WEST HILLS, Calif. (AP) —Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis Presley and a singer-songwriter dedicated to her father’s legacy, died Thursday after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-lisa-marie-presley-priscilla-elvis-los-angeles-4cbc26cfe1a7bf0b41f21f0f0f6c677b?utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_medium=TopNews&amp;utm_campaign=position_02">being hospitalized for a medical emergency</a>. She was 54.

Her death in a Los Angeles hospital was confirmed by her mother, Priscilla, a few hours after her daughter was rushed to the hospital after having a medical emergency at home.

“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” Priscilla Presley said in a statement. “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known.”

Presley, the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, shared her father's brooding charisma — the hooded eyes, the insolent smile, the low, sultry voice — and followed him professionally, releasing her own rock albums in the 2000s, and appearing on stage with Pat Benatar and Richard Hawley among others.

She even formed direct musical ties with her father, joining her voice to such Elvis recordings as “In the Ghetto" and “Don't Cry Daddy," a mournful ballad which had reminded him of the early death of his mother (and Lisa Marie's grandmother), Gladys Presley.

“It’s been all my life," she told The Associated Press in 2012, speaking of her father's influence. “It’s not something that I now listen to and it’s different. Although I might listen closer. I remain consistent on the fact that I’ve always been an admirer. He’s always influenced me.”

Her birth, nine months exactly after her parents' wedding, was international news and her background was rarely far from her mind. With the release last year of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cannes-film-festival-politics-entertainment-travel-f0701fa8575090d933af97a35df759d2">Baz Luhrmann's</a>&nbsp;major&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elvis-movie-review-b18e59c1b13c603e0fdd55adcea53f4d">musical feature “Elvis,”</a>&nbsp;Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley had been attending red carpets and award shows alongside stars from the film.

She was at the Golden Globes on Tuesday, on hand to celebrate&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/0bdb61563b5b4e74a6503baa08f6124a">Austin Butler's award</a>&nbsp;for playing her father. Just days before, she was in Memphis at Graceland — the mansion where Elvis lived, and died — on Jan. 8 to celebrate her father's birth anniversary.

Presley lived with her mother, an actor known for “Dallas" and the “Naked Gun" movies, in California after her parents split up in 1973. She recalled early memories of her dad during her visits to Graceland, riding golf carts through the neighborhood and seeing his daily entrances down the stairs.

“He was always fully, fully geared up. You’d never see him in his pajamas coming down the steps, ever,” she told The Associated Press in 2012. “You’d never see him in anything but 'ready to be seen’ attire.”

Elvis Presley died in August 1977, when he was just 42, and she 9 years old. Lisa Marie was staying at Graceland at the time and would recall him kissing her goodnight hours before he would collapse and never recover. When she next saw him, the following day, he was lying face down in the bathroom.

“I just had a feeling," she told Rolling Stone in 2003. “He wasn't doing well. All I know is I had it (a feeling), and it happened. I was obsessed with death at a very early age."

She would later make headlines of her own. Struggles with drugs and some very public marriages. Her four husbands included&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cf12b086ebd9c32f2bc6d16befe7b142">Michael Jackson</a>&nbsp;and Nicolas Cage.

Jackson and Presley were married in the Dominican Republic in 1994, but the marriage ended two years later and was defined by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/6c75bbc78ed93c77f3494394c5d5de70">numerous awkward public appearances</a>, including an unexpected kiss from Jackson during the MTV Video Music Awards and a joint interview with Diane Sawyer when she defended her husband against allegations he had sexually abused a minor.

Her other celebrity marriage was even shorter: Cage filed for divorce after four months of marriage in 2002.

“I had to sort of run into many walls and trees," she told the AP in 2012. “But now I can also look back at it and tell you all the stuff that was going on around me and all the different people around me and all the awww — and it was not a good situation anyway. That wasn’t helping. Either way, it was a growing process. It was just in a different way. It was just out in front of everybody all the time. Because it’s all documented of course.”

Lisa Marie became involved in numerous humanitarian causes, from anti-poverty programs administered through the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation to relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina. She would receive formal citations from New Orleans and Memphis, Tennessee for her work.

Presley had two children, actor Riley Keough, born in 1989, and Benjamin Keough, born in 1992, with her former husband Danny Keough. She also had twin daughters, Harper and Finley Lockwood, with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/03104a9d504640eca8d197d9b4a62ea6">ex-husband Michael Lockwood</a>&nbsp;in 2008.

Her marriage to Lockwood would end in a combative and protracted divorce that began in 2016 and still was not resolved when she died, though they were declared single in 2021. The fight saw the girls, now 15, put temporarily in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/1ce2e6f9b1b747eb909a7e9617a1f33a">protective custody</a>&nbsp;in 2017. Presley and Lockwood later had joint custody, but were still at odds over the issue, with Lockwood seeking more child support from Presley.

Benjamin Keough&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-news-ap-top-news-ca-state-wire-danny-keough-music-77998ac9b00390de449443dcdde2f840">died by suicide in 2020</a>&nbsp;at 27. Presley was vocal about her grief, writing in an essay last August that she had “been living in the horrific reality of its unrelenting grips since my son’s death two years ago.”

“I’ve dealt with death, grief and loss since the age of 9 years old. I’ve had more than anyone’s fair share of it in my lifetime and somehow, I’ve made it this far,” she wrote in an essay shared with People magazine.

“But this one, the death of my beautiful, beautiful son? The sweetest and most incredible being that I have ever had the privilege of knowing, who made me feel so honored every single day to be his mother? Who was so much like his grandfather on so many levels that he actually scared me? Which made me worry about him even more than I naturally would have?" the essay continued. "No. Just no ... no no no no ...”

Lisa Marie became the sole heir of the Elvis Presley Trust after her father died. Along with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/6d24f34fe8a84258abe9630a7b15a21b">Elvis Presley Enterprises,</a>&nbsp;the trust managed Graceland and other assets until she sold her majority interest in 2005. She retained ownership of Graceland Mansion itself, the 13 acres around it and items inside the home. Her son is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lisa-marie-presley-california-travel-elvis-presley-memphis-bd0032e7758187cfbd0117d6416cd109">buried there, along with her father</a>&nbsp;and other members of the Presley family.

Lisa Marie Presley is a former Scientologist — her son was born in 1992 under guidelines set by Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard,&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/%E2%80%B3The%20baby%20was%20delivered%20naturally%20and%20in%20complete%20silence%20in%20a%20calm%20and%20supportive%20environment%E2%80%B3%20under%20guidelines%20set%20out%20by%20the%20Church%20of%20Scientology%E2%80%99s%20founder,%20L.%20Ron%20Hubbard,%20in%20his%20book%20%E2%80%B3Dianetics,%E2%80%B3%20Bloch%20said.%20ADVERTISEMENT%20ADVERTISING%20%E2%80%B3The%20book%20states%20that%20whatever%20is%20said%20at%20birth%20can%20affect%20the%20child%E2%80%99s%20mental%20health%20in%20later%20life,%E2%80%B3%20the%20spokesman%20said.">according to an AP story at the time</a>&nbsp;— but later&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/harvey-weinstein-entertainment-paul-haggis-danny-masterson-kevin-spacey-e0be56c71bab5282e21bea0c92604e5a">broke with Scientology.</a>

Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/9067ed77fe79caf85cf6bc7f473d3440">would make regular trips to Graceland</a>&nbsp;during&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/0bdb61563b5b4e74a6503baa08f6124a">huge fan celebrations</a>&nbsp;on the anniversaries of Elvis' death and birthday. One of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ae5d6f3780df4114a9174d7d45b73226">the two airplanes at Graceland</a>&nbsp;is named the Lisa Marie.

After her first album “To Whom It May Concern,” in 2003, some fans came out to see her perform just out of curiosity given her famous family, she told the AP in 2005.

“First I had to overcome a pre-speculated idea of me,” she said of the barriers to becoming a singer-songwriter.

“I had to sort of burst through that and introduce myself, and that was the first hurdle, and then now sing in front of everybody, and then that was the second one, and I’m the offspring of — you know, who I’m the offspring of — I had a few hurdles to get through, no doubt about it," she continued. “But the scales never tipped in the other direction too much.”

