Bill aims to deter diversity, equity and inclusion pledges in hiring, enrollment

By TIM CARPENTER&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/03/04/sparks-fly-when-kansas-house-budget-panel-explores-detail-of-university-budget-requests/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — A Kansas House committee plans to move ahead Wednesday with a bill exposing public universities, community colleges and technical colleges to $100,000 administrative penalties and expensive lawsuits for compelling students or employees to pledge allegiance to diversity, equity and inclusion doctrine.

Conservative politicians and organizations have campaigned in Kansas and other states against higher education institutions committed to use of so-called DEI policies in recruiting faculty and students of color. Opponents of DEI view these strategies as discriminatory, violations of free speech and an improper use of tax dollars. DEI supporters said the policies were a response to exclusionary practices that for decades repelled communities of color from university campuses.

Salina Rep. Steven Howe, the Republican chairman of the House Higher Education Budget Committee, said public Kansas colleges and universities with DEI programs shouldn’t be allowed to mandate someone make or sign a DEI statement as a condition of employment or enrollment. His reform bill would carve out an exemption for college and university staff directly engaged in DEI activities.

“There’s a strong majority — not a supermajority — a strong majority of legislators that agree that these DEI statements can too easily function as ideological litmus tests that threaten employment or advancement for faculty that may hold dissenting views,” Howe said.

Howe introduced&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/fisc_note_hb2460_00_0000.pdf">House Bill 2460</a>&nbsp;a year ago and conducted a public committee hearing on the legislation in January. It followed passage during the 2023 legislative session of a budget directive that Kansas Board of Regents universities stop asking job applicants to talk about personal experiences with diversity, equity and inclusion. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the proviso and the House fell five votes short of overriding her.

Howe said he would ask his House committee to work through amendments to the bill before determining whether support existed to send it to the full House. Under the current version, DEI mandates wouldn’t apply to private colleges or universities. Some of these church-affiliated private colleges, including Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, operate DEI programs.

Rep. Brett Fairchild, R-St. John, said he was supportive of the DEI legislation, but was skeptical votes existing in the House and Senate to override another Kelly veto.

“However, I don’t think that’s a reason not to bring it up on the floor of the House and Senate,” Fairchild said. “It’s an issue that deserves to be discussed, debated. Put everybody on record.”

Rep. Brandon Woodard, a Lenexa Democrat, said he wouldn’t vote for this kind of legislation until Kansas lawmakers modernized the Kansas Act Against Discrimination to extend protections to members of the LGBTQ+ community.

He said it was worrisome Attorney General Kris Kobach would be authorized by the bill to file lawsuits alleging violation of DEI statute. The bill would allow individuals asserting harm from DEI policies to file civil suits. The statute itself also could be challenged in court by critics of such a law.

Democratic Rep. Mike Amyx of Lawrence said he was struggling with provisions of the bill authorizing $100,000 fines for every verified infraction. The cash from payment of fines would be redirected to a higher education institution that hadn’t violated the mandate for at least two years.

“We’re considering fining the universities? The same universities that we fund? It’s kind of like taking money out of one pocket and putting it into the other pocket,” Amyx said.

Rep. Clarke Sanders, R-Salina, said he was concerned with the “little excessive” amount of a fine. He pointed to lack of clear definitions in the bill as to what DEI activities could be problematic for a college or university. A legislative audit indicated the six state universities devoted $9 million annually in public funding to DEI, which could include assistance for veterans to aid for minority students or individuals with disabilities.

Administrative fines were the central avenue to get the attention of college and university administrators stepping out of bounds, said Rep. Barb Wasinger, a Hays Republican.

“The only power the Legislature has over anything is money,” she said. “It is our responsibility to take care of the budget and manage the taxpayers’ money.”

Howe said that when appointed chairman of the House’s higher education committee he set about studying the topic from policy and budget perspectives. It didn’t take long, he said, to discover DEI was causing a stir on and off college campuses. He concluded public universities in Kansas were requiring statements on diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice as a condition of employment for faculty positions.

He said that more than one year later some job postings at state universities in Kansas included requests for DEI statements.

“Requiring statements or an adherence to a particular ideology as a condition of admissions, employment, reappointment or promotion may violate the constitutional rights of our citizens, stifles freedom of speech, curtails academic freedom and can limit intellectual diversity, and diversity of thought on our campuses,” Howe said.

Howe said he worked with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which has gone to court to challenge alleged university infractions of First Amendment rights, to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/hb2460_00_0000.pdf">draft HB 2460</a>. He said it wasn’t easy to be a champion of DEI reform, because the issue stirred emotions and generated misunderstandings.

He said an editorial in the Wichita Eagle and a more recent&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/02/27/restricting-dei-practices-at-kansas-universities-is-irresponsible/">opinion piece in the Kansas Reflector</a>&nbsp;framed his advocacy in hurtful ways. He said a guest column in the Reflector suggested he picked up threads of the bill in January to coincide with observance of Black History Month in February.

“I take issue with that characterization,” Howe said. “Not only is it patently false, it gets into innuendo that I have a bias against people that are different from me. That’s not true. The bill was introduced in March of 2023. It has nothing to do with Black History Month. I think words matter and we have to be aware of how words impact others.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709743899998.png" alt="Rep. Brandon Woodard, D-Lenexa, said it was unlikely he could support a House bill designed to force public universities, community colleges and technical colleges to remove DEI policies from hiring and enrollment decisions or face $100,000 state fines as well as private and state lawsuits. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Rep. Brandon Woodard, D-Lenexa, said it was unlikely he could support a House bill designed to force public universities, community colleges and technical colleges to remove DEI policies from hiring and enrollment decisions or face $100,000 state fines as well as private and state lawsuits. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Bill aims to deter diversity, equity and inclusion pledges in hiring, enrollment</h2>By TIM CARPENTER&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/03/04/sparks-fly-when-kansas-house-budget-panel-explores-detail-of-university-budget-requests/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — A Kansas House committee plans to move ahead Wednesday with a bill exposing public universities, community colleges and technical colleges to $100,000 administrative penalties and expensive lawsuits for compelling students or employees to pledge allegiance to diversity, equity and inclusion doctrine.Conservative politicians and organizations have campaigned in Kansas and other states against higher education institutions committed to use of so-called DEI policies in recruiting faculty and students of color. Opponents of DEI view these strategies as discriminatory, violations of free speech and an improper use of tax dollars. DEI supporters said the policies were a response to exclusionary practices that for decades repelled communities of color from university campuses.Salina Rep. Steven Howe, the Republican chairman of the House Higher Education Budget Committee, said public Kansas colleges and universities with DEI programs shouldn’t be allowed to mandate someone make or sign a DEI statement as a condition of employment or enrollment. His reform bill would carve out an exemption for college and university staff directly engaged in DEI activities.“There’s a strong majority — not a supermajority — a strong majority of legislators that agree that these DEI statements can too easily function as ideological litmus tests that threaten employment or advancement for faculty that may hold dissenting views,” Howe said.<h2>DEI: Round 2</h2>Howe introduced&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/fisc_note_hb2460_00_0000.pdf">House Bill 2460</a>&nbsp;a year ago and conducted a public committee hearing on the legislation in January. It followed passage during the 2023 legislative session of a budget directive that Kansas Board of Regents universities stop asking job applicants to talk about personal experiences with diversity, equity and inclusion. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the proviso and the House fell five votes short of overriding her.Howe said he would ask his House committee to work through amendments to the bill before determining whether support existed to send it to the full House. Under the current version, DEI mandates wouldn’t apply to private colleges or universities. Some of these church-affiliated private colleges, including Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, operate DEI programs.Rep. Brett Fairchild, R-St. John, said he was supportive of the DEI legislation, but was skeptical votes existing in the House and Senate to override another Kelly veto.“However, I don’t think that’s a reason not to bring it up on the floor of the House and Senate,” Fairchild said. “It’s an issue that deserves to be discussed, debated. Put everybody on record.”Rep. Brandon Woodard, a Lenexa Democrat, said he wouldn’t vote for this kind of legislation until Kansas lawmakers modernized the Kansas Act Against Discrimination to extend protections to members of the LGBTQ+ community.He said it was worrisome Attorney General Kris Kobach would be authorized by the bill to file lawsuits alleging violation of DEI statute. The bill would allow individuals asserting harm from DEI policies to file civil suits. The statute itself also could be challenged in court by critics of such a law.<h2>‘Little excessive’</h2>Democratic Rep. Mike Amyx of Lawrence said he was struggling with provisions of the bill authorizing $100,000 fines for every verified infraction. The cash from payment of fines would be redirected to a higher education institution that hadn’t violated the mandate for at least two years.“We’re considering fining the universities? The same universities that we fund? It’s kind of like taking money out of one pocket and putting it into the other pocket,” Amyx said.Rep. Clarke Sanders, R-Salina, said he was concerned with the “little excessive” amount of a fine. He pointed to lack of clear definitions in the bill as to what DEI activities could be problematic for a college or university. A legislative audit indicated the six state universities devoted $9 million annually in public funding to DEI, which could include assistance for veterans to aid for minority students or individuals with disabilities.Administrative fines were the central avenue to get the attention of college and university administrators stepping out of bounds, said Rep. Barb Wasinger, a Hays Republican.“The only power the Legislature has over anything is money,” she said. “It is our responsibility to take care of the budget and manage the taxpayers’ money.”<h2>Learning curve</h2>Howe said that when appointed chairman of the House’s higher education committee he set about studying the topic from policy and budget perspectives. It didn’t take long, he said, to discover DEI was causing a stir on and off college campuses. He concluded public universities in Kansas were requiring statements on diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice as a condition of employment for faculty positions.He said that more than one year later some job postings at state universities in Kansas included requests for DEI statements.“Requiring statements or an adherence to a particular ideology as a condition of admissions, employment, reappointment or promotion may violate the constitutional rights of our citizens, stifles freedom of speech, curtails academic freedom and can limit intellectual diversity, and diversity of thought on our campuses,” Howe said.Howe said he worked with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which has gone to court to challenge alleged university infractions of First Amendment rights, to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/hb2460_00_0000.pdf">draft HB 2460</a>. He said it wasn’t easy to be a champion of DEI reform, because the issue stirred emotions and generated misunderstandings.He said an editorial in the Wichita Eagle and a more recent&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/02/27/restricting-dei-practices-at-kansas-universities-is-irresponsible/">opinion piece in the Kansas Reflector</a>&nbsp;framed his advocacy in hurtful ways. He said a guest column in the Reflector suggested he picked up threads of the bill in January to coincide with observance of Black History Month in February.“I take issue with that characterization,” Howe said. “Not only is it patently false, it gets into innuendo that I have a bias against people that are different from me. That’s not true. The bill was introduced in March of 2023. It has nothing to do with Black History Month. I think words matter and we have to be aware of how words impact others.”

