By BRIAN GRIMMETT <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/post/hotter-nights-climate-change-will-mean-worse-harvests-kansas-farmers">Kansas News Service</a>

MANHATTAN, Kansas — Climate change conjures notions 
of rising water levels along the coasts, severe drought in the 
Intermountain West and the record temperatures baking the Pacific 
Northwest this week.

New
 research from Kansas State University shows that rising overnight 
temperatures hurt wheat harvests. Rice, corn and barley all face similar
 problems.

While researchers also look into finding more 
resilient varieties of those crops to account for the change, the 
immediate climate trends could have a dramatic impact.

In
 trials of some of the most popular varieties of wheat grown in Kansas, 
K-State and North Carolina State University researchers found that an 
increase of only 1 degree Celsius (about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in 
overnight temperatures caused a 5% reduction in wheat yield.

“Most
 people think plants aren’t dynamic, but they are,” said Colleen 
Doherty, an associate professor of biochemistry at North Carolina State 
University. “Plants are constantly regulating their biological processes
 — gearing up for photosynthesis just before dawn, winding that down in 
the late afternoon, determining precisely how and where to burn their 
energy resources.”

She said their experiments showed that hotter 
overnight temperatures confuse the plant’s internal clock. With a 
screwed up clock, the plant has a harder time turning the sugars 
produced during photosynthesis in the day into plant growth.

“The
 amount of wheat that you’ll get will go down, but also the quality of 
wheat will go down,” said K-State crop physiologist Krishna Jagadish. 
“So your bread probably may start to taste a little bit different in the
 future.”

Average summer nighttime 
temperatures have been increasing across the state. Since 1970, the 
average low in the Wichita area has increased 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. In
 Topeka, it increased 3.5 degrees.

At the same time, the average summer high temperature only increased 1.4 degrees in Wichita and 2.8 degrees in Topeka.

Jagadish
 said it’s harder for people to notice these changes when the average 
temperature is increasing more during the night than it is in the day. 
But researchers, like him, are beginning to look more into the issue and
 to provide information that reveals the true extent of the dangers.

Rising
 overnight temperatures aren’t the only negative impacts from climate 
change that Kansans can expect to experience. Assistant state 
climatologist Mary Knapp says we’re already seeing changes in 
precipitation patterns.

“We’re getting more rain, but it may not be distributed as evenly as needed,” she said.

That
 means some places are going from very dry to getting the expected 
monthly rain total in a single day. That won’t show up in long-term 
averages, but has real consequences.

“You’ve got more of it running off,” she said. “You’ve got more erosion issues and you’ve got more flooding issues.”

Knapp
 also said Kansas winters are getting milder. She said the state will 
still experience its typical spring freezes in March and April, but 
milder Decembers and Januarys will confuse trees and plants, making them
 less resilient to those freezes.

It’s
 not all doom and gloom from the wheat research. There’s already 
evidence that some varieties of wheat are more resilient to temperature 
increases in both the day and the night. Jagadish said once those traits
 have been genetically identified, scientists can begin breeding new 
varieties that combine that trait with other proven varieties.

“It is going to take time,” he said. “But I think that’s the way to do it and we are making progress.”

The
 researchers suspect the sensitivity to rising nighttime temperatures 
can be found in all starchy grains. They’ve now turned their attention 
to corn, to prove their hypothesis.

“(Our study) is not just an interesting scientific question,” Doherty said. “It’s a global food security issue.”

Brian Grimmett reports on the environment, energy and natural resources for KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News Service.

Image by&nbsp;<a href="https://pixabay.com/users/konevi-6622462/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=3491611">Konevi</a>&nbsp;from&nbsp;<a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=3491611">Pixabay</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/6/1625070877955.jpeg" alt="Image courtesy Pixabay" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy Pixabay</figcaption>
 </figure>By BRIAN GRIMMETT <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/post/hotter-nights-climate-change-will-mean-worse-harvests-kansas-farmers">Kansas News Service</a>MANHATTAN, Kansas — Climate change conjures notions 
of rising water levels along the coasts, severe drought in the 
Intermountain West and the record temperatures baking the Pacific 
Northwest this week.Add to that toasty Kansas evenings.New
 research from Kansas State University shows that rising overnight 
temperatures hurt wheat harvests. Rice, corn and barley all face similar
 problems.While researchers also look into finding more 
resilient varieties of those crops to account for the change, the 
immediate climate trends could have a dramatic impact.<h2>Wheat impact</h2>In
 trials of some of the most popular varieties of wheat grown in Kansas, 
K-State and North Carolina State University researchers found that an 
increase of only 1 degree Celsius (about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in 
overnight temperatures caused a 5% reduction in wheat yield.“Most
 people think plants aren’t dynamic, but they are,” said Colleen 
Doherty, an associate professor of biochemistry at North Carolina State 
University. “Plants are constantly regulating their biological processes
 — gearing up for photosynthesis just before dawn, winding that down in 
the late afternoon, determining precisely how and where to burn their 
energy resources.”She said their experiments showed that hotter 
overnight temperatures confuse the plant’s internal clock. With a 
screwed up clock, the plant has a harder time turning the sugars 
produced during photosynthesis in the day into plant growth.“The
 amount of wheat that you’ll get will go down, but also the quality of 
wheat will go down,” said K-State crop physiologist Krishna Jagadish. 
“So your bread probably may start to taste a little bit different in the
 future.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/6/1625070998470.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Summer nights</h2>Average summer nighttime 
temperatures have been increasing across the state. Since 1970, the 
average low in the Wichita area has increased 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. In
 Topeka, it increased 3.5 degrees.At the same time, the average summer high temperature only increased 1.4 degrees in Wichita and 2.8 degrees in Topeka.Jagadish
 said it’s harder for people to notice these changes when the average 
temperature is increasing more during the night than it is in the day. 
But researchers, like him, are beginning to look more into the issue and
 to provide information that reveals the true extent of the dangers.<h2>Climate impacts</h2>Rising
 overnight temperatures aren’t the only negative impacts from climate 
change that Kansans can expect to experience. Assistant state 
climatologist Mary Knapp says we’re already seeing changes in 
precipitation patterns.“We’re getting more rain, but it may not be distributed as evenly as needed,” she said.That
 means some places are going from very dry to getting the expected 
monthly rain total in a single day. That won’t show up in long-term 
averages, but has real consequences.“You’ve got more of it running off,” she said. “You’ve got more erosion issues and you’ve got more flooding issues.”Knapp
 also said Kansas winters are getting milder. She said the state will 
still experience its typical spring freezes in March and April, but 
milder Decembers and Januarys will confuse trees and plants, making them
 less resilient to those freezes.<h2>Climate Adaptation</h2>It’s
 not all doom and gloom from the wheat research. There’s already 
evidence that some varieties of wheat are more resilient to temperature 
increases in both the day and the night. Jagadish said once those traits
 have been genetically identified, scientists can begin breeding new 
varieties that combine that trait with other proven varieties.“It is going to take time,” he said. “But I think that’s the way to do it and we are making progress.”The
 researchers suspect the sensitivity to rising nighttime temperatures 
can be found in all starchy grains. They’ve now turned their attention 
to corn, to prove their hypothesis.“(Our study) is not just an interesting scientific question,” Doherty said. “It’s a global food security issue.”Brian Grimmett reports on the environment, energy and natural resources for KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News Service. Image by&nbsp;<a href="https://pixabay.com/users/konevi-6622462/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=3491611">Konevi</a>&nbsp;from&nbsp;<a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=3491611">Pixabay</a>

Hotter nights from climate change will mean worse harvests for farmers

CRAWFORD COUNTY—A Kansas man died in an accident just after 11p.m. Saturday in Crawford County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Ford Expedition driven by Virgil L. McCullouch, 73, Frontenac, was southbound in the 800 block of N. Cayuga in Frontenac.

The SUV left the right side of the roadway, struck a set of mailboxes, a driveway and concrete storm ditch culvert.

McCullouch was transported Via Christi in Pittsburgh where he was pronounced dead. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

CRAWFORD COUNTY—A Kansas man died in an accident just after 11p.m. Saturday in Crawford County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Ford Expedition driven by Virgil L. McCullouch, 73, Frontenac, was southbound in the 800 block of N. Cayuga in Frontenac.The SUV left the right side of the roadway, struck a set of mailboxes, a driveway and concrete storm ditch culvert.McCullouch was transported Via Christi in Pittsburgh where he was pronounced dead. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

Kansas man dies after violent SUV crash

SUMNER COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal pedestrian accident in Sumner County.

Just after 10:30 p.m. Saturday, a northbound vehicle struck a pedestrian who was in the right hand lane of the Kansas Turnpike in southern Sumner County.&nbsp;

Authorities released no additional details early Sunday.

