By&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/rmipro/">RACHEL MIPRO</a>&nbsp;Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — Kansas senators killed a school finance bill that would have guided state education funding for the next three years, heeding warnings from public schools advocates that the bill’s special education provision could have proven disastrous.

&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/sb387/">Senate Bill 387</a>&nbsp;allocated billions for K-12 schools, but also came with a provision that public school advocates warned would&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/04/03/education-advocate-kansas-school-finance-bill-would-permanently-underfund-special-education/">“permanently underfund K-12 schools.”</a>&nbsp;

The bill would have overhauled the state’s special education funding formula,&nbsp;using local dollars as part of the calculation. Public education advocates, including the Kansas Association of School Boards and the Kansas National Educators Association, spoke against the proposed formula, calling it one that would mask a lack of state funding for special education. In a joint statement, the groups said the calculation was a “series of accounting gimmicks.”

“That’s not new money,” said Rep. David Younger, a Ulysses Republican, in Thursday opposition to the bill. “That’s money that’s coming in that’s supposed to be there. Counting local option budget money is not new money. That’s local money. And I stand by my claim that this is voodoo math.”&nbsp;

The special education formula currently factors in costs of providing services, costs of regular education and federal aid to determine each district’s state special education aid. The proposed formula would have used factors such as Medicaid and state hospital funding, along with district-level budgets to determine special education aid.

Others warned the state cannot afford to further underfund special education. Money for special education goes toward educational needs for gifted and disabled students in Kansas public schools.&nbsp;

Statute dictates that state funding cover 92% of the extra cost of providing services to K-12 special education students statewide, but the state hasn’t met this requirement since 2011. The state currently covers around 69% of expenditures by local school districts.&nbsp;

Kansas schools are left to shoulder the other costs— a task that has become increasingly difficult as the number of Kansas students utilizing special ed services continues to rise. Approximately 18% of Kansas students used special ed services in the 2022-2023 school year.

Rep. Kristey Williams, an Augusta Republican tasked with crafting education policy, pushed back on these claims. Williams is well-known for promoting private school vouchers,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/20/kansas-lawmaker-tells-concerned-augusta-community-educators-some-kids-do-need-jesus-first/">arguing that some children</a>&nbsp;need religion before math.&nbsp;

“It is the responsible answer,”&nbsp; Williams said of SB387. “It is the transparent and accountable answer in the changes that we’ve made, in the accountability that we have included.&nbsp;

In a late night Thursday vote, Senators voted 12-26 against the bill, hours after House lawmakers narrowly passed the bill with a 65-58 vote.

Sen. Chase Blasi, a Wichita Republican, said he couldn’t support the bill due to hometown opposition.&nbsp;

“I cannot support major changes to K-12 finance, while there’s universal opposition back home,” Blasi said.

The Legislature is expected to adjourn after Friday for three weeks, adding a sense of urgency as lawmakers scramble to approve policy before the break. If no new education bill arises by Friday night, lawmakers will adjourn without an education budget blueprint in place.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1674609354567.png" alt="File photo&nbsp; Kansas Senators voted late Thursday against a wide-ranging public school finance bill. " />
 <figcaption>File photo&nbsp; Kansas Senators voted late Thursday against a wide-ranging public school finance bill. </figcaption>
 </figure>By&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/rmipro/">RACHEL MIPRO</a>&nbsp;Kansas ReflectorTOPEKA — Kansas senators killed a school finance bill that would have guided state education funding for the next three years, heeding warnings from public schools advocates that the bill’s special education provision could have proven disastrous.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/sb387/">Senate Bill 387</a>&nbsp;allocated billions for K-12 schools, but also came with a provision that public school advocates warned would&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/04/03/education-advocate-kansas-school-finance-bill-would-permanently-underfund-special-education/">“permanently underfund K-12 schools.”</a>&nbsp;The bill would have overhauled the state’s special education funding formula,&nbsp;using local dollars as part of the calculation. Public education advocates, including the Kansas Association of School Boards and the Kansas National Educators Association, spoke against the proposed formula, calling it one that would mask a lack of state funding for special education. In a joint statement, the groups said the calculation was a “series of accounting gimmicks.”“That’s not new money,” said Rep. David Younger, a Ulysses Republican, in Thursday opposition to the bill. “That’s money that’s coming in that’s supposed to be there. Counting local option budget money is not new money. That’s local money. And I stand by my claim that this is voodoo math.”&nbsp;The special education formula currently factors in costs of providing services, costs of regular education and federal aid to determine each district’s state special education aid. The proposed formula would have used factors such as Medicaid and state hospital funding, along with district-level budgets to determine special education aid.Others warned the state cannot afford to further underfund special education. Money for special education goes toward educational needs for gifted and disabled students in Kansas public schools.&nbsp;Statute dictates that state funding cover 92% of the extra cost of providing services to K-12 special education students statewide, but the state hasn’t met this requirement since 2011. The state currently covers around 69% of expenditures by local school districts.&nbsp;Kansas schools are left to shoulder the other costs— a task that has become increasingly difficult as the number of Kansas students utilizing special ed services continues to rise. Approximately 18% of Kansas students used special ed services in the 2022-2023 school year.Rep. Kristey Williams, an Augusta Republican tasked with crafting education policy, pushed back on these claims. Williams is well-known for promoting private school vouchers,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/20/kansas-lawmaker-tells-concerned-augusta-community-educators-some-kids-do-need-jesus-first/">arguing that some children</a>&nbsp;need religion before math.&nbsp;“It is the responsible answer,”&nbsp; Williams said of SB387. “It is the transparent and accountable answer in the changes that we’ve made, in the accountability that we have included.&nbsp;In a late night Thursday vote, Senators voted 12-26 against the bill, hours after House lawmakers narrowly passed the bill with a 65-58 vote.Sen. Chase Blasi, a Wichita Republican, said he couldn’t support the bill due to hometown opposition.&nbsp;“I cannot support major changes to K-12 finance, while there’s universal opposition back home,” Blasi said.The Legislature is expected to adjourn after Friday for three weeks, adding a sense of urgency as lawmakers scramble to approve policy before the break. If no new education bill arises by Friday night, lawmakers will adjourn without an education budget blueprint in place.&nbsp;

Kansas senators shoot down ‘voodoo math’ public education bill

TEXAS COUNTY, Okla. (AP) —Foul play is suspected in the disappearance of two Kansas women whose vehicle was found abandoned in the Oklahoma Panhandle last weekend, authorities said Friday.

Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, of Hugoton, Kansas, were driving to Oklahoma to pick up Butler’s children to attend a March 30 birthday party in Kansas but never showed up, Tom Singer, the pastor of the church Butler attended, told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-missing-women-texas-county-disappearance-jillian-kelley-veronica-butler/60388744">KOCO-TV</a>.

Hunter McKee, an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesperson, said investigators believe foul play led to women's disappearance based on what was found their vehicle.

McKee declined to say what evidence was found in the vehicle, citing the continuing investigation.

Singer did not immediately return phone calls for comment Friday morning.

McKee said the abandoned vehicle was found by Texas County deputies and referred additional questions to Texas County Sheriff Matt Boley, who did not immediately return a phone call for comment.

The sheriff's office has turned the investigation over to the OSBI.

“We’re still looking into where and when they were last seen,” McKee said.

Investigators are searching the area in Texas County around where the vehicle was found, according to McKee, about 11 miles (18 kilometers) south of Elkhart, Kansas, on the Oklahoma-Kansas state line.

The area is about 260 miles (418 kilometers) northwest of Oklahoma City.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1711967700182.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>TEXAS COUNTY, Okla. (AP) —Foul play is suspected in the disappearance of two Kansas women whose vehicle was found abandoned in the Oklahoma Panhandle last weekend, authorities said Friday.Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, of Hugoton, Kansas, were driving to Oklahoma to pick up Butler’s children to attend a March 30 birthday party in Kansas but never showed up, Tom Singer, the pastor of the church Butler attended, told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-missing-women-texas-county-disappearance-jillian-kelley-veronica-butler/60388744">KOCO-TV</a>.Hunter McKee, an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesperson, said investigators believe foul play led to women's disappearance based on what was found their vehicle.McKee declined to say what evidence was found in the vehicle, citing the continuing investigation.Singer did not immediately return phone calls for comment Friday morning.McKee said the abandoned vehicle was found by Texas County deputies and referred additional questions to Texas County Sheriff Matt Boley, who did not immediately return a phone call for comment.The sheriff's office has turned the investigation over to the OSBI.“We’re still looking into where and when they were last seen,” McKee said.McKee said no children are missing.Investigators are searching the area in Texas County around where the vehicle was found, according to McKee, about 11 miles (18 kilometers) south of Elkhart, Kansas, on the Oklahoma-Kansas state line.The area is about 260 miles (418 kilometers) northwest of Oklahoma City.

