KANSAS CITY— Two firefighters avoided serious injuries while fighting a blaze at a townhome.

Just after 7:30p.m. Wednesday, crews responded to a reported apartment fire in the 1600 block of Brooklyn in Kansas City, Missouri, according to Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins.

&nbsp;Crews reported smoke and fire showing from a vacant two-story townhome on arrival. During the search of the building, a firefighter fell through the floor and a "Mayday" call was put out. 

The firefighter was quickly found and escorted out of the structure. The firefighter was evaluated on scene. No transport was necessary.&nbsp; A second firefighter unrelated to the mayday was transported for evaluation for a minor injury, according to Hopkins.

Authorities have not released the cause of the fire or additional details.

<p>KANSAS CITY— Two firefighters avoided serious injuries while fighting a blaze at a townhome.</p><p>Just after 7:30p.m. Wednesday, crews responded to a reported apartment fire in the 1600 block of Brooklyn in Kansas City, Missouri, according to Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins.</p><p>&nbsp;Crews reported smoke and fire showing from a vacant two-story townhome on arrival. During the search of the building, a firefighter fell through the floor and a "Mayday" call was put out. </p><p>The firefighter was quickly found and escorted out of the structure. The firefighter was evaluated on scene. No transport was necessary.&nbsp; A second firefighter unrelated to the mayday was transported for evaluation for a minor injury, according to Hopkins.</p><p>Authorities have not released the cause of the fire or additional details.</p>

Firefighter safe after Mayday call during KC townhome fire

By TIM CARPENTER<br><a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — Administrators of public universities in the Kansas Board of Regents system proposed student tuition increases for undergraduate resident students in the upcoming academic year ranging from 2.5% at Pittsburg State University to 4% at Fort Hays State University.

The outlier was Emporia State University, which responded to steady enrollment declines by requesting no increase in tuition for the second consecutive year.

To varying degrees, the six Board of Regents universities in Kansas grapple with a decline in the college-age population, an ongoing crash in international student enrollment, flat state appropriations, instability in federal research spending as well as inflation in operational costs, pressure to raise employee compensation and demands for substantive direct support of college athletics.

The nine-member Board of Regents has authority over tuition adjustments, but typically recommendations from campus leadership have been adopted.

Here are tuition rate increases proposed by university officials for in-state undergraduate students in the 2025-2026 academic year: University of Kansas, 3%; Kansas State University and Wichita State University, 3.5%; Pittsburg State University, 2.5%; and Fort Hays State University, 4%.

On Wednesday, FHSU President Tisa Mason said during a presentation to the Board of Regents the 4% hike at FHSU would balance financial responsibilities of the university with the capacity of students to afford college.

“We believe that the proposed tuition increase is essential for maintaining our high-quality education and our student support services,” she said.

Board member Jon Rolph of Wichita asked whether Mason should consider a more aggressive tuition increase. FHSU historically maintained the state system’s lowest tuition rate due to revenue received from offering instruction to students in China, but the university found it necessary to raise undergraduate tuition by 7% in 2024 and 6% in 2025.

“Our students would loudly say, ‘No,'” Mason told Rolph. “They are feeling these increases right now.”

FHSU issues statement on proposed tuition hike

Scott Cason, FHSU chief communications officer, issued a written statement via email on the tuition increase today.

"Despite the growing costs of higher education, FHSU remains committed to providing its students with an affordable and high-quality college education," Cason said in the statement. "The tuition plan presented this week at the May Kansas Board of Regents meeting would increase tuition by $6.27 per credit hour for the 2025-26 academic year. FHSU has not proposed increasing any student fees for the coming academic year."

If FHSU’s tuition proposal is approved, FHSU Kansas resident students enrolled full-time will pay $3,055 per semester. Despite this proposed increase in our bottom-line price, an FHSU education will still be over $2,500 less per semester than the average cost of Kansas’s three research universities, and nearly $1,000 less per semester than the average of our fellow regional comprehensive universities, the statement said.

"FHSU’s request for a tuition increase is driven by the findings of a market and tuition and fees elasticity study, identifying new efficiencies, implementing budget cuts over the past three years, and incorporating the recommendations of a university tuition task force comprised of faculty, staff, and students in our tuition proposal. The increase will allow FHSU to remain a cost-effective, high-value educational choice," Cason said in the statement.

The final decision on FHSU’s tuition and fees schedule for the coming academic year will be made by the Kansas Board of Regents at the June meeting.

"To ensure the continuing affordability of an FHSU education, we also offer extensive scholarship opportunities, including an automatic first-time freshman scholarship worth up to $15,000 over four years," the statement said.

"FHSU’s affiliation with Fort Hays Tech | North Central and Fort Hays Tech | Northwest marks a strategic investment in expanding FHSU’s affordability advantage to more students and meeting the evolving professional and workforce development needs of students, communities and businesses across Kansas," the statement said.

Ken Hush, president of Emporia State University, defended the decision to request no tuition increase. It meant ESU would go without a tuition rate hike in five of the past seven years. The university projected it would collect 0.4% less revenue from tuition next academic year compared to the current year, a reflection of erosion in enrollment as ESU restructured the university by firing tenured professors and eliminating academic programs.

Since 2016, tuition revenue to ESU has fallen by 26% while the six-university system overall generated an additional $140 million from tuition during that period.

“We are recommending a zero percent increase for the second year in a row,” said Hush, who indicated ESU’s budget factored in a possible 3% enrollment decline in the upcoming year.

Rolph, however, reiterated that he was concerned adopting less-than-necessary tuition increases at this juncture could lead to substantial spikes in the future to fill revenue gaps.

“Do you have that mapped out over two, three, four years where it’s stair-stepped?” Rolph said.

Hush said ESU was proud to offer a high-quality education with a tuition rate that moderated financial barriers faced by students.

“Our goal is to keep it flat from here on out,” Hush said. “We believe its moving in the right direction.”

Rick Muma, president at Wichita State University, said the 3.5% surge in tuition recommended to the Board of Regents reflected an attempt to navigate a difficult financial landscape. He pointed to leveling of investment from the state, uncertainty regarding federal appropriations, employee compensation that was 16% below market rates, the need to allocate $3.5 million to athletics programs and the anticipated reduction in international student enrollment.

“We are seeing the effects of decreased enrollment among international students,” he said. “This just didn’t start this year. It’s significant for us.”

Muma said the tuition increase could net WSU about $3.4 million annually, but the decline in international students could reduce revenue by $5.5 million annually. He said the university planned to implement a 4.8% budget reduction.

Kansas State President Richard Linton said tuition for in-state undergraduates would climb by 3.5%, but a 2.5% tuition increase would be applied to veterinary medicine students and an 8% increase would be sought for students on the aviation campus in Salina.

He expected KSU enrollment to climb 2% in the upcoming year, which would be a second consecutive year of growth following nine years of decline.

“The goal is to be working as hard as we can from a student-affordability standpoint,” Linton said.

KU Chancellor Doug Girod said the plan was to raise undergraduate tuition by 3% and boost student fees by 2%. These adjustments were in reaction to a projected 2.4% inflation rate, challenges with faculty salary compression, the flat state budget, reinvention of federal research funding and arrival of the long-anticipated enrollment decline tied to U.S. population trends. He expected KU also would experience a reduction among international students.

He said financial ramifications of these forces on higher education were difficult to fully predict, especially in terms of what could happen to student enrollment.

“I think the next two years are going to answer that question for all of us,” he said.

Tuition at the six universities in the Board of Regents’ system didn’t rise in 2020 and in 2023. In 2022, only KSU raised tuition. KU didn’t adopt a tuition increase from 2020 through 2023 before embracing increases of 5% in 2024 and 3.5% in the current academic year.