WEST HILLS, Calif. (AP) —Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis Presley and a singer-songwriter dedicated to her father’s legacy, died Thursday after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-lisa-marie-presley-priscilla-elvis-los-angeles-4cbc26cfe1a7bf0b41f21f0f0f6c677b?utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_medium=TopNews&amp;utm_campaign=position_02">being hospitalized for a medical emergency</a>. She was 54.Her death in a Los Angeles hospital was confirmed by her mother, Priscilla, a few hours after her daughter was rushed to the hospital after having a medical emergency at home.“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” Priscilla Presley said in a statement. “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known.”Presley, the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, shared her father's brooding charisma — the hooded eyes, the insolent smile, the low, sultry voice — and followed him professionally, releasing her own rock albums in the 2000s, and appearing on stage with Pat Benatar and Richard Hawley among others.She even formed direct musical ties with her father, joining her voice to such Elvis recordings as “In the Ghetto" and “Don't Cry Daddy," a mournful ballad which had reminded him of the early death of his mother (and Lisa Marie's grandmother), Gladys Presley.“It’s been all my life," she told The Associated Press in 2012, speaking of her father's influence. “It’s not something that I now listen to and it’s different. Although I might listen closer. I remain consistent on the fact that I’ve always been an admirer. He’s always influenced me.”Her birth, nine months exactly after her parents' wedding, was international news and her background was rarely far from her mind. With the release last year of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cannes-film-festival-politics-entertainment-travel-f0701fa8575090d933af97a35df759d2">Baz Luhrmann's</a>&nbsp;major&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elvis-movie-review-b18e59c1b13c603e0fdd55adcea53f4d">musical feature “Elvis,”</a>&nbsp;Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley had been attending red carpets and award shows alongside stars from the film.She was at the Golden Globes on Tuesday, on hand to celebrate&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/0bdb61563b5b4e74a6503baa08f6124a">Austin Butler's award</a>&nbsp;for playing her father. Just days before, she was in Memphis at Graceland — the mansion where Elvis lived, and died — on Jan. 8 to celebrate her father's birth anniversary.Presley lived with her mother, an actor known for “Dallas" and the “Naked Gun" movies, in California after her parents split up in 1973. She recalled early memories of her dad during her visits to Graceland, riding golf carts through the neighborhood and seeing his daily entrances down the stairs.“He was always fully, fully geared up. You’d never see him in his pajamas coming down the steps, ever,” she told The Associated Press in 2012. “You’d never see him in anything but 'ready to be seen’ attire.”Elvis Presley died in August 1977, when he was just 42, and she 9 years old. Lisa Marie was staying at Graceland at the time and would recall him kissing her goodnight hours before he would collapse and never recover. When she next saw him, the following day, he was lying face down in the bathroom.“I just had a feeling," she told Rolling Stone in 2003. “He wasn't doing well. All I know is I had it (a feeling), and it happened. I was obsessed with death at a very early age."She would later make headlines of her own. Struggles with drugs and some very public marriages. Her four husbands included&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cf12b086ebd9c32f2bc6d16befe7b142">Michael Jackson</a>&nbsp;and Nicolas Cage.Jackson and Presley were married in the Dominican Republic in 1994, but the marriage ended two years later and was defined by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/6c75bbc78ed93c77f3494394c5d5de70">numerous awkward public appearances</a>, including an unexpected kiss from Jackson during the MTV Video Music Awards and a joint interview with Diane Sawyer when she defended her husband against allegations he had sexually abused a minor.Her other celebrity marriage was even shorter: Cage filed for divorce after four months of marriage in 2002.“I had to sort of run into many walls and trees," she told the AP in 2012. “But now I can also look back at it and tell you all the stuff that was going on around me and all the different people around me and all the awww — and it was not a good situation anyway. That wasn’t helping. Either way, it was a growing process. It was just in a different way. It was just out in front of everybody all the time. Because it’s all documented of course.”Lisa Marie became involved in numerous humanitarian causes, from anti-poverty programs administered through the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation to relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina. She would receive formal citations from New Orleans and Memphis, Tennessee for her work.Presley had two children, actor Riley Keough, born in 1989, and Benjamin Keough, born in 1992, with her former husband Danny Keough. She also had twin daughters, Harper and Finley Lockwood, with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/03104a9d504640eca8d197d9b4a62ea6">ex-husband Michael Lockwood</a>&nbsp;in 2008.Her marriage to Lockwood would end in a combative and protracted divorce that began in 2016 and still was not resolved when she died, though they were declared single in 2021. The fight saw the girls, now 15, put temporarily in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/1ce2e6f9b1b747eb909a7e9617a1f33a">protective custody</a>&nbsp;in 2017. Presley and Lockwood later had joint custody, but were still at odds over the issue, with Lockwood seeking more child support from Presley.Benjamin Keough&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-news-ap-top-news-ca-state-wire-danny-keough-music-77998ac9b00390de449443dcdde2f840">died by suicide in 2020</a>&nbsp;at 27. Presley was vocal about her grief, writing in an essay last August that she had “been living in the horrific reality of its unrelenting grips since my son’s death two years ago.”“I’ve dealt with death, grief and loss since the age of 9 years old. I’ve had more than anyone’s fair share of it in my lifetime and somehow, I’ve made it this far,” she wrote in an essay shared with People magazine.“But this one, the death of my beautiful, beautiful son? The sweetest and most incredible being that I have ever had the privilege of knowing, who made me feel so honored every single day to be his mother? Who was so much like his grandfather on so many levels that he actually scared me? Which made me worry about him even more than I naturally would have?" the essay continued. "No. Just no ... no no no no ...”Lisa Marie became the sole heir of the Elvis Presley Trust after her father died. Along with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/6d24f34fe8a84258abe9630a7b15a21b">Elvis Presley Enterprises,</a>&nbsp;the trust managed Graceland and other assets until she sold her majority interest in 2005. She retained ownership of Graceland Mansion itself, the 13 acres around it and items inside the home. Her son is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lisa-marie-presley-california-travel-elvis-presley-memphis-bd0032e7758187cfbd0117d6416cd109">buried there, along with her father</a>&nbsp;and other members of the Presley family.Lisa Marie Presley is a former Scientologist — her son was born in 1992 under guidelines set by Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard,&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/%E2%80%B3The%20baby%20was%20delivered%20naturally%20and%20in%20complete%20silence%20in%20a%20calm%20and%20supportive%20environment%E2%80%B3%20under%20guidelines%20set%20out%20by%20the%20Church%20of%20Scientology%E2%80%99s%20founder,%20L.%20Ron%20Hubbard,%20in%20his%20book%20%E2%80%B3Dianetics,%E2%80%B3%20Bloch%20said.%20ADVERTISEMENT%20ADVERTISING%20%E2%80%B3The%20book%20states%20that%20whatever%20is%20said%20at%20birth%20can%20affect%20the%20child%E2%80%99s%20mental%20health%20in%20later%20life,%E2%80%B3%20the%20spokesman%20said.">according to an AP story at the time</a>&nbsp;— but later&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/harvey-weinstein-entertainment-paul-haggis-danny-masterson-kevin-spacey-e0be56c71bab5282e21bea0c92604e5a">broke with Scientology.</a>Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/9067ed77fe79caf85cf6bc7f473d3440">would make regular trips to Graceland</a>&nbsp;during&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/0bdb61563b5b4e74a6503baa08f6124a">huge fan celebrations</a>&nbsp;on the anniversaries of Elvis' death and birthday. One of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ae5d6f3780df4114a9174d7d45b73226">the two airplanes at Graceland</a>&nbsp;is named the Lisa Marie.After her first album “To Whom It May Concern,” in 2003, some fans came out to see her perform just out of curiosity given her famous family, she told the AP in 2005.“First I had to overcome a pre-speculated idea of me,” she said of the barriers to becoming a singer-songwriter.“I had to sort of burst through that and introduce myself, and that was the first hurdle, and then now sing in front of everybody, and then that was the second one, and I’m the offspring of — you know, who I’m the offspring of — I had a few hurdles to get through, no doubt about it," she continued. “But the scales never tipped in the other direction too much.”----

Lisa Marie Presley, singer and daughter of Elvis, dies at 54

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a New Year's Eve shooting released security camera images on Jan. 9 asking for help to ID a suspect. On Thursday, the Shawnee County Sheriff's office reported the public assisted in helping them identify the individual.

Just before 2a.m. Saturday, December 31, 2022, deputies were dispatched to a business inmthe 5300 block of SW Topeka Boulevard for a disturbance, according to deputy Abigail Christian.

A physical altercation began near the entrance of the business and continued into the parking lot. During the fight, multiple gunshots were fired and one person was struck. That person was taken to a local hospital with non-lifethreatening injuries.

The sheriff's office has not released details on the suspect or a possible arrest in their investigation.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673301016811.png" alt="image Shawnee Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>image Shawnee Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a New Year's Eve shooting released security camera images on Jan. 9 asking for help to ID a suspect. On Thursday, the Shawnee County Sheriff's office reported the public assisted in helping them identify the individual.Just before 2a.m. Saturday, December 31, 2022, deputies were dispatched to a business inmthe 5300 block of SW Topeka Boulevard for a disturbance, according to deputy Abigail Christian.A physical altercation began near the entrance of the business and continued into the parking lot. During the fight, multiple gunshots were fired and one person was struck. That person was taken to a local hospital with non-lifethreatening injuries.The sheriff's office has not released details on the suspect or a possible arrest in their investigation.

Suspect in New Year's Eve shooting in Kan. identified

TOPEKA —Governor Laura Kelly does not have COVID-19, according to a statement from her office and the Kansas Department of Health.

“On Tuesday, after experiencing cold-like symptoms, Governor Laura Kelly tested positive for COVID-19. In order to be safe and transparent with Kansans, the Governor then shared the news publicly, self-isolated, and worked from home."

'She continued to test, and after several subsequent negative tests, her physician and experts at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment have determined that she does not have COVID and that the original test was a false positive. She has been cleared to work in-person starting Friday.”

