WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are increasingly optimistic about flipping governor’s offices in key battleground states next year, buoyed by President Joe Biden’s sagging approval ratings, Democratic infighting in Congress and better-than-expected results in elections in Virginia and New Jersey.

Democrats were already steeled for tough races, but the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2021-virginia-governor-glenn-youngkin-mcaulife-6cdbf77acf9a966e216ab2a297601baa">upset loss in Virginia’s governor’s race and a close win in deeply blue New Jersey’s</a>&nbsp;confirmed the difficult conditions ahead. In both places, the party was largely caught off guard by the potency of culture-war debates over schools and struggled to stop voters once turned off by former President Donald Trump from migrating back to Republicans.

“Biden’s approval is pulling down Democrats everywhere,” said Charles Franklin, the pollster at Marquette Law School, which released a survey this week showing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-health-coronavirus-pandemic-business-government-and-politics-e3a7a7e1540c5a357c96f1f75cde6b11">Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers</a>&nbsp;′ approval rating had slid even more. “There’s no question national forces are playing a big role.”

Democratic incumbents will be playing defense in much-watched Michigan and Wisconsin, and trying to hold an open seat in Pennsylvania. The three governorships are seen as Democrats’ best chance to slow the GOP’s ascendancy in the Rust Belt. The GOP currently holds the governor’s office in 27 states, compared with Democrats’ 23. Thirty-six are up next year nationwide.

Those races are poised to become expensive and intense contests, as voters and political parties have increasingly relied on state leaders to advance — or block — consequential policy. Evers and Democratic Govs.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/gretchen-whitmer">Gretchen Whitmer</a>&nbsp;of Michigan and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/tom-wolf">Tom Wolf&nbsp;</a>of Pennsylvania have emerged as major national figures, credited with stymieing Republican-controlled legislatures’ efforts to add restrictions on voting and to curb precautions during the coronavirus pandemic.

Democrats see added urgency in holding the three governorships, in part because of their role in presidential elections. Trump and his backers last year pushed swing-state governors to name electors who would cast votes for Trump in the Electoral College, even though&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-joe-biden-arizona-government-and-politics-ap-fact-check-0e7fad7e5bdf02d953c6b90a474267cc">Biden won</a>&nbsp;their states. All refused, but a new crop of more Trump-friendly governors could act differently should the next presidential race’s results be similarly disputed.

Flipping Michigan and Wisconsin and winning Pennsylvania — Wolf is term limited and can’t run again — would also likely give Republicans a boost heading into 2024 whether that year’s election’s results be ultimately challenged or not.

“Having Republican governors in key presidential battlegrounds like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan can be worth a point or two on the presidential ballot,” said Phil Cox, former executive director for the Republican Governors Association, who is advising GOP gubernatorial candidates for 2022. “Republican governors can be difference makers in 2024.”

Republican strategists say Wisconsin and Michigan are among their best pickup chances next year, along with Kansas — a normally deep-red state where Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly narrowly won a three-way 2018 race. Nevada, Maine and perhaps New Mexico could be within reach, they say.

GOP candidates across the country will likely try to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-elections-education-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-fc8501fa2b0ef655933f4cce27bf4c9a">energize conservative parents by denouncing schools adhering to “critical race theory,”</a>&nbsp;an academic framework about systemic racism that has become a catch-all phrase for teaching about race in U.S. history. Defending “parents’ rights” to push back against school districts’ efforts to teach about things like institutional racism helped Republican Glenn Youngkin win the governor’s race in Virginia, a state Biden carried by 10 percentage points just last year, and could further resonate in toss-up states.

“When you’re talking about governors, you’re talking about people who are actually in charge of what’s going to wind up in our kids’ schools,” said Rick Hess, director of education programs for the conservative American Enterprise Institute. “For senators and members of Congress, it’s a little more difficult. But this is such a gut-level, values-driven conversation, it will absolutely still motivate.”

Democrats, meanwhile, see pickup opportunities in open governorships in Maryland and in Arizona, where Biden last year became just the second Democratic presidential candidate to win since 1948.

Marshall Cohen, the Democratic Governors Association’s political director, said the party is also eyeing Ohio and Texas, where former Senate and presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-texas-election-2020-campaign-2016-government-and-politics-1d2fcef28c9d9a00c33500845136bda1">is expected</a>&nbsp;to challenge Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

Both parties, meanwhile, are also focused on Georgia, which narrowly went for Biden in 2020 and elected two Democratic senators in January. Incumbent GOP Gov. Brian Kemp faces the potential of a primary challenge from a Trump-backed Republican.

“No one knows what the environment’s going to be like in the fall of 2022,” Cohen said. “These races are not being held tomorrow.”

For now, though, Biden’s approval rating has slumped since the early months of his presidency, falling to 48% in an October AP-NORC poll from 59% in July.

That, plus the party being slow to pass its domestic agenda, may be a drag on governors’ in-state accomplishments. Congress approved a White House-backed $1 trillion infrastructure package late Friday, but it came too late to help the party during elections in Virginia and New Jersey.

“Many of the things that we are seeing and hearing about in the Build Back Better infrastructure are things that Democratic governors have already been doing in their states,” Wendi Wallace, deputy executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, said, referencing a spending bill endorsed by the White House which has yet to clear Congress. “Our in-state efforts are sometimes overshadowed by what’s happening in Washington.”

Biden’s trouble, meanwhile, could increase pressure on Democratic governors facing tough reelection fights to distance themselves from the White House in coming months. That’s mostly not happened, though reactions to Biden’s vaccine mandate for all Americans who work at companies of more than 100 employees could offer some hints that schisms are possible.

Polls show that such requirements are popular among Democrats and unpopular among staunch Republicans — but governor’s races are likely to be decided by independent and swing voters.

In Kansas,&nbsp;Kelly&nbsp;argued that mandates like the Biden administration’s vaccine requirements for larger businesses “tend not to work.” Whitmer and Evers have said little about the policy.

A former Wisconsin state school superintendent, Evers beat two-term Republican Gov. Scott Walker by fewer than 30,000 votes in 2018.

The Marquette Law School poll taken last week showed 45% of respondents approve of Evers’ performance, a metric weighed down by approval among independents and in line with pessimism among roughly half of registered voters about the direction the state is headed. Still, a majority of registered Wisconsin voters approve of the job Evers has done handling the COVID-19 pandemic, the poll found.

Whitmer won her first term comfortably in 2018 and became a national face of imposing restrictions to slow the pandemic’s spread last year. But she’s softened some in recent months.

Democratic strategist Amy Chapman said Whitmer has long known that, given the backlash she and other Democratic governors have faced over efforts to control the spread of COVID-19, 2022 would be a challenge. Whitmer was the subject of multiple threats and a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-us-news-state-courts-courts-ap-travel-da09ca66cd8d5f36722021d3593425ff">kidnapping plot foiled by federal authorities</a>.

