Doulas help new and expecting families navigate pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period. Studies show their intervention improves maternal health outcomes.

By&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/bek-shackelford">Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga</a> KCUR

KanCare, Kansas’ Medicaid program, will cover doula services for its pregnant beneficiaries beginning July 1. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/KSDHE/bulletins/3a3f697" target="_blank">release</a>&nbsp;that the policy change aims to improve maternal health outcomes in Kansas.

"Doulas play a vital role in the health and well-being of mothers and their babies, and this new coverage will ensure more families in Kansas can benefit from their services,” Janet Stanek, KDHE secretary, said in the release.

Doulas serve as advocates and educators for pregnant women. Many of them are on call 24/7, answering anxious texts and phone calls from moms-to-be or rushing to meet their clients in labor to attend their births.

Sara Skiles, owner of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wichitadoula.com/" target="_blank">Wichita Doula</a>, said doulas bridge the gap between overloaded OB-GYNs and their patients.

“Medical providers can only see the family so many times in the pregnancy and in the postpartum period,” she said. “So a lot of times they don't have anywhere to go or anyone to call for support.”

Skiles said doctors traditionally schedule a follow-up visit six weeks after a person has given birth. She said that six-week period can be a vulnerable time for new moms and their infants.

“A lot of things can go wrong with mental health, physical health, the newborn, challenges with breastfeeding,” Skiles said.

Although doulas are not physicians, they go through various training and certification courses. Skiles said doulas do home visits and talk to their clients about what is and isn’t normal and when to see a doctor.

That type of support can be lifesaving. Moms who use doulas are two times less likely to experience birth complications and four times less likely to give birth to an underweight baby, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10292163/#:~:text=The%20results%20of%20the%20study,to%20initiate%20breastfeeding%20%5B31%5D." target="_blank">National Institutes of Health</a>.

And Kansas moms need this type of support.

Severe maternal morbidity, when a person experiences extreme complications during labor and delivery that impact their long- or short-term health, increased by 6.4% annually between 2016 and 2020, according to a study from the Kansas Maternal Mortality Review Committee.

Kansas moms on Medicaid or from low-income ZIP codes and women of color disproportionately bear the brunt of pregnancy and post-pregnancy complications.

Doula care coverage was already in the works

Before KanCare’s announcement about expanding coverage to pay for doulas,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-11-28/kansas-medicaid-doesnt-cover-birth-doulas-but-one-contractor-is-footing-the-bill-to-help-moms" target="_blank">another Medicaid provider stepped up</a>. In 2022, UnitedHealthcare, one of the state’s three Medicaid providers, began a pilot program to cover doula care for moms in Wyandotte County on the UnitedHealthcare Medicaid plan.

Eventually, Kansas became&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uhc.com/news-articles/community/doula-network" target="_blank">one of 5 states</a>&nbsp;taking part in a broader pilot program, covering doula services for all moms in Kansas on UnitedHealthcare’s Medicaid program.

Various advocacy groups, such as the&nbsp;<a href="https://ksbirthjusticesociety.org/" target="_blank">Kansas Birth Justice Society</a>&nbsp;in Wichita, have pushed for years for insurance companies to cover doula services.

Jaima Saunders, owner of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/mommydiarieskc" target="_blank">Mommy Diaries: A Doula Company</a>, primarily serves clients in Wyandotte County. She was one of the early recruits for the pilot program. Since 2022, she said she’s served more than 30 moms on Medicaid. She said she is excited the state Medicaid program will now cover doula services for its beneficiaries.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Saunders said. “I kind of knew about it in the works back in February or March of this year; I just didn't know when they were going to actually roll it out.”

Saunders said before the announcement, she helped multiple Kansas moms on Medicaid switch to UnitedHealthcare so they could access free doula care.

Doula concerns about the KanCare policy change

While the policy change is monumental for women on Medicaid in Kansas, some doulas have concerns. Skiles, the doula from Wichita, said she worries reimbursement rates will not be fair.

“We have heard in some other states the reimbursement rates were below market rate, which would make it really difficult to continue to make a living as a doula,” she said.

The National Health Law Program&nbsp;<a href="https://healthlaw.org/doula-medicaid-project-february-2024-state-roundup/" target="_blank">reports 12 other states</a>, like Oklahoma and Minnesota, and Washington, D.C., have implemented Medicaid coverage of doula care as of January. Missouri hasn't expanded coverage to the state Medicaid program, but Medicaid provider Healthy Blue has a pilot program similar to UnitedHealthcare's.

Skiles is also concerned that Kansas doesn’t have enough doulas to support the influx of clients on Medicaid.

