(AP)-The coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the labor market have pushed many prison staffing systems into crisis. Correction officers are retiring and quitting in droves, while states struggle to recruit new employees. 

In Texas, Lance Lowry quit after 20 years to become a long-haul trucker because he couldn’t bear the job any longer. 

Staff shortages have long been a challenge for prison agencies, given the low pay and grueling nature of the work. And some prisons whose populations dropped during the pandemic have seen their numbers rise again, exacerbating the problem. 

Meanwhile, prisoners don’t see family members and can’t shower. Counseling and other programs have fallen away.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/1/1579101364118.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>(AP)-The coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the labor market have pushed many prison staffing systems into crisis. Correction officers are retiring and quitting in droves, while states struggle to recruit new employees. In Texas, Lance Lowry quit after 20 years to become a long-haul trucker because he couldn’t bear the job any longer. Staff shortages have long been a challenge for prison agencies, given the low pay and grueling nature of the work. And some prisons whose populations dropped during the pandemic have seen their numbers rise again, exacerbating the problem. Meanwhile, prisoners don’t see family members and can’t shower. Counseling and other programs have fallen away.

US prisons face staff shortages as officers quit amid COVID

SEDGWICK COUNTY —One person was injured in a 2-alarm apartment complex fire early Monday.

Just before 3a.m., fire crews responded to the blaze in the 500 Block of West 27th Street in Wichita, according to a social media report from the Wichita Fire Department.

Upon arrival, fire crews could see fire coming from multiple floors of the complex. EMS transported one person in critical condition. Four others were treated at the scene and refused transport.

Authorities are still investigating the cause. Check the Post for additional details as they become available.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1635762253746.png" alt="Monday morning apartment complex fire-photo by Hannah Baker courtesy KAKE" />
 <figcaption>Monday morning apartment complex fire-photo by Hannah Baker courtesy KAKE</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —One person was injured in a 2-alarm apartment complex fire early Monday.Just before 3a.m., fire crews responded to the blaze in the 500 Block of West 27th Street in Wichita, according to a social media report from the Wichita Fire Department.Upon arrival, fire crews could see fire coming from multiple floors of the complex. EMS transported one person in critical condition. Four others were treated at the scene and refused transport.Authorities are still investigating the cause. Check the Post for additional details as they become available.

1 critically injured in 2-alarm Kansas apartment complex fire

WASHINGTON&nbsp;—&nbsp;The Internal Revenue Service recently sent approximately
 430,000 refunds totaling more than $510 million to taxpayers who paid 
taxes on unemployment compensation excluded from income for tax year 
2020.

The IRS efforts to correct unemployment compensation overpayments 
will help most of the affected taxpayers avoid filing an amended tax 
return. So far, the IRS has identified over 16 million taxpayers who may
 be eligible for the adjustment. Some will receive refunds, while others
 will have the overpayment applied to taxes due or other debts.

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021, enacted in March, 
excluded the first $10,200 in unemployment compensation per taxpayer 
paid in 2020. The $10,200 is the amount excluded when calculating one's 
adjusted gross income (AGI); it is not the amount of refund. The 
exclusion applied to individuals and married couples whose modified 
adjusted gross income was less than $150,000.

Earlier this year, the IRS began its review of tax returns filed 
prior to the enactment of ARPA to identify the excludible unemployment 
compensation. To date, the IRS has issued over 11.7 million refunds 
totaling $14.4 billion. This latest batch of corrections affected over 
519,000 returns, with 430,000 taxpayers receiving refunds averaging 
about $1,189.

The review of returns and processing corrections is nearly complete 
as the IRS already reviewed the simplest returns and is now 
concentrating on more complex returns. The IRS plans to issue another 
batch of corrections before the end of the year.

Impacted taxpayers will generally receive letters from the IRS within
 30 days of the adjustment, informing them of what kind of adjustment 
was made (refund, payment of IRS debt payment or payment offset for 
other authorized debts) and the amount of the adjustment.

The IRS also is making corrections for Earned Income Tax Credit, 
Additional Child Tax Credit, American Opportunity Credit, Premium Tax 
Credit and Recovery Rebate Credit amounts affected by the exclusion. 
Most taxpayers need not take any action and there is no need to call the
 IRS.

The IRS will be sending notices in November and December to 
individuals who did not claim the Earned Income Tax Credit or the 
Additional Child Tax Credit but may now be eligible for them.

These notices are not confirmation that they are eligible for these 
credits and will require a response from the taxpayer if eligible rather
 than filing an amended return. For taxpayers who become eligible for 
other credits and/or deductions after the exclusion is calculated but 
not claimed on their original return, they must file a Form 1040-X, 
Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, to claim any new benefits.

See the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/2020-unemployment-compensation-exclusion-faqs">2020 Unemployment Compensation Exclusion FAQs</a> for more information, including details on filing an amended return.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRSWASHINGTON&nbsp;—&nbsp;The Internal Revenue Service recently sent approximately
 430,000 refunds totaling more than $510 million to taxpayers who paid 
taxes on unemployment compensation excluded from income for tax year 
2020.The IRS efforts to correct unemployment compensation overpayments 
will help most of the affected taxpayers avoid filing an amended tax 
return. So far, the IRS has identified over 16 million taxpayers who may
 be eligible for the adjustment. Some will receive refunds, while others
 will have the overpayment applied to taxes due or other debts.The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021, enacted in March, 
excluded the first $10,200 in unemployment compensation per taxpayer 
paid in 2020. The $10,200 is the amount excluded when calculating one's 
adjusted gross income (AGI); it is not the amount of refund. The 
exclusion applied to individuals and married couples whose modified 
adjusted gross income was less than $150,000.Earlier this year, the IRS began its review of tax returns filed 
prior to the enactment of ARPA to identify the excludible unemployment 
compensation. To date, the IRS has issued over 11.7 million refunds 
totaling $14.4 billion. This latest batch of corrections affected over 
519,000 returns, with 430,000 taxpayers receiving refunds averaging 
about $1,189.The review of returns and processing corrections is nearly complete 
as the IRS already reviewed the simplest returns and is now 
concentrating on more complex returns. The IRS plans to issue another 
batch of corrections before the end of the year.Impacted taxpayers will generally receive letters from the IRS within
 30 days of the adjustment, informing them of what kind of adjustment 
was made (refund, payment of IRS debt payment or payment offset for 
other authorized debts) and the amount of the adjustment.The IRS also is making corrections for Earned Income Tax Credit, 
Additional Child Tax Credit, American Opportunity Credit, Premium Tax 
Credit and Recovery Rebate Credit amounts affected by the exclusion. 
Most taxpayers need not take any action and there is no need to call the
 IRS.The IRS will be sending notices in November and December to 
individuals who did not claim the Earned Income Tax Credit or the 
Additional Child Tax Credit but may now be eligible for them.These notices are not confirmation that they are eligible for these 
credits and will require a response from the taxpayer if eligible rather
 than filing an amended return. For taxpayers who become eligible for 
other credits and/or deductions after the exclusion is calculated but 
not claimed on their original return, they must file a Form 1040-X, 
Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, to claim any new benefits.See the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/2020-unemployment-compensation-exclusion-faqs">2020 Unemployment Compensation Exclusion FAQs</a> for more information, including details on filing an amended return.

IRS issues 430,000 refunds related to unemployment compensation

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-five-million-dead-memorials-acd5a25aabb50f203c8ee059803a1bec">global death toll</a>&nbsp;from COVID-19 topped 5 million on Monday, less than two years into a crisis that has not only devastated poor countries but also humbled wealthy ones with first-rate health care systems.

Together, the United States, the European Union, Britain and Brazil — all upper-middle- or high-income countries — account for one-eighth of the world’s population but nearly half of all reported deaths. The U.S. alone has recorded over 740,000 lives lost, more than any other nation.

“This is a defining moment in our lifetime,” said Dr. Albert Ko, an infectious disease specialist at the Yale School of Public Health. “What do we have to do to protect ourselves so we don’t get to another 5 million?”

The death toll, as tallied by Johns Hopkins University, is about equal to the populations of Los Angeles and San Francisco combined. It rivals the number of people killed in battles among nations since 1950, according to estimates from the Peace Research Institute Oslo. Globally, COVID-19 is now the third leading cause of death, after heart disease and stroke.

The staggering figure is almost certainly an undercount because of limited testing and people dying at home without medical attention, especially in poor parts of the world, such as India.

Hot spots have shifted over the 22 months since the outbreak began, turning different places on the world map red. Now,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-europe-pandemics-moscow-b844be49c2811a454440d4e84d5e5338">the virus is pummeling Russia</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-religion-europe-eastern-europe-2c9668cdc75b37ed140345405fcc3f54">Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe</a>, especially where rumors, misinformation and distrust in government have hobbled vaccination efforts. In Ukraine, only 17% of the adult population is fully vaccinated; in Armenia, only 7%.

