By COLE REIF <a href="https://greatbendpost.com">Great Bend Post</a>

GREAT BEND — Baze Hogan, from Great Bend, took first place at MLB’s Pitch Hit &amp; Run
Team Championship in Kansas City Saturday, Sept. 18. Taking first in the
competition held at Kauffman Stadium, Hogan now awaits to find out if she
qualified for a trip to the MLB World Series. 
The Major League Baseball youth skills competition is for children ages 7-14.
The children are scored on their pitching, hitting and running. 
Hogan participated in a competition at the Great Bend Sports Complex in July
and had one of the top three scores among nine and 10-year-old girls that
competed in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Arkansas. Because of this, she
qualified to compete at Kauffman Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Royals. 
The top three scores in each age division from all the Team Championships at
MLB ballparks will receive an all-expense paid trip for two to the World
Series. 
Hogan will wait to see if she finished in the top three across the country as
the MLB will announce the winners on the MLB Network Sept. 29. 
Carson Umphres, also from Great Bend, competed in Kansas City in the 13 and
14-year-old boys division and placed second.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1632231807650.jpeg" alt="Courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>By COLE REIF <a href="https://greatbendpost.com">Great Bend Post</a>GREAT BEND — Baze Hogan, from Great Bend, took first place at MLB’s Pitch Hit &amp; Run
Team Championship in Kansas City Saturday, Sept. 18. Taking first in the
competition held at Kauffman Stadium, Hogan now awaits to find out if she
qualified for a trip to the MLB World Series. 
The Major League Baseball youth skills competition is for children ages 7-14.
The children are scored on their pitching, hitting and running. 
Hogan participated in a competition at the Great Bend Sports Complex in July
and had one of the top three scores among nine and 10-year-old girls that
competed in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Arkansas. Because of this, she
qualified to compete at Kauffman Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Royals. 
The top three scores in each age division from all the Team Championships at
MLB ballparks will receive an all-expense paid trip for two to the World
Series. 
Hogan will wait to see if she finished in the top three across the country as
the MLB will announce the winners on the MLB Network Sept. 29. 
Carson Umphres, also from Great Bend, competed in Kansas City in the 13 and
14-year-old boys division and placed second.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

Great Bend girl wins youth competition at Kauffman Stadium

LONDON (AP) — Johnson &amp; Johnson released data showing that a booster dose to its one-shot coronavirus vaccine provides a strong immune response months after people receive a first dose.

J&amp;J said in statement Tuesday that it ran two early studies in people previously given its vaccine and found that a second dose produced an increased antibody response in adults from age 18 to 55. The study’s results haven’t yet been peer-reviewed.

“A booster dose of the Johnson &amp; Johnson COVID-19 vaccine further increases antibody responses among study participants who had previously received our vaccine,” said Dr. Mathai Mammen, global head of research and development at J&amp;J. The company previously published data showing its one-shot dose provided protection for up to eight months after immunization.

J&amp;J said it is now in talks with regulators including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency and others regarding using booster doses of its vaccine.

J&amp;J’s vaccine is approved for use in the U.S., across Europe and there are plans for at least 200 million doses to be shared with the U.N.-backed COVAX effort aimed at distributing vaccines to poor countries. But the company has been plagued by production problems and millions of doses made at a troubled factory in Baltimore had to be thrown out.

The J&amp;J vaccine has been considered critical by numerous health officials to ending the pandemic because it requires only one shot, but fears about the easier-to-spread delta coronavirus variant have prompted numerous governments to consider the use of booster shots for many approved vaccines.

Last week, experts at the FDA recommended people 65 and older get a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech while Britain previously authorized booster shots for people 50 and over in addition to priority groups like health workers and those with underlying health conditions. Other countries including Israel, France and Germany have also begun offering third vaccine doses to some people.

The World Health Organization has urged rich countries to stop administering booster doses until at least the end of the year, saying vaccines should immediately be redirected to Africa, where fewer than 4% of the population is fully immunized. In a paper published last week in the journal Lancet, top scientists from the WHO and FDA argued that the average person doesn’t need a booster shot and that the authorized vaccines to date provide strong protection against severe COVID-19, hospitalization and death.

LONDON (AP) — Johnson &amp; Johnson released data showing that a booster dose to its one-shot coronavirus vaccine provides a strong immune response months after people receive a first dose.J&amp;J said in statement Tuesday that it ran two early studies in people previously given its vaccine and found that a second dose produced an increased antibody response in adults from age 18 to 55. The study’s results haven’t yet been peer-reviewed.“A booster dose of the Johnson &amp; Johnson COVID-19 vaccine further increases antibody responses among study participants who had previously received our vaccine,” said Dr. Mathai Mammen, global head of research and development at J&amp;J. The company previously published data showing its one-shot dose provided protection for up to eight months after immunization.J&amp;J said it is now in talks with regulators including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency and others regarding using booster doses of its vaccine.J&amp;J’s vaccine is approved for use in the U.S., across Europe and there are plans for at least 200 million doses to be shared with the U.N.-backed COVAX effort aimed at distributing vaccines to poor countries. But the company has been plagued by production problems and millions of doses made at a troubled factory in Baltimore had to be thrown out.The J&amp;J vaccine has been considered critical by numerous health officials to ending the pandemic because it requires only one shot, but fears about the easier-to-spread delta coronavirus variant have prompted numerous governments to consider the use of booster shots for many approved vaccines.Last week, experts at the FDA recommended people 65 and older get a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech while Britain previously authorized booster shots for people 50 and over in addition to priority groups like health workers and those with underlying health conditions. Other countries including Israel, France and Germany have also begun offering third vaccine doses to some people.The World Health Organization has urged rich countries to stop administering booster doses until at least the end of the year, saying vaccines should immediately be redirected to Africa, where fewer than 4% of the population is fully immunized. In a paper published last week in the journal Lancet, top scientists from the WHO and FDA argued that the average person doesn’t need a booster shot and that the authorized vaccines to date provide strong protection against severe COVID-19, hospitalization and death.

J&J: Booster dose of its COVID shot prompts strong response

BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas gamer whose online dispute with another player sparked a deadly hoax call will have to face a jury after violating the terms of a diversion deal he made with prosecutors. U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren granted on Monday the government’s motion to resume prosecution of Shane Gaskill of Wichita and set a jury trial for Oct. 5. 

Gaskill is charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and other counts in connection with a series of events in 2017 that culminated in the fatal police shooting of 28-year-old Andrew Finch at his family’s home in Wichita.

The death drew national attention to “swatting,” a form of retaliation in which someone reports a false emergency to get authorities to descend on an address.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/6/1592601982960.png" alt="Police body camera view of the home on the night of the deadly response to the hoax 911 call- image Wichita Police" />
 <figcaption>Police body camera view of the home on the night of the deadly response to the hoax 911 call- image Wichita Police</figcaption>
 </figure>BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas gamer whose online dispute with another player sparked a deadly hoax call will have to face a jury after violating the terms of a diversion deal he made with prosecutors. U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren granted on Monday the government’s motion to resume prosecution of Shane Gaskill of Wichita and set a jury trial for Oct. 5. Gaskill is charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and other counts in connection with a series of events in 2017 that culminated in the fatal police shooting of 28-year-old Andrew Finch at his family’s home in Wichita.The death drew national attention to “swatting,” a form of retaliation in which someone reports a false emergency to get authorities to descend on an address.

Gamer in deadly Kan. hoax 911 call violated diversion deal

KANSAS CITY (AP) —A federal appeals court on Tuesday will consider whether Missouri can implement a sweeping law aimed at limiting abortions.

The law adopted in 2019 would ban abortions at or around the eighth week of pregnancy. It also would prohibit abortions based on a Down syndrome diagnosis.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis isn't expected to rule for several weeks.

In June,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-courts-michael-brown-1ec915d56429b8273af7f9c9d7e0a51d">a three-judge 8th Circuit panel&nbsp;</a>upheld an injunction from U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs prohibiting Missouri from enforcing the provisions.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/down-syndrome-health-abortion-us-supreme-court-st-louis-c846b5b33db75b2f81a9163d40e5ca80">Most of the discussion</a>&nbsp;at the panel's hearing centered around the provision banning abortions because the fetus is diagnosed with Down syndrome.

