<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JONEL%20ALECCIA%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JONEL ALECCIA AP Health Writer</a>

U.S. health officials are investigating a new outbreak of salmonella illnesses tied to a Florida grower whose tainted cucumbers were linked to more than&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/salmonella-cucumbers-outbreak-florida-water-fccb66a1e0733fc97d29065e287052bc">550 illnesses last year.</a>

Cucumbers grown by Florida-based Bedner Growers and distributed by Fresh Start Produce Sales have been linked to illnesses in at least 26 people <a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/bedner-growers-inc-recalls-cucumbers-because-possible-health-risk">in 15 states including Kansas,</a> the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported late Monday. At least nine people have been hospitalized; no deaths have been reported.

The cucumbers were sold to restaurants, stores and food service distributors between April 29 and May 19 and may still be within their shelf life this week. Illnesses were reported between April 2 and April 28, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The outbreak was detected as part of a follow-up inspection in April to a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/salmonella-cucumbers-recall-a0a479fa6002c7e3b99a705e18f40cdf">2024 outbreak</a>&nbsp;that sickened 551 people and led to 155 hospitalizations in 34 states and Washington, D.C. In that outbreak, investigators found salmonella bacteria linked to many of the illnesses in untreated canal water used at farms operated by Bedner Growers and Thomas Produce Company.

In the current outbreak, officials found salmonella bacteria from samples on the farm that matched samples from people who got sick.

Health officials are investigating where the potentially contaminated cucumbers were distributed. Several people who fell ill ate cucumbers on cruise ships leaving ports in Florida, according to the CDC. Organic cucumbers are not affected, officials said.

Retailers should notify consumers who may have bought the tainted produce. If consumers don't know the source of cucumbers, they should throw them away, officials said.

Symptoms of salmonella poisoning include diarrhea, fever, severe vomiting, dehydration and stomach cramps. Most people who get sick recover within a week. Infections can be severe in young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems, who may require hospitalization.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747793441919.png" alt="USDA image" />
 <figcaption>USDA image</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JONEL%20ALECCIA%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JONEL ALECCIA AP Health Writer</a>U.S. health officials are investigating a new outbreak of salmonella illnesses tied to a Florida grower whose tainted cucumbers were linked to more than&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/salmonella-cucumbers-outbreak-florida-water-fccb66a1e0733fc97d29065e287052bc">550 illnesses last year.</a><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747824054573.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Cucumbers grown by Florida-based Bedner Growers and distributed by Fresh Start Produce Sales have been linked to illnesses in at least 26 people <a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/bedner-growers-inc-recalls-cucumbers-because-possible-health-risk">in 15 states including Kansas,</a> the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported late Monday. At least nine people have been hospitalized; no deaths have been reported.The cucumbers were sold to restaurants, stores and food service distributors between April 29 and May 19 and may still be within their shelf life this week. Illnesses were reported between April 2 and April 28, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The outbreak was detected as part of a follow-up inspection in April to a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/salmonella-cucumbers-recall-a0a479fa6002c7e3b99a705e18f40cdf">2024 outbreak</a>&nbsp;that sickened 551 people and led to 155 hospitalizations in 34 states and Washington, D.C. In that outbreak, investigators found salmonella bacteria linked to many of the illnesses in untreated canal water used at farms operated by Bedner Growers and Thomas Produce Company.In the current outbreak, officials found salmonella bacteria from samples on the farm that matched samples from people who got sick.Health officials are investigating where the potentially contaminated cucumbers were distributed. Several people who fell ill ate cucumbers on cruise ships leaving ports in Florida, according to the CDC. Organic cucumbers are not affected, officials said.Retailers should notify consumers who may have bought the tainted produce. If consumers don't know the source of cucumbers, they should throw them away, officials said.Symptoms of salmonella poisoning include diarrhea, fever, severe vomiting, dehydration and stomach cramps. Most people who get sick recover within a week. Infections can be severe in young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems, who may require hospitalization.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Salmonella outbreak: Recall of cucumbers linked to illness in Kansas

KANSAS CITY—A Kansas City man is going to prison for a fatal stabbing.

Last week Phillip R. Lacy was sentenced to 18 years in prison for a fatal stabbing that took place in 2023, according to&nbsp;Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson

Lacy pled guilty to Voluntary Manslaughter and Armed Criminal Action. He was sentenced to 15 years for Voluntary Manslaughter and three years for Armed Criminal Action, for a total of 18 years in prison.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com/DocumentCenter/View/2620/Phillip-Lacy-Statement-of-Probable-Cause_Redacted">According to court records</a>, Kansas City police were dispatched on November 10, 2023, to 24th Street and Cypress Avenue and found the victim. He was later declared deceased at a local hospital.&nbsp;

Based on witness reports, Lacy was smoking methamphetamine and then engaged in an altercation with the victim in an abandoned building. During the altercation, Lacy produced a screwdriver and began stabbing the victim.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747509660446.png" alt="Lacy photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Lacy photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY—A Kansas City man is going to prison for a fatal stabbing.Last week Phillip R. Lacy was sentenced to 18 years in prison for a fatal stabbing that took place in 2023, according to&nbsp;Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa JohnsonLacy pled guilty to Voluntary Manslaughter and Armed Criminal Action. He was sentenced to 15 years for Voluntary Manslaughter and three years for Armed Criminal Action, for a total of 18 years in prison.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com/DocumentCenter/View/2620/Phillip-Lacy-Statement-of-Probable-Cause_Redacted">According to court records</a>, Kansas City police were dispatched on November 10, 2023, to 24th Street and Cypress Avenue and found the victim. He was later declared deceased at a local hospital.&nbsp;Based on witness reports, Lacy was smoking methamphetamine and then engaged in an altercation with the victim in an abandoned building. During the altercation, Lacy produced a screwdriver and began stabbing the victim.&nbsp;

Kansas City man admits to killing victim with a screwdriver

GEARY COUNTY —A Kansas woman involved in an alleged domestic incident involving a Junction City City commissioner&nbsp;

During a Geary County District Court hearing Monday, 26-year-old Corrieyonna Trice entered a not guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of Domestic Battery involving Commissioner 30-year-old Alovence Gordon with whom she lived.

A jury trial was scheduled for September 15 in the case.

Trice was charged following the alleged incident involving Gordon. He too faces one misdemeanor count of Domestic Battery with arraignment scheduled on June 2.

On January 23, police were called to their home. Trice had earlier testified about a fight with Gordon revolving around hair clips that she had laid out to do her hair. The clips wound up in a shopping bag carried by Gordon with a dispute over who had initially possessed the clips. 

Earlier this month, the court denied a defense motion for immunity from prosecution by Gordon in the case.&nbsp;

Gordon and Trice had been in a relationship for nearly seven years.&nbsp; Both were released from custody on own recognizance, according to online jail records.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1737753585186.jpeg" alt="Alovence Gordon photo Geary Co." />
 <figcaption>Alovence Gordon photo Geary Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>GEARY COUNTY —A Kansas woman involved in an alleged domestic incident involving a Junction City City commissioner&nbsp;During a Geary County District Court hearing Monday, 26-year-old Corrieyonna Trice entered a not guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of Domestic Battery involving Commissioner 30-year-old Alovence Gordon with whom she lived.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1737753680992.jpeg" alt="Corrieyonna Trice photo Geary Co." />
 <figcaption>Corrieyonna Trice photo Geary Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>A jury trial was scheduled for September 15 in the case.Trice was charged following the alleged incident involving Gordon. He too faces one misdemeanor count of Domestic Battery with arraignment scheduled on June 2.On January 23, police were called to their home. Trice had earlier testified about a fight with Gordon revolving around hair clips that she had laid out to do her hair. The clips wound up in a shopping bag carried by Gordon with a dispute over who had initially possessed the clips. Earlier this month, the court denied a defense motion for immunity from prosecution by Gordon in the case.&nbsp;Gordon and Trice had been in a relationship for nearly seven years.&nbsp; Both were released from custody on own recognizance, according to online jail records.

Kan. woman enters plea in alleged fight over hair clips

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/meg-kinnard">MEG KINNARD</a> Associated Press

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says the&nbsp;<a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/articles/article-i/clauses/763" target="_blank">constitutional provision</a>&nbsp;that allows people to legally challenge their detention by the government is actually a tool the Trump administration can use in its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-enforcement-deportation-public-polling-df7d0d35dfa031e1444bfa9e9e0b13bd">broader crackdown</a>&nbsp;at the U.S.-Mexico border. She called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/habeas_corpus" target="_blank">habeas corpus</a>&nbsp;“a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country and suspend their rights.”

Noem, testifying before a congressional committee Tuesday, gave that response when asked by Sen. Maggie Hassan to define the legal concept.

“That’s incorrect,” the New Hampshire Democrat swiftly interrupted Noem, defining the “legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people.” Hassan, a former attorney who practiced in Boston, went on to call habeas corpus “the foundational right that separates free societies like America from police states like North Korea.”