Police update search for two missing Kansas women

NEW YORK (AP) — An&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/earthquake-new-york-updates">earthquake centered between New York and Philadelphia</a>&nbsp;shook skyscrapers and suburbs across the northeastern U.S. for several seconds Friday morning, causing no major damage but startling millions of people in an area unaccustomed to such tremors.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported a quake at 10:23 a.m. with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8, centered near Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, or about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of New York City and 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Philadelphia. The agency's figures indicated that over 42 million people might have felt the rumbling.

People from Baltimore to the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border reported feeling the ground shake. While there were no immediate reports of serious damage, officials were checking bridges and other major infrastructure, Amtrak slowed trains throughout the busy Northeast Corridor, and a Philadelphia-area commuter rail line suspended service out of what it said was “an abundance of caution.”

Pictures and decorative plates tumbled off the wall in Christiann Thompson's house in Whitehouse Station, she said. Thompson was volunteering at the local library when the quake hit, leaving few effects, but she got a report from her husband on the scene at home.

“The dogs lost their minds and got very terrified and ran around," she said.

It was “pretty weird and scary” for Shawn Clark, who felt the quake in his 26th-floor midtown Manhattan office. Clark, an attorney, initially feared an explosion or construction accident. His colleague Finn Dusenbery worried the ceiling or even the building would collapse.

The earthquake slowed travel along the East Coast, with some flights diverted and traffic snarled on roads and rails for runway, bridge, and tunnel inspections. Flights to the Newark, New York and Baltimore airports were held at their origins for a time while officials inspected runways for cracks. At least five flights en route to Newark were diverted and landed at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.

Among the affected travelers: Seton Hall University’s men’s basketball team, which was stuck in Indianapolis, where it won the National Invitational Tournament on Thursday. The team said its flight to Newark was being held because of the earthquake-related ground stop, likely delaying a welcome-home celebration scheduled for Friday afternoon on Seton Hall's campus in South Orange, New Jersey.

Traffic through the Holland Tunnel between Jersey City, New Jersey, and lower Manhattan was stopped for about 10 minutes for inspections, the Port Authority of New York and Jersey said.

In midtown Manhattan, motorists blared their horns on shuddering streets. Some Brooklyn residents heard a boom and felt their building shaking. Cellphone circuits were overloaded for a time as people tried to reach loved ones and figure out what was going on.

At U.N. headquarters in New York, the shaking interrupted the chief executive of Save The Children, Janti Soeripto, as she briefed an emergency Security Council session on the threat of famine in Gaza and the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-world-central-kitchen-gaza-aid-workers-69b6176362dafc8e4e2754b2342faa1d">Israeli drone strikes that killed aid workers</a>&nbsp;there.

“Is it an earthquake?” Soeripto wondered aloud, then asked if it was all right to go ahead. She did, but soon diplomats’ phones blared with earthquake alerts.

In New York City’s Astoria neighborhood, Cassondra Kurtz was giving her 14-year-old Chihuahua, Chiki, a cocoa-butter rubdown for her dry skin. Kurtz was recording the moment on video when her apartment started shaking hard enough that a large mirror banged audibly against a wall.

Kurtz assumed at first it was a big truck going by. The video captured her looking around, perplexed. Chiki, however, “was completely unbothered.”

Earthquakes are less common on the eastern than western edges of the U.S. because the East Coast does not lie on a boundary of tectonic plates. The biggest Eastern quakes usually occur along the mid-Atlantic Ridge, which extends through Iceland and the Atlantic Ocean.

Quakes on the East Coast can still pack a punch, as its rocks are better than their western counterparts at spreading earthquake energy across long distances.

“If we had the same magnitude quake in California, it probably wouldn’t be felt nearly as far away,” said USGS geophysicist Paul Caruso.

A 4.8-magnitude quake isn't large enough to cause damage, except for some minor effects near the epicenter, the agency posted on X.

Robert Thorson, a University of Connecticut earth sciences professor, said the quake resulted from the constant compression of the earth's hard, brittle crust in New Jersey.

“It’s like having a big block of ice in a vise, and you are just slowly cranking up the vise,” he said. Eventually, you’re going to get some crackling on it.”

Friday's quake was felt as far as Vermont and New Hampshire, where some residents initially figured it was snow falling off their roofs or plow trucks rumbling by.

Stacy Santa Cruz, a paralegal, watched her computer screen shake at her office in Hartford, Connecticut.

“I kind of was taken aback, but then I kind of processed that it might have been an earthquake," she said, noting that she'd experienced a significant quake in her native Peru.

Earthquakes with magnitudes near or above 5 struck near New York City in 1737, 1783 and 1884, the USGS said. And Friday's stirred memories of the Aug. 23, 2011, earthquake that jolted tens of millions of people from Georgia to Canada. With an epicenter in Virginia, it left cracks in the Washington Monument and rattled New Yorkers ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Registering magnitude 5.8, it was the strongest earthquake to hit the East Coast since World War II.

On Friday, President Joe Biden said he had had spoken to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy about the earthquake. The White House said the administration would provide help if needed to state and local officials.

As of noon, New York City had no indications of major safety or infrastructure problems from the earthquake, said Mayor Eric Adams, who said he didn't feel the quake himself. City Buildings Commissioner James Oddo said officials would watch out for any delayed cracks or other effects on the Big Apple’s 1.1 million buildings.

A Chinatown art gallery owner, Kristen Thomas, worried for the fate of a sculpture that features five real eggs poised on a candelabra-like base. But the piece, by Carlos Estévez, was unbroken.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the quake was felt throughout the state, but officials had no reports of any life-threatening problems.

Solomon Byron felt it as he sat on a park bench in Manhattan’s East Village.

“I was just like, ‘Where is that vibration coming from?'" Byron recalled. He was especially puzzled since there were no subways running nearby.