But the full court then decided to hear the case, a decision that Yamelsie Rodríguez, president and CEO of Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, called “another troubling signal in a long line of threats to our reproductive freedom.”

The Missouri attorney general’s office is defending the law.

Sachs said in his 2020 ruling that he thought Planned Parenthood and the ACLU would likely succeed in their lawsuit challenging the law as unconstitutional. Similar laws have been struck down in North Dakota and Iowa.

Legislators who helped draft the Missouri law said it was meant to withstand court challenges. It included a provision stating that if the eight-week ban was struck down, a series of less-restrictive abortion limits would kick in at 14, 18 or 20 weeks. But courts have blocked enforcement of all of those limits thus far.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mo-state-wire-us-supreme-court-michael-brown-courts-government-and-politics-344893393ca2259cbe6d5b234ace9715">Attorney General Eric Schmitt</a>&nbsp;wants the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the case. In a court filing in July, Schmitt, a Republican, said the Supreme Court should consider whether Missouri’s restrictions are “reasonable regulations on abortion."

Schmitt also said the High Court should use the case to decide whether to overturn its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established a nationwide right to abortion at any point before a fetus can survive outside the womb, which is roughly around the 24th week.

The appeals court case over the Missouri law comes weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-health-texas-courts-dallas-ac56b654f88471753b22e19587956c29">Texas law</a>&nbsp;that bans abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, which is usually around six weeks into a pregnancy.

The Supreme Court also has agreed to consider allowing the enforcement of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-abortion-us-supreme-court-mississippi-57342eb0af27efe5c7cda5062105bd7f">Mississippi law</a>&nbsp;that would ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which could dramatically alter nearly 50 years of court precedent on abortion rights.

Missouri is among several conservative states that have passed abortion restrictions in the hopes that the increasingly conservative Supreme Court will eventually overturn Roe v. Wade.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/7/1562964750524.png" alt="Photo Planned Parenthood&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Photo Planned Parenthood&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) —A federal appeals court on Tuesday will consider whether Missouri can implement a sweeping law aimed at limiting abortions.The law adopted in 2019 would ban abortions at or around the eighth week of pregnancy. It also would prohibit abortions based on a Down syndrome diagnosis.The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis isn't expected to rule for several weeks.In June,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-courts-michael-brown-1ec915d56429b8273af7f9c9d7e0a51d">a three-judge 8th Circuit panel&nbsp;</a>upheld an injunction from U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs prohibiting Missouri from enforcing the provisions.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/down-syndrome-health-abortion-us-supreme-court-st-louis-c846b5b33db75b2f81a9163d40e5ca80">Most of the discussion</a>&nbsp;at the panel's hearing centered around the provision banning abortions because the fetus is diagnosed with Down syndrome.But the full court then decided to hear the case, a decision that Yamelsie Rodríguez, president and CEO of Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, called “another troubling signal in a long line of threats to our reproductive freedom.”The Missouri attorney general’s office is defending the law.Sachs said in his 2020 ruling that he thought Planned Parenthood and the ACLU would likely succeed in their lawsuit challenging the law as unconstitutional. Similar laws have been struck down in North Dakota and Iowa.Legislators who helped draft the Missouri law said it was meant to withstand court challenges. It included a provision stating that if the eight-week ban was struck down, a series of less-restrictive abortion limits would kick in at 14, 18 or 20 weeks. But courts have blocked enforcement of all of those limits thus far.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mo-state-wire-us-supreme-court-michael-brown-courts-government-and-politics-344893393ca2259cbe6d5b234ace9715">Attorney General Eric Schmitt</a>&nbsp;wants the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the case. In a court filing in July, Schmitt, a Republican, said the Supreme Court should consider whether Missouri’s restrictions are “reasonable regulations on abortion."Schmitt also said the High Court should use the case to decide whether to overturn its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established a nationwide right to abortion at any point before a fetus can survive outside the womb, which is roughly around the 24th week.The appeals court case over the Missouri law comes weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-health-texas-courts-dallas-ac56b654f88471753b22e19587956c29">Texas law</a>&nbsp;that bans abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, which is usually around six weeks into a pregnancy.The Supreme Court also has agreed to consider allowing the enforcement of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-abortion-us-supreme-court-mississippi-57342eb0af27efe5c7cda5062105bd7f">Mississippi law</a>&nbsp;that would ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which could dramatically alter nearly 50 years of court precedent on abortion rights.Missouri is among several conservative states that have passed abortion restrictions in the hopes that the increasingly conservative Supreme Court will eventually overturn Roe v. Wade.

Missouri's abortion law going before a federal appeals court

COVID-19 has now killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic did — approximately 675,000.

The U.S. population a century ago was just one-third of what it is today, meaning the flu cut a much bigger, more lethal swath through the country. But the COVID-19 crisis is by any measure a colossal tragedy in its own right, especially given the incredible advances in scientific knowledge since then and the failure to take maximum advantage of the vaccines available this time.

“Big pockets of American society — and, worse, their leaders — have thrown this away,” medical historian Dr. Howard Markel of the University of Michigan said of the opportunity to vaccinate everyone eligible by now.

Like the Spanish flu, the coronavirus may never entirely disappear from our midst. Instead, scientists hope it becomes a mild seasonal bug as human immunity strengthens through vaccination and repeated infection. That could take time.

“We hope it will be like getting a cold, but there’s no guarantee,” said Emory University biologist Rustom Antia, who suggests an optimistic scenario in which this could happen over a few years.

For now, the pandemic still has the United States and other parts of the world firmly in its jaws.

While the delta-fueled surge in infections may have peaked, U.S. deaths are running at over 1,900 a day on average, the highest level since early March, and the country’s overall toll topped 675,000 Monday, according to the count kept by Johns Hopkins University, though the real number is believed to be higher.

Winter may bring a new surge, with the University of Washington’s influential model projecting an additional 100,000 or so Americans will die of COVID-19 by Jan. 1, which would bring the overall U.S. toll to 776,000.

The 1918-19 influenza pandemic killed 50 million victims globally at a time when the world had one-quarter the population it does now. Global deaths from COVID-19 now stand at more than 4.6 million.

The Spanish flu’s U.S. death toll is a rough guess, given the incomplete records of the era and the poor scientific understanding of what caused the illness. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html" target="_blank">675,000 figure</a>&nbsp;comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The ebbing of COVID-19 could happen if the virus progressively weakens as it mutates and more and more humans’ immune systems learn to attack it. Vaccination and surviving infection are the main ways the immune system improves. Breast-fed infants also gain some immunity from their mothers.

Under that optimistic scenario, schoolchildren would get mild illness that trains their immune systems. As they grow up, the children would carry the immune response memory, so that when they are old and vulnerable, the coronavirus would be no more dangerous than cold viruses.

The same goes for today’s vaccinated teens: Their immune systems would get stronger through the shots and mild infections.

“We will all get infected,” Antia predicted. “What’s important is whether the infections are severe.”

Something similar happened with the H1N1 flu virus, the culprit in the 1918-19 pandemic. It encountered too many people who were immune, and it also eventually weakened through mutation. H1N1 still circulates today, but immunity acquired through infection and vaccination has triumphed.

Getting an annual flu shot now protects against H1N1 and several other strains of flu. To be sure, flu kills between 12,000 and 61,000 Americans each year, but on average, it is a seasonal problem and a manageable one.

Before COVID-19, the 1918-19 flu was universally considered the worst pandemic disease in human history. Whether the current scourge ultimately proves deadlier is unclear.

In many ways, the 1918-19 flu — which was wrongly named Spanish flu because it first received widespread news coverage in Spain — was worse.

Spread by the mobility of World War I, it killed young, healthy adults in vast numbers. No vaccine existed to slow it, and there were no antibiotics to treat secondary bacterial infections. And, of course, the world was much smaller.

