WASHINGTON (AP) — Schools and colleges across the U.S. face a Friday deadline to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dei-critical-race-theory-colleges-diversity-db8317ad37931558dd5a396cf5ab3d42">end diversity programs</a>&nbsp;or risk having their federal money pulled by the Trump administration, yet few are openly rushing to make changes. Many believe they’re on solid legal ground, and they know it would be all but unprecedented — and extremely time-consuming — for the government to cut off funding.

State officials in Washington and California urged schools not to make changes, saying it doesn’t change federal law and doesn’t require any action. New York City schools have taken the same approach and said district policies and curriculum have not changed.

Leaders of some colleges shrugged the memo off entirely.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-bathroom-law-ohio-antioch-oberlin-6a571aeb5a577d13f72ff4999b90ec78">Antioch University</a>&nbsp;’s chief said “most of higher education” won’t comply with the memo unless federal law is changed. Western Michigan University’s president told his campus to “please proceed as usual.”

A memo issued Feb. 14 by President Donald&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Trump’s administration</a>, formally known as a Dear Colleague Letter, gave schools two weeks to halt any practice that treats people differently because of their race.

On Thursday, the department launched a new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-launches-end-dei-portal" target="_blank">“End DEI” portal</a>&nbsp;inviting students, parents and others to report discrimination based on race or sex in public schools. The department said it will use submissions to identify investigation targets.

Opponents say the memo is an overreach meant to have a chilling effect. The guidance appears to forbid everything from classroom lessons on racism to colleges’ efforts to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-dei-college-university-9f26a51617744de5c3f929a293027758">recruit in diverse areas</a>, and even voluntary student groups like Black student unions.

Education organizations have been urging a measured approach, warning institutions not to make any hasty cuts that would be difficult to undo. Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, is telling colleges that if they were in compliance with federal law before the memo, they still are.

“There’s nothing to act on until we see the administration or its agencies try to stop something,” Mitchell said. “And then we’ll have the argument.”

Investigations rarely come close to cutting schools’ federal funding

A loss of federal money would be devastating for schools and colleges, but imposing that penalty would not be quick or simple.

The Education Department office that conducts&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/education-department-civil-rights-antisemitism-aeb29bfe83962eef78091323a1916d52">civil rights investigations</a>&nbsp;had fewer than 600 employees last year — before the Trump administration began cutting staff — while the U.S. has more than 18,000 school districts and 6,000 colleges.

Even when a school or state faces an investigation, it can take years to terminate funding. Under former President Joe Biden, the Education Department tried to pull federal money from Michigan’s education agency after finding it violated the rights of students with disabilities. The investigation began in 2022 and is still tied up in federal court.

“I hope very much that schools charged with providing inclusive, equal education to every student in their school community will stand for that principle,” said Catherine Lhamon, who led the department’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/education-department-iep-disability-civil-rights-trump-85a6687d9ef1f5236f2637924d66a560">Office for Civil Rights</a>&nbsp;under Biden.

Still, some education leaders say resistance is too risky. At the University of Cincinnati, President Neville G. Pinto said officials are evaluating jobs related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and removing DEI references from school websites.

“Given this new landscape, Ohio public and federally supported institutions like ours have little choice but to follow the laws that govern us,” Pinto wrote.

Ohio State’s president, Ted Carter, announced Thursday that it would&nbsp;<a href="https://president.osu.edu/story/communications-messages-2" target="_blank">close its Office of Diversity and Inclusion</a>&nbsp;and cancel some of its services, effective Friday. With an anti-DEI bill also pending in Ohio’s legislature, he said he concluded the best course was to act preemptively.

Tony Frank, chancellor of the Colorado State University system, wrote in a campus letter that he weighed taking a stand against the department. But he advised the system’s campuses to comply, saying there’s too much at stake for students and staff. “If we gamble here and are wrong, someone else will pay the price,” he wrote.

New guidance brings a shift in interpretation of nondiscrimination laws

In many&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/college-dei-woke-trump-fe549f21b223ea9aa2a9f443470c593e">Republican-led states</a>, education chiefs applauded the memo.

“We never felt it was appropriate to use race in making these types of decisions in the first case, so I do not foresee any interruptions in our day-to-day business,” Alabama’s state superintendent, Eric G. Mackey, said in a statement released by the Trump administration.

The memo said schools have promoted DEI efforts often at the expense of white and Asian American students.

It doesn’t carry the weight of law but explains how the new administration will interpret nondiscrimination laws. It dramatically expands a 2023 Supreme Court decision barring the use of race in college admissions to all aspects of education — including, hiring, promotion, scholarships, housing, graduation ceremonies and campus life.

The guidance is being&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/education-department-dei-dear-colleague-letter-lawsuit-2d3b5b5d7ce2d68a68bcb24c5744ed29">challenged in court</a>&nbsp;by the American Federation of Teachers, which said the memo violates free speech laws.

Some districts already have struck language about equity goals from their websites. While some school leaders are keeping quiet out of fear of being targeted, many also are still struggling to grasp the memo’s implications.

“We are looking to our attorney general for guidance because it’s very confusing,” said Christine Tucci Osorio, superintendent of the North St. Paul School District in Minnesota. When a teacher asked if their school could still mark African American History Month, she assured them they could.

Despite concerns that schools would rush to comply, it appears “cooler heads are largely prevailing,” said Liz King, senior director for the education equity program at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

“Once a school sends the message that they are not going to stand up for a member, a community within their school, that is broken trust, that is a lost relationship,” King said.

Like no president before him, Trump wields funding threat to support his agenda

Trump has vowed to use education funding as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-woke-education-24f864d83e2f5745d12a79ebac0d7cc4">political leverage</a>&nbsp;on several fronts, threatening cuts for schools that do not get in line with his agenda on topics including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-transgender-sports-san-jose-state-penn-6c0372371789747b1d2bcd5e207c8833">transgender girls’ participation</a>&nbsp;in girls’ sports and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-critical-race-theory-antisemitism-college-protests-18136b8c8f5adb9c75c47907e020268a">instruction related to race</a>.

Usually, civil rights investigations by the Education Department take at least six months and often much longer. If a school is found in violation of federal law, department policy offers a chance to come into compliance and sign a resolution — typically a 90-day process.

Only if a school refuses to comply can the department move to revoke federal money. That can be done in the Education Department through a court-like process decided by an administrative law judge. If the judge decides the penalty is justified, the school can appeal it to the education secretary and, after that, challenge it in court.

Instead of handling it internally, the department can also refer cases to the Justice Department for prosecution. That route is no faster.

The last time the Education Department was granted approval to cut federal funding was in 1992, against the Capistrano Unified School District in California, which was found to have retaliated against a teacher for filing sex discrimination complaints.

Before the penalty was carried out, the district reinstated the teacher and effectively ended the case. It never lost any money.