<i>The Hays Post contributed to this story, adding comments from Fort Hays State University Communications.</i>

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747337376228.jpeg" alt="Leaders of six Kansas public universities submitted recommendations for tuition adjustments to the Kansas Board of Regents, including members in this image taken during a visit to Wichita State University. The increases range from 2.5% to 4%, with Emporia State University declining to raise tuition in the 2025-2026 academic year. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
                        <figcaption>Leaders of six Kansas public universities submitted recommendations for tuition adjustments to the Kansas Board of Regents, including members in this image taken during a visit to Wichita State University. The increases range from 2.5% to 4%, with Emporia State University declining to raise tuition in the 2025-2026 academic year. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
                    </figure><h2>Fort Hays State seeks 4% increase</h2><p>By TIM CARPENTER<br><a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a></p><p>TOPEKA — Administrators of public universities in the Kansas Board of Regents system proposed student tuition increases for undergraduate resident students in the upcoming academic year ranging from 2.5% at Pittsburg State University to 4% at Fort Hays State University.</p><p>The outlier was Emporia State University, which responded to steady enrollment declines by requesting no increase in tuition for the second consecutive year.</p><p>To varying degrees, the six Board of Regents universities in Kansas grapple with a decline in the college-age population, an ongoing crash in international student enrollment, flat state appropriations, instability in federal research spending as well as inflation in operational costs, pressure to raise employee compensation and demands for substantive direct support of college athletics.</p><p>The nine-member Board of Regents has authority over tuition adjustments, but typically recommendations from campus leadership have been adopted.</p><p>Here are tuition rate increases proposed by university officials for in-state undergraduate students in the 2025-2026 academic year: University of Kansas, 3%; Kansas State University and Wichita State University, 3.5%; Pittsburg State University, 2.5%; and Fort Hays State University, 4%.</p><h2>FHSU</h2><p>On Wednesday, FHSU President Tisa Mason said during a presentation to the Board of Regents the 4% hike at FHSU would balance financial responsibilities of the university with the capacity of students to afford college.</p><p>“We believe that the proposed tuition increase is essential for maintaining our high-quality education and our student support services,” she said.</p><p>Board member Jon Rolph of Wichita asked whether Mason should consider a more aggressive tuition increase. FHSU historically maintained the state system’s lowest tuition rate due to revenue received from offering instruction to students in China, but the university found it necessary to raise undergraduate tuition by 7% in 2024 and 6% in 2025.</p><p>“Our students would loudly say, ‘No,'” Mason told Rolph. “They are feeling these increases right now.”</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747341839274.png" alt="Courtesy of FHSU" />
                        <figcaption>Courtesy of FHSU</figcaption>
                    </figure><h2>FHSU issues statement on proposed tuition hike</h2><p>Scott Cason, FHSU chief communications officer, issued a written statement via email on the tuition increase today.</p><p>"Despite the growing costs of higher education, FHSU remains committed to providing its students with an affordable and high-quality college education," Cason said in the statement. "The tuition plan presented this week at the May Kansas Board of Regents meeting would increase tuition by $6.27 per credit hour for the 2025-26 academic year. FHSU has not proposed increasing any student fees for the coming academic year."</p><p>If FHSU’s tuition proposal is approved, FHSU Kansas resident students enrolled full-time will pay $3,055 per semester. Despite this proposed increase in our bottom-line price, an FHSU education will still be over $2,500 less per semester than the average cost of Kansas’s three research universities, and nearly $1,000 less per semester than the average of our fellow regional comprehensive universities, the statement said.</p><p>"FHSU’s request for a tuition increase is driven by the findings of a market and tuition and fees elasticity study, identifying new efficiencies, implementing budget cuts over the past three years, and incorporating the recommendations of a university tuition task force comprised of faculty, staff, and students in our tuition proposal. The increase will allow FHSU to remain a cost-effective, high-value educational choice," Cason said in the statement.</p><p>The final decision on FHSU’s tuition and fees schedule for the coming academic year will be made by the Kansas Board of Regents at the June meeting.</p><p>"To ensure the continuing affordability of an FHSU education, we also offer extensive scholarship opportunities, including an automatic first-time freshman scholarship worth up to $15,000 over four years," the statement said.</p><p>"FHSU’s affiliation with Fort Hays Tech | North Central and Fort Hays Tech | Northwest marks a strategic investment in expanding FHSU’s affordability advantage to more students and meeting the evolving professional and workforce development needs of students, communities and businesses across Kansas," the statement said.</p><h2>Emporia State</h2><p>Ken Hush, president of Emporia State University, defended the decision to request no tuition increase. It meant ESU would go without a tuition rate hike in five of the past seven years. The university projected it would collect 0.4% less revenue from tuition next academic year compared to the current year, a reflection of erosion in enrollment as ESU restructured the university by firing tenured professors and eliminating academic programs.</p><p>Since 2016, tuition revenue to ESU has fallen by 26% while the six-university system overall generated an additional $140 million from tuition during that period.</p><p>“We are recommending a zero percent increase for the second year in a row,” said Hush, who indicated ESU’s budget factored in a possible 3% enrollment decline in the upcoming year.</p><p>Rolph, however, reiterated that he was concerned adopting less-than-necessary tuition increases at this juncture could lead to substantial spikes in the future to fill revenue gaps.</p><p>“Do you have that mapped out over two, three, four years where it’s stair-stepped?” Rolph said.</p><p>Hush said ESU was proud to offer a high-quality education with a tuition rate that moderated financial barriers faced by students.</p><p>“Our goal is to keep it flat from here on out,” Hush said. “We believe its moving in the right direction.”</p><h2>Wichita State</h2><p>Rick Muma, president at Wichita State University, said the 3.5% surge in tuition recommended to the Board of Regents reflected an attempt to navigate a difficult financial landscape. He pointed to leveling of investment from the state, uncertainty regarding federal appropriations, employee compensation that was 16% below market rates, the need to allocate $3.5 million to athletics programs and the anticipated reduction in international student enrollment.</p><p>“We are seeing the effects of decreased enrollment among international students,” he said. “This just didn’t start this year. It’s significant for us.”</p><p>Muma said the tuition increase could net WSU about $3.4 million annually, but the decline in international students could reduce revenue by $5.5 million annually. He said the university planned to implement a 4.8% budget reduction.</p><h2>K-State</h2><p>Kansas State President Richard Linton said tuition for in-state undergraduates would climb by 3.5%, but a 2.5% tuition increase would be applied to veterinary medicine students and an 8% increase would be sought for students on the aviation campus in Salina.</p><p>He expected KSU enrollment to climb 2% in the upcoming year, which would be a second consecutive year of growth following nine years of decline.</p><p>“The goal is to be working as hard as we can from a student-affordability standpoint,” Linton said.</p><h2>KU</h2><p>KU Chancellor Doug Girod said the plan was to raise undergraduate tuition by 3% and boost student fees by 2%. These adjustments were in reaction to a projected 2.4% inflation rate, challenges with faculty salary compression, the flat state budget, reinvention of federal research funding and arrival of the long-anticipated enrollment decline tied to U.S. population trends. He expected KU also would experience a reduction among international students.</p><p>He said financial ramifications of these forces on higher education were difficult to fully predict, especially in terms of what could happen to student enrollment.</p><p>“I think the next two years are going to answer that question for all of us,” he said.</p><p>Tuition at the six universities in the Board of Regents’ system didn’t rise in 2020 and in 2023. In 2022, only KSU raised tuition. KU didn’t adopt a tuition increase from 2020 through 2023 before embracing increases of 5% in 2024 and 3.5% in the current academic year.</p><p><i>The Hays Post contributed to this story, adding comments from Fort Hays State University Communications.</i></p>

Five of 6 state universities in Kansas seek tuition hikes to grapple with financial obstacles

Air traffic controllers in Denver had to scramble to use backup frequencies after their main communications lines went down for 90 seconds earlier this week in the latest Federal Aviation Administration equipment failure. The FAA's head of air traffic control, Frank McIntosh, said during a House hearing Thursday that the outage in Denver happened Monday afternoon but its radar remained online. This communications failure follows two high-profile outages of radar and communications in the past 2 1/2 weeks at a facility that directs planes in and out of the Newark, New Jersey, airport. The FAA said in a statement the Denver facility lost communications for approximately 90 seconds, but controllers used another frequency to communicate and the planes remained a safe distance apart.

Air traffic controllers in Denver lost communications with planes around that major airport for 90 seconds earlier this week and had to scramble to use backup frequencies in the latest Federal Aviation Administration equipment failure.

The outage at Denver International Airport happened Monday afternoon and affected communications, not radar, the FAA's head of air traffic control, Frank McIntosh, said during a House hearing Thursday. This communications failure follows two high-profile outages of radar and communications in the past 2 1/2 weeks at a facility that directs planes in and out of the Newark, New Jersey, airport.

The FAA said in a statement that the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center lost communications for approximately 90 seconds. McIntosh said both the primary and main backup frequencies went down, so the controllers had to turn to an emergency frequency to communicate.