Yet jet travel and mass migrations threaten to increase the toll of the current pandemic. Much of the world is unvaccinated. And the coronavirus has been full of surprises.

Markel said he is continually astounded by the magnitude of the disruption the pandemic has brought to the planet.

“I was gobsmacked by the size of the quarantines” the Chinese government undertook initially, Markel said, “and I’ve since been gob-gob-gob-smacked to the nth degree.” The lagging pace of U.S. vaccinations is the latest source of his astonishment.

Just under 64% of the U.S. population has received as least one dose of the vaccine, with state rates ranging from a high of approximately 77% in Vermont and Massachusetts to lows around 46% to 49% in Idaho, Wyoming, West Virginia and Mississippi.

Globally, about&nbsp;<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations" target="_blank">43% of the population</a>&nbsp;has received at least one dose, according to Our World in Data, with some African countries just beginning to give their first shots.

“We know that all pandemics come to an end,” said Dr. Jeremy Brown, director of emergency care research at the National Institutes of Health, who wrote a book on influenza. “They can do terrible things while they’re raging.”

COVID-19 could have been far less lethal in the U.S. if more people had gotten vaccinated faster, “and we still have an opportunity to turn it around,” Brown said. “We often lose sight of how lucky we are to take these things for granted.”

The current vaccines work extremely well in preventing severe disease and death from the variants of the virus that have emerged so far.

It will be crucial for scientists to make sure the ever-mutating virus hasn’t changed enough to evade vaccines or to cause severe illness in unvaccinated children, Antia said.

If the virus changes significantly, a new vaccine using the technology behind the Pfizer and Moderna shots could be produced in 110 days, a Pfizer executive said Wednesday. The company is studying whether annual shots with the current vaccine will be required to keep immunity high.

One plus: The coronavirus mutates at a slower pace than flu viruses, making it a more stable target for vaccination, said Ann Marie Kimball, a retired University of Washington professor of epidemiology.

So, will the current pandemic unseat the 1918-19 flu pandemic as the worst in human history?

“You’d like to say no. We have a lot more infection control, a lot more ability to support people who are sick. We have modern medicine,” Kimball said. “But we have a lot more people and a lot more mobility. ... The fear is eventually a new strain gets around a particular vaccine target.”

To those unvaccinated individuals who are counting on infection rather than vaccination for immune protection, Kimball said, “The trouble is, you have to survive infection to acquire the immunity.” It’s easier, she said, to go to the drugstore and get a shot.

By CARLA K. JOHNSON, Associated PressCOVID-19 has now killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic did — approximately 675,000.The U.S. population a century ago was just one-third of what it is today, meaning the flu cut a much bigger, more lethal swath through the country. But the COVID-19 crisis is by any measure a colossal tragedy in its own right, especially given the incredible advances in scientific knowledge since then and the failure to take maximum advantage of the vaccines available this time.“Big pockets of American society — and, worse, their leaders — have thrown this away,” medical historian Dr. Howard Markel of the University of Michigan said of the opportunity to vaccinate everyone eligible by now.Like the Spanish flu, the coronavirus may never entirely disappear from our midst. Instead, scientists hope it becomes a mild seasonal bug as human immunity strengthens through vaccination and repeated infection. That could take time.“We hope it will be like getting a cold, but there’s no guarantee,” said Emory University biologist Rustom Antia, who suggests an optimistic scenario in which this could happen over a few years.For now, the pandemic still has the United States and other parts of the world firmly in its jaws.While the delta-fueled surge in infections may have peaked, U.S. deaths are running at over 1,900 a day on average, the highest level since early March, and the country’s overall toll topped 675,000 Monday, according to the count kept by Johns Hopkins University, though the real number is believed to be higher.Winter may bring a new surge, with the University of Washington’s influential model projecting an additional 100,000 or so Americans will die of COVID-19 by Jan. 1, which would bring the overall U.S. toll to 776,000.The 1918-19 influenza pandemic killed 50 million victims globally at a time when the world had one-quarter the population it does now. Global deaths from COVID-19 now stand at more than 4.6 million.The Spanish flu’s U.S. death toll is a rough guess, given the incomplete records of the era and the poor scientific understanding of what caused the illness. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html" target="_blank">675,000 figure</a>&nbsp;comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The ebbing of COVID-19 could happen if the virus progressively weakens as it mutates and more and more humans’ immune systems learn to attack it. Vaccination and surviving infection are the main ways the immune system improves. Breast-fed infants also gain some immunity from their mothers.Under that optimistic scenario, schoolchildren would get mild illness that trains their immune systems. As they grow up, the children would carry the immune response memory, so that when they are old and vulnerable, the coronavirus would be no more dangerous than cold viruses.The same goes for today’s vaccinated teens: Their immune systems would get stronger through the shots and mild infections.“We will all get infected,” Antia predicted. “What’s important is whether the infections are severe.”Something similar happened with the H1N1 flu virus, the culprit in the 1918-19 pandemic. It encountered too many people who were immune, and it also eventually weakened through mutation. H1N1 still circulates today, but immunity acquired through infection and vaccination has triumphed.Getting an annual flu shot now protects against H1N1 and several other strains of flu. To be sure, flu kills between 12,000 and 61,000 Americans each year, but on average, it is a seasonal problem and a manageable one.Before COVID-19, the 1918-19 flu was universally considered the worst pandemic disease in human history. Whether the current scourge ultimately proves deadlier is unclear.In many ways, the 1918-19 flu — which was wrongly named Spanish flu because it first received widespread news coverage in Spain — was worse.Spread by the mobility of World War I, it killed young, healthy adults in vast numbers. No vaccine existed to slow it, and there were no antibiotics to treat secondary bacterial infections. And, of course, the world was much smaller.Yet jet travel and mass migrations threaten to increase the toll of the current pandemic. Much of the world is unvaccinated. And the coronavirus has been full of surprises.Markel said he is continually astounded by the magnitude of the disruption the pandemic has brought to the planet.“I was gobsmacked by the size of the quarantines” the Chinese government undertook initially, Markel said, “and I’ve since been gob-gob-gob-smacked to the nth degree.” The lagging pace of U.S. vaccinations is the latest source of his astonishment.Just under 64% of the U.S. population has received as least one dose of the vaccine, with state rates ranging from a high of approximately 77% in Vermont and Massachusetts to lows around 46% to 49% in Idaho, Wyoming, West Virginia and Mississippi.Globally, about&nbsp;<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations" target="_blank">43% of the population</a>&nbsp;has received at least one dose, according to Our World in Data, with some African countries just beginning to give their first shots.“We know that all pandemics come to an end,” said Dr. Jeremy Brown, director of emergency care research at the National Institutes of Health, who wrote a book on influenza. “They can do terrible things while they’re raging.”COVID-19 could have been far less lethal in the U.S. if more people had gotten vaccinated faster, “and we still have an opportunity to turn it around,” Brown said. “We often lose sight of how lucky we are to take these things for granted.”The current vaccines work extremely well in preventing severe disease and death from the variants of the virus that have emerged so far.It will be crucial for scientists to make sure the ever-mutating virus hasn’t changed enough to evade vaccines or to cause severe illness in unvaccinated children, Antia said.If the virus changes significantly, a new vaccine using the technology behind the Pfizer and Moderna shots could be produced in 110 days, a Pfizer executive said Wednesday. The company is studying whether annual shots with the current vaccine will be required to keep immunity high.One plus: The coronavirus mutates at a slower pace than flu viruses, making it a more stable target for vaccination, said Ann Marie Kimball, a retired University of Washington professor of epidemiology.So, will the current pandemic unseat the 1918-19 flu pandemic as the worst in human history?“You’d like to say no. We have a lot more infection control, a lot more ability to support people who are sick. We have modern medicine,” Kimball said. “But we have a lot more people and a lot more mobility. ... The fear is eventually a new strain gets around a particular vaccine target.”To those unvaccinated individuals who are counting on infection rather than vaccination for immune protection, Kimball said, “The trouble is, you have to survive infection to acquire the immunity.” It’s easier, she said, to go to the drugstore and get a shot.___

COVID has killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 flu

JEFFERSON COUNTY –&nbsp;The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office requested that the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) issue a statewide silver alert for a missing Ozawkie man.