“We're going to have to expand. We're going to have to have more people training to become doulas that want to work with and serve these populations,” Skiles said.

A spokesperson for KDHE said they’ve been working closely with the&nbsp;<a href="https://ksbirthjusticesociety.org/kansas-doula-alliance/" target="_blank">Kansas Doula Alliance</a>, an arm of the Kansas Birth Justice Society, to spread information to Kansas doulas encouraging them to enroll as KanCare providers and spread the news about the policy change.

“The Alliance will also provide professional development and training to doulas that will prepare them for certification for the KanCare provider enrollment process in order to receive reimbursement for their services,” the KDHE spokesperson said in an email to the Kansas News Service.

The spokesperson said KDHE is also encouraging hospitals, clinics and medical providers in the state to add doulas to their teams.

Saunders said the policy changes are overall a step in the right direction. She said she thinks commercial insurance programs will soon start offering to cover doula services, too, and she is excited to help more moms.

“If a mom is pregnant, her mental health and her baby's mental health starts with pregnancy before the baby even is on the earth,” she said. “So just to be able to take certain stressors off of moms and their families is a total success story every single time for me.”

<h2>Doulas help new and expecting families navigate pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period. Studies show their intervention improves maternal health outcomes.</h2><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719608667349.png" alt="Sara Skiles (left), owner of Wichita Doula, sits with a client.&nbsp;Courtesy Photo/Wichita Doula" />
 <figcaption>Sara Skiles (left), owner of Wichita Doula, sits with a client.&nbsp;Courtesy Photo/Wichita Doula</figcaption>
 </figure>By&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/bek-shackelford">Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga</a> KCUR KanCare, Kansas’ Medicaid program, will cover doula services for its pregnant beneficiaries beginning July 1. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/KSDHE/bulletins/3a3f697" target="_blank">release</a>&nbsp;that the policy change aims to improve maternal health outcomes in Kansas."Doulas play a vital role in the health and well-being of mothers and their babies, and this new coverage will ensure more families in Kansas can benefit from their services,” Janet Stanek, KDHE secretary, said in the release.Doulas serve as advocates and educators for pregnant women. Many of them are on call 24/7, answering anxious texts and phone calls from moms-to-be or rushing to meet their clients in labor to attend their births.Sara Skiles, owner of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wichitadoula.com/" target="_blank">Wichita Doula</a>, said doulas bridge the gap between overloaded OB-GYNs and their patients.“Medical providers can only see the family so many times in the pregnancy and in the postpartum period,” she said. “So a lot of times they don't have anywhere to go or anyone to call for support.”Skiles said doctors traditionally schedule a follow-up visit six weeks after a person has given birth. She said that six-week period can be a vulnerable time for new moms and their infants.“A lot of things can go wrong with mental health, physical health, the newborn, challenges with breastfeeding,” Skiles said.Although doulas are not physicians, they go through various training and certification courses. Skiles said doulas do home visits and talk to their clients about what is and isn’t normal and when to see a doctor.That type of support can be lifesaving. Moms who use doulas are two times less likely to experience birth complications and four times less likely to give birth to an underweight baby, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10292163/#:~:text=The%20results%20of%20the%20study,to%20initiate%20breastfeeding%20%5B31%5D." target="_blank">National Institutes of Health</a>.And Kansas moms need this type of support.Severe maternal morbidity, when a person experiences extreme complications during labor and delivery that impact their long- or short-term health, increased by 6.4% annually between 2016 and 2020, according to a study from the Kansas Maternal Mortality Review Committee.Kansas moms on Medicaid or from low-income ZIP codes and women of color disproportionately bear the brunt of pregnancy and post-pregnancy complications.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719608698297.png" alt="Jaima Saunders poses for a portrait in her mom's Kansas City, Kansas, home in November. Saunders meets some of her doula clients at her mom's house. Saunders said she is driven to help Black moms in Kansas City, Kansas, where she is from, because of the disparities they face.&nbsp;Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga/Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>Jaima Saunders poses for a portrait in her mom's Kansas City, Kansas, home in November. Saunders meets some of her doula clients at her mom's house. Saunders said she is driven to help Black moms in Kansas City, Kansas, where she is from, because of the disparities they face.