According to Joan Duwve, M.D., State Health Officer, Kansas Department of Health and Environment,&nbsp;After receiving a positive result on a COVID test, Governor Kelly followed all protocols by self-isolating at home while continuing to work. With the increased time indoors this winter, anytime Kansans are not feeling well they should follow the infection prevention protocols, get tested for respiratory viruses such as COVID-19 or influenza, and stay home until they are no longer experiencing symptoms.”

Gov. Kelly is fully vaccinated. The governor rescheduled the State of the State address to Tuesday, January 24, at 6:30pm. The Governor’s Budget was released Thursday to the legislature as planned.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673381691929.png" alt="-Members of the Prairie Band Potawatomi nation presented a gift to Gov Kelly during the inauguration ceremony on Monday-courtesy Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation" />
 <figcaption>-Members of the Prairie Band Potawatomi nation presented a gift to Gov Kelly during the inauguration ceremony on Monday-courtesy Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA —Governor Laura Kelly does not have COVID-19, according to a statement from her office and the Kansas Department of Health.“On Tuesday, after experiencing cold-like symptoms, Governor Laura Kelly tested positive for COVID-19. In order to be safe and transparent with Kansans, the Governor then shared the news publicly, self-isolated, and worked from home."'She continued to test, and after several subsequent negative tests, her physician and experts at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment have determined that she does not have COVID and that the original test was a false positive. She has been cleared to work in-person starting Friday.”According to Joan Duwve, M.D., State Health Officer, Kansas Department of Health and Environment,&nbsp;After receiving a positive result on a COVID test, Governor Kelly followed all protocols by self-isolating at home while continuing to work. With the increased time indoors this winter, anytime Kansans are not feeling well they should follow the infection prevention protocols, get tested for respiratory viruses such as COVID-19 or influenza, and stay home until they are no longer experiencing symptoms.”Gov. Kelly is fully vaccinated. The governor rescheduled the State of the State address to Tuesday, January 24, at 6:30pm. The Governor’s Budget was released Thursday to the legislature as planned.

KDHE: Governor Kelly's COVID test was false positive

GREECE, N.Y. (AP) — A young woman and her boyfriend have pleaded guilty to fatally shooting the woman's mother in her upstate New York home in 2020.

Hannah Thomas, who was 17 years old at the time of the killing and is now 19, pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree manslaughter for causing the death of Ottilia Piros. Thomas' boyfriend, Richard Avila, 16 when the murder occurred and now 18, pleaded guilty to the same charge on Tuesday.

Each face 25 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision, according to a statement Wednesday by the Monroe County District Attorney's Office.

Both are scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 28.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-york-shootings-greece-b5e6b77f051b8380d18222c9052aa5c7">The couple</a>&nbsp;were pulled over for speeding on Dec. 29, 2020, by police in Missouri, who attempted to contact the teens' family members. When police arrived at Otillia's home in Greece, N.Y., they found the 36-year-old dead from a gunshot wound.

The pair were extradited to New York to face charges in the death.

“Richard Avila and Hannah Thomas murdered Hannah’s mother without provocation or reason,” Assistant District Attorney Kevin Sunderland said in a statement. “This senseless murder not only took the life of Ottilia Piros but will also ruin the lives of both Hannah Thomas and Richard Avila."

District Attorney Sandra Doorley called Piros' murder “heartbreaking” and a “violent act of betrayal."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673540762722.png" alt="Thomas was jailed in Pulaski County, Missouri after a traffic stop for speeding" />
 <figcaption>Thomas was jailed in Pulaski County, Missouri after a traffic stop for speeding</figcaption>
 </figure>GREECE, N.Y. (AP) — A young woman and her boyfriend have pleaded guilty to fatally shooting the woman's mother in her upstate New York home in 2020.Hannah Thomas, who was 17 years old at the time of the killing and is now 19, pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree manslaughter for causing the death of Ottilia Piros. Thomas' boyfriend, Richard Avila, 16 when the murder occurred and now 18, pleaded guilty to the same charge on Tuesday.Each face 25 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision, according to a statement Wednesday by the Monroe County District Attorney's Office.Both are scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 28.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-york-shootings-greece-b5e6b77f051b8380d18222c9052aa5c7">The couple</a>&nbsp;were pulled over for speeding on Dec. 29, 2020, by police in Missouri, who attempted to contact the teens' family members. When police arrived at Otillia's home in Greece, N.Y., they found the 36-year-old dead from a gunshot wound.The pair were extradited to New York to face charges in the death.“Richard Avila and Hannah Thomas murdered Hannah’s mother without provocation or reason,” Assistant District Attorney Kevin Sunderland said in a statement. “This senseless murder not only took the life of Ottilia Piros but will also ruin the lives of both Hannah Thomas and Richard Avila."District Attorney Sandra Doorley called Piros' murder “heartbreaking” and a “violent act of betrayal."

Woman, boyfriend jailed in Missouri plead guilty to killing her mother 

SHAWNEE COUNTY—A Topeka firefighter was injured  after being struck by a car while working an accident on icy Interstate 470 on Thursday.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1999 Honda CRV driven by Robert Gary Cooper, 57, Topeka, was eastbound on Interstate 470 at Huntoon in&nbsp; lane 2.&nbsp;

The driver lost control of the SUV. It exited the roadway, rolled down the embankment and struck a first responder identified as 45-year-old Ty Colin Forshee.&nbsp; A Captain with 21-year-of service for the Topeka Fire Department, according to Fire Chief Randy Phillips.

American Medical Response transported Forshee to Stormont Vail for treatment of serious injuries. He was alert and being evaluated according to Chief Phillips.

Cooper was not injured and properly restrained, according to the KHP.

SHAWNEE COUNTY—A Topeka firefighter was injured&nbsp; after being struck by a car while working an accident on icy Interstate 470 on Thursday.

Just before 8a.m. police and fire crews responded to a non-injury accident on westbound Interstate 470 near Huntoon, according to city spokesperson Gretchen Spiker.

A few minutes later, a vehicle not involved in the original accident, struck the firefighter who was working the accident. Personnel on scene provided immediate care to the firefighter. 

American Medical Response transported the firefighter to a local hospital with serious injuries. The firefighter is alert at the hospital, according to Spiker.

The drivers involved in both accidents were treated on scene for minor injuries that did not require transport.

The Kansas Highway Patrol is investigating both accidents. Westbound Interstate 470 was shut down at Huntoon during the investigation. Officials did not release the name of the injured firefighter.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673536228071.png" alt="American Medical Response transported the firefighter to a local hospital-photo courtesy WIBW TV" />
 <figcaption>American Medical Response transported the firefighter to a local hospital-photo courtesy WIBW TV</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—A Topeka firefighter was injured after being struck by a car while working an accident on icy Interstate 470 on Thursday.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1999 Honda CRV driven by Robert Gary Cooper, 57, Topeka, was eastbound on Interstate 470 at Huntoon in&nbsp; lane 2.&nbsp;The driver lost control of the SUV. It exited the roadway, rolled down the embankment and struck a first responder identified as 45-year-old Ty Colin Forshee.&nbsp; A Captain with 21-year-of service for the Topeka Fire Department, according to Fire Chief Randy Phillips.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673536255787.png" alt="KHP is in charge of the investigation -photo courtesy WIBW TV" />
 <figcaption>KHP is in charge of the investigation -photo courtesy WIBW TV</figcaption>
 </figure>American Medical Response transported Forshee to Stormont Vail for treatment of serious injuries. He was alert and being evaluated according to Chief Phillips.Cooper was not injured and properly restrained, according to the KHP.--------------SHAWNEE COUNTY—A Topeka firefighter was injured&nbsp; after being struck by a car while working an accident on icy Interstate 470 on Thursday.Just before 8a.m. police and fire crews responded to a non-injury accident on westbound Interstate 470 near Huntoon, according to city spokesperson Gretchen Spiker.A few minutes later, a vehicle not involved in the original accident, struck the firefighter who was working the accident. Personnel on scene provided immediate care to the firefighter. American Medical Response transported the firefighter to a local hospital with serious injuries. The firefighter is alert at the hospital, according to Spiker.The drivers involved in both accidents were treated on scene for minor injuries that did not require transport.The Kansas Highway Patrol is investigating both accidents. Westbound Interstate 470 was shut down at Huntoon during the investigation. Officials did not release the name of the injured firefighter.

KHP IDs firefighter struck by car while working crash 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden acknowledged on Thursday that a document with classified markings from his time as vice president was found in his “personal library” at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, along with other documents found in his garage, days after it was disclosed that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-classified-documents-updates-e506a5c4094356cf4c7d11f8fb3d23b4">sensitive documents were also found</a>&nbsp;at the office of his former institute in Washington.

(Click below to watch the President's comments)

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed a special counsel to investigate the presence of documents.&nbsp;Robert Hur, the former Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Maryland, will lead the investigation, taking over from the top Justice Department prosecutor in Chicago, John Lausch, who was earlier assigned by the department to investigate the matter and who recommended to Garland last week that a special counsel be appointed. Hur is to begin his work soon.

