SHAWNEE COUNTY—Police requested the public’s assistance on Sunday to locate a sixteen month old.&nbsp;

On Monday afternoon, police reported&nbsp; they were able to check the welfare of the boy. on August 23, according to police spokesperson Gretchen Spiker. The investigation in the case continues. Police released no additional details.

SHAWNEE COUNTY– The Topeka Police Department is requesting the public’s assistance in locating sixteen month old Jesus Manuel Betancourt-Acevedo to conduct a welfare check, according to Police Lt. Ron Ekis.

The child is believed to be with his mother Norma Acevedo –Pena and an unidentified Hispanic man.

The subjects are believed to be driving a dark colored Ford Expedition.&nbsp; Police released no additional details Sunday afternoon.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is encouraged to call dispatch at 785-368- 9200, email telltpd@topeka.org , or contact the Topeka Police Criminal Investigation Bureau at 785-368-9400. Anonymous tips can be made by calling Shawnee County Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007. You can also make anonymous tips online at www.p3tips.com/128.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1629668999502.png" alt="Security camera images courtesy Topeka Police" />
 <figcaption>Security camera images courtesy Topeka Police</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Police requested the public’s assistance on Sunday to locate a sixteen month old.&nbsp;On Monday afternoon, police reported&nbsp; they were able to check the welfare of the boy. on August 23, according to police spokesperson Gretchen Spiker. The investigation in the case continues. Police released no additional details.-------------SHAWNEE COUNTY– The Topeka Police Department is requesting the public’s assistance in locating sixteen month old Jesus Manuel Betancourt-Acevedo to conduct a welfare check, according to Police Lt. Ron Ekis.The child is believed to be with his mother Norma Acevedo –Pena and an unidentified Hispanic man.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1629669098483.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The subjects are believed to be driving a dark colored Ford Expedition.&nbsp; Police released no additional details Sunday afternoon.Anyone with information regarding this investigation is encouraged to call dispatch at 785-368- 9200, email telltpd@topeka.org , or contact the Topeka Police Criminal Investigation Bureau at 785-368-9400. Anonymous tips can be made by calling Shawnee County Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007. You can also make anonymous tips online at www.p3tips.com/128.

Update: Police locate, check welfare of Kan. toddler

By COLE REIF <a href="https://greatbendpost.com">Great Bend Post</a>

GREAT BEND — Following three executive sessions and a recess in the
regularly scheduled meeting Monday, the Barton County Commission voted 3-2 to adjust
Phil Hathcock’s contract and remove his responsibility as County Administrator.
Hathcock will remain as the county’s Director of Solid Waste and now the
Director of Facilities. 

After the resignation of Administrator Richard Boeckman
in October 2016, Hathcock was elevated as the Director of Operations in June
2017, eventually becoming the administrator. 

Commission Chair Jim Daily said
overseeing the landfill and serving as the administrator was a heavy workload
for one person. 
 
"The landfill takes up a tremendous amount of time," said Daily. "He's 
also the director of facilities, although never with the title, he's 
always taken care of facilities. Due to the increased amount of work at 
the landfill, it has been felt that he would better serve the county if 
he put all of his efforts to those two areas." 
 
After the vote passed, Hathcock walked away from his seat as the administrator
and joined the crowd for the remainder of the meeting. Daily referred to the change
of employment as an amicable agreement between the commission and Hathcock.

The
commission was then under the impression that Assistant Administrator Donna
Zimmerman would act as the interim administrator until another person was
hired, but Zimmerman told the council she felt it was best if she was left out
of the rearrangement, and resigned as assistant administrator, still retaining her
position as county clerk. 

For the time being, the county commission will perform
needed administrator duties and are prepared to conduct special meetings to do
so. 
 
"This is going to be a priority, so we will get on this as rapidly as we
 possibly can," said Daily. "We're going to try to get this taken care 
so we're not leaving ourselves out in the open. We do need to have 
someone steering the boat." 
 
The employment agreement states Hathcock will be paid a yearly salary of $85,000
for employment as the Solid Waste Director and $15,000 as the Facilities Director.

Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir asked the commission if this was the best move, knowing the
county would likely have to shell out an additional administrator-level salary
to a new employee. When Hathcock took over as director of operations in 2017,
it saved the county money by not having a full-time administrator. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1629744066631.jpeg" alt="Phil Hathcock will no longer serve as Barton County Administrator. Under a new agreement approved at the Aug. 23, 2021 Barton County Commission meeting, Hathcock will remain as the Director of Solid Waste and now the Director of Facilities." />
 <figcaption>Phil Hathcock will no longer serve as Barton County Administrator. Under a new agreement approved at the Aug. 23, 2021 Barton County Commission meeting, Hathcock will remain as the Director of Solid Waste and now the Director of Facilities.</figcaption>
 </figure>By COLE REIF <a href="https://greatbendpost.com">Great Bend Post</a>GREAT BEND — Following three executive sessions and a recess in the
regularly scheduled meeting Monday, the Barton County Commission voted 3-2 to adjust
Phil Hathcock’s contract and remove his responsibility as County Administrator.
Hathcock will remain as the county’s Director of Solid Waste and now the
Director of Facilities. After the resignation of Administrator Richard Boeckman
in October 2016, Hathcock was elevated as the Director of Operations in June
2017, eventually becoming the administrator. Commission Chair Jim Daily said
overseeing the landfill and serving as the administrator was a heavy workload
for one person. 
 
"The landfill takes up a tremendous amount of time," said Daily. "He's 
also the director of facilities, although never with the title, he's 
always taken care of facilities. Due to the increased amount of work at 
the landfill, it has been felt that he would better serve the county if 
he put all of his efforts to those two areas." 
 
After the vote passed, Hathcock walked away from his seat as the administrator
and joined the crowd for the remainder of the meeting. Daily referred to the change
of employment as an amicable agreement between the commission and Hathcock. The
commission was then under the impression that Assistant Administrator Donna
Zimmerman would act as the interim administrator until another person was
hired, but Zimmerman told the council she felt it was best if she was left out
of the rearrangement, and resigned as assistant administrator, still retaining her
position as county clerk. For the time being, the county commission will perform
needed administrator duties and are prepared to conduct special meetings to do
so. 
 
"This is going to be a priority, so we will get on this as rapidly as we
 possibly can," said Daily. "We're going to try to get this taken care 
so we're not leaving ourselves out in the open. We do need to have 
someone steering the boat." 
 
The employment agreement states Hathcock will be paid a yearly salary of $85,000
for employment as the Solid Waste Director and $15,000 as the Facilities Director.
Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir asked the commission if this was the best move, knowing the
county would likely have to shell out an additional administrator-level salary
to a new employee. When Hathcock took over as director of operations in 2017,
it saved the county money by not having a full-time administrator.

Barton County administrator steps down

SALINE COUNTY —&nbsp;Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting in Salina.

Just after 4a.m. Monday, August 23, 2021, police were dispatched to the 500 block of East Iron Avenue, Salina, for a report of several gunshots in the area, according to a media release.

At the scene, police located a man lying in the street with an apparent gunshot wound. Salina EMS transported the victim to the Salina Regional Health Center, where he was subsequently transferred to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita with life threatening injuries.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation Crime Scene unit has been contacted for assistance processing the scene.

This case is being considered an attempted homicide and detectives are attempting to identify the victim and suspect(s). In addition, Salina Police Detectives are working to identify and locate persons who were in this area at the time of the shooting.

SALINA —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting in Salina, according to a statement from police.

The shooting occurred in the&nbsp;area of the 500 block of E. Iron Street.