Kansas House pivots to DEI bill imposing $100,000 fines on offending public colleges, universities

RENO COUNTY&nbsp;–&nbsp;The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) arrested a Phoenix man connected to a cold case homicide that occurred in Hutchinson nearly 42 years ago, according to a media release from the KBI.

The suspect was arrested for his role in the 1982 murder of Michael McKeown. Allen was brought back to Kansas, and was booked into the Reno County Jail on Wednesday morning.

On Thursday, Jan. 25, KBI agents secured an arrest warrant for Jerry Allen, 75, of Phoenix, Arizona. The Phoenix Police Department arrested Allen around 7 p.m. at a residence at 4501 W. Acoma Dr., in Phoenix. He was arrested for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Allen was booked into the Maricopa County Jail. Extradition was waived, and Allen was transported to Kansas, where he will face charges.

Michael McKeown, then age 44, of Hutchison, was found dead on the morning of March 24, 1982. The Hutchinson Police Department and the KBI investigated McKeown’s murder. Investigators believe he was shot and killed the prior night in his car, while it was parked in the lot outside of his apartment at 320 E. Sherman St., in Hutchinson.

In the last year, KBI agents conducted several key interviews in three states, which provided the additional evidence needed to proceed with charges in this cold case.&nbsp; This investigation is ongoing.

All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The Reno County District Attorney’s Office will prosecute the case. A first appearance is scheduled for Friday, March 8 at 1:30 p.m.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709743689318.jpeg" alt="Allen-photo KBI" />
 <figcaption>Allen-photo KBI</figcaption>
 </figure>RENO COUNTY&nbsp;–&nbsp;The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) arrested a Phoenix man connected to a cold case homicide that occurred in Hutchinson nearly 42 years ago, according to a media release from the KBI.The suspect was arrested for his role in the 1982 murder of Michael McKeown. Allen was brought back to Kansas, and was booked into the Reno County Jail on Wednesday morning.On Thursday, Jan. 25, KBI agents secured an arrest warrant for Jerry Allen, 75, of Phoenix, Arizona. The Phoenix Police Department arrested Allen around 7 p.m. at a residence at 4501 W. Acoma Dr., in Phoenix. He was arrested for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Allen was booked into the Maricopa County Jail. Extradition was waived, and Allen was transported to Kansas, where he will face charges.Michael McKeown, then age 44, of Hutchison, was found dead on the morning of March 24, 1982. The Hutchinson Police Department and the KBI investigated McKeown’s murder. Investigators believe he was shot and killed the prior night in his car, while it was parked in the lot outside of his apartment at 320 E. Sherman St., in Hutchinson.In the last year, KBI agents conducted several key interviews in three states, which provided the additional evidence needed to proceed with charges in this cold case.&nbsp; This investigation is ongoing.All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The Reno County District Attorney’s Office will prosecute the case. A first appearance is scheduled for Friday, March 8 at 1:30 p.m.

KBI: Suspect in Kansas cold case murder captured in Arizona 

DOUGLAS COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a homicide and asking the public’s assistance in locating 21-year-old Dawson Edward Paine.

He is suspected in a deadly shooting Tuesday night in the 2900 block of Crestline Drive, according to a media release from Lawrence Police.

Just after 10:30p.m. Tuesday, police were dispatched to a residence where Paine allegedly shot 18-year-old&nbsp; Davin Gregory Kerr of Lawrence.

After the shooting, Paine left the area prior to the arrival of officers. Kerr was transported by ambulance to a Kansas City area trauma center where he was later pronounced dead.

Police ask that anyone who may have information on the whereabouts of Dawson Paine call 911. He should be considered armed and dangerous, and no one should try approach or contact him other than law enforcement.&nbsp;

Contact police anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers of Lawrence and Douglas County at (785)843-TIPS (8477).

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709737558547.png" alt="Paine-photo Lawrence Police" />
 <figcaption>Paine-photo Lawrence Police</figcaption>
 </figure>DOUGLAS COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a homicide and asking the public’s assistance in locating 21-year-old Dawson Edward Paine.He is suspected in a deadly shooting Tuesday night in the 2900 block of Crestline Drive, according to a media release from Lawrence Police.Just after 10:30p.m. Tuesday, police were dispatched to a residence where Paine allegedly shot 18-year-old&nbsp; Davin Gregory Kerr of Lawrence.After the shooting, Paine left the area prior to the arrival of officers. Kerr was transported by ambulance to a Kansas City area trauma center where he was later pronounced dead.Police ask that anyone who may have information on the whereabouts of Dawson Paine call 911. He should be considered armed and dangerous, and no one should try approach or contact him other than law enforcement.&nbsp;Contact police anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers of Lawrence and Douglas County at (785)843-TIPS (8477).

Police looking for armed, dangerous Kan. murder suspect

NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/nikki-haley">Nikki Haley</a>&nbsp;suspended her presidential campaign on Wednesday after being soundly defeated across the country on Super Tuesday, leaving&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;as the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination.

Haley didn’t endorse the former president in a speech in Charleston, South Carolina. Instead, she challenged him to win the support of the moderate Republicans and independent voters who supported her.

“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that,” she said. “At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people.”

Haley, a former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador, was Trump’s first significant rival when she&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nikki-haley-running-for-president-f28052019e8ac3846cd125b3d9614d4f">jumped into the race</a>&nbsp;in February 2023. She spent the final phase of her campaign aggressively warning the GOP against embracing Trump, whom she argued was too consumed by chaos and personal grievance to defeat President Joe Biden in the general election.

Her departure clears Trump to focus solely on his likely rematch in November with Biden. The former president is on track to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-election-2024-delegate-tracker">reach the necessary 1,215 delegates</a>&nbsp;to clinch the Republican nomination later this month.

Haley’s defeat marks a painful, if predictable, blow to those voters, donors and Republican Party officials who opposed Trump and his fiery brand of “Make America Great Again” politics. She was especially popular among moderates and college-educated voters, constituencies that will likely play a pivotal role in the general election. It’s unclear whether Trump, who recently declared that Haley donors would be permanently banned from his movement, can ultimately unify a deeply divided party.

Trump on Tuesday night declared that the GOP was united behind him, but in a statement shortly afterward, Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said, "Unity is not achieved by simply claiming, ‘We’re united.’"

“Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump,” Perez-Cubas said. "That is not the unity our party needs for success. Addressing those voters’ concerns will make the Republican Party and America better.”

Haley has made clear she doesn’t want to serve as Trump’s vice president or run on a third-party ticket arranged by the group No Labels. She leaves the race with an elevated national profile that could help her in a future presidential run.

Trump, in a social media post, continued to mock her, while at the same time extending an invitation to “all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in the history of our Nation. BIDEN IS THE ENEMY, HE IS DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY,” he wrote. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”

On Wednesday, Biden welcomed any voters who had backed Haley, acknowledging Trump's previous rejection of her supporters.

“Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,” Biden said in a statement. “I know there is a lot we won’t agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.”

By staying in the campaign until now, Haley&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/haley-polling-trump-gop-super-tuesday-109ce563f68aa8e1b159d98769e943d8">drew enough support</a>&nbsp;from suburbanites and college-educated voters to highlight Trump’s apparent weaknesses with those groups.

In AP VoteCast surveys conducted among Republican primary and caucus voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, between 61% and 76% of Haley’s supporters said they would be so dissatisfied if Trump became the GOP nominee that they wouldn’t vote for him in the November general election. Voters in the early Republican head-to-head contests who said they wouldn’t vote for Trump in the fall represented a small but significant segment of the electorate: 2 in 10 Iowa voters, one-third of New Hampshire voters, and one-quarter of South Carolina voters.

Haley leaves the 2024 presidential contest having made history as the first woman to win a Republican primary contest. She beat Trump in the District of Columbia on Sunday and in Vermont on Tuesday.

She&nbsp;<a href="https://pronto.associatedpress.com/%E2%80%9CInstead%20of%20asking%20me%20what%20states%20I%E2%80%99m%20gonna%20win,%20why%20don%E2%80%99t%20we%20ask%20how%20he%E2%80%99s%20gonna%20win%20a%20general%20election%20after%20spending%20a%20full%20year%20in%20a%20courtroom?%E2%80%9D%20she%20said.">had insisted she would stay in the race</a>&nbsp;through Super Tuesday and crossed the country campaigning in states holding Republican contests. Ultimately, she was unable to knock Trump off his glide path to a third straight nomination.

