HARVEY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a teen suspect from another state after a chase through&nbsp;Harvey and Sedgwick counties.

Just before 10:30 a.m. Thursday, police were dispatched to the Chisholm Trail Shopping Center,&nbsp; 601 SE 36th Street in Newton, after a report of a person in a car acting suspicious around the businesses, according to a media release.

 When the first officer arrived, the driver of the car immediately fled, intentionally striking the officer’s car on the way out of the parking lot.

Police pursued the suspect north on Kansas Avenue, onto U.S. 50 and then back south on Kansas Avenue. As the car entered Sedgwick County, assistance from Sedgwick County law enforcement was requested. At 85th Street North, the driver intentionally swerved and tried to strike a Valley Center Police car. 

The chase continued for a short time on residential streets in Valley Center, where the suspect again struck the same Newton Police car, disabling it, before entering Interstate 135 southbound. 

The suspect’s car had slowed considerably because of a flat tire but continued to flee. North of the 61st Street North exit, the Kansas Highway Patrol was able to successfully stop the car with a Tactical Vehicle Intervention, using the patrol car to force the suspect’s vehicle sideways.

The suspect was taken into custody without further incident and transported back to Newton.  

The 17-year-old male suspect was wanted in Minnesota, and the car was determined to be stolen from South Dakota. The suspect is being held on requested charges including two counts of aggravated battery on law enforcement, four counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement, felony flee and elude while engaging in reckless driving, felony flee and elude in a stolen vehicle, felony flee and elude by avoiding tire deflation device, felony flee and elude while committing five or more moving violations, felony possession of stolen property, possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, minor in possession of alcohol, and numerous traffic violations.  

Two Newton Police officers had minor injuries and were evaluated by EMS at the scene. The suspect was not injured. 

Police continue to investigate what other crimes the suspect may have committed between the time the car was stolen and when he was arrested. The case will be presented to the Harvey County Attorney’s Office for review of charges

HARVEY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a teen suspect from another state after a chase through&nbsp;Harvey and Sedgwick counties.Just before 10:30 a.m. Thursday, police were dispatched to the Chisholm Trail Shopping Center,&nbsp; 601 SE 36th Street in Newton, after a report of a person in a car acting suspicious around the businesses, according to a media release. When the first officer arrived, the driver of the car immediately fled, intentionally striking the officer’s car on the way out of the parking lot.Police pursued the suspect north on Kansas Avenue, onto U.S. 50 and then back south on Kansas Avenue. As the car entered Sedgwick County, assistance from Sedgwick County law enforcement was requested. At 85th Street North, the driver intentionally swerved and tried to strike a Valley Center Police car. The chase continued for a short time on residential streets in Valley Center, where the suspect again struck the same Newton Police car, disabling it, before entering Interstate 135 southbound. The suspect’s car had slowed considerably because of a flat tire but continued to flee. North of the 61st Street North exit, the Kansas Highway Patrol was able to successfully stop the car with a Tactical Vehicle Intervention, using the patrol car to force the suspect’s vehicle sideways.The suspect was taken into custody without further incident and transported back to Newton. The 17-year-old male suspect was wanted in Minnesota, and the car was determined to be stolen from South Dakota. The suspect is being held on requested charges including two counts of aggravated battery on law enforcement, four counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement, felony flee and elude while engaging in reckless driving, felony flee and elude in a stolen vehicle, felony flee and elude by avoiding tire deflation device, felony flee and elude while committing five or more moving violations, felony possession of stolen property, possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, minor in possession of alcohol, and numerous traffic violations. Two Newton Police officers had minor injuries and were evaluated by EMS at the scene. The suspect was not injured. Police continue to investigate what other crimes the suspect may have committed between the time the car was stolen and when he was arrested. The case will be presented to the Harvey County Attorney’s Office for review of charges

Wanted teen jailed after chase, crash into Kansas police vehicles

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators on Friday opened up COVID-19 booster shots to all adults, expanding the government’s campaign to shore up protection and get ahead of rising coronavirus cases that may worsen with the holidays.

Pfizer and Moderna announced the Food and Drug Administration’s decision after at least 10 states already had started offering boosters to all adults. The latest action simplifies what until now has been a confusing list of who’s eligible by allowing anyone 18 or older to choose either company’s booster six months after their last dose — regardless of which vaccine they had first.

But there’s one more step: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must agree to expand Pfizer and Moderna boosters to even healthy young adults. Its scientific advisers were set to debate later Friday.

If the CDC agrees, tens of millions more Americans could have three doses of protection ahead of the new year. Anyone who got the one-dose Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine can already get a booster.

All three COVID-19 vaccines used in the U.S. still offer strong protection against severe illness including hospitalization and death, but protection against infection can wane with time. Previously, the government had cleared boosters of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine, as well as the similar Moderna vaccine, only for vulnerable groups including older Americans and people with chronic health problems.

The move to expand comes as new COVID-19 cases have climbed steadily over the last two weeks, especially in states where colder weather is driving people indoors.

Sparked by those worrying trends, some states didn’t wait for federal officials to act. Utah and Massachusetts were the latest states to announce in the past week that they’re opening boosters to all adults.

Boosters for everyone was the Biden administration’s original goal. But in September, a panel of FDA advisers voted overwhelmingly against that idea based on the vaccines’ continued effectiveness in most age groups. Instead they endorsed an extra Pfizer dose only for the most vulnerable.

Since then, administration officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have continued making the case for using boosters more widely, noting that even milder infections in younger people can cause “long COVID” and other complications.

“I don’t know of any other vaccine where we only worry about keeping people out of the hospital,” said Fauci at a briefing Wednesday.

Last week, Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech filed new data to make the case that broader boosters could help tamp down infections at a critical period.

“We have absolutely no chance in the current situation to control the pandemic without providing boosters to everyone,” BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin told reporters during a visit to Washington last week.

The companies studied 10,000 adults of all ages and found that a booster restored protection against symptomatic infections to about 95% even while the extra-contagious delta variant was surging. It’s too soon to know if that high level of protection will last longer after a third shot than after the second, something Sahin said the companies will carefully track.

Backing up that evidence, Britain released real-world data this week showing the same jump in protection once it began offering boosters to middle-aged and older adults. Israel has credited widespread boosters for helping to beat back another wave of the virus in that country.

More than 195 million Americans are fully vaccinated, defined as having received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the single-dose Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine. More than 30 million already have received a booster.

Before the expansion, people who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccinations were eligible for a third dose if they’re elderly or at high risk of COVID-19 because of health problems or their jobs or living conditions. Because a single J&amp;J shot hasn’t proven as effective as its two-dose competitors, any J&amp;J recipient can get a booster at least two months later.

But people who don’t meet the criteria often score an extra shot because many vaccine sites don’t check qualifications.

The FDA previously ruled that people getting a booster can receive a different brand from the vaccine they received initially.

Some experts worry that all the attention to boosters may harm efforts to reach the 60 million Americans who are eligible for vaccinations but haven’t gotten the shots. There’s also growing concern that rich countries are offering widespread boosters when poor countries haven’t been able to vaccinate more than a small fraction of their populations.

“In terms of the No. 1 priority for reducing transmission in this country and throughout the world, this remains getting people their first vaccine series,” said Dr. David Dowdy of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635085085116.png" alt="A booster vaccination event last month in Lawrence-photo courtesy Douglas County" />
 <figcaption>A booster vaccination event last month in Lawrence-photo courtesy Douglas County</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators on Friday opened up COVID-19 booster shots to all adults, expanding the government’s campaign to shore up protection and get ahead of rising coronavirus cases that may worsen with the holidays.Pfizer and Moderna announced the Food and Drug Administration’s decision after at least 10 states already had started offering boosters to all adults. The latest action simplifies what until now has been a confusing list of who’s eligible by allowing anyone 18 or older to choose either company’s booster six months after their last dose — regardless of which vaccine they had first.But there’s one more step: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must agree to expand Pfizer and Moderna boosters to even healthy young adults. Its scientific advisers were set to debate later Friday.If the CDC agrees, tens of millions more Americans could have three doses of protection ahead of the new year. Anyone who got the one-dose Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine can already get a booster.All three COVID-19 vaccines used in the U.S. still offer strong protection against severe illness including hospitalization and death, but protection against infection can wane with time. Previously, the government had cleared boosters of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine, as well as the similar Moderna vaccine, only for vulnerable groups including older Americans and people with chronic health problems.The move to expand comes as new COVID-19 cases have climbed steadily over the last two weeks, especially in states where colder weather is driving people indoors.Sparked by those worrying trends, some states didn’t wait for federal officials to act. Utah and Massachusetts were the latest states to announce in the past week that they’re opening boosters to all adults.Boosters for everyone was the Biden administration’s original goal. But in September, a panel of FDA advisers voted overwhelmingly against that idea based on the vaccines’ continued effectiveness in most age groups. Instead they endorsed an extra Pfizer dose only for the most vulnerable.Since then, administration officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have continued making the case for using boosters more widely, noting that even milder infections in younger people can cause “long COVID” and other complications.“I don’t know of any other vaccine where we only worry about keeping people out of the hospital,” said Fauci at a briefing Wednesday.Last week, Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech filed new data to make the case that broader boosters could help tamp down infections at a critical period.“We have absolutely no chance in the current situation to control the pandemic without providing boosters to everyone,” BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin told reporters during a visit to Washington last week.The companies studied 10,000 adults of all ages and found that a booster restored protection against symptomatic infections to about 95% even while the extra-contagious delta variant was surging. It’s too soon to know if that high level of protection will last longer after a third shot than after the second, something Sahin said the companies will carefully track.Backing up that evidence, Britain released real-world data this week showing the same jump in protection once it began offering boosters to middle-aged and older adults. Israel has credited widespread boosters for helping to beat back another wave of the virus in that country.More than 195 million Americans are fully vaccinated, defined as having received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the single-dose Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine. More than 30 million already have received a booster.Before the expansion, people who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccinations were eligible for a third dose if they’re elderly or at high risk of COVID-19 because of health problems or their jobs or living conditions. Because a single J&amp;J shot hasn’t proven as effective as its two-dose competitors, any J&amp;J recipient can get a booster at least two months later.But people who don’t meet the criteria often score an extra shot because many vaccine sites don’t check qualifications.The FDA previously ruled that people getting a booster can receive a different brand from the vaccine they received initially.Some experts worry that all the attention to boosters may harm efforts to reach the 60 million Americans who are eligible for vaccinations but haven’t gotten the shots. There’s also growing concern that rich countries are offering widespread boosters when poor countries haven’t been able to vaccinate more than a small fraction of their populations.“In terms of the No. 1 priority for reducing transmission in this country and throughout the world, this remains getting people their first vaccine series,” said Dr. David Dowdy of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.___