“What’s uniquely different about this pandemic is it hit hardest the high-resource countries,” said Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, director of ICAP, a global health center at Columbia University. “That’s the irony of COVID-19.”

Wealthier nations with longer life expectancies have larger proportions of older people, cancer survivors and nursing home residents, all of whom are especially vulnerable to COVID-19, El-Sadr noted. Poorer countries tend to have larger shares of children, teens and young adults, who are less likely to fall seriously ill from the coronavirus.

India, despite its terrifying delta surge that peaked in early May, now has a much lower reported daily death rate than wealthier Russia, the U.S. or Britain, though there is uncertainty around its figures.

The seeming disconnect between wealth and health is a paradox that disease experts will be pondering for years. But the pattern that is seen on the grand scale, when nations are compared, is different when examined at closer range. Within each wealthy country, when deaths and infections are mapped, poorer neighborhoods are hit hardest.

In the U.S., for example, COVID-19 has taken an outsize toll on Black and Hispanic people, who are more likely than white people to live in poverty and have less access to health care.

“When we get out our microscopes, we see that within countries, the most vulnerable have suffered most,” Ko said.

Wealth has also played a role in the global vaccination drive, with rich countries accused of locking up supplies. The U.S. and others are already dispensing booster shots at a time when millions&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-technology-business-cape-town-health-48046e5255cc3e4fa27455fc12ab5e52">across Africa haven’t received a single dose</a>, though the rich countries are also shipping hundreds of millions of shots to the rest of the world.

Africa remains the world’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-lifestyle-europe-philanthropy-31fd688936caec29ff082412ef23e30a">least vaccinated region</a>, with just 5% of the population of 1.3 billion people fully covered.

In Kampala, Uganda, Cissy Kagaba lost her 62-year-old mother on Christmas Day and her 76-year-old father days later.

“Christmas will never be the same for me,” said Kagaba, an anti-corruption activist in the East African country that has been through multiple lockdowns against the virus and where a curfew remains in place.

The pandemic has united the globe in grief and pushed survivors to the breaking point.

“Who else is there now? The responsibility is on me. COVID has changed my life,” said 32-year-old Reena Kesarwani, a mother of two boys, who was left to manage her late husband’s modest hardware store in a village in India.

Her husband, Anand Babu Kesarwani, died at 38 during India’s crushing coronavirus surge earlier this year. It overwhelmed one of the most chronically underfunded public health systems in the world and killed tens of thousands as hospitals ran out of oxygen and medicine.

In Bergamo, Italy, once the site of the West’s first deadly wave, 51-year-old Fabrizio Fidanza was deprived of a final farewell as his 86-year-old father lay dying in the hospital. He is still trying to come to terms with the loss more than a year later.

“For the last month, I never saw him,” Fidanza said during a visit to his father’s grave. “It was the worst moment. But coming here every week, helps me.”

Today, 92% of Bergamo’s eligible population have had at least one shot, the highest vaccination rate in Italy. The chief of medicine at Pope John XXIII Hospital, Dr. Stefano Fagiuoli, said he believes that’s a clear result of the city’s collective trauma, when the wail of ambulances was constant.

In Lake City, Florida, LaTasha Graham, 38, still gets mail almost daily for her 17-year-old daughter, Jo’Keria, who died of COVID-19 in August, days before starting her senior year of high school. The teen, who was buried in her cap and gown, wanted to be a trauma surgeon.

“I know that she would have made it. I know that she would have been where she wanted to go,” her mother said.

In Rio de Janeiro, Erika Machado scanned the list of names engraved on a long, undulating sculpture of oxidized steel that stands in Penitencia cemetery as an homage to some of Brazil’s COVID-19 victims. Then she found him: Wagner Machado, her father.

“My dad was the love of my life, my best friend,” said Machado, 40, a saleswoman who traveled from Sao Paulo to see her father’s name. “He was everything to me.”

By CARLA K. JOHNSON, Associated PressThe&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-five-million-dead-memorials-acd5a25aabb50f203c8ee059803a1bec">global death toll</a>&nbsp;from COVID-19 topped 5 million on Monday, less than two years into a crisis that has not only devastated poor countries but also humbled wealthy ones with first-rate health care systems.Together, the United States, the European Union, Britain and Brazil — all upper-middle- or high-income countries — account for one-eighth of the world’s population but nearly half of all reported deaths. The U.S. alone has recorded over 740,000 lives lost, more than any other nation.“This is a defining moment in our lifetime,” said Dr. Albert Ko, an infectious disease specialist at the Yale School of Public Health. “What do we have to do to protect ourselves so we don’t get to another 5 million?”The death toll, as tallied by Johns Hopkins University, is about equal to the populations of Los Angeles and San Francisco combined. It rivals the number of people killed in battles among nations since 1950, according to estimates from the Peace Research Institute Oslo. Globally, COVID-19 is now the third leading cause of death, after heart disease and stroke.The staggering figure is almost certainly an undercount because of limited testing and people dying at home without medical attention, especially in poor parts of the world, such as India.Hot spots have shifted over the 22 months since the outbreak began, turning different places on the world map red. Now,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-europe-pandemics-moscow-b844be49c2811a454440d4e84d5e5338">the virus is pummeling Russia</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-religion-europe-eastern-europe-2c9668cdc75b37ed140345405fcc3f54">Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe</a>, especially where rumors, misinformation and distrust in government have hobbled vaccination efforts. In Ukraine, only 17% of the adult population is fully vaccinated; in Armenia, only 7%.“What’s uniquely different about this pandemic is it hit hardest the high-resource countries,” said Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, director of ICAP, a global health center at Columbia University. “That’s the irony of COVID-19.”Wealthier nations with longer life expectancies have larger proportions of older people, cancer survivors and nursing home residents, all of whom are especially vulnerable to COVID-19, El-Sadr noted. Poorer countries tend to have larger shares of children, teens and young adults, who are less likely to fall seriously ill from the coronavirus.India, despite its terrifying delta surge that peaked in early May, now has a much lower reported daily death rate than wealthier Russia, the U.S. or Britain, though there is uncertainty around its figures.The seeming disconnect between wealth and health is a paradox that disease experts will be pondering for years. But the pattern that is seen on the grand scale, when nations are compared, is different when examined at closer range. Within each wealthy country, when deaths and infections are mapped, poorer neighborhoods are hit hardest.In the U.S., for example, COVID-19 has taken an outsize toll on Black and Hispanic people, who are more likely than white people to live in poverty and have less access to health care.“When we get out our microscopes, we see that within countries, the most vulnerable have suffered most,” Ko said.Wealth has also played a role in the global vaccination drive, with rich countries accused of locking up supplies. The U.S. and others are already dispensing booster shots at a time when millions&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-technology-business-cape-town-health-48046e5255cc3e4fa27455fc12ab5e52">across Africa haven’t received a single dose</a>, though the rich countries are also shipping hundreds of millions of shots to the rest of the world.Africa remains the world’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-lifestyle-europe-philanthropy-31fd688936caec29ff082412ef23e30a">least vaccinated region</a>, with just 5% of the population of 1.3 billion people fully covered.In Kampala, Uganda, Cissy Kagaba lost her 62-year-old mother on Christmas Day and her 76-year-old father days later.“Christmas will never be the same for me,” said Kagaba, an anti-corruption activist in the East African country that has been through multiple lockdowns against the virus and where a curfew remains in place.The pandemic has united the globe in grief and pushed survivors to the breaking point.“Who else is there now? The responsibility is on me. COVID has changed my life,” said 32-year-old Reena Kesarwani, a mother of two boys, who was left to manage her late husband’s modest hardware store in a village in India.Her husband, Anand Babu Kesarwani, died at 38 during India’s crushing coronavirus surge earlier this year. It overwhelmed one of the most chronically underfunded public health systems in the world and killed tens of thousands as hospitals ran out of oxygen and medicine.In Bergamo, Italy, once the site of the West’s first deadly wave, 51-year-old Fabrizio Fidanza was deprived of a final farewell as his 86-year-old father lay dying in the hospital. He is still trying to come to terms with the loss more than a year later.“For the last month, I never saw him,” Fidanza said during a visit to his father’s grave. “It was the worst moment. But coming here every week, helps me.”Today, 92% of Bergamo’s eligible population have had at least one shot, the highest vaccination rate in Italy. The chief of medicine at Pope John XXIII Hospital, Dr. Stefano Fagiuoli, said he believes that’s a clear result of the city’s collective trauma, when the wail of ambulances was constant.In Lake City, Florida, LaTasha Graham, 38, still gets mail almost daily for her 17-year-old daughter, Jo’Keria, who died of COVID-19 in August, days before starting her senior year of high school. The teen, who was buried in her cap and gown, wanted to be a trauma surgeon.“I know that she would have made it. I know that she would have been where she wanted to go,” her mother said.In Rio de Janeiro, Erika Machado scanned the list of names engraved on a long, undulating sculpture of oxidized steel that stands in Penitencia cemetery as an homage to some of Brazil’s COVID-19 victims. Then she found him: Wagner Machado, her father.“My dad was the love of my life, my best friend,” said Machado, 40, a saleswoman who traveled from Sao Paulo to see her father’s name. “He was everything to me.”___

COVID-19's global death toll tops 5 million 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The family of a man who was fatally shot by Topeka police in September 2017 has filed a federal lawsuit against the city seeking $10 million. 