Biden told reporters at the White House that he was “cooperating fully and completely” with a Justice Department investigation into how classified information and government records were stored. He did not say when the latest series of documents were found, only that his lawyers’ review of potential storage locations was completed Wednesday night. Lawyers found the first set on Nov. 2, days before the midterm elections, but publicly revealed that development only on Monday.

<a href="https://twitter.com/iansams46/status/1613555584837484545?s=46&amp;t=8xALB1vkwvyczi8synQw1w">Richard Sauber</a>, a special counsel to the president, said after the initial documents were found by Biden's personal lawyers, they examined other locations where records might have been shipped after Biden left the vice presidency in 2017.

Sauber said a “small number” of documents with classified markings were found in a storage space in Biden's garage in Wilmington, with one document being located in an adjacent room. Biden later revealed that the other location was his personal library.

Biden said the Department of Justice was “immediately notified” after the documents were located and that department lawyers took custody of the records. The first batch of documents had been turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration.

Regardless of the Justice Department review, the revelation that Biden potentially mishandled classified or presidential records is proving to be a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-us-national-security-council-donald-trump-united-states-government-e8c56297702daf253b9e0fcb45e17b6c">political headache for Biden</a>, who said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-classified-documents-trump-side-by-side-fb2c4ebccdbdbb9039c1c5e227b1da53">former President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;was “irresponsible” for keeping hundreds of such records at his private club in Florida.

New House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said of the latest news: “I think Congress has to investigate this."

“Here’s an individual that sat on ‘60 Minutes’ that was so concerned about President Trump’s documents locked in storage, and now we find that this is a vice president keeping it for years out in the open for different locations.”

The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee has requested that intelligence agencies conduct a “damage assessment” of potentially classified documents. Ohio Rep. Mike Turner on Thursday also requested briefings from Attorney General Merrick Garland and the director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, on their reviews by Jan. 26.

“The presence of classified information at these separate locations could implicate the President in the mishandling, potential misuse, and exposure of classified information," Turner wrote the officials.

Earlier this week, the White House confirmed that the department was reviewing “a small number of documents with classified markings” found at the Washington office. Biden’s lawyers had discovered the material at the offices of the Penn Biden Center and then immediately called the National Archives about the discovery, the White House said. Biden kept an office there after he left the vice presidency in 2017 until shortly before he launched his Democratic presidential campaign in 2019.

The revelation that additional classified documents were uncovered by Biden’s team came hours after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged questions about Biden’s handling of classified information and the West Wing’s management of the discovery.

(Click below to watch the White House Press Sec. answer questions on the documents)

She had said Wednesday that the White House was committed to handling the matter in the “right way,” pointing to Biden’s personal attorneys’ immediate notification of the National Archives.

But she refused to say when Biden himself had been briefed, whether there were any more classified documents potentially located at other unauthorized locations, and why the White House waited more than two months to reveal the discovery of the initial batch of documents.

The Justice Department is reviewing the records that were found at the Penn Biden Center and Garland has asked John Lausch, the U.S. attorney in Chicago, to review the the matter, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press this week. That person also was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Lausch is one of the few U.S. attorneys to be held over from Trump’s administration.

Biden has said he was “surprised to learn that there are any government records that were taken there to that office” but his lawyers “did what they should have done” when they immediately called the National Archives.

The revelation also may complicate the Justice Department’s consideration of whether to bring charges against Trump. The Republican is trying to win back the White House in 2024 and has repeatedly claimed the department’s inquiry into his own conduct amounted to “corruption.”

There are significant differences between the Trump and Biden situations, including the gravity of an ongoing grand jury investigation into the Mar-a-Lago matter.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673546739694.png" alt="Biden backing his Corvette into the garage next to stacks of boxes&nbsp; where classified documents were found-image from a&nbsp; 2020 Biden for President campaign ad&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Biden backing his Corvette into the garage next to stacks of boxes&nbsp; where classified documents were found-image from a&nbsp; 2020 Biden for President campaign ad&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden acknowledged on Thursday that a document with classified markings from his time as vice president was found in his “personal library” at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, along with other documents found in his garage, days after it was disclosed that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-classified-documents-updates-e506a5c4094356cf4c7d11f8fb3d23b4">sensitive documents were also found</a>&nbsp;at the office of his former institute in Washington.(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%2F936521110846739%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=521" 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>Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed a special counsel to investigate the presence of documents.&nbsp;Robert Hur, the former Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Maryland, will lead the investigation, taking over from the top Justice Department prosecutor in Chicago, John Lausch, who was earlier assigned by the department to investigate the matter and who recommended to Garland last week that a special counsel be appointed. Hur is to begin his work soon.Biden told reporters at the White House that he was “cooperating fully and completely” with a Justice Department investigation into how classified information and government records were stored. He did not say when the latest series of documents were found, only that his lawyers’ review of potential storage locations was completed Wednesday night. Lawyers found the first set on Nov. 2, days before the midterm elections, but publicly revealed that development only on Monday.<a href="https://twitter.com/iansams46/status/1613555584837484545?s=46&amp;t=8xALB1vkwvyczi8synQw1w">Richard Sauber</a>, a special counsel to the president, said after the initial documents were found by Biden's personal lawyers, they examined other locations where records might have been shipped after Biden left the vice presidency in 2017.Sauber said a “small number” of documents with classified markings were found in a storage space in Biden's garage in Wilmington, with one document being located in an adjacent room. Biden later revealed that the other location was his personal library.Biden said the Department of Justice was “immediately notified” after the documents were located and that department lawyers took custody of the records. The first batch of documents had been turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration.Regardless of the Justice Department review, the revelation that Biden potentially mishandled classified or presidential records is proving to be a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-us-national-security-council-donald-trump-united-states-government-e8c56297702daf253b9e0fcb45e17b6c">political headache for Biden</a>, who said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-classified-documents-trump-side-by-side-fb2c4ebccdbdbb9039c1c5e227b1da53">former President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;was “irresponsible” for keeping hundreds of such records at his private club in Florida.New House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said of the latest news: “I think Congress has to investigate this."“Here’s an individual that sat on ‘60 Minutes’ that was so concerned about President Trump’s documents locked in storage, and now we find that this is a vice president keeping it for years out in the open for different locations.”The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee has requested that intelligence agencies conduct a “damage assessment” of potentially classified documents. Ohio Rep. Mike Turner on Thursday also requested briefings from Attorney General Merrick Garland and the director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, on their reviews by Jan. 26.“The presence of classified information at these separate locations could implicate the President in the mishandling, potential misuse, and exposure of classified information," Turner wrote the officials.Earlier this week, the White House confirmed that the department was reviewing “a small number of documents with classified markings” found at the Washington office. Biden’s lawyers had discovered the material at the offices of the Penn Biden Center and then immediately called the National Archives about the discovery, the White House said. Biden kept an office there after he left the vice presidency in 2017 until shortly before he launched his Democratic presidential campaign in 2019.The revelation that additional classified documents were uncovered by Biden’s team came hours after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged questions about Biden’s handling of classified information and the West Wing’s management of the discovery.(Click below to watch the White House Press Sec. answer questions on the documents)<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWhiteHouse%2Fvideos%2F1178795769445405%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=613" 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>She had said Wednesday that the White House was committed to handling the matter in the “right way,” pointing to Biden’s personal attorneys’ immediate notification of the National Archives.But she refused to say when Biden himself had been briefed, whether there were any more classified documents potentially located at other unauthorized locations, and why the White House waited more than two months to reveal the discovery of the initial batch of documents.The Justice Department is reviewing the records that were found at the Penn Biden Center and Garland has asked John Lausch, the U.S. attorney in Chicago, to review the the matter, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press this week. That person also was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.Lausch is one of the few U.S. attorneys to be held over from Trump’s administration.Biden has said he was “surprised to learn that there are any government records that were taken there to that office” but his lawyers “did what they should have done” when they immediately called the National Archives.The revelation also may complicate the Justice Department’s consideration of whether to bring charges against Trump. The Republican is trying to win back the White House in 2024 and has repeatedly claimed the department’s inquiry into his own conduct amounted to “corruption.”There are significant differences between the Trump and Biden situations, including the gravity of an ongoing grand jury investigation into the Mar-a-Lago matter.

🎥Biden admits classified documents found in his garage

By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/01/11/former-washburn-administrator-selected-president-of-topeka-university/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — The president of 
Midwestern State University was selected Wednesday to serve as the 15th 
president of Washburn University.

JuliAnn Mazachek, who worked 30 years at Washburn before leaving in 
2022 for Midwestern State, was chosen by the university’s board of 
regents to replace Jerry Farley. He retired in September after a quarter
 century leading the Topeka university. The interim president was 
Marshall Meek, who runs the WU Alumni Association and Foundation.

“Today is a remarkable, memorable and life-changing day for me — one I
 had only dreamed about through the years,” Mazachek told a 
standing-room-only crowd at the student union. “I am deeply honored and 
deeply thrilled to return home to the great state of Kansas and to serve
 this outstanding institution at such an important time in its history 
and in an important time in higher education.”

