SEDGWICK COUNTY —Small earthquakes continue to shake the Wichita area.

At 4:19a.m. Monday, a quake with a magnitude 2.7 woke residents just east of north Greenwich Road and 13th, according to the Kansas Geological Survey. This follows over a dozen small quakes in Sedgwick County since Thanksgiving Day including 3.7 magnitude quake on December 19.

Based on an investigation, the Kansas Corporation Commission reported last week that their staff does not believe the seismicity in Wichita is tied to any oil and gas activities in the area.

There are no reports of damage or injury from the series of quakes.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Multiple earthquakes rattled Wichita on over the weekend, with the largest at 12:47p.m. measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

It was centered near 13th and Greenwich where around a dozen temblers had been reported since Thanksgiving Day.&nbsp;

That makes the trembler the largest on record in the city in the last five years, although its still is considered relatively small. The threshold for damage usually starts at 4.0. 

The USGS reported at least six other quakes happened Saturday and another early Sunday in Wichita including a 3.4 magnitude quake centered near Bellaire just before 1p.m. Saturday.&nbsp;

SEDGWICK COUNTY —The U.S. Geological Survey says a series of earthquakes rattled Wichita on Saturday morning and early afternoon.

The first quake, just after 11:30a.m., was centered northeast of Eastborough and measured a magnitude 2.6, according to the USGS. Three additional quakes were also centered in Eastborough including a temblors that measured 2.7, 3.5 just before 1p.m. and 2.5 quake at 1:18p.m., according to the U.S.

In addition, the USGS reported a 3.4 magnitude quake centered near Bellaire just before 1p.m.&nbsp;

The region has experienced ten or more earthquakes of 2.0 magnitude or more since Thanksgiving Day including a 2.8 magnitude quake December 14 and a 3.3 quake Dec. 3.&nbsp; No damage or injuries were reported.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1609160848505.png" alt="Location of the Monday morning earthquake -KGS image" />
 <figcaption>Location of the Monday morning earthquake -KGS image</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Small earthquakes continue to shake the Wichita area.At 4:19a.m. Monday, a quake with a magnitude 2.7 woke residents just east of north Greenwich Road and 13th, according to the Kansas Geological Survey. This follows over a dozen small quakes in Sedgwick County since Thanksgiving Day including 3.7 magnitude quake on December 19.Based on an investigation, the Kansas Corporation Commission reported last week that their staff does not believe the seismicity in Wichita is tied to any oil and gas activities in the area.There are no reports of damage or injury from the series of quakes.---------SEDGWICK COUNTY — Multiple earthquakes rattled Wichita on over the weekend, with the largest at 12:47p.m. measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.It was centered near 13th and Greenwich where around a dozen temblers had been reported since Thanksgiving Day.&nbsp;That makes the trembler the largest on record in the city in the last five years, although its still is considered relatively small. The threshold for damage usually starts at 4.0. The USGS reported at least six other quakes happened Saturday and another early Sunday in Wichita including a 3.4 magnitude quake centered near Bellaire just before 1p.m. Saturday.&nbsp;--------SEDGWICK COUNTY —The U.S. Geological Survey says a series of earthquakes rattled Wichita on Saturday morning and early afternoon.The first quake, just after 11:30a.m., was centered northeast of Eastborough and measured a magnitude 2.6, according to the USGS. Three additional quakes were also centered in Eastborough including a temblors that measured 2.7, 3.5 just before 1p.m. and 2.5 quake at 1:18p.m., according to the U.S.In addition, the USGS reported a 3.4 magnitude quake centered near Bellaire just before 1p.m.&nbsp;The region has experienced ten or more earthquakes of 2.0 magnitude or more since Thanksgiving Day including a 2.8 magnitude quake December 14 and a 3.3 quake Dec. 3.&nbsp; No damage or injuries were reported.&nbsp;--------

Another small earthquake reported in Wichita

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump signed a $900 billion pandemic relief package Sunday, ending days of drama over his refusal to accept the bipartisan deal that will deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and avert a federal government shutdown.

<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-from-the-president-122720/">Click here to read</a> the full statement from President Trump.

The massive bill includes $1.4 trillion to fund government agencies through September and contains other end-of-session priorities such as an increase in food stamp benefits.

The signing, at his private club in Florida, came amid escalating criticism over his eleventh-hour demands for larger, $2,000 relief checks and scaled-back spending even though the bill had already passed the House and Senate by wide margins. The bill was passed with what lawmakers had thought was Trump’s blessing, and after months of negotiations with his administration.

His foot-dragging resulted in a lapse in unemployment benefits for millions struggling to make ends meet and threatened a government shutdown in the midst of a pandemic.. But signing the bill into law prevents another crisis of Trump’s own creation and ends a standoff with his own party during the final days of his administration.

It was unclear what, if anything, Trump accomplished with his delay, beyond angering all sides and empowering Democrats to continue their push for higher relief checks, which his own party opposes.

<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-from-the-president-122720/">In his statement,</a> Trump repeated his frustrations with the COVID-19 relief bill for providing only $600 checks to most Americans instead of the $2,000 that his fellow Republicans already rejected. He also complained about what he considered unnecessary spending by the government at large.

“I will sign the Omnibus and Covid package with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed,” Trump said in the statement.

While the president insisted he would send Congress “a redlined version” with items to be removed under the rescission process, those are merely suggestions to Congress. The bill, as signed, would not necessarily be changed.

Democrats, who have the majority in the House, immediately vowed to prevent any cuts. Democrats “will reject any rescissions” submitted by the president, said Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y. , in a statement.

Lawmakers now have breathing room to continue debating whether the relief checks should be as large as the president has demanded. The Democratic-led House supports the larger checks and is set to vote on the issue Monday, but it’s expected to be ignored by the Republican-held Senate where spending faces opposition. For now, the administration can only begin work sending out the $600 payments.

Republicans and Democrats swiftly welcomed Trump’s decision to sign the bill into law.

“The compromise bill is not perfect, but it will do an enormous amount of good for struggling Kentuckians and Americans across the country who need help now,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “I thank the President for signing this relief into law.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the signing “welcome news for the fourteen million Americans who just lost the lifeline of unemployment benefits on Christmas weekend, and for the millions more struggling to stay afloat during this historic pandemic and economic crisis.”

But others slammed Trump’s delay in turning the bill into law. In a tweet, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., accused Trump of having “played Russian roulette with American lives. A familiar and comfortable place for him.”

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would offer Trump’s proposal for $2,000 checks for a vote in Senate — putting Republicans on the spot.

“The House will pass a bill to give Americans $2,000 checks. Then I will move to pass it in the Senate,” Schumer tweeted. “No Democrats will object. Will Senate Republicans?”

