Edward Bates and 58-year-old Phillip Duane Anstine.Prosecutors have charged 37-year-old Kyle Hardwick with two counts of premeditated first-degree murder and one count of theft.&nbsp;Authorities in Maize arrested Hardwick on Sept. 1 after the Reno County Sheriff listed him as a person of interest when two bodies were discovered at a property in eastern Reno County.Deputies went to that location for a check welfare call for a missing person. While searching the property, deputies believed they found the missing person, so they got a warrant to search the entire property and found a second man dead.------RENO COUNTY—Authorities investigating a double-homicide in Reno County have charged 37-year-old Kyle Hardwick&nbsp;with two counts of premeditated first degree murder and one count of theft.Police in Maize arrested Hardwick Wednesday. He made his first appearance in the case Thursday morning. He’s being held on a bond of $2-million and is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 9. The case has been sealed by Judge Daniel Gilligan at this time. Authorities have not released names of the victims.On Friday, the Reno County Sheriff's department listed Hardwick as a person of interest in the case after two bodies were discovered on a property in eastern Reno County.Deputies were sent to that location for a check welfare call. While searching the property, deputies believed they found the missing person, so they got a warrant to search the entire property and found a second man dead.The murder charges against Hardwick carry a life sentence without parole for 50 years.&nbsp;

Sheriff IDs victims in Reno County double homicide

DOUGLAS COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting that left a child dead.

Just before 11a.m. Friday, police were dispatched to the 1500 Block of Wedgewood Drive in reference to a shooting, according to police spokesperson Patrick Compton.&nbsp;

Officers arrived on scene and located a 2-year-old child who was critically injured from an apparent gunshot wound. The child was transported to Lawrence Memorial Hospital by Lawrence Douglas County Fire and Medical. The child was later pronounced deceased at the hospital.

Officers and detectives are currently speaking with the parties involved in the incident and preliminary information suggests the shooting was accidental. Authorities released no additional details including names of those involved.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1631914210754.png" alt="Police on the scene of the Friday fatal shooting investigation -photo courtesy WIBW TV" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene of the Friday fatal shooting investigation -photo courtesy WIBW TV</figcaption>
 </figure>DOUGLAS COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting that left a child dead.Just before 11a.m. Friday, police were dispatched to the 1500 Block of Wedgewood Drive in reference to a shooting, according to police spokesperson Patrick Compton.&nbsp;Officers arrived on scene and located a 2-year-old child who was critically injured from an apparent gunshot wound. The child was transported to Lawrence Memorial Hospital by Lawrence Douglas County Fire and Medical. The child was later pronounced deceased at the hospital.Officers and detectives are currently speaking with the parties involved in the incident and preliminary information suggests the shooting was accidental. Authorities released no additional details including names of those involved.

Police: 2-year-old dies from accidental shooting at Kan. home

GREAT BEND – A Barton County jury Friday convicted a 57-year-old&nbsp; woman on charges of capital murder stemming from the deaths of a couple who were working as vendors at the Barton County fair in July 2018, according to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

Kimberley Stacey Younger, 57, of Aransas Pass, Texas, was convicted in Barton County District Court on charges of capital murder, conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, solicitation to commit murder in the first degree and theft. 

Younger’s conviction is for her role in connection with the July 2018 deaths of Alfred “Sonny” Carpenter and Pauline Carpenter, both of Wichita.&nbsp;Authorities said the Carpenters were working as vendors at the Barton County Fair when they were killed, driven to Arkansas and buried in a national forest near Van Buren.

 Four other individuals have been convicted for their connection to the crimes.

Senior Judge James Fleetwood presided over the trial. Sentencing is scheduled for 1 p.m., November 29, 2021, in Barton County District Court. Because the State is not seeking the death penalty in this case, the only authorized sentence is life without parole.

GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) — A&nbsp; woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday in the deaths of a Kansas couple who were killed after a carnival worker ordered their deaths as part of a fictitious&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/8b5ea31614994ceea97715a034cf9787">“carnival mafia”</a>&nbsp;initiation.

Kimberly Younger, of McIntosh, Florida, is facing six charges, including capital murder, in the July 2018 deaths of Alfred and Pauline Carpenter, of Wichita.

Authorities said the Carpenters were working as vendors at the Barton County Fair when they were killed, driven to Arkansas and buried in a national forest near Van Buren.

During Wednesday’s arraignment, prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty against Younger, KWCH reported. She is also charged with first-degree premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree premeditated murder, solicitation to commit first-degree premeditated murder and felony theft.

Police in Arkansas alleged that a Kansas carnival worker posed as a member of a mafia group and ordered fellow workers to kill the couple as part of an initiation. Investigators have said a “carnival mafia” does not exist.

Two other people have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/c86989a1b9184ccdb268edbe3ea91303">pleaded</a>&nbsp;guilty to first-degree murder in the deaths. Two others pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP)— A woman suspected in the killings of a Kansas couple who were working as carnival vendors pleaded not guilty to several charges. 

Kimberly Younger, of McIntosh, Florida, entered the plea Wednesday in the death of Alfred and Pauline Carpenter, who were working as vendors at the Barton County Fair in July 2018 when they were killed, driven to Arkansas and buried. She is charged with six counts, including capital murder. 