Haley’s allies note that she exceeded most of the political world’s expectations by making it as far as she did.

She had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-orangeburg-south-carolina-united-nations-nikki-haley-fda929b5d69ab0a91b97edc62207bcfb">initially ruled out</a>&nbsp;running against Trump in 2024. But she changed her mind and ended up launching her bid three months after he did, citing among other things the country’s economic troubles and the need for “generational change.” Haley, 52, later called for competency tests for politicians over the age of 75 — a knock on both Trump, who is 77, and Biden, who is 81.

Her candidacy was slow to attract donors and support, but she ultimately outlasted all of her other GOP rivals, including Florida Gov.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ron-desantis">Ron DeSantis</a>, former Vice President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/michael-pence">Mike Pence</a>&nbsp;and Sen.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/tim-scott">Tim Scott</a>, her fellow South Carolinian whom she appointed to the Senate in 2012. And the money flowed in until the very end. Her campaign said it raised more than $12 million in February alone.

She gained popularity with many Republican donors, independent voters and the “Never Trump” crowd, even though she criticized the criminal cases against him as politically motivated and pledged that, if president, she would pardon him if he were convicted in federal court.

NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/nikki-haley">Nikki Haley</a>&nbsp;suspended her presidential campaign on Wednesday after being soundly defeated across the country on Super Tuesday, leaving&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;as the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">You don’t have to agree with me on everything to know MAGA extremism is a threat to this country. We need everyone on board—join our campaign: <a href="https://t.co/AZ3yBfRniy">https://t.co/AZ3yBfRniy</a> <a href="https://t.co/a8MvWHqtSZ">pic.twitter.com/a8MvWHqtSZ</a>&mdash; Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1765396693036523717?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/NikkiHaley?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NikkiHaley</a>: &quot;The time has now come to suspend my campaign. I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done that. I have no regrets...In all likelihood, Donald Trump will the Republican nominee...I congratulate him and wish him well.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/WUtvWvMtVi">pic.twitter.com/WUtvWvMtVi</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1765401155629166897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Haley didn’t endorse the former president in a speech in Charleston, South Carolina. Instead, she challenged him to win the support of the moderate Republicans and independent voters who supported her.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709741263880.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that,” she said. “At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people.”Haley, a former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador, was Trump’s first significant rival when she&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nikki-haley-running-for-president-f28052019e8ac3846cd125b3d9614d4f">jumped into the race</a>&nbsp;in February 2023. She spent the final phase of her campaign aggressively warning the GOP against embracing Trump, whom she argued was too consumed by chaos and personal grievance to defeat President Joe Biden in the general election.Her departure clears Trump to focus solely on his likely rematch in November with Biden. The former president is on track to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-election-2024-delegate-tracker">reach the necessary 1,215 delegates</a>&nbsp;to clinch the Republican nomination later this month.Haley’s defeat marks a painful, if predictable, blow to those voters, donors and Republican Party officials who opposed Trump and his fiery brand of “Make America Great Again” politics. She was especially popular among moderates and college-educated voters, constituencies that will likely play a pivotal role in the general election. It’s unclear whether Trump, who recently declared that Haley donors would be permanently banned from his movement, can ultimately unify a deeply divided party.Trump on Tuesday night declared that the GOP was united behind him, but in a statement shortly afterward, Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said, "Unity is not achieved by simply claiming, ‘We’re united.’"“Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump,” Perez-Cubas said. "That is not the unity our party needs for success. Addressing those voters’ concerns will make the Republican Party and America better.”Haley has made clear she doesn’t want to serve as Trump’s vice president or run on a third-party ticket arranged by the group No Labels. She leaves the race with an elevated national profile that could help her in a future presidential run.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709741372298.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Trump, in a social media post, continued to mock her, while at the same time extending an invitation to “all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in the history of our Nation. BIDEN IS THE ENEMY, HE IS DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY,” he wrote. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”On Wednesday, Biden welcomed any voters who had backed Haley, acknowledging Trump's previous rejection of her supporters.“Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,” Biden said in a statement. “I know there is a lot we won’t agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.”By staying in the campaign until now, Haley&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/haley-polling-trump-gop-super-tuesday-109ce563f68aa8e1b159d98769e943d8">drew enough support</a>&nbsp;from suburbanites and college-educated voters to highlight Trump’s apparent weaknesses with those groups.In AP VoteCast surveys conducted among Republican primary and caucus voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, between 61% and 76% of Haley’s supporters said they would be so dissatisfied if Trump became the GOP nominee that they wouldn’t vote for him in the November general election. Voters in the early Republican head-to-head contests who said they wouldn’t vote for Trump in the fall represented a small but significant segment of the electorate: 2 in 10 Iowa voters, one-third of New Hampshire voters, and one-quarter of South Carolina voters.Haley leaves the 2024 presidential contest having made history as the first woman to win a Republican primary contest. She beat Trump in the District of Columbia on Sunday and in Vermont on Tuesday.She&nbsp;<a href="https://pronto.associatedpress.com/%E2%80%9CInstead%20of%20asking%20me%20what%20states%20I%E2%80%99m%20gonna%20win,%20why%20don%E2%80%99t%20we%20ask%20how%20he%E2%80%99s%20gonna%20win%20a%20general%20election%20after%20spending%20a%20full%20year%20in%20a%20courtroom?%E2%80%9D%20she%20said.">had insisted she would stay in the race</a>&nbsp;through Super Tuesday and crossed the country campaigning in states holding Republican contests. Ultimately, she was unable to knock Trump off his glide path to a third straight nomination.Haley’s allies note that she exceeded most of the political world’s expectations by making it as far as she did.She had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-orangeburg-south-carolina-united-nations-nikki-haley-fda929b5d69ab0a91b97edc62207bcfb">initially ruled out</a>&nbsp;running against Trump in 2024. But she changed her mind and ended up launching her bid three months after he did, citing among other things the country’s economic troubles and the need for “generational change.” Haley, 52, later called for competency tests for politicians over the age of 75 — a knock on both Trump, who is 77, and Biden, who is 81.Her candidacy was slow to attract donors and support, but she ultimately outlasted all of her other GOP rivals, including Florida Gov.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ron-desantis">Ron DeSantis</a>, former Vice President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/michael-pence">Mike Pence</a>&nbsp;and Sen.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/tim-scott">Tim Scott</a>, her fellow South Carolinian whom she appointed to the Senate in 2012. And the money flowed in until the very end. Her campaign said it raised more than $12 million in February alone.She gained popularity with many Republican donors, independent voters and the “Never Trump” crowd, even though she criticized the criminal cases against him as politically motivated and pledged that, if president, she would pardon him if he were convicted in federal court.___

🎥Biden recruits Nikki Haley voters as she ends her campaign

KANSAS CITY — A Kansas City area man charged with&nbsp;fatally shooting an Independence police officer and a 16th Circuit Court process server on Feb. 29, is now in the Jackson County Detention Center after being released from the hospital, according to online jail records.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com/DocumentCenter/View/2360/LDAcree-Redacted-Documents">Click here to read the full</a> charging documents

Larry D. Acree, 69, was charged with two counts of Murder in the 1st Degree, Assault in the 1st Degree for wounding a police officer and three additional counts of Armed Criminal Action charges, according to Jean Peters Baker. He faces a $2 million bond.

According to court record filed Friday, the process server identified as&nbsp;Drexel Mack had gone to a residence on North Elsea Smith Road in rural Jackson County to evict anyone from the property.

On Feb. 23, a “Notice to Vacate” sign was posted at the property, according to the probable cause affidavit. It stemmed from court actions that began one year earlier. Acree “didn't have any right to be there," Baker said.

On Thursday, Mack and another process service arrived at the address to physically evict Acree. Both of the process servers removed a padlock from the gated drive, the statement said.

The two process servers then approached the front of the home, where they knocked and announced their presence. No one answered, so the property maintenance contractor drilled out the lock on the front door, the statement said. They then entered the home and were fired upon. Mack was struck and fell to the floor just inside the front door, court records said.

The other process server ran and sought help, court records said. Independence police then rushed to the home, where three officers entered the home and tried to retrieve Mack. They then came under additional gunfire, court records said.

Allen was struck in the head, and a second officer was struck in the torso, court records said.

Officers then returned fire, and the Acree was taken into custody. The wounded were taken to nearby Centerpoint Medical Hospital, where Mack and Allen were pronounced dead.

The two other injured officers continue to recover.&nbsp;

The home where the eviction notice was being served had been sold recently and had delinquent taxes dating to at least 2019, records show.

Acree also had been ordered to pay a roofing company, with $32,155 due as of Aug. 1, according to court records. Records from later that month in the case signaled that a property sale was in the works.

