Officer Hunter Simoncic will be honored at a public funeral service at 10a.m. Wednesday at Children's Mercy Park. 

Parking lots will open at 7:30 AM, and stadium gates will open at 8:00 AM. Attendees should approach Children’s Mercy Park from State Avenue. Public parking will be located on the south side of the stadium in Blue Lot 2 on the grounds of the Kansas Speedway. 

Please, be aware that Village West Parkway and France Family Drive will be closed to public traffic.

For those unable to attend, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEwJIrCt-Bk">click here to view</a> the funeral. The feed will go live 10 minutes prior to the start of the ceremony.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEwJIrCt-Bk&amp;fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExeUlXV0FoWFh4TlRuTDJubwEepGX-Q2BBKK_8uRZXSc5PbMc2vAUyUpUsX8Ib1qE8_OUaboScNv7ZMHiGwSs_aem_tP-TflS0nBPVRKT80SQWuA" target="_blank"></a>A procession through the KCK community will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the funeral service. We encourage residents and businesses to line the route and display blue ribbons along the route as a sign of support for the Simoncic family and the men and women of the KCKPD.

 It is a small gesture, but a very powerful and unifying one. 

The procession route is as follows:- France Family Drive to Village West Parkway- Village West Parkway south to State Avenue- State Avenue east to Interstate 635- I-635 north to Parallel Parkway- Parallel Parkway east to North Fifth Street- North Fifth Street north to Stewart Avenue- Stewart Avenue east to North Third Street- North Third Street south to Interstate 70- I-70 west to Interstate 435 northOutside agency and the public vehicles in the procession will be dismissed at the interchange of I-70 W and 435 N.

Hunter Lee Simoncic, age 26, of Kansas City, Kansas, passed away on August 26, 2025, while proudly serving his community as a police officer with the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department.

Born on April 16, 1999, Hunter grew up on a small farm in Galesburg, Kansas, where he developed a strong work ethic and a deep appreciation for family and community. He was accomplished in his academic pursuits, graduating from Erie High School in 2018 and Pittsburg State University with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology in 2021. His passion for justice and science led him to further his education at Oklahoma State University, where he earned a Master’s in Forensic Science in 2023.

In November of 2023, Hunter fulfilled his calling to public service by graduating from the KCKPD Academy and beginning his career as a police officer. His dedication, courage, and compassion quickly became evident to both his colleagues and the community he served.

Hunter was energetic, adventurous, and full of life. He embraced new experiences wholeheartedly — recently serving as an extra in the Hallmark movie Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story and exploring opportunities in modeling. In his free time, he enjoyed painting, lifting weights, writing his book, and training as an avid CrossFitter at Mission Barbell Club.

Hunter had a heart for giving back. He served as a Big Brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kansas City, forming meaningful connections with the youth he mentored. He also volunteered through the Lead to Read program, spending time each week reading to students at Banneker Elementary School — a role he cherished deeply.

Above all, Hunter will be remembered for his kind spirit, his love of family, and his unwavering devotion to serving others both in and out of uniform.

He is survived by his father, Ron Simoncic of Franklin, KS; his mother, Christine Brungardt of Galesburg, KS; his brother, Fischer Simoncic of Wichita, KS; his grandmother, Rose Brungardt of Parsons, KS; and his aunts and uncles, including Rick and Jacque Simoncic of Frontenac, KS and Rod and Denise Fleming of Parsons, KS.

He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Frank and Shirley Simoncic, and Francis Brungardt; and his aunt and uncle, Terri Brungardt and Kirk Brungardt. He will be deeply missed by his family, friends, fellow officers, and all who had the privilege of knowing him.

A gathering of family and friends will begin at 1:30 pm, Thursday September 4, 2025 followed by a Rosary service at 2:00 pm with Mass of Christian Burial beginning at 2:30 pm at St. Patrick Catholic Church, 1807 Stevens Avenue, Parsons, Kansas 67357. Hunter's final resting place will be at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Parsons, KS.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1756332955180.png" alt="Officer Hunder Simoncic courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Officer Hunder Simoncic courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>Officer Hunter Simoncic will be honored at a public funeral service at 10a.m. Wednesday at Children's Mercy Park. Parking lots will open at 7:30 AM, and stadium gates will open at 8:00 AM. Attendees should approach Children’s Mercy Park from State Avenue. Public parking will be located on the south side of the stadium in Blue Lot 2 on the grounds of the Kansas Speedway. Please, be aware that Village West Parkway and France Family Drive will be closed to public traffic.For those unable to attend, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEwJIrCt-Bk">click here to view</a> the funeral. The feed will go live 10 minutes prior to the start of the ceremony.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1756333095649.png" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEwJIrCt-Bk&amp;fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExeUlXV0FoWFh4TlRuTDJubwEepGX-Q2BBKK_8uRZXSc5PbMc2vAUyUpUsX8Ib1qE8_OUaboScNv7ZMHiGwSs_aem_tP-TflS0nBPVRKT80SQWuA" target="_blank"></a>A procession through the KCK community will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the funeral service. We encourage residents and businesses to line the route and display blue ribbons along the route as a sign of support for the Simoncic family and the men and women of the KCKPD. It is a small gesture, but a very powerful and unifying one. The procession route is as follows:- France Family Drive to Village West Parkway- Village West Parkway south to State Avenue- State Avenue east to Interstate 635- I-635 north to Parallel Parkway- Parallel Parkway east to North Fifth Street- North Fifth Street north to Stewart Avenue- Stewart Avenue east to North Third Street- North Third Street south to Interstate 70- I-70 west to Interstate 435 northOutside agency and the public vehicles in the procession will be dismissed at the interchange of I-70 W and 435 N.Hunter Lee Simoncic, age 26, of Kansas City, Kansas, passed away on August 26, 2025, while proudly serving his community as a police officer with the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department.Born on April 16, 1999, Hunter grew up on a small farm in Galesburg, Kansas, where he developed a strong work ethic and a deep appreciation for family and community. He was accomplished in his academic pursuits, graduating from Erie High School in 2018 and Pittsburg State University with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology in 2021. His passion for justice and science led him to further his education at Oklahoma State University, where he earned a Master’s in Forensic Science in 2023.In November of 2023, Hunter fulfilled his calling to public service by graduating from the KCKPD Academy and beginning his career as a police officer. His dedication, courage, and compassion quickly became evident to both his colleagues and the community he served.Hunter was energetic, adventurous, and full of life. He embraced new experiences wholeheartedly — recently serving as an extra in the Hallmark movie Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story and exploring opportunities in modeling. In his free time, he enjoyed painting, lifting weights, writing his book, and training as an avid CrossFitter at Mission Barbell Club.Hunter had a heart for giving back. He served as a Big Brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kansas City, forming meaningful connections with the youth he mentored. He also volunteered through the Lead to Read program, spending time each week reading to students at Banneker Elementary School — a role he cherished deeply.Above all, Hunter will be remembered for his kind spirit, his love of family, and his unwavering devotion to serving others both in and out of uniform.He is survived by his father, Ron Simoncic of Franklin, KS; his mother, Christine Brungardt of Galesburg, KS; his brother, Fischer Simoncic of Wichita, KS; his grandmother, Rose Brungardt of Parsons, KS; and his aunts and uncles, including Rick and Jacque Simoncic of Frontenac, KS and Rod and Denise Fleming of Parsons, KS.He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Frank and Shirley Simoncic, and Francis Brungardt; and his aunt and uncle, Terri Brungardt and Kirk Brungardt. He will be deeply missed by his family, friends, fellow officers, and all who had the privilege of knowing him.A gathering of family and friends will begin at 1:30 pm, Thursday September 4, 2025 followed by a Rosary service at 2:00 pm with Mass of Christian Burial beginning at 2:30 pm at St. Patrick Catholic Church, 1807 Stevens Avenue, Parsons, Kansas 67357. Hunter's final resting place will be at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Parsons, KS.

🎥Funeral service honoring life of Officer Hunter Simoncic

LYON COUNTY —Following a joint investigation by the Emporia Fire Department, Emporia Police Department, and the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office, the fire and explosion that occurred June 18 at a home at 1814 E 6th Avenue in Emporia has been determined to be an accidental natural gas explosion originating within the interior of the home, according to city of Emporia spokesperson&nbsp;Christine Torrens.

Just before 5:00 p.m. June 18,&nbsp; emergency crews were dispatched to a report of a house explosion near E 6th Avenue and Weaver Street,&nbsp; according to Torrens.&nbsp;&nbsp;The home had collapsed, and was fully engulfed with fire within minutes.

Around 8:30 pm, emergency workers found the bodies of 78-year-old Darrell Bontrager and 73-year-old Terry Bontrager both of home. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1756864483095.png" alt="Photo Courtesy WIBW TV" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy WIBW TV</figcaption>
 </figure>LYON COUNTY —Following a joint investigation by the Emporia Fire Department, Emporia Police Department, and the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office, the fire and explosion that occurred June 18 at a home at 1814 E 6th Avenue in Emporia has been determined to be an accidental natural gas explosion originating within the interior of the home, according to city of Emporia spokesperson&nbsp;Christine Torrens.Just before 5:00 p.m. June 18,&nbsp; emergency crews were dispatched to a report of a house explosion near E 6th Avenue and Weaver Street,&nbsp; according to Torrens.&nbsp;&nbsp;The home had collapsed, and was fully engulfed with fire within minutes.Around 8:30 pm, emergency workers found the bodies of 78-year-old Darrell Bontrager and 73-year-old Terry Bontrager both of home.