&nbsp;Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga/Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>Doula care coverage was already in the worksBefore KanCare’s announcement about expanding coverage to pay for doulas,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-11-28/kansas-medicaid-doesnt-cover-birth-doulas-but-one-contractor-is-footing-the-bill-to-help-moms" target="_blank">another Medicaid provider stepped up</a>. In 2022, UnitedHealthcare, one of the state’s three Medicaid providers, began a pilot program to cover doula care for moms in Wyandotte County on the UnitedHealthcare Medicaid plan.Eventually, Kansas became&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uhc.com/news-articles/community/doula-network" target="_blank">one of 5 states</a>&nbsp;taking part in a broader pilot program, covering doula services for all moms in Kansas on UnitedHealthcare’s Medicaid program.Various advocacy groups, such as the&nbsp;<a href="https://ksbirthjusticesociety.org/" target="_blank">Kansas Birth Justice Society</a>&nbsp;in Wichita, have pushed for years for insurance companies to cover doula services.Jaima Saunders, owner of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/mommydiarieskc" target="_blank">Mommy Diaries: A Doula Company</a>, primarily serves clients in Wyandotte County. She was one of the early recruits for the pilot program. Since 2022, she said she’s served more than 30 moms on Medicaid. She said she is excited the state Medicaid program will now cover doula services for its beneficiaries.“It’s been a long time coming,” Saunders said. “I kind of knew about it in the works back in February or March of this year; I just didn't know when they were going to actually roll it out.”Saunders said before the announcement, she helped multiple Kansas moms on Medicaid switch to UnitedHealthcare so they could access free doula care.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719608726281.png" alt="Doula Jaima Saunders shows off various items she uses to make pregnant women more comfortable before and during labor and delivery. During their birth, Saunders does things like play soft, tonal music, soak the mom's feet, and use massage tools to help ease the pain.&nbsp;Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga/Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>Doula Jaima Saunders shows off various items she uses to make pregnant women more comfortable before and during labor and delivery. During their birth, Saunders does things like play soft, tonal music, soak the mom's feet, and use massage tools to help ease the pain.&nbsp;Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga/Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>Doula concerns about the KanCare policy changeWhile the policy change is monumental for women on Medicaid in Kansas, some doulas have concerns. Skiles, the doula from Wichita, said she worries reimbursement rates will not be fair.“We have heard in some other states the reimbursement rates were below market rate, which would make it really difficult to continue to make a living as a doula,” she said.The National Health Law Program&nbsp;<a href="https://healthlaw.org/doula-medicaid-project-february-2024-state-roundup/" target="_blank">reports 12 other states</a>, like Oklahoma and Minnesota, and Washington, D.C., have implemented Medicaid coverage of doula care as of January. Missouri hasn't expanded coverage to the state Medicaid program, but Medicaid provider Healthy Blue has a pilot program similar to UnitedHealthcare's.Skiles is also concerned that Kansas doesn’t have enough doulas to support the influx of clients on Medicaid.“We're going to have to expand. We're going to have to have more people training to become doulas that want to work with and serve these populations,” Skiles said.A spokesperson for KDHE said they’ve been working closely with the&nbsp;<a href="https://ksbirthjusticesociety.org/kansas-doula-alliance/" target="_blank">Kansas Doula Alliance</a>, an arm of the Kansas Birth Justice Society, to spread information to Kansas doulas encouraging them to enroll as KanCare providers and spread the news about the policy change.“The Alliance will also provide professional development and training to doulas that will prepare them for certification for the KanCare provider enrollment process in order to receive reimbursement for their services,” the KDHE spokesperson said in an email to the Kansas News Service.The spokesperson said KDHE is also encouraging hospitals, clinics and medical providers in the state to add doulas to their teams.Saunders said the policy changes are overall a step in the right direction. She said she thinks commercial insurance programs will soon start offering to cover doula services, too, and she is excited to help more moms.“If a mom is pregnant, her mental health and her baby's mental health starts with pregnancy before the baby even is on the earth,” she said. “So just to be able to take certain stressors off of moms and their families is a total success story every single time for me.”

Kansas Medicaid will soon cover doulas; research shows they reduce birth complications

GEARY COUNTY —A strong thunderstorm brought flooding rain and did considerable damage in Junction City and other areas of Geary County on Friday.

The storm cause a build to partially collapse in the 600 block of North Washington in Junction City. The structure was vacant and there were no injuries.

Also in Junction City there is tree damage in addition to multiple power outages. Emergency Management Director Garry Berges said rainfall recorded at McFarland Road. and U.S 77 totaled 5.97 inches.:

According to Geary County Emergency Management, many areas and basements are flooding due heavy rain. Unless you have medical emergency first responders were unable to assist.