Police asked the public to avoid the area and find an alternate route to work or school if they normally use East Iron.&nbsp;&nbsp; 

Iron Street is closed&nbsp; between Third Street and Oakdale. Police released no additional details early Monday. Check the Post for more information as it becomes available.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1629733360216.jpeg" alt="The intersection of E. Iron Avenue and Front Street remained blocked as of 10 a.m. Monday&nbsp;The Kansas Bureau of Investigation Crime Scene unit is assisting with the investigation." />
 <figcaption>The intersection of E. Iron Avenue and Front Street remained blocked as of 10 a.m. Monday&nbsp;The Kansas Bureau of Investigation Crime Scene unit is assisting with the investigation.</figcaption>
 </figure>SALINE COUNTY —&nbsp;Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting in Salina.Just after 4a.m. Monday, August 23, 2021, police were dispatched to the 500 block of East Iron Avenue, Salina, for a report of several gunshots in the area, according to a media release.At the scene, police located a man lying in the street with an apparent gunshot wound. Salina EMS transported the victim to the Salina Regional Health Center, where he was subsequently transferred to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita with life threatening injuries.The Kansas Bureau of Investigation Crime Scene unit has been contacted for assistance processing the scene.This case is being considered an attempted homicide and detectives are attempting to identify the victim and suspect(s). In addition, Salina Police Detectives are working to identify and locate persons who were in this area at the time of the shooting.---------SALINA —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting in Salina, according to a statement from police.The shooting occurred in the&nbsp;area of the 500 block of E. Iron Street.Police asked the public to avoid the area and find an alternate route to work or school if they normally use East Iron.&nbsp;&nbsp; Iron Street is closed&nbsp; between Third Street and Oakdale. Police released no additional details early Monday. Check the Post for more information as it becomes available.

Update: Man critically injured after shooting in Salina

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said Monday that it will require service members to receive the COVID-19 vaccine now that the Pfizer vaccine has received full approval.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is making good on his vow earlier this month to require the shots once the Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine. He said guidance is being developed and a timeline will be provided in the coming days.

Austin’s decision reflects similar moves by governments and companies around the world, as nations struggle with the highly contagious delta variant that has sent U.S. cases surging to heights not seen since last winter. And hospitalizations and deaths are increasing among the military. Over the past month, the number of service member deaths jumped from 25 to 34 – more than a one third increase.

In a memo Aug. 9, Austin said he'd seek the president’s approval to make the vaccine mandatory no later than mid-September, or immediately upon FDA licensure “whichever comes first.” The Pentagon has said that the military has enough vaccines to meet the requirements.

Kirby said the steps Monday to make the vaccine mandatory are an effort to ensure the safety of service members. Concerns about the virus are especially acute in the military, where service members live and work closely together in barracks and on ships, increasing the risks of rapid spreading. Any large virus outbreak in the military could affect America’s ability to defend itself in any security crisis.

In a message to the force earlier this month, Gen. Mark Milley said medical professionals recommend the vaccine, and that getting the shot is key to maintaining a military that is prepared to defend the nation. At the bottom of his message, Milley scrawled a handwritten note: “Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is a key force protection and readiness issue.”

Members of the U.S. military are already required to get as many as 17 different vaccines, depending on where they are deployed. The requirements — which include shots for smallpox, hepatitis, polio and the regular flu — also provide for a number of temporary and permanent exemptions for either medical or administrative reasons.

Permanent exemptions include serious medical reactions to the vaccine, immune deficiencies such as HIV infection, and “evidence of existing immunity” by a serologic antibody test or “documentation of previous infection or natural infection presumed.”

There also are administrative exemptions, including one for religious reasons. The religious exemption is granted by the military services based on their policies and is a command decision based on consultation with medical personnel and the chaplain.

Troops may also get temporary exemptions for up to a year if they, for example, are pregnant, seriously ill, or if there is a lack of vaccine supply.

The regulations also note that any exemption may be reversed if a medical condition changes or if it is determined that “the risk of acquiring the disease is greater than the risk of vaccine exposure.”

An AP-NORC poll released Friday found that 56% of Americans are in favor of requiring members of the military to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, compared with 20% opposed.

As of Aug. 18, more than 1 million service members were fully vaccinated and nearly 245,000 more had received at least one shot, according to the Defense Department. Just over half of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated with one of the country’s three options, from Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson &amp; Johnson.

Kirby said the Pentagon decision is only for the Pfizer vaccine.

Moderna has also applied to the FDA for full approval of its vaccine. J&amp;J said it hopes to do so later this year.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1629738536951.png" alt="Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby said the steps Monday to make the vaccine mandatory are an effort to ensure the safety of service members. photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby said the steps Monday to make the vaccine mandatory are an effort to ensure the safety of service members. photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said Monday that it will require service members to receive the COVID-19 vaccine now that the Pfizer vaccine has received full approval.Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is making good on his vow earlier this month to require the shots once the Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine. He said guidance is being developed and a timeline will be provided in the coming days.Austin’s decision reflects similar moves by governments and companies around the world, as nations struggle with the highly contagious delta variant that has sent U.S. cases surging to heights not seen since last winter. And hospitalizations and deaths are increasing among the military. Over the past month, the number of service member deaths jumped from 25 to 34 – more than a one third increase.In a memo Aug. 9, Austin said he'd seek the president’s approval to make the vaccine mandatory no later than mid-September, or immediately upon FDA licensure “whichever comes first.” The Pentagon has said that the military has enough vaccines to meet the requirements.Kirby said the steps Monday to make the vaccine mandatory are an effort to ensure the safety of service members. Concerns about the virus are especially acute in the military, where service members live and work closely together in barracks and on ships, increasing the risks of rapid spreading. Any large virus outbreak in the military could affect America’s ability to defend itself in any security crisis.In a message to the force earlier this month, Gen. Mark Milley said medical professionals recommend the vaccine, and that getting the shot is key to maintaining a military that is prepared to defend the nation. At the bottom of his message, Milley scrawled a handwritten note: “Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is a key force protection and readiness issue.”Members of the U.S. military are already required to get as many as 17 different vaccines, depending on where they are deployed. The requirements — which include shots for smallpox, hepatitis, polio and the regular flu — also provide for a number of temporary and permanent exemptions for either medical or administrative reasons.Permanent exemptions include serious medical reactions to the vaccine, immune deficiencies such as HIV infection, and “evidence of existing immunity” by a serologic antibody test or “documentation of previous infection or natural infection presumed.”There also are administrative exemptions, including one for religious reasons. The religious exemption is granted by the military services based on their policies and is a command decision based on consultation with medical personnel and the chaplain.Troops may also get temporary exemptions for up to a year if they, for example, are pregnant, seriously ill, or if there is a lack of vaccine supply.The regulations also note that any exemption may be reversed if a medical condition changes or if it is determined that “the risk of acquiring the disease is greater than the risk of vaccine exposure.”An AP-NORC poll released Friday found that 56% of Americans are in favor of requiring members of the military to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, compared with 20% opposed.As of Aug. 18, more than 1 million service members were fully vaccinated and nearly 245,000 more had received at least one shot, according to the Defense Department. Just over half of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated with one of the country’s three options, from Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson &amp; Johnson.Kirby said the Pentagon decision is only for the Pfizer vaccine.Moderna has also applied to the FDA for full approval of its vaccine. J&amp;J said it hopes to do so later this year.

Pentagon mandates COVID vaccine for all service members

By
NICK GOSNELL <a href="https://hutchpost.com">Hutch
Post</a>


HUTCHINSON — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said the legal work 
continues to defend Senate Bill 40, the changes to the state's Emergency
 Management Act, at the Kansas Supreme Court.

"They've given us a 
schedule for the briefings, for both parties to file their written 
arguments, that extends into about mid-September," Schmidt said. "We're 
moving along. We also asked the Supreme Court to stay the decision 
below, to put it on hold, to take us back to the status quo and leave 
that in place while this appeal plays itself out."

The Court has 
neither agreed to a stay, nor said they won't. They've left that open 
for now. In fact, there's just a lot of uncertainty about the whole 
case.

"There were changes in June of 2020. There were changes in 
January of 2021. There were changes again in late spring of 2021. Then 
the court came in and invalidated some portion of the changes in late 
spring of 2021, but it's not clear how much was invalidated and even to 
the extent it's invalidated, what law takes its place. We think it's the
 January enactments. The Governor has argued that at least, to some 
extent, it takes you all the way back to pre-COVID law. It is a terrible
 muddled mess right now."