The parents of Dominique White are also asking for $4.790 to cover the cost of his funeral. Topeka authorities cleared officers Justin Mackey and Michael Cruse of criminal wrongdoing after the shooting. 

Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay said White initially denied he had a gun before the officers discovered one in a pocket and tried to seize it. Kagay said White resisted the officers and was shot as he ran away with his hand over the pocket that contained the gun.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1601408473933.png" alt="White-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>White-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The family of a man who was fatally shot by Topeka police in September 2017 has filed a federal lawsuit against the city seeking $10 million. The parents of Dominique White are also asking for $4.790 to cover the cost of his funeral. Topeka authorities cleared officers Justin Mackey and Michael Cruse of criminal wrongdoing after the shooting. Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay said White initially denied he had a gun before the officers discovered one in a pocket and tried to seize it. Kagay said White resisted the officers and was shot as he ran away with his hand over the pocket that contained the gun.

Family of man killed by police sues Topeka for $10 million

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Union workers at Deere &amp; Co. would get wage increases of 10% in the first year and 5% each in the third and fifth years under a tentative contract reached between the farm-equipment maker and the United Auto Workers union.

The workers would get 3% lump sums in the second, fourth and sixth years of the deal. They would also get a ratification bonus of $8,500 and no changes in the cost of their health insurance, according to a summary of the agreement posted Sunday on the union website.

The company and the UAW reached a tentative agreement Saturday that would cover more than 10,000 workers at 12 Deere locations in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/iowa">Iowa</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/illinois">Illinois</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/kansas">Kansas</a>. However, a strike that began Oct. 14 will continue while workers review the terms of the deal ahead of a ratification vote.

Union members previously rejected a proposed contract that included immediate 5% raises for some workers and 6% for others, and 3% raises in 2023 and 2025.

The Moline, Illinois-based company reported $4.7 billion in net income for the first nine months of its fiscal year, more than double the $2 billion of the same period a year earlier.

A labor shortage affecting many industries also gave workers more leverage to demand better pay and benefits.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1634596496067.png" alt="The strike began Oct. 14 after union members overwhelmingly rejected a proposed contract that would have delivered 5% raises to some workers and 6% raises to others depending on their positions in the factory.-Photo courtesy WQAD TV" />
 <figcaption>The strike began Oct. 14 after union members overwhelmingly rejected a proposed contract that would have delivered 5% raises to some workers and 6% raises to others depending on their positions in the factory.-Photo courtesy WQAD TV</figcaption>
 </figure>MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Union workers at Deere &amp; Co. would get wage increases of 10% in the first year and 5% each in the third and fifth years under a tentative contract reached between the farm-equipment maker and the United Auto Workers union.The workers would get 3% lump sums in the second, fourth and sixth years of the deal. They would also get a ratification bonus of $8,500 and no changes in the cost of their health insurance, according to a summary of the agreement posted Sunday on the union website.The company and the UAW reached a tentative agreement Saturday that would cover more than 10,000 workers at 12 Deere locations in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/iowa">Iowa</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/illinois">Illinois</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/kansas">Kansas</a>. However, a strike that began Oct. 14 will continue while workers review the terms of the deal ahead of a ratification vote.Union members previously rejected a proposed contract that included immediate 5% raises for some workers and 6% for others, and 3% raises in 2023 and 2025.The Moline, Illinois-based company reported $4.7 billion in net income for the first nine months of its fiscal year, more than double the $2 billion of the same period a year earlier.A labor shortage affecting many industries also gave workers more leverage to demand better pay and benefits.

Deere workers would get immediate 10% raises under new offer

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for causing a crash earlier this year that killed a grandmother and injured her 6-month-old grandson.

Josiah Coleman, 23, Leavenworth County was sentenced Thursday to 77 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter and methamphetamine possession. 

Prosecutors say Coleman was high on meth on Feb. 21 when he drove more than 90 mph in a 40 mph zone, ran a stop sign and crashed into a car driven by 62-year-old Donna Gay Osborne. Osborne died at the scene, and her infant grandson, who was in the car, suffered minor injuries.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635519139527.png" alt="Coleman-photo Leavenworth Co." />
 <figcaption>Coleman-photo Leavenworth Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for causing a crash earlier this year that killed a grandmother and injured her 6-month-old grandson.Josiah Coleman, 23, Leavenworth County was sentenced Thursday to 77 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter and methamphetamine possession. Prosecutors say Coleman was high on meth on Feb. 21 when he drove more than 90 mph in a 40 mph zone, ran a stop sign and crashed into a car driven by 62-year-old Donna Gay Osborne. Osborne died at the scene, and her infant grandson, who was in the car, suffered minor injuries.

Fatal crash: Kansas man was driving 90 mph in 40 mph zone

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a residential robbery and have suspects in custody.

Just beforee 3a.m. Saturday, police were dispatched to the 100 block of SW Western in Topeka in reference a residential robbery to an individual that had just occurred, according to. Police Lt. Kelvin Johnson. 

Officers met with the victim and were able to get possible identification of the three suspects who were involved. The suspect’s vehicle was later located parked behind a residence in the 1000 block of NW Jackson in Topeka.

As officers were dealing with the vehicle the three suspects came out of a residence and were taken into custody and brought to the Law Enforcement Center for interviews. At the conclusion of the interviews police arrested Derek Devlin, 37 of Topeka, on requested charges of Aggravated Robbery, Aggravated Assault, and Theft

Todd Devlin, 55, of Topeka, was arrested on on requested charges of Aggravated Robbery and Theft. The third individual was arrested on an outstanding arrest warrant. Police did not release that suspect's name.

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a residential robbery and have suspects in custody.Just beforee 3a.m. Saturday, police were dispatched to the 100 block of SW Western in Topeka in reference a residential robbery to an individual that had just occurred, according to. Police Lt. Kelvin Johnson. Officers met with the victim and were able to get possible identification of the three suspects who were involved. The suspect’s vehicle was later located parked behind a residence in the 1000 block of NW Jackson in Topeka.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635627703537.png" alt="Derek Devlin photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Derek Devlin photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>As officers were dealing with the vehicle the three suspects came out of a residence and were taken into custody and brought to the Law Enforcement Center for interviews. At the conclusion of the interviews police arrested Derek Devlin, 37 of Topeka, on requested charges of Aggravated Robbery, Aggravated Assault, and TheftTodd Devlin, 55, of Topeka, was arrested on on requested charges of Aggravated Robbery and Theft. The third individual was arrested on an outstanding arrest warrant. Police did not release that suspect's name.

Police arrest 2 suspects for robbery at Kansas home

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday she has contracted COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms.

Psaki, 42, said she was last in contact with President Joe Biden on Tuesday, when she met him in the White House, where they were more than 6 feet apart and wearing masks. Biden, who is tested frequently, last tested negative on Saturday, according to the White House.

Psaki did not accompany Biden on his trip abroad to Rome this weekend for the Group of 20 summit and next Glasgow, Scotland, on Monday for a U.N. climate summit.

Psaki had planned to travel with the president but scrapped the trip just as he was set to depart for Europe after learning that members of her household had tested positive for COVID-19.

“Since then, I have quarantined and tested negative (via PCR) for COVID on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday,” Psaki said in a statement. “However, today, I tested positive for COVID.”

Psaki said she is only exhibiting mild symptoms.

“While I have not had close contact in person with the President or senior members of the White House staff since Wednesday – and tested negative for four days after that last contact — I am disclosing today’s positive test out of an abundance of transparency,” Psaki said.

White House staff and others traveling with the president have been undergoing daily tests for COVID-19 since before departing Washington and are all fully vaccinated. Many officials have also received booster shots, due to the close-quarters environment and frequent travel associated with their work.

Biden got his COVID-19 booster on Sept 27, shortly after federal regulators approved the third dose for many Americans.