She will begin her new duties at Washburn on Feb. 1.

WU is a public university with 6,000 undergraduate and 800 graduate 
students. It has approximately 500 faculty. The university is connected 
to Washburn Tech.

Mazachek joined the WU faculty in 1992 as an assistant professor of 
accounting after earning a doctorate from the University of Kansas. She 
became dean of Washburn’s business school in 1998. In 2002, Mazachek 
accepted the position of president and CEO of the university’s alumni 
and foundation organization.

In 2017, she was named&nbsp;vice president of academic affairs at 
Washburn. She departed Washburn in spring 2022&nbsp;to lead Midwestern State.
 It’s a liberal arts school with 6,000 students in Wichita Falls, Texas.

In a statement released by Midwestern State, Mazachek said the 
decision to leave the Texas university was a “very difficult decision.”

Mazachek said she all of her children took classes at Washburn and 
through their experiences she understood more deeply the difference WU 
faculty made in the lives of students.

“We cannot possibly know yet what all the possibilities are for 
Washburn University and its future,” Mazachek said. “This is a wonderful
 place dedicated to its students and their success. This is a place 
integral to the success of its community and our state. This is a place 
poised to take the next step and rise.”

Shelly Buhler, president of the Washburn board of Regents, said 
Mazachek was committed to academic excellence and the core values of 
integrity, excellence, inclusion, accountability, respect, collaboration
 and innovation.

“Our new president will continue to … move the university forward while embracing our rich history,” Buhler said.

She said the 28-member search committee worked through more than 75 
applicants for the job. The board of regents interviewed several 
finalists during December.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673547428668.png" alt="JuliAnn Mazachek, president of Midwestern State University in Texas, was selected to lead Washburn University in Topeka. She spent 30 years at WU before taking the Texas job in 2022. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>JuliAnn Mazachek, president of Midwestern State University in Texas, was selected to lead Washburn University in Topeka. She spent 30 years at WU before taking the Texas job in 2022. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/01/11/former-washburn-administrator-selected-president-of-topeka-university/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — The president of 
Midwestern State University was selected Wednesday to serve as the 15th 
president of Washburn University.JuliAnn Mazachek, who worked 30 years at Washburn before leaving in 
2022 for Midwestern State, was chosen by the university’s board of 
regents to replace Jerry Farley. He retired in September after a quarter
 century leading the Topeka university. The interim president was 
Marshall Meek, who runs the WU Alumni Association and Foundation.“Today is a remarkable, memorable and life-changing day for me — one I
 had only dreamed about through the years,” Mazachek told a 
standing-room-only crowd at the student union. “I am deeply honored and 
deeply thrilled to return home to the great state of Kansas and to serve
 this outstanding institution at such an important time in its history 
and in an important time in higher education.”She will begin her new duties at Washburn on Feb. 1.WU is a public university with 6,000 undergraduate and 800 graduate 
students. It has approximately 500 faculty. The university is connected 
to Washburn Tech.Mazachek joined the WU faculty in 1992 as an assistant professor of 
accounting after earning a doctorate from the University of Kansas. She 
became dean of Washburn’s business school in 1998. In 2002, Mazachek 
accepted the position of president and CEO of the university’s alumni 
and foundation organization.In 2017, she was named&nbsp;vice president of academic affairs at 
Washburn. She departed Washburn in spring 2022&nbsp;to lead Midwestern State.
 It’s a liberal arts school with 6,000 students in Wichita Falls, Texas.In a statement released by Midwestern State, Mazachek said the 
decision to leave the Texas university was a “very difficult decision.”Mazachek said she all of her children took classes at Washburn and 
through their experiences she understood more deeply the difference WU 
faculty made in the lives of students.“We cannot possibly know yet what all the possibilities are for 
Washburn University and its future,” Mazachek said. “This is a wonderful
 place dedicated to its students and their success. This is a place 
integral to the success of its community and our state. This is a place 
poised to take the next step and rise.”Shelly Buhler, president of the Washburn board of Regents, said 
Mazachek was committed to academic excellence and the core values of 
integrity, excellence, inclusion, accountability, respect, collaboration
 and innovation.“Our new president will continue to … move the university forward while embracing our rich history,” Buhler said.She said the 28-member search committee worked through more than 75 
applicants for the job. The board of regents interviewed several 
finalists during December.

Longtime admin named  president of Washburn University

Washington—&nbsp;On Thursday, Senator Roger Marshall and ten of&nbsp;his&nbsp;colleagues from both the&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;Senate and&nbsp;U.S&nbsp;House&nbsp;of&nbsp;Representatives&nbsp;sent a letter to Deb Haaland, Secretary of the&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;Department of the Interior, requesting an extension to delay the final rule that will list the lesser prairie-chicken (LPC) under the Endangered Species Act.

Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.marshall.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/LPC-Letter-to-Delay-Effective-Date-1.12.23.pdf" target="_blank">HERE</a>&nbsp;to read the full letter.

According to a statement from Marshall's office, the Members suggested April 1 be the new deadline,&nbsp;which is before the primary nesting season of the bird. If this request isn’t granted the rule will become effective on&nbsp;January 24,&nbsp;ending the ability for industry stakeholders to adjust their operations and finalize voluntary efforts to conserve the bird.

In their letter, the members wrote, in part,

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “First and foremost, we believe the Service should promote voluntary conservation work that has proven successful at conserving the bird and not list the LPC whatsoever. Given the decades-long history of private lands conservation in coordination with the Service and state partners, we believe listing the LPC undermines private property rights and will discourage critical conservation efforts on private lands. Let us be clear, while we strongly urge the Service to revoke the listing, at minimum it is necessary to delay the effective date for involved parties to effectively comply with the rule. An extension of the effective date will give industry stakeholders more time to participate in or expand voluntary conservation prior to the primary nesting season of the LPC and give ranchers time to comply with the new 4(d) rule for grazing activities or establish Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA).”

The Members who signed&nbsp;Senator Marshall’s letter were U.S. Senator&nbsp;James Lankford (OK), and U.S. Representatives&nbsp;Tracey Mann (KS-01),&nbsp;Jake LaTurner (KS-02), Ron Estes (KS-04), August Pflueger (TX-11), Stephanie Bice (OK-05), Dan Newhouse (WA-04), Ronny Jackson (TX-13), Frank D. Lucas (OK-03), and Tom Cole (OK-04).

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668724822944.png" alt="Photo U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service" />
 <figcaption>Photo U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</figcaption>
 </figure>Washington—&nbsp;On Thursday, Senator Roger Marshall and ten of&nbsp;his&nbsp;colleagues from both the&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;Senate and&nbsp;U.S&nbsp;House&nbsp;of&nbsp;Representatives&nbsp;sent a letter to Deb Haaland, Secretary of the&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;Department of the Interior, requesting an extension to delay the final rule that will list the lesser prairie-chicken (LPC) under the Endangered Species Act.Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.marshall.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/LPC-Letter-to-Delay-Effective-Date-1.12.23.pdf" target="_blank">HERE</a>&nbsp;to read the full letter.According to a statement from Marshall's office, the Members suggested April 1 be the new deadline,&nbsp;which is before the primary nesting season of the bird. If this request isn’t granted the rule will become effective on&nbsp;January 24,&nbsp;ending the ability for industry stakeholders to adjust their operations and finalize voluntary efforts to conserve the bird.In their letter, the members wrote, in part,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “First and foremost, we believe the Service should promote voluntary conservation work that has proven successful at conserving the bird and not list the LPC whatsoever. Given the decades-long history of private lands conservation in coordination with the Service and state partners, we believe listing the LPC undermines private property rights and will discourage critical conservation efforts on private lands. Let us be clear, while we strongly urge the Service to revoke the listing, at minimum it is necessary to delay the effective date for involved parties to effectively comply with the rule. An extension of the effective date will give industry stakeholders more time to participate in or expand voluntary conservation prior to the primary nesting season of the LPC and give ranchers time to comply with the new 4(d) rule for grazing activities or establish Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA).”The Members who signed&nbsp;Senator Marshall’s letter were U.S. Senator&nbsp;James Lankford (OK), and U.S. Representatives&nbsp;Tracey Mann (KS-01),&nbsp;Jake LaTurner (KS-02), Ron Estes (KS-04), August Pflueger (TX-11), Stephanie Bice (OK-05), Dan Newhouse (WA-04), Ronny Jackson (TX-13), Frank D. Lucas (OK-03), and Tom Cole (OK-04).

Marshall, 3 Kan. reps request extension for Lesser Prairie-Chicken listing

GEARY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating an alleged abduction and now asking the public for help to find three children.

According to Junction City Police, on December 21, Jeana Foley abducted her children identified as 6-year-old Rosie Peterson, 5-year-old Camden Peterson and 3-year-old Genevieve Peterson

On Jan. 5, a felony warrant was issued for Foley's arrest. On Wednesday, Junction City police asked the public to call 911 if you have any&nbsp; information to help bring these kids home. Police released no additional details in the case.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673546045642.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>GEARY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating an alleged abduction and now asking the public for help to find three children.According to Junction City Police, on December 21, Jeana Foley abducted her children identified as 6-year-old Rosie Peterson, 5-year-old Camden Peterson and 3-year-old Genevieve PetersonOn Jan. 5, a felony warrant was issued for Foley's arrest. On Wednesday, Junction City police asked the public to call 911 if you have any&nbsp; information to help bring these kids home. Police released no additional details in the case.