The back and forth follows comments by White House deputy chief of staff&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/stephen-miller">Stephen Miller</a>, who said earlier this month that President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;is looking for ways to expand his administration’s legal power to deport migrants who are in the United States illegally. To achieve that, Miller said the administration is “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus.

The Latin term means, literally, “you have the body.” Federal courts use a writ of habeas corpus to bring a prisoner before a neutral judge to determine if imprisonment is legal.

Habeas corpus was included in the Constitution as an import from English common law. Parliament enacted the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, which was meant to ensure that the king released prisoners when the law did not justify confining them.

The Constitution’s&nbsp;<a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI-S9-C2-1/ALDE_00001087/" target="_blank">Suspension Clause</a>, the second clause of Section 9 of Article I, states that habeas corpus “shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it.”

Yes. The United States has suspended habeas corpus under four distinct circumstances during its history. Those usually involved authorization from Congress, something that would be nearly impossible today — even at Trump’s urging — given the narrow Republican majorities in the House and Senate.

President Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus multiple times during the Civil War, beginning in 1861 to detain suspected spies and Confederate sympathizers. He ignored a ruling from Roger Taney, the Supreme Court ‘s chief justice. Congress then authorized suspending it in 1863, which allowed Lincoln to do so again.

Congress acted similarly under President Ulysses S. Grant, suspending habeas corpus in parts of South Carolina under the Civil Rights Act of 1871. Also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, it was meant to counter violence and intimidation by groups that opposed Reconstruction in the South.

Habeas corpus was suspended in two provinces of the Philippines in 1905, when it was a U.S. territory and authorities were worried about the threat of an insurrection, and in Hawaii after the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor but before it became a state in 1959.

Writing before becoming a Supreme Court justice,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/amy-coney-barrett">Amy Coney Barrett</a>&nbsp;co-authored&nbsp;<a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/articles/article-i/clauses/763" target="_blank">a piece</a>&nbsp;stating that the Suspension Clause “does not specify which branch of government has the authority to suspend the privilege of the writ, but most agree that only Congress can do it.”

What has the Trump administration said about suspending it?

Miller has said the administration is considering trying.

“The Constitution is clear, and that of course is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion,” he told reporters outside the White House on May 9.

“So, I would say that’s an option we’re actively looking at,” Miller said. “Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.”

Asked by Hassan on Tuesday if she supported the provision, Noem said she did, adding that “the president of the United States has the authority under the Constitution to decide if it should be suspended or not.”

Hassan, who responded by saying that even Lincoln had obtained “retroactive approval” from Congress, then asked Noem if she would follow a court order overturning a theoretical suspension of habeas corpus, or if she would follow Trump’s decision.

Noem said she was “following all court orders ... as is the president,” prompting Hassan to say “that is obviously not true for anybody who reads the news.”

John Blume, a professor at Cornell Law School, said Noem’s response to Hassan was either evidence that she “fundamentally misunderstands habeas corpus” or “was giving an answer she knew was wrong to appease the president.”

Should the administration argue that the constitutional provision should be suspended due to what Trump officials have characterized as an “invasion” by migrants, Blume said he felt such a position would be “very unlikely to fly” with the U.S. Supreme Court.

It can try. Miller suggested that the U.S. is facing an “invasion” of migrants. That term was used deliberately, though any effort to suspend habeas corpus would spark legal challenges questioning whether the country was in fact facing an invasion, let alone one that presented extraordinary threats to public safety.

Federal judges have so far been skeptical of the Trump administration’s past efforts to use extraordinary powers to make deportations easier, and that could make suspending habeas corpus even tougher.

Trump argued in March that the United States was facing an “invasion” of Venezuelan gang members and evoked the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/alien-enemies-trump-immigration-deportations-21a62ede23b8c493b60d00a9c125722f">Alien Enemies Act of 1798</a>, a wartime authority he has tried to use to speed up mass deportations. His administration acted to swiftly deport alleged members of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-alien-enemies-act-venezuela-tren-de-aragua-gabbard-d818cc58962ba90cd2c94ca1b494d4fd">Tren de Aragua</a>&nbsp;to a notorious&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/el-salvador-trump-prison-immigrants-4ab3fc3c0474efb308084604b61f8a37">prison in El Salvador</a>, leading to a series of legal fights.

Federal courts around the country, including in New York, Colorado, Texas and Pennsylvania, have since&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-alien-enemies-act-judge-ruling-f1988c63140c95f8228b42368caed96b">blocked the administration’s uses</a>&nbsp;of the Alien Enemies Act for many reasons, including by raising questions about whether the country is truly facing an invasion.

If courts are already skeptical, how could habeas corpus be suspended?

Miller, who has been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-courts-judges-rule-of-law-85058a5ffcef105d4ea2ce0ef078f084">fiercely critical</a>&nbsp;of judges ruling against the administration, advanced the argument that the judicial branch may not get to decide.

“Congress passed a body of law known as the Immigration Nationality Act which stripped Article III courts, that’s the judicial branch, of jurisdiction over immigration cases,” he said earlier this month.

That statute was approved by Congress in 1952 and there were important amendments in 1996 and 2005. Legal scholars note that it does contain language that could funnel certain cases to immigration courts, which are overseen by the executive branch.

Still, most appeals in those cases would largely be handled by the judicial branch, and they could run into the same issues as Trump’s attempts to use the Alien Enemies Act.

The U.S. system of government is divided into three branches: executive (the president), legislative (Congress) and judicial (the courts).

Technically not since Pearl Harbor, though habeas corpus has been at the center of some major legal challenges more recently than that.

Republican President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/president-george-w-bush-paintings-exhibit-38c9e923ec84bd2b3c55be21a2d1f100">George W. Bush</a>&nbsp;did not move to suspend habeas corpus after the Sept. 11 attacks, but his administration subsequently sent detainees to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, drawing lawsuits from advocates who argued the administration was violating it and other legal constitutional protections.

In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that Guantanamo detainees had a constitutional right to habeas corpus, allowing them to challenge their detention before a judge. That led to some detainees being released.

Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Mark Sherman contributed to this report.