KWCH-TV reports that during Wednesday's arraignment, prosecutors said they would not pursue the death penalty against Younger. Authorities say the Carpenters were killed after one suspect posed as a carnival mafia boss and ordered the killings.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1582210805867.png" alt="Police at the scene of the murder investigation near Van Buren Arkansas -photo courtesy KFSM TV" />
 <figcaption>Police at the scene of the murder investigation near Van Buren Arkansas -photo courtesy KFSM TV</figcaption>
 </figure>GREAT BEND – A Barton County jury Friday convicted a 57-year-old&nbsp; woman on charges of capital murder stemming from the deaths of a couple who were working as vendors at the Barton County fair in July 2018, according to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.Kimberley Stacey Younger, 57, of Aransas Pass, Texas, was convicted in Barton County District Court on charges of capital murder, conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, solicitation to commit murder in the first degree and theft. <figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1582210167788.png" alt="Kimberly Younger" />
 <figcaption>Kimberly Younger</figcaption>
 </figure>Younger’s conviction is for her role in connection with the July 2018 deaths of Alfred “Sonny” Carpenter and Pauline Carpenter, both of Wichita.&nbsp;Authorities said the Carpenters were working as vendors at the Barton County Fair when they were killed, driven to Arkansas and buried in a national forest near Van Buren. Four other individuals have been convicted for their connection to the crimes.Senior Judge James Fleetwood presided over the trial. Sentencing is scheduled for 1 p.m., November 29, 2021, in Barton County District Court. Because the State is not seeking the death penalty in this case, the only authorized sentence is life without parole.-----------GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) — A&nbsp; woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday in the deaths of a Kansas couple who were killed after a carnival worker ordered their deaths as part of a fictitious&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/8b5ea31614994ceea97715a034cf9787">“carnival mafia”</a>&nbsp;initiation.Kimberly Younger, of McIntosh, Florida, is facing six charges, including capital murder, in the July 2018 deaths of Alfred and Pauline Carpenter, of Wichita.Authorities said the Carpenters were working as vendors at the Barton County Fair when they were killed, driven to Arkansas and buried in a national forest near Van Buren.During Wednesday’s arraignment, prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty against Younger, KWCH reported. She is also charged with first-degree premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree premeditated murder, solicitation to commit first-degree premeditated murder and felony theft.Police in Arkansas alleged that a Kansas carnival worker posed as a member of a mafia group and ordered fellow workers to kill the couple as part of an initiation. Investigators have said a “carnival mafia” does not exist.Two other people have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/c86989a1b9184ccdb268edbe3ea91303">pleaded</a>&nbsp;guilty to first-degree murder in the deaths. Two others pleaded guilty to lesser charges.------GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP)— A woman suspected in the killings of a Kansas couple who were working as carnival vendors pleaded not guilty to several charges. Kimberly Younger, of McIntosh, Florida, entered the plea Wednesday in the death of Alfred and Pauline Carpenter, who were working as vendors at the Barton County Fair in July 2018 when they were killed, driven to Arkansas and buried. She is charged with six counts, including capital murder. KWCH-TV reports that during Wednesday's arraignment, prosecutors said they would not pursue the death penalty against Younger. Authorities say the Carpenters were killed after one suspect posed as a carnival mafia boss and ordered the killings.

Jury: Woman guilty in murder of couple working at Barton Co. fair

WASHINGTON (AP) — An influential federal advisory panel has overwhelmingly rejected a plan to give Pfizer booster shots against COVID-19 to most Americans, but it approved the extra doses for those who are 65 or older or run a high risk of severe disease. 

The twin votes Friday represented a heavy blow to the Biden administration’s sweeping effort to shore up nearly all Americans’ protection amid the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. The decision was made by a committee of outside experts who advise the Food and Drug Administration.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An influential federal advisory panel has rejected a plan to offer Pfizer booster shots against COVID-19 to most Americans. The vote Friday, 16-2, was a blow to the Biden administration's plan to shore up people's protection against the virus amid the highly contagious delta variant.

Over several hours of discussion, members of the Food and Drug Administration panel of outside experts voiced frustration that Pfizer had provided little data on safety of extra doses. And they complained that data provided by Israeli researchers about their booster campaign might not be suitable for predicting the U.S. experience.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration’s embattled plan to dispense COVID-19 booster shots to most Americans faced its first major hurdle Friday as a government advisory panel met to decide whether to endorse extra doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

Scientists inside and outside the government have been divided in recent days over the need for boosters and who should get them, and the World Health Organization has strongly objected to rich nations giving a third round of shots when poor countries don’t have enough vaccine for their first.

The panel, made up of outside experts who advise the Food and Drug Administration, weighed a less than clear-cut case: While research suggests immunity levels in those who have been vaccinated wane over time and boosters can reverse that, the Pfizer vaccine is still highly protective against severe illness and death, even amid the spread of the highly contagious delta variant.

The FDA experts were scheduled to vote on one basic question: Does the evidence show that a Pfizer booster would be safe and effective for people 16 and older? In the event of a yes vote, the FDA is expected to quickly approve boosters for Pfizer’s shot.

But that is just one step in the process. The more thorny question of who should get the shots and when will be debated next week by advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC generally adopts the recommendations of the group, which sets policy for U.S. vaccination campaigns.

Some group members have made clear they favor giving third doses to older people, nursing home residents and front-line health care workers, rather than all adults.

Separate FDA and CDC decisions will be needed in order for people who received the Moderna or J&amp;J shots to get boosters.

Friday’s meeting came as the delta variant continues to drive U.S. cases and deaths back to levels not seen since last winter. That has given urgency to efforts by top health officials to shore up Americans’ protection against the virus.

Dr. Peter Marks, FDA’s top vaccine regulator, acknowledged the intense disagreements in opening remarks to the advisory panel.

“We know there may be differing opinions in interpreting the data,” he said. “We strongly encourage all the different viewpoints to be voiced and discussed regarding the data, which is complex and evolving.”

President Joe Biden’s top health advisers, including the heads of the FDA and CDC, first announced plans for widespread booster shots a month ago, targeting the week of Sept. 20 as an all-but-certain start date. It said boosters would be dispensed eight months after the second dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

But that was before FDA staff scientists had completed their own assessments of the data. Some experts questioned whether Biden was breaking his own pledge to “follow the science” on COVID-19 by getting out ahead of government scientists.

