NEW YORK (AP) — Millions of jobless Americans lost their unemployment benefits on Monday, leaving only a handful of economic support programs for those who are still being hit financially by the year-and-a-half-old coronavirus pandemic.

Two critical programs expired on Monday. One provided jobless aid to self-employed and gig workers and another provided benefits to those who have been unemployed more than six months. Further, the Biden administration’s $300 weekly supplemental unemployment benefit also ran out on Monday.

It’s estimated that roughly 8.9 million Americans will lose all or some of these benefits.

While the White House has encouraged states to keep paying the $300 weekly benefit by using money from the stimulus bills, no states have opted to do so. Many states even opted out of the federal program early after some businesses complained that they couldn’t find enough people to hire. The data have shown minimal economic benefits from cutting off aid early in those states.

Economists Peter McCrory and Daniel Silver of JPMorgan found “zero correlation″ between job growth and state decisions to drop the federal unemployment aid, at least so far. An economist at Columbia University, Kyle Coombs, found only minimal benefits.

The amount of money injected by the federal government into jobless benefits since the pandemic began is nothing short of astronomical. The roughly $650 billion, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, kept millions of Americans who lost their jobs through no fault of their own in their apartments, paying for food and gasoline, and keeping up with their bills. The banking industry has largely attributed the few defaults on loans this past 18 months to the government relief efforts.

“The end of the pandemic unemployment benefits will be an abrupt jolt to millions of Americans who won’t find a job in time for this arbitrary end to assistance,” Andrew Stettner with the Century Foundation said in a report.

The ending of these programs comes as the U.S. economy has recovered from the pandemic, but with substantial gaps in the recovery. The Labor Department says there are still 5.7 million fewer jobs than before the pandemic. Yet the department also estimated, last month, that there were roughly 10 million job openings.

These benefits are also ending sooner than during the previous crisis, the Great Recession. In that downturn, jobless benefits in various forms were extended from the start of the recession in 2008-2009 all the way until 2013. When those benefits finally ended, just 1.3 million people were still receiving aid.

Americans still financially struggling in the pandemic will find a smaller patchwork of social support programs, both at the state level and through the federal government.

The White House approved last month a 25% increase in food stamp assistance, also known as SNAP benefits. That increase will continue indefinitely for those 42.7 million Americans who receive those payments.

While the federal eviction moratorium has expired, roughly a dozen states — all controlled by Democrats — have extended their moratoriums, including California, New York, Washington, Illinois and Minnesota. New York’s eviction moratorium was extended until Jan. 15.

The Biden administration also pushed the restart of federal student loan repayments until January. Those were supposed to have restarted this month.

Those unemployed less than six months will still be able to collect their benefits, but the amount will fall back to the level that each state pays. The average weekly check is roughly $387, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, but varies greatly state by state.

But none of these programs will have the flexibility or direct impact as unemployment benefits being paid directly to jobless Americans, wrote JPMorgan economists McCrory and Silver. They say the loss of benefits could lead to job losses that potentially could offset any of the job gains made as the economy recovers.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1628346834944.png" alt="Pres. Biden has encouraged states to keep paying the $300 weekly benefit by using money from the stimulus bills, no states have opted to do so.-photo courtesy White House" />
 <figcaption>Pres. Biden has encouraged states to keep paying the $300 weekly benefit by using money from the stimulus bills, no states have opted to do so.-photo courtesy White House</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — Millions of jobless Americans lost their unemployment benefits on Monday, leaving only a handful of economic support programs for those who are still being hit financially by the year-and-a-half-old coronavirus pandemic.Two critical programs expired on Monday. One provided jobless aid to self-employed and gig workers and another provided benefits to those who have been unemployed more than six months. Further, the Biden administration’s $300 weekly supplemental unemployment benefit also ran out on Monday.It’s estimated that roughly 8.9 million Americans will lose all or some of these benefits.While the White House has encouraged states to keep paying the $300 weekly benefit by using money from the stimulus bills, no states have opted to do so. Many states even opted out of the federal program early after some businesses complained that they couldn’t find enough people to hire. The data have shown minimal economic benefits from cutting off aid early in those states.Economists Peter McCrory and Daniel Silver of JPMorgan found “zero correlation″ between job growth and state decisions to drop the federal unemployment aid, at least so far. An economist at Columbia University, Kyle Coombs, found only minimal benefits.The amount of money injected by the federal government into jobless benefits since the pandemic began is nothing short of astronomical. The roughly $650 billion, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, kept millions of Americans who lost their jobs through no fault of their own in their apartments, paying for food and gasoline, and keeping up with their bills. The banking industry has largely attributed the few defaults on loans this past 18 months to the government relief efforts.“The end of the pandemic unemployment benefits will be an abrupt jolt to millions of Americans who won’t find a job in time for this arbitrary end to assistance,” Andrew Stettner with the Century Foundation said in a report.The ending of these programs comes as the U.S. economy has recovered from the pandemic, but with substantial gaps in the recovery. The Labor Department says there are still 5.7 million fewer jobs than before the pandemic. Yet the department also estimated, last month, that there were roughly 10 million job openings.These benefits are also ending sooner than during the previous crisis, the Great Recession. In that downturn, jobless benefits in various forms were extended from the start of the recession in 2008-2009 all the way until 2013. When those benefits finally ended, just 1.3 million people were still receiving aid.Americans still financially struggling in the pandemic will find a smaller patchwork of social support programs, both at the state level and through the federal government.The White House approved last month a 25% increase in food stamp assistance, also known as SNAP benefits. That increase will continue indefinitely for those 42.7 million Americans who receive those payments.While the federal eviction moratorium has expired, roughly a dozen states — all controlled by Democrats — have extended their moratoriums, including California, New York, Washington, Illinois and Minnesota. New York’s eviction moratorium was extended until Jan. 15.The Biden administration also pushed the restart of federal student loan repayments until January. Those were supposed to have restarted this month.Those unemployed less than six months will still be able to collect their benefits, but the amount will fall back to the level that each state pays. The average weekly check is roughly $387, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, but varies greatly state by state.But none of these programs will have the flexibility or direct impact as unemployment benefits being paid directly to jobless Americans, wrote JPMorgan economists McCrory and Silver. They say the loss of benefits could lead to job losses that potentially could offset any of the job gains made as the economy recovers.____

Jobless Americans have few options as benefits expire

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service reminds people that 
September&nbsp;15, 2021, is the deadline for third quarter estimated tax 
payments. This generally applies to people who are self-employed and 
some investors, retirees and those who may not normally have taxes 
withheld from their paycheck by their employers.

The U.S. tax system operates on a pay-as-you-go basis. This means 
taxpayers are to pay most of their tax during the year, as they earn or 
receive income. Therefore, individuals not subject to withholding may 
need to make quarterly estimated tax payments.

In most cases, taxpayers should make <a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/estimated-taxes">quarterly estimated tax payments</a> for 2021 if both of the following apply:

Taxpayers with income not subject to withholding, including interest, dividends, capital gains, <a href="https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc452">alimony</a>, cryptocurrency and rental income, normally make estimated tax payments.

Special rules apply to some groups of taxpayers, such as farmers, fishermen, casualty and <a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/disaster-assistance-and-emergency-relief-for-individuals-and-businesses">disaster victims</a>, those who recently became disabled, recent retirees and those who receive income unevenly during the year. <a href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p505">Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax</a>, provides more information on estimated tax rules. The worksheet in <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040-es">Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals</a>, or <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1120-w">Form 1120-W, Estimated Tax for Corporations</a>, has details on who must pay estimated tax.

If a taxpayer underpaid their taxes, they may have to pay a penalty. 
This applies whether they paid through withholding or through estimated 
tax payments. A penalty may also apply for late estimated tax payments 
even if someone is due a refund when they file their tax return.

To see if they owe a penalty, taxpayers should use <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-2210">Form 2210</a>. The IRS may waive the penalty if someone underpaid because of unusual circumstances and not willful neglect. Examples include:

To figure estimated tax, an individual must figure their expected 
adjusted gross income (AGI), taxable income, taxes, deductions and 
credits for the year. When figuring 2021 estimated tax, it may be 
helpful to use income, deductions and credits for 2020 as a starting 
point. Use the 2020 federal tax return as a guide. Taxpayers can use 
Form 1040-ES to figure their estimated tax. Nonresident aliens use <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040-es-nr">Form 1040-ES (NR)</a> to figure estimated tax.

Taxpayers must make adjustments both for changes in their own 
situation and for recent changes in the tax law. For instance, tax 
provisions in the American Rescue Plan of 2021 may impact an individual 
taxpayer's situation. For more information, see <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p505.pdf">Publication 505 under What's New for 2021</a>.

For information about these and other changes in the law, visit 
IRS.gov. The instructions for Form 1040-ES include a worksheet to help 
taxpayers figure their estimated tax. Keep the worksheet for records.

The <a href="https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-withholding-estimator">Tax Withholding Estimator</a>
 on IRS.gov offers taxpayers a clear, step-by-step method to have the 
right amount of tax withheld from wages and pensions. It also has 
instructions to file a new <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-4">Form W-4</a> to give to their employer to adjust the amount withheld each payday.