Democrats are promising more aid to come once President-elect Joe Biden takes office, but Republicans are signaling a wait-and-see approach.

Congress will push ahead Monday, with the House expected to vote to override Trump’s veto of an annual must-pass Defense bill, confronting the president on another big issue in the final days of the session. The Senate is expected to follow on Tuesday.

In the face of growing economic hardship, spreading disease and a looming shutdown, lawmakers spent Sunday urging Trump to sign the legislation immediately, then have Congress follow up with additional aid. Aside from unemployment benefits and relief payments to families, money for vaccine distribution, businesses and more was on the line. Protections against evictions also hung in the balance.

“What the president is doing right now is unbelievably cruel,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. “So many people are hurting. ... It is really insane and this president has got to finally ... do the right thing for the American people and stop worrying about his ego.”

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said he understood that Trump “wants to be remembered for advocating for big checks, but the danger is he’ll be remembered for chaos and misery and erratic behavior if he allows this to expire.”

Toomey added: “So I think the best thing to do, as I said, sign this and then make the case for subsequent legislation.”

The same point was echoed by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican who’s criticized Trump’s pandemic response and his efforts to undo the election results. “I just gave up guessing what he might do next,” he said.

Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said too much is at stake for Trump to “play this old switcheroo game.”

“I don’t get the point,” he said. “I don’t understand what’s being done, why, unless it’s just to create chaos and show power and be upset because you lost the election.”

Washington had been reeling since Trump turned on the deal. Fingers pointed at administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, as lawmakers tried to understand whether they were misled about Trump’s position.

“Now to be put in a lurch, after the president’s own person negotiated something that the president doesn’t want, it’s just — it’s surprising,” Kinzinger said.

Kinzinger spoke on CNN’s “State of the Union,” and Hogan and Sanders on ABC’s “This Week.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed a $900 billion pandemic relief package that will deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals.

A congressional Republican aide tells The Associated Press that the president has signed the measure.

According to Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere who released a Statement from the President &nbsp;“As President, I have told Congress that I want far less wasteful spending and more money going to the American people in the form of $2,000 checks per adult and $600 per child.”

The President is sending a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed. Sending back to Congress a redlined version, item by item, accompanied by the formal rescission request to Congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill.&nbsp;The President is signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop evictions, provide rental assistance, add money for PPP, return our airline workers back to work, add substantially more money for vaccine distribution, and much more.

"On Monday the House will vote to increase payments to individuals from $600 to $2,000. Therefore, a family of four would receive $5,200. Additionally, Congress has promised that Section 230, which so unfairly benefits Big Tech at the expense of the American people, will be reviewed and either be terminated or substantially reformed.

The Senate will start the process for a vote that increases checks to $2,000, repeals Section 230, and starts an investigation into voter fraud," according to the deputy press secretary.

The massive bill includes $1.4 trillion to fund government agencies through September and contains other end-of-session priorities such as money for cash-starved transit systems and an increase in food stamp benefits. Democrats are promising more aid to come once President-elect Joe Biden takes office, but Republicans are signaling a wait-and-see approach.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump appeared no closer to signing an end-of-year COVID relief and spending bill Sunday as unemployment aid expired, the government barrels toward a mid-pandemic shutdown and lawmakers implored him to break the impasse he created after Congress approved the deal.

Trump blindsided members of both parties with a demand for larger COVID relief checks, imperiling not only a massive package of economic and public-health assistance but the basic functions of government itself.

The package passed with wide margins in the House and Senate and with the understanding of members of both parties that Trump supported it. Now, the federal government will run out of money at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday if Trump refuses to sign the bill in time as he spends the holidays in Florida.

In the face of economic hardship and spreading disease, lawmakers urged Trump on Sunday to sign the legislation immediately, then have Congress follow up with more. Aside from unemployment benefits and relief payments to families, money for vaccine distribution, businesses, cash-starved public transit systems and more is on the line. Protections against evictions also hang in the balance.

“What the president is doing right now is unbelievably cruel,” Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said Sunday. “So many people are hurting. ... It is really insane and this president has got to finally ... do the right thing for the American people and stop worrying about his ego.”

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, with more measured words, agreed Trump should sign the bill, then make the case for more. “We’ve got a bill right now that his administration helped negotiate,” he said. “I think we ought to get that done.”

Trump was spending Sunday golfing at his West Palm Beach course.

He has given no indication he plans to sign the bill as he spends the last days of his presidency in a rage. Indeed, his dissatisfaction with the legislation seems only to have grown in recent days as he has criticized it both privately to club members and publicly on Twitter.

As the impasse dragged on, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health warned that the country is at a “critical point” in COVID-19 infections, with the Christmas and New Year’s holidays posing the threat of a “surge upon a surge” as people congregate with families and others, against the advice of public-health officials.

“As we get into the next few weeks, it might actually get worse,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Days ago, Democrats said they would call House lawmakers back to Washington for a vote Monday on Trump’s proposal to send out $2,000 relief checks, instead of the $600 approved by Congress. The idea is likely to die in the Republican-controlled Senate. Democrats were also considering a vote Monday on a stop-gap measure aimed at keeping the government running until Democrat Joe Biden is inaugurated Jan. 20.

Washington has been reeling since Trump turned on the deal, without warning, after it had won sweeping approval in both houses of Congress and after the White House had assured Republican leaders that Trump would support it.

Instead, he assailed the bill’s plan to provide $600 COVID relief checks to most Americans — insisting it should be $2,000. House Republicans swiftly rejected that idea during a rare Christmas Eve session. But Trump has not been swayed despite the pandemic gripping the nation.

The impact of the sidelined aid is already being felt. Lauren Bauer of the Brookings Institution has calculated that at least 11 million people were losing aid from the programs immediately without additional relief; millions more would exhaust other unemployment benefits within weeks.

How and when people would be affected by the lapse depended on the state they lived in, the program they were relying on and when they applied for benefits.

In some states, people on regular unemployment insurance would continue to receive payments under a program that extends benefits when the jobless rate surpassed a certain threshold, said Andrew Stettner, an unemployment insurance expert and senior fellow at the Century Foundation think tank.

About 9.5 million people, however, had been relying on the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program that expired altogether Saturday. That program made unemployment insurance available to freelancers, gig workers and others who were normally not eligible. After receiving their last checks, those recipients would not be able to file for more aid, Stettner said.

The relief was attached to a $1.4 trillion government funding bill to keep the federal government operating through September, which would mean that failing to sign it by Tuesday would trigger a federal shutdown.

“Now to be put in a lurch, after the president’s own person negotiated something that the president doesn’t want, it’s just -- it’s surprising,” Kinzinger said. “But we will have to find a way out.”