FDA expands COVID boosters to all adults ahead of CDC decision

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities continue their investigation of a fatal Tuesday shooting. The man accused of shooting his roommate is no longer in custody, according to online jail records.

 Just before 1 a.m. Tuesday, police responded to a shooting call at a home in the 2800 block of West Maple in Wichita, according to Officer Charley Davidson.

 Upon arrival, officers located 27-year-old Matthew Rodriguez  who had been shot multiple times. He was pronounced deceased on the scene.

Police contacted 28-year-old Charles Burnham and another 30-year-old man who were at the home, according to Davidson.

The investigation revealed that all three men live at the home together and that Rodriguez  had made statements of ending his life.&nbsp; Rodriguez &nbsp;shot himself one time and Burnham then immediately obtained the handgun and fired multiple shots striking him, according to Davidson.

Burnham was initially jailed on requested charges of&nbsp;<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=20073367">first-degree murder</a>. The district attorney's office has not charged him as the investigation continues.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1637084856781.png" alt="Burnham -photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Burnham -photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities continue their investigation of a fatal Tuesday shooting. The man accused of shooting his roommate is no longer in custody, according to online jail records. Just before 1 a.m. Tuesday, police responded to a shooting call at a home in the 2800 block of West Maple in Wichita, according to Officer Charley Davidson. Upon arrival, officers located 27-year-old Matthew Rodriguez who had been shot multiple times. He was pronounced deceased on the scene.Police contacted 28-year-old Charles Burnham and another 30-year-old man who were at the home, according to Davidson.The investigation revealed that all three men live at the home together and that Rodriguez had made statements of ending his life.&nbsp; Rodriguez &nbsp;shot himself one time and Burnham then immediately obtained the handgun and fired multiple shots striking him, according to Davidson.Burnham was initially jailed on requested charges of&nbsp;<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=20073367">first-degree murder</a>. The district attorney's office has not charged him as the investigation continues.

Kansas man accused of killing roommate released from jail

WASHINGTON (AP) —The Biden administration is taking steps to help distribute several billion dollars in aid for winter heating and utility bills, an unprecedented sum that comes largely from its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/house-vote-coronavirus-relief-package-33f4902ca9a2aed4e76274af6bb2ea5c">$1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package</a>.

The package provided an additional $4.5 billion for the government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which typically has funding of $3 billion to $4 billion annually. Aid for renters can also cover utility costs, while the money provided to state, local and tribal governments can help families that face high heating bills and are ineligible for other programs.

“It’s another example of where the American Rescue Plan included extra precautions to ensure we would be prepared,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-coronavirus-pandemic-gene-sperling-financial-markets-financial-crisis-5dc2a177b5d4017a754b658fe796047b">Gene Sperling</a>, who is overseeing coronavirus relief for the White House. “These new programs and funding were designed to ensure that if the weather was colder or the prices were higher, we would have the highest resources ever to help as many hard-pressed families as possible.”

The White House sent out invites for a call Thursday afternoon with representatives from governors’ offices to discuss ways to distribute the funds and coordinate across programs. Speakers on the call will include Sperling, Energy Secretary&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-technology-biden-cabinet-michigan-jennifer-granholm-15acadc1a86559e3a8a7e1d026a0732f">Jennifer Granholm</a>, Health and Human Services Secretary&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-biden-cabinet-cabinets-coronavirus-pandemic-hispanics-1e2d25d910ac52c29e5a4ce4acae0b8b">Xavier Becerra</a>&nbsp;and the governors of Connecticut, Maine and Michigan.

The aid helps to create a cushion that limits the shock of higher energy costs ahead of winter. Republican lawmakers have said the relief package, which became law in March, caused&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-consumer-prices-inflation-economy-prices-10e00ba16f8fb94f45ced724f2ea2e45">higher levels of inflation</a>, with prices in October 6.2% higher than a year ago. The GOP argument is that the Biden relief package sent too much money into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-joe-biden-business-elections-health-3054e6daddcb03262da8b60c8c382fbf">the economy</a>, causing prices to rise and hurting middle-class and lower-income families.

“The Democrats’ inflation is functioning like an ultra-punitive tax on the American families who can least afford it,” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said in a Wednesday floor speech.

But in this instance, the spending from the aid package is already helping to insulate millions of households from higher utility bills and reducing strains on household budgets. Estimates by the Urban Institute based off a Census Bureau survey indicate that a third of families used the monthly payments from the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/child-tax-credit-bank-account">expanded child tax credit</a>&nbsp;to pay their utility bills between July and October 2021.

Electricity and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-europe-asia-united-states-prices-cc94e4f9bfc479a84639abea2f9de771">natural gas prices</a>&nbsp;are roughly 11% higher than a year ago, according to the Labor Department’s consumer price index.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-prices-inflation-28e1231bdb445d482bb2d2e25dff1983">Heating oil prices</a>&nbsp;have more than doubled over the past year, according to the Energy Information Administration.

The administration is also calling on utilities and energy companies to use the available government resources to protect their most vulnerable customers. DTE Energy, Eversource, National Grid and NorthWestern Energy have already agreed to identify and notify eligible recipients and guarantee no shutoffs for customers seeking assistance.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1637234431368.png" alt="The package provided an additional $4.5 billion for the government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which typically has funding of $3 billion to $4 billion annually.-White House photo&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>The package provided an additional $4.5 billion for the government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which typically has funding of $3 billion to $4 billion annually.-White House photo&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) —The Biden administration is taking steps to help distribute several billion dollars in aid for winter heating and utility bills, an unprecedented sum that comes largely from its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/house-vote-coronavirus-relief-package-33f4902ca9a2aed4e76274af6bb2ea5c">$1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package</a>.The package provided an additional $4.5 billion for the government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which typically has funding of $3 billion to $4 billion annually. Aid for renters can also cover utility costs, while the money provided to state, local and tribal governments can help families that face high heating bills and are ineligible for other programs.“It’s another example of where the American Rescue Plan included extra precautions to ensure we would be prepared,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-coronavirus-pandemic-gene-sperling-financial-markets-financial-crisis-5dc2a177b5d4017a754b658fe796047b">Gene Sperling</a>, who is overseeing coronavirus relief for the White House. “These new programs and funding were designed to ensure that if the weather was colder or the prices were higher, we would have the highest resources ever to help as many hard-pressed families as possible.”The White House sent out invites for a call Thursday afternoon with representatives from governors’ offices to discuss ways to distribute the funds and coordinate across programs. Speakers on the call will include Sperling, Energy Secretary&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-technology-biden-cabinet-michigan-jennifer-granholm-15acadc1a86559e3a8a7e1d026a0732f">Jennifer Granholm</a>, Health and Human Services Secretary&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-biden-cabinet-cabinets-coronavirus-pandemic-hispanics-1e2d25d910ac52c29e5a4ce4acae0b8b">Xavier Becerra</a>&nbsp;and the governors of Connecticut, Maine and Michigan.The aid helps to create a cushion that limits the shock of higher energy costs ahead of winter. Republican lawmakers have said the relief package, which became law in March, caused&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-consumer-prices-inflation-economy-prices-10e00ba16f8fb94f45ced724f2ea2e45">higher levels of inflation</a>, with prices in October 6.2% higher than a year ago. The GOP argument is that the Biden relief package sent too much money into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-joe-biden-business-elections-health-3054e6daddcb03262da8b60c8c382fbf">the economy</a>, causing prices to rise and hurting middle-class and lower-income families.“The Democrats’ inflation is functioning like an ultra-punitive tax on the American families who can least afford it,” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said in a Wednesday floor speech.But in this instance, the spending from the aid package is already helping to insulate millions of households from higher utility bills and reducing strains on household budgets. Estimates by the Urban Institute based off a Census Bureau survey indicate that a third of families used the monthly payments from the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/child-tax-credit-bank-account">expanded child tax credit</a>&nbsp;to pay their utility bills between July and October 2021.Electricity and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-europe-asia-united-states-prices-cc94e4f9bfc479a84639abea2f9de771">natural gas prices</a>&nbsp;are roughly 11% higher than a year ago, according to the Labor Department’s consumer price index.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-prices-inflation-28e1231bdb445d482bb2d2e25dff1983">Heating oil prices</a>&nbsp;have more than doubled over the past year, according to the Energy Information Administration.The administration is also calling on utilities and energy companies to use the available government resources to protect their most vulnerable customers. DTE Energy, Eversource, National Grid and NorthWestern Energy have already agreed to identify and notify eligible recipients and guarantee no shutoffs for customers seeking assistance.