Fire Marshal confirms cause of deadly Kansas home explosion

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement are investigating another homicide in Kansas City, Missouri.&nbsp;

Just after 2:30p.m. Tuesday, police&nbsp;were dispatched to 100 NE St. Luke’s Boulevard on a reported shooting that is believed to have occurred near 88th Place and James A Reed, according to Officer Alayna Gonzalez.

Upon arrival, officers were advised a boy under 16 arrived at the hospital suffering from a gunshot wound. Medical staff made every attempt to perform life saving measures before subsequently being pronounced deceased.

Preliminary investigation indicates the boy was walking outside when he heard several sounds of shots and was struck by gunfire. He was able to call a friend for help and a private vehicle picked him up and transported him to the hospital.

Police do not have any suspect information and no one is currently in custody.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1756859767882.png" alt="Photo Sheriff Daryl Forte'" />
 <figcaption>Photo Sheriff Daryl Forte'</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement are investigating another homicide in Kansas City, Missouri.&nbsp;Just after 2:30p.m. Tuesday, police&nbsp;were dispatched to 100 NE St. Luke’s Boulevard on a reported shooting that is believed to have occurred near 88th Place and James A Reed, according to Officer Alayna Gonzalez.Upon arrival, officers were advised a boy under 16 arrived at the hospital suffering from a gunshot wound. Medical staff made every attempt to perform life saving measures before subsequently being pronounced deceased.Preliminary investigation indicates the boy was walking outside when he heard several sounds of shots and was struck by gunfire. He was able to call a friend for help and a private vehicle picked him up and transported him to the hospital.Police do not have any suspect information and no one is currently in custody.

KCPD: Boy shot and killed by random gunfire

WASHINGTON (AP) — President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;said Tuesday the U.S. has carried out a strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug-carrying vessel that departed from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/venezuela">Venezuela</a>&nbsp;and was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang.

The president said in a social media posting that 11 people were killed in the rare U.S. military operation in the Americas, a dramatic escalation in the Republican administration's effort to stem the flow of narcotics from Latin America. Trump also posted a short video clip of a small vessel appearing to explode in flames.

“The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States,” Trump said on Truth Social. “No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America.”

The video appears to show a long, multi-engine speedboat traveling at sea when a bright flash of light bursts over the craft. The boat is then briefly seen covered in flames.

The video, which is largely in black and white, is not clear enough to see if the craft is carrying as many as 11 people. The video also did not show any large or clear stashes of drugs inside the boat.

Tren de Aragua originated more than a decade ago at an infamously lawless prison with hardened criminals in Venezuela’s central state of Aragua. The gang has expanded in recent years as more than 7.7 million Venezuelans fled economic turmoil and migrated to other Latin American countries or the U.S.

Trump and administration officials have repeatedly blamed the gang for being at the root of the violence and illicit drug dealing that plague some cities. And the president on Tuesday repeated his claim —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-alien-enemies-act-venezuela-tren-de-aragua-103919f71db9a9e7a9a3de1028585483">contradicted by a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment</a>&nbsp;— that Tren de Aragua is operating under Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's control.

The White House did not immediately explain how the military determined that those aboard the vessel were Tren de Aragua members. The size of the gang is unclear, as is the extent to which its actions are coordinated across state lines and national borders.

After Trump announced the strike, Venezuelan state television showed Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores walking the streets of his childhood neighborhood. A television presenter said Maduro was “bathing in patriotic love” as he interacted with supporters.

“In the face of imperialist threats, God (is) with us,” Maduro told supporters.

Maduro did not address the strike directly, but charged that the U.S. is “coming for Venezuela’s riches,” including oil and gas. The South American country has the world’s largest proven oil reserves.

“From the neighborhoods of Caracas ... I tell you, there will be peace in Venezuela, with sovereignty,” he said.

Communications Minister Freddy Ñáñez questioned the veracity of the video. “Based on the video provided, it is very likely that it was created using Artificial Intelligence,” he said on his Telegram account. He couldn’t say what tools would have been used to create the video, but said it showed an “almost cartoonish animation, rather than a realistic depiction of an explosion.”

Trump and Secretary of State&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/marco-rubio">Marco Rubio</a>&nbsp;first announced the strike earlier Tuesday, shortly before Rubio left on a trip to Mexico and Ecuador&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rubio-mexico-ecuador-trump-3b4050ef46b3e3dfe7cfec6041d976f8">for talks on drug cartels, security, tariffs and more.</a>

In a brief exchange with reporters before departing Miami for Mexico City, Rubio deferred questions about the specifics of the strike to the Pentagon. He said the drugs on the vessel were likely headed to Trinidad or elsewhere in the Caribbean.

For years, Rubio has spoken out against Maduro and other Latin American leftist governments and supported opposition leaders. In 2018, during Trump’s first term, Rubio told Univision there was a “strong argument” to be made for the use of the U.S. military in Venezuela. He's also accused Venezuelan officials of aiding drug traffickers.

Asked if Trump would carry out operations on Venezuelan soil, Rubio was opaque. “We’re going to take on drug cartels wherever they are and wherever they’re operating against the interests of the United States,” he said.

US sent destroyers to waters off Venezuela

The operation came after the U.S. announced plans last month to boost its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-venezuela-destroyers-maduro-drug-cartels-e33794ebc24d9031e536d132ce205b4c">maritime force in the waters off Venezuela</a>&nbsp;to combat&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fbi-cia-senate-national-security-threats-fe773ac76f8f01eba1d3a26409816396">threats from Latin American drug cartels</a>.

Maduro's government has responded by deploying troops along Venezuela's coast and border with neighboring Colombia, as well as by urging Venezuelans to enlist in a civilian militia.

Maduro has insisted that the U.S. is building a false drug-trafficking narrative to try to force him out of office. He and other government officials have repeatedly cited a United Nations report that they say shows traffickers attempt to move only 5% of the cocaine produced in Colombia through Venezuela. Landlocked Bolivia and Colombia, with access to the Pacific and Caribbean, are the world’s top cocaine producers.

The latest U.N. World Drug Report shows that various countries in South America, including Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, reported larger cocaine seizures in 2022 than in 2021, but it does not assign Venezuela the outsize role that the White House has in recent months.

“The impact of increased cocaine trafficking has been felt in Ecuador in particular, which has seen a wave of lethal violence in recent years linked to both local and transnational crime groups, most notably from Mexico and the Balkan countries,” according to the report.

Maduro on Monday told reporters he “would constitutionally declare a republic in arms” if his country were attacked by U.S. forces deployed to the Caribbean.

Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City. AP journalists Matthew Lee in Mexico City, Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Venezuela, Adriana Gomez Licon in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and Sagar Meghani in Washington contributed reporting.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;said Tuesday the U.S. has carried out a strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug-carrying vessel that departed from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/venezuela">Venezuela</a>&nbsp;and was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><a href="https://t.co/o5xOQ6HRFg">https://t.co/o5xOQ6HRFg</a> <a href="https://t.co/s9ktAlDQUi">pic.twitter.com/s9ktAlDQUi</a>&mdash; Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) <a href="https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1962992360822104110?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">🚨 <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: We just, over the last few minutes, shot out a drug-carrying boat... and there&#39;s more where that came from... These came out of Venezuela. <a href="https://t.co/JlurCZWBpG">pic.twitter.com/JlurCZWBpG</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1962955342523879613?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. has carried out a strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug-carrying vessel that departed from Venezuela. <a href="https://t.co/g82nOBEftt">pic.twitter.com/g82nOBEftt</a>&mdash; The Associated Press (@AP) <a href="https://twitter.com/AP/status/1962972437865283848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The president said in a social media posting that 11 people were killed in the rare U.S. military operation in the Americas, a dramatic escalation in the Republican administration's effort to stem the flow of narcotics from Latin America. Trump also posted a short video clip of a small vessel appearing to explode in flames.“The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States,” Trump said on Truth Social. “No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America.”The video appears to show a long, multi-engine speedboat traveling at sea when a bright flash of light bursts over the craft. The boat is then briefly seen covered in flames.The video, which is largely in black and white, is not clear enough to see if the craft is carrying as many as 11 people. The video also did not show any large or clear stashes of drugs inside the boat.Tren de Aragua originated more than a decade ago at an infamously lawless prison with hardened criminals in Venezuela’s central state of Aragua. The gang has expanded in recent years as more than 7.7 million Venezuelans fled economic turmoil and migrated to other Latin American countries or the U.S.Trump and administration officials have repeatedly blamed the gang for being at the root of the violence and illicit drug dealing that plague some cities. And the president on Tuesday repeated his claim —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-alien-enemies-act-venezuela-tren-de-aragua-103919f71db9a9e7a9a3de1028585483">contradicted by a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment</a>&nbsp;— that Tren de Aragua is operating under Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's control.The White House did not immediately explain how the military determined that those aboard the vessel were Tren de Aragua members. The size of the gang is unclear, as is the extent to which its actions are coordinated across state lines and national borders.<h2>What Maduro had to say</h2>After Trump announced the strike, Venezuelan state television showed Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores walking the streets of his childhood neighborhood. A television presenter said Maduro was “bathing in patriotic love” as he interacted with supporters.“In the face of imperialist threats, God (is) with us,” Maduro told supporters.Maduro did not address the strike directly, but charged that the U.S. is “coming for Venezuela’s riches,” including oil and gas. The South American country has the world’s largest proven oil reserves.“From the neighborhoods of Caracas ... I tell you, there will be peace in Venezuela, with sovereignty,” he said.Communications Minister Freddy Ñáñez questioned the veracity of the video. “Based on the video provided, it is very likely that it was created using Artificial Intelligence,” he said on his Telegram account. He couldn’t say what tools would have been used to create the video, but said it showed an “almost cartoonish animation, rather than a realistic depiction of an explosion.”Trump and Secretary of State&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/marco-rubio">Marco Rubio</a>&nbsp;first announced the strike earlier Tuesday, shortly before Rubio left on a trip to Mexico and Ecuador&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rubio-mexico-ecuador-trump-3b4050ef46b3e3dfe7cfec6041d976f8">for talks on drug cartels, security, tariffs and more.</a>In a brief exchange with reporters before departing Miami for Mexico City, Rubio deferred questions about the specifics of the strike to the Pentagon. He said the drugs on the vessel were likely headed to Trinidad or elsewhere in the Caribbean.For years, Rubio has spoken out against Maduro and other Latin American leftist governments and supported opposition leaders. In 2018, during Trump’s first term, Rubio told Univision there was a “strong argument” to be made for the use of the U.S. military in Venezuela. He's also accused Venezuelan officials of aiding drug traffickers.Asked if Trump would carry out operations on Venezuelan soil, Rubio was opaque. “We’re going to take on drug cartels wherever they are and wherever they’re operating against the interests of the United States,” he said.<h2>US sent destroyers to waters off Venezuela</h2>The operation came after the U.S. announced plans last month to boost its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-venezuela-destroyers-maduro-drug-cartels-e33794ebc24d9031e536d132ce205b4c">maritime force in the waters off Venezuela</a>&nbsp;to combat&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fbi-cia-senate-national-security-threats-fe773ac76f8f01eba1d3a26409816396">threats from Latin American drug cartels</a>.Maduro's government has responded by deploying troops along Venezuela's coast and border with neighboring Colombia, as well as by urging Venezuelans to enlist in a civilian militia.Maduro has insisted that the U.S. is building a false drug-trafficking narrative to try to force him out of office. He and other government officials have repeatedly cited a United Nations report that they say shows traffickers attempt to move only 5% of the cocaine produced in Colombia through Venezuela. Landlocked Bolivia and Colombia, with access to the Pacific and Caribbean, are the world’s top cocaine producers.The latest U.N. World Drug Report shows that various countries in South America, including Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, reported larger cocaine seizures in 2022 than in 2021, but it does not assign Venezuela the outsize role that the White House has in recent months.“The impact of increased cocaine trafficking has been felt in Ecuador in particular, which has seen a wave of lethal violence in recent years linked to both local and transnational crime groups, most notably from Mexico and the Balkan countries,” according to the report.Maduro on Monday told reporters he “would constitutionally declare a republic in arms” if his country were attacked by U.S. forces deployed to the Caribbean.___Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City. AP journalists Matthew Lee in Mexico City, Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Venezuela, Adriana Gomez Licon in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and Sagar Meghani in Washington contributed reporting.

🎥 Video shows US launch deadly strike on drug boat in the Caribbean 

KINGMAN COUNTY —A Kansas teen died in an accident just before 7p.m. Tuesday in Kingman County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2025 Kawasaki motorcycle driven by Blake L. Reese, 16, Kingman, was southbound on NE 70 Avenue at NE 50th Street approximately five miles southeast of Pretty Prairie. The driver failed to stop at the stop sign and struck a westbound 2012 Econoline van driven by Kyle K.&nbsp;Meireis, 54, Kingman.

Reese was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to&nbsp;Livingston Mortuary.&nbsp; Meireis and six passengers in the van were not injured. Reese was not wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.

KINGMAN COUNTY —A Kansas teen died in an accident just before 7p.m. Tuesday in Kingman County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2025 Kawasaki motorcycle driven by Blake L. Reese, 16, Kingman, was southbound on NE 70 Avenue at NE 50th Street approximately five miles southeast of Pretty Prairie. The driver failed to stop at the stop sign and struck a westbound 2012 Econoline van driven by Kyle K.&nbsp;Meireis, 54, Kingman.Reese was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to&nbsp;Livingston Mortuary.&nbsp; Meireis and six passengers in the van were not injured. Reese was not wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.

16-year-old Kansas boy killed in motorcycle, van crash

KANSAS CITY —Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson last week announced the office secured a seven-year sentence for a man involved in a drug trafficking case.

In May,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com/DocumentCenter/View/2715/BYRON-D-KITCHEN-2416-CR00381-01-Judgment_Redacted_FINAL">Byron D. Kitchen</a>, 46,&nbsp;pleaded guilty to 2nd Degree Trafficking Drugs and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.

<a href="https://www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com/DocumentCenter/View/2716/Redacted-Probable-Cause-1">According to court records</a>, the Jackson County Drug Task Force began investigating Kitchen in September 2023 after receiving intelligence that he was selling fentanyl pills. Following about five months of the Task Force’s surveillance, the Blue Springs Police Department executed a search warrant, seizing two firearms, ammunition, about 90 fentanyl pills, and other controlled substances.&nbsp;

The Jackson County Drug Task Force brings together detectives from multiple county police departments and sheriff’s offices with federal, state, and local agencies to target drug dealers across the metro. Their outstanding work has earned national recognition:

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1756498463427.png" alt="Kitchen photo Jackson County" />
 <figcaption>Kitchen photo Jackson County</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson last week announced the office secured a seven-year sentence for a man involved in a drug trafficking case.In May,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com/DocumentCenter/View/2715/BYRON-D-KITCHEN-2416-CR00381-01-Judgment_Redacted_FINAL">Byron D. Kitchen</a>, 46,&nbsp;pleaded guilty to 2nd Degree Trafficking Drugs and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.<a href="https://www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com/DocumentCenter/View/2716/Redacted-Probable-Cause-1">According to court records</a>, the Jackson County Drug Task Force began investigating Kitchen in September 2023 after receiving intelligence that he was selling fentanyl pills. Following about five months of the Task Force’s surveillance, the Blue Springs Police Department executed a search warrant, seizing two firearms, ammunition, about 90 fentanyl pills, and other controlled substances.&nbsp;The Jackson County Drug Task Force brings together detectives from multiple county police departments and sheriff’s offices with federal, state, and local agencies to target drug dealers across the metro. Their outstanding work has earned national recognition:<ul>
 <li>Missouri Narcotics Officer’s Association’s Law Enforcement Unit of the Year&nbsp;seven times in 13 years, including 2024</li><li>Midwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Outstanding Community Impact Investigation in 2023</li><li>More than $35 million in controlled substances&nbsp;seized in 2024 alone</li><li>127 firearms confiscated&nbsp;last year, including illegal machine switches and silencers</li>
 </ul>

Prison for selling fentanyl pills in Kansas City area

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday publicly posted the files it has received from the Justice Department on the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jeffrey-epstein">sex trafficking investigations into Jeffrey Epstein</a>&nbsp;and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.

<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/98fthv8otekjk28lcrnc5/AIn3egnE58MYe4Bn4fliVBw?rlkey=m7p8e9omml96fgxl13kr2nuyt&amp;e=2&amp;st=0xvm0p08&amp;dl=0">Click here to view the files</a>

Click&nbsp;<a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TrGxDGQLDLZu1vvvZDBAh-e7wN3y6Hoz?usp=sharing">here</a>&nbsp;to read Epstein-related documents&nbsp;

Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/98fthv8otekjk28lcrnc5/AIn3egnE58MYe4Bn4fliVBw?rlkey=m7p8e9omml96fgxl13kr2nuyt&amp;st=0xvm0p08&amp;dl=0">here</a>. for back up access to the files.

The folders contained hundreds of image files of years-old court filings related to Epstein and Maxwell. They also contained video files appearing to be body cam footage from police searches, as well as law enforcement interviews with victims with their faces obscured.

The Justice Department released the files to the committee in response to a subpoena, but the files mostly contain information that was already publicly known.

Still, pressure is growing in Congress for lawmakers to act to force greater disclosure in the case. House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to quell an effort by Democrats and some Republicans to force a vote on a bill that would require the Justice Department to release all the information in the so-called Epstein files, with the exception of the victims’ personal information of the victims.

Acting quickly, lawmakers pressing for the full release of the so-called Epstein files launched a campaign for the House to take up their bill. Meanwhile, Johnson and a bipartisan group of lawmakers met with survivors of abuse by Epstein and his former girlfriend&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ghislaine-maxwell">Ghislaine Maxwell</a>.

“The objective here is not just to uncover, investigate the Epstein evils, but also to ensure that this never happens again and ultimately to find out why justice has been delayed for these ladies for so very long,” said Johnson, R-La., after he emerged from a two-hour meeting with six of the survivors.

“It is inexcusable. And it will stop now because the Congress is dialed in on this,” he added.

But there are still intense disagreements on how lawmakers should proceed. Johnson is pressing for the inquiry to be handled by the House Oversight Committee and putting forward a resolution that directs the committee to publicly release its findings.

The files released Tuesday included audio of an Epstein employee describing to a law enforcement official how “there were a lot of girls that were very, very young” visiting the home but couldn’t say for sure if they were minors.

Over the course of Epstein’s visits to the home, the man said more than a dozen girls might visit, and that he was charged with cleaning the room where Epstein had massages, twice daily.

Some of the interviews with officers from the Palm Beach Police Department date to 2005, according to timestamps read out by officials at the beginning of the files.