Sheriff Eric Coffman said that there were power outages in Milford State Park and Old Milford Road areas.&nbsp;

Junction City Police urged residents to stay home, do not travel. &nbsp;There were powerlines down across the city and crews continue working to remove debris and powerlines from the roads.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719627302143.jpeg" alt="Photos by Geary County Emergency Management Director Garry Berges&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Photos by Geary County Emergency Management Director Garry Berges&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>By Dewey Terrill, JC PostGEARY COUNTY —A strong thunderstorm brought flooding rain and did considerable damage in Junction City and other areas of Geary County on Friday.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719627442990.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The storm cause a build to partially collapse in the 600 block of North Washington in Junction City. The structure was vacant and there were no injuries.Also in Junction City there is tree damage in addition to multiple power outages. Emergency Management Director Garry Berges said rainfall recorded at McFarland Road. and U.S 77 totaled 5.97 inches.:According to Geary County Emergency Management, many areas and basements are flooding due heavy rain. Unless you have medical emergency first responders were unable to assist.Sheriff Eric Coffman said that there were power outages in Milford State Park and Old Milford Road areas.&nbsp;Junction City Police urged residents to stay home, do not travel. &nbsp;There were powerlines down across the city and crews continue working to remove debris and powerlines from the roads.

Storms flood Geary Co., cause partial building collapse in Junction City

By TONY GUERRERO Hays Post

Satisfy your sweet cravings at the grand opening of Thalia's Sweets and Treats in Hays.

The new store, 1702 Vine St., opens on Monday. The first 600 sweet-toothed customers will receive free lemonade and ice cream pops.

Owners Bradley Huber and Lisa Raub said customers can expect flavors from the past on the shop's opening day.

"One of the big things we're doing is nostalgic candy," Huber said. "We're going to have 'decades boxes' like candy specifically from the 1950s."

The boxes will include candy from each decade from the mid-20th century to the 2000s. In addition to its vintage selection, Thalia's offers ice cream treats, cotton candy and more throughout the shop.

The masterminds behind Thalia's Sweets and Treats are Huber and Raub's children, who named the shop after the family's emotional support pet.

"Our 6-year-old actually helped us come up with the name," Raub said. "She absolutely loves her dog."

Thalia Mae is a mix of great pyrenees, golden retriever and cockapoo. After the grand opening, customers can expect to see her at the sweet shop.

While their children Marley, Abel and Kinsley brainstorm new candy flavors, Huber and Raub focus on providing catering services to Hays.

"There's not really any places in town that do candy or snack tables. There's a lot that do desserts but not sweets," Raub said.

Thalia's Sweets offers catering services for parties, baby showers, bridal showers and weddings.

Displayed inside are local vendors whom Thalia's Sweets and Treats aims to support, a contributing factor to remaining in Hays.

"This community looks out for each other more than other communities would, and that was big for us," Huber said. "They're supporting us so we're supporting them."

The new store supports remote businesses by purchasing and reselling their products as an advertisement.

You can contact Thalia's Sweets and Treats at thaliasweettreat@gmail.com or call 620-214-1559.

Huber and Raub hope to offer a wider range of ice cream choices, establish a kitchen to make old-fashioned hard candy and introduce a mini bakery.

Both relocated to Hays after high school and first met at Fort Hays State University where they worked as a catering chef and a coordinator for Chartwells.

Huber worked at various restaurants but always had a passion for candy. Ultimately, his children inspired him to make the career-changing decision.

"Restaurants are a lot. I was looking to go into something slower, and our kids were like 'candy,'" Huber said.

Thalia's Sweets and Treats is partnering with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/fantasygraphicseast">Fantasy Graphics East Studio</a>, 1700 Vine St., on July 13 for a joint customer appreciation event.&nbsp;

Thalia's store is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Sunday.