SUMNER COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal pedestrian accident in Sumner County.Just after 10:30 p.m. Saturday, a northbound vehicle struck a pedestrian who was in the right hand lane of the Kansas Turnpike in southern Sumner County.&nbsp;Authorities released no additional details early Sunday.

KHP investigating fatal pedestrian accident

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man was killed and two other people were injured after a shooting in southeast Wichita. KWCH-TV reports that police responding to multiple calls of a shooting around 1:30 a.m. Sunday found a 49-year-old man dead. 

A 14-year-old boy and a 36-year-old man also had gunshot wounds. The boy and injured man were taken to the hospital, where they were treated and released. Police say they believe there was an altercation that led up to the shooting. 

Police are investigating, but say they are not looking for additional suspects at this time.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/7/1625428665524.png" alt="Police are investigating but not looking for additional suspects-photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Police are investigating but not looking for additional suspects-photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man was killed and two other people were injured after a shooting in southeast Wichita. KWCH-TV reports that police responding to multiple calls of a shooting around 1:30 a.m. Sunday found a 49-year-old man dead. A 14-year-old boy and a 36-year-old man also had gunshot wounds. The boy and injured man were taken to the hospital, where they were treated and released. Police say they believe there was an altercation that led up to the shooting. Police are investigating, but say they are not looking for additional suspects at this time.

49-year-old dies after Independence Day shooting in Kansas

SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas man accused of&nbsp; an alleged sexual assault made his first court appearance Wednesday.

Jeremy Brown, 31 of Valley Center, was charged with four counts of rape, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.

Just before 4:30a.m. June 26, police responded to a report of rape at a home in the 1600 block of South St. Paul Street in Wichita, according to Officer Charley Davidson and contacted a 72-year-old woman identified as a victim.

Investigators learned the 72-year-old woman was with a 37-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man at a local bar where they met 31-year-old Jeremy Brown and then all four met at a home on St. Paul Street. At the residence, Brown is alleged to have sexually assaulted the 72-year-old.

Officers arrested&nbsp;<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=352939">Brown on a requested charge for rape</a>. He was booked into the Sedgwick County J<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=352939">ail on a $100,000 bond</a>&nbsp;and is no longer in custody. Booking details list him as 6-foot-4 inches tall and 400 pounds. His next court appearance is scheduled for July 8, according to the district attorney.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/6/1625051561119.png" alt="Brown-photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Brown-photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas man accused of&nbsp; an alleged sexual assault made his first court appearance Wednesday.Jeremy Brown, 31 of Valley Center, was charged with four counts of rape, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.Just before 4:30a.m. June 26, police responded to a report of rape at a home in the 1600 block of South St. Paul Street in Wichita, according to Officer Charley Davidson and contacted a 72-year-old woman identified as a victim.Investigators learned the 72-year-old woman was with a 37-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man at a local bar where they met 31-year-old Jeremy Brown and then all four met at a home on St. Paul Street. At the residence, Brown is alleged to have sexually assaulted the 72-year-old.Officers arrested&nbsp;<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=352939">Brown on a requested charge for rape</a>. He was booked into the Sedgwick County J<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=352939">ail on a $100,000 bond</a>&nbsp;and is no longer in custody. Booking details list him as 6-foot-4 inches tall and 400 pounds. His next court appearance is scheduled for July 8, according to the district attorney.

Kan. man charged with rape of 72-year-old woman

KANSAS CITY – Six Houston, Texas, residents have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to travel across the country breaking into bank ATMs and stealing the money inside, including at least one theft in Kansas City, according to the United States Attorney.

Deandre J. Gilliam, 19, Ladarious S. Thomas, 28, Jamarkus D. Bogany, 19, J’Korean K. Hadnott, 19, Ocatvious Q. Waiters, 20, and Clayton J. Brown, 21, were charged in a three-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City on June 23, 2021. 

That indictment was unsealed and made public Friday upon the arrest and initial court appearances of Gilliam, Thomas, Bogany, Waiters, and Brown in U.S. District Court in Houston. Gilliam, Thomas, Bogany, Waiters, and Brown are being held in federal custody in the Southern District of Texas pending a detention hearing in that district tomorrow.

The federal indictment alleges the defendants, along with additional co-conspirators not identified or charged in the indictment, participated in a conspiracy from Nov. 10, 2019, to March 6, 2020, to travel in groups or teams from Texas to other states, including Missouri and Kansas, to steal from banks by forcing open ATMs and stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the cash boxes.

According to the indictment, conspirators would steal a large pick-up truck for the theft. They attached tow chains with hooks to the pick-up truck, then searched for a suitable ATM to burglarize. After conducting surveillance and with some conspirators serving as lookouts, the indictment says, conspirators used pry bars or tow chain hooks to forcibly pry open or pry apart the ATM’s protective metal encasement. After the ATM had been opened or disassembled, the conspirators would then remove the ATM canisters containing cash. They then abandoned the stolen truck and traveled back to Texas.

The indictment alleges that all six defendants left Houston on March 5, 2020, and traveled to the Kansas City metropolitan area in three separate vehicles. Conspirators allegedly stole a Ford F-250 pickup on March 6, 2020, that was parked on the street in Fairway, Kansas. At approximately 5:30 a.m. the same day, the indictment says, conspirators connected tow chains to the stolen Ford F-250 and to the door of an ATM at Chase Bank, 1614 E. 63rd&nbsp;Street in Kansas City, Mo. They used the force of acceleration from the truck to remove the exterior metal panel of the ATM, then removed canisters that contained a total of $150,220 from inside the damaged ATM. They abandoned the stolen truck in the parking lot of a nearby apartment building.

Later the same day, the indictment says, law enforcement officers in Montgomery County, Texas, spotted the three vehicles being driven by the defendants, who were traveling in tandem southbound on Interstate 45. Officers attempted to stop all three vehicles; Hadnott and Waiters pulled over to the shoulder, but the other vehicles attempted to flee from law enforcement. A Jeep Cherokee occupied by Brown and another, unnamed conspirator fled from officers at speeds between 80-115 miles per hour before it crashed and they were apprehended. A Chevrolet Impala occupied by Thomas, Gilliam, and Bogany fled from officers at speeds between 90-125 miles per hour before all three defendants fled from the vehicle on foot. Thomas, the driver, was taken into custody after a foot chase. With the assistance of air surveillance, Bogany and Gilliam were located and arrested. Gilliam was carrying a Spiderman backpack that contained approximately $72,385 (primarily in $20 bills). One of the Impala occupants dropped a duffle bag while running from the police. This bag was retrieved by an unknown female before police officers could recover it.

The federal indictment charges each of the defendants with one count of conspiracy, one count of bank theft, and one count of transporting stolen property across state lines.

KANSAS CITY – Six Houston, Texas, residents have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to travel across the country breaking into bank ATMs and stealing the money inside, including at least one theft in Kansas City, according to the United States Attorney.Deandre J. Gilliam, 19, Ladarious S. Thomas, 28, Jamarkus D. Bogany, 19, J’Korean K. Hadnott, 19, Ocatvious Q. Waiters, 20, and Clayton J. Brown, 21, were charged in a three-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City on June 23, 2021. That indictment was unsealed and made public Friday upon the arrest and initial court appearances of Gilliam, Thomas, Bogany, Waiters, and Brown in U.S. District Court in Houston. Gilliam, Thomas, Bogany, Waiters, and Brown are being held in federal custody in the Southern District of Texas pending a detention hearing in that district tomorrow.The federal indictment alleges the defendants, along with additional co-conspirators not identified or charged in the indictment, participated in a conspiracy from Nov. 10, 2019, to March 6, 2020, to travel in groups or teams from Texas to other states, including Missouri and Kansas, to steal from banks by forcing open ATMs and stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the cash boxes.According to the indictment, conspirators would steal a large pick-up truck for the theft. They attached tow chains with hooks to the pick-up truck, then searched for a suitable ATM to burglarize. After conducting surveillance and with some conspirators serving as lookouts, the indictment says, conspirators used pry bars or tow chain hooks to forcibly pry open or pry apart the ATM’s protective metal encasement. After the ATM had been opened or disassembled, the conspirators would then remove the ATM canisters containing cash. They then abandoned the stolen truck and traveled back to Texas.The indictment alleges that all six defendants left Houston on March 5, 2020, and traveled to the Kansas City metropolitan area in three separate vehicles. Conspirators allegedly stole a Ford F-250 pickup on March 6, 2020, that was parked on the street in Fairway, Kansas. At approximately 5:30 a.m. the same day, the indictment says, conspirators connected tow chains to the stolen Ford F-250 and to the door of an ATM at Chase Bank, 1614 E. 63rd&nbsp;Street in Kansas City, Mo. They used the force of acceleration from the truck to remove the exterior metal panel of the ATM, then removed canisters that contained a total of $150,220 from inside the damaged ATM. They abandoned the stolen truck in the parking lot of a nearby apartment building.Later the same day, the indictment says, law enforcement officers in Montgomery County, Texas, spotted the three vehicles being driven by the defendants, who were traveling in tandem southbound on Interstate 45. Officers attempted to stop all three vehicles; Hadnott and Waiters pulled over to the shoulder, but the other vehicles attempted to flee from law enforcement. A Jeep Cherokee occupied by Brown and another, unnamed conspirator fled from officers at speeds between 80-115 miles per hour before it crashed and they were apprehended. A Chevrolet Impala occupied by Thomas, Gilliam, and Bogany fled from officers at speeds between 90-125 miles per hour before all three defendants fled from the vehicle on foot. Thomas, the driver, was taken into custody after a foot chase. With the assistance of air surveillance, Bogany and Gilliam were located and arrested. Gilliam was carrying a Spiderman backpack that contained approximately $72,385 (primarily in $20 bills). One of the Impala occupants dropped a duffle bag while running from the police. This bag was retrieved by an unknown female before police officers could recover it.The federal indictment charges each of the defendants with one count of conspiracy, one count of bank theft, and one count of transporting stolen property across state lines.

