By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/04/21/massive-pipeline-spill-caused-by-crack-created-during-installation-third-party-review-concludes/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — A third-party review of a pipeline spill that released 
500,000 gallons of crude oil onto Kansas farmland and a nearby stream 
was caused by a crack in the metal pipe that eventually ruptured under 
pressure.

That was the conclusion of a third-party review that was ordered by a
 federal pipeline safety agency to investigate the December failure of 
the 36-inch Keystone pipeline, just south of the Nebraska border near 
Washington, Kansas.

It was the largest oil pipeline spill in the U.S. in nine years.

The “Root Cause Failure Analysis” for the so-called “Milepost 14 incident” reached the <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/keystone-pipeline-owner-blames-kansas-spill-on-faulty-weld-estimates-480m-remediation-cost/">same conclusion as an independent analysis</a> of the metal pipeline released in February.

“The primary cause of the rupture was a progressive fatigue crack 
that originated at a girth weld connecting a manufactured elbow fitting 
to the pipe constructed across Mill Creek (in Kansas),” the operator of 
the pipeline, TC Energy, said in a press release Friday.

The company said that during construction of this segment of the 
Keystone pipeline, which as completed in 2011, “inadvertent bending 
stresses sufficient to initiate a crack” occurred on the elbow fitting.

Over time, and under the high pressure needed to push the oil down 
the pipeline, the crack worsened, eventually resulting in the leak.

The pipeline, which carries tar sands oil from Canada to refineries 
on the U.S. Gulf Coast, was operating at a pressure of 1,153 pounds per 
square gauge at the time of the Dec. 7 rupture, according to the federal
 Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Since 2009, the Keystone pipeline has experienced three failures on similar girth welds, according to PHMSA.

<a target="_blank" href="https://hazmat.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2023-03/TC%20Oil%20Pipeline%20-%2032022074CAO_Amended%20Corrective%20Action%20Order_03072023_%2822-261792%29.pdf">In March, the agency</a>
 ordered TC Energy to reduce the operating pressure to 923 ppsg on the 
segment of the Keystone pipeline from Steele City, Neb., to Cushing, 
Okla., due to a “repetitious pattern of failures related to the original
 design, manufacture, and construction.”

On Friday, TC Energy, in a press release, said it had recovered 98% 
of the released product and cleaned up 90% of the shoreline of Mill 
Creek, where the failure occurred. Previously, the company has estimated
 its cost of responding and cleaning up the leak at $480 million.

Thousands of cubic yards of oil-soaked soil and other materials removed from the spill site were trucked <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/02/23/oil-soaked-soil-from-kansas-pipeline-spill-was-sent-to-landfill-near-omaha/">to a landfill just outside Omaha.</a>

TC Energy said that in response to the failure analysis, it plans to:

The company said the latest review confirmed that the welding 
workmanship on the pipeline was “compliant with applicable codes and 
standards.”

A lobbyist with the Sierra Club of Kansas, however, said the latest report just reaffirms that there were flaws in original design, material and installation of the Keystone pipeline that make more oil spills inevitable.

“This shouldn’t give us any relief or assurance,” said Zack Pistora of the Sierra Club. “This only reaffirms that it’s only a matter of time before another weld fails or a design flaw causes another disaster.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1682268577079.png" alt="TC Energy workers at the site of a pipeline spill near Washington, Kansas, just a few miles south of the Nebraska border (Courtesy of TC Energy) " />
 <figcaption>TC Energy workers at the site of a pipeline spill near Washington, Kansas, just a few miles south of the Nebraska border (Courtesy of TC Energy) </figcaption>
 </figure>By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/04/21/massive-pipeline-spill-caused-by-crack-created-during-installation-third-party-review-concludes/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — A third-party review of a pipeline spill that released 
500,000 gallons of crude oil onto Kansas farmland and a nearby stream 
was caused by a crack in the metal pipe that eventually ruptured under 
pressure.That was the conclusion of a third-party review that was ordered by a
 federal pipeline safety agency to investigate the December failure of 
the 36-inch Keystone pipeline, just south of the Nebraska border near 
Washington, Kansas.It was the largest oil pipeline spill in the U.S. in nine years.The “Root Cause Failure Analysis” for the so-called “Milepost 14 incident” reached the <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/keystone-pipeline-owner-blames-kansas-spill-on-faulty-weld-estimates-480m-remediation-cost/">same conclusion as an independent analysis</a> of the metal pipeline released in February.<h2>‘Fatigue crack’</h2>“The primary cause of the rupture was a progressive fatigue crack 
that originated at a girth weld connecting a manufactured elbow fitting 
to the pipe constructed across Mill Creek (in Kansas),” the operator of 
the pipeline, TC Energy, said in a press release Friday.The company said that during construction of this segment of the 
Keystone pipeline, which as completed in 2011, “inadvertent bending 
stresses sufficient to initiate a crack” occurred on the elbow fitting.Over time, and under the high pressure needed to push the oil down 
the pipeline, the crack worsened, eventually resulting in the leak.The pipeline, which carries tar sands oil from Canada to refineries 
on the U.S. Gulf Coast, was operating at a pressure of 1,153 pounds per 
square gauge at the time of the Dec. 7 rupture, according to the federal
 Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.<h2>‘Repetitious pattern of failures’</h2>Since 2009, the Keystone pipeline has experienced three failures on similar girth welds, according to PHMSA.<a target="_blank" href="https://hazmat.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2023-03/TC%20Oil%20Pipeline%20-%2032022074CAO_Amended%20Corrective%20Action%20Order_03072023_%2822-261792%29.pdf">In March, the agency</a>
 ordered TC Energy to reduce the operating pressure to 923 ppsg on the 
segment of the Keystone pipeline from Steele City, Neb., to Cushing, 
Okla., due to a “repetitious pattern of failures related to the original
 design, manufacture, and construction.”On Friday, TC Energy, in a press release, said it had recovered 98% 
of the released product and cleaned up 90% of the shoreline of Mill 
Creek, where the failure occurred. Previously, the company has estimated
 its cost of responding and cleaning up the leak at $480 million.Thousands of cubic yards of oil-soaked soil and other materials removed from the spill site were trucked <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/02/23/oil-soaked-soil-from-kansas-pipeline-spill-was-sent-to-landfill-near-omaha/">to a landfill just outside Omaha.</a><h2>Excavation, more inspections planned</h2>TC Energy said that in response to the failure analysis, it plans to:<ul>
 <li>Excavate and investigate other Keystone pipeline sites with characteristics like the incident location.</li><li>Perform additional in-line inspections of the pipeline.</li><li>Review evolving pipeline design guidelines.</li>
 </ul><h2>‘Only a matter of time’</h2>The company said the latest review confirmed that the welding 
workmanship on the pipeline was “compliant with applicable codes and 
standards.”A lobbyist with the Sierra Club of Kansas, however, said the latest report just reaffirms that there were flaws in original design, material and installation of the Keystone pipeline that make more oil spills inevitable.“This shouldn’t give us any relief or assurance,” said Zack Pistora of the Sierra Club. “This only reaffirms that it’s only a matter of time before another weld fails or a design flaw causes another disaster.”

Kansas pipeline spill caused by crack created during installation

WICHITA —A federal grand jury in Wichita returned an indictment charging a woman and a man from Kansas with drug trafficking crimes. 

According to court documents, Regan Viner, 29, and Abram Velo, 41, both of Wichita, are charged with one count of possession of methamphetamine with intention to distribute and one count of possession of fentanyl with intention to distribute. Velo is also charged with one count of possession of a firearm by convicted felon and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.&nbsp;Velo has convictions for theft, obstruction, criminal trespass, criminal possession of a weapon by a felon and four previous drug convictions, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is investigating the case.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1681923187030.png" alt="Velo has convictions for theft, obstruction, criminal trespass, criminal possession of a weapon by a felon and four previous drug convictions, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections-photo KDOC" />
 <figcaption>Velo has convictions for theft, obstruction, criminal trespass, criminal possession of a weapon by a felon and four previous drug convictions, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections-photo KDOC</figcaption>
 </figure>WICHITA —A federal grand jury in Wichita returned an indictment charging a woman and a man from Kansas with drug trafficking crimes. According to court documents, Regan Viner, 29, and Abram Velo, 41, both of Wichita, are charged with one count of possession of methamphetamine with intention to distribute and one count of possession of fentanyl with intention to distribute. Velo is also charged with one count of possession of a firearm by convicted felon and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.&nbsp;Velo has convictions for theft, obstruction, criminal trespass, criminal possession of a weapon by a felon and four previous drug convictions, according to the Kansas Dept. of CorrectionsThe Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is investigating the case.

Kansas felon accused attempting to sell fentanyl

WASHINGTON (AP) — The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court">Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;last week&nbsp; wrestled with the case of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-post-office-christian-85291b805b5630e958ac1200ef711cf2">Christian mail carrier</a>&nbsp;who refused to work on Sundays when he was required to deliver Amazon packages.

<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2022/22-174">Click here to listen to a replay</a> of the oral arguments

While the court seemed in broad agreement that businesses like the Postal Service can't cite minor costs or hardships to reject such requests to accommodate religious practices, it was less clear what they might do about the particular worker's case.

The case before the court involves a mail carrier in rural Pennsylvania. The man was told that as part of his job he’d need to start delivering Amazon packages on Sundays. He declined, saying his Sundays are for church and family. U.S. Postal Service officials initially tried to get substitutes for the man’s shifts, but they couldn’t always accommodate him. When he didn’t show, that meant more work for others. Ultimately, the man quit and sued for religious discrimination.

During the arguments, the justices struggled with the question of when employers have to accommodate employees' religious needs. Justice&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ketanji-brown-jackson">Ketanji Brown Jackson</a>&nbsp;said the circumstances of each case matter and that "the answer is: it depends.”

The case is the latest religious confrontation the high court has been asked to referee. In recent years, the court’s 6-3 conservative majority has been particularly sensitive to the concerns of religious plaintiffs. That includes a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-coach-prayer-2981a8073ea82a1a688c367270c941aa">ruling last year</a>&nbsp;in which the court said a public high school football coach should be allowed to pray on the field after games. Another case the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-entertainment-religion-race-and-ethnicity-discrimination-9f2a76e9c72b6e0dc2a513a968328799">court is weighing</a>&nbsp;this term involves a Christian graphic artist who wants to create wedding websites, but doesn't want to serve gay couples.