“I don’t think there was ever a presumption in Michigan that this was going to be easy,” said Chapman, who was Barack Obama’s state director in 2008 and a senior adviser in 2012. “The governor has known that she really has to be vigilant about this.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636550088740.png" alt="Kansas governor Laura Kelly went grocery shopping Tuesday with Jennifer Melcher and her daughter Millie to discuss her plan to end the state tax on groceries.&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Kansas governor Laura Kelly went grocery shopping Tuesday with Jennifer Melcher and her daughter Millie to discuss her plan to end the state tax on groceries.&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are increasingly optimistic about flipping governor’s offices in key battleground states next year, buoyed by President Joe Biden’s sagging approval ratings, Democratic infighting in Congress and better-than-expected results in elections in Virginia and New Jersey.Democrats were already steeled for tough races, but the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2021-virginia-governor-glenn-youngkin-mcaulife-6cdbf77acf9a966e216ab2a297601baa">upset loss in Virginia’s governor’s race and a close win in deeply blue New Jersey’s</a>&nbsp;confirmed the difficult conditions ahead. In both places, the party was largely caught off guard by the potency of culture-war debates over schools and struggled to stop voters once turned off by former President Donald Trump from migrating back to Republicans.“Biden’s approval is pulling down Democrats everywhere,” said Charles Franklin, the pollster at Marquette Law School, which released a survey this week showing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-health-coronavirus-pandemic-business-government-and-politics-e3a7a7e1540c5a357c96f1f75cde6b11">Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers</a>&nbsp;′ approval rating had slid even more. “There’s no question national forces are playing a big role.”Democratic incumbents will be playing defense in much-watched Michigan and Wisconsin, and trying to hold an open seat in Pennsylvania. The three governorships are seen as Democrats’ best chance to slow the GOP’s ascendancy in the Rust Belt. The GOP currently holds the governor’s office in 27 states, compared with Democrats’ 23. Thirty-six are up next year nationwide.Those races are poised to become expensive and intense contests, as voters and political parties have increasingly relied on state leaders to advance — or block — consequential policy. Evers and Democratic Govs.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/gretchen-whitmer">Gretchen Whitmer</a>&nbsp;of Michigan and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/tom-wolf">Tom Wolf&nbsp;</a>of Pennsylvania have emerged as major national figures, credited with stymieing Republican-controlled legislatures’ efforts to add restrictions on voting and to curb precautions during the coronavirus pandemic.Democrats see added urgency in holding the three governorships, in part because of their role in presidential elections. Trump and his backers last year pushed swing-state governors to name electors who would cast votes for Trump in the Electoral College, even though&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-joe-biden-arizona-government-and-politics-ap-fact-check-0e7fad7e5bdf02d953c6b90a474267cc">Biden won</a>&nbsp;their states. All refused, but a new crop of more Trump-friendly governors could act differently should the next presidential race’s results be similarly disputed.Flipping Michigan and Wisconsin and winning Pennsylvania — Wolf is term limited and can’t run again — would also likely give Republicans a boost heading into 2024 whether that year’s election’s results be ultimately challenged or not.“Having Republican governors in key presidential battlegrounds like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan can be worth a point or two on the presidential ballot,” said Phil Cox, former executive director for the Republican Governors Association, who is advising GOP gubernatorial candidates for 2022. “Republican governors can be difference makers in 2024.”Republican strategists say Wisconsin and Michigan are among their best pickup chances next year, along with Kansas — a normally deep-red state where Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly narrowly won a three-way 2018 race. Nevada, Maine and perhaps New Mexico could be within reach, they say.GOP candidates across the country will likely try to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-elections-education-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-fc8501fa2b0ef655933f4cce27bf4c9a">energize conservative parents by denouncing schools adhering to “critical race theory,”</a>&nbsp;an academic framework about systemic racism that has become a catch-all phrase for teaching about race in U.S. history. Defending “parents’ rights” to push back against school districts’ efforts to teach about things like institutional racism helped Republican Glenn Youngkin win the governor’s race in Virginia, a state Biden carried by 10 percentage points just last year, and could further resonate in toss-up states.“When you’re talking about governors, you’re talking about people who are actually in charge of what’s going to wind up in our kids’ schools,” said Rick Hess, director of education programs for the conservative American Enterprise Institute. “For senators and members of Congress, it’s a little more difficult. But this is such a gut-level, values-driven conversation, it will absolutely still motivate.”Democrats, meanwhile, see pickup opportunities in open governorships in Maryland and in Arizona, where Biden last year became just the second Democratic presidential candidate to win since 1948.Marshall Cohen, the Democratic Governors Association’s political director, said the party is also eyeing Ohio and Texas, where former Senate and presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-texas-election-2020-campaign-2016-government-and-politics-1d2fcef28c9d9a00c33500845136bda1">is expected</a>&nbsp;to challenge Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.Both parties, meanwhile, are also focused on Georgia, which narrowly went for Biden in 2020 and elected two Democratic senators in January. Incumbent GOP Gov. Brian Kemp faces the potential of a primary challenge from a Trump-backed Republican.“No one knows what the environment’s going to be like in the fall of 2022,” Cohen said. “These races are not being held tomorrow.”For now, though, Biden’s approval rating has slumped since the early months of his presidency, falling to 48% in an October AP-NORC poll from 59% in July.That, plus the party being slow to pass its domestic agenda, may be a drag on governors’ in-state accomplishments. Congress approved a White House-backed $1 trillion infrastructure package late Friday, but it came too late to help the party during elections in Virginia and New Jersey.“Many of the things that we are seeing and hearing about in the Build Back Better infrastructure are things that Democratic governors have already been doing in their states,” Wendi Wallace, deputy executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, said, referencing a spending bill endorsed by the White House which has yet to clear Congress. “Our in-state efforts are sometimes overshadowed by what’s happening in Washington.”Biden’s trouble, meanwhile, could increase pressure on Democratic governors facing tough reelection fights to distance themselves from the White House in coming months. That’s mostly not happened, though reactions to Biden’s vaccine mandate for all Americans who work at companies of more than 100 employees could offer some hints that schisms are possible.Polls show that such requirements are popular among Democrats and unpopular among staunch Republicans — but governor’s races are likely to be decided by independent and swing voters.In Kansas,&nbsp;Kelly&nbsp;argued that mandates like the Biden administration’s vaccine requirements for larger businesses “tend not to work.” Whitmer and Evers have said little about the policy.A former Wisconsin state school superintendent, Evers beat two-term Republican Gov. Scott Walker by fewer than 30,000 votes in 2018.The Marquette Law School poll taken last week showed 45% of respondents approve of Evers’ performance, a metric weighed down by approval among independents and in line with pessimism among roughly half of registered voters about the direction the state is headed. Still, a majority of registered Wisconsin voters approve of the job Evers has done handling the COVID-19 pandemic, the poll found.Whitmer won her first term comfortably in 2018 and became a national face of imposing restrictions to slow the pandemic’s spread last year. But she’s softened some in recent months.Democratic strategist Amy Chapman said Whitmer has long known that, given the backlash she and other Democratic governors have faced over efforts to control the spread of COVID-19, 2022 would be a challenge. Whitmer was the subject of multiple threats and a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-us-news-state-courts-courts-ap-travel-da09ca66cd8d5f36722021d3593425ff">kidnapping plot foiled by federal authorities</a>.“I don’t think there was ever a presumption in Michigan that this was going to be easy,” said Chapman, who was Barack Obama’s state director in 2008 and a senior adviser in 2012. “The governor has known that she really has to be vigilant about this.”

Democrats facing tough slog in 2022 governor's races

By STEVE VOCKRODT and PEGGY LOWE <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-11-09/fbi-has-investigated-kansas-city-kansas-police-for-decades-but-prosecution-of-bad-cops-is-rare">Kansas News Service</a>

The FBI agent was unsparing — and pessimistic — in an assessment of the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.

KCKPD
 officers routinely violated the civil rights of those they were sworn 
to protect. They severely beat people in the city jail. They were 
alleged to have been dealing illegal drugs and committing robberies. And
 they ignored the crack cocaine epidemic in Wyandotte County.

“The
 problem is as bad as it is because of corruption within the police 
department and general investigative incompetence,” the FBI agent wrote.

Those
 findings were memorialized in a memo dated Dec. 18, 1992, by a special 
agent of the FBI, whose name was redacted, as part of an investigation 
into corruption within KCKPD that went under the code name “Operation 
Street Smart.”

The memo was obtained through a Freedom of 
Information Act request to the FBI for records of its past 
investigations into the KCKPD.

Nearly 30 years later, <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-10-14/kansas-city-kansas-police-open-museum-even-as-news-surfaces-of-federal-probe-into-former-detective" target="_blank">the department is making headlines</a>
 with reports of a federal investigation into alleged corruption. Former
 KCKPD detective Roger Golubski is accused in a civil case of 
systematically preying on Black women to satisfy his sexual proclivities
 or to fabricate evidence to clear cases. He is also accused of 
protecting drug dealers.

The news reports marked a rare public disclosure of a federal probe into some aspect of the KCKPD.

But
 as records obtained from the FOIA request show, the FBI has known 
corruption within KCKPD “has existed for decades.” And the agency 
appeared to have been frustrated at times by a lack of resources and 
inertia from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Kansas in responding to FBI 
discoveries about the department.

“The situation did not develop 
overnight, and it will not be solved overnight,” the memo reads. “The 
FBI has never convicted any KCKPD officer of any crime. Until this 
office does convict several police officers and hopefully gain the 
cooperation of some of these police officers, the situation in Kansas 
City, Kansas, will only deteriorate.”

Shown the documents, KCKPD 
spokesperson Nancy Chartrand said there are only 12 officers currently 
at the department who were employed there in 1992, half of them new 
recruits that year. The others had been working for the department for 
fewer than four years by 1992.

“That being said, it is impossible to validate nor negate the findings of that period in 1992,” Chartrand said in an email.

Asked
 if the depiction of the KCKPD in the FBI records reflects the 
department as it exists today, Chartrand said it does not. She cited 
several national developments that have triggered long-term police 
reforms, such as the beating of Rodney King in 1991, the use of DNA in 
forensic investigations and the growing use of dashboard and body-worn 
cameras.

“Simply stated, policing in our country has changed significantly over the past 29 years,” she said.

The
 FBI’s investigation of the KCKPD during the early 1990s turned up 
several incidents of alleged excessive force and brutality by police 
officers.

One memo from 1993 to FBI headquarters said there were 
200 officers accused of misconduct. Some had one complaint of excessive 
force against them. Others had between eight and 17 excessive force 
complaints over a three-year period.

The Kansas City FBI office 
and the U.S. Attorney identified 18 officers who made up the “core 
group” due to the numerous amounts of excessive force and conduct 
complaints against them. All the names were redacted from the records. 
In order to investigate the allegations, the FBI estimated it would take
 at least four agents working full time for the “next 6 to 12 months or 
longer.”

“The KCKPD does not investigate civil rights violations 
against its officers anymore than it investigates allegations of drug 
dealing or robberies committed by officers,” the report said. “It should
 be emphasized that the formal complaints made by citizens concerning 
violations of their civil rights is only the tip of the iceberg.”

Chester
 Owens, the first African American city councilman in Kansas City, 
Kansas, when he was elected in 1983, said he’s been fighting police 
brutality for decades. He believes the majority of officers are good, 
but there are still bullies who often pick up racist behavior as part of
 officer training.

“I think the difference of then and now (is) 
back then, some of them just took it on their own to do stuff,” Owens 
said. “But now they’ve put it in form and trained them.”

One 
incident from a memo dated April 22, 1993, described a disturbance near 
7th and Troup streets in northeast Kansas City, Kansas. (The date it 
occurred is unclear; the FBI records redacted names, dates and other 
details of the incidents it recounted.)

The memo said several 
young people accused an officer of stepping on the back of an unnamed 
person, kicking a person in the ribs, using profanity and epithets 
including the n-word and striking a person on the head with a gun. The 
summary of the incident said no significant injury resulted.

“The 
police officer is white, and remarks were made which could indicate a 
lack of sensitivity on the officer’s part to the black children,” the 
memo stated. “If it is determined that this matter should be 
investigated, at least 25 interviews will be required.”

A 
description of a similar incident was detailed in a written complaint by
 the NAACP legal department. The letter, according to FBI records, said 
that a group of 16 Black children between the ages of 7 and 16 were 
walking to a relative’s house on a rainy day when six white officers 
stopped them.

The officers searched the children and ordered them to the ground; some of them were lying in mud.

“When
 one of the older cousins questioned why the police were doing this and 
asked what they had done wrong, one of the officers proceeded to hit him
 with his gun and repeatedly kick him with his shoes,” the FBI summary 
of the NAACP’s complaint said. “Another cousin was then thrown over the 
fence by another officer, and the officer proceeded to beat him.”

One
 of the officers whose name is redacted from the report admitted to 
being at the scene but denied hitting or kicking any of the kids. The 
incident resulted in the officer receiving a “counseling form” that said
 the officer could have allowed the children to get out of the rain 
sooner once he found out there were no weapons.

“Officer [name 
redacted] was told that in the near future, in inclement weather such as
 this, he should use a little more tact in handling this type of a 
call,” the FBI record said.

A 1993 FBI memo said many people who 
filed complaints against the KCKPD did not follow up, which the FBI 
concluded was probably because they didn't believe anything would be 
done and they feared they may not be seen as credible witnesses. The 
memo also said there was strong cohesiveness among police officers and 
it would be difficult to find an officer who would testify against 
another officer. The FBI also thought many of the complaints reflected 
proper police protocol.