6 indicted for conspiracy to steal from Bank ATMs in Kan., nationwide

WASHINGTON (AP) —Businesses rushed Saturday to contain a ransomware attack that has paralyzed their computer networks, a situation complicated in the U.S. by offices lightly staffed at the start of the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

In Sweden, most of the grocery chain Coop’s 800 stores were unable to open because their cash registers weren’t working, according to SVT, the country’s public broadcaster. The Swedish State Railways and a major local pharmacy chain were also affected.

Cybersecurity experts say the REvil gang, a major Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate, appears to be behind the attack that targeted a software supplier called Kaseya, using its network-management package as a conduit to spread the ransomware through cloud-service providers.

Kaseya CEO Fred Voccola said in a statement that the company believes it has identified the source of the vulnerability and will “release that patch as quickly as possible to get our customers back up and running.”

John Hammond of the security firm Huntress Labs said he was aware of a number of managed-services providers — companies that host IT infrastructure for multiple customers — being hit by the ransomware, which encrypts networks until the victims pay off attackers.

“It’s reasonable to think this could potentially be impacting thousands of small businesses,” said Hammond, basing his estimate on the service providers reaching out to his company for assistance and comments on Reddit showing how others are responding.

Voccola said fewer than 40 of Kaseya’s customers were known to be affected, but the ransomware could still be affecting hundreds more companies that rely on Kaseya’s clients that provide broader IT services.

Voccola said the problem is only affecting its “on-premise” customers, which means organizations running their own data centers. It’s not affecting its cloud-based services running software for customers, though Kaseya also shut down those servers as a precaution, he said.

The company added in a statement Saturday that “customers who experienced ransomware and receive a communication from the attackers should not click on any links -- they may be weaponized.”

Gartner analyst Katell Thielemann said it’s clear that Kaseya quickly sprang to action, but it’s less clear whether their affected clients had the same level of preparedness.

“They reacted with an abundance of caution,” she said. “But the reality of this event is it was architected for maximum impact, combining a supply chain attack with a ransomware attack.”

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-hacking-technology-business-d83a29f1eb997f465d057af20d5435b9">Supply chain attacks</a>&nbsp;are those that typically infiltrate widely used software and spread malware as it updates automatically.

Complicating the response is that it happened at the start of a major holiday weekend in the U.S., when most corporate IT teams aren’t fully staffed.

That could also leave those organizations unable to address other security vulnerabilities, such a dangerous Microsoft bug affecting software for print jobs, said James Shank, of threat intelligence firm Team Cymru.

“Customers of Kaseya are in the worst possible situation,” he said. “They’re racing against time to get the updates out on other critical bugs.”

Shank said “it’s reasonable to think that the timing was planned” by hackers for the holiday.

The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a statement that it is closely monitoring the situation and working with the FBI to collect more information about its impact.

CISA urged anyone who might be affected to “follow Kaseya’s guidance to shut down VSA servers immediately.” Kaseya runs what’s called a virtual system administrator, or VSA, that’s used to remotely manage and monitor a customer’s network.

The privately held Kaseya is based in Dublin, Ireland, with a U.S. headquarters in Miami.

REvil, the group most experts have tied to the attack, was the same ransomware provider that the FBI linked to an attack on JBS SA, a major global meat processor, amid the Memorial Day holiday weekend in May.

Active since April 2019, the group provides ransomware-as-a-service, meaning it develops the network-paralyzing software and leases it to so-called affiliates who infect targets and earn the lion’s share of ransoms.

The Brazil-based meat company said it paid the equivalent of a $11 million ransom to the hackers, escalating calls by U.S. law enforcement to bring such groups to justice.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A ransomware attack paralyzed the networks of at least 200 U.S. companies on Friday, according to a cybersecurity researcher whose company was responding to the incident.

The REvil gang, a major Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate, appears to be behind the attack, said John Hammond of the security firm Huntress Labs. He said the criminals targeted a software supplier called Kaseya, using its network-management package as a conduit to spread the ransomware through cloud-service providers. Other researchers agreed with Hammond’s assessment.

“Kaseya handles large enterprise all the way to small businesses globally, so ultimately, (this) has the potential to spread to any size or scale business,” Hammond said in a direct message on Twitter. “This is a colossal and devastating supply chain attack.”

Such cyberattacks typically infiltrate widely used software and spread malware as it updates automatically.

It was not immediately clear how many Kaseya customers might be affected or who they might be. Kaseya urged customers in a statement&nbsp;<a href="https://helpdesk.kaseya.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4403440684689" target="_blank">on its website&nbsp;</a>to immediately shut down servers running the affected software. It said the attack was limited to a “small number” of its customers.

Brett Callow, a ransomware expert at the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, said he was unaware of any previous ransomware supply-chain attack on this scale. There have been others, but they were fairly minor, he said.

“This is SolarWinds with ransomware,” he said. He was referring to a Russian cyberespionage hacking campaign discovered in December that spread by infecting network management software to infiltrate U.S. federal agencies and scores of corporations.

Cybersecurity researcher Jake Williams, president of Rendition Infosec, said he was already working with six companies hit by the ransomware. It’s no accident that this happened before the Fourth of July weekend, when IT staffing is generally thin, he added.

“There’s zero doubt in my mind that the timing here was intentional,” he said.

Hammond of Huntress said he was aware of four managed-services providers — companies that host IT infrastructure for multiple customers — being hit by the ransomware, which encrypts networks until the victims pay off attackers. He said thousand of computers were hit.

“We currently have three Huntress partners who are impacted with roughly 200 businesses that have been encrypted,” Hammond said.

Hammond wrote on Twitter: “Based on everything we are seeing right now, we strongly believe this (is) REvil/Sodinikibi.” The FBI&nbsp;<a href="https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/ransomware-threat-assessments/7/" target="_blank">linked the same ransomware provider</a>&nbsp;to a May&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-hacking-technology-business-353f8dea34bbbba15207ff350e7a2f0f">attack on JBS SA</a>, a major global meat processer.

The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a statement late Friday that it is closely monitoring the situation and working with the FBI to collect more information about its impact.

The privately held Kaseya says it is based in Dublin, Ireland, with a U.S. headquarters in Miami. The Miami Herald recently described it as “one of Miami’s oldest tech companies” in a report about its plans to hire as many as 500 workers by 2022 to staff a recently acquired cybersecurity platform.

Brian Honan, an Irish cybersecurity consultant, said by email Friday that “this is a classic supply chain attack where the criminals have compromised a trusted supplier of companies and have abused that trust to attack their customers.”

He said it can be difficult for smaller businesses to defend against this type of attack because they “rely on the security of their suppliers and the software those suppliers are using.”

The only good news, said Williams, of Rendition Infosec, is that “a lot of our customers don’t have Kaseya on every machine in their network,” making it harder for attackers to move across an organization’s computer systems.

That makes for an easier recovery, he said.

Active since April 2019, the group known as REvil provides ransomware-as-a-service, meaning it develops the network-paralyzing software and leases it to so-called affiliates who infect targets and earn the lion’s share of ransoms.

REvil is among ransomware gangs that steal data from targets before activating the ransomware, strengthening their extortion efforts. The average ransom payment to the group was about half a million dollars last year, said the Palo Alto Networks cybersecurity firm in a recent report.