"Controllers used another frequency to relay instructions to pilots. Aircraft remained safely separated and there were no impacts to operations," the FAA said.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California told McIntosh during the hearing that "anytime there's these outages which are happening now more regularly, it's very concerning."

"We know that there are staffing and equipment problems at air traffic control," Garcia said. "We know that the problems have gone back decades in some cases, but it's still an absolutely shocking system failure and we need immediate solutions."

The Denver communications failure is the latest troubling equipment failure in the system that keeps planes safe. Last week, the Trump administration announced a multibillion-dollar plan to overhaul an air traffic control system that relies on antiquated equipment.

The Newark airport has generally led the nation in flight cancellations and delays ever since its first radar outage on April 28 that also lasted about 90 seconds. A second outage happened on May 9. In both those instances controllers lost both radar and communications.

The FAA was in the middle of a second day Thursday of meetings with the airlines that fly out of Newark about cutting flights because there aren't enough controllers to handle all the flights on the schedule now. More than 100 flights have been canceled at Newark Thursday.

Officials developed the plan to upgrade the system after a deadly midair collision in January between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter killed 67 people in the skies over Washington, D.C. Several other crashes this year also put pressure on officials to act.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1738800637991.jpg" alt="<br>" />
                        <figcaption><br></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By JOSH FUNK <br>Associated Press</p><p>Air traffic controllers in Denver had to scramble to use backup frequencies after their main communications lines went down for 90 seconds earlier this week in the latest Federal Aviation Administration equipment failure. The FAA's head of air traffic control, Frank McIntosh, said during a House hearing Thursday that the outage in Denver happened Monday afternoon but its radar remained online. This communications failure follows two high-profile outages of radar and communications in the past 2 1/2 weeks at a facility that directs planes in and out of the Newark, New Jersey, airport. The FAA said in a statement the Denver facility lost communications for approximately 90 seconds, but controllers used another frequency to communicate and the planes remained a safe distance apart.</p><p>Air traffic controllers in Denver lost communications with planes around that major airport for 90 seconds earlier this week and had to scramble to use backup frequencies in the latest Federal Aviation Administration equipment failure.</p><p>The outage at Denver International Airport happened Monday afternoon and affected communications, not radar, the FAA's head of air traffic control, Frank McIntosh, said during a House hearing Thursday. This communications failure follows two high-profile outages of radar and communications in the past 2 1/2 weeks at a facility that directs planes in and out of the Newark, New Jersey, airport.</p><p>The FAA said in a statement that the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center lost communications for approximately 90 seconds. McIntosh said both the primary and main backup frequencies went down, so the controllers had to turn to an emergency frequency to communicate.</p><p>"Controllers used another frequency to relay instructions to pilots. Aircraft remained safely separated and there were no impacts to operations," the FAA said.</p><p>Rep. Robert Garcia of California told McIntosh during the hearing that "anytime there's these outages which are happening now more regularly, it's very concerning."</p><p>"We know that there are staffing and equipment problems at air traffic control," Garcia said. "We know that the problems have gone back decades in some cases, but it's still an absolutely shocking system failure and we need immediate solutions."</p><p>The Denver communications failure is the latest troubling equipment failure in the system that keeps planes safe. Last week, the Trump administration announced a multibillion-dollar plan to overhaul an air traffic control system that relies on antiquated equipment.</p><p>The Newark airport has generally led the nation in flight cancellations and delays ever since its first radar outage on April 28 that also lasted about 90 seconds. A second outage happened on May 9. In both those instances controllers lost both radar and communications.</p><p>The FAA was in the middle of a second day Thursday of meetings with the airlines that fly out of Newark about cutting flights because there aren't enough controllers to handle all the flights on the schedule now. More than 100 flights have been canceled at Newark Thursday.</p><p>Officials developed the plan to upgrade the system after a deadly midair collision in January between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter killed 67 people in the skies over Washington, D.C. Several other crashes this year also put pressure on officials to act.</p>

Denver air traffic controllers scramble after losing communications 

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart, which became the nation's largest retailer by making low prices a priority, has found itself in a place it's rarely been: Warning customers that prices will rise for goods ranging from bananas to car seats.

Executives at the $750 billion company told industry analysts Thursday that they are doing everything in their power to absorb the higher costs from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-businesses-us-tariffs-pause-trade-ee5de150ac4ea36852c11bb6ab21af39">tariffs</a>&nbsp;ordered by President Donald Trump.

Given the magnitude of the duties, however, the highest since the 1930s, higher prices are unavoidable and they will hurt Walmart customers already buffeted by inflation over the past three years.

Trump’s threatened 145% import taxes on Chinese goods were reduced to 30% in a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-us-switzerland-tariffs-negotiations-b3f5174d086e39b2522ab848ddad9372">deal announced Monday</a>, with some of the higher tariffs on pause for 90 days.

Those higher prices began to appear on Walmart shelves in late April and accelerated this month, Walmart executives said Thursday. However, a larger sting will be felt in June and July when the back-to-school shopping season goes into high gear.

“We're wired to keep prices low, but there’s a limit to what we can bear, or any retailer for that matter,” Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey told The Associated Press on Thursday after the company reported strong first quarter sales.

Rainey emphasized that prices are rising not just for discretionary items such as patio furniture and trendy fashions, but for basic necessities as well. The price of bananas, imported from Costa Rica, rose from 50 cents per pound, to 54 cents. He thinks car seats made in China that currently sell for $350 at Walmart will likely cost customers another $100. Baby strollers are also sourced from China, Rainey said.

Higher prices arrive as many Americans pull back on spending as they grow increasingly uneasy about the economy.

Government data Thursday revealed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/economy-spending-tariffs-retail-2849f1fae55a1da5907aaab1b9941972">slowing sales growth</a>&nbsp;for retailers. Walmart says that its consumers have become cautious and selective.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-tariffs-us-trump-150fab3a44ec055845e47c82bde544c2">Tariffs on China</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-reciprocal-imports-tax-trade-economy-54c0a26687dc96157d96229068894720">other countries</a>&nbsp;are threatening the low-price model at the core of Walmart’s success.

Retailers and importers had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariff-economy-recession-china-imports-trade-8d90bb37735e833c43a7b7a9d5a0b9a2">largely halted shipments</a>&nbsp;of shoes, clothes, toys, and other items due to new tariffs, but many&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-china-business-reaction-0c12feba442877de63d5009c2c300f55">are resuming imports</a>&nbsp;from China in the narrow window that opened during the temporary “truce” this week, hoping to avoid sparse shelves this fall. Yet retailers, already operating on thin margins, say they have no choice but to raise prices to offset higher costs from tariffs. And they are also bracing for higher shipping costs fueled by a surge of companies scrambling to get their goods on ships to the U.S.

Rainey told The Associated Press that the retailer did not pause shipments from China as a result of the tariffs like others because it didn't want to hurt its suppliers and wanted to keep merchandise flowing. It has built in hedges against some tariff threats. Two-thirds of Walmart’s merchandise is sourced in the U.S., with groceries now accounting for roughly 60% of Walmart’s U.S. business.

CEO Doug McMillon told analysts Thursday that Walmart imports general merchandise from dozens of countries. But China, in particular, represents a big chunk of volume in certain categories like electronics and toys.

Tariffs on countries like Costa Rica, Peru and Colombia are raising costs on groceries like avocados, coffee and roses, in addition to bananas, company executives said. Walmart is absorbing costs on general merchandise within departments and has yet to pass along rising costs in some cases.

Walmart is also asking suppliers to swap input materials for components if possible, for example, using fiberglass instead of aluminum, which Trump hit with tariffs in early March.

“We're very dependent upon imports for these types of products,” Rainey told The Associated Press.

He said there are some goods for which Walmart simply can't shift production or produce easily in the United States.

Walmart earned $4.45 billion, or 56 cents per share, in the quarter ended April 30, down from $5.10 billion, or 63 cents per share, in the same period last year.

Adjusted earnings per share were 61 cents, exceeding the 58 cent projections from industry analysts, according to FactSet.

Revenue rose 2.5% to $165.61 billion, just short of analyst estimates.

Walmart’s U.S. comparable sales — those from established physical stores and online channels — rose 4.5% in the second quarter, though that’s slowed from a 4.6% bump in the previous quarter, and a 5.3% increase in the third quarter of 2024. .

Business was fueled by health and wellness items as well as groceries. Sales were weaker in home and sporting good, which was offset by robust sales of toys, automotive goods and kid’s clothing, the company said.