In an interview with KCUR nearly two years
 ago, FBI agent Al Jennerich, who investigated the KCKPD during the 
1990s, backed up the FBI records.

To investigate that many 
officers in a small department was unusual, Jennerich said, adding that 
he was shocked at some of the KCKPD procedures, including the 
destruction of internal affairs reports after just three years.

“Now
 why would you do that? The only reason you do that would be to protect 
dirty cops or cops that are behaving improperly,” he said.

Jennerich recalled that a couple of officers were indicted. 

An
 officer who faced charges was Edward Dryden. He was among several 
defendants charged in 1993 with a conspiracy to distribute crack 
cocaine.

Dryden, then a 25-year veteran of the police department, 
was accused of being involved in the drug operation and of tipping off 
other defendants of impending arrests against them.

Dryden, a Black man who died in 2019, was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

In
 another case, in 1994, a KCKPD officer was indicted by a federal grand 
jury less than a month after FBI agents arrested him for possessing and 
intending to distribute illegal steroids, according to an article in the
 Kansas City Kansan newspaper.

But the U.S. Attorney’s office in 
Kansas wasn’t interested in pursuing such cases after then assistant 
U.S. Attorney Julie Robinson, who had championed the FBI’s work, left 
the office, he said. Robinson was appointed a federal bankruptcy judge 
in 1996 and is now a U.S. District judge in Kansas City, Kansas. 

A
 standing monthly subpoena for KCKPD’s internal affairs reports was 
lifted after Robinson left the U.S. Attorney's office and KCKPD 
complained, Jennerich said.

“When Julie Robinson left, the cops 
over there, management, they saw that … it was a crack in the door and 
they decided they were going to go through that door basically to 
complain about the FBI investigating,” Jennerich said. “So no more 
subpoenas.”

Without the grand jury subpoenas, there could be no 
investigation, he said. Ultimately, the FBI also lost interest in the 
corruption cases, Jennerich said.

“The FBI does not want these cases,” he said. “It’s just a big headache for them politically.”

But at least one FBI agent was pushing for prosecutions of KCKPD officers in 1992.

“A
 more aggressive approach by this office in identifying and prosecuting 
police officers who routinely violate individuals’ civil rights would 
benefit this overall investigation,” the unnamed FBI agent wrote, 
“because the investigation to date has shown that many of the same 
officers involved in corruption are also involved in civil rights 
violations.”

Golubski and Lamonte McIntyre's exoneration 

An
 FBI memo from 1993 noted that a source for the agency had said some 
KCKPD officers would steal money and drugs from people they stopped in 
the streets.

Similar behavior landed KCKPD in the headlines in 
2011 when members of a tactical squad were arrested and charged with 
stealing cash and electronics from residences where they were executing 
search warrants.

But public scrutiny of the department would not 
become widespread until the exoneration in 2017 of Lamonte McIntyre, a 
Black man in KCK who was convicted of a double-homicide in 1994.

Roger Golubski was one of the detectives who investigated McIntyre’s case.

After
 lengthy court proceedings, the Wyandotte County District Attorney in 
2017 declared that a “manifest injustice” had occurred in McIntyre’s 
case, setting him free after 23 years behind bars for a crime he did not
 commit.

Since then, Golubski has been the main focus of a civil 
rights lawsuit filed by McIntyre and his mother against KCKPD officers 
and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas.

The
 lawsuit portrays Golubski as a crooked cop who took advantage of Black 
women in the poorest sections of KCK. He exploited Black women, some of 
whom were addicted to drugs and others who were sex workers, for sexual 
favors or to compromise them into fabricating testimony to help him 
clear cases he investigated, according to the lawsuit.

In court filings, Golubski has denied the allegations. In a deposition, he<a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-01-03/accused-of-coercing-women-into-sex-and-lies-to-solve-cases-ex-kck-cop-takes-the-fifth" target="_blank"> refused to address more than 500 questions</a> posed to him by McIntyre’s legal team, citing his constitutional right against self-incrimination.

It’s
 not clear what aspects of Golubski’s alleged behavior have attracted 
the focus of the grand jury’s investigation. A CNN report, citing former
 KCKPD chief Terry Zeigler, said the grand jury issued subpoenas for 
about a dozen case files from the police department. Both KCKPD and the 
Unified Government have confirmed they received federal subpoenas.

The
 NPR Midwest Newsroom and KCUR filed a Kansas Open Records Act request 
for the subpoenas, which remains pending. Previous KORA requests for 
grand jury subpoenas were denied by the Unified Government on the 
grounds they were investigative records. But the UG has since publicly 
acknowledged the existence of the investigation.

Since the civil 
rights lawsuit was filed in 2019, McIntyre’s legal team has gone further
 to examine Golubski’s behavior as a KCKPD detective. Earlier this year,
 McIntyre’s lawyers went to a magistrate judge and demanded an order 
that the Unified Government turn over several sets of records.

Among
 the records they sought were investigative files about 18 women 
Golubski allegedly sexually exploited and used as informants. They also 
sought records of the investigations carried out by KCKPD into the 
murders of women Golubski had used as informants.

“A dozen or more
 of Golubski’s female victims and/or informants have been murdered,” 
reads a footnote in a filing by McIntyre’s lawyers. “With only a couple 
of exceptions, these murders remain unsolved. In some instances, 
Golubski was a primary investigator in the case, despite his past 
relationship with the informant.”

McIntyre’s lawyers also want 
KCKPD files related to drug dealers and gang leaders who had connections
 to Golubski. The lawyers said the records are necessary to establish 
KCKPD’s tolerance of misconduct by its officers.

The magistrate 
judge found most of the arguments by McIntyre’s lawyers persuasive and 
ordered the Unified Government to make the records available.

Social
 justice leaders in Kansas City, Kansas, applauded the Oct. 14 news of 
the federal grand jury probe into Golubski’s alleged crimes.

But they are also calling for a larger investigation by the U.S. 
Department of Justice into “systemic patterns and practices that have 
violated the civil rights of communities of color in Kansas City, 
Kansas.”

“For far too long the injustice perpetrated and covered up by the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department have gone ignored,” <a href="https://more2.org/DOJinKCK/" target="_blank">reads the online petition</a> championed by MORE², a KCK social justice group.

Long
 quiet, victims’ families are now speaking up. Kendra Wright attended a 
MORE² rally on Oct. 25 in front of Kansas City, Kansas, City Hall. 
Wright is the niece of Rose Calvin, a woman with whom Golubski had ties 
and whose 1996 homicide remains unsolved.

“This man nearly destroyed us but we are strong and we are here,” Wright said.

Still, Wright said her family is hopeful.

“We are going to get justice,” she said. “We’re hoping that it’s going to be soon.”

Karl
 Oakman, a former deputy chief of the Kansas City, Missouri, Police 
Department, inherited the Golubski fallout when he became police chief 
in June.

Oakman recently said he plans to open a cold case unit in
 January, although said that Kansas City, Kansas, is not the only place 
that had a high number of unsolved homicides of women during the period 
in question. There were a large number of unsolved cases from the 1980s 
and1990s because of the nationwide crack cocaine epidemic, he said.

Still, Oakman said the cold case team will consist of three people who will look at the cases of the murdered women.

“We'll
 prioritize which cases that, for instance, if there's DNA evidence in 
this case, and there's not any in this case, what we're going to try to 
do is go with the case with the DNA and try to get, see if we can get a 
profile and maybe solve that case,” he said.