Most, if not all, of the text documents posted Tuesday had already been public. Notably, the probable cause affidavit and other records from the 2005 investigation into Epstein contained a notation indicating that they’d been previously released in a 2017 public records request. An internet search showed those files were posted to the website of the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office in July 2017.

If the purpose of the release was to provide answers to a public still curious over the long-concluded cases, the raw mechanics of the clunky rollout made that a challenge.

Lawmakers at 6 p.m. released thousands of pages and videos via a cumbersome Google Drive, leaving it to readers and viewers to decipher new and interesting tidbits on their own. The disclosure also left open the question of why the Justice Department did not release the material directly to the public instead of operating through Capitol Hill.

Meanwhile, Democrats and some Republicans are trying to maneuver around Johnson’s control of the House floor to hold a vote on a separate bill that would require the Justice Department to publicly release the files, with the exception of names and personal information of the victims.

The clash suggests little has changed in Congress since late July, when Johnson sent&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-jeffrey-epstein-trump-f2a03eca247268b14a9e38858338eded">lawmakers home early</a>&nbsp;in hopes of cooling the political battle over the Epstein case. Members of both parties remain dissatisfied and are demanding more details on the years-old investigation into Epstein, the wealthy and well-connected financier whose 2019 death in a New York jail cell while he faced sex trafficking charges has sparked wide-ranging conspiracy theories and speculation.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1704330351229.png" alt="Jeffrey Epstein photo New York Sex Offender Registry" />
 <figcaption>Jeffrey Epstein photo New York Sex Offender Registry</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday publicly posted the files it has received from the Justice Department on the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jeffrey-epstein">sex trafficking investigations into Jeffrey Epstein</a>&nbsp;and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/98fthv8otekjk28lcrnc5/AIn3egnE58MYe4Bn4fliVBw?rlkey=m7p8e9omml96fgxl13kr2nuyt&amp;e=2&amp;st=0xvm0p08&amp;dl=0">Click here to view the files</a>Click&nbsp;<a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TrGxDGQLDLZu1vvvZDBAh-e7wN3y6Hoz?usp=sharing">here</a>&nbsp;to read Epstein-related documents&nbsp;Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/98fthv8otekjk28lcrnc5/AIn3egnE58MYe4Bn4fliVBw?rlkey=m7p8e9omml96fgxl13kr2nuyt&amp;st=0xvm0p08&amp;dl=0">here</a>. for back up access to the files.The folders contained hundreds of image files of years-old court filings related to Epstein and Maxwell. They also contained video files appearing to be body cam footage from police searches, as well as law enforcement interviews with victims with their faces obscured.The Justice Department released the files to the committee in response to a subpoena, but the files mostly contain information that was already publicly known.Still, pressure is growing in Congress for lawmakers to act to force greater disclosure in the case. House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to quell an effort by Democrats and some Republicans to force a vote on a bill that would require the Justice Department to release all the information in the so-called Epstein files, with the exception of the victims’ personal information of the victims.Acting quickly, lawmakers pressing for the full release of the so-called Epstein files launched a campaign for the House to take up their bill. Meanwhile, Johnson and a bipartisan group of lawmakers met with survivors of abuse by Epstein and his former girlfriend&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ghislaine-maxwell">Ghislaine Maxwell</a>.“The objective here is not just to uncover, investigate the Epstein evils, but also to ensure that this never happens again and ultimately to find out why justice has been delayed for these ladies for so very long,” said Johnson, R-La., after he emerged from a two-hour meeting with six of the survivors.“It is inexcusable. And it will stop now because the Congress is dialed in on this,” he added.But there are still intense disagreements on how lawmakers should proceed. Johnson is pressing for the inquiry to be handled by the House Oversight Committee and putting forward a resolution that directs the committee to publicly release its findings.The files released Tuesday included audio of an Epstein employee describing to a law enforcement official how “there were a lot of girls that were very, very young” visiting the home but couldn’t say for sure if they were minors.Over the course of Epstein’s visits to the home, the man said more than a dozen girls might visit, and that he was charged with cleaning the room where Epstein had massages, twice daily.Some of the interviews with officers from the Palm Beach Police Department date to 2005, according to timestamps read out by officials at the beginning of the files.Most, if not all, of the text documents posted Tuesday had already been public. Notably, the probable cause affidavit and other records from the 2005 investigation into Epstein contained a notation indicating that they’d been previously released in a 2017 public records request. An internet search showed those files were posted to the website of the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office in July 2017.If the purpose of the release was to provide answers to a public still curious over the long-concluded cases, the raw mechanics of the clunky rollout made that a challenge.Lawmakers at 6 p.m. released thousands of pages and videos via a cumbersome Google Drive, leaving it to readers and viewers to decipher new and interesting tidbits on their own. The disclosure also left open the question of why the Justice Department did not release the material directly to the public instead of operating through Capitol Hill.Meanwhile, Democrats and some Republicans are trying to maneuver around Johnson’s control of the House floor to hold a vote on a separate bill that would require the Justice Department to publicly release the files, with the exception of names and personal information of the victims.The clash suggests little has changed in Congress since late July, when Johnson sent&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-jeffrey-epstein-trump-f2a03eca247268b14a9e38858338eded">lawmakers home early</a>&nbsp;in hopes of cooling the political battle over the Epstein case. Members of both parties remain dissatisfied and are demanding more details on the years-old investigation into Epstein, the wealthy and well-connected financier whose 2019 death in a New York jail cell while he faced sex trafficking charges has sparked wide-ranging conspiracy theories and speculation.

Kan. felon accused of knife attack on another woman

During an exchange with reporters on Tuesday, President Donald Trump&nbsp; responded to social media reports over the weekend about his health including his possible death.

President Trump responded, "Last week I did numerous news conferences and then I didn't do any for two days and they said, 'there must be something wrong with him.'

"Biden wouldn't do them for months. You wouldn't see him and nobody ever said there was ever anything wrong with him and we know he wasn't in the greatest of shape."

During an exchange with reporters on Tuesday, President Donald Trump&nbsp; responded to social media reports over the weekend about his health including his possible death.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">.<a href="https://twitter.com/pdoocy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@pdoocy</a>: &quot;How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?&quot; President Trump: &quot;Last week I did numerous news conferences...and then I didn&#39;t do any for two days and they said, &#39;there must be something wrong with him&#39;. Biden wouldn&#39;t do them for months. You wouldn&#39;t see… <a href="https://t.co/aoeb1Gi6M4">pic.twitter.com/aoeb1Gi6M4</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1962955933799321684?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>President Trump responded, "Last week I did numerous news conferences and then I didn't do any for two days and they said, 'there must be something wrong with him.'"Biden wouldn't do them for months. You wouldn't see him and nobody ever said there was ever anything wrong with him and we know he wasn't in the greatest of shape."

How President Trump found out over the weekend he was dead

SEDGWICK COUNTY – Police have arrested a 16-year-old boy and continue to search for a second suspect after a 20-year-old man was killed and another was injured in a shooting on North Arkansas in Wichita.

Just after 4:30 p.m. Monday, police were dispatched to the 2100 block of North Arkansas for a reported shooting, according to a media release.

When officers arrived, they found two men inside a vehicle with gunshot wounds in the 600 block of W. 20th Street. Officers, Wichita Fire Department, and EMS personnel provided life-saving measures at the scene.

Both victims were transported to a local hospital in critical condition. At 4:58 p.m., 20-year-old Sebastian Williams was pronounced deceased. The second victim, a 20-year-old man remains hospitalized.

Detectives are working to determine what led to the shooting. A 16-year-old boy has been arrested and booked into the Juvenile Intake Assessment Center (JIAC) on a requested charge of&nbsp; felony murder.

Police continue looking for a second suspect in this case. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1756848053135.png" alt="Photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY – Police have arrested a 16-year-old boy and continue to search for a second suspect after a 20-year-old man was killed and another was injured in a shooting on North Arkansas in Wichita.Just after 4:30 p.m. Monday, police were dispatched to the 2100 block of North Arkansas for a reported shooting, according to a media release.When officers arrived, they found two men inside a vehicle with gunshot wounds in the 600 block of W. 20th Street. Officers, Wichita Fire Department, and EMS personnel provided life-saving measures at the scene.Both victims were transported to a local hospital in critical condition. At 4:58 p.m., 20-year-old Sebastian Williams was pronounced deceased. The second victim, a 20-year-old man remains hospitalized.Detectives are working to determine what led to the shooting. A 16-year-old boy has been arrested and booked into the Juvenile Intake Assessment Center (JIAC) on a requested charge of&nbsp; felony murder.Police continue looking for a second suspect in this case.

16-year-old Kansas boy accused in fatal shooting

Comanche County school board leaders, principal strive to blunt public outrage

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

COLDWATER — After the father of a small-town, southwest Kansas high school junior reported his daughter was the victim of sexual harassment and unwanted touching by her golf coach, he met with the coach and principal to lay out the teenager’s concerns and disgust.

By the end of that meeting in May, the father said, the three men seemed to have an understanding that the coach violated policy — if not the law — when he made a stunning comment to the girl during golf practice: He told her to grip a club like it was a penis.

At the meeting, the coach signed a document affirming he directed lurid comments at the girl, according to a copy of the document obtained by Kansas Reflector. The student confirmed the accusations in a report with law enforcement and in an interview with Kansas Reflector.