You can also visit their&nbsp;<a href="https://thaliassweettreats.my.canva.site/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1Y8lxkBgp-VCy8aswP8CfCxeuh5Sy-WqMaSwkJ9B3yyMrqONc0XX7vle0_aem_RtybIDfCU8e3hMOTopkzTg#about-us">website </a>and follow them on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559876954874">Facebook</a>.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719525495342.jpeg" alt="The store front of Thalia's Sweets and Treats in Hays. Photo By Tony Guerrero/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>The store front of Thalia's Sweets and Treats in Hays. Photo By Tony Guerrero/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>By TONY GUERRERO Hays PostSatisfy your sweet cravings at the grand opening of Thalia's Sweets and Treats in Hays.The new store, 1702 Vine St., opens on Monday. The first 600 sweet-toothed customers will receive free lemonade and ice cream pops.Owners Bradley Huber and Lisa Raub said customers can expect flavors from the past on the shop's opening day."One of the big things we're doing is nostalgic candy," Huber said. "We're going to have 'decades boxes' like candy specifically from the 1950s."The boxes will include candy from each decade from the mid-20th century to the 2000s. In addition to its vintage selection, Thalia's offers ice cream treats, cotton candy and more throughout the shop.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719525553440.jpeg" alt="A shelf of Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfinger and Kit Kar bars at Thalia's Sweets and Treats. Photo By Tony Guerrero/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>A shelf of Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfinger and Kit Kar bars at Thalia's Sweets and Treats. Photo By Tony Guerrero/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719525654073.jpeg" alt="A shelf holding jars of lollipops, Smarties and gummy bears at&nbsp;Thalia's Sweets and Treats. Photo By Tony Guerrero/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>A shelf holding jars of lollipops, Smarties and gummy bears at&nbsp;Thalia's Sweets and Treats. Photo By Tony Guerrero/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719525616260.jpeg" alt="A shelf of Sweetarts, Sour Patch, Skittles, and Mike and Ike candy at&nbsp;Thalia's Sweets and Treats. Photo By Tony Guerrero/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>A shelf of Sweetarts, Sour Patch, Skittles, and Mike and Ike candy at&nbsp;Thalia's Sweets and Treats. Photo By Tony Guerrero/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>The masterminds behind Thalia's Sweets and Treats are Huber and Raub's children, who named the shop after the family's emotional support pet."Our 6-year-old actually helped us come up with the name," Raub said. "She absolutely loves her dog."Thalia Mae is a mix of great pyrenees, golden retriever and cockapoo. After the grand opening, customers can expect to see her at the sweet shop.While their children Marley, Abel and Kinsley brainstorm new candy flavors, Huber and Raub focus on providing catering services to Hays."There's not really any places in town that do candy or snack tables. There's a lot that do desserts but not sweets," Raub said.Thalia's Sweets offers catering services for parties, baby showers, bridal showers and weddings.Displayed inside are local vendors whom Thalia's Sweets and Treats aims to support, a contributing factor to remaining in Hays."This community looks out for each other more than other communities would, and that was big for us," Huber said. "They're supporting us so we're supporting them."<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719587989973.jpeg" alt="Shirts from local vendors at&nbsp;Thalia's Sweets and Treats. Photo By Tony Guerrero/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Shirts from local vendors at&nbsp;Thalia's Sweets and Treats. Photo By Tony Guerrero/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719588038553.jpeg" alt="A candy design on a shirt from a local vendor at Thalia's Sweets and Treats. Photo By Tony Guerrero/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>A candy design on a shirt from a local vendor at Thalia's Sweets and Treats. Photo By Tony Guerrero/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>The new store supports remote businesses by purchasing and reselling their products as an advertisement.You can contact Thalia's Sweets and Treats at thaliasweettreat@gmail.com or call 620-214-1559.Huber and Raub hope to offer a wider range of ice cream choices, establish a kitchen to make old-fashioned hard candy and introduce a mini bakery.Both relocated to Hays after high school and first met at Fort Hays State University where they worked as a catering chef and a coordinator for Chartwells.Huber worked at various restaurants but always had a passion for candy. Ultimately, his children inspired him to make the career-changing decision."Restaurants are a lot. I was looking to go into something slower, and our kids were like 'candy,'" Huber said.Thalia's Sweets and Treats is partnering with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/fantasygraphicseast">Fantasy Graphics East Studio</a>, 1700 Vine St., on July 13 for a joint customer appreciation event.&nbsp;Thalia's store is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Sunday.You can also visit their&nbsp;<a href="https://thaliassweettreats.my.canva.site/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1Y8lxkBgp-VCy8aswP8CfCxeuh5Sy-WqMaSwkJ9B3yyMrqONc0XX7vle0_aem_RtybIDfCU8e3hMOTopkzTg#about-us">website </a>and follow them on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559876954874">Facebook</a>.&nbsp;

New Thalia's Sweets & Treats opens Monday in Hays; first 600 get free treats

Carol Ann Stamm, age 69, of Goodland passed away Sunday, June 16, 2024. Carol was born June 18, 1954 to Gail and Celia (Gunnary) Hopkins in South Carolina. She grew up and went to school in San Jose, California. She received her nursing degree in Oregon and later attended Friends University in Wichita, Kansas for her elementary teachers &nbsp;degree.

She moved to Goodland in 2021 from Oberlin. She taught school in many school districts in Kansas and worked at Rescare in Goodland. Carol enjoyed crocheting, cross stitch, playing the violin and spending time with her family and friends.

Carol is survived by her children, Melody Baker of Wellington, KS, Autumn Gusdal of Post Falls, ID, Joshua Holt of Wichita, KS; stepchildren, Rose Holt, Kelly Holt and Austin Holt; sisters Sharon and Rebecca Hopkins and brother Curt Hopkins; 5 grandchildren; and life partner Charles Engel of Goodland. She is preceded in death by her parents.