This story is part
 of a collaboration between KCUR and the Midwest Newsroom, an 
investigative journalism initiative including KCUR, <a href="https://www.iowapublicradio.org/" target="_blank">IPR</a>, <a href="https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/" target="_blank">Nebraska Public Media News</a>, <a href="https://news.stlpublicradio.org/" target="_blank">St. Louis Public Radio</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/" target="_blank">NPR</a>.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636562531712.png" alt="Former KCKPD detective Roger Golubski is accused in a civil case of systematically preying on Black women to satisfy his sexual proclivities or to fabricate evidence to clear cases. He is also accused of protecting drug dealers. Photo Illustration-Carlos Moreno and Peggy Lowe / KCUR 89.3" />
 <figcaption>Former KCKPD detective Roger Golubski is accused in a civil case of systematically preying on Black women to satisfy his sexual proclivities or to fabricate evidence to clear cases. He is also accused of protecting drug dealers. Photo Illustration-Carlos Moreno and Peggy Lowe / KCUR 89.3</figcaption>
 </figure>By STEVE VOCKRODT and PEGGY LOWE <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-11-09/fbi-has-investigated-kansas-city-kansas-police-for-decades-but-prosecution-of-bad-cops-is-rare">Kansas News Service</a>The FBI agent was unsparing — and pessimistic — in an assessment of the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.KCKPD
 officers routinely violated the civil rights of those they were sworn 
to protect. They severely beat people in the city jail. They were 
alleged to have been dealing illegal drugs and committing robberies. And
 they ignored the crack cocaine epidemic in Wyandotte County.“The
 problem is as bad as it is because of corruption within the police 
department and general investigative incompetence,” the FBI agent wrote.Those
 findings were memorialized in a memo dated Dec. 18, 1992, by a special 
agent of the FBI, whose name was redacted, as part of an investigation 
into corruption within KCKPD that went under the code name “Operation 
Street Smart.”The memo was obtained through a Freedom of 
Information Act request to the FBI for records of its past 
investigations into the KCKPD.Nearly 30 years later, <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-10-14/kansas-city-kansas-police-open-museum-even-as-news-surfaces-of-federal-probe-into-former-detective" target="_blank">the department is making headlines</a>
 with reports of a federal investigation into alleged corruption. Former
 KCKPD detective Roger Golubski is accused in a civil case of 
systematically preying on Black women to satisfy his sexual proclivities
 or to fabricate evidence to clear cases. He is also accused of 
protecting drug dealers.The news reports marked a rare public disclosure of a federal probe into some aspect of the KCKPD.But
 as records obtained from the FOIA request show, the FBI has known 
corruption within KCKPD “has existed for decades.” And the agency 
appeared to have been frustrated at times by a lack of resources and 
inertia from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Kansas in responding to FBI 
discoveries about the department.“The situation did not develop 
overnight, and it will not be solved overnight,” the memo reads. “The 
FBI has never convicted any KCKPD officer of any crime. Until this 
office does convict several police officers and hopefully gain the 
cooperation of some of these police officers, the situation in Kansas 
City, Kansas, will only deteriorate.”Shown the documents, KCKPD 
spokesperson Nancy Chartrand said there are only 12 officers currently 
at the department who were employed there in 1992, half of them new 
recruits that year. The others had been working for the department for 
fewer than four years by 1992.“That being said, it is impossible to validate nor negate the findings of that period in 1992,” Chartrand said in an email.Asked
 if the depiction of the KCKPD in the FBI records reflects the 
department as it exists today, Chartrand said it does not. She cited 
several national developments that have triggered long-term police 
reforms, such as the beating of Rodney King in 1991, the use of DNA in 
forensic investigations and the growing use of dashboard and body-worn 
cameras.“Simply stated, policing in our country has changed significantly over the past 29 years,” she said.<h2>200 officers accused of misconduct</h2>The
 FBI’s investigation of the KCKPD during the early 1990s turned up 
several incidents of alleged excessive force and brutality by police 
officers.One memo from 1993 to FBI headquarters said there were 
200 officers accused of misconduct. Some had one complaint of excessive 
force against them. Others had between eight and 17 excessive force 
complaints over a three-year period.The Kansas City FBI office 
and the U.S. Attorney identified 18 officers who made up the “core 
group” due to the numerous amounts of excessive force and conduct 
complaints against them. All the names were redacted from the records. 
In order to investigate the allegations, the FBI estimated it would take
 at least four agents working full time for the “next 6 to 12 months or 
longer.”“The KCKPD does not investigate civil rights violations 
against its officers anymore than it investigates allegations of drug 
dealing or robberies committed by officers,” the report said. “It should
 be emphasized that the formal complaints made by citizens concerning 
violations of their civil rights is only the tip of the iceberg.”Chester
 Owens, the first African American city councilman in Kansas City, 
Kansas, when he was elected in 1983, said he’s been fighting police 
brutality for decades. He believes the majority of officers are good, 
but there are still bullies who often pick up racist behavior as part of
 officer training.“I think the difference of then and now (is) 
back then, some of them just took it on their own to do stuff,” Owens 
said. “But now they’ve put it in form and trained them.”One 
incident from a memo dated April 22, 1993, described a disturbance near 
7th and Troup streets in northeast Kansas City, Kansas. (The date it 
occurred is unclear; the FBI records redacted names, dates and other 
details of the incidents it recounted.)The memo said several 
young people accused an officer of stepping on the back of an unnamed 
person, kicking a person in the ribs, using profanity and epithets 
including the n-word and striking a person on the head with a gun. The 
summary of the incident said no significant injury resulted.“The 
police officer is white, and remarks were made which could indicate a 
lack of sensitivity on the officer’s part to the black children,” the 
memo stated. “If it is determined that this matter should be 
investigated, at least 25 interviews will be required.”A 
description of a similar incident was detailed in a written complaint by
 the NAACP legal department. The letter, according to FBI records, said 
that a group of 16 Black children between the ages of 7 and 16 were 
walking to a relative’s house on a rainy day when six white officers 
stopped them.The officers searched the children and ordered them to the ground; some of them were lying in mud.“When
 one of the older cousins questioned why the police were doing this and 
asked what they had done wrong, one of the officers proceeded to hit him
 with his gun and repeatedly kick him with his shoes,” the FBI summary 
of the NAACP’s complaint said. “Another cousin was then thrown over the 
fence by another officer, and the officer proceeded to beat him.”One
 of the officers whose name is redacted from the report admitted to 
being at the scene but denied hitting or kicking any of the kids. The 
incident resulted in the officer receiving a “counseling form” that said
 the officer could have allowed the children to get out of the rain 
sooner once he found out there were no weapons.“Officer [name 
redacted] was told that in the near future, in inclement weather such as
 this, he should use a little more tact in handling this type of a 
call,” the FBI record said.A 1993 FBI memo said many people who 
filed complaints against the KCKPD did not follow up, which the FBI 
concluded was probably because they didn't believe anything would be 
done and they feared they may not be seen as credible witnesses. The 
memo also said there was strong cohesiveness among police officers and 
it would be difficult to find an officer who would testify against 
another officer. The FBI also thought many of the complaints reflected 
proper police protocol.In an interview with KCUR nearly two years
 ago, FBI agent Al Jennerich, who investigated the KCKPD during the 
1990s, backed up the FBI records.To investigate that many 
officers in a small department was unusual, Jennerich said, adding that 
he was shocked at some of the KCKPD procedures, including the 
destruction of internal affairs reports after just three years.“Now
 why would you do that? The only reason you do that would be to protect 
dirty cops or cops that are behaving improperly,” he said.Jennerich recalled that a couple of officers were indicted. An
 officer who faced charges was Edward Dryden. He was among several 
defendants charged in 1993 with a conspiracy to distribute crack 
cocaine.Dryden, then a 25-year veteran of the police department, 
was accused of being involved in the drug operation and of tipping off 
other defendants of impending arrests against them.Dryden, a Black man who died in 2019, was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison.In
 another case, in 1994, a KCKPD officer was indicted by a federal grand 
jury less than a month after FBI agents arrested him for possessing and 
intending to distribute illegal steroids, according to an article in the
 Kansas City Kansan newspaper.But the U.S. Attorney’s office in 
Kansas wasn’t interested in pursuing such cases after then assistant 
U.S. Attorney Julie Robinson, who had championed the FBI’s work, left 
the office, he said. Robinson was appointed a federal bankruptcy judge 
in 1996 and is now a U.S. District judge in Kansas City, Kansas. A
 standing monthly subpoena for KCKPD’s internal affairs reports was 
lifted after Robinson left the U.S. Attorney's office and KCKPD 
complained, Jennerich said.“When Julie Robinson left, the cops 
over there, management, they saw that … it was a crack in the door and 
they decided they were going to go through that door basically to 
complain about the FBI investigating,” Jennerich said. “So no more 
subpoenas.”Without the grand jury subpoenas, there could be no 
investigation, he said. Ultimately, the FBI also lost interest in the 
corruption cases, Jennerich said.“The FBI does not want these cases,” he said. “It’s just a big headache for them politically.”But at least one FBI agent was pushing for prosecutions of KCKPD officers in 1992.“A
 more aggressive approach by this office in identifying and prosecuting 
police officers who routinely violate individuals’ civil rights would 
benefit this overall investigation,” the unnamed FBI agent wrote, 
“because the investigation to date has shown that many of the same 
officers involved in corruption are also involved in civil rights 
violations.”<h2>Golubski and Lamonte McIntyre's exoneration </h2>An
 FBI memo from 1993 noted that a source for the agency had said some 
KCKPD officers would steal money and drugs from people they stopped in 
the streets.Similar behavior landed KCKPD in the headlines in 
2011 when members of a tactical squad were arrested and charged with 
stealing cash and electronics from residences where they were executing 
search warrants.But public scrutiny of the department would not 
become widespread until the exoneration in 2017 of Lamonte McIntyre, a 
Black man in KCK who was convicted of a double-homicide in 1994.Roger Golubski was one of the detectives who investigated McIntyre’s case.After
 lengthy court proceedings, the Wyandotte County District Attorney in 
2017 declared that a “manifest injustice” had occurred in McIntyre’s 
case, setting him free after 23 years behind bars for a crime he did not
 commit.Since then, Golubski has been the main focus of a civil 
rights lawsuit filed by McIntyre and his mother against KCKPD officers 
and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas.The
 lawsuit portrays Golubski as a crooked cop who took advantage of Black 
women in the poorest sections of KCK. He exploited Black women, some of 
whom were addicted to drugs and others who were sex workers, for sexual 
favors or to compromise them into fabricating testimony to help him 
clear cases he investigated, according to the lawsuit.In court filings, Golubski has denied the allegations. In a deposition, he<a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-01-03/accused-of-coercing-women-into-sex-and-lies-to-solve-cases-ex-kck-cop-takes-the-fifth" target="_blank"> refused to address more than 500 questions</a> posed to him by McIntyre’s legal team, citing his constitutional right against self-incrimination.It’s
 not clear what aspects of Golubski’s alleged behavior have attracted 
the focus of the grand jury’s investigation. A CNN report, citing former
 KCKPD chief Terry Zeigler, said the grand jury issued subpoenas for 
about a dozen case files from the police department. Both KCKPD and the 
Unified Government have confirmed they received federal subpoenas.The
 NPR Midwest Newsroom and KCUR filed a Kansas Open Records Act request 
for the subpoenas, which remains pending. Previous KORA requests for 
grand jury subpoenas were denied by the Unified Government on the 
grounds they were investigative records. But the UG has since publicly 
acknowledged the existence of the investigation.Since the civil 
rights lawsuit was filed in 2019, McIntyre’s legal team has gone further
 to examine Golubski’s behavior as a KCKPD detective. Earlier this year,
 McIntyre’s lawyers went to a magistrate judge and demanded an order 
that the Unified Government turn over several sets of records.Among
 the records they sought were investigative files about 18 women 
Golubski allegedly sexually exploited and used as informants. They also 
sought records of the investigations carried out by KCKPD into the 
murders of women Golubski had used as informants.“A dozen or more
 of Golubski’s female victims and/or informants have been murdered,” 
reads a footnote in a filing by McIntyre’s lawyers. “With only a couple 
of exceptions, these murders remain unsolved. In some instances, 
Golubski was a primary investigator in the case, despite his past 
relationship with the informant.”McIntyre’s lawyers also want 
KCKPD files related to drug dealers and gang leaders who had connections
 to Golubski. The lawyers said the records are necessary to establish 
KCKPD’s tolerance of misconduct by its officers.The magistrate 
judge found most of the arguments by McIntyre’s lawyers persuasive and 
ordered the Unified Government to make the records available.<h2>Activists call for bigger federal probe</h2>Social
 justice leaders in Kansas City, Kansas, applauded the Oct. 14 news of 
the federal grand jury probe into Golubski’s alleged crimes.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636562646193.png" alt="Ricee Cade of MORE², a social justice group, speaks during a rally before the Unified Government's office building on Oct. 25, 2021. MORE² is calling for an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. Peggy Lowe" />
 <figcaption>Ricee Cade of MORE², a social justice group, speaks during a rally before the Unified Government's office building on Oct. 25, 2021. MORE² is calling for an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. Peggy Lowe</figcaption>
 </figure>But they are also calling for a larger investigation by the U.S. 
Department of Justice into “systemic patterns and practices that have 
violated the civil rights of communities of color in Kansas City, 
Kansas.”“For far too long the injustice perpetrated and covered up by the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department have gone ignored,” <a href="https://more2.org/DOJinKCK/" target="_blank">reads the online petition</a> championed by MORE², a KCK social justice group.Long
 quiet, victims’ families are now speaking up. Kendra Wright attended a 
MORE² rally on Oct. 25 in front of Kansas City, Kansas, City Hall. 
Wright is the niece of Rose Calvin, a woman with whom Golubski had ties 
and whose 1996 homicide remains unsolved.“This man nearly destroyed us but we are strong and we are here,” Wright said.Still, Wright said her family is hopeful.“We are going to get justice,” she said. “We’re hoping that it’s going to be soon.”Karl
 Oakman, a former deputy chief of the Kansas City, Missouri, Police 
Department, inherited the Golubski fallout when he became police chief 
in June.Oakman recently said he plans to open a cold case unit in
 January, although said that Kansas City, Kansas, is not the only place 
that had a high number of unsolved homicides of women during the period 
in question. There were a large number of unsolved cases from the 1980s 
and1990s because of the nationwide crack cocaine epidemic, he said.Still, Oakman said the cold case team will consist of three people who will look at the cases of the murdered women.“We'll
 prioritize which cases that, for instance, if there's DNA evidence in 
this case, and there's not any in this case, what we're going to try to 
do is go with the case with the DNA and try to get, see if we can get a 
profile and maybe solve that case,” he said.This story is part
 of a collaboration between KCUR and the Midwest Newsroom, an 
investigative journalism initiative including KCUR, <a href="https://www.iowapublicradio.org/" target="_blank">IPR</a>, <a href="https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/" target="_blank">Nebraska Public Media News</a>, <a href="https://news.stlpublicradio.org/" target="_blank">St. Louis Public Radio</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/" target="_blank">NPR</a>.&nbsp;