Some cybersecurity experts predicted that it might be hard for the gang to handle the ransom negotiations, given the large number of victims — though the long U.S. holiday weekend might give it more time to start working through the list.

WASHINGTON (AP) —Businesses rushed Saturday to contain a ransomware attack that has paralyzed their computer networks, a situation complicated in the U.S. by offices lightly staffed at the start of the Fourth of July holiday weekend.In Sweden, most of the grocery chain Coop’s 800 stores were unable to open because their cash registers weren’t working, according to SVT, the country’s public broadcaster. The Swedish State Railways and a major local pharmacy chain were also affected.Cybersecurity experts say the REvil gang, a major Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate, appears to be behind the attack that targeted a software supplier called Kaseya, using its network-management package as a conduit to spread the ransomware through cloud-service providers.Kaseya CEO Fred Voccola said in a statement that the company believes it has identified the source of the vulnerability and will “release that patch as quickly as possible to get our customers back up and running.”John Hammond of the security firm Huntress Labs said he was aware of a number of managed-services providers — companies that host IT infrastructure for multiple customers — being hit by the ransomware, which encrypts networks until the victims pay off attackers.“It’s reasonable to think this could potentially be impacting thousands of small businesses,” said Hammond, basing his estimate on the service providers reaching out to his company for assistance and comments on Reddit showing how others are responding.Voccola said fewer than 40 of Kaseya’s customers were known to be affected, but the ransomware could still be affecting hundreds more companies that rely on Kaseya’s clients that provide broader IT services.Voccola said the problem is only affecting its “on-premise” customers, which means organizations running their own data centers. It’s not affecting its cloud-based services running software for customers, though Kaseya also shut down those servers as a precaution, he said.The company added in a statement Saturday that “customers who experienced ransomware and receive a communication from the attackers should not click on any links -- they may be weaponized.”Gartner analyst Katell Thielemann said it’s clear that Kaseya quickly sprang to action, but it’s less clear whether their affected clients had the same level of preparedness.“They reacted with an abundance of caution,” she said. “But the reality of this event is it was architected for maximum impact, combining a supply chain attack with a ransomware attack.”<a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-hacking-technology-business-d83a29f1eb997f465d057af20d5435b9">Supply chain attacks</a>&nbsp;are those that typically infiltrate widely used software and spread malware as it updates automatically.Complicating the response is that it happened at the start of a major holiday weekend in the U.S., when most corporate IT teams aren’t fully staffed.That could also leave those organizations unable to address other security vulnerabilities, such a dangerous Microsoft bug affecting software for print jobs, said James Shank, of threat intelligence firm Team Cymru.“Customers of Kaseya are in the worst possible situation,” he said. “They’re racing against time to get the updates out on other critical bugs.”Shank said “it’s reasonable to think that the timing was planned” by hackers for the holiday.The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a statement that it is closely monitoring the situation and working with the FBI to collect more information about its impact.CISA urged anyone who might be affected to “follow Kaseya’s guidance to shut down VSA servers immediately.” Kaseya runs what’s called a virtual system administrator, or VSA, that’s used to remotely manage and monitor a customer’s network.The privately held Kaseya is based in Dublin, Ireland, with a U.S. headquarters in Miami.REvil, the group most experts have tied to the attack, was the same ransomware provider that the FBI linked to an attack on JBS SA, a major global meat processor, amid the Memorial Day holiday weekend in May.Active since April 2019, the group provides ransomware-as-a-service, meaning it develops the network-paralyzing software and leases it to so-called affiliates who infect targets and earn the lion’s share of ransoms.The Brazil-based meat company said it paid the equivalent of a $11 million ransom to the hackers, escalating calls by U.S. law enforcement to bring such groups to justice.------------WASHINGTON (AP) — A ransomware attack paralyzed the networks of at least 200 U.S. companies on Friday, according to a cybersecurity researcher whose company was responding to the incident.The REvil gang, a major Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate, appears to be behind the attack, said John Hammond of the security firm Huntress Labs. He said the criminals targeted a software supplier called Kaseya, using its network-management package as a conduit to spread the ransomware through cloud-service providers. Other researchers agreed with Hammond’s assessment.“Kaseya handles large enterprise all the way to small businesses globally, so ultimately, (this) has the potential to spread to any size or scale business,” Hammond said in a direct message on Twitter. “This is a colossal and devastating supply chain attack.”Such cyberattacks typically infiltrate widely used software and spread malware as it updates automatically.It was not immediately clear how many Kaseya customers might be affected or who they might be. Kaseya urged customers in a statement&nbsp;<a href="https://helpdesk.kaseya.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4403440684689" target="_blank">on its website&nbsp;</a>to immediately shut down servers running the affected software. It said the attack was limited to a “small number” of its customers.Brett Callow, a ransomware expert at the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, said he was unaware of any previous ransomware supply-chain attack on this scale. There have been others, but they were fairly minor, he said.“This is SolarWinds with ransomware,” he said. He was referring to a Russian cyberespionage hacking campaign discovered in December that spread by infecting network management software to infiltrate U.S. federal agencies and scores of corporations.Cybersecurity researcher Jake Williams, president of Rendition Infosec, said he was already working with six companies hit by the ransomware. It’s no accident that this happened before the Fourth of July weekend, when IT staffing is generally thin, he added.“There’s zero doubt in my mind that the timing here was intentional,” he said.Hammond of Huntress said he was aware of four managed-services providers — companies that host IT infrastructure for multiple customers — being hit by the ransomware, which encrypts networks until the victims pay off attackers. He said thousand of computers were hit.“We currently have three Huntress partners who are impacted with roughly 200 businesses that have been encrypted,” Hammond said.Hammond wrote on Twitter: “Based on everything we are seeing right now, we strongly believe this (is) REvil/Sodinikibi.” The FBI&nbsp;<a href="https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/ransomware-threat-assessments/7/" target="_blank">linked the same ransomware provider</a>&nbsp;to a May&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-hacking-technology-business-353f8dea34bbbba15207ff350e7a2f0f">attack on JBS SA</a>, a major global meat processer.The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a statement late Friday that it is closely monitoring the situation and working with the FBI to collect more information about its impact.CISA urged anyone who might be affected to “follow Kaseya’s guidance to shut down VSA servers immediately.” Kaseya runs what’s called a virtual system administrator, or VSA, that’s used to remotely manage and monitor a customer’s network.The privately held Kaseya says it is based in Dublin, Ireland, with a U.S. headquarters in Miami. The Miami Herald recently described it as “one of Miami’s oldest tech companies” in a report about its plans to hire as many as 500 workers by 2022 to staff a recently acquired cybersecurity platform.Brian Honan, an Irish cybersecurity consultant, said by email Friday that “this is a classic supply chain attack where the criminals have compromised a trusted supplier of companies and have abused that trust to attack their customers.”He said it can be difficult for smaller businesses to defend against this type of attack because they “rely on the security of their suppliers and the software those suppliers are using.”The only good news, said Williams, of Rendition Infosec, is that “a lot of our customers don’t have Kaseya on every machine in their network,” making it harder for attackers to move across an organization’s computer systems.That makes for an easier recovery, he said.Active since April 2019, the group known as REvil provides ransomware-as-a-service, meaning it develops the network-paralyzing software and leases it to so-called affiliates who infect targets and earn the lion’s share of ransoms.REvil is among ransomware gangs that steal data from targets before activating the ransomware, strengthening their extortion efforts. The average ransom payment to the group was about half a million dollars last year, said the Palo Alto Networks cybersecurity firm in a recent report.Some cybersecurity experts predicted that it might be hard for the gang to handle the ransom negotiations, given the large number of victims — though the long U.S. holiday weekend might give it more time to start working through the list.

Update: Ransomware attack hits hundreds of US companies

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Anheuser-Busch is preparing to open its taps as the U.S. inches closer to a vaccine milestone.

The Budweiser brewer promised last month that once 70% of American adults are at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19, it would buy a beer for anyone 21 or older. The U.S. isn't yet there; 66.7% of adults had gotten at least one shot as of Friday.

But the company went ahead anyway and cracked <a href="https://www.mycooler.com/en/beer/register.html">open its online redemption portal</a> at 11 a.m. Friday for the July 4 weekend.

Consumers will be able to upload a picture of themselves in their favorite beer-drinking location and get a $5 voucher for beer, seltzer, non-alcoholic beverage or other A-B product through 11 a.m. Monday.

The promotion is just the latest effort to encourage people to get vaccinated and get customers back to the bar.