The document said the coach on multiple occasions grabbed the student’s hips, waist and shoulders while standing behind her. She also said that he held the back of her thigh, purportedly to improve her golf posture.

Ty Theurer eventually resigned as the South Central High School golf coach, which was his part-time assignment in the Comanche County School District. He didn’t surrender a much more influential position in the district: Superintendent.

Kansas Reflector interviews with students, parents, educators and elected officials tied to Comanche County schools revealed a concerted effort by insiders to shield the district’s top administrator, despite ongoing law enforcement and Title IX investigations. People with knowledge of Theurer’s past said the golf practice incident wasn’t the only example of inappropriate behavior by the superintendent, who for years personally controlled how the district responded to alleged sexual harassment.

Kansas Reflector reporting shows the Comanche County school board president and vice president along with the high school principal collaborated to minimize disciplinary action against Theurer. It indicated the president sought to tamp down scrutiny of the superintendent as word of the student’s allegation made its way through the sparsely populated district.

In a brief interview with Kansas Reflector, Theurer declined to respond to questions about the complaint.

“I’m not going to answer any of those questions,” he said. “I am under investigation. I’m not allowed to speak about it.”

The student who Theurer made the salacious comments to said she had been standing near him at a the Coldwater golf course during practice this spring, according to a Comanche County Sheriff’s Office report and an interview with Kansas Reflector. The student said Theurer approached her and said, “OK, now I’m going to be a little bold.”

She said he moved closer to her and whispered details of how he expected her to hold golf clubs. She quoted him: “I want you to imagine you have a penis.”

When the student responded with alarm to Theurer’s remark, she said, the superintendent cupped his hands around his groin, saying, “Just like this.”

Her description for law enforcement and Kansas Reflector also said the superintendent “ran his hand against the back of my neck and slowly moved me forward to help me with my putting position.” The summary said Theurer grabbed the back of her thigh as he urged her to bend her knees.

The student’s parents requested anonymity in this story to protect the privacy of their teenage daughter. Kansas Reflector and its parent organization, States Newsroom, do not identify survivors of sexual abuse.

In May, the student’s father reported the behavior to Andy Uhl, the Comanche County school board’s vice president. Uhl apparently passed the dad’s complaint up the chain of command. That resulted in the father’s meeting with Theurer and South Central High School principal Bud Valerius.

But instead of all seven members of the school board assuming a role in a personnel issue involving the person hired by the board to serve as superintendent, Valerius dealt with the student’s complaint as if it were a clash between coach and athlete, emails show. Valerius took that approach despite conflicts of interest, including his job as a direct subordinate of Theurer, his assignment as assistant golf coach and his friendship with Theurer.

School board president Kelly Herd said in an email to other board members that in her opinion, “There was nothing in the complaint that would warrant administrative leave” for superintendent Theurer. Instead, she told board members, coach Theurer had been given a “warning” to not offend again.

The school board replaced the superintendent as the district’s Title IX coordinator with oversight of sexual harassment or sex discrimination complaints because it would be improper for Theurer to investigate himself. Those duties were passed several months ago to the district’s elementary school principal, who would be expected initiate an investigation of the superintendent.

Dean Yoder is another member of the Comanche County school board, which governs the education of the 300 students near the Oklahoma boarder. Besides Coldwater, the district draws students from communities including Protection, Wilmore and Buttermilk. The district extends into Kiowa and Clark counties.

A majority of the school board was excluded at the outset from the process of dealing with the leadership crisis, Yoder said.

The school board president ordered him to “stand down,” Yoder said, and she argued the controversy involving Theurer had to be resolved quietly.

“Nothing has been handled right,” Yoder said.

Bill Faflick, executive director of the Kansas State High School Activities Association, said he wasn’t aware of the controversy in Comanche County schools before being contacted by Kansas Reflector.

He said the student who made the complaint should know she could have done nothing to warrant harassment by a school administrator. Assuming the complaint was proven, he said, the incident would make “every dad shudder.”

“If true, certainly that’s inappropriate. It’s wrong as wrong can be. There’s no place for that in school sports,” said Faflick, who worked for 30 years in administrative roles in Wichita public schools.

Herd, the school board president, appeared to shield information about the case from the full school board. In a video obtained by Kansas Reflector, Herd abruptly adjourned a June board meeting to circumvent discussion of Theurer’s conduct. She ordered her colleagues to stop speaking with community members about the controversy.

Herd resisted pleas, including from the golf athlete’s parents, to convene a special meeting so the board could learn more about the allegations and investigatory process, and weigh potential disciplinary options.

Since May, the board president sent a series of emails about the Theurer controversy to fellow board members. In that correspondence, Herd said she and the board’s vice president, in conjunction with the high school principal, dealt effectively with the sexual harassment complaint. Herd said “normal procedure” was followed.

Herd, who didn’t respond to Kansas Reflector requests for comment, said in an email to the board that the complaint ought to be viewed as a teachable moment for a coach rather than a leadership disaster centered on a district superintendent.

“As with any other HS coach, Bud (Valerius, high school principal) is the one to handle these issues. All coaches are given a warning and this will be considered (Theurer’s),” Herd’s email to board members said. “Bud called me and Andy (Uhl) to update us. We both agreed it has been addressed and handled. I assure you this was not taken lightly and it was not brushed aside.”

In another email, the board president instructed her elected peers to cooperate with her goal of limiting public knowledge of Theurer’s plight.

“This conversation regarding Ty has gotten far out of control in our community. We as board members must be careful to not continue to fuel the fire,” Herd wrote. “He has been written up and it is in his personnel file. He did not deny nor make excuses.”

The student’s parents, frustrated school board leadership hadn’t moved to guarantee student safety, filed a report with local law enforcement. Comanche County authorities referred the case of alleged battery to the Ford County Sheriff’s Office.

The school board’s president and the student’s parents said the sexual harassment complaint presented to the school district was forwarded to the Kansas Association of School Boards, which advises school boards on compliance with federal Title IX law. A representative of KASB has interviewed students and others associated within the school district regarding Theurer.

School board members expect to be briefed in executive session on the report, the school board president said.

Eventually, the school board association’s draft report must be shared with the superintendent and complainant. A “decision-maker,” potentially an independent hearing officer, would examine evidence and make a determination about whether harassment occurred. Both sides could appeal.

In a recent email to board members, Herd recommended board members fend off any reporter asking questions about Theurer by explaining they were unable to comment.

“I am not keeping secrets. Nor am I acting on my own,” the school board president said.

South Central High School graduate Isabel Hackney said in an interview with Kansas Reflector that Theurer’s objectionable pronouncements to students extended beyond the golf course.

Hackney said she accidentally collided with a male friend at the school in October 2024, and it was caught on security video. She and some other students decided to watch the footage in the high school’s administration office.

While they were watching, she said, the superintendent emerged from his office. Theurer asked to repeatedly watch the clip, Hackney said.

“Then he said, ‘Izzy, you just got teabagged,’ ” Hackney said, repeating slang for putting a scrotum near a face. “From then on, I felt honestly scared to be around Mr. Theurer.”

Emily Hackney, Isabel’s mother, subsequently confronted Theurer outside the high school about his remark. She told the superintendent it was wrong to speak to her daughter that way.

“He was trying to ignore me,” Emily Hackney said. “He tried to deny it.”

Klete Hackney, Isabel’s father, said his daughter feared retaliation if the family complained to anyone involved with the school district. Instead, Isabel refused to shake the superintendent’s hand at graduation this spring.

“She did it for herself and she did it for all the kids,” Klete Hackney said.

An attempt could be made during the school board’s meeting Wednesday evening at South Central High School to compel a vote by the seven-member board on a motion to place Theurer on administrative leave.

“If you don’t know anything about it, it’s because that’s the plan — sweep it under the rug and nobody will ever know,” said Zach Ellis, who has two children at the high school.

Ellis said he signed up to speak at the next school board meeting, but he’s not certain the board would allow him to say what he wanted to say. On social media, Ellis encouraged people with ties to the school district to join him at the meeting.

He said the school board by now should have adopted new policies or procedures designed to deter sexual harassment. It was “absolutely ridiculous” the school board allowed a superintendent under investigation for sexual harassment and battery to run the district, he said.

“I’ve got a daughter who is a junior. I’m all about making sure that her safety is protected,” Ellis said. “She avoids him. Her words not mine: ‘He creeps me out, so I avoid him.’ ”

The father of the former golf team member said that during the May meeting with the principal and superintendent the principal read aloud a one-page document that summarized the daughter’s allegations against the superintendent. Theurer and Valerius agreed the signing confirmed they discussed the memo. The superintendent didn’t challenge the student’s recollections at the time, the father said.

“I said, ‘I’m not leaving this office without some documentation that this conversation happened,'” the father said. “That’s when the principal said, ‘Hey, we can all sign it here. He can sign it to admit his guilt.’ ”

In an interview, the student said that when she joined the high school’s golf team, other girls warned her to “be careful, Ty’s a little weird.”

“My first day we were in a line,” she said. “He came up behind me and placed his hands on my hips. I wasn’t asked if that was OK. Whenever I asked the golf girls … ‘Hey, does he do this a lot?’ And they’re, like, ‘Yeah, you’ll get used to it.’ ”

She quit the team after the superintendent made the penis remark.

In June, the student’s parents attended a regularly scheduled Comanche County school board meeting with the goal of sharing information about what their daughter said she endured while coached by Theurer.

Herd, the board president, called the mother before the meeting in an attempt to dissuade her from making public comments about the superintendent, the mother said.