Biden has been accompanied on the trip by principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Psaki said she would return to work in person at the conclusion of a 10-day quarantine and following a negative rapid test.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635717989853.png" alt="Press Secretary Jen Psaki.-photo courtesy White House" />
 <figcaption>Press Secretary Jen Psaki.-photo courtesy White House</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday she has contracted COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms.Psaki, 42, said she was last in contact with President Joe Biden on Tuesday, when she met him in the White House, where they were more than 6 feet apart and wearing masks. Biden, who is tested frequently, last tested negative on Saturday, according to the White House.Psaki did not accompany Biden on his trip abroad to Rome this weekend for the Group of 20 summit and next Glasgow, Scotland, on Monday for a U.N. climate summit.Psaki had planned to travel with the president but scrapped the trip just as he was set to depart for Europe after learning that members of her household had tested positive for COVID-19.“Since then, I have quarantined and tested negative (via PCR) for COVID on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday,” Psaki said in a statement. “However, today, I tested positive for COVID.”Psaki said she is only exhibiting mild symptoms.“While I have not had close contact in person with the President or senior members of the White House staff since Wednesday – and tested negative for four days after that last contact — I am disclosing today’s positive test out of an abundance of transparency,” Psaki said.White House staff and others traveling with the president have been undergoing daily tests for COVID-19 since before departing Washington and are all fully vaccinated. Many officials have also received booster shots, due to the close-quarters environment and frequent travel associated with their work.Biden got his COVID-19 booster on Sept 27, shortly after federal regulators approved the third dose for many Americans.Biden has been accompanied on the trip by principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Psaki said she would return to work in person at the conclusion of a 10-day quarantine and following a negative rapid test.

White House press secretary Psaki says she has COVID-19

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A first-year Kansas lawmaker, who was reprimanded by his colleagues for abusive conduct before taking office, has been arrested on suspicion of domestic battery. 

Democratic state Rep. Aaron Coleman of Kansas City was arrested Saturday evening and Johnson County Jail records show he remains in custody Sunday afternoon.

The 21-year-old's arrest comes eight months after he received a written warning from a legislative committee about conduct before taking office that included abusive behavior toward young woman and girls.

 House Democratic leader Tom Sawyer says Coleman's constituents and the State of Kansas would be better served if he were to resign and get the help he badly needs.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1635804497310.png" alt="Coleman-photo Johnson Co." />
 <figcaption>Coleman-photo Johnson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A first-year Kansas lawmaker, who was reprimanded by his colleagues for abusive conduct before taking office, has been arrested on suspicion of domestic battery. Democratic state Rep. Aaron Coleman of Kansas City was arrested Saturday evening and Johnson County Jail records show he remains in custody Sunday afternoon.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635710410061.png" alt="Image courtesy Johnson Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy Johnson Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>The 21-year-old's arrest comes eight months after he received a written warning from a legislative committee about conduct before taking office that included abusive behavior toward young woman and girls.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">RELEASE: House Democratic Leader Responds to Representative’s Arrest <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ksleg?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ksleg</a> <a href="https://t.co/p340E5QDAU">pic.twitter.com/p340E5QDAU</a>&mdash; Kansas House Democrats (@KSHouseDems) <a href="https://twitter.com/KSHouseDems/status/1454872735516086272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div> House Democratic leader Tom Sawyer says Coleman's constituents and the State of Kansas would be better served if he were to resign and get the help he badly needs.

Kansas lawmaker arrested on domestic violence charge

SALINA —Schwan’s Company and construction crews used an unconventional way to install its climate control systems on the new expansion at its pizza plant in Salina. 

On Saturday and Sunday, they used helicopters to lift more than 50 heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) units onto the roof of the new facility, according to a media release from the company.

“Due to the size of both the building and the HVAC units, using helicopters was the safest and most efficient way to install the units,” said Salina’s Senior Director of Manufacturing Chris Wiseman, adding that on smaller projects, cranes would be used.

The HVAC units, some of which weigh more than 17,000 pounds, will be used for heating, cooling and humidity control of the facility.

The HVAC install is part of the 400,000-square-foot expansion to the existing pizza plant. Schwan’s Company, a leading food producer in the United States, announced the expansion project in August 2020. Construction on the facility began in September 2020 and will continue throughout 2022. Schwan’s expects to be making pizza in the new expansion by the end of next year.

The expansion, which is part of a major investment in Salina, will include automated state-of-the-art pizza-production lines, shipping and receiving docks, and office space. The company already employs approximately 1,000 people at its current 550,000-square-foot production facility and distribution center in Salina. Burns &amp; McDonnell — a 100% employee-owned engineering, architecture and construction company — is designing and building the expansion.

“We are creating a manufacturing facility that combines the very best equipment available with the most modern technology,” Wiseman said. “This expansion will be one of the most technologically advanced food manufacturing facilities in the world.”

To operate the highly automated facility with state-of-the-art production lines and equipment, Schwan’s is creating 225 full-time jobs for the Salina area. Many of these new jobs will be higher paying and require a high level of technical expertise.

Some of the roles will include electrical controls engineers and process engineers. Experts on production, packaging and bakery operations, as well as leadership positions are also needed. 

“A state-of-the-art facility with the newest equipment and most modern technology will require employees who can operate, maintain and ensure the reliability of the equipment they use each day,” Wiseman said.

“These positions are unlike any other we have at Schwan’s, and unlike most in the food manufacturing industry,” he added.

Schwan’s began hiring for these positions earlier this year and will continue to hire into 2022. Job details can be found at <a href="http://SchwansJobs.com">SchwansJobs.com</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635723633345.jpeg" alt="A helicopter lifts an HVAC unit onto the roof of the Schwan's expansion. Photos courtesy Schwan's" />
 <figcaption>A helicopter lifts an HVAC unit onto the roof of the Schwan's expansion. Photos courtesy Schwan's</figcaption>
 </figure>SALINA —Schwan’s Company and construction crews used an unconventional way to install its climate control systems on the new expansion at its pizza plant in Salina. On Saturday and Sunday, they used helicopters to lift more than 50 heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) units onto the roof of the new facility, according to a media release from the company.“Due to the size of both the building and the HVAC units, using helicopters was the safest and most efficient way to install the units,” said Salina’s Senior Director of Manufacturing Chris Wiseman, adding that on smaller projects, cranes would be used.The HVAC units, some of which weigh more than 17,000 pounds, will be used for heating, cooling and humidity control of the facility.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635723588046.jpeg" alt="With more than 50 HVAC units needing to be placed, the helicopters were kept busy." />
 <figcaption>With more than 50 HVAC units needing to be placed, the helicopters were kept busy.</figcaption>
 </figure>The HVAC install is part of the 400,000-square-foot expansion to the existing pizza plant. Schwan’s Company, a leading food producer in the United States, announced the expansion project in August 2020. Construction on the facility began in September 2020 and will continue throughout 2022. Schwan’s expects to be making pizza in the new expansion by the end of next year.The expansion, which is part of a major investment in Salina, will include automated state-of-the-art pizza-production lines, shipping and receiving docks, and office space. The company already employs approximately 1,000 people at its current 550,000-square-foot production facility and distribution center in Salina. Burns &amp; McDonnell — a 100% employee-owned engineering, architecture and construction company — is designing and building the expansion.“We are creating a manufacturing facility that combines the very best equipment available with the most modern technology,” Wiseman said. “This expansion will be one of the most technologically advanced food manufacturing facilities in the world.”To operate the highly automated facility with state-of-the-art production lines and equipment, Schwan’s is creating 225 full-time jobs for the Salina area. Many of these new jobs will be higher paying and require a high level of technical expertise.Some of the roles will include electrical controls engineers and process engineers. Experts on production, packaging and bakery operations, as well as leadership positions are also needed. “A state-of-the-art facility with the newest equipment and most modern technology will require employees who can operate, maintain and ensure the reliability of the equipment they use each day,” Wiseman said.“These positions are unlike any other we have at Schwan’s, and unlike most in the food manufacturing industry,” he added.Schwan’s began hiring for these positions earlier this year and will continue to hire into 2022. Job details can be found at <a href="http://SchwansJobs.com">SchwansJobs.com</a>.

Schwan’s pizza plant in Kan. uses helicopters in HVAC unit installation

By MAX MCCOY <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/10/31/a-mysterious-murder-site-has-a-new-owner-hes-looking-for-answers-about-the-bloody-benders/">Kansas Reflector</a>

CHERRYVALE — The chain of low hills known as the Bender Mounds 
extends in a diagonal seven miles northeast of here, islands of 
limestone and scrubby trees over level fields where this time of year 
soybeans have just been harvested. The lonely hills meander across what 
is now U.S. Highway 400, where travelers whoosh by in comfort at 65 mph.

But 150 years ago, the rugged Osage Trail ran between these mounds, 
somewhat north of the present highway. This section of the trail ran the
 47 miles from the Osage Mission at what is now St. Paul to 
Independence, Kansas, and food and lodging was hard to come by. Tired 
and hungry travelers would sometimes stop for a hot meal and a hard bed 
at the Bender Inn, a two-room frame cabin on the south side of the trail
 between the mounds.

Many of the travelers were never seen again, victims of a 
multiple-murdering frontier family that has gone down in history as the 
Bloody Benders. The Bender saga is a thoroughly American crime story, 
full of mystery and gore, and their story is as famous in its way as the
 gunfight at the O.K. Corral or the killing of Billy the Kid. But the 
enduring mystery behind the Benders is what happened to them. They 
vanished into history and became the stuff of nightmares — and books, 
television shows and movies.