In April, the Belgian brewer, which maintains its North American headquarters in St. Louis, produced an ad directing people to vaccine resources and offered 10,000 free drinks to adults 21 and older who showed proof of vaccination.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Anheuser-Busch is preparing to open its taps as the U.S. inches closer to a vaccine milestone.The Budweiser brewer promised last month that once 70% of American adults are at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19, it would buy a beer for anyone 21 or older. The U.S. isn't yet there; 66.7% of adults had gotten at least one shot as of Friday.But the company went ahead anyway and cracked <a href="https://www.mycooler.com/en/beer/register.html">open its online redemption portal</a> at 11 a.m. Friday for the July 4 weekend.Consumers will be able to upload a picture of themselves in their favorite beer-drinking location and get a $5 voucher for beer, seltzer, non-alcoholic beverage or other A-B product through 11 a.m. Monday.The promotion is just the latest effort to encourage people to get vaccinated and get customers back to the bar.In April, the Belgian brewer, which maintains its North American headquarters in St. Louis, produced an ad directing people to vaccine resources and offered 10,000 free drinks to adults 21 and older who showed proof of vaccination.

 Anheuser-Busch kicks off beer giveaway as US nears vaccination goal

American Indian, Black kids less apt than whites to reunite with parents

By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/06/30/blacks-overrepresented-among-kansas-children-ordered-into-foster-care/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — A new report by 
state auditors confirmed overrepresentation of Black children in Kansas 
foster care and that Black and American Indian children in the system 
were less likely than white children to be reunified with their parents.

Auditors told Kansas 
legislators Tuesday that Black individuals represented 6% of the state’s
 population in 2019, but accounted for 12% of the children in foster 
care. White people made up 86% of the state population, but only 78% of 
kids in foster care.

Josh Luthi, an auditor 
working for the legislative auditing division, told a joint House and 
Senate committee higher levels of poverty and greater involvement in 
social service programs among Black families could lead to more exposure
 to people required by law to report suspected child abuse or neglect. 
Another possibility is racial bias leads people to more aggressively 
raise potential problems in Black families, the audit said.

“We were already working 
on some of these things, in particular the race issue and 
disproportionality,” said Melinda Kline, deputy director of permanency 
at the Kansas Department for Children and Families.

DCF has responsibility for
 the 6,500 children in foster care. The agency employs private 
contractors — Cornerstones of Care, KVC Kansas, Saint Francis Ministries
 and TFI — to provide services to foster care families.

“TFI supports the concerns
 about racial disparities as outlined in the written audit,” said&nbsp;Ashley
 Marple, vice president of performance and risk management at TFI.

In Kansas, district courts
 decide whether a child should be declared in need of care and placed in
 foster care under custody of DCF. The assumed preference is for 
children in foster care to be eventually reunited with parents. Some 
children end up adopted or under care of someone assuming guardianship 
rights. Another portion of foster children reach emancipation age, run 
away or die, and transfer to control of the state Department of 
Corrections or tribal courts.

Rep. Kristey Williams, an 
Augusta Republican and chairwoman of the Legislature’s audit committee, 
said she was interested in determining whether children in foster care 
more frequently came from a one- or two-parent households. Auditors 
didn’t look at that question, but Williams said she was convinced 
single-parent homes placed children in a higher risk category.

Auditors discovered in a 
survey of parents with children in foster care there was a belief DCF 
mishandled investigations, caseworkers didn’t respond to telephone calls
 or were otherwise uncommunicative, turnover among caseworkers was high 
and scheduling of mental health evaluations and other appointments took 
months.

“We are aware that we’ve 
had tremendous turnover within the DCF and limited resources within the 
DCF,” said Rep. Tom Burroughs, a Democrat from Kansas City, Kansas, on 
the audit committee.

The audit sought to 
determine whether outcomes for children in foster care varied based on 
age, race, ethnicity or sex. Auditors sought answers by reviewing 28,000
 cases of children entering or exiting foster care from 2012 to 2020. 
Among these cases, more than 17,000 ended in reunification and 20% or 
5,500 led to adoption.

Research by auditors 
indicated being Black or American Indian reduced a child’s odds of 
reunifying with their parents by about 8% and 25%, respectively. When 
compared to white children, however, being Black or Asian didn’t affect a
 child’s odds of being adopted. Black and Native American children in 
Kansas were more likely to reach emancipation age relative to white 
children in foster care.

In terms of ethnicity, 
auditors reported Hispanic children in foster care had similar outcomes 
to non-Hispanic children. Hispanic children had a reunification rate of 
66%, while 62% of non-Hispanic children were reunified. Non-Hispanic 
children were adopted at a rate of 20%, but Hispanic children had an 
adoption rate of 17%.

The audit indicated the 
older a child when removed from home the less likely that person would 
be reunified or adopted. The study didn’t identify a meaningful 
difference in unification or adoption between male and female children.

Auditors weighed whether 
remedial tasks written into foster-care plans to inspire reunification 
of families appeared reasonable and relevant. This question involved 
review of case files for 48 foster children from fiscal years 2016 to 
2020. The selection of cases was nonrandom, which meant findings of 
auditors couldn’t be projected to the thousands of foster care cases 
existing during that period of time.

DCF foster care staff 
review case plans for compliance with DCF policies and federal rules, 
but don’t check whether tasks related to reunification were reasonable 
and relevant.

Auditors took into 
consideration 670 tasks required of parents or guardians attempting to 
be reunited with their children. The analysis determined 10%, or about 
70, were unreasonable because they had no application to conditions 
associated with the children in foster care.

“If you go too far in 
assigning parents tasks,” said Luthi, the state auditor, “you might 
place an undue burden on them and either limit or make it impossible for
 them to reunify with their kids. If you don’t go far enough with 
assignment parents tasks, then you might end up reintegrating a child 
into a home that isn’t safe or in a position where they’re going to 
re-enter the foster care system.”

The tasks categorized as 
unreasonable or irrelevant didn’t appear to stop families from 
reunifying in the cases reviewed, auditors said.

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.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/6/1625075672818.png" alt="Josh Luthi, auditor with the Kansas Legislature, said a new report showed Black children were overrepresented in the state's foster care system and Black and American Indian children were less likely than white children to be reunified with their parents. (Screen capture/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Josh Luthi, auditor with the Kansas Legislature, said a new report showed Black children were overrepresented in the state's foster care system and Black and American Indian children were less likely than white children to be reunified with their parents. (Screen capture/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>American Indian, Black kids less apt than whites to reunite with parents</h2>By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/06/30/blacks-overrepresented-among-kansas-children-ordered-into-foster-care/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — A new report by 
state auditors confirmed overrepresentation of Black children in Kansas 
foster care and that Black and American Indian children in the system 
were less likely than white children to be reunified with their parents.Auditors told Kansas 
legislators Tuesday that Black individuals represented 6% of the state’s
 population in 2019, but accounted for 12% of the children in foster 
care. White people made up 86% of the state population, but only 78% of 
kids in foster care.Josh Luthi, an auditor 
working for the legislative auditing division, told a joint House and 
Senate committee higher levels of poverty and greater involvement in 
social service programs among Black families could lead to more exposure
 to people required by law to report suspected child abuse or neglect. 
Another possibility is racial bias leads people to more aggressively 
raise potential problems in Black families, the audit said.“We were already working 
on some of these things, in particular the race issue and 
disproportionality,” said Melinda Kline, deputy director of permanency 
at the Kansas Department for Children and Families.DCF has responsibility for
 the 6,500 children in foster care. The agency employs private 
contractors — Cornerstones of Care, KVC Kansas, Saint Francis Ministries
 and TFI — to provide services to foster care families.“TFI supports the concerns
 about racial disparities as outlined in the written audit,” said&nbsp;Ashley
 Marple, vice president of performance and risk management at TFI.In Kansas, district courts
 decide whether a child should be declared in need of care and placed in
 foster care under custody of DCF. The assumed preference is for 
children in foster care to be eventually reunited with parents. Some 
children end up adopted or under care of someone assuming guardianship 
rights. Another portion of foster children reach emancipation age, run 
away or die, and transfer to control of the state Department of 
Corrections or tribal courts.<h2>Single-parent homes</h2>Rep. Kristey Williams, an 
Augusta Republican and chairwoman of the Legislature’s audit committee, 
said she was interested in determining whether children in foster care 
more frequently came from a one- or two-parent households. Auditors 
didn’t look at that question, but Williams said she was convinced 
single-parent homes placed children in a higher risk category.Auditors discovered in a 
survey of parents with children in foster care there was a belief DCF 
mishandled investigations, caseworkers didn’t respond to telephone calls
 or were otherwise uncommunicative, turnover among caseworkers was high 
and scheduling of mental health evaluations and other appointments took 
months.“We are aware that we’ve 
had tremendous turnover within the DCF and limited resources within the 
DCF,” said Rep. Tom Burroughs, a Democrat from Kansas City, Kansas, on 
the audit committee.The audit sought to 
determine whether outcomes for children in foster care varied based on 
age, race, ethnicity or sex. Auditors sought answers by reviewing 28,000
 cases of children entering or exiting foster care from 2012 to 2020. 
Among these cases, more than 17,000 ended in reunification and 20% or 
5,500 led to adoption.Research by auditors 
indicated being Black or American Indian reduced a child’s odds of 
reunifying with their parents by about 8% and 25%, respectively. When 
compared to white children, however, being Black or Asian didn’t affect a
 child’s odds of being adopted. Black and Native American children in 
Kansas were more likely to reach emancipation age relative to white 
children in foster care.In terms of ethnicity, 
auditors reported Hispanic children in foster care had similar outcomes 
to non-Hispanic children. Hispanic children had a reunification rate of 
66%, while 62% of non-Hispanic children were reunified. Non-Hispanic 
children were adopted at a rate of 20%, but Hispanic children had an 
adoption rate of 17%.The audit indicated the 
older a child when removed from home the less likely that person would 
be reunified or adopted. The study didn’t identify a meaningful 
difference in unification or adoption between male and female children.<h2>Reunification goals</h2>Auditors weighed whether 
remedial tasks written into foster-care plans to inspire reunification 
of families appeared reasonable and relevant. This question involved 
review of case files for 48 foster children from fiscal years 2016 to 
2020. The selection of cases was nonrandom, which meant findings of 
auditors couldn’t be projected to the thousands of foster care cases 
existing during that period of time.DCF foster care staff 
review case plans for compliance with DCF policies and federal rules, 
but don’t check whether tasks related to reunification were reasonable 
and relevant.Auditors took into 
consideration 670 tasks required of parents or guardians attempting to 
be reunited with their children. The analysis determined 10%, or about 
70, were unreasonable because they had no application to conditions 
associated with the children in foster care.“If you go too far in 
assigning parents tasks,” said Luthi, the state auditor, “you might 
place an undue burden on them and either limit or make it impossible for
 them to reunify with their kids. If you don’t go far enough with 
assignment parents tasks, then you might end up reintegrating a child 
into a home that isn’t safe or in a position where they’re going to 
re-enter the foster care system.”The tasks categorized as 
unreasonable or irrelevant didn’t appear to stop families from 
reunifying in the cases reviewed, auditors said.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.