FBI has investigated KCK police for decades, but prosecution of bad cops is rare

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department
 announced today that millions of American families will soon receive 
their advance Child Tax Credit (CTC) payment for the month of November. 
Low-income families who are not getting payments and have not filed a 
tax return can still get one, but they must sign up on IRS.gov by 11:59 
pm Eastern Time on Monday, Nov. 15.

This fifth batch of advance monthly payments, totaling about $15 
billion, will reach about 36 million families across the country.&nbsp;The 
majority of payments are being made by direct deposit.

Under the American Rescue Plan, most eligible families received 
payments dated July 15, Aug. 13, Sept. 15 and Oct. 15. The last payment 
for 2021 is scheduled for Dec. 15. For these families, each&nbsp;payment is 
up to $300 per month for each child under age 6 and up to $250 per month
 for each child ages 6 through 17.

Here are more details on the November payments:

Recently, the IRS sent letters to many Americans urging them to check
 out the Child Tax Credit and if they qualify, to sign up soon to get 
advance payments. Whether or not they got one of these letters, an 
eligible family who is not already getting monthly payments can still 
sign up to get an advance payment of the Child Tax Credit.

Treasury and IRS urge any low-income family who doesn’t normally need
 to file a return to sign up now to get their payment. The deadline is 
11:59 pm Eastern Time on Monday, November 15.

Right now, they can only sign up online. To do so, quickly and securely, visit <a href="https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/advance-child-tax-credit-payments-in-2021">IRS.gov/childtaxcredit2021</a>. Families can choose to file either in English or Spanish. 
Families signing up now will normally&nbsp;receive half of their total Child Tax Credit receive on
 Dec. 15. This means a payment of up to $1,800 for each child under 6, 
and up to $1,500 for each child age 6 to 17. This is the same total 
amount that most other families have been receiving in up to six monthly
 payments that began in July. 
Any family who receives advance payments of the CTC during 2021 can 
claim the rest of the credit when they file their 2021 Federal income 
tax return. To help them do that, early in 2022 families will receive 
Letter 6419 documenting any advance payments issued to them during 2021 
and the number of qualifying children used to calculate the advance 
payments.

Families can make changes to their account

Families who are already receiving monthly payments can use the Child
 Tax Credit Update Portal (CTC-UP) to quickly update their account. 
Available only on IRS.gov, CTC-UP already allows families to verify 
their eligibility for the payments and then, if they choose to:

Updates made by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Nov. 29 will be reflected in the monthly payment scheduled for Dec. 15.

Later this month, the IRS will launch a Spanish-language version of 
the tool. In addition, new features will be added to enable families to 
raise or lower their final monthly payment to reflect life changes, such
 as another child born or adopted in 2021.

The IRS encourages partners and community groups to share information and use available <a href="https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/advance-child-tax-credit-payments-in-2021">online tools and toolkits</a> to help non-filers, low-income families and other underserved groups sign up to receive these benefits. 
Links to online tools, answers to frequently asked questions and other helpful resources are available on the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/advance-child-tax-credit-payments-in-2021">IRS’ special advance CTC 2021 page</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRSWASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department
 announced today that millions of American families will soon receive 
their advance Child Tax Credit (CTC) payment for the month of November. 
Low-income families who are not getting payments and have not filed a 
tax return can still get one, but they must sign up on IRS.gov by 11:59 
pm Eastern Time on Monday, Nov. 15.This fifth batch of advance monthly payments, totaling about $15 
billion, will reach about 36 million families across the country.&nbsp;The 
majority of payments are being made by direct deposit.Under the American Rescue Plan, most eligible families received 
payments dated July 15, Aug. 13, Sept. 15 and Oct. 15. The last payment 
for 2021 is scheduled for Dec. 15. For these families, each&nbsp;payment is 
up to $300 per month for each child under age 6 and up to $250 per month
 for each child ages 6 through 17.Here are more details on the November payments:<ul>
 <li>Families will see the direct deposit payments in their accounts 
starting Nov. 15. Like the prior payments, the vast majority of families
 will receive them by direct deposit.</li><li>For those receiving payments by paper check, be sure to allow extra time, through the end of November, for delivery by mail.</li><li>Those wishing to receive their December payment by direct deposit can make this change using the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/child-tax-credit-update-portal">Child Tax Credit Update Portal</a>, available only on IRS.gov. Be sure to make the change by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Nov. 29. To access the portal, visit <a href="https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/advance-child-tax-credit-payments-in-2021">IRS.gov/childtaxcredit2021</a>.</li><li>Payments are going to eligible families who filed a 2019 or 2020 
income tax return. Returns processed by Nov. 1 are reflected in these 
payments. This includes people who don’t typically file a return but 
either during 2020 successfully filed a return to register for Economic 
Impact Payments using the IRS Non-Filers tool on IRS.gov, or in 2021 
successfully filed a return by using the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/child-tax-credit-non-filer-sign-up-tool">Non-filer Sign-up Tool for advance CTC</a>.</li><li>Payments are automatic. Aside from filing a tax return, including a
 return from the Non-filer Sign-up Tool, families don’t have to do 
anything if they are eligible to receive monthly payments.</li><li>Families who did not get a July, August, September or October 
payment and are getting their first monthly payment this month will 
still receive their total advance payment amount for the year (which is 
half of their total Child Tax Credit). This means that the total payment
 will be spread over two months, rather than six, making each monthly 
payment larger.</li>
 </ul><h2>Sign up by Nov. 15</h2>Recently, the IRS sent letters to many Americans urging them to check
 out the Child Tax Credit and if they qualify, to sign up soon to get 
advance payments. Whether or not they got one of these letters, an 
eligible family who is not already getting monthly payments can still 
sign up to get an advance payment of the Child Tax Credit.Treasury and IRS urge any low-income family who doesn’t normally need
 to file a return to sign up now to get their payment. The deadline is 
11:59 pm Eastern Time on Monday, November 15.Right now, they can only sign up online. To do so, quickly and securely, visit <a href="https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/advance-child-tax-credit-payments-in-2021">IRS.gov/childtaxcredit2021</a>. Families can choose to file either in English or Spanish. 
Families signing up now will normally&nbsp;receive half of their total Child Tax Credit receive on
 Dec. 15. This means a payment of up to $1,800 for each child under 6, 
and up to $1,500 for each child age 6 to 17. This is the same total 
amount that most other families have been receiving in up to six monthly
 payments that began in July. 
Any family who receives advance payments of the CTC during 2021 can 
claim the rest of the credit when they file their 2021 Federal income 
tax return. To help them do that, early in 2022 families will receive 
Letter 6419 documenting any advance payments issued to them during 2021 
and the number of qualifying children used to calculate the advance 
payments.<h2>Families can make changes to their account</h2>Families who are already receiving monthly payments can use the Child
 Tax Credit Update Portal (CTC-UP) to quickly update their account. 
Available only on IRS.gov, CTC-UP already allows families to verify 
their eligibility for the payments and then, if they choose to:<ul>
 <li>Switch from receiving a paper check to direct deposit;</li><li>Change the account where their payment is direct deposited;</li><li>Update their mailing address;</li><li>Stop monthly payments and</li><li>Reflect significant changes in their income that could potentially raise or lower their monthly payments.</li>
 </ul>Updates made by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Nov. 29 will be reflected in the monthly payment scheduled for Dec. 15.Later this month, the IRS will launch a Spanish-language version of 
the tool. In addition, new features will be added to enable families to 
raise or lower their final monthly payment to reflect life changes, such
 as another child born or adopted in 2021.<h2>Community partners can help</h2>The IRS encourages partners and community groups to share information and use available <a href="https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/advance-child-tax-credit-payments-in-2021">online tools and toolkits</a> to help non-filers, low-income families and other underserved groups sign up to receive these benefits. 
Links to online tools, answers to frequently asked questions and other helpful resources are available on the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/advance-child-tax-credit-payments-in-2021">IRS’ special advance CTC 2021 page</a>.

November Child Tax Credit payments on the way, December deadline looms

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Another Kansas school district is extending its Thanksgiving break to a full week to give overwhelmed staff a reprieve. The USD 497 school board in Lawrence approved a plan Friday to turn Nov. 22 and Nov. 23 _ a Monday and a Tuesday _ into wellness and self-care days. Staff already had the rest of the week off.