Memorial service will be held by the family at a later date. Information and condolences&nbsp;www.batemanfuneral.com

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719620643657.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Carol Ann Stamm, age 69, of Goodland passed away Sunday, June 16, 2024. Carol was born June 18, 1954 to Gail and Celia (Gunnary) Hopkins in South Carolina. She grew up and went to school in San Jose, California. She received her nursing degree in Oregon and later attended Friends University in Wichita, Kansas for her elementary teachers &nbsp;degree.She moved to Goodland in 2021 from Oberlin. She taught school in many school districts in Kansas and worked at Rescare in Goodland. Carol enjoyed crocheting, cross stitch, playing the violin and spending time with her family and friends.Carol is survived by her children, Melody Baker of Wellington, KS, Autumn Gusdal of Post Falls, ID, Joshua Holt of Wichita, KS; stepchildren, Rose Holt, Kelly Holt and Austin Holt; sisters Sharon and Rebecca Hopkins and brother Curt Hopkins; 5 grandchildren; and life partner Charles Engel of Goodland. She is preceded in death by her parents.Memorial service will be held by the family at a later date. Information and condolences&nbsp;www.batemanfuneral.com

Carol (Hopkins) Stamm

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Martin Mull, whose droll, esoteric comedy and acting made him a hip sensation in the 1970s and later a beloved guest star on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/television">sitcoms</a>&nbsp;including “Roseanne” and “Arrested Development,” has died, his daughter said Friday.

Mull's Daughter, TV writer and comic artist Maggie Mull, said her father died at home on Thursday after “a valiant fight against a long illness.”

Mull, who was also a guitarist and painter, came to national fame with a recurring role on the Norman Lear-created satirical soap opera “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” and the starring role in its spinoff, “Fernwood Tonight,” on which he played Barth Gimble, the host of a satirical talk show.

“He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/mulltoons/">Maggie Mull said in an Instagram post</a>. “He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny. My dad will be deeply missed by his wife and daughter, by his friends and coworkers, by fellow artists and comedians and musicians, and—the sign of a truly exceptional person—by many, many dogs.”

Known for his blonde hair and well-trimmed mustache, Mull was born in Chicago, raised in Ohio and Connecticut and studied art in Rhode Island and Rome. He combined his music and comedy in hip Hollywood clubs in the 1970s.

“In 1976 I was a guitar player and sit-down comic appearing at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip when Norman Lear walked in and heard me," Mull told The Associated Press in 1980. “He cast me as the wife beater on ‘Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.’ Four months later I was spun off on my own show.”

In the 1980s he appeared in films including “Mr. Mom" and “Clue,” and in the 1990s had a recurring role on “Roseanne.”

He would later play private eye Gene Parmesan on “Arrested Development,” and would be nominated for an Emmy in 2016 for a guest turn on “Veep.”

“What I did on ‘Veep’ I’m very proud of, but I’d like to think it’s probably more collective, at my age it’s more collective,” Mull told the AP after his nomination. “It might go all the way back to ‘Fernwood.’”

Other comedians and actors were often his biggest fans.