Black kids overrepresented among children ordered into Kan. foster care

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas experienced another surge in new COVID-19 cases from the faster-spreading delta variant heading into the Fourth of July holiday weekend, prompting state officials to renew their calls for people to get vaccinated.

The state Department of Health and Environment reported Friday that another 75 delta variant cases had been identified in Kansas since Wednesday, an increase of 26.5% to 358. Since Monday, the number of delta variant cases has grown by 136, or 61%.

That’s still a small fraction of the 318,515 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases the state reported as of Friday, but genetic testing is required to identify a variant.

Kansas has seen its total new COVID-19 cases start to rise again after bottoming out at an average of 96 a day for the seven days ending June 23. The average was 173 a day for the seven days ending Friday — about 80% higher.

“This is a fast-spreading variant that spreads quickly in communities that have the lowest vaccination rates,” said Dr. Lee Norman, the state health department’s top administrator.

The department reported Friday that 39% of the state’s 2.9 million residents were fully vaccinated and 44.4% had received at least one of two required shots.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1604959337305.png" alt="Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said&nbsp; “This is a fast-spreading variant that spreads quickly in communities that have the lowest vaccination rates."Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector" />
 <figcaption>Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said&nbsp; “This is a fast-spreading variant that spreads quickly in communities that have the lowest vaccination rates."Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas experienced another surge in new COVID-19 cases from the faster-spreading delta variant heading into the Fourth of July holiday weekend, prompting state officials to renew their calls for people to get vaccinated.The state Department of Health and Environment reported Friday that another 75 delta variant cases had been identified in Kansas since Wednesday, an increase of 26.5% to 358. Since Monday, the number of delta variant cases has grown by 136, or 61%.That’s still a small fraction of the 318,515 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases the state reported as of Friday, but genetic testing is required to identify a variant.Kansas has seen its total new COVID-19 cases start to rise again after bottoming out at an average of 96 a day for the seven days ending June 23. The average was 173 a day for the seven days ending Friday — about 80% higher.“This is a fast-spreading variant that spreads quickly in communities that have the lowest vaccination rates,” said Dr. Lee Norman, the state health department’s top administrator.The department reported Friday that 39% of the state’s 2.9 million residents were fully vaccinated and 44.4% had received at least one of two required shots.

Kansas sees another surge in COVID cases from delta variant

RENO COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on child sex crime allegations.

On June 16, members of the Special Operations and Investigation Bureau of the Hutchinson Police Department made two arrests through a series of undercover sting operations targeting child predators.

The suspects believed they were speaking with underage children and showed up to meet the children to engage in sexual activity, only to be met by officers of the Hutchinson Police Department.

At approximately 7:05 p.m. on June 16, police arrested 33-year-old Patrick E. Samms of Hutchinson on a requested charge of Electronic Solicitation and Indecent Solicitation of a child.

Two hours later, they arrested 41-year-old Adam D. Winsky of McPherson on a requested charge of Electronic Solicitation, Indecent Solicitation of a child, Interference with Law Enforcement, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Driving While Suspended.

Police: 2 Kan. men thought they were meeting children for sex

FINNEY COUNTY — A Kansas man died in an accident just before 9:30a.m. Friday in Finney&nbsp; County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Cadillac Escalade driven by Eric Hernandez, 24, Garden City, was&nbsp;southbound on Big Lowe Road at&nbsp;Sondreagger Road .

The driver lost control of the SUV when it drifted off the road. The SUV rolled and came to rest about 70 feet south of Sondreagger Road.

Hernandez was pronounced dead at St. Catherine's Hospital. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

FINNEY COUNTY — A Kansas man died in an accident just before 9:30a.m. Friday in Finney&nbsp; County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Cadillac Escalade driven by Eric Hernandez, 24, Garden City, was&nbsp;southbound on Big Lowe Road at&nbsp;Sondreagger Road .The driver lost control of the SUV when it drifted off the road. The SUV rolled and came to rest about 70 feet south of Sondreagger Road.Hernandez was pronounced dead at St. Catherine's Hospital. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

SW Kansas man dies after SUV rollover crash

WICHITA—State and local authorities continue to investigate the cause of illness in children and others who attended the Splash Park at Taganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard. The splash park has remained closed since June 19.

A lawsuit in the case filed by the Patterson Legal Group in Sedgwick County District Court on behalf of those injured at the Splash Park now&nbsp; now include one consolidated petition listing 47 parties. This amended action filed in Sedgwick County District Court on behalf of these injured parties alleges that Tanganyika Wildlife Park failed to maintain proper sanitary conditions that resulted in guests at Tanganyika Falls Splash Park being exposed to a dangerous pathogen, according to a statement on Friday from the law firm.

Further, the park did not warn guests once they knew, or should have known, about the disease outbreak, according to the Patterson Legal Group.

"More specifically, the petition claims that the disease outbreak was spread by an organism that existed at the park for a significant period of time, or was caused by water contaminated with organisms, pathogens, and/or fecal matter. This negligence of management has caused many customers to get sick, including children that have required ICU treatment at the hospital."

“Businesses have a responsibility to the public to ensure that properties operate in a safe manner. The folks who have approached our law firm after unknowingly being exposed to the dangerous pathogen or pathogens at Tanganyika Falls Splash Park have suffered violent gastrointestinal conditions, breathing difficulties that have required hospitalizations, and other periods of severe illness,” said Coleman Younger, one of two attorneys representing those who were infected. 

“The situation continues to escalate for all involved, especially for the families and friends of children who fell seriously ill and are still recovering under the supervision of their medical providers at our local hospitals.”

The Kansas Department of Health (KDHE) became aware of the first three cases linked to the park on June 18. All three people tested positive for&nbsp;Shigella&nbsp;bacteria. 

On Friday, KDHE reported water samples collected by the state at the splash park on June 19 were tested at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). No&nbsp;Shigella&nbsp;bacteria were detected, but coliform and&nbsp;E. coli&nbsp;bacteria were detected in some of the samples, according to a media release from the state.

In water sample testing, the presence of these bacteria indicates likely fecal contamination. The water results are a snapshot of water quality on the day the samples were collected.&nbsp; Further interpretation of the water sample results is ongoing.