 Superintendent Anthony Lewis told the board during the meeting that the time off was needed because faculty and staff were at a breaking point from the stress and other difficulties caused by the coronavirus.

The Lansing school district also extended Thanksgiving break to a full week. The USD 469 board's decision to give staff Nov. 22 and 23 off as wellness days was based on the recommendation of Superintendent Dan Wessel. 

He said that staff has been “presented with an overwhelming amount of responsibility this school year amid the ongoing pandemic." The school district said that if the school district reaches the maximum number of snow days it will make them up before the end of the year.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Another Kansas school district is extending its Thanksgiving break to a full week to give overwhelmed staff a reprieve. The USD 497 school board in Lawrence approved a plan Friday to turn Nov. 22 and Nov. 23 _ a Monday and a Tuesday _ into wellness and self-care days. Staff already had the rest of the week off. Superintendent Anthony Lewis told the board during the meeting that the time off was needed because faculty and staff were at a breaking point from the stress and other difficulties caused by the coronavirus.The Lansing school district also extended Thanksgiving break to a full week. The USD 469 board's decision to give staff Nov. 22 and 23 off as wellness days was based on the recommendation of Superintendent Dan Wessel. He said that staff has been “presented with an overwhelming amount of responsibility this school year amid the ongoing pandemic." The school district said that if the school district reaches the maximum number of snow days it will make them up before the end of the year.

Another Kan. school district to give overwhelmed staff days off

WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service recently announced that, 
effective Nov. 15, 2021, tax professionals are able to order up to 30 
Transcript Delivery System (TDS) transcripts per client through the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/practitioner-priority-service-r">Practitioner Priority Service®</a> line. This is an increase from the previous 10 transcripts per client limit.

"Increasing the number of transcripts a caller can receive addresses 
the concerns the IRS has received from PPS callers. This is another 
example of addressing concerns from our partners and stakeholders," said
 Ken Corbin, the Wage and Investment Commissioner and the IRS Taxpayer 
Experience Officer.

Through PPS, tax professionals can order a variety of transcripts. 
Practitioners can receive transcripts for up to five clients per call. 
There's no change to the number of clients.

Transcripts available under this newly-expanded limit include the:

Transcripts not listed above continue to be limited to 10 per client and count toward the total of 30 transcripts per client.

Tax professionals will continue to receive TDS transcripts in their 
e-Services Secure Object Repository mailboxes. The change also applies 
to other IRS toll-free lines.

Tax practitioners can continue to order TDS transcripts using the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/transcript-delivery-system-tds">Transcript Delivery System</a> application on IRS.gov. Individual taxpayers can request their own TDS transcripts using <a href="https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript">Get Transcript</a>. These tools remain the fastest way to receive transcripts.

More information is available at <a href="https://www.irs.gov/individuals/transcript-types-and-ways-to-order-them">Transcript Types and Ways to Order Them </a>on IRS.gov.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRSWASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service recently announced that, 
effective Nov. 15, 2021, tax professionals are able to order up to 30 
Transcript Delivery System (TDS) transcripts per client through the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/practitioner-priority-service-r">Practitioner Priority Service®</a> line. This is an increase from the previous 10 transcripts per client limit."Increasing the number of transcripts a caller can receive addresses 
the concerns the IRS has received from PPS callers. This is another 
example of addressing concerns from our partners and stakeholders," said
 Ken Corbin, the Wage and Investment Commissioner and the IRS Taxpayer 
Experience Officer.Through PPS, tax professionals can order a variety of transcripts. 
Practitioners can receive transcripts for up to five clients per call. 
There's no change to the number of clients.Transcripts available under this newly-expanded limit include the:<ul>
 <li>Tax Return Transcript,</li><li>Tax Account Transcript,</li><li>Wage and Income Transcript,</li><li>Record of Account and</li><li>Verification of Non-Filing Letter.</li>
 </ul>Transcripts not listed above continue to be limited to 10 per client and count toward the total of 30 transcripts per client.Tax professionals will continue to receive TDS transcripts in their 
e-Services Secure Object Repository mailboxes. The change also applies 
to other IRS toll-free lines.<h2>Ordering transcripts online</h2>Tax practitioners can continue to order TDS transcripts using the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/transcript-delivery-system-tds">Transcript Delivery System</a> application on IRS.gov. Individual taxpayers can request their own TDS transcripts using <a href="https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript">Get Transcript</a>. These tools remain the fastest way to receive transcripts.More information is available at <a href="https://www.irs.gov/individuals/transcript-types-and-ways-to-order-them">Transcript Types and Ways to Order Them </a>on IRS.gov.

Tax professionals can now order more transcripts from the IRS

KANSAS CITY (AP) —The contagious delta variant is driving up COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Mountain West and fueling disruptive outbreaks in the North, a worrisome sign of what could be ahead this winter in the U.S.

While trends are improving in Florida, Texas and other Southern states that bore the worst of the summer surge, it’s clear that delta isn’t done with the United States. COVID-19 is moving north and west for the winter as people head indoors, close their windows and breathe stagnant air.

“We’re going to see a lot of outbreaks in unvaccinated people that will result in serious illness, and it will be tragic,” said Dr. Donald Milton of the University of Maryland School of Public Health.

In recent days, a Vermont college suspended social gatherings after a spike in cases tied to Halloween parties. Boston officials shut down an elementary school to control an outbreak. Hospitals in New Mexico and Colorado are overwhelmed.

In Michigan, the three-county metro Detroit area is again becoming a hot spot for transmissions, with one hospital system reporting nearly 400 COVID-19 patients. Mask-wearing in Michigan has declined to about 25% of people, according to a combination of surveys tracked by an influential modeling group at the University of Washington.

“Concern over COVID in general is pretty much gone, which is unfortunate,” said Dr. Jennifer Morse, medical director at health departments in 20 central and northern Michigan counties. “I feel strange going into a store masked. I’m a minority. It’s very different. It’s just a really unusual atmosphere right now.”

New Mexico is running out of intensive care beds despite the state’s above-average vaccination rate. Waning immunity may be playing a role. People who were vaccinated early and have not yet received booster shots may be driving up infection numbers, even if they still have some protection from the most dire consequences of the virus.

“Delta and waning immunity — the combination of these two have set us back,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington. “This virus is going to stick with us for a long, long time.”

The delta variant dominates infections across the U.S., accounting for more than 99% of the samples analyzed.

No state has achieved a high enough vaccination rate, even when combined with infection-induced immunity, to avoid the type of outbreaks happening now, Mokdad said.

In a deviation from national recommendations, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order Thursday that allows any resident 18 or older access to a COVID-19 booster shot, another step to prevent hospitals and health care workers from being overwhelmed by the state’s surge in delta infections.

Progress on vaccination continues, yet nearly 60 million Americans age 12 and older remain unvaccinated. That’s an improvement since July, when 100 million were unvaccinated, said White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients.

First shots are averaging about 300,000 per day, and the effort to vaccinate children ages 5 to 11 is off to a strong start, Zients said at a briefing Wednesday.

Virginia Tech’s Linsey Marr, a leading researcher on the airborne spread of the coronavirus, predicted the northward spread of the virus in a Twitter post Sept. 15. The virus spreads in the air and can build up in enclosed rooms with poor ventilation. Colder weather means more people are indoors breathing the same air, Marr said.

Imagine that everyone you spend time with is a smoker and you want to breathe as little of their smoke as possible, she said.

“The closer you are to a smoker the more exposure you have to that smoke,” Marr said. “And if you’re in a poorly ventilated room, the smoke builds up over time.”

Marr said she and her vaccinated family will use rapid tests before gathering for Christmas to check for infection.

“It’s hard to know what’s coming next with this virus,” Marr said. “We thought we knew, but delta really surprised us. We thought the vaccine would help end this, but things are still dragging on. It’s hard to know what’s going to happen next.”

KANSAS CITY (AP) —The contagious delta variant is driving up COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Mountain West and fueling disruptive outbreaks in the North, a worrisome sign of what could be ahead this winter in the U.S.While trends are improving in Florida, Texas and other Southern states that bore the worst of the summer surge, it’s clear that delta isn’t done with the United States. COVID-19 is moving north and west for the winter as people head indoors, close their windows and breathe stagnant air.“We’re going to see a lot of outbreaks in unvaccinated people that will result in serious illness, and it will be tragic,” said Dr. Donald Milton of the University of Maryland School of Public Health.In recent days, a Vermont college suspended social gatherings after a spike in cases tied to Halloween parties. Boston officials shut down an elementary school to control an outbreak. Hospitals in New Mexico and Colorado are overwhelmed.In Michigan, the three-county metro Detroit area is again becoming a hot spot for transmissions, with one hospital system reporting nearly 400 COVID-19 patients. Mask-wearing in Michigan has declined to about 25% of people, according to a combination of surveys tracked by an influential modeling group at the University of Washington.“Concern over COVID in general is pretty much gone, which is unfortunate,” said Dr. Jennifer Morse, medical director at health departments in 20 central and northern Michigan counties. “I feel strange going into a store masked. I’m a minority. It’s very different. It’s just a really unusual atmosphere right now.”New Mexico is running out of intensive care beds despite the state’s above-average vaccination rate. Waning immunity may be playing a role. People who were vaccinated early and have not yet received booster shots may be driving up infection numbers, even if they still have some protection from the most dire consequences of the virus.“Delta and waning immunity — the combination of these two have set us back,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington. “This virus is going to stick with us for a long, long time.”The delta variant dominates infections across the U.S., accounting for more than 99% of the samples analyzed.No state has achieved a high enough vaccination rate, even when combined with infection-induced immunity, to avoid the type of outbreaks happening now, Mokdad said.In a deviation from national recommendations, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order Thursday that allows any resident 18 or older access to a COVID-19 booster shot, another step to prevent hospitals and health care workers from being overwhelmed by the state’s surge in delta infections.Progress on vaccination continues, yet nearly 60 million Americans age 12 and older remain unvaccinated. That’s an improvement since July, when 100 million were unvaccinated, said White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients.First shots are averaging about 300,000 per day, and the effort to vaccinate children ages 5 to 11 is off to a strong start, Zients said at a briefing Wednesday.Virginia Tech’s Linsey Marr, a leading researcher on the airborne spread of the coronavirus, predicted the northward spread of the virus in a Twitter post Sept. 15. The virus spreads in the air and can build up in enclosed rooms with poor ventilation. Colder weather means more people are indoors breathing the same air, Marr said.Imagine that everyone you spend time with is a smoker and you want to breathe as little of their smoke as possible, she said.“The closer you are to a smoker the more exposure you have to that smoke,” Marr said. “And if you’re in a poorly ventilated room, the smoke builds up over time.”Marr said she and her vaccinated family will use rapid tests before gathering for Christmas to check for infection.“It’s hard to know what’s coming next with this virus,” Marr said. “We thought we knew, but delta really surprised us. We thought the vaccine would help end this, but things are still dragging on. It’s hard to know what’s going to happen next.”___

COVID-19 hot spots offer sign of what could be ahead for US

WASHINGTON (AP) — To enforce President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 mandate, the U.S. Labor Department is going to need a lot of help. Its Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesn’t have nearly enough workplace safety inspectors to do the job.

