SENATE HIGHLIGHTS March 7, 2022 TOPEKA

Last week saw a lot of work done in committees. After the previous week's narrowing down of the myriad of legislation, lawmakers did some heavy rowing in committees. The topic of Ukraine was also discussed at the state level&nbsp; last week. The legislature is very fluid at this point and will continue to work on legislation in the committees and on the Senate Floor the next two weeks.

KPERS INVESTMENTS IN RUSSIA AND CHINA

Due to current events in Ukraine, KPERS Director Conroy reported how much of KPERS $26 billion is invested in Russia and China. The answer was $36 million (0.14%) invested in Russia and $140 million in China (0.5%) directly. As expected, some index funds KPERS is invested in have exposure to these two countries. Legislators looked at removing direct investments and changing index funds to limit exposure to these countries yet maintain a healthy diversification. Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Rogers also stated: “While I am only 1 of 9 trustees for the KPERS board, I am calling on my fellow KPERS trustees to continue to work to divest from Russian entities as soon as possible. I’m in full support of the financial sanctions placed against Russia –the aggressor in this escalating war.”

PAGES FOR THE SENATE – February 23rd

The page program resumed again this year as the Capitol is now open to the public. Bricen and Catelin Benyshek from Concordia; and Olivia Richardson and Leah Wertenberger from Marysville spent the day with us in the Capitol where they ran errands for the Senators, attended Committee hearings, had lunch with me, and toured the capitol.

Fold3 is an online resource from the State Library of Kansas for genealogists, historians, and veterans.

<a href="https://www.fold3.com/?signout-reason=institution-expired&amp;institution=KANSAS%20STATE%20LIBRARY%20-%20KANED">https://kslib.info/fold3</a> features collections of original military records, including stories, photos, and personal documents of those who served in the military. Many of the records come from the U.S. National Archives and the National Archive of the U.K. Content begins with the Revolutionary War and continues to the present. These records will help you discover and share stories about these everyday heroes, forgotten soldiers, and the families that supported them.

Online GED Practice Tests and learning at any age

The High School Equivalency Center is a center within LearningExpress Library, provided by the State Library of Kansas. Earning a high school equivalency credential can open the door to a more fulfilling job and better income. If you are preparing for the GED® test, HiSET® or TASC&nbsp;exams, the High School Equivalency Center's no-charge practice tests, tutorials, and e-books will help you reach your goal. Go to <a href="https://www.learningexpresshub.com/ProductEngine/LELIndex.html#/learningexpresslibrary/libraryhome?AuthToken=895C9A93-31CF-45C5-814C-A0788C14776D">https://kslib.info/LEL</a> and click on the tile for High School Equivalency Center. You can also find career preparations, student success skills and even learn computer and software basics at the Computer Skills Center. Questions: kslc@ks.gov.

WATCH AND LISTEN TO THE KANSAS LEGISLATURE

Kansas Legislature YouTube –you can follow the legislature live as it happens, or access archives of past sessions and committee meetings. Kansas Legislature Audio – you can listen in on session or committees when they are in session, or ac<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/">cess prior committee meetings, as well. Kansas Legislature website – www.kslegislature.org</a> - has extensive information on legislators, committees, bills, and past sessions.

Thank you for all of your calls, emails, and letters regarding your thoughts and concerns about happenings in Kansas. I always encourage you to stay informed of the issues under consideration by the Kansas Legislature. Committee schedules, bills, and other helpful information can be easily accessed through the legislature’s website at <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/">www.kslegislature.org</a>. You are also able to ‘listen in live’ at this website to current committees and also past hearings. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your thoughts, concerns, and suggestions. An email is the best at this point in the session.

Senator Elaine Bowers Kansas State Capitol Building Room 223-E 300 SW 10th St. <a href="mailto:elaine.bowers@senate.ks.gov" target="_blank">elaine.bowers@senate.ks.gov</a> 785-296-7389 <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/">www.kslegislature.org</a>

Elaine Bowers, R-Concordia, is senator of the 36th District in Kansas which includes:

* Cloud, Jewell, Lincoln, Mitchell, Osborne, Ottawa, Republic, Rooks, Russell,&nbsp;Smith and Washington Counties * Marshall County: Cities: Blue Rapids, Marysville, Oketo and Waterville;&nbsp;Townships: Blue Rapids, Blue Rapids City, Cottage Hill, Elm Creek,&nbsp;Herkimer, Logan, Marysville, Oketo, Walnut and Waterville * Phillips County: Cities: Agra, Glade, Kirwin and Phillipsburg;&nbsp;Townships: Arcade, Bow Creek, Crystal Deer Creek, Freedom,&nbsp;Glenwood, Greenwood, Kirwin, Phillipsburg, Plum,&nbsp;Rushville, Solomon(part), Sumner,&nbsp;Valley and Walnut

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/2/1644853578448.jpeg" alt="State Sen. Elaine Bowers, R-Concordia, 36th Dist." />
 <figcaption>State Sen. Elaine Bowers, R-Concordia, 36th Dist.</figcaption>
 </figure>SENATE HIGHLIGHTS March 7, 2022 TOPEKALast week saw a lot of work done in committees. After the previous week's narrowing down of the myriad of legislation, lawmakers did some heavy rowing in committees. The topic of Ukraine was also discussed at the state level&nbsp; last week. The legislature is very fluid at this point and will continue to work on legislation in the committees and on the Senate Floor the next two weeks.KPERS INVESTMENTS IN RUSSIA AND CHINADue to current events in Ukraine, KPERS Director Conroy reported how much of KPERS $26 billion is invested in Russia and China. The answer was $36 million (0.14%) invested in Russia and $140 million in China (0.5%) directly. As expected, some index funds KPERS is invested in have exposure to these two countries. Legislators looked at removing direct investments and changing index funds to limit exposure to these countries yet maintain a healthy diversification. Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Rogers also stated: “While I am only 1 of 9 trustees for the KPERS board, I am calling on my fellow KPERS trustees to continue to work to divest from Russian entities as soon as possible. I’m in full support of the financial sanctions placed against Russia –the aggressor in this escalating war.”PAGES FOR THE SENATE – February 23rdThe page program resumed again this year as the Capitol is now open to the public. Bricen and Catelin Benyshek from Concordia; and Olivia Richardson and Leah Wertenberger from Marysville spent the day with us in the Capitol where they ran errands for the Senators, attended Committee hearings, had lunch with me, and toured the capitol.FROM THE STATE LIBRARYOnline resource – Fold3Fold3 is an online resource from the State Library of Kansas for genealogists, historians, and veterans.<a href="https://www.fold3.com/?signout-reason=institution-expired&amp;institution=KANSAS%20STATE%20LIBRARY%20-%20KANED">https://kslib.info/fold3</a> features collections of original military records, including stories, photos, and personal documents of those who served in the military. Many of the records come from the U.S. National Archives and the National Archive of the U.K. Content begins with the Revolutionary War and continues to the present. These records will help you discover and share stories about these everyday heroes, forgotten soldiers, and the families that supported them.Online GED Practice Tests and learning at any ageThe High School Equivalency Center is a center within LearningExpress Library, provided by the State Library of Kansas. Earning a high school equivalency credential can open the door to a more fulfilling job and better income. If you are preparing for the GED® test, HiSET® or TASC&nbsp;exams, the High School Equivalency Center's no-charge practice tests, tutorials, and e-books will help you reach your goal. Go to <a href="https://www.learningexpresshub.com/ProductEngine/LELIndex.html#/learningexpresslibrary/libraryhome?AuthToken=895C9A93-31CF-45C5-814C-A0788C14776D">https://kslib.info/LEL</a> and click on the tile for High School Equivalency Center. You can also find career preparations, student success skills and even learn computer and software basics at the Computer Skills Center. Questions: kslc@ks.gov.WATCH AND LISTEN TO THE KANSAS LEGISLATUREKansas Legislature YouTube –you can follow the legislature live as it happens, or access archives of past sessions and committee meetings. Kansas Legislature Audio – you can listen in on session or committees when they are in session, or ac<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/">cess prior committee meetings, as well. Kansas Legislature website – www.kslegislature.org</a> - has extensive information on legislators, committees, bills, and past sessions.THANK YOU FOR ENGAGINGThank you for all of your calls, emails, and letters regarding your thoughts and concerns about happenings in Kansas. I always encourage you to stay informed of the issues under consideration by the Kansas Legislature. Committee schedules, bills, and other helpful information can be easily accessed through the legislature’s website at <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/">www.kslegislature.org</a>. You are also able to ‘listen in live’ at this website to current committees and also past hearings. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your thoughts, concerns, and suggestions. An email is the best at this point in the session.Thank you for the honor of serving you!Senator Elaine Bowers Kansas State Capitol Building Room 223-E 300 SW 10th St. <a href="mailto:elaine.bowers@senate.ks.gov" target="_blank">elaine.bowers@senate.ks.gov</a> 785-296-7389 <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/">www.kslegislature.org</a>Elaine Bowers, R-Concordia, is senator of the 36th District in Kansas which includes:* Cloud, Jewell, Lincoln, Mitchell, Osborne, Ottawa, Republic, Rooks, Russell,&nbsp;Smith and Washington Counties * Marshall County: Cities: Blue Rapids, Marysville, Oketo and Waterville;&nbsp;Townships: Blue Rapids, Blue Rapids City, Cottage Hill, Elm Creek,&nbsp;Herkimer, Logan, Marysville, Oketo, Walnut and Waterville * Phillips County: Cities: Agra, Glade, Kirwin and Phillipsburg;&nbsp;Townships: Arcade, Bow Creek, Crystal Deer Creek, Freedom,&nbsp;Glenwood, Greenwood, Kirwin, Phillipsburg, Plum,&nbsp;Rushville, Solomon(part), Sumner,&nbsp;Valley and Walnut

BOWERS: Senate Scene Week Eight

‘It was like Omaha … and then it changed overnight’

By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/03/06/ukrainians-in-nebraska-worry-for-loved-ones-dread-what-the-future-may-bring/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — The message on Halyna Carbullido’s Facebook page says a lot:&nbsp;

“My morning doesn’t start with coffee any more. It starts with making sure my friends and relatives in Ukraine are still alive.”