Three additional people have tested positive for&nbsp;Shigella&nbsp;bacteria, bringing the total cases linked to the park to six. All six cases visited the Splash Park area on June 11, 2021. Investigations into other possible linked cases are ongoing. Additional testing is underway to determine if the bacteria from each person are related.

KDHE and the Sedgwick County Health Department have also identified other diarrheal illnesses among individuals who reported being at the Splash Park. Individuals have tested positive for norovirus, sapovirus, and a type of&nbsp;E. coli&nbsp;called enteropathogenic&nbsp;E. coli. Investigations are ongoing as to whether these illnesses are associated with exposure at the Splash Park.

If you or a family member experienced symptoms of fever, diarrhea or vomiting after visiting Tanganyika Wildlife Park on or after May 28, 2021, please take this survey at&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDAsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsImJ1bGxldGluX2lkIjoiMjAyMTA2MjAuNDIxNzE3NDEiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3Rpbnl1cmwuY29tL2tkaGVzcGxhc2g_dXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fc291cmNlPWdvdmRlbGl2ZXJ5In0.kdvq3t3XT2EXzMLHYDA8EhdOIcOsD3HGal2gwUpZvbk/s/1305913448/br/108183106576-l" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/kdhesplash</a>.

If you live in Sedgwick County, and do not have access to a computer to complete the survey, contact the Sedgwick County Health Department via email at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:DiseaseReporting@sedgwick.gov" target="_blank">DiseaseReporting@sedgwick.gov</a>&nbsp;or call the COVID-19 line at 316-660-1022 (press 1 to leave a message). Sedgwick County is working to set up a separate, non-COVID phone line which will be released this week.

If you live outside of Sedgwick County and do not have access to a computer to complete the survey, please contact your local health department.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/6/1624228385006.png" alt="Photo courtesy Tanganyika Wildlife Park" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Tanganyika Wildlife Park</figcaption>
 </figure>WICHITA—State and local authorities continue to investigate the cause of illness in children and others who attended the Splash Park at Taganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard. The splash park has remained closed since June 19.A lawsuit in the case filed by the Patterson Legal Group in Sedgwick County District Court on behalf of those injured at the Splash Park now&nbsp; now include one consolidated petition listing 47 parties. This amended action filed in Sedgwick County District Court on behalf of these injured parties alleges that Tanganyika Wildlife Park failed to maintain proper sanitary conditions that resulted in guests at Tanganyika Falls Splash Park being exposed to a dangerous pathogen, according to a statement on Friday from the law firm.Further, the park did not warn guests once they knew, or should have known, about the disease outbreak, according to the Patterson Legal Group."More specifically, the petition claims that the disease outbreak was spread by an organism that existed at the park for a significant period of time, or was caused by water contaminated with organisms, pathogens, and/or fecal matter. This negligence of management has caused many customers to get sick, including children that have required ICU treatment at the hospital."“Businesses have a responsibility to the public to ensure that properties operate in a safe manner. The folks who have approached our law firm after unknowingly being exposed to the dangerous pathogen or pathogens at Tanganyika Falls Splash Park have suffered violent gastrointestinal conditions, breathing difficulties that have required hospitalizations, and other periods of severe illness,” said Coleman Younger, one of two attorneys representing those who were infected. “The situation continues to escalate for all involved, especially for the families and friends of children who fell seriously ill and are still recovering under the supervision of their medical providers at our local hospitals.”The Kansas Department of Health (KDHE) became aware of the first three cases linked to the park on June 18. All three people tested positive for&nbsp;Shigella&nbsp;bacteria. On Friday, KDHE reported water samples collected by the state at the splash park on June 19 were tested at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). No&nbsp;Shigella&nbsp;bacteria were detected, but coliform and&nbsp;E. coli&nbsp;bacteria were detected in some of the samples, according to a media release from the state.In water sample testing, the presence of these bacteria indicates likely fecal contamination. The water results are a snapshot of water quality on the day the samples were collected.&nbsp; Further interpretation of the water sample results is ongoing.Three additional people have tested positive for&nbsp;Shigella&nbsp;bacteria, bringing the total cases linked to the park to six. All six cases visited the Splash Park area on June 11, 2021. Investigations into other possible linked cases are ongoing. Additional testing is underway to determine if the bacteria from each person are related.KDHE and the Sedgwick County Health Department have also identified other diarrheal illnesses among individuals who reported being at the Splash Park. Individuals have tested positive for norovirus, sapovirus, and a type of&nbsp;E. coli&nbsp;called enteropathogenic&nbsp;E. coli. Investigations are ongoing as to whether these illnesses are associated with exposure at the Splash Park.If you or a family member experienced symptoms of fever, diarrhea or vomiting after visiting Tanganyika Wildlife Park on or after May 28, 2021, please take this survey at&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDAsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsImJ1bGxldGluX2lkIjoiMjAyMTA2MjAuNDIxNzE3NDEiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3Rpbnl1cmwuY29tL2tkaGVzcGxhc2g_dXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fc291cmNlPWdvdmRlbGl2ZXJ5In0.kdvq3t3XT2EXzMLHYDA8EhdOIcOsD3HGal2gwUpZvbk/s/1305913448/br/108183106576-l" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/kdhesplash</a>.If you live in Sedgwick County, and do not have access to a computer to complete the survey, contact the Sedgwick County Health Department via email at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:DiseaseReporting@sedgwick.gov" target="_blank">DiseaseReporting@sedgwick.gov</a>&nbsp;or call the COVID-19 line at 316-660-1022 (press 1 to leave a message). Sedgwick County is working to set up a separate, non-COVID phone line which will be released this week.If you live outside of Sedgwick County and do not have access to a computer to complete the survey, please contact your local health department.---------

Investigation over illnesses in children at Kan. splash park grows

SEDWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a series of alleged sexual assaults have made an arrest.

Just after 11:30a.m. on Thursday, police responded to a sexual assault report at the Towne East Mall. A female victim told police a male suspect later identified as 26-year-old Andrew Jones sexually assaulted her outside a store inside the mall, according to Officer Trevor Macy. The suspect then running away.

Shortly after this incident occurred, officers learned of another incident within the Towne East Mall. A female victim reported being sexually assaulted by a man with a similar description to the suspect in the first incident. 

The suspect later identified as Jones was seen leaving the mall and heading toward the southeast.

Officers were attempting to locate the suspect when a third 911 call was made regarding another sexual assault in the 8000 block of E Morris in Wichita. A woman reported a man, matching the suspect's description in the previous assaults, sexually assaulted her outside her home. Her husband heard the commotion and saw the suspect fleeing.&nbsp; The husband&nbsp; began to chase him but stopped chasing after the suspect produced a knife and threatened him with it.

Officers were in the area when they located Jones who attempted to flee. There was a brief foot pursuit, which ended when Jones claimed to have a firearm and entered a residence in the 8000 block of E Gilbert. The house was surrounded, and crisis negotiators were called in to de-escalate the situation.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/7/1625242997638.png" alt="Jones-photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Jones-photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a series of alleged sexual assaults have made an arrest.Just after 11:30a.m. on Thursday, police responded to a sexual assault report at the Towne East Mall. A female victim told police a male suspect later identified as 26-year-old Andrew Jones sexually assaulted her outside a store inside the mall, according to Officer Trevor Macy. The suspect then running away.Shortly after this incident occurred, officers learned of another incident within the Towne East Mall. A female victim reported being sexually assaulted by a man with a similar description to the suspect in the first incident. The suspect later identified as Jones was seen leaving the mall and heading toward the southeast.Officers were attempting to locate the suspect when a third 911 call was made regarding another sexual assault in the 8000 block of E Morris in Wichita. A woman reported a man, matching the suspect's description in the previous assaults, sexually assaulted her outside her home. Her husband heard the commotion and saw the suspect fleeing.&nbsp; The husband&nbsp; began to chase him but stopped chasing after the suspect produced a knife and threatened him with it.Officers were in the area when they located Jones who attempted to flee. There was a brief foot pursuit, which ended when Jones claimed to have a firearm and entered a residence in the 8000 block of E Gilbert. The house was surrounded, and crisis negotiators were called in to de-escalate the situation.

Police: 2 women sexually assaulted at Kansas mall

WASHINGTON (AP) — The remaining fencing that has surrounded the U.S. Capitol since a mob of pro-Trump rioters stormed the building in January is likely to come down as soon as next week, three people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

Capitol Police&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-capitol-siege-sports-fencing-government-and-politics-306c493c5c4bfcdd7cbfacea28068760">removed an outer fence&nbsp;</a>in March that had cut off a wide swath of the area to cars and pedestrians, blocking major traffic arteries that cross the city. An interior perimeter fence has remained around the Capitol, with signs warning that the area is closed to the public.