The whereabouts of 59-year-old Kenneth Klenklen are unknown, and the public’s assistance is requested to help locate him. The Sheriff’s Office first issued the silver alert to local media on Friday, but Klenklen has not be located, so the silver alert has been expanded to a statewide alert, according to a media release from the KBI.

Klenklen is 5-foot-9 inches tall, and weighs approximately 155 pound. He has blue eyes and gray hair. Kenneth suffers from Dementia, Parkinson’s disease and has other health issues.

Klenklen was last known to be at the Jefferson West Junction Convenience Store in Meriden, at approximately 2 p.m. on Wednesday, September 15. Klenklen was last seen wearing black shoes, black pants, a black t-shirt, and a blue unbuttoned short-sleeve shirt.

Klenklen was driving his black with tan trim 2007 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer Edition bearing Kansas License Plate 246 MUZ.&nbsp;

Klenklen is known to frequent the Ozawkie American Legion and the bars in Oskaloosa.&nbsp; Klenklen has also been known to frequent the Prairie Band and Sac and Fox Casino’s in the past.

If you see Kenneth Klenklen or his vehicle, or have details about his whereabouts, please immediately call 911, or contact the Jefferson County Sheriff’s at&nbsp;(785) 863-2351.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1632160491979.png" alt="Kenneth Klenklen " />
 <figcaption>Kenneth Klenklen </figcaption>
 </figure>JEFFERSON COUNTY –&nbsp;The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office requested that the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) issue a statewide silver alert for a missing Ozawkie man.The whereabouts of 59-year-old Kenneth Klenklen are unknown, and the public’s assistance is requested to help locate him. The Sheriff’s Office first issued the silver alert to local media on Friday, but Klenklen has not be located, so the silver alert has been expanded to a statewide alert, according to a media release from the KBI.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1632160640501.png" alt="He was driving a Ford Explorer with Kansas License Plate 246 MUZ.&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>He was driving a Ford Explorer with Kansas License Plate 246 MUZ.&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>Klenklen is 5-foot-9 inches tall, and weighs approximately 155 pound. He has blue eyes and gray hair. Kenneth suffers from Dementia, Parkinson’s disease and has other health issues.Klenklen was last known to be at the Jefferson West Junction Convenience Store in Meriden, at approximately 2 p.m. on Wednesday, September 15. Klenklen was last seen wearing black shoes, black pants, a black t-shirt, and a blue unbuttoned short-sleeve shirt.Klenklen was driving his black with tan trim 2007 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer Edition bearing Kansas License Plate 246 MUZ.&nbsp;Klenklen is known to frequent the Ozawkie American Legion and the bars in Oskaloosa.&nbsp; Klenklen has also been known to frequent the Prairie Band and Sac and Fox Casino’s in the past.If you see Kenneth Klenklen or his vehicle, or have details about his whereabouts, please immediately call 911, or contact the Jefferson County Sheriff’s at&nbsp;(785) 863-2351.

KBI: Statewide Silver Alert continues for missing Kansas man

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Even after his death, a Missouri police officer has helped a fellow officer in a time of need.

Independence Officer Blaize Madrid-Evans, 22, graduated from the police academy just two months ago and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/police-shootings-missouri-independence-fc64c40422116aab7eb0cdd55f6aae5b">was fatally shot by a suspect on Wednesday</a>. The suspect also died in the shootout.

Madrid-Evans was an organ donor and Springfield Officer Mark Priebe needed a new kidney. Priebe was paralyzed after being intentionally struck by a vehicle in June 2020. His kidneys began to fail in June and he began dialysis in July.

Priebe's family learned on Friday that they were a match, and the transplant was performed Saturday in St. Louis.

Priebe said he is “forever grateful” to Madrid-Evans, though he noted that it is difficult to comprehend "why I am allowed to continue to live, and this young, brand new officer had to pay the ultimate sacrifice. I hope that I can honor him and his family by the way I live my life.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1631787288577.png" alt="Blaize Madrid-Evans-photo courtesy Independence Police" />
 <figcaption>Blaize Madrid-Evans-photo courtesy Independence Police</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) — Even after his death, a Missouri police officer has helped a fellow officer in a time of need.Independence Officer Blaize Madrid-Evans, 22, graduated from the police academy just two months ago and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/police-shootings-missouri-independence-fc64c40422116aab7eb0cdd55f6aae5b">was fatally shot by a suspect on Wednesday</a>. The suspect also died in the shootout.Madrid-Evans was an organ donor and Springfield Officer Mark Priebe needed a new kidney. Priebe was paralyzed after being intentionally struck by a vehicle in June 2020. His kidneys began to fail in June and he began dialysis in July.Priebe's family learned on Friday that they were a match, and the transplant was performed Saturday in St. Louis.Priebe said he is “forever grateful” to Madrid-Evans, though he noted that it is difficult to comprehend "why I am allowed to continue to live, and this young, brand new officer had to pay the ultimate sacrifice. I hope that I can honor him and his family by the way I live my life.”

Kidney from fallen KC-area officer goes to fellow officer

LEAVENWORTH (AP)—A Kansas nurse who texted a co-worker a picture of a dementia patient slumped over in a wheelchair and then suggested she was responsible and deserved thanks has pleaded guilty to intentionally administering the wrong medication.

Jennifer Lynn Reavis, 37, of Atchison, is free on bond as she awaits sentencing on charges of endangerment, unlawful administration of a controlled substance and battery. She pleaded guilty to the charges Friday in Leavenworth County District Court.

In May 2019, administrators with Twin Oaks Rehab Center in Lansing contacted police after discovering that a patient had been getting evening medications along with the anti-anxiety drug Ativan and Benadryl when she was not supposed to.

“Your (sic) welcome! I hope she is asleep most of the day tomorrow,” prosecutors said Reaves wrote to an oncoming night nurse in a text that included the photograph of the victim apparently sleeping in a wheelchair. “Hint hint.”

The medication caused the patient to become lethargic and be hospitalized, prosecutors say. Reavis admitted to police giving the medicine to the woman, saying she tried to wander away from the nursing home.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1632151818530.png" alt="Reavis photo Leavenworth County" />
 <figcaption>Reavis photo Leavenworth County</figcaption>
 </figure>LEAVENWORTH (AP)—A Kansas nurse who texted a co-worker a picture of a dementia patient slumped over in a wheelchair and then suggested she was responsible and deserved thanks has pleaded guilty to intentionally administering the wrong medication.Jennifer Lynn Reavis, 37, of Atchison, is free on bond as she awaits sentencing on charges of endangerment, unlawful administration of a controlled substance and battery. She pleaded guilty to the charges Friday in Leavenworth County District Court.In May 2019, administrators with Twin Oaks Rehab Center in Lansing contacted police after discovering that a patient had been getting evening medications along with the anti-anxiety drug Ativan and Benadryl when she was not supposed to.“Your (sic) welcome! I hope she is asleep most of the day tomorrow,” prosecutors said Reaves wrote to an oncoming night nurse in a text that included the photograph of the victim apparently sleeping in a wheelchair. “Hint hint.”The medication caused the patient to become lethargic and be hospitalized, prosecutors say. Reavis admitted to police giving the medicine to the woman, saying she tried to wander away from the nursing home.

Kan. nurse texted photo after over-drugging dementia patient

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

Just after 11p.m. Sept. 15, a sheriff’s deputy stopped a northbound passenger car on U.S.&nbsp; 75 near 162nd Road for a traffic infraction, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

A Jackson County Sheriff K-9 was deployed during the traffic stop and alerted to the presence of narcotics in the vehicle.

 Deputies located items believed to be drug contraband. The driver, Levi Eugene Eisenbarth, 32, of Soldier, was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail on a requested charge of possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. He has previous convictions that include indecent liberties with a child and aggravated indecent solicitation of a child, according to the KBI Offender Registry.