The sale was completed on Aug. 14 for $260,000, with a judgment of $27,733.47 subtracted from the total, records show.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709695226784.png" alt="Acree-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Acree-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY — A Kansas City area man charged with&nbsp;fatally shooting an Independence police officer and a 16th Circuit Court process server on Feb. 29, is now in the Jackson County Detention Center after being released from the hospital, according to online jail records.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com/DocumentCenter/View/2360/LDAcree-Redacted-Documents">Click here to read the full</a> charging documents<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709313405919.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Larry D. Acree, 69, was charged with two counts of Murder in the 1st Degree, Assault in the 1st Degree for wounding a police officer and three additional counts of Armed Criminal Action charges, according to Jean Peters Baker. He faces a $2 million bond.According to court record filed Friday, the process server identified as&nbsp;Drexel Mack had gone to a residence on North Elsea Smith Road in rural Jackson County to evict anyone from the property.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1709244242928.png" alt="An ariel view of the property following the deadly shooting -courtesy KCTV" />
 <figcaption>An ariel view of the property following the deadly shooting -courtesy KCTV</figcaption>
 </figure>On Feb. 23, a “Notice to Vacate” sign was posted at the property, according to the probable cause affidavit. It stemmed from court actions that began one year earlier. Acree “didn't have any right to be there," Baker said.On Thursday, Mack and another process service arrived at the address to physically evict Acree. Both of the process servers removed a padlock from the gated drive, the statement said.The two process servers then approached the front of the home, where they knocked and announced their presence. No one answered, so the property maintenance contractor drilled out the lock on the front door, the statement said. They then entered the home and were fired upon. Mack was struck and fell to the floor just inside the front door, court records said.The other process server ran and sought help, court records said. Independence police then rushed to the home, where three officers entered the home and tried to retrieve Mack. They then came under additional gunfire, court records said.Allen was struck in the head, and a second officer was struck in the torso, court records said.Officers then returned fire, and the Acree was taken into custody. The wounded were taken to nearby Centerpoint Medical Hospital, where Mack and Allen were pronounced dead.The two other injured officers continue to recover.&nbsp;The home where the eviction notice was being served had been sold recently and had delinquent taxes dating to at least 2019, records show.Acree also had been ordered to pay a roofing company, with $32,155 due as of Aug. 1, according to court records. Records from later that month in the case signaled that a property sale was in the works.The sale was completed on Aug. 14 for $260,000, with a judgment of $27,733.47 subtracted from the total, records show.-The AP contributed to this report

Suspect in killing of KC area officer, process server moved from hospital

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

TOPEKA — A Kansas House Republican will no longer hold a judiciary committee leadership position following his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence with a gun.&nbsp;

Carl Maughan, R-Colwich, and state representative, was arrested early Monday. The 52-year-old was booked into Shawnee County Jail around 4 a.m. in connection to the crimes of possession of a firearm while under influence of drugs or alcohol, failure to signal while changing lanes or turning and for improper driving on a roadway with lanes,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://docis.sncoapps.us/Inmate/DailyBookingArchive?class=enableSearch">according to the booking report</a>.&nbsp;

He was released after posting bail and has a court date set for Friday. Maughan did not immediately respond to a Reflector inquiry on the arrest.

Maughan holds the District 90 seat, which covers swathes of north-central Sedgwick County and parts of Wichita.&nbsp;

Maughan held a vice chair position on the House Judiciary Committee, but was replaced in this position Tuesday, hours after news of his arrest became widely publicized. He still holds a seat on the committee, as well as on the House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee and the House Financial Institutions and Pensions Committee, among others.&nbsp;

He is one of many Republicans who endorsed&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/hcr5020/">House Concurrent Resolution 5020</a>, a proposed constitutional amendment that would loosen gun restrictions in the state by giving gun rights the same level of protection as the freedoms of speech and religion.&nbsp;

An attorney, he ran unopposed for former Rep. Steve Huebert’s seat in 2022, campaigning on a conservative platform. His term ends in 2025.&nbsp;

“I’d like to try to allow people to experience their version of the pursuit of happiness without necessarily having too much of a heavy hand from centralized entities,” Maughan said in a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.arkvalleynews.com/web/isite.dll?1654189443360~maughan">2022 interview</a>&nbsp;with Ark Valley News.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709646556523.png" alt="Maughan-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Maughan-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/rmipro/">RACHEL MIPRO</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — A Kansas House Republican will no longer hold a judiciary committee leadership position following his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence with a gun.&nbsp;Carl Maughan, R-Colwich, and state representative, was arrested early Monday. The 52-year-old was booked into Shawnee County Jail around 4 a.m. in connection to the crimes of possession of a firearm while under influence of drugs or alcohol, failure to signal while changing lanes or turning and for improper driving on a roadway with lanes,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://docis.sncoapps.us/Inmate/DailyBookingArchive?class=enableSearch">according to the booking report</a>.&nbsp;He was released after posting bail and has a court date set for Friday. Maughan did not immediately respond to a Reflector inquiry on the arrest.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709647010664.png" alt="Photo from Maughan's House of Rep. bio" />
 <figcaption>Photo from Maughan's House of Rep. bio</figcaption>
 </figure>Maughan holds the District 90 seat, which covers swathes of north-central Sedgwick County and parts of Wichita.&nbsp;Maughan held a vice chair position on the House Judiciary Committee, but was replaced in this position Tuesday, hours after news of his arrest became widely publicized. He still holds a seat on the committee, as well as on the House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee and the House Financial Institutions and Pensions Committee, among others.&nbsp;He is one of many Republicans who endorsed&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/hcr5020/">House Concurrent Resolution 5020</a>, a proposed constitutional amendment that would loosen gun restrictions in the state by giving gun rights the same level of protection as the freedoms of speech and religion.&nbsp;An attorney, he ran unopposed for former Rep. Steve Huebert’s seat in 2022, campaigning on a conservative platform. His term ends in 2025.&nbsp;“I’d like to try to allow people to experience their version of the pursuit of happiness without necessarily having too much of a heavy hand from centralized entities,” Maughan said in a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.arkvalleynews.com/web/isite.dll?1654189443360~maughan">2022 interview</a>&nbsp;with Ark Valley News.

Kansas GOP rep. out of committee leadership job after arrest

WASHINGTON (AP) — President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;and his predecessor,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>, romped through more than a dozen states on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-super-tuesday-80f71138b69691fc8edbeb07fd1c7774">Super Tuesday</a>, all but cementing a November rematch and increasing pressure on the former president’s last major rival,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/nikki-haley">Nikki Haley</a>, to leave the Republican race.

Their victories from coast to coast, including the delegate-rich states of California and Texas, left little doubt about the trajectory of the race. Haley won Vermont, denying Trump a full sweep, but the former president carried other states that might have been favorable to her such as Virginia, Massachusetts and Maine, which have large swaths of moderate voters like those who have backed her in previous primaries.

The only contest Biden lost Tuesday was the Democratic caucus in American Samoa, a tiny U.S. territory in the South Pacific Ocean. Biden was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/who-is-jason-palmer-american-samoa-primary-c4bc109a16c7ee7b083f6216b44ba0c4">defeated by previously unknown candidate Jason Palmer</a>, 51 votes to 40.

Not enough states will have voted until later this month for Trump or Biden to formally become their parties’ presumptive nominees. But the primary’s biggest day made their rematch a near-certainty. Both the 81-year-old Biden and the 77-year-old Trump continue to dominate their parties despite facing questions about age and neither having broad popularity across the general electorate.

Haley watched the election results in private and had no campaign events scheduled going forward. Her campaign said in a statement that the results reflected there were many Republicans “who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump.”

“Unity is not achieved by simply claiming ‘we’re united,'” spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said.

Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, meanwhile, was packed for a victory party. Among those attending were staff and supporters, including the rapper Forgiato Blow and former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn. The crowd erupted as Fox News, playing on screens around the ballroom, announced that the former president had won North Carolina’s GOP primary.

“They call it Super Tuesday for a reason,” Trump told a raucous crowd. He went on to attack Biden over the U.S.-Mexico border and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. After beginning the night with victories in Virginia and North Carolina, he wrapped Super Tuesday by winning contests in Alaska and Utah.

Biden didn't give a speech but instead issued a statement warning that Tuesday's results had left Americans with a clear choice and touting his own accomplishments after beating Trump.

“If Donald Trump returns to the White House, all of this progress is at risk,” Biden said. "He is driven by grievance and grift, focused on his own revenge and retribution, not the American people."

While much of the focus was on the presidential race, there were also important down-ballot contests. The governor’s race took shape in North Carolina, where Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein will face off in a state that both parties are fiercely contesting ahead of November.

In California, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey, a former Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player, advanced to the general election race to fill the Senate seat long held by Dianne Feinstein.

Despite Biden's and Trump's domination of their parties, polls make it clear that the broader electorate does not want this year’s general election to be identical to the 2020 race. A new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-state-of-union-mental-capacity-trump-reelection-66d8784586d21f30885d8153f949510c">a majority of Americans don't think either Biden or Trump</a>&nbsp;has the necessary mental acuity for the job.

“Both of them failed, in my opinion, to unify this country,” said Brian Hadley, 66, of Raleigh, North Carolina.

The final days before Tuesday demonstrated the unique nature of this year’s campaign. Rather than barnstorming the states holding primaries, Biden and Trump held&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/border-immigration-biden-trump-42c945d02742b169bde40601a27fde02">rival events last week along the U.S.-Mexico border</a>, each seeking to gain an advantage in the increasingly fraught immigration debate.

After the Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-trump-insurrection-election-colorado-51e79c0f03013034c8a042cb278b6446">ruled 9-0</a>&nbsp;on Monday to restore Trump to primary ballots following attempts to ban him for his role in helping spark the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">Capitol riot</a>, Trump pointed to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indictments-election-january-6-classified-documents-5cb04868bb1cdf91c19eafdb882af8c0">91 criminal counts</a>&nbsp;against him to accuse Biden of weaponizing the courts.

“Fight your fight yourself,” Trump said. “Don’t use prosecutors and judges to go after your opponent.”

Biden delivers the State of the Union address Thursday, then will campaign in the key swing states of Pennsylvania and Georgia.