This
 is the world inhabited by Ukranians in America right now. They’re glued
 to the internet, to their cell phone, to news reports to follow what’s 
happening in their home country.

They’re
 collecting first-aid kits and bandages to ship back home. They’re 
speaking at rallies seeking American support. They’re spending sleepless
 nights, worrying about loved ones.&nbsp;

“Every
 waking moment I’m online,” said Carbullido, who emigrated from Ukraine 
to Omaha in 1991 and has been married to her husband, Ken Carbullido, 
for 10 years. Everyone knows her by her nickname, “Hala.”

The
 56-year-old, who does IT work for an Omaha bank, was helping load up a 
truck Sunday with medical supplies for shipment to Chicago and on to her
 home country. These days, she said, sleep comes only “with help.”

In
 Lincoln on Sunday, 20-year old Yulia Iziumova, a junior at Nebraska 
Wesleyan University, spoke to a “Rally to Support Peace in Ukraine” on 
the steps of the State Capitol.

The
 former exchange student at Lincoln High School said the fighting hasn’t
 yet reached her hometown of Chornomorsk, near the port city of Odessa. 
But the war is close by, in eastern Ukraine, and is closing in.

“I have classmates who are now at the front,” Iziumova said of friends in Ukraine.&nbsp;

Her
 mother fled across the border to Moldova, but her father, Igor, a 
42-year-old crane operator at the port of Odessa, has stayed behind, 
with her grandparents, an aunt and uncle and some cousins.

“He thought it was the right thing to stay and help defend the country in any way he can,” Iziumova said of her father.

Right
 now, the port is closed, but soldiers are there, sandbagging, preparing
 for a possible invasion of Odessa. She said she can feel the tension, 
the horrible anticipation. She said she’s become a “slave” to the news 
feed.

“I’m just hoping not to hear the word ‘Odessa,’” Iziumova said.

“Nobody knows what tomorrow looks like,” she added. “That’s a very hard thing.”

In Omaha, Carbullido feels the same anxiety, the same awful feeling about what could happen next.

She grew up in Lviv, in western Ukraine, a cultural hub near Poland that has escaped the shellings so far.

But
 she knows people in the east where bombs are falling and people are 
dying. And her 61-year-old brother, Rostyslav, a retired oil company 
logistics manager, and his wife are still in Lviv, waiting.

The
 brother, she said, drove his former daughter-in-law (their son died 
three years ago), her three kids and her new husband to the Polish 
border just after the war broke out. They waited in line for 18 hours 
before being allowed to leave Ukraine and are now at a refugee dormitory
 in Germany, waiting for COVID-19 tests to clear them to find temporary 
housing.

Carbullido said her brother doesn’t want her to ask what he will do when the war comes to Lviv.

&nbsp;“He refuses to talk about it,” she said. “He doesn’t want me to bug him about, ‘You must have your luggage packed.’”

“’At least do that,’ I told him,” Carbullido said.&nbsp;

For
 now, the brother is “staying out of the way.” She said he is part of a 
network of Lviv residents who are giving rides to those evacuating the 
city of 717,000.

Lviv,
 Carbullido said, is known as “The Paris of Ukraine” because of its 
beautiful architecture, culture and monuments. But now residents are 
boarding up windows and covering the monuments to protect them when the 
shooting starts.&nbsp;

“It
 was like Omaha,” Carbullido said of Lviv. “You wake up in the morning, 
you go to work, you drop your kids at school, you meet your friends for 
drinks at night …

“And then it changed overnight,” she said. “Now Ukraine is in ruins.”

Carbullido,
 who landed in Omaha because a local Ukranian church was willing to 
sponsor her and her son, said that Ukraine did not ask for war but that 
she expected that Russian president Vladmir Putin would someday invent a
 reason to invade.

“They
 think Ukraine belongs to them. They think Ukraine should work hard to 
support Russia and doesn’t deserve to be a separate country,” she said.

Carbuillido
 said that her home country, which she last visited nine years ago, has 
political divisions like any nation, but is united in the fight against 
Russia.

“They know what kind of life their relatives have across the border (in Russia) and they don’t want it,” she said.

Both
 Carbullido and Iziumova said the war in Ukraine is more than a fight 
between that country and Russia, but a fight against the whole world.

No one, they said, expects the U.S. to send troops there, but Ukraine needs more help.

Send
 drones, Carbullido posted on her Facebook page — along with pictures of
 newborns housed in a bomb shelter, a woman confronting a Russian 
soldier, and elderly women cooking food for Ukrainian troops.&nbsp;

“Oh, my God. I don’t know,” Carbullido said. “I’ve been reading different analyses. I don’t know.”

“I’m scared to think of the worst-case scenario: Occupation,” she said. “It’s just heartbreaking.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1646661986560.png" alt="Dozens of people rallied on Saturday in Lincoln in support of Ukraine. Another rally by Nebraskans for Peace was held Sunday on the steps of the State Capitol. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>Dozens of people rallied on Saturday in Lincoln in support of Ukraine. Another rally by Nebraskans for Peace was held Sunday on the steps of the State Capitol. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>‘It was like Omaha … and then it changed overnight’</h2>By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/03/06/ukrainians-in-nebraska-worry-for-loved-ones-dread-what-the-future-may-bring/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — The message on Halyna Carbullido’s Facebook page says a lot:&nbsp;“My morning doesn’t start with coffee any more. It starts with making sure my friends and relatives in Ukraine are still alive.”This
 is the world inhabited by Ukranians in America right now. They’re glued
 to the internet, to their cell phone, to news reports to follow what’s 
happening in their home country.<h2>‘Every waking moment I’m online’</h2>They’re
 collecting first-aid kits and bandages to ship back home. They’re 
speaking at rallies seeking American support. They’re spending sleepless
 nights, worrying about loved ones.&nbsp;“Every
 waking moment I’m online,” said Carbullido, who emigrated from Ukraine 
to Omaha in 1991 and has been married to her husband, Ken Carbullido, 
for 10 years. Everyone knows her by her nickname, “Hala.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1646662064069.jpeg" alt="On Sunday, Ukraine supporters in Omaha collected first-aid kits and other supplies for shipment to the war-torn country. Pictured is the organizer, Natalia Lys. (Courtesy of Hala Carbullido)" />
 <figcaption>On Sunday, Ukraine supporters in Omaha collected first-aid kits and other supplies for shipment to the war-torn country. Pictured is the organizer, Natalia Lys. (Courtesy of Hala Carbullido)</figcaption>
 </figure>The
 56-year-old, who does IT work for an Omaha bank, was helping load up a 
truck Sunday with medical supplies for shipment to Chicago and on to her
 home country. These days, she said, sleep comes only “with help.”In
 Lincoln on Sunday, 20-year old Yulia Iziumova, a junior at Nebraska 
Wesleyan University, spoke to a “Rally to Support Peace in Ukraine” on 
the steps of the State Capitol.<h2>Classmates at the front</h2>The
 former exchange student at Lincoln High School said the fighting hasn’t
 yet reached her hometown of Chornomorsk, near the port city of Odessa. 
But the war is close by, in eastern Ukraine, and is closing in.“I have classmates who are now at the front,” Iziumova said of friends in Ukraine.&nbsp;Her
 mother fled across the border to Moldova, but her father, Igor, a 
42-year-old crane operator at the port of Odessa, has stayed behind, 
with her grandparents, an aunt and uncle and some cousins.“He thought it was the right thing to stay and help defend the country in any way he can,” Iziumova said of her father.Right
 now, the port is closed, but soldiers are there, sandbagging, preparing
 for a possible invasion of Odessa. She said she can feel the tension, 
the horrible anticipation. She said she’s become a “slave” to the news 
feed.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1646662090050.jpeg" alt="Yulia Iziumova, a Ukranian student at Nebraska Wesleyan University (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>Yulia Iziumova, a Ukranian student at Nebraska Wesleyan University (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Hoping not to hear ‘Odessa’</h2>“I’m just hoping not to hear the word ‘Odessa,’” Iziumova said.“Nobody knows what tomorrow looks like,” she added. “That’s a very hard thing.”In Omaha, Carbullido feels the same anxiety, the same awful feeling about what could happen next.She grew up in Lviv, in western Ukraine, a cultural hub near Poland that has escaped the shellings so far.But
 she knows people in the east where bombs are falling and people are 
dying. And her 61-year-old brother, Rostyslav, a retired oil company 
logistics manager, and his wife are still in Lviv, waiting.<h2>Fled to Germany</h2>The
 brother, she said, drove his former daughter-in-law (their son died 
three years ago), her three kids and her new husband to the Polish 
border just after the war broke out. They waited in line for 18 hours 
before being allowed to leave Ukraine and are now at a refugee dormitory
 in Germany, waiting for COVID-19 tests to clear them to find temporary 
housing.Carbullido said her brother doesn’t want her to ask what he will do when the war comes to Lviv.&nbsp;“He refuses to talk about it,” she said. “He doesn’t want me to bug him about, ‘You must have your luggage packed.’”“’At least do that,’ I told him,” Carbullido said.&nbsp;For
 now, the brother is “staying out of the way.” She said he is part of a 
network of Lviv residents who are giving rides to those evacuating the 
city of 717,000.<h2>‘It was like Omaha …”</h2>Lviv,
 Carbullido said, is known as “The Paris of Ukraine” because of its 
beautiful architecture, culture and monuments. But now residents are 
boarding up windows and covering the monuments to protect them when the 
shooting starts.&nbsp;“It
 was like Omaha,” Carbullido said of Lviv. “You wake up in the morning, 
you go to work, you drop your kids at school, you meet your friends for 
drinks at night …“And then it changed overnight,” she said. “Now Ukraine is in ruins.”Carbullido,
 who landed in Omaha because a local Ukranian church was willing to 
sponsor her and her son, said that Ukraine did not ask for war but that 
she expected that Russian president Vladmir Putin would someday invent a
 reason to invade.“They
 think Ukraine belongs to them. They think Ukraine should work hard to 
support Russia and doesn’t deserve to be a separate country,” she said.Carbuillido
 said that her home country, which she last visited nine years ago, has 
political divisions like any nation, but is united in the fight against 
Russia.“They know what kind of life their relatives have across the border (in Russia) and they don’t want it,” she said.Both
 Carbullido and Iziumova said the war in Ukraine is more than a fight 
between that country and Russia, but a fight against the whole world.<h2>Send drones</h2>No one, they said, expects the U.S. to send troops there, but Ukraine needs more help.Send
 drones, Carbullido posted on her Facebook page — along with pictures of
 newborns housed in a bomb shelter, a woman confronting a Russian 
soldier, and elderly women cooking food for Ukrainian troops.&nbsp;What’s to come for her home country?“Oh, my God. I don’t know,” Carbullido said. “I’ve been reading different analyses. I don’t know.”“I’m scared to think of the worst-case scenario: Occupation,” she said. “It’s just heartbreaking.”