A federal law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, requires employers to accommodate employees’ religious practices unless doing so would be an “undue hardship” for the business. But a Supreme Court case from 1977, Trans World Airlines v. Hardison, says in part that employers can deny religious accommodations to employees when they impose “more than a de minimis cost” on the business.

Three current justices have said the court should reconsider the Hardison case. And on Tuesday other justices also suggested the “more than de minimis cost language” was problematic.

Even Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, the Biden administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer who was representing the Post Office, told the justices that the Hardison case as a whole requires an employer who wants to deny an accommodation to show more. She said that most often requests for religious accommodation come up when employees seek schedule changes like the Sabbath off or midday prayer breaks or exemptions from a company's dress code or grooming policies. They also come up when an employee wants to display a religious symbol in the workplace.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, who along with Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito has said Hardison should be reconsidered, suggested the justices could simply say that “some courts have taken this de minimis language" too far and that has “been a serious misunderstanding.” He suggested the justices could do “a good day's work and put a period at the end of it by saying that that is not the law.”

The justices seemed less in agreement, however, about what to do on the facts of the case in front of them involving Gerald Groff, a former employee of the U.S. Postal Service in Pennsylvania’s Amish Country. For years, Groff was a fill-in mail carrier who worked on days when other mail carriers were off.

But when an Amazon.com contract with the Postal Service required carriers to start delivering packages on Sundays, Groff balked. Initially, to avoid the shifts, Groff transferred to a more rural post office not yet doing Sunday deliveries, but eventually that post office was required to do them, too.

Whenever Groff was scheduled on a Sunday, another carrier had to work or his spot went unfilled. Officials said Groff’s absences created a tense environment and contributed to morale problems. It also meant other carriers had to deliver more Sunday mail than they otherwise would.

Justice Elena Kagan suggested there was enough evidence that Groff's Sunday absences were causing a hardship and that the Postal Service did nothing wrong in denying an accommodation. Justice Brett Kavanaugh pointed out that the Postal Service had “one employee quit, one employee transfer and another file a grievance” as a result of Groff's Sunday absences. But other justices including Justice Amy Coney Barrett suggested the justices might want to send Groff's case back to lower courts for another look.

Groff resigned in 2019 rather than wait to be fired. His lawyer Aaron Streett urged the Supreme Court to overrule the Hardison case and to say that employers must show “significant difficulty or expense” if they want to reject a religious accommodation.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596998822010.png" alt="The case before the court involves a mail carrier in rural Pennsylvania. The man was told that as part of his job he’d need to start delivering Amazon packages on Sundays.-Google image" />
 <figcaption>The case before the court involves a mail carrier in rural Pennsylvania. The man was told that as part of his job he’d need to start delivering Amazon packages on Sundays.-Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court">Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;last week&nbsp; wrestled with the case of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-post-office-christian-85291b805b5630e958ac1200ef711cf2">Christian mail carrier</a>&nbsp;who refused to work on Sundays when he was required to deliver Amazon packages.<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2022/22-174">Click here to listen to a replay</a> of the oral argumentsWhile the court seemed in broad agreement that businesses like the Postal Service can't cite minor costs or hardships to reject such requests to accommodate religious practices, it was less clear what they might do about the particular worker's case.The case before the court involves a mail carrier in rural Pennsylvania. The man was told that as part of his job he’d need to start delivering Amazon packages on Sundays. He declined, saying his Sundays are for church and family. U.S. Postal Service officials initially tried to get substitutes for the man’s shifts, but they couldn’t always accommodate him. When he didn’t show, that meant more work for others. Ultimately, the man quit and sued for religious discrimination.During the arguments, the justices struggled with the question of when employers have to accommodate employees' religious needs. Justice&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ketanji-brown-jackson">Ketanji Brown Jackson</a>&nbsp;said the circumstances of each case matter and that "the answer is: it depends.”The case is the latest religious confrontation the high court has been asked to referee. In recent years, the court’s 6-3 conservative majority has been particularly sensitive to the concerns of religious plaintiffs. That includes a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-coach-prayer-2981a8073ea82a1a688c367270c941aa">ruling last year</a>&nbsp;in which the court said a public high school football coach should be allowed to pray on the field after games. Another case the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-entertainment-religion-race-and-ethnicity-discrimination-9f2a76e9c72b6e0dc2a513a968328799">court is weighing</a>&nbsp;this term involves a Christian graphic artist who wants to create wedding websites, but doesn't want to serve gay couples.A federal law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, requires employers to accommodate employees’ religious practices unless doing so would be an “undue hardship” for the business. But a Supreme Court case from 1977, Trans World Airlines v. Hardison, says in part that employers can deny religious accommodations to employees when they impose “more than a de minimis cost” on the business.Three current justices have said the court should reconsider the Hardison case. And on Tuesday other justices also suggested the “more than de minimis cost language” was problematic.Even Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, the Biden administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer who was representing the Post Office, told the justices that the Hardison case as a whole requires an employer who wants to deny an accommodation to show more. She said that most often requests for religious accommodation come up when employees seek schedule changes like the Sabbath off or midday prayer breaks or exemptions from a company's dress code or grooming policies. They also come up when an employee wants to display a religious symbol in the workplace.Justice Neil Gorsuch, who along with Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito has said Hardison should be reconsidered, suggested the justices could simply say that “some courts have taken this de minimis language" too far and that has “been a serious misunderstanding.” He suggested the justices could do “a good day's work and put a period at the end of it by saying that that is not the law.”The justices seemed less in agreement, however, about what to do on the facts of the case in front of them involving Gerald Groff, a former employee of the U.S. Postal Service in Pennsylvania’s Amish Country. For years, Groff was a fill-in mail carrier who worked on days when other mail carriers were off.But when an Amazon.com contract with the Postal Service required carriers to start delivering packages on Sundays, Groff balked. Initially, to avoid the shifts, Groff transferred to a more rural post office not yet doing Sunday deliveries, but eventually that post office was required to do them, too.Whenever Groff was scheduled on a Sunday, another carrier had to work or his spot went unfilled. Officials said Groff’s absences created a tense environment and contributed to morale problems. It also meant other carriers had to deliver more Sunday mail than they otherwise would.Justice Elena Kagan suggested there was enough evidence that Groff's Sunday absences were causing a hardship and that the Postal Service did nothing wrong in denying an accommodation. Justice Brett Kavanaugh pointed out that the Postal Service had “one employee quit, one employee transfer and another file a grievance” as a result of Groff's Sunday absences. But other justices including Justice Amy Coney Barrett suggested the justices might want to send Groff's case back to lower courts for another look.Groff resigned in 2019 rather than wait to be fired. His lawyer Aaron Streett urged the Supreme Court to overrule the Hardison case and to say that employers must show “significant difficulty or expense” if they want to reject a religious accommodation.The case is Groff v. DeJoy, 22-174.

🎤Supreme Court case tests religious tolerance on Sunday work

KANSAS CITY (AP) —In suburban Detroit, it was a lost 14-year-old looking for directions. In Kansas City, it was a 16-year-old who went to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers. There was the 12-year-old rummaging around in a yard in small-town Alabama, the 20-year-old woman who found herself in the wrong driveway in upstate New York and the cheerleader who got into the wrong car in Texas.

All of them, and dozens more across America, were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wrong-place-shootings-3c6e5061adb30d889ac3d071893ef129">met by gunfire</a>. Some were injured, some killed.

In a nation where strangers are all too often seen as threats and fear has been politicized, honest mistakes and simple acts like going to the wrong address or car in a parking lot, or even just ringing the wrong doorbell, can seem like a fateful question of trust.

It is a tension not lost on Jae Moyer, who was at a rally at the federal courthouse in Kansas City on Tuesday, demanding a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the shooting of Ralph Yarl, the Black teenager&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-shooting-kansas-city-black-teen-154c4e3275732b83bc9f0026a9981b81">shot last week</a>&nbsp;when he went to the door of an elderly white man while looking for his brothers. Yarl, who was shot in the head and arm, is recovering at home.

“I want to be welcoming and inviting to anyone that comes to my home. Even if they are asking for help and I can’t help them I’m going to be kind to them. I think that’s the way everyone should be,” Moyer said.

“But I don’t think that’s the culture we have right now,” Moyer said. “There’s a lot of fear in our country.”

In the early 1970s, surveys showed that about half of America believed most people were trustworthy. By 2020, that number had fallen to less than one-third. Meanwhile, Americans have believed for decades that crime is going up — even in years when it is going down — and also wildly overestimate their chances of being a crime victim.

“Part of that is you guys,” said Warren Eller, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, referring to the media’s relentless focus on crime. “We get 24 hours a day of all the dangers out there.”

That’s hardly surprising. Politicians have long used crime as a wedge issue to gain footholds. Neighborhood message boards foment paranoia about suspicious outsiders. And local and national newscasts bombard TV viewers daily with images of grainy surveillance videos showing a variety of crimes and provocative headlines about cities in decay.

That includes shootings where innocent victims are shot by people who wrongly believe that they are under threat. While there are few statistics on these shootings, they appear to make up a very small percentage of the more than 15,000 people killed every year in the U.S. in firearm homicides.

And yet in just six days in April, four young people across the U.S. were shot — and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kaylin-gillis-wrong-driveway-532de0f3d1fbdcff922fe49f78003976">the woman in New York killed</a>&nbsp;— for being at what someone decided was the wrong place. Just Tuesday, a man&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-cheerleaders-shot-mistaken-location-4b5d0659a3768bc2a46b4756e6a5ee4a">shot and wounded two cheerleaders</a>&nbsp;in a Texas supermarket parking lot after one said she mistakenly got into his car thinking it was her own. One cheerleader was grazed by a bullet and treated at the scene. Her teammate was shot in the leg and back.

This American mistrust has settled in as something that, while not normal, is less surprising than ever. And when mixed with legal confusion, easy access to weapons, poor firearms training and sometimes outright racism, it has produced a string of shootings like these that never seems to end.

Take the legal issues. Shooters in incidents like these often use defenses based on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-shooting-stand-your-ground-69f91b0a09b25f9758219897f5890278">“stand-your-ground” laws</a>, which have broadened people's rights to defend themselves if they are threatened. But those laws, which have spread across America in the last 25 years, may have actually driven up violence.