But he didn’t realize there had been an earthquake until he got the alert on his cellphone.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1712329282349.png" alt="Quake centered near Lebanon, New Jersey-USGS image" />
 <figcaption>Quake centered near Lebanon, New Jersey-USGS image</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — An&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/earthquake-new-york-updates">earthquake centered between New York and Philadelphia</a>&nbsp;shook skyscrapers and suburbs across the northeastern U.S. for several seconds Friday morning, causing no major damage but startling millions of people in an area unaccustomed to such tremors.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">I AM FINE&mdash; Empire State Building (@EmpireStateBldg) <a href="https://twitter.com/EmpireStateBldg/status/1776254633599480130?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 5, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fgovkathyhochul%2Fvideos%2F1150569402614787%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=1" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Earthquakes are uncommon but not unheard of along the Atlantic Coast, a zone one study called a &quot;passive-aggressive margin&quot; b/c there&#39;s no active plate boundary between the Atlantic &amp; N. American plates, but there are stresses. Did you feel the NJ quake? <a href="https://t.co/ADcDLsTp8b">https://t.co/ADcDLsTp8b</a>&mdash; USGS Earthquakes (@USGS_Quakes) <a href="https://twitter.com/USGS_Quakes/status/1776262335688044979?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 5, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">A 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit west of Manhattan and has been felt throughout New York. My team is assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred, and we will update the public throughout the day.&mdash; Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovKathyHochul/status/1776257181454676383?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 5, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The U.S. Geological Survey reported a quake at 10:23 a.m. with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8, centered near Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, or about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of New York City and 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Philadelphia. The agency's figures indicated that over 42 million people might have felt the rumbling.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">JFK Airport remains open and operational. Flights are arriving and departing at this time. Please check with your carrier for any updates to your flight status.&mdash; John F. Kennedy Airport (@JFKairport) <a href="https://twitter.com/JFKairport/status/1776270324952170522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 5, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>People from Baltimore to the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border reported feeling the ground shake. While there were no immediate reports of serious damage, officials were checking bridges and other major infrastructure, Amtrak slowed trains throughout the busy Northeast Corridor, and a Philadelphia-area commuter rail line suspended service out of what it said was “an abundance of caution.”Pictures and decorative plates tumbled off the wall in Christiann Thompson's house in Whitehouse Station, she said. Thompson was volunteering at the local library when the quake hit, leaving few effects, but she got a report from her husband on the scene at home.“The dogs lost their minds and got very terrified and ran around," she said.It was “pretty weird and scary” for Shawn Clark, who felt the quake in his 26th-floor midtown Manhattan office. Clark, an attorney, initially feared an explosion or construction accident. His colleague Finn Dusenbery worried the ceiling or even the building would collapse.The earthquake slowed travel along the East Coast, with some flights diverted and traffic snarled on roads and rails for runway, bridge, and tunnel inspections. Flights to the Newark, New York and Baltimore airports were held at their origins for a time while officials inspected runways for cracks. At least five flights en route to Newark were diverted and landed at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.Among the affected travelers: Seton Hall University’s men’s basketball team, which was stuck in Indianapolis, where it won the National Invitational Tournament on Thursday. The team said its flight to Newark was being held because of the earthquake-related ground stop, likely delaying a welcome-home celebration scheduled for Friday afternoon on Seton Hall's campus in South Orange, New Jersey.Traffic through the Holland Tunnel between Jersey City, New Jersey, and lower Manhattan was stopped for about 10 minutes for inspections, the Port Authority of New York and Jersey said.In midtown Manhattan, motorists blared their horns on shuddering streets. Some Brooklyn residents heard a boom and felt their building shaking. Cellphone circuits were overloaded for a time as people tried to reach loved ones and figure out what was going on.At U.N. headquarters in New York, the shaking interrupted the chief executive of Save The Children, Janti Soeripto, as she briefed an emergency Security Council session on the threat of famine in Gaza and the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-world-central-kitchen-gaza-aid-workers-69b6176362dafc8e4e2754b2342faa1d">Israeli drone strikes that killed aid workers</a>&nbsp;there.“Is it an earthquake?” Soeripto wondered aloud, then asked if it was all right to go ahead. She did, but soon diplomats’ phones blared with earthquake alerts.In New York City’s Astoria neighborhood, Cassondra Kurtz was giving her 14-year-old Chihuahua, Chiki, a cocoa-butter rubdown for her dry skin. Kurtz was recording the moment on video when her apartment started shaking hard enough that a large mirror banged audibly against a wall.Kurtz assumed at first it was a big truck going by. The video captured her looking around, perplexed. Chiki, however, “was completely unbothered.”Earthquakes are less common on the eastern than western edges of the U.S. because the East Coast does not lie on a boundary of tectonic plates. The biggest Eastern quakes usually occur along the mid-Atlantic Ridge, which extends through Iceland and the Atlantic Ocean.Quakes on the East Coast can still pack a punch, as its rocks are better than their western counterparts at spreading earthquake energy across long distances.“If we had the same magnitude quake in California, it probably wouldn’t be felt nearly as far away,” said USGS geophysicist Paul Caruso.A 4.8-magnitude quake isn't large enough to cause damage, except for some minor effects near the epicenter, the agency posted on X.Robert Thorson, a University of Connecticut earth sciences professor, said the quake resulted from the constant compression of the earth's hard, brittle crust in New Jersey.“It’s like having a big block of ice in a vise, and you are just slowly cranking up the vise,” he said. Eventually, you’re going to get some crackling on it.”Friday's quake was felt as far as Vermont and New Hampshire, where some residents initially figured it was snow falling off their roofs or plow trucks rumbling by.Stacy Santa Cruz, a paralegal, watched her computer screen shake at her office in Hartford, Connecticut.“I kind of was taken aback, but then I kind of processed that it might have been an earthquake," she said, noting that she'd experienced a significant quake in her native Peru.Earthquakes with magnitudes near or above 5 struck near New York City in 1737, 1783 and 1884, the USGS said. And Friday's stirred memories of the Aug. 23, 2011, earthquake that jolted tens of millions of people from Georgia to Canada. With an epicenter in Virginia, it left cracks in the Washington Monument and rattled New Yorkers ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.Registering magnitude 5.8, it was the strongest earthquake to hit the East Coast since World War II.On Friday, President Joe Biden said he had had spoken to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy about the earthquake. The White House said the administration would provide help if needed to state and local officials.As of noon, New York City had no indications of major safety or infrastructure problems from the earthquake, said Mayor Eric Adams, who said he didn't feel the quake himself. City Buildings Commissioner James Oddo said officials would watch out for any delayed cracks or other effects on the Big Apple’s 1.1 million buildings.A Chinatown art gallery owner, Kristen Thomas, worried for the fate of a sculpture that features five real eggs poised on a candelabra-like base. But the piece, by Carlos Estévez, was unbroken.New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the quake was felt throughout the state, but officials had no reports of any life-threatening problems.Solomon Byron felt it as he sat on a park bench in Manhattan’s East Village.“I was just like, ‘Where is that vibration coming from?'" Byron recalled. He was especially puzzled since there were no subways running nearby.But he didn’t realize there had been an earthquake until he got the alert on his cellphone.

Rare earthquake centered near New York City rattles the Northeast

MONTGOMERY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple allegations after a traffic stop on a reported stolen vehicle from Indiana.

On Friday, deputies conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle reported stolen from East Chicago, Indiana, according to Sheriff Ron Wade. The vehicle was spotted traveling southbound on U.S. Highway 75, just north of Independence, Kansas. 

Deputies proceeded with a felony traffic stop, successfully taking the driver 29-year-old Adam Hiner into custody without any further incident. 

Hiner was transported to the Montgomery County Department of Corrections and booked on requested charges of Felony Possession of stolen property and operating a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license. 

Montgomery County Dispatch informed the reporting agency of the vehicle's recovery, and arrangements were made for its return to the rightful owner at a later date.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1712323573524.png" alt="Hiner-photo Montgomery County" />
 <figcaption>Hiner-photo Montgomery County</figcaption>
 </figure>MONTGOMERY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple allegations after a traffic stop on a reported stolen vehicle from Indiana.On Friday, deputies conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle reported stolen from East Chicago, Indiana, according to Sheriff Ron Wade. The vehicle was spotted traveling southbound on U.S. Highway 75, just north of Independence, Kansas. Deputies proceeded with a felony traffic stop, successfully taking the driver 29-year-old Adam Hiner into custody without any further incident. Hiner was transported to the Montgomery County Department of Corrections and booked on requested charges of Felony Possession of stolen property and operating a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license. Montgomery County Dispatch informed the reporting agency of the vehicle's recovery, and arrangements were made for its return to the rightful owner at a later date.

Kansas deputies catch Indiana stolen vehicle suspect

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/sherman-smith/">SHERMAN SMITH</a><a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

KU receives $22M in federal funding for high-security lab space

LAWRENCE — FBI director Christopher Wray provided a sobering analysis Thursday of the increasingly “complex and persistent and severe” cybersecurity threat posed by foreign adversaries to national security, the economy and critical infrastructure.

In a speech at the University of Kansas Cybersecurity Conference, Wray said criminals use ransomware to wreak havoc on business operations, food distributors, 911 call centers, police departments, schools and hospitals with the goal of “disrupting our democratic society.”

“They’re more pervasive, hit a wider array of victims and carry the potential for greater damage than ever before,” Wray said. “Even as I’m standing here talking to you, we’re investigating more than 100 different ransomware variants, each of them with scores and scores of victims.”

Wray said the FBI places a premium on collaborations with academic partners, including KU, to confront the threats.

Congress has earmarked $22 million for the KU National Security Innovation Center, an economic development organization and business incubator. The funding will help pay for an 80,000-square-foot high-security office and lab space.

Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, who announced the federal funding during the cybersecurity conference, said the project was part of his dream to provide educational opportunities for Kansans, as well as the opportunity to have careers and raise families in the state.

“I want to make certain that we do everything today that increases the chances that the student, the young kid, a kid growing up in small town or big city Kansas, who happens to get fascinated by science or engineering or mathematics, has a place to be educated,” Moran said.

“What a great thing it would be if you wanted to study science and engineering, be a researcher, and you said, ‘I want to go to school in Kansas.’ And if you wanted a career in those fields, you said, ‘I want to live in Kansas,’ ” he added.

Moran said his work as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee — he joked that’s “probably an oxymoron for most of you — made him realize that other countries are doing everything they can to steal America’s secrets. If they get a leg up, he said, they can “succeed in diminishing the future of the United States of America.”

“The threats are real,” Moran said. “They’re growing. They’re damaging, and the capabilities of our adversaries are increasing.”

Wray identified China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as the most prominent of foreign adversaries. He said foreign intelligence officers moonlight as cyber criminals, and profit-minded criminals by day are state-sponsored hackers by night.

“It’s getting more and more difficult to discern where cybercriminal activity ends and adversarial nation-state activity begins, as the line between the two just gets blurrier and blurrier,” Wray said.