The mother decided to go to the board meeting. She attempted to read from a written statement. Herd cut her off by adjourning the meeting. A video obtained by Kansas Reflector showed Herd and other board members walking out of the room with the mother still reading from her prepared remarks.

“How could this not be a priority? Not for my family alone, but for the school community?” the mother said in an interview. “The sudden adjournment and insistence that such an issue of import was literally worth walking out on is deeply troubling.”

She said the school board president’s attempt to bury the complaint was “completely unacceptable” and risked the health and safety of students in the district’s three schools. Failure of the school board to address the superintendent’s misconduct ran “the risk of appearing complicit in continuing toxic and dangerous situations,” the mother said.

“There is no result that can serve justice other than immediate termination,” she said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1756845981827.png" alt="Comanche County School District Superintendent Ty Theurer, photographed with the 2019 graduating class at South Central High School in Coldwater, is under investigation for alleged sexual harassment of a student. He was serving as golf coach this spring, according to the student’s complaint, when he told her to hold golf clubs as if she was grasping a penis. (Comanche County School District)" />
 <figcaption>Comanche County School District Superintendent Ty Theurer, photographed with the 2019 graduating class at South Central High School in Coldwater, is under investigation for alleged sexual harassment of a student. He was serving as golf coach this spring, according to the student’s complaint, when he told her to hold golf clubs as if she was grasping a penis. (Comanche County School District)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Comanche County school board leaders, principal strive to blunt public outrage</h2>By&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/tim-carpenter/">TIM CARPENTER</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/02/24/gov-laura-kelly-skeptical-kansas-houses-anti-tenure-legislation-will-reach-her-desk/">Kansas Reflector</a>COLDWATER — After the father of a small-town, southwest Kansas high school junior reported his daughter was the victim of sexual harassment and unwanted touching by her golf coach, he met with the coach and principal to lay out the teenager’s concerns and disgust.By the end of that meeting in May, the father said, the three men seemed to have an understanding that the coach violated policy — if not the law — when he made a stunning comment to the girl during golf practice: He told her to grip a club like it was a penis.At the meeting, the coach signed a document affirming he directed lurid comments at the girl, according to a copy of the document obtained by Kansas Reflector. The student confirmed the accusations in a report with law enforcement and in an interview with Kansas Reflector.The document said the coach on multiple occasions grabbed the student’s hips, waist and shoulders while standing behind her. She also said that he held the back of her thigh, purportedly to improve her golf posture.Ty Theurer eventually resigned as the South Central High School golf coach, which was his part-time assignment in the Comanche County School District. He didn’t surrender a much more influential position in the district: Superintendent.Kansas Reflector interviews with students, parents, educators and elected officials tied to Comanche County schools revealed a concerted effort by insiders to shield the district’s top administrator, despite ongoing law enforcement and Title IX investigations. People with knowledge of Theurer’s past said the golf practice incident wasn’t the only example of inappropriate behavior by the superintendent, who for years personally controlled how the district responded to alleged sexual harassment.Kansas Reflector reporting shows the Comanche County school board president and vice president along with the high school principal collaborated to minimize disciplinary action against Theurer. It indicated the president sought to tamp down scrutiny of the superintendent as word of the student’s allegation made its way through the sparsely populated district.In a brief interview with Kansas Reflector, Theurer declined to respond to questions about the complaint.“I’m not going to answer any of those questions,” he said. “I am under investigation. I’m not allowed to speak about it.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1756845927495.png" alt="The board of education for the Comanche County School District in Coldwater has retained Superintendent Ty Theurer in the district’s top administrative job despite ongoing investigation of Theurer for sexual harassment and battery. The board members, from left: Hanna McCleary, Jody Leeper, Kelly Herd, Dean Yoder, Andy Uhl, Steve Prusa and Hayden Fletcher. (Comanche County School District)" />
 <figcaption>The board of education for the Comanche County School District in Coldwater has retained Superintendent Ty Theurer in the district’s top administrative job despite ongoing investigation of Theurer for sexual harassment and battery. The board members, from left: Hanna McCleary, Jody Leeper, Kelly Herd, Dean Yoder, Andy Uhl, Steve Prusa and Hayden Fletcher. (Comanche County School District)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>‘A little bold’</h2>The student who Theurer made the salacious comments to said she had been standing near him at a the Coldwater golf course during practice this spring, according to a Comanche County Sheriff’s Office report and an interview with Kansas Reflector. The student said Theurer approached her and said, “OK, now I’m going to be a little bold.”She said he moved closer to her and whispered details of how he expected her to hold golf clubs. She quoted him: “I want you to imagine you have a penis.”When the student responded with alarm to Theurer’s remark, she said, the superintendent cupped his hands around his groin, saying, “Just like this.”Her description for law enforcement and Kansas Reflector also said the superintendent “ran his hand against the back of my neck and slowly moved me forward to help me with my putting position.” The summary said Theurer grabbed the back of her thigh as he urged her to bend her knees.The student’s parents requested anonymity in this story to protect the privacy of their teenage daughter. Kansas Reflector and its parent organization, States Newsroom, do not identify survivors of sexual abuse.In May, the student’s father reported the behavior to Andy Uhl, the Comanche County school board’s vice president. Uhl apparently passed the dad’s complaint up the chain of command. That resulted in the father’s meeting with Theurer and South Central High School principal Bud Valerius.But instead of all seven members of the school board assuming a role in a personnel issue involving the person hired by the board to serve as superintendent, Valerius dealt with the student’s complaint as if it were a clash between coach and athlete, emails show. Valerius took that approach despite conflicts of interest, including his job as a direct subordinate of Theurer, his assignment as assistant golf coach and his friendship with Theurer.School board president Kelly Herd said in an email to other board members that in her opinion, “There was nothing in the complaint that would warrant administrative leave” for superintendent Theurer. Instead, she told board members, coach Theurer had been given a “warning” to not offend again.The school board replaced the superintendent as the district’s Title IX coordinator with oversight of sexual harassment or sex discrimination complaints because it would be improper for Theurer to investigate himself. Those duties were passed several months ago to the district’s elementary school principal, who would be expected initiate an investigation of the superintendent.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1756845882730.png" alt="Parents of a student in the Comanche County School District reported to law enforcement and district officials that superintendent Ty Theurer advised her during a high school golf team practice to hold a club in the same way she would grasp a penis. Theurer leads the 300-student district in southwest Kansas despite ongoing investigation of the incident. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Parents of a student in the Comanche County School District reported to law enforcement and district officials that superintendent Ty Theurer advised her during a high school golf team practice to hold a club in the same way she would grasp a penis. Theurer leads the 300-student district in southwest Kansas despite ongoing investigation of the incident. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Nothing has been handled right’</h2>Dean Yoder is another member of the Comanche County school board, which governs the education of the 300 students near the Oklahoma boarder. Besides Coldwater, the district draws students from communities including Protection, Wilmore and Buttermilk. The district extends into Kiowa and Clark counties.A majority of the school board was excluded at the outset from the process of dealing with the leadership crisis, Yoder said.The school board president ordered him to “stand down,” Yoder said, and she argued the controversy involving Theurer had to be resolved quietly.“Nothing has been handled right,” Yoder said.Bill Faflick, executive director of the Kansas State High School Activities Association, said he wasn’t aware of the controversy in Comanche County schools before being contacted by Kansas Reflector.He said the student who made the complaint should know she could have done nothing to warrant harassment by a school administrator. Assuming the complaint was proven, he said, the incident would make “every dad shudder.”“If true, certainly that’s inappropriate. It’s wrong as wrong can be. There’s no place for that in school sports,” said Faflick, who worked for 30 years in administrative roles in Wichita public schools.Herd, the school board president, appeared to shield information about the case from the full school board. In a video obtained by Kansas Reflector, Herd abruptly adjourned a June board meeting to circumvent discussion of Theurer’s conduct. She ordered her colleagues to stop speaking with community members about the controversy.Herd resisted pleas, including from the golf athlete’s parents, to convene a special meeting so the board could learn more about the allegations and investigatory process, and weigh potential disciplinary options.Since May, the board president sent a series of emails about the Theurer controversy to fellow board members. In that correspondence, Herd said she and the board’s vice president, in conjunction with the high school principal, dealt effectively with the sexual harassment complaint. Herd said “normal procedure” was followed.Herd, who didn’t respond to Kansas Reflector requests for comment, said in an email to the board that the complaint ought to be viewed as a teachable moment for a coach rather than a leadership disaster centered on a district superintendent.“As with any other HS coach, Bud (Valerius, high school principal) is the one to handle these issues. All coaches are given a warning and this will be considered (Theurer’s),” Herd’s email to board members said. “Bud called me and Andy (Uhl) to update us. We both agreed it has been addressed and handled. I assure you this was not taken lightly and it was not brushed aside.”In another email, the board president instructed her elected peers to cooperate with her goal of limiting public knowledge of Theurer’s plight.“This conversation regarding Ty has gotten far out of control in our community. We as board members must be careful to not continue to fuel the fire,” Herd wrote. “He has been written up and it is in his personnel file. He did not deny nor make excuses.”<h2>Ongoing investigations</h2>The student’s parents, frustrated school board leadership hadn’t moved to guarantee student safety, filed a report with local law enforcement. Comanche County authorities referred the case of alleged battery to the Ford County Sheriff’s Office.The school board’s president and the student’s parents said the sexual harassment complaint presented to the school district was forwarded to the Kansas Association of School Boards, which advises school boards on compliance with federal Title IX law. A representative of KASB has interviewed students and others associated within the school district regarding Theurer.School board members expect to be briefed in executive session on the report, the school board president said.Eventually, the school board association’s draft report must be shared with the superintendent and complainant. A “decision-maker,” potentially an independent hearing officer, would examine evidence and make a determination about whether harassment occurred. Both sides could appeal.In a recent email to board members, Herd recommended board members fend off any reporter asking questions about Theurer by explaining they were unable to comment.“I am not keeping secrets. Nor am I acting on my own,” the school board president said.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1756845824979.png" alt="Ty Theurer, superintendent of Comanche County schools, resigned as golf coach after a student accused him of sexual harassment. Members of the USD 300 community plan to attend a school board meeting Wednesday to raise concerns about Theurer remaining in that job despite investigations of the case. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Ty Theurer, superintendent of Comanche County schools, resigned as golf coach after a student accused him of sexual harassment. Members of the USD 300 community plan to attend a school board meeting Wednesday to raise concerns about Theurer remaining in that job despite investigations of the case. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Creeps me out’</h2>South Central High School graduate Isabel Hackney said in an interview with Kansas Reflector that Theurer’s objectionable pronouncements to students extended beyond the golf course.Hackney said she accidentally collided with a male friend at the school in October 2024, and it was caught on security video. She and some other students decided to watch the footage in the high school’s administration office.While they were watching, she said, the superintendent emerged from his office. Theurer asked to repeatedly watch the clip, Hackney said.“Then he said, ‘Izzy, you just got teabagged,’ ” Hackney said, repeating slang for putting a scrotum near a face. “From then on, I felt honestly scared to be around Mr. Theurer.”Emily Hackney, Isabel’s mother, subsequently confronted Theurer outside the high school about his remark. She told the superintendent it was wrong to speak to her daughter that way.“He was trying to ignore me,” Emily Hackney said. “He tried to deny it.”Klete Hackney, Isabel’s father, said his daughter feared retaliation if the family complained to anyone involved with the school district. Instead, Isabel refused to shake the superintendent’s hand at graduation this spring.“She did it for herself and she did it for all the kids,” Klete Hackney said.<h2>Upcoming board meeting</h2>An attempt could be made during the school board’s meeting Wednesday evening at South Central High School to compel a vote by the seven-member board on a motion to place Theurer on administrative leave.“If you don’t know anything about it, it’s because that’s the plan — sweep it under the rug and nobody will ever know,” said Zach Ellis, who has two children at the high school.Ellis said he signed up to speak at the next school board meeting, but he’s not certain the board would allow him to say what he wanted to say. On social media, Ellis encouraged people with ties to the school district to join him at the meeting.He said the school board by now should have adopted new policies or procedures designed to deter sexual harassment. It was “absolutely ridiculous” the school board allowed a superintendent under investigation for sexual harassment and battery to run the district, he said.“I’ve got a daughter who is a junior. I’m all about making sure that her safety is protected,” Ellis said. “She avoids him. Her words not mine: ‘He creeps me out, so I avoid him.’ ”<h2>‘Admit his guilt’</h2>The father of the former golf team member said that during the May meeting with the principal and superintendent the principal read aloud a one-page document that summarized the daughter’s allegations against the superintendent. Theurer and Valerius agreed the signing confirmed they discussed the memo. The superintendent didn’t challenge the student’s recollections at the time, the father said.“I said, ‘I’m not leaving this office without some documentation that this conversation happened,'” the father said. “That’s when the principal said, ‘Hey, we can all sign it here. He can sign it to admit his guilt.’ ”In an interview, the student said that when she joined the high school’s golf team, other girls warned her to “be careful, Ty’s a little weird.”“My first day we were in a line,” she said. “He came up behind me and placed his hands on my hips. I wasn’t asked if that was OK. Whenever I asked the golf girls … ‘Hey, does he do this a lot?’ And they’re, like, ‘Yeah, you’ll get used to it.’ ”She quit the team after the superintendent made the penis remark.<h2>‘How could this not be a priority?’</h2>In June, the student’s parents attended a regularly scheduled Comanche County school board meeting with the goal of sharing information about what their daughter said she endured while coached by Theurer.Herd, the board president, called the mother before the meeting in an attempt to dissuade her from making public comments about the superintendent, the mother said.The mother decided to go to the board meeting. She attempted to read from a written statement. Herd cut her off by adjourning the meeting. A video obtained by Kansas Reflector showed Herd and other board members walking out of the room with the mother still reading from her prepared remarks.“How could this not be a priority? Not for my family alone, but for the school community?” the mother said in an interview. “The sudden adjournment and insistence that such an issue of import was literally worth walking out on is deeply troubling.”She said the school board president’s attempt to bury the complaint was “completely unacceptable” and risked the health and safety of students in the district’s three schools. Failure of the school board to address the superintendent’s misconduct ran “the risk of appearing complicit in continuing toxic and dangerous situations,” the mother said.“There is no result that can serve justice other than immediate termination,” she said.