A study published in 2022 by the JAMA Network Open, a peer-reviewed medical journal, found that monthly homicide rates increased between 8% and 11% in states with stand-your-ground laws.

“I think it has commonly become known of as a license to use deadly force whenever someone feels threatened,” said Geoffrey Corn, the chair of criminal law at the Texas Tech University School of Law. He has extensively studied such laws, which he believes are deeply misunderstood by the public.

“The fear has to be justified by the circumstances," he said. “You don't get to kill somebody just because you fear them.”

Legal experts expect Andrew Lester, the 84-year-old man who shot Yarl, to claim self-defense and cite Missouri’s stand-your-ground law. On Wednesday, he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-shooting-updates-c13170d6759f2963b01a68fc8a6332f7">pleaded not guilty</a>&nbsp;in Yarl’s shooting.

Corn, a 22-year-military veteran, also wonders about America’s recent boom in firearm sales and whether it has combined with insufficient training to compound the problem.

“What troubles me isn’t that there are a lot of firearms, it’s that nothing is required of someone who takes on the awesome responsibility" of wielding them, Corn said. Even in states that require firearms training, he says training is often insufficient, with poor explanations of self-defense laws.

When he was in the military, he had weeks of training before he was even allowed to touch a bullet. “I was always conscious of the awesome killing power of a firearm,” he said.

Then there is the unavoidable question of race, a central pillar of American distrust across the centuries.

False notions about threats posed by nonwhite people have played out repeatedly in modern American history, including in a number of high-profile cases when assailants attacked Black or Hispanic people who they believed meant them harm, even when no threat was apparent.

Yarl’s shooting has drawn comparisons to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/trayvon-martin">the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin</a>, 17, a Black teenager visiting his father’s home in a gated Florida community when George Zimmerman, a volunteer neighborhood watchman, decided he looked suspicious and shot him to death. Zimmerman was acquitted after a trial in which his attorneys essentially used the state’s stand-your-ground law as a defense.

It also echoes&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-crime-shootings-michigan-detroit-4495fe92a5c152ab707f74bcc6cb2f04">the case of Renisha McBride</a>, a Black woman who knocked on doors in a Detroit-area community in 2013, seeking help after a car accident. She was fatally shot by a white resident who fired through his screen door, saying he feared she meant him harm.

These cases, said Ibram X. Kendi, the bestselling author of books on racism and founder of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bu.edu/antiracism-center/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwxYOiBhC9ARIsANiEIfYXscTCBySJ0PRmHgZQ1ZOfxEbFn76YeCJGKSX_2J4aB6yMPl-eVP0aAp2PEALw_wcB">Center for Antiracist Research</a>&nbsp;at Boston University, occurred because people of all races and backgrounds are groomed to fear Black people as more prone to criminality and violence.

“No one is born fearing another person because of their skin color,” Kendi said. “There’s so many different ways in which people are taught that Black people are dangerous, and those ideas actually create all sorts of dangers for Black people, including Black teenagers.”

“The more we unlearn that idea and realize that we can’t attach danger to skin color in any way," he said, “the less likely people are going to be to use lethal force against a 16-year-old child who is ringing their doorbell.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1681726215314.png" alt="Ralph Yarl, the Black teenager&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-shooting-kansas-city-black-teen-154c4e3275732b83bc9f0026a9981b81">shot last week</a>&nbsp;when he went to the door of an elderly white man while looking for his brothers. Yarl, who was shot in the head and arm, is recovering at home.-photo GoFundMe" />
 <figcaption>Ralph Yarl, the Black teenager&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-shooting-kansas-city-black-teen-154c4e3275732b83bc9f0026a9981b81">shot last week</a>&nbsp;when he went to the door of an elderly white man while looking for his brothers. Yarl, who was shot in the head and arm, is recovering at home.-photo GoFundMe</figcaption>
 </figure>By TIM SULLIVAN and AARON MORRISON&nbsp;KANSAS CITY (AP) —In suburban Detroit, it was a lost 14-year-old looking for directions. In Kansas City, it was a 16-year-old who went to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers. There was the 12-year-old rummaging around in a yard in small-town Alabama, the 20-year-old woman who found herself in the wrong driveway in upstate New York and the cheerleader who got into the wrong car in Texas.All of them, and dozens more across America, were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wrong-place-shootings-3c6e5061adb30d889ac3d071893ef129">met by gunfire</a>. Some were injured, some killed.In a nation where strangers are all too often seen as threats and fear has been politicized, honest mistakes and simple acts like going to the wrong address or car in a parking lot, or even just ringing the wrong doorbell, can seem like a fateful question of trust.It is a tension not lost on Jae Moyer, who was at a rally at the federal courthouse in Kansas City on Tuesday, demanding a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the shooting of Ralph Yarl, the Black teenager&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-shooting-kansas-city-black-teen-154c4e3275732b83bc9f0026a9981b81">shot last week</a>&nbsp;when he went to the door of an elderly white man while looking for his brothers. Yarl, who was shot in the head and arm, is recovering at home.“I want to be welcoming and inviting to anyone that comes to my home. Even if they are asking for help and I can’t help them I’m going to be kind to them. I think that’s the way everyone should be,” Moyer said.“But I don’t think that’s the culture we have right now,” Moyer said. “There’s a lot of fear in our country.”There is also plenty of mistrust.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Ralph Yarl is home and recovering! How the bullet in his head did not cause more extensive damage is truly a miracle. To God be the glory! <a href="https://t.co/y5mWpQNcY4">pic.twitter.com/y5mWpQNcY4</a>&mdash; Lee Merritt (@MerrittForTexas) <a href="https://twitter.com/MerrittForTexas/status/1648707056159866880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>AMERICAN SUSPICIONIn the early 1970s, surveys showed that about half of America believed most people were trustworthy. By 2020, that number had fallen to less than one-third. Meanwhile, Americans have believed for decades that crime is going up — even in years when it is going down — and also wildly overestimate their chances of being a crime victim.“Part of that is you guys,” said Warren Eller, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, referring to the media’s relentless focus on crime. “We get 24 hours a day of all the dangers out there.”That’s hardly surprising. Politicians have long used crime as a wedge issue to gain footholds. Neighborhood message boards foment paranoia about suspicious outsiders. And local and national newscasts bombard TV viewers daily with images of grainy surveillance videos showing a variety of crimes and provocative headlines about cities in decay.That includes shootings where innocent victims are shot by people who wrongly believe that they are under threat. While there are few statistics on these shootings, they appear to make up a very small percentage of the more than 15,000 people killed every year in the U.S. in firearm homicides.And yet in just six days in April, four young people across the U.S. were shot — and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kaylin-gillis-wrong-driveway-532de0f3d1fbdcff922fe49f78003976">the woman in New York killed</a>&nbsp;— for being at what someone decided was the wrong place. Just Tuesday, a man&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-cheerleaders-shot-mistaken-location-4b5d0659a3768bc2a46b4756e6a5ee4a">shot and wounded two cheerleaders</a>&nbsp;in a Texas supermarket parking lot after one said she mistakenly got into his car thinking it was her own. One cheerleader was grazed by a bullet and treated at the scene. Her teammate was shot in the leg and back.This American mistrust has settled in as something that, while not normal, is less surprising than ever. And when mixed with legal confusion, easy access to weapons, poor firearms training and sometimes outright racism, it has produced a string of shootings like these that never seems to end.Take the legal issues. Shooters in incidents like these often use defenses based on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-shooting-stand-your-ground-69f91b0a09b25f9758219897f5890278">“stand-your-ground” laws</a>, which have broadened people's rights to defend themselves if they are threatened. But those laws, which have spread across America in the last 25 years, may have actually driven up violence.A study published in 2022 by the JAMA Network Open, a peer-reviewed medical journal, found that monthly homicide rates increased between 8% and 11% in states with stand-your-ground laws.“I think it has commonly become known of as a license to use deadly force whenever someone feels threatened,” said Geoffrey Corn, the chair of criminal law at the Texas Tech University School of Law. He has extensively studied such laws, which he believes are deeply misunderstood by the public.“The fear has to be justified by the circumstances," he said. “You don't get to kill somebody just because you fear them.”AGGRAVATING FACTORSLegal experts expect Andrew Lester, the 84-year-old man who shot Yarl, to claim self-defense and cite Missouri’s stand-your-ground law. On Wednesday, he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ralph-yarl-shooting-updates-c13170d6759f2963b01a68fc8a6332f7">pleaded not guilty</a>&nbsp;in Yarl’s shooting.Corn, a 22-year-military veteran, also wonders about America’s recent boom in firearm sales and whether it has combined with insufficient training to compound the problem.“What troubles me isn’t that there are a lot of firearms, it’s that nothing is required of someone who takes on the awesome responsibility" of wielding them, Corn said. Even in states that require firearms training, he says training is often insufficient, with poor explanations of self-defense laws.When he was in the military, he had weeks of training before he was even allowed to touch a bullet. “I was always conscious of the awesome killing power of a firearm,” he said.Then there is the unavoidable question of race, a central pillar of American distrust across the centuries.False notions about threats posed by nonwhite people have played out repeatedly in modern American history, including in a number of high-profile cases when assailants attacked Black or Hispanic people who they believed meant them harm, even when no threat was apparent.Yarl’s shooting has drawn comparisons to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/trayvon-martin">the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin</a>, 17, a Black teenager visiting his father’s home in a gated Florida community when George Zimmerman, a volunteer neighborhood watchman, decided he looked suspicious and shot him to death. Zimmerman was acquitted after a trial in which his attorneys essentially used the state’s stand-your-ground law as a defense.It also echoes&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-crime-shootings-michigan-detroit-4495fe92a5c152ab707f74bcc6cb2f04">the case of Renisha McBride</a>, a Black woman who knocked on doors in a Detroit-area community in 2013, seeking help after a car accident. She was fatally shot by a white resident who fired through his screen door, saying he feared she meant him harm.These cases, said Ibram X. Kendi, the bestselling author of books on racism and founder of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bu.edu/antiracism-center/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwxYOiBhC9ARIsANiEIfYXscTCBySJ0PRmHgZQ1ZOfxEbFn76YeCJGKSX_2J4aB6yMPl-eVP0aAp2PEALw_wcB">Center for Antiracist Research</a>&nbsp;at Boston University, occurred because people of all races and backgrounds are groomed to fear Black people as more prone to criminality and violence.“No one is born fearing another person because of their skin color,” Kendi said. “There’s so many different ways in which people are taught that Black people are dangerous, and those ideas actually create all sorts of dangers for Black people, including Black teenagers.”“The more we unlearn that idea and realize that we can’t attach danger to skin color in any way," he said, “the less likely people are going to be to use lethal force against a 16-year-old child who is ringing their doorbell.”___

Distrust in America: Small mistakes, deep fear — and gunfire

NEW YORK (AP) — Bed Bath &amp; Beyond — one of the original big box retailers — has filed for bankruptcy protection, following years of dismal sales and losses and numerous failed turnaround plans.&nbsp;The company still has stores in Kansas located in Lawrence, Topeka, Overland Park, Shawnee and two in Wichita.