Ukrainians in Nebraska worry for loved ones, worry for future

NEW YORK (AP) — The price of regular gasoline broke $4 per gallon on average across the U.S. on Sunday for the first time since 2008.

During the first full week of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-kyiv-business-europe-f0b25c9e0201a6c5cf380ff061950673">Russia’s invasion of Ukraine</a>, the price of regular gas rose by almost 41 cents, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/" target="_blank">AAA motor club</a>.

That represents the second largest jump in average national prices in a week, GasBuddy reported.

“As Russia’s war on Ukraine continues to evolve and we head into a season where gas prices typically increase, Americans should prepare to pay more for gas than they ever have before,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said in a statement.

The all-time high for average gasoline prices was set in July 17, 2008 at $4.10 per gallon.

Neither President Joe Biden nor Congress has moved to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-joe-biden-business-europe-d30c144383033e2fc9bce6f3d5cfeb0b">ban the import&nbsp;</a>of Russian oil or place energy sanctions on the country, which could have major global economic repercussions.

On Sunday, California had the highest average price per gallon among U.S. states at $5.29, while Missouri had the lowest at around $3.60.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1646659156352.png" alt="Google image" />
 <figcaption>Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — The price of regular gasoline broke $4 per gallon on average across the U.S. on Sunday for the first time since 2008.During the first full week of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-kyiv-business-europe-f0b25c9e0201a6c5cf380ff061950673">Russia’s invasion of Ukraine</a>, the price of regular gas rose by almost 41 cents, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/" target="_blank">AAA motor club</a>.That represents the second largest jump in average national prices in a week, GasBuddy reported.“As Russia’s war on Ukraine continues to evolve and we head into a season where gas prices typically increase, Americans should prepare to pay more for gas than they ever have before,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said in a statement.The all-time high for average gasoline prices was set in July 17, 2008 at $4.10 per gallon.Neither President Joe Biden nor Congress has moved to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-joe-biden-business-europe-d30c144383033e2fc9bce6f3d5cfeb0b">ban the import&nbsp;</a>of Russian oil or place energy sanctions on the country, which could have major global economic repercussions.On Sunday, California had the highest average price per gallon among U.S. states at $5.29, while Missouri had the lowest at around $3.60.

Gas price near all-time high, tops $4 per gallon average

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced it has 
begun using voice and chat bots on two of its specialized toll-free 
telephone assistance lines and IRS.gov, enabling taxpayers with simple 
payment or collection notice questions to get what they need quickly and
 avoid waiting. Taxpayers can still speak with an IRS telephone 
representative if needed.

"Our phone lines continue to see unprecedented demand, and the IRS 
continues to look for ways to help people and avoid long wait times," 
said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. "Our telephone representatives 
remain an important part of the service we provide, but these bots can 
help some people avoid lengthy phone delays for something that could be 
resolved on the spot. This is part of a larger effort to help people get
 the assistance they need this tax season."

The IRS in recent weeks has deployed voice and chat bots in English 
and Spanish for phone lines that assist taxpayers with tax payments 
issues or understanding an IRS notice they may have received. People 
with general tax season questions generally will not encounter these 
features at this time. The bots are now available to help taxpayers 
with:

Voice bots are software powered by artificial intelligence (AI) 
that allow a caller to navigate an interactive voice response (IVR) 
system with their voice, generally using natural language. Chat bots 
simulate human conversation through web-based text interaction, also 
using AI-powered software to respond to natural language prompts. 
Taxpayers who request to speak with a customer service representative 
will be placed in queue for English or Spanish ACS telephone assistance.
 The IRS voice and chat bots currently provide unauthenticated services,
 which means they cannot provide assistance with a taxpayer's protected 
account information.

"Voice and chat bots interact with taxpayers in easy-to-follow ways, 
which means taxpayers don't have to wait on hold to handle simple 
tasks," said Darren Guillot, Commissioner of Small Business/Self 
Employed Collection at the IRS.

Later in 2022, IRS voice bots will also enable taxpayers to 
authenticate their identity to establish payment plans, request a 
transcript and obtain information about their accounts, such as payoff 
details. The IRS plans to roll out more voice and chat bots later in 
2022 to assist taxpayers with more complex issues.

IRS toll-free telephone lines receive millions of calls a year. A 
customer service representative spends on average nearly 20 minutes with
 each taxpayer they help on a collection issue. Freeing up IRS phone 
assistors for taxpayers with complex collection issues who need to speak
 with someone is another major benefit of voice and chat bots.

In addition to the payment lines, voice bots helped people calling 
the Economic Impact Payment (EIP) toll-free line, providing general 
procedural responses to frequently asked questions. The IRS also added 
voice bots for the Advance Child Tax Credit toll-free line in February 
to provide similar assistance to callers who need help reconciling the 
credits on their 2021 tax return.

The IRS also reminds taxpayers about numerous other <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/get-ready-for-taxes-bookmark-irsgov-resources-and-online-tools-to-use-before-during-and-after-filing">self-service options</a> that are available.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRSWASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced it has 
begun using voice and chat bots on two of its specialized toll-free 
telephone assistance lines and IRS.gov, enabling taxpayers with simple 
payment or collection notice questions to get what they need quickly and
 avoid waiting. Taxpayers can still speak with an IRS telephone 
representative if needed."Our phone lines continue to see unprecedented demand, and the IRS 
continues to look for ways to help people and avoid long wait times," 
said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. "Our telephone representatives 
remain an important part of the service we provide, but these bots can 
help some people avoid lengthy phone delays for something that could be 
resolved on the spot. This is part of a larger effort to help people get
 the assistance they need this tax season."The IRS in recent weeks has deployed voice and chat bots in English 
and Spanish for phone lines that assist taxpayers with tax payments 
issues or understanding an IRS notice they may have received. People 
with general tax season questions generally will not encounter these 
features at this time. The bots are now available to help taxpayers 
with:<ul>
 <li>How to make one-time payments</li><li>Answers to frequently asked questions</li><li>Collection notice clarification</li>
 </ul>Voice bots are software powered by artificial intelligence (AI) 
that allow a caller to navigate an interactive voice response (IVR) 
system with their voice, generally using natural language. Chat bots 
simulate human conversation through web-based text interaction, also 
using AI-powered software to respond to natural language prompts. 
Taxpayers who request to speak with a customer service representative 
will be placed in queue for English or Spanish ACS telephone assistance.
 The IRS voice and chat bots currently provide unauthenticated services,
 which means they cannot provide assistance with a taxpayer's protected 
account information."Voice and chat bots interact with taxpayers in easy-to-follow ways, 
which means taxpayers don't have to wait on hold to handle simple 
tasks," said Darren Guillot, Commissioner of Small Business/Self 
Employed Collection at the IRS.Later in 2022, IRS voice bots will also enable taxpayers to 
authenticate their identity to establish payment plans, request a 
transcript and obtain information about their accounts, such as payoff 
details. The IRS plans to roll out more voice and chat bots later in 
2022 to assist taxpayers with more complex issues.IRS toll-free telephone lines receive millions of calls a year. A 
customer service representative spends on average nearly 20 minutes with
 each taxpayer they help on a collection issue. Freeing up IRS phone 
assistors for taxpayers with complex collection issues who need to speak
 with someone is another major benefit of voice and chat bots.In addition to the payment lines, voice bots helped people calling 
the Economic Impact Payment (EIP) toll-free line, providing general 
procedural responses to frequently asked questions. The IRS also added 
voice bots for the Advance Child Tax Credit toll-free line in February 
to provide similar assistance to callers who need help reconciling the 
credits on their 2021 tax return.The IRS also reminds taxpayers about numerous other <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/get-ready-for-taxes-bookmark-irsgov-resources-and-online-tools-to-use-before-during-and-after-filing">self-service options</a> that are available.Cover image courtesy Pixabay

IRS: Voice, text bots will now answer your tax questions

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Kansas City police are investigating a homicide reported near one of the department's stations.

Kansas City police spokeswoman Officer Donna Drake said the homicide was reported around 2 p.m. Sunday near the intersection of East 27th Street and Brooklyn Avenue. The Kansas City Star&nbsp;reports&nbsp;that is about one block away from the police department’s East Patrol Division Station.

When officers arrived, they found two people with gunshot wounds inside a vehicle. Both victims were taken to a hospital where one later died. The second victim was in stable condition Sunday.

This is the city's 28th homicide of the year.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1646651806748.png" alt="Sunday afternoon crime scene photo courtesy KCTV" />
 <figcaption>Sunday afternoon crime scene photo courtesy KCTV</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) — Kansas City police are investigating a homicide reported near one of the department's stations.Kansas City police spokeswoman Officer Donna Drake said the homicide was reported around 2 p.m. Sunday near the intersection of East 27th Street and Brooklyn Avenue. The Kansas City Star&nbsp;reports&nbsp;that is about one block away from the police department’s East Patrol Division Station.When officers arrived, they found two people with gunshot wounds inside a vehicle. Both victims were taken to a hospital where one later died. The second victim was in stable condition Sunday.This is the city's 28th homicide of the year.