Earlier this week, two top FDA vaccine reviewers joined a group of international scientists in publishing an editorial rejecting the need for boosters in healthy people. The scientists said continuing studies show the shots are working well despite the delta variant.

The editorial came two weeks after the two reviewers announced plans to retire from the FDA. One of them, Dr. Marian Gruber, addressed the American people directly in her opening remarks Friday but gave no reason for her retirement.

“All my actions and decisions over my 32-year FDA career have been grounded in science with you in mind and in the best interest of your health and safety,” Gruber said.

The Biden booster plan has raised major ethical concerns, given the dire shortages of vaccine in impoverished parts of the world. But the administration has argued that the plan is not an us-or-them choice and noted that the U.S. is supplying large quantities of vaccine to the rest of the globe.

The U.S. has already approved Pfizer and Moderna boosters for certain people with weakened immune systems, such as cancer patients and transplant recipients. And some Americans, healthy or not, have managed to get boosters on the sly by going to clinics and pretending they have yet to get their initial shots.

Pfizer was expected Friday to present data suggesting immunity from its vaccine begins to wane somewhere around six to eight months after the second dose.

The panel was also set to hear from Israeli health officials, who began offering boosters over the summer. Officials there tracked about 1 million people 60 and older and found that those who got the extra shot were far less likely to become infected soon afterward.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608677701818.png" alt="A worker prepares doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine against the virus that causes COVID-19 -photo courtesy Truman Medical Center" />
 <figcaption>A worker prepares doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine against the virus that causes COVID-19 -photo courtesy Truman Medical Center</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — An influential federal advisory panel has overwhelmingly rejected a plan to give Pfizer booster shots against COVID-19 to most Americans, but it approved the extra doses for those who are 65 or older or run a high risk of severe disease. <div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bQevYc2jX7Y" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>The twin votes Friday represented a heavy blow to the Biden administration’s sweeping effort to shore up nearly all Americans’ protection amid the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. The decision was made by a committee of outside experts who advise the Food and Drug Administration.-------------WASHINGTON (AP) — An influential federal advisory panel has rejected a plan to offer Pfizer booster shots against COVID-19 to most Americans. The vote Friday, 16-2, was a blow to the Biden administration's plan to shore up people's protection against the virus amid the highly contagious delta variant.Over several hours of discussion, members of the Food and Drug Administration panel of outside experts voiced frustration that Pfizer had provided little data on safety of extra doses. And they complained that data provided by Israeli researchers about their booster campaign might not be suitable for predicting the U.S. experience.----------WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration’s embattled plan to dispense COVID-19 booster shots to most Americans faced its first major hurdle Friday as a government advisory panel met to decide whether to endorse extra doses of the Pfizer vaccine.Scientists inside and outside the government have been divided in recent days over the need for boosters and who should get them, and the World Health Organization has strongly objected to rich nations giving a third round of shots when poor countries don’t have enough vaccine for their first.The panel, made up of outside experts who advise the Food and Drug Administration, weighed a less than clear-cut case: While research suggests immunity levels in those who have been vaccinated wane over time and boosters can reverse that, the Pfizer vaccine is still highly protective against severe illness and death, even amid the spread of the highly contagious delta variant.The FDA experts were scheduled to vote on one basic question: Does the evidence show that a Pfizer booster would be safe and effective for people 16 and older? In the event of a yes vote, the FDA is expected to quickly approve boosters for Pfizer’s shot.But that is just one step in the process. The more thorny question of who should get the shots and when will be debated next week by advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC generally adopts the recommendations of the group, which sets policy for U.S. vaccination campaigns.Some group members have made clear they favor giving third doses to older people, nursing home residents and front-line health care workers, rather than all adults.Separate FDA and CDC decisions will be needed in order for people who received the Moderna or J&amp;J shots to get boosters.Friday’s meeting came as the delta variant continues to drive U.S. cases and deaths back to levels not seen since last winter. That has given urgency to efforts by top health officials to shore up Americans’ protection against the virus.Dr. Peter Marks, FDA’s top vaccine regulator, acknowledged the intense disagreements in opening remarks to the advisory panel.“We know there may be differing opinions in interpreting the data,” he said. “We strongly encourage all the different viewpoints to be voiced and discussed regarding the data, which is complex and evolving.”President Joe Biden’s top health advisers, including the heads of the FDA and CDC, first announced plans for widespread booster shots a month ago, targeting the week of Sept. 20 as an all-but-certain start date. It said boosters would be dispensed eight months after the second dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.But that was before FDA staff scientists had completed their own assessments of the data. Some experts questioned whether Biden was breaking his own pledge to “follow the science” on COVID-19 by getting out ahead of government scientists.Earlier this week, two top FDA vaccine reviewers joined a group of international scientists in publishing an editorial rejecting the need for boosters in healthy people. The scientists said continuing studies show the shots are working well despite the delta variant.The editorial came two weeks after the two reviewers announced plans to retire from the FDA. One of them, Dr. Marian Gruber, addressed the American people directly in her opening remarks Friday but gave no reason for her retirement.“All my actions and decisions over my 32-year FDA career have been grounded in science with you in mind and in the best interest of your health and safety,” Gruber said.The Biden booster plan has raised major ethical concerns, given the dire shortages of vaccine in impoverished parts of the world. But the administration has argued that the plan is not an us-or-them choice and noted that the U.S. is supplying large quantities of vaccine to the rest of the globe.The U.S. has already approved Pfizer and Moderna boosters for certain people with weakened immune systems, such as cancer patients and transplant recipients. And some Americans, healthy or not, have managed to get boosters on the sly by going to clinics and pretending they have yet to get their initial shots.Pfizer was expected Friday to present data suggesting immunity from its vaccine begins to wane somewhere around six to eight months after the second dose.The panel was also set to hear from Israeli health officials, who began offering boosters over the summer. Officials there tracked about 1 million people 60 and older and found that those who got the extra shot were far less likely to become infected soon afterward.