The good news, he said, is the FBI has demonstrated success in taking down Russian malware and high-profile ransomware gangs. He said agents collaborate with allies to compromise criminal command and control networks, shut down their servers and websites, and deploy encryption protections. The FBI also targets money launderers and cryptocurrency wallets connected to illegal activity in an effort to “try to hit them everywhere it hurts and then put them down, hard.”

KU chancellor Doug Girod said the university was committed to doing the research that would push the field of cybersecurity forward. The work was necessary, he joked, because during the pandemic he received notice that fraudulent unemployment claims had been filed on his behalf in three states.

“This world of cyber warfare is really World War 3, and we are losing it right now,” Girod said. “We just can’t see it.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1712322417326.png" alt=" FBI director Christopher Wray speaks about threats to national securing during an April 4, 2024, cybersecurity conference at the University of Kansas. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> FBI director Christopher Wray speaks about threats to national securing during an April 4, 2024, cybersecurity conference at the University of Kansas. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/sherman-smith/">SHERMAN SMITH</a><a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a><h2>KU receives $22M in federal funding for high-security lab space</h2>LAWRENCE — FBI director Christopher Wray provided a sobering analysis Thursday of the increasingly “complex and persistent and severe” cybersecurity threat posed by foreign adversaries to national security, the economy and critical infrastructure.In a speech at the University of Kansas Cybersecurity Conference, Wray said criminals use ransomware to wreak havoc on business operations, food distributors, 911 call centers, police departments, schools and hospitals with the goal of “disrupting our democratic society.”“They’re more pervasive, hit a wider array of victims and carry the potential for greater damage than ever before,” Wray said. “Even as I’m standing here talking to you, we’re investigating more than 100 different ransomware variants, each of them with scores and scores of victims.”Wray said the FBI places a premium on collaborations with academic partners, including KU, to confront the threats.Congress has earmarked $22 million for the KU National Security Innovation Center, an economic development organization and business incubator. The funding will help pay for an 80,000-square-foot high-security office and lab space.Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, who announced the federal funding during the cybersecurity conference, said the project was part of his dream to provide educational opportunities for Kansans, as well as the opportunity to have careers and raise families in the state.“I want to make certain that we do everything today that increases the chances that the student, the young kid, a kid growing up in small town or big city Kansas, who happens to get fascinated by science or engineering or mathematics, has a place to be educated,” Moran said.“What a great thing it would be if you wanted to study science and engineering, be a researcher, and you said, ‘I want to go to school in Kansas.’ And if you wanted a career in those fields, you said, ‘I want to live in Kansas,’ ” he added.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1712322381138.png" alt=" U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran announces federal funding for the University of Kansas Innovation Park during an April 4, 2024, cybersecurity conference at KU. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran announces federal funding for the University of Kansas Innovation Park during an April 4, 2024, cybersecurity conference at KU. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>Moran said his work as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee — he joked that’s “probably an oxymoron for most of you — made him realize that other countries are doing everything they can to steal America’s secrets. If they get a leg up, he said, they can “succeed in diminishing the future of the United States of America.”“The threats are real,” Moran said. “They’re growing. They’re damaging, and the capabilities of our adversaries are increasing.”Wray identified China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as the most prominent of foreign adversaries. He said foreign intelligence officers moonlight as cyber criminals, and profit-minded criminals by day are state-sponsored hackers by night.“It’s getting more and more difficult to discern where cybercriminal activity ends and adversarial nation-state activity begins, as the line between the two just gets blurrier and blurrier,” Wray said.The good news, he said, is the FBI has demonstrated success in taking down Russian malware and high-profile ransomware gangs. He said agents collaborate with allies to compromise criminal command and control networks, shut down their servers and websites, and deploy encryption protections. The FBI also targets money launderers and cryptocurrency wallets connected to illegal activity in an effort to “try to hit them everywhere it hurts and then put them down, hard.”KU chancellor Doug Girod said the university was committed to doing the research that would push the field of cybersecurity forward. The work was necessary, he joked, because during the pandemic he received notice that fraudulent unemployment claims had been filed on his behalf in three states.“This world of cyber warfare is really World War 3, and we are losing it right now,” Girod said. “We just can’t see it.”

FBI director outlines threat of cyber attacks in speech at University of Kansas

COMANCHE COUNTY —Authorities are investigating after an explosion at a grain elevator in southwest Kansas.

Just before 6 p.m. Thursday,  Comanche County Communications received a call from Protection Fire Chief Brian Harris  regarding an explosion located at  Alliance Ag and Grain, 108 West Chestnut Street in Protection, Kansas, at the concrete elevator, according to Britt Lenertz,  Director of Comanche County Emergency Management.

&nbsp;Protection and Coldwater Fire Departments responded. The Ashland Kansas Fire Departments was called in for mutual aid to assist.

&nbsp;The site was secured by the Comanche County Sheriff's Office and Comanche County EMS were on scene to respond to any injuries. 

After entry safety measures were taken, firefighters were able to enter the structure to assess damages.  The explosion was contained to the outside leg of the elevator, grain pit and interior structures with no exterior damages occurring to the elevator.

Officials established a shelter at the Protection Baptist Church but no evacuations were necessary.&nbsp;&nbsp;There were no reported injuries.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1712319729639.png" alt="Photo Comanche Co. Emergency Management" />
 <figcaption>Photo Comanche Co. Emergency Management</figcaption>
 </figure>COMANCHE COUNTY —Authorities are investigating after an explosion at a grain elevator in southwest Kansas.Just before 6 p.m. Thursday, Comanche County Communications received a call from Protection Fire Chief Brian Harris regarding an explosion located at Alliance Ag and Grain, 108 West Chestnut Street in Protection, Kansas, at the concrete elevator, according to Britt Lenertz, Director of Comanche County Emergency Management.&nbsp;Protection and Coldwater Fire Departments responded. The Ashland Kansas Fire Departments was called in for mutual aid to assist.&nbsp;The site was secured by the Comanche County Sheriff's Office and Comanche County EMS were on scene to respond to any injuries. After entry safety measures were taken, firefighters were able to enter the structure to assess damages. The explosion was contained to the outside leg of the elevator, grain pit and interior structures with no exterior damages occurring to the elevator.Officials established a shelter at the Protection Baptist Church but no evacuations were necessary.&nbsp;&nbsp;There were no reported injuries.

Officials investigate after explosion at Kansas grain elevator

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal hit-and-run accident in Kansas City.

 Just after 7 p.m. Wednesday police responded to a hit-and-run at 6th Street and Prospect in Kansas City, according to a media release.

Preliminary investigation revealed the operator of a scooter was westbound on 6th Street. At Prospect the operator failed to stop for the posted stop sign, entered the intersection, and traveled underneath the trailer of a southbound International semi.

The rear wheels of the semi ran over the scooter driver.&nbsp; The driver of the semi left the scene but was located a short time later by responding officers. The driver of the scooter, whose name has not been released, was pronounced deceased at the scene.

This is fatality #31 compared to #16 at this time last year in Kansas City, according to KCPD.

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal hit-and-run accident in Kansas City. Just after 7 p.m. Wednesday police responded to a hit-and-run at 6th Street and Prospect in Kansas City, according to a media release.Preliminary investigation revealed the operator of a scooter was westbound on 6th Street. At Prospect the operator failed to stop for the posted stop sign, entered the intersection, and traveled underneath the trailer of a southbound International semi.The rear wheels of the semi ran over the scooter driver.&nbsp; The driver of the semi left the scene but was located a short time later by responding officers. The driver of the scooter, whose name has not been released, was pronounced deceased at the scene.This is fatality #31 compared to #16 at this time last year in Kansas City, according to KCPD..

KC hit-and-run: Scooter operator run over, killed by semi 

CAIRO (AP)— The United States’ military says its forces shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile and two aerial drones launched by Yemen’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/houthis-yemen-airstrikes-military-us-red-sea-de8430938b907a1cddc906e491dca96d">Iran-backed Houthi rebels</a>.

U.S. Central Command said Thursday that the target of the attack was the USS Gravely destroyer, which is patrolling the Red Sea. The military said it destroyed a mobile surface-to-air missile system in Houthi-held territory in response to the attack early Wednesday.

The Houthis have repeatedly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/red-sea-yemen-houthis-attack-ships-f67d941c260528ac40315ecab4c34ca3">targeted international shipping</a>&nbsp;and U.S. forces in the Red Sea in recent months in what they portray as a blockade of Israel in response to the war in Gaza. They have attacked several ships with no known connection to Israel.

The U.S. and its allies have responded with strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen.