Kinzinger and Fauci spoke on CNN’s “State of the Union,” and Hogan and Sanders on ABC’s “This Week.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Unemployment benefits for millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet lapsed overnight as President Donald Trump refused to sign an end-of-year COVID relief and spending bill that had been considered a done deal before his sudden objections.

The fate of the bipartisan package remained in limbo Sunday as Trump continued to demand larger COVID relief checks and complained about “pork” spending. Without the widespread funding provided by the massive measure, a government shutdown would occur when money runs out at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

“It’s a chess game and we are pawns,” said Lanetris Haines, a self-employed single mother of three in South Bend, Indiana, who stood to lose her $129 weekly jobless benefit unless Trump signed the package into law or succeeded in his improbable quest for changes.

Washington has been reeling since Trump turned on the deal after it had won sweeping approval in both houses of Congress and after the White House had assured Republican leaders that Trump would support it.

Instead, he assailed the bill’s plan to provide $600 COVID relief checks to most Americans — insisting it should be $2,000. House Republicans swiftly rejected that idea during a rare Christmas Eve session. But Trump has not been swayed in spite of the nation being in the grip of a pandemic.

“I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill,” Trump tweeted Saturday from Palm Beach, Florida, where he is spending the holiday. “Also, stop the billions of dollars in ‘pork.’”

President-elect Joe Biden called on Trump to sign the bill immediately as the midnight Saturday deadline neared for two federal programs providing unemployment aid.

“It is the day after Christmas, and millions of families don’t know if they’ll be able to make ends meet because of President Donald Trump’s refusal to sign an economic relief bill approved by Congress with an overwhelming and bipartisan majority,” Biden said in a statement. He accused Trump of an “abdication of responsibility” that has “devastating consequences.”

“I’ve been talking to people who are scared they’re going to be kicked out from their homes, during the Christmas holidays, and still might be if we don’t sign this bill,” said Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Democrat.

Lauren Bauer, a fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, has calculated that 11 million people would lose aid from the programs immediately without additional relief; millions more would exhaust other unemployment benefits within weeks.

Andrew Stettner, an unemployment insurance expert and senior fellow at the Century Foundation think tank, said the number may be closer to 14 million because joblessness has spiked since Thanksgiving.

“All these folks and their families will suffer if Trump doesn’t sign the damn bill,” Heidi Shierholz, director of policy at the liberal Economic Policy Institute, tweeted Wednesday.

How and when people would be affected by the lapse depended on the state they lived in, the program they were relying on and when they applied for benefits. In some states, people on regular unemployment insurance would continue to receive payments under a program that extends benefits when the jobless rate surpassed a certain threshold, Stettner said.

While payments could be received retroactively, any gap would mean more hardship and uncertainty for Americans who had already grappled with bureaucratic delays, often depleting much of their savings to stay afloat while waiting for payments to kick in.

They were people like Earl McCarthy, a father of four who lives in South Fulton, Georgia, and had been relying on unemployment since losing his job as a sales representative for a luxury senior living community. He said he would be left with no income by the second week of January if Trump refused to sign the bill.

McCarthy said he already burned through much of his savings as he waited five months to begin receiving about $350 a week in unemployment benefits.

“The entire experience was horrifying,” said McCarthy. “I shudder to think if I had not saved anything or had an emergency fund through those five months, where would we have been?”

He added, “It’s going to be difficult if the president doesn’t sign this bill.”

The bill, which was in Florida awaiting Trump’s signature, would also activate a weekly $300 federal supplement to unemployment payments.

Sharon Shelton Corpening had been hoping the extra help would allow her 83-year-old mother, with whom she lives, to stop eating into her social security payments to make their $1,138 rent.

Corpening, who lives in the Atlanta area, had launched a freelance content strategy business that was just taking off before the pandemic hit, prompting several of her contracts to fall through. She was receiving about $125 a week under the pandemic unemployment program and says she would be unable to pay her bills in about a month. This, despite her temporary work for the U.S. Census and as an elections poll worker.

“On the brink,” Corpening, who lobbies for Unemployment Action, a project launched by the Center for Popular Democracy to fight for relief, said of her predicament. “One more month, if that. Then, I run out of everything.”

In addition to the unemployment benefits that have already lapsed, Trump’s continued refusal to sign the bill would lead to the expiration of eviction protections and put on hold a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses, restaurants and theaters, as well as money for cash-starved transit systems and for vaccine distribution.

The relief was also attached to a $1.4 trillion government funding bill to keep the federal government operating through September, which would mean that failing to sign it by Tuesday would trigger a federal shutdown.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Unemployment benefits for millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet were set to lapse at midnight Saturday unless President Donald Trump signed an end-of-year COVID relief and spending bill that had been considered a done deal before his sudden objections.

Trump’s refusal to sign the bipartisan package as he demands larger COVID relief checks and complains about “pork” spending could also force a federal government shutdown when money runs out at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday in the middle of a pandemic.

“It’s a chess game and we are pawns,” said Lanetris Haines, a self-employed single mother of three in South Bend, Indiana, who stands to lose her $129 weekly jobless benefit unless Trump signs the package into law or succeeds in his improbable quest for changes.

Washington has been reeling since Trump threw the package into limbo after it had already won sweeping approval in both houses of Congress and after the White House assured Republican leaders that Trump would support it.

Instead, he has assailed the bill’s plan to provide $600 COVID relief checks to most Americans — insisting it should be $2,000. House Republicans swiftly rejected that idea during a rare Christmas Eve session. But Trump has not been swayed.

President-elect Joe Biden called on Trump to sign the bill immediately as two federal programs providing unemployment aid were set to expire Saturday.

Pres. Trump signs virus relief bill, wants $2000 stimulus checks

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials believe the coronavirus mutation that set off alarms in parts of Britain is no more apt to cause serious illness or be resistant to vaccines than the strain afflicting people in the United States but it still must be taken “very seriously,” the government’s top infectious disease expert said Sunday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci endorsed the decision of U.S. officials to require negative COVID-19 tests before letting people from Britain enter the U.S. He declined to weigh in on whether that step should have been taken sooner. He said the variant strain is something “to follow very carefully” and “we’re looking at it very intensively now.”

He said: “Does it make someone more ill? Is it more serious virus in the sense of virulence? And the answer is, it doesn’t appear to be that way.” British officials are telling their U.S. colleagues it appears that the vaccines being rolled out will be strong enough to deal with the new variant but, Fauci said, “we’re going to be doing the studies ourselves.”

Fauci said the U.S. is at a critical phase of the pandemic, with the worst probably still ahead. He predicted the general population would be getting immunized widely by late March or early April — beyond the front-line workers, older people and certain other segments of the public given priority for the vaccines.