White House offering more aid for winter heat, utility bills

WASHINGTON – With the 2022 tax season and the holidays rapidly 
approaching, the Internal Revenue Service, state tax agencies and the 
nation's tax industry today announced a special week focusing attention 
on taxpayers protecting sensitive financial information against identity
 thieves.

Working together as the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/security-summit">Security Summit</a>,
 the coalition of the IRS, the states and the nation's tax community 
plan the 6th Annual National Tax Security Awareness Week to take place 
from November 29–December 3. The announcement coincides with 
International Fraud Awareness Week coming to a conclusion.

The Summit partners warned that taxpayers and tax professionals face a
 heightened risk in coming months as fraudsters continue to use the 
pandemic as a way of tricking people into sharing sensitive personal 
information by email, text message and online. Identity thieves can use 
that information to try filing tax returns and stealing refunds.

As Security Summit partners have increased their joint defenses 
against identity theft, including through the Identity Theft Information
 Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC), fraudsters have increasingly looked
 for ways to obtain sensitive personal financial information to help 
slip past common defenses. That has made tax professionals – who hold 
valuable tax information for their clients – a tempting target for scam 
artists.

"The nation's tax community has successfully joined forces to protect
 taxpayers through the Security Summit effort, but we need help in this 
continuing battle," said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. "Taxpayers and 
tax professionals are the first line of defense against scammers looking
 for refunds. We are entering a sensitive holiday and tax period, and we
 urge people to protect their personal information – and avoid problems 
at tax time."

The IRS and Summit partners continue to see constantly evolving 
threats and scams. They can mimic IRS and others in the tax community 
with fake emails, texts and online scams. These schemes can lurk 
underneath COVID-related messages, stimulus payments or tax refunds. And
 they can frequently use recent tragedies or charitable groups to coax 
people into sharing sensitive financial data.

To help combat this, the Summit partner's National Tax Security 
Awareness Week will feature a week-long series of educational materials 
to help protect individuals, businesses and tax pros from identity 
theft. The effort will include special informational graphics and a 
social media effort on Twitter and Instagram with @IRSnews and 
#TaxSecurity.

A special emphasis for this year will be focusing tax security 
awareness on younger and older Americans. Even if someone doesn't file a
 tax return, their online interactions can lead to scam artists 
obtaining sensitive information and using it to try obtaining a refund.

As part of the larger effort, the IRS and Security Summit partners 
are sharing YouTube videos on security steps for taxpayers. The videos 
can be viewed or downloaded at <a href="https://youtu.be/V3hdiCtKj5s">Easy Steps to Protect Your Computer and Phone</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJYQL89qMfI">Security Measures Help Protect Against Tax-Related Identity Theft</a>.

Employers also can share <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/0121%20Publ%204524%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20(PDF)">Publication 4524, Security Awareness for Taxpayers</a>, with their employees and customers while tax professionals can share with clients.

Highlights of this year's National Tax Security Awareness Week include:

Day 1 – Cyber Monday: Protect personal and financial information online

The IRS and the Security Summit partners remind people to take these basic steps:

Day 2 – Giving Tuesday: Beware of scammers using fake charities

The IRS and the Security Summit partners warn people to avoid getting
 scammed when donating to charities. The agency provides the following 
tips:

Taxpayers who can verify their identities online may opt into the IRS
 IP PIN program – a major expansion of the program from previous years. 
This is another tool taxpayers can use to protect themselves – and their
 tax refund. Here's what taxpayers need to know:

Tax professionals should review their security protocols

As identity thieves continue targeting tax professionals, the IRS and
 the Summit partners urge practitioners to review the 
"Taxes-Security-Together" Checklist, including:

Use digital signatures to submit IRS forms and check account details on secure portal

The IRS began accepting digital signatures on a variety of forms this
 past year. Additionally, the agency made improvements to its online 
accounts platform to help both tax pros and individuals.

Day 5 – Businesses should implement safeguards; watch out for tax-related scams

Most cyberattacks are aimed at small businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Here are some details from this segment:

Also today, the IRS published the latest executive column "<a href="https://www.irs.gov/about-irs/irs-priorities-detecting-fraud-protecting-taxpayers">A Closer Look</a>,"
 which features James Lee, IRS Criminal Investigation Chief, and Damon 
Rowe, Executive Director, IRS Office of Fraud Enforcement, providing a 
glimpse of how the IRS investigates and helps prosecute fraud.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRSWASHINGTON – With the 2022 tax season and the holidays rapidly 
approaching, the Internal Revenue Service, state tax agencies and the 
nation's tax industry today announced a special week focusing attention 
on taxpayers protecting sensitive financial information against identity
 thieves.Working together as the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/security-summit">Security Summit</a>,
 the coalition of the IRS, the states and the nation's tax community 
plan the 6th Annual National Tax Security Awareness Week to take place 
from November 29–December 3. The announcement coincides with 
International Fraud Awareness Week coming to a conclusion.The Summit partners warned that taxpayers and tax professionals face a
 heightened risk in coming months as fraudsters continue to use the 
pandemic as a way of tricking people into sharing sensitive personal 
information by email, text message and online. Identity thieves can use 
that information to try filing tax returns and stealing refunds.As Security Summit partners have increased their joint defenses 
against identity theft, including through the Identity Theft Information
 Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC), fraudsters have increasingly looked
 for ways to obtain sensitive personal financial information to help 
slip past common defenses. That has made tax professionals – who hold 
valuable tax information for their clients – a tempting target for scam 
artists."The nation's tax community has successfully joined forces to protect
 taxpayers through the Security Summit effort, but we need help in this 
continuing battle," said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. "Taxpayers and 
tax professionals are the first line of defense against scammers looking
 for refunds. We are entering a sensitive holiday and tax period, and we
 urge people to protect their personal information – and avoid problems 
at tax time."The IRS and Summit partners continue to see constantly evolving 
threats and scams. They can mimic IRS and others in the tax community 
with fake emails, texts and online scams. These schemes can lurk 
underneath COVID-related messages, stimulus payments or tax refunds. And
 they can frequently use recent tragedies or charitable groups to coax 
people into sharing sensitive financial data.To help combat this, the Summit partner's National Tax Security 
Awareness Week will feature a week-long series of educational materials 
to help protect individuals, businesses and tax pros from identity 
theft. The effort will include special informational graphics and a 
social media effort on Twitter and Instagram with @IRSnews and 
#TaxSecurity.A special emphasis for this year will be focusing tax security 
awareness on younger and older Americans. Even if someone doesn't file a
 tax return, their online interactions can lead to scam artists 
obtaining sensitive information and using it to try obtaining a refund.As part of the larger effort, the IRS and Security Summit partners 
are sharing YouTube videos on security steps for taxpayers. The videos 
can be viewed or downloaded at <a href="https://youtu.be/V3hdiCtKj5s">Easy Steps to Protect Your Computer and Phone</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJYQL89qMfI">Security Measures Help Protect Against Tax-Related Identity Theft</a>.Employers also can share <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/0121%20Publ%204524%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20(PDF)">Publication 4524, Security Awareness for Taxpayers</a>, with their employees and customers while tax professionals can share with clients.<h2>Highlights of this year's National Tax Security Awareness Week include:</h2><h2>Day 1 – Cyber Monday: Protect personal and financial information online</h2>The IRS and the Security Summit partners remind people to take these basic steps:<ul>
 <li>Use security software for computers and mobile phones – and keep it updated.</li><li>Avoid phishing scams, especially related to tax refunds and COVID-19, Economic Impact Payments and other tax law changes.</li><li>Use strong and unique passwords for all accounts.</li><li>Use multi-factor authentication whenever possible.</li><li>Shop only secure websites; look for the "https" in web addresses 
and the padlock icon; avoid shopping on unsecured and public Wi-Fi in 
places like coffee shops, malls or restaurants.</li>
 </ul><h2>Day 2 – Giving Tuesday: Beware of scammers using fake charities</h2>The IRS and the Security Summit partners warn people to avoid getting
 scammed when donating to charities. The agency provides the following 
tips:<ul>
 <li>Individuals should never let any caller pressure them into giving a donation without allowing time for them to do some research.</li><li>Confirm the charity is real by asking for its exact name, website and mailing address and confirming it later.</li><li>Be careful about how a donation is made. After researching the charity, pay by credit card or check and not by gift card or wiring money.</li>
 </ul><h2>Day 3 – Get an Identity Protection PIN</h2>Taxpayers who can verify their identities online may opt into the IRS
 IP PIN program – a major expansion of the program from previous years. 
This is another tool taxpayers can use to protect themselves – and their
 tax refund. Here's what taxpayers need to know:<ul>
 <li>The Identity Protection PIN or IP PIN is a six-digit code known 
only to the individual and the IRS. It provides another layer of 
protection for taxpayers' Social Security numbers on tax returns.</li><li>Use the Get an Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN) tool at <a href="https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/the-identity-protection-pin-ip-pin">IRS.gov/ippin</a> to immediately get an IP PIN.</li><li>Never share the IP PIN with anyone but a trusted tax provider.</li>
 </ul><h2>Day 4</h2><h2>Tax professionals should review their security protocols</h2>As identity thieves continue targeting tax professionals, the IRS and
 the Summit partners urge practitioners to review the 
"Taxes-Security-Together" Checklist, including:<ul>
 <li>Deploy basic security measures.</li><li>Use multi-factor authentication to protect tax software accounts.</li><li>Create a Virtual Private Network if working remotely.</li><li>Create a written data security plan as required by federal law.</li><li>Know about phishing and phone scams, especially related to 
Electronic Filing Identification Numbers (EFINs), COVID-19 related 
tax-law changes including Economic Impact Payments.</li><li>Create data security and data theft recovery plans.</li>
 </ul><h2>Use digital signatures to submit IRS forms and check account details on secure portal</h2>The IRS began accepting digital signatures on a variety of forms this
 past year. Additionally, the agency made improvements to its online 
accounts platform to help both tax pros and individuals.<ul>
 <li>Tax pros may go to the new <a href="https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/use-tax-pro-account">Tax Pro Account</a> on IRS.gov to digitally initiate Power of Attorney and Tax Information Authorization requests.</li><li>Taxpayers have digital control over who can represent them or see their account information on the Online Account portal.</li><li>The IRS now accepts a wide array of digital signatures on a number of forms that cannot be electronically filed.</li>
 </ul><h2>Day 5 – Businesses should implement safeguards; watch out for tax-related scams</h2>Most cyberattacks are aimed at small businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Here are some details from this segment:<ul>
 <li>Learn about best security practices for small businesses.</li><li>IRS continues protective masking of sensitive information on business transcripts.</li><li>A Business Identity Theft Affidavit – Form 14039-B – is available for all businesses to report theft to the IRS.</li><li>Beware of various scams, especially the W-2 scam that attempts to steal employee income information.</li><li>Check out the "Business" section on IRS's Identity Theft Central at <a href="https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-central">IRS.gov/identitytheft</a>.</li>
 </ul>Also today, the IRS published the latest executive column "<a href="https://www.irs.gov/about-irs/irs-priorities-detecting-fraud-protecting-taxpayers">A Closer Look</a>,"
 which features James Lee, IRS Criminal Investigation Chief, and Damon 
Rowe, Executive Director, IRS Office of Fraud Enforcement, providing a 
glimpse of how the IRS investigates and helps prosecute fraud.