Gecker reported from San Francisco, and Mumphrey from Phoenix.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ap.org/about/news-values-and-principles/" target="_blank">standards</a>&nbsp;for working with philanthropies, a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ap.org/about/supporting-ap/" target="_blank">list</a>&nbsp;of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Schools and colleges across the U.S. face a Friday deadline to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dei-critical-race-theory-colleges-diversity-db8317ad37931558dd5a396cf5ab3d42">end diversity programs</a>&nbsp;or risk having their federal money pulled by the Trump administration, yet few are openly rushing to make changes. Many believe they’re on solid legal ground, and they know it would be all but unprecedented — and extremely time-consuming — for the government to cut off funding.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FED.gov%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02FHspKEQW93HtkdmRKzFDw1WX3nLYmpcskzwek4x5m1XaFryWoyQ5KhnWqD4AXyP2l&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="629" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>State officials in Washington and California urged schools not to make changes, saying it doesn’t change federal law and doesn’t require any action. New York City schools have taken the same approach and said district policies and curriculum have not changed.Leaders of some colleges shrugged the memo off entirely.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-bathroom-law-ohio-antioch-oberlin-6a571aeb5a577d13f72ff4999b90ec78">Antioch University</a>&nbsp;’s chief said “most of higher education” won’t comply with the memo unless federal law is changed. Western Michigan University’s president told his campus to “please proceed as usual.”A memo issued Feb. 14 by President Donald&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Trump’s administration</a>, formally known as a Dear Colleague Letter, gave schools two weeks to halt any practice that treats people differently because of their race.On Thursday, the department launched a new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-launches-end-dei-portal" target="_blank">“End DEI” portal</a>&nbsp;inviting students, parents and others to report discrimination based on race or sex in public schools. The department said it will use submissions to identify investigation targets.Opponents say the memo is an overreach meant to have a chilling effect. The guidance appears to forbid everything from classroom lessons on racism to colleges’ efforts to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-dei-college-university-9f26a51617744de5c3f929a293027758">recruit in diverse areas</a>, and even voluntary student groups like Black student unions.Education organizations have been urging a measured approach, warning institutions not to make any hasty cuts that would be difficult to undo. Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, is telling colleges that if they were in compliance with federal law before the memo, they still are.“There’s nothing to act on until we see the administration or its agencies try to stop something,” Mitchell said. “And then we’ll have the argument.”<h2>Investigations rarely come close to cutting schools’ federal funding</h2>A loss of federal money would be devastating for schools and colleges, but imposing that penalty would not be quick or simple.The Education Department office that conducts&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/education-department-civil-rights-antisemitism-aeb29bfe83962eef78091323a1916d52">civil rights investigations</a>&nbsp;had fewer than 600 employees last year — before the Trump administration began cutting staff — while the U.S. has more than 18,000 school districts and 6,000 colleges.Even when a school or state faces an investigation, it can take years to terminate funding. Under former President Joe Biden, the Education Department tried to pull federal money from Michigan’s education agency after finding it violated the rights of students with disabilities. The investigation began in 2022 and is still tied up in federal court.“I hope very much that schools charged with providing inclusive, equal education to every student in their school community will stand for that principle,” said Catherine Lhamon, who led the department’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/education-department-iep-disability-civil-rights-trump-85a6687d9ef1f5236f2637924d66a560">Office for Civil Rights</a>&nbsp;under Biden.Still, some education leaders say resistance is too risky. At the University of Cincinnati, President Neville G. Pinto said officials are evaluating jobs related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and removing DEI references from school websites.“Given this new landscape, Ohio public and federally supported institutions like ours have little choice but to follow the laws that govern us,” Pinto wrote.Ohio State’s president, Ted Carter, announced Thursday that it would&nbsp;<a href="https://president.osu.edu/story/communications-messages-2" target="_blank">close its Office of Diversity and Inclusion</a>&nbsp;and cancel some of its services, effective Friday. With an anti-DEI bill also pending in Ohio’s legislature, he said he concluded the best course was to act preemptively.Tony Frank, chancellor of the Colorado State University system, wrote in a campus letter that he weighed taking a stand against the department. But he advised the system’s campuses to comply, saying there’s too much at stake for students and staff. “If we gamble here and are wrong, someone else will pay the price,” he wrote.ADVERTISEMENT<h2>New guidance brings a shift in interpretation of nondiscrimination laws</h2>In many&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/college-dei-woke-trump-fe549f21b223ea9aa2a9f443470c593e">Republican-led states</a>, education chiefs applauded the memo.“We never felt it was appropriate to use race in making these types of decisions in the first case, so I do not foresee any interruptions in our day-to-day business,” Alabama’s state superintendent, Eric G. Mackey, said in a statement released by the Trump administration.The memo said schools have promoted DEI efforts often at the expense of white and Asian American students.It doesn’t carry the weight of law but explains how the new administration will interpret nondiscrimination laws. It dramatically expands a 2023 Supreme Court decision barring the use of race in college admissions to all aspects of education — including, hiring, promotion, scholarships, housing, graduation ceremonies and campus life.ADVERTISEMENTThe guidance is being&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/education-department-dei-dear-colleague-letter-lawsuit-2d3b5b5d7ce2d68a68bcb24c5744ed29">challenged in court</a>&nbsp;by the American Federation of Teachers, which said the memo violates free speech laws.Some districts already have struck language about equity goals from their websites. While some school leaders are keeping quiet out of fear of being targeted, many also are still struggling to grasp the memo’s implications.“We are looking to our attorney general for guidance because it’s very confusing,” said Christine Tucci Osorio, superintendent of the North St. Paul School District in Minnesota. When a teacher asked if their school could still mark African American History Month, she assured them they could.Despite concerns that schools would rush to comply, it appears “cooler heads are largely prevailing,” said Liz King, senior director for the education equity program at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.“Once a school sends the message that they are not going to stand up for a member, a community within their school, that is broken trust, that is a lost relationship,” King said.<h2>Like no president before him, Trump wields funding threat to support his agenda</h2>Trump has vowed to use education funding as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-woke-education-24f864d83e2f5745d12a79ebac0d7cc4">political leverage</a>&nbsp;on several fronts, threatening cuts for schools that do not get in line with his agenda on topics including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-transgender-sports-san-jose-state-penn-6c0372371789747b1d2bcd5e207c8833">transgender girls’ participation</a>&nbsp;in girls’ sports and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-critical-race-theory-antisemitism-college-protests-18136b8c8f5adb9c75c47907e020268a">instruction related to race</a>.Usually, civil rights investigations by the Education Department take at least six months and often much longer. If a school is found in violation of federal law, department policy offers a chance to come into compliance and sign a resolution — typically a 90-day process.Only if a school refuses to comply can the department move to revoke federal money. That can be done in the Education Department through a court-like process decided by an administrative law judge. If the judge decides the penalty is justified, the school can appeal it to the education secretary and, after that, challenge it in court.Instead of handling it internally, the department can also refer cases to the Justice Department for prosecution. That route is no faster.The last time the Education Department was granted approval to cut federal funding was in 1992, against the Capistrano Unified School District in California, which was found to have retaliated against a teacher for filing sex discrimination complaints.Before the penalty was carried out, the district reinstated the teacher and effectively ended the case. It never lost any money.<h2>___</h2>Gecker reported from San Francisco, and Mumphrey from Phoenix.<h2>___</h2>The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ap.org/about/news-values-and-principles/" target="_blank">standards</a>&nbsp;for working with philanthropies, a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ap.org/about/supporting-ap/" target="_blank">list</a>&nbsp;of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Trump admin. opens ‘End DEI’ portal, asks public to report schools

SEDGWICK COUNTY, Kan. —Law enforcement in the Wichita area are investigating a shooting and asking the public for help with identifying vehicles and the suspects involved.

Just before midnight on Feb. 15, Sedgwick County Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of gunfire in the 3000 block of E. Fairhaven in the south Wichita neighborhood of Oaklawn, according to a media release.

 Upon arrival, deputies found multiple shell casings in the street and determined that several residences and vehicles had been damaged by gunfire. Fortunately, no one in the area was struck by the gunfire.

Investigators believe a light-colored Ford Explorer, a dark-colored four-door sedan and gray 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer were involved in the incident. The shooters are believed to have been associated with the unidentified Ford Explorer and four-door sedan. The Investigations Division is now seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the vehicles.

Residents of the Oaklawn area are encouraged to review any exterior surveillance footage from 11:30 p.m. on Feb.15 to 12:30 a.m. on Feb. 16 for sightings of the involved vehicles.