The beleaguered home goods chain made the filing Sunday in U.S. District Court in New Jersey and said it will start an orderly wind down of its operations including eventually closing its stores, while seeking a buyer for all or some of its businesses. For now, its 360 Bed Bath &amp; Beyond stores and its 120 Buy Buy Baby stores as well as its websites will remain open to serve customers.

It listed estimated assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion and $10 billion. The move comes after the company failed to secure funds to stay afloat.

In a statement, the company based in Union, New Jersey, said it voluntarily made the filing "to implement an orderly wind down of its businesses while conducting a limited marketing process to solicit interest in one or more sales of some or all of its assets." The store closings will put thousands of jobs at risk.

The company said it also intends to uphold commitments to customers, employees and partners. The retailer said it secured a commitment of roughly $240 million in financing from Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. to allow it to keep operating during the bankruptcy process.

The filing comes as the company’s shares have tumbled even more as speculation of an impending bankruptcy filing increased. Its financial performance has also deteriorated. In late March, it noted that preliminary results showed anywhere from a 40% to 50% decline in sales at stores opened at least a year for the quarter ended Feb. 25.

The company also said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing in late March that it planned to sell $300 million worth of shares to avoid bankruptcy filing.

The home goods retailer had been issuing several warnings about a potential bankruptcy filing since earlier this year. In late January, it noted in a government filing it was in default of its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bankruptcy-business-2fd56f01b26c8484e2b30230cb439e4e">loans</a>&nbsp;and didn’t have the funds to repay what it owes. The company had said the default is forcing the company to look at various alternatives including restructuring its debt in bankruptcy court.

Bed Bath &amp; Beyond&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-875189eb9c27eac251670f80357c8ca3">warned</a>&nbsp;on Jan. 5 that it was considering various options including filing for bankruptcy and said that there was “substantial doubt” that it could stay in business. A week later, Bed Bath &amp; Beyond posted a 33% drop in sales and a widening loss for the fiscal third quarter, ended Nov. 26, compared with the year-ago period. Sales at stores opened at least a year — a key indicator of a company’s health — dropped 32%.

Bed Bath &amp; Beyond’s recently appointed president and CEO Sue Gove blamed the poor holiday performance on inventory constraints and reduced credit limits that resulted in shortages of merchandise on store shelves.

Bed Bath &amp; Beyond joins a growing list of retailers that have filed for bankruptcy so far this year including party supplies chain&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-new-york-city-party-holdco-inc-business-bankruptcy-6103152baf9d5d633fb5adc167d0046c">Party City</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/davids-bridal-bankruptcy-filing-wedding-ace0eadbedadc97337b8c50213e73bca">David’s Bridal</a>. And the bankruptcy could offer a window of what's more to come, giving the changing landscape of the retail industry and the increasing challenges in the U.S. economy.

During the depths of the pandemic, a number of retailers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy including Neiman Marcus and J.C. Penney. But in 2022, there was a respite in retail bankruptcy filings as shoppers, flush with government stimulus money and a pile of savings, spent with abandon, helping to lift all types of retailers. But as credit tightens and inflation remains stubborn, shoppers have been tightening their purse strings in recent months, leaving struggling retailers like Bed Bath &amp; Beyond more vulnerable.

Bed Bath &amp; Beyond had been trying to turn around its business and slash costs after previous management’s new strategies worsened a sales slump. The company announced last August it would&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/stock-offerings-chewy-inc-6af2d83aec7cde2cd7b0706b892a4c0c">close</a>&nbsp;about 150 of its namesake stores and slash its workforce by 20%. It also lined up more than $500 million of new financing.

Founded in 1971, Bed Bath &amp; Beyond had for years enjoyed its status as a big box retailer that offered a vast selection of sheets, towels and gadgets unmatched by department store rivals. It was among the first to introduce shoppers to many of today’s household items like the air fryer or single-serve coffee maker, and its 15% to 20% coupons were ubiquitous.

But for the last decade or so, Bed Bath &amp; Beyond struggled with weak sales, largely because of its messy assortments and lagging online strategy that made it hard to compete with the likes of Target and Walmart, both of which have spruced up their home departments with higher quality sheets and beddings. Meanwhile, online players like Wayfair have lured customers with affordable and trendy furniture and home décor.

In late 2019, Bed Bath &amp; Beyond tapped Target executive Mark Tritton to take the helm and turn around sales. Tritton quickly reduced coupons and started to introduce store label brands at the expense of national labels, a strategy that proved disastrous for the retailer.

And the pandemic, which happened shortly after his arrival, forced the retailer to temporarily close its stores. It was never able to use the health crisis to pivot to a successful online strategy as others had, analysts said. And while many retailers were grappling with supply chain issues a year ago, Bed Bath was among the most vulnerable, missing many of its 200 best-selling items including kitchen appliances and personal electronics, during the holiday 2021 season.

The retailer&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/33fa91f0e8114f4536dd0d1271ae1d2b">ousted</a>&nbsp;Tritton in June 2022 after two back-to-back quarters of disastrous sales. In recent months, the company went back to its original strategy of focusing on national brands, instead of pushing its own store labels. But the company has had a hard time having suppliers commit to delivering merchandise because of the retailer’s financial woes. This past holiday season, the stores were missing many key items, and it lost many customers.

Bed Bath &amp; Beyond’s shares, which were trading at distressed levels, have also been on a turbulent run. It made a monstrous run from $5.77 to $23.08 in a little more than two weeks in August. The trading was reminiscent of last year’s meme-stock craze, when out-of-favor companies suddenly became darlings of smaller-pocketed investors.

But the stock fell back to Earth after Ryan Cohen, the billionaire co-founder of online pet-products retailer Chewy Inc. who purchased a nearly 10% stake in Bed Bath &amp; Beyond last March, sold off all his shares.

Shares were hovering close to 30 cents in the past few days. A year ago, shares were trading at around $17.

The company had 32,000 employees as of Feb. 26, 2022, but that number has come down since then as the retailer has slashed jobs.

NEW YORK (AP) — Bed Bath &amp; Beyond — one of the original big box retailers — has filed for bankruptcy protection, following years of dismal sales and losses and numerous failed turnaround plans.&nbsp;The company still has stores in Kansas located in Lawrence, Topeka, Overland Park, Shawnee and two in Wichita.The beleaguered home goods chain made the filing Sunday in U.S. District Court in New Jersey and said it will start an orderly wind down of its operations including eventually closing its stores, while seeking a buyer for all or some of its businesses. For now, its 360 Bed Bath &amp; Beyond stores and its 120 Buy Buy Baby stores as well as its websites will remain open to serve customers.It listed estimated assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion and $10 billion. The move comes after the company failed to secure funds to stay afloat.In a statement, the company based in Union, New Jersey, said it voluntarily made the filing "to implement an orderly wind down of its businesses while conducting a limited marketing process to solicit interest in one or more sales of some or all of its assets." The store closings will put thousands of jobs at risk.The company said it also intends to uphold commitments to customers, employees and partners. The retailer said it secured a commitment of roughly $240 million in financing from Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. to allow it to keep operating during the bankruptcy process.The filing comes as the company’s shares have tumbled even more as speculation of an impending bankruptcy filing increased. Its financial performance has also deteriorated. In late March, it noted that preliminary results showed anywhere from a 40% to 50% decline in sales at stores opened at least a year for the quarter ended Feb. 25.The company also said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing in late March that it planned to sell $300 million worth of shares to avoid bankruptcy filing.The home goods retailer had been issuing several warnings about a potential bankruptcy filing since earlier this year. In late January, it noted in a government filing it was in default of its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bankruptcy-business-2fd56f01b26c8484e2b30230cb439e4e">loans</a>&nbsp;and didn’t have the funds to repay what it owes. The company had said the default is forcing the company to look at various alternatives including restructuring its debt in bankruptcy court.Bed Bath &amp; Beyond&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-875189eb9c27eac251670f80357c8ca3">warned</a>&nbsp;on Jan. 5 that it was considering various options including filing for bankruptcy and said that there was “substantial doubt” that it could stay in business. A week later, Bed Bath &amp; Beyond posted a 33% drop in sales and a widening loss for the fiscal third quarter, ended Nov. 26, compared with the year-ago period. Sales at stores opened at least a year — a key indicator of a company’s health — dropped 32%.Bed Bath &amp; Beyond’s recently appointed president and CEO Sue Gove blamed the poor holiday performance on inventory constraints and reduced credit limits that resulted in shortages of merchandise on store shelves.Bed Bath &amp; Beyond joins a growing list of retailers that have filed for bankruptcy so far this year including party supplies chain&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-new-york-city-party-holdco-inc-business-bankruptcy-6103152baf9d5d633fb5adc167d0046c">Party City</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/davids-bridal-bankruptcy-filing-wedding-ace0eadbedadc97337b8c50213e73bca">David’s Bridal</a>. And the bankruptcy could offer a window of what's more to come, giving the changing landscape of the retail industry and the increasing challenges in the U.S. economy.During the depths of the pandemic, a number of retailers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy including Neiman Marcus and J.C. Penney. But in 2022, there was a respite in retail bankruptcy filings as shoppers, flush with government stimulus money and a pile of savings, spent with abandon, helping to lift all types of retailers. But as credit tightens and inflation remains stubborn, shoppers have been tightening their purse strings in recent months, leaving struggling retailers like Bed Bath &amp; Beyond more vulnerable.Bed Bath &amp; Beyond had been trying to turn around its business and slash costs after previous management’s new strategies worsened a sales slump. The company announced last August it would&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/stock-offerings-chewy-inc-6af2d83aec7cde2cd7b0706b892a4c0c">close</a>&nbsp;about 150 of its namesake stores and slash its workforce by 20%. It also lined up more than $500 million of new financing.Founded in 1971, Bed Bath &amp; Beyond had for years enjoyed its status as a big box retailer that offered a vast selection of sheets, towels and gadgets unmatched by department store rivals. It was among the first to introduce shoppers to many of today’s household items like the air fryer or single-serve coffee maker, and its 15% to 20% coupons were ubiquitous.But for the last decade or so, Bed Bath &amp; Beyond struggled with weak sales, largely because of its messy assortments and lagging online strategy that made it hard to compete with the likes of Target and Walmart, both of which have spruced up their home departments with higher quality sheets and beddings. Meanwhile, online players like Wayfair have lured customers with affordable and trendy furniture and home décor.In late 2019, Bed Bath &amp; Beyond tapped Target executive Mark Tritton to take the helm and turn around sales. Tritton quickly reduced coupons and started to introduce store label brands at the expense of national labels, a strategy that proved disastrous for the retailer.And the pandemic, which happened shortly after his arrival, forced the retailer to temporarily close its stores. It was never able to use the health crisis to pivot to a successful online strategy as others had, analysts said. And while many retailers were grappling with supply chain issues a year ago, Bed Bath was among the most vulnerable, missing many of its 200 best-selling items including kitchen appliances and personal electronics, during the holiday 2021 season.The retailer&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/33fa91f0e8114f4536dd0d1271ae1d2b">ousted</a>&nbsp;Tritton in June 2022 after two back-to-back quarters of disastrous sales. In recent months, the company went back to its original strategy of focusing on national brands, instead of pushing its own store labels. But the company has had a hard time having suppliers commit to delivering merchandise because of the retailer’s financial woes. This past holiday season, the stores were missing many key items, and it lost many customers.Bed Bath &amp; Beyond’s shares, which were trading at distressed levels, have also been on a turbulent run. It made a monstrous run from $5.77 to $23.08 in a little more than two weeks in August. The trading was reminiscent of last year’s meme-stock craze, when out-of-favor companies suddenly became darlings of smaller-pocketed investors.But the stock fell back to Earth after Ryan Cohen, the billionaire co-founder of online pet-products retailer Chewy Inc. who purchased a nearly 10% stake in Bed Bath &amp; Beyond last March, sold off all his shares.Shares were hovering close to 30 cents in the past few days. A year ago, shares were trading at around $17.The company had 32,000 employees as of Feb. 26, 2022, but that number has come down since then as the retailer has slashed jobs.____