Fauci spoke on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1609155761906.png" alt="Dr. Anthony Fauci received the COVID-19 vaccine last week-image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Dr. Anthony Fauci received the COVID-19 vaccine last week-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials believe the coronavirus mutation that set off alarms in parts of Britain is no more apt to cause serious illness or be resistant to vaccines than the strain afflicting people in the United States but it still must be taken “very seriously,” the government’s top infectious disease expert said Sunday.Dr. Anthony Fauci endorsed the decision of U.S. officials to require negative COVID-19 tests before letting people from Britain enter the U.S. He declined to weigh in on whether that step should have been taken sooner. He said the variant strain is something “to follow very carefully” and “we’re looking at it very intensively now.”He said: “Does it make someone more ill? Is it more serious virus in the sense of virulence? And the answer is, it doesn’t appear to be that way.” British officials are telling their U.S. colleagues it appears that the vaccines being rolled out will be strong enough to deal with the new variant but, Fauci said, “we’re going to be doing the studies ourselves.”Fauci said the U.S. is at a critical phase of the pandemic, with the worst probably still ahead. He predicted the general population would be getting immunized widely by late March or early April — beyond the front-line workers, older people and certain other segments of the public given priority for the vaccines.Fauci spoke on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Fauci: US taking hard look at variant of coronavirus

WICHITA– A man who caused a traffic fatality during a drug transaction has been sentenced to prison.

On Monday, District Judge Kevin O'Connor sentenced Alejandro Cruz, 19 of Wichita, to 104 months in prison, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.

On June 27, Cruz offered to sell marijuana in a parking lot at 53rd St. N. and Meridian in Wichita. The man who wanted to buy the drugs grabbed the bag from Cruz and ran to a gray car containing two other men. Cruz chased the men in his car westbound on 53rd. Cruz's 17-year-old girlfriend was in his car at the time.

After weaving in and out of traffic, Cruz's vehicle struck the car and pushed it into oncoming traffic. The gray car was sheared in half and spun off the road into a field.

Two of the occupants were ejected and the third was pinned inside. Elias Powell, 19 of Wichita, died later at a hospital. The other two men in the car were hospitalized.

On November 12th, Cruz pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter, two counts of aggravated battery, and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608660550493.png" alt="Cruz photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Cruz photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>WICHITA– A man who caused a traffic fatality during a drug transaction has been sentenced to prison.On Monday, District Judge Kevin O'Connor sentenced Alejandro Cruz, 19 of Wichita, to 104 months in prison, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.On June 27, Cruz offered to sell marijuana in a parking lot at 53rd St. N. and Meridian in Wichita. The man who wanted to buy the drugs grabbed the bag from Cruz and ran to a gray car containing two other men. Cruz chased the men in his car westbound on 53rd. Cruz's 17-year-old girlfriend was in his car at the time.After weaving in and out of traffic, Cruz's vehicle struck the car and pushed it into oncoming traffic. The gray car was sheared in half and spun off the road into a field.Two of the occupants were ejected and the third was pinned inside. Elias Powell, 19 of Wichita, died later at a hospital. The other two men in the car were hospitalized.On November 12th, Cruz pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter, two counts of aggravated battery, and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

Kan. man gets prison for fatal crash tied to marijuana deal

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Authorities say the man suspected of setting off a bomb in a recreational vehicle that rocked downtown Nashville on Christmas day died in the explosion.

U.S. Attorney Don Cochran identified the suspect on Sunday as Anthony Quinn Warner. Investigators said they used DNA to determine the remains were Warner’s.

The FBI said it also matched the RV’s vehicle identification number to a registration belonging to Warner. Federal agents and police had searched a home in suburban Nashville associated with Warner. Authorities did not immediately provide details about a potential motive.

FBI special agent Douglas Korneski said there was no indication anyone else was involved in the explosion, except for Warner.

Nashville police urged nearby residents to get away as an ominous recording blared from a recreational vehicle. Suddenly the warning stopped, and Petula Clark’s 1964 hit “Downtown” started playing. Then the bomb went off.

Police officers provided harrowing details Sunday of responding to the Christmas morning explosion in downtown Nashville, at times getting choked up reliving the moments that led up to the blast and offering gratitude that they were still alive.

“This is going to tie us together forever, for the rest of my life,” Officer James Wells, who suffered some hearing loss due to the explosion, told reporters at a news conference. “Christmas will never be the same.”

Another law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said authorities were investigating someone associated with the property, whom he identified as Warner.

Federal agents could be seen looking around the property, searching the home and the backyard. A Google Maps image captured in May 2019 had shown an RV similar to the one that exploded parked in the backyard, but it was not at the property on Saturday, according to an AP reporter at the scene.

The official said federal investigators were examining Warner’s digital footprint and financial history, as well as a recent deed transfer of the home they searched in suburban Nashville.

Forensic analysts were also reviewing evidence collected from the blast site to try to identify the components of the explosives as well as information from the U.S. Bomb Data Center for intelligence and investigative leads, the official said.

He said federal agents were examining a number of potential leads and pursuing several theories, including the possibility that the AT&amp;T building was targeted. The bomb caused damage that affected communications in several states.

Investigators shut down the heart of downtown Nashville’s tourist scene — an area packed with honky-tonks, restaurants and shops — as they shuffled through broken glass and damaged buildings to learn more about the explosion.

Meanwhile, Nashville realtor Steve Fridrich told the AP in a text message that Warner had worked for his company as a computer consultant, and informed it that he was retiring earlier this month. The company has notified authorities of the past IT work, Fridrich said.

There were other signs of progress in the investigation. The FBI has said it was looking at a number of individuals who may be connected to it. Officials also said no additional explosive devices have been found — indicating no active threat to the area.

Investigators also said they were working to identify human remains found at the scene. Beyond that, the only known casualties were three injured people.

The infrastructure damage was broadly felt, due to an AT&amp;T central office being affected by the blast. Police emergency systems in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama, as well as Nashville’s COVID-19 community hot line and a handful of hospital systems were impacted.

The building contained a telephone exchange, with network equipment in it — but the company has declined to say exactly how many people were affected.

AT&amp;T said Sunday it was rerouting service to other facilities as the company worked to restore its heavily damaged building. The company said in a statement that it was bringing in resources to help recover affected voice and data services and expects to have 24 additional trailers of disaster recovery equipment at the site by the end of the day.

Restoration efforts faced several challenges, which included a fire that forced their teams to work with safety and structural engineers and drilling access holes into the building in order to reconnect power.