Anyone with relevant information is asked to contact Detective Timothy Jett at (316) 660-5300 or Crime Stoppers at (316) 267-2111. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1740688942907.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY, Kan. —Law enforcement in the Wichita area are investigating a shooting and asking the public for help with identifying vehicles and the suspects involved.Just before midnight on Feb. 15, Sedgwick County Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of gunfire in the 3000 block of E. Fairhaven in the south Wichita neighborhood of Oaklawn, according to a media release. Upon arrival, deputies found multiple shell casings in the street and determined that several residences and vehicles had been damaged by gunfire. Fortunately, no one in the area was struck by the gunfire.Investigators believe a light-colored Ford Explorer, a dark-colored four-door sedan and gray 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer were involved in the incident. The shooters are believed to have been associated with the unidentified Ford Explorer and four-door sedan. The Investigations Division is now seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the vehicles.Residents of the Oaklawn area are encouraged to review any exterior surveillance footage from 11:30 p.m. on Feb.15 to 12:30 a.m. on Feb. 16 for sightings of the involved vehicles.Anyone with relevant information is asked to contact Detective Timothy Jett at (316) 660-5300 or Crime Stoppers at (316) 267-2111.

Sheriff asks for help to ID vehicles involved in Kan. drive-by shooting 

On Thursday afternoon, the City of Hutchinson held a briefing to bring people up to date on the situation on South Main Street.&nbsp;&nbsp;

According to public works director Cecil Weible the evacuation zone is down to an area between avenue d and avenue f and between Washington Street and Walnut Street.&nbsp; They are estimating that it will take approximately two weeks for completion.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

At the present time, five businesses are affected and Evergy says that they have twenty customers without electric service.&nbsp;

As of Wednesday, the Hutchinson Fire Department was cleared from the scene and no longer has a presence at the scene.&nbsp; The fire department and&nbsp;Kansas Gas will meet business owners that have not been allowed into their buildings to be escorted by a firefighter and a KGS employee to get important documents that they may need.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

When asked, that policy was put in place by kgs and the fire department because there is still gas coming out of the ground.&nbsp;&nbsp;

KGS replaced 100-feet of gas line from the east to west under main street.&nbsp; The evacuation zone has been minimized to Main Street between Avenue D and to just north of Avenue F and from Walnut Street and Washington Street.&nbsp;

The city said that they will continue to provide updates as they become available.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

MARC JACOBS Hutch Post&nbsp;On Thursday afternoon, the City of Hutchinson held a briefing to bring people up to date on the situation on South Main Street.&nbsp;&nbsp;According to public works director Cecil Weible the evacuation zone is down to an area between avenue d and avenue f and between Washington Street and Walnut Street.&nbsp; They are estimating that it will take approximately two weeks for completion.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;At the present time, five businesses are affected and Evergy says that they have twenty customers without electric service.&nbsp;As of Wednesday, the Hutchinson Fire Department was cleared from the scene and no longer has a presence at the scene.&nbsp; The fire department and&nbsp;Kansas Gas will meet business owners that have not been allowed into their buildings to be escorted by a firefighter and a KGS employee to get important documents that they may need.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FHutchPost%2Fvideos%2F592229953812951%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>When asked, that policy was put in place by kgs and the fire department because there is still gas coming out of the ground.&nbsp;&nbsp;KGS replaced 100-feet of gas line from the east to west under main street.&nbsp; The evacuation zone has been minimized to Main Street between Avenue D and to just north of Avenue F and from Walnut Street and Washington Street.&nbsp;The city said that they will continue to provide updates as they become available.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

🎥City update after gas explosion in Hutchinson

WASHINGTON (AP) — The military services have 30 days to figure out how they will seek out and identify transgender service members to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hegseth-tuskegee-airmen-dei-pentagon-480d932c8bcb4c6056abe78e34010982">remove them from the force</a>&nbsp;— a daunting task that may end up relying on troops self-reporting or tattling on their colleagues.

A memo sent to Defense Department leaders on Thursday — after the Pentagon filed it late Wednesday as part of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-transgender-troops-executive-order-8373e8f3c4d59a7f99962f62a611be0b">response to a lawsuit</a>&nbsp;— orders the services to set up procedures to identify troops diagnosed with or being treated for gender dysphoria by March 26. They will then have 30 days to begin removing those troops from service.

The order expands on the executive order signed by President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-starmer-ukraine-28ca602f1df21af5797ba949f36160f3">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;during his early days in office setting out steps toward banning transgender individuals from serving in the military. The directive has been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-troops-trump-pentagon-order-c92b17a47574d711efa11fb178ff6ae0">challenged in court</a>.

A senior defense official said Thursday they believe there are about 4,200 troops diagnosed with gender dysphoria currently serving in the active duty, National Guard and Reserves.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues, said that between 2015 and 2024, the total cost for psychotherapy, gender-affirming hormone therapy, gender-affirming surgery and other treatment for service members is about $52 million.

There are about 2.1 million troops serving.

However, the issue has taken up a large part of the Pentagon's attention and time as Trump and Defense Secretary&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-hegseth-firing-chairman-lawyers-6bead3346b1210e45e77648e6cbc3599">Pete Hegseth</a>&nbsp;work to root them out, arguing that their medical condition doesn’t meet military standards.

“The medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria are incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service,” Darin Selnick, who is serving as defense undersecretary for personnel, said in the new memo.

It claims that the lethality and integrity of the military “is inconsistent” with what transgender personnel go through as they transition to the gender they identify with, and it issues an edict that gender is “immutable, unchanging during a person’s life.”

Lawyers for six transgender service members who are suing over Trump's executive order have argued in court filings that his directive openly expresses “hostility” toward transgender people and marks them as “unequal and dispensable, demeaning them in the eyes of their fellow service members and the public.”

Sarah Warbelow, vice president for legal affairs for the Human Rights Campaign, said the new policy puts service members in a difficult position and pushes transgender troops to self-identify.

“All of a sudden, you are going to be required to out yourself. Other people are going to be required to out you,” Warbelow said. “If you’ve got a best friend in the military who happens to know that you are transgender, under this new guidance they’re required — if you are a woman who is transgender — they’re required to start referring to you as ‘he’ and ‘sir,’ as of today.”

Troops are put in the position of having to choose “between the safety of their friends and violating direct orders,” Warbelow said, adding that transgender service members may feel pressure to self-identify, knowing that they may be penalized by not coming forward.

On Thursday, U.S. officials said early rough numbers suggest about 600 transgender troops can be quickly identified in the Navy, between 300 and 500 in the Army and fewer than 50 in the Marine Corps. Officials said individuals could, for example, be identified by documented medical treatments, and acknowledged those numbers are likely to increase.

Other numbers were not available, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues.

The officials noted, however, that the early numbers likely fall short of actual totals because some service members may have joined the service after any transition and may not have had medical or surgical procedures that could identify them. And officials also have warned that they may be limited by health privacy laws on what they can and can’t discern or report from records.

A 2018 independent study by the Palm Center, which researched LGBTQ issues, assessed there were an estimated 14,000 transgender troops among the more than 2 million troops serving.

The new Pentagon policy provides two exceptions: if transgender personnel who seek to enlist can prove on a case-by-case basis that they directly support warfighting activities, or if an existing service member, who was diagnosed with gender dysphoria, can prove they support a specific warfighting need and never transitioned to the gender they identify with and proves over 36 months they are stable in their biological sex “without clinically significant distress.”

Gender dysphoria occurs when a person’s biological sex does not match up with their gender identity.

If a waiver is issued, the applicant would still face a situation where only their biological sex was recognized for bathroom facilities, sleeping quarters and even in official recognition, such as being called “Sir” or “Ma’am.”

Warbelow said transgender troops should wait for additional clarity from the service and their commanding officers before doing anything that would affect their military service — also noting that ongoing court cases could affect the policy.