 The passenger in the vehicle, Randy Lee Hyatt Jr., 30, of Holton, was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail on a requested charge of possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1631995868012.png" alt="Eisenbarth photo KBI Offender registry" />
 <figcaption>Eisenbarth photo KBI Offender registry</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating two men on drug charges after a traffic stop.Just after 11p.m. Sept. 15, a sheriff’s deputy stopped a northbound passenger car on U.S.&nbsp; 75 near 162nd Road for a traffic infraction, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.A Jackson County Sheriff K-9 was deployed during the traffic stop and alerted to the presence of narcotics in the vehicle.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1631895651231.png" alt="Hyatt photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Hyatt photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure> Deputies located items believed to be drug contraband. The driver, Levi Eugene Eisenbarth, 32, of Soldier, was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail on a requested charge of possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. He has previous convictions that include indecent liberties with a child and aggravated indecent solicitation of a child, according to the KBI Offender Registry. The passenger in the vehicle, Randy Lee Hyatt Jr., 30, of Holton, was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail on a requested charge of possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Sheriff: Kansas sex offender caught traveling with drugs

SALINE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect after an incident at a south Salina bank on Saturday.

Just after 3p.m. Saturday, officers were dispatched to Central National Bank in Walmart, 2900 S. Ninth Street in Salina for the report of a man&nbsp; making a threat about a shooting, according to&nbsp;Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester.

Bank employees told police that the man entered the bank and allegedly said there would be a shooting soon. The employees locked themselves in a back room and called police. After reviewing surveillance video, police identified the man as Aldo Steffen, 33, of Salina.

Forrester said officers located Steffan near the north entrance to Walmart and arrested him on the requested charge of aggravated criminal threat.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1632057340334.jpeg" alt="Steffen photo Saline Co." />
 <figcaption>Steffen photo Saline Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SALINE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect after an incident at a south Salina bank on Saturday.Just after 3p.m. Saturday, officers were dispatched to Central National Bank in Walmart, 2900 S. Ninth Street in Salina for the report of a man&nbsp; making a threat about a shooting, according to&nbsp;Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester.Bank employees told police that the man entered the bank and allegedly said there would be a shooting soon. The employees locked themselves in a back room and called police. After reviewing surveillance video, police identified the man as Aldo Steffen, 33, of Salina.Forrester said officers located Steffan near the north entrance to Walmart and arrested him on the requested charge of aggravated criminal threat.

Police: Man threatened employees at Kansas bank

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 19-year-old woman from a Wichita center that provides services for young people with special needs and developmental disabilities has died after being struck by a truck.

KSNW-TV reports that the accident happened Saturday. Wichita police say the woman ran from a ditch in front of the truck, and the driver was unable to stop. 

A statement from Heartspring School says the student left an off-campus home shortly before she was struck. The statement says it was believed that staff at the home were “intently following current protocols set by Heartspring and outside governing bodies.” The woman’s name has not been released.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1632170235094.png" alt="photo courtesy KAKE" />
 <figcaption>photo courtesy KAKE</figcaption>
 </figure>WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 19-year-old woman from a Wichita center that provides services for young people with special needs and developmental disabilities has died after being struck by a truck.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FHeartspring%2Fposts%2F10162517289564572&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="275" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>KSNW-TV reports that the accident happened Saturday. Wichita police say the woman ran from a ditch in front of the truck, and the driver was unable to stop. A statement from Heartspring School says the student left an off-campus home shortly before she was struck. The statement says it was believed that staff at the home were “intently following current protocols set by Heartspring and outside governing bodies.” The woman’s name has not been released.

Heartspring student in Wichita struck and killed by truck 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A software company urged Kansas to uprade its computer system for handling claims for unemployment benefits but the state didn’t heed that advice five years before a flood of fraudulent claims across the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic.

Oracle proposed in 2015 that the Kansas Department of Labor do the upgrade to prevent fraud. The department had put a years long modernization project on hold in 2011 under then-Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has blamed the department’s aged system, with technology dating back to the 1970s, for problems in processing unemployment benefits and preventing fraud as both legitimate and fraudulent claims surged last year. The state is preparing to launch another modernization project.

The previous modernization project had three contractors in seven years before Brownback’s administration concluded in 2011 that it was seriously off track. That assessment still is debated.

In response to Oracle’s proposal, Department of Labor leaders concluded much of an upgrade could be handled in-house, even though the agency had cut its information technology staff.

Michael Blatchford, an IT architect on the canceled modernization project, said accepting Oracle’s proposal would have minimized fraud. A recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslpa.org/audit-report-library/evaluating-the-kansas-department-of-labors-response-to-covid-19-unemployment-claims-part-2/" target="_blank">legislative audit</a>&nbsp;estimated that Kansas may have paid roughly $700 million in fraudulent claims from January 2020 through February 2021.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A software company urged Kansas to uprade its computer system for handling claims for unemployment benefits but the state didn’t heed that advice five years before a flood of fraudulent claims across the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic.Oracle proposed in 2015 that the Kansas Department of Labor do the upgrade to prevent fraud. The department had put a years long modernization project on hold in 2011 under then-Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has blamed the department’s aged system, with technology dating back to the 1970s, for problems in processing unemployment benefits and preventing fraud as both legitimate and fraudulent claims surged last year. The state is preparing to launch another modernization project.The previous modernization project had three contractors in seven years before Brownback’s administration concluded in 2011 that it was seriously off track. That assessment still is debated.In response to Oracle’s proposal, Department of Labor leaders concluded much of an upgrade could be handled in-house, even though the agency had cut its information technology staff.Michael Blatchford, an IT architect on the canceled modernization project, said accepting Oracle’s proposal would have minimized fraud. A recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kslpa.org/audit-report-library/evaluating-the-kansas-department-of-labors-response-to-covid-19-unemployment-claims-part-2/" target="_blank">legislative audit</a>&nbsp;estimated that Kansas may have paid roughly $700 million in fraudulent claims from January 2020 through February 2021.

Kan. passed on earlier plan to upgrade unemployment system

CHATTAUQUA COUNTY— A Kansas man died in an accident just before 7a.m. Monday in Chautauqua County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2017 Freightliner semi driven by Richard Wilson,&nbsp; 65, Americus, was southbound on Kansas 99 just south of Trail Road in a one lane construction zone.

The truck traveled off the roadway to left. The driver attempted to overcorrect and then rolled the semi crushing the cab.

Wilson was pronounced dead at the scene was transported Dickens Family Funeral Home. He was properly restrained, according to the KHP.

CHATTAUQUA COUNTY— A Kansas man died in an accident just before 7a.m. Monday in Chautauqua County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2017 Freightliner semi driven by Richard Wilson,&nbsp; 65, Americus, was southbound on Kansas 99 just south of Trail Road in a one lane construction zone.The truck traveled off the roadway to left. The driver attempted to overcorrect and then rolled the semi crushing the cab.Wilson was pronounced dead at the scene was transported Dickens Family Funeral Home. He was properly restrained, according to the KHP.

Kansas man dies after construction zone crash

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will ease foreign travel restrictions to the country beginning in November, allowing foreigners in if they have proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test, the White House said Monday.

The new rules will replace a hodgepodge of restrictions that had barred non-citizens who had been in Europe, much of Asia and certain other countries in the prior 14 days from entering the U.S. The changes will allow families and others who have been separated by the travel restrictions for 18 months to plan for long-awaited reunifications.

White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients announced the new policies, which still will require all foreign travelers flying to the U.S. to demonstrate proof of vaccination before boarding, as well as proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of flight. Biden will also tighten testing rules for unvaccinated American citizens, who will need to be tested within a day before returning to the U.S., as well as after they arrive home.

Fully vaccinated passengers will not be required to quarantine, Zients said.

The new policy will replace the patchwork of travel bans first instituted by President Donald Trump last year and tightened by Biden that restrict travel by non-citizens who have in the prior 14 days been in the United Kingdom, European Union, China, India, Iran, Republic of Ireland, Brazil and South Africa.