The latest confrontation came as tensions are high across the Middle East following an apparent Israeli airstrike in Syria’s capital, Damascus, that destroyed the Iranian Consulate and killed two Iranian generals. Iran has vowed to respond to the attack.

Meanwhile,&nbsp;Israel says it's taking steps to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, including reopening a key border crossing into hard-hit northern Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced the plans early Friday, just hours after President Joe Biden told him that future U.S. support for the war in Gaza depends on Israel taking more action to protect civilians and aid workers. The announcement did not elaborate on quantities or types of items to be let in.

Still, despite their differences, the Biden administration has continued to provide Israel crucial military aid and diplomatic support for Israel's six-month war against Hamas. Israel faces growing international isolation after its forces killed seven aid workers helping deliver food in Gaza.

The Palestinian death toll soared above 33,000 people on Thursday, with another 75,600 wounded, Gaza's Health Ministry said. The ministry&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-gaza-health-ministry-health-death-toll-59470820308b31f1faf73c703400b033">doesn’t differentiate</a>&nbsp;between civilians and combatants in its tally, but says&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/women-children-gaza-war-victims-un-inequality-f0f89a724543b99c2c22439e7af09405">women and children</a>&nbsp;make up two-thirds of the dead.

The United Nations says much of the population in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-03-11-2024-c6835d50f91dff0443e0f7fdf5e3229f">northern Gaza</a>&nbsp;is on the brink of starvation. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-gaza-genocide-court-south-africa-27cf84e16082cde798395a95e9143c06">top United Nations court has concluded</a>&nbsp;there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza — a charge Israel strongly denies — and the U.N. Security Council has issued a legally binding demand for a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/un-gaza-ceasefire-resolution-vote-ramadan-b7985fede65e5477aba2c8d2e62a6632">cease-fire</a>.

The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1708804229711.png" alt="File photo U.S. Central command" />
 <figcaption>File photo U.S. Central command</figcaption>
 </figure>CAIRO (AP)— The United States’ military says its forces shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile and two aerial drones launched by Yemen’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/houthis-yemen-airstrikes-military-us-red-sea-de8430938b907a1cddc906e491dca96d">Iran-backed Houthi rebels</a>.U.S. Central Command said Thursday that the target of the attack was the USS Gravely destroyer, which is patrolling the Red Sea. The military said it destroyed a mobile surface-to-air missile system in Houthi-held territory in response to the attack early Wednesday.The Houthis have repeatedly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/red-sea-yemen-houthis-attack-ships-f67d941c260528ac40315ecab4c34ca3">targeted international shipping</a>&nbsp;and U.S. forces in the Red Sea in recent months in what they portray as a blockade of Israel in response to the war in Gaza. They have attacked several ships with no known connection to Israel.The U.S. and its allies have responded with strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen.The latest confrontation came as tensions are high across the Middle East following an apparent Israeli airstrike in Syria’s capital, Damascus, that destroyed the Iranian Consulate and killed two Iranian generals. Iran has vowed to respond to the attack.Meanwhile,&nbsp;Israel says it's taking steps to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, including reopening a key border crossing into hard-hit northern Gaza.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced the plans early Friday, just hours after President Joe Biden told him that future U.S. support for the war in Gaza depends on Israel taking more action to protect civilians and aid workers. The announcement did not elaborate on quantities or types of items to be let in.Still, despite their differences, the Biden administration has continued to provide Israel crucial military aid and diplomatic support for Israel's six-month war against Hamas. Israel faces growing international isolation after its forces killed seven aid workers helping deliver food in Gaza.The Palestinian death toll soared above 33,000 people on Thursday, with another 75,600 wounded, Gaza's Health Ministry said. The ministry&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-gaza-health-ministry-health-death-toll-59470820308b31f1faf73c703400b033">doesn’t differentiate</a>&nbsp;between civilians and combatants in its tally, but says&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/women-children-gaza-war-victims-un-inequality-f0f89a724543b99c2c22439e7af09405">women and children</a>&nbsp;make up two-thirds of the dead.The United Nations says much of the population in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-03-11-2024-c6835d50f91dff0443e0f7fdf5e3229f">northern Gaza</a>&nbsp;is on the brink of starvation. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-gaza-genocide-court-south-africa-27cf84e16082cde798395a95e9143c06">top United Nations court has concluded</a>&nbsp;there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza — a charge Israel strongly denies — and the U.N. Security Council has issued a legally binding demand for a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/un-gaza-ceasefire-resolution-vote-ramadan-b7985fede65e5477aba2c8d2e62a6632">cease-fire</a>.The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage.

Terrorist target U.S. destroyer with missile, drones in the Red Sea

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A bipartisan group of rank-and-file lawmakers in Kansas scuttled a plan for cutting taxes Thursday, with Republicans defying GOP leaders and Democrats ignoring a personal appeal from the state's Democratic governor.

The state House rejected&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/ccrb_hb2036_01_040324noon.pdf">a plan</a>&nbsp;to cut taxes by about $1.4 billion over the next three years. It resulted from a deal between Gov. Laura Kelly and top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature, but the House decided on a voice vote to have House and Senate negotiators draft a different plan. The vote was overwhelming enough that House members didn't ask for a count or roll call vote.

Some critics, particularly Republicans, saw the plan as too small. Others, mostly Democrats, argued that it was weighted too heavily toward wealthy taxpayers because it would have dropped the state's top personal income tax rate to 5.5% from 5.7%. Lawmakers in both parties thought it cut property taxes too little.

“Let us rise up and be united and send a message that Kansans deserve more,” state Rep. Stephen Owens, a conservative central Kansas Republican who led the effort to reject the measure, said during the House’s short debate.

The House's action came after the Senate approved the plan&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/vote_view/je_20240404152249_863542/">38-1,</a>&nbsp;a vote that normally would have been a good omen for a House vote. Instead, many House Democrats clearly planned to vote “no” going in, and House Republicans had a private meeting outside the Statehouse beforehand, apparently so that supporters of the plan could work on their colleagues.

Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, said the Legislature won't consider another tax plan this week. Lawmakers are set to adjourn Friday for a three-week spring break and go back in session April 29 for a few days to wrap up business for the year. Masterson said another tax plan could be considered then.

The events in Kansas came two weeks after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-brian-kemp-corporate-income-tax-cuts-7a414376871e7baf20bfb2ea12bb7260">Georgia’s Republican-controlled Legislature passed</a>&nbsp;personal and corporate income tax cuts that GOP Gov. Brian Kemp favored. Like Georgia, Kansas has a big budget surplus — still projected at more than $4 billion for the end of June 2025.

A dozen other states cut their income tax rates last year, according to the conservative Tax Foundation, but major&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tax-cuts-kansas-gop-infighting-3fcfeb252137bdda907655ae7f7fd69e">tax cuts were thwarted</a>&nbsp;in Kansas by the dispute between Republican leaders and Kelly over a GOP proposal for a single-rate, “flat” income tax, something Kelly said would benefit the “super wealthy.”

Kelly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-income-tax-cuts-budget-8fbaf4d7aa99b0b23f38daddd7dc2c28">vetoed a plan</a>&nbsp;with a single-rate income tax in January, and Republicans were unable to muster the two-thirds majorities in both chambers needed to override her action.

Republican leaders wavered on a single-rate income tax in recent weeks as they grew less willing to chance having no cuts enacted this year. All 40 state Senate seats and 125 House seats are up for election this year.

House Speaker Dan Hawkins told his colleagues during a brief debate that if they rejected the plan, they would face headlines of “House scuttles tax relief.”

“There isn't a single one of us who wants to scuttle tax relief,” said Hawkins, a Wichita Republican.

Their private meeting before the vote was in the Kansas Contractors Association office near the Statehouse. When an Associated Press reporter showed up, Republican Rep. Patrick Penn, of Wichita, was urging colleagues to overcome their misgivings. GOP leaders forced the reporter to leave.

Later, after Owens finished his last speech against the bill, a few Republicans members could be heard saying quietly, “Here, here,” and some clapped and tapped on their desks when the plan failed.

And frustration with the plan and Kelly's intervention was palpable when the governor met Thursday morning with House Democrats to sell it. She touted it as a big victory for Democrats.

“I can guarantee that the other side has gone as far as — a lot farther than — they wanted to go,” Kelly told them. "We should be embracing this and taking credit for it."

Besides adjusting the state's personal top income tax rate, the bill also would have eliminated state income taxes on retirees’ Social Security benefits, which kick in once a person receives $75,000 a year. It also would have increased the state’s standard personal income tax deductions, increased an income tax credit for child care expenses, reduced property taxes the state imposes to raise money for public schools and ended an expiring 2% sales tax on groceries six months early, on July 1.