Trump tried to ban transgender troops from serving during his first term, but the issue ended up mired in lawsuits until former President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-military-trump-ban-troops-deb9e388ff588d9d25fb0d8cc58e540f">Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;was elected and overturned the ban.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1740697523161.png" alt="Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth- File photo U.S. Navy" />
 <figcaption>Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth- File photo U.S. Navy</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The military services have 30 days to figure out how they will seek out and identify transgender service members to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hegseth-tuskegee-airmen-dei-pentagon-480d932c8bcb4c6056abe78e34010982">remove them from the force</a>&nbsp;— a daunting task that may end up relying on troops self-reporting or tattling on their colleagues.A memo sent to Defense Department leaders on Thursday — after the Pentagon filed it late Wednesday as part of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-transgender-troops-executive-order-8373e8f3c4d59a7f99962f62a611be0b">response to a lawsuit</a>&nbsp;— orders the services to set up procedures to identify troops diagnosed with or being treated for gender dysphoria by March 26. They will then have 30 days to begin removing those troops from service.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1740697175659.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1740697220043.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The order expands on the executive order signed by President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-starmer-ukraine-28ca602f1df21af5797ba949f36160f3">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;during his early days in office setting out steps toward banning transgender individuals from serving in the military. The directive has been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-troops-trump-pentagon-order-c92b17a47574d711efa11fb178ff6ae0">challenged in court</a>.A senior defense official said Thursday they believe there are about 4,200 troops diagnosed with gender dysphoria currently serving in the active duty, National Guard and Reserves.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues, said that between 2015 and 2024, the total cost for psychotherapy, gender-affirming hormone therapy, gender-affirming surgery and other treatment for service members is about $52 million.There are about 2.1 million troops serving.However, the issue has taken up a large part of the Pentagon's attention and time as Trump and Defense Secretary&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-hegseth-firing-chairman-lawyers-6bead3346b1210e45e77648e6cbc3599">Pete Hegseth</a>&nbsp;work to root them out, arguing that their medical condition doesn’t meet military standards.“The medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria are incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service,” Darin Selnick, who is serving as defense undersecretary for personnel, said in the new memo.It claims that the lethality and integrity of the military “is inconsistent” with what transgender personnel go through as they transition to the gender they identify with, and it issues an edict that gender is “immutable, unchanging during a person’s life.”Lawyers for six transgender service members who are suing over Trump's executive order have argued in court filings that his directive openly expresses “hostility” toward transgender people and marks them as “unequal and dispensable, demeaning them in the eyes of their fellow service members and the public.”Sarah Warbelow, vice president for legal affairs for the Human Rights Campaign, said the new policy puts service members in a difficult position and pushes transgender troops to self-identify.“All of a sudden, you are going to be required to out yourself. Other people are going to be required to out you,” Warbelow said. “If you’ve got a best friend in the military who happens to know that you are transgender, under this new guidance they’re required — if you are a woman who is transgender — they’re required to start referring to you as ‘he’ and ‘sir,’ as of today.”Troops are put in the position of having to choose “between the safety of their friends and violating direct orders,” Warbelow said, adding that transgender service members may feel pressure to self-identify, knowing that they may be penalized by not coming forward.On Thursday, U.S. officials said early rough numbers suggest about 600 transgender troops can be quickly identified in the Navy, between 300 and 500 in the Army and fewer than 50 in the Marine Corps. Officials said individuals could, for example, be identified by documented medical treatments, and acknowledged those numbers are likely to increase.Other numbers were not available, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues.The officials noted, however, that the early numbers likely fall short of actual totals because some service members may have joined the service after any transition and may not have had medical or surgical procedures that could identify them. And officials also have warned that they may be limited by health privacy laws on what they can and can’t discern or report from records.A 2018 independent study by the Palm Center, which researched LGBTQ issues, assessed there were an estimated 14,000 transgender troops among the more than 2 million troops serving.The new Pentagon policy provides two exceptions: if transgender personnel who seek to enlist can prove on a case-by-case basis that they directly support warfighting activities, or if an existing service member, who was diagnosed with gender dysphoria, can prove they support a specific warfighting need and never transitioned to the gender they identify with and proves over 36 months they are stable in their biological sex “without clinically significant distress.”Gender dysphoria occurs when a person’s biological sex does not match up with their gender identity.If a waiver is issued, the applicant would still face a situation where only their biological sex was recognized for bathroom facilities, sleeping quarters and even in official recognition, such as being called “Sir” or “Ma’am.”Warbelow said transgender troops should wait for additional clarity from the service and their commanding officers before doing anything that would affect their military service — also noting that ongoing court cases could affect the policy.Trump tried to ban transgender troops from serving during his first term, but the issue ended up mired in lawsuits until former President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-military-trump-ban-troops-deb9e388ff588d9d25fb0d8cc58e540f">Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;was elected and overturned the ban.

Read the order: Transgender troops now being identified for removal

SEDGWICK COUNTY—The Wichita Police Department is seeking information about the whereabouts of Brent Cruz, who is wanted in connection with a homicide investigation from 2022.

If you know his whereabouts, please call 911 immediately or contact WPD Detectives at 316-268-4407.

SEDGWICK COUNTY—The Wichita Police Department is seeking information about the whereabouts of Brent Cruz, who is wanted in connection with a homicide investigation from 2022.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1740681835763.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>If you know his whereabouts, please call 911 immediately or contact WPD Detectives at 316-268-4407.

Police ask for help to locate Kansas homicide suspect

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Oscar-winner&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/gene-hackman">Gene Hackman</a>, his wife and one of their dogs were apparently dead for some time before a maintenance worker discovered their bodies at the couple's Santa Fe home, investigators said.

Hackman, 95, was found dead Wednesday in an entryway, and his 65-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found in a bathroom next to a space heater, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office detectives wrote in a search warrant affidavit. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Arakawa.

Denise Avila, a sheriff's office spokesperson, said there was no indication they had been shot or had any wounds.

The New Mexico Gas Co. tested the gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were discovered, according to the warrant. At the time, it didn’t find any signs of problems and the Fire Department found no signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning. A detective wrote that there were no obvious signs of a gas leak, but he noted that people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide might not show signs of poisoning.

The gruff but beloved Hackman was among the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gene-hackman-obituary-dies-a76fbe0cd6594393acaeea1c2710706d">most accomplished actors</a>&nbsp;of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gene-hackman-notable-film-roles-1890bba6ab8e42029365f98dd5715c3a">dramas, comedies and action films</a>&nbsp;from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.

“He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gene-hackman-actor-appreciation-d58ad4491bbe11be4750fe6661947c48">brilliant acting career</a>, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa," his daughters and granddaughter said in a statement Thursday. “We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss.”

Worker found bodies of Hackman and his wife

According to the search warrant affidavit, a maintenance worker reported that the home’s front door was open when he arrived to do routine work Wednesday, and he called police after finding the bodies.

But in a 911 call, the maintenance worker said he was unable to get inside when the operator asked whether the people in the house were breathing.

“I have no idea,” the subdivision’s caretaker said. “I am not inside the house. It’s closed. It’s locked. I can’t go in. But I can see she’s laying down on the floor from the window.”

He and another worker later told authorities that they rarely saw the homeowners and their last contact with them had been about two weeks ago.

Hackman appeared to have fallen, a deputy observed. A cane was nearby.

A dead German shepherd was found in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, police said. Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said during a press conference Thursday that the dog was found in a kennel. Two healthy dogs were found on the property — one inside and one outside.

“There was no indication of a struggle," Mendoza said. “There was no indication of anything that was missing from the home or disturbed, you know, that would be indication that there was a crime that had occurred.”

Results of autopsies conducted on both bodies are not available yet, sheriff’s officials said, noting that carbon monoxide and toxicology test results are pending.

The search warrant affidavit suggests that police appear to have a working theory that “some kind of gas poisoning” happened, but that they don't know yet and aren’t ruling anything out, Loyola Marymount University law professor Laurie Levenson said.