Those travel bans had become the source of growing geopolitical frustration, particularly among allies in the UK and EU where virus cases are far lower than the U.S. The easing comes ahead of Biden meeting with some European leaders on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly this week.

“This is based on individuals rather than a country-based approach, so it’s a stronger system,” Zients said.

The EU and UK had previously moved to allow vaccinated U.S. travelers into their territories without quarantines, in an effort to boost business and tourism travel. But the EU recommended last month that some travel restrictions be reimposed on U.S. travelers to the bloc because of the rampant spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus in America.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will also require airlines to collect contact information from international travelers to facilitate tracing, Zients said.

It was not immediately clear which vaccines would be acceptable under the U.S.-system and whether those unapproved in the U.S. could be used. Zients said that decision would be up to the CDC.

Zients said there would be no immediate changes to the U.S. land border policies, which continue to restrict much cross-border travel with Mexico and Canada.

The announcement was met with cheers by the air travel industry, which has lost significant revenues from the pandemic-related declines in international travel.

“We applaud the Biden Administration for establishing a path to re-opening international travel to the U.S.,” said Delta Air Lines spokesman Morgan Durrant. “Science tells us that vaccinations coupled with testing is the safest way to re-open travel and we are optimistic this important decision will allow for the continued economic recovery both in the U.S. and abroad and the reunification of families who have been separated for more than 18 months.”

Worldwide, air travel is still down more than half from pre-pandemic levels, and the decline is much sharper for cross-border flying. By July, domestic travel had recovered to 84% of 2019 numbers, but international travel was just 26% of the same month two years ago, according to figures released this month by the airline industry’s main global trade group, the International Air Transport Association.

The numbers are similar but not quite as stark for the U.S., where international travel in August was 46% of that in August 2019, according to Airlines for America. Arrivals by non-U.S. citizens were only 36% of the 2019 normal.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted that he was “delighted” by the news. He said: “It’s a fantastic boost for business and trade, and great that family and friends on both sides of the pond can be reunited once again.”

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted that the move was “excellent news for travelers from the UK to the US. Important for out economic recovery, families and trade.”

Britain scrapped quarantines for fully vaccinated travelers from the U.S. and the European Union in early August, and has been pushing for Washington to ease its rules. But Johnson said Sunday that he did not expect the change to come this week.

Airlines hailed the U.S. decision as a lifeline for the struggling industry. Tim Alderslade, chief executive of industry body Airlines U.K. said it was “a major breakthrough.”

Shai Weiss, chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, said it was “a major milestone to the reopening of travel at scale, allowing consumers and businesses to book travel to the U.S. with confidence.”

“The U.K. will now be able to strengthen ties with our most important economic partner, the U.S., boosting trade and tourism as well as reuniting friends, families and business colleagues,” Weiss said.

French entrepreneur Stephane Le Breton, 45, expressed joy that he will finally be able to book his trip to New York city that had been put on hold over the virus restrictions.

“I felt frustrated that I couldn’t go to the U.S. as I had planned. It just didn’t make sense that authorities weren’t letting in vaccinated EU citizens.”

Le Breton, who lives in the Boulogne suburb of Paris, said he feels that the U.S. lifting the restrictions is a sign that the world is heading to a new, better phase of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s a happy day. Big Apple, here I come!”

The new air travel policy will take effect in “early November,” Zients said, to allow airlines and travel partners time to prepare to implement the new protocols.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1632163961062.png" alt="The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will also require airlines to collect contact information from international travelers to facilitate tracing. Photo courtesy Transportation Security Administration" />
 <figcaption>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will also require airlines to collect contact information from international travelers to facilitate tracing. Photo courtesy Transportation Security Administration</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will ease foreign travel restrictions to the country beginning in November, allowing foreigners in if they have proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test, the White House said Monday.The new rules will replace a hodgepodge of restrictions that had barred non-citizens who had been in Europe, much of Asia and certain other countries in the prior 14 days from entering the U.S. The changes will allow families and others who have been separated by the travel restrictions for 18 months to plan for long-awaited reunifications.White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients announced the new policies, which still will require all foreign travelers flying to the U.S. to demonstrate proof of vaccination before boarding, as well as proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of flight. Biden will also tighten testing rules for unvaccinated American citizens, who will need to be tested within a day before returning to the U.S., as well as after they arrive home.Fully vaccinated passengers will not be required to quarantine, Zients said.The new policy will replace the patchwork of travel bans first instituted by President Donald Trump last year and tightened by Biden that restrict travel by non-citizens who have in the prior 14 days been in the United Kingdom, European Union, China, India, Iran, Republic of Ireland, Brazil and South Africa.Those travel bans had become the source of growing geopolitical frustration, particularly among allies in the UK and EU where virus cases are far lower than the U.S. The easing comes ahead of Biden meeting with some European leaders on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly this week.“This is based on individuals rather than a country-based approach, so it’s a stronger system,” Zients said.The EU and UK had previously moved to allow vaccinated U.S. travelers into their territories without quarantines, in an effort to boost business and tourism travel. But the EU recommended last month that some travel restrictions be reimposed on U.S. travelers to the bloc because of the rampant spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus in America.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will also require airlines to collect contact information from international travelers to facilitate tracing, Zients said.It was not immediately clear which vaccines would be acceptable under the U.S.-system and whether those unapproved in the U.S. could be used. Zients said that decision would be up to the CDC.Zients said there would be no immediate changes to the U.S. land border policies, which continue to restrict much cross-border travel with Mexico and Canada.The announcement was met with cheers by the air travel industry, which has lost significant revenues from the pandemic-related declines in international travel.“We applaud the Biden Administration for establishing a path to re-opening international travel to the U.S.,” said Delta Air Lines spokesman Morgan Durrant. “Science tells us that vaccinations coupled with testing is the safest way to re-open travel and we are optimistic this important decision will allow for the continued economic recovery both in the U.S. and abroad and the reunification of families who have been separated for more than 18 months.”Worldwide, air travel is still down more than half from pre-pandemic levels, and the decline is much sharper for cross-border flying. By July, domestic travel had recovered to 84% of 2019 numbers, but international travel was just 26% of the same month two years ago, according to figures released this month by the airline industry’s main global trade group, the International Air Transport Association.The numbers are similar but not quite as stark for the U.S., where international travel in August was 46% of that in August 2019, according to Airlines for America. Arrivals by non-U.S. citizens were only 36% of the 2019 normal.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted that he was “delighted” by the news. He said: “It’s a fantastic boost for business and trade, and great that family and friends on both sides of the pond can be reunited once again.”Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted that the move was “excellent news for travelers from the UK to the US. Important for out economic recovery, families and trade.”Britain scrapped quarantines for fully vaccinated travelers from the U.S. and the European Union in early August, and has been pushing for Washington to ease its rules. But Johnson said Sunday that he did not expect the change to come this week.Airlines hailed the U.S. decision as a lifeline for the struggling industry. Tim Alderslade, chief executive of industry body Airlines U.K. said it was “a major breakthrough.”Shai Weiss, chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, said it was “a major milestone to the reopening of travel at scale, allowing consumers and businesses to book travel to the U.S. with confidence.”“The U.K. will now be able to strengthen ties with our most important economic partner, the U.S., boosting trade and tourism as well as reuniting friends, families and business colleagues,” Weiss said.French entrepreneur Stephane Le Breton, 45, expressed joy that he will finally be able to book his trip to New York city that had been put on hold over the virus restrictions.“I felt frustrated that I couldn’t go to the U.S. as I had planned. It just didn’t make sense that authorities weren’t letting in vaccinated EU citizens.”Le Breton, who lives in the Boulogne suburb of Paris, said he feels that the U.S. lifting the restrictions is a sign that the world is heading to a new, better phase of the coronavirus pandemic.“It’s a happy day. Big Apple, here I come!”The new air travel policy will take effect in “early November,” Zients said, to allow airlines and travel partners time to prepare to implement the new protocols.