Homicide investigation near Kansas City police station

BANGKOK (AP) — The official global death toll from COVID-19 eclipsed 6 million on Monday — underscoring that the pandemic, now entering its third year, is far from over.

The milestone, recorded by Johns Hopkins University, is the latest tragic reminder of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">unrelenting nature of the pandemic</a>&nbsp;even as people are shedding masks, travel is resuming and businesses are reopening around the globe.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-religion-new-zealand-fiji-27b40edd3d6e94c5b10185e49bbf182f">Remote Pacific islands,</a>&nbsp;whose isolation had protected them for more than two years, are just now grappling with their first outbreaks and deaths, fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant.

Hong Kong, which is seeing deaths soar, is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-china-hong-kong-400065ee2ffd08eee45411d6dc099cca">testing its entire population of 7.5 million&nbsp;</a>three times this month as it clings to mainland&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-china-hong-kong-2f6cf36849799aa67cd8ee8d4f5bfd64">China’s “zero-COVID” strategy</a>.

As death rates remain high in Poland, Hungary, Romania and other Eastern European countries, the region has seen more than 1.5 million refugees arrive from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">war-torn Ukraine</a>, a country with poor vaccination coverage and high rates of cases and deaths.

And despite its wealth and vaccine availability, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-hits-covid-deaths-milestone-coronavirus-omicron-76dc452fb7263612529e09eb23bc0f24">United States is nearing 1 million</a>&nbsp;reported deaths on its own.

Death rates worldwide are still highest among people unvaccinated against the virus, said Tikki Pang, a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore’s medical school and co-chair of the Asia Pacific Immunization Coalition.

“This is a disease of the unvaccinated — look what is happening in Hong Kong right now, the health system is being overwhelmed,” said Pang, the former director of research policy and cooperation with the World Health Organization. “The large majority of the deaths and the severe cases are in the unvaccinated, vulnerable segment of the population.”

It took the world seven months to record its first million deaths from the virus after the pandemic began in early 2020. Four months later another million people had died, and 1 million have died every three months since, until the death toll hit 5 million at the end of October. Now it has reached 6 million — more than the populations of Berlin and Brussels combined, or the entire state of Maryland.

But despite the enormity of the figure, the world undoubtedly hit its 6 millionth death some time ago. Poor record-keeping and testing in many parts of the world has led to an undercount in coronavirus deaths, in addition to excess deaths related to the pandemic but not from actual COVID-19 infections, like people who died from preventable causes but could not receive treatment because hospitals were full.

Edouard Mathieu, head of data for the&nbsp;<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus" target="_blank">Our World in Data</a>&nbsp;portal, said that — when countries’ excess mortality figures are studied — as many as nearly four times the reported death toll have likely died because of the pandemic.

An&nbsp;<a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/coronavirus-excess-deaths-estimates" target="_blank">analysis of excess deaths by a team at The Economist</a>&nbsp;estimates that the number of COVID-19 deaths is between 14.1 million and 23.8 million.

“Confirmed deaths represent a fraction of the true number of deaths due to COVID, mostly because of limited testing, and challenges in the attribution of the cause of death,” Mathieu told The Associated Press. “In some, mostly rich, countries that fraction is high and the official tally can be considered to be fairly accurate, but in others it is highly underestimated.”

The United States has the biggest official death toll in the world, but the numbers have been trending downward over the last month.

Lonnie Bailey lost his 17-year-old nephew, Carlos Nunez Jr., who contracted COVID-19 last April — the same month Kentucky opened his age group to vaccinations. The Louisville resident said the family is still suffering, including Carlos’ younger sibling, who had to be hospitalized himself and still has lingering symptoms. The aggressive reopening of the country has been jarring for them to witness.

“For us it is hard to let our guard down; it’s going to take a while for us to adjust,” Bailey said.

The world has seen more than 445 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, and new weekly cases have been declining recently in all regions except for the Western Pacific, which includes China, Japan and South Korea, among others, the World Health Organization reported this week.

Although the overall figures in the Pacific islands seeing their first outbreaks are small compared to larger countries, they are significant among their tiny populations and threaten to overwhelm fragile health care systems.

“Given what we know about COVID ... it’s likely to hit them for the next year or so at least,” said Katie Greenwood, head of the Red Cross Pacific delegation.

Tonga reported its first outbreak after the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tonga-volcano-covid-outbreak-lockdown-73b2d73b2b41092898b3d92be3dabcc4">virus arrived with international aid vessels</a>&nbsp;following the Jan. 15 eruption of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tonga-volcano-eruption-impact-whats-next-01288e5ecc43aa9a9bf3bc2803efd7e2">massive volcano</a>, followed by a tsunami. It now has several hundred cases, but — with 66% of its population fully vaccinated — it has so far reported people suffering mostly mild symptoms and no deaths.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-solomon-islands-honiara-30d3df8cb0f809c9e3e5a0cc5c6f886f">Solomon Islands</a>&nbsp;saw the first outbreak in January and now has thousands of cases and more than 100 deaths. The actual death toll is likely much higher, with the capital’s hospital overwhelmed and many dying at home, Greenwood said.

Only 12% of Solomon Islanders are fully vaccinated, though the outbreak has provided new impetus to the country’s vaccination campaign and 29% now have at least one shot.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-vaccine-inequality-dac9c07b324e29d3597037b8dc1d908a">Global vaccine disparity continues</a>, with only 6.95% of people in low-income countries fully vaccinated, compared to more than 73% in high-income nations, according to Our World in Data.

In a good sign, at the end of last month Africa surpassed Europe in the number of doses administered daily, but only about 12.5% of its population has received two shots.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still pressing for more vaccines, though it has been a challenge. Some shipments arrive with little warning for countries’ health systems and others near the expiration date — forcing doses to be destroyed.

Eastern Europe has been particularly hard hit by the omicron variant, and with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a new risk has emerged as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-refugees-diversity-230b0cc790820b9bf8883f918fc8e313">hundreds of thousands of people flee</a>&nbsp;to places like Poland on crowded trains. Health officials there have been offering free vaccinations to all refugees, but have not been making them test upon arrival or quarantine.

“This is really tragic because great stress has a very negative effect on natural immunity and increases the risk of infections,” said Anna Boron-Kaczmarska, a Polish infectious disease specialist. “They are in very high stress, being afraid for their lives, the lives of their children, they family members.”

Mexico has reported 300,000 deaths, but with little testing, a government analysis of death certificates puts the real number closer to 500,000. Still, four weeks of falling infection rates have left health officials optimistic.

In India, where the world was shocked by images of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-india-coronavirus-8788a4dadc2103ec30f40111dec92f15">open-air pyres of bodies</a>&nbsp;burned as crematoria were overwhelmed, the scars are fading as the number of new cases and deaths has slowed.

India has recorded more than 500,000 deaths, but experts believe its true toll is in the millions, primarily from the delta variant. Migrants from India’s vast hinterland are now returning to its megacities in search of jobs, and the streets are packed with traffic. Shopping malls have customers, albeit still masked, while schools and universities are welcoming students after a months-long gap.

In Britain, infections have fallen since an omicron-driven surge in December, but remain high. England has now&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/boris-johnson-coronavirus-pandemic-health-europe-london-6a4a2509fd5443d7b36f5331b01f7431">lifted all restrictions</a>, including mask mandates and the requirement that all who test positive isolate at home.

With about 250,000 reported deaths, the African continent’s smaller death toll is thought to stem from underreporting, as well as a generally younger and less mobile population.

“Africa is a big question mark for me, because it has been relatively spared from the worst so far, but it could just be a time bomb,” Pang said, noting its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-middle-east-africa-lifestyle-1f2c92d6a306819c363c87661dc7818d">low vaccination rates</a>.

In South Africa, Soweto resident Thoko Dube said she received news of the deaths of two family members on the same day in January 2021 — a month before the country received its first vaccines.