“They don’t have clear evidence that it’s any type of homicide, but they’re asking for blunt instruments or other weapons that could be used,” said Levenson, who has no connection to the investigation. “It doesn’t also look like some kind of planned double-suicide.”

William &amp; Mary Law School professor Jeffrey Bellin said the request for a search warrant was somewhat unusual because investigators who file one usually believe a specific crime was committed. In this case, no alleged crime was mentioned, Bellin said.

Police tend to overstate what they know, but this is the opposite, said Bellin, who also isn't tied to the investigation.

“It just struck me as very careful in a way that search warrant affidavits often are not,” he said.

Hackman routinely showed up on Hollywood lists of greatest American actors of the 20th century. He could play virtually any kind of role, from comic book villain Lex Luthor in “Superman” to a coach finding redemption in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gene-hackman-sports-hoosiers-7bcee7d0694f1daee94057ac7ec33430">sentimental favorite “Hoosiers.”</a>

Hackman was a five-time Oscar nominee who won best actor in a leading role for “The French Connection” in 1972 and best actor in a supporting role for “Unforgiven” two decades later. His death comes just four days before this year’s ceremony.

Tributes&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gene-hackman-dies-reaction-tribute-39bdbad1428a2fb9cb61c9e916283816">quickly poured in</a>&nbsp;from Hollywood.

“There was no finer actor than Gene," actor-director Clint Eastwood, Hackman’s “Unforgiven” co-star, said in a statement. “Intense and instinctive. Never a false note. He was also a dear friend whom I will miss very much.”

Hackman met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist who grew up in Hawaii, when she was working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s. They soon moved in together and relocated to Santa Fe by the end of the decade.

Their Southwestern-style ranch on Old Sunset Trail sits on a hill in a gated community with views of the Rocky Mountains. The sprawling four-bedroom home on 6 acres (2.4 hectares) was built in 1997 and had an estimated market value of a little over $4 million, according to Santa Fe County property tax records.

Hackman and his wife also owned a more modest home next door.

Hackman also co-wrote three novels, starting with the swashbuckler, “Wake of the Perdido Star,” with Daniel Lenihan in 1999, according to publisher Simon &amp; Schuster. He then penned two by himself, concluding with “Pursuit" in 2013, about a female police officer on the tail of a predator.

In his first couple of decades in New Mexico, Hackman was often seen around the historic state capital, known as an artist enclave, tourism destination and retreat for celebrities.

He served on the board of trustees for the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum from 1997-2004, the museum said in a statement.

In recent years, he was far less visible, though even the most mundane outings caught the attention of the press. There were articles about him attending a show at a performing arts center in 2018, as well as pumping gas, doing yard work and getting a chicken sandwich at Wendy's in 2023.

Aside from appearances at awards shows, he was rarely seen in the Hollywood social circuit and retired from acting about 20 years ago. His was the rare Hollywood retirement that actually lasted.

Hackman had three children from a previous marriage. He and Arakawa had no children together but were known for having German shepherds.

This story was updated to correct Arakawa's age. Authorities initially listed her as 63 years old, but records show she was 65. It was also corrected to show that Hackman spoke to Empire magazine in 2009, not 2020.

Melley reported from London. Associated Press writers Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona; Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles; Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix; Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Sylvia Hui in London and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Oscar-winner&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/gene-hackman">Gene Hackman</a>, his wife and their dog were found dead in different rooms of their Santa Fe home and had apparently been dead for some time, according to investigators.

Hackman, 95, was found dead Wednesday in a mudroom and his 63-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found dead in a bathroom next to a space heater, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office detectives wrote in a search warrant. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Arakawa.

Denise Avila, a sheriff's office spokesperson, said there was no indication that any of them had been shot or had other types of wounds.

The New Mexico Gas Co. is working with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department in the investigation, spokesperson Tim Korte told The Associated Press.

The utility tested the gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were discovered, according to the warrant. At the time, it didn't find any signs of problems. A detective noted that people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide may not show signs of poisoning, but also noted there were no obvious signs of a gas leak.

The Associated Press left email and phone messages Thursday for sheriff’s officials seeking more details. A spokesperson for the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, which runs the state’s medical examiner operations, declined to comment on whether the cause and manner of deaths had been determined.

A worker reported that the home's front door was open when he arrived for routine maintenance and that he called police after finding the bodies. Two workers told police that they rarely saw the homeowners and that their last contact with them had been about two weeks earlier.

A dead German shepherd was found in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, police said. Two healthy dogs were found on the property.

The gruff-but-beloved&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gene-hackman-obituary-dies-a76fbe0cd6594393acaeea1c2710706d">Hackman was among the best actors</a>&nbsp;of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.

He routinely showed up on Hollywood list of greatest American actors of the 20th century. He could play virtually&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gene-hackman-notable-film-roles-1890bba6ab8e42029365f98dd5715c3a">any kind of role</a>, from comic book villain Lex Luthor in “Superman” to a coach finding redemption in the sentimental favorite “Hoosiers.”

Hackman was a five-time Oscar nominee who won for “The French Connection” in 1972 and “Unforgiven” two decades later. His death comes just four days before this year’s ceremony.

“The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration: Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity," director Francis Ford Coppola posted on Instagram.

Hackman met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist who grew up in Hawaii, when she was working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s, the New York Times reported in 1989. They soon moved in together, and by the end of the decade had decamped to Santa Fe.

Their Southwestern-style ranch on Old Sunset Trail sits on a hill in a gated community with views of the Rocky Mountains. The 8,700 square-foot (808 square-meter), four-bedroom home on six acres was built in 1997 and had an estimated market value of a little over $4 million, according to Santa Fe County property tax records.

Hackman and his wife also owned a more modest 2,000 square-foot (186 square-meter) home next door that was built in 2000.

In his first couple decades in New Mexico, Hackman was often seen around the historic state capital, which known as an artist enclave, tourism destination and retreat for celebrities.

He served as a board member of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in the 1990s, according to the local paper, The New Mexican.

In recent years, he was far less visible, though even the most mundane outings caught the attention of the press. The Independent wrote about him attending a show at the Lensic Performing Arts Center in 2018. The New York Post reported on him pumping gas, doing yard work and getting a chicken sandwich at Wendy's in 2023.

Hackman told the film magazine&nbsp;<a href="https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/gene-hackman-archive-interview-retirement-acting-novels/">Empire</a>&nbsp;in 2020 that he and Arakawa liked to watch DVDs she rented.

"We like simple stories that some of the little low-budget films manage to produce,” he said.

An email sent to his publicist was not immediately returned early Thursday.

LOS ANGELES (AP) —Oscar-winning actor&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/gene-hackman">Gene Hackman</a>, his wife and their dog were found dead in their New Mexico home, authorities said Thursday.

Foul play was not suspected, but authorities did not release circumstances of their deaths and said an investigation was ongoing.

Hackman, 95, Betsy Arakawa, 63, and their dog were all dead when deputies entered their home to check on their welfare around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Avila said.

The gruff-but-beloved&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gene-hackman-obituary-dies-a76fbe0cd6594393acaeea1c2710706d">Hackman was among the finest actors</a>&nbsp;of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.

He was a five-time Oscar nominee who won for “The French Connection” in 1972 and “Unforgiven” two decades later. His death comes just four days before this year’s ceremony.

Hackman met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist who grew up in Hawaii, when she was working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s, the New York Times reported in 1989. They soon moved in together, and by the end of the decade had bought their home in Santa Fe.

The large Southwestern-style ranch in a gated community just outside New Mexico’s capital city sits on a hill with views of the Rocky Mountains.

Hackman was often seen around town and served as a board member of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in the 1990s, according to the local paper, The New Mexican.

Aside from appearances at awards shows, he was rarely seen in the Hollywood social circuit and retired about 20 years ago. His was the rare Hollywood retirement that actually lasted.