Security summit focuses on pandemic scams, identity theft

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A verdict will be announced Friday in the trial of a white Kansas City police officer charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a Black man.

Jackson County Judge Dale Youngs will make the announcement in the case against Officer Eric J. DeValkenaere at a 1 p.m. hearing.

DeValkenaere also is charged with armed criminal action in the death of Cameron Lamb. The shooting happened as the 26-year-old was backing into his garage on Dec. 3, 2019, after police said he chased his girlfriend’s convertible in a stolen pickup truck.

DeValkenaere said he fired after Lamb pointed a gun at another detective. But prosecutors argued that police staged the scene to support their claims that Lamb was armed.

The case marks the first time a white officer from the city has been criminally accused of killing a Black man.

A bench trial was held before the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/missouri-kansas-city-crime-shootings-police-be7e43a11aeb4f2a87e812e311b54ee5">judge&nbsp;</a>without a jury at DeValkenaere’s request.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/6/1592994941014.png" alt="DeValkenaere-photo KCPD" />
 <figcaption>DeValkenaere-photo KCPD</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) — A verdict will be announced Friday in the trial of a white Kansas City police officer charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a Black man.Jackson County Judge Dale Youngs will make the announcement in the case against Officer Eric J. DeValkenaere at a 1 p.m. hearing.DeValkenaere also is charged with armed criminal action in the death of Cameron Lamb. The shooting happened as the 26-year-old was backing into his garage on Dec. 3, 2019, after police said he chased his girlfriend’s convertible in a stolen pickup truck.DeValkenaere said he fired after Lamb pointed a gun at another detective. But prosecutors argued that police staged the scene to support their claims that Lamb was armed.The case marks the first time a white officer from the city has been criminally accused of killing a Black man.A bench trial was held before the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/missouri-kansas-city-crime-shootings-police-be7e43a11aeb4f2a87e812e311b54ee5">judge&nbsp;</a>without a jury at DeValkenaere’s request.

Verdict to be announced in the trial of KC officer for fatal shooting 

WASHINGTON — The FCC today voted to approve a Second Report and Order to expand access to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by establishing the ability to text 988 to directly reach the Lifeline to better support at-risk communities in crisis, including youth and individuals with disabilities.  The Lifeline is a national network that provides free, confidential support to Americans in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.  Today’s action adopts a uniform implementation deadline requiring covered text providers to support text messaging to 988 by July 16, 2022—the same date the FCC has established 988 as the 3-digit dialing code for Americans to reach the Lifeline by telephone.

Quick and easy access to mental health and crisis counseling services is critical.  In 2020, 44,834 individuals died by suicide in the United States, and evidence suggests the toll of the global pandemic has only increased the strain on many Americans’ mental health and well-being.  Suicide significantly impacts at-risk communities, including youth, the Black community, the LGBTQ+ community, Veterans, and the deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, and people who have speech disabilities that affect communication.  For individuals in crisis, text messaging can make it easier to contact a crisis counselor by allowing for a certain level of anonymity rather than engaging in a phone conversation. 

Today’s action requires covered text providers to support text messaging to 988 by routing text messages sent to 988 to the Lifeline’s 10-digit number, 1-800-273-8255 (TALK).  The rules establish a process that will require covered text providers to support transmitting messages to 988 in additional text messaging formats that the Lifeline is capable of receiving.  And the item finds that the FCC’s federal partners are best positioned to determine whether and how to text 988 for the Veterans Crisis Line’s text service. 

During the transition to 988, Americans who need help should continue to contact the Lifeline by calling 1-800-273-8255 (1-800-273-TALK) and through online chats.  Service Members, Veterans, and their families may reach the Veterans Crisis Line by calling 1-800-273-8255 and pressing 1, by texting 838255, or by chat through the Veterans Crisis Line’s website, https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/.  For more information about the 988 implementation, visit https://www.fcc.gov/suicide-prevention-hotline.

Action by the Commission November 18, 2021 by Second Report and Order (FCC 21-119).   Chairwoman Rosenworcel, Commissioners Carr, Starks, and Simington approving and issuing separate statements.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1584977952684.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>FCCWASHINGTON — The FCC today voted to approve a Second Report and Order to expand access to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by establishing the ability to text 988 to directly reach the Lifeline to better support at-risk communities in crisis, including youth and individuals with disabilities. The Lifeline is a national network that provides free, confidential support to Americans in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. Today’s action adopts a uniform implementation deadline requiring covered text providers to support text messaging to 988 by July 16, 2022—the same date the FCC has established 988 as the 3-digit dialing code for Americans to reach the Lifeline by telephone.Quick and easy access to mental health and crisis counseling services is critical. In 2020, 44,834 individuals died by suicide in the United States, and evidence suggests the toll of the global pandemic has only increased the strain on many Americans’ mental health and well-being. Suicide significantly impacts at-risk communities, including youth, the Black community, the LGBTQ+ community, Veterans, and the deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, and people who have speech disabilities that affect communication. For individuals in crisis, text messaging can make it easier to contact a crisis counselor by allowing for a certain level of anonymity rather than engaging in a phone conversation. Today’s action requires covered text providers to support text messaging to 988 by routing text messages sent to 988 to the Lifeline’s 10-digit number, 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). The rules establish a process that will require covered text providers to support transmitting messages to 988 in additional text messaging formats that the Lifeline is capable of receiving. And the item finds that the FCC’s federal partners are best positioned to determine whether and how to text 988 for the Veterans Crisis Line’s text service. During the transition to 988, Americans who need help should continue to contact the Lifeline by calling 1-800-273-8255 (1-800-273-TALK) and through online chats. Service Members, Veterans, and their families may reach the Veterans Crisis Line by calling 1-800-273-8255 and pressing 1, by texting 838255, or by chat through the Veterans Crisis Line’s website, https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/. For more information about the 988 implementation, visit https://www.fcc.gov/suicide-prevention-hotline.Action by the Commission November 18, 2021 by Second Report and Order (FCC 21-119). Chairwoman Rosenworcel, Commissioners Carr, Starks, and Simington approving and issuing separate statements.