Struggling Bed Bath & Beyond files for bankruptcy protection

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed anti-diversity and anti-abortion provisions in Kansas' next state budget Friday, intensifying a conflict with the Republican-controlled Legislature over culture war issues that could see her scotch a dozen or more conservative initiatives.

&nbsp;C<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDIsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vZ292ZXJub3Iua2Fuc2FzLmdvdi93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvMjAyMy8wNC9MaW5lLUl0ZW0tVmV0by1NZXNzYWdlLTIxODQtQnVkZ2V0LnBkZiIsImJ1bGxldGluX2lkIjoiMjAyMzA0MjEuNzU1ODIwNDEifQ.eKfeTj6pjdy7ol24O4LFzG8n0JC5Pk0uVFtvJMue09Q/s/1303160919/br/161270430125-l" target="_blank">lick here</a>&nbsp;for more information on cuts and the governor's veto messages

The governor has the power to excise individual budget items and used it to eliminate $2 million in state tax dollars for anti-abortion centers providing free counseling and pregnancy and parenting services. She's previously vetoed two bills that would enact anti-abortion policies despite&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-abortion-vote-recount-e874f56806a9d63b473b24580ad7ea0c">a decisive statewide vote</a>&nbsp;in August 2022 affirming abortion rights.

Kelly vetoed a budget provision that would have prevented state universities from using diversity equity and inclusion principles in their hiring. She nixed another provision barring the state board that licenses mental health professionals from requiring them or giving them incentives to undergo training involving diversity or anti-racism theories.

The governor also has vetoed five bills&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-transgender-bills-health-care-bathrooms-vetoes-66c5199b9aadc7273620f561441a8ade">rolling back transgender rights,</a>&nbsp;including a sweeping bathroom bill and a measure that would have ended gender-affirming care for minors. GOP lawmakers are expected to try to override most if not all of Kelly's vetoes on hot-button issues when they reconvene next week to wrap up their business for the year.

“Governor Kelly had two choices — to honor her campaign pledge to govern from the middle or to move Kansas sharply towards the left,” Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, said after several vetoes earlier this week. “The governor has clearly chosen the latter.”

Republican lawmakers in statehouses across the U.S. have pursued several hundred measures this year rolling back LGBTQ+ rights and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/diversity-equity-inclusion-legislation-7bd8d4d52aaaa9902dde59a257874686">attacking liberal ideas or policies</a>&nbsp;in education and business. While voters in GOP-leaning Kansas affirmed abortion rights and narrowly reelected Kelly last year, they also left conservatives firmly in charge of the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Kelly has until Monday to act on a bill that would allow parents&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-children-kansas-schools-b249b1eb36409931a75eab1fbc80c15d">to pull public school students out</a>&nbsp;of a lesson or activity that “impairs the parent’s sincerely held beliefs, values or principles.” Also on her desk is a bill that would prevent state and local officials from using&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/esg-woke-investing-kansas-d1a050b7ff8ecc475217e1a5779e2091">environmental, social and governance issues</a>&nbsp;in investing public funds or awarding government contracts.

On the budget legislation, Kelly followed the traditional Kansas practice of signing the measure itself — containing most of a proposed $24 billion annual budget — while vetoing multiple individual items.

The aid to the anti-abortion centers would have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-politics-united-states-government-kansas-health-c0c8a6cbe211ca4970e3a38b3aa7faf9">helped them aid</a>&nbsp;both pregnant people and new parents, providing supplies, parenting and life-skills classes and job training or placement. It also would have started a state-supported advertising program to make them more visible.

Lawmakers put the money in the budget for State Treasurer Steven Johnson, a Republican who opposes abortion, rather than in a department under the control of Kelly, an abortion rights supporter. In her veto message, Kelly suggested that neither the state's founders nor any of its treasurers would have seen such a program as part of the office's duties.

“This is not an evidence-based approach or even an effective method for preventing unplanned pregnancies,” Kelly said.

Republican lawmakers also are hoping to pass a proposal to provide up to $10 million a year in state income tax credits to the centers' donors.

Kelly this week vetoed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-medication-reversal-kansas-veto-55f16c0a47c2b023998cae68b5a5901b">a measure</a>&nbsp;that would have required clinics to tell patients that a medication abortion can be reversed with a regimen rejected by major U.S. medical organizations and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/born-alive-abortion-bill-kansas-legislature-45f8c977187656d8340eae5a44d87de0">a bill</a>&nbsp;that would have subjected doctors to criminal charges or lawsuits if a newborn is delivered alive during certain abortion procedures and they are accused of not providing the care that a physician reasonably would with other live deliveries.

On the anti-diversity provisions, Kelly said the one for the board licensing mental health professionals could have restricted training “in life-saving practices,” without being more specific.

She said the provision for state universities would have hindered hiring, made it harder for them to attract federal and private grants and hurt efforts to “support students from all backgrounds.”

House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said Kelly had rejected measures to “support women in need” and prevent “the prevention of radical ideology” using tax dollars.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1619557382396.png" alt="On the budget legislation, Kelly followed the traditional Kansas practice of signing the measure itself — containing most of a proposed $24 billion annual budget — while vetoing multiple individual items. photo by Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>On the budget legislation, Kelly followed the traditional Kansas practice of signing the measure itself — containing most of a proposed $24 billion annual budget — while vetoing multiple individual items. photo by Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By JOHN HANNA&nbsp;TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed anti-diversity and anti-abortion provisions in Kansas' next state budget Friday, intensifying a conflict with the Republican-controlled Legislature over culture war issues that could see her scotch a dozen or more conservative initiatives.&nbsp;C<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDIsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vZ292ZXJub3Iua2Fuc2FzLmdvdi93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvMjAyMy8wNC9MaW5lLUl0ZW0tVmV0by1NZXNzYWdlLTIxODQtQnVkZ2V0LnBkZiIsImJ1bGxldGluX2lkIjoiMjAyMzA0MjEuNzU1ODIwNDEifQ.eKfeTj6pjdy7ol24O4LFzG8n0JC5Pk0uVFtvJMue09Q/s/1303160919/br/161270430125-l" target="_blank">lick here</a>&nbsp;for more information on cuts and the governor's veto messagesThe governor has the power to excise individual budget items and used it to eliminate $2 million in state tax dollars for anti-abortion centers providing free counseling and pregnancy and parenting services. She's previously vetoed two bills that would enact anti-abortion policies despite&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-abortion-vote-recount-e874f56806a9d63b473b24580ad7ea0c">a decisive statewide vote</a>&nbsp;in August 2022 affirming abortion rights.Kelly vetoed a budget provision that would have prevented state universities from using diversity equity and inclusion principles in their hiring. She nixed another provision barring the state board that licenses mental health professionals from requiring them or giving them incentives to undergo training involving diversity or anti-racism theories.The governor also has vetoed five bills&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-transgender-bills-health-care-bathrooms-vetoes-66c5199b9aadc7273620f561441a8ade">rolling back transgender rights,</a>&nbsp;including a sweeping bathroom bill and a measure that would have ended gender-affirming care for minors. GOP lawmakers are expected to try to override most if not all of Kelly's vetoes on hot-button issues when they reconvene next week to wrap up their business for the year.“Governor Kelly had two choices — to honor her campaign pledge to govern from the middle or to move Kansas sharply towards the left,” Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, said after several vetoes earlier this week. “The governor has clearly chosen the latter.”Republican lawmakers in statehouses across the U.S. have pursued several hundred measures this year rolling back LGBTQ+ rights and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/diversity-equity-inclusion-legislation-7bd8d4d52aaaa9902dde59a257874686">attacking liberal ideas or policies</a>&nbsp;in education and business. While voters in GOP-leaning Kansas affirmed abortion rights and narrowly reelected Kelly last year, they also left conservatives firmly in charge of the Republican-controlled Legislature.Kelly has until Monday to act on a bill that would allow parents&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-children-kansas-schools-b249b1eb36409931a75eab1fbc80c15d">to pull public school students out</a>&nbsp;of a lesson or activity that “impairs the parent’s sincerely held beliefs, values or principles.” Also on her desk is a bill that would prevent state and local officials from using&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/esg-woke-investing-kansas-d1a050b7ff8ecc475217e1a5779e2091">environmental, social and governance issues</a>&nbsp;in investing public funds or awarding government contracts.On the budget legislation, Kelly followed the traditional Kansas practice of signing the measure itself — containing most of a proposed $24 billion annual budget — while vetoing multiple individual items.The aid to the anti-abortion centers would have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-politics-united-states-government-kansas-health-c0c8a6cbe211ca4970e3a38b3aa7faf9">helped them aid</a>&nbsp;both pregnant people and new parents, providing supplies, parenting and life-skills classes and job training or placement. It also would have started a state-supported advertising program to make them more visible.Lawmakers put the money in the budget for State Treasurer Steven Johnson, a Republican who opposes abortion, rather than in a department under the control of Kelly, an abortion rights supporter. In her veto message, Kelly suggested that neither the state's founders nor any of its treasurers would have seen such a program as part of the office's duties.“This is not an evidence-based approach or even an effective method for preventing unplanned pregnancies,” Kelly said.Republican lawmakers also are hoping to pass a proposal to provide up to $10 million a year in state income tax credits to the centers' donors.Kelly this week vetoed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-medication-reversal-kansas-veto-55f16c0a47c2b023998cae68b5a5901b">a measure</a>&nbsp;that would have required clinics to tell patients that a medication abortion can be reversed with a regimen rejected by major U.S. medical organizations and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/born-alive-abortion-bill-kansas-legislature-45f8c977187656d8340eae5a44d87de0">a bill</a>&nbsp;that would have subjected doctors to criminal charges or lawsuits if a newborn is delivered alive during certain abortion procedures and they are accused of not providing the care that a physician reasonably would with other live deliveries.On the anti-diversity provisions, Kelly said the one for the board licensing mental health professionals could have restricted training “in life-saving practices,” without being more specific.She said the provision for state universities would have hindered hiring, made it harder for them to attract federal and private grants and hurt efforts to “support students from all backgrounds.”House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said Kelly had rejected measures to “support women in need” and prevent “the prevention of radical ideology” using tax dollars.