Hackman had three children from a previous marriage, but he and Arakawa had no children together. In 1999 they had adopted three German shepherds, according to the Baltimore Sun.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Gene Hackman, the prolific Oscar-winning actor whose studied portraits ranged from reluctant heroes to conniving villains and made him one of the industry’s most respected and honored performers, has been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gene-hackman-found-dead-f6c106e92987aeaaab7b35c1b956a5c8">found dead</a>&nbsp;along with his wife at their home. He was 95.

Hackman was a frequent and versatile presence on screen from the 1960s until his retirement. His dozens of films included the Academy Award favorites “The French Connection” and “Unforgiven,” a breakout performance in “Bonnie and Clyde,” a classic bit of farce in “Young Frankenstein,” a turn as the comic book villain Lex Luthor in “Superman” and the title character in Wes Anderson’s 2001 “The Royal Tenenbaums."

He seemed capable of any kind of role — whether an uptight buffoon in “Birdcage,” a college coach finding redemption in the sentimental favorite “Hoosiers” or a secretive surveillance expert in Francis Ford Coppola’s Watergate-era release “The Conversation.”

Although self-effacing and unfashionable, Hackman held special status within Hollywood — heir to Spencer Tracy as an every man, actor’s actor, curmudgeon and reluctant celebrity. He embodied the ethos of doing his job, doing it very well, and letting others worry about his image. Beyond the obligatory appearances at awards ceremonies, he was rarely seen on the social circuit and made no secret of his disdain for the business side of show business.

“Actors tend to be shy people,” he told Film Comment in 1988. “There is perhaps a component of hostility in that shyness, and to reach a point where you don’t deal with others in a hostile or angry way, you choose this medium for yourself ... Then you can express yourself and get this wonderful feedback.”

He was an early retiree — essentially done, by choice, with movies by his mid-70s — and a late bloomer. Hackman was 35 when cast for “Bonnie and Clyde” and past 40 when he won his first Oscar, as the rules-bending New York City detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in the 1971 thriller about tracking down Manhattan drug smugglers, "The French Connection."

Jackie Gleason, Steve McQueen and Peter Boyle were among the actors considered for Doyle. Hackman was a minor star at the time, seemingly without the flamboyant personality that the role demanded. The actor himself feared that he was miscast. A couple of weeks of nighttime patrols of Harlem in police cars helped reassure him.

One of the first scenes of "The French Connection" required Hackman to slap around a suspect. The actor realized he had failed to achieve the intensity that the scene required, and asked director William Friedkin for another chance. The scene was filmed at the end of the shooting, by which time Hackman had immersed himself in the loose-cannon character of Popeye Doyle. Friedkin would recall needing 37 takes to get the scene right.

“I had to arouse an anger in Gene that was lying dormant, I felt, within him — that he was sort of ashamed of and didn’t really want to revisit,” Friedkin told the Los Angeles Review of Books in 2012.

The most famous sequence was dangerously realistic: A car chase in which Det. Doyle speeds under elevated subway tracks, his brown Pontiac (driven by a stuntman) screeching into areas that the filmmakers had not received permits for. When Doyle crashes into a white Ford, it wasn’t a stuntman driving the other car, but a New York City resident who didn’t know a movie was being made.

Hackman also resisted the role which brought him his second Oscar. When Clint Eastwood first offered him Little Bill Daggett, the corrupt town boss in "Unforgiven," Hackman turned it down. But he realized that Eastwood was planning to make a different kind of Western, a critique, not a celebration of violence. The film won him the Academy Award as best supporting actor of 1992.

“To his credit, and my joy, he talked me into it,” Hackman said of Eastwood during an interview with the American Film Institute.

Hackman played super-villain Lex Luthor opposite Christopher Reeve in director Richard Donner’s 1978 “Superman,” a film that established the prototype for the modern superhero movie. He also starred in two sequels.

Eugene Allen Hackman was born in San Bernardino, California, and grew up in Danville, Illinois, where his father worked as a pressman for the Commercial-News. His parents fought repeatedly, and his father often used his fists on Gene to take out his rage. The boy found refuge in movie houses, identifying with such screen rebels as Errol Flynn and James Cagney as his role models.

When Gene was 13, his father waved goodbye and drove off, never to return. The abandonment was a lasting injury to Gene. His mother had become an alcoholic and was constantly at odds with her mother, with whom the shattered family lived (Gene had a younger brother, actor Richard Hackman). At 16, he "suddenly got the itch to get out." Lying about his age, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines. In his early 30s, before his film career took off, his mother died in a fire started by her own cigarette.

"Dysfunctional families have sired a lot of pretty good actors," he observed ironically during a 2001 interview with The New York Times.

His brawling and resistance to authority led to his being demoted from corporal three times. His taste of show business came when he conquered his mic fright and became disc jockey and news announcer on his unit's radio station.

Sheriff updates mysterious death of Gene Hackman, wife and dog

WASHINGTON (AP) —A planned meeting of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration committee to recommend the makeup of seasonal flu shots for the 2025-2026 influenza season was abruptly canceled Wednesday.

That’s according to Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee.

If the meeting originally set for March 13 is not rescheduled promptly, it could delay production and distribution of shots to protect Americans against the disease, another official said.

Flu sickens millions and causes between 6,300 and 52,000 deaths each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I don’t understand who did this or why it was done,” Offit said in an email.

In the absence of the U.S. panel’s recommendation, officials would turn to the World Health Organization to determine which strains to include in the next season’s shots, he added

WASHINGTON (AP) —A planned meeting of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration committee to recommend the makeup of seasonal flu shots for the 2025-2026 influenza season was abruptly canceled Wednesday.That’s according to Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee.If the meeting originally set for March 13 is not rescheduled promptly, it could delay production and distribution of shots to protect Americans against the disease, another official said.Flu sickens millions and causes between 6,300 and 52,000 deaths each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.“I don’t understand who did this or why it was done,” Offit said in an email.In the absence of the U.S. panel’s recommendation, officials would turn to the World Health Organization to determine which strains to include in the next season’s shots, he added

FDA flu shot meeting is abruptly canceled

BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/sherman-smith/">SHERMAN SMITH</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/03/kansas-state-garden-city-cc-striving-to-shrink-bachelors-degree-educational-desert/?emci=8e6f56cf-3bca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;emdi=a9416bb1-82ca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;ceid=115039">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — Two former leaders of a Kansas foster care provider have entered plea negotiations to avoid trial for allegedly bilking the organization out of millions of dollars, federal court records show.

A&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/11/11/federal-grand-jury-indicts-former-kansas-foster-care-officials-on-fraud-charges/">grand jury indicted</a>&nbsp;former Saint Francis Ministries CEO Robert “Father Bobby” Smith and William Whymark, the organization’s former IT director, in November 2022 on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering with damages totaling at least $4.7 million.

A Feb. 25 court filing in the federal case shows “the parties are presently involved in plea negotiations and anticipate resolving this case without a trial.” The filing asks the court to authorize&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/probation-and-pretrial-services/presentence-investigations" target="_blank">a presentence investigation report</a>, which a court officer prepares when a defendant pleads guilty in order to help the judge determine the appropriate sentence.

The report “would materially facilitate the parties’ ongoing plea negotiations by allowing them to quickly and efficiently identify areas of potential agreement, while simultaneously isolating any disputed loss issues that may truly require litigation,” the joint court filing said.

Under the charges included in the indictment, they could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, plus fines and restitution.

Denny Marlin, spokesman for Saint Francis Ministries, said the organization wouldn’t comment “out of respect for the criminal justice system” and “to ensure we do not compromise the integrity of the legal process.”

“We look forward to its resolution and remain focused on our mission of providing healing and hope to children and families,” Marlin said.