This makes it exceedingly hard for local
 governments, particularly counties, as many of them function as the 
Board of Health in their jurisdictions, to decide what cover they do or 
don't have to mandate masks or not or to do anything else until the 
question on remedies and which law controls is finally decided.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1583409290272.jpeg" alt="Kansas AG Derek Schmidt" />
 <figcaption>Kansas AG Derek Schmidt</figcaption>
 </figure>
By
NICK GOSNELL <a href="https://hutchpost.com">Hutch
Post</a>
HUTCHINSON — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said the legal work 
continues to defend Senate Bill 40, the changes to the state's Emergency
 Management Act, at the Kansas Supreme Court."They've given us a 
schedule for the briefings, for both parties to file their written 
arguments, that extends into about mid-September," Schmidt said. "We're 
moving along. We also asked the Supreme Court to stay the decision 
below, to put it on hold, to take us back to the status quo and leave 
that in place while this appeal plays itself out."The Court has 
neither agreed to a stay, nor said they won't. They've left that open 
for now. In fact, there's just a lot of uncertainty about the whole 
case."There were changes in June of 2020. There were changes in 
January of 2021. There were changes again in late spring of 2021. Then 
the court came in and invalidated some portion of the changes in late 
spring of 2021, but it's not clear how much was invalidated and even to 
the extent it's invalidated, what law takes its place. We think it's the
 January enactments. The Governor has argued that at least, to some 
extent, it takes you all the way back to pre-COVID law. It is a terrible
 muddled mess right now."This makes it exceedingly hard for local
 governments, particularly counties, as many of them function as the 
Board of Health in their jurisdictions, to decide what cover they do or 
don't have to mandate masks or not or to do anything else until the 
question on remedies and which law controls is finally decided.

Schmidt offers update on emergency power Kan. Supreme Court case

TOPEKA— The number of confirmed coronavirus cases* (see below) in Kansas increased by 2778 to a total of 358,843, the state health department reported Monday afternoon.&nbsp;

The state reported 4 new COVID-19 deaths for a total of 5498.

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

<a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">Click here&nbsp;</a>for additional virus numbers from the KDHE.

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 (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 number of confirmed coronavirus cases* (see below) in Kansas increased by 2778 to a total of 358,843, the state health department reported Monday afternoon.&nbsp;The state reported 4 new COVID-19 deaths for a total of 5498.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1629738637591.png" alt="Monday August 23, 2021 KDHE image" />
 <figcaption>Monday August 23, 2021 KDHE image</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/158/Data">Click here for Data</a> about the COVID-19 vaccine.<a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">Click here&nbsp;</a>for additional virus numbers from the KDHE.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 (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>.

KDHE: Latest coronavirus numbers in Kansas

TOPEKA — Kansas courts are telling couples who need a marriage license in September to apply for them now.

The usual advice courts give to couples is to allow two weeks from the time the application is filed for the license to be delivered. But a database courts use to process licenses will be offline for a week in September. Couples can expect some delays as a result.

Courts use a database managed by the&nbsp;<a href="https://kansascourts.org/l/47XZARxE-5AbFC-cyGvmhPNHUAOM1KO1Azaf35hVU6M" target="_blank">Office of Vital Statistics</a>&nbsp;to record marriage license application data. The database will be offline from September 8 through 13, so no data can be entered.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, if a couple applies for a marriage license by August 31, the couple will have a license in hand by September 7.&nbsp;

Applications submitted after August 31 will be processed after September 14, when the database comes back online. There is a three-day waiting period required by statute, and courts begin processing the application after the waiting period ends.&nbsp;

Couples can apply for a marriage license throughout this period, but the applications cannot be processed while the Office of Vital Statistics database is offline.

The online marriage license application is accessible through the Kansas judicial branch website at&nbsp;<a href="https://kansascourts.org/l/47XZARxE-5AbFC-cyGvmhPC3TwMffJTg0kKLQgJDgnA" target="_blank">www.kscourts.org/marriage</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/6/1623439560872.jpg" alt="(Photo by Pixabay)" />
 <figcaption>(Photo by Pixabay)</figcaption>
 </figure>OJATOPEKA — Kansas courts are telling couples who need a marriage license in September to apply for them now.The usual advice courts give to couples is to allow two weeks from the time the application is filed for the license to be delivered. But a database courts use to process licenses will be offline for a week in September. Couples can expect some delays as a result.Courts use a database managed by the&nbsp;<a href="https://kansascourts.org/l/47XZARxE-5AbFC-cyGvmhPNHUAOM1KO1Azaf35hVU6M" target="_blank">Office of Vital Statistics</a>&nbsp;to record marriage license application data. The database will be offline from September 8 through 13, so no data can be entered.Barring unforeseen circumstances, if a couple applies for a marriage license by August 31, the couple will have a license in hand by September 7.&nbsp;Applications submitted after August 31 will be processed after September 14, when the database comes back online. There is a three-day waiting period required by statute, and courts begin processing the application after the waiting period ends.&nbsp;Couples can apply for a marriage license throughout this period, but the applications cannot be processed while the Office of Vital Statistics database is offline.The online marriage license application is accessible through the Kansas judicial branch website at&nbsp;<a href="https://kansascourts.org/l/47XZARxE-5AbFC-cyGvmhPC3TwMffJTg0kKLQgJDgnA" target="_blank">www.kscourts.org/marriage</a>.

Need a marriage license in September? Apply now; delays expected

TOWANDA, Kan. (AP) — Butler County authorities say a teenager drowned over the weekend after he drove his pickup truck into a pond. 

The Butler County sheriff's office says the truck went into a pond north of Towanda late Friday or early Saturday. Another juvenile in the car was able to escape. 

The boy's body was recovered on Sunday. No names or other information has been released.

TOWANDA, Kan. (AP) — Butler County authorities say a teenager drowned over the weekend after he drove his pickup truck into a pond. The Butler County sheriff's office says the truck went into a pond north of Towanda late Friday or early Saturday. Another juvenile in the car was able to escape. The boy's body was recovered on Sunday. No names or other information has been released.

Sheriff: Body of teen recovered after crash into Kan. pond

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. gave full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, a milestone that may help lift public confidence in the shots as the nation battles the most contagious coronavirus mutant yet.

The vaccine made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech now carries the strongest endorsement from the Food and Drug Administration, which has never before had so much evidence to judge a shot’s safety. More than 200 million Pfizer doses already have been administered in the U.S. — and hundreds of millions more worldwide — since emergency use began in December.

“The public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product,” said acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock. “Today’s milestone puts us one step closer to altering the course of this pandemic in the U.S.”

The U.S. becomes the first country to fully approve the shot, according to Pfizer, and CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement he hoped the decision “will help increase confidence in our vaccine, as vaccination remains the best tool we have to help protect lives.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. gave full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, a milestone that may help lift public confidence in the shots as the nation battles the most contagious coronavirus mutant yet.The vaccine made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech now carries the strongest endorsement from the Food and Drug Administration, which has never before had so much evidence to judge a shot’s safety. More than 200 million Pfizer doses already have been administered in the U.S. — and hundreds of millions more worldwide — since emergency use began in December.“The public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product,” said acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock. “Today’s milestone puts us one step closer to altering the course of this pandemic in the U.S.”The U.S. becomes the first country to fully approve the shot, according to Pfizer, and CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement he hoped the decision “will help increase confidence in our vaccine, as vaccination remains the best tool we have to help protect lives.”

FDA gives full approval to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine

EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. (AP) — A crash in suburban Kansas City killed a 6-year-old girl and seriously injured several others, including a 4-year-old boy, officials there said.

The crash happened Friday night in Excelsior Springs, when a car went off the right side of the road, hit a parked pickup truck and then traveled into a field before coming to rest in a brush pile, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

A 6-year-old girl inside the car died at the scene, investigators said. The 24-year-old driver, two 18-year-old passengers and a 4-year-old boy in the car were taken to hospitals with serious injuries.

EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. (AP) — A crash in suburban Kansas City killed a 6-year-old girl and seriously injured several others, including a 4-year-old boy, officials there said.The crash happened Friday night in Excelsior Springs, when a car went off the right side of the road, hit a parked pickup truck and then traveled into a field before coming to rest in a brush pile, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.A 6-year-old girl inside the car died at the scene, investigators said. The 24-year-old driver, two 18-year-old passengers and a 4-year-old boy in the car were taken to hospitals with serious injuries.The crash remains under investigation.

Police: 6-year-old dies after crash in suburban KC 

KANSAS CITY (AP) — The Hawaii lieutenant governor watched in horror as protesters showed up outside his condo, yelled at him through bullhorns and beamed strobe lights into the building to harass him over vaccine requirements.

A parent in Northern California barged into his daughter's elementary school and punched a teacher in the face over mask rules. At a school in Texas, a parent ripped a mask off a teacher's face during a “Meet the Teacher” event.

A Missouri hospital leader was approached in a parking garage this week by a man from Alabama who handed him papers accusing him of “crimes against humanity,” and it was not the only in-your-face encounter over vaccines and masks. School board members, county commissioners, doctors and local leaders are regularly confronted at meetings and in public with angry taunts that compare them to the Taliban, Nazis, Marxists and the leaders of Japanese internment camps.

Across the country, anti-vaccine and anti-mask demonstrations are taking scary and violent turns, and educators, medical professionals and public figures have been stunned at the level at which they have been vilified for even stating their opinion. And they have been terrified over how far protesters will go in confronting leaders outside their homes and in their workplaces.

“The heat definitely got turned up this week," said Shannon Portillo, a county commissioner in Kansas who was berated at a meeting Wednesday in which the board mandated masks indoors for unvaccinated children. "It got much more hostile than anything I had seen.”

The pandemic rage has coincided with a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, a growing movement to require vaccines and a new round of mask requirements, most notably in schools where exhausted families had hoped the worst days of the virus were over. Now, the country is averaging nearly 1,000 coronavirus deaths a day.

Anger from parents over masks has been simmering in rural Amador County in Northern California, and it reached a peak earlier this month when for the first time a teacher was attacked. A father became irate when he saw his daughter come out of school wearing a mask but teachers in a lounge were unmasked. Vaccinated staff are allowed to take off their masks if students aren't present, said Amador County Unified School District Superintendent Torie Gibson. The father was told this and left, but returned later to speak with the principal.

A concerned male teacher went to the principal's office. An argument ensued and the father struck the teacher.

“The teacher had some lacerations and bruising on his face and a knot on the back of his head,” Gibson said.

He was treated at a hospital and returned to work the following day. Still, the incident has shaken teachers and the community.

“The teachers have definitely been on edge. They are fearful because the last thing they want is to have an issue with a parent,” Gibson said. “They definitely looked over their shoulder for quite a few days, but I think things are now a little bit more calm.”

Meanwhile, the father is prohibited from entering the school and could face prosecution.

Since Hawaii announced a mandate earlier this month that state and county workers would have to show proof of vaccination or face weekly tests, 50 to 100 unmasked vaccine opponents have gathered almost nightly outside the downtown Honolulu condominium building where Lt. Gov. Josh Green lives with his wife and two children, ages 14 and 10.

Some yell into bullhorns and shine strobe lights into apartment units, Green said. Flyers with his photo and the words “Jew” and “fraud" have been plastered around the neighborhood. Green, who is Jewish, has been tearing them down and turning them over to the state attorney general’s office.

He understands the right to protest, but not why demonstrators subject bystanders to such rage.

“They should protest me at my place of work, where I’m the lieutenant governor,” Green said. “But it’s different than flashing a strobe light into a 90-year-old woman’s apartment or a strobe light into a family’s apartment, where they have two kids under age 4.”

Ironically, Green wasn't home during a recent intense weekend of protests. He was on the Big Island working on his other job as an emergency room doctor and treating mostly COVID-19 patients during a record surge in coronavirus hospitalizations in the state.

“I will personally be taking care of these individuals in the hospital as their doctor when they get sick from refusing to wear masks and refusing to be vaccinated,” he said.

In Kansas, commissioners in Douglas County in the Lawrence area were confronted with an angry, mostly unmasked crowd Wednesday before they mandated indoor public masks for 2- to- 12-year-olds who are too young to be vaccinated. During four hours of public comment, opponents invoked the Holocaust, the Taliban and Japanese internment camps.

As the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, Portillo was outraged at the comparisons.

“It is really insulting to families all over who lost loved ones in genocides,” she said.

Researchers, professors and political experts have varying opinions about how and why discourse seems to keep plunging to new lows over the pandemic, but many agree that social media is a big factor.

Barbara Rosenwein, professor emerita at Loyola University Chicago and author of “Anger: The Conflicted History of an Emotion,” said social media can make minority views look more like the majority. On the many social media platforms, people validate each other's anger as being from a just and righteous place.

“Over time the possibility of feeling righteous anger has become democratized. Everybody feels almost obligated to feel it,” Rosenwein said. “That locks you into a position that will allow for no compromise, which is terrible for our country.”

That anger also makes it seem OK to buck authority such as teachers and government at a time of heightened culture wars on topics like education. Getting punished or even arrested might feel like “a badge of courage," she said.

“I don’t think these people are running into old-age homes and telling granny she better not get vaccinated,” Rosenwein said. “I think they’re telling the school teachers because teachers represent an elite that’s teaching their kids.”

Rosenwein said there's no grand, one-size-fits-all solution to talking to a friend or family member who may be taking an anti-mask and anti-vaccine stance to extreme levels.

“You have to start where they are ... 'Let’s hear your reasons and try to go from there,'” Rosenwein said.

Dr. Cadey Harrel, who practices family medicine in Tucson, Arizona, was among four health care workers who testified in favor of mask mandates earlier this month at a local school board meeting. She recently transferred her children out of that school district over the issue but still felt compelled to speak. An anti-mask group of four or five followed them out of the building after the meeting.

“They started saying things along the lines of we were paid actors, we were paid to be there, that masks don’t work,” Harrel said. “They were getting right in our face.”

Harrel was unnerved but felt better after a few teachers thanked them for talking. And that motivated her to keep testifying at public meetings to provide a voice of science and reason amid all the outrage from mask and vaccine opponents.