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/meg-kinnard">MEG KINNARD</a> Associated PressHomeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says the&nbsp;<a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/articles/article-i/clauses/763" target="_blank">constitutional provision</a>&nbsp;that allows people to legally challenge their detention by the government is actually a tool the Trump administration can use in its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-enforcement-deportation-public-polling-df7d0d35dfa031e1444bfa9e9e0b13bd">broader crackdown</a>&nbsp;at the U.S.-Mexico border. She called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/habeas_corpus" target="_blank">habeas corpus</a>&nbsp;“a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country and suspend their rights.”<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">HASSAN: What is habeas corpus? NOEM: Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country HASSAN: That&#39;s incorrect <a href="https://t.co/ozRVVfdSoP">pic.twitter.com/ozRVVfdSoP</a>&mdash; Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1924831221814636632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Noem, testifying before a congressional committee Tuesday, gave that response when asked by Sen. Maggie Hassan to define the legal concept.“That’s incorrect,” the New Hampshire Democrat swiftly interrupted Noem, defining the “legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people.” Hassan, a former attorney who practiced in Boston, went on to call habeas corpus “the foundational right that separates free societies like America from police states like North Korea.”The back and forth follows comments by White House deputy chief of staff&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/stephen-miller">Stephen Miller</a>, who said earlier this month that President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;is looking for ways to expand his administration’s legal power to deport migrants who are in the United States illegally. To achieve that, Miller said the administration is “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus.The Latin term means, literally, “you have the body.” Federal courts use a writ of habeas corpus to bring a prisoner before a neutral judge to determine if imprisonment is legal.Habeas corpus was included in the Constitution as an import from English common law. Parliament enacted the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, which was meant to ensure that the king released prisoners when the law did not justify confining them.The Constitution’s&nbsp;<a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI-S9-C2-1/ALDE_00001087/" target="_blank">Suspension Clause</a>, the second clause of Section 9 of Article I, states that habeas corpus “shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it.”<h2>Has it been suspended previously?</h2>Yes. The United States has suspended habeas corpus under four distinct circumstances during its history. Those usually involved authorization from Congress, something that would be nearly impossible today — even at Trump’s urging — given the narrow Republican majorities in the House and Senate.President Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus multiple times during the Civil War, beginning in 1861 to detain suspected spies and Confederate sympathizers. He ignored a ruling from Roger Taney, the Supreme Court ‘s chief justice. Congress then authorized suspending it in 1863, which allowed Lincoln to do so again.Congress acted similarly under President Ulysses S. Grant, suspending habeas corpus in parts of South Carolina under the Civil Rights Act of 1871. Also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, it was meant to counter violence and intimidation by groups that opposed Reconstruction in the South.Habeas corpus was suspended in two provinces of the Philippines in 1905, when it was a U.S. territory and authorities were worried about the threat of an insurrection, and in Hawaii after the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor but before it became a state in 1959.Writing before becoming a Supreme Court justice,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/amy-coney-barrett">Amy Coney Barrett</a>&nbsp;co-authored&nbsp;<a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/articles/article-i/clauses/763" target="_blank">a piece</a>&nbsp;stating that the Suspension Clause “does not specify which branch of government has the authority to suspend the privilege of the writ, but most agree that only Congress can do it.”<h2>What has the Trump administration said about suspending it?</h2>Miller has said the administration is considering trying.“The Constitution is clear, and that of course is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion,” he told reporters outside the White House on May 9.“So, I would say that’s an option we’re actively looking at,” Miller said. “Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.”Asked by Hassan on Tuesday if she supported the provision, Noem said she did, adding that “the president of the United States has the authority under the Constitution to decide if it should be suspended or not.”Hassan, who responded by saying that even Lincoln had obtained “retroactive approval” from Congress, then asked Noem if she would follow a court order overturning a theoretical suspension of habeas corpus, or if she would follow Trump’s decision.Noem said she was “following all court orders ... as is the president,” prompting Hassan to say “that is obviously not true for anybody who reads the news.”John Blume, a professor at Cornell Law School, said Noem’s response to Hassan was either evidence that she “fundamentally misunderstands habeas corpus” or “was giving an answer she knew was wrong to appease the president.”Should the administration argue that the constitutional provision should be suspended due to what Trump officials have characterized as an “invasion” by migrants, Blume said he felt such a position would be “very unlikely to fly” with the U.S. Supreme Court.<h2>Could the Trump administration do it?</h2>It can try. Miller suggested that the U.S. is facing an “invasion” of migrants. That term was used deliberately, though any effort to suspend habeas corpus would spark legal challenges questioning whether the country was in fact facing an invasion, let alone one that presented extraordinary threats to public safety.Federal judges have so far been skeptical of the Trump administration’s past efforts to use extraordinary powers to make deportations easier, and that could make suspending habeas corpus even tougher.Trump argued in March that the United States was facing an “invasion” of Venezuelan gang members and evoked the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/alien-enemies-trump-immigration-deportations-21a62ede23b8c493b60d00a9c125722f">Alien Enemies Act of 1798</a>, a wartime authority he has tried to use to speed up mass deportations. His administration acted to swiftly deport alleged members of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-alien-enemies-act-venezuela-tren-de-aragua-gabbard-d818cc58962ba90cd2c94ca1b494d4fd">Tren de Aragua</a>&nbsp;to a notorious&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/el-salvador-trump-prison-immigrants-4ab3fc3c0474efb308084604b61f8a37">prison in El Salvador</a>, leading to a series of legal fights.Federal courts around the country, including in New York, Colorado, Texas and Pennsylvania, have since&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-alien-enemies-act-judge-ruling-f1988c63140c95f8228b42368caed96b">blocked the administration’s uses</a>&nbsp;of the Alien Enemies Act for many reasons, including by raising questions about whether the country is truly facing an invasion.<h2>If courts are already skeptical, how could habeas corpus be suspended?</h2>Miller, who has been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-courts-judges-rule-of-law-85058a5ffcef105d4ea2ce0ef078f084">fiercely critical</a>&nbsp;of judges ruling against the administration, advanced the argument that the judicial branch may not get to decide.“Congress passed a body of law known as the Immigration Nationality Act which stripped Article III courts, that’s the judicial branch, of jurisdiction over immigration cases,” he said earlier this month.That statute was approved by Congress in 1952 and there were important amendments in 1996 and 2005. Legal scholars note that it does contain language that could funnel certain cases to immigration courts, which are overseen by the executive branch.Still, most appeals in those cases would largely be handled by the judicial branch, and they could run into the same issues as Trump’s attempts to use the Alien Enemies Act.The U.S. system of government is divided into three branches: executive (the president), legislative (Congress) and judicial (the courts).<h2>Have other administrations tried this?</h2>Technically not since Pearl Harbor, though habeas corpus has been at the center of some major legal challenges more recently than that.Republican President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/president-george-w-bush-paintings-exhibit-38c9e923ec84bd2b3c55be21a2d1f100">George W. Bush</a>&nbsp;did not move to suspend habeas corpus after the Sept. 11 attacks, but his administration subsequently sent detainees to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, drawing lawsuits from advocates who argued the administration was violating it and other legal constitutional protections.In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that Guantanamo detainees had a constitutional right to habeas corpus, allowing them to challenge their detention before a judge. That led to some detainees being released.___Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Mark Sherman contributed to this report.

🎥Homeland Security secretary flubs habeas corpus question in congressional hearing

KANSAs CITY —Police in Kansas City, Missouri are attempting to identify suspects who were involved in an assault that occurred in the 7600-Block of Monroe Ave at 10:30a.m. on May 5, according to KCPD Officer Alayna Gonzalez.

If you can identify the suspects please contact the Assault Squad at 816-234-5227 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747770310140.png" alt="Image Kansas City, Missouri Police" />
 <figcaption>Image Kansas City, Missouri Police</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAs CITY —Police in Kansas City, Missouri are attempting to identify suspects who were involved in an assault that occurred in the 7600-Block of Monroe Ave at 10:30a.m. on May 5, according to KCPD Officer Alayna Gonzalez.If you can identify the suspects please contact the Assault Squad at 816-234-5227 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

KCPD working to ID assault suspects

NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/il-state-wire-79649ce6327a46d0aabeb9bff2ee3c37">George Wendt,</a>&nbsp;an actor with an Everyman charm who played the affable, beer-loving barfly Norm on the hit 1980s TV comedy&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/auction-television-memorabilia-james-comisar-cheers-c51ffa8c7915d5d0fe53a92327229a3e">“Cheers”</a>&nbsp;and later crafted a stage career that took him to Broadway in “Art,” “Hairspray” and “Elf,” has died. He was 76.

Wendt's family said he died early Tuesday morning, peacefully in his sleep while at home, according to the publicity firm The Agency Group.

“George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him,” the family said in a statement. “He will be missed forever.” The family has requested privacy during this time.

Despite a long career of roles onstage and on TV, it was as gentle and henpecked Norm Peterson on “Cheers” that he was most associated, earning six straight Emmy Award nominations for best supporting actor in a comedy series from 1984-89.

The series was centered on lovable losers in a Boston bar and starred&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ted-danson">Ted Danson,</a>&nbsp;Shelley Long, Rhea Perlman,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/kelsey-grammer">Kelsey Grammer,</a>&nbsp;John Ratzenberger, Kirstie Alley and Woody Harrelson. It would spin off another megahit in “Frasier” and was nominated for an astounding 117 Emmy Awards, winning 28 of them.

Wendt, who spent six years in Chicago’s renowned Second City improv troupe before sitting on a barstool at the place where everybody knows your name, didn't have high hopes when he auditioned for “Cheers.”

“My agent said, ‘It’s a small role, honey. It’s one line. Actually, it’s one word.’ The word was ‘beer.’ I was having a hard time believing I was right for the role of ‘the guy who looked like he wanted a beer.’ So I went in, and they said, ‘It’s too small a role. Why don’t you read this other one?’ And it was a guy who never left the bar,” Wendt told GQ in an oral history of “Cheers.”

“Cheers” premiered on Sept. 30, 1982, and spent the first season with low ratings. NBC president Brandon Tartikoff championed the show, and it was nominated for an Emmy for best comedy series in its first season. Some 80 million people would tune in to watch its series finale 11 years later.

Wendt became a fan favorite in and outside the bar — his entrances were cheered with a warm “Norm!” — and his wisecracks always landed. “How’s a beer sound, Norm?” he would be asked by the bartender. “I dunno. I usually finish them before they get a word in,” he’d respond.

While the beer the cast drank on set was nonalcoholic, Wendt and other “Cheers” cast members have admitted they were tipsy on May 20, 1993, when they watched the show’s final episode then appeared together on “The Tonight Show” in a live broadcast from the Bull and Finch Pub in Boston, the bar that inspired the series.

″We had been drinking heavily for two hours but nobody thought to feed us,” Wendt told the Beaver County Times of Pennsylvania in 2009. “We were nowhere near as cute as we thought we were.”

After “Cheers,” Wendt starred in his own short-lived sitcom “The George Wendt Show” — “too bad he had to step out of Norm and down so far from that corner stool for his debut stanza,” sniffed Variety — and had guest spots on TV shows like “The Ghost Whisperer,” “Harry’s Law” and “Portlandia.” He was part of a brotherhood of Chicago Everymen who gathered over sausage and beers and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBnnon_iZOM">adored “Da Bears” on “Saturday Night Live.”</a>&nbsp;In 2023, he competed on “The Masked Singer.”

But he found steady work onstage: Wendt slipped on Edna Turnblad’s housecoat in Broadway’s “Hairspray” beginning in 2007, and was in the Tony Award-winning play “Art” in New York and London.

He starred in the national tour of “12 Angry Men” and appeared in a production of David Mamet’s “Lakeboat.” He also starred in regional productions of “Death of a Salesman,” “The Odd Couple,” “Never Too Late” and “Funnyman.”

“A, it’s by far the most fun, but B, I seem to have been kicked out of television,” Wendt told the Kansas City Star in 2011. “I overstayed my welcome. But theater suits me.”