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a temporary flight restriction around the airport, requiring pilots to follow strict procedures until Dec. 30.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Authorities say the man suspected of setting off a bomb in a recreational vehicle that rocked downtown Nashville on Christmas day died in the explosion.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">BREAKING: Law enforcement is now announcing that Anthony Warner, 63, of Bakertown Rd, is the man believed responsible for Friday&#39;s explosion. He perished in the blast. No one else is presently believed to have been involved. Thank you to our federal &amp; state partners. <a href="https://t.co/PwMa1MwHvd">pic.twitter.com/PwMa1MwHvd</a>&mdash; Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) <a href="https://twitter.com/MNPDNashville/status/1343319023107399682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>U.S. Attorney Don Cochran identified the suspect on Sunday as Anthony Quinn Warner. Investigators said they used DNA to determine the remains were Warner’s.The FBI said it also matched the RV’s vehicle identification number to a registration belonging to Warner. Federal agents and police had searched a home in suburban Nashville associated with Warner. Authorities did not immediately provide details about a potential motive.FBI special agent Douglas Korneski said there was no indication anyone else was involved in the explosion, except for Warner.------------Nashville police urged nearby residents to get away as an ominous recording blared from a recreational vehicle. Suddenly the warning stopped, and Petula Clark’s 1964 hit “Downtown” started playing. Then the bomb went off.Police officers provided harrowing details Sunday of responding to the Christmas morning explosion in downtown Nashville, at times getting choked up reliving the moments that led up to the blast and offering gratitude that they were still alive.“This is going to tie us together forever, for the rest of my life,” Officer James Wells, who suffered some hearing loss due to the explosion, told reporters at a news conference. “Christmas will never be the same.”Another law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said authorities were investigating someone associated with the property, whom he identified as Warner.Federal agents could be seen looking around the property, searching the home and the backyard. A Google Maps image captured in May 2019 had shown an RV similar to the one that exploded parked in the backyard, but it was not at the property on Saturday, according to an AP reporter at the scene.The official said federal investigators were examining Warner’s digital footprint and financial history, as well as a recent deed transfer of the home they searched in suburban Nashville.Forensic analysts were also reviewing evidence collected from the blast site to try to identify the components of the explosives as well as information from the U.S. Bomb Data Center for intelligence and investigative leads, the official said.He said federal agents were examining a number of potential leads and pursuing several theories, including the possibility that the AT&amp;T building was targeted. The bomb caused damage that affected communications in several states.Investigators shut down the heart of downtown Nashville’s tourist scene — an area packed with honky-tonks, restaurants and shops — as they shuffled through broken glass and damaged buildings to learn more about the explosion.Meanwhile, Nashville realtor Steve Fridrich told the AP in a text message that Warner had worked for his company as a computer consultant, and informed it that he was retiring earlier this month. The company has notified authorities of the past IT work, Fridrich said.There were other signs of progress in the investigation. The FBI has said it was looking at a number of individuals who may be connected to it. Officials also said no additional explosive devices have been found — indicating no active threat to the area.Investigators also said they were working to identify human remains found at the scene. Beyond that, the only known casualties were three injured people.The infrastructure damage was broadly felt, due to an AT&amp;T central office being affected by the blast. Police emergency systems in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama, as well as Nashville’s COVID-19 community hot line and a handful of hospital systems were impacted.The building contained a telephone exchange, with network equipment in it — but the company has declined to say exactly how many people were affected.AT&amp;T said Sunday it was rerouting service to other facilities as the company worked to restore its heavily damaged building. The company said in a statement that it was bringing in resources to help recover affected voice and data services and expects to have 24 additional trailers of disaster recovery equipment at the site by the end of the day.Restoration efforts faced several challenges, which included a fire that forced their teams to work with safety and structural engineers and drilling access holes into the building in order to reconnect power.The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a temporary flight restriction around the airport, requiring pilots to follow strict procedures until Dec. 30.

Officials ID suspect in Nashville explosion who died in blast

KANSAS CITY (AP) — The Girl Scouts are in a “highly damaging” recruitment war with the Boy Scouts after the latter opened its core services to girls, leading to marketplace confusion and some girls unwittingly joining the Boy Scouts, lawyers for the century-old Girl Scouts organization claim in court papers.

The competition, more conjecture than reality two years ago, has intensified as the Boy Scouts of America organization — which insists recruits pledge to be “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous and kind” — has unfairly recruited girls lately, according to claims in legal briefs filed on behalf of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America.

The lawyers filed papers in Manhattan federal court Thursday to repel an effort by the Boy Scouts to toss out before trial a trademark infringement lawsuit the Girl Scouts filed in 2018.

Last month, lawyers for the Boy Scouts asked a judge to reject claims that the Boy Scouts cannot use “scouts” and “scouting” in its recruitment of girls without infringing trademarks.

They called the lawsuit “utterly meritless.”

The Boy Scouts on Saturday pointed to legal arguments in which it blames the Girl Scouts for reacting to its expansion plans with “anger and alarm” and said the Girl Scouts launched a “ground war” to spoil plans by the Boy Scouts to include more girls.

In a statement, the Boy Scouts said it expanded program offerings for girls “after years of requests from families” who wanted their boys and girls both participating in its character and leadership programs or for other reasons, including a desire to become an Eagle Scout.

“We applaud every organization that builds character and leadership in children, including the Girl Scouts of the USA, and believe that all families and communities benefit from the opportunity to select the programs that best fit their needs,” the statement said.

In its filing, the Girl Scouts said the Boy Scouts’ marketing of expanded services for girls was “extraordinary and highly damaging to Girl Scouts” and had set off an “explosion of confusion.”

“As a result of Boy Scouts’ infringement, parents have mistakenly enrolled their daughters in Boy Scouts thinking it was Girl Scouts,” the lawyers said, adding that this never occurred before 2018.

The Girls Scouts said they can prove there are “rampant instances of confusion and mistaken instances of association between Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts” after the Boy Scouts targeted girls and their parents with marketing and recruiting communications in ways it never has before.

In its statement, though, the Boy Scouts said: “To imply that confusion is a prevailing reason for their choice is not only inaccurate – with no legally admissible instance of this offered to date in the case – but it is also dismissive of the decisions of more than 120,000 girls and young women who have joined Cub Scouts or Scouts BSA since the programs became available to them.”

“The parties’ programs, which have many similarities, are now directly competitive,” the Girls Scouts maintained.

The organization cited proof from a narrow subset of documents turned over by 19 of 250 local Boy Scout councils, including evidence that registration fees sometimes were returned to parents who mistakenly thought they registered girls for the Girl Scouts.

It said repeated instances of confusion and interference at the local level by the Boy Scouts was a tiny fraction of what was occurring nationwide.