🎥  FDA rejects Pfizer booster shots for general public

WASHINGTON (AP) — The architect of a Washington protest planned for Saturday that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-capitol-siege-d2fb23af3f01387412a1a00b4eac531c">aims to rewrite history about the violent January assault&nbsp;</a>on the U.S. Capitol is hardly a household name.

Matt Braynard worked as an analyst for the Republican Party, crunched data for a small election firm and later started a consulting business that attracted few federal clients, records show. He started a nonprofit after he was dismissed by Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign following several months on the job, but struggled to raise money. The group’s tax-exempt status was revoked last year.

But Braynard’s fortunes changed abruptly after Trump’s 2020 election loss. He joined an aggrieved group of Trump allies seeking to overturn the election — and in the process reaped recognition, lucrative fees and a fundraising windfall that enabled him to rekindle his nonprofit.

Now, Braynard and his group, Look Ahead America, are using his newfound platform and resources to present an alternate history of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-confirm-joe-biden-78104aea082995bbd7412a6e6cd13818">the Jan. 6 attack that was meant to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory</a>, rebranding those who were charged as “political prisoners.”

Although many members of Congress, including those who are allied with Braynard’s cause, have been mum on whether they will attend Saturday’s protest, the event has put law enforcement on edge,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-capitol-siege-a88ed1eb0525a50bf2fa5b047c56ec56">led to stepped-up security measures</a>&nbsp;and created worries that members of the same extremist groups that were present on Jan 6. could also be in attendance.

How much of a draw his “Justice for J6” rally ends up being will test the reach and potency of the emerging far-right movement, as well as the extent of Braynard’s own reach.

Braynard, who is in his 40s, did not respond to a request for comment for this story. The Associated Press earlier declined to accept his condition that an interview of him be broadcast live.

But a review of court records, campaign finance disclosures and social media postings, as well as Braynard’s past interviews with journalists that he has posted online, document his efforts to build his influence over the past year, culminating in Saturday’s event.

“At no point will I cancel this rally,” Braynard told WTOP radio in Washington. “This is happening even if I’m there by myself with a megaphone.”

The seeds of the rally were planted the day after the 2020 election as Trump made false claims of widespread voter fraud, which were later rejected by numerous courts, election officials and his own&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/barr-no-widespread-election-fraud-b1f1488796c9a98c4b1a9061a6c7f49d">attorney general at the time, William Barr</a>.

Braynard suggested on Twitter that there could have been fraud in the election, while promoting an online fundraiser he created to defray the cost of analyzing voting data in states where the Trump campaign insisted it was winning.

He told BuzzFeed News in a summer interview that he brought some early findings to the attention of the Trump campaign. The campaign, which had declined to rehire him earlier in the 2020 campaign as a low-level field staffer, initially agreed to hear him out. But after he arrived at campaign headquarters, campaign officials changed their minds, he said.

“I stood on the sidewalk for an hour while they fought inside about whether or not to let me in,” he said. “Ultimately, I was told I would not be let in and I went home.”

His online fundraising, however, took off. After the crowdfunding site GoFundMe.com took down an early effort, citing misleading information, Braynard migrated to an conservative friendly site and quickly took in over $675,000.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/3/1615213886851.png" alt="Security fence is up again around the U.S. Capitol ahead of the rally-photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Security fence is up again around the U.S. Capitol ahead of the rally-photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The architect of a Washington protest planned for Saturday that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-capitol-siege-d2fb23af3f01387412a1a00b4eac531c">aims to rewrite history about the violent January assault&nbsp;</a>on the U.S. Capitol is hardly a household name.Matt Braynard worked as an analyst for the Republican Party, crunched data for a small election firm and later started a consulting business that attracted few federal clients, records show. He started a nonprofit after he was dismissed by Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign following several months on the job, but struggled to raise money. The group’s tax-exempt status was revoked last year.But Braynard’s fortunes changed abruptly after Trump’s 2020 election loss. He joined an aggrieved group of Trump allies seeking to overturn the election — and in the process reaped recognition, lucrative fees and a fundraising windfall that enabled him to rekindle his nonprofit.Now, Braynard and his group, Look Ahead America, are using his newfound platform and resources to present an alternate history of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-confirm-joe-biden-78104aea082995bbd7412a6e6cd13818">the Jan. 6 attack that was meant to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory</a>, rebranding those who were charged as “political prisoners.”Although many members of Congress, including those who are allied with Braynard’s cause, have been mum on whether they will attend Saturday’s protest, the event has put law enforcement on edge,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-capitol-siege-a88ed1eb0525a50bf2fa5b047c56ec56">led to stepped-up security measures</a>&nbsp;and created worries that members of the same extremist groups that were present on Jan 6. could also be in attendance.How much of a draw his “Justice for J6” rally ends up being will test the reach and potency of the emerging far-right movement, as well as the extent of Braynard’s own reach.Braynard, who is in his 40s, did not respond to a request for comment for this story. The Associated Press earlier declined to accept his condition that an interview of him be broadcast live.But a review of court records, campaign finance disclosures and social media postings, as well as Braynard’s past interviews with journalists that he has posted online, document his efforts to build his influence over the past year, culminating in Saturday’s event.“At no point will I cancel this rally,” Braynard told WTOP radio in Washington. “This is happening even if I’m there by myself with a megaphone.”The seeds of the rally were planted the day after the 2020 election as Trump made false claims of widespread voter fraud, which were later rejected by numerous courts, election officials and his own&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/barr-no-widespread-election-fraud-b1f1488796c9a98c4b1a9061a6c7f49d">attorney general at the time, William Barr</a>.Braynard suggested on Twitter that there could have been fraud in the election, while promoting an online fundraiser he created to defray the cost of analyzing voting data in states where the Trump campaign insisted it was winning.He told BuzzFeed News in a summer interview that he brought some early findings to the attention of the Trump campaign. The campaign, which had declined to rehire him earlier in the 2020 campaign as a low-level field staffer, initially agreed to hear him out. But after he arrived at campaign headquarters, campaign officials changed their minds, he said.“I stood on the sidewalk for an hour while they fought inside about whether or not to let me in,” he said. “Ultimately, I was told I would not be let in and I went home.”His online fundraising, however, took off. After the crowdfunding site GoFundMe.com took down an early effort, citing misleading information, Braynard migrated to an conservative friendly site and quickly took in over $675,000.