Global e-commerce sales rose 22%, up from 16% in the previous quarter.

Walmart said it expects sales growth of 3.5% to 4.5% in the second quarter.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747332038494.png" alt="Google image" />
                        <figcaption>Google image</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart, which became the nation's largest retailer by making low prices a priority, has found itself in a place it's rarely been: Warning customers that prices will rise for goods ranging from bananas to car seats.</p><p>Executives at the $750 billion company told industry analysts Thursday that they are doing everything in their power to absorb the higher costs from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-businesses-us-tariffs-pause-trade-ee5de150ac4ea36852c11bb6ab21af39">tariffs</a>&nbsp;ordered by President Donald Trump.</p><p>Given the magnitude of the duties, however, the highest since the 1930s, higher prices are unavoidable and they will hurt Walmart customers already buffeted by inflation over the past three years.</p><p>Trump’s threatened 145% import taxes on Chinese goods were reduced to 30% in a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-us-switzerland-tariffs-negotiations-b3f5174d086e39b2522ab848ddad9372">deal announced Monday</a>, with some of the higher tariffs on pause for 90 days.</p><p>Those higher prices began to appear on Walmart shelves in late April and accelerated this month, Walmart executives said Thursday. However, a larger sting will be felt in June and July when the back-to-school shopping season goes into high gear.</p><p>“We're wired to keep prices low, but there’s a limit to what we can bear, or any retailer for that matter,” Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey told The Associated Press on Thursday after the company reported strong first quarter sales.</p><p>Rainey emphasized that prices are rising not just for discretionary items such as patio furniture and trendy fashions, but for basic necessities as well. The price of bananas, imported from Costa Rica, rose from 50 cents per pound, to 54 cents. He thinks car seats made in China that currently sell for $350 at Walmart will likely cost customers another $100. Baby strollers are also sourced from China, Rainey said.</p><p>Higher prices arrive as many Americans pull back on spending as they grow increasingly uneasy about the economy.</p><p>Government data Thursday revealed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/economy-spending-tariffs-retail-2849f1fae55a1da5907aaab1b9941972">slowing sales growth</a>&nbsp;for retailers. Walmart says that its consumers have become cautious and selective.</p><p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-tariffs-us-trump-150fab3a44ec055845e47c82bde544c2">Tariffs on China</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-reciprocal-imports-tax-trade-economy-54c0a26687dc96157d96229068894720">other countries</a>&nbsp;are threatening the low-price model at the core of Walmart’s success.</p><p>Retailers and importers had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariff-economy-recession-china-imports-trade-8d90bb37735e833c43a7b7a9d5a0b9a2">largely halted shipments</a>&nbsp;of shoes, clothes, toys, and other items due to new tariffs, but many&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-china-business-reaction-0c12feba442877de63d5009c2c300f55">are resuming imports</a>&nbsp;from China in the narrow window that opened during the temporary “truce” this week, hoping to avoid sparse shelves this fall. Yet retailers, already operating on thin margins, say they have no choice but to raise prices to offset higher costs from tariffs. And they are also bracing for higher shipping costs fueled by a surge of companies scrambling to get their goods on ships to the U.S.</p><p>Rainey told The Associated Press that the retailer did not pause shipments from China as a result of the tariffs like others because it didn't want to hurt its suppliers and wanted to keep merchandise flowing. It has built in hedges against some tariff threats. Two-thirds of Walmart’s merchandise is sourced in the U.S., with groceries now accounting for roughly 60% of Walmart’s U.S. business.</p><p>Still, Walmart isn’t immune.</p><p>CEO Doug McMillon told analysts Thursday that Walmart imports general merchandise from dozens of countries. But China, in particular, represents a big chunk of volume in certain categories like electronics and toys.</p><p>Tariffs on countries like Costa Rica, Peru and Colombia are raising costs on groceries like avocados, coffee and roses, in addition to bananas, company executives said. Walmart is absorbing costs on general merchandise within departments and has yet to pass along rising costs in some cases.</p><p>Walmart is also asking suppliers to swap input materials for components if possible, for example, using fiberglass instead of aluminum, which Trump hit with tariffs in early March.</p><p>“We're very dependent upon imports for these types of products,” Rainey told The Associated Press.</p><p>He said there are some goods for which Walmart simply can't shift production or produce easily in the United States.</p><p>Walmart earned $4.45 billion, or 56 cents per share, in the quarter ended April 30, down from $5.10 billion, or 63 cents per share, in the same period last year.</p><p>Adjusted earnings per share were 61 cents, exceeding the 58 cent projections from industry analysts, according to FactSet.</p><p>Revenue rose 2.5% to $165.61 billion, just short of analyst estimates.</p><p>Walmart’s U.S. comparable sales — those from established physical stores and online channels — rose 4.5% in the second quarter, though that’s slowed from a 4.6% bump in the previous quarter, and a 5.3% increase in the third quarter of 2024. .</p><p>Business was fueled by health and wellness items as well as groceries. Sales were weaker in home and sporting good, which was offset by robust sales of toys, automotive goods and kid’s clothing, the company said.</p><p>Global e-commerce sales rose 22%, up from 16% in the previous quarter.</p><p>Walmart said it expects sales growth of 3.5% to 4.5% in the second quarter.</p>

A rare warning from Walmart during a US trade war

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement investigating a homicide in Kansas City, Missouri identified the victim as 17-year-old Matim Nunley, according to KCPD Captain Jacob Becchina.

Just after 2p.m. May 10, police were dispatched to the 8400 block of East 63rd street on a reported shooting, according to Sergeant Phil DiMartino. As officers arrived they were directed to the parking lot of a convenience store.

There they located a victim identified Thursday morning as Nunley  suffering from gun shot wounds. Officers immediately began performing life saving measures and ordered EMS to the scene. Medics transported Nunley to a local hospital where he died a short time later.&nbsp; Preliminary investigation revealed there was an altercation in the parking lot that led to shots being fired and Nunley being struck. Police have reported an arrest or additional details.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1746924246378.png" alt="Photo Sheriff Daryl Forte'" />
                        <figcaption>Photo Sheriff Daryl Forte'</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement investigating a homicide in Kansas City, Missouri identified the victim as 17-year-old Matim Nunley, according to KCPD Captain Jacob Becchina.</p><p>Just after 2p.m. May 10, police were dispatched to the 8400 block of East 63rd street on a reported shooting, according to Sergeant Phil DiMartino. As officers arrived they were directed to the parking lot of a convenience store.</p><p>There they located a victim identified Thursday morning as Nunley  suffering from gun shot wounds. Officers immediately began performing life saving measures and ordered EMS to the scene. Medics transported Nunley to a local hospital where he died a short time later.&nbsp; Preliminary investigation revealed there was an altercation in the parking lot that led to shots being fired and Nunley being struck. Police have reported an arrest or additional details.</p>

KCPD: Homicide victim found in store parking lot was 17-year-old

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/casey-means-surgeon-general-podcasts-health-care-9eaa4341a62a0762fe827f459e9b1415">new pick for surgeon general</a>&nbsp;wrote in a recent book that people should consider using unproven psychedelic drugs as therapy and in a newsletter suggested her use of mushrooms helped her find a romantic partner.

Dr. Casey Means’ recommendation to consider guided psilocybin-assisted therapy is notable because psilocybin is illegal under federal law. It’s listed as a Schedule 1 drug, defined as a substance “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Oregon and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/colorado-psilocybin-psychedelic-therapy-legal-ptsd-veterans-99fc5a0703d85daa0903d5a2b2acc9be">Colorado</a>&nbsp;have legalized&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/microdosing-lsd-mushrooms-psychedelic-psilocybin-390c99ba54ef9d75727f39e2ec78fb34">psychedelic therapy</a>, though&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/oregon-psilocybin-psychedelic-mushrooms-ban-9c73a25986171b41bb162100d54d2217">several cities in Oregon</a>&nbsp;have since banned it.

The surgeon general’s job is to provide Americans with the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and reduce their risk of illness and injury. Past surgeons general have used their position to educate Americans about health problems like AIDS and suicide prevention. The surgeon general’s warning in 1964 about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/smoking-vaping-surgeon-general-db81e873c256e38433734e86d6a50f7e">the dangers of smoking</a>&nbsp;helped change the course of America’s health.

Some, like&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-d5fa02d63d474102b8c05cd82eab4a50">Dr. C. Everett Koop</a>, surgeon general under President Ronald Reagan, became widely known with substantial impact on policy, and others slipped easily from memory.