Each of dozens of times the Girl Scouts complained about unfair marketing, the Boy Scouts responded by blaming individuals, churches or others for what they said was an isolated incident, the lawyers said.

“According to Boy Scouts, blame for the rampant marketplace confusion lies at everyone’s feet but its own,” they wrote.

Both the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, like other major youth organizations, have seen declines in membership in recent years as competition grew pre-pandemic from sports leagues and busy family schedules.

In spring 2018, the Boy Scouts program for 11- to 17-year-olds announced it would change its name to Scouts BSA in early 2019. The parent organization, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Cub Scouts, a program serving children from kindergarten through fifth grade, kept their names.

The organization started admitting girls into the Cub Scouts in August 2018, and Scouts BSA began accepting girls in February, 2019, lawyers said.

Afterward, Boy Scouts councils and volunteers began using Girl Scouts’ intellectual property to recruit girls, employing targeted advertising utilizing terms such as “Scout, Scouts, Scouting, Scout Me In and Scouts BSA,” the lawyers wrote.

The Boy Scouts contend, though, that “undisputed evidence” proves that the Boy Scouts have used “Scout” alone for more than 100 years and in connection with the marketing of some co-ed youth services for nearly 50 years.

It said hundreds of thousands of pages of documents produced in the court case and more than 40 depositions of witnesses prove the Boy Scouts never engaged in trademark infringement or created consumer confusion.

The lawyers for Girl Scouts said Boy Scouts councils in Illinois acknowledged improperly using the Girl Scouts’ slogan in Cub Scout recruiting materials and pictures of Girl Scouts to promote a Boy Scouts “Scouts Sign-Up Night!”

They said a western Massachusetts Boy Scouts council posted a recruiting flyer on Facebook including a photograph of a girl depicted in her Girl Scouts Brownie uniform.

Meanwhile, Ohio Boy Scouts used the Girl Scouts trademark to try to get a local newspaper to write an article, suggesting a storyline entitled “Boy and Girl Scouts Looking for Members” even though the recruitment involved only the Boy Scouts, the lawyers said.

In Seattle, a Boy Scouts council used the Girl Scouts trademark in social media recruiting materials, the lawyers said.

They said confusion has skyrocketed among children, parents, schools and religious organizations and they cited examples in other states, including Florida, Minnesota, Arkansas, Michigan, North Carolina and Hawaii.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — The Girl Scouts are in a “highly damaging” recruitment war with the Boy Scouts after the latter opened its core services to girls, leading to marketplace confusion and some girls unwittingly joining the Boy Scouts, lawyers for the century-old Girl Scouts organization claim in court papers.The competition, more conjecture than reality two years ago, has intensified as the Boy Scouts of America organization — which insists recruits pledge to be “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous and kind” — has unfairly recruited girls lately, according to claims in legal briefs filed on behalf of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America.The lawyers filed papers in Manhattan federal court Thursday to repel an effort by the Boy Scouts to toss out before trial a trademark infringement lawsuit the Girl Scouts filed in 2018.Last month, lawyers for the Boy Scouts asked a judge to reject claims that the Boy Scouts cannot use “scouts” and “scouting” in its recruitment of girls without infringing trademarks.They called the lawsuit “utterly meritless.”The Boy Scouts on Saturday pointed to legal arguments in which it blames the Girl Scouts for reacting to its expansion plans with “anger and alarm” and said the Girl Scouts launched a “ground war” to spoil plans by the Boy Scouts to include more girls.In a statement, the Boy Scouts said it expanded program offerings for girls “after years of requests from families” who wanted their boys and girls both participating in its character and leadership programs or for other reasons, including a desire to become an Eagle Scout.“We applaud every organization that builds character and leadership in children, including the Girl Scouts of the USA, and believe that all families and communities benefit from the opportunity to select the programs that best fit their needs,” the statement said.In its filing, the Girl Scouts said the Boy Scouts’ marketing of expanded services for girls was “extraordinary and highly damaging to Girl Scouts” and had set off an “explosion of confusion.”“As a result of Boy Scouts’ infringement, parents have mistakenly enrolled their daughters in Boy Scouts thinking it was Girl Scouts,” the lawyers said, adding that this never occurred before 2018.The Girls Scouts said they can prove there are “rampant instances of confusion and mistaken instances of association between Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts” after the Boy Scouts targeted girls and their parents with marketing and recruiting communications in ways it never has before.In its statement, though, the Boy Scouts said: “To imply that confusion is a prevailing reason for their choice is not only inaccurate – with no legally admissible instance of this offered to date in the case – but it is also dismissive of the decisions of more than 120,000 girls and young women who have joined Cub Scouts or Scouts BSA since the programs became available to them.”“The parties’ programs, which have many similarities, are now directly competitive,” the Girls Scouts maintained.The organization cited proof from a narrow subset of documents turned over by 19 of 250 local Boy Scout councils, including evidence that registration fees sometimes were returned to parents who mistakenly thought they registered girls for the Girl Scouts.It said repeated instances of confusion and interference at the local level by the Boy Scouts was a tiny fraction of what was occurring nationwide.Each of dozens of times the Girl Scouts complained about unfair marketing, the Boy Scouts responded by blaming individuals, churches or others for what they said was an isolated incident, the lawyers said.“According to Boy Scouts, blame for the rampant marketplace confusion lies at everyone’s feet but its own,” they wrote.Both the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, like other major youth organizations, have seen declines in membership in recent years as competition grew pre-pandemic from sports leagues and busy family schedules.In spring 2018, the Boy Scouts program for 11- to 17-year-olds announced it would change its name to Scouts BSA in early 2019. The parent organization, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Cub Scouts, a program serving children from kindergarten through fifth grade, kept their names.The organization started admitting girls into the Cub Scouts in August 2018, and Scouts BSA began accepting girls in February, 2019, lawyers said.Afterward, Boy Scouts councils and volunteers began using Girl Scouts’ intellectual property to recruit girls, employing targeted advertising utilizing terms such as “Scout, Scouts, Scouting, Scout Me In and Scouts BSA,” the lawyers wrote.The Boy Scouts contend, though, that “undisputed evidence” proves that the Boy Scouts have used “Scout” alone for more than 100 years and in connection with the marketing of some co-ed youth services for nearly 50 years.It said hundreds of thousands of pages of documents produced in the court case and more than 40 depositions of witnesses prove the Boy Scouts never engaged in trademark infringement or created consumer confusion.The lawyers for Girl Scouts said Boy Scouts councils in Illinois acknowledged improperly using the Girl Scouts’ slogan in Cub Scout recruiting materials and pictures of Girl Scouts to promote a Boy Scouts “Scouts Sign-Up Night!”They said a western Massachusetts Boy Scouts council posted a recruiting flyer on Facebook including a photograph of a girl depicted in her Girl Scouts Brownie uniform.Meanwhile, Ohio Boy Scouts used the Girl Scouts trademark to try to get a local newspaper to write an article, suggesting a storyline entitled “Boy and Girl Scouts Looking for Members” even though the recruitment involved only the Boy Scouts, the lawyers said.In Seattle, a Boy Scouts council used the Girl Scouts trademark in social media recruiting materials, the lawyers said.They said confusion has skyrocketed among children, parents, schools and religious organizations and they cited examples in other states, including Florida, Minnesota, Arkansas, Michigan, North Carolina and Hawaii.