On Friday, federal appeals court in New Orleans halted the Biden administration’s vaccine or testing requirement for private businesses, delivering another political setback to one of the White House’s signature public health policies.

If the mandate survives the legal fight, the government will rely upon a corps of informers to identify violations of the order: Employees who will presumably be concerned enough to turn in their own employers if their co-workers go unvaccinated or fail to undergo weekly tests to show they’re virus-free.

What’s not known is just how many employees will be willing to accept some risk to themselves — or their job security — for blowing the whistle on their own employers. Without them, though, experts say the government would find it harder to achieve its goal of requiring tens of millions of workers at companies with 100 or more employees to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4 or be tested weekly and wear a mask on the job.

“There is no army of OSHA inspectors that is going to be knocking on employers door or even calling them,” said Debbie Berkowitz, a former OSHA chief of staff who is a fellow at Georgetown University’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. “They’re going to rely on workers and their union representatives to file complaints where the company is totally flouting the law.”

Jim Frederick, the acting chief of OSHA, told reporters that this agency will focus on job sites “where workers need assistance to have a safe and healthy workplace.”

“That typically comes through in the form of a complaint,” Frederick added.

Critics warn that whistleblowers have often faced retaliation from their employers and that OSHA has offered little protection when they do.

The new mandate, which Biden announced last month, is the administration’s most far-reaching step yet to prod more Americans to get a vaccine that has been widely available since early spring. The mandate will cover an estimated 84 million employees.

The president called the move necessary to combat an outbreak that has killed 750,000 Americans and that continues to spread. Companies that fail to comply will face fines of nearly $14,000 per “serious” violation. Employers found to be “willful’’ or repeat violators would be subject to fines of up to ten times that amount.

The mandate has run into furious opposition, though, from leaders of mainly Republican-led states who have condemned the plan as an unlawful case of federal overreach and who immediately challenged the vaccine-or-test requirements in court. On Saturday, the Biden administration endured a setback when a federal appeals court in New Orleans temporarily halted the mandate, saying it posed “grave statutory and constitutional issues.”

Should the mandate survive its legal challenges, though, the task of enforcing it would fall on OSHA, the small Labor Department agency that was established 50 years ago to police workplace safety and protect workers from such dangers as toxic chemicals, rickety ladders and cave-ins at construction sites.

OSHA has jurisdiction in 29 states. Other states, including California and Michigan, have their own federally approved workplace safety agencies. These states will have an additional month — until early February — to adopt their own version of the COVID mandate, equal to or tougher than OSHA’s.

For a task as enormous as enforcing the new vaccine mandate, OSHA and its state “partners” are stretched thin. Just 1,850 inspectors will oversee 130 million workers at 8 million job sites. So the agencies must rely on whistleblowers.

OSHA urges workers to first bring unsafe or unhealthy working conditions to the attention of their employers “if possible.” Employees could also file a confidential safety complaint with OSHA or have a case filed by a representative, such as a lawyer, a union representative or a member of the clergy. But they have no right to sue their employer in court for federal safety violations.

Typically, 20% to 25% of OSHA inspections originate with a complaint.

“You fill out a form or somebody fills out a form for you,” said Berkowitz, the former OSHA chief of staff. “And that’s all workers have. If OSHA decides not to inspect, that’s it. Or if OSHA inspects but decides not to cite the employer, that’s it. ... So it’s a pretty weak law.”

Only OSHA can bring cases over violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the law that is meant to provide safe workplaces. Going outside OSHA to sue employers for negligence is all but impossible, say Berkowitz and other worker advocates.

State worker compensation programs — which reimburse injured workers for medical costs and lost wages and provide death benefits to survivors of those killed — include no-fault provisions that block most lawsuits.

“Technically,” Berkowitz said, “the law says that companies can’t retaliate against a worker for raising a health and safety issue or filing an OSHA complaint or even reporting an injury. But retaliation is rampant.”

OSHA can pursue employers who punish workers for speaking out against unsafe working conditions. Last month, for example, the agency sued a luxury car dealer in Austin, Texas, that it said fired an employee who had warned co-workers about potential coronavirus hazards in the workplace.

But in a report co-written by Berkowitz, the National Employment Law Project, which advocates for worker rights, found that OSHA dismissed — without investigating — more than half the COVID-related complaints of retaliation it received from whistleblowers. Just 2% of complaints were resolved in the five-month period last year that the law project studied. Workers have just 30 days to file an OSHA complaint over retaliation.

“OSHA needs to improve its handling of whistleblower complaints,” the Labor Department’s Inspector General, its internal watchdog, concluded last year. “When OSHA fails to respond in a timely manner, it could leave workers to suffer emotionally and financially, and may also lead to the erosion of key evidence and witnesses.’’

Still, most companies are considered likely to comply with the COVID mandate, as they mostly do with other OSHA rules. Some employers were likely relieved: They may have wanted to require inoculations on their own but worried that they’d alienate anti-vax workers and possibly lose them to employers that didn’t require vaccinations.

“Most employers — they’re law abiding,” says David Michaels, a former OSHA chief who is an epidemiologist and professor of public health at George Washington University. “They’re trying to make sure that they meet the requirements of every law and regulation .. Now OSHA will follow up. They’ll respond to complaints. They’ll do spot checks. They’ll issue citations and fines, and they’ll make a big deal of those” to discourage other potential violators.

WASHINGTON (AP) — To enforce President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 mandate, the U.S. Labor Department is going to need a lot of help. Its Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesn’t have nearly enough workplace safety inspectors to do the job.On Friday, federal appeals court in New Orleans halted the Biden administration’s vaccine or testing requirement for private businesses, delivering another political setback to one of the White House’s signature public health policies.If the mandate survives the legal fight, the government will rely upon a corps of informers to identify violations of the order: Employees who will presumably be concerned enough to turn in their own employers if their co-workers go unvaccinated or fail to undergo weekly tests to show they’re virus-free.What’s not known is just how many employees will be willing to accept some risk to themselves — or their job security — for blowing the whistle on their own employers. Without them, though, experts say the government would find it harder to achieve its goal of requiring tens of millions of workers at companies with 100 or more employees to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4 or be tested weekly and wear a mask on the job.“There is no army of OSHA inspectors that is going to be knocking on employers door or even calling them,” said Debbie Berkowitz, a former OSHA chief of staff who is a fellow at Georgetown University’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. “They’re going to rely on workers and their union representatives to file complaints where the company is totally flouting the law.”Jim Frederick, the acting chief of OSHA, told reporters that this agency will focus on job sites “where workers need assistance to have a safe and healthy workplace.”“That typically comes through in the form of a complaint,” Frederick added.Critics warn that whistleblowers have often faced retaliation from their employers and that OSHA has offered little protection when they do.The new mandate, which Biden announced last month, is the administration’s most far-reaching step yet to prod more Americans to get a vaccine that has been widely available since early spring. The mandate will cover an estimated 84 million employees.The president called the move necessary to combat an outbreak that has killed 750,000 Americans and that continues to spread. Companies that fail to comply will face fines of nearly $14,000 per “serious” violation. Employers found to be “willful’’ or repeat violators would be subject to fines of up to ten times that amount.The mandate has run into furious opposition, though, from leaders of mainly Republican-led states who have condemned the plan as an unlawful case of federal overreach and who immediately challenged the vaccine-or-test requirements in court. On Saturday, the Biden administration endured a setback when a federal appeals court in New Orleans temporarily halted the mandate, saying it posed “grave statutory and constitutional issues.”Should the mandate survive its legal challenges, though, the task of enforcing it would fall on OSHA, the small Labor Department agency that was established 50 years ago to police workplace safety and protect workers from such dangers as toxic chemicals, rickety ladders and cave-ins at construction sites.OSHA has jurisdiction in 29 states. Other states, including California and Michigan, have their own federally approved workplace safety agencies. These states will have an additional month — until early February — to adopt their own version of the COVID mandate, equal to or tougher than OSHA’s.For a task as enormous as enforcing the new vaccine mandate, OSHA and its state “partners” are stretched thin. Just 1,850 inspectors will oversee 130 million workers at 8 million job sites. So the agencies must rely on whistleblowers.OSHA urges workers to first bring unsafe or unhealthy working conditions to the attention of their employers “if possible.” Employees could also file a confidential safety complaint with OSHA or have a case filed by a representative, such as a lawyer, a union representative or a member of the clergy. But they have no right to sue their employer in court for federal safety violations.Typically, 20% to 25% of OSHA inspections originate with a complaint.“You fill out a form or somebody fills out a form for you,” said Berkowitz, the former OSHA chief of staff. “And that’s all workers have. If OSHA decides not to inspect, that’s it. Or if OSHA inspects but decides not to cite the employer, that’s it. ... So it’s a pretty weak law.”Only OSHA can bring cases over violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the law that is meant to provide safe workplaces. Going outside OSHA to sue employers for negligence is all but impossible, say Berkowitz and other worker advocates.State worker compensation programs — which reimburse injured workers for medical costs and lost wages and provide death benefits to survivors of those killed — include no-fault provisions that block most lawsuits.Even sounding the alarm can be risky.“Technically,” Berkowitz said, “the law says that companies can’t retaliate against a worker for raising a health and safety issue or filing an OSHA complaint or even reporting an injury. But retaliation is rampant.”OSHA can pursue employers who punish workers for speaking out against unsafe working conditions. Last month, for example, the agency sued a luxury car dealer in Austin, Texas, that it said fired an employee who had warned co-workers about potential coronavirus hazards in the workplace.But in a report co-written by Berkowitz, the National Employment Law Project, which advocates for worker rights, found that OSHA dismissed — without investigating — more than half the COVID-related complaints of retaliation it received from whistleblowers. Just 2% of complaints were resolved in the five-month period last year that the law project studied. Workers have just 30 days to file an OSHA complaint over retaliation.“OSHA needs to improve its handling of whistleblower complaints,” the Labor Department’s Inspector General, its internal watchdog, concluded last year. “When OSHA fails to respond in a timely manner, it could leave workers to suffer emotionally and financially, and may also lead to the erosion of key evidence and witnesses.’’Still, most companies are considered likely to comply with the COVID mandate, as they mostly do with other OSHA rules. Some employers were likely relieved: They may have wanted to require inoculations on their own but worried that they’d alienate anti-vax workers and possibly lose them to employers that didn’t require vaccinations.“Most employers — they’re law abiding,” says David Michaels, a former OSHA chief who is an epidemiologist and professor of public health at George Washington University. “They’re trying to make sure that they meet the requirements of every law and regulation .. Now OSHA will follow up. They’ll respond to complaints. They’ll do spot checks. They’ll issue citations and fines, and they’ll make a big deal of those” to discourage other potential violators.