Kansas Reflector&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/04/kansas-agency-serving-3100-foster-children-accused-of-rampant-financial-mismanagement/">first reported</a>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/15/kansas-based-foster-care-providers-financial-turmoil-cubs-tickets-amplify-concerns-in-nebraska/">allegations of misconduct</a>&nbsp;by Smith and Whymark shortly after they left Saint Francis Ministries in November 2020. An&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/20/kansas-foster-care-leader-charged-469k-to-credit-cards-hid-financial-losses/">internal investigation</a>&nbsp;revealed excessive billing for IT services and charges by Smith for lavish personal expenses.

In 2022, Saint Francis sued Smith, Whymark and former general counsel David Shaffer, accusing them of operating a scheme to enrich themselves through fraudulent billing. The lawsuit identified Shaffer and Whymark as brothers.

The former employees denied the claims, and Smith countersued Saint Francis employees for defamation because of reporting by Kansas Reflector.

Saint Francis hired Smith, an Episcopal priest ordained in 2014 by the Diocese of Chicago, as president and CEO in 2014. From 2017 to 2020, according to the state lawsuit, Smith charged $442,276.17 on Saint Francis Ministries credit cards, “a significant portion of which funded lavish meals, entertainment, travel and gifts for him and his family.” Smith also paid a travel agency $57,125.43, “a majority of which had no legitimate business purpose or was grossly excessive,” the lawsuit said.

Shaffer for at least eight months billed Saint Francis both through his Chicago law firm and in his individual capacity, which the lawsuit characterizes as legal malpractice. From 2015 to 2019, Shaffer billed more than $1 million in legal fees to his law firm, and from 2018 to 2020 an additional $500,000 in payments to himself. Smith approved the “grossly excessive” invoices, the lawsuit said, including invoices for legal work unrelated to Saint Francis and $4,000 for moving and storage expenses for office furniture at his Chicago law firm.

Whymark wasn’t qualified to provide IT services, but Smith hired him as chief information officer and signed off on more than $11 million for services provided by Whymark’s IT company. The lawsuit said those services were “grossly deficient and overpriced.”

Whymark’s company outsourced work to build a content management system that wouldn’t function. In the fall of 2019, while Saint Francis was undergoing a financial audit, the system crashed and destroyed financial data. Whymark then wiped the hard drives, according to the lawsuit, and the organization spent an estimated $3.2 million to repair Whymark’s IT work.

At the time, Saint Francis Ministries was the largest foster care provider in Kansas, serving more than 3,000 foster kids.

By January 2020, the IT costs combined with a severely underbid contract to provide foster care services in Nebraska placed Saint Francis in financial peril. The organization survived in part by receiving a $10 million Payment Protection Program loan, which it wasn’t eligible for and never repaid, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, the Kansas Department for Children and Families awarded new foster care contracts and replaced Saint Francis as the provider for the Wichita region. Saint Francis continues to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dcf.ks.gov/services/pages/mapfostercare.aspx" target="_blank">provide foster care services</a>&nbsp;for much of central and western Kansas.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1660235188905.png" alt="&nbsp;Former Saint Francis Ministries CEO Robert “Father Bobby” Smith and William Whymark, who oversaw IT services, have entered into plea negotiations to settle federal charges that involve wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, a court filing shows. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;Former Saint Francis Ministries CEO Robert “Father Bobby” Smith and William Whymark, who oversaw IT services, have entered into plea negotiations to settle federal charges that involve wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, a court filing shows. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/sherman-smith/">SHERMAN SMITH</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/03/kansas-state-garden-city-cc-striving-to-shrink-bachelors-degree-educational-desert/?emci=8e6f56cf-3bca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;emdi=a9416bb1-82ca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;ceid=115039">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — Two former leaders of a Kansas foster care provider have entered plea negotiations to avoid trial for allegedly bilking the organization out of millions of dollars, federal court records show.A&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/11/11/federal-grand-jury-indicts-former-kansas-foster-care-officials-on-fraud-charges/">grand jury indicted</a>&nbsp;former Saint Francis Ministries CEO Robert “Father Bobby” Smith and William Whymark, the organization’s former IT director, in November 2022 on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering with damages totaling at least $4.7 million.A Feb. 25 court filing in the federal case shows “the parties are presently involved in plea negotiations and anticipate resolving this case without a trial.” The filing asks the court to authorize&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/probation-and-pretrial-services/presentence-investigations" target="_blank">a presentence investigation report</a>, which a court officer prepares when a defendant pleads guilty in order to help the judge determine the appropriate sentence.The report “would materially facilitate the parties’ ongoing plea negotiations by allowing them to quickly and efficiently identify areas of potential agreement, while simultaneously isolating any disputed loss issues that may truly require litigation,” the joint court filing said.Under the charges included in the indictment, they could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, plus fines and restitution.Denny Marlin, spokesman for Saint Francis Ministries, said the organization wouldn’t comment “out of respect for the criminal justice system” and “to ensure we do not compromise the integrity of the legal process.”“We look forward to its resolution and remain focused on our mission of providing healing and hope to children and families,” Marlin said.Kansas Reflector&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/04/kansas-agency-serving-3100-foster-children-accused-of-rampant-financial-mismanagement/">first reported</a>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/15/kansas-based-foster-care-providers-financial-turmoil-cubs-tickets-amplify-concerns-in-nebraska/">allegations of misconduct</a>&nbsp;by Smith and Whymark shortly after they left Saint Francis Ministries in November 2020. An&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/20/kansas-foster-care-leader-charged-469k-to-credit-cards-hid-financial-losses/">internal investigation</a>&nbsp;revealed excessive billing for IT services and charges by Smith for lavish personal expenses.In 2022, Saint Francis sued Smith, Whymark and former general counsel David Shaffer, accusing them of operating a scheme to enrich themselves through fraudulent billing. The lawsuit identified Shaffer and Whymark as brothers.The former employees denied the claims, and Smith countersued Saint Francis employees for defamation because of reporting by Kansas Reflector.Saint Francis hired Smith, an Episcopal priest ordained in 2014 by the Diocese of Chicago, as president and CEO in 2014. From 2017 to 2020, according to the state lawsuit, Smith charged $442,276.17 on Saint Francis Ministries credit cards, “a significant portion of which funded lavish meals, entertainment, travel and gifts for him and his family.” Smith also paid a travel agency $57,125.43, “a majority of which had no legitimate business purpose or was grossly excessive,” the lawsuit said.Shaffer for at least eight months billed Saint Francis both through his Chicago law firm and in his individual capacity, which the lawsuit characterizes as legal malpractice. From 2015 to 2019, Shaffer billed more than $1 million in legal fees to his law firm, and from 2018 to 2020 an additional $500,000 in payments to himself. Smith approved the “grossly excessive” invoices, the lawsuit said, including invoices for legal work unrelated to Saint Francis and $4,000 for moving and storage expenses for office furniture at his Chicago law firm.Whymark wasn’t qualified to provide IT services, but Smith hired him as chief information officer and signed off on more than $11 million for services provided by Whymark’s IT company. The lawsuit said those services were “grossly deficient and overpriced.”Whymark’s company outsourced work to build a content management system that wouldn’t function. In the fall of 2019, while Saint Francis was undergoing a financial audit, the system crashed and destroyed financial data. Whymark then wiped the hard drives, according to the lawsuit, and the organization spent an estimated $3.2 million to repair Whymark’s IT work.At the time, Saint Francis Ministries was the largest foster care provider in Kansas, serving more than 3,000 foster kids.By January 2020, the IT costs combined with a severely underbid contract to provide foster care services in Nebraska placed Saint Francis in financial peril. The organization survived in part by receiving a $10 million Payment Protection Program loan, which it wasn’t eligible for and never repaid, during the COVID-19 pandemic.Last year, the Kansas Department for Children and Families awarded new foster care contracts and replaced Saint Francis as the provider for the Wichita region. Saint Francis continues to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dcf.ks.gov/services/pages/mapfostercare.aspx" target="_blank">provide foster care services</a>&nbsp;for much of central and western Kansas.