A Kan. student reported her coach for harassment, touching. School leaders kept it quiet.

By:<a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/author/ropshal/">Robin Opsahl</a> <a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/">Iowa Capital Dispatch</a>

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst announced Tuesday she is officially not running for another term in the U.S. Senate, leaving the seat open heading into the 2026 election cycle.

In a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb9FWd-0Y08" target="_blank">video</a>&nbsp;address, Ernst said it was “no easy decision” to decide not to seek reelection for a third term as senator.

“It has been an honor to dedicate my life to the service of our great state and country, having been raised in a family who has given me so much love and support,” Ernst said. “Now, as our family ages and grows, it’s my time for me to give back to them. After a tremendous amount of prayer and reflection, I will not be seeking reelection in 2026.”

Ernst, who was first elected in 2014 and reelected in 2020, is the first female combat veteran elected to the U.S. Senate, having served in the U.S. Army Reserves and Iowa Army National Guard. Before her time in Congress, she had served in public office as a state senator and Montgomery County auditor.

The Republican said Iowans sent her to Washington “with a mission in mind — to make Washington squeal,” referencing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BgLwe8bFNg" target="_blank">her 2014 campaign ad</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ernst.senate.gov/make-em-squeal" target="_blank">efforts in office</a>&nbsp;to address federal government waste, fraud and abuse. Ernst said she was “proud to say we have delivered” on her “squeal” promises. She also highlighted her work in the U.S. Senate on anti-abortion measures, preventing violence against women and supporting farmers and veterans.

“As a proud Harley rider, you can rest assured, I’m not slowing down anytime soon,” Ernst said. “There is still so much to accomplish before the end of my term, and I’ll keep fighting every single day, as I always have, to make Iowans’ voices heard loud and clear in the halls of Congress.”

Reports&nbsp;<a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/08/29/new-report-says-ernst-plans-to-not-seek-reelection-in-2026/">were published Friday</a>&nbsp;from multiple outlets saying that sources close to Ernst expected she would announce her plans for 2026 this week. Though&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/10/joni-ernst-retirement-watch-iowa-senate-seat-00447670" target="_blank">Senate GOP leadership</a>&nbsp;had reportedly encouraged Ernst to run for another term, the senator faced criticism from Republicans for expressing concerns about U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during the nomination process. She also gained national attention for saying “<a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/05/30/well-were-all-going-to-die-u-s-sen-joni-ernst-defends-medicaid-cuts-at-heated-town-hall/">well, we all are going to die,”</a>&nbsp;at a May town hall when responding to a person who said GOP-backed Medicaid cuts would cause people to die.

Democrats running for the U.S. Senate seat in the 2026 election, responded that Ernst’s decision not to run was a signal that Republicans’ hold of Iowa’s congressional seats could be at risk. Currently, Iowa’s federal delegation is all Republican, but Iowa’s 1st and 3rd Districts have been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings" target="_blank">brought up by political forecasters</a>&nbsp;as pivotal battlegrounds for control of the U.S. House in the upcoming midterms.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/senate-race-ratings" target="_blank">Cook Political Report</a>&nbsp;rated the race for Iowa’s Senate seat as “likely Republican” — but the race could be more contentious without an incumbent Republican candidate.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Kirsten Gillibrand released a statement responding to Ernst’s announcement, and said her decision shows that “Donald Trump and Senate Republicans’ devastating agenda has put their majority in jeopardy.”

“Republicans can see the writing on the wall: spiking costs and ripping away health care does so much damage to their states that they would rather leave the Senate than defend their actions to voters,” Schumer and Gillibrand said in the statement. “Democrats are in a strong position to win seats and continue fighting for working families.”

State Sen. Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, Rep. Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs, Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris and former Knoxville Chamber of Commerce Director Nathan Sage are currently running to become Iowa’s Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat in 2026.

National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Tim Scott said in a statement the Senate GOP campaign arm “is confident Iowans will elect a Republican to continue fighting for them and championing President Trump’s agenda in 2026.” He also thanked Ernst for her service in Washington and in the military.

“Joni Ernst has dedicated her life to serving our nation and improving the lives of Iowans,” Scott said. “Traveling across the Hawkeye State with Joni, I know she loves Iowa, and Iowa loves her. We are grateful for all she has accomplished in helping Iowa families keep more of their hard-earned money and make Washington squeal.”

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said Ernst “dropped out of this race because she knows her support for Medicaid cuts is a nonstarter” — and said whoever becomes the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate will have to contend with “the same toxic Republican agenda that’s harming Iowa families.”