Girl Scouts in escalating recruitment war with Boy Scouts

WICHITA, KAN. – A southwest Kansas man faces prison time and a fine for submitting false claims to the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the United State's Attorney.

Edward Parks, 60, Liberal, Kan., is charged with one count of submitting false claims for travel reimbursement to the Department of Veterans Affairs and one count of making a false statement to investigators from the Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General. The crimes are alleged to have occurred in 2019 in Sedgwick County, Kan.

The indictment alleges he falsely claimed he travelled to Wichita, Kan., from Liberal, Kan., for medical appointments, in order to be reimbursed under the Beneficiary Travel Program.

&nbsp;If convicted, he could face up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count. The Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Barnett is prosecuting.

WICHITA, KAN. – A southwest Kansas man faces prison time and a fine for submitting false claims to the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the United State's Attorney.Edward Parks, 60, Liberal, Kan., is charged with one count of submitting false claims for travel reimbursement to the Department of Veterans Affairs and one count of making a false statement to investigators from the Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General. The crimes are alleged to have occurred in 2019 in Sedgwick County, Kan.The indictment alleges he falsely claimed he travelled to Wichita, Kan., from Liberal, Kan., for medical appointments, in order to be reimbursed under the Beneficiary Travel Program.&nbsp;If convicted, he could face up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count. The Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Barnett is prosecuting.

Indictment: Kan. man lied to get VA reimbursement 

By JOHN HANNA Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas is working through the details of exactly who will be eligible for coronavirus vaccines in exactly what order as it concentrates on giving shots mostly to health care workers this month.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly told leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature last week that the vaccines have gone mostly to health care workers, though that group also includes employees in state prisons. She said vaccines could go “almost exclusively” to health care workers into mid-January but also suggested some doses already have reached nursing homes.

Kelly said that prison inmates are to get vaccinated before the general public because they’re in “congregate” housing, but the state doesn’t expect vaccines to be available for some adults for at least several months.

The state’s vaccine plan made health care workers and nursing home workers and residents the the first in line, followed by other “essential” workers and people 75 or older, particularly those at high risk of coronavirus complications. But Kelly said in an Associated Press interview that the state is considering vaccinations for some officials to preserve “continuity of operations.”

“We expect that sometime right after the first of the year, we will have a more definitive list of who will be vaccinated when,” Kelly told legislative leaders during a meeting Wednesday.

Kansas has reported nearly 210,000 confirmed and probable coronavirus cases since the pandemic began in early March through Wednesday, or one for every 14 of its 2.9 million residents. It has reported more than 2,500 deaths, or one for every 1,162 residents.

Kelly’s staff has repeatedly said that she will get vaccinated — in public — when it’s “her turn.” However her husband, a retired pulmonologist and sleep disorder specialist, is working part-time in a clinic screening patients for COVID-19 and other diseases before surgeries and was vaccinated Tuesday.

And the governor said the state is looking at how quickly some key officials in state agencies, the courts and the Legislature should get vaccinated.

“We’re looking at that right now, determining who ought to be vaccinated soon,” Kelly told The Associated Press. “We’ll make that decision pretty quickly.”

The state prison system — housing about 8,600 inmates — has reported nearly 5,200 cases among offenders and another 944 cases among staff. Four workers and a dozen inmates have died.

The latest staff death&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ElDoradoCorrectionalFacility/posts/1849168305260066" target="_blank">was reported Wednesday</a>&nbsp;by the El Dorado Correctional Facility. The prison about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Wichita described Gabe Morales as a “wonderful asset.”

Morales began his career in the state prison system at the Winfield Correctional Facility in May 2014 and moved to the El Dorado prison in July 2015. Part of Morales’s job was to prepare inmates for life after their sentences ended.

He told KAKE-TV for a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kake.com/story/40773743/class-unlocks-entrepreneurial-thinking?fbclid=IwAR0Fz3W1dQLdMAp5Drjckh-HUUl-J79wy92LIGGWRnS9SVf1lanbiuJTgqE" target="_blank">story&nbsp;</a>last year that, “It’s not about the person they are when they came in, you really want to affect them, so they’re a better person when they go out.”

Prison staff members who worked in units for inmates with COVID-19 began receiving vaccines last week.

The state’s vaccination plan calls for giving shots to “critical” populations after essential workers and at-risk older Kansans but does not specifically spell out whether prison inmates are in that group. Kelly said inmates will get shots when the state gives them to people in “congregate” living such as state hospitals.

That’s likely to spark some political backlash.

“There is no reason prisoners should ever get this vaccine before law abiding Kansans,” The Kansas Republican Party&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/KansasGOP/status/1341899222547902465" target="_blank">tweeted.</a>

But Kelly told The Capital-Journal: “There are all sorts of other people who were not convicted of a crime who work in those facilities, and vaccinations protect them, too.”

Meanwhile, the state Department of Health and Environment reported that as of Wednesday, nursing homes had seen 530 clusters of two more cases, accounting for nearly 10,500 cases and almost 1,100 COVID-19 deaths — almost 44% of all the state’s coronavirus deaths. The department listed 51 active clusters of five or more cases in nursing homes, accounting for nearly 600 cases in all.

Vaccines for nursing home workers and residents are to be given on site, mostly through pharmacy giants CVS and Walgreens. Both have indicated that shots could start in Kansas next week.

Kelly has been “outspoken” in making sure frail, elderly Kansans are near the top of the list for the vaccine, said Linda MowBray, president and CEO of the Kansas Health Care Association, which represents about 260 long-term care facilities. But she said had hoped the vaccines would come sooner to the homes.