Organizer of Capitol rally looks to rewrite Jan. 6 history

By NOAH TABORDA <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/briefs/kansas-special-education-council-approves-new-target-metrics-for-children-with-disabilities/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA
 — The Kansas council providing special education policy guidance to the
 state board of education approved Thursday a target high school 
graduation rate of 80.5% for children with disabilities in 2020, 
increasing by 0.5% each year through 2025.

The Kansas State Special Education 
Advisory Council is entering a new cycle of the state performance plan, 
which runs from 2020 to 2025. Because of reporting delays, data for 
several target metrics for 2020 will not be available until February.

The council considered stakeholder 
feedback to determine if new targets set by the Kansas State Department 
of Education were appropriate. Nearly 75% of stakeholders responding to a
 survey conducted by KSDE said the graduation target was a reasonable 
goal.

KSDE also proposed a target dropout 
rate of 17.95%, with the target decreasing 1.35% by 2025. Dropout data 
indicates statewide rates have ranged between 14% and 20%.

“That’s not as much as any of us 
would like, but we just felt that that was what was realistic based on 
our historical data,” said Laura Jurgensen, an assistant director on the
 special education and title services team. “Of our survey respondents, 
about 61% of them said that’s appropriate. … 33% of them said it is not 
rigorous enough and just over 5% that it is too vigorous.”

The advisory council voted without opposition to approve these new targets for the state performance plan.

Since 2014, an average of 65.16% of 
parents of children with disabilities on an individualized education 
plan, or IEP, surveyed said their school facilitated their involvement 
as a way to improve services and results for their children. The council
 agreed to the new goal set by KSDE of 66.5% for 2020, with the target 
increasing by 0.1% each year.

The council also approved new metrics
 for post-secondary success, least restrictive environments, and 
preschool children with IEPs who show improvement, among other measured 
indicators.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1631887764252.png" alt="The Kansas State Special Education Advisory Council solicited stakeholder input to finalize new target metrics for the state performance plan. The council voted without opposition to approve new graduation rates, dropout rates and parental involvement goals, among other indicators. (Screenshot of Kansas State Department of Education YouTube)" />
 <figcaption>The Kansas State Special Education Advisory Council solicited stakeholder input to finalize new target metrics for the state performance plan. The council voted without opposition to approve new graduation rates, dropout rates and parental involvement goals, among other indicators. (Screenshot of Kansas State Department of Education YouTube)</figcaption>
 </figure>By NOAH TABORDA <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/briefs/kansas-special-education-council-approves-new-target-metrics-for-children-with-disabilities/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA
 — The Kansas council providing special education policy guidance to the
 state board of education approved Thursday a target high school 
graduation rate of 80.5% for children with disabilities in 2020, 
increasing by 0.5% each year through 2025.The Kansas State Special Education 
Advisory Council is entering a new cycle of the state performance plan, 
which runs from 2020 to 2025. Because of reporting delays, data for 
several target metrics for 2020 will not be available until February.The council considered stakeholder 
feedback to determine if new targets set by the Kansas State Department 
of Education were appropriate. Nearly 75% of stakeholders responding to a
 survey conducted by KSDE said the graduation target was a reasonable 
goal.KSDE also proposed a target dropout 
rate of 17.95%, with the target decreasing 1.35% by 2025. Dropout data 
indicates statewide rates have ranged between 14% and 20%.“That’s not as much as any of us 
would like, but we just felt that that was what was realistic based on 
our historical data,” said Laura Jurgensen, an assistant director on the
 special education and title services team. “Of our survey respondents, 
about 61% of them said that’s appropriate. … 33% of them said it is not 
rigorous enough and just over 5% that it is too vigorous.”The advisory council voted without opposition to approve these new targets for the state performance plan.Since 2014, an average of 65.16% of 
parents of children with disabilities on an individualized education 
plan, or IEP, surveyed said their school facilitated their involvement 
as a way to improve services and results for their children. The council
 agreed to the new goal set by KSDE of 66.5% for 2020, with the target 
increasing by 0.1% each year.The council also approved new metrics
 for post-secondary success, least restrictive environments, and 
preschool children with IEPs who show improvement, among other measured 
indicators.

Kan. council OKs new target metrics for children with disabilities

WASHINGTON (AP) —Two dozen Republican attorneys general warned the White House on Thursday of impending legal action if a proposed coronavirus vaccine requirement for as many as 100 million Americans goes into effect.

“Your plan is disastrous and counterproductive,” the prosecutors, led by Attorney General Alan Wilson of South Carolina,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.scag.gov/media/flsf1np3/ags-letter-to-pres-biden-on-vaccine-mandate-final-02715056xd2c78.pdf" target="_blank">wrote in a letter sent to President Joe Biden</a>. “If your Administration does not alter its course, the undersigned state Attorneys General will seek every available legal option to hold you accountable and uphold the rule of law.”

The letter is the latest GOP opposition to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-health-coronavirus-pandemic-executive-branch-18fb12993f05be13bf760946a6fb89be">sweeping new federal vaccine requirements</a>&nbsp;for private-sector employees, health care workers and federal contractors announced by Biden earlier this month. The requirement, to be enacted through a rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is part of an all-out effort to curb the surging COVID-19 delta variant.