The fourth and final 2021 estimated tax payment is due January&nbsp;17, 2022.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRS<h2>IRS YouTube Video:</h2><ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PWcQGMdvP8">Estimated Tax Payments</a></li>
 </ul>IR-2021-177, September 7, 2021WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service reminds people that 
September&nbsp;15, 2021, is the deadline for third quarter estimated tax 
payments. This generally applies to people who are self-employed and 
some investors, retirees and those who may not normally have taxes 
withheld from their paycheck by their employers.The U.S. tax system operates on a pay-as-you-go basis. This means 
taxpayers are to pay most of their tax during the year, as they earn or 
receive income. Therefore, individuals not subject to withholding may 
need to make quarterly estimated tax payments.<h2>Who should pay quarterly?</h2>In most cases, taxpayers should make <a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/estimated-taxes">quarterly estimated tax payments</a> for 2021 if both of the following apply:<ul>
 <li>Individuals expect to owe at least $1,000 in tax for 2021 after subtracting their withholding and tax credits.</li><li>They expect their withholding and tax credits to be less than the smaller of:
	90% of the tax to be shown on their 2021 tax return or100% of the tax shown on their 2020 tax return. Their 2020 tax return must cover all 12 months.</li><li>90% of the tax to be shown on their 2021 tax return or</li><li>100% of the tax shown on their 2020 tax return. Their 2020 tax return must cover all 12 months.</li>
 </ul>Taxpayers with income not subject to withholding, including interest, dividends, capital gains, <a href="https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc452">alimony</a>, cryptocurrency and rental income, normally make estimated tax payments.Special rules apply to some groups of taxpayers, such as farmers, fishermen, casualty and <a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/disaster-assistance-and-emergency-relief-for-individuals-and-businesses">disaster victims</a>, those who recently became disabled, recent retirees and those who receive income unevenly during the year. <a href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p505">Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax</a>, provides more information on estimated tax rules. The worksheet in <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040-es">Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals</a>, or <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1120-w">Form 1120-W, Estimated Tax for Corporations</a>, has details on who must pay estimated tax.<h2>Penalty for underpayment</h2>If a taxpayer underpaid their taxes, they may have to pay a penalty. 
This applies whether they paid through withholding or through estimated 
tax payments. A penalty may also apply for late estimated tax payments 
even if someone is due a refund when they file their tax return.To see if they owe a penalty, taxpayers should use <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-2210">Form 2210</a>. The IRS may waive the penalty if someone underpaid because of unusual circumstances and not willful neglect. Examples include:<ul>
 <li>casualty, disaster or another unusual situation,</li><li>an individual retired after reaching age 62 during a tax year when estimated tax payments applied and</li><li>an individual became disabled during a tax year when estimated tax payments applied.</li>
 </ul><h2>How to figure estimated tax</h2>To figure estimated tax, an individual must figure their expected 
adjusted gross income (AGI), taxable income, taxes, deductions and 
credits for the year. When figuring 2021 estimated tax, it may be 
helpful to use income, deductions and credits for 2020 as a starting 
point. Use the 2020 federal tax return as a guide. Taxpayers can use 
Form 1040-ES to figure their estimated tax. Nonresident aliens use <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040-es-nr">Form 1040-ES (NR)</a> to figure estimated tax.Taxpayers must make adjustments both for changes in their own 
situation and for recent changes in the tax law. For instance, tax 
provisions in the American Rescue Plan of 2021 may impact an individual 
taxpayer's situation. For more information, see <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p505.pdf">Publication 505 under What's New for 2021</a>.For information about these and other changes in the law, visit 
IRS.gov. The instructions for Form 1040-ES include a worksheet to help 
taxpayers figure their estimated tax. Keep the worksheet for records.The <a href="https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-withholding-estimator">Tax Withholding Estimator</a>
 on IRS.gov offers taxpayers a clear, step-by-step method to have the 
right amount of tax withheld from wages and pensions. It also has 
instructions to file a new <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-4">Form W-4</a> to give to their employer to adjust the amount withheld each payday.<h2>Other IRS.gov resources</h2><ul>
 <li>The <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments">Pay</a> tab on the front page of IRS.gov provides complete tax payment information, how and when to pay, payment options and more.</li><li><a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-2210">Form 2210, Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals, Estates, and Trusts</a></li><li><a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-2220">Form 2220, Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Corporations</a></li><li><a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-unemployment-compensation-is-taxable-have-tax-withheld-now-and-avoid-a-tax-time-surprise">IRS: Unemployment compensation is taxable; have tax withheld now and avoid a tax-time surprise</a></li>
 </ul>The fourth and final 2021 estimated tax payment is due January&nbsp;17, 2022.

IRS: Deadline for third quarter estimated tax payments looming

By PETE RICKETTS Nebraska governor

Twenty years ago, the United States suffered the terrorist attacks of
 9/11.&nbsp; No one old enough to remember that day will ever forget it.&nbsp; It 
was surreal to watch the Twin Towers collapse and heartbreaking to see 
images of first responders covered head to toe in dust, searching 
through the debris in Manhattan.

The 9/11 attacks claimed 2,977 innocent lives.&nbsp; The casualties included a number of individuals with ties to Nebraska.&nbsp;

These are just a
 few of the men and women with Nebraska connections who perished on 
9/11.&nbsp; While mourning their loss, Nebraskans have kept their memories 
alive.&nbsp; Jennifer Dorsey-Howley’s family and friends generously donated 
funds to renovate the Lincoln Southeast High School Performing Arts 
Center, which is named in Jennifer’s honor.&nbsp; UNL retired the jersey of 
Julie Geis and gives an annual softball scholarship in her name each 
year.&nbsp; St. Boniface Catholic School in Elgin awards a scholarship in 
memory of Captain Larry Getzfred.&nbsp; Friends of Monte Hord spearheaded an 
effort to place a memorial clock in Central City as a tribute to him and
 to all of the victims of 9/11.&nbsp;

In 2001, Columbus resident Dennis
 Hirschbrunner worked for a firm with connections to the City of New 
York’s Department of Sanitation.&nbsp; He leveraged these relationships to 
get access to steel beams from the Twin Towers.&nbsp; A flatbed truck from 
Behlen Manufacturing Company hauled the beams back to Nebraska, where 
Jim Hellbusch at Duo Lift led a team that welded them together to create
 the Freedom Memorial at Pawnee Park.&nbsp;

As terrible as 9/11 was, we
 also remember that day as an amazing display of American courage and 
bravery.&nbsp; Firefighters heroically ran&nbsp;into&nbsp;the burning towers and up 
stairways to perform rescues.&nbsp; First responders selflessly tended to the
 wounded, even as they struggled to breathe themselves due to the clouds
 of dust and ash.&nbsp; Passengers on Flight 93 sacrificed their lives to 
prevent hijackers from flying the plane into the U.S. Capitol.&nbsp; These 
stories of courage have become part of our collective memory, and 
they’ll inspire generations of Americans.

Joe Lemm was one of the 
Nebraskans who helped respond to the 9/11 tragedy.&nbsp; Joe had played high 
school football in Beemer, graduated, and joined the Air Force. &nbsp;After 
the service, he became an officer with the New York Police Department 
(NYPD). &nbsp;For weeks after 9/11, Lemm worked with his fellow NYPD 
officers, even when off duty, to dig through the rubble in search of 
survivors.

After 9/11, being one of New York’s finest wasn’t 
enough service for Joe. &nbsp;He joined the Air National Guard. &nbsp;In December 
2015, on his third combat deployment, he was killed near Bagram Air 
Force Base in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber. &nbsp;His life displayed the 
highest ideals of what it means to be a Nebraskan—bravery, service, and 
sacrifice.&nbsp;

On this anniversary of 9/11, we also remember all of 
the brave women and men who gave their lives in Operation Enduring 
Freedom (2001-2014) and Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (2015-2021).&nbsp; This 
includes Marine Corporal Daegan Page, the 23-year-old Millard South 
graduate who died defending freedom last month in Kabul.&nbsp; Daegan’s 
sacrifice, and the dedicated service of heroes like him, have prevented 
terrorists from perpetrating additional attacks on the United States.

We
 can’t let the tragic and disastrous withdrawal of U.S. forces from 
Afghanistan overshadow the valor of our troops.&nbsp; Their mission has not 
been in vain. &nbsp;They’ve protected the U.S. and our allies, while rooting 
out terrorist networks across the globe.

The United States is the 
greatest nation on earth because of the dedication of those who bravely 
step up to protect our country.&nbsp; Both at home and abroad, Americans make
 tremendous sacrifices in the interest of our national security and 
public safety.&nbsp; We’re blessed by the thousands of patriots—past and 
present—who have served in the Armed Forces, Homeland Security, national
 intelligence community, law enforcement, and as first responders.&nbsp; The 
families of these courageous men and women serve alongside them and 
offer invaluable support.&nbsp; On Patriot Day, let’s express gratitude to 
our friends and neighbors who’ve served in these capacities.