White House revokes foreign travel ban; vaccinations required

By DANIAL VOCK <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/09/19/struggle-over-tax-break-for-inherited-farmland-churns-below-surface-in-reconciliation-bill/">Kansas Reflector</a>

WASHINGTON — Agricultural groups and 
farm-state lawmakers notched a significant win when U.S. House Democrats
 chose not to touch a big tax break for inherited property, avoiding for
 now a confrontation.

But opponents remain wary
 that the idea could come back at any time as Democrats shape their 
massive $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package, and search for ways
 to help pay for the most significant expansion of the social safety net
 since the New Deal.

Farm lobbies and Republicans, along 
with influential Democrats like House Agriculture Chairman David Scott 
of Georgia, strongly objected to tax changes that President Joe Biden 
proposed in his “Build Back Better” plan for farmland and other assets 
handed from one generation to the next.&nbsp;

Biden, along with Agriculture 
Secretary Tom Vilsack, wanted to end the “stepped-up basis” for 
determining capital gains taxes on those assets. Vilsack, the former 
governor of Iowa, has taken to the pages of The Wall Street Journal and
 popped into a White House press briefing to make the case that closing 
loopholes like these is necessary to make sure the wealthy pay their 
fair share.

Over the next decade, the 
administration’s plan for taxing farmland inheritances could bring in as
 much as $322 billion in new federal tax revenues.

But U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, an Iowa
 Republican, said farmers in his district have been complaining to him 
about the proposal ever since it was unveiled earlier this year. The 
farmers, he said, are worried that a new tax scheme would make it 
impossible to keep farms in the family.

“Let’s say a mom and dad bought their
 farm at $2,000 an acre, and now it’s worth $12,000 an acre. If they 
want to give it to their son or daughter or whoever, (the heir) would 
have to pay tax on the difference of that,” Feenstra said in an 
interview with States Newsroom.

“A son or a daughter wouldn’t have 
that money, so they’d have to sell the land to pay the tax,” he 
continued. The buyer would most likely be a large corporation, not a 
local farmer, he said. “That’s why so many people are worried that it 
will destroy the family farm, literally destroy the family farm.”

Proponents for the change say those 
concerns are overblown or easily addressed through policy tweaks. But 
the emotional pleas to save small-town America appear to have won this 
round.

Democrats on the House Ways and Means
 Committee, the group that handled the tax aspects of Biden’s economic 
revival plan, left out the president’s proposed changes to the 
stepped-up basis when they approved their piece of the reconciliation 
bill last week.

The idea could reemerge later, as the
 package continues its journey through the House and Senate. But the 
committee’s decision reflects how politically radioactive the idea has 
become.&nbsp;

Several <a target="_blank" href="https://axne.house.gov/sites/axne.house.gov/files/5.6.21%20Stepped%20Up%20Basis%20Final.pdf">Democrats balked</a> at Biden’s proposal, as well. Scott, the chair of the House Agriculture Committee, <a target="_blank" href="https://agriculture.house.gov/uploadedfiles/06022021letter.pdf?utm_campaign=1099-520">wrote the president</a>
 in June, arguing that the stepped-up basis was “a critical tool 
enabling family farming operations to continue from generation to 
generation.”

“I have been working tirelessly to 
ensure that stepped-up basis is protected,” Scott said in a statement 
last week, “and I am very pleased that the package released does not 
impact the benefit’s operation.”

But Vilsack, who owns 600 acres of 
farmland, argues that the stepped-up basis is really just a way for rich
 people to avoid paying taxes.

“This policy has allowed the wealthy to amass large fortunes,” Vilsack <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/vilsack-biden-tax-changes-step-up-in-basis-estate-death-tax-family-farm-small-business-11631116907">wrote</a> earlier this month in The Wall Street Journal.&nbsp;

“Millionaires and billionaires borrow
 against their assets, usually stock or real estate, but also art and 
collectibles, really anything a bank will lend against. When those 
assets are transferred upon death, their heirs can sell the property 
without being taxed to pay off the debt. This is one of the most popular
 ways the rich avoid taxation, and it must end.”

The agriculture secretary said Biden’s proposal had special protections for family farms.&nbsp;

First, the administration wanted to 
impose the capital gains tax only when the heir sold the property. So in
 Feenstra’s example, the son or daughter wouldn’t have to pay taxes when
 they inherited the farm, only when they sold it.&nbsp;

Second, Vilsack said that the Biden 
plan would exempt all capital gains of up to $2.5 million. He claimed 
that 95 percent of family farms would not owe anything with that level 
of an exemption.

Marc Goldwein, a senior vice 
president and senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible
 Federal Budget, said the fact that House Democrats so far have not 
included changes to the stepped-up basis was a “discouraging starting 
point.”&nbsp;

Getting rid of the policy, he said, should be a “no-brainer.”

“You want tax policy that treats 
people in similar situations similarly, that doesn’t create bad 
incentives and that raises revenue in a progressive way,” he said. 
“Stepped-up basis fails all three of those.”

It makes no sense, he argued, that 
someone who sold their property the day before they died would have to 
pay capital gains on it, but that someone who inherited the same 
property and sold it a day later would have to pay none.&nbsp;

The policy encourages people to hold 
on to their assets longer than they otherwise would, just to avoid 
taxation. And it disproportionately benefits rich taxpayers, Goldwein 
said.&nbsp;&nbsp;

He also said the policy mostly affects people with assets other than farms.&nbsp;

A 2014 U.S. Treasury study, for 
example, found that farm assets made up only 2 percent of the fair 
market value of assets that are protected by the policy.&nbsp;

Stocks and bonds, on the other hand, made up more than half of the value of protected assets.

But Dustin Sherer, the director of 
congressional relations for the American Farm Bureau Federation, said 
the administration is underplaying the potential consequences for 
farmers if stepped-up basis is removed.

While Vilsack touted the 
administration’s proposed exemption of the first $2.5 million of capital
 gains, Sherer noted, that would not be enough to shield farmers with a 
typical 500-acre farm in Vilsack’s home state of Iowa.&nbsp;

There are more than 18,000 farms in Iowa that are bigger than 500 acres, Sherer said.

“More to the point,” Sherer asked, “if you’re trying to go after billionaires, why is $2.5 million your exemption level?”

And the administration’s proposal to 
impose the capital gains tax when property is sold, rather than when it 
is inherited, still causes problems, Sherer said.&nbsp;

The lingering tax obligation would make it harder for the new property owner to take out a loan, for example.

“It completely changes the dynamics of the transfer,” he said.

Sherer said he was encouraged that 
the policy hasn’t gained traction in the House so far, but he worries 
that it could become part of the deal later.

“As long as politicians in D.C. are looking for money to offset their spending, it’s not over,” he said.

The reconciliation bill now goes to 
the House Budget Committee, which will consolidate input from other 
House committees. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she wants the full 
chamber to vote on the package before the end of the month, but that 
deadline could slip.&nbsp;