Wendt had an affinity for playing Santa Claus, donning the famous red outfit in the stage musical “Elf” on Broadway in 2017, the TV movie “Santa Baby” with Jenny McCarthy in 2006 and in the doggie Disney video “Santa Buddies” in 2009. He also played Father Christmas for TV specials by Larry the Cable Guy and Stephen Colbert.

“I think it just proves that if you stay fat enough and get old enough, the offers start rolling in,” the actor joked to the AP in his Broadway dressing room.

Born in Chicago, Wendt attended Campion High School, a Catholic boarding school in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and then Notre Dame, where he rarely went to class and was kicked out. He transferred to Rockhurst University in Kansas City and graduated, after majoring in economics.

He found a home at Second City in both the touring company and the mainstage.

“I think comedy is my long suit, for sure. My approach to comedy is usually not full-bore clownish,” he told the AP. “If you’re trying to showboat or step outside, it doesn’t always work. There are certain performers who almost specialize in doing that, and they do it really well. But that’s not my approach.”

He had a lifelong association with beer. He had his first taste as an 8-year-old and got drunk at 16, at the World’s Fair in New York.

His beer knowledge was poured into the book ″Drinking With George: A Barstool Professional’s Guide to Beer,” co-written with Jonathan Grotenstein. One line: “Will Rogers once said he never met a man he didn’t like. I feel the same about beer.”

Part autobiography, part beer drinker’s guide, the book had Wendt’s conversational tone and lists, such as “Five Good Bar Bets,” ″77 Toasts from Around the World” and ”(More Than) 100 Ways to Say That You’re Drunk,” which alphabetically lists 126 synonyms from “annihilated” through “zozzled.”

He is survived by his wife, Second City alum Bernadette Birkett, who voiced Norm’s never-seen not-so better half, Vera, on “Cheers”; his children, Hilary, Joe and Daniel; and his stepchildren, Joshua and Andrew.

“From his early days with The Second City to his iconic role as Norm on ‘Cheers,’ George Wendt’s work showcased how comedy can create indelible characters that feel like family. Over the course of 11 seasons, he brought warmth and humor to one of television’s most beloved roles,” National Comedy Center Executive Director Journey Gunderson said in a statement.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747771581424.png" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/il-state-wire-79649ce6327a46d0aabeb9bff2ee3c37">George Wendt,</a>&nbsp;an actor with an Everyman charm who played the affable, beer-loving barfly Norm on the hit 1980s TV comedy&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/auction-television-memorabilia-james-comisar-cheers-c51ffa8c7915d5d0fe53a92327229a3e">“Cheers”</a>&nbsp;and later crafted a stage career that took him to Broadway in “Art,” “Hairspray” and “Elf,” has died. He was 76.Wendt's family said he died early Tuesday morning, peacefully in his sleep while at home, according to the publicity firm The Agency Group.“George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him,” the family said in a statement. “He will be missed forever.” The family has requested privacy during this time.Despite a long career of roles onstage and on TV, it was as gentle and henpecked Norm Peterson on “Cheers” that he was most associated, earning six straight Emmy Award nominations for best supporting actor in a comedy series from 1984-89.The series was centered on lovable losers in a Boston bar and starred&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ted-danson">Ted Danson,</a>&nbsp;Shelley Long, Rhea Perlman,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/kelsey-grammer">Kelsey Grammer,</a>&nbsp;John Ratzenberger, Kirstie Alley and Woody Harrelson. It would spin off another megahit in “Frasier” and was nominated for an astounding 117 Emmy Awards, winning 28 of them.Wendt, who spent six years in Chicago’s renowned Second City improv troupe before sitting on a barstool at the place where everybody knows your name, didn't have high hopes when he auditioned for “Cheers.”“My agent said, ‘It’s a small role, honey. It’s one line. Actually, it’s one word.’ The word was ‘beer.’ I was having a hard time believing I was right for the role of ‘the guy who looked like he wanted a beer.’ So I went in, and they said, ‘It’s too small a role. Why don’t you read this other one?’ And it was a guy who never left the bar,” Wendt told GQ in an oral history of “Cheers.”<h2>‘Where everyone knows your name’</h2>“Cheers” premiered on Sept. 30, 1982, and spent the first season with low ratings. NBC president Brandon Tartikoff championed the show, and it was nominated for an Emmy for best comedy series in its first season. Some 80 million people would tune in to watch its series finale 11 years later.Wendt became a fan favorite in and outside the bar — his entrances were cheered with a warm “Norm!” — and his wisecracks always landed. “How’s a beer sound, Norm?” he would be asked by the bartender. “I dunno. I usually finish them before they get a word in,” he’d respond.While the beer the cast drank on set was nonalcoholic, Wendt and other “Cheers” cast members have admitted they were tipsy on May 20, 1993, when they watched the show’s final episode then appeared together on “The Tonight Show” in a live broadcast from the Bull and Finch Pub in Boston, the bar that inspired the series.″We had been drinking heavily for two hours but nobody thought to feed us,” Wendt told the Beaver County Times of Pennsylvania in 2009. “We were nowhere near as cute as we thought we were.”After “Cheers,” Wendt starred in his own short-lived sitcom “The George Wendt Show” — “too bad he had to step out of Norm and down so far from that corner stool for his debut stanza,” sniffed Variety — and had guest spots on TV shows like “The Ghost Whisperer,” “Harry’s Law” and “Portlandia.” He was part of a brotherhood of Chicago Everymen who gathered over sausage and beers and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBnnon_iZOM">adored “Da Bears” on “Saturday Night Live.”</a>&nbsp;In 2023, he competed on “The Masked Singer.”<h2>Second career on stage</h2>But he found steady work onstage: Wendt slipped on Edna Turnblad’s housecoat in Broadway’s “Hairspray” beginning in 2007, and was in the Tony Award-winning play “Art” in New York and London.He starred in the national tour of “12 Angry Men” and appeared in a production of David Mamet’s “Lakeboat.” He also starred in regional productions of “Death of a Salesman,” “The Odd Couple,” “Never Too Late” and “Funnyman.”“A, it’s by far the most fun, but B, I seem to have been kicked out of television,” Wendt told the Kansas City Star in 2011. “I overstayed my welcome. But theater suits me.”Wendt had an affinity for playing Santa Claus, donning the famous red outfit in the stage musical “Elf” on Broadway in 2017, the TV movie “Santa Baby” with Jenny McCarthy in 2006 and in the doggie Disney video “Santa Buddies” in 2009. He also played Father Christmas for TV specials by Larry the Cable Guy and Stephen Colbert.“I think it just proves that if you stay fat enough and get old enough, the offers start rolling in,” the actor joked to the AP in his Broadway dressing room.Born in Chicago, Wendt attended Campion High School, a Catholic boarding school in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and then Notre Dame, where he rarely went to class and was kicked out. He transferred to Rockhurst University in Kansas City and graduated, after majoring in economics.He found a home at Second City in both the touring company and the mainstage.“I think comedy is my long suit, for sure. My approach to comedy is usually not full-bore clownish,” he told the AP. “If you’re trying to showboat or step outside, it doesn’t always work. There are certain performers who almost specialize in doing that, and they do it really well. But that’s not my approach.”<h2>Cheers for beer</h2>He had a lifelong association with beer. He had his first taste as an 8-year-old and got drunk at 16, at the World’s Fair in New York.His beer knowledge was poured into the book ″Drinking With George: A Barstool Professional’s Guide to Beer,” co-written with Jonathan Grotenstein. One line: “Will Rogers once said he never met a man he didn’t like. I feel the same about beer.”Part autobiography, part beer drinker’s guide, the book had Wendt’s conversational tone and lists, such as “Five Good Bar Bets,” ″77 Toasts from Around the World” and ”(More Than) 100 Ways to Say That You’re Drunk,” which alphabetically lists 126 synonyms from “annihilated” through “zozzled.”He is survived by his wife, Second City alum Bernadette Birkett, who voiced Norm’s never-seen not-so better half, Vera, on “Cheers”; his children, Hilary, Joe and Daniel; and his stepchildren, Joshua and Andrew.“From his early days with The Second City to his iconic role as Norm on ‘Cheers,’ George Wendt’s work showcased how comedy can create indelible characters that feel like family. Over the course of 11 seasons, he brought warmth and humor to one of television’s most beloved roles,” National Comedy Center Executive Director Journey Gunderson said in a statement.

George Wendt, who played Norm on ‘Cheers,’ dies at 76

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/mchilson/">MORGAN CHILSON</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/02/24/gov-laura-kelly-skeptical-kansas-houses-anti-tenure-legislation-will-reach-her-desk/">Kansas Reflector</a>

SCRANTON — On a gravel road northwest of this small Kansas town, a picturesque creek with overhanging trees shimmers with brilliant shades of green.

The beauty, though, hasn’t made up for the aggravation caused by high floodwaters that sweep the wooden bridge over that creek off its moorings to land about 30 yards or so away from the roadway, leaving the road impassable for area farmers, said Ryan Fine, Osage County public works director.