FCC approves text-to-988 access to Suicide Prevention Lifeline

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has pleaded guilty to a felony for throwing his ex-girlfriend's caged miniature poodle in a river. 

Leavenworth County prosecutors say 24-year-old Davion Simpson pleaded guilty Wednesday to animal cruelty in the case and faces possible jail time when he's sentenced Dec. 17. 

Witnesses told police that on July 31, Simpson dragged a kennel with the dog inside it out of the back of his car at Riverfront Park in Leavenworth and threw the kennel into the Missouri River. Bystanders rescued the dog from drowning. Police say Simpson had recently ended his relationship with the girlfriend and had texted a friend of hers that the dog was “gone."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1628108583127.png" alt="Simpson-photo Wyandotte Co." />
 <figcaption>Simpson-photo Wyandotte Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has pleaded guilty to a felony for throwing his ex-girlfriend's caged miniature poodle in a river. Leavenworth County prosecutors say 24-year-old Davion Simpson pleaded guilty Wednesday to animal cruelty in the case and faces possible jail time when he's sentenced Dec. 17. Witnesses told police that on July 31, Simpson dragged a kennel with the dog inside it out of the back of his car at Riverfront Park in Leavenworth and threw the kennel into the Missouri River. Bystanders rescued the dog from drowning. Police say Simpson had recently ended his relationship with the girlfriend and had texted a friend of hers that the dog was “gone."

Kan. man admits throwing ex-girlfriend's dog in river

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for an alleged assault on officers in Topeka.

Just before 10p.m. Wednesday, police were dispatched to the area of SE 25th and SE Indiana Street in Topeka in reference a subject walking in the middle of the street with a stick and attempting to strike vehicles traveling by him, according to Police Lt. Manuel Munoz.

While the officers were searching the area, dispatched received a call that the subject was in the back yard of 2401 SE Indiana. Officers made contact with the subject who walked away and refused to stop. The subject was armed with a stick in one hand and an axe in the other.

The subject later identified as 44-year-old Edward Thurman began swinging the axe in the air and began to walk towards the officers. As other officers began to arrive to assist, the Thurman threw the stick at one of the officers who was getting out of his patrol car; the stick missed the officer. Police eventually took Thurman into custody after less than lethal ammunitions were used.

EMS transported Thurman to a local hospital to be medically cleared. Once cleared, he was transported to Shawnee County Department of Corrections and booked on requested charges of Aggravated Assault on a law enforcement officer, Interference and Pedestrian on Roadway. No officers were injured, according to Munoz.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1637249708402.png" alt="Thurman-photo Shawnee County" />
 <figcaption>Thurman-photo Shawnee County</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for an alleged assault on officers in Topeka.Just before 10p.m. Wednesday, police were dispatched to the area of SE 25th and SE Indiana Street in Topeka in reference a subject walking in the middle of the street with a stick and attempting to strike vehicles traveling by him, according to Police Lt. Manuel Munoz.While the officers were searching the area, dispatched received a call that the subject was in the back yard of 2401 SE Indiana. Officers made contact with the subject who walked away and refused to stop. The subject was armed with a stick in one hand and an axe in the other.The subject later identified as 44-year-old Edward Thurman began swinging the axe in the air and began to walk towards the officers. As other officers began to arrive to assist, the Thurman threw the stick at one of the officers who was getting out of his patrol car; the stick missed the officer. Police eventually took Thurman into custody after less than lethal ammunitions were used.EMS transported Thurman to a local hospital to be medically cleared. Once cleared, he was transported to Shawnee County Department of Corrections and booked on requested charges of Aggravated Assault on a law enforcement officer, Interference and Pedestrian on Roadway. No officers were injured, according to Munoz.

Police: Kansas man threatened officers with an axe

RILEY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are trying to locate 29-year-old John Galloway of Manhattan on a warrant for failure to appear for his trial surrounding December 2019 and January 2020 aggravated burglaries, a January 2020 attempted aggravated burglary and a separate January 2020 theft, according to the Riley County Police Department.

Police said not to attempt to apprehend him. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact RCPD at (785) 537-2112 or Crime Stoppers at (785) 539-7777.

Submit tips here: <a href="https://t.co/NxGd5nlMMo?amp=1" target="_blank">https://loom.ly/nx7FZpg</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1574527326766.png" alt="Galloway-photo RCPD" />
 <figcaption>Galloway-photo RCPD</figcaption>
 </figure>RILEY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are trying to locate 29-year-old John Galloway of Manhattan on a warrant for failure to appear for his trial surrounding December 2019 and January 2020 aggravated burglaries, a January 2020 attempted aggravated burglary and a separate January 2020 theft, according to the Riley County Police Department.Police said not to attempt to apprehend him. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact RCPD at (785) 537-2112 or Crime Stoppers at (785) 539-7777.

Submit tips here: <a href="https://t.co/NxGd5nlMMo?amp=1" target="_blank">https://loom.ly/nx7FZpg</a>

Police ask for help to locate Kan. burglary suspect who skipped court

MORRIS COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a series of cattle thefts in northeast Kansas.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.morriscountyks.org/sheriffs-office" target="_blank">Morris Co. Sheriff’s Office</a>&nbsp; has taken two reports this past week about livestock thefts from properties along Kansas 4 Highway, according to a media release.

One thefts happened near Latimer and another near Dwight. Investigators believe the cattle thieves are committing the crimes during the overnight hours.

The sheriff's office asked anyone who suspects cattle theft to report it immediately as timely reporting is crucial to the success of the investigation. It said to try not to disturb any tire tracks or footprints that have been made visible.

Livestock thefts can also be reported to the&nbsp;<a href="https://agriculture.ks.gov/" target="_blank">Kansas Department of Agriculture</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://agriculture.ks.gov/divisions-programs/division-of-animal-health/brands-program" target="_blank">Division of Animal Health, Brands Program</a>, which will also require a completed and submitted stray/stolen report. To contact the Division of Animal Health, Brands Program, email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:kda.brands@ks.gov" target="_blank">kda.brands@ks.gov</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;

MORRIS COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a series of cattle thefts in northeast Kansas.The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.morriscountyks.org/sheriffs-office" target="_blank">Morris Co. Sheriff’s Office</a>&nbsp; has taken two reports this past week about livestock thefts from properties along Kansas 4 Highway, according to a media release.One thefts happened near Latimer and another near Dwight. Investigators believe the cattle thieves are committing the crimes during the overnight hours.The sheriff's office asked anyone who suspects cattle theft to report it immediately as timely reporting is crucial to the success of the investigation. It said to try not to disturb any tire tracks or footprints that have been made visible.Livestock thefts can also be reported to the&nbsp;<a href="https://agriculture.ks.gov/" target="_blank">Kansas Department of Agriculture</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://agriculture.ks.gov/divisions-programs/division-of-animal-health/brands-program" target="_blank">Division of Animal Health, Brands Program</a>, which will also require a completed and submitted stray/stolen report. To contact the Division of Animal Health, Brands Program, email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:kda.brands@ks.gov" target="_blank">kda.brands@ks.gov</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Sheriff investigating series of cattle thefts in Kansas

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Thursday that the United States was weighing a diplomatic boycott of next year's Winter Olympics in Beijing over China's human rights abuses, a move that would keep American dignitaries, but not athletes, from the games.

Speaking to reporters as he hosted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Oval Office, Biden said backing a boycott of the Olympics in February is “something we’re considering.”

The U.S. and other nations traditionally send high-level delegations to each Olympics. First lady Jill Biden led the American contingent to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo this year and second gentleman Doug Emhoff led a delegation to the Paralympic Games.

International advocacy groups and some members of Congress have called for a symbolic U.S. boycott of the games in Beijing over China's treatment of Uyghurs and its crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong. The participation of American athletes would be unaffected by the boycott.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said there was no timeline for a decision by the president on whether to go through with a possible boycott.