Our 
greatness depends on our character and willingness to pull together to 
overcome challenges.&nbsp; After 9/11, Americans came together as one to 
grieve, heal, and respond to our enemies.&nbsp; On the 20th&nbsp;anniversary of 
9/11, let’s remember that “united we stand” and renew our commitment to 
seek patriotic unity and to reach out to our neighbors to reestablish 
friendships that may have been lost.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1609298844617.jpeg" alt="Neb. Gov. Pete Ricketts" />
 <figcaption>Neb. Gov. Pete Ricketts</figcaption>
 </figure>By PETE RICKETTS Nebraska governorTwenty years ago, the United States suffered the terrorist attacks of
 9/11.&nbsp; No one old enough to remember that day will ever forget it.&nbsp; It 
was surreal to watch the Twin Towers collapse and heartbreaking to see 
images of first responders covered head to toe in dust, searching 
through the debris in Manhattan.The 9/11 attacks claimed 2,977 innocent lives.&nbsp; The casualties included a number of individuals with ties to Nebraska.&nbsp;<ol>
 <li>Jennifer
 Dorsey-Howley, a graduate of Lincoln Southeast, worked at Aon 
Corporation on the 92nd&nbsp;floor of the South Tower.&nbsp; She was married and 
five months pregnant with her first child at the time of the attacks.</li><li>Julie
 Geis, a native of Beaver Crossing, played shortstop for the Husker 
softball team from 1976-1979 and earned her doctorate from UNL.&nbsp; She 
worked for Aon Corporation and was on the 102nd&nbsp;floor of the South 
Tower.</li><li>Navy Captain Larry Getzfred of Elgin, a married father of two daughters, was on duty at Pentagon’s Navy Command Center.</li><li>Monte
 Hord of Central City was a UNL grad and married father of three. &nbsp;A 
vice president for Cantor Fitzgerald, he was on the 104th&nbsp;floor of the 
North Tower.</li><li>Jerrold Paskins, a graduate of Omaha Central High 
School and UNO, was married with a son.&nbsp; He had traveled to New York 
City from his home in California to conduct an insurance audit and was 
temporarily working out of the Twin Towers.</li>
 </ol>These are just a
 few of the men and women with Nebraska connections who perished on 
9/11.&nbsp; While mourning their loss, Nebraskans have kept their memories 
alive.&nbsp; Jennifer Dorsey-Howley’s family and friends generously donated 
funds to renovate the Lincoln Southeast High School Performing Arts 
Center, which is named in Jennifer’s honor.&nbsp; UNL retired the jersey of 
Julie Geis and gives an annual softball scholarship in her name each 
year.&nbsp; St. Boniface Catholic School in Elgin awards a scholarship in 
memory of Captain Larry Getzfred.&nbsp; Friends of Monte Hord spearheaded an 
effort to place a memorial clock in Central City as a tribute to him and
 to all of the victims of 9/11.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>In 2001, Columbus resident Dennis
 Hirschbrunner worked for a firm with connections to the City of New 
York’s Department of Sanitation.&nbsp; He leveraged these relationships to 
get access to steel beams from the Twin Towers.&nbsp; A flatbed truck from 
Behlen Manufacturing Company hauled the beams back to Nebraska, where 
Jim Hellbusch at Duo Lift led a team that welded them together to create
 the Freedom Memorial at Pawnee Park.&nbsp;As terrible as 9/11 was, we
 also remember that day as an amazing display of American courage and 
bravery.&nbsp; Firefighters heroically ran&nbsp;into&nbsp;the burning towers and up 
stairways to perform rescues.&nbsp; First responders selflessly tended to the
 wounded, even as they struggled to breathe themselves due to the clouds
 of dust and ash.&nbsp; Passengers on Flight 93 sacrificed their lives to 
prevent hijackers from flying the plane into the U.S. Capitol.&nbsp; These 
stories of courage have become part of our collective memory, and 
they’ll inspire generations of Americans.Joe Lemm was one of the 
Nebraskans who helped respond to the 9/11 tragedy.&nbsp; Joe had played high 
school football in Beemer, graduated, and joined the Air Force. &nbsp;After 
the service, he became an officer with the New York Police Department 
(NYPD). &nbsp;For weeks after 9/11, Lemm worked with his fellow NYPD 
officers, even when off duty, to dig through the rubble in search of 
survivors.After 9/11, being one of New York’s finest wasn’t 
enough service for Joe. &nbsp;He joined the Air National Guard. &nbsp;In December 
2015, on his third combat deployment, he was killed near Bagram Air 
Force Base in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber. &nbsp;His life displayed the 
highest ideals of what it means to be a Nebraskan—bravery, service, and 
sacrifice.&nbsp;On this anniversary of 9/11, we also remember all of 
the brave women and men who gave their lives in Operation Enduring 
Freedom (2001-2014) and Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (2015-2021).&nbsp; This 
includes Marine Corporal Daegan Page, the 23-year-old Millard South 
graduate who died defending freedom last month in Kabul.&nbsp; Daegan’s 
sacrifice, and the dedicated service of heroes like him, have prevented 
terrorists from perpetrating additional attacks on the United States.We
 can’t let the tragic and disastrous withdrawal of U.S. forces from 
Afghanistan overshadow the valor of our troops.&nbsp; Their mission has not 
been in vain. &nbsp;They’ve protected the U.S. and our allies, while rooting 
out terrorist networks across the globe.The United States is the 
greatest nation on earth because of the dedication of those who bravely 
step up to protect our country.&nbsp; Both at home and abroad, Americans make
 tremendous sacrifices in the interest of our national security and 
public safety.&nbsp; We’re blessed by the thousands of patriots—past and 
present—who have served in the Armed Forces, Homeland Security, national
 intelligence community, law enforcement, and as first responders.&nbsp; The 
families of these courageous men and women serve alongside them and 
offer invaluable support.&nbsp; On Patriot Day, let’s express gratitude to 
our friends and neighbors who’ve served in these capacities.Our 
greatness depends on our character and willingness to pull together to 
overcome challenges.&nbsp; After 9/11, Americans came together as one to 
grieve, heal, and respond to our enemies.&nbsp; On the 20th&nbsp;anniversary of 
9/11, let’s remember that “united we stand” and renew our commitment to 
seek patriotic unity and to reach out to our neighbors to reestablish 
friendships that may have been lost.

OPINION: Remembering 9/11, renewing our patriotism

JACKSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple charges after a weekend standoff.

Just before 10:00 p.m. Friday, sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call from 14081 Q. Road in rural Jackson, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

The caller reported that the man at the residence allegedly was intoxicated and fired a weapon a number of times from the residence. 

A woman at the home was able to escape the residence without serious injury.&nbsp; The heavily armed suspect later identified as&nbsp;Daniel Charles Carlow, 63, of Hoyt  fled the residence into an adjacent wooded area. 

Deputies encountered Carlow and a standoff ensued.  After law enforcement negotiated with him for a period of time, Carlow surrendered to law enforcement.

Deputies booked Carlow into the Jackson County Jail on requested charges of aggravated assault, aggravated assault on law enforcement, battery of law enforcement, criminal threat, felony interference with law enforcement, domestic battery, disorderly conduct and possession of a stolen firearm, according to Morse.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1630851283231.png" alt="Carlow photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Carlow photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple charges after a weekend standoff.Just before 10:00 p.m. Friday, sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call from 14081 Q. Road in rural Jackson, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.The caller reported that the man at the residence allegedly was intoxicated and fired a weapon a number of times from the residence. A woman at the home was able to escape the residence without serious injury.&nbsp; The heavily armed suspect later identified as&nbsp;Daniel Charles Carlow, 63, of Hoyt fled the residence into an adjacent wooded area. Deputies encountered Carlow and a standoff ensued. After law enforcement negotiated with him for a period of time, Carlow surrendered to law enforcement.Deputies booked Carlow into the Jackson County Jail on requested charges of aggravated assault, aggravated assault on law enforcement, battery of law enforcement, criminal threat, felony interference with law enforcement, domestic battery, disorderly conduct and possession of a stolen firearm, according to Morse.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Kansas man jailed after standoff with deputies

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — An investigation is underway after a 6-year-old girl on vacation with her family died at an amusement park in the western Colorado town of Glenwood Springs.

Few details have been released, but Suzanne Emery with the <a href="https://www.glenwoodcaverns.com/seasonal-attractions/">Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park s</a>ays “an incident” occurred Sunday evening on the Haunted Mine Drop ride that caused the death. The Post Independent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.postindependent.com/news/fatality-reported-at-glenwood-caverns-adventure-park/" target="_blank">reports</a>&nbsp;the park will be closed Monday and Tuesday.

“Out of respect and concern for all parties involved, we will not have further comment until all details have been confirmed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all involved,” Emery said in a news release.

Garfield County Coroner Robert Glassmire said park employees initiated first aid until paramedics arrived and determined the girl had died. The girl’s name has not been released.

The Haunted Mine Drop, which opened in July 2017, is billed as the first drop ride to go underground, plunging riders 110 feet (33 meters) inside of Iron Mountain. Park visitors are required to sign a release of liability waiver before going on any rides or attractions.

The sheriff’s and coroner’s offices are investigating the death.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1630969323925.png" alt="Photo courtesy Glenwood Cavern Adventure Park" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Glenwood Cavern Adventure Park</figcaption>
 </figure>GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — An investigation is underway after a 6-year-old girl on vacation with her family died at an amusement park in the western Colorado town of Glenwood Springs.Few details have been released, but Suzanne Emery with the <a href="https://www.glenwoodcaverns.com/seasonal-attractions/">Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park s</a>ays “an incident” occurred Sunday evening on the Haunted Mine Drop ride that caused the death. The Post Independent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.postindependent.com/news/fatality-reported-at-glenwood-caverns-adventure-park/" target="_blank">reports</a>&nbsp;the park will be closed Monday and Tuesday.“Out of respect and concern for all parties involved, we will not have further comment until all details have been confirmed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all involved,” Emery said in a news release.Garfield County Coroner Robert Glassmire said park employees initiated first aid until paramedics arrived and determined the girl had died. The girl’s name has not been released.The Haunted Mine Drop, which opened in July 2017, is billed as the first drop ride to go underground, plunging riders 110 feet (33 meters) inside of Iron Mountain. Park visitors are required to sign a release of liability waiver before going on any rides or attractions.The sheriff’s and coroner’s offices are investigating the death.

Girl, 6, dies on mine drop ride at Colorado amusement park

KANSAS CITY(AP) — A man who has been in prison for more than 40 years for a triple murder in Kansas City that many legal and political officials believe he did not commit will have to wait several more weeks before a court hearing that could lead to his release.

Kevin Strickland’s chance of being released seemed to be improving earlier this week, when a judge scheduled a hearing for Thursday for prosecutors to argue that he should be free. Strickland has been imprisoned since 1979.

But Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office, which has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michael-brown-b9748da3015f827cc009cc10cfb2478d">argued that Strickland is guilty</a>, filed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/courts-kansas-missouri-4b11c90ec6845d9459e44ddaee5be20d">an emergency motion Wednesday to delay the hearing&nbsp;</a>to provide more time for preparation, and a Missouri Court of Appeals panel ruled in Schmitt’s favor.

Instead, during a hearing Thursday, Circuit Judge Judge Kevin Harrell set a Sept. 13 court date for attorneys to argue over motions Schmitt filed in the case. But the date for a hearing that could lead to Strickland’s freedom was not set, The Kansas City Star&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article253932283.html" target="_blank">reported</a>.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said it was “disappointing” that Strickland’s innocence claim was not heard Thursday and that her office is pushing for an evidentiary hearing to be set as soon as possible.

“It’s just when,” Peters Baker said. “While it is not yet too late, it’s late. This is late.”

Peters Baker&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mo-state-wire-michael-brown-06e726b7ef07be53ba7bdb6088282548">announced in May that she and others believe Strickland is innocent</a>&nbsp;because evidence used to convict him in the Kansas City killings on April 25, 1978, has been disproved or recanted.

The Star reported a year ago that two men who pleaded guilty to the killings swore that Strickland was not with them and two other accomplices during the crime.

Under a new law that took effect Saturday, Peters Baker&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/missouri-816410e8eab142331d08c9d750153d28">filed a motion Monday&nbsp;</a>to have a hearing to allow her office and the attorney general’s office to present arguments before Harrell would determine whether Strickland should be released.