It has been difficult, but “the family is coping,” she said. “We have accepted it because it has been happening to other families.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/6/1593379644162.png" alt="And despite&nbsp; wealth and vaccine availability, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-hits-covid-deaths-milestone-coronavirus-omicron-76dc452fb7263612529e09eb23bc0f24">United States is nearing 1 million</a>&nbsp;reported deaths on its own.-map courtesy John Hopkins University" />
 <figcaption>And despite&nbsp; wealth and vaccine availability, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-hits-covid-deaths-milestone-coronavirus-omicron-76dc452fb7263612529e09eb23bc0f24">United States is nearing 1 million</a>&nbsp;reported deaths on its own.-map courtesy John Hopkins University</figcaption>
 </figure>BANGKOK (AP) — The official global death toll from COVID-19 eclipsed 6 million on Monday — underscoring that the pandemic, now entering its third year, is far from over.The milestone, recorded by Johns Hopkins University, is the latest tragic reminder of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">unrelenting nature of the pandemic</a>&nbsp;even as people are shedding masks, travel is resuming and businesses are reopening around the globe.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-religion-new-zealand-fiji-27b40edd3d6e94c5b10185e49bbf182f">Remote Pacific islands,</a>&nbsp;whose isolation had protected them for more than two years, are just now grappling with their first outbreaks and deaths, fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant.Hong Kong, which is seeing deaths soar, is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-china-hong-kong-400065ee2ffd08eee45411d6dc099cca">testing its entire population of 7.5 million&nbsp;</a>three times this month as it clings to mainland&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-china-hong-kong-2f6cf36849799aa67cd8ee8d4f5bfd64">China’s “zero-COVID” strategy</a>.As death rates remain high in Poland, Hungary, Romania and other Eastern European countries, the region has seen more than 1.5 million refugees arrive from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">war-torn Ukraine</a>, a country with poor vaccination coverage and high rates of cases and deaths.And despite its wealth and vaccine availability, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-hits-covid-deaths-milestone-coronavirus-omicron-76dc452fb7263612529e09eb23bc0f24">United States is nearing 1 million</a>&nbsp;reported deaths on its own.Death rates worldwide are still highest among people unvaccinated against the virus, said Tikki Pang, a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore’s medical school and co-chair of the Asia Pacific Immunization Coalition.“This is a disease of the unvaccinated — look what is happening in Hong Kong right now, the health system is being overwhelmed,” said Pang, the former director of research policy and cooperation with the World Health Organization. “The large majority of the deaths and the severe cases are in the unvaccinated, vulnerable segment of the population.”It took the world seven months to record its first million deaths from the virus after the pandemic began in early 2020. Four months later another million people had died, and 1 million have died every three months since, until the death toll hit 5 million at the end of October. Now it has reached 6 million — more than the populations of Berlin and Brussels combined, or the entire state of Maryland.But despite the enormity of the figure, the world undoubtedly hit its 6 millionth death some time ago. Poor record-keeping and testing in many parts of the world has led to an undercount in coronavirus deaths, in addition to excess deaths related to the pandemic but not from actual COVID-19 infections, like people who died from preventable causes but could not receive treatment because hospitals were full.Edouard Mathieu, head of data for the&nbsp;<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus" target="_blank">Our World in Data</a>&nbsp;portal, said that — when countries’ excess mortality figures are studied — as many as nearly four times the reported death toll have likely died because of the pandemic.An&nbsp;<a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/coronavirus-excess-deaths-estimates" target="_blank">analysis of excess deaths by a team at The Economist</a>&nbsp;estimates that the number of COVID-19 deaths is between 14.1 million and 23.8 million.“Confirmed deaths represent a fraction of the true number of deaths due to COVID, mostly because of limited testing, and challenges in the attribution of the cause of death,” Mathieu told The Associated Press. “In some, mostly rich, countries that fraction is high and the official tally can be considered to be fairly accurate, but in others it is highly underestimated.”The United States has the biggest official death toll in the world, but the numbers have been trending downward over the last month.Lonnie Bailey lost his 17-year-old nephew, Carlos Nunez Jr., who contracted COVID-19 last April — the same month Kentucky opened his age group to vaccinations. The Louisville resident said the family is still suffering, including Carlos’ younger sibling, who had to be hospitalized himself and still has lingering symptoms. The aggressive reopening of the country has been jarring for them to witness.“For us it is hard to let our guard down; it’s going to take a while for us to adjust,” Bailey said.The world has seen more than 445 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, and new weekly cases have been declining recently in all regions except for the Western Pacific, which includes China, Japan and South Korea, among others, the World Health Organization reported this week.Although the overall figures in the Pacific islands seeing their first outbreaks are small compared to larger countries, they are significant among their tiny populations and threaten to overwhelm fragile health care systems.“Given what we know about COVID ... it’s likely to hit them for the next year or so at least,” said Katie Greenwood, head of the Red Cross Pacific delegation.Tonga reported its first outbreak after the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tonga-volcano-covid-outbreak-lockdown-73b2d73b2b41092898b3d92be3dabcc4">virus arrived with international aid vessels</a>&nbsp;following the Jan. 15 eruption of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tonga-volcano-eruption-impact-whats-next-01288e5ecc43aa9a9bf3bc2803efd7e2">massive volcano</a>, followed by a tsunami. It now has several hundred cases, but — with 66% of its population fully vaccinated — it has so far reported people suffering mostly mild symptoms and no deaths.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-solomon-islands-honiara-30d3df8cb0f809c9e3e5a0cc5c6f886f">Solomon Islands</a>&nbsp;saw the first outbreak in January and now has thousands of cases and more than 100 deaths. The actual death toll is likely much higher, with the capital’s hospital overwhelmed and many dying at home, Greenwood said.Only 12% of Solomon Islanders are fully vaccinated, though the outbreak has provided new impetus to the country’s vaccination campaign and 29% now have at least one shot.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-vaccine-inequality-dac9c07b324e29d3597037b8dc1d908a">Global vaccine disparity continues</a>, with only 6.95% of people in low-income countries fully vaccinated, compared to more than 73% in high-income nations, according to Our World in Data.In a good sign, at the end of last month Africa surpassed Europe in the number of doses administered daily, but only about 12.5% of its population has received two shots.The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still pressing for more vaccines, though it has been a challenge. Some shipments arrive with little warning for countries’ health systems and others near the expiration date — forcing doses to be destroyed.Eastern Europe has been particularly hard hit by the omicron variant, and with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a new risk has emerged as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-refugees-diversity-230b0cc790820b9bf8883f918fc8e313">hundreds of thousands of people flee</a>&nbsp;to places like Poland on crowded trains. Health officials there have been offering free vaccinations to all refugees, but have not been making them test upon arrival or quarantine.“This is really tragic because great stress has a very negative effect on natural immunity and increases the risk of infections,” said Anna Boron-Kaczmarska, a Polish infectious disease specialist. “They are in very high stress, being afraid for their lives, the lives of their children, they family members.”Mexico has reported 300,000 deaths, but with little testing, a government analysis of death certificates puts the real number closer to 500,000. Still, four weeks of falling infection rates have left health officials optimistic.In India, where the world was shocked by images of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-india-coronavirus-8788a4dadc2103ec30f40111dec92f15">open-air pyres of bodies</a>&nbsp;burned as crematoria were overwhelmed, the scars are fading as the number of new cases and deaths has slowed.India has recorded more than 500,000 deaths, but experts believe its true toll is in the millions, primarily from the delta variant. Migrants from India’s vast hinterland are now returning to its megacities in search of jobs, and the streets are packed with traffic. Shopping malls have customers, albeit still masked, while schools and universities are welcoming students after a months-long gap.In Britain, infections have fallen since an omicron-driven surge in December, but remain high. England has now&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/boris-johnson-coronavirus-pandemic-health-europe-london-6a4a2509fd5443d7b36f5331b01f7431">lifted all restrictions</a>, including mask mandates and the requirement that all who test positive isolate at home.With about 250,000 reported deaths, the African continent’s smaller death toll is thought to stem from underreporting, as well as a generally younger and less mobile population.“Africa is a big question mark for me, because it has been relatively spared from the worst so far, but it could just be a time bomb,” Pang said, noting its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-middle-east-africa-lifestyle-1f2c92d6a306819c363c87661dc7818d">low vaccination rates</a>.In South Africa, Soweto resident Thoko Dube said she received news of the deaths of two family members on the same day in January 2021 — a month before the country received its first vaccines.It has been difficult, but “the family is coping,” she said. “We have accepted it because it has been happening to other families.”

Death toll surpasses 6 million for pandemic now in 3rd year

By MIKE FITZGERALD <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/03/07/former-st-louis-teacher-helping-lead-coalition-pushing-back-on-book-bans/">Missouri Independent</a>

Heather Fleming, sitting on a bench in St. Louis’ Forest Park, takes in the view on a warm early afternoon in February.&nbsp;

Behind her is the Jewel Box, the 
giant glass-paneled greenhouse that’s a park emblem. Before her are rows
 of tall trees, their branches stripped bare. And further on, on nearby 
walkways and trails, is a steady single-file flow of joggers, walkers 
and cyclists — humans of all ages, sizes, shapes and colors.

Fleming has been coming here nearly 
her whole life, since she was a little girl growing up in one of St. 
Charles County’s relatively few black families.

One reason she likes this spot is because it offers a vision of the future she’s spent her life imagining.

Fleming, 46, worked 13 years as a 
high school English teacher, and worked another three years as an equity
 and diversity consultant.&nbsp;

“That’s why I like Forest Park so 
much,” she said. “It seems the one place in St. Louis that’s neutral. 
There’s so much of St. Louis that has been steeped in racism, that it’s 
almost palpable.”

But here, in this corner of town, 
Forest Park is “a testament to what I hope all of St. Louis can become,”
 she said. “It’s a place where you get lots of different types of people
 and lots of different types of experiences…So why can’t we do that 
everywhere?”&nbsp;

It is a question that weighs on 
Fleming these days as her vision of an inclusive America is being 
challenged like never before in her lifetime.

Fleming is the founder of Missouri Equity Education Partnership, which nearly a year ago started as an informal Facebook group.&nbsp;

It has since grown into the spearhead
 of a coalition of local groups pushing back against school district 
book bans, as well as efforts in Jefferson City to pass a deluge of 
bills to exert greater control over the ways race, gender and history 
are taught in Missouri classrooms.

And it has had an immediate impact.&nbsp;

Case in point: In
 a 4-3 decision back in January, the Wentzville School Board banned 
eight books, including “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison after some 
parents complained it is not suitable for kids and contains “graphic 
sexual violence.”&nbsp;

The Morrison book, published in 1970,
 is about Pecola, a black girl growing up in rural Ohio during the World
 War II era. She wants blue eyes because she’s told she’s “ugly” because
 of her dark skin. The target of many previous attempts to ban it from 
school libraries nationwide, the novel explores the themes of racism, 
incest, rape and out-of-wedlock pregnancy.

Fleming partnered with the St. Louis bookstore EyeSeeMe to deliver free copies to anyone who requested it.

Mo. EEP raised more than $3,000 in 
the first few hours after launching the book program on January 27. 
Three weeks later, the program had raised more than $19,000 and sent out
 nearly 600 copies of the “Bluest Eye,” Fleming said.

Ultimately, the Wentzville book ban backfired, said Fleming, who previously taught English at Parkway North High School.

“What is really happening is that 
it’s alerting people to the underlying malignancy of this whole thing,” 
she said. “It’s starting to wake more people up.”

In late February the Wentzville Board
 of Education held a special meeting and voted to rescind their decision
 to remove the “Bluest Eye.”&nbsp;

‘…nothing around me represented me or included me’

Fleming said she always knew she wanted to be a teacher.

Growing up in St. Charles, Fleming 
has many good memories of school. But they are tempered by the fact she 
always felt, at least in the classroom, as an outsider. When she 
graduated from St. Chiarles West High School nearly 30 years ago, she 
was one of only five black students out of a class of almost 400, she 
said.