“Martin was the greatest,” “Bridesmaids” director&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/paulfeig/status/1806837940078911661">Paul Feig</a>&nbsp;said in an X post. “So funny, so talented, such a nice guy. Was lucky enough to act with him on The Jackie Thomas Show and treasured every moment being with a legend. Fernwood Tonight was so influential in my life.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719626618539.png" alt="FILE - Martin Mull participates in "The Cool Kids" panel during the Fox Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour at The Beverly Hilton hotel on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Martin Mull, whose droll, esoteric comedy and acting made him a hip sensation in the 1970s and later a beloved guest star on sitcoms including “Roseanne” and “Arrested Development,” has died, his daughter said Friday, June 28, 2024. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)" />
 <figcaption>FILE - Martin Mull participates in "The Cool Kids" panel during the Fox Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour at The Beverly Hilton hotel on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Martin Mull, whose droll, esoteric comedy and acting made him a hip sensation in the 1970s and later a beloved guest star on sitcoms including “Roseanne” and “Arrested Development,” has died, his daughter said Friday, June 28, 2024. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)</figcaption>
 </figure>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Martin Mull, whose droll, esoteric comedy and acting made him a hip sensation in the 1970s and later a beloved guest star on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/television">sitcoms</a>&nbsp;including “Roseanne” and “Arrested Development,” has died, his daughter said Friday.Mull's Daughter, TV writer and comic artist Maggie Mull, said her father died at home on Thursday after “a valiant fight against a long illness.”Mull, who was also a guitarist and painter, came to national fame with a recurring role on the Norman Lear-created satirical soap opera “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” and the starring role in its spinoff, “Fernwood Tonight,” on which he played Barth Gimble, the host of a satirical talk show.“He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/mulltoons/">Maggie Mull said in an Instagram post</a>. “He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny. My dad will be deeply missed by his wife and daughter, by his friends and coworkers, by fellow artists and comedians and musicians, and—the sign of a truly exceptional person—by many, many dogs.”Known for his blonde hair and well-trimmed mustache, Mull was born in Chicago, raised in Ohio and Connecticut and studied art in Rhode Island and Rome. He combined his music and comedy in hip Hollywood clubs in the 1970s.“In 1976 I was a guitar player and sit-down comic appearing at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip when Norman Lear walked in and heard me," Mull told The Associated Press in 1980. “He cast me as the wife beater on ‘Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.’ Four months later I was spun off on my own show.”In the 1980s he appeared in films including “Mr. Mom" and “Clue,” and in the 1990s had a recurring role on “Roseanne.”He would later play private eye Gene Parmesan on “Arrested Development,” and would be nominated for an Emmy in 2016 for a guest turn on “Veep.”“What I did on ‘Veep’ I’m very proud of, but I’d like to think it’s probably more collective, at my age it’s more collective,” Mull told the AP after his nomination. “It might go all the way back to ‘Fernwood.’”Other comedians and actors were often his biggest fans.“Martin was the greatest,” “Bridesmaids” director&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/paulfeig/status/1806837940078911661">Paul Feig</a>&nbsp;said in an X post. “So funny, so talented, such a nice guy. Was lucky enough to act with him on The Jackie Thomas Show and treasured every moment being with a legend. Fernwood Tonight was so influential in my life.”

Martin Mull, comic star known for ‘Roseanne’ dead at 80

Kansas Department of Health and Environment

TOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks have issued a public health advisory due to blue-green&nbsp;algae.

A harmful algal bloom (HAB) may look like foam, scum or paint floating on the water and be colored blue, bright green, brown or red. Blooms can develop rapidly; if the water appears suspicious or there is decaying&nbsp;algae&nbsp;on the shore, avoid contact and keep pets away.

These toxins can be absorbed by ingestion, inhalation of aerosols and even skin contact.

Symptoms vary depending upon the type of exposure (e.g. direct contact, ingestion, inhalation) but can include rash, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, sore throat and headache.

If you, or your pets, come into contact with algae&nbsp;rinse the area with clean, fresh water.

Suspected HAB-related health incidents, whether human or animal, regardless of season, should be reported at&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.FHhBnBcSPYqvyz7qCawS37ShF1xKOYTAqSaFR3T51vM/s/1305913623/br/244975152642-l">kdhe.ks.gov/1163</a>.

A hazard status&nbsp;indicates that a harmful algal bloom is present, and extreme conditions exist.&nbsp;

When a hazard is issued, KDHE recommends the following precautions be taken:

A warning status&nbsp;indicates that conditions are unsafe for human and pet exposure. Contact with the waterbody should be avoided.

When a warning is issued, KDHE recommends the following precautions be taken:

A watch status&nbsp;means that blue-green&nbsp;algae&nbsp;have been detected and a harmful algal bloom is present or likely to develop. People are encouraged to avoid areas of&nbsp;algae&nbsp;accumulation and keep pets and livestock away from the water.

&nbsp;When a watch is issued, KDHE recommends the following precautions be taken:

Advisories are&nbsp;Lifted&nbsp;when cell densities and toxin concentrations dissipate to levels below the Watch thresholds.

KDHE investigates publicly accessible bodies of water for blue-green&nbsp;algae&nbsp;when the agency receives reports of potential&nbsp;algae&nbsp;blooms in Kansas lakes. Based on credible field observation and sampling results, KDHE reports on potentially harmful conditions.&nbsp;

If you observe a scum or paint-like surface on the water, small floating blue-green clumps or filaments in the water, or if the water is an opaque green, avoid contact and keep pets away. These are indications that a harmful bloom may be present. Pet owners should be aware that animals that swim in or drink water affected by a harmful algal bloom or eat dried&nbsp;algae&nbsp;along the shore may become seriously ill or die.