During the Sept. 13 hearing, Harrell will consider Schmitt’s motion that the 16th Circuit Court of Jackson County and its judges will recuse themselves from Strickland’s proceedings because of perceived bias in favor of Strickland’s release.

One of Strickland’s attorneys, Bob Hoffman, of the law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, said the delay means Strickland will miss his mother’s funeral Saturday.

Peters Baker and Strickland’s attorneys have argued that the new law does not give the attorney general’s office authority to request discovery or file motions in the case. But the appeals court on Thursday rejected that argument, which will allow Schmitt to file a motion requesting discovery by Friday evening.

Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, a Democrat from Independence who sponsored the new law, said the legislation was not intended to allow the attorney general’s office to file motions in relation to the hearing.

The appeals court ruling sets “dangerous legal precedent” that the attorney general is using to “needlessly delay justice for the wrongfully imprisoned,” Rizzo said in a statement Wednesday.

The new law also could spur action in St. Louis, where Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has said she believes Lamar Johnson has been wrongfully imprisoned for 26 years for the 1994 killing of 25-year-old Marcus Boyd in an alleged drug dispute.

The Missouri Supreme Court in March ruled against&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/missouri-816410e8eab142331d08c9d750153d28">Gardner’s motion for a new trial in</a>&nbsp;March after Schmitt’s office argued successfully that Gardner lacked authority to seek a new trial so many years after the case was adjudicated.

Gardner’s spokeswoman said in a text Wednesday that Gardner “is finalizing next steps in this case and will be presenting evidence in court to deliver the justice that Lamar Johnson deserves.” Spokeswoman Allison Hawk declined further comment.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/5/1620695920927.png" alt="Strickland-photo MODOC" />
 <figcaption>Strickland-photo MODOC</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY(AP) — A man who has been in prison for more than 40 years for a triple murder in Kansas City that many legal and political officials believe he did not commit will have to wait several more weeks before a court hearing that could lead to his release.Kevin Strickland’s chance of being released seemed to be improving earlier this week, when a judge scheduled a hearing for Thursday for prosecutors to argue that he should be free. Strickland has been imprisoned since 1979.But Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office, which has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michael-brown-b9748da3015f827cc009cc10cfb2478d">argued that Strickland is guilty</a>, filed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/courts-kansas-missouri-4b11c90ec6845d9459e44ddaee5be20d">an emergency motion Wednesday to delay the hearing&nbsp;</a>to provide more time for preparation, and a Missouri Court of Appeals panel ruled in Schmitt’s favor.Instead, during a hearing Thursday, Circuit Judge Judge Kevin Harrell set a Sept. 13 court date for attorneys to argue over motions Schmitt filed in the case. But the date for a hearing that could lead to Strickland’s freedom was not set, The Kansas City Star&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article253932283.html" target="_blank">reported</a>.Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said it was “disappointing” that Strickland’s innocence claim was not heard Thursday and that her office is pushing for an evidentiary hearing to be set as soon as possible.“It’s just when,” Peters Baker said. “While it is not yet too late, it’s late. This is late.”Peters Baker&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mo-state-wire-michael-brown-06e726b7ef07be53ba7bdb6088282548">announced in May that she and others believe Strickland is innocent</a>&nbsp;because evidence used to convict him in the Kansas City killings on April 25, 1978, has been disproved or recanted.The Star reported a year ago that two men who pleaded guilty to the killings swore that Strickland was not with them and two other accomplices during the crime.Under a new law that took effect Saturday, Peters Baker&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/missouri-816410e8eab142331d08c9d750153d28">filed a motion Monday&nbsp;</a>to have a hearing to allow her office and the attorney general’s office to present arguments before Harrell would determine whether Strickland should be released.During the Sept. 13 hearing, Harrell will consider Schmitt’s motion that the 16th Circuit Court of Jackson County and its judges will recuse themselves from Strickland’s proceedings because of perceived bias in favor of Strickland’s release.One of Strickland’s attorneys, Bob Hoffman, of the law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, said the delay means Strickland will miss his mother’s funeral Saturday.Peters Baker and Strickland’s attorneys have argued that the new law does not give the attorney general’s office authority to request discovery or file motions in the case. But the appeals court on Thursday rejected that argument, which will allow Schmitt to file a motion requesting discovery by Friday evening.Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, a Democrat from Independence who sponsored the new law, said the legislation was not intended to allow the attorney general’s office to file motions in relation to the hearing.The appeals court ruling sets “dangerous legal precedent” that the attorney general is using to “needlessly delay justice for the wrongfully imprisoned,” Rizzo said in a statement Wednesday.The new law also could spur action in St. Louis, where Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has said she believes Lamar Johnson has been wrongfully imprisoned for 26 years for the 1994 killing of 25-year-old Marcus Boyd in an alleged drug dispute.The Missouri Supreme Court in March ruled against&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/missouri-816410e8eab142331d08c9d750153d28">Gardner’s motion for a new trial in</a>&nbsp;March after Schmitt’s office argued successfully that Gardner lacked authority to seek a new trial so many years after the case was adjudicated.Gardner’s spokeswoman said in a text Wednesday that Gardner “is finalizing next steps in this case and will be presenting evidence in court to deliver the justice that Lamar Johnson deserves.” Spokeswoman Allison Hawk declined further comment.

Longtime inmate waits for hearing that could lead to release

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Police in Kansas City said two people died early Monday in a crash on Interstate 29 caused by a wrong-way driver.

The crash happened just after 5:30 a.m. Monday when a car driven by a 23-year-old woman was traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of the interstate, police said. Investigators said the car then collided head-on with another car driven by a 60-year-old man.

The woman died at the scene of the crash, police said. The man was taken to a hospital, where he died a short time later. Police have not released their names.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Police in Kansas City said two people died early Monday in a crash on Interstate 29 caused by a wrong-way driver.The crash happened just after 5:30 a.m. Monday when a car driven by a 23-year-old woman was traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of the interstate, police said. Investigators said the car then collided head-on with another car driven by a 60-year-old man.The woman died at the scene of the crash, police said. The man was taken to a hospital, where he died a short time later. Police have not released their names.

Police: 2 dead after wrong-way Kansas City crash

Legislator navigates personal journey from hesitancy to acceptance of COVID vaccine

By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/09/03/rep-howe-navigates-personal-journey-from-hesitancy-to-acceptance-of-covid-19-vaccine/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — Salina Rep. Steven Howe was among Republican conservatives in the Kansas House skeptical about COVID-19 vaccines.

The virus’ attack on people he knew, including some who died, a 
comprehensive review of vaccine information, and encouragement of 
trusted friends and family convinced him to accept Pfizer’s vaccine in 
August. Rather than keeping his vaccination status private, he’s taken 
an additional step by publicly encouraging others to get the shots.

He said the decision was not to be taken lightly. He believes firmly 
in individual rights and responsibilities, but his embrace of the 
vaccine was part of keeping his family and community safe from a virus 
factoring in the death of nearly 5,600 Kansans.

“Honestly, like many, I struggled to navigate the tremendous amount 
of information and misinformation that is out there,” Howe said. “I 
wanted to do my best to make an informed decision. But ultimately, it 
finally came down to trust, and whether or not I was willing to trust 
those with the education, training and expertise regarding this 
vaccine.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 47.7% of
 eligible residents in Saline County were fully vaccinated. Overall, the
 CDC said, 57.6% of eligible Kansans have been fully vaccinated.

Howe said rising demand for hospital beds, including facilities such 
as the Salina Regional Health Center, was influential in his decision to
 receive the vaccine.

“I believe it is time to start trusting our institutions again, while
 also respecting the freedom of individuals to make health care 
decisions they’re comfortable with,” Howe said. “If you haven’t received
 your vaccine yet, please consider doing so.”

On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican seeking 
re-election, stood with Washburn University president Jerry Farley in a 
campus building to take questions from reporters. Moran said impetus of 
the visit was to learn more about how the pandemic was influencing 
higher education, especially in terms of federal funding that flowed to 
colleges and universities.

Both men pivoted to the issue of COVID-19 vaccination of Kansans, and
 their desire for more people to accept this preventative measure.

“It’s impossible for the federal government to continue to just 
provide money to all the places that are damaged by COVID,” Moran said. 
“I’d use this opportunity to encourage students and faculty at Washburn,
 and the people of Kansas, to be vaccinated. We don’t have the resources
 just to continue trying to pay for the consequences of our health 
risks.”

Farley said the motto of Washburn University was “non nobis solum,” 
which could be translated to “not for ourselves alone.” The Latin text 
is cast in bronze outside Morgan Hall where he was standing. The 
pandemic and debate about vaccines places into context the value of 
contributing to the greater good of society apart from self interests, 
he said.

He said the available vaccines for COVID-19 were safe and capable of 
saving lives. And, he said, it was important for people in prominent 
positions of leadership to talk about benefits of vaccination.

“I know there’s a lot of myths out there,” Farley said. “There’s a 
lot of things that are questionable, that are being bandied about on 
social media. But our students understand what it means to think 
critically.”

Moran said he wasn’t in favor of mandating COVID-19 vaccinations, 
because the decision must remain with the individual. He said acceptable
 exceptions include directives by private businesses in terms of 
employees. Several large hospitals in the Kansas City area, including 
the University of Kansas Hospital System, are requiring staff to be 
vaccinated.

“I would just encourage them to think it’s not just about themselves,
 but it’s also about people they know in their families, their neighbors
 and their community,” Moran said. “We continue to promote good science 
and medicine, but people need to make that determination.”

Howe said a small portion of reaction to his support of COVID-19 
vaccination had been negative. He said conservatives in health care 
professions shared appreciation for his public stand.

“I would say probably 95% of reaction I’ve received has been positive,” he said.

The question of how to deal with the pandemic in Kansas became a 
partisan issue as many Republicans worked against executive orders and 
other directives tied to COVID-19. Democrats largely accepted work by 
Gov. Laura Kelly to take sweeping action in 2020 by shifting K-12 and 
college instruction to online formats, requiring wearing of face 
coverings in public as well as designating certain occupations 
nonessential so some workers remained off the job.