A plan being put in place by the U.S. Capitol Police Board calls for the fence to be removed by July 9, the people said. They could not discuss details of the plan publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. The Capitol Police Board, which has oversight of the police force, is made up of the sergeants at arms of the House and Senate and the Architect of the Capitol.

The fencing has been a stark symbol of the fear many in the Capitol felt after the mob pushed its way past overwhelmed police officers, broke through windows and doors and ransacked the Capitol as Congress was voting to certify Joe Biden’s electoral win.

“We cannot talk about security, which includes any potential physical security infrastructure plans,” a Capitol Police spokesman said.

The fence has also&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-959046e70443c6137975be5ba78746e7">become a political symbol</a>, blocking off one of the country’s most visible public buildings as lawmakers and police work to come up with a plan to allow the public back inside but also keep the Capitol and members of Congress safe.

More than 500 people have been charged with federal crimes for their roles in the Jan. 6 riot and dozens of others are still being sought by federal agents. Thousands of National Guard troops who were sent to assist the Capitol Police with securing the complex left months ago.

Just a few weeks after the outer fence came down in March, a man rammed his car into a police checkpoint barrier, killing a Capitol Police officer. The driver was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-politics-451c5c5154045d404d0db76270f78aac">shot and killed</a>&nbsp;after he ran his car into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-news-nancy-pelosi-42e4c9eee490dfd6056c10ea7a1c3c1a">Police Officer Billy Evans</a>&nbsp;and another officer, got out and lunged at police with a knife.

The Capitol Police Board asked congressional leaders in February to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-fencing-d6f4db885059e6dd30f3c37f57cece8b">keep the fence in place</a>&nbsp;until September, in part because investigators are tracking continuing threats against lawmakers and the Capitol complex.

On Wednesday, the House&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/house-to-investigate-capitol-insurrection-6d939eaf5e7bf39e463edaebb32277c5">launched a new investigation</a>&nbsp;of the Jan. 6 attack, approving a special committee to probe the insurrection.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/3/1615213886851.png" alt="Photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The remaining fencing that has surrounded the U.S. Capitol since a mob of pro-Trump rioters stormed the building in January is likely to come down as soon as next week, three people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.Capitol Police&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-capitol-siege-sports-fencing-government-and-politics-306c493c5c4bfcdd7cbfacea28068760">removed an outer fence&nbsp;</a>in March that had cut off a wide swath of the area to cars and pedestrians, blocking major traffic arteries that cross the city. An interior perimeter fence has remained around the Capitol, with signs warning that the area is closed to the public.A plan being put in place by the U.S. Capitol Police Board calls for the fence to be removed by July 9, the people said. They could not discuss details of the plan publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. The Capitol Police Board, which has oversight of the police force, is made up of the sergeants at arms of the House and Senate and the Architect of the Capitol.The fencing has been a stark symbol of the fear many in the Capitol felt after the mob pushed its way past overwhelmed police officers, broke through windows and doors and ransacked the Capitol as Congress was voting to certify Joe Biden’s electoral win.“We cannot talk about security, which includes any potential physical security infrastructure plans,” a Capitol Police spokesman said.The fence has also&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-959046e70443c6137975be5ba78746e7">become a political symbol</a>, blocking off one of the country’s most visible public buildings as lawmakers and police work to come up with a plan to allow the public back inside but also keep the Capitol and members of Congress safe.More than 500 people have been charged with federal crimes for their roles in the Jan. 6 riot and dozens of others are still being sought by federal agents. Thousands of National Guard troops who were sent to assist the Capitol Police with securing the complex left months ago.Just a few weeks after the outer fence came down in March, a man rammed his car into a police checkpoint barrier, killing a Capitol Police officer. The driver was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-politics-451c5c5154045d404d0db76270f78aac">shot and killed</a>&nbsp;after he ran his car into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-news-nancy-pelosi-42e4c9eee490dfd6056c10ea7a1c3c1a">Police Officer Billy Evans</a>&nbsp;and another officer, got out and lunged at police with a knife.The Capitol Police Board asked congressional leaders in February to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-fencing-d6f4db885059e6dd30f3c37f57cece8b">keep the fence in place</a>&nbsp;until September, in part because investigators are tracking continuing threats against lawmakers and the Capitol complex.On Wednesday, the House&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/house-to-investigate-capitol-insurrection-6d939eaf5e7bf39e463edaebb32277c5">launched a new investigation</a>&nbsp;of the Jan. 6 attack, approving a special committee to probe the insurrection.

Remaining fence around US Capitol to be removed

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


HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — 
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss noted as part of his 
Mid-America Business Conditions Index survey released this week that 
Kansas is doing well in some economic measures, but not in others.

"Wage
 growth is not as strong in Kansas," Goss said. "If you see business 
travel begin to increase for Kansas, that will sort itself out. For 
Kansas, the best news is agriculture and those linked to agriculture are
 doing very well in Kansas, even there, we've seen some softening in 
terms of farm income and commodity prices, but that looks pretty good."

Goss
 notes that it is still hard to parse out the difference between the 
muscle of good economic growth and the fat of inflation.

"The 
answer is somewhere in between," Goss said. "The Fed says it is 
transitory. A lot of folks say it's non-transitory, it's embedded 
inflation. I think the answer is, it's somewhere between the two. We're 
looking at inflation now running above four percent. That's double what 
the Fed is accepting."

Goss noted that Goldman Sachs believes oil prices will still go up from here.

"The
 Biden administration has taken the approach that, well, the higher 
price is not such a bad thing, it encourages us to move to alternative 
energy," Goss said. "They killed the Keystone XL pipeline. That was an 
$8 to $9 billion investment by the Canadians to ship oil from the tar 
sands in Canada down through the midsection of the country, also cutting
 back on drilling on federal land, that's part of the plan, I would 
argue."

Goss said with regard to one inflationary force, that 
Republicans will likely save President Biden from himself, in terms of 
cutting the size of some of his ambitious government expansion plans.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/6/1622642233344.jpeg" alt="Creighton Professor Ernie Goss" />
 <figcaption>Creighton Professor Ernie Goss</figcaption>
 </figure>
By
NICK GOSNELL <a href="https://hutchpost.com">Hutch Post</a>
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — 
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss noted as part of his 
Mid-America Business Conditions Index survey released this week that 
Kansas is doing well in some economic measures, but not in others."Wage
 growth is not as strong in Kansas," Goss said. "If you see business 
travel begin to increase for Kansas, that will sort itself out. For 
Kansas, the best news is agriculture and those linked to agriculture are
 doing very well in Kansas, even there, we've seen some softening in 
terms of farm income and commodity prices, but that looks pretty good."Goss
 notes that it is still hard to parse out the difference between the 
muscle of good economic growth and the fat of inflation."The 
answer is somewhere in between," Goss said. "The Fed says it is 
transitory. A lot of folks say it's non-transitory, it's embedded 
inflation. I think the answer is, it's somewhere between the two. We're 
looking at inflation now running above four percent. That's double what 
the Fed is accepting."Goss noted that Goldman Sachs believes oil prices will still go up from here."The
 Biden administration has taken the approach that, well, the higher 
price is not such a bad thing, it encourages us to move to alternative 
energy," Goss said. "They killed the Keystone XL pipeline. That was an 
$8 to $9 billion investment by the Canadians to ship oil from the tar 
sands in Canada down through the midsection of the country, also cutting
 back on drilling on federal land, that's part of the plan, I would 
argue."Goss said with regard to one inflationary force, that 
Republicans will likely save President Biden from himself, in terms of 
cutting the size of some of his ambitious government expansion plans.

Goss: Economy is growing, but faster than the Fed aims for

MANHATTAN— Authorities say a Friday morning fire in Manhattan was accidental.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/7/1625243127879.png" alt="Loss from the fire is estimated at $20,000 to contents and $20,000 to the structure-photo courtesy Manhattan Fire Dept." />
 <figcaption>Loss from the fire is estimated at $20,000 to contents and $20,000 to the structure-photo courtesy Manhattan Fire Dept.</figcaption>
 </figure>MANHATTAN— Authorities say a Friday morning fire in Manhattan was accidental.Just after 8a.m., the Manhattan Fire Department was dispatched to 1621 Woodcrest Drive for a report of a fire in the garage, according to Deputy Chief Ryan Almes.Upon arrival, crews found a one-story structure with light smoke showing. The fire was knocked down within five minutes.. No injuries were reported. The one-story building contains three townhomes.&nbsp; The fire was contained to one home with only smoke damage in the other two units. Loss is estimated at $20,000 to contents and $20,000 to the structure. The owner is listed as Judy Roland of the same address. The fire cause is accidental due to self-heating of stain-soaked rags.