“The energy is on our side heading into the midterms as Iowans are fed up with Washington Republicans spiking costs for working people to deliver tax cuts for billionaires,” Hart said. “In 2026, Iowans will elect a Democrat to the U.S. Senate who will prioritize making Iowa economically prosperous and a healthier state.”

Hinson expected to make a bid for U.S. Senate

There are two Republicans currently running for the nomination: former state lawmaker&nbsp;<a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/06/06/republican-jim-carlin-launches-primary-bid-against-u-s-sen-joni-ernst-in-week-of-campaign-kickoffs/">Jim Carlin</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/30/joshua-smith-republican-iowa-senate-joni-ernst/83347040007/" target="_blank">Joshua Smith</a>, a former Libertarian candidate for the state Senate.

U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District is also expected to join the race. In a social media post Monday, Hinson thanked Ernst for her service and added that she and her husband will share an announcement soon.

“As we look forward, President Trump needs a fighter in the Senate who will always have his back to continue to cut spending, deport illegal aliens, and put working families first,” Hinson wrote. “I’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with the President to pass this America First agenda in the House and I would be his strongest ally in the Senate. Matt and I will have an announcement soon about how we believe we can best serve Iowa, and how we can help President Trump make America great again.”

Hinson has been working on reelection efforts in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District in recent months. There are currently three Democrats running for the seat in 2026,&nbsp;<a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/08/19/democrat-lindsay-james-announces-2nd-congressional-district-bid/">state Rep. Lindsay James</a>, D-Dubuque, &nbsp;<a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/07/22/clint-twedt-ball-founder-of-matthew-25-nonprofit-launches-2nd-district-campaign/">Clint Twedt-Ball</a>, the founder of the nonprofit Matthew 25 and&nbsp;<a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/07/15/democrat-kathy-dolter-launches-bid-for-2nd-congressional-district-rep-lindsay-james-mulls-a-run/">Kathy Dolter</a>, the former dean of nursing at Kirkwood Community College.

Katie Smith, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said Hinson’s expected move to the U.S. Senate race in 2026 shows Democrats have a strong chance in the 2nd District race.

“Ashley Hinson is clearly eager to jump off the sinking ship that is her re-election in Iowa’s 2nd district,” Smith said. “Hinson is terrified to face her voters, who’ve had a front row seat as she’s prioritized Washington and billionaires while voting to raise Iowans’ costs. There’s change coming in Iowa: voters are ready for new leadership and no matter what Hinson decides, she will lose her seat.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1756840672871.png" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>By:<a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/author/ropshal/">Robin Opsahl</a> <a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/">Iowa Capital Dispatch</a> U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst announced Tuesday she is officially not running for another term in the U.S. Senate, leaving the seat open heading into the 2026 election cycle.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">My message to Iowans: <a href="https://t.co/K6mHG6bSuE">pic.twitter.com/K6mHG6bSuE</a>&mdash; Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenJoniErnst/status/1962923952193282085?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>In a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb9FWd-0Y08" target="_blank">video</a>&nbsp;address, Ernst said it was “no easy decision” to decide not to seek reelection for a third term as senator.“It has been an honor to dedicate my life to the service of our great state and country, having been raised in a family who has given me so much love and support,” Ernst said. “Now, as our family ages and grows, it’s my time for me to give back to them. After a tremendous amount of prayer and reflection, I will not be seeking reelection in 2026.”Ernst, who was first elected in 2014 and reelected in 2020, is the first female combat veteran elected to the U.S. Senate, having served in the U.S. Army Reserves and Iowa Army National Guard. Before her time in Congress, she had served in public office as a state senator and Montgomery County auditor.The Republican said Iowans sent her to Washington “with a mission in mind — to make Washington squeal,” referencing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BgLwe8bFNg" target="_blank">her 2014 campaign ad</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ernst.senate.gov/make-em-squeal" target="_blank">efforts in office</a>&nbsp;to address federal government waste, fraud and abuse. Ernst said she was “proud to say we have delivered” on her “squeal” promises. She also highlighted her work in the U.S. Senate on anti-abortion measures, preventing violence against women and supporting farmers and veterans.“As a proud Harley rider, you can rest assured, I’m not slowing down anytime soon,” Ernst said. “There is still so much to accomplish before the end of my term, and I’ll keep fighting every single day, as I always have, to make Iowans’ voices heard loud and clear in the halls of Congress.”Reports&nbsp;<a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/08/29/new-report-says-ernst-plans-to-not-seek-reelection-in-2026/">were published Friday</a>&nbsp;from multiple outlets saying that sources close to Ernst expected she would announce her plans for 2026 this week. Though&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/10/joni-ernst-retirement-watch-iowa-senate-seat-00447670" target="_blank">Senate GOP leadership</a>&nbsp;had reportedly encouraged Ernst to run for another term, the senator faced criticism from Republicans for expressing concerns about U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during the nomination process. She also gained national attention for saying “<a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/05/30/well-were-all-going-to-die-u-s-sen-joni-ernst-defends-medicaid-cuts-at-heated-town-hall/">well, we all are going to die,”</a>&nbsp;at a May town hall when responding to a person who said GOP-backed Medicaid cuts would cause people to die.Democrats running for the U.S. Senate seat in the 2026 election, responded that Ernst’s decision not to run was a signal that Republicans’ hold of Iowa’s congressional seats could be at risk. Currently, Iowa’s federal delegation is all Republican, but Iowa’s 1st and 3rd Districts have been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings" target="_blank">brought up by political forecasters</a>&nbsp;as pivotal battlegrounds for control of the U.S. House in the upcoming midterms.The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/senate-race-ratings" target="_blank">Cook Political Report</a>&nbsp;rated the race for Iowa’s Senate seat as “likely Republican” — but the race could be more contentious without an incumbent Republican candidate.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Kirsten Gillibrand released a statement responding to Ernst’s announcement, and said her decision shows that “Donald Trump and Senate Republicans’ devastating agenda has put their majority in jeopardy.”“Republicans can see the writing on the wall: spiking costs and ripping away health care does so much damage to their states that they would rather leave the Senate than defend their actions to voters,” Schumer and Gillibrand said in the statement. “Democrats are in a strong position to win seats and continue fighting for working families.”State Sen. Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, Rep. Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs, Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris and former Knoxville Chamber of Commerce Director Nathan Sage are currently running to become Iowa’s Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat in 2026.National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Tim Scott said in a statement the Senate GOP campaign arm “is confident Iowans will elect a Republican to continue fighting for them and championing President Trump’s agenda in 2026.” He also thanked Ernst for her service in Washington and in the military.“Joni Ernst has dedicated her life to serving our nation and improving the lives of Iowans,” Scott said. “Traveling across the Hawkeye State with Joni, I know she loves Iowa, and Iowa loves her. We are grateful for all she has accomplished in helping Iowa families keep more of their hard-earned money and make Washington squeal.”Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said Ernst “dropped out of this race because she knows her support for Medicaid cuts is a nonstarter” — and said whoever becomes the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate will have to contend with “the same toxic Republican agenda that’s harming Iowa families.”“The energy is on our side heading into the midterms as Iowans are fed up with Washington Republicans spiking costs for working people to deliver tax cuts for billionaires,” Hart said. “In 2026, Iowans will elect a Democrat to the U.S. Senate who will prioritize making Iowa economically prosperous and a healthier state.”<h2>Hinson expected to make a bid for U.S. Senate</h2>There are two Republicans currently running for the nomination: former state lawmaker&nbsp;<a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/06/06/republican-jim-carlin-launches-primary-bid-against-u-s-sen-joni-ernst-in-week-of-campaign-kickoffs/">Jim Carlin</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/30/joshua-smith-republican-iowa-senate-joni-ernst/83347040007/" target="_blank">Joshua Smith</a>, a former Libertarian candidate for the state Senate.U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District is also expected to join the race. In a social media post Monday, Hinson thanked Ernst for her service and added that she and her husband will share an announcement soon.“As we look forward, President Trump needs a fighter in the Senate who will always have his back to continue to cut spending, deport illegal aliens, and put working families first,” Hinson wrote. “I’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with the President to pass this America First agenda in the House and I would be his strongest ally in the Senate. Matt and I will have an announcement soon about how we believe we can best serve Iowa, and how we can help President Trump make America great again.”Hinson has been working on reelection efforts in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District in recent months. There are currently three Democrats running for the seat in 2026,&nbsp;<a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/08/19/democrat-lindsay-james-announces-2nd-congressional-district-bid/">state Rep. Lindsay James</a>, D-Dubuque, &nbsp;<a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/07/22/clint-twedt-ball-founder-of-matthew-25-nonprofit-launches-2nd-district-campaign/">Clint Twedt-Ball</a>, the founder of the nonprofit Matthew 25 and&nbsp;<a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/07/15/democrat-kathy-dolter-launches-bid-for-2nd-congressional-district-rep-lindsay-james-mulls-a-run/">Kathy Dolter</a>, the former dean of nursing at Kirkwood Community College.Katie Smith, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said Hinson’s expected move to the U.S. Senate race in 2026 shows Democrats have a strong chance in the 2nd District race.“Ashley Hinson is clearly eager to jump off the sinking ship that is her re-election in Iowa’s 2nd district,” Smith said. “Hinson is terrified to face her voters, who’ve had a front row seat as she’s prioritized Washington and billionaires while voting to raise Iowans’ costs. There’s change coming in Iowa: voters are ready for new leadership and no matter what Hinson decides, she will lose her seat.”