“I bought it because I love history and would like to find out where 
(the killings) happened,” said Bob Miller, a Wells Fargo financial 
adviser from Independence, Kansas, who now owns the parcel where the 
Bender cabin is believed to have stood.

For 65 years, Miller said, the land was owned by a family who farmed 
it out and had little interest in its history. No search of the property
 for the location of the cabin or graves was formally conducted, at 
least not that anybody could remember. When the property came up for 
auction last year, through Indiana firm Schrader Real Estate and Auction
 Co., Miller knew he had to bid on it.

Miller won by purchasing a package of parcels that included the Bender site. He declined to disclose how much he paid.

“I really like history a lot,” he told me. “I’ve never had an acre of
 land before. Somewhere, somehow, some way, I’m going to get some kind 
of expert investigation going there. The whole thing is just so bizarre,
 and one of America’s first documented mass murders.”

Miller grew up on tales of the Benders and often visited the old 
historical museum in Cherryvale where a replica cabin stood and the town
 celebrated “Bender Days.” The story is the kind of gruesome stuff that 
has fascinated kids for generations, especially Kansas kids like me.

“Between 1870 and 1873 several travelers who disappeared between 
Independence and Osage Mission were traced to within a few miles of the 
Bender Mounds,” according to the WPA guide to Kansas published in 1939. 
“So many stories of mystery, murder, and the supernatural were 
associated with the area that cautious persons would go long distances 
to avoid it.”

By all accounts, the Benders were a strange lot. There were four of 
them, including an older couple named John Sr. and Kate, and a younger 
couple, also named John and Kate. They had come from St. Louis in 
1870-71 to join a small community of Spiritualists, part of a movement 
that flourished after the carnage of the Civil War and maintained it was
 possible to talk to the dead.

The older Benders were described as unpleasant and spoke mostly 
German. But the younger Benders were different. They may have been 
brother and sister, or perhaps common law husband and wife. John Jr. was
 strong and handsome. But it was young Kate that attracted the most 
attention, a red-haired 20-something who was a trance medium, advertised
 herself in local newspapers as “Prof. Katie Bender,” and who claimed 
supernatural powers to heal.

By May 1873, the mystery of the missing travelers would be solved.

A search party found the Bender cabin deserted and their livestock 
untended. In an orchard out back they found the remains of between eight
 and 11 bodies —it was difficult to determine exactly how many, but at 
least one was a child — and a trapdoor in the floor of the cabin that 
led to a bloody cellar, rank with blood and gore.

“Though stories of strange experiences at the inn had circulated 
throughout the community since its establishment, few had given them 
credence,” according to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/bender-knife/10106">Kansas Historical Society</a>.
 “After the discovery, though, such tales seemed more plausible. 
Neighbors reported violent behavior, strange séances, and narrowly 
escaping with their lives.”

It was theorized that victims were forced to sit at a table with 
their backs against a stained canvas curtain and, while distracted by 
Kate — who gets most of the blame in traditional accounts — were 
dispatched by a hammer blow to the back of the head. After being shoved 
through the trap door into the bloody cellar, they may have been 
finished off with a knife across the throat. The motive was robbery, as 
travelers often carried large amounts of cash to buy land and cattle.

But nobody knows for sure what happened in the cabin. Those who did know ended up dead or disappeared.

When the Bender site went up for auction last year, it renewed my 
interest in the bloody family. Stories about the upcoming auction ran in
 news outlets around the world. Not having the means, or frankly the 
will, to own such a site, I submitted no bid. But after the sale, I did 
contact the auction company a couple of times, asking to be put in touch
 with the new owners. Unsurprisingly, the auction company did not 
respond to my requests.

But I lucked out last weekend when I visited the Cherryvale 
Historical Museum. The museum used to be downtown, but it’s now in what 
was once a private residence and is open 1-4 p.m. on Sundays. The 
replica Bender cabin that used to be at the old museum is long gone. 
Cherryvale doesn’t celebrate Bender Days anymore, either.

The museum still has three hammers taken from the Bender property 
shortly after the crimes were discovered, and I wanted to see them. They
 were there, in a cabinet behind bulletproof glass that has become hazy 
with the passage of the years. They were difficult to photograph, so I 
asked if the case could be opened.

But the kind woman who was tending the museum that day suggested I 
contact local historian Carol Staton, who knew more about the Benders 
than just about anybody in town. So I did, and had a pleasant 
conversation with Staton about a particularly unpleasant crime. Then I 
asked if she knew who had bought the land at auction.

Why yes, she said. It was a friend of hers in Independence. She gave me Bob Miller’s name.

Miller told me he hasn’t done anything with the land since buying it 
in February because he just hasn’t had the time. He would like to 
investigate the site, he said. It is undoubtedly the piece of land the 
cabin was on, but the actual location of the cabin and the orchard have 
been lost over the years. Because he has a keen interest in history and a
 respect for doing things right, Miller said he’d like to partner with a
 team of professional archaeologists, perhaps from a Kansas university, 
to do a ground-penetrating radar study and possibly undertake 
excavations.

There may be more to the Bender story than we know, he said. Finding 
the location of the cellar abattoir or the orchard cemetery may lead to 
discoveries that were not possible with 1870s technology. Some of the 
victims were never identified.

“If we could find some stuff,” Miller said, “some bones or maybe 
teeth, that would allow for DNA matching with living relatives.”

The Benders were discovered when the relative of a victim went searching in 1873.

Col. Alexander York, a state senator and Civil War veteran, wanted to
 find his missing brother, physician William York. Dr. York, who had 
disappeared on the Osage Trail.

Scouting the trail with a posse of 15 or so men, Col. York called 
upon the Bender Inn. The Benders said yes, the doctor had been there, 
but he had left unharmed. Kate suggested, the story goes, that for a 
price she could use her clairvoyant powers to help locate the missing 
man. The colonel left, but suspicion lingered.

The cabin was later found deserted. The discovery of the bodies, including that of Dr. York, followed.

A wagon and team belonging to the Benders was later located abandoned
 near Thayer, and a clerk at the depot there said four individuals 
matching the family’s description had bought tickets and boarded a train
 to Humboldt. That’s the last real clue we have as to the murderous 
family’s fate, even though the governor of Kansas at the time offered a 
$2,000 reward for their capture.

Over the years, tales have placed the Benders in Canada, in St. 
Louis, and even escaping — however improbably — in a hot air balloon. 
These stories have continued unabated, and as recently as 2013 amateur 
sleuths claimed to have solved the mystery of the Benders, including one
 theory that young John and Katie lived the rest of their lives in 
Colorado and <a target="_blank" href="https://truewestmagazine.com/article/history-mystery-solved-hiding-in-plain-sight/">are buried in plain sight</a> at Glenwood Springs.

The two theories that seem most likely are that the Benders 
successfully escaped to parts unknown, or that they were lynched by 
locals and buried in secret. The former is more probable, as it’s been 
my experience that people have a hard time keeping a secret — and a 
secret as big as the fate of the Benders couldn’t be kept by a group for
 15 minutes, much less a century and a half.

“It’s just a mystery that keeps perpetuating itself,” Staton, the local historian, said.

After the bodies were found in 1873, the cabin was ripped apart, 
board by board, until nothing was left. In time, all visible traces of 
the Bender place disappeared at the mound, just as the Benders 
themselves disappeared.

Staton said she has visited the site, or at least peered at it from 
the public road. An individual on the museum board, she said, has 
sometimes led private tours out to the Bender Mounds, and this persuaded
 the board to consider hosting day trips.

Miller said he has no plans to open the site to the public as yet, because he wants professionals to survey the location first.

On my trip to Cherryvale last weekend, I drove out to the Bender 
Mounds. I’m not going to reveal the precise location of the site, 
because like Miller I fear a loss of historical data beneath a crush of 
uninvited visitors. I can tell you that the roads around the site are 
poorly maintained, and that some are impassible in wet weather without a
 four-wheel drive vehicle. On one half-mile stretch of road, my Jeep was
 nearly up to its axles in mud.

A few miles away from the site, at the rest area where U.S. Highway 
400 meets U.S. Highway 169, is a state historical marker about the 
Benders. It doesn’t give the location of the site, just saying it is 
near.

The narrative on the marker indicates how attitudes toward the Benders have changed over the years, at least among historians.

The text on the marker, as originally provided by the state 
historical society, described Kate Bender as “a beautiful, voluptuous 
girl with tigerish grace” and “the leading spirit of the murderous 
family.” The description was typical of most narratives about the 
Benders and, in 1970, is what led Samuel Goldwyn Jr. to openly speculate
 whom he should cast as the beautiful and diabolical Kate in an intended
 major release. Jacqueline Bissett seemed a frontrunner.

While Goldwyn’s film was never made, there have been smaller films featuring the Benders. In 2016’s <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0s5lOHliQY">“Bender,”</a> Nicole Jellen played Kate. There have also been novels and graphic novels, most notably <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Geary">Rick Geary’s</a> “Saga of Bloody Benders.” There have been a mountain of nonfiction books, the latest of which is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/622578/hells-half-acre-by-susan-jonusas/">“Hell’s Half Acre”</a> by Susan Jonusas, set for release in March 2022, which promises to tell us the “untold story.”