Kansas governor nixes abortion, anti-diversity items from budget

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. special operations forces carried out a precarious evacuation of the American embassy in warring Sudan on Sunday, sweeping in and out of the capital, Khartoum, with helicopters on the ground for less than an hour. No shots were fired and no major casualties were reported.

With the last U.S. employee of the embassy out, Washington shuttered the U.S. mission in Khartoum indefinitely. Left behind were thousands of private American citizens remaining in the east African country.

U.S. officials said it would be too dangerous to carry out a broader evacuation mission. Battles between two rival Sudanese commanders entered their ninth day Sunday, forcing continued closing of the main international airport and leaving roads out of the country in control of armed men. Fighting has killed more than 400 people.

In a statement thanking the troops, President Joe Biden said he was receiving regular reports from his team on efforts to assist remaining Americans in Sudan “to the extent possible.”

He also called for the end to “unconscionable” violence there.

About 100 U.S. troops in three MH-47 helicopters carried out the operation. They airlifted all of roughly 70 remaining American employees from a landing zone at the embassy to an undisclosed location in Ethiopia. Ethiopia also provided overflight and refueling support, said Molly Phee, assistant secretary of state for African affairs.

Biden said Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia also assisted with the evacuation.

“I am proud of the extraordinary commitment of our Embassy staff, who performed their duties with courage and professionalism and embodied America’s friendship and connection with the people of Sudan,” Biden said in a statement. “I am grateful for the unmatched skill of our service members who successfully brought them to safety.”

U.S. Africa Command and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley were in contact with both warring factions before and during the operation to ensure that U.S. forces would have safe passage to conduct the evacuation. However, John Bass, a U.S. undersecretary of state, denied claims by one faction, Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Security Forces, that it assisted in the U.S. evacuation.

“They cooperated to the extent that they did not fire on our service members in the course of the operation," Bass said.

Biden had ordered American troops to evacuate&nbsp;<a href="https://sd.usembassy.gov/">embassy</a>&nbsp;personnel after receiving a recommendation from his national security team, with no end in sight to the fighting.

“This tragic violence in Sudan has already cost the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians. It’s unconscionable and it must stop,” Biden said. “The belligerent parties must implement an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, allow unhindered humanitarian access, and respect the will of the people of Sudan.”

Sudan's fighting broke out April 15 between two commanders who just 18 months earlier jointly orchestrated a military coup to derail the nation’s transition to democracy.

The ongoing power struggle now between the armed forces chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, has millions of Sudanese cowering inside their homes, hiding from explosions, gunfire and looting.

The violence has included an unprovoked attack on an American diplomatic convoy and numerous incidents in which foreign diplomats and aid workers were killed, injured or assaulted.

An estimated 16,000 private U.S. citizens are registered with the embassy as being in Sudan. The figure is rough because not all Americans register with embassy or say when they depart.

The embassy issued an alert earlier Saturday cautioning that “due to the uncertain security situation in Khartoum and closure of the airport, it is not currently safe to undertake a U.S. government-coordinated evacuation of private U.S. citizens.”

The U.S. evacuation planning for American employees of the embassy got underway in earnest on Monday after the embassy convoy was attacked in Khartoum. The Pentagon confirmed on Friday that U.S. troops were being moved to Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti ahead of a possible evacuation.

Saudi Arabia announced the successful repatriation of some of its citizens on Saturday, sharing footage of Saudi nationals and other foreigners welcomed with chocolate and flowers as they stepped off an apparent evacuation ship at the Saudi port of Jeddah.

Embassy evacuations conducted by the U.S. military are relatively rare and usually take place only under extreme conditions.

When it orders an embassy to draw down staff or suspend operations, the State Department prefers to have its personnel leave on commercial transportation if that is an option.

When the embassy in Kyiv temporarily closed just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022, staffers used commercial transport to leave.

However, in several other recent cases, notably in Afghanistan in 2021, conditions made commercial departures impossible or extremely hazardous. U.S. troops accompanied personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, Libya, in an overland convoy to Tunisia when they evacuated in 2014.

<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/sudan">Fighting in Sudan</a>&nbsp;between forces loyal to two top generals has put that nation at risk of collapse and could have consequences far beyond its borders.

Both sides have tens of thousands of fighters, foreign backers, mineral riches and other resources that could insulate them from sanctions. It’s a recipe for the kind of prolonged conflict that has devastated other countries in the Middle East and Africa, from Lebanon and Syria to Libya and Ethiopia.

The fighting, which began as Sudan attempted to transition to democracy, already has killed hundreds of people and left millions trapped in urban areas, sheltering from gunfire, explosions and looters.

A look at what is happening and the impact it could have outside Sudan.

Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, head of the armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the leader of a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces that grew out of Darfur’s notorious Janjaweed militias,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sudan-clashes-military-rapid-support-forces-444d37ec93ccc813b2ba4abba24aca5c?utm_source=apnews&amp;utm_medium=relatedcontentmodule">are each seeking to seize control of Sudan</a>. It comes two years after they jointly carried out a military coup and derailed a transition to democracy that had begun after protesters in 2019 helped force the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir. In recent months, negotiations were underway for a return to the democratic transition.

The victor of the latest fighting is likely to be Sudan's next president, with the loser facing exile, arrest or death. A long-running civil war or partition of the Arab and African country into rival fiefdoms are also possible.

Alex De Waal, a Sudan expert at Tufts University, wrote in a memo to colleagues this week that the conflict should be seen as “the first round of a civil war.”

“Unless it is swiftly ended, the conflict will become a multi-level game with regional and some international actors pursuing their interests, using money, arms supplies and possibly their own troops or proxies,” he wrote.

WHAT DOES THE FIGHING MEAN FOR SUDAN'S NEIGHBORS?

Sudan is Africa's third-largest country by area and straddles the Nile River. It uneasily shares its waters with regional heavyweights Egypt and Ethiopia. Egypt relies on the Nile to support its population of over 100 million, and Ethiopia is working on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-africa-middle-east-egypt-kenya-1ddaf63927805e0e0f2aaab043008327">a massive upstream dam</a>&nbsp;that has alarmed both Cairo and Khartoum.

Egypt has close ties to Sudan’s military, which it sees as an ally against Ethiopia. Cairo has reached out to both sides in Sudan to press for a cease-fire but is unlikely to stand by if the military faces defeat.

Sudan borders five additional countries: Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic, Eritrea and South Sudan, which seceded in 2011 and took 75% of Khartoum's oil resources with it. Nearly all are mired in their own internal conflicts, with various rebel groups operating along the porous borders.

“What happens in Sudan will not stay in Sudan,” said Alan Boswell of the International Crisis Group. “Chad and South Sudan look most immediately at risk of potential spillover. But the longer (the fighting) drags on the more likely it is we see major external intervention.”

WHAT EXTERNAL POWERS ARE INTERESTED IN SUDAN?

Arab Gulf countries have looked to the Horn of Africa in recent years as they have sought to project power across the region.

The United Arab Emirates, a rising military power that has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-ap-top-news-international-news-iran-united-arab-emirates-21735cadd41f4f2990cb2497b0ba4c73">expanded its presence</a>&nbsp;across the Middle East and East Africa, has close ties to the Rapid Support Forces, which sent thousands of fighters to aid the UAE and Saudi Arabia in their war against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Russia, meanwhile, has long harbored plans to build a naval base capable of hosting up to 300 troops and four ships in Port Sudan, on a crucial Red Sea trading route for energy shipments to Europe.

The Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary outfit with close ties to the Kremlin,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-technology-business-mali-d0d2c96e01d299a68e00d3a0828ba895">has made inroads across Africa in recent years</a>&nbsp;and has been operating in Sudan since 2017. The United State and the European Union&nbsp;<a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/02/25/wagner-group-council-adds-11-individuals-and-7-entities-to-eu-sanctions-lists/">have imposed sanctions</a>&nbsp;on two Wagner-linked gold mining firms in Sudan accused of smuggling.

Sudan became an international pariah when it hosted Osama bin Laden and other militants in the 1990s, when al-Bashir had empowered a hard-line Islamist government.