Police ask for help to find children abducted by their mother

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating alleged aggravated criminal solicitation of children and have made an arrest.

Just after 7:30p.m. on Wednesday, police were flagged down at the intersection of Yale and Dunham by a family member stating three girls, ages 7-13, were solicited for sex by&nbsp;43-year-old Damien Henderson, according to Officer Chad Ditch.

The suspect fled from the scene before officers arrived. None of the girls were physically injured. The girls are known to each other.

The investigation revealed that the three girls were walking in the neighborhood together when Henderson walked up to them and solicited all of them for sex. The girls ran and informed their parents. 

Officers were already in the neighborhood when the adult flagged them down. Officers were given Henderson’s description and a short time later located him near 31st and K-15. 

<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=20053750">Henderson was detained</a> without incident and is being held on requested charges of indecent solicitation of a child, failure to appear, failure to comply and domestic violence battery, according to online jail records.

Police notified Wichita Public Schools of the incident.&nbsp;This case will be presented to the District Attorney’s office.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673528900779.png" alt="Henderson-photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Henderson-photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating alleged aggravated criminal solicitation of children and have made an arrest.Just after 7:30p.m. on Wednesday, police were flagged down at the intersection of Yale and Dunham by a family member stating three girls, ages 7-13, were solicited for sex by&nbsp;43-year-old Damien Henderson, according to Officer Chad Ditch.The suspect fled from the scene before officers arrived. None of the girls were physically injured. The girls are known to each other.The investigation revealed that the three girls were walking in the neighborhood together when Henderson walked up to them and solicited all of them for sex. The girls ran and informed their parents. Officers were already in the neighborhood when the adult flagged them down. Officers were given Henderson’s description and a short time later located him near 31st and K-15. <a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=20053750">Henderson was detained</a> without incident and is being held on requested charges of indecent solicitation of a child, failure to appear, failure to comply and domestic violence battery, according to online jail records.Police notified Wichita Public Schools of the incident.&nbsp;This case will be presented to the District Attorney’s office.

Police: Kansas man approached 3 juveniles for sex 

WASHINGTON —Thousands of flights across the U.S. were canceled or delayed Wednesday after a system that offers safety information to pilots failed.  

On Wednesday afternoon, Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina filed a bill in response to the recent Southwest and FAA flight cancellations and technology failures.

The bill, titled “Commercial Cabins for Cabinet Members, “would require the Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to only fly commercial, just like every other American, until the FAA reauthorization is completed. This should provide enough time to also investigate Southwest and the FAA, according to a media release.

According to Rep. Mace, "in the past six months Sec. Buttigieg has flown private approximately 20 times. So, until the issues with Southwest and the FAA are investigated and resolved, he and his staff should be required to fly commercial just like every other American. "

“If according to Sec. Buttigieg, on MSNBC on Wednesday, the FAA systems are constantly being updated, and if they’re so good, then why is he flying private all the time?”&nbsp;said Rep. Mace.&nbsp;

“Until we see the Southwest Airlines debacle investigated; until the FAA software glitches are fixed; and until we complete the FAA reauthorization later this year, the Secretary of Transportation should be required to fly commercial just like everyone else.”&nbsp;

Read the full text of the bill here&nbsp;<a href="https://mace.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/mace.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/commercial-cabins-for-cabinet-members.pdf">Commercial Cabins for Cabinet Members Act</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/10/1666233119638.png" alt="In October, Sec. of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was in Kansas with Democrat Senate candidate Mark Holland." />
 <figcaption>In October, Sec. of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was in Kansas with Democrat Senate candidate Mark Holland.</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON —Thousands of flights across the U.S. were canceled or delayed Wednesday after a system that offers safety information to pilots failed. On Wednesday afternoon, Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina filed a bill in response to the recent Southwest and FAA flight cancellations and technology failures.The bill, titled “Commercial Cabins for Cabinet Members, “would require the Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to only fly commercial, just like every other American, until the FAA reauthorization is completed. This should provide enough time to also investigate Southwest and the FAA, according to a media release.According to Rep. Mace, "in the past six months Sec. Buttigieg has flown private approximately 20 times. So, until the issues with Southwest and the FAA are investigated and resolved, he and his staff should be required to fly commercial just like every other American. "“If according to Sec. Buttigieg, on MSNBC on Wednesday, the FAA systems are constantly being updated, and if they’re so good, then why is he flying private all the time?”&nbsp;said Rep. Mace.&nbsp;“Until we see the Southwest Airlines debacle investigated; until the FAA software glitches are fixed; and until we complete the FAA reauthorization later this year, the Secretary of Transportation should be required to fly commercial just like everyone else.”&nbsp;Read the full text of the bill here&nbsp;<a href="https://mace.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/mace.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/commercial-cabins-for-cabinet-members.pdf">Commercial Cabins for Cabinet Members Act</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;

Bill would force Buttigieg to fly commercial until FAA fiasco solved

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug allegations.

On Tuesday, members of the Topeka Police Department Narcotics Unit and Shawnee County Drug Task Force served a search warrant in the 500 Block SE 37th Street, according to Lt. Ronnie Connell.

&nbsp;While conducting the search warrant, officers located Phencyclidine (PCP), marijuana and drug paraphernalia. They arrested 28-year-old Shawntez Holmes of Topeka on requested charges of of&nbsp;Distribution of certain hallucinogenic, drug paraphernalia with intent,&nbsp;Aggravated child endangerment, Possession of marijuana, Unlawful to acquire proceeds from drug transaction and Driving while license is suspended.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673522475002.png" alt="Holmes-photo Shawnee County" />
 <figcaption>Holmes-photo Shawnee County</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug allegations.On Tuesday, members of the Topeka Police Department Narcotics Unit and Shawnee County Drug Task Force served a search warrant in the 500 Block SE 37th Street, according to Lt. Ronnie Connell.&nbsp;While conducting the search warrant, officers located Phencyclidine (PCP), marijuana and drug paraphernalia. They arrested 28-year-old Shawntez Holmes of Topeka on requested charges of of&nbsp;Distribution of certain hallucinogenic, drug paraphernalia with intent,&nbsp;Aggravated child endangerment, Possession of marijuana, Unlawful to acquire proceeds from drug transaction and Driving while license is suspended.

Police arrest man after finding PCP, children at Kansas home

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas' pro-life Republican attorney general is asking the state's highest court to reconsider a landmark decision protecting access to abortion months after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-primary-elections-kansas-abortion-b6d62a852c2ce4617f2c03589fbb523e">a decisive statewide vote</a>&nbsp;affirming abortion rights.

Attorney General Kris Kobach said Wednesday that one reason for the Kansas Supreme Court to reconsider its 2019 ruling is the U.S. Supreme Court's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">decision in June overturning Roe v. Wade</a>&nbsp;and declaring that the U.S. Constitution doesn't grant a right to abortion access. The Kansas court is set to consider that issue and others in two abortion cases on Jan. 30, though Kobach said he is likely to ask for a few weeks' delay because&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-kansas-state-government-kris-kobach-10c88b6f25b565b962fb75947ff9e4fb">he took office</a>&nbsp;only Monday.

The Kansas Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/3f479b218a6140719e1694fcfcdb8036">declared in 2019</a>&nbsp;that access to abortion is a matter of women's bodily autonomy and a “fundamental” right under the state's own Bill of Rights. The decision came in the first stage of a lawsuit challenging a 2015 state law banning the most common second-trimester abortion procedure, and the court is now considering the question of whether that not-yet-enforced law violates the state constitution. It also is considering the validity of extra health and safety regulations for abortion providers.

In August, Kansas voters in August rejected a proposed amendment to the state constitution pushed by Republican legislators to overturn the 2019 Kansas court decision and allow lawmakers to ban abortion. That 2019 decision inspired two self-described abortion “abolitionists” to protest Wednesday at the Statehouse before and during Kansas Supreme Court Justice Marla Luckert's annual&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrY3ARbUOQA">State of the Judiciary address</a>&nbsp;to legislators.

Democratic state Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita attorney and abortion rights supporter, said he doubts the Kansas Supreme Court will reverse itself. Following the vote against the anti-abortion measure in August, six of the seven justices, including Luckert, faced yes-or-no votes in November on whether they would stay on the bench for another six years, and all were retained by wide margins.

“The court made the right decision based on the facts and the law, and to that extent, yes, the people vindicated that decision," Carmichael said, though he added, “I don't expect that to impact the court in its judicial decision-making.”

Kobach is inheriting the state's defense of existing abortion restrictions from his predecessor, Republican Derek Schmidt, who left office Monday after losing the race for governor in November.