The current state historical marker has been edited to omit any 
mention of Kate as voluptuous or possessing grace, tigerish or 
otherwise. While Kate is an intriguing historical figure, there’s just 
no evidence to suggest she was the family mastermind. Murder is a dull 
and brutish business, no temptress required.

If there is an untold story to be told about the 1873 horror seven 
miles northeast of Cherryvale, chances are it won’t come from a movie or
 a book. But it just might emerge from the mud at the base of a mound on
 an otherwise featureless parcel of farmland recently purchased by a 
local kid who was fascinated by one of the bloodiest true stories in 
Kansas history.

Max McCoy is an award-winning author and journalist. A native Kansan, he started his career at the Pittsburg Morning Sun and was soon writing for national magazines. His investigative stories on unsolved murders, serial killers and hate groups earned him first-place awards from the Associated Press Managing Editors and other organizations.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635698519503.png" alt="The Benders operated a modest “inn” on the Osage Trail northeast of Cherryvale in the 1870s. They also murdered at least a dozen travelers. The Bender cabin was at a mound not unlike this one, which is a mile or so from the actual site, which has no visible trace of the mayhem which took place there. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>The Benders operated a modest “inn” on the Osage Trail northeast of Cherryvale in the 1870s. They also murdered at least a dozen travelers. The Bender cabin was at a mound not unlike this one, which is a mile or so from the actual site, which has no visible trace of the mayhem which took place there. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By MAX MCCOY <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/10/31/a-mysterious-murder-site-has-a-new-owner-hes-looking-for-answers-about-the-bloody-benders/">Kansas Reflector</a>CHERRYVALE — The chain of low hills known as the Bender Mounds 
extends in a diagonal seven miles northeast of here, islands of 
limestone and scrubby trees over level fields where this time of year 
soybeans have just been harvested. The lonely hills meander across what 
is now U.S. Highway 400, where travelers whoosh by in comfort at 65 mph.But 150 years ago, the rugged Osage Trail ran between these mounds, 
somewhat north of the present highway. This section of the trail ran the
 47 miles from the Osage Mission at what is now St. Paul to 
Independence, Kansas, and food and lodging was hard to come by. Tired 
and hungry travelers would sometimes stop for a hot meal and a hard bed 
at the Bender Inn, a two-room frame cabin on the south side of the trail
 between the mounds.Many of the travelers were never seen again, victims of a 
multiple-murdering frontier family that has gone down in history as the 
Bloody Benders. The Bender saga is a thoroughly American crime story, 
full of mystery and gore, and their story is as famous in its way as the
 gunfight at the O.K. Corral or the killing of Billy the Kid. But the 
enduring mystery behind the Benders is what happened to them. They 
vanished into history and became the stuff of nightmares — and books, 
television shows and movies.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635698577441.png" alt="Bob Miller purchased the land where the Benders’ cabin was once located. (Submitted)" />
 <figcaption>Bob Miller purchased the land where the Benders’ cabin was once located. (Submitted)</figcaption>
 </figure>“I bought it because I love history and would like to find out where 
(the killings) happened,” said Bob Miller, a Wells Fargo financial 
adviser from Independence, Kansas, who now owns the parcel where the 
Bender cabin is believed to have stood.For 65 years, Miller said, the land was owned by a family who farmed 
it out and had little interest in its history. No search of the property
 for the location of the cabin or graves was formally conducted, at 
least not that anybody could remember. When the property came up for 
auction last year, through Indiana firm Schrader Real Estate and Auction
 Co., Miller knew he had to bid on it.Miller won by purchasing a package of parcels that included the Bender site. He declined to disclose how much he paid.“I really like history a lot,” he told me. “I’ve never had an acre of
 land before. Somewhere, somehow, some way, I’m going to get some kind 
of expert investigation going there. The whole thing is just so bizarre,
 and one of America’s first documented mass murders.”Miller grew up on tales of the Benders and often visited the old 
historical museum in Cherryvale where a replica cabin stood and the town
 celebrated “Bender Days.” The story is the kind of gruesome stuff that 
has fascinated kids for generations, especially Kansas kids like me.“Between 1870 and 1873 several travelers who disappeared between 
Independence and Osage Mission were traced to within a few miles of the 
Bender Mounds,” according to the WPA guide to Kansas published in 1939. 
“So many stories of mystery, murder, and the supernatural were 
associated with the area that cautious persons would go long distances 
to avoid it.”By all accounts, the Benders were a strange lot. There were four of 
them, including an older couple named John Sr. and Kate, and a younger 
couple, also named John and Kate. They had come from St. Louis in 
1870-71 to join a small community of Spiritualists, part of a movement 
that flourished after the carnage of the Civil War and maintained it was
 possible to talk to the dead.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635698605893.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The older Benders were described as unpleasant and spoke mostly 
German. But the younger Benders were different. They may have been 
brother and sister, or perhaps common law husband and wife. John Jr. was
 strong and handsome. But it was young Kate that attracted the most 
attention, a red-haired 20-something who was a trance medium, advertised
 herself in local newspapers as “Prof. Katie Bender,” and who claimed 
supernatural powers to heal.By May 1873, the mystery of the missing travelers would be solved.A search party found the Bender cabin deserted and their livestock 
untended. In an orchard out back they found the remains of between eight
 and 11 bodies —it was difficult to determine exactly how many, but at 
least one was a child — and a trapdoor in the floor of the cabin that 
led to a bloody cellar, rank with blood and gore.“Though stories of strange experiences at the inn had circulated 
throughout the community since its establishment, few had given them 
credence,” according to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/bender-knife/10106">Kansas Historical Society</a>.
 “After the discovery, though, such tales seemed more plausible. 
Neighbors reported violent behavior, strange séances, and narrowly 
escaping with their lives.”It was theorized that victims were forced to sit at a table with 
their backs against a stained canvas curtain and, while distracted by 
Kate — who gets most of the blame in traditional accounts — were 
dispatched by a hammer blow to the back of the head. After being shoved 
through the trap door into the bloody cellar, they may have been 
finished off with a knife across the throat. The motive was robbery, as 
travelers often carried large amounts of cash to buy land and cattle.But nobody knows for sure what happened in the cabin. Those who did know ended up dead or disappeared.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635698699304.png" alt=" The Bender Room, in the Cherryvale Historical Museum, offers an exhibit about the family and slayings. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> The Bender Room, in the Cherryvale Historical Museum, offers an exhibit about the family and slayings. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>When the Bender site went up for auction last year, it renewed my 
interest in the bloody family. Stories about the upcoming auction ran in
 news outlets around the world. Not having the means, or frankly the 
will, to own such a site, I submitted no bid. But after the sale, I did 
contact the auction company a couple of times, asking to be put in touch
 with the new owners. Unsurprisingly, the auction company did not 
respond to my requests.But I lucked out last weekend when I visited the Cherryvale 
Historical Museum. The museum used to be downtown, but it’s now in what 
was once a private residence and is open 1-4 p.m. on Sundays. The 
replica Bender cabin that used to be at the old museum is long gone. 
Cherryvale doesn’t celebrate Bender Days anymore, either.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635698736331.png" alt="The Benders’ hammers are displayed at Cherryvale Historical Museum on Oct. 24. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>The Benders’ hammers are displayed at Cherryvale Historical Museum on Oct. 24. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>The museum still has three hammers taken from the Bender property 
shortly after the crimes were discovered, and I wanted to see them. They
 were there, in a cabinet behind bulletproof glass that has become hazy 
with the passage of the years. They were difficult to photograph, so I 
asked if the case could be opened.No dice, I was told.But the kind woman who was tending the museum that day suggested I 
contact local historian Carol Staton, who knew more about the Benders 
than just about anybody in town. So I did, and had a pleasant 
conversation with Staton about a particularly unpleasant crime. Then I 
asked if she knew who had bought the land at auction.Why yes, she said. It was a friend of hers in Independence. She gave me Bob Miller’s name.Miller told me he hasn’t done anything with the land since buying it 
in February because he just hasn’t had the time. He would like to 
investigate the site, he said. It is undoubtedly the piece of land the 
cabin was on, but the actual location of the cabin and the orchard have 
been lost over the years. Because he has a keen interest in history and a
 respect for doing things right, Miller said he’d like to partner with a
 team of professional archaeologists, perhaps from a Kansas university, 
to do a ground-penetrating radar study and possibly undertake 
excavations.There may be more to the Bender story than we know, he said. Finding 
the location of the cellar abattoir or the orchard cemetery may lead to 
discoveries that were not possible with 1870s technology. Some of the 
victims were never identified.“If we could find some stuff,” Miller said, “some bones or maybe 
teeth, that would allow for DNA matching with living relatives.”The Benders were discovered when the relative of a victim went searching in 1873.Col. Alexander York, a state senator and Civil War veteran, wanted to
 find his missing brother, physician William York. Dr. York, who had 
disappeared on the Osage Trail.Scouting the trail with a posse of 15 or so men, Col. York called 
upon the Bender Inn. The Benders said yes, the doctor had been there, 
but he had left unharmed. Kate suggested, the story goes, that for a 
price she could use her clairvoyant powers to help locate the missing 
man. The colonel left, but suspicion lingered.The cabin was later found deserted. The discovery of the bodies, including that of Dr. York, followed.A wagon and team belonging to the Benders was later located abandoned
 near Thayer, and a clerk at the depot there said four individuals 
matching the family’s description had bought tickets and boarded a train
 to Humboldt. That’s the last real clue we have as to the murderous 
family’s fate, even though the governor of Kansas at the time offered a 
$2,000 reward for their capture.Over the years, tales have placed the Benders in Canada, in St. 
Louis, and even escaping — however improbably — in a hot air balloon. 
These stories have continued unabated, and as recently as 2013 amateur 
sleuths claimed to have solved the mystery of the Benders, including one
 theory that young John and Katie lived the rest of their lives in 
Colorado and <a target="_blank" href="https://truewestmagazine.com/article/history-mystery-solved-hiding-in-plain-sight/">are buried in plain sight</a> at Glenwood Springs.None of these are convincing to me.The two theories that seem most likely are that the Benders 
successfully escaped to parts unknown, or that they were lynched by 
locals and buried in secret. The former is more probable, as it’s been 
my experience that people have a hard time keeping a secret — and a 
secret as big as the fate of the Benders couldn’t be kept by a group for
 15 minutes, much less a century and a half.“It’s just a mystery that keeps perpetuating itself,” Staton, the local historian, said.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635698783986.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>After the bodies were found in 1873, the cabin was ripped apart, 
board by board, until nothing was left. In time, all visible traces of 
the Bender place disappeared at the mound, just as the Benders 
themselves disappeared.Staton said she has visited the site, or at least peered at it from 
the public road. An individual on the museum board, she said, has 
sometimes led private tours out to the Bender Mounds, and this persuaded
 the board to consider hosting day trips.Miller said he has no plans to open the site to the public as yet, because he wants professionals to survey the location first.On my trip to Cherryvale last weekend, I drove out to the Bender 
Mounds. I’m not going to reveal the precise location of the site, 
because like Miller I fear a loss of historical data beneath a crush of 
uninvited visitors. I can tell you that the roads around the site are 
poorly maintained, and that some are impassible in wet weather without a
 four-wheel drive vehicle. On one half-mile stretch of road, my Jeep was
 nearly up to its axles in mud.A few miles away from the site, at the rest area where U.S. Highway 
400 meets U.S. Highway 169, is a state historical marker about the 
Benders. It doesn’t give the location of the site, just saying it is 
near.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635698835197.png" alt="The Bender historical marker sits at a rest area at the intersection of U.S. Highway 400 and U.S. Highway 169 near Cherryvale. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>The Bender historical marker sits at a rest area at the intersection of U.S. Highway 400 and U.S. Highway 169 near Cherryvale. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>The narrative on the marker indicates how attitudes toward the Benders have changed over the years, at least among historians.The text on the marker, as originally provided by the state 
historical society, described Kate Bender as “a beautiful, voluptuous 
girl with tigerish grace” and “the leading spirit of the murderous 
family.” The description was typical of most narratives about the 
Benders and, in 1970, is what led Samuel Goldwyn Jr. to openly speculate
 whom he should cast as the beautiful and diabolical Kate in an intended
 major release. Jacqueline Bissett seemed a frontrunner.While Goldwyn’s film was never made, there have been smaller films featuring the Benders. In 2016’s <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0s5lOHliQY">“Bender,”</a> Nicole Jellen played Kate. There have also been novels and graphic novels, most notably <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Geary">Rick Geary’s</a> “Saga of Bloody Benders.” There have been a mountain of nonfiction books, the latest of which is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/622578/hells-half-acre-by-susan-jonusas/">“Hell’s Half Acre”</a> by Susan Jonusas, set for release in March 2022, which promises to tell us the “untold story.”The current state historical marker has been edited to omit any 
mention of Kate as voluptuous or possessing grace, tigerish or 
otherwise. While Kate is an intriguing historical figure, there’s just 
no evidence to suggest she was the family mastermind. Murder is a dull 
and brutish business, no temptress required.If there is an untold story to be told about the 1873 horror seven 
miles northeast of Cherryvale, chances are it won’t come from a movie or
 a book. But it just might emerge from the mud at the base of a mound on
 an otherwise featureless parcel of farmland recently purchased by a 
local kid who was fascinated by one of the bloodiest true stories in 
Kansas history.Max McCoy is an award-winning author and journalist. A native Kansan, he started his career at the Pittsburg Morning Sun and was soon writing for national magazines. His investigative stories on unsolved murders, serial killers and hate groups earned him first-place awards from the Associated Press Managing Editors and other organizations.&nbsp;