Former leaders of Kan. foster care provider negotiating plea deal in federal fraud case

BY&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/michael-phillis">MICHAEL PHILLIS</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/jennifer-mcdermott">JENNIFER MCDERMOTT</a> Associated Press

President Donald Trump began dismantling his predecessor’s climate change and renewable energy policies on his first day in office, declaring a national energy emergency to speed up fossil fuel development – a policy he has summed up as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-election-climate-pollution-oil-gas-clean-energy-f6ad39e23613396a7536fb1dc25fca62">“drill, baby, drill.”</a>

The declaration calls on the federal government to make it easier for companies to build oil and gas projects, in part by weakening environmental reviews, with the goal of lowering prices and selling to international markets.

Democrats say that’s a sham. They point out that the U.S. is producing more oil and natural gas than any other country and the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act boosted renewable energy at a critical time, creating jobs and addressing the climate change threat –&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-warming-hot-record-2024-disasters-12f899f071fcdbd051ad49a872611e92">2024 was Earth’s hottest year on record</a>&nbsp;amid the hottest 10-year stretch on record.

“It would also set a horrible precedent, that a president of either party can invent a sham emergency and then grab away from Congress powers that Congress has” in the Constitution, said Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia.

Kaine spoke Wednesday in support of a Senate resolution from Democrats to terminate Trump’s declaration that later failed on a party-line 52-47 vote.

BY&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/michael-phillis">MICHAEL PHILLIS</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/jennifer-mcdermott">JENNIFER MCDERMOTT</a> Associated PressPresident Donald Trump began dismantling his predecessor’s climate change and renewable energy policies on his first day in office, declaring a national energy emergency to speed up fossil fuel development – a policy he has summed up as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-election-climate-pollution-oil-gas-clean-energy-f6ad39e23613396a7536fb1dc25fca62">“drill, baby, drill.”</a>The declaration calls on the federal government to make it easier for companies to build oil and gas projects, in part by weakening environmental reviews, with the goal of lowering prices and selling to international markets.Democrats say that’s a sham. They point out that the U.S. is producing more oil and natural gas than any other country and the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act boosted renewable energy at a critical time, creating jobs and addressing the climate change threat –&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-warming-hot-record-2024-disasters-12f899f071fcdbd051ad49a872611e92">2024 was Earth’s hottest year on record</a>&nbsp;amid the hottest 10-year stretch on record.“It would also set a horrible precedent, that a president of either party can invent a sham emergency and then grab away from Congress powers that Congress has” in the Constitution, said Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia.Kaine spoke Wednesday in support of a Senate resolution from Democrats to terminate Trump’s declaration that later failed on a party-line 52-47 vote.Meanwhile, the Trump administration has already made the U.S. an even friendlier environment for fossil fuels. Congress is helping, too, with the House voting to repeal a Biden administration-era methane fee on oil and gas producers.In addition, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/epa-endangerment-finding-zeldin-trump-climate-change-4b34246d5ca798154af08560fd94f7b9">has urged the White House to reconsider</a>&nbsp;a finding that greenhouse gases endanger the public, a fundamental Obama-era document that underpins the agency’s power to regulate planet-warming emissions, according to four people who were briefed on the matter but spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the recommendation is not public.Here are some ways the Trump administration has moved to advance fossil fuels:The Biden administration last year&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lng-exports-biden-europe-climate-russia-24a7730a3b8449273fec73824ce26001">paused evaluations of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals</a>. That pleased environmentalists concerned that a big surge in exports would contribute to planet-warming emissions. The pause didn’t stop projects already under construction, but it delayed consideration of new projects.Trump reversed that pause.On Tuesday, oil and gas giant Shell said global LNG demand is forecast to rise by around 60% by 2040.The United States is expected to play a major role in meeting that demand, with its export capacity expected to double before 2030, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.“I think investors have become much more comfortable that they can move towards final investment decisions without the concerns that they had over the last four years about potential roadblocks,” said Christopher Treanor, an energy and environmental attorney at the law firm Akin.<h2>Drilling expansion</h2>Trump has opened more land for oil and gas lease sales, shifting away from Biden’s efforts to protect environmentally sensitive areas like Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuge and to prevent large swaths of ocean from being available for offshore drilling, including major areas off coasts in the Pacific, Atlantic and parts of Alaska.Environmental groups are suing to stop Trump’s moves.Expanding the area available for companies to lease and drill doesn’t necessarily mean that more oil and gas will be produced. When leases were made available in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge, for example, only smaller companies bid and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/alaska-arctic-refuge-oil-lease-sale-efb6ec0b74fe0e38cd1c20c212741771">there were no buyers for a second lease sale</a>.<h2>Army Corps appears ready to help projects sidestep the Clean Water Act</h2>The Army Corps of Engineers marked hundreds of Clean Water Act permits for fast-tracking, citing Trump’s order on energy, then removed that notation in its database. The agency said it needed to review active permit applications before publishing which ones will be fast-tracked.“They don’t seem to be backing off,” said Tom Pelton, spokesman with the Environmental Integrity Project. “They are just going to refine the list.”Many of the permit applications that had been listed for expediting are for fossil fuel projects, but some others have nothing to do with energy, including a housing subdivision proposed by Chevron in southern California, according to the Environmental Integrity Project.David Bookbinder, the organization’s director of law and policy, said the Trump administration is using the “pretext of a national energy emergency” to ask a federal agency to circumvent environmental protections to justify building more fossil fuel power plants. Bookbinder said there’s no shortage of energy.<h2>Slashing the federal workforce</h2>Pat Parenteau, professor emeritus at Vermont Law &amp; Graduate School, said Trump’s policy changes aren’t nearly as important as the deep cuts to the federal government that eliminate vital expertise. At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, for example, Trump said the head of the EPA should axe roughly two-thirds of its employees.“I think they are going to accomplish what no other administration has been able to do in terms of crippling the institutional capacity of the federal government to protect public health, to conserve national resources to save endangered species,” he said. “That is where we are going to see long-term, permanent damage.”Trump’s energy emergency calls, for example, for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-climate-change-oil-whales-turtles-9d068d755e8ac4060fd7381178d87421">undermining Endangered Species Act protections</a>&nbsp;to ensure fast energy development, even assembling a rarely used committee — the so-called “God Squad” — that could have authority to dismiss significant threats to species. That move was coupled with recent deep cuts to the Fish &amp; Wildlife Service, which administers the law.Parenteau said some species are likely to go extinct.<h2>Executive orders take aim at renewables</h2>Trump also&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wind-energy-offshore-turbines-trump-executive-order-995a744c3c1a2eddb30cacf50b681f13">targeted wind energy</a>&nbsp;with an order to temporarily halt offshore wind lease sales in federal waters and pause federal approvals, permits and loans for projects both onshore and offshore.In another order, he listed domestic energy resources that could help ensure a reliable, diversified and affordable supply of energy. Solar, wind and battery storage were omitted, though&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/renewable-energy-climate-solar-wind-fossil-fuels-2718fce0ed37232dc25dbf46fff87955">solar is the fastest-growing source of electricity generation</a>&nbsp;in the United States. Trump has vowed to end tax credits for renewables as well, which would push up prices.Substantially slowing renewables could leave the U.S. wedded to coal and gas for far longer as coal plants are extended and new gas plants are built, said David Shepheard, partner and energy expert at the global consultant Baringa.Shepheard said the U.S. is facing unprecedented growth in electricity demand largely to meet needs from data centers and artificial intelligence, and increasingly the deck is stacked against renewables to meet it.A Baringa analysis found Trump’s policies will drive up emissions and put the agreed-upon international climate threshold further out of reach.<h2>___</h2>