The property tax was modest. For the owner of a home at the Kansas median value of $210,000, the annual savings would be about $140. A home’s appraised value can easily rise enough in a year to wipe out the cut.

“This, in my mind, is half a Band-Aid when the sore is still festering,” state Sen. Tom Holland, a northeastern Kansas Democrat and the only “no” vote in the Senate, said during debate.

By JOHN HANNA&nbsp;TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A bipartisan group of rank-and-file lawmakers in Kansas scuttled a plan for cutting taxes Thursday, with Republicans defying GOP leaders and Democrats ignoring a personal appeal from the state's Democratic governor.The state House rejected&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/ccrb_hb2036_01_040324noon.pdf">a plan</a>&nbsp;to cut taxes by about $1.4 billion over the next three years. It resulted from a deal between Gov. Laura Kelly and top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature, but the House decided on a voice vote to have House and Senate negotiators draft a different plan. The vote was overwhelming enough that House members didn't ask for a count or roll call vote.Some critics, particularly Republicans, saw the plan as too small. Others, mostly Democrats, argued that it was weighted too heavily toward wealthy taxpayers because it would have dropped the state's top personal income tax rate to 5.5% from 5.7%. Lawmakers in both parties thought it cut property taxes too little.“Let us rise up and be united and send a message that Kansans deserve more,” state Rep. Stephen Owens, a conservative central Kansas Republican who led the effort to reject the measure, said during the House’s short debate.The House's action came after the Senate approved the plan&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/vote_view/je_20240404152249_863542/">38-1,</a>&nbsp;a vote that normally would have been a good omen for a House vote. Instead, many House Democrats clearly planned to vote “no” going in, and House Republicans had a private meeting outside the Statehouse beforehand, apparently so that supporters of the plan could work on their colleagues.Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, said the Legislature won't consider another tax plan this week. Lawmakers are set to adjourn Friday for a three-week spring break and go back in session April 29 for a few days to wrap up business for the year. Masterson said another tax plan could be considered then.The events in Kansas came two weeks after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-brian-kemp-corporate-income-tax-cuts-7a414376871e7baf20bfb2ea12bb7260">Georgia’s Republican-controlled Legislature passed</a>&nbsp;personal and corporate income tax cuts that GOP Gov. Brian Kemp favored. Like Georgia, Kansas has a big budget surplus — still projected at more than $4 billion for the end of June 2025.A dozen other states cut their income tax rates last year, according to the conservative Tax Foundation, but major&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tax-cuts-kansas-gop-infighting-3fcfeb252137bdda907655ae7f7fd69e">tax cuts were thwarted</a>&nbsp;in Kansas by the dispute between Republican leaders and Kelly over a GOP proposal for a single-rate, “flat” income tax, something Kelly said would benefit the “super wealthy.”Kelly&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-income-tax-cuts-budget-8fbaf4d7aa99b0b23f38daddd7dc2c28">vetoed a plan</a>&nbsp;with a single-rate income tax in January, and Republicans were unable to muster the two-thirds majorities in both chambers needed to override her action.Republican leaders wavered on a single-rate income tax in recent weeks as they grew less willing to chance having no cuts enacted this year. All 40 state Senate seats and 125 House seats are up for election this year.House Speaker Dan Hawkins told his colleagues during a brief debate that if they rejected the plan, they would face headlines of “House scuttles tax relief.”“There isn't a single one of us who wants to scuttle tax relief,” said Hawkins, a Wichita Republican.Their private meeting before the vote was in the Kansas Contractors Association office near the Statehouse. When an Associated Press reporter showed up, Republican Rep. Patrick Penn, of Wichita, was urging colleagues to overcome their misgivings. GOP leaders forced the reporter to leave.Later, after Owens finished his last speech against the bill, a few Republicans members could be heard saying quietly, “Here, here,” and some clapped and tapped on their desks when the plan failed.And frustration with the plan and Kelly's intervention was palpable when the governor met Thursday morning with House Democrats to sell it. She touted it as a big victory for Democrats.“I can guarantee that the other side has gone as far as — a lot farther than — they wanted to go,” Kelly told them. "We should be embracing this and taking credit for it."Besides adjusting the state's personal top income tax rate, the bill also would have eliminated state income taxes on retirees’ Social Security benefits, which kick in once a person receives $75,000 a year. It also would have increased the state’s standard personal income tax deductions, increased an income tax credit for child care expenses, reduced property taxes the state imposes to raise money for public schools and ended an expiring 2% sales tax on groceries six months early, on July 1.The property tax was modest. For the owner of a home at the Kansas median value of $210,000, the annual savings would be about $140. A home’s appraised value can easily rise enough in a year to wipe out the cut.“This, in my mind, is half a Band-Aid when the sore is still festering,” state Sen. Tom Holland, a northeastern Kansas Democrat and the only “no” vote in the Senate, said during debate.

Kansas lawmakers scuttle a plan for cutting taxes

SHAWNEE&nbsp; COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a burglary and robbery have captured a wanted suspect.

On March 20, police asked the public for help to locate 33-year-old&nbsp;

&nbsp;Thomas “Tommy” Lathrom of Topeka, about an ongoing aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary incident that happened on March 1, 2024. 

Just before 6a.m. Thursday, police located Lathrom at a residence in the 3600 block of SE 6th Street, according to police spokesperson Rosie Nichols.&nbsp; Lathrom was&nbsp;attempting to hide in a shed behind the home. He barricaded himself inside the shed for a brief period, but was taken into custody without incident.

Police booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Aggravated Robbery, Aggravated Battery, Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Burglary, Battery and Theft. He is being held without bond.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1712244318974.png" alt="Lathrom as shown in his Thursday Shawnee Co. booking photo" />
 <figcaption>Lathrom as shown in his Thursday Shawnee Co. booking photo</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE&nbsp; COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a burglary and robbery have captured a wanted suspect.On March 20, police asked the public for help to locate 33-year-old&nbsp;&nbsp;Thomas “Tommy” Lathrom of Topeka, about an ongoing aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary incident that happened on March 1, 2024. <figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1710947696116.png" alt="Lathrom's photo from the police alert March 20." />
 <figcaption>Lathrom's photo from the police alert March 20.</figcaption>
 </figure>Just before 6a.m. Thursday, police located Lathrom at a residence in the 3600 block of SE 6th Street, according to police spokesperson Rosie Nichols.&nbsp; Lathrom was&nbsp;attempting to hide in a shed behind the home. He barricaded himself inside the shed for a brief period, but was taken into custody without incident.Police booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Aggravated Robbery, Aggravated Battery, Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Burglary, Battery and Theft. He is being held without bond.

Violent Kansas robbery suspect caught hiding in a shed

KANSAS CITY – A Kansas City man who boasted about having associates selling cocaine in several local bars and nightclubs was sentenced in federal court Friday for distributing cocaine, according to the United State's Attorney.

Manuel A. Contreras, 33, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to 11 years and three months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Contreras to forfeit to the government $40,600, which represents the proceeds of his illegal cocaine trafficking.

On Oct. 26, 2023, Contreras pleaded guilty to five counts of distributing cocaine. According to his plea agreement, Contreras sold more than a kilogram of cocaine to an FBI confidential source over five separate occasions in 2022, for a total of $40,600.

On Oct. 14, 2022, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Contreras’s residence. Officers found a loaded SCCY 9mm semi-automatic handgun, 196.7 grams of cocaine, drug paraphernalia, and $2,526 in cash in his bedroom.

According to court documents, Contreras told the confidential source that he had people who sell cocaine for him at several bars and nightclubs in the Kansas City area.

KANSAS CITY – A Kansas City man who boasted about having associates selling cocaine in several local bars and nightclubs was sentenced in federal court Friday for distributing cocaine, according to the United State's Attorney.Manuel A. Contreras, 33, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to 11 years and three months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Contreras to forfeit to the government $40,600, which represents the proceeds of his illegal cocaine trafficking.On Oct. 26, 2023, Contreras pleaded guilty to five counts of distributing cocaine. According to his plea agreement, Contreras sold more than a kilogram of cocaine to an FBI confidential source over five separate occasions in 2022, for a total of $40,600.On Oct. 14, 2022, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Contreras’s residence. Officers found a loaded SCCY 9mm semi-automatic handgun, 196.7 grams of cocaine, drug paraphernalia, and $2,526 in cash in his bedroom.According to court documents, Contreras told the confidential source that he had people who sell cocaine for him at several bars and nightclubs in the Kansas City area.