New owner looking for answers about Kansas' Bloody Benders

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting and have a suspect in custody.

At 5:30 a.m. Saturday, police were working a call in the 1700 block of SW Clay in Topeka when they saw a disturbance in the 1800 block of SW Clay, according to Police Lt. Kelvin Johnson.

As the officers were approaching the disturbance, they heard gun shots&nbsp; saw people running. Two individuals were detained and found to be the victims of an aggravated assault.

Information led them to a residence on that block where the suspect had run back into. Police surrounded the house and they called the suspect out where he was eventually taken into custody.

The suspect was identified as Jerome C. Vetaw, 42 of Topeka. Police arrested and booked him into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Aggravated Assault,&nbsp;&nbsp;Criminal Possession of a Firearm and Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Sell, according to Johnson.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635627435322.png" alt="Vetaw photo Shawnee County" />
 <figcaption>Vetaw photo Shawnee County</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting and have a suspect in custody.At 5:30 a.m. Saturday, police were working a call in the 1700 block of SW Clay in Topeka when they saw a disturbance in the 1800 block of SW Clay, according to Police Lt. Kelvin Johnson.As the officers were approaching the disturbance, they heard gun shots&nbsp; saw people running. Two individuals were detained and found to be the victims of an aggravated assault.Information led them to a residence on that block where the suspect had run back into. Police surrounded the house and they called the suspect out where he was eventually taken into custody.The suspect was identified as Jerome C. Vetaw, 42 of Topeka. Police arrested and booked him into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Aggravated Assault,&nbsp;&nbsp;Criminal Possession of a Firearm and Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Sell, according to Johnson.

Police catch suspect in Kan. drug deal shooting

By BRIAN GRIMMETT <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/2021-10-28/picking-health-insurance-is-hard-experts-offer-these-5-tips">Kansas News Service</a>

Choosing the right health insurance plan each year is an anxiety filled, complicated and overwhelming process.

You
 get a couple of weeks or, if you’re lucky, a few months to go over 
multiple options either provided through your employer or on the federal
 marketplace. That means sorting through terms like deductible, co-insurance and HSA that even experts have a hard time comprehending.

So
 you might just go with what you had last year, even if it might mean 
you end up spending more money than necessary or leave yourself open to a
 huge financial risk in the event of an unforeseen emergency.

We can’t make the process any less complicated. But the Kansas News Service spoke with a few experts for tips.

The first, and most basic step, is to know when your open enrollment period begins.

Many private employer-based health insurance plans open enrollment around October.

For
 those who get their health insurance from the federal marketplace, the 
open enrollment period begins Nov. 1 and runs through January 15.

Julia Voss is a certified application counselor with <a href="http://centralplainshealthcarepartnership.org/index.php/project-access/" target="_blank">Project Access</a> in Sedgwick County. She said it’s important to begin looking at healthcare.gov plans as soon as you can.

“You
 may have some questions that you need to investigate and do some more 
research on, so the earlier you do that the sooner you’re going to be 
able to make a good decision about meeting your needs,” she said.

It’s
 also important to recognize that choosing a health insurance plan will 
take effort. It might help to think about making health insurance 
selections the same way as you think about doing your taxes every year.

“Except
 you can pay someone to do your taxes for you,” said Emily Vardell, an 
assistant professor at Emporia State University who studies health 
insurance literacy. “You really can’t pay someone to pick your health 
insurance.”

Sure, both are a chore, she said, but with a little effort or some outside help, you can end up saving yourself a lot of money.

Before knowing what coverage will be best moving forward, it’s good to know how you’re already using the coverage you have.

Do you go to the doctor often? Is there a specialist you need to see? How many prescriptions do you need filled?

Vardell
 said looking at your previous usage will give you a better 
understanding of how much you actually spend, which could influence 
whether you choose a plan with a higher deductible and lower monthly 
premium or vice-versa.

She said you can find the information at 
your online health insurance account, looking at the statements sent to 
you in the mail, or even just back at your calendar.