The president faces&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-poll-survey-economy-trump-election-dca1b60f6749d5eb50bc0e7600814855">low approval ratings</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-norc-poll-biden-2024-presidential-prospects-c843c5af6775b4c8a0cff8e2b1db03f6">polls suggesting</a>&nbsp;that many Americans, even a majority of Democrats, don’t want to see the 81-year-old running again. His&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michigan-primary-takeaways-biden-trump-uncommitted-48b7ab77b7af425c3662e5a8f28e37f6">easy Michigan primary win</a>&nbsp;last week was spoiled slightly by an “uncommitted” campaign organized by activists who disapprove of the president’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Allies of the “uncommitted” movement pushed similar protest votes elsewhere, such as in Minnesota, which has a significant population of Muslims, including in its Somali American community. At least 45,000 voters in Minnesota selected “uncommitted,” which won 19% with almost all votes counted. That exceeds the 13% of voters who selected “uncommitted” in Michigan.

“Joe Biden has not done enough to earn my vote and not done enough to stop the war, stop the massacre,” said Sarah Alfaham of the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington.

Biden also is the oldest president ever and Republicans key on any verbal slip he makes. His aides insist that skeptical voters will come around once it is clear that either Trump or Biden will be elected again in November.

Trump is now the same age Biden was during the 2020 campaign, and he has exacerbated questions about his own fitness with recent flubs, such as mistakenly suggesting he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-biden-gop-voters-border-migrants-1fc6624188f540f495e1087bee64318e">was running against Barack Obama</a>, who left the White House in 2017.

“I would love to see the next generation move up and take leadership roles,” said Democrat Susan Steele, 71, who voted Tuesday for Biden in Portland, Maine.

Trump has already vanquished more than a dozen major Republican challengers and now faces only Haley, his former U.N. ambassador. She had maintained&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/haley-february-2024-fundraising-super-tuesday-d1af5cfc14bc0977093b5f4796774c78">strong fundraising</a>&nbsp;and notched her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nikki-haley-republicans-donald-trump-dc-primary-7b5eec7a5398379b0f1c9ed9f50b6ce3">first primary victory over the weekend in Washington, D.C.</a>, a Democrat-run city with few registered Republicans. Trump scoffed that Haley had been “crowned queen of the swamp.”

“We can do better than two 80-year-old candidates for president,” Haley said at a rally Monday in the Houston suburbs.

Trump's victories, however dominating, have shown vulnerabilities with influential voter blocs, especially in college towns like Hanover, New Hampshire, home to Dartmouth College, or Ann Arbor, where the University of Michigan is located, as well as areas with high concentrations of independents. That includes Minnesota, a state Trump did not carry in his otherwise overwhelming Super Tuesday performance in 2016.

Seth De Penning, a self-described conservative-leaning independent, voted Tuesday morning in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, for Haley, he said, because the GOP “needs a course correction.” De Penning, 40, called his choice a vote of conscience and said he has never voted for Trump because of concerns about his temperament and character.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;and his predecessor,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>, romped through more than a dozen states on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-super-tuesday-80f71138b69691fc8edbeb07fd1c7774">Super Tuesday</a>, all but cementing a November rematch and increasing pressure on the former president’s last major rival,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/nikki-haley">Nikki Haley</a>, to leave the Republican race.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Former President Trump: &quot;They call it &#39;Super Tuesday&#39; for a reason. This is a big one. They tell me, the pundits and otherwise, that there&#39;s never been one like this. There&#39;s never been anything so conclusive.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/1VAvySYG5A">pic.twitter.com/1VAvySYG5A</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1765217393482059871?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Their victories from coast to coast, including the delegate-rich states of California and Texas, left little doubt about the trajectory of the race. Haley won Vermont, denying Trump a full sweep, but the former president carried other states that might have been favorable to her such as Virginia, Massachusetts and Maine, which have large swaths of moderate voters like those who have backed her in previous primaries.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Today, millions of voters across the country made their voices heard—showing that they are ready to fight back against Donald Trump’s extreme plan to take us backwards. Every generation of Americans will face a moment when it has to defend democracy. This is our fight.&mdash; Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1765218247253577996?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The only contest Biden lost Tuesday was the Democratic caucus in American Samoa, a tiny U.S. territory in the South Pacific Ocean. Biden was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/who-is-jason-palmer-american-samoa-primary-c4bc109a16c7ee7b083f6216b44ba0c4">defeated by previously unknown candidate Jason Palmer</a>, 51 votes to 40.Not enough states will have voted until later this month for Trump or Biden to formally become their parties’ presumptive nominees. But the primary’s biggest day made their rematch a near-certainty. Both the 81-year-old Biden and the 77-year-old Trump continue to dominate their parties despite facing questions about age and neither having broad popularity across the general electorate.Haley watched the election results in private and had no campaign events scheduled going forward. Her campaign said in a statement that the results reflected there were many Republicans “who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump.”“Unity is not achieved by simply claiming ‘we’re united,'” spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said.Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, meanwhile, was packed for a victory party. Among those attending were staff and supporters, including the rapper Forgiato Blow and former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn. The crowd erupted as Fox News, playing on screens around the ballroom, announced that the former president had won North Carolina’s GOP primary.“They call it Super Tuesday for a reason,” Trump told a raucous crowd. He went on to attack Biden over the U.S.-Mexico border and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. After beginning the night with victories in Virginia and North Carolina, he wrapped Super Tuesday by winning contests in Alaska and Utah.Biden didn't give a speech but instead issued a statement warning that Tuesday's results had left Americans with a clear choice and touting his own accomplishments after beating Trump.“If Donald Trump returns to the White House, all of this progress is at risk,” Biden said. "He is driven by grievance and grift, focused on his own revenge and retribution, not the American people."While much of the focus was on the presidential race, there were also important down-ballot contests. The governor’s race took shape in North Carolina, where Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein will face off in a state that both parties are fiercely contesting ahead of November.In California, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey, a former Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player, advanced to the general election race to fill the Senate seat long held by Dianne Feinstein.Despite Biden's and Trump's domination of their parties, polls make it clear that the broader electorate does not want this year’s general election to be identical to the 2020 race. A new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-state-of-union-mental-capacity-trump-reelection-66d8784586d21f30885d8153f949510c">a majority of Americans don't think either Biden or Trump</a>&nbsp;has the necessary mental acuity for the job.“Both of them failed, in my opinion, to unify this country,” said Brian Hadley, 66, of Raleigh, North Carolina.The final days before Tuesday demonstrated the unique nature of this year’s campaign. Rather than barnstorming the states holding primaries, Biden and Trump held&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/border-immigration-biden-trump-42c945d02742b169bde40601a27fde02">rival events last week along the U.S.-Mexico border</a>, each seeking to gain an advantage in the increasingly fraught immigration debate.After the Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-trump-insurrection-election-colorado-51e79c0f03013034c8a042cb278b6446">ruled 9-0</a>&nbsp;on Monday to restore Trump to primary ballots following attempts to ban him for his role in helping spark the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">Capitol riot</a>, Trump pointed to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indictments-election-january-6-classified-documents-5cb04868bb1cdf91c19eafdb882af8c0">91 criminal counts</a>&nbsp;against him to accuse Biden of weaponizing the courts.“Fight your fight yourself,” Trump said. “Don’t use prosecutors and judges to go after your opponent.”Biden delivers the State of the Union address Thursday, then will campaign in the key swing states of Pennsylvania and Georgia.The president faces&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-poll-survey-economy-trump-election-dca1b60f6749d5eb50bc0e7600814855">low approval ratings</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-norc-poll-biden-2024-presidential-prospects-c843c5af6775b4c8a0cff8e2b1db03f6">polls suggesting</a>&nbsp;that many Americans, even a majority of Democrats, don’t want to see the 81-year-old running again. His&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michigan-primary-takeaways-biden-trump-uncommitted-48b7ab77b7af425c3662e5a8f28e37f6">easy Michigan primary win</a>&nbsp;last week was spoiled slightly by an “uncommitted” campaign organized by activists who disapprove of the president’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza.Allies of the “uncommitted” movement pushed similar protest votes elsewhere, such as in Minnesota, which has a significant population of Muslims, including in its Somali American community. At least 45,000 voters in Minnesota selected “uncommitted,” which won 19% with almost all votes counted. That exceeds the 13% of voters who selected “uncommitted” in Michigan.“Joe Biden has not done enough to earn my vote and not done enough to stop the war, stop the massacre,” said Sarah Alfaham of the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington.Biden also is the oldest president ever and Republicans key on any verbal slip he makes. His aides insist that skeptical voters will come around once it is clear that either Trump or Biden will be elected again in November.Trump is now the same age Biden was during the 2020 campaign, and he has exacerbated questions about his own fitness with recent flubs, such as mistakenly suggesting he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-biden-gop-voters-border-migrants-1fc6624188f540f495e1087bee64318e">was running against Barack Obama</a>, who left the White House in 2017.“I would love to see the next generation move up and take leadership roles,” said Democrat Susan Steele, 71, who voted Tuesday for Biden in Portland, Maine.Trump has already vanquished more than a dozen major Republican challengers and now faces only Haley, his former U.N. ambassador. She had maintained&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/haley-february-2024-fundraising-super-tuesday-d1af5cfc14bc0977093b5f4796774c78">strong fundraising</a>&nbsp;and notched her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nikki-haley-republicans-donald-trump-dc-primary-7b5eec7a5398379b0f1c9ed9f50b6ce3">first primary victory over the weekend in Washington, D.C.</a>, a Democrat-run city with few registered Republicans. Trump scoffed that Haley had been “crowned queen of the swamp.”“We can do better than two 80-year-old candidates for president,” Haley said at a rally Monday in the Houston suburbs.Trump's victories, however dominating, have shown vulnerabilities with influential voter blocs, especially in college towns like Hanover, New Hampshire, home to Dartmouth College, or Ann Arbor, where the University of Michigan is located, as well as areas with high concentrations of independents. That includes Minnesota, a state Trump did not carry in his otherwise overwhelming Super Tuesday performance in 2016.Seth De Penning, a self-described conservative-leaning independent, voted Tuesday morning in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, for Haley, he said, because the GOP “needs a course correction.” De Penning, 40, called his choice a vote of conscience and said he has never voted for Trump because of concerns about his temperament and character.