“The thing is that somebody’s got to speak up," she said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1629638297023.png" alt="At Friday's Sedgwick County commission meeting, this man threatened to show up commissioners homes with a megaphone.&nbsp; Commissioners voted down the proposed mask&nbsp; mandate." />
 <figcaption>At Friday's Sedgwick County commission meeting, this man threatened to show up commissioners homes with a megaphone.&nbsp; Commissioners voted down the proposed mask&nbsp; mandate.</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) — The Hawaii lieutenant governor watched in horror as protesters showed up outside his condo, yelled at him through bullhorns and beamed strobe lights into the building to harass him over vaccine requirements.<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S-MxtG2j1HI?start=6345" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>A parent in Northern California barged into his daughter's elementary school and punched a teacher in the face over mask rules. At a school in Texas, a parent ripped a mask off a teacher's face during a “Meet the Teacher” event.A Missouri hospital leader was approached in a parking garage this week by a man from Alabama who handed him papers accusing him of “crimes against humanity,” and it was not the only in-your-face encounter over vaccines and masks. School board members, county commissioners, doctors and local leaders are regularly confronted at meetings and in public with angry taunts that compare them to the Taliban, Nazis, Marxists and the leaders of Japanese internment camps.Across the country, anti-vaccine and anti-mask demonstrations are taking scary and violent turns, and educators, medical professionals and public figures have been stunned at the level at which they have been vilified for even stating their opinion. And they have been terrified over how far protesters will go in confronting leaders outside their homes and in their workplaces.“The heat definitely got turned up this week," said Shannon Portillo, a county commissioner in Kansas who was berated at a meeting Wednesday in which the board mandated masks indoors for unvaccinated children. "It got much more hostile than anything I had seen.”The pandemic rage has coincided with a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, a growing movement to require vaccines and a new round of mask requirements, most notably in schools where exhausted families had hoped the worst days of the virus were over. Now, the country is averaging nearly 1,000 coronavirus deaths a day.Anger from parents over masks has been simmering in rural Amador County in Northern California, and it reached a peak earlier this month when for the first time a teacher was attacked. A father became irate when he saw his daughter come out of school wearing a mask but teachers in a lounge were unmasked. Vaccinated staff are allowed to take off their masks if students aren't present, said Amador County Unified School District Superintendent Torie Gibson. The father was told this and left, but returned later to speak with the principal.A concerned male teacher went to the principal's office. An argument ensued and the father struck the teacher.“The teacher had some lacerations and bruising on his face and a knot on the back of his head,” Gibson said.He was treated at a hospital and returned to work the following day. Still, the incident has shaken teachers and the community.“The teachers have definitely been on edge. They are fearful because the last thing they want is to have an issue with a parent,” Gibson said. “They definitely looked over their shoulder for quite a few days, but I think things are now a little bit more calm.”Meanwhile, the father is prohibited from entering the school and could face prosecution.Since Hawaii announced a mandate earlier this month that state and county workers would have to show proof of vaccination or face weekly tests, 50 to 100 unmasked vaccine opponents have gathered almost nightly outside the downtown Honolulu condominium building where Lt. Gov. Josh Green lives with his wife and two children, ages 14 and 10.Some yell into bullhorns and shine strobe lights into apartment units, Green said. Flyers with his photo and the words “Jew” and “fraud" have been plastered around the neighborhood. Green, who is Jewish, has been tearing them down and turning them over to the state attorney general’s office.He understands the right to protest, but not why demonstrators subject bystanders to such rage.“They should protest me at my place of work, where I’m the lieutenant governor,” Green said. “But it’s different than flashing a strobe light into a 90-year-old woman’s apartment or a strobe light into a family’s apartment, where they have two kids under age 4.”Ironically, Green wasn't home during a recent intense weekend of protests. He was on the Big Island working on his other job as an emergency room doctor and treating mostly COVID-19 patients during a record surge in coronavirus hospitalizations in the state.“I will personally be taking care of these individuals in the hospital as their doctor when they get sick from refusing to wear masks and refusing to be vaccinated,” he said.In Kansas, commissioners in Douglas County in the Lawrence area were confronted with an angry, mostly unmasked crowd Wednesday before they mandated indoor public masks for 2- to- 12-year-olds who are too young to be vaccinated. During four hours of public comment, opponents invoked the Holocaust, the Taliban and Japanese internment camps.As the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, Portillo was outraged at the comparisons.“It is really insulting to families all over who lost loved ones in genocides,” she said.Researchers, professors and political experts have varying opinions about how and why discourse seems to keep plunging to new lows over the pandemic, but many agree that social media is a big factor.Barbara Rosenwein, professor emerita at Loyola University Chicago and author of “Anger: The Conflicted History of an Emotion,” said social media can make minority views look more like the majority. On the many social media platforms, people validate each other's anger as being from a just and righteous place.“Over time the possibility of feeling righteous anger has become democratized. Everybody feels almost obligated to feel it,” Rosenwein said. “That locks you into a position that will allow for no compromise, which is terrible for our country.”That anger also makes it seem OK to buck authority such as teachers and government at a time of heightened culture wars on topics like education. Getting punished or even arrested might feel like “a badge of courage," she said.“I don’t think these people are running into old-age homes and telling granny she better not get vaccinated,” Rosenwein said. “I think they’re telling the school teachers because teachers represent an elite that’s teaching their kids.”Rosenwein said there's no grand, one-size-fits-all solution to talking to a friend or family member who may be taking an anti-mask and anti-vaccine stance to extreme levels.“You have to start where they are ... 'Let’s hear your reasons and try to go from there,'” Rosenwein said.Dr. Cadey Harrel, who practices family medicine in Tucson, Arizona, was among four health care workers who testified in favor of mask mandates earlier this month at a local school board meeting. She recently transferred her children out of that school district over the issue but still felt compelled to speak. An anti-mask group of four or five followed them out of the building after the meeting.“They started saying things along the lines of we were paid actors, we were paid to be there, that masks don’t work,” Harrel said. “They were getting right in our face.”Harrel was unnerved but felt better after a few teachers thanked them for talking. And that motivated her to keep testifying at public meetings to provide a voice of science and reason amid all the outrage from mask and vaccine opponents.“The thing is that somebody’s got to speak up," she said.___

🎥  Mask, vaccine conflicts descend into violence, harassment

Additional funding doubles amount available for dislocated workers

WASHINGTON, DC –
 The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of an 
increased $90 million in funding grants to provide reemployment 
opportunities for displaced workers, historically marginalized 
communities or groups and those unemployed for an extended period or who
 have exhausted unemployment insurance or other pandemic unemployment 
insurance programs.

“By doubling down on these critical investments, 
the Department of Labor reinforces its commitment to invest in 
strategies to help American workers get the services and training they 
need to secure quality jobs as our economy recovers,” said Acting 
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Suzi LeVine. 
“These grants focus on local innovation and put resources in our 
communities to ensure the workers most impacted by the pandemic get 
reemployment support to ensure an equitable recovery.”

Administered by the department’s <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/tradeact">Employment and Training Administration</a>,
 today’s announcement more than doubles the initial $43 million in 
funding for Comprehensive and Accessible Reemployment through Equitable 
Employment Recovery National Dislocated Worker Grants <a href="https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20210629">announced in June</a>.

Those seeking <a href="https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=334454" target="_blank">CAREER National Dislocated Worker Grants</a> may apply through Aug. 31. Applicants may choose one of two types of required grant activities:

Supported by the <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/wioa">Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act</a>,
 National Dislocated Worker Grants offer resources that provide 
flexibility to states and communities in response to and recovery from 
events that cause widespread unemployment.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/3/1615920467817.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Additional funding doubles amount available for dislocated workers</h2>U.S. Department of LaborWASHINGTON, DC –
 The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of an 
increased $90 million in funding grants to provide reemployment 
opportunities for displaced workers, historically marginalized 
communities or groups and those unemployed for an extended period or who
 have exhausted unemployment insurance or other pandemic unemployment 
insurance programs.“By doubling down on these critical investments, 
the Department of Labor reinforces its commitment to invest in 
strategies to help American workers get the services and training they 
need to secure quality jobs as our economy recovers,” said Acting 
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Suzi LeVine. 
“These grants focus on local innovation and put resources in our 
communities to ensure the workers most impacted by the pandemic get 
reemployment support to ensure an equitable recovery.”Administered by the department’s <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/tradeact">Employment and Training Administration</a>,
 today’s announcement more than doubles the initial $43 million in 
funding for Comprehensive and Accessible Reemployment through Equitable 
Employment Recovery National Dislocated Worker Grants <a href="https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20210629">announced in June</a>. Those seeking <a href="https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=334454" target="_blank">CAREER National Dislocated Worker Grants</a> may apply through Aug. 31. Applicants may choose one of two types of required grant activities:<ul>
 <li>Delivering comprehensive workforce services, 
including career, training and supportive services to help participants 
gain employment.</li><li>Purchasing, building or expanding virtual 
technology platforms, software systems or services for job search, 
career guidance, training or other allowable activities. </li>
 </ul>Supported by the <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/wioa">Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act</a>,
 National Dislocated Worker Grants offer resources that provide 
flexibility to states and communities in response to and recovery from 
events that cause widespread unemployment.

US Labor Dept.: $90M available to those displaced by pandemic

JACKSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas man on drug charges after a traffic stop.

Just after 4p.m. Saturday, a sheriff's deputy&nbsp;stopped a vehicle near 142nd and U. S. Highway 75 for a traffic infraction, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

Deputies arrested the driver, Bo Martin Selley, 29, of Topeka, for allegedly being in the possession of illegal contraband. 