“When somebody says you’re tier one, priority one, right up there with everybody else, or the health care workers, it’s a little bit disheartening that it’s not really first of the first,” she said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608291149776.png" alt="Photo courtesy St. Catherine Hospital" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy St. Catherine Hospital</figcaption>
 </figure>By JOHN HANNA Associated PressTOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas is working through the details of exactly who will be eligible for coronavirus vaccines in exactly what order as it concentrates on giving shots mostly to health care workers this month.Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly told leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature last week that the vaccines have gone mostly to health care workers, though that group also includes employees in state prisons. She said vaccines could go “almost exclusively” to health care workers into mid-January but also suggested some doses already have reached nursing homes.Kelly said that prison inmates are to get vaccinated before the general public because they’re in “congregate” housing, but the state doesn’t expect vaccines to be available for some adults for at least several months.The state’s vaccine plan made health care workers and nursing home workers and residents the the first in line, followed by other “essential” workers and people 75 or older, particularly those at high risk of coronavirus complications. But Kelly said in an Associated Press interview that the state is considering vaccinations for some officials to preserve “continuity of operations.”“We expect that sometime right after the first of the year, we will have a more definitive list of who will be vaccinated when,” Kelly told legislative leaders during a meeting Wednesday.Kansas has reported nearly 210,000 confirmed and probable coronavirus cases since the pandemic began in early March through Wednesday, or one for every 14 of its 2.9 million residents. It has reported more than 2,500 deaths, or one for every 1,162 residents.Kelly’s staff has repeatedly said that she will get vaccinated — in public — when it’s “her turn.” However her husband, a retired pulmonologist and sleep disorder specialist, is working part-time in a clinic screening patients for COVID-19 and other diseases before surgeries and was vaccinated Tuesday.And the governor said the state is looking at how quickly some key officials in state agencies, the courts and the Legislature should get vaccinated.“We’re looking at that right now, determining who ought to be vaccinated soon,” Kelly told The Associated Press. “We’ll make that decision pretty quickly.”The state prison system — housing about 8,600 inmates — has reported nearly 5,200 cases among offenders and another 944 cases among staff. Four workers and a dozen inmates have died.The latest staff death&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ElDoradoCorrectionalFacility/posts/1849168305260066" target="_blank">was reported Wednesday</a>&nbsp;by the El Dorado Correctional Facility. The prison about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Wichita described Gabe Morales as a “wonderful asset.”Morales began his career in the state prison system at the Winfield Correctional Facility in May 2014 and moved to the El Dorado prison in July 2015. Part of Morales’s job was to prepare inmates for life after their sentences ended.He told KAKE-TV for a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kake.com/story/40773743/class-unlocks-entrepreneurial-thinking?fbclid=IwAR0Fz3W1dQLdMAp5Drjckh-HUUl-J79wy92LIGGWRnS9SVf1lanbiuJTgqE" target="_blank">story&nbsp;</a>last year that, “It’s not about the person they are when they came in, you really want to affect them, so they’re a better person when they go out.”Prison staff members who worked in units for inmates with COVID-19 began receiving vaccines last week.The state’s vaccination plan calls for giving shots to “critical” populations after essential workers and at-risk older Kansans but does not specifically spell out whether prison inmates are in that group. Kelly said inmates will get shots when the state gives them to people in “congregate” living such as state hospitals.That’s likely to spark some political backlash.“There is no reason prisoners should ever get this vaccine before law abiding Kansans,” The Kansas Republican Party&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/KansasGOP/status/1341899222547902465" target="_blank">tweeted.</a>But Kelly told The Capital-Journal: “There are all sorts of other people who were not convicted of a crime who work in those facilities, and vaccinations protect them, too.”Meanwhile, the state Department of Health and Environment reported that as of Wednesday, nursing homes had seen 530 clusters of two more cases, accounting for nearly 10,500 cases and almost 1,100 COVID-19 deaths — almost 44% of all the state’s coronavirus deaths. The department listed 51 active clusters of five or more cases in nursing homes, accounting for nearly 600 cases in all.Vaccines for nursing home workers and residents are to be given on site, mostly through pharmacy giants CVS and Walgreens. Both have indicated that shots could start in Kansas next week.Kelly has been “outspoken” in making sure frail, elderly Kansans are near the top of the list for the vaccine, said Linda MowBray, president and CEO of the Kansas Health Care Association, which represents about 260 long-term care facilities. But she said had hoped the vaccines would come sooner to the homes.“When somebody says you’re tier one, priority one, right up there with everybody else, or the health care workers, it’s a little bit disheartening that it’s not really first of the first,” she said.___

Who gets vaccinated in Kansas and when 

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The wife of a former Kansas mayor who resigned abruptly before the couple was charged with making fake tickets to attend a zoo fundraiser has been granted diversion in the case. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608833499741.png" alt="Elizabeth Blubaugh-photo Sedgwick Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Elizabeth Blubaugh-photo Sedgwick Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The wife of a former Kansas mayor who resigned abruptly before the couple was charged with making fake tickets to attend a zoo fundraiser has been granted diversion in the case. Elizabeth Blubaugh has to pay $945 in restitution to the Sedgwick County Zoo plus other fees, attend and complete a theft education program and perform 40 hours of community service as the part of the agreement. <figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608833569407.png" alt="Jamey Blubaugh photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Jamey Blubaugh photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Her husband, Jamey Blubaugh, is scheduled for a bench trial next month. He resigned in August as the mayor of Goddard, a suburb of Wichita, citing conflicts with the city administrators. The misdemeanor counterfeiting charges were filed against the couple two days later.---------SEDGWICK COUNTY —The mayor of Goddard who resigned on Monday was charged Wednesday with counterfeiting, a class A nonperson misdemeanor, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.Jamey Blubaugh and his wife, Elizabeth, were charged Wednesday with one count of counterfeiting, which is a misdemeanor. The Sedgwick County District Attorney's office said the couple is accused of using counterfeit tickets to attend last year's Zoobilee at the Sedgwick County Zoo. The tickets were $165 each.According to the city of Goddard, "We understand that the former Mayor, who resigned Monday, August 3, 2020, is facing serious criminal charges. We also understand that these charges have no connection with any official&nbsp;action of the former Mayor. The City has no role in any decision to make these charges, and it&nbsp;has not conducted any investigation of these charges. Former Mayor Jamey Blubaugh, like any&nbsp;other individual, is entitled to the presumption of innocence.We fully support law enforcement officials, and have expressed our commitment to cooperate&nbsp;with the District Attorney’s office to find the truth of the allegations.We recognize that Goddard City officials expect to be held accountable for any actions that&nbsp;reflect badly on the City. These charges serve as an important reminder that no one is above&nbsp;the law. The citizens of Goddard deserve public servants acting with integrity. We look&nbsp;forward to justice being served in all cases where the public’s trust has been betrayed.We are disappointed that this event may overshadow the number of positive developments&nbsp;that are happening in the community. We are hopeful that the distraction will not obscure the&nbsp;growth and vitality of the community.These issues are entirely unconnected to the City, representing charges brought by the District&nbsp;Attorney against the former Mayor."