🎥Trump and Biden dominate Super Tuesday races, move closer to rematch

WYANDOTTE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple allegations after&nbsp;a three and a half hour standoff.

Just after 4p.m. Tuesday, police responded to the 2600 Block of Armstrong Avenue in Kansas City with a search, arrest warrant, according to a media release.&nbsp; Several individuals exited the home but the suspect refused and barricaded himself in the residence.

Just before 8:30p.m. following several tactical interventions the suspect exited the house without incident or injury and was taken into custody. Police did not release the name of the suspect or possible charges.

The incident is under investigation by the KCK Police Department.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678875125309.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WYANDOTTE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple allegations after&nbsp;a three and a half hour standoff.Just after 4p.m. Tuesday, police responded to the 2600 Block of Armstrong Avenue in Kansas City with a search, arrest warrant, according to a media release.&nbsp; Several individuals exited the home but the suspect refused and barricaded himself in the residence.Just before 8:30p.m. following several tactical interventions the suspect exited the house without incident or injury and was taken into custody. Police did not release the name of the suspect or possible charges.The incident is under investigation by the KCK Police Department.

Suspect captured after three and a half hour standoff at Kan.  home

NEW YORK (AP) —A technical issue caused widespread login issues for a few hours across Meta's Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Messenger platforms Tuesday.

Andy Stone, Meta’s head communications,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/andymstone/status/1765064721416245460">acknowledged the issues</a>&nbsp;on X, formerly known as Twitter, and said the company “resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”

Users reported being locked out of their Facebook accounts and feeds on the platform as well as Threads and Instagram were not refreshing. WhatsApp, which is also owned by Meta, appeared unaffected.

A senior official with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency told reporters Tuesday that the agency was “not aware of any specific election nexus nor any specific malicious cyberactivity nexus to the outage.”

The outage comes just ahead of Thursday's deadline for Big Tech companies to comply with the European Union’s new Digital Markets Act. To comply, Meta is making changes, like allowing users to separate their Facebook and Instagram accounts so personal information can’t be combined to target them with online ads. It’s not clear whether the outage is connected to any preparations Meta might be carrying out for the DMA.

In 2021, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were down for hours, an outage the company said was a result of faulty changes on routers that coordinate network traffic between its data centers. The next year, WhatsApp had another brief outage.

NEW YORK (AP) —A technical issue caused widespread login issues for a few hours across Meta's Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Messenger platforms Tuesday.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Earlier today, a technical issue caused people to have difficulty accessing some of our services. We resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we apologize for any inconvenience. <a href="https://t.co/ybyyAZNAMn">https://t.co/ybyyAZNAMn</a>&mdash; Andy Stone (@andymstone) <a href="https://twitter.com/andymstone/status/1765064721416245460?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Andy Stone, Meta’s head communications,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/andymstone/status/1765064721416245460">acknowledged the issues</a>&nbsp;on X, formerly known as Twitter, and said the company “resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”Users reported being locked out of their Facebook accounts and feeds on the platform as well as Threads and Instagram were not refreshing. WhatsApp, which is also owned by Meta, appeared unaffected.A senior official with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency told reporters Tuesday that the agency was “not aware of any specific election nexus nor any specific malicious cyberactivity nexus to the outage.”The outage comes just ahead of Thursday's deadline for Big Tech companies to comply with the European Union’s new Digital Markets Act. To comply, Meta is making changes, like allowing users to separate their Facebook and Instagram accounts so personal information can’t be combined to target them with online ads. It’s not clear whether the outage is connected to any preparations Meta might be carrying out for the DMA.In 2021, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were down for hours, an outage the company said was a result of faulty changes on routers that coordinate network traffic between its data centers. The next year, WhatsApp had another brief outage.

Meta explains cause of widespread outage on Facebook, Instagram

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A U.S. destroyer shot down drones and a missile launched by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/houthis">Yemen's Houthi rebels</a>&nbsp;toward it in the Red Sea, officials said Wednesday, as the Indian navy released images of it fighting a fire aboard a container ship earlier targeted by the Houthis.

The assault Tuesday apparently targeted the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has been involved in the American campaign against the rebels, who have launched attacks over&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip</a>. Another suspected Houthi attack on shipping was reported Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Iran announced Wednesday it would confiscate a $50 million cargo of Kuwaiti crude oil for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-oil-tanker-advantage-sweet-seized-40b8f90bc0484fcd626903eef5faf64c">American energy firm Chevron Corp.</a>&nbsp;aboard a tanker it seized nearly a year earlier. It marks the latest twist in a yearslong shadow war playing out in the Mideast's waterways even before the Houthi attacks began.

The Houthi attack on the Carney on Tuesday involved bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, the U.S. military's Central Command said.

The U.S. later launched an airstrike destroying three anti-ship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats, the Central Command said.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesperson, acknowledged the attack, but claimed its forces targeted two American warships, without elaborating.

The Houthis “will not stop until the aggression is stopped and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted,” Saree said.

Saree did not acknowledge the later U.S. airstrikes. The Houthis have not offered any assessment of the damage they've suffered in the American-led strikes that began in January, though they have said at least 22 of their fighters have been killed.

Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over the Israel-Hamas war. Those vessels have included at least one with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-ship-missile-houthi-rebels-attack-bab-elmandeb-strait-999b911c916f9266c07a6d29cc020e9e">cargo bound for Iran</a>, the Houthis’ main benefactor, and an aid ship later bound for Houthi-controlled territory.

Despite more than a month and a half of U.S.-led airstrikes,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-attacks-iran-ships-retaliation-houthis-d770a3fb0fab4c4b72e2459771833e11">Houthi rebels have remained capable</a>&nbsp;of launching significant attacks. They include the attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertilizer, the Rubymar,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-rebels-rubymar-sinks-red-sea-fb64a490ce935756337ee3606e15d093">which sank on Saturday</a>&nbsp;after drifting for several days, and the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-red-sea-israel-hamas-6ac2a1bf5032ed0531258816907cfe2c">downing of an American drone</a>&nbsp;worth tens of millions of dollars.

The Houthis have been hailing ships over the radio in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden as well since launching their attacks. The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported Wednesday that a new round of similar radio messages went out to a ship, and urged crews to report any suspicious activity.

A short time later, the UKMTO reported a suspected attack in the area. Private security firm Ambrey said an explosion was reported near the vessel apparently hailed in the radio call, but there were few other details immediately known.

Meanwhile,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/india-china-maritime-security-d53925a976e667f275024fa964818c8f">the Indian navy</a>&nbsp;released a video of its sailors from the INS Kolkata fighting a fire aboard the MSC Sky II, which had been targeted by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden on Monday. Smoke poured out of one container aboard the vessel, which also showed scorch marks from the impact of a Houthi missile.

The Mediterranean Shipping Co., a Switzerland-based company, said the missile struck the ship as it was traveling from Singapore to Djibouti.

“The missile caused a small fire that has been extinguished while no crew were injured,” the company said.

Iran separately announced the seizure of the crude oil aboard&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-navy-oil-tanker-advantage-057155f4d9caf92131533fe90f94a3a0">the Advantage Sweet</a>&nbsp;through an announcement carried by the judiciary's state-run Mizan news agency. At the time, Iranian commandos rappelled from a helicopter onto the vessel, which it alleged collided with another ship, without offering any evidence.

The court order for the seizure offered an entirely different reason for the confiscation. Mizan said it was part of a court order over U.S. sanctions it alleged barred the importation of a Swedish medicine used to treat patients suffering from epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic condition that causes blisters all over the body and eyes. It did not reconcile the different reasons for the seizure.

The Advantage Sweet had been in the Persian Gulf in late April, but its track showed no unusual behavior as it transited through the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of all traded oil passes. Iran has made allegations in other seizures that later fell apart as it became clear Tehran was trying to leverage the capture as a chip to negotiate with foreign nations.