Selley was booked into the Jackson County Jail on requested charges that include possession of ecstasy, possession of a hallucinogenic drug, possession of drug paraphernalia, criminal use of a weapon, driving while suspended, no registration and transporting an open container.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1629719300896.png" alt="Selley photo Jackson County" />
 <figcaption>Selley photo Jackson County</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas man on drug charges after a traffic stop.Just after 4p.m. Saturday, a sheriff's deputy&nbsp;stopped a vehicle near 142nd and U. S. Highway 75 for a traffic infraction, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.Deputies arrested the driver, Bo Martin Selley, 29, of Topeka, for allegedly being in the possession of illegal contraband. Selley was booked into the Jackson County Jail on requested charges that include possession of ecstasy, possession of a hallucinogenic drug, possession of drug paraphernalia, criminal use of a weapon, driving while suspended, no registration and transporting an open container.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Sheriff: Kansas man was transporting ecstasy, other drugs

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Potential Islamic State threats against Americans in Afghanistan are forcing the U.S. military to develop new ways to get evacuees to the airport in Kabul, a senior U.S. official said Saturday, adding a new complication to the already chaotic efforts to get people out of the country after its swift fall to the Taliban.

<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?514201-1/president-biden-updates-nation-afghanistan-hurricane-henri&amp;live">Click here to watch</a>&nbsp;a replay of the President's comments

The official said that small groups of Americans and possibly other civilians will be given specific instructions on what to do, including movement to transit points where they can be gathered up by the military. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.

The changes come as the U.S. Embassy issued a new security warning Saturday telling citizens not to travel to the Kabul airport without individual instruction from a U.S. government representative. Officials declined to provide more specifics about the IS threat but described it as significant. They said there have beenno confirmed attacks as yet

Time is running out ahead of President Joe Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw most remaining U.S. troops. In his remarks on the situation Friday, he did not commit to extending it, though he did issue a new pledge to evacuate not only all Americans in Afghanistan, but also the tens of thousands of Afghans who have aided the war effort since Sept. 11, 2001. That promise would dramatically expand the number of people the U.S. evacuates.

Biden faces growing criticism as videos depict pandemonium and occasional violence outside the airport, and as vulnerable Afghans who fear the Taliban’s retaliation send desperate pleas not to be left behind.

The Islamic State group — which has long declared a desire to attack America and U.S. interests abroad — has been active in Afghanistan for a number of years, carrying out waves of horrific attacks, mostly on the Shiite minority. The group has been repeatedly targeted by U.S. airstrikes in recent years, as well as Taliban attacks. But officials say fragments of the group are still active in Afghanistan, and the U.S. is concerned about it reconstituting in a larger way as the country comes under divisive Taliban rule.

Despite the U.S. Embassy warning, crowds remain outside the Kabul airport’s concrete barriers, clutching documents and sometimes stunned-looking children, blocked from flight by coils of razor wire.

Meanwhile, the Taliban’s top political leader arrived in Kabul for talks on forming a new government. The presence of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who returned to Kandahar earlier this week from Qatar, was confirmed by a Taliban official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the news media. Baradar negotiated the religious movement’s 2020 peace deal with the U.S., and he is now expected to play a key role in negotiations between the Taliban and officials from the Afghan government that the militant group deposed.

Afghan officials familiar with talks held in the capital say the Taliban have said they will not make announcements on their government until the Aug. 31 deadline for the troop withdrawal passes.

Abdullah Abdullah, a senior official in the ousted government, tweeted that he and ex-President Hamid Karzai met Saturday with Taliban’s acting governor for Kabul, who “assured us that he would do everything possible for the security of the people” of the city.

Evacuations continued, though some outgoing flights were far from full because of the airport chaos. The German military said in a tweet that one plane left Kabul on Saturday with 205 evacuees, while a second aircraft carried only 20. The Italian Defense Ministry announced the evacuation Saturday of 211 Afghans, which it said brought to 2,100 the number of Afghan workers at Italian missions and their families who have been safely evacuated.

On Friday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said around 1,000 people a day were being evacuated amid a “stabilization” at the airport. But on Saturday, a former Royal Marine-turned charity director in Afghanistan said the situation was getting worse, not better.

“We can’t leave the country because we can’t get into the airport without putting our lives at risk,” Paul Farthing told BBC radio.

Army Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, Joint Staff deputy director for regional operations, told Pentagon reporters Saturday that the U.S. has evacuated 17,000 people through the Kabul airport since Aug. 15. About 2,500 have been Americans, he said. U.S. officials have estimated there are as many as 15,000 Americans in Afghanistan, but acknowledge they don’t have solid numbers. In the past day, about 3,800 civilians were evacuated from Afghanistan through a combination of U.S. military and charter flights, Taylor said. Three flights of Afghan evacuees have arrived at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.

The evacuations have been hampered by screening and logistical strains at way stations such as al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar. U.S. officials said they have limited numbers of screeners, and they are struggling to work through glitches in the vetting systems.

Taylor said that the Kabul airport remains open, and that Americans continue to be processed if they get to the gates, but he and Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the threat picture changes by the hour.

“We know that we’re fighting against both time and space,” Kirby said. “That’s the race we’re in right now.”

The Biden administration was considering calling on U.S. commercial airlines to provide planes and crews to assist in transporting Afghan refugees once they were evacuated from their country by military aircraft. Under the voluntary Civil Reserve Air Fleet program, civilian airlines add to military aircraft capability during a crisis related to national defense.

The U.S. Transportation Command said Saturday it had issued a warning order to U.S. carriers Friday night on the possible activation of the program. If called upon, commercial airlines would transport evacuees from way stations outside Afghanistan to another country or from Virginia’s Dulles International Airport to U.S. military bases.

So far, 13 countries have agreed to host at-risk Afghans at least temporarily, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Another 12 have agreed to serve as transit points for evacuees, including Americans and others.

“We are tired. We are happy. We are now in a safe country,” one Afghan man said upon arrival in Italy with 79 fellow citizens, speaking in a video distributed by that country’s defense ministry.

But the growing question for many other Afghans is, where will they finally call home? Already, European leaders who fear a repeat of the 2015 migration crisis&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-middle-east-business-migration-taliban-6415008d9a07b57400691cc88a59a1fe">are signaling</a>&nbsp;that fleeing Afghans who didn’t help Western forces during the war should stay in neighboring countries instead.

Remaining in Afghanistan means adapting to life under the Taliban, who say they seek an “inclusive, Islamic” government, will offer full amnesty to those who worked for the U.S. and the Western-backed government and have become more moderate since they last held power from 1996 to 2001. They also have said — without elaborating — that they will honor women’s rights within the norms of Islamic law.

But many Afghans fear a return to the Taliban’s harsh rule in the late 1990s, when the group barred women from attending school or working outside the home, banned television and music, chopped off the hands of suspected thieves and held public executions.

“Today, some of my friends went to work at the court and the Taliban didn’t let them into their offices. They showed their guns and said, ‘You’re not eligible to work in this government if you worked in the past one,’” one women’s activist in Kabul told The Associated Press on Saturday. She spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

With a Turkish visa but no way to safely reach the airport, the activist described the gap between the Taliban’s words and actions “very alarming.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is raising concerns that the Islamic State poses a threat as American troops seek to evacuate thousands of U.S. citizens and Afghan allies from Afghanistan.

Biden in remarks at the White House on Sunday noted that the terror group is a “sworn enemy of the Taliban” and said that the longer U.S. troops are on the ground increases the chance that the group will attempt to strike innocent civilians and American personnel near the Hamid Karzai International Airport.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul has been warning Americans to avoid traveling to the airport in part because of concerns about Islamic State fighters.

The extremist group has long declared a desire to attack America and U.S. interests abroad and it has been active in Afghanistan for a number of years, carrying out waves of horrific attacks, mostly on the Shiite minority.

The group has been repeatedly targeted by U.S. airstrikes in recent years, and faced Taliban attacks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says the U.S.-led evacuation of Americans, at-risk Afghans and others from the Kabul airport has picked up speed this weekend. 

Speaking at the White House on Sunday, Biden said 11,000 evacuees had been airlifted out of the Afghan capital in a 36-hour period. 

Tens of thousands of people remain to join the airlift, which has been slowed by security issues and U.S. bureaucracy hurdles. The Pentagon has ordered six U.S. commercial airlines to help move evacuees from temporary sites outside of Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden plans to provide a public update on Afghanistan Sunday afternoon.