Means’ nomination follows a pattern from Trump to select people known for their public personas more than their policy positions. In the case of Means, the Republican president said he chose her solely on the recommendation of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-hhs-senate-vaccines-layoffs-measles-8c99853031507ecb5408b4132329cdea">Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.</a>&nbsp;“Bobby thought she was fantastic,” Trump said, adding that he did not know her.

Means, who received her undergraduate and medical degrees from Stanford University, began a medical residency in Oregon but did not complete it. Her medical license is listed as inactive. Contacted by phone, Means declined to comment on the record.

She made the recommendation about psychedelics in her 2024 book, “Good Energy,” which she wrote with her brother, Calley Means, an entrepreneur who now works in the Trump administration as a health adviser and who has said he invested in biopharmaceutical companies that specialize in psychedelics.

Much of the book focuses on metabolic health, what Casey Means calls “good energy.” She suggests a number of strategies to help people “manage and heal the stressors, traumas, and thought patterns that limit us and contribute to our poor metabolic health and thriving.”

One such strategy is to “consider psilocybin-assisted therapy,” referring to the compound found in psychedelic mushrooms. She details her thinking on the subject in a 750-word passage.

“If you feel called, I also encourage you to explore intentional, guided psilocybin therapy,” she wrote. “Strong scientific evidence suggests that this psychedelic therapy can be one of the most meaningful experiences of life for some people, as they have been for me.”

Though there have been some studies suggesting benefits from psychedelics, it has not been shown that benefits outweigh the risks. Psilocybin can cause hours of hallucinations that can be pleasant or terrifying. When paired with talk therapy, it has been studied as a treatment for psychiatric conditions and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mushroom-psychedelic-alcoholism-study-a3b6692ae7590de9fd09a7cac271a199">alcoholism</a>, but&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/microdosing-lsd-mushrooms-psychedelic-psilocybin-390c99ba54ef9d75727f39e2ec78fb34">very little research</a>&nbsp;has been done in healthy people. Side effects can include increased heart rate, nausea and headaches. Taking it unsupervised can be dangerous. Hallucinations could cause a user to walk into traffic or take other risks.

Means wrote that psilocybin and other psychedelics have been stigmatized. She touted the benefits of MDMA, also known as ecstasy or molly, for helping people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The Food and Drug Administration last year&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mdma-psychedelic-drug-fda-ptsd-lykos-709b23613031fb11d3dc5228c8476a39">declined to approve the use of MDMA</a>&nbsp;as a therapy for PTSD after a panel of advisers&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mdma-psychedelics-fda-ptsd-ecstasy-molly-1f3753324fa7f91821c9ee6246fa18e1">found the research was flawed</a>&nbsp;and there were significant risks in using it.

Means refers to psychedelics in her book as “plant medicine.” She describes how she took mushrooms for the first time around Jan. 1, 2021, after she was inspired by “an internal voice that whispered: it’s time to prepare.”

“I felt myself as part of an infinite and unbroken series of cosmic nesting dolls of millions of mothers and babies before me from the beginning of life,” she wrote, adding that in her experience “psilocybin can be a doorway to a different reality that is free from the limiting beliefs of my ego, feelings, and personal history.”

In a newsletter she published in October, Means said she had also used psychedelics to help her make “space to find love at 35.” She wrote that she “did plant medicine experiences with trusted guides” to become ready for partnership, punctuating the line with a mushroom emoji. She noted she was not necessarily making recommendations that others do the same.

In a post this month about her White House health policy wish list, Means said she wanted more nutritious food served in schools, suggested putting warning labels on ultra-processed foods, called for investigations into vaccine safety and said she wanted to remove conflicts of interest. She did not specifically mention psychedelics but said that researchers have little incentive to study “generic, natural, and non-patentable drugs and therapies” and that a portion of research budgets should be devoted to alternative approaches to health.

Calley Means has also advocated for the use of psychedelic drugs, writing in a 2021 blog post that he first tried psilocybin during a challenging time in his life and “it was the single most meaningful experience of my life — personally, professionally, and spiritually.” He said in 2022 that he had “sold all of my 401k” and bought stocks in two companies that are developing and researching psychedelics. He did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Casey Means’ confirmation hearing has not been scheduled.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-surgeon-general-laura-loomer-794da62da02d5699683e3b1540b8a31f">Trump chose Means</a>&nbsp;after questions were raised about the resume of his first pick for surgeon general, former Fox News medical contributor&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fda-trump-marty-makary-34424f5fefcbbc334c1983b025523aad">Janette Nesheiwat</a>, and he withdrew her nomination.

Associated Press Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson in Washington state and AP writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1746656010439.png" alt="Dr. Casey Means from her Instagram page" />
                        <figcaption>Dr. Casey Means from her Instagram page</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/casey-means-surgeon-general-podcasts-health-care-9eaa4341a62a0762fe827f459e9b1415">new pick for surgeon general</a>&nbsp;wrote in a recent book that people should consider using unproven psychedelic drugs as therapy and in a newsletter suggested her use of mushrooms helped her find a romantic partner.</p><p>Dr. Casey Means’ recommendation to consider guided psilocybin-assisted therapy is notable because psilocybin is illegal under federal law. It’s listed as a Schedule 1 drug, defined as a substance “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Oregon and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/colorado-psilocybin-psychedelic-therapy-legal-ptsd-veterans-99fc5a0703d85daa0903d5a2b2acc9be">Colorado</a>&nbsp;have legalized&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/microdosing-lsd-mushrooms-psychedelic-psilocybin-390c99ba54ef9d75727f39e2ec78fb34">psychedelic therapy</a>, though&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/oregon-psilocybin-psychedelic-mushrooms-ban-9c73a25986171b41bb162100d54d2217">several cities in Oregon</a>&nbsp;have since banned it.</p><p>The surgeon general’s job is to provide Americans with the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and reduce their risk of illness and injury. Past surgeons general have used their position to educate Americans about health problems like AIDS and suicide prevention. The surgeon general’s warning in 1964 about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/smoking-vaping-surgeon-general-db81e873c256e38433734e86d6a50f7e">the dangers of smoking</a>&nbsp;helped change the course of America’s health.</p><div><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/DCXt3_myk9B/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DCXt3_myk9B/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a><p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DCXt3_myk9B/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Casey Means, MD (@drcaseyskitchen)</a></p></div></blockquote>
<script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></div><p>Some, like&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-d5fa02d63d474102b8c05cd82eab4a50">Dr. C. Everett Koop</a>, surgeon general under President Ronald Reagan, became widely known with substantial impact on policy, and others slipped easily from memory.</p><p>Means’ nomination follows a pattern from Trump to select people known for their public personas more than their policy positions. In the case of Means, the Republican president said he chose her solely on the recommendation of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-hhs-senate-vaccines-layoffs-measles-8c99853031507ecb5408b4132329cdea">Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.</a>&nbsp;“Bobby thought she was fantastic,” Trump said, adding that he did not know her.</p><p>Means, who received her undergraduate and medical degrees from Stanford University, began a medical residency in Oregon but did not complete it. Her medical license is listed as inactive. Contacted by phone, Means declined to comment on the record.</p><p>She made the recommendation about psychedelics in her 2024 book, “Good Energy,” which she wrote with her brother, Calley Means, an entrepreneur who now works in the Trump administration as a health adviser and who has said he invested in biopharmaceutical companies that specialize in psychedelics.</p><p>Much of the book focuses on metabolic health, what Casey Means calls “good energy.” She suggests a number of strategies to help people “manage and heal the stressors, traumas, and thought patterns that limit us and contribute to our poor metabolic health and thriving.”</p><p>One such strategy is to “consider psilocybin-assisted therapy,” referring to the compound found in psychedelic mushrooms. She details her thinking on the subject in a 750-word passage.</p><p>“If you feel called, I also encourage you to explore intentional, guided psilocybin therapy,” she wrote. “Strong scientific evidence suggests that this psychedelic therapy can be one of the most meaningful experiences of life for some people, as they have been for me.”</p><p>Though there have been some studies suggesting benefits from psychedelics, it has not been shown that benefits outweigh the risks. Psilocybin can cause hours of hallucinations that can be pleasant or terrifying. When paired with talk therapy, it has been studied as a treatment for psychiatric conditions and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mushroom-psychedelic-alcoholism-study-a3b6692ae7590de9fd09a7cac271a199">alcoholism</a>, but&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/microdosing-lsd-mushrooms-psychedelic-psilocybin-390c99ba54ef9d75727f39e2ec78fb34">very little research</a>&nbsp;has been done in healthy people. Side effects can include increased heart rate, nausea and headaches. Taking it unsupervised can be dangerous. Hallucinations could cause a user to walk into traffic or take other risks.</p><p>Means wrote that psilocybin and other psychedelics have been stigmatized. She touted the benefits of MDMA, also known as ecstasy or molly, for helping people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The Food and Drug Administration last year&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mdma-psychedelic-drug-fda-ptsd-lykos-709b23613031fb11d3dc5228c8476a39">declined to approve the use of MDMA</a>&nbsp;as a therapy for PTSD after a panel of advisers&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mdma-psychedelics-fda-ptsd-ecstasy-molly-1f3753324fa7f91821c9ee6246fa18e1">found the research was flawed</a>&nbsp;and there were significant risks in using it.</p><p>Means refers to psychedelics in her book as “plant medicine.” She describes how she took mushrooms for the first time around Jan. 1, 2021, after she was inspired by “an internal voice that whispered: it’s time to prepare.”</p><p>“I felt myself as part of an infinite and unbroken series of cosmic nesting dolls of millions of mothers and babies before me from the beginning of life,” she wrote, adding that in her experience “psilocybin can be a doorway to a different reality that is free from the limiting beliefs of my ego, feelings, and personal history.”</p><p>In a newsletter she published in October, Means said she had also used psychedelics to help her make “space to find love at 35.” She wrote that she “did plant medicine experiences with trusted guides” to become ready for partnership, punctuating the line with a mushroom emoji. She noted she was not necessarily making recommendations that others do the same.</p><p>In a post this month about her White House health policy wish list, Means said she wanted more nutritious food served in schools, suggested putting warning labels on ultra-processed foods, called for investigations into vaccine safety and said she wanted to remove conflicts of interest. She did not specifically mention psychedelics but said that researchers have little incentive to study “generic, natural, and non-patentable drugs and therapies” and that a portion of research budgets should be devoted to alternative approaches to health.</p><p>Calley Means has also advocated for the use of psychedelic drugs, writing in a 2021 blog post that he first tried psilocybin during a challenging time in his life and “it was the single most meaningful experience of my life — personally, professionally, and spiritually.” He said in 2022 that he had “sold all of my 401k” and bought stocks in two companies that are developing and researching psychedelics. He did not respond to messages seeking comment.</p><p>Casey Means’ confirmation hearing has not been scheduled.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-surgeon-general-laura-loomer-794da62da02d5699683e3b1540b8a31f">Trump chose Means</a>&nbsp;after questions were raised about the resume of his first pick for surgeon general, former Fox News medical contributor&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fda-trump-marty-makary-34424f5fefcbbc334c1983b025523aad">Janette Nesheiwat</a>, and he withdrew her nomination.</p><p>___</p><p>Associated Press Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson in Washington state and AP writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.</p>