The OSHA rule, which covers nearly two-thirds of the private sector workforce, would last six months, after which it must be replaced by a permanent measure. Employers that don’t comply could face penalties of up to $13,600 per violation.

Once it’s out, the rule would take effect in 29 states where OSHA has jurisdiction, according to a primer by the law firm Fisher Phillips. Other states like California and North Carolina that have their own federally approved workplace safety agencies would have up to 30 days to adopt equivalent measures.

Republican leaders — and some union chiefs, too — have said that Biden was going too far in trying to muscle private companies and workers. One of the first to speak out was Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina, who said on Twitter that his state would fight to “the gates of hell to protect the liberty and livelihood of every South Carolinian.”

Writing to Biden that the vaccine “edict is also illegal,” Wilson warned that courts have fully upheld only one of 10 emergency temporary OSHA standards in recent decades

The prosecutors also cautioned that the “edict is unlikely to win hearts and minds — it will simply drive further skepticism” over vaccines.

“Your vaccine mandate represents not only a threat to individual liberty, but a public health disaster that will displace vulnerable workers and exacerbate a nationwide hospital staffing crisis, with severe consequences for all Americans,” they write.

In lieu of vaccine or weekly testing requirements, the prosecutors proposed that some companies could have employees work remotely, rather than report in person.

In addition to Wilson in South Carolina, the letter was signed by attorneys general in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1631875943863.png" alt="President Biden&nbsp;spoke about his economic proposals during a speech at White House Thursday afternoon. He refused to take questions-photo courtesy White House" />
 <figcaption>President Biden&nbsp;spoke about his economic proposals during a speech at White House Thursday afternoon. He refused to take questions-photo courtesy White House</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) —Two dozen Republican attorneys general warned the White House on Thursday of impending legal action if a proposed coronavirus vaccine requirement for as many as 100 million Americans goes into effect.“Your plan is disastrous and counterproductive,” the prosecutors, led by Attorney General Alan Wilson of South Carolina,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.scag.gov/media/flsf1np3/ags-letter-to-pres-biden-on-vaccine-mandate-final-02715056xd2c78.pdf" target="_blank">wrote in a letter sent to President Joe Biden</a>. “If your Administration does not alter its course, the undersigned state Attorneys General will seek every available legal option to hold you accountable and uphold the rule of law.”The letter is the latest GOP opposition to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-health-coronavirus-pandemic-executive-branch-18fb12993f05be13bf760946a6fb89be">sweeping new federal vaccine requirements</a>&nbsp;for private-sector employees, health care workers and federal contractors announced by Biden earlier this month. The requirement, to be enacted through a rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is part of an all-out effort to curb the surging COVID-19 delta variant.The OSHA rule, which covers nearly two-thirds of the private sector workforce, would last six months, after which it must be replaced by a permanent measure. Employers that don’t comply could face penalties of up to $13,600 per violation.Once it’s out, the rule would take effect in 29 states where OSHA has jurisdiction, according to a primer by the law firm Fisher Phillips. Other states like California and North Carolina that have their own federally approved workplace safety agencies would have up to 30 days to adopt equivalent measures.Republican leaders — and some union chiefs, too — have said that Biden was going too far in trying to muscle private companies and workers. One of the first to speak out was Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina, who said on Twitter that his state would fight to “the gates of hell to protect the liberty and livelihood of every South Carolinian.”Writing to Biden that the vaccine “edict is also illegal,” Wilson warned that courts have fully upheld only one of 10 emergency temporary OSHA standards in recent decadesThe prosecutors also cautioned that the “edict is unlikely to win hearts and minds — it will simply drive further skepticism” over vaccines.“Your vaccine mandate represents not only a threat to individual liberty, but a public health disaster that will displace vulnerable workers and exacerbate a nationwide hospital staffing crisis, with severe consequences for all Americans,” they write.In lieu of vaccine or weekly testing requirements, the prosecutors proposed that some companies could have employees work remotely, rather than report in person.In addition to Wilson in South Carolina, the letter was signed by attorneys general in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.___

Kansas joins other states warning Biden over vaccine mandates

TOPEKA— The number of confirmed coronavirus cases* (see below) in Kansas increased by 3,201 to a total of 396,907, the state health department reported Friday afternoon.&nbsp;

The state reported 64 new COVID-19 deaths for a total of 5865

<a href="https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/158/Data">Click here for Data</a> about the COVID-19 vaccine.

<a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">Click here&nbsp;</a>for additional virus numbers from the KDHE.

As of August 1, 2021, in accordance with an&nbsp;<a href="https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/conditions/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/" target="_blank">updated CDC/CSTE surveillance case definition</a>, a confirmed case is defined as a person who tested positive by molecular detection (e.g., PCR, NAA) or identification of SARS-CoV-2 through genetic sequencing. A probable case is defined as a person with: a) presumptive lab evidence (antigen) or b) no lab testing but meeting clinical case criteria and is epi-linked. A person will be counted as a new surveillance case (e.g. reinfection) if they test positive for SARS-CoV-2 by a diagnostic test (i.e., molecular, antigen) and it has been greater than 90 days since the previous positive diagnostic test. In addition, a person with sequencing results identifying different SARS-CoV-2 lineages regardless of the time since the previous specimen sequenced will be counted as a new surveillance case.&nbsp;

Cases occurring between&nbsp;September 1, 2020&nbsp;and July 29, 2021 were classified by&nbsp;<a href="https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/conditions/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/" target="_blank">previous CDC/CSTE case definition,&nbsp;</a>and cases prior to September 1, 2020 were classified by the&nbsp;<a href="https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/case-definitions/coronavirus-disease-2019-2020/" target="_blank">original case definition</a>.