 Earlier, the President met with his national security team. And Afghanistan will be the chief topic of discussion when Biden and leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations meet virtually on Tuesday. 

Biden administration officials say the U.S. military is considering “creative ways” to get Americans and others into the Kabul airport for evacuation from Afghanistan amid “acute” security threats. The Pentagon has ordered six U.S. commercial airlines to help move evacuees from temporary sites outside of Afghanistan.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1629663997116.png" alt="On Sunday, the President said, "We have a long way to go (in Afghanistan) and a lot could still go wrong." Photo courtesy White House" />
 <figcaption>On Sunday, the President said, "We have a long way to go (in Afghanistan) and a lot could still go wrong." Photo courtesy White House</figcaption>
 </figure>KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Potential Islamic State threats against Americans in Afghanistan are forcing the U.S. military to develop new ways to get evacuees to the airport in Kabul, a senior U.S. official said Saturday, adding a new complication to the already chaotic efforts to get people out of the country after its swift fall to the Taliban.<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?514201-1/president-biden-updates-nation-afghanistan-hurricane-henri&amp;live">Click here to watch</a>&nbsp;a replay of the President's commentsThe official said that small groups of Americans and possibly other civilians will be given specific instructions on what to do, including movement to transit points where they can be gathered up by the military. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.The changes come as the U.S. Embassy issued a new security warning Saturday telling citizens not to travel to the Kabul airport without individual instruction from a U.S. government representative. Officials declined to provide more specifics about the IS threat but described it as significant. They said there have beenno confirmed attacks as yetTime is running out ahead of President Joe Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw most remaining U.S. troops. In his remarks on the situation Friday, he did not commit to extending it, though he did issue a new pledge to evacuate not only all Americans in Afghanistan, but also the tens of thousands of Afghans who have aided the war effort since Sept. 11, 2001. That promise would dramatically expand the number of people the U.S. evacuates.Biden faces growing criticism as videos depict pandemonium and occasional violence outside the airport, and as vulnerable Afghans who fear the Taliban’s retaliation send desperate pleas not to be left behind.The Islamic State group — which has long declared a desire to attack America and U.S. interests abroad — has been active in Afghanistan for a number of years, carrying out waves of horrific attacks, mostly on the Shiite minority. The group has been repeatedly targeted by U.S. airstrikes in recent years, as well as Taliban attacks. But officials say fragments of the group are still active in Afghanistan, and the U.S. is concerned about it reconstituting in a larger way as the country comes under divisive Taliban rule.Despite the U.S. Embassy warning, crowds remain outside the Kabul airport’s concrete barriers, clutching documents and sometimes stunned-looking children, blocked from flight by coils of razor wire.Meanwhile, the Taliban’s top political leader arrived in Kabul for talks on forming a new government. The presence of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who returned to Kandahar earlier this week from Qatar, was confirmed by a Taliban official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the news media. Baradar negotiated the religious movement’s 2020 peace deal with the U.S., and he is now expected to play a key role in negotiations between the Taliban and officials from the Afghan government that the militant group deposed.Afghan officials familiar with talks held in the capital say the Taliban have said they will not make announcements on their government until the Aug. 31 deadline for the troop withdrawal passes.Abdullah Abdullah, a senior official in the ousted government, tweeted that he and ex-President Hamid Karzai met Saturday with Taliban’s acting governor for Kabul, who “assured us that he would do everything possible for the security of the people” of the city.Evacuations continued, though some outgoing flights were far from full because of the airport chaos. The German military said in a tweet that one plane left Kabul on Saturday with 205 evacuees, while a second aircraft carried only 20. The Italian Defense Ministry announced the evacuation Saturday of 211 Afghans, which it said brought to 2,100 the number of Afghan workers at Italian missions and their families who have been safely evacuated.On Friday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said around 1,000 people a day were being evacuated amid a “stabilization” at the airport. But on Saturday, a former Royal Marine-turned charity director in Afghanistan said the situation was getting worse, not better.“We can’t leave the country because we can’t get into the airport without putting our lives at risk,” Paul Farthing told BBC radio.Army Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, Joint Staff deputy director for regional operations, told Pentagon reporters Saturday that the U.S. has evacuated 17,000 people through the Kabul airport since Aug. 15. About 2,500 have been Americans, he said. U.S. officials have estimated there are as many as 15,000 Americans in Afghanistan, but acknowledge they don’t have solid numbers. In the past day, about 3,800 civilians were evacuated from Afghanistan through a combination of U.S. military and charter flights, Taylor said. Three flights of Afghan evacuees have arrived at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.The evacuations have been hampered by screening and logistical strains at way stations such as al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar. U.S. officials said they have limited numbers of screeners, and they are struggling to work through glitches in the vetting systems.Taylor said that the Kabul airport remains open, and that Americans continue to be processed if they get to the gates, but he and Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the threat picture changes by the hour.“We know that we’re fighting against both time and space,” Kirby said. “That’s the race we’re in right now.”The Biden administration was considering calling on U.S. commercial airlines to provide planes and crews to assist in transporting Afghan refugees once they were evacuated from their country by military aircraft. Under the voluntary Civil Reserve Air Fleet program, civilian airlines add to military aircraft capability during a crisis related to national defense.The U.S. Transportation Command said Saturday it had issued a warning order to U.S. carriers Friday night on the possible activation of the program. If called upon, commercial airlines would transport evacuees from way stations outside Afghanistan to another country or from Virginia’s Dulles International Airport to U.S. military bases.So far, 13 countries have agreed to host at-risk Afghans at least temporarily, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Another 12 have agreed to serve as transit points for evacuees, including Americans and others.“We are tired. We are happy. We are now in a safe country,” one Afghan man said upon arrival in Italy with 79 fellow citizens, speaking in a video distributed by that country’s defense ministry.But the growing question for many other Afghans is, where will they finally call home? Already, European leaders who fear a repeat of the 2015 migration crisis&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-middle-east-business-migration-taliban-6415008d9a07b57400691cc88a59a1fe">are signaling</a>&nbsp;that fleeing Afghans who didn’t help Western forces during the war should stay in neighboring countries instead.Remaining in Afghanistan means adapting to life under the Taliban, who say they seek an “inclusive, Islamic” government, will offer full amnesty to those who worked for the U.S. and the Western-backed government and have become more moderate since they last held power from 1996 to 2001. They also have said — without elaborating — that they will honor women’s rights within the norms of Islamic law.But many Afghans fear a return to the Taliban’s harsh rule in the late 1990s, when the group barred women from attending school or working outside the home, banned television and music, chopped off the hands of suspected thieves and held public executions.“Today, some of my friends went to work at the court and the Taliban didn’t let them into their offices. They showed their guns and said, ‘You’re not eligible to work in this government if you worked in the past one,’” one women’s activist in Kabul told The Associated Press on Saturday. She spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.With a Turkish visa but no way to safely reach the airport, the activist described the gap between the Taliban’s words and actions “very alarming.----------WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is raising concerns that the Islamic State poses a threat as American troops seek to evacuate thousands of U.S. citizens and Afghan allies from Afghanistan.<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?514201-1/president-biden-updates-nation-afghanistan-hurricane-henri&amp;live">Click here to watch</a>&nbsp;a replay of the President's commentsBiden in remarks at the White House on Sunday noted that the terror group is a “sworn enemy of the Taliban” and said that the longer U.S. troops are on the ground increases the chance that the group will attempt to strike innocent civilians and American personnel near the Hamid Karzai International Airport.The U.S. Embassy in Kabul has been warning Americans to avoid traveling to the airport in part because of concerns about Islamic State fighters.The extremist group has long declared a desire to attack America and U.S. interests abroad and it has been active in Afghanistan for a number of years, carrying out waves of horrific attacks, mostly on the Shiite minority.The group has been repeatedly targeted by U.S. airstrikes in recent years, and faced Taliban attacks.___WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says the U.S.-led evacuation of Americans, at-risk Afghans and others from the Kabul airport has picked up speed this weekend. <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?514201-1/president-biden-updates-nation-afghanistan-hurricane-henri&amp;live">Click here to watch</a>&nbsp;a replay of the President's commentsSpeaking at the White House on Sunday, Biden said 11,000 evacuees had been airlifted out of the Afghan capital in a 36-hour period. Tens of thousands of people remain to join the airlift, which has been slowed by security issues and U.S. bureaucracy hurdles. The Pentagon has ordered six U.S. commercial airlines to help move evacuees from temporary sites outside of Afghanistan.---------<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1629660414944.png" alt="&nbsp;The President met with his national security team to discuss the security situation in Afghanistan, counterterrorism operations, evacuation efforts, and intensive diplomatic efforts to finalize agreements with additional third-party country transit hubs-photo courtesy White House " />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;The President met with his national security team to discuss the security situation in Afghanistan, counterterrorism operations, evacuation efforts, and intensive diplomatic efforts to finalize agreements with additional third-party country transit hubs-photo courtesy White House </figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden plans to provide a public update on Afghanistan Sunday afternoon. Earlier, the President met with his national security team. And Afghanistan will be the chief topic of discussion when Biden and leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations meet virtually on Tuesday. Biden administration officials say the U.S. military is considering “creative ways” to get Americans and others into the Kabul airport for evacuation from Afghanistan amid “acute” security threats. The Pentagon has ordered six U.S. commercial airlines to help move evacuees from temporary sites outside of Afghanistan.