Trump surgeon general pick said mushrooms helped her find love

DAVIESS COUNTY —A juvenile was injured in an accident just before 7p.m. Wednesday in Daviess County, Missouri.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Jeep Wrangler driven by an 18-year-old Gallatin woman was eastbound on MO 6 at 330th two miles east of Jamesport. The Jeep struck a horse ridden by a 5-year-old Jamesport boy.&nbsp; The boy was ejected from the horse.

 Life Flight airlifted the boy to Children's Mercy. The teen driver was not injured and properly restrained, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.&nbsp; The Patrol confirmed late Thursday morning that the horse died from injuries in the accident.

 Jamesport is located approximately 80 miles north of Kansas City.

<p>Update 11a.m. Thursday</p><p>DAVIESS COUNTY —A juvenile was injured in an accident just before 7p.m. Wednesday in Daviess County, Missouri.</p><p>The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Jeep Wrangler driven by an 18-year-old Gallatin woman was eastbound on MO 6 at 330th two miles east of Jamesport. The Jeep struck a horse ridden by a 5-year-old Jamesport boy.&nbsp; The boy was ejected from the horse.</p><p> Life Flight airlifted the boy to Children's Mercy. The teen driver was not injured and properly restrained, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.&nbsp; The Patrol confirmed late Thursday morning that the horse died from injuries in the accident.</p><p> Jamesport is located approximately 80 miles north of Kansas City.</p>

Update: 5-year-old airlifted to hospital after Jeep strikes a horse

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has heard its first set of Trump-related arguments in the second Trump presidency. 

<a href="https://www.c-span.org/program/public-affairs-event/supreme-court-hears-birthright-citizenship-case/659342">Click here to listen to a replay of the oral argument</a>

The case stems from the executive order President Donald Trump issued on his first day in office that would deny citizenship to children born on U.S. soil to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily. The executive order marks a major change to the provision of the 14th Amendment that grants citizenship to people born in the United States, with just a couple of exceptions.

On Thursday, the high court heard from three attorneys: Solicitor General D. John Sauer, who represents the Trump administration; New Jersey Solicitor General Jeremy Feigenbaum is arguing against Trump’s order on behalf of several states; and Kelsi Corkran, who is representing pregnant women and immigrant rights groups.

Federal judges have uniformly cast doubt on Trump’s reading of the Citizenship Clause. Three judges have blocked the order from taking effect anywhere in the U.S., including U.S. District Judge John Coughenour. “I’ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented was as clear as this one is. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” Coughenour said at a hearing in his Seattle courtroom.

The Supreme Court took up emergency appeals filed by the Trump administration asking to be able to enforce the executive order in most of the country, at least while lawsuits over the order proceed. The constitutionality of the order is not before the court just yet. Instead, the justices are looking at potentially limiting the authority of individual judges to issue rulings that apply throughout the United States. These are known as nationwide, or universal, injunctions.

<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court">The Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;seemed intent on keeping a block on President Donald Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship Thursday while still looking for a way to scale back nationwide court orders. It was not immediately clear what such a decision might look like, but a majority of the court expressed concerns about what would happen if the administration were allowed, even temporarily, to deny citizenship to children born to parents who are in the country illegally.

Democratic attorneys general said Thursday that the case before the court goes beyond birthright citizenship.

“It’s about whether the rule of law and … whether the president can act like a king,” said New Jersey attorney general Matthew Platkin.

He spoke outside the Supreme Court accompanied by other Democratic attorneys general who have filed dozens of lawsuits challenging Trump’s policies in court. The Supreme Court will determine whether the Trump administration can partially enforce the president’s order on birthright citizenship.

The court could also narrow the power of other federal judges to make decisions that affect the entire country and potentially restrain the states’ ability to score victories against the administration court.

Would the Trump administration follow court rulings?

An underlying issue that did seem to be on the minds of several of the justices was judicial authority and whether the Trump administration would follow it. At least six of them questioned Sauer on the authority of the courts, including their own.

Justice Kavanaugh asked directly if the administration would follow an adverse ruling in the case while reading from government court filings on following Supreme Court precedents.

Sauer ran into another moment when he would not commit to respecting the decisions of a circuit court, saying administrations had generally followed rulings. Justice Coney Barrett responded tersely with, “Really?”

After a short rebuttal from Sauer, arguments are now complete after more than two hours. The Supreme Court typically rules in all its argued cases by the end of June and this one shouldn’t be any different. After oral arguments today,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-supreme-court-birthright-citizenship-nationwide-injunctions-2c495cddc1436e21a9fa976d295dc292">it’s not out of the question</a>&nbsp;that the court could make a decision on this quickly, but we can’t know for sure.

Although the Supreme Court case talked of birthright citizenship, a subject that could have huge implications for millions of people, the courtroom was sparse when it came to seeing anyone who might be impacted by the ruling. Most attendees appeared to be lawyers, with a few general visitors.

Despite the seriousness of the subject, the hearing had moments of laughter throughout the courtroom as justices quipped with attorneys or laughed with one another.

At one point, Justice Neil Gorsuch brought laughter when he responded to New Jersey Solicitor General Jeremy Feigenbaum’s offer of an amicus brief with “I need all the amici I can get.” More laughter came when Justice Kagan told U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, “let’s just assume you’re dead wrong” as she set up a scenario for him to address. Justices Alito and Kagan also shared a private laugh when Alito began to ask a question but changed his mind and leaned back in his chair.

Kagan rolled over and whispered in his ear, and both laughed.