Its isolation deepened over the conflict in the western Darfur region in the 2000s, when Sudanese forces and the Janjaweed were accused of carrying out atrocities while suppressing a local rebellion. The International Criminal Court eventually charged al-Bashir with genocide.

The U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-osama-bin-laden-sudan-khartoum-africa-cab7d7fa4707759c9ab03f79059d948f">removed Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism</a>&nbsp;after the government in Khartoum agreed to forge ties with Israel in 2020.

But billions of dollars in loans and aid were put on hold after the 2021 military coup. That, along with the war in Ukraine and global inflation,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-health-business-europe-prices-af9d07fd7e15f355c093cd5d945d4e77">sent the economy into free-fall</a>.

CAN EXTERNAL POWERS DO ANYTHING TO STOP THE FIGHTING?

Sudan’s economic woes would seem to provide an opening for Western nations to use economic sanctions to pressure both sides to stand down.

But in Sudan, as in other resource-rich African nations, armed groups have long enriched themselves through the shadowy trade in rare minerals and other natural resources.

Dagalo, a one-time camel herder from Darfur,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fd1c3fcd5d2e45468bca29de5010c0ee">has vast livestock holdings and gold mining operations</a>. He’s also believed to have been well-paid by Gulf countries for the RSF’s service in Yemen battling Iran-aligned rebels.

The military controls much of the economy, and can also count on businessmen in Khartoum and along the banks of the Nile who grew rich during al-Bashir’s long rule and who view the RSF as crude warriors from the hinterlands.

“Control over political funds will be no less decisive than the battlefield,” De Waal said. “(The military) will want to take control of gold mines and smuggling routes. The RSF will want to interrupt major transport arteries including the road from Port Sudan to Khartoum.”

Meanwhile, the sheer number of would-be mediators — including the U.S., the U.N., the European Union, Egypt, Gulf countries, the African Union and the eight-nation eastern Africa bloc known as IGAD — could render any peace efforts more complicated than the war itself.

“The external mediators risk becoming a traffic jam with no policeman," De Waal said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. special operations forces carried out a precarious evacuation of the American embassy in warring Sudan on Sunday, sweeping in and out of the capital, Khartoum, with helicopters on the ground for less than an hour. No shots were fired and no major casualties were reported.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Security Alert: On April 22, 2023, the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum suspended its operations, and the Department of State ordered the departure of U.S. direct hire employees and their dependents due to the continued threat from armed conflict in Sudan. The U.S. government cannot…&mdash; U.S. Embassy Khartoum (@USEmbassyKRT) <a href="https://twitter.com/USEmbassyKRT/status/1649980859359846400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>With the last U.S. employee of the embassy out, Washington shuttered the U.S. mission in Khartoum indefinitely. Left behind were thousands of private American citizens remaining in the east African country.U.S. officials said it would be too dangerous to carry out a broader evacuation mission. Battles between two rival Sudanese commanders entered their ninth day Sunday, forcing continued closing of the main international airport and leaving roads out of the country in control of armed men. Fighting has killed more than 400 people.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Today, on my orders, the United States military conducted an operation to extract U.S. Government personnel from Khartoum in response to the situation in Sudan. I am grateful for the commitment of our Embassy staff and the skill of our service members who brought them to safety.&mdash; President Biden (@POTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1649974105385361408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>In a statement thanking the troops, President Joe Biden said he was receiving regular reports from his team on efforts to assist remaining Americans in Sudan “to the extent possible.”He also called for the end to “unconscionable” violence there.About 100 U.S. troops in three MH-47 helicopters carried out the operation. They airlifted all of roughly 70 remaining American employees from a landing zone at the embassy to an undisclosed location in Ethiopia. Ethiopia also provided overflight and refueling support, said Molly Phee, assistant secretary of state for African affairs.Biden said Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia also assisted with the evacuation.“I am proud of the extraordinary commitment of our Embassy staff, who performed their duties with courage and professionalism and embodied America’s friendship and connection with the people of Sudan,” Biden said in a statement. “I am grateful for the unmatched skill of our service members who successfully brought them to safety.”U.S. Africa Command and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley were in contact with both warring factions before and during the operation to ensure that U.S. forces would have safe passage to conduct the evacuation. However, John Bass, a U.S. undersecretary of state, denied claims by one faction, Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Security Forces, that it assisted in the U.S. evacuation.“They cooperated to the extent that they did not fire on our service members in the course of the operation," Bass said.Biden had ordered American troops to evacuate&nbsp;<a href="https://sd.usembassy.gov/">embassy</a>&nbsp;personnel after receiving a recommendation from his national security team, with no end in sight to the fighting.“This tragic violence in Sudan has already cost the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians. It’s unconscionable and it must stop,” Biden said. “The belligerent parties must implement an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, allow unhindered humanitarian access, and respect the will of the people of Sudan.”Sudan's fighting broke out April 15 between two commanders who just 18 months earlier jointly orchestrated a military coup to derail the nation’s transition to democracy.The ongoing power struggle now between the armed forces chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, has millions of Sudanese cowering inside their homes, hiding from explosions, gunfire and looting.The violence has included an unprovoked attack on an American diplomatic convoy and numerous incidents in which foreign diplomats and aid workers were killed, injured or assaulted.An estimated 16,000 private U.S. citizens are registered with the embassy as being in Sudan. The figure is rough because not all Americans register with embassy or say when they depart.The embassy issued an alert earlier Saturday cautioning that “due to the uncertain security situation in Khartoum and closure of the airport, it is not currently safe to undertake a U.S. government-coordinated evacuation of private U.S. citizens.”The U.S. evacuation planning for American employees of the embassy got underway in earnest on Monday after the embassy convoy was attacked in Khartoum. The Pentagon confirmed on Friday that U.S. troops were being moved to Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti ahead of a possible evacuation.Saudi Arabia announced the successful repatriation of some of its citizens on Saturday, sharing footage of Saudi nationals and other foreigners welcomed with chocolate and flowers as they stepped off an apparent evacuation ship at the Saudi port of Jeddah.Embassy evacuations conducted by the U.S. military are relatively rare and usually take place only under extreme conditions.When it orders an embassy to draw down staff or suspend operations, the State Department prefers to have its personnel leave on commercial transportation if that is an option.When the embassy in Kyiv temporarily closed just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022, staffers used commercial transport to leave.However, in several other recent cases, notably in Afghanistan in 2021, conditions made commercial departures impossible or extremely hazardous. U.S. troops accompanied personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, Libya, in an overland convoy to Tunisia when they evacuated in 2014.-----------------<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/sudan">Fighting in Sudan</a>&nbsp;between forces loyal to two top generals has put that nation at risk of collapse and could have consequences far beyond its borders.Both sides have tens of thousands of fighters, foreign backers, mineral riches and other resources that could insulate them from sanctions. It’s a recipe for the kind of prolonged conflict that has devastated other countries in the Middle East and Africa, from Lebanon and Syria to Libya and Ethiopia.The fighting, which began as Sudan attempted to transition to democracy, already has killed hundreds of people and left millions trapped in urban areas, sheltering from gunfire, explosions and looters.A look at what is happening and the impact it could have outside Sudan.WHO IS FIGHTING?Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, head of the armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the leader of a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces that grew out of Darfur’s notorious Janjaweed militias,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sudan-clashes-military-rapid-support-forces-444d37ec93ccc813b2ba4abba24aca5c?utm_source=apnews&amp;utm_medium=relatedcontentmodule">are each seeking to seize control of Sudan</a>. It comes two years after they jointly carried out a military coup and derailed a transition to democracy that had begun after protesters in 2019 helped force the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir. In recent months, negotiations were underway for a return to the democratic transition.The victor of the latest fighting is likely to be Sudan's next president, with the loser facing exile, arrest or death. A long-running civil war or partition of the Arab and African country into rival fiefdoms are also possible.Alex De Waal, a Sudan expert at Tufts University, wrote in a memo to colleagues this week that the conflict should be seen as “the first round of a civil war.”“Unless it is swiftly ended, the conflict will become a multi-level game with regional and some international actors pursuing their interests, using money, arms supplies and possibly their own troops or proxies,” he wrote.WHAT DOES THE FIGHING MEAN FOR SUDAN'S NEIGHBORS?Sudan is Africa's third-largest country by area and straddles the Nile River. It uneasily shares its waters with regional heavyweights Egypt and Ethiopia. Egypt relies on the Nile to support its population of over 100 million, and Ethiopia is working on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-africa-middle-east-egypt-kenya-1ddaf63927805e0e0f2aaab043008327">a massive upstream dam</a>&nbsp;that has alarmed both Cairo and Khartoum.Egypt has close ties to Sudan’s military, which it sees as an ally against Ethiopia. Cairo has reached out to both sides in Sudan to press for a cease-fire but is unlikely to stand by if the military faces defeat.Sudan borders five additional countries: Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic, Eritrea and South Sudan, which seceded in 2011 and took 75% of Khartoum's oil resources with it. Nearly all are mired in their own internal conflicts, with various rebel groups operating along the porous borders.“What happens in Sudan will not stay in Sudan,” said Alan Boswell of the International Crisis Group. “Chad and South Sudan look most immediately at risk of potential spillover. But the longer (the fighting) drags on the more likely it is we see major external intervention.”WHAT EXTERNAL POWERS ARE INTERESTED IN SUDAN?Arab Gulf countries have looked to the Horn of Africa in recent years as they have sought to project power across the region.The United Arab Emirates, a rising military power that has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-ap-top-news-international-news-iran-united-arab-emirates-21735cadd41f4f2990cb2497b0ba4c73">expanded its presence</a>&nbsp;across the Middle East and East Africa, has close ties to the Rapid Support Forces, which sent thousands of fighters to aid the UAE and Saudi Arabia in their war against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.Russia, meanwhile, has long harbored plans to build a naval base capable of hosting up to 300 troops and four ships in Port Sudan, on a crucial Red Sea trading route for energy shipments to Europe.The Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary outfit with close ties to the Kremlin,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-technology-business-mali-d0d2c96e01d299a68e00d3a0828ba895">has made inroads across Africa in recent years</a>&nbsp;and has been operating in Sudan since 2017. The United State and the European Union&nbsp;<a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/02/25/wagner-group-council-adds-11-individuals-and-7-entities-to-eu-sanctions-lists/">have imposed sanctions</a>&nbsp;on two Wagner-linked gold mining firms in Sudan accused of smuggling.WHAT ROLE DO WESTERN COUNTRIES PLAY?Sudan became an international pariah when it hosted Osama bin Laden and other militants in the 1990s, when al-Bashir had empowered a hard-line Islamist government.Its isolation deepened over the conflict in the western Darfur region in the 2000s, when Sudanese forces and the Janjaweed were accused of carrying out atrocities while suppressing a local rebellion. The International Criminal Court eventually charged al-Bashir with genocide.The U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-osama-bin-laden-sudan-khartoum-africa-cab7d7fa4707759c9ab03f79059d948f">removed Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism</a>&nbsp;after the government in Khartoum agreed to forge ties with Israel in 2020.But billions of dollars in loans and aid were put on hold after the 2021 military coup. That, along with the war in Ukraine and global inflation,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-health-business-europe-prices-af9d07fd7e15f355c093cd5d945d4e77">sent the economy into free-fall</a>.CAN EXTERNAL POWERS DO ANYTHING TO STOP THE FIGHTING?Sudan’s economic woes would seem to provide an opening for Western nations to use economic sanctions to pressure both sides to stand down.But in Sudan, as in other resource-rich African nations, armed groups have long enriched themselves through the shadowy trade in rare minerals and other natural resources.Dagalo, a one-time camel herder from Darfur,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fd1c3fcd5d2e45468bca29de5010c0ee">has vast livestock holdings and gold mining operations</a>. He’s also believed to have been well-paid by Gulf countries for the RSF’s service in Yemen battling Iran-aligned rebels.The military controls much of the economy, and can also count on businessmen in Khartoum and along the banks of the Nile who grew rich during al-Bashir’s long rule and who view the RSF as crude warriors from the hinterlands.“Control over political funds will be no less decisive than the battlefield,” De Waal said. “(The military) will want to take control of gold mines and smuggling routes. The RSF will want to interrupt major transport arteries including the road from Port Sudan to Khartoum.”Meanwhile, the sheer number of would-be mediators — including the U.S., the U.N., the European Union, Egypt, Gulf countries, the African Union and the eight-nation eastern Africa bloc known as IGAD — could render any peace efforts more complicated than the war itself.“The external mediators risk becoming a traffic jam with no policeman," De Waal said.