Whistleblowers to play key role in enforcing vaccine mandate

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A Kansas City woman who rejected a plea deal that would have freed her if she admitted that she killed her husband in 2012 has been sentenced to life in prison.

Clay County Judge Shane Alexander sentenced Viola Bowman on Wednesday for first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the fatal shooting of 53-year-old Albert “Rusty” Bowman, saying that the court is convinced of her guilt. She was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/crime-shootings-kansas-city-kansas-missouri-8a4609d41ed719723655eb12fa4a0fc6">convicted by a jury in September</a>.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Robert Lee Sanders accused her of being a “cold, calculating manipulator.” She was accused of shooting her husband in the couple's home in November 2012 to collect a life insurance policy and then staging the scene to make it look like there had been a break-in.

But Viola Bowman has steadfastly maintained her innocence. Last year, she rejected a plea deal that would have given her credit for time served and allowed her to go free, but would have required her to admit guilt. She told a judge, ”I did not do this.”

In court Wednesday, she told the judge: “I did not murder my husband.” She then turned and addressed two of her daughters present in courtroom: “I’m sorry you lost your father. … I suffer every day without your father here.”

She said she found her husband shot when she returned from the store. But prosecutors noted that items like a laptop, car keys and a wallet were not stolen from the home. Officials also labeled her reaction to her husband’s death with first responders as “odd.”

She was not arrested for the killing until 2015, but has remained in jail since then while her case was delayed dozens of times.

Horton Lance, Bowman’s defense attorney, sought for the judge to order a new trial, saying the jury made “a tragic mistake” by convicting Bowman. That motion was rejected Wednesday.

Lance told The Star after court that he would be filing an appeal on Bowman’s behalf, saying “we hope to prove in the end that she truly is innocent.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636644232699.png" alt="Bowman photo Clay County" />
 <figcaption>Bowman photo Clay County</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) — A Kansas City woman who rejected a plea deal that would have freed her if she admitted that she killed her husband in 2012 has been sentenced to life in prison.Clay County Judge Shane Alexander sentenced Viola Bowman on Wednesday for first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the fatal shooting of 53-year-old Albert “Rusty” Bowman, saying that the court is convinced of her guilt. She was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/crime-shootings-kansas-city-kansas-missouri-8a4609d41ed719723655eb12fa4a0fc6">convicted by a jury in September</a>.Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Robert Lee Sanders accused her of being a “cold, calculating manipulator.” She was accused of shooting her husband in the couple's home in November 2012 to collect a life insurance policy and then staging the scene to make it look like there had been a break-in.But Viola Bowman has steadfastly maintained her innocence. Last year, she rejected a plea deal that would have given her credit for time served and allowed her to go free, but would have required her to admit guilt. She told a judge, ”I did not do this.”In court Wednesday, she told the judge: “I did not murder my husband.” She then turned and addressed two of her daughters present in courtroom: “I’m sorry you lost your father. … I suffer every day without your father here.”She said she found her husband shot when she returned from the store. But prosecutors noted that items like a laptop, car keys and a wallet were not stolen from the home. Officials also labeled her reaction to her husband’s death with first responders as “odd.”She was not arrested for the killing until 2015, but has remained in jail since then while her case was delayed dozens of times.Horton Lance, Bowman’s defense attorney, sought for the judge to order a new trial, saying the jury made “a tragic mistake” by convicting Bowman. That motion was rejected Wednesday.Lance told The Star after court that he would be filing an appeal on Bowman’s behalf, saying “we hope to prove in the end that she truly is innocent.”

KC woman rejects plea deal, going to prison for husband's murder

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Deere &amp; Co. and union officials have reached a third preliminary contract agreement that workers&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-united-auto-workers-moline-strikes-447c2d911c1314c247011522e30f9bd2">who began striking four weeks ago&nbsp;</a>will vote on soon.

The United Auto Workers said in a statement Friday night that the proposed contract with the agricultural machinery giant “includes modest modifications” to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-strikes-united-auto-workers-7124f0d5f729c0a722e62c87c94fc14a">latest rejected proposal,&nbsp;</a>which included immediate 10% raises. The union described the new proposal as the company’s “last, best and final offer” in its&nbsp;<a href="https://uaw.org/uaw-statement-companys-last-best-final-offer/" target="_blank">statement</a>.

The contract, which union members will vote on on Wednesday, would cover more than 10,000 Deere workers at 12 facilities in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas, who make the company’s iconic John Deere green tractors and other equipment.

UAW spokesperson Brian Rothenberg said he wasn’t sure when members would be filled in on the proposed contract’s details, The Des Moines Register&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2021/11/12/john-deere-strike-uaw-reach-third-potential-contract-agreement/8594811002/" target="_blank">reported.</a>

Deere spokesperson Jennifer Hartmann declined to comment Friday night.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1634596496067.png" alt="The strike began Oct. 14 -Photo courtesy WQAD TV" />
 <figcaption>The strike began Oct. 14 -Photo courtesy WQAD TV</figcaption>
 </figure>DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Deere &amp; Co. and union officials have reached a third preliminary contract agreement that workers&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-united-auto-workers-moline-strikes-447c2d911c1314c247011522e30f9bd2">who began striking four weeks ago&nbsp;</a>will vote on soon.The United Auto Workers said in a statement Friday night that the proposed contract with the agricultural machinery giant “includes modest modifications” to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-strikes-united-auto-workers-7124f0d5f729c0a722e62c87c94fc14a">latest rejected proposal,&nbsp;</a>which included immediate 10% raises. The union described the new proposal as the company’s “last, best and final offer” in its&nbsp;<a href="https://uaw.org/uaw-statement-companys-last-best-final-offer/" target="_blank">statement</a>.The contract, which union members will vote on on Wednesday, would cover more than 10,000 Deere workers at 12 facilities in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas, who make the company’s iconic John Deere green tractors and other equipment.UAW spokesperson Brian Rothenberg said he wasn’t sure when members would be filled in on the proposed contract’s details, The Des Moines Register&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2021/11/12/john-deere-strike-uaw-reach-third-potential-contract-agreement/8594811002/" target="_blank">reported.</a>Deere spokesperson Jennifer Hartmann declined to comment Friday night.

Striking Deere & Co. workers prepare to vote on 3rd contract

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities continue their effort to prevent prostitution in portions of Wichita and made more arrests this week.

On Wednesday, officers from North Community Policing, North Community Response Team, Vice, and the Broadway Corridor Team conducted a special assignment focused on individuals attempting to purchase sexual relations on North Broadway in Wichita, according to a media release from police.

 The special assignment resulted in 16 individuals being arrested for various sex trafficking charges including those pictured, according to the Sedgwick County booking report.

A total of 22 sex trafficking special assignments have been conducted in the Broadway corridor over the last four years and 201 individuals have been arrested for various sex trafficking charges during these assignments, according to Wichita police.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636721373435.png" alt="James Arnold-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>James Arnold-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities continue their effort to prevent prostitution in portions of Wichita and made more arrests this week.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636812493698.png" alt="Police arrested 20-year-old Hailee Klein on requested prostitution charges Thursday, according to the Sedgwick Co. booking report-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Police arrested 20-year-old Hailee Klein on requested prostitution charges Thursday, according to the Sedgwick Co. booking report-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>On Wednesday, officers from North Community Policing, North Community Response Team, Vice, and the Broadway Corridor Team conducted a special assignment focused on individuals attempting to purchase sexual relations on North Broadway in Wichita, according to a media release from police.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636721452382.png" alt="Jose Ayala-Gomez-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Jose Ayala-Gomez-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure> The special assignment resulted in 16 individuals being arrested for various sex trafficking charges including those pictured, according to the Sedgwick County booking report.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636721494983.png" alt="Todd Bauer-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Todd Bauer-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636721570280.png" alt="Jose Castillo-Amaya&nbsp;-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Jose Castillo-Amaya&nbsp;-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636721633079.png" alt="Mark Cordell-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Mark Cordell-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636721699413.png" alt="Gabriel Cajina-Vallejos&nbsp;-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Gabriel Cajina-Vallejos&nbsp;-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636721774762.png" alt="Ray Fleming-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Ray Fleming-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636721835096.png" alt="Alex Gonzalez&nbsp;-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Alex Gonzalez&nbsp;-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636722012214.png" alt="Tyler Jarvi-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Tyler Jarvi-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636722067580.png" alt="Robert McComb-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Robert McComb-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636722120828.png" alt="William Nguyen-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>William Nguyen-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636722169694.png" alt="Michael Peach-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Michael Peach-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636722221725.png" alt="Jeff Pribble-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Jeff Pribble-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636722299960.png" alt="Allyen Smith-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Allyen Smith-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>A total of 22 sex trafficking special assignments have been conducted in the Broadway corridor over the last four years and 201 individuals have been arrested for various sex trafficking charges during these assignments, according to Wichita police.