Kobach noted not only the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in June but also an Iowa Supreme Court decision the week before,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-health-iowa-supreme-court-government-and-politics-0074e14defa4a6699e65d921f0edbc58">overtuning its own 2018 ruling</a>&nbsp;that protected abortion rights.

“One of the things that affects any court reconsidering any precedence is intervening events,” Kobach said. “There have been intervening events.”

The two Statehouse protesters, Clifton Boje and Kevan Myers, from the Kansas City, Kansas, area, had signs calling for banning abortion and describing themselves as “ambassadors of Jesus Christ.”

Myers argued that the Kansas Supreme Court's 2019 decision violates a provision of the&nbsp;<a href="https://kslib.info/826/Kansas-Bill-of-Rights">state's Bill of Rights</a>&nbsp;guaranteeing “natural rights,” including “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The court said in 2019 that the provison protected bodily autonomy.

As lawmakers admitted Luckert and her fellow justices into the House chamber for her address, Myers said, “Oh, friends, there's no right to murder."

Afterward, Luckert told reporters after her speech that she heard the protesters' messages but, “I don't take an opinion poll before I make my decision.”

Asked whether August's statewide vote vindicated the court, Luckert said, “Vindication is not a part of my job. My job is to uphold the law, and regardless of what that vote had been, I made my legal decision based on the law."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673288684737.png" alt="Kansas Attorney General Kobach took the oath of office on Monday&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Kansas Attorney General Kobach took the oath of office on Monday&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas' pro-life Republican attorney general is asking the state's highest court to reconsider a landmark decision protecting access to abortion months after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-primary-elections-kansas-abortion-b6d62a852c2ce4617f2c03589fbb523e">a decisive statewide vote</a>&nbsp;affirming abortion rights.Attorney General Kris Kobach said Wednesday that one reason for the Kansas Supreme Court to reconsider its 2019 ruling is the U.S. Supreme Court's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">decision in June overturning Roe v. Wade</a>&nbsp;and declaring that the U.S. Constitution doesn't grant a right to abortion access. The Kansas court is set to consider that issue and others in two abortion cases on Jan. 30, though Kobach said he is likely to ask for a few weeks' delay because&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-kansas-state-government-kris-kobach-10c88b6f25b565b962fb75947ff9e4fb">he took office</a>&nbsp;only Monday.The Kansas Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/3f479b218a6140719e1694fcfcdb8036">declared in 2019</a>&nbsp;that access to abortion is a matter of women's bodily autonomy and a “fundamental” right under the state's own Bill of Rights. The decision came in the first stage of a lawsuit challenging a 2015 state law banning the most common second-trimester abortion procedure, and the court is now considering the question of whether that not-yet-enforced law violates the state constitution. It also is considering the validity of extra health and safety regulations for abortion providers.In August, Kansas voters in August rejected a proposed amendment to the state constitution pushed by Republican legislators to overturn the 2019 Kansas court decision and allow lawmakers to ban abortion. That 2019 decision inspired two self-described abortion “abolitionists” to protest Wednesday at the Statehouse before and during Kansas Supreme Court Justice Marla Luckert's annual&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrY3ARbUOQA">State of the Judiciary address</a>&nbsp;to legislators.Democratic state Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita attorney and abortion rights supporter, said he doubts the Kansas Supreme Court will reverse itself. Following the vote against the anti-abortion measure in August, six of the seven justices, including Luckert, faced yes-or-no votes in November on whether they would stay on the bench for another six years, and all were retained by wide margins.“The court made the right decision based on the facts and the law, and to that extent, yes, the people vindicated that decision," Carmichael said, though he added, “I don't expect that to impact the court in its judicial decision-making.”Kobach is inheriting the state's defense of existing abortion restrictions from his predecessor, Republican Derek Schmidt, who left office Monday after losing the race for governor in November.Kobach noted not only the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in June but also an Iowa Supreme Court decision the week before,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-health-iowa-supreme-court-government-and-politics-0074e14defa4a6699e65d921f0edbc58">overtuning its own 2018 ruling</a>&nbsp;that protected abortion rights.“One of the things that affects any court reconsidering any precedence is intervening events,” Kobach said. “There have been intervening events.”The two Statehouse protesters, Clifton Boje and Kevan Myers, from the Kansas City, Kansas, area, had signs calling for banning abortion and describing themselves as “ambassadors of Jesus Christ.”Myers argued that the Kansas Supreme Court's 2019 decision violates a provision of the&nbsp;<a href="https://kslib.info/826/Kansas-Bill-of-Rights">state's Bill of Rights</a>&nbsp;guaranteeing “natural rights,” including “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The court said in 2019 that the provison protected bodily autonomy.As lawmakers admitted Luckert and her fellow justices into the House chamber for her address, Myers said, “Oh, friends, there's no right to murder."Afterward, Luckert told reporters after her speech that she heard the protesters' messages but, “I don't take an opinion poll before I make my decision.”Asked whether August's statewide vote vindicated the court, Luckert said, “Vindication is not a part of my job. My job is to uphold the law, and regardless of what that vote had been, I made my legal decision based on the law."

New AG wants Kan. court to rethink abortion rights protections

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673536228071.png" alt="American Medical Response transported the firefighter to a local hospital-photo courtesy WIBW TV" />
 <figcaption>American Medical Response transported the firefighter to a local hospital-photo courtesy WIBW TV</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—A Topeka firefighter was injured&nbsp; after being struck by a car while working an accident on icy Interstate 470 on Thursday.Just before 8a.m. police and fire crews responded to a non-injury accident on westbound Interstate 470 near Huntoon, according to city spokesperson Gretchen Spiker.A few minutes later, a vehicle not involved in the original accident, struck the firefighter who was working the accident. Personnel on scene provided immediate care to the firefighter. American Medical Response transported the firefighter to a local hospital with serious injuries. The firefighter is alert at the hospital, according to Spiker.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673536255787.png" alt="KHP is in charge of the investigation -photo courtesy WIBW TV" />
 <figcaption>KHP is in charge of the investigation -photo courtesy WIBW TV</figcaption>
 </figure>The drivers involved in both accidents were treated on scene for minor injuries that did not require transport.The Kansas Highway Patrol is investigating both accidents. Westbound Interstate 470 was shut down at Huntoon during the investigation. Officials did not release the name of the injured firefighter.

Kansas firefighter struck by car while working earlier crash

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of flights across the U.S. were canceled or delayed Wednesday after a system that offers safety information to pilots failed, and the government launched an investigation into the breakdown, which grounded some planes for hours.

Senator Jerry Moran, co-chair of the Senate Travel and Tourism Caucus wants answers. 

In a statement from his office Moran and Senator Amy Klobuchar wrote,&nbsp; “Travelers in the United States deserve safe and dependable air travel service. As co-chairs of the Senate Travel and Tourism Caucus, we had a constructive conversation with FAA Acting Administrator Billy Nolen who said that his agency is working to determine what caused the breakdown to ensure it doesn’t happen again."

"We are committed to working together in a bipartisan way to strengthen and modernize our air travel system and meet the demands of our 21st century economy.”

The Federal Aviation Administration said preliminary indications “traced the outage to a damaged database file." The agency said it would take steps to avoid another similar disruption.

The breakdown showed how much American air travel depends on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-federal-aviation-administration-business-9e277db75130cc7e4d4b6c6a7bdaad7c">the computer system that generates alerts called NOTAMs</a>&nbsp;— or Notice to Air Missions.

Before a plane takes off, pilots and airline dispatchers must review the notices, which include details about bad weather, runway closures or other temporary factors that could affect the flight. The system was once telephone-based but moved online years ago.

The system broke down late Tuesday and was not fixed until midmorning Wednesday. The FAA took the rare step of preventing any planes from taking off for a time, and the cascading chaos led to more than 1,300 flight cancellations and 9,000 delays by early evening on the East Coast, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told a news conference that the problems "led to a ground stop because of the way safety information was moving through the system.”

After the failures were fixed, he warned that travelers could continue to see some effects “rippling through the system.”

Buttigieg said his agency would now try to learn why the system went down.

Longtime aviation insiders could not recall an outage of such magnitude caused by a technology failure. Some compared it in scope to the nationwide shutdown of airspace after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

“Periodically there have been local issues here or there, but this is pretty significant historically,” said Tim Campbell, a former senior vice president of air operations at American Airlines and now a consultant in Minneapolis.

Campbell said there has long been concern about the FAA’s technology, and not just the NOTAM system.

Many of those systems “are old mainframe systems that are generally reliable, but they are out of date,” he said.

John Cox, a former airline pilot and aviation safety expert, said the aviation industry has talked for years about trying to modernize the NOTAM system, but he did not know the age of the servers that the FAA uses.

“I’ve been flying 53 years. I’ve never heard the system go down like this,” Cox said. “So something unusual happened.”

According to FAA advisories, the NOTAM system failed at 8:28 p.m. Tuesday, preventing new or amended notices from being distributed to pilots. The FAA resorted to a telephone hotline to keep departures flying overnight, but as air traffic picked up in the morning, the phone system was overwhelmed.

The FAA ordered all departing flights grounded early Wednesday, affecting all passenger and cargo flights. Some medical flights could get clearance, and the outage did not affect military operations.