“That old wood one, it kept floating away. If we got a big, heavy rain, it would float down there, and we’d have to grab it out of the trees,” he said, gesturing down the creek. “The last time it happened, I said, ‘Leave that sucker in the trees. I gotta figure this out.’ ”

The cost of a new bridge, done with the typical bridge construction the county uses, would have been more than $300,000, Fine said. Instead, with the help of the Soy Transportation Coalition and the Kansas Soybean Association, the total bridge price was about $106,000, attributed to financial help and building a different style of bridge.

The new culvert bridge has walls, called headwalls, attached to the sides of the culvert and wingwalls that come out from there to help support the bridge, Fine said. Then large beams are set into the ground to a depth of four or five feet, he said. The top is covered with rock.&nbsp;

“Even if there is erosion from high water where it does go over this road, this should stay locked in place,” Fine said, then added with a smile, “OK, can’t say it would always lock in place, because water can do some amazing things. But this is going to give us a better chance of it staying put where it needs to be.”

Fine said he remembered that Raylen Phelon, a commissioner at large for the Kansas Soybean Commission and vice-chairman of the STC, spoke at county meetings about help available for transportation projects.

He reached out and as a result, Osage County’s bridge became the first project in the state to use soybean checkoff funds set aside for such projects through the transportation coalition, Phelon said.

It’s also the first official use of the Soy Transportation Coalition’s report that was put together to offer innovative solutions for replacing and repairing rural bridges, Phelon said. STC&nbsp;is made up of 13 state soybean boards, the American Soybean Association and the United Soybean Board. The organization works to address transportation issues that affect the soy industry’s ability to move products.

The STC innovation report was designed to give counties options to consider when they replaced or repaired bridges, often with a significantly smaller price tag, said Kaleb Little, CEO of the Kansas Soybean Association. So along with $4,500 for the engineering costs on the project, they want to support creative thinking to solve problems that impact soybean farmers, he said.

“What I really am tickled about is we’re using checkoff dollars,” Phelon said of the $4,500 check presented to Osage County. “It’s farmers’ checkoff dollars, from when they sell soybeans. It’s one-half of 1%, or a nickel every bushel with the prices right now, and it’s coming right back into the county, to where the farmers are at.”

Using checkoff dollars is a win-win for everyone, from the county and taxpayers to the farmers at the local level, he said.&nbsp;

Phelon said he became&nbsp; involved in STC because, as a soybean farmer, he knows how important infrastructure is. It was evident when a small bridge near his Melvern farm was getting to be unsafe, but if it had closed, he would have had to go miles out of his way to transport his crop.

“We can grow fantastic crops, but if you can’t get them to market, it affects your price,” Phelon said. “What are you going to do with an overabundance if you can’t move it? Also, it helps the consumer. If we can get it to them, it’ll help their prices be better.”

Phelon said STC supports projects around the country, including a large project at the Port of Grays Harbor in Washington state. Farmers can’t always make the connection to how that project halfway across the country helps them, he said.&nbsp;

But two railroads go from the Midwest to Port of Grays, where soybeans are put on ships and sent around the world, Phelon said.&nbsp;

“So taking products that are grown here in the United States, putting them on a boat and selling them — it helps our price,” he said. “There’s been maybe a little bit of pushback from Kansas farmers to say, well, we don’t sell any soybeans to China. I said wait a minute. Maybe not directly, but if Nebraska is selling them, we’re going to fill that void. And we need to be in that ballgame.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747756761664.jpeg" alt=" Kaleb Little, left, CEO of the Kansas Soybean Association, Raylen Phelon, center, Kansas soybean farmer and vice-chairman of the Soy Transportation Council, and Ryan Fine, Osage County public works director, take a look at a new bridge near Scranton. (Morgan Chilson/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> Kaleb Little, left, CEO of the Kansas Soybean Association, Raylen Phelon, center, Kansas soybean farmer and vice-chairman of the Soy Transportation Council, and Ryan Fine, Osage County public works director, take a look at a new bridge near Scranton. (Morgan Chilson/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/mchilson/">MORGAN CHILSON</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/02/24/gov-laura-kelly-skeptical-kansas-houses-anti-tenure-legislation-will-reach-her-desk/">Kansas Reflector</a>SCRANTON — On a gravel road northwest of this small Kansas town, a picturesque creek with overhanging trees shimmers with brilliant shades of green.The beauty, though, hasn’t made up for the aggravation caused by high floodwaters that sweep the wooden bridge over that creek off its moorings to land about 30 yards or so away from the roadway, leaving the road impassable for area farmers, said Ryan Fine, Osage County public works director.“That old wood one, it kept floating away. If we got a big, heavy rain, it would float down there, and we’d have to grab it out of the trees,” he said, gesturing down the creek. “The last time it happened, I said, ‘Leave that sucker in the trees. I gotta figure this out.’ ”The cost of a new bridge, done with the typical bridge construction the county uses, would have been more than $300,000, Fine said. Instead, with the help of the Soy Transportation Coalition and the Kansas Soybean Association, the total bridge price was about $106,000, attributed to financial help and building a different style of bridge.The new culvert bridge has walls, called headwalls, attached to the sides of the culvert and wingwalls that come out from there to help support the bridge, Fine said. Then large beams are set into the ground to a depth of four or five feet, he said. The top is covered with rock.&nbsp;“Even if there is erosion from high water where it does go over this road, this should stay locked in place,” Fine said, then added with a smile, “OK, can’t say it would always lock in place, because water can do some amazing things. But this is going to give us a better chance of it staying put where it needs to be.”<h2>First in Kansas</h2>Fine said he remembered that Raylen Phelon, a commissioner at large for the Kansas Soybean Commission and vice-chairman of the STC, spoke at county meetings about help available for transportation projects.He reached out and as a result, Osage County’s bridge became the first project in the state to use soybean checkoff funds set aside for such projects through the transportation coalition, Phelon said.It’s also the first official use of the Soy Transportation Coalition’s report that was put together to offer innovative solutions for replacing and repairing rural bridges, Phelon said. STC&nbsp;is made up of 13 state soybean boards, the American Soybean Association and the United Soybean Board. The organization works to address transportation issues that affect the soy industry’s ability to move products.The STC innovation report was designed to give counties options to consider when they replaced or repaired bridges, often with a significantly smaller price tag, said Kaleb Little, CEO of the Kansas Soybean Association. So along with $4,500 for the engineering costs on the project, they want to support creative thinking to solve problems that impact soybean farmers, he said.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747756709682.jpeg" alt=" A new style of bridge that includes beams driven four or five feet into the ground replaced an old wooden bridge that kept moving downstream when it flooded. (Submitted)" />
 <figcaption> A new style of bridge that includes beams driven four or five feet into the ground replaced an old wooden bridge that kept moving downstream when it flooded. (Submitted)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Soybean checkoff</h2>“What I really am tickled about is we’re using checkoff dollars,” Phelon said of the $4,500 check presented to Osage County. “It’s farmers’ checkoff dollars, from when they sell soybeans. It’s one-half of 1%, or a nickel every bushel with the prices right now, and it’s coming right back into the county, to where the farmers are at.”Using checkoff dollars is a win-win for everyone, from the county and taxpayers to the farmers at the local level, he said.&nbsp;Phelon said he became&nbsp; involved in STC because, as a soybean farmer, he knows how important infrastructure is. It was evident when a small bridge near his Melvern farm was getting to be unsafe, but if it had closed, he would have had to go miles out of his way to transport his crop.“We can grow fantastic crops, but if you can’t get them to market, it affects your price,” Phelon said. “What are you going to do with an overabundance if you can’t move it? Also, it helps the consumer. If we can get it to them, it’ll help their prices be better.”Phelon said STC supports projects around the country, including a large project at the Port of Grays Harbor in Washington state. Farmers can’t always make the connection to how that project halfway across the country helps them, he said.&nbsp;But two railroads go from the Midwest to Port of Grays, where soybeans are put on ships and sent around the world, Phelon said.&nbsp;“So taking products that are grown here in the United States, putting them on a boat and selling them — it helps our price,” he said. “There’s been maybe a little bit of pushback from Kansas farmers to say, well, we don’t sell any soybeans to China. I said wait a minute. Maybe not directly, but if Nebraska is selling them, we’re going to fill that void. And we need to be in that ballgame.”

Kansas county bridge replaced with innovative design, contribution from soybean farmers

President Donald Trump on Monday signed the Take It Down Act, bipartisan legislation that enacts stricter penalties for the distribution of non-consensual intimate imagery, sometimes called “revenge porn," as fell as deepfakes created by artificial intelligence.

The measure, which goes into effect immediately, was introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, and later gained the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/melania-trump-safety-bill-online-cruz-capitol-920f171e0eeb559ed2e77700ec77c413">support of First Lady Melania Trump</a>. Critics of the measure, which addresses both real and artificial intelligence-generated imagery, say the language is too broad and could lead to censorship and First Amendment issues.

The law makes it illegal to “knowingly publish” or threaten to publish intimate images without a person's consent, including AI-created "deepfakes." It also requires websites and social media companies to remove such material within 48 hours of notice from a victim. The platforms must also take steps to delete duplicate content. Many states have already banned the dissemination of sexually explicit deepfakes or revenge porn, but the Take It Down Act is a rare example of federal regulators imposing on internet companies.