US evacuates diplomats, shuts embassy amid violence in Sudan

SHAWNEE COUNTY—One person died in an accident just before 10p.m. Saturday in Shawnee County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Ford F150 driven by Darryl Scott Hayes, Jr., 47, Oskaloosa, was eastbound on Interstate 470 at the west end of the turnpike near the Interstate 335 exit.

The pickup left the road, struck the embankment, rolled, struck a tree and then rolled down the embankment.

Hayes was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to the county coroner's office. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

SHAWNEE COUNTY—One person died in an accident just before 10p.m. Saturday in Shawnee County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Ford F150 driven by Darryl Scott Hayes, Jr., 47, Oskaloosa, was eastbound on Interstate 470 at the west end of the turnpike near the Interstate 335 exit.The pickup left the road, struck the embankment, rolled, struck a tree and then rolled down the embankment.Hayes was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to the county coroner's office. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

Kansas man dies after pickup rolls, strikes tree

HUTCHINSON — Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas sees the price at the pump going up, but it's still not what last year was.

"Over the last few weeks, we've seen an increase in gas prices," Steward said Friday. "Crude oil rose pretty significantly after OPEC announced its production cut plans. Right now, in Kansas, we're at $3.42 a gallon. That's up 10 cents from a week ago."

"We're up 38 cents from where we were a month ago," Steward said. "Putting it in perspective, we're 26 cents less than the $3.68 per gallon national average and the Sunflower State currently is the 11th lowest average in the nation."

Warmer weather traditionally puts upward pressure on prices.

"The indicators have really been all over the map," Steward said. "Typically, we're starting to get into a more high demand period, but in the last week, we saw a dip in demand. We also saw a dip in oil prices, that fell back into the upper seventies per barrel. They had been above 80. Right now, there's still some concerns on the global crude oil market about interest rate increases and a recession."

It's also the time of the year when refineries finish the transition between refining winter and summer blend gasoline. The summer blend is a little more expensive to make and that cost is passed all along the line and eventually to the consumer at the pump.

NICK GOSNELL Hutch PostHUTCHINSON — Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas sees the price at the pump going up, but it's still not what last year was."Over the last few weeks, we've seen an increase in gas prices," Steward said Friday. "Crude oil rose pretty significantly after OPEC announced its production cut plans. Right now, in Kansas, we're at $3.42 a gallon. That's up 10 cents from a week ago.""We're up 38 cents from where we were a month ago," Steward said. "Putting it in perspective, we're 26 cents less than the $3.68 per gallon national average and the Sunflower State currently is the 11th lowest average in the nation."Warmer weather traditionally puts upward pressure on prices."The indicators have really been all over the map," Steward said. "Typically, we're starting to get into a more high demand period, but in the last week, we saw a dip in demand. We also saw a dip in oil prices, that fell back into the upper seventies per barrel. They had been above 80. Right now, there's still some concerns on the global crude oil market about interest rate increases and a recession."It's also the time of the year when refineries finish the transition between refining winter and summer blend gasoline. The summer blend is a little more expensive to make and that cost is passed all along the line and eventually to the consumer at the pump.

AAA: Gas prices going up again

KINGMAN – A California man has been sentenced to serve more than 20 years for his conviction of attempted second-degree murder, according to Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach.

Robert John Escarcega, 50, a transient from California, was sentenced by Kingman County District Court Judge Francis R. Meisenheimer to serve 247 months in a Kansas Department of Corrections facility. He was also sentenced to register as a violent offender for 15 years. Escarcega was found guilty by a jury on February 7, 2023.

The crime took place on October 2, 2021, during a domestic incident in rural Kingman County. The case was investigated by the Kingman County Sheriff’s Office, Kingman Police Department, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Wichita Police Department.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1682023597390.png" alt="Escarcega-photo Kingman Co." />
 <figcaption>Escarcega-photo Kingman Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>KINGMAN – A California man has been sentenced to serve more than 20 years for his conviction of attempted second-degree murder, according to Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach.Robert John Escarcega, 50, a transient from California, was sentenced by Kingman County District Court Judge Francis R. Meisenheimer to serve 247 months in a Kansas Department of Corrections facility. He was also sentenced to register as a violent offender for 15 years. Escarcega was found guilty by a jury on February 7, 2023.The crime took place on October 2, 2021, during a domestic incident in rural Kingman County. The case was investigated by the Kingman County Sheriff’s Office, Kingman Police Department, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Wichita Police Department.

Kan. judge rules Calif. man must register as a violent offender 

FINNEY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple charges as part of an ongoing narcotics trafficking investigation in southwest Kansas

On April 19, police served a search warrant at 310 North 11th Street in Garden City, according to a media release.

Investigators seized 2.4 pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine, THC gummies, items indicative of the distribution and consumption of illegal narcotics. They also seized a stolen firearm and additional stolen property.

Officers arrested 42-year-old Jessie Trujillo, 42,&nbsp; for an active felony warrant and requested charges of Unlawful Acts Involving Derived from the Sale of Controlled Substances, Possession with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine Within 1000 Feet of a School, Possession of Cocaine, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Paraphernalia, Possession of Paraphernalia, Aggravated Endangerment of a Child, Theft – Possession of Stolen Property and Criminal Use of Weapons.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1682082895829.png" alt="Trujillo-photo Finney County" />
 <figcaption>Trujillo-photo Finney County</figcaption>
 </figure>FINNEY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple charges as part of an ongoing narcotics trafficking investigation in southwest KansasOn April 19, police served a search warrant at 310 North 11th Street in Garden City, according to a media release.Investigators seized 2.4 pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine, THC gummies, items indicative of the distribution and consumption of illegal narcotics. They also seized a stolen firearm and additional stolen property.Officers arrested 42-year-old Jessie Trujillo, 42,&nbsp; for an active felony warrant and requested charges of Unlawful Acts Involving Derived from the Sale of Controlled Substances, Possession with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine Within 1000 Feet of a School, Possession of Cocaine, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Paraphernalia, Possession of Paraphernalia, Aggravated Endangerment of a Child, Theft – Possession of Stolen Property and Criminal Use of Weapons.

Police: Man was selling drugs from SW Kan. home with children

SEDGWICK COUNTY — A Kansas man arrested after a standoff last weekend made his first court appearance in the case this week.

Markel Henderson, 20, Wichita, is charged with 3 counts of aggravated assault, 2 counts of criminal threat, and a misdemeanor count of battery, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney.

Just before 5:30p.m. on April 16, police responded to a domestic violence disturbance with a weapon at a home in the 7000 block of West Freeman in Wichita, according to Officer Trevor Macy.&nbsp;

 A 911 caller reported a man identified as Henderson was inside a home and threatened multiple people with a firearm. The 911 caller and another victim reported leaving the house, but Henderson was still inside.

Officers arrived at the&nbsp; home and established a perimeter as the Wichita Police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team was assembled. Officers were able to make contact with the suspect, who exited the home and was taken into custody shortly before 8:00 p.m.

Henderson is being held on a $50,000 bond, according to the district attorney's office. Attorneys in the case are scheduled to discuss future dates on May 1.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1681770126430.png" alt="Henderson-photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Henderson-photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY — A Kansas man arrested after a standoff last weekend made his first court appearance in the case this week.Markel Henderson, 20, Wichita, is charged with 3 counts of aggravated assault, 2 counts of criminal threat, and a misdemeanor count of battery, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney.Just before 5:30p.m. on April 16, police responded to a domestic violence disturbance with a weapon at a home in the 7000 block of West Freeman in Wichita, according to Officer Trevor Macy.&nbsp; A 911 caller reported a man identified as Henderson was inside a home and threatened multiple people with a firearm. The 911 caller and another victim reported leaving the house, but Henderson was still inside.Officers arrived at the&nbsp; home and established a perimeter as the Wichita Police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team was assembled. Officers were able to make contact with the suspect, who exited the home and was taken into custody shortly before 8:00 p.m.Henderson is being held on a $50,000 bond, according to the district attorney's office. Attorneys in the case are scheduled to discuss future dates on May 1.