TOPEKA— The number of confirmed coronavirus cases* (see below) in Kansas increased by 3,201 to a total of 396,907, the state health department reported Friday afternoon.&nbsp;The state reported 64 new COVID-19 deaths for a total of 5865<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1631898205270.png" alt="Friday September 17, 2021 KDHE image" />
 <figcaption>Friday September 17, 2021 KDHE image</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/158/Data">Click here for Data</a> about the COVID-19 vaccine.<a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">Click here&nbsp;</a>for additional virus numbers from the KDHE.As of August 1, 2021, in accordance with an&nbsp;<a href="https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/conditions/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/" target="_blank">updated CDC/CSTE surveillance case definition</a>, a confirmed case is defined as a person who tested positive by molecular detection (e.g., PCR, NAA) or identification of SARS-CoV-2 through genetic sequencing. A probable case is defined as a person with: a) presumptive lab evidence (antigen) or b) no lab testing but meeting clinical case criteria and is epi-linked. A person will be counted as a new surveillance case (e.g. reinfection) if they test positive for SARS-CoV-2 by a diagnostic test (i.e., molecular, antigen) and it has been greater than 90 days since the previous positive diagnostic test. In addition, a person with sequencing results identifying different SARS-CoV-2 lineages regardless of the time since the previous specimen sequenced will be counted as a new surveillance case.&nbsp;Cases occurring between&nbsp;September 1, 2020&nbsp;and July 29, 2021 were classified by&nbsp;<a href="https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/conditions/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/" target="_blank">previous CDC/CSTE case definition,&nbsp;</a>and cases prior to September 1, 2020 were classified by the&nbsp;<a href="https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/case-definitions/coronavirus-disease-2019-2020/" target="_blank">original case definition</a>.

KDHE: 64 more COVID deaths, 3200 new cases

KANSAS CITY&nbsp; (AP) — A hearing that could determine whether Kevin Strickland will be released from prison after serving more than 40 years for a triple murder conviction will be held in Jackson County, a judge ruled Friday.

Circuit Judge Kevin Harrell rejected a motion filed by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt's office asking Harrell to recuse himself and all other Jackson County judges from hearing Strickland's case because the presiding judge in that circuit has said he agrees with the local prosecutor's contention that Strickland was wrongfully convicted.

Harrell also said Friday that an evidentiary hearing during which prosecutors will argue that Strickland was wrongfully convicted and should be released from prison will be held the first week of October. The exact date will depend on the attorneys' schedules.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced in May that she and other legal and political leaders believe that Strickland, now 62, was wrongfully convicted of killing three people in Kansas City in 1998.

Using a new state law, Peters Baker&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/missouri-816410e8eab142331d08c9d750153d28">filed a motion in August&nbsp;</a>asking for an evidentiary hearing during which prosecutors will argue that Strickland should be exonerated and released from prison.

In a letter in May, Peters Baker said Dale Youngs, the presiding judge in the 16th Circuit Court, “concurs on behalf” of the court that Strickland was wrongfully convicted.

The attorney general’s office has said that statement shows that Jackson County judges are biased in Strickland's favor. Schmitt's office&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/courts-kansas-missouri-4b11c90ec6845d9459e44ddaee5be20d">has argued that Strickland is guilty.</a>

But Harrell said he could be impartial. He said he hadn't heard of Youngs' statement about the Strickland case before it was raised as an issue in his courtroom, The Kansas City Star&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article254298488.html">reported</a>.

Harrell also denied a motion by the attorney general’s office to move the case from criminal to civil court. Harrell said lawmakers meant for criminal courts to hold hearings under the new law, which gives local prosecutors the power to argue that a prisoner was wrongfully convicted.

The Star reported in 2020 that two men who pleaded guilty in the killings swore Strickland was not with them and two other accomplices. And an eyewitness who identified Strickland as the killer recanted her statements before she died, prosecutors said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/5/1620695920927.png" alt="Strickland-photo MODOC" />
 <figcaption>Strickland-photo MODOC</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY&nbsp; (AP) — A hearing that could determine whether Kevin Strickland will be released from prison after serving more than 40 years for a triple murder conviction will be held in Jackson County, a judge ruled Friday.Circuit Judge Kevin Harrell rejected a motion filed by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt's office asking Harrell to recuse himself and all other Jackson County judges from hearing Strickland's case because the presiding judge in that circuit has said he agrees with the local prosecutor's contention that Strickland was wrongfully convicted.Harrell also said Friday that an evidentiary hearing during which prosecutors will argue that Strickland was wrongfully convicted and should be released from prison will be held the first week of October. The exact date will depend on the attorneys' schedules.Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced in May that she and other legal and political leaders believe that Strickland, now 62, was wrongfully convicted of killing three people in Kansas City in 1998.Using a new state law, Peters Baker&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/missouri-816410e8eab142331d08c9d750153d28">filed a motion in August&nbsp;</a>asking for an evidentiary hearing during which prosecutors will argue that Strickland should be exonerated and released from prison.In a letter in May, Peters Baker said Dale Youngs, the presiding judge in the 16th Circuit Court, “concurs on behalf” of the court that Strickland was wrongfully convicted.The attorney general’s office has said that statement shows that Jackson County judges are biased in Strickland's favor. Schmitt's office&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/courts-kansas-missouri-4b11c90ec6845d9459e44ddaee5be20d">has argued that Strickland is guilty.</a>But Harrell said he could be impartial. He said he hadn't heard of Youngs' statement about the Strickland case before it was raised as an issue in his courtroom, The Kansas City Star&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article254298488.html">reported</a>.Harrell also denied a motion by the attorney general’s office to move the case from criminal to civil court. Harrell said lawmakers meant for criminal courts to hold hearings under the new law, which gives local prosecutors the power to argue that a prisoner was wrongfully convicted.The Star reported in 2020 that two men who pleaded guilty in the killings swore Strickland was not with them and two other accomplices. And an eyewitness who identified Strickland as the killer recanted her statements before she died, prosecutors said.