Next, ask yourself if there’s any medical procedures you can plan.

Do you have a chronic condition? Are you planning on having a baby? Or knee surgery?

If
 so, you might consider changing to a plan with a lower deductible or 
coinsurance, even if it means paying a higher monthly premium.

“That’s
 kind of the beauty and the pain of health insurance,” Vardell said. 
“You have to pick every year, but at least you can change it to fit your
 needs.”

Voss, the application counselor, said it’s also important to look at the details of plans, especially really low-cost coverage.

Some plans only
 allow you to see a doctor once every three months, she said, and if you
 have three or four doctors you see regularly that’s probably not going 
to be the best plan.

All of the experts we spoke with said don’t be afraid to use any and all resources available.

If
 you’re on an employer-sponsored plan, reach out to your human resources
 manager. At larger companies, they’ll often have events or webinars 
that will explain the options and give people the opportunity to ask 
questions. They’re worth your time. The wrong call on an insurance plan 
can mean a difference of tens of thousands of dollars.

If you’re selecting a plan through the federal marketplace, Healthcare.gov has a <a href="https://localhelp.healthcare.gov/#/" target="_blank">find-a-navigator tool</a>.
 This will allow you to find people in your area, like Voss, who are 
trained to help people through the application and selection process.

Many
 other local and state agencies and nonprofits can answer questions 
about Medicaid and Medicare eligibility and application processes.

There are also several online tools, including <a href="https://www.justplainclear.com/en" target="_blank">JustPlainClear.com</a> which allows you to look up the meaning of terms such as deductible, coinsurance and HMO.

Voss
 also suggested asking people in your trusted circle, including friends 
and family members, about how they make health insurance choices and 
whether they’ve liked a certain aspect of a plan or not.

Katherine
 Baicker is a health economist and the dean of the Harris School of 
Public Policy at the University of Chicago. She said whatever you end up
 deciding, just do something.

“Being insured is much better than being uninsured,” she said.

Even
 if you have a high deductible plan that leaves you paying out of pocket
 for most of your health care costs, it’s better than not having 
insurance at all. It could be your last defense against financial ruin.

For instance, Insurers
 will often negotiate discounts with providers. That means the price 
you’ll pay, even if you still haven’t met your deductible, would be less
 than the non-insured rate the provider charges.

For young, 
healthy people, she said that choice can be hard because spending any 
money on a health premium can seem like a waste.

“But It wasn’t 
wasted, you might have gotten sick.” Baicker said. “And you had that 
protection whether you ended up using it or not in the same way that I 
have homeowners insurance and every year that my house doesn’t burn 
down, that’s a good year.”

Ultimately, even a low-cost plan can 
protect against catastrophically high expenses that can come from an 
accident or a surprise diagnosis such as cancer.

In the end, the 
experts all said that the system is probably a lot more complicated than
 necessary, but until that changes, it’s worth it to try to understand 
how you can make it work best for you.

“It can be empowering to 
say I’m not going to let the insurance company take advantage of me,” 
Vardell said. “I’m going to make a decision that’s going to help my 
family save money.”

Brian Grimmett reports on the environment, 
energy and natural resources for KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News 
Service. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/briangrimmett?lang=en" target="_blank">@briangrimmett</a> or email him at grimmett@kmuw.org.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1635445902970.png" alt="Health insurance plan information often provides an alphabet soup of terms and abbreviations. Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>Health insurance plan information often provides an alphabet soup of terms and abbreviations. Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By BRIAN GRIMMETT <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/2021-10-28/picking-health-insurance-is-hard-experts-offer-these-5-tips">Kansas News Service</a>Choosing the right health insurance plan each year is an anxiety filled, complicated and overwhelming process.You
 get a couple of weeks or, if you’re lucky, a few months to go over 
multiple options either provided through your employer or on the federal
 marketplace. That means sorting through terms like deductible, co-insurance and HSA that even experts have a hard time comprehending.So
 you might just go with what you had last year, even if it might mean 
you end up spending more money than necessary or leave yourself open to a
 huge financial risk in the event of an unforeseen emergency.We can’t make the process any less complicated. But the Kansas News Service spoke with a few experts for tips.<h2>Prepare</h2>The first, and most basic step, is to know when your open enrollment period begins.Many private employer-based health insurance plans open enrollment around October.For
 those who get their health insurance from the federal marketplace, the 
open enrollment period begins Nov. 1 and runs through January 15.Julia Voss is a certified application counselor with <a href="http://centralplainshealthcarepartnership.org/index.php/project-access/" target="_blank">Project Access</a> in Sedgwick County. She said it’s important to begin looking at healthcare.gov plans as soon as you can.“You
 may have some questions that you need to investigate and do some more 
research on, so the earlier you do that the sooner you’re going to be 
able to make a good decision about meeting your needs,” she said.It’s
 also important to recognize that choosing a health insurance plan will 
take effort. It might help to think about making health insurance 
selections the same way as you think about doing your taxes every year.“Except
 you can pay someone to do your taxes for you,” said Emily Vardell, an 
assistant professor at Emporia State University who studies health 
insurance literacy. “You really can’t pay someone to pick your health 
insurance.”Sure, both are a chore, she said, but with a little effort or some outside help, you can end up saving yourself a lot of money.<h2>Reflect back</h2>Before knowing what coverage will be best moving forward, it’s good to know how you’re already using the coverage you have.Do you go to the doctor often? Is there a specialist you need to see? How many prescriptions do you need filled?Vardell
 said looking at your previous usage will give you a better 
understanding of how much you actually spend, which could influence 
whether you choose a plan with a higher deductible and lower monthly 
premium or vice-versa.She said you can find the information at 
your online health insurance account, looking at the statements sent to 
you in the mail, or even just back at your calendar.<h2>Plan ahead</h2>Next, ask yourself if there’s any medical procedures you can plan.Do you have a chronic condition? Are you planning on having a baby? Or knee surgery?If
 so, you might consider changing to a plan with a lower deductible or 
coinsurance, even if it means paying a higher monthly premium.“That’s
 kind of the beauty and the pain of health insurance,” Vardell said. 
“You have to pick every year, but at least you can change it to fit your
 needs.”Voss, the application counselor, said it’s also important to look at the details of plans, especially really low-cost coverage.Some plans only
 allow you to see a doctor once every three months, she said, and if you
 have three or four doctors you see regularly that’s probably not going 
to be the best plan.<h2>Get help</h2>All of the experts we spoke with said don’t be afraid to use any and all resources available.If
 you’re on an employer-sponsored plan, reach out to your human resources
 manager. At larger companies, they’ll often have events or webinars 
that will explain the options and give people the opportunity to ask 
questions. They’re worth your time. The wrong call on an insurance plan 
can mean a difference of tens of thousands of dollars.If you’re selecting a plan through the federal marketplace, Healthcare.gov has a <a href="https://localhelp.healthcare.gov/#/" target="_blank">find-a-navigator tool</a>.
 This will allow you to find people in your area, like Voss, who are 
trained to help people through the application and selection process.Many
 other local and state agencies and nonprofits can answer questions 
about Medicaid and Medicare eligibility and application processes.There are also several online tools, including <a href="https://www.justplainclear.com/en" target="_blank">JustPlainClear.com</a> which allows you to look up the meaning of terms such as deductible, coinsurance and HMO.Voss
 also suggested asking people in your trusted circle, including friends 
and family members, about how they make health insurance choices and 
whether they’ve liked a certain aspect of a plan or not.<h2>Anything is better than nothing</h2>Katherine
 Baicker is a health economist and the dean of the Harris School of 
Public Policy at the University of Chicago. She said whatever you end up
 deciding, just do something.“Being insured is much better than being uninsured,” she said.Even
 if you have a high deductible plan that leaves you paying out of pocket
 for most of your health care costs, it’s better than not having 
insurance at all. It could be your last defense against financial ruin.For instance, Insurers
 will often negotiate discounts with providers. That means the price 
you’ll pay, even if you still haven’t met your deductible, would be less
 than the non-insured rate the provider charges.For young, 
healthy people, she said that choice can be hard because spending any 
money on a health premium can seem like a waste.“But It wasn’t 
wasted, you might have gotten sick.” Baicker said. “And you had that 
protection whether you ended up using it or not in the same way that I 
have homeowners insurance and every year that my house doesn’t burn 
down, that’s a good year.”Ultimately, even a low-cost plan can 
protect against catastrophically high expenses that can come from an 
accident or a surprise diagnosis such as cancer.In the end, the 
experts all said that the system is probably a lot more complicated than
 necessary, but until that changes, it’s worth it to try to understand 
how you can make it work best for you.“It can be empowering to 
say I’m not going to let the insurance company take advantage of me,” 
Vardell said. “I’m going to make a decision that’s going to help my 
family save money.”Brian Grimmett reports on the environment, 
energy and natural resources for KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News 
Service. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/briangrimmett?lang=en" target="_blank">@briangrimmett</a> or email him at grimmett@kmuw.org.