Kelly, who has conducted a campaign to convince people to be tested 
and vaccinated, also sustained federal aid to the unemployed after state
 and federal GOP lawmakers insisted she cut off benefits. She hasn’t 
expressed interest in vaccination mandates, but recently ordered 
executive branch employees to work from home if possible as the delta 
variant of COVID-19 surged across the state.

Howe joined with Moran in arguing against a vaccination mandate 
handed down by government because it would likely do more harm than 
good. He said opponents of vaccinations were likely to stiffen their 
resolve. It’s the same thought behind objection to mask mandates, he 
said.

“It’s too heavy handed,” Howe said. “We have to be understanding and respectful of one another.”

He said it was difficult for people to fully grasp circumstances of 
others in terms of vaccination during the pandemic. In his case, he 
said, his mother, a retired nurse, was influential in his decision.

“It’s hard to understand someone else’s journey,” he said. “I always 
error on the side of giving people grace. I think we need to love thy 
neighbor.”

Tim Carpenter has reported on Kansas for 35 years. He covered the Capitol for 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal and previously worked for the Lawrence Journal-World and United Press International.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1630694346403.png" alt="State Rep. Steven Howe, a conservative Republican from Salina, says he agonized over the science of vaccines before accepting a shot for COVID-19 and public urging others to do likewise. (Submitted)" />
 <figcaption>State Rep. Steven Howe, a conservative Republican from Salina, says he agonized over the science of vaccines before accepting a shot for COVID-19 and public urging others to do likewise. (Submitted)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Legislator navigates personal journey from hesitancy to acceptance of COVID vaccine</h2>By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/09/03/rep-howe-navigates-personal-journey-from-hesitancy-to-acceptance-of-covid-19-vaccine/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — Salina Rep. Steven Howe was among Republican conservatives in the Kansas House skeptical about COVID-19 vaccines.The virus’ attack on people he knew, including some who died, a 
comprehensive review of vaccine information, and encouragement of 
trusted friends and family convinced him to accept Pfizer’s vaccine in 
August. Rather than keeping his vaccination status private, he’s taken 
an additional step by publicly encouraging others to get the shots.He said the decision was not to be taken lightly. He believes firmly 
in individual rights and responsibilities, but his embrace of the 
vaccine was part of keeping his family and community safe from a virus 
factoring in the death of nearly 5,600 Kansans.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1630694441636.jpeg" alt="Rep. Steven Howe, a Salina Republican, said his journey from vaccine hesitancy to acceptance required a filtering of conflicting information and placing faith in the expertise of health professionals urging vaccination. (Submitted)" />
 <figcaption>Rep. Steven Howe, a Salina Republican, said his journey from vaccine hesitancy to acceptance required a filtering of conflicting information and placing faith in the expertise of health professionals urging vaccination. (Submitted)</figcaption>
 </figure>“Honestly, like many, I struggled to navigate the tremendous amount 
of information and misinformation that is out there,” Howe said. “I 
wanted to do my best to make an informed decision. But ultimately, it 
finally came down to trust, and whether or not I was willing to trust 
those with the education, training and expertise regarding this 
vaccine.”The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 47.7% of
 eligible residents in Saline County were fully vaccinated. Overall, the
 CDC said, 57.6% of eligible Kansans have been fully vaccinated.Howe said rising demand for hospital beds, including facilities such 
as the Salina Regional Health Center, was influential in his decision to
 receive the vaccine.“I believe it is time to start trusting our institutions again, while
 also respecting the freedom of individuals to make health care 
decisions they’re comfortable with,” Howe said. “If you haven’t received
 your vaccine yet, please consider doing so.”<h2>Non nobis solum</h2>On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican seeking 
re-election, stood with Washburn University president Jerry Farley in a 
campus building to take questions from reporters. Moran said impetus of 
the visit was to learn more about how the pandemic was influencing 
higher education, especially in terms of federal funding that flowed to 
colleges and universities.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1630694470752.jpeg" alt="U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican seeking re-election in 2022, said he was opposed to COVID-19 vaccination mandates but was strongly supportive of the effort to convince Kansans to voluntarily accept the shot. (Tim Caprenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican seeking re-election in 2022, said he was opposed to COVID-19 vaccination mandates but was strongly supportive of the effort to convince Kansans to voluntarily accept the shot. (Tim Caprenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>Both men pivoted to the issue of COVID-19 vaccination of Kansans, and
 their desire for more people to accept this preventative measure.“It’s impossible for the federal government to continue to just 
provide money to all the places that are damaged by COVID,” Moran said. 
“I’d use this opportunity to encourage students and faculty at Washburn,
 and the people of Kansas, to be vaccinated. We don’t have the resources
 just to continue trying to pay for the consequences of our health 
risks.”Farley said the motto of Washburn University was “non nobis solum,” 
which could be translated to “not for ourselves alone.” The Latin text 
is cast in bronze outside Morgan Hall where he was standing. The 
pandemic and debate about vaccines places into context the value of 
contributing to the greater good of society apart from self interests, 
he said.He said the available vaccines for COVID-19 were safe and capable of 
saving lives. And, he said, it was important for people in prominent 
positions of leadership to talk about benefits of vaccination.“I know there’s a lot of myths out there,” Farley said. “There’s a 
lot of things that are questionable, that are being bandied about on 
social media. But our students understand what it means to think 
critically.”Moran said he wasn’t in favor of mandating COVID-19 vaccinations, 
because the decision must remain with the individual. He said acceptable
 exceptions include directives by private businesses in terms of 
employees. Several large hospitals in the Kansas City area, including 
the University of Kansas Hospital System, are requiring staff to be 
vaccinated.“I would just encourage them to think it’s not just about themselves,
 but it’s also about people they know in their families, their neighbors
 and their community,” Moran said. “We continue to promote good science 
and medicine, but people need to make that determination.”<h2>‘Giving people grace’</h2>Howe said a small portion of reaction to his support of COVID-19 
vaccination had been negative. He said conservatives in health care 
professions shared appreciation for his public stand.“I would say probably 95% of reaction I’ve received has been positive,” he said.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1630694509914.jpeg" alt="Washburn University president Jerry Farley said the university’s motto of “non nobis solum,” or “not for ourselves alone,” captures greater-good rationale for Kansans to be vaccinated for COVID-19. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Washburn University president Jerry Farley said the university’s motto of “non nobis solum,” or “not for ourselves alone,” captures greater-good rationale for Kansans to be vaccinated for COVID-19. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>The question of how to deal with the pandemic in Kansas became a 
partisan issue as many Republicans worked against executive orders and 
other directives tied to COVID-19. Democrats largely accepted work by 
Gov. Laura Kelly to take sweeping action in 2020 by shifting K-12 and 
college instruction to online formats, requiring wearing of face 
coverings in public as well as designating certain occupations 
nonessential so some workers remained off the job.Kelly, who has conducted a campaign to convince people to be tested 
and vaccinated, also sustained federal aid to the unemployed after state
 and federal GOP lawmakers insisted she cut off benefits. She hasn’t 
expressed interest in vaccination mandates, but recently ordered 
executive branch employees to work from home if possible as the delta 
variant of COVID-19 surged across the state.Howe joined with Moran in arguing against a vaccination mandate 
handed down by government because it would likely do more harm than 
good. He said opponents of vaccinations were likely to stiffen their 
resolve. It’s the same thought behind objection to mask mandates, he 
said.“It’s too heavy handed,” Howe said. “We have to be understanding and respectful of one another.”He said it was difficult for people to fully grasp circumstances of 
others in terms of vaccination during the pandemic. In his case, he 
said, his mother, a retired nurse, was influential in his decision.“It’s hard to understand someone else’s journey,” he said. “I always 
error on the side of giving people grace. I think we need to love thy 
neighbor.”Tim Carpenter has reported on Kansas for 35 years. He covered the Capitol for 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal and previously worked for the Lawrence Journal-World and United Press International.&nbsp;

GOP Kan. representative adds conservative voice to vaccination campaign

TOPEKA— The Kansas Department of Health reported 3,952 new coronavirus cases in Kansas on Friday.&nbsp; That is more than twice as many new COVID-19 cases than the state reported Labor Day weekend a year ago.

On September 4, 2020, the KDHE reported 1,280 new cases and 23 new deaths. Three days later on Labor Day, Monday September 7, the state reported 1,694 new virus cases and 4 additional deaths.&nbsp; 

The state has reported a total of 377,123 virus cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Last Friday, the state reported  49 new COVID-19 deaths for a total of 5,630.

Due to the Labor Day holiday, the KDHE is not updating the <a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">COVID-19 dashboard a</a>gain until Wednesday.

<a href="https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/158/Data">Click here for Data</a>&nbsp;about the COVID-19 vaccine.

As of August 1, 2021, in accordance with an&nbsp;<a href="https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/conditions/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/" target="_blank">updated CDC/CSTE surveillance case definition</a>, a confirmed case is defined as a person who tested positive by molecular detection&nbsp;(e.g., PCR, NAA) or identification of SARS-CoV-2 through genetic sequencing. A probable case is defined as a person with: a) presumptive lab evidence (antigen) or b) no lab testing but meeting clinical case criteria and is epi-linked. A person will be counted as a new surveillance case (e.g. reinfection) if they test positive for SARS-CoV-2 by a diagnostic test (i.e., molecular, antigen) and it has been greater than 90 days since the previous positive diagnostic test. In addition, a person with sequencing results identifying different SARS-CoV-2 lineages regardless of the time since the previous specimen sequenced will be counted as a new surveillance case.&nbsp;

Cases occurring between&nbsp;September 1, 2020&nbsp;and July 29, 2021 were classified by&nbsp;<a href="https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/conditions/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/" target="_blank">previous CDC/CSTE case definition,&nbsp;</a>and cases prior to September 1, 2020 were classified by the&nbsp;<a href="https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/case-definitions/coronavirus-disease-2019-2020/" target="_blank">original case definition</a>.