Chevron, based in San Ramon, California, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ship seizures and explosions have roiled the region since 2019. The incidents began after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

The U.S. Navy also has blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a fatal drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021. Tehran denies carrying out the attacks.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709685344452.png" alt="Photo U.S. Central Command" />
 <figcaption>Photo U.S. Central Command</figcaption>
 </figure>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A U.S. destroyer shot down drones and a missile launched by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/houthis">Yemen's Houthi rebels</a>&nbsp;toward it in the Red Sea, officials said Wednesday, as the Indian navy released images of it fighting a fire aboard a container ship earlier targeted by the Houthis.The assault Tuesday apparently targeted the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has been involved in the American campaign against the rebels, who have launched attacks over&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip</a>. Another suspected Houthi attack on shipping was reported Wednesday.Meanwhile, Iran announced Wednesday it would confiscate a $50 million cargo of Kuwaiti crude oil for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-oil-tanker-advantage-sweet-seized-40b8f90bc0484fcd626903eef5faf64c">American energy firm Chevron Corp.</a>&nbsp;aboard a tanker it seized nearly a year earlier. It marks the latest twist in a yearslong shadow war playing out in the Mideast's waterways even before the Houthi attacks began.The Houthi attack on the Carney on Tuesday involved bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, the U.S. military's Central Command said.The U.S. later launched an airstrike destroying three anti-ship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats, the Central Command said.Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesperson, acknowledged the attack, but claimed its forces targeted two American warships, without elaborating.The Houthis “will not stop until the aggression is stopped and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted,” Saree said.Saree did not acknowledge the later U.S. airstrikes. The Houthis have not offered any assessment of the damage they've suffered in the American-led strikes that began in January, though they have said at least 22 of their fighters have been killed.Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over the Israel-Hamas war. Those vessels have included at least one with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-ship-missile-houthi-rebels-attack-bab-elmandeb-strait-999b911c916f9266c07a6d29cc020e9e">cargo bound for Iran</a>, the Houthis’ main benefactor, and an aid ship later bound for Houthi-controlled territory.Despite more than a month and a half of U.S.-led airstrikes,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-attacks-iran-ships-retaliation-houthis-d770a3fb0fab4c4b72e2459771833e11">Houthi rebels have remained capable</a>&nbsp;of launching significant attacks. They include the attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertilizer, the Rubymar,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-rebels-rubymar-sinks-red-sea-fb64a490ce935756337ee3606e15d093">which sank on Saturday</a>&nbsp;after drifting for several days, and the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-red-sea-israel-hamas-6ac2a1bf5032ed0531258816907cfe2c">downing of an American drone</a>&nbsp;worth tens of millions of dollars.The Houthis have been hailing ships over the radio in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden as well since launching their attacks. The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported Wednesday that a new round of similar radio messages went out to a ship, and urged crews to report any suspicious activity.A short time later, the UKMTO reported a suspected attack in the area. Private security firm Ambrey said an explosion was reported near the vessel apparently hailed in the radio call, but there were few other details immediately known.Meanwhile,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/india-china-maritime-security-d53925a976e667f275024fa964818c8f">the Indian navy</a>&nbsp;released a video of its sailors from the INS Kolkata fighting a fire aboard the MSC Sky II, which had been targeted by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden on Monday. Smoke poured out of one container aboard the vessel, which also showed scorch marks from the impact of a Houthi missile.The Mediterranean Shipping Co., a Switzerland-based company, said the missile struck the ship as it was traveling from Singapore to Djibouti.“The missile caused a small fire that has been extinguished while no crew were injured,” the company said.Iran separately announced the seizure of the crude oil aboard&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-navy-oil-tanker-advantage-057155f4d9caf92131533fe90f94a3a0">the Advantage Sweet</a>&nbsp;through an announcement carried by the judiciary's state-run Mizan news agency. At the time, Iranian commandos rappelled from a helicopter onto the vessel, which it alleged collided with another ship, without offering any evidence.The court order for the seizure offered an entirely different reason for the confiscation. Mizan said it was part of a court order over U.S. sanctions it alleged barred the importation of a Swedish medicine used to treat patients suffering from epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic condition that causes blisters all over the body and eyes. It did not reconcile the different reasons for the seizure.The Advantage Sweet had been in the Persian Gulf in late April, but its track showed no unusual behavior as it transited through the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of all traded oil passes. Iran has made allegations in other seizures that later fell apart as it became clear Tehran was trying to leverage the capture as a chip to negotiate with foreign nations.Chevron, based in San Ramon, California, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Ship seizures and explosions have roiled the region since 2019. The incidents began after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.The U.S. Navy also has blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a fatal drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021. Tehran denies carrying out the attacks.___

US warship shoots down ballistic missile launched by terrorists

&nbsp;KANSAS CITY —A Kansas City man has been charged in connection with the Monday evening fatal shooting of another man during an a pre-arranged meeting at a parking lot, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.

Tyler D. Thompson, 23, faces 26 felony charges of Murder in the 2nd Degree and Armed Criminal Action charges.

According to court records, Kansas City police officers were dispatched on Feb. 26, on a reported shooting. They found the victim suffering from gunshot wounds in a parking lot. The victim was pronounced deceased at the scene. Spent shell casings were found near the victim and a vehicle. 

Evidence showed Thompson and another individual met with the victim and another man to complete a drug transaction. The defendant opened fire with a rifle, killing the victim.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709495439942.png" alt="Thompson-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Thompson-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>&nbsp;KANSAS CITY —A Kansas City man has been charged in connection with the Monday evening fatal shooting of another man during an a pre-arranged meeting at a parking lot, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.Tyler D. Thompson, 23, faces 26 felony charges of Murder in the 2nd Degree and Armed Criminal Action charges.According to court records, Kansas City police officers were dispatched on Feb. 26, on a reported shooting. They found the victim suffering from gunshot wounds in a parking lot. The victim was pronounced deceased at the scene. Spent shell casings were found near the victim and a vehicle. Evidence showed Thompson and another individual met with the victim and another man to complete a drug transaction. The defendant opened fire with a rifle, killing the victim.

KC man used a rifle in drug deal killing

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Teamsters working for Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch on Tuesday voted to ratify a labor agreement with the company, the union said.

The five-year contract was ratified with 86% support, the Teamsters said.

The deal covers 5,000 unionized employees at Anheuser-Busch, including brewers, packagers, and warehouse workers, and provides wage increases totaling 23% over the life of the contract, plus a $2,500 ratification bonus, the union said. It also improves health care and retirement benefits, and job security, the union said.

The Teamsters had threatened a strike at the brewer’s 12 U.S. plants if an agreement on a new five-year contract wasn’t reached by last week. Before the deadline, the two sides said they had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/anheuserbusch-teamsters-strike-beer-b51ebd316be0a29a8793c15c3a137f46">reached a tentative agreement</a>&nbsp;that was put to union members for a ratification vote.

Anheuser-Busch shipments to U.S. wholesalers dropped 13.8% last year, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights. Overall, U.S. beer shipments were down 5%.

The company, part of Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev, brews more than a dozen brands at its U.S. plants, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob Ultra and Stella Artois.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Teamsters working for Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch on Tuesday voted to ratify a labor agreement with the company, the union said.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">TEAMSTERS OVERWHELMINGLY RATIFY 5-YEAR CONTRACT AT ANHEUSER-BUSCH Today, Teamsters at Anheuser-Busch voted by an overwhelming 86 percent to ratify a five-year agreement that significantly raises pay, improves health care and retirement benefits, and protects all members’ jobs.… <a href="https://t.co/DtabS1CcCp">pic.twitter.com/DtabS1CcCp</a>&mdash; Teamsters (@Teamsters) <a href="https://twitter.com/Teamsters/status/1765189623364423902?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The five-year contract was ratified with 86% support, the Teamsters said.The deal covers 5,000 unionized employees at Anheuser-Busch, including brewers, packagers, and warehouse workers, and provides wage increases totaling 23% over the life of the contract, plus a $2,500 ratification bonus, the union said. It also improves health care and retirement benefits, and job security, the union said.The Teamsters had threatened a strike at the brewer’s 12 U.S. plants if an agreement on a new five-year contract wasn’t reached by last week. Before the deadline, the two sides said they had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/anheuserbusch-teamsters-strike-beer-b51ebd316be0a29a8793c15c3a137f46">reached a tentative agreement</a>&nbsp;that was put to union members for a ratification vote.Anheuser-Busch shipments to U.S. wholesalers dropped 13.8% last year, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights. Overall, U.S. beer shipments were down 5%.The company, part of Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev, brews more than a dozen brands at its U.S. plants, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob Ultra and Stella Artois.

Teamsters ratify 5-year labor agreement with Anheuser-Busch, avoiding strike

BROWN COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating four suspects after a drug bust at a Kansas home.

On March 2, a search warrant was applied for and granted for a residence at 107 Utah Street in Hiawatha, according to Sheriff John Merxhant.

 The Brown County Sheriff's Office Drug TaskForce assisted by Iowa Tribal police initiated the warrant.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Rita Grier&nbsp; 36;&nbsp;Jennifer Rhyne , 47 and Zachary Sandeffer, 30, all of Hiawatha were arrested on requested charges of Possession of Meth, Possession ofMarijuana and  Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, according to Merchant.

Michael Ruckstuhl 59, f&nbsp; Hiawatha was arrested on charges of Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709589399341.png" alt="Grier-photo Brown Co." />
 <figcaption>Grier-photo Brown Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>BROWN COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating four suspects after a drug bust at a Kansas home.On March 2, a search warrant was applied for and granted for a residence at 107 Utah Street in Hiawatha, according to Sheriff John Merxhant. The Brown County Sheriff's Office Drug TaskForce assisted by Iowa Tribal police initiated the warrant.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709589455404.png" alt="Rhyne-photo Brown Co." />
 <figcaption>Rhyne-photo Brown Co.</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709589554412.png" alt="Sandeffer -Photo Brown Co." />
 <figcaption>Sandeffer -Photo Brown Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Rita Grier&nbsp; 36;&nbsp;Jennifer Rhyne , 47 and Zachary Sandeffer, 30, all of Hiawatha were arrested on requested charges of Possession of Meth, Possession ofMarijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, according to Merchant.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1709589652680.png" alt="Ruckstuhl-photo Brown Co." />
 <figcaption>Ruckstuhl-photo Brown Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Michael Ruckstuhl 59, f&nbsp; Hiawatha was arrested on charges of Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Sheriff: 4 jailed after drug bust at Kansas home

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced a rule Tuesday to cap all credit card late fees, the latest effort in the White House push to end&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-junk-fees-ftc-hidden-bogus-80e5c17dc7607b99aa92c6c816b96e52">what it has called junk fees</a>&nbsp;and a move that regulators say will save Americans up to $10 billion a year.

(Click below to watch the President's comments)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new regulations will set a ceiling of $8 for most credit card late fees or require banks to show why they should charge more than $8 for such a fee.