President Joe Biden said that he was briefed by Buttigieg.

Buttigieg said the ground stop showed that “safety is going to be our North Star, as it always is.”

“We are now pivoting to focus on understanding the causes of the issue,” he said.

Pilots and safety officials have complained about NOTAMs for years, saying there are too many of them and that some are unnecessary and written in cryptic abbreviations.

The National Transportation Safety Board highlighted the large number of notices in its investigation of a near-disaster in 2017 in San Francisco. An Air Canada jet whose pilots had overlooked a NOTAM about a closed runway nearly landed by mistake on a parallel taxiway. They skimmed just over the tops of four other airliners waiting to take off.

The safety board’s chairman at the time, Robert Sumwalt, noted that the closed runway was mentioned on the eighth of 27 pages of notices for the San Francisco airport, and the entry was written in an arcane fashion.

“That’s what NOTAMs are. They are a bunch of garbage that no one pays any attention to,” he said.

The FAA said in a 2020 report that it modernized the distribution of the notices through a standardized digital format that was to be completed in July of that year.

As the extent of Wednesday’s breakdown became clear and airlines delayed more flights, passengers scrambled to rearrange trips. Many said they had trouble finding out how long the delays would last.

“There is just a lot of frustration, a lot of confusion,” said Ryan Ososki, who was trying to fly from Washington, D.C., to California for a conference.

Julia Macpherson was on a United flight from Sydney to Los Angeles when she learned of possible delays.

“As I was up in the air, I got news from my friend who was also traveling overseas that there was a power outage,” said Macpherson, who was returning to Jacksonville, Florida, from Tasmania.

Passengers at airports in Chicago, Atlanta and elsewhere reported similar experiences.

European flights into the U.S. appeared to be largely unaffected.

It was the latest headache for travelers in the U.S., who faced an even larger number of daily flight cancellations over the Christmas holiday due to a severe winter storm and a breakdown in crew-scheduling technology at Southwest Airlines.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/4/1650998339816.png" alt="The Federal Aviation Administration said preliminary indications “traced the outage to a damaged database file." The agency said it would take steps to avoid another similar disruption." />
 <figcaption>The Federal Aviation Administration said preliminary indications “traced the outage to a damaged database file." The agency said it would take steps to avoid another similar disruption.</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of flights across the U.S. were canceled or delayed Wednesday after a system that offers safety information to pilots failed, and the government launched an investigation into the breakdown, which grounded some planes for hours.Senator Jerry Moran, co-chair of the Senate Travel and Tourism Caucus wants answers. In a statement from his office Moran and Senator Amy Klobuchar wrote,&nbsp; “Travelers in the United States deserve safe and dependable air travel service. As co-chairs of the Senate Travel and Tourism Caucus, we had a constructive conversation with FAA Acting Administrator Billy Nolen who said that his agency is working to determine what caused the breakdown to ensure it doesn’t happen again.""We are committed to working together in a bipartisan way to strengthen and modernize our air travel system and meet the demands of our 21st century economy.”The Federal Aviation Administration said preliminary indications “traced the outage to a damaged database file." The agency said it would take steps to avoid another similar disruption.The breakdown showed how much American air travel depends on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-federal-aviation-administration-business-9e277db75130cc7e4d4b6c6a7bdaad7c">the computer system that generates alerts called NOTAMs</a>&nbsp;— or Notice to Air Missions.Before a plane takes off, pilots and airline dispatchers must review the notices, which include details about bad weather, runway closures or other temporary factors that could affect the flight. The system was once telephone-based but moved online years ago.The system broke down late Tuesday and was not fixed until midmorning Wednesday. The FAA took the rare step of preventing any planes from taking off for a time, and the cascading chaos led to more than 1,300 flight cancellations and 9,000 delays by early evening on the East Coast, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told a news conference that the problems "led to a ground stop because of the way safety information was moving through the system.”After the failures were fixed, he warned that travelers could continue to see some effects “rippling through the system.”Buttigieg said his agency would now try to learn why the system went down.Longtime aviation insiders could not recall an outage of such magnitude caused by a technology failure. Some compared it in scope to the nationwide shutdown of airspace after the 2001 terrorist attacks.“Periodically there have been local issues here or there, but this is pretty significant historically,” said Tim Campbell, a former senior vice president of air operations at American Airlines and now a consultant in Minneapolis.Campbell said there has long been concern about the FAA’s technology, and not just the NOTAM system.Many of those systems “are old mainframe systems that are generally reliable, but they are out of date,” he said.John Cox, a former airline pilot and aviation safety expert, said the aviation industry has talked for years about trying to modernize the NOTAM system, but he did not know the age of the servers that the FAA uses.“I’ve been flying 53 years. I’ve never heard the system go down like this,” Cox said. “So something unusual happened.”According to FAA advisories, the NOTAM system failed at 8:28 p.m. Tuesday, preventing new or amended notices from being distributed to pilots. The FAA resorted to a telephone hotline to keep departures flying overnight, but as air traffic picked up in the morning, the phone system was overwhelmed.The FAA ordered all departing flights grounded early Wednesday, affecting all passenger and cargo flights. Some medical flights could get clearance, and the outage did not affect military operations.President Joe Biden said that he was briefed by Buttigieg.Buttigieg said the ground stop showed that “safety is going to be our North Star, as it always is.”“We are now pivoting to focus on understanding the causes of the issue,” he said.Pilots and safety officials have complained about NOTAMs for years, saying there are too many of them and that some are unnecessary and written in cryptic abbreviations.The National Transportation Safety Board highlighted the large number of notices in its investigation of a near-disaster in 2017 in San Francisco. An Air Canada jet whose pilots had overlooked a NOTAM about a closed runway nearly landed by mistake on a parallel taxiway. They skimmed just over the tops of four other airliners waiting to take off.The safety board’s chairman at the time, Robert Sumwalt, noted that the closed runway was mentioned on the eighth of 27 pages of notices for the San Francisco airport, and the entry was written in an arcane fashion.“That’s what NOTAMs are. They are a bunch of garbage that no one pays any attention to,” he said.The FAA said in a 2020 report that it modernized the distribution of the notices through a standardized digital format that was to be completed in July of that year.As the extent of Wednesday’s breakdown became clear and airlines delayed more flights, passengers scrambled to rearrange trips. Many said they had trouble finding out how long the delays would last.“There is just a lot of frustration, a lot of confusion,” said Ryan Ososki, who was trying to fly from Washington, D.C., to California for a conference.Julia Macpherson was on a United flight from Sydney to Los Angeles when she learned of possible delays.“As I was up in the air, I got news from my friend who was also traveling overseas that there was a power outage,” said Macpherson, who was returning to Jacksonville, Florida, from Tasmania.Passengers at airports in Chicago, Atlanta and elsewhere reported similar experiences.European flights into the U.S. appeared to be largely unaffected.It was the latest headache for travelers in the U.S., who faced an even larger number of daily flight cancellations over the Christmas holiday due to a severe winter storm and a breakdown in crew-scheduling technology at Southwest Airlines.---------

Moran demands answers from FAA over air travel nightmare

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged arson.

Just after 11a.m. Tuesday fire crews first responded to the 1500 block of SW Cheyenne Hills Road on the report of a grass fire, according to Topeka Fire Dept. spokesperson Rosie Nichols. Firefighters were able to control the fire before structures were threatened. 

Soon after their arrival, they were alerted of a fire at a nearby assisted living facility in the 5800 block of SW Drury Lane. With the assistance of staff on-site, crews were able to extinguish the fire before major damage occurred.

Minutes after the initial fire call, more reports were received for grass and leaves on fire around a fence in the 1400 block of SW Glendale Drive. Crews from the south side of Topeka were dispatched to handle those fires due to the ongoing grass fire crews were already attending. 

Due to the proactive work and awareness from Topeka police officers, a woman matching the suspect’s description was located and questioned regarding the fires. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673454350216.png" alt="Knoxsah-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Knoxsah-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged arson.Just after 11a.m. Tuesday fire crews first responded to the 1500 block of SW Cheyenne Hills Road on the report of a grass fire, according to Topeka Fire Dept. spokesperson Rosie Nichols. Firefighters were able to control the fire before structures were threatened. Soon after their arrival, they were alerted of a fire at a nearby assisted living facility in the 5800 block of SW Drury Lane. With the assistance of staff on-site, crews were able to extinguish the fire before major damage occurred.Minutes after the initial fire call, more reports were received for grass and leaves on fire around a fence in the 1400 block of SW Glendale Drive. Crews from the south side of Topeka were dispatched to handle those fires due to the ongoing grass fire crews were already attending. Due to the proactive work and awareness from Topeka police officers, a woman matching the suspect’s description was located and questioned regarding the fires. After further investigation, it was determined that 43-year-old Colleen Knoxsah of Topeka was responsible for the fires, and she was arrested by a Topeka Fire Investigator with the assistance of a TPD officer, and the Chief of Investigations from the Office of the Kansas State Fire Marshal.Knoxsah is in custody on requested charges that include three counts of arson, and one count of aggravated arson.