TOPEKA— The Kansas Department of Health reported 3,952 new coronavirus cases in Kansas on Friday.&nbsp; That is more than twice as many new COVID-19 cases than the state reported Labor Day weekend a year ago.On September 4, 2020, the KDHE reported 1,280 new cases and 23 new deaths. Three days later on Labor Day, Monday September 7, the state reported 1,694 new virus cases and 4 additional deaths.&nbsp; The state has reported a total of 377,123 virus cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Last Friday, the state reported 49 new COVID-19 deaths for a total of 5,630.Due to the Labor Day holiday, the KDHE is not updating the <a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">COVID-19 dashboard a</a>gain until Wednesday.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1630688409161.png" alt="Friday Sept. 3, 2021 KDHE image" />
 <figcaption>Friday Sept. 3, 2021 KDHE image</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/158/Data">Click here for Data</a>&nbsp;about the COVID-19 vaccine.As of August 1, 2021, in accordance with an&nbsp;<a href="https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/conditions/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/" target="_blank">updated CDC/CSTE surveillance case definition</a>, a confirmed case is defined as a person who tested positive by molecular detection&nbsp;(e.g., PCR, NAA) or identification of SARS-CoV-2 through genetic sequencing. A probable case is defined as a person with: a) presumptive lab evidence (antigen) or b) no lab testing but meeting clinical case criteria and is epi-linked. A person will be counted as a new surveillance case (e.g. reinfection) if they test positive for SARS-CoV-2 by a diagnostic test (i.e., molecular, antigen) and it has been greater than 90 days since the previous positive diagnostic test. In addition, a person with sequencing results identifying different SARS-CoV-2 lineages regardless of the time since the previous specimen sequenced will be counted as a new surveillance case.&nbsp;Cases occurring between&nbsp;September 1, 2020&nbsp;and July 29, 2021 were classified by&nbsp;<a href="https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/conditions/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/" target="_blank">previous CDC/CSTE case definition,&nbsp;</a>and cases prior to September 1, 2020 were classified by the&nbsp;<a href="https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/case-definitions/coronavirus-disease-2019-2020/" target="_blank">original case definition</a>.

Far more COVID cases in Kansas than last Labor Day

AMES, Iowa — Sipping a beer with friends on a weekday afternoon at Wallaby’s Bar and Grille, Chris Clough explained life as an Iowa State fan.

“You have to know that you’re going to see so many painful years and you just have to get over it,” he said, “and when you get those years when we’re good, you have to hold onto them.”

Cyclones fans also know the other shoe could drop any time.

It did just over a month ago when the Big 12’s flagship schools, Oklahoma and Texas, announced their intention to join the Southeastern Conference.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-college-sports-football-college-football-779a7f24b5f9b3082df24b990efc1a57">The move will take place in 2025, if not sooner.</a>

“We finally prove we can beat them,” Clough said, “and now they want to leave.”

Wins in the same year over the Sooners and Longhorns highlighted the Cyclones’ greatest season. They reached the Big 12 championship game for the first time and won the Fiesta Bowl, and this year could be even better after almost every starter returned.

A record number of season tickets have been sold, the Cyclones had their highest preseason ranking at No. 7 and a sellout crowd of 61,500 saw a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-college-football-iowa-53fa377b75b8b9a26f9693c15844f6f0">16-10 win over Northern Iowa&nbsp;</a>on Saturday.

While the fan base has never been more excited, Cyclone Club president Jay Chapman acknowledged last month “there’s a little bit of anxiety” about the future.

Some relief came last week amid reports the eight teams left behind by OU and Texas will stay together rather than go their separate ways to look for new conference homes.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-college-football-texas-longhorns-football-oklahoma-sooners-football-01920581d51ee33eb5debaa00a013b50">Three people familiar with the Big 12′s talks told The Associated Press on Friday the league is working to rebuild by adding four new members.</a>&nbsp;BYU, an independent, and current American Athletic Conference members Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston are the “most intriguing” candidates. One person told the AP invitations could go out this week.

The four new members would join Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia.

With Oklahoma and Texas in the Big 12, each member received a distribution of $34.5 million for the 2020-21 fiscal year, about the same as schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference and Pac-12.

Still to be answered would be how much television money a Big 12 without Oklahoma and Texas command.

“If you’re not in a Power Five of some sort, it can change the whole landscape of the university, just from a revenue standpoint,” said Tuey Rankin, a Texas Tech player in the 1980s and now a season ticket holder.

West Virginia fans haven’t bought into the excitement of playing a league member more than 1,000 miles away, so the loss of Oklahoma and Texas doesn’t take away any rivalries.

Still, Josh Martin of Moundsville, West Virginia, said: ““The conference isn’t worth anything without them.”

Having Oklahoma and Texas has been good for business in the Big 12’s locales.

In Ames, population 66,000, a home football weekend generates $7 million for the local hospitality industry, according to the city’s chamber of commerce. That’s nearly $50 million per season if there are seven home dates.

ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard and university president Wendy Wintersteen declined AP interview requests to discuss the impact of the departures of Oklahoma and Texas.

Clough, an Ames businessman and ISU football and basketball season ticket holder for 20 years, said when he heard the Big 12 flag bearers were taking off, he had the same sinking feeling as when Nebraska announced in 2010 it would leave for the Big Ten.

“Now we’re going to change it again, and as a fan base it makes things more difficult,” Clough said. “You learn to create new rivalries. No doubt it’s going to be interesting how it works out.”

Rankin, the former Texas Tech player, said there’s a lot of animosity toward the Longhorns. It’s not so much because of their move to the SEC, he said, as much as the secretive way it unfolded.

“We’ve got all this history together as conference members,” Rankin said, referring to the old Southwest Conference days. “They’re our rival, but I’m not sure we’re their rival. To just say we’re going to go do this and to heck with everybody else, I think that seems kind of selfish. I do not think ‘anger’ is too harsh a term. I think there is a lot of anger.”

For his part, sixth-year Iowa State coach Matt Campbell isn’t allowing himself to worry about what the Cyclones’ conference situation looks like down the road.

Potential recruits might have concerns, though.

“We win,” he said. “We’ll work to continue to win, and if you want to play for a winning team, come and play for us.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1630945737387.png" alt="Leavenworth and 4th Street in Manhattan Google image" />
 <figcaption>Leavenworth and 4th Street in Manhattan Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>AMES, Iowa — Sipping a beer with friends on a weekday afternoon at Wallaby’s Bar and Grille, Chris Clough explained life as an Iowa State fan.“You have to know that you’re going to see so many painful years and you just have to get over it,” he said, “and when you get those years when we’re good, you have to hold onto them.”Cyclones fans also know the other shoe could drop any time.It did just over a month ago when the Big 12’s flagship schools, Oklahoma and Texas, announced their intention to join the Southeastern Conference.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-college-sports-football-college-football-779a7f24b5f9b3082df24b990efc1a57">The move will take place in 2025, if not sooner.</a>“We finally prove we can beat them,” Clough said, “and now they want to leave.”Wins in the same year over the Sooners and Longhorns highlighted the Cyclones’ greatest season. They reached the Big 12 championship game for the first time and won the Fiesta Bowl, and this year could be even better after almost every starter returned.A record number of season tickets have been sold, the Cyclones had their highest preseason ranking at No. 7 and a sellout crowd of 61,500 saw a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-college-football-iowa-53fa377b75b8b9a26f9693c15844f6f0">16-10 win over Northern Iowa&nbsp;</a>on Saturday.While the fan base has never been more excited, Cyclone Club president Jay Chapman acknowledged last month “there’s a little bit of anxiety” about the future.Some relief came last week amid reports the eight teams left behind by OU and Texas will stay together rather than go their separate ways to look for new conference homes.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-college-football-texas-longhorns-football-oklahoma-sooners-football-01920581d51ee33eb5debaa00a013b50">Three people familiar with the Big 12′s talks told The Associated Press on Friday the league is working to rebuild by adding four new members.</a>&nbsp;BYU, an independent, and current American Athletic Conference members Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston are the “most intriguing” candidates. One person told the AP invitations could go out this week.The four new members would join Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia.With Oklahoma and Texas in the Big 12, each member received a distribution of $34.5 million for the 2020-21 fiscal year, about the same as schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference and Pac-12.Still to be answered would be how much television money a Big 12 without Oklahoma and Texas command.“If you’re not in a Power Five of some sort, it can change the whole landscape of the university, just from a revenue standpoint,” said Tuey Rankin, a Texas Tech player in the 1980s and now a season ticket holder.West Virginia fans haven’t bought into the excitement of playing a league member more than 1,000 miles away, so the loss of Oklahoma and Texas doesn’t take away any rivalries.Still, Josh Martin of Moundsville, West Virginia, said: ““The conference isn’t worth anything without them.”Having Oklahoma and Texas has been good for business in the Big 12’s locales.In Ames, population 66,000, a home football weekend generates $7 million for the local hospitality industry, according to the city’s chamber of commerce. That’s nearly $50 million per season if there are seven home dates.ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard and university president Wendy Wintersteen declined AP interview requests to discuss the impact of the departures of Oklahoma and Texas.Clough, an Ames businessman and ISU football and basketball season ticket holder for 20 years, said when he heard the Big 12 flag bearers were taking off, he had the same sinking feeling as when Nebraska announced in 2010 it would leave for the Big Ten.“Now we’re going to change it again, and as a fan base it makes things more difficult,” Clough said. “You learn to create new rivalries. No doubt it’s going to be interesting how it works out.”Rankin, the former Texas Tech player, said there’s a lot of animosity toward the Longhorns. It’s not so much because of their move to the SEC, he said, as much as the secretive way it unfolded.“We’ve got all this history together as conference members,” Rankin said, referring to the old Southwest Conference days. “They’re our rival, but I’m not sure we’re their rival. To just say we’re going to go do this and to heck with everybody else, I think that seems kind of selfish. I do not think ‘anger’ is too harsh a term. I think there is a lot of anger.”For his part, sixth-year Iowa State coach Matt Campbell isn’t allowing himself to worry about what the Cyclones’ conference situation looks like down the road.Potential recruits might have concerns, though.What does Campbell tell them?“We win,” he said. “We’ll work to continue to win, and if you want to play for a winning team, come and play for us.”___

Anxiety abounds in Big 12 towns with OU, Texas departures

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Four people were wounded in a shooting at a festival in Independence, Missouri, prompting police to use Facebook to urge parents to pick up their children from the event.