The White House has said the Olympics did not come up on Monday when Biden met virtually with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1637270716339.png" alt="President Biden during a meeting with&nbsp; Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics in China is “something we’re considering.”-photo White House" />
 <figcaption>President Biden during a meeting with&nbsp; Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics in China is “something we’re considering.”-photo White House</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Thursday that the United States was weighing a diplomatic boycott of next year's Winter Olympics in Beijing over China's human rights abuses, a move that would keep American dignitaries, but not athletes, from the games.Speaking to reporters as he hosted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Oval Office, Biden said backing a boycott of the Olympics in February is “something we’re considering.”The U.S. and other nations traditionally send high-level delegations to each Olympics. First lady Jill Biden led the American contingent to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo this year and second gentleman Doug Emhoff led a delegation to the Paralympic Games.International advocacy groups and some members of Congress have called for a symbolic U.S. boycott of the games in Beijing over China's treatment of Uyghurs and its crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong. The participation of American athletes would be unaffected by the boycott.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1637061329696.png" alt="&nbsp;President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden held a virtual summit this week.-photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden held a virtual summit this week.-photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>White House press secretary Jen Psaki said there was no timeline for a decision by the president on whether to go through with a possible boycott.The White House has said the Olympics did not come up on Monday when Biden met virtually with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Biden: US considering diplomatic boycott of Winter Olympics

By BRENT MARTIN <a href="https://stjosephpost.com">St. Joseph Post</a>

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Missouri U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt says the election results earlier
this month, especially in the Virginia governor’s race, repudiates the claim by
Democrats that the 2020 elections handed them a mandate to change the direction
of the country.

“When there’s no evidence of that at all,” Blunt says. “The
Senate couldn’t be possibly closer at 50-50. Democrats in the House have the closest
margin Democrats have had in the House of Representatives in 170 years. And the
mandate for Biden, if there was one, was competency and moderation and the administration
currently appears to be showing neither of those things.”

Blunt, a Republican, says the upset victory by Republican
Glenn Youngkin over Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia’s governor race is
a very good sign for Republicans in 2022.

Blunt says the extremely low public opinion poll numbers for
President Joe Biden should serve as a warning for Democrats.

“I think they’ve dramatically overreached what voters wanted
to see happen at the federal level and there’s a price to be paid for that.”

A public opinion poll taken by Gallup last month indicated
only 42% of Americans approve of Biden’s presidency.

Inflation is a concern, according to Blunt, who says the
country has become concerned about the massive spending bills being pushed by Democrats
in Washington.

“This is the moment right now to try to pull back on those
things that drive inflation rather than toss more of them on the table just
like Democrats in the House are trying to do today,” according to Blunt.

Blunt supported the $1 trillion infrastructure bill signed by
President Biden this week. He opposes the $1.75 trillion dollar social spending
and climate initiative package Democrats have proposed as companion
legislation. Blunt fears the additional spending will fuel inflation, adding some
prices for meat have jumped by 20%.

“Families feel that 20% impact on their eating budget, that maybe
50% impact on their heating budget, and they know how much it costs to fill
their car up to get back and forth to work,” Blunt says.

Democrats have not been able to secure the votes needed to get
the larger spending bill through the House. They face an even tougher task in
the Senate, though Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, predicts the
package, officially called Build Back Better, will pass Congress before Christmas.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1637270686734.png" alt="Sen. Roy Blunt speaks with St. Joseph Mayor Bill McMurray during a recent visit. Photo by Brent Martin" />
 <figcaption>Sen. Roy Blunt speaks with St. Joseph Mayor Bill McMurray during a recent visit. Photo by Brent Martin</figcaption>
 </figure>By BRENT MARTIN <a href="https://stjosephpost.com">St. Joseph Post</a>ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Missouri U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt says the election results earlier
this month, especially in the Virginia governor’s race, repudiates the claim by
Democrats that the 2020 elections handed them a mandate to change the direction
of the country.“When there’s no evidence of that at all,” Blunt says. “The
Senate couldn’t be possibly closer at 50-50. Democrats in the House have the closest
margin Democrats have had in the House of Representatives in 170 years. And the
mandate for Biden, if there was one, was competency and moderation and the administration
currently appears to be showing neither of those things.”Blunt, a Republican, says the upset victory by Republican
Glenn Youngkin over Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia’s governor race is
a very good sign for Republicans in 2022.Blunt says the extremely low public opinion poll numbers for
President Joe Biden should serve as a warning for Democrats.“I think they’ve dramatically overreached what voters wanted
to see happen at the federal level and there’s a price to be paid for that.”A public opinion poll taken by Gallup last month indicated
only 42% of Americans approve of Biden’s presidency.Economics might be the blame.Inflation is a concern, according to Blunt, who says the
country has become concerned about the massive spending bills being pushed by Democrats
in Washington.“This is the moment right now to try to pull back on those
things that drive inflation rather than toss more of them on the table just
like Democrats in the House are trying to do today,” according to Blunt.Blunt supported the $1 trillion infrastructure bill signed by
President Biden this week. He opposes the $1.75 trillion dollar social spending
and climate initiative package Democrats have proposed as companion
legislation. Blunt fears the additional spending will fuel inflation, adding some
prices for meat have jumped by 20%.“Families feel that 20% impact on their eating budget, that maybe
50% impact on their heating budget, and they know how much it costs to fill
their car up to get back and forth to work,” Blunt says.Democrats have not been able to secure the votes needed to get
the larger spending bill through the House. They face an even tougher task in
the Senate, though Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, predicts the
package, officially called Build Back Better, will pass Congress before Christmas.

Missouri senator: Democrats overreached and will pay at the polls

By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-11-18/a-private-company-asked-kansas-to-hide-public-information-so-kansas-did">Kansas News Service</a>

In Oregon, a city is hiding from a newspaper <a href="https://play.acast.com/s/nextquestion/data-waterandandwhyanoregontownissuingtheoregonian" target="_blank">how much of the region’s precious water Google uses</a> to cool its servers — claiming it’s a Google trade secret.

A Utah county refused to show a disability rights center its <a href="https://www.standard.net/police-fire/courts/2021/mar/26/judge-orders-release-of-utah-jail-standards-ruling-copyright-is-not-a-blanket-protection/" target="_blank">jail manuals for things such as hygiene and medical care</a> — because the author had copyrighted them.

<a href="https://www.nfoic.org/wp-content/uploads/pages/2019-04/Privatization%20and%20Trade%20Secrets_2019.pdf" target="_blank">Virginia pre-emptively promised Amazon</a>
 it would redact as much as it could get away with if any citizens asked
 for public records involving the company — to please the retail 
behemoth.

And in Kansas, the state lets companies unhappy about public scrutiny simply black out documents themselves.

Now emails between Kansas and one of those private firms reveal just how little the state’s lawyers pushed back when asked to <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-10-01/kansas-hid-parts-of-a-100k-audit-of-drug-spending-experts-say-the-state-went-too-far" target="_blank">hide large swaths of an audit</a> that cost taxpayers $100,000.

The audit was meant to watchdog about <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-10-01/kansas-audited-its-80-million-cvs-prescription-plan-but-its-still-shrouded-in-mystery" target="_blank">$160 million in prescription drug spending</a> on state employees, though experts say it came nowhere near achieving that, despite its hefty price tag.

Kansas
 bowed to the auditor’s wishes for secrecy, even though an attorney for 
the state couldn’t find anything in the report that qualified for 
protection from public view.

“I have personally reviewed the 
original document,” an open-records lawyer at the Kansas Department of 
Administration wrote in an email this summer, “but was unable to find 
any information that appeared to fall under any statutory exception.”

Frank
 LoMonte, director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, 
fears that governments increasingly let businesses, rather than their 
own laws, decide what the public can or cannot see.

“This is not a Kansas problem. It’s not an Oregon problem,” he said. “It’s an everywhere problem.”

Governments regularly shirk transparency laws and point to the intellectual property rights of private vendors as the reason.

And
 in the case of Kansas, it effectively outsources the redaction process 
to private companies that don’t work for the public, that don’t have any
 legal obligation to follow open records law and that can’t be hauled 
before a judge for breaking it.

“That’s a really dangerous 
business,” LoMonte said. “When you actually hand the document over and 
you invite people to use the black Magic Marker, they have every incentive to overuse it.”

Gov.
 Laura Kelly’s administration has declined or ignored half a dozen 
Kansas News Service requests to interview either the lawyers involved in
 the redaction process, Kelly herself or another person in her office 
who can speak to her administration’s approach to redacting public 
records.

In recent months, Kansas has
 allowed not just auditor PillarRx, but also some of the nation’s 
wealthiest corporations — CVS Health and UnitedHealth Group — to redact 
various documents related to drug spending before handing them over to 
the Kansas News Service.

<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/statute/045_000_0000_chapter/045_002_0000_article/045_002_0018_section/045_002_0018_k/" target="_blank">Kansas law</a>
 tells state agencies to give reporters and other citizens the documents
 they seek within days. But in these cases, the process took weeks or 
months.

Governments, of course, can get sued for overly redacting records — even if they acted at the behest of a private actor.

But governments see that risk as increasingly remote, experts say.

Newsrooms,
 and in particular newspapers, have trimmed payrolls, cut back on 
printing and even declared bankruptcy. So what are the chances that a 
media outlet will shell out thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on
 a court battle?

“If you’re sitting there in that legal counsel’s 
office or a state agency, you’re sizing up your risks,” LoMonte said. 
“You probably figure that, ‘I’m much more likely to get sued by a giant,
 multinational drug conglomerate than I am by a local radio station.’”

In the case of the PillarRx report — which is an audit of <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-10-01/kansas-audited-its-80-million-cvs-prescription-plan-but-its-still-shrouded-in-mystery" target="_blank">CVS’ pharmacy benefit work</a> for the state of Kansas — the state allowed the auditor to black out whole paragraphs, charts and even entire pages.