The attorney representing private individuals and immigrants makes their case

After the states finished their case, Kelsi Corkran, the attorney for pregnant women and immigrant-rights groups fighting Trump’s executive order, used her 15 minutes to make her case. Corkran said every judge who has considered the issue has found Trump’s order is “blatantly unlawful” and asked the justices to block the effort to begin enforcing it.

Kavanaugh suggested that people who want to challenge the birthright citizenship order might not need nationwide injunctions.

Instead, they could bind together and file class-action lawsuits. “That seems to solve the issue for preliminary relief,” he said. Corkran pushes back. “That is not actually addressing the court’s emergency docket. It’s just now we’re slapping a label of class certification on it,” she said.

A series of questions from Alito at one point seemed to hint at the many other cases the Trump administration is now appealing to the Supreme Court on an emergency basis. Lower-court judges can be “vulnerable to an occupational disease,” of believing they can do whatever they want, he said.

Even if their decisions are wrong, he said, appeals courts can be reluctant to act quickly to block them. He seemed to suggest that includes his own colleagues on the Supreme Court.

“How do we deal with that practical problem?” he said.

Corkran argues it wouldn’t. The government hasn’t said how they would enforce the order against everyone except the handful of people who sued, much less how they would filter out parents who are part of the groups that have sued, she argued.

Even if there were a way, it would likely mean the government would be able to identify the women as non-citizens. That would put many at risk for potential deportation, she said.

Trump's Solicitor General wraps up his opening and his challenger steps up

Justice Kavanaugh pressed Sauer with a series of questions about exactly how the federal government might enforce Trump’s order.

“What do hospitals do with a newborn? What do states do with a newborn?” he said. Sauer said they wouldn’t necessarily do anything different, but the government might figure out ways to reject documentation with “the wrong designation of citizenship.”

Kavanaugh continued to press for clearer answers, pointing out that the executive order only gave the government about 30 days to develop a policy. “You think they can get it together in time?” he said.

Justice Brown Jackson appeared deeply skeptical of Sauer's argument.

“Your argument seems to turn our justice system, in my view at least, into a catch me if you can kind of regime … where everybody has to have a lawyer and file a lawsuit in order for the government to stop violating people’s rights,” she said to Sauer.

New Jersey Solicitor General Jeremy Feigenbaum stepped up to make his case after justices peppered Sauer with questions. He is arguing on behalf of the states that say they’ll lose millions of dollars in benefits available to U.S. children and also have to overhaul identification systems. Feigenbaum asserted in his opening that the “post-Civil War nation wrote into our Constitution that citizens of the United States and of the States would be one and the same without variation across state lines.”

Feigenbaum told the justices that judges should be able to issue orders that affect the whole country, but only in narrow circumstances. Roberts jumps on that last point, asking him to elaborate on why they should only be used sparingly — a question that could be a clue as to how the chief justice is thinking about the issue.

Justices try to pin down Solicitor Sauer's argument

Justice Kagan cut to the heart of the case by asking Sauer that, if the court concludes Trump’s order is illegal, how the nation’s highest court could strike down the measure under the administration’s theory of courts’ limited power.

“Does every single person who is affected by this EO have to bring their own suit?” Kagan asked. “How long does it take?”

Sauer tried to answer, but several of Kagan’s colleagues, along with the justice, jumped in to say they didn’t hear a clear way the court could swiftly ensure the government could not take unconstitutional action. Roberts tried to help by jumping in to note the high court has moved fast in the past, concluding the TikTok case in one month.

“General Sauer, are you really going to answer Kagan by saying there is no way to do this expeditiously?” Coney Barrett asks Sauer.

She pressed Sauer to say whether a class-action lawsuit could be another way for judges to issue a court order that could affect more people. He said the administration would likely push back on efforts of people to bind together for a class-action lawsuit, but that it would be another way for cases to move forward.

Justice Alito pointed out that multiple states have also sued over the birthright citizenship order and won broader victories. The Trump administration is also arguing that states shouldn’t have been able to do that, but Sauer sticks to his point about the nationwide injunctions, saying they yield “all these sort of pathologies.”

Sotomayor returned how Trump’s order could affect people, saying it for some babies it could “render them stateless.”

Justices pepper Trump's Solicitor General with questions in oral arguments

Arguing first is D. John Sauer, the solicitor general and the government’s top attorney before the Supreme Court. Sauer also served as a personal lawyer for Trump as he fought election interference charges filed in 2023. Before that, Sauer served as Missouri’s solicitor general and a clerk to the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

Sauer began by taking aim at decisions from lower courts that apply nationwide. He argued that they go beyond the courts’ authority and allow people who want to file lawsuits to go “judge shopping” for those they expect to agree. The decisions are often rushed, he said.

“This is a bipartisan problem that has now spanned the last five presidential administration,” he said.

Nationwide injunctions have become especially frustrating for the Trump administration, as opponents of the president’s policies file hundreds of lawsuits challenging his flurry of executive orders.

After a series of questions from Justices Brown Jackson and Coney Barrett about the possible implications of nationwide court orders more generally, Justice Gorsuch raised another question about birthright citizenship in particular: “What do you say to the suggestion in this case those patchwork problems for the government as well as for the plaintiffs justify broader relief?”

Sauer responded that it is a problem for the executive branch to deal with.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is hearing its first set of Trump-related arguments in the second Trump presidency. The case stems from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-birthright-citizenship-native-chinese-executive-order-c163bbadd20609bd09fd5c5bccc6ba8d">the executive order</a>&nbsp;President Donald Trump issued on his first day in office that would deny citizenship to children born on U.S. soil to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily. The executive order marks a major change to the provision of the 14th Amendment that grants citizenship to people born in the United States, with just a couple of exceptions.

Immigrants, rights groups and states sued&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-supreme-court-birthright-citizenship-nationwide-injunctions-2c495cddc1436e21a9fa976d295dc292">almost immediately</a>&nbsp;to challenge the executive order. Federal judges have uniformly cast doubt on Trump’s reading of the Citizenship Clause. Three judges have blocked the order from taking effect anywhere in the U.S., including U.S. District Judge John Coughenour. “I’ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented was as clear as this one is. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” Coughenour said at a hearing in his Seattle courtroom.

The Supreme Court is taking up emergency appeals filed by the Trump administration asking to be able to enforce the executive order in most of the country, at least while lawsuits over the order proceed. The constitutionality of the order is not before the court just yet. Instead, the justices are looking at potentially limiting the authority of individual judges to issue rulings that apply throughout the United States. These are known as nationwide, or universal, injunctions.

The court issued an opinion unrelated to birthright citizenship

The Supreme Court has revived&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-police-shooting-texas-a1036463bb2aec96aa3f0a606849a3a9">a civil rights lawsuit against a Texas police officer</a>&nbsp;who fatally shot a man during a traffic stop over unpaid tolls. The justices Thursday ordered the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to take a new look at the case of Ashtian Barnes, who died in his rental car in 2016 on the shoulder of the Sam Houston Tollway. Barnes was shot by Officer Roberto Felix Jr., who jumped on the sill of the driver’s door of Barnes’ car as it began to pull away from the stop. Felix’s lawyers say he fired twice in two seconds because he “reasonably feared for his life.”

Trump presses for restrictions ahead of arguments

President Donald Trump is weighing in ahead of arguments in the birthright citizenship case today.

Trump says in an online post that granting citizenship to people born here, long seen as a constitutional promise, makes the country look “STUPID” and like “SUCKERS.” He incorrectly asserted the U.S. is the only country in the world with birthright citizenship. While not every country grants it, about 30 other countries do, including Canada.

His executive order at the heart of today’s case aims to end birthright citizenship for children born to people in the U.S. illegally, something many legal scholars say would require amending the Constitution.

WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court">The Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;is hearing arguments Thursday in its first case stemming from the blitz of actions that have marked the start of President Donald Trump's second term.

<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/live.aspx">Click here to listen to the oral argumen</a>t that begins just after 9a.m. CDT

Before the court are the Trump administration's emergency appeals of lower court orders putting nationwide holds on the Republican president's push to deny citizenship to children born to people who are in the United States illegally.

Birthright citizenship is among several issues, many related to immigration, that the administration has asked the court to address on an emergency basis, after lower courts acted to slow the president's agenda.