The Take It Down Act has garnered strong bipartisan support and has been championed by Melania Trump, who lobbied on Capitol Hill in March saying it was “heartbreaking” to see what teenagers, especially girls, go through after they are victimized by people who spread such content.

Cruz said the measure was inspired by Elliston Berry and her mother, who visited his office after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/snapchat-snap-layoffs-tech-b67df4deb437af7fc1612425a379cdd4">Snapchat</a>&nbsp;refused for nearly a year to remove an AI-generated “deepfake” of the then 14-year-old.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/meta-facts-trump-musk-community-notes-413b8495939a058ff2d25fd23f2e0f43">Meta</a>, which owns and operates Facebook and Instagram, supports the legislation.

“Having an intimate image – real or AI-generated - shared without consent can be devastating and Meta developed and backs many efforts to help prevent it,” Meta spokesman Andy Stone said in March.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a tech industry-supported think tank, said in a statement following the bill's passage last month that it “is an important step forward that will help people pursue justice when they are victims of non-consensual intimate imagery, including deepfake images generated using AI.”

“We must provide victims of online abuse with the legal protections they need when intimate images are shared without their consent, especially now that deepfakes are creating horrifying new opportunities for abuse,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “These images can ruin lives and reputations, but now that our bipartisan legislation is becoming law, victims will be able to have this material removed from social media platforms and law enforcement can hold perpetrators accountable."

Free speech advocates and digital rights groups say the bill is too broad and could lead to the censorship of legitimate images including legal pornography and LGBTQ content, as well as government critics.

“While the bill is meant to address a serious problem, good intentions alone are not enough to make good policy,” said the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights advocacy group. “Lawmakers should be strengthening and enforcing existing legal protections for victims, rather than inventing new takedown regimes that are ripe for abuse.”

The takedown provision in the bill “applies to a much broader category of content — potentially any images involving intimate or sexual content” than the narrower definitions of non-consensual intimate imagery found elsewhere in the text, EFF said.

“The takedown provision also lacks critical safeguards against frivolous or bad-faith takedown requests. Services will rely on automated filters, which are infamously blunt tools,” EFF said. “They frequently flag legal content, from fair-use commentary to news reporting. The law’s tight time frame requires that apps and websites remove speech within 48 hours, rarely enough time to verify whether the speech is actually illegal.”

As a result, the group said online companies, especially smaller ones that lack the resources to wade through a lot of content, “will likely choose to avoid the onerous legal risk by simply depublishing the speech rather than even attempting to verify it.”

The measure, EFF said, also pressures platforms to “actively monitor speech, including speech that is presently encrypted” to address liability threats.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://cybercivilrights.org/ccri-statement-on-the-passage-of-the-take-it-down-act-s-146/">Cyber Civil Rights Initiative</a>, a nonprofit that helps victims of online crimes and abuse, said it has “serious reservations” about the bill. It called its takedown provision unconstitutionally vague, unconstitutionally overbroad, and lacking adequate safeguards against misuse."

For instance, the group said, platforms could be obligated to remove a journalist’s photographs of a topless protest on a public street, photos of a subway flasher distributed by law enforcement to locate the perpetrator, commercially produced sexually explicit content or sexually explicit material that is consensual but falsely reported as being nonconsensual.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747686727944.png" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>President Donald Trump on Monday signed the Take It Down Act, bipartisan legislation that enacts stricter penalties for the distribution of non-consensual intimate imagery, sometimes called “revenge porn," as fell as deepfakes created by artificial intelligence.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President Donald Trump signs the Take It Down Act, a bill that addresses the rise of &quot;revenge porn&quot; and deepfake images. <a href="https://t.co/QsZL3BEsGD">pic.twitter.com/QsZL3BEsGD</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1924552564214837448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The measure, which goes into effect immediately, was introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, and later gained the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/melania-trump-safety-bill-online-cruz-capitol-920f171e0eeb559ed2e77700ec77c413">support of First Lady Melania Trump</a>. Critics of the measure, which addresses both real and artificial intelligence-generated imagery, say the language is too broad and could lead to censorship and First Amendment issues.<h2>What is the Take It Down Act?</h2>The law makes it illegal to “knowingly publish” or threaten to publish intimate images without a person's consent, including AI-created "deepfakes." It also requires websites and social media companies to remove such material within 48 hours of notice from a victim. The platforms must also take steps to delete duplicate content. Many states have already banned the dissemination of sexually explicit deepfakes or revenge porn, but the Take It Down Act is a rare example of federal regulators imposing on internet companies.<h2>Who supports it?</h2>The Take It Down Act has garnered strong bipartisan support and has been championed by Melania Trump, who lobbied on Capitol Hill in March saying it was “heartbreaking” to see what teenagers, especially girls, go through after they are victimized by people who spread such content.Cruz said the measure was inspired by Elliston Berry and her mother, who visited his office after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/snapchat-snap-layoffs-tech-b67df4deb437af7fc1612425a379cdd4">Snapchat</a>&nbsp;refused for nearly a year to remove an AI-generated “deepfake” of the then 14-year-old.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/meta-facts-trump-musk-community-notes-413b8495939a058ff2d25fd23f2e0f43">Meta</a>, which owns and operates Facebook and Instagram, supports the legislation.“Having an intimate image – real or AI-generated - shared without consent can be devastating and Meta developed and backs many efforts to help prevent it,” Meta spokesman Andy Stone said in March.The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a tech industry-supported think tank, said in a statement following the bill's passage last month that it “is an important step forward that will help people pursue justice when they are victims of non-consensual intimate imagery, including deepfake images generated using AI.”“We must provide victims of online abuse with the legal protections they need when intimate images are shared without their consent, especially now that deepfakes are creating horrifying new opportunities for abuse,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “These images can ruin lives and reputations, but now that our bipartisan legislation is becoming law, victims will be able to have this material removed from social media platforms and law enforcement can hold perpetrators accountable."<h2>What are the censorship concerns?</h2>Free speech advocates and digital rights groups say the bill is too broad and could lead to the censorship of legitimate images including legal pornography and LGBTQ content, as well as government critics.“While the bill is meant to address a serious problem, good intentions alone are not enough to make good policy,” said the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights advocacy group. “Lawmakers should be strengthening and enforcing existing legal protections for victims, rather than inventing new takedown regimes that are ripe for abuse.”The takedown provision in the bill “applies to a much broader category of content — potentially any images involving intimate or sexual content” than the narrower definitions of non-consensual intimate imagery found elsewhere in the text, EFF said.“The takedown provision also lacks critical safeguards against frivolous or bad-faith takedown requests. Services will rely on automated filters, which are infamously blunt tools,” EFF said. “They frequently flag legal content, from fair-use commentary to news reporting. The law’s tight time frame requires that apps and websites remove speech within 48 hours, rarely enough time to verify whether the speech is actually illegal.”As a result, the group said online companies, especially smaller ones that lack the resources to wade through a lot of content, “will likely choose to avoid the onerous legal risk by simply depublishing the speech rather than even attempting to verify it.”The measure, EFF said, also pressures platforms to “actively monitor speech, including speech that is presently encrypted” to address liability threats.The&nbsp;<a href="https://cybercivilrights.org/ccri-statement-on-the-passage-of-the-take-it-down-act-s-146/">Cyber Civil Rights Initiative</a>, a nonprofit that helps victims of online crimes and abuse, said it has “serious reservations” about the bill. It called its takedown provision unconstitutionally vague, unconstitutionally overbroad, and lacking adequate safeguards against misuse."For instance, the group said, platforms could be obligated to remove a journalist’s photographs of a topless protest on a public street, photos of a subway flasher distributed by law enforcement to locate the perpetrator, commercially produced sexually explicit content or sexually explicit material that is consensual but falsely reported as being nonconsensual.

🎥President Trump signed Take It Down Act. What is it?

RENO COUNTY — One person died following a fire at the Store'N Go storage facility near 4th Avenue and Bonebrake Street in Hutchinson.

Just after 8a.m. Tuesday, crews were dispatched after the Hutchinson Police Department, already on scene, reported visible smoke from the facility, according to a media release.

 Upon arrival, firefighters found one of eight 30-by-220-foot storage buildings filled with smoke. Crews forced entry into multiple units, cutting locks and doors, and launched an aggressive attack on four units actively burning.