But the redactions were poorly done, and many of the blacked-out portions remained accessible as a result.

That’s how the Kansas News Service was able <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-10-01/kansas-audited-its-80-million-cvs-prescription-plan-but-its-still-shrouded-in-mystery" target="_blank">to report on the content</a>, which one independent lawyer after another has concluded contains bread-and-butter public information.

Facts
 as simple as how many prescription drugs Kansas employees picked up in 
2018 got the black-marker treatment. So did sample sizes and other audit
 details critical to understanding whether PillarRx did a good job 
policing CVS’ charges to the Kansas employee health plan.

Weirdly,
 many of the blacked-out details — such as dispensing fees that Kansas 
pays to pharmacies — actually appear in other publicly released 
documents, some even on the state’s own website.

Yet the state claimed the blacked-out details were privileged trade secrets.

“I’m confident,” lawyer Bernie Rhodes said, “that there are zero trade secrets in this report.”

Rhodes heads a national team of media lawyers for the law firm Lathrop GPM.

The
 Kelly administration won’t allow the Kansas News Service to interview 
its lawyers about the redactions. But state emails obtained through 
another open records request shed light on what happened.

On Aug. 11, the Kansas News Service asked for the audit.

That
 triggered concerns at the Department of Administration because PillarRx
 had written the words “confidential and proprietary” on its report.

The
 agency’s open records lawyer, Tanner Asbury, reached out to the 
contractor responsible for hiring subcontractor PillarRx. Asbury 
immediately suggested the option of blacking out content, even though 
redaction should be a last resort under state law.

“If PillarRx 
does not wish to provide the record in its entirety,” he wrote, “is 
there a redacted version that could be provided instead?”

On Aug. 27, PillarRx provided such a version.

When Asbury opened the document, he balked at what he saw: A sea of black.

“Could
 you please explain your reasoning?” he wrote back. “It appears as 
though all substantive portions of the document have been removed. The 
document we have received is essentially just the Table of Contents and 
Headings.”

“I have personally reviewed the original document but 
was unable to find any information that appeared to fall under any 
statutory exception,” he added.

But the open records lawyer signaled that Kansas remained open to redacting.

“My
 fellow legal counsel and I feel that this record should be open to the 
public to some extent,” Asbury wrote, “but the redacted copy provided 
has too much information removed.”

PillarRx said that it needed to
 shield pharmaceutical pricing and audit methods from public view. It 
said it signed a nondisclosure agreement with pharmacy giant CVS — the 
very company it had been hired to watchdog.

So when it provided a second redacted version on Sept. 1, large swaths remained black, though less than before.

“It’s
 true that we tend to error (sic) on the side of being 
ultraconservative,” PillarRx wrote to Asbury. “The PillarRx team has 
taken the opportunity to review and ultimately revise the extent of the 
redaction in a manner that will hopefully be an acceptable compromise.”

Nowhere
 in the emails does PillarRx claim its report contains any trade secrets
 — only details that are proprietary and confidential.

“There’s a 
huge difference,” said Rhodes, at Lathrop GPM. “There is no exception in
 the Kansas Open Records Act for proprietary or confidential information
 … There’s no privilege for that.”

But Kansas had to “shoehorn” the redactions into some provision of 
law, he said, and so it told the Kansas News Service the redactions 
protected trade secrets, which can enjoy a privilege that doesn’t apply 
to merely proprietary and confidential information.

What about the nondisclosure agreement PillarRx cited?

“So
 what?” Rhodes said. “It’s absurd to claim that a nondisclosure 
agreement prevents (Kansas) from complying with the Kansas Open Records 
Act.”

Governments that wrongly hide behind such agreements can face repercussions.

That happened in Missouri in 2015, when a local government near St. Louis <a href="https://www.lewisrice.com/publications/sunshine-law-developments-%E2%80%93-public-body-liable-for-civil-penalties-and-attorneys-fees-for-refusing-to-turn-over-a-settlement-agreement/" target="_blank">refused to reveal</a>
 how much it paid out for a personal injury settlement, because the 
settlement included a nondisclosure clause. The courts forced the 
release and awarded the plaintiff, a local resident, attorney fees.

Rhodes
 considers the PillarRx situation even more baffling given public 
statements by the Kansas Department of Administration’s chief legal 
counsel, John Yeary.

In October, after the Kansas News Service published its story about the redacted audit, <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-10-18/kansas-defends-its-decision-to-redact-whole-pages-of-a-100-000-drug-spending-report" target="_blank">Yeary faced questioning</a> by Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt at a public meeting.

Schmidt
 is an independently elected official — not a part of the Department of 
Administration — but has oversight duties related to the state health 
plan. She sharply criticized the decision to black out public 
information.

“Do you stand by what was redacted?” she asked of Yeary.

“I
 won’t say I completely 100% agree with PillarRx on what they view as a 
trade secret or proprietary and confidential,” Yeary replied. “I do feel
 like, that our approach in responding as an agency where there are 
interests on both sides was appropriate.”

“I
 don’t understand how you can believe you did the right thing if you 
don’t share the view that it’s a trade secret,” he said. “I don’t see 
how you can possibly agree with withholding it.”

The
 state has to carefully scrutinize any assertions by a private company 
that public records can’t be released, said Lyndon Vix, a Wichita media 
lawyer at law firm Fleeson Gooing.

Vix recently helped the Wichita Eagle <a href="https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article249212020.html" target="_blank">get police body camera footage</a> that the city of Wichita refused to hand over.

Even
 though Wichita’s violation of state law was so egregious that the court
 ultimately ordered the city to pay Vix’s fees, the court battle took 
three years.

“We have case law in Kansas that specifically says that not all confidential information is a trade secret,” he said.

“An
 audit takes information from sources and does an analysis and then 
reaches conclusions. And I have never heard of that type of process 
being classified as a trade secret.”

Trade secrets must be secret,
 first of all. So blacked-out audit details that were easily available 
through other public documents don’t qualify. Trade secrets have to be 
economically valuable in and of themselves, too. They need to be 
something vitally important to hide from competitors.