“And I think that’s why I’m 
passionate about this,” she said. “It’s that I know that experience of 
feeling like nothing around me represented me or included me.”&nbsp;

Fleming has an older sister and a 
much younger brother. Her parents are solidly middle class: her father 
worked as a production manager at the Airwick Industries plant in St. 
Peters, while her mother worked as an office assistant at McDonnell 
Douglas aircraft company in St. Louis.

In seventh grade, Fleming invited her best friend at the time, a white girl, to come to her house for a sleepover.&nbsp;

“And the day of, she called me and 
said her dad didn’t want her staying at any black people’s house,” she 
recalls. “The reality is that as black people we deal with a lot of 
those things. So we don’t have the luxury of saying it’s all 
colorblind.”

Married with two grown sons and a 
13-year-old daughter in middle school, Fleming began teaching English at
 Parkway North High School in 2005. Soon, she began teaching salary 
credit courses for fellow teachers on diversity and inclusion.&nbsp;

“Mostly what I taught is, ‘How do we 
allow all stories into a room?’ It’s actually giving empathy to anyone 
who can be other’ed,” she said. “It was allowing each person to feel 
like they were a valued part of the classroom.”

Fleming started her equity training 
company, In Purpose Educational Services, in 2018, when she approached a
 crossroad in her life.

After earning a master’s degree in 
school administration, Fleming said she interviewed for eight school 
administration jobs — and got turned down for each one.

“I can’t tell you how many times I was told a white male candidate was a better fit,” she said.&nbsp;

So, she said, she prayed on the matter, and realized she needed to make a big change.

“Kind of the question that came to me
 was, If you could be doing anything, and money wasn’t a consideration, 
what would it be?” she said. “It was equity work.”

While Fleming’s advocacy has shown 
results at the local level, her coalition has also trained its focus on 
action in Jefferson City — specifically, a spate of bills Fleming views as
 educational gag orders seeking to undermine public trust and prevent 
honest discussions of unpleasant topics like America’s history of 
slavery and the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Supporters of these measures call 
them overdue reforms that will bolster accountability and transparency 
in Missouri classrooms. They argue the goal is simply to ensure parental
 rights are being respected.

State Rep. Doug Richey, chairman of 
the legislature’s Joint Education Committee and the sponsor of one of 
the bills, said his goal is to improve public education, not harm it.

“I’m not a grenade thrower,’ said 
Richey, R-Excelsior Springs. “I’m someone who believes it’s important to
 do what’s necessary, but I’m not looking to burn down the institution 
and celebrate that I’ve done something. That doesn’t help anybody.”

“The real impact will be that as 
teachers attempt to discuss these issues, they’re going to be fearful of
 perhaps saying something that violates one of these laws,” Fleming 
said. “They’re going either a) avoid it altogether or b) have such a 
sanitized version that it’s not the truth.”

At a Jan. 11 House Education Committee hearing in Jefferson City centered on the first
 wave of education bills this legislative session, Fleming showed up 
with nearly 150 supporters to pack the hearing room. What’s more, the 
1,600 emailed testimonies from other witnesses — the vast majority 
opposed to the bills — set a record for the sheer number of written 
testimonies submitted.

The two GOP bills that drew Fleming and her supporters were Richey’s <a target="_blank" href="https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB1995&amp;year=2022&amp;code=R">House Bill 1995</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB1474&amp;year=2022&amp;code=R">House Bill 1474</a>, sponsored by Rep.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.house.mo.gov/MemberDetails.aspx?year=2022&amp;code=R&amp;district=107"> Nick Schroer</a>,
 R-O’Fallon. The bills were combined into a “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” 
with a section restricting the teaching of critical race theory, a 
decades-old academic framework that focuses on the idea that race and 
racism permeate America’s institutions and hurt people of color.

Republicans deride CRT as divisive 
and formulated to make white kids feel ashamed about their forebears’ 
treatment of minority groups. Educators such as Fleming, however, argue 
there’s no evidence CRT is being taught in any Missouri classrooms.

In response to the show of public 
opposition, Richey said language specifically citing CRT was removed 
from the bill, though it still refers to several topic areas that would 
be prohibited in the classroom, such as making students feel “collective
 guilt” for their ancestors’ misdeeds

“The language we’ve landed on now closes the door to that kind of chilling effect,” Richey said.

Soon after the Wentzville book ban 
took effect back in January, the ACLU of Missouri filed a lawsuit in 
U.S. District Court in St. Louis on behalf of two Wentzville school 
district students.&nbsp;

The civil liberties group sought to 
stop the removal of the books on the grounds “the decisive factor in the
 decisions to remove the Banned Books was dislike of the ideas or 
opinions contained in the books by policymakers, school officials, 
community members, or a combination of those,” according to the lawsuit.

As for rescinding the district ban on
 “The Bluest Eye,” Anthony Rothert, the ACLU’s director of integrated 
advocacy, called it “welcome news,” but added the ban remains in effect 
for the other books, while the district’s “policies make it easy for any
 community member to force any book from the shelves even when they 
shamelessly target books by and about communities of color, LGBTQ people
 and other marginalized groups.”&nbsp;

Fleming’s efforts to challenge the 
book ban and to raise money to purchase the banned books for students 
who want to read them has led to a flood of abuse on TikTok, Facebook 
and other social media, she said.

“At this point I’ve been told I’m 
pro-pornography, pro-molestation and pro-incest,” she said. “And that’s a
 ridiculous claim. What I am for is the ability to teach kids that there
 are so many experiences, and not all of them are going to be good.”

In October, a member of Concerned 
Parents of Rockwood, filed a consumer complaint against Fleming and Mo. 
EEP with Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office.&nbsp;

The woman alleged that Fleming used Mo. EEP “to disparage, silence and publicly shame parents” in the Rockwood district.

Fleming denies the allegations. Schmitt’s office has not moved on the complaint.

What’s happening in Jefferson City is being echoed nationwide.

Since Jan. 2021, nearly 160 “educational
 gag order” bills have been introduced or prefiled in 39 states, 
according to PEN America, a group that represents authors.&nbsp;

The measures span a wide gamut, from 
Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would prohibit public K-12 
teachers from “encourag[ing] classroom discussion about sexual 
orientation or gender identity” in primary grade levels,” to efforts 
working through the Indiana and Iowa legislatures to
 place cameras in classrooms so that parents can view livestreams of 
their children and keep teachers under constant surveillance.

To Fleming, the engine behind these efforts is fueled by shifting demographics.

America is on its way to becoming a 
majority-minority nation at the same time its white population is 
shrinking. After centuries of dominance, white people will become a 
numerical minority over the course of the next generation. A lot of 
Americans are unhappy with that prospect, she said.&nbsp;

“When you can suddenly activate that 
fear in the majority that one day, because they might be a minority, 
they might be treated like minorities,” she said.

Critical Race Theory is an academic 
framework that few people outside law schools and graduate programs had 
heard of before mid-2020.&nbsp;

But since then it has become a 
rallying cry for conservatives who believe CRT is inherently divisive. 
In their minds, CRT has infiltrated classrooms with the aim of making 
white kids feel ashamed about unpleasant chapters in the American story.

Fleming denies that CRT is being 
taught in Missouri K-12 classrooms. They say attacks on it are part of 
an effort to turn CRT into an umbrella term that covers any serious attempt to teach about race, gender and racism in America.

Johnnie Calloway, a spokesman for the
 nonprofit Missouri Prosper, said schools should refrain from teaching 
about systemic or institutional racism.&nbsp;

His organization, according to its 
website, consists of a “group of parents dedicated to creating strong 
communities where families and individuals can have the opportunity to 
prosper and self-govern.” &nbsp;

“It has nothing to do with race at 
this point,” said Calloway, who is Black. “Much respect to Martin Luther
 King and the Civil Rights movement, but it’s disingenuous to say in 
2022 that race is stopping anybody from being successful.”&nbsp;

During public testimony before the 
legislature’s Joint Committee on Education last August, witnesses noted a
 survey by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
 to determine how many schools were teaching critical race theory.

Of the 425 Missouri schools that 
responded to the DESE survey, only one indicated it includes lessons 
about critical race theory.

Richey, based on his discussions with
 parents and school officials around the state, said he’s not surprised 
only one school district acknowledged teaching some aspect of CRT.

“When you ask the question that is 
more fitting for a K-12 school district, that number increases 
significantly because now you’re talking about using the assumptions of 
critical race theory,” he said.

He declined to cite specific evidence
 during an interview to support his assertions that CRT is being taught 
in Missouri classrooms, instead pointing to the goals of his bill.&nbsp;

“This is a bill that is responding to
 the fact that we do have public school districts supported by public 
tax dollars that are utilizing some of these concepts,” he said, “and 
that needs to stop.”

On a Saturday morning in late 
February more than 70 people gather outside the entrance to University 
City High School, located just outside of St. Louis. They have shown up 
for a “Rally for Truth in Education,” sponsored by Metropolitan 
Congregations United, a close Mo. EEP ally.

The mood is upbeat and energized. A 
series of speakers, including some high school students, read sections 
from an open letter to the Missouri General Assembly that call for the 
repudiation of the Richey bill.

A young woman, reading off a copy of 
the letter, tells her audience that a culturally “responsive education 
is student-centered and reflects students’ experiences. A public school 
should be where every student sees their identity included, represented,
 respected and honored.”&nbsp;

Lisa Thompson, a member of MCU’s 
education task force, tells the crowd the message has gotten out that 
most people will support equity and inclusion “and they will rise up and
 defend it.”

So the sponsors of HB 1995 changed the focus, she said.

“Now it’s called parents’ rights,” 
she said. “Who can oppose that? Parents should have rights, right? This 
language is a sneaky smokescreen for giving parents rights they already 
had, which also encourages a feeling of mistrust between parents and 
teachers.”

After an hour the rally ends and most
 of the crowd disperses. Fleming hangs back to talk to fellow Mo. EEP 
members. They climb a few steps to pose for a group photo, then break 
up.

&nbsp;Fleming
 acknowledges it’s possible HB 1995 could be passed into law, but if 
that happens she and the movement she leads won’t give up, she said.