While extinguishing the flames, firefighters discovered one deceased individual inside a unit that appeared to be used as a residence. The victim’s identity has not yet been confirmed. The Reno County Coroner’s Medical Investigator is working to determine the cause of death and make a positive identification.&nbsp;

The fire caused moderate damage to four units, with smoke damage affecting approximately 75% of the remaining compartments. No injuries to firefighters were reported. Crews are expected to remain on scene for several hours.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Hutchinson Fire Department’s Fire Marshal.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747750466971.jpeg" alt="Hutch Post Photo by Marc Jacobs" />
 <figcaption>Hutch Post Photo by Marc Jacobs</figcaption>
 </figure>RENO COUNTY — One person died following a fire at the Store'N Go storage facility near 4th Avenue and Bonebrake Street in Hutchinson.Just after 8a.m. Tuesday, crews were dispatched after the Hutchinson Police Department, already on scene, reported visible smoke from the facility, according to a media release. Upon arrival, firefighters found one of eight 30-by-220-foot storage buildings filled with smoke. Crews forced entry into multiple units, cutting locks and doors, and launched an aggressive attack on four units actively burning.While extinguishing the flames, firefighters discovered one deceased individual inside a unit that appeared to be used as a residence. The victim’s identity has not yet been confirmed. The Reno County Coroner’s Medical Investigator is working to determine the cause of death and make a positive identification.&nbsp;The fire caused moderate damage to four units, with smoke damage affecting approximately 75% of the remaining compartments. No injuries to firefighters were reported. Crews are expected to remain on scene for several hours.The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Hutchinson Fire Department’s Fire Marshal.

One dead after fire at Kansas self storage facility

WASHINGTON (AP) — Annual COVID-19 shots for healthy younger adults and children will no longer be routinely approved under a major new policy shift unveiled Tuesday by the Trump administration.

Top officials for the Food and Drug Administration laid out new requirements for yearly updates to COVID shots, saying they'd continue to use a streamlined approach that would make vaccines available to adults 65 and older as well as children and younger adults with at least one health problem that puts them at higher risk.

But the FDA framework urges companies conduct large, lengthy studies before tweaked vaccines can be approved for healthier people. In a framework published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, agency officials said the approach still could keep annual vaccinations available for between 100 million and 200 million adults.

The upcoming changes raise questions about people who may still want a fall COVID-19 shot but don't clearly fall into one of the categories.

“Is the pharmacist going to determine if you're in a high-risk group?” asked Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. “The only thing that can come of this will make vaccines less insurable and less available.”

The framework, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, is the culmination of a series of recent steps scrutinizing the use of COVID shots and raising major questions about the broader availability of vaccines under President Donald Trump.

For years, federal health officials have told most Americans to expect annual updates to COVID-19 vaccines, similar to the annual flu shot. Just like with flu vaccines, until now the FDA has approved updated COVID shots when manufacturers provide evidence that they spark just as much immune protection as the previous year's version.

But FDA's new guidance appears to be the end of that approach under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, who has filled the FDA and other health agencies with outspoken critics of the government’s handling of COVID shots, particularly their recommendation for young, healthy adults and children.

Tuesday’s update, written by FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and FDA vaccine chief Vinay Prasad, criticized the U.S.’s “one-size-fits-all” approach and states that the U.S. has been “the most aggressive” in recommending COVID boosters, when compared with European countries.

“We simply don’t know whether a healthy 52-year-old woman with a normal BMI who has had Covid-19 three times and has received six previous doses of a Covid-19 vaccine will benefit from the seventh dose,” they wrote.

Outside experts say there are legitimate questions about how much everyone still benefits from yearly COVID vaccination or whether they should be recommended for people at increased risk. An influential panel of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to debate that question next month.

The FDA framework announced Tuesday appears to usurp that advisory panel's job, Offit said. He added that CDC studies have made clear that booster doses do offer protection against mild to moderate illness for four to six months after the shot even in healthy people.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Annual COVID-19 shots for healthy younger adults and children will no longer be routinely approved under a major new policy shift unveiled Tuesday by the Trump administration.Top officials for the Food and Drug Administration laid out new requirements for yearly updates to COVID shots, saying they'd continue to use a streamlined approach that would make vaccines available to adults 65 and older as well as children and younger adults with at least one health problem that puts them at higher risk.But the FDA framework urges companies conduct large, lengthy studies before tweaked vaccines can be approved for healthier people. In a framework published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, agency officials said the approach still could keep annual vaccinations available for between 100 million and 200 million adults.The upcoming changes raise questions about people who may still want a fall COVID-19 shot but don't clearly fall into one of the categories.“Is the pharmacist going to determine if you're in a high-risk group?” asked Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. “The only thing that can come of this will make vaccines less insurable and less available.”The framework, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, is the culmination of a series of recent steps scrutinizing the use of COVID shots and raising major questions about the broader availability of vaccines under President Donald Trump.For years, federal health officials have told most Americans to expect annual updates to COVID-19 vaccines, similar to the annual flu shot. Just like with flu vaccines, until now the FDA has approved updated COVID shots when manufacturers provide evidence that they spark just as much immune protection as the previous year's version.But FDA's new guidance appears to be the end of that approach under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, who has filled the FDA and other health agencies with outspoken critics of the government’s handling of COVID shots, particularly their recommendation for young, healthy adults and children.Tuesday’s update, written by FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and FDA vaccine chief Vinay Prasad, criticized the U.S.’s “one-size-fits-all” approach and states that the U.S. has been “the most aggressive” in recommending COVID boosters, when compared with European countries.“We simply don’t know whether a healthy 52-year-old woman with a normal BMI who has had Covid-19 three times and has received six previous doses of a Covid-19 vaccine will benefit from the seventh dose,” they wrote.Outside experts say there are legitimate questions about how much everyone still benefits from yearly COVID vaccination or whether they should be recommended for people at increased risk. An influential panel of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to debate that question next month.The FDA framework announced Tuesday appears to usurp that advisory panel's job, Offit said. He added that CDC studies have made clear that booster doses do offer protection against mild to moderate illness for four to six months after the shot even in healthy people.___

FDA will no longer routinely approve annual COVID-19 shots 

SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas woman accused in a knife attack that critically injured another woman made her first court appearance in the case Monday.

Amanda Dutcher, 28 of Wichita, is charged with aggravated battery, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.

Just after 7:30a.m. May 14, police responded to a report of a cutting at 12th and Broadway in Wichita, according to police spokesperson Brad Wright.

First responders found a 47-year-old woman with multiple stab wounds. Police arrested Dutcher.

Police are still working to determine what led up to the stabbing. Dutcher and the victim apparently did not know each other, according to police.

Dutcher has previous convictions for theft and burglary, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections and had been released from state custody May 7.&nbsp; &nbsp;She is due back in court June 2 and remains jailed in Sedgwick County on a $200,000 bond, according to the District Attorney's office.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747687892343.png" alt="Dutcher photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Dutcher photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas woman accused in a knife attack that critically injured another woman made her first court appearance in the case Monday.Amanda Dutcher, 28 of Wichita, is charged with aggravated battery, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.Just after 7:30a.m. May 14, police responded to a report of a cutting at 12th and Broadway in Wichita, according to police spokesperson Brad Wright.First responders found a 47-year-old woman with multiple stab wounds. Police arrested Dutcher.Police are still working to determine what led up to the stabbing. Dutcher and the victim apparently did not know each other, according to police.Dutcher has previous convictions for theft and burglary, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections and had been released from state custody May 7.&nbsp; &nbsp;She is due back in court June 2 and remains jailed in Sedgwick County on a $200,000 bond, according to the District Attorney's office.

Kansas felon faces judge for violent knife attack

WASHINGTON —Kansas Junior U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, who spends a lot of time talking with the media, was a guest on Fox Business early Tuesday. 

President Donald Trump, who like to watch television news, apparently was tuned in to see Marshall's interview with Fox host Maria Bartiromo on a variety of topics including controversial cuts to Medicaid.

 The President liked what he saw and used his Truth Social account to praise the Senator.

President Trump wrote, "Senator Roger Marshall was fantastic this morning on Fox Business as interviewed by Maria Bartiromo."&nbsp; "The great people of Kansas are lucky to have him."

WASHINGTON —Kansas Junior U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, who spends a lot of time talking with the media, was a guest on Fox Business early Tuesday. President Donald Trump, who like to watch television news, apparently was tuned in to see Marshall's interview with Fox host Maria Bartiromo on a variety of topics including controversial cuts to Medicaid. The President liked what he saw and used his Truth Social account to praise the Senator.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Thank you, President <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a>. <a href="https://t.co/PlQAbgzJy5">pic.twitter.com/PlQAbgzJy5</a>&mdash; Dr. Roger Marshall (@RogerMarshallMD) <a href="https://twitter.com/RogerMarshallMD/status/1924805643224907793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Medicaid has turned into a $1 trillion business with waste, fraud, and abuse. Republicans are here to save Medicaid for American citizens who need it the most — not illegal aliens. <a href="https://t.co/VR0kFeO9M0">pic.twitter.com/VR0kFeO9M0</a>&mdash; Dr. Roger Marshall (@RogerMarshallMD) <a href="https://twitter.com/RogerMarshallMD/status/1924797670553436249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">For four years, the Biden Administration lied to the American people. Even after leaving office, the deception continues. The American people deserve the truth about Joe Biden’s health during his presidency and anything else they’ve been hiding. <a href="https://t.co/Khh0iuQa8c">pic.twitter.com/Khh0iuQa8c</a>&mdash; Dr. Roger Marshall (@RogerMarshallMD) <a href="https://twitter.com/RogerMarshallMD/status/1924832901838827883?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>President Trump wrote, "Senator Roger Marshall was fantastic this morning on Fox Business as interviewed by Maria Bartiromo."&nbsp; "The great people of Kansas are lucky to have him."