“It’s not like we’re dealing here with, you know, Pfizer’s formula 
for their vaccine or something,” he said. “These are (audit) numbers. So
 to convert them into ‘trade secrets’ … is more of a process than just 
saying, ‘This is confidential stuff.’”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1637246511765.png" alt="Carlos Moreno / KCUR 89.3" />
 <figcaption>Carlos Moreno / KCUR 89.3</figcaption>
 </figure>By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-11-18/a-private-company-asked-kansas-to-hide-public-information-so-kansas-did">Kansas News Service</a>In Oregon, a city is hiding from a newspaper <a href="https://play.acast.com/s/nextquestion/data-waterandandwhyanoregontownissuingtheoregonian" target="_blank">how much of the region’s precious water Google uses</a> to cool its servers — claiming it’s a Google trade secret.A Utah county refused to show a disability rights center its <a href="https://www.standard.net/police-fire/courts/2021/mar/26/judge-orders-release-of-utah-jail-standards-ruling-copyright-is-not-a-blanket-protection/" target="_blank">jail manuals for things such as hygiene and medical care</a> — because the author had copyrighted them.<a href="https://www.nfoic.org/wp-content/uploads/pages/2019-04/Privatization%20and%20Trade%20Secrets_2019.pdf" target="_blank">Virginia pre-emptively promised Amazon</a>
 it would redact as much as it could get away with if any citizens asked
 for public records involving the company — to please the retail 
behemoth.And in Kansas, the state lets companies unhappy about public scrutiny simply black out documents themselves.Now emails between Kansas and one of those private firms reveal just how little the state’s lawyers pushed back when asked to <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-10-01/kansas-hid-parts-of-a-100k-audit-of-drug-spending-experts-say-the-state-went-too-far" target="_blank">hide large swaths of an audit</a> that cost taxpayers $100,000.The audit was meant to watchdog about <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-10-01/kansas-audited-its-80-million-cvs-prescription-plan-but-its-still-shrouded-in-mystery" target="_blank">$160 million in prescription drug spending</a> on state employees, though experts say it came nowhere near achieving that, despite its hefty price tag.Kansas
 bowed to the auditor’s wishes for secrecy, even though an attorney for 
the state couldn’t find anything in the report that qualified for 
protection from public view.“I have personally reviewed the 
original document,” an open-records lawyer at the Kansas Department of 
Administration wrote in an email this summer, “but was unable to find 
any information that appeared to fall under any statutory exception.”Frank
 LoMonte, director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, 
fears that governments increasingly let businesses, rather than their 
own laws, decide what the public can or cannot see.“This is not a Kansas problem. It’s not an Oregon problem,” he said. “It’s an everywhere problem.”Governments regularly shirk transparency laws and point to the intellectual property rights of private vendors as the reason.And
 in the case of Kansas, it effectively outsources the redaction process 
to private companies that don’t work for the public, that don’t have any
 legal obligation to follow open records law and that can’t be hauled 
before a judge for breaking it.“That’s a really dangerous 
business,” LoMonte said. “When you actually hand the document over and 
you invite people to use the black Magic Marker, they have every incentive to overuse it.”Gov.
 Laura Kelly’s administration has declined or ignored half a dozen 
Kansas News Service requests to interview either the lawyers involved in
 the redaction process, Kelly herself or another person in her office 
who can speak to her administration’s approach to redacting public 
records.Sizing up risksIn recent months, Kansas has
 allowed not just auditor PillarRx, but also some of the nation’s 
wealthiest corporations — CVS Health and UnitedHealth Group — to redact 
various documents related to drug spending before handing them over to 
the Kansas News Service.<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/statute/045_000_0000_chapter/045_002_0000_article/045_002_0018_section/045_002_0018_k/" target="_blank">Kansas law</a>
 tells state agencies to give reporters and other citizens the documents
 they seek within days. But in these cases, the process took weeks or 
months.Governments, of course, can get sued for overly redacting records — even if they acted at the behest of a private actor.But governments see that risk as increasingly remote, experts say.Newsrooms,
 and in particular newspapers, have trimmed payrolls, cut back on 
printing and even declared bankruptcy. So what are the chances that a 
media outlet will shell out thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on
 a court battle?“If you’re sitting there in that legal counsel’s 
office or a state agency, you’re sizing up your risks,” LoMonte said. 
“You probably figure that, ‘I’m much more likely to get sued by a giant,
 multinational drug conglomerate than I am by a local radio station.’”In the case of the PillarRx report — which is an audit of <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-10-01/kansas-audited-its-80-million-cvs-prescription-plan-but-its-still-shrouded-in-mystery" target="_blank">CVS’ pharmacy benefit work</a> for the state of Kansas — the state allowed the auditor to black out whole paragraphs, charts and even entire pages.But the redactions were poorly done, and many of the blacked-out portions remained accessible as a result.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1637246737005.png" alt="Crysta Henthorne" />
 <figcaption>Crysta Henthorne</figcaption>
 </figure>That’s how the Kansas News Service was able <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-10-01/kansas-audited-its-80-million-cvs-prescription-plan-but-its-still-shrouded-in-mystery" target="_blank">to report on the content</a>, which one independent lawyer after another has concluded contains bread-and-butter public information.Facts
 as simple as how many prescription drugs Kansas employees picked up in 
2018 got the black-marker treatment. So did sample sizes and other audit
 details critical to understanding whether PillarRx did a good job 
policing CVS’ charges to the Kansas employee health plan.Weirdly,
 many of the blacked-out details — such as dispensing fees that Kansas 
pays to pharmacies — actually appear in other publicly released 
documents, some even on the state’s own website.Yet the state claimed the blacked-out details were privileged trade secrets.“I’m confident,” lawyer Bernie Rhodes said, “that there are zero trade secrets in this report.”Rhodes heads a national team of media lawyers for the law firm Lathrop GPM.What the emails revealThe
 Kelly administration won’t allow the Kansas News Service to interview 
its lawyers about the redactions. But state emails obtained through 
another open records request shed light on what happened.On Aug. 11, the Kansas News Service asked for the audit.That
 triggered concerns at the Department of Administration because PillarRx
 had written the words “confidential and proprietary” on its report.The
 agency’s open records lawyer, Tanner Asbury, reached out to the 
contractor responsible for hiring subcontractor PillarRx. Asbury 
immediately suggested the option of blacking out content, even though 
redaction should be a last resort under state law.“If PillarRx 
does not wish to provide the record in its entirety,” he wrote, “is 
there a redacted version that could be provided instead?”On Aug. 27, PillarRx provided such a version.When Asbury opened the document, he balked at what he saw: A sea of black.“Could
 you please explain your reasoning?” he wrote back. “It appears as 
though all substantive portions of the document have been removed. The 
document we have received is essentially just the Table of Contents and 
Headings.”“I have personally reviewed the original document but 
was unable to find any information that appeared to fall under any 
statutory exception,” he added.But the open records lawyer signaled that Kansas remained open to redacting.“My
 fellow legal counsel and I feel that this record should be open to the 
public to some extent,” Asbury wrote, “but the redacted copy provided 
has too much information removed.”PillarRx said that it needed to
 shield pharmaceutical pricing and audit methods from public view. It 
said it signed a nondisclosure agreement with pharmacy giant CVS — the 
very company it had been hired to watchdog.So when it provided a second redacted version on Sept. 1, large swaths remained black, though less than before.“It’s
 true that we tend to error (sic) on the side of being 
ultraconservative,” PillarRx wrote to Asbury. “The PillarRx team has 
taken the opportunity to review and ultimately revise the extent of the 
redaction in a manner that will hopefully be an acceptable compromise.”Kansas approved the compromise.Confidential vs. trade secretNowhere
 in the emails does PillarRx claim its report contains any trade secrets
 — only details that are proprietary and confidential.“There’s a 
huge difference,” said Rhodes, at Lathrop GPM. “There is no exception in
 the Kansas Open Records Act for proprietary or confidential information
 … There’s no privilege for that.”But Kansas had to “shoehorn” the redactions into some provision of 
law, he said, and so it told the Kansas News Service the redactions 
protected trade secrets, which can enjoy a privilege that doesn’t apply 
to merely proprietary and confidential information.What about the nondisclosure agreement PillarRx cited?“So
 what?” Rhodes said. “It’s absurd to claim that a nondisclosure 
agreement prevents (Kansas) from complying with the Kansas Open Records 
Act.”Governments that wrongly hide behind such agreements can face repercussions.That happened in Missouri in 2015, when a local government near St. Louis <a href="https://www.lewisrice.com/publications/sunshine-law-developments-%E2%80%93-public-body-liable-for-civil-penalties-and-attorneys-fees-for-refusing-to-turn-over-a-settlement-agreement/" target="_blank">refused to reveal</a>
 how much it paid out for a personal injury settlement, because the 
settlement included a nondisclosure clause. The courts forced the 
release and awarded the plaintiff, a local resident, attorney fees.Rhodes
 considers the PillarRx situation even more baffling given public 
statements by the Kansas Department of Administration’s chief legal 
counsel, John Yeary.In October, after the Kansas News Service published its story about the redacted audit, <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-10-18/kansas-defends-its-decision-to-redact-whole-pages-of-a-100-000-drug-spending-report" target="_blank">Yeary faced questioning</a> by Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt at a public meeting.Schmidt
 is an independently elected official — not a part of the Department of 
Administration — but has oversight duties related to the state health 
plan. She sharply criticized the decision to black out public 
information.“Do you stand by what was redacted?” she asked of Yeary.“I
 won’t say I completely 100% agree with PillarRx on what they view as a 
trade secret or proprietary and confidential,” Yeary replied. “I do feel
 like, that our approach in responding as an agency where there are 
interests on both sides was appropriate.”That floored Rhodes.“I
 don’t understand how you can believe you did the right thing if you 
don’t share the view that it’s a trade secret,” he said. “I don’t see 
how you can possibly agree with withholding it.”The state’s duty to the publicThe
 state has to carefully scrutinize any assertions by a private company 
that public records can’t be released, said Lyndon Vix, a Wichita media 
lawyer at law firm Fleeson Gooing.Vix recently helped the Wichita Eagle <a href="https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article249212020.html" target="_blank">get police body camera footage</a> that the city of Wichita refused to hand over.Even
 though Wichita’s violation of state law was so egregious that the court
 ultimately ordered the city to pay Vix’s fees, the court battle took 
three years.“We have case law in Kansas that specifically says that not all confidential information is a trade secret,” he said.“An
 audit takes information from sources and does an analysis and then 
reaches conclusions. And I have never heard of that type of process 
being classified as a trade secret.”Trade secrets must be secret,
 first of all. So blacked-out audit details that were easily available 
through other public documents don’t qualify. Trade secrets have to be 
economically valuable in and of themselves, too. They need to be 
something vitally important to hide from competitors.“It’s not like we’re dealing here with, you know, Pfizer’s formula 
for their vaccine or something,” he said. “These are (audit) numbers. So
 to convert them into ‘trade secrets’ … is more of a process than just 
saying, ‘This is confidential stuff.’”Kansas should have insisted
 to PillarRx that its redactions must fit the Kansas definition of trade
 secrets, Vix said, and should have demanded to know whether and why 
PillarRx felt they did.“It’s going to be very hard, I’m sure, for
 a lot of this information to fall within that definition,” he said, 
“because it is a fairly stringent definition.”Yet the more Kansas
 and other governments help businesses dodge open records requests, 
lawyers say, the worse off the public will be.“Government can’t 
just rubber-stamp a third-party’s request to label all its data a trade 
secret. That’s not how public records laws work,” said Gunita Singh, a 
lawyer for The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. “If that were how it worked, transparency would fly out the window.”“The
 public would lose out on critical information about government 
spending,” she said, “and other insights into how government and 
business are prioritizing—or sabotaging—our well-being.”Celia 
Llopis-Jepsen reports on consumer health for the Kansas News Service. 
You can follow her on Twitter @celia_LJ or email her at celia@kcur.org.