The justices are also considering the administration's pleas to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-parole-supreme-court-6282e48ef9bf41bd5c77e8e2b0642e89">end humanitarian parole</a>&nbsp;for more than 500,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela and to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-venezuela-immigrants-deportation-protection-80f61585197eaff8b254c9b621976780">strip other temporary legal protections</a>&nbsp;from another 350,000 Venezuelans. The administration remains&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-4-7-2025">locked in legal battles</a>&nbsp;over its efforts to swiftly deport people accused of being gang members to a prison in El Salvador under an 18th century wartime law called the Alien Enemies Act.

In Thursday's arguments, the justices will be weighing whether judges have the authority to issue what are called nationwide, or universal, injunctions. The Trump administration, like the Biden administration before it, has complained that judges are overreaching by issuing orders that apply to everyone instead of just the parties before the court.

Yet in discussing the limits of a judge's power, the court almost certainly will have to take up the change to citizenship that Trump wants to make, which would upset the settled understanding of birthright citizenship that has existed for more than 125 years.

🎧 Supreme Court debates Trump's efforts to limit birthright citizenship

<b>By&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/tim-carpenter/">TIM CARPENTER</a><br></b><a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/02/24/gov-laura-kelly-skeptical-kansas-houses-anti-tenure-legislation-will-reach-her-desk/"><i>Kansas Reflector</i></a>

Legal action follows attorney general’s suit against online porn company

TOPEKA — A bundle of federal lawsuits in Kansas have been filed on behalf of a 14-year-old Olathe resident alleging owners of online businesses violated a state law mandating steps be taken to prevent minors from accessing pornography lacking scientific, artistic or political value.

The law center of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, a conservative anti-pornography organization in Washington, D.C., collaborated with a Hutchinson law firm to file suit on behalf of minor Q.R. and his mother Jane Doe against jerkmate.com, Techpump Solutions’ superporn.com, Titan Websites and chaturbate.com.

In each instance, the lawsuits allege, a company failed to comply with a state law that took effect July 1, 2024, requiring deployment of age verification systems on pornography websites to block consumers under the age of 18.

The court documents asserted Q.R. used one of his mother’s old laptops to access internet pornography from the four companies more than 170 times from August to October 2024.

“Kansas law requires&nbsp;pornography&nbsp;companies to implement reasonable age verification methods, and the companies named in these lawsuits failed to do so,” said Dani Pinter, director of the legal division of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.

In January, Kansas&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/14/kobach-files-lawsuit-against-online-company-for-failing-to-shield-minors-from-pornography/">Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a similar lawsuit</a>&nbsp;in Shawnee County District Court against Seattle-based SARJ LLC, which distributed pornography on more than a dozen websites and was purportedly owned by individuals who controlled jerkmate.com.

Kobach asserted in the state court filing that SARJ didn’t make use of age-gating technology that would “protect Kansas children from the negative health consequences that stem from unfettered access to pornography.”

The federal lawsuits filed by Joshua Ruhlmann, a Hutchinson attorney, claimed the website content accessed by Q.R. was harmful because it had a tendency to appeal to a minor’s prurient interest in sex, was offensive to prevailing standards with respect to what was suitable for minors and lacked serious literary, scientific, educational, artistic or political value for a viewer under age 18.

Specifically, one of the federal lawsuits alleged at least one-fourth of jerkmate.com’s webpages viewed during a calendar month included “material containing nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement and/or sadomasochistic abuse.”

That court filing said minors who visited the website were asked to click an “I AGREE” button, which ostensibly verified the user was over the age of 18. That site warned users the company’s content was restricted to consumers reached the age majority in the jurisdiction in which they resided.

“Despite expressly aiming their websites at Kansas citizens, defendants have failed to ensure that jerkmate.com and/or jerkmatelive.com comply with Kansas law which requires pornographic websites to employ age verification measures,” the suit said.

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation, previously known as Morality in Media, has lobbied against sex trafficking, same-sex marriage, decriminalization of sex work, comprehensive sex education and works of art that could be viewed as obscene.

Pinter said the family serving as plaintiffs in the organization’s lawsuits in U.S. District Court in Kansas “deserves every measure of justice.”

“It is unreasonably dangerous for these&nbsp;pornography&nbsp;websites to provide this product which they know is harmful to children, that children are drawn to access, and do access, without employing age verification as required by Kansas law,” she said.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1747313836715.png" alt=" Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a lawsuit earlier this year against an internet pornography company that failed to adhere to a state law requiring deployment of age-verification systems to prevent anyone younger than 18 to access content. An anti-pornography organization in Washington, D.C., more recently filed four federal lawsuits in Kansas comparable to action taken by the state attorney general. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
                        <figcaption> Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a lawsuit earlier this year against an internet pornography company that failed to adhere to a state law requiring deployment of age-verification systems to prevent anyone younger than 18 to access content. An anti-pornography organization in Washington, D.C., more recently filed four federal lawsuits in Kansas comparable to action taken by the state attorney general. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p><b>By&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/tim-carpenter/">TIM CARPENTER</a><br></b><a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/02/24/gov-laura-kelly-skeptical-kansas-houses-anti-tenure-legislation-will-reach-her-desk/"><i>Kansas Reflector</i></a></p><h2>Legal action follows attorney general’s suit against online porn company</h2><p>TOPEKA — A bundle of federal lawsuits in Kansas have been filed on behalf of a 14-year-old Olathe resident alleging owners of online businesses violated a state law mandating steps be taken to prevent minors from accessing pornography lacking scientific, artistic or political value.</p><p>The law center of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, a conservative anti-pornography organization in Washington, D.C., collaborated with a Hutchinson law firm to file suit on behalf of minor Q.R. and his mother Jane Doe against jerkmate.com, Techpump Solutions’ superporn.com, Titan Websites and chaturbate.com.</p><p>In each instance, the lawsuits allege, a company failed to comply with a state law that took effect July 1, 2024, requiring deployment of age verification systems on pornography websites to block consumers under the age of 18.</p><p>The court documents asserted Q.R. used one of his mother’s old laptops to access internet pornography from the four companies more than 170 times from August to October 2024.</p><p>“Kansas law requires&nbsp;pornography&nbsp;companies to implement reasonable age verification methods, and the companies named in these lawsuits failed to do so,” said Dani Pinter, director of the legal division of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.</p><p>In January, Kansas&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/14/kobach-files-lawsuit-against-online-company-for-failing-to-shield-minors-from-pornography/">Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a similar lawsuit</a>&nbsp;in Shawnee County District Court against Seattle-based SARJ LLC, which distributed pornography on more than a dozen websites and was purportedly owned by individuals who controlled jerkmate.com.</p><p>Kobach asserted in the state court filing that SARJ didn’t make use of age-gating technology that would “protect Kansas children from the negative health consequences that stem from unfettered access to pornography.”</p><p>The federal lawsuits filed by Joshua Ruhlmann, a Hutchinson attorney, claimed the website content accessed by Q.R. was harmful because it had a tendency to appeal to a minor’s prurient interest in sex, was offensive to prevailing standards with respect to what was suitable for minors and lacked serious literary, scientific, educational, artistic or political value for a viewer under age 18.</p><p>Specifically, one of the federal lawsuits alleged at least one-fourth of jerkmate.com’s webpages viewed during a calendar month included “material containing nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement and/or sadomasochistic abuse.”</p><p>That court filing said minors who visited the website were asked to click an “I AGREE” button, which ostensibly verified the user was over the age of 18. That site warned users the company’s content was restricted to consumers reached the age majority in the jurisdiction in which they resided.</p><p>“Despite expressly aiming their websites at Kansas citizens, defendants have failed to ensure that jerkmate.com and/or jerkmatelive.com comply with Kansas law which requires pornographic websites to employ age verification measures,” the suit said.</p><p>The National Center on Sexual Exploitation, previously known as Morality in Media, has lobbied against sex trafficking, same-sex marriage, decriminalization of sex work, comprehensive sex education and works of art that could be viewed as obscene.</p><p>Pinter said the family serving as plaintiffs in the organization’s lawsuits in U.S. District Court in Kansas “deserves every measure of justice.”</p><p>“It is unreasonably dangerous for these&nbsp;pornography&nbsp;websites to provide this product which they know is harmful to children, that children are drawn to access, and do access, without employing age verification as required by Kansas law,” she said.</p><p>In April 2024, Gov. Laura Kelly allowed the age-verification bill to become law without her signature. It was approved unanimously in the Senate and 92-31 by the House. Kelly said the pornography statute could “end up infringing on constitutional rights” of Kansans and inspire lawsuits against the state.</p>