Judge rules on location of hearing in 40-year-old KC triple murder 

BARTON COUNTY—Mark Chalfant, President of Fuller Industries, Inc. issued a statement Friday that the Great Bend based company made the decision to join forces with Superior Solutions LLC. Superior Solutions.

Superior is a leading jan/san product manufacturer and distributor in North America, with branded and white label chemical manufacturing capabilities and one of the largest jan/san distribution networks in central and eastern Canada, according to the statement from Fuller.

Superior Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of GDI Integrated Facility Services Inc., a Canadian domiciled company with over 20,000 employees which is among the five largest facility services providers in North America.

The name Fuller is synonymous with the cleaning products industry. Since separating the retail sales business from Fuller Industries in 2012, we have grown Fuller Industries into one of the leading janitorial products manufacturing businesses in the United States.

Operating out of a 600,000 sq.ft. manufacturing facility with a number of state-of-the-art production lines, today Fuller has the capacity to produce a full range of branded and white label chemical products, plastic injection molding products using press, blow and roto molding technologies, as well as a full line of traditional and specialized brooms and brushes.

We are proud to manufacture both commodity-like and specialized high-quality products for the janitorial industry right here in America.

We are very excited about joining forces with Superior Solutions as it represents the next step in Fuller Industries' strategic evolution. Fuller Industries will become Superior Solutions' manufacturing partner and platform in the U.S. market. Superior Solutions' expertise in white label chemical manufacturing and deep experience in the janitorial products industry will add substantial value to Fuller's existing operations.

Fuller Industries will be able to provide our clients with the most innovative, technologically advanced, and cost-effective lines of chemicals, brushes and plasticbased jan/san products on the market today. We feel that becoming part of the GDI family will also considerably strengthen Fuller Industries and serve to support our growth. GDI is a leading facility services provider that offers a range of services in Canada and the United States to owners and managers of a variety of facility types including office buildings, educational facilities, shopping centres, industrial facilities, healthcare establishments, distribution facilities, airports and other transportation facilities.

GDI provides commercial and industrial janitorial and sanitation, mechanical and electrical building maintenance and building automation solutions to the commercial real estate sector in addition to the services provided by Superior Solutions. GDI had revenues of over $1.0 billion in its most recent fiscal year, and its subordinate voting shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: GDI).

Joining Superior Solutions will enable us to strengthen our client and supplier relationships. The Fuller Industries personnel that support our relationship with you will remain the same, our commitment to provide you with high quality of service will continue.

As of September 7, 2021, Fuller Industries, LLC has become Fuller Industries, Inc. Our address remains the same, however our new banking and tax information will be provided as needed.

Our employees have worked hard to earn both your business and your trust, and we are certain these strong customer and supplier relationships will continue to grow.

This is an exciting time for our company, and we look forward to taking this next step in Fuller Industries' growth. I ask you to join us in celebrating this great news, and we look forward to continuing to work with you well into the future.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1631886379684.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>BARTON COUNTY—Mark Chalfant, President of Fuller Industries, Inc. issued a statement Friday that the Great Bend based company made the decision to join forces with Superior Solutions LLC. Superior Solutions.Superior is a leading jan/san product manufacturer and distributor in North America, with branded and white label chemical manufacturing capabilities and one of the largest jan/san distribution networks in central and eastern Canada, according to the statement from Fuller.Superior Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of GDI Integrated Facility Services Inc., a Canadian domiciled company with over 20,000 employees which is among the five largest facility services providers in North America.The name Fuller is synonymous with the cleaning products industry. Since separating the retail sales business from Fuller Industries in 2012, we have grown Fuller Industries into one of the leading janitorial products manufacturing businesses in the United States.Operating out of a 600,000 sq.ft. manufacturing facility with a number of state-of-the-art production lines, today Fuller has the capacity to produce a full range of branded and white label chemical products, plastic injection molding products using press, blow and roto molding technologies, as well as a full line of traditional and specialized brooms and brushes.We are proud to manufacture both commodity-like and specialized high-quality products for the janitorial industry right here in America.We are very excited about joining forces with Superior Solutions as it represents the next step in Fuller Industries' strategic evolution. Fuller Industries will become Superior Solutions' manufacturing partner and platform in the U.S. market. Superior Solutions' expertise in white label chemical manufacturing and deep experience in the janitorial products industry will add substantial value to Fuller's existing operations.Fuller Industries will be able to provide our clients with the most innovative, technologically advanced, and cost-effective lines of chemicals, brushes and plasticbased jan/san products on the market today. We feel that becoming part of the GDI family will also considerably strengthen Fuller Industries and serve to support our growth. GDI is a leading facility services provider that offers a range of services in Canada and the United States to owners and managers of a variety of facility types including office buildings, educational facilities, shopping centres, industrial facilities, healthcare establishments, distribution facilities, airports and other transportation facilities.GDI provides commercial and industrial janitorial and sanitation, mechanical and electrical building maintenance and building automation solutions to the commercial real estate sector in addition to the services provided by Superior Solutions. GDI had revenues of over $1.0 billion in its most recent fiscal year, and its subordinate voting shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: GDI).Joining Superior Solutions will enable us to strengthen our client and supplier relationships. The Fuller Industries personnel that support our relationship with you will remain the same, our commitment to provide you with high quality of service will continue.As of September 7, 2021, Fuller Industries, LLC has become Fuller Industries, Inc. Our address remains the same, however our new banking and tax information will be provided as needed.Our employees have worked hard to earn both your business and your trust, and we are certain these strong customer and supplier relationships will continue to grow.This is an exciting time for our company, and we look forward to taking this next step in Fuller Industries' growth. I ask you to join us in celebrating this great news, and we look forward to continuing to work with you well into the future.