“We’re going to be successful in the 
end because we have enough people that care, that are passionate about 
this” she said. “Because as we can tell by that rally, there are so many
 people that imagine a different future for America.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1646670728736.png" alt="Heather Fleming in St. Louis’ Forrest Park (photo by Mike Fitzgerald). " />
 <figcaption>Heather Fleming in St. Louis’ Forrest Park (photo by Mike Fitzgerald). </figcaption>
 </figure>By MIKE FITZGERALD <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/03/07/former-st-louis-teacher-helping-lead-coalition-pushing-back-on-book-bans/">Missouri Independent</a>Heather Fleming, sitting on a bench in St. Louis’ Forest Park, takes in the view on a warm early afternoon in February.&nbsp;Behind her is the Jewel Box, the 
giant glass-paneled greenhouse that’s a park emblem. Before her are rows
 of tall trees, their branches stripped bare. And further on, on nearby 
walkways and trails, is a steady single-file flow of joggers, walkers 
and cyclists — humans of all ages, sizes, shapes and colors.Fleming has been coming here nearly 
her whole life, since she was a little girl growing up in one of St. 
Charles County’s relatively few black families.One reason she likes this spot is because it offers a vision of the future she’s spent her life imagining.Fleming, 46, worked 13 years as a 
high school English teacher, and worked another three years as an equity
 and diversity consultant.&nbsp;“That’s why I like Forest Park so 
much,” she said. “It seems the one place in St. Louis that’s neutral. 
There’s so much of St. Louis that has been steeped in racism, that it’s 
almost palpable.”But here, in this corner of town, 
Forest Park is “a testament to what I hope all of St. Louis can become,”
 she said. “It’s a place where you get lots of different types of people
 and lots of different types of experiences…So why can’t we do that 
everywhere?”&nbsp;It is a question that weighs on 
Fleming these days as her vision of an inclusive America is being 
challenged like never before in her lifetime.Fleming is the founder of Missouri Equity Education Partnership, which nearly a year ago started as an informal Facebook group.&nbsp;It has since grown into the spearhead
 of a coalition of local groups pushing back against school district 
book bans, as well as efforts in Jefferson City to pass a deluge of 
bills to exert greater control over the ways race, gender and history 
are taught in Missouri classrooms.And it has had an immediate impact.&nbsp;Case in point: In
 a 4-3 decision back in January, the Wentzville School Board banned 
eight books, including “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison after some 
parents complained it is not suitable for kids and contains “graphic 
sexual violence.”&nbsp;The Morrison book, published in 1970,
 is about Pecola, a black girl growing up in rural Ohio during the World
 War II era. She wants blue eyes because she’s told she’s “ugly” because
 of her dark skin. The target of many previous attempts to ban it from 
school libraries nationwide, the novel explores the themes of racism, 
incest, rape and out-of-wedlock pregnancy.Fleming partnered with the St. Louis bookstore EyeSeeMe to deliver free copies to anyone who requested it.Mo. EEP raised more than $3,000 in 
the first few hours after launching the book program on January 27. 
Three weeks later, the program had raised more than $19,000 and sent out
 nearly 600 copies of the “Bluest Eye,” Fleming said.Ultimately, the Wentzville book ban backfired, said Fleming, who previously taught English at Parkway North High School.“What is really happening is that 
it’s alerting people to the underlying malignancy of this whole thing,” 
she said. “It’s starting to wake more people up.”In late February the Wentzville Board
 of Education held a special meeting and voted to rescind their decision
 to remove the “Bluest Eye.”&nbsp;<h2>‘…nothing around me represented me or included me’</h2>Fleming said she always knew she wanted to be a teacher.Growing up in St. Charles, Fleming 
has many good memories of school. But they are tempered by the fact she 
always felt, at least in the classroom, as an outsider. When she 
graduated from St. Chiarles West High School nearly 30 years ago, she 
was one of only five black students out of a class of almost 400, she 
said.“And I think that’s why I’m 
passionate about this,” she said. “It’s that I know that experience of 
feeling like nothing around me represented me or included me.”&nbsp;Fleming has an older sister and a 
much younger brother. Her parents are solidly middle class: her father 
worked as a production manager at the Airwick Industries plant in St. 
Peters, while her mother worked as an office assistant at McDonnell 
Douglas aircraft company in St. Louis.In seventh grade, Fleming invited her best friend at the time, a white girl, to come to her house for a sleepover.&nbsp;“And the day of, she called me and 
said her dad didn’t want her staying at any black people’s house,” she 
recalls. “The reality is that as black people we deal with a lot of 
those things. So we don’t have the luxury of saying it’s all 
colorblind.”Married with two grown sons and a 
13-year-old daughter in middle school, Fleming began teaching English at
 Parkway North High School in 2005. Soon, she began teaching salary 
credit courses for fellow teachers on diversity and inclusion.&nbsp;“Mostly what I taught is, ‘How do we 
allow all stories into a room?’ It’s actually giving empathy to anyone 
who can be other’ed,” she said. “It was allowing each person to feel 
like they were a valued part of the classroom.”Fleming started her equity training 
company, In Purpose Educational Services, in 2018, when she approached a
 crossroad in her life.After earning a master’s degree in 
school administration, Fleming said she interviewed for eight school 
administration jobs — and got turned down for each one.“I can’t tell you how many times I was told a white male candidate was a better fit,” she said.&nbsp;So, she said, she prayed on the matter, and realized she needed to make a big change.“Kind of the question that came to me
 was, If you could be doing anything, and money wasn’t a consideration, 
what would it be?” she said. “It was equity work.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1646670795360.png" alt="Heather Fleming with Mo. EEP volunteers following their legislator lobbying day event at the Missouri State Capitol on March 3, 2022 (photo submitted)." />
 <figcaption>Heather Fleming with Mo. EEP volunteers following their legislator lobbying day event at the Missouri State Capitol on March 3, 2022 (photo submitted).</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Educational ‘gag orders’</h2>While Fleming’s advocacy has shown 
results at the local level, her coalition has also trained its focus on 
action in Jefferson City — specifically, a spate of bills Fleming views as
 educational gag orders seeking to undermine public trust and prevent 
honest discussions of unpleasant topics like America’s history of 
slavery and the Tulsa Race Massacre.Supporters of these measures call 
them overdue reforms that will bolster accountability and transparency 
in Missouri classrooms. They argue the goal is simply to ensure parental
 rights are being respected.State Rep. Doug Richey, chairman of 
the legislature’s Joint Education Committee and the sponsor of one of 
the bills, said his goal is to improve public education, not harm it.“I’m not a grenade thrower,’ said 
Richey, R-Excelsior Springs. “I’m someone who believes it’s important to
 do what’s necessary, but I’m not looking to burn down the institution 
and celebrate that I’ve done something. That doesn’t help anybody.”Fleming doesn’t buy it.&nbsp;“The real impact will be that as 
teachers attempt to discuss these issues, they’re going to be fearful of
 perhaps saying something that violates one of these laws,” Fleming 
said. “They’re going either a) avoid it altogether or b) have such a 
sanitized version that it’s not the truth.”At a Jan. 11 House Education Committee hearing in Jefferson City centered on the first
 wave of education bills this legislative session, Fleming showed up 
with nearly 150 supporters to pack the hearing room. What’s more, the 
1,600 emailed testimonies from other witnesses — the vast majority 
opposed to the bills — set a record for the sheer number of written 
testimonies submitted.The two GOP bills that drew Fleming and her supporters were Richey’s <a target="_blank" href="https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB1995&amp;year=2022&amp;code=R">House Bill 1995</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB1474&amp;year=2022&amp;code=R">House Bill 1474</a>, sponsored by Rep.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.house.mo.gov/MemberDetails.aspx?year=2022&amp;code=R&amp;district=107"> Nick Schroer</a>,
 R-O’Fallon. The bills were combined into a “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” 
with a section restricting the teaching of critical race theory, a 
decades-old academic framework that focuses on the idea that race and 
racism permeate America’s institutions and hurt people of color.Republicans deride CRT as divisive 
and formulated to make white kids feel ashamed about their forebears’ 
treatment of minority groups. Educators such as Fleming, however, argue 
there’s no evidence CRT is being taught in any Missouri classrooms.In response to the show of public 
opposition, Richey said language specifically citing CRT was removed 
from the bill, though it still refers to several topic areas that would 
be prohibited in the classroom, such as making students feel “collective
 guilt” for their ancestors’ misdeeds“The language we’ve landed on now closes the door to that kind of chilling effect,” Richey said.<h2>Pushback</h2>Soon after the Wentzville book ban 
took effect back in January, the ACLU of Missouri filed a lawsuit in 
U.S. District Court in St. Louis on behalf of two Wentzville school 
district students.&nbsp;The civil liberties group sought to 
stop the removal of the books on the grounds “the decisive factor in the
 decisions to remove the Banned Books was dislike of the ideas or 
opinions contained in the books by policymakers, school officials, 
community members, or a combination of those,” according to the lawsuit.As for rescinding the district ban on
 “The Bluest Eye,” Anthony Rothert, the ACLU’s director of integrated 
advocacy, called it “welcome news,” but added the ban remains in effect 
for the other books, while the district’s “policies make it easy for any
 community member to force any book from the shelves even when they 
shamelessly target books by and about communities of color, LGBTQ people
 and other marginalized groups.”&nbsp;Fleming’s efforts to challenge the 
book ban and to raise money to purchase the banned books for students 
who want to read them has led to a flood of abuse on TikTok, Facebook 
and other social media, she said.“At this point I’ve been told I’m 
pro-pornography, pro-molestation and pro-incest,” she said. “And that’s a
 ridiculous claim. What I am for is the ability to teach kids that there
 are so many experiences, and not all of them are going to be good.”In October, a member of Concerned 
Parents of Rockwood, filed a consumer complaint against Fleming and Mo. 
EEP with Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office.&nbsp;The woman alleged that Fleming used Mo. EEP “to disparage, silence and publicly shame parents” in the Rockwood district.Fleming denies the allegations. Schmitt’s office has not moved on the complaint.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1646670835949.png" alt="Heather Fleming at University City High School (photo by Mike Fitzgerald)." />
 <figcaption>Heather Fleming at University City High School (photo by Mike Fitzgerald).</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Critical Race Theory</h2>What’s happening in Jefferson City is being echoed nationwide.Since Jan. 2021, nearly 160 “educational
 gag order” bills have been introduced or prefiled in 39 states, 
according to PEN America, a group that represents authors.&nbsp;The measures span a wide gamut, from 
Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would prohibit public K-12 
teachers from “encourag[ing] classroom discussion about sexual 
orientation or gender identity” in primary grade levels,” to efforts 
working through the Indiana and Iowa legislatures to
 place cameras in classrooms so that parents can view livestreams of 
their children and keep teachers under constant surveillance.To Fleming, the engine behind these efforts is fueled by shifting demographics.America is on its way to becoming a 
majority-minority nation at the same time its white population is 
shrinking. After centuries of dominance, white people will become a 
numerical minority over the course of the next generation. A lot of 
Americans are unhappy with that prospect, she said.&nbsp;“When you can suddenly activate that 
fear in the majority that one day, because they might be a minority, 
they might be treated like minorities,” she said.Critical Race Theory is an academic 
framework that few people outside law schools and graduate programs had 
heard of before mid-2020.&nbsp;But since then it has become a 
rallying cry for conservatives who believe CRT is inherently divisive. 
In their minds, CRT has infiltrated classrooms with the aim of making 
white kids feel ashamed about unpleasant chapters in the American story.Fleming denies that CRT is being 
taught in Missouri K-12 classrooms. They say attacks on it are part of 
an effort to turn CRT into an umbrella term that covers any serious attempt to teach about race, gender and racism in America.Johnnie Calloway, a spokesman for the
 nonprofit Missouri Prosper, said schools should refrain from teaching 
about systemic or institutional racism.&nbsp;His organization, according to its 
website, consists of a “group of parents dedicated to creating strong 
communities where families and individuals can have the opportunity to 
prosper and self-govern.” &nbsp;“It has nothing to do with race at 
this point,” said Calloway, who is Black. “Much respect to Martin Luther
 King and the Civil Rights movement, but it’s disingenuous to say in 
2022 that race is stopping anybody from being successful.”&nbsp;During public testimony before the 
legislature’s Joint Committee on Education last August, witnesses noted a
 survey by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
 to determine how many schools were teaching critical race theory.Of the 425 Missouri schools that 
responded to the DESE survey, only one indicated it includes lessons 
about critical race theory.Richey, based on his discussions with
 parents and school officials around the state, said he’s not surprised 
only one school district acknowledged teaching some aspect of CRT.“When you ask the question that is 
more fitting for a K-12 school district, that number increases 
significantly because now you’re talking about using the assumptions of 
critical race theory,” he said.He declined to cite specific evidence
 during an interview to support his assertions that CRT is being taught 
in Missouri classrooms, instead pointing to the goals of his bill.&nbsp;“This is a bill that is responding to
 the fact that we do have public school districts supported by public 
tax dollars that are utilizing some of these concepts,” he said, “and 
that needs to stop.”<h2>‘A different future for America’</h2>On a Saturday morning in late 
February more than 70 people gather outside the entrance to University 
City High School, located just outside of St. Louis. They have shown up 
for a “Rally for Truth in Education,” sponsored by Metropolitan 
Congregations United, a close Mo. EEP ally.The mood is upbeat and energized. A 
series of speakers, including some high school students, read sections 
from an open letter to the Missouri General Assembly that call for the 
repudiation of the Richey bill.A young woman, reading off a copy of 
the letter, tells her audience that a culturally “responsive education 
is student-centered and reflects students’ experiences. A public school 
should be where every student sees their identity included, represented,
 respected and honored.”&nbsp;Lisa Thompson, a member of MCU’s 
education task force, tells the crowd the message has gotten out that 
most people will support equity and inclusion “and they will rise up and
 defend it.”So the sponsors of HB 1995 changed the focus, she said.“Now it’s called parents’ rights,” 
she said. “Who can oppose that? Parents should have rights, right? This 
language is a sneaky smokescreen for giving parents rights they already 
had, which also encourages a feeling of mistrust between parents and 
teachers.”After an hour the rally ends and most
 of the crowd disperses. Fleming hangs back to talk to fellow Mo. EEP 
members. They climb a few steps to pose for a group photo, then break 
up.&nbsp;Fleming
 acknowledges it’s possible HB 1995 could be passed into law, but if 
that happens she and the movement she leads won’t give up, she said.“We’re going to be successful in the 
end because we have enough people that care, that are passionate about 
this” she said. “Because as we can tell by that rally, there are so many
 people that imagine a different future for America.”