KC man sold cocaine to an FBI confidential source five times

DOUGLAS COUNTY—The Kansas Highway Patrol has identified those involved in a fatal crash that occurred just after 1:30p.m. Wednesday in Douglas County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2017 GMC Sierra driven by&nbsp; Lowell A.&nbsp;Neitzel, 43, Lawrence, was&nbsp;eastbound on U.S. 24 near north 2100 Road.

The pickup struck a westbound 2010 Kia Soul driven by&nbsp;Milano, Ronald L. Milano, 70, Bennet, Nebraska, head-on.

Milano and two passengers identified as 39-year-old Joshua Z.&nbsp;Milano and 33-year-old Patricia A. Milano both of Lincoln Nebraska were pronounced dead and transported to&nbsp;Frontier Forensics.

The KHP indicated Neitzel was transported to Lawrence Memorial Hospital but not injured.&nbsp; The drivers were wearing seat belts, according to the KHP. The KHP did not have seat belt usage details on the passengers in the Kia.

DOUGLAS COUNTY—The Kansas Highway Patrol has identified those involved in a fatal crash that occurred just after 1:30p.m. Wednesday in Douglas County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2017 GMC Sierra driven by&nbsp; Lowell A.&nbsp;Neitzel, 43, Lawrence, was&nbsp;eastbound on U.S. 24 near north 2100 Road.The pickup struck a westbound 2010 Kia Soul driven by&nbsp;Milano, Ronald L. Milano, 70, Bennet, Nebraska, head-on.Milano and two passengers identified as 39-year-old Joshua Z.&nbsp;Milano and 33-year-old Patricia A. Milano both of Lincoln Nebraska were pronounced dead and transported to&nbsp;Frontier Forensics.The KHP indicated Neitzel was transported to Lawrence Memorial Hospital but not injured.&nbsp; The drivers were wearing seat belts, according to the KHP. The KHP did not have seat belt usage details on the passengers in the Kia.

KHP IDs three who died in Kansas head-on crash

RILEY COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a drug related death in Manhattan and have made an arrest.

Just before 5:30p.m. Tuesday officers with the Riley County Police Department arrested 22-year-old Daron Marsean Island Jones in connection to an incident from June 2023, where RCPD officers investigated the overdose death of a 25-year-old in Manhattan.

Jones was jailed on requested charges of distribution of opiates in quantities surpassing 10 units, dissemination of a controlled substance resulting in fatality, and the utilization of a communication facility in the commission of a felony drug violation.

RILEY COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a drug related death in Manhattan and have made an arrest.Just before 5:30p.m. Tuesday officers with the Riley County Police Department arrested 22-year-old Daron Marsean Island Jones in connection to an incident from June 2023, where RCPD officers investigated the overdose death of a 25-year-old in Manhattan.Jones was jailed on requested charges of distribution of opiates in quantities surpassing 10 units, dissemination of a controlled substance resulting in fatality, and the utilization of a communication facility in the commission of a felony drug violation.

Kansas man accused in fentanyl overdose death

By MIKE COURSON&nbsp;Great Bend Post

Smiles, energy, and enthusiasm. As it turns out, those are the ingredients for "Wheel of Fortune" fans to become contestants. Doing just that has been a longtime dream for Great Bend native Kiley Klug, now an English teacher at Hoisington Middle School. Those dreams came true after one of Klug's many attempts to get on the show finally panned out. Her show will air on Friday, April 5 on NBC.

"I have been a 'Wheel of Fortune' nerd as far back as I can remember," she said. "I applied online in my 20s and never heard anything. Probably between a year and a half to two years ago, they started with post-COVID and they weren't traveling anymore, and they had video applications."

Then the waiting game began. One day, Klug was teaching her class when an email from the show popped up. Unable to wait, Klug had her paraprofessional, Cassie Morales, check it out.

"I told her, 'I just got an email from "Wheel of Fortune,"' Klug said. "'There's no way. It has to be spam. It has to be a prank or a hoax.'"

Morales reported that everything seemed legitimate. Klug confirmed that she was moving on to the next stage of the audition process, which would be a meeting via Zoom.

"I was devastated the first time around," said Klug. "I was stalking my email and they never sent me the Zoom look. I thought that was it. My name would get lost and nothing would ever come of it. I tried to forget about it."

But a month later, another email popped up. "I tried not to get my hopes up," Klug said. "I had told everybody. I told my boss. I told everybody in the school, then nothing came of it. I looked kind of foolish."

This time, everything worked out. Klug was provided a link for a Zoom meeting the next day. She got permission from her principal to leave the classroom for a few minutes. In the five-minute meeting, a producer reminded Klug to bring her smile, energy, and enthusiasm. She immediately qualified for a second audition, but only if she promised to bring more of that personality.

"I'm telling you, 'Wheel of Fortune,' yes there's a bit of puzzle solving and strategy, but No. 1, they are looking for smile, energy, enthusiasm, and they tell you that at every turn. They want somebody fun to watch."

The second audition included another potential contestant from Illinois. They solved three toss-up puzzles, with Klug winning two of the games. In a breakout session that followed, Klug was less confident after solving about half of the 16 puzzles presented.

"At the end, the producer comes on and says, 'Okay, we're done. Bye!'" Klug said. "That was it. I didn't get a good vibe from that at all."

The waiting game began anew. Klug Google searched information from others who have auditioned. She was checking her email two dozen times a day for good news or bad. Finally, five weeks later, a last-minute check of the email before going to bed revealed the best of news.

"I briefly saw my taping date was two weeks from that day," she said. "I started screaming. The second I started screaming, my husband knew exactly what happened."

The email informed Klug her taping date would be Feb. 22 at the Sony Picture Studios in Culver City, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles. She had to pay for her own accommodations to get there but if she was selected for a taping, the show would provide a $1,000 stipend.

There was a caveat: 21 potential contestants were invited to record six shows that day. With just three contestants on each show, that meant three would remain as alternates. Out-of-state alternates were given just a $750 travel stipend.

Klug traveled with her husband, Gavin, her sister, Rachel, and two of her three sons. She arrived at the studio at 6:15 a.m., 30 minutes early to demonstrate some enthusiasm. The contestants were ushered into the "Jeopardy" studio where Vanna White stopped in to introduce herself.

"She came in and told us all good morning and tried to hype us up a little bit," said Klug. "She's everything she is on TV. She's super-sweet and so kind."

While in the "Jeopardy" studio, the potential contestants watched a video on possible strategies and categories that may be included in a taping. All morning long, producers reminded the group to keep up their smiles, energy, and enthusiasm.

In a strange bit of fate, Klug had posted about her upcoming trip to Los Angeles on social media. One of her husband's friends sent her a message: one of his friends from Holton would also be making the trip. Klug was able to meet that contestant who also made the show.

From the "Jeopardy" set, the contestants moved to the "Wheel of Fortune" set where they practiced spinning the wheel. They were grouped and played a single round of the game. Contestants were then named three at a time and a ping pong ball was drawn to determine which taping those contestants would attend. Klug was one of the final contestants named and her group drew the fourth taping.

Klug had to give up her phone when she arrived at the studio. Her family was allowed into the "Wheel of Fortune" studio at 11 a.m., but contestants were sat on the opposite side of the studio and the two sides were to have no contact.

"My husband, my sister, my kids, they're all trying to get my attention," Klug said. "I had to straight-up ignore them."

Just days before the group departed Kansas, Klug's husband had overheard a conversation with producers that three alternates would be selected. They anxiously awaited Klug to make her appearance on the stage with no knowledge she would be in the fourth taping. They sat through three tapings with no sign of Kiley, then had to break for lunch.

"They leave and they are beside themselves," Klug said. "They are down. They are depressed. They are thinking this isn't going to happen. She's going to be an alternate and we're going to stay here all day until 7 p.m. for nothing. They were so upset."

With everyone back in the studio after lunch, the family no longer saw Klug in her bright pink blazer sitting on the other side of the room. Sure enough, they exploded with excitement as she made her way onto the stage.

Then it was introduction time. Klug graduated from Great Bend High School but lives in Odin. "They were very, very interested in the fact that I was from a town with 100 people," she said.

Klug had promised her students she would give them a shoutout during the introduction. A producer told her she would have to leave that bit behind.

"It ended up being too confusing to include that I was both from a town of 100 people and that I had around 100 students at Hoisington Middle School," Klug said. "We had to nix the part of my introduction where I gave my school and kids a shoutout. I was really bummed about that."