Independence police responded to the shooting at the SantaCaliGon Festival Sunday night.

“Parents, if you have a child at the Santa Cali Gon festival, please come get them now!” the department posted just after 11 p.m.

Police later said four people had been shot, and all were expected to survive their injuries,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kctv5.com/news/independence-police-3-people-shot-at-santacaligon/article_ba15612a-0ecb-11ec-90ba-03bb12273315.html?block_id=991162">television station KCTV</a>&nbsp;reported. No arrests were announced. It was not immediately clear what led up to the shooting.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Four people were wounded in a shooting at a festival in Independence, Missouri, prompting police to use Facebook to urge parents to pick up their children from the event.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fipdinfo%2Fposts%2F4611919635507510&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="187" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>Independence police responded to the shooting at the SantaCaliGon Festival Sunday night.“Parents, if you have a child at the Santa Cali Gon festival, please come get them now!” the department posted just after 11 p.m.Police later said four people had been shot, and all were expected to survive their injuries,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kctv5.com/news/independence-police-3-people-shot-at-santacaligon/article_ba15612a-0ecb-11ec-90ba-03bb12273315.html?block_id=991162">television station KCTV</a>&nbsp;reported. No arrests were announced. It was not immediately clear what led up to the shooting.

4 wounded in shooting at festival near Kansas City

By SUZANNE PEREZ <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/2021-09-02/some-kansas-kids-will-have-longer-school-days-after-covid-disruptions">Kansas News Service</a>

WICHITA — As more Kansas school districts report 
rising cases of COVID-19 and virus-related quarantines, educators are 
having to navigate a new state law that limits what they can offer 
online.

That’s already having an effect on school schedules in Wellington, where officials <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/2021-08-27/wellington-school-district-cancels-all-classes-and-activities-due-to-covid-19-outbreaks" target="_blank">abruptly closed all schools through Labor Day</a> and sent students home without a remote-learning option because of COVID-19 outbreaks.

Beginning Sept. 7, the Wellington district will <a href="https://4.files.edl.io/850e/09/02/21/010536-42db9cb2-13c6-439c-aaa0-e1664b04f118.pdf" target="_blank">add 10 minutes to the end of each school day</a> to comply with state guidelines for the minimum number of instructional hours.

A measure Kansas lawmakers passed last spring — <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/hb2134/" target="_blank">House Bill 2134</a> — was intended as a message to districts: Kids should be in school, in person.

The
 new law dictates that long-term online or hybrid learning models — 
anything over 40 hours per student per year — could mean losing up to 
two-thirds of state funding for that student.

The law allows districts to offer online options, such as Wichita’s <a href="https://www.usd259.org/domain/5079" target="_blank">Education Imagine Academy</a>. But students enrolled in traditional in-person schools cannot go fully remote.

Mark
 Tallman, a lobbyist with the Kansas Association of School Boards, said 
there are lots of questions about the new law, which allows some 
exemptions for health issues or emergencies.

“What I think 
legislators objected to was districts just saying, ‘We’re going to 
operate for all kids in a hybrid or remote environment because we don’t 
want the schools to be open,’ ” he said.

“If you’re in a situation
 where a student either has COVID and is missing or would be 
quarantined, that’s tied to an individual student with a specific health
 issue. . . . That’s a different situation than the law was designed to 
deal with.”

Ultimately, the Kansas Department of Education will decide what hours count when it audits attendance figures.

In Wichita, the state’s largest district, more than 1,600 students have <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/2021-08-23/wichita-boe-votes-to-mandate-masks-for-students-employees" target="_blank">missed school due to COVID isolation</a>
 or quarantine protocols. Beginning Sept. 8, the district plans to offer
 “simultaneous learning” for students who are not able to attend class 
in person.

According to the new plan, teachers will lead their 
in-person class as normal, and the quarantined student will watch 
lessons through video conferencing. A paraeducator or buddy student will
 monitor the remote student, respond to questions by chat and share the 
student’s questions with the teacher.

Teachers instructing an in-person class and a remote student will be paid an additional $50 a day.

“I
 know the need for limited remote learning will still remain,” Deputy 
Superintendent Gil Alvarez said in an email to employees.

Allowing
 quarantined students the option to tap into classrooms via computer “is
 a reasonable compromise in order to assure the greatest possible 
opportunity for our students to receive instruction directly from our 
teachers,” he said.

Between Aug. 2 and Aug. 25, the Wichita district <a href="https://www.usd259.org/Page/20944" target="_blank">reported 466 positive COVID cases</a> among students and 84 cases among employees.

At least <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://www.usd259.org//cms/lib/KS01906405/Centricity/Domain/5644/Reports/Weekly+COVID-19+Staff+Quarantine+Report+08.26.21.pdf" target="_blank">133 employees were under quarantine</a>.

District officials said they are tracking but not reporting or publishing the number of quarantined students.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment this week reported <a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas" target="_blank">21 active COVID-19 clusters at schools</a> — 14 more than the previous week — with at least 114 positive cases.

Only
 two school outbreaks were publicly identified by the state: Mount Olive
 Lutheran School in Overland Park and Central Elementary School in 
Lyons.

Suzanne Perez reports on education for KMUW in Wichita 
and the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter @SuzPerezICT 
or email her at perez@kmuw.org.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1630687392939.png" alt="A kindergartner at Colvin Elementary School in Wichita. Suzanne Perez / KMUW" />
 <figcaption>A kindergartner at Colvin Elementary School in Wichita. Suzanne Perez / KMUW</figcaption>
 </figure>By SUZANNE PEREZ <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/2021-09-02/some-kansas-kids-will-have-longer-school-days-after-covid-disruptions">Kansas News Service</a>WICHITA — As more Kansas school districts report 
rising cases of COVID-19 and virus-related quarantines, educators are 
having to navigate a new state law that limits what they can offer 
online.That’s already having an effect on school schedules in Wellington, where officials <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/2021-08-27/wellington-school-district-cancels-all-classes-and-activities-due-to-covid-19-outbreaks" target="_blank">abruptly closed all schools through Labor Day</a> and sent students home without a remote-learning option because of COVID-19 outbreaks.Beginning Sept. 7, the Wellington district will <a href="https://4.files.edl.io/850e/09/02/21/010536-42db9cb2-13c6-439c-aaa0-e1664b04f118.pdf" target="_blank">add 10 minutes to the end of each school day</a> to comply with state guidelines for the minimum number of instructional hours.A measure Kansas lawmakers passed last spring — <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/hb2134/" target="_blank">House Bill 2134</a> — was intended as a message to districts: Kids should be in school, in person.The
 new law dictates that long-term online or hybrid learning models — 
anything over 40 hours per student per year — could mean losing up to 
two-thirds of state funding for that student.The law allows districts to offer online options, such as Wichita’s <a href="https://www.usd259.org/domain/5079" target="_blank">Education Imagine Academy</a>. But students enrolled in traditional in-person schools cannot go fully remote.Mark
 Tallman, a lobbyist with the Kansas Association of School Boards, said 
there are lots of questions about the new law, which allows some 
exemptions for health issues or emergencies.“What I think 
legislators objected to was districts just saying, ‘We’re going to 
operate for all kids in a hybrid or remote environment because we don’t 
want the schools to be open,’ ” he said.“If you’re in a situation
 where a student either has COVID and is missing or would be 
quarantined, that’s tied to an individual student with a specific health
 issue. . . . That’s a different situation than the law was designed to 
deal with.”Ultimately, the Kansas Department of Education will decide what hours count when it audits attendance figures.In Wichita, the state’s largest district, more than 1,600 students have <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/2021-08-23/wichita-boe-votes-to-mandate-masks-for-students-employees" target="_blank">missed school due to COVID isolation</a>
 or quarantine protocols. Beginning Sept. 8, the district plans to offer
 “simultaneous learning” for students who are not able to attend class 
in person.According to the new plan, teachers will lead their 
in-person class as normal, and the quarantined student will watch 
lessons through video conferencing. A paraeducator or buddy student will
 monitor the remote student, respond to questions by chat and share the 
student’s questions with the teacher.Teachers instructing an in-person class and a remote student will be paid an additional $50 a day.“I
 know the need for limited remote learning will still remain,” Deputy 
Superintendent Gil Alvarez said in an email to employees.Allowing
 quarantined students the option to tap into classrooms via computer “is
 a reasonable compromise in order to assure the greatest possible 
opportunity for our students to receive instruction directly from our 
teachers,” he said.Between Aug. 2 and Aug. 25, the Wichita district <a href="https://www.usd259.org/Page/20944" target="_blank">reported 466 positive COVID cases</a> among students and 84 cases among employees.At least <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://www.usd259.org//cms/lib/KS01906405/Centricity/Domain/5644/Reports/Weekly+COVID-19+Staff+Quarantine+Report+08.26.21.pdf" target="_blank">133 employees were under quarantine</a>.District officials said they are tracking but not reporting or publishing the number of quarantined students.The Kansas Department of Health and Environment this week reported <a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas" target="_blank">21 active COVID-19 clusters at schools</a> — 14 more than the previous week — with at least 114 positive cases.Only
 two school outbreaks were publicly identified by the state: Mount Olive
 Lutheran School in Overland Park and Central Elementary School in 
Lyons.Suzanne Perez reports on education for KMUW in Wichita 
and the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter @SuzPerezICT 
or email her at perez@kmuw.org.

Some kids will have longer school days after COVID disruptions 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mary Taboniar went 15 months without a paycheck, thanks to the COVID pandemic. A housekeeper at the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort in Honolulu, the single mother of two saw her income completely vanish as the virus devastated the hospitality industry.

For more than a year, Taboniar depended entirely on boosted unemployment benefits and a network of local foodbanks to feed her family. Even this summer as the vaccine rollout took hold and tourists began to travel again, her work was slow to return, peaking at 11 days in August — about half her pre-pandemic workload.

Taboniar is one of millions of Americans for whom Labor Day 2021 represents a perilous crossroads. Two primary anchors of the government’s COVID protection package are ending or have recently ended. Starting Monday, an estimated 8.9 million people will&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-jobless-claims-382a89695d83991a42f23e8da3fe7fa9">lose all unemployment&nbsp;</a>benefits. A federal eviction moratorium already has expired.