Daniel C. Vock is a correspondent for the States Newsroom Washington, D.C., bureau.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1632147076214.jpeg" alt="Farm lobbies and Republicans object to changes in how taxes are applied to farmland and other assets as they are handed down from one generation to another. Pixabay photo" />
 <figcaption>Farm lobbies and Republicans object to changes in how taxes are applied to farmland and other assets as they are handed down from one generation to another. Pixabay photo</figcaption>
 </figure>By DANIAL VOCK <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/09/19/struggle-over-tax-break-for-inherited-farmland-churns-below-surface-in-reconciliation-bill/">Kansas Reflector</a>WASHINGTON — Agricultural groups and 
farm-state lawmakers notched a significant win when U.S. House Democrats
 chose not to touch a big tax break for inherited property, avoiding for
 now a confrontation.But opponents remain wary
 that the idea could come back at any time as Democrats shape their 
massive $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package, and search for ways
 to help pay for the most significant expansion of the social safety net
 since the New Deal.Farm lobbies and Republicans, along 
with influential Democrats like House Agriculture Chairman David Scott 
of Georgia, strongly objected to tax changes that President Joe Biden 
proposed in his “Build Back Better” plan for farmland and other assets 
handed from one generation to the next.&nbsp;Biden, along with Agriculture 
Secretary Tom Vilsack, wanted to end the “stepped-up basis” for 
determining capital gains taxes on those assets. Vilsack, the former 
governor of Iowa, has taken to the pages of The Wall Street Journal and
 popped into a White House press briefing to make the case that closing 
loopholes like these is necessary to make sure the wealthy pay their 
fair share.Over the next decade, the 
administration’s plan for taxing farmland inheritances could bring in as
 much as $322 billion in new federal tax revenues.But U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, an Iowa
 Republican, said farmers in his district have been complaining to him 
about the proposal ever since it was unveiled earlier this year. The 
farmers, he said, are worried that a new tax scheme would make it 
impossible to keep farms in the family.“Let’s say a mom and dad bought their
 farm at $2,000 an acre, and now it’s worth $12,000 an acre. If they 
want to give it to their son or daughter or whoever, (the heir) would 
have to pay tax on the difference of that,” Feenstra said in an 
interview with States Newsroom.“A son or a daughter wouldn’t have 
that money, so they’d have to sell the land to pay the tax,” he 
continued. The buyer would most likely be a large corporation, not a 
local farmer, he said. “That’s why so many people are worried that it 
will destroy the family farm, literally destroy the family farm.”<h2>Emotional pleas</h2>Proponents for the change say those 
concerns are overblown or easily addressed through policy tweaks. But 
the emotional pleas to save small-town America appear to have won this 
round.Democrats on the House Ways and Means
 Committee, the group that handled the tax aspects of Biden’s economic 
revival plan, left out the president’s proposed changes to the 
stepped-up basis when they approved their piece of the reconciliation 
bill last week.The idea could reemerge later, as the
 package continues its journey through the House and Senate. But the 
committee’s decision reflects how politically radioactive the idea has 
become.&nbsp;Several <a target="_blank" href="https://axne.house.gov/sites/axne.house.gov/files/5.6.21%20Stepped%20Up%20Basis%20Final.pdf">Democrats balked</a> at Biden’s proposal, as well. Scott, the chair of the House Agriculture Committee, <a target="_blank" href="https://agriculture.house.gov/uploadedfiles/06022021letter.pdf?utm_campaign=1099-520">wrote the president</a>
 in June, arguing that the stepped-up basis was “a critical tool 
enabling family farming operations to continue from generation to 
generation.”“I have been working tirelessly to 
ensure that stepped-up basis is protected,” Scott said in a statement 
last week, “and I am very pleased that the package released does not 
impact the benefit’s operation.”But Vilsack, who owns 600 acres of 
farmland, argues that the stepped-up basis is really just a way for rich
 people to avoid paying taxes.“This policy has allowed the wealthy to amass large fortunes,” Vilsack <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/vilsack-biden-tax-changes-step-up-in-basis-estate-death-tax-family-farm-small-business-11631116907">wrote</a> earlier this month in The Wall Street Journal.&nbsp;“Millionaires and billionaires borrow
 against their assets, usually stock or real estate, but also art and 
collectibles, really anything a bank will lend against. When those 
assets are transferred upon death, their heirs can sell the property 
without being taxed to pay off the debt. This is one of the most popular
 ways the rich avoid taxation, and it must end.”The agriculture secretary said Biden’s proposal had special protections for family farms.&nbsp;First, the administration wanted to 
impose the capital gains tax only when the heir sold the property. So in
 Feenstra’s example, the son or daughter wouldn’t have to pay taxes when
 they inherited the farm, only when they sold it.&nbsp;Second, Vilsack said that the Biden 
plan would exempt all capital gains of up to $2.5 million. He claimed 
that 95 percent of family farms would not owe anything with that level 
of an exemption.<h2>A no-brainer?</h2>Marc Goldwein, a senior vice 
president and senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible
 Federal Budget, said the fact that House Democrats so far have not 
included changes to the stepped-up basis was a “discouraging starting 
point.”&nbsp;Getting rid of the policy, he said, should be a “no-brainer.” 
“You want tax policy that treats 
people in similar situations similarly, that doesn’t create bad 
incentives and that raises revenue in a progressive way,” he said. 
“Stepped-up basis fails all three of those.”It makes no sense, he argued, that 
someone who sold their property the day before they died would have to 
pay capital gains on it, but that someone who inherited the same 
property and sold it a day later would have to pay none.&nbsp;The policy encourages people to hold 
on to their assets longer than they otherwise would, just to avoid 
taxation. And it disproportionately benefits rich taxpayers, Goldwein 
said.&nbsp;&nbsp;He also said the policy mostly affects people with assets other than farms.&nbsp;A 2014 U.S. Treasury study, for 
example, found that farm assets made up only 2 percent of the fair 
market value of assets that are protected by the policy.&nbsp;Stocks and bonds, on the other hand, made up more than half of the value of protected assets.<h2>Consequences for farmers</h2>But Dustin Sherer, the director of 
congressional relations for the American Farm Bureau Federation, said 
the administration is underplaying the potential consequences for 
farmers if stepped-up basis is removed.While Vilsack touted the 
administration’s proposed exemption of the first $2.5 million of capital
 gains, Sherer noted, that would not be enough to shield farmers with a 
typical 500-acre farm in Vilsack’s home state of Iowa.&nbsp;There are more than 18,000 farms in Iowa that are bigger than 500 acres, Sherer said.“More to the point,” Sherer asked, “if you’re trying to go after billionaires, why is $2.5 million your exemption level?”And the administration’s proposal to 
impose the capital gains tax when property is sold, rather than when it 
is inherited, still causes problems, Sherer said.&nbsp;The lingering tax obligation would make it harder for the new property owner to take out a loan, for example.“It completely changes the dynamics of the transfer,” he said.Sherer said he was encouraged that 
the policy hasn’t gained traction in the House so far, but he worries 
that it could become part of the deal later.“As long as politicians in D.C. are looking for money to offset their spending, it’s not over,” he said.The reconciliation bill now goes to 
the House Budget Committee, which will consolidate input from other 
House committees. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she wants the full 
chamber to vote on the package before the end of the month, but that 
deadline could slip.&nbsp;Daniel C. Vock is a correspondent for the States Newsroom Washington, D.C., bureau.

Struggle over tax break for inherited farmland churns in budget bill

RILEY COUNTY —One person died in an accident just after 6a.m. Monday in Riley County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2019 International Box Truck driven by Isabella L. Carroll, 18, Hackensack, NJ., was westbound on Interstate 70 just east of Deep Creek Road.

The vehicle traveled into the center median several times, rolled and came to rest on its passenger side in the median.

Carroll was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to&nbsp;Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home. EMS transported passengers Joshua A.&nbsp;Mejias Ramos, 23,&nbsp; Philadelphia, PA., and Brian&nbsp;Cordero Nunez, 22, Patterson, NJ., to Via Christi in Manhattan. Carrol and the passengers were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.

RILEY COUNTY —One person died in an accident just after 6a.m. Monday in Riley County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2019 International Box Truck driven by Isabella L. Carroll, 18, Hackensack, NJ., was westbound on Interstate 70 just east of Deep Creek Road.The vehicle traveled into the center median several times, rolled and came to rest on its passenger side in the median.Carroll was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to&nbsp;Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home. EMS transported passengers Joshua A.&nbsp;Mejias Ramos, 23,&nbsp; Philadelphia, PA., and Brian&nbsp;Cordero Nunez, 22, Patterson, NJ., to Via Christi in Manhattan. Carrol and the passengers were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.

Teen dead, 2 hospitalized after I-70 truck crash

TOPEKA— The number of confirmed coronavirus cases* (see below) in Kansas increased by 2,462 to a total of 399,369, the state health department reported Monday afternoon.&nbsp;

The state reported 51 new COVID-19 deaths for a total of 5,916.

TOPEKA— The number of confirmed coronavirus cases* (see below) in Kansas increased by 2,462 to a total of 399,369, the state health department reported Monday afternoon.&nbsp;The state reported 51 new COVID-19 deaths for a total of 5,916.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1632157229211.png" alt="Monday Sept. 20, 2021 KDHE image" />
 <figcaption>Monday Sept. 20, 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>.