🎥  Pres. Biden: ISIS threat forces US changes to evacuations at Kabul airport

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Kansas City police are investigating two separate homicides that were reported Saturday night.

In the first incident, officers found a 15-year-old boy with gunshot wounds on the front porch of a home around 7:45 p.m. Saturday, police department spokesman Sgt. Jake Becchina said. The boy died at the scene.

Police believe the shooting took place in front of the home in the 3500 block of Agnes Avenue. No arrests were reported immediately.

The teen was identified as Damario Gentry.

In the second incident, officers found a man with stab wounds who was unresponsive after a disturbance was reported around 11:15 p.m. Saturday.

Becchina said the man, who was found in a car, was taken to hospital where he died. Detectives spoke with witnesses and detained a person of interest afterward.

These&nbsp; two killings were the 99th and 100th homicides of the year in Kansas City.

Police did not immediately release the name or age of the stabbing victim.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1629636990746.png" alt="Police have not reported an arrest -photo KCPD" />
 <figcaption>Police have not reported an arrest -photo KCPD</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) — Kansas City police are investigating two separate homicides that were reported Saturday night.In the first incident, officers found a 15-year-old boy with gunshot wounds on the front porch of a home around 7:45 p.m. Saturday, police department spokesman Sgt. Jake Becchina said. The boy died at the scene.Police believe the shooting took place in front of the home in the 3500 block of Agnes Avenue. No arrests were reported immediately.The teen was identified as Damario Gentry.In the second incident, officers found a man with stab wounds who was unresponsive after a disturbance was reported around 11:15 p.m. Saturday.Becchina said the man, who was found in a car, was taken to hospital where he died. Detectives spoke with witnesses and detained a person of interest afterward.These&nbsp; two killings were the 99th and 100th homicides of the year in Kansas City.Police did not immediately release the name or age of the stabbing victim.

Police: Teen victim is 99th homicide of 2021 in Kansas City

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Authorities are working to determine the cause of a weekend house fire.

Just after 9a.m. Saturday, fire crews responded to the fire at a home at&nbsp; at 1600 S.W. Clay Street in Topeka, according to Fire Marshal Todd Harrison.

Upon arrival, fire crews found smoke and flames coming from the two-story home. Firefighters began an offensive fire attack, keeping the fire confined to the structure of origin. Firefighters established a defensive fire attack. Once conditions allowed, firefighters performed a primary search and found no occupants. The structure was vacant at the time of the fire.

A preliminary investigation indicates the fire was intentionally set, according to Harrison. The estimated dollar loss – $12,000.00; all of which is associated with structure loss.

Working smoke detectors were not located within the structure of fire origin.

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Authorities are working to determine the cause of a weekend house fire.Just after 9a.m. Saturday, fire crews responded to the fire at a home at&nbsp; at 1600 S.W. Clay Street in Topeka, according to Fire Marshal Todd Harrison.Upon arrival, fire crews found smoke and flames coming from the two-story home. Firefighters began an offensive fire attack, keeping the fire confined to the structure of origin. Firefighters established a defensive fire attack. Once conditions allowed, firefighters performed a primary search and found no occupants. The structure was vacant at the time of the fire.A preliminary investigation indicates the fire was intentionally set, according to Harrison. The estimated dollar loss – $12,000.00; all of which is associated with structure loss.Working smoke detectors were not located within the structure of fire origin.

Authorities investigate arson fire at Kansas home

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Two Kansas men are facing prison sentences after taking part in a pair of bank robberies, according to the United State's Attorney.

A federal jury convicted Michael Shiferaw, 22, of Olathe of two counts of Armed Bank Robbery and two counts of Discharging a Firearm in Connection with a Bank Robbery. Kenya Breakfield, 23, of Olathe pleaded guilty to one count of Armed Bank Robbery and one count of Discharging a Firearm in Connection with a Bank Robbery.

According to court documents, in October 2018, Shiferaw and Breakfield went into a Wells Fargo bank in Leawood, Kansas wearing face masks and carrying handguns. Shiferaw fired a shot into the ceiling upon entering. 

He then pointed a gun at the tellers and forced them to fill a duffel bag with money. The men fired another round into the ceiling, yelling “happy holidays” before fleeing the bank with the money.

In March 2019, the men robbed the Commerce Bank in Roeland Park, Kansas. This time Breakfield remained in the vehicle as the getaway driver, and Shiferaw entered the bank alone. Shiferaw fired four rounds during the robbery, including one aimed at a customer trying to enter the bank.

The defendants were arrested shortly after the second robbery, and law enforcement recovered the firearm used in both crimes. Prosecutors agreed to drop the charges against Breakfield in connection with the Commerce Bank robbery in exchange for his guilty plea in the Wells Fargo case. 

A Bank Robbery conviction carries a maximum of 25 years in prison for each count. A conviction of Discharging a Firearm During a Bank Robbery carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, consecutive with any other sentence.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Olathe Police Department, Leawood Police Department, Roeland Park Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service investigated the case.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1629232104778.png" alt="Shiferaw-photo Wyandotte Co." />
 <figcaption>Shiferaw-photo Wyandotte Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Two Kansas men are facing prison sentences after taking part in a pair of bank robberies, according to the United State's Attorney.A federal jury convicted Michael Shiferaw, 22, of Olathe of two counts of Armed Bank Robbery and two counts of Discharging a Firearm in Connection with a Bank Robbery. Kenya Breakfield, 23, of Olathe pleaded guilty to one count of Armed Bank Robbery and one count of Discharging a Firearm in Connection with a Bank Robbery.According to court documents, in October 2018, Shiferaw and Breakfield went into a Wells Fargo bank in Leawood, Kansas wearing face masks and carrying handguns. Shiferaw fired a shot into the ceiling upon entering. He then pointed a gun at the tellers and forced them to fill a duffel bag with money. The men fired another round into the ceiling, yelling “happy holidays” before fleeing the bank with the money.In March 2019, the men robbed the Commerce Bank in Roeland Park, Kansas. This time Breakfield remained in the vehicle as the getaway driver, and Shiferaw entered the bank alone. Shiferaw fired four rounds during the robbery, including one aimed at a customer trying to enter the bank.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1629232187579.png" alt="Breakfield-photo Wyandotte Co." />
 <figcaption>Breakfield-photo Wyandotte Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>The defendants were arrested shortly after the second robbery, and law enforcement recovered the firearm used in both crimes. Prosecutors agreed to drop the charges against Breakfield in connection with the Commerce Bank robbery in exchange for his guilty plea in the Wells Fargo case. Shiferaw elected to go to trial.A Bank Robbery conviction carries a maximum of 25 years in prison for each count. A conviction of Discharging a Firearm During a Bank Robbery carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, consecutive with any other sentence.The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Olathe Police Department, Leawood Police Department, Roeland Park Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service investigated the case.