While other aspects of pandemic assistance including rental aid and the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/monthly-child-payments-poverty-bd4643ad09e6986ef4b526ebd5a3272b">expanded Child Tax Credit</a>&nbsp;are still widely available, untold millions of Americans will face Labor Day with a suddenly shrunken social safety net.

“This will be a double whammy of hardship,” said Jamie Contreras, secretary-treasurer of the SEIU, a union that represents custodians in office buildings and food service workers in airports. “We’re not anywhere near done. People still need help. ... For millions of people nothing has changed from a year and a half ago.”

For Taboniar, 43, that means her unemployment benefits will completely disappear — even as her work hours vanish again. A fresh virus surge prompted&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-coronavirus-pandemic-honolulu-6753de40faf5e667bb070ac4a8ed64c1">Hawaii’s governor to recommend&nbsp;</a>that vacationers delay their plans.

“It’s really scaring me,” she said. “How can I pay rent if I don’t have unemployment and my job isn’t back?”

She’s planning to apply for the newly expanded SNAP assistance program, better known as food stamps, but doubts that will be enough to make up the difference. “I’m just grasping for anything,” she said.

President Joe Biden’s administration believes the U.S. economy is strong enough not to be rattled by evictions or the drop in unemployment benefits. Officials maintain that other elements of the safety net, like the Child Tax Credit and the SNAP program (which Biden permanently boosted earlier this summer) are enough to smooth things over. On Friday, a White House spokesperson said there were no plans to reevaluate the end of the unemployment benefits.

“Twenty-two-trillion-dollar economies work in no small part on momentum and we have strong momentum going in the right direction on behalf of the American workforce,” said Jared Bernstein, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said he believed the country’s labor force was ready for the shift.

“Overall the economy is moving forward and recovering,” Walsh said in an interview. “I think the American economy and the American worker are in a better position going into Labor Day 2021 than they were on Labor Day 2020.”

Walsh and others point to encouraging job numbers; as of Friday the unemployment rate was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-jobless-claims-382a89695d83991a42f23e8da3fe7fa9">down to a fairly healthy 5.2%</a>. But Andrew Stettler, a senior fellow with the Century Foundation, a left-leaning think tank, says the end of the expanded unemployment benefits is still coming too early.

Rather than setting an arbitrary deadline, Stettler says the administration should have tied the end of the the protections to specific economic recovery metrics. He suggests three consecutive months with nationwide unemployment below 5% as a reasonable benchmark to trigger the end of the unemployment benefits.

“This does seem to be the wrong policy decision based on where we are,” Stettler said.

The end to these protections while the economic crisis persists could have a devastating impact on lower-middle class families that were barely holding on through the pandemic. Potentially millions of people “will have a more difficult time regaining the foothold in the middle class that they lost,” Stettler said.

Biden and the Democrats who control Congress are at a crossroads, allowing the aid to expire as they focus instead on his more sweeping “build back better” package of infrastructure and other spending. The $3.5 trillion proposal would rebuild many of the safety net programs, but it faces hurdles in the closely divided Congress.

In the meantime, families will have to make do.

“These are two very important things that are expiring. There’s no doubt that there will be families impacted by their expiration and that they will have additional hardship,” Sharon Parrott, the president of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, said in an interview.

The COVID-19 response has been sweeping in its size and scope, some $5 trillion in federal expenditures since the virus outbreak in 2020, an unprecedented undertaking.

Congressional Republicans had supported some of the initial COVID-19 outlays, but voted lockstep against Biden’s $1.9 trillion recovery package earlier this year as unnecessary. Many argued against extending another round of unemployment aid, and Republicans vow to oppose Biden’s $3.5 trillion package lawmakers are expected to consider later this month.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mary Taboniar went 15 months without a paycheck, thanks to the COVID pandemic. A housekeeper at the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort in Honolulu, the single mother of two saw her income completely vanish as the virus devastated the hospitality industry.For more than a year, Taboniar depended entirely on boosted unemployment benefits and a network of local foodbanks to feed her family. Even this summer as the vaccine rollout took hold and tourists began to travel again, her work was slow to return, peaking at 11 days in August — about half her pre-pandemic workload.Taboniar is one of millions of Americans for whom Labor Day 2021 represents a perilous crossroads. Two primary anchors of the government’s COVID protection package are ending or have recently ended. Starting Monday, an estimated 8.9 million people will&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-jobless-claims-382a89695d83991a42f23e8da3fe7fa9">lose all unemployment&nbsp;</a>benefits. A federal eviction moratorium already has expired.While other aspects of pandemic assistance including rental aid and the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/monthly-child-payments-poverty-bd4643ad09e6986ef4b526ebd5a3272b">expanded Child Tax Credit</a>&nbsp;are still widely available, untold millions of Americans will face Labor Day with a suddenly shrunken social safety net.“This will be a double whammy of hardship,” said Jamie Contreras, secretary-treasurer of the SEIU, a union that represents custodians in office buildings and food service workers in airports. “We’re not anywhere near done. People still need help. ... For millions of people nothing has changed from a year and a half ago.”For Taboniar, 43, that means her unemployment benefits will completely disappear — even as her work hours vanish again. A fresh virus surge prompted&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-coronavirus-pandemic-honolulu-6753de40faf5e667bb070ac4a8ed64c1">Hawaii’s governor to recommend&nbsp;</a>that vacationers delay their plans.“It’s really scaring me,” she said. “How can I pay rent if I don’t have unemployment and my job isn’t back?”She’s planning to apply for the newly expanded SNAP assistance program, better known as food stamps, but doubts that will be enough to make up the difference. “I’m just grasping for anything,” she said.President Joe Biden’s administration believes the U.S. economy is strong enough not to be rattled by evictions or the drop in unemployment benefits. Officials maintain that other elements of the safety net, like the Child Tax Credit and the SNAP program (which Biden permanently boosted earlier this summer) are enough to smooth things over. On Friday, a White House spokesperson said there were no plans to reevaluate the end of the unemployment benefits.“Twenty-two-trillion-dollar economies work in no small part on momentum and we have strong momentum going in the right direction on behalf of the American workforce,” said Jared Bernstein, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said he believed the country’s labor force was ready for the shift.“Overall the economy is moving forward and recovering,” Walsh said in an interview. “I think the American economy and the American worker are in a better position going into Labor Day 2021 than they were on Labor Day 2020.”Walsh and others point to encouraging job numbers; as of Friday the unemployment rate was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-jobless-claims-382a89695d83991a42f23e8da3fe7fa9">down to a fairly healthy 5.2%</a>. But Andrew Stettler, a senior fellow with the Century Foundation, a left-leaning think tank, says the end of the expanded unemployment benefits is still coming too early.Rather than setting an arbitrary deadline, Stettler says the administration should have tied the end of the the protections to specific economic recovery metrics. He suggests three consecutive months with nationwide unemployment below 5% as a reasonable benchmark to trigger the end of the unemployment benefits.“This does seem to be the wrong policy decision based on where we are,” Stettler said.The end to these protections while the economic crisis persists could have a devastating impact on lower-middle class families that were barely holding on through the pandemic. Potentially millions of people “will have a more difficult time regaining the foothold in the middle class that they lost,” Stettler said.Biden and the Democrats who control Congress are at a crossroads, allowing the aid to expire as they focus instead on his more sweeping “build back better” package of infrastructure and other spending. The $3.5 trillion proposal would rebuild many of the safety net programs, but it faces hurdles in the closely divided Congress.In the meantime, families will have to make do.“These are two very important things that are expiring. There’s no doubt that there will be families impacted by their expiration and that they will have additional hardship,” Sharon Parrott, the president of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, said in an interview.The COVID-19 response has been sweeping in its size and scope, some $5 trillion in federal expenditures since the virus outbreak in 2020, an unprecedented undertaking.Congressional Republicans had supported some of the initial COVID-19 outlays, but voted lockstep against Biden’s $1.9 trillion recovery package earlier this year as unnecessary. Many argued against extending another round of unemployment aid, and Republicans vow to oppose Biden’s $3.5 trillion package lawmakers are expected to consider later this month.There are still multiple avenues of support available, although in some cases the actual delivery of that support has been problematic.States with higher levels of unemployment can use the $350 billion worth of aid they received from the relief package to expand their own jobless payments, as noted by an Aug. 19 letter by Walsh and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.Federal rental assistance funds remain available, though the money has been slow to get out the door, leaving the White House and lawmakers pushing state and local officials to disperse funds more quickly to both landlords and tenants.The investment bank Morgan Stanley estimated Thursday that the economy will grow at an annual pace of 2.9% in the third quarter, down sharply from its prior forecast of 6.5%. That decline largely reflects a pullback in federal aid spending and supply chain bottlenecks.And the economy still faces hurdles. Union officials says sectors like hotel housekeepers and office janitorial staffs have been the slowest to recover.“Our industry is the tip of the spear when it comes to COVID,” said D. Taylor, president of UNITE HERE, a union that represents hotel housekeepers — a field that is “primarily staffed by women and people of color.”Many of those housekeepers never returned to full employment even as Americans resumed traveling and hotel occupancy rates swelled over the summer.Taylor said several major hotel chains have moved to permanently cut down on labor costs by reducing levels of service under the guise of COVID. Taboniar’s hotel in Hawaii for example has shifted to cleaning rooms every five days unless the guest specifically requests otherwise in advance. Even as the hotel was at more than 90% occupancy in August, she was only employed for half her usual pre-pandemic number of days.The delta variant of the coronavirus also poses a challenge, threatening future school closures and the delay of plans to return workers to their offices.Walsh called the delta variant “an asterisk on everything.”The sudden lapse of a crucial element of the pandemic safety net has fueled calls for a re-evaluation of the entire unemployment benefits system. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the chairman of the Finance Committee, said in an interview it’s crucial that Congress modernizes the unemployment insurance system as part of the package.“It’s heartbreaking to know it didn’t have to be this way,” Wyden said.One of the changes he proposes is to have jobless benefits more linked to economic conditions, so they won’t expire in times of need. “We got to take the unemployment system into the 21st century,” he said.