Then it was showtime. "Wheel of Fortune" is 22 minutes of actual airtime on NBC. Klug estimated the average taping took approximately 40 minutes.

"On my show, for some reason or another, a puzzle was compromised and we were in the middle of a round," she said. "We all had to turn around and it took a while for them to get it all figured out."

Klug said the taping of the show otherwise resembled exactly what viewers see on TV. She never had the stage fright many gameshow players often describe.

"I was 100 percent shocked at how calm and collected I felt up there," she said. "It was so bizarre. I've always been so nervous; nervous about public speaking. Obviously, after so long, I've gotten better about it. I was not nervous at all. It was so surreal and bizarre. I really felt like I was solving puzzles at home. I know not a lot of people wouldn't agree with me on that. I know some other contestants were very nervous and froze."

Klug has proven she can keep a secret. Strict rules prohibit her from releasing any details about the outcome of the game prior to its air date. She thinks that actually adds to the fun.

"My mother is not very excited that I can't tell her anything," she said. "But I don't want to cheat them out of seeing all this for the first time. I feel like it's just so entertaining. Whether I win or lose, I want them to experience this the first time when they watch it for the first time. I feel like it would ruin the whole experience if they learned anything about it."

Klug will make her big television debut at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, April 5.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1710422086057.jpeg" alt="Watch for the pink blazer on the April 5 airing of 'Wheel of Fortune.' Great Bend native Kiley Klug (right) will fulfill a longtime dream as a contestant on the show after taping in February. Courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Watch for the pink blazer on the April 5 airing of 'Wheel of Fortune.' Great Bend native Kiley Klug (right) will fulfill a longtime dream as a contestant on the show after taping in February. Courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>By MIKE COURSON&nbsp;Great Bend PostSmiles, energy, and enthusiasm. As it turns out, those are the ingredients for "Wheel of Fortune" fans to become contestants. Doing just that has been a longtime dream for Great Bend native Kiley Klug, now an English teacher at Hoisington Middle School. Those dreams came true after one of Klug's many attempts to get on the show finally panned out. Her show will air on Friday, April 5 on NBC."I have been a 'Wheel of Fortune' nerd as far back as I can remember," she said. "I applied online in my 20s and never heard anything. Probably between a year and a half to two years ago, they started with post-COVID and they weren't traveling anymore, and they had video applications."Then the waiting game began. One day, Klug was teaching her class when an email from the show popped up. Unable to wait, Klug had her paraprofessional, Cassie Morales, check it out."I told her, 'I just got an email from "Wheel of Fortune,"' Klug said. "'There's no way. It has to be spam. It has to be a prank or a hoax.'"Morales reported that everything seemed legitimate. Klug confirmed that she was moving on to the next stage of the audition process, which would be a meeting via Zoom."I was devastated the first time around," said Klug. "I was stalking my email and they never sent me the Zoom look. I thought that was it. My name would get lost and nothing would ever come of it. I tried to forget about it."<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1710422249917.jpeg" alt="-Klug made the trip to California with her husband, Gavin, and two sons. Courtesy photo." />
 <figcaption>-Klug made the trip to California with her husband, Gavin, and two sons. Courtesy photo.</figcaption>
 </figure>But a month later, another email popped up. "I tried not to get my hopes up," Klug said. "I had told everybody. I told my boss. I told everybody in the school, then nothing came of it. I looked kind of foolish."This time, everything worked out. Klug was provided a link for a Zoom meeting the next day. She got permission from her principal to leave the classroom for a few minutes. In the five-minute meeting, a producer reminded Klug to bring her smile, energy, and enthusiasm. She immediately qualified for a second audition, but only if she promised to bring more of that personality."I'm telling you, 'Wheel of Fortune,' yes there's a bit of puzzle solving and strategy, but No. 1, they are looking for smile, energy, enthusiasm, and they tell you that at every turn. They want somebody fun to watch."The second audition included another potential contestant from Illinois. They solved three toss-up puzzles, with Klug winning two of the games. In a breakout session that followed, Klug was less confident after solving about half of the 16 puzzles presented."At the end, the producer comes on and says, 'Okay, we're done. Bye!'" Klug said. "That was it. I didn't get a good vibe from that at all."The waiting game began anew. Klug Google searched information from others who have auditioned. She was checking her email two dozen times a day for good news or bad. Finally, five weeks later, a last-minute check of the email before going to bed revealed the best of news."I briefly saw my taping date was two weeks from that day," she said. "I started screaming. The second I started screaming, my husband knew exactly what happened."The email informed Klug her taping date would be Feb. 22 at the Sony Picture Studios in Culver City, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles. She had to pay for her own accommodations to get there but if she was selected for a taping, the show would provide a $1,000 stipend.There was a caveat: 21 potential contestants were invited to record six shows that day. With just three contestants on each show, that meant three would remain as alternates. Out-of-state alternates were given just a $750 travel stipend.Klug traveled with her husband, Gavin, her sister, Rachel, and two of her three sons. She arrived at the studio at 6:15 a.m., 30 minutes early to demonstrate some enthusiasm. The contestants were ushered into the "Jeopardy" studio where Vanna White stopped in to introduce herself."She came in and told us all good morning and tried to hype us up a little bit," said Klug. "She's everything she is on TV. She's super-sweet and so kind."While in the "Jeopardy" studio, the potential contestants watched a video on possible strategies and categories that may be included in a taping. All morning long, producers reminded the group to keep up their smiles, energy, and enthusiasm.In a strange bit of fate, Klug had posted about her upcoming trip to Los Angeles on social media. One of her husband's friends sent her a message: one of his friends from Holton would also be making the trip. Klug was able to meet that contestant who also made the show.From the "Jeopardy" set, the contestants moved to the "Wheel of Fortune" set where they practiced spinning the wheel. They were grouped and played a single round of the game. Contestants were then named three at a time and a ping pong ball was drawn to determine which taping those contestants would attend. Klug was one of the final contestants named and her group drew the fourth taping.Klug had to give up her phone when she arrived at the studio. Her family was allowed into the "Wheel of Fortune" studio at 11 a.m., but contestants were sat on the opposite side of the studio and the two sides were to have no contact."My husband, my sister, my kids, they're all trying to get my attention," Klug said. "I had to straight-up ignore them."Just days before the group departed Kansas, Klug's husband had overheard a conversation with producers that three alternates would be selected. They anxiously awaited Klug to make her appearance on the stage with no knowledge she would be in the fourth taping. They sat through three tapings with no sign of Kiley, then had to break for lunch."They leave and they are beside themselves," Klug said. "They are down. They are depressed. They are thinking this isn't going to happen. She's going to be an alternate and we're going to stay here all day until 7 p.m. for nothing. They were so upset."With everyone back in the studio after lunch, the family no longer saw Klug in her bright pink blazer sitting on the other side of the room. Sure enough, they exploded with excitement as she made her way onto the stage.Then it was introduction time. Klug graduated from Great Bend High School but lives in Odin. "They were very, very interested in the fact that I was from a town with 100 people," she said.Klug had promised her students she would give them a shoutout during the introduction. A producer told her she would have to leave that bit behind."It ended up being too confusing to include that I was both from a town of 100 people and that I had around 100 students at Hoisington Middle School," Klug said. "We had to nix the part of my introduction where I gave my school and kids a shoutout. I was really bummed about that."Then it was showtime. "Wheel of Fortune" is 22 minutes of actual airtime on NBC. Klug estimated the average taping took approximately 40 minutes."On my show, for some reason or another, a puzzle was compromised and we were in the middle of a round," she said. "We all had to turn around and it took a while for them to get it all figured out."Klug said the taping of the show otherwise resembled exactly what viewers see on TV. She never had the stage fright many gameshow players often describe."I was 100 percent shocked at how calm and collected I felt up there," she said. "It was so bizarre. I've always been so nervous; nervous about public speaking. Obviously, after so long, I've gotten better about it. I was not nervous at all. It was so surreal and bizarre. I really felt like I was solving puzzles at home. I know not a lot of people wouldn't agree with me on that. I know some other contestants were very nervous and froze."Klug has proven she can keep a secret. Strict rules prohibit her from releasing any details about the outcome of the game prior to its air date. She thinks that actually adds to the fun."My mother is not very excited that I can't tell her anything," she said. "But I don't want to cheat them out of seeing all this for the first time. I feel like it's just so entertaining. Whether I win or lose, I want them to experience this the first time when they watch it for the first time. I feel like it would ruin the whole experience if they learned anything about it."Klug will make her big television debut at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, April 5.