The rule would bring the average credit card late fee down from $32. The bureau estimates banks brought in roughly $14 billion in credit card late fees a year.

President Joe Biden highlighted the proposal along with other efforts to reduce costs to Americans at a meeting of his competition council on Tuesday. The Democratic president also said he's forming a new strike force to crack down on illegal and unfair pricing on things like groceries, prescription drugs, health care, housing and financial services.

Biden said at the start of the council meeting that the current late fees are generating five times more money than what it costs credit card companies to collect late payments.

“They're padding their profit margins and charging hardworking Americans more,” Biden said. “It's a lot of money."

The president also noted that companies are effectively raising prices by putting fewer potato chips in the bags sold at grocery stores. Even the “Sesame Street” character Cookie Monster has noticed so-called “shrinkflation” by saying on social media that he's paying more for fewer cookies, Biden said.

The strike force will be led by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, according to a White House statement.

The Biden administration has portrayed the White House Competition Council as a way to save people money and promote greater competition within the U.S. economy.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers produced an analysis indicating that the Biden administration’s efforts overall will eliminate $20 billion in annual junk fees. The analysis found that consumers pay about $90 billion a year in junk fees, including for concerts, apartment rentals and auto dealers.

The effort appears to have done little to help Biden politically ahead of this year’s presidential election. Just 34% of U.S. adults approve of Biden’s economic leadership, according to a new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, criticized the CFPB cap on credit card late fees, saying that consumers would ultimately face greater costs through higher interest rates and less access to credit.

“It will decrease the availability of credit card products for those who need it most, raise rates for many borrowers who carry a balance but pay on time, and increase the likelihood of late payments across the board,” Scott said.

Rob Nichols, the CEO of the American Bankers Association, said the CFPB “relied on flawed assumptions and a mischaracterization of the important role late fees play in promoting responsible consumer behavior.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it will file a lawsuit to try to prevent the federal agency from capping late fees at $8.

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has exceeded its authority," said Neil Bradley, the chamber's executive vice president and chief policy officer. "The agency’s final credit card late fee rule punishes Americans who pay their credit card bills on time by forcing them to pay for those who don’t."

Americans held more than $1.05 trillion on their credit cards in the third quarter of 2023, a record, and a figure certain to grow once the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/holiday-sales-mastercard-spendingpulse-cc87e571ccffbae39110132a4c39a7c9">fourth-quarter data</a>&nbsp;is released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. next month. Those balances are now carrying interest on them, which is the highest it has been since the Federal Reserve started tracking the data back in the mid-1990s.

Further, more Americans are falling behind on their&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/credit-card-debt-consumer-relief-rates-89114fe06ce6ef7596c8a336532e0f06">credit card debts</a>&nbsp;as well.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/debt-credit-cards-delinquencies-scores-renters-85aab5e510f531df140f99629a4f60c3">Delinquency rates</a>&nbsp;at the major credit card issuers such as American Express, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Capital One and Discover have been trending upward for several quarters. Some analysts have become concerned Americans, particularly poorer households hurt by inflation, might be taking on too much debt.

“Overall, the consumer is credit healthy. However, the reality is that there are starting to be some significant signs of stress,” said Silvio Tavares, president and CEO of VantageScore, one of the country’s two major credit scoring systems, in an interview last month.

The growth of the credit card industry is partly why&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capital-one-discover-credit-card-visa-merger-2264ec3d43143d06a1f6820d1241b033">Capital One announced it would buy Discover Financial</a>&nbsp;last month for $35 billion. The two companies, which are two of the largest credit card issuers, are also two companies whose customers regularly carry a balance on their accounts.

This is not the first time policymakers have weighed in on credit card fees. Congress in 2010 passed the CARD Act, which banned credit card companies from charging excessive penalty fees and established clearer disclosures and consumer protections.

The Federal Reserve issued a rule in 2010 that capped the first credit card late fee at $25, and $35 for subsequent late payments, and tied that fee to inflation. The CFPB, which took over the regulation of the credit card industry from the Fed after it was established, is proposing going further than the Fed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced a rule Tuesday to cap all credit card late fees, the latest effort in the White House push to end&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-junk-fees-ftc-hidden-bogus-80e5c17dc7607b99aa92c6c816b96e52">what it has called junk fees</a>&nbsp;and a move that regulators say will save Americans up to $10 billion a year.(Click below to watch the President's comments)<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWhiteHouse%2Fvideos%2F411471504761926%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=150" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new regulations will set a ceiling of $8 for most credit card late fees or require banks to show why they should charge more than $8 for such a fee.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWhiteHouse%2Fposts%2Fpfbid044Zn8VwHxBPNaZyEr85uJtpDY5iQL19FyM5SMiC2QpFC8FBwVzcWsqZFSVkJTP1Nl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="680" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>The rule would bring the average credit card late fee down from $32. The bureau estimates banks brought in roughly $14 billion in credit card late fees a year.President Joe Biden highlighted the proposal along with other efforts to reduce costs to Americans at a meeting of his competition council on Tuesday. The Democratic president also said he's forming a new strike force to crack down on illegal and unfair pricing on things like groceries, prescription drugs, health care, housing and financial services.Biden said at the start of the council meeting that the current late fees are generating five times more money than what it costs credit card companies to collect late payments.“They're padding their profit margins and charging hardworking Americans more,” Biden said. “It's a lot of money."The president also noted that companies are effectively raising prices by putting fewer potato chips in the bags sold at grocery stores. Even the “Sesame Street” character Cookie Monster has noticed so-called “shrinkflation” by saying on social media that he's paying more for fewer cookies, Biden said.The strike force will be led by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, according to a White House statement.The Biden administration has portrayed the White House Competition Council as a way to save people money and promote greater competition within the U.S. economy.The White House Council of Economic Advisers produced an analysis indicating that the Biden administration’s efforts overall will eliminate $20 billion in annual junk fees. The analysis found that consumers pay about $90 billion a year in junk fees, including for concerts, apartment rentals and auto dealers.The effort appears to have done little to help Biden politically ahead of this year’s presidential election. Just 34% of U.S. adults approve of Biden’s economic leadership, according to a new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, criticized the CFPB cap on credit card late fees, saying that consumers would ultimately face greater costs through higher interest rates and less access to credit.“It will decrease the availability of credit card products for those who need it most, raise rates for many borrowers who carry a balance but pay on time, and increase the likelihood of late payments across the board,” Scott said.Rob Nichols, the CEO of the American Bankers Association, said the CFPB “relied on flawed assumptions and a mischaracterization of the important role late fees play in promoting responsible consumer behavior.”The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it will file a lawsuit to try to prevent the federal agency from capping late fees at $8.“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has exceeded its authority," said Neil Bradley, the chamber's executive vice president and chief policy officer. "The agency’s final credit card late fee rule punishes Americans who pay their credit card bills on time by forcing them to pay for those who don’t."Americans held more than $1.05 trillion on their credit cards in the third quarter of 2023, a record, and a figure certain to grow once the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/holiday-sales-mastercard-spendingpulse-cc87e571ccffbae39110132a4c39a7c9">fourth-quarter data</a>&nbsp;is released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. next month. Those balances are now carrying interest on them, which is the highest it has been since the Federal Reserve started tracking the data back in the mid-1990s.Further, more Americans are falling behind on their&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/credit-card-debt-consumer-relief-rates-89114fe06ce6ef7596c8a336532e0f06">credit card debts</a>&nbsp;as well.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/debt-credit-cards-delinquencies-scores-renters-85aab5e510f531df140f99629a4f60c3">Delinquency rates</a>&nbsp;at the major credit card issuers such as American Express, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Capital One and Discover have been trending upward for several quarters. Some analysts have become concerned Americans, particularly poorer households hurt by inflation, might be taking on too much debt.“Overall, the consumer is credit healthy. However, the reality is that there are starting to be some significant signs of stress,” said Silvio Tavares, president and CEO of VantageScore, one of the country’s two major credit scoring systems, in an interview last month.The growth of the credit card industry is partly why&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capital-one-discover-credit-card-visa-merger-2264ec3d43143d06a1f6820d1241b033">Capital One announced it would buy Discover Financial</a>&nbsp;last month for $35 billion. The two companies, which are two of the largest credit card issuers, are also two companies whose customers regularly carry a balance on their accounts.This is not the first time policymakers have weighed in on credit card fees. Congress in 2010 passed the CARD Act, which banned credit card companies from charging excessive penalty fees and established clearer disclosures and consumer protections.The Federal Reserve issued a rule in 2010 that capped the first credit card late fee at $25, and $35 for subsequent late payments, and tied that fee to inflation. The CFPB, which took over the regulation of the credit card industry from the Fed after it was established, is proposing going further than the Fed.The bureau's proposal is similar in structure to what the bureau announced in January when it proposed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/overdraft-junk-fees-banking-biden-jpmorgan-cb8b19687264c0eed757d84911b44303">capping overdraft fees</a>&nbsp;to as little as $3. In that proposed regulation, banks would be required to either accept the bureau's benchmark or show regulators why they should charge more, a method that few bank industry executives expect to use.Biden has made&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-junk-fees-ftc-hidden-bogus-80e5c17dc7607b99aa92c6c816b96e52">the elimination of junk fees</a>&nbsp;one of the cornerstones of his administration’s economic agenda heading into the 2024 election. Fees that banks charge customers have been at the center of that campaign, and the White House directed government regulators last year to do whatever is in their power to further curtail the practice.In another move being highlighted by the White House, the Agriculture Department said it has finalized a rule to stop what it deems to be deceptive contracts by meat processors and to ban retaliation against small farmers and ranchers that work together in associations.