Former Mo. teacher helping lead coalition pushing back on book bans

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fighting for his country’s survival, Ukraine’s leader made a “desperate” plea Saturday to American lawmakers for the United States to help get more warplanes to his military and cut off&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-joe-biden-business-europe-d30c144383033e2fc9bce6f3d5cfeb0b">Russian oil imports</a>&nbsp;as Kyiv tries to stave off the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">Russian invasion</a>.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy opened the private video call with U.S. lawmakers by telling them this may be the last time they see him alive. He has remained in Kyiv, the capital, which has a vast Russian armored column threatening from the north.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1646538712168.png" alt="A view of the Zoom call with members of Congress -photo courtesy President Volodymyr Zelenskyy " />
 <figcaption>A view of the Zoom call with members of Congress -photo courtesy President Volodymyr Zelenskyy </figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Fighting for his country’s survival, Ukraine’s leader made a “desperate” plea Saturday to American lawmakers for the United States to help get more warplanes to his military and cut off&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-joe-biden-business-europe-d30c144383033e2fc9bce6f3d5cfeb0b">Russian oil imports</a>&nbsp;as Kyiv tries to stave off the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">Russian invasion</a>.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Just got off a call with President Zelenskyy and my Senate colleagues. President Zelenskyy&#39;s bravery and leadership has been an inspiration to the world in uniting against Vladimir Putin.&mdash; Senator Jerry Moran (@JerryMoran) <a href="https://twitter.com/JerryMoran/status/1500174099213127683?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>President Volodymyr Zelenskyy opened the private video call with U.S. lawmakers by telling them this may be the last time they see him alive. He has remained in Kyiv, the capital, which has a vast Russian armored column threatening from the north.Appearing in what is now his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-volodymyr-zelenskyy-kyiv-poland-europe-c270027c825e009ed66988bb98a3476e">trademark army-green shirt&nbsp;</a>in front of a white wall with the Ukrainian flag, he told them Ukraine needs to secure its skies, either through a no-fly zone enforced by NATO or through the provision of more warplanes so Ukraine could better defend itself. Zelenskyy has been pleading for a no-fly zone for days, but NATO has refused, saying it could provoke a widespread war with Russia.The hourlong exchange with some 300 members of Congress and their staffs came as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-3d9e50b2fa8b08ce1f74c1b09403186e">Russian troops continued to shell encircled cities&nbsp;</a>and the number of Ukrainians who have fled the country grew to 1.4 million.“President Zelenskyy made a desperate plea,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.He said Zelenskyy wants the U.S. to facilitate the transfer of planes from Eastern European allies. “I will do all I can to help the administration to facilitate their transfer,” Schumer said.The U.S. is considering sending American-made F-16s as backfill to former Soviet bloc countries in Eastern Europe that are now members of NATO. They, in turn, would send Ukraine their own Soviet-era MiGs, which Ukrainian pilots are trained to fly.There appears to be a logistical problem, however, in sending the F-16s to Poland or other East European allies because of a production backlog. These countries would essentially have to give their MiGs to the Ukrainians and accept an IOU from the U.S. for the F-16s. The situation is further complicated because the next shipment of F-16s is set for Taiwan, and Congress would be reluctant to delay those deliveries as it eyes China.Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated the fighter jets are under consideration after meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dymtro Kuleba at the Poland-Ukraine border outside the town of Korczowa.“We are talking about and working on everything,” Blinken told reporters.Blinken reiterated that the U.S. support for Ukraine “not only has been unprecedented, not only is it going to continue, it’s going to increase.”The U.S. Congress is working on a $10 billion package of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Schumer told Zelenskyy lawmakers hope to send it quickly to Ukraine, according to a person on the call and granted anonymity to discuss it.When Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell asked about the types of military support his country needs, Zelenskyy said drones as well as planes would be the most helpful.During the call, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia asked Zelenskyy about the idea of banning the import of Russian oil to the U.S., according to two other people granted anonymity to discuss the private call. They said Zelenskyy indicated such a ban would be effective in putting pressure on Russia.Republicans and a growing number of Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, back the idea of an Russian oil import ban. The Biden administration has so far resisted that step, worried about rising prices at the pump.Zelenskyy urged U.S. lawmakers to sanction Russia’s oil and gas sector, which has so far escaped the mounting sanctions imposed by the Biden administration and other countries.The Ukrainian leader also urged lawmakers to suspend Visa and Mastercard credit card access in Russia — and the two announced later Saturday that they were doing just that. Mastercard said cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by its network and any card issued outside the country will not work at Russian stores or ATMs. Visa said it’s working with clients and partners in Russia to cease all Visa transactions over the coming days.In a video posted to Twitter after the call, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said: “Anything that could hurt the Russian economy will help the Ukrainian people and may make this war more difficult for Putin.”Zelenskyy’s office said he also suggested the U.S. consider imposing an embargo on all Russian goods and stripping Russia of its most-favored-nation trade status.Lawmakers are concerned that Zelenskyy will be killed in the Russian invasion. They are also worried that a Ukrainian government under assault will be unable to function and to receive aid.When one lawmaker asked diplomatically what would happen if he was killed, Zelenskyy acknowledged the concerns but implored Congress to do whatever it can to help Ukraine fight off Russia’s assault on his country.Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said in a statement that Zelenskyy’s “message is simple: ‘close the skies or give us planes.’”___