🎥President Trump praised Kan. U.S. Senator's TV appearance

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement investigating a Sunday shooting in Kansas reported the death of another victim identified as 25-year-old Zackery&nbsp;Matthews.

Just after 4pm Saturday, police were dispatched to a shooting at 73rd Street and South Benton Avenue, according to KCPD Captain Jake Becchina. \

First responders located Matthews in front of a residence on the block there. Officers summoned EMS to the scene who transported him to the hospital for treatment of life threatening injuries.

On Monday, KCPD detectives were notified Matthews died.

Preliminary investigation indicated that Matthews and an unknown suspect had an interaction in front of the residence that escalated and led to gunfire, striking him.

This case is now being investigated as a homicide.

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement investigating a Sunday shooting in Kansas reported the death of another victim identified as 25-year-old Zackery&nbsp;Matthews.Just after 4pm Saturday, police were dispatched to a shooting at 73rd Street and South Benton Avenue, according to KCPD Captain Jake Becchina. \First responders located Matthews in front of a residence on the block there. Officers summoned EMS to the scene who transported him to the hospital for treatment of life threatening injuries.On Monday, KCPD detectives were notified Matthews died.Preliminary investigation indicated that Matthews and an unknown suspect had an interaction in front of the residence that escalated and led to gunfire, striking him.This case is now being investigated as a homicide.

KCPD: Man wounded in weekend shooting has died

BUTLER COUNTY– Butler County EMS continues to mourn the loss of Paramedic Justin Lauppe, who died in the line of duty on May 16, after suffering a cardiac arrest during an emergency response. Justin’s final call reflects the courage, service, and sacrifice he demonstrated throughout his 14-year career in emergency medical services.

A memorial service for Paramedic Lauppe will be held on&nbsp; Thursday.

Time: 11:30 – 1:00 PM public viewing; 1:00 PM service

Location: Park City Arena – 8151 North Hartman Arena Dr. Park City.

The service will be an opportunity for family, friends, colleagues, and the public to pay their respects and celebrate the life of a man who dedicated himself to the service of others. His commitment to duty and his courage in the face of danger were exemplary, he will forever be remembered as a hero. There will be a procession to graveside after service, details to follow.

Butler County EMS and Rescue welcome the participation of visiting honor guards, pipes, and drums to join us in paying tribute to Paramedic Justin Lauppe. We understand the importance of solidarity and support from our brothers and sisters in emergency response during this difficult time. If you are planning to attend and honor our fallen hero, please contact us in advance to coordinate the details. Additionally, if your department would like to send an apparatus to be part of the procession following the memorial service please notify us via email: butleremshonorguard@gmail.com

“We are heartbroken by the loss of Justin,” said Stuart Funk, Public Outreach Coordinator for Butler County EMS. “He represented the very best of us. His legacy will continue to inspire and guide our department and community.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747426200231.png" alt="Justin Lauppe courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Justin Lauppe courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>BUTLER COUNTY– Butler County EMS continues to mourn the loss of Paramedic Justin Lauppe, who died in the line of duty on May 16, after suffering a cardiac arrest during an emergency response. Justin’s final call reflects the courage, service, and sacrifice he demonstrated throughout his 14-year career in emergency medical services.A memorial service for Paramedic Lauppe will be held on&nbsp; Thursday.Time: 11:30 – 1:00 PM public viewing; 1:00 PM serviceLocation: Park City Arena – 8151 North Hartman Arena Dr. Park City.The service will be an opportunity for family, friends, colleagues, and the public to pay their respects and celebrate the life of a man who dedicated himself to the service of others. His commitment to duty and his courage in the face of danger were exemplary, he will forever be remembered as a hero. There will be a procession to graveside after service, details to follow.Butler County EMS and Rescue welcome the participation of visiting honor guards, pipes, and drums to join us in paying tribute to Paramedic Justin Lauppe. We understand the importance of solidarity and support from our brothers and sisters in emergency response during this difficult time. If you are planning to attend and honor our fallen hero, please contact us in advance to coordinate the details. Additionally, if your department would like to send an apparatus to be part of the procession following the memorial service please notify us via email: butleremshonorguard@gmail.com“We are heartbroken by the loss of Justin,” said Stuart Funk, Public Outreach Coordinator for Butler County EMS. “He represented the very best of us. His legacy will continue to inspire and guide our department and community.”

Services set for Kan. paramedic who died during emergency call

TOPEKA, Kansas. –&nbsp;The Kansas Prisoner Review Board rescinded its previous decision to grant parole to 78-year-old Jimmie Nelms, according to a media release from the Board.

In 1979, Nelms was sentenced to consecutive life terms plus nine years for the crimes of unlawful possession of a firearm, aggravated kidnapping, and murder in the first degree of Kansas Highway Patrolman Trooper Conroy O’Brien.

Nelms has been eligible for parole since 1993 and has appeared before the board nine times, having been initially granted parole after his hearing in March of this year.

The board, in a new hearing on May 16 with Nelms, rescinded its previous decision to grant parole and decided to deny him release at this time.

On May 8, Kansas Governor asked the board to reconsider the decision.

Trooper O’Brien, 26, was conducting a routine traffic stop on the Kansas Turnpike during the early morning hours of May 24, 1978, when Nelms and two others overpowered him. Authorities said O’Brien was forced at gunpoint into a roadside ditch, where he was pistol-whipped and fatally shot twice in the head with his own service weapon.&nbsp;

The three suspects, later identified as being wanted in a string of armed robberies across multiple states, were apprehended later that day after engaging another trooper in a gunfight. All were taken into custody following a manhunt.&nbsp;

The Kansas Trooper's Association late on Monday released a statement on the new decision.  In that statement the president of the trooper's association said in part, “We are grateful to the KRB for ultimately choosing justice,” said KSTA President, Technical Trooper Sage Hill. “Trooper O’Brien gave his life in the line of duty. Granting parole to the man responsible for that murder deeply undermined public trust and the sacrifices of every law enforcement officer. Today, justice was reaffirmed, and we are grateful. Tomorrow, we will begin working to make sure such a close call never happens again.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1746744841747.jpeg" alt="Trooper Conroy O'Brien - Courtesy Kansas Highway Patrol&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Trooper Conroy O'Brien - Courtesy Kansas Highway Patrol&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kansas. –&nbsp;The Kansas Prisoner Review Board rescinded its previous decision to grant parole to 78-year-old Jimmie Nelms, according to a media release from the Board.In 1979, Nelms was sentenced to consecutive life terms plus nine years for the crimes of unlawful possession of a firearm, aggravated kidnapping, and murder in the first degree of Kansas Highway Patrolman Trooper Conroy O’Brien.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1746748524625.png" alt="Nelms photo KDOC" />
 <figcaption>Nelms photo KDOC</figcaption>
 </figure>Nelms has been eligible for parole since 1993 and has appeared before the board nine times, having been initially granted parole after his hearing in March of this year.The board, in a new hearing on May 16 with Nelms, rescinded its previous decision to grant parole and decided to deny him release at this time.On May 8, Kansas Governor asked the board to reconsider the decision.Trooper O’Brien, 26, was conducting a routine traffic stop on the Kansas Turnpike during the early morning hours of May 24, 1978, when Nelms and two others overpowered him. Authorities said O’Brien was forced at gunpoint into a roadside ditch, where he was pistol-whipped and fatally shot twice in the head with his own service weapon.&nbsp;The three suspects, later identified as being wanted in a string of armed robberies across multiple states, were apprehended later that day after engaging another trooper in a gunfight. All were taken into custody following a manhunt.&nbsp;The Kansas Trooper's Association late on Monday released a statement on the new decision. In that statement the president of the trooper's association said in part, “We are grateful to the KRB for ultimately choosing justice,” said KSTA President, Technical Trooper Sage Hill. “Trooper O’Brien gave his life in the line of duty. Granting parole to the man responsible for that murder deeply undermined public trust and the sacrifices of every law enforcement officer. Today, justice was reaffirmed, and we are grateful. Tomorrow, we will begin working to make sure such a close call never happens again.”

Man who killed Kansas Trooper has parole rescinded

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement are investigating after a body was found in an apartment fire in Kansas City, Missouri.

Just before 9a.m. Monday, crews responded to a reported fire at a home in the 4000 block of Stateline, according to Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins.

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement are investigating after a body was found in an apartment fire in Kansas City, Missouri.Just before 9a.m. Monday, crews responded to a reported fire at a home in the 4000 block of Stateline, according to Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins. On arrival crews reported smoke and fire from the second floor of a two-story&nbsp; home that had been converted to apartments. KCFD received reports of someone possibly inside the structure. Searches of the structure. During the search a victim was located. The Kansas City Police Departments Bomb and Arson unit has been ordered to the scene due to the suspicious nature of the fire and the fatality. Bomb and Arson are in charge of the investigation into the cause and the fatality at this incident.&nbsp; Authorities did not release the name or additional details on the victim.