For information on blue-green&nbsp;algae&nbsp;and reporting potential harmful algal blooms, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.O-iii8EecI9RCmUQhjTnWcsWU8a48BBlP23Z7wAksSg/s/1305913623/br/244975152642-l">kdhe.ks.gov/HAB</a>&nbsp;and check out our&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.BaXTO6dRhb2dyo1a1gvSOAGz9mT9i-HnJQTvtXERzHk/s/1305913623/br/244975152642-l">interactive story</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.sdMj1mXAb7hEIHpl1c7_3nZsc3kUE4A6wmwHnx4s3Vk/s/1305913623/br/244975152642-l">informative video</a>.

Kansas Department of Health and EnvironmentTOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks have issued a public health advisory due to blue-green&nbsp;algae.A harmful algal bloom (HAB) may look like foam, scum or paint floating on the water and be colored blue, bright green, brown or red. Blooms can develop rapidly; if the water appears suspicious or there is decaying&nbsp;algae&nbsp;on the shore, avoid contact and keep pets away.These toxins can be absorbed by ingestion, inhalation of aerosols and even skin contact.Symptoms vary depending upon the type of exposure (e.g. direct contact, ingestion, inhalation) but can include rash, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, sore throat and headache.If you, or your pets, come into contact with algae&nbsp;rinse the area with clean, fresh water.Suspected HAB-related health incidents, whether human or animal, regardless of season, should be reported at&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.FHhBnBcSPYqvyz7qCawS37ShF1xKOYTAqSaFR3T51vM/s/1305913623/br/244975152642-l">kdhe.ks.gov/1163</a>.<h2>Active Advisories</h2>Warning&nbsp;<ul>
 <li>King Lake, Lyon County</li><li>Marion Lake (Reservoir), Marion County</li><li>Rooks Co. SFL, Rooks County</li><li>Webster Lake, Rooks County</li>
 </ul>Watch&nbsp;<ul>
 <li>Eagle Lake (Bel Aire), Sedgwick County (Added June 28)</li><li>Harvey County East Lake, Harvey County</li><li>Lake Shawnee, Shawnee County</li><li>Lovewell Lake, Jewell County</li><li>Woodland Park Pond (Mount Hope), Sedgwick County</li>
 </ul>A hazard status&nbsp;indicates that a harmful algal bloom is present, and extreme conditions exist.&nbsp;When a hazard is issued, KDHE recommends the following precautions be taken:<ul>
 <li>Signage should be posted at all public access locations.</li><li>It is recommended that either a portion of the lake or the entire lake or zone, be closed to the public.</li><li>In some cases, the adjacent land should be closed as well. Actual setback distances will be determined on a site-specific basis, if necessary.</li><li>When partial closures (i.e., beach or cove) are issued, the remaining lake or zone area will carry a warning status.</li>
 </ul>A warning status&nbsp;indicates that conditions are unsafe for human and pet exposure. Contact with the waterbody should be avoided.When a warning is issued, KDHE recommends the following precautions be taken:<ul>
 <li>Signage should be posted at all public access locations.</li><li>Inhalation of spray or aerosols may be harmful.</li><li>Lake water is not safe to drink for pets or livestock.&nbsp;</li><li>Lake water, regardless of blue-green&nbsp;algae&nbsp;status, should never be consumed by humans.&nbsp;</li><li>Water contact should be avoided.&nbsp;</li><li>Fish may be eaten if they are rinsed with clean water and only the fillet portion is consumed, while all other parts are discarded.&nbsp;</li><li>Do not allow pets to eat dried&nbsp;algae.&nbsp;</li><li>If lake water contacts skin, wash with clean water as soon as possible.&nbsp;</li><li>Avoid areas of visible&nbsp;algae&nbsp;accumulation.&nbsp;</li>
 </ul>A watch status&nbsp;means that blue-green&nbsp;algae&nbsp;have been detected and a harmful algal bloom is present or likely to develop. People are encouraged to avoid areas of&nbsp;algae&nbsp;accumulation and keep pets and livestock away from the water.&nbsp;When a watch is issued, KDHE recommends the following precautions be taken:<ul>
 <li>Signage should be posted at all public access locations.</li><li>Water may be unsafe for humans/animals.</li><li>Avoid areas of&nbsp;algae&nbsp;accumulation and do not let people/pets eat dried&nbsp;algae&nbsp;or drink contaminated water.</li><li>Swimming, wading, skiing and jet skiing are discouraged near visible blooms.</li><li>Boating and fishing are safe. However, inhalation of the spray may affect some individuals. Avoid direct contact with water, and wash with clean water after any contact.</li><li>Clean fish thoroughly with potable water and eat fillet portion only.</li>
 </ul>Advisories are&nbsp;Lifted&nbsp;when cell densities and toxin concentrations dissipate to levels below the Watch thresholds.KDHE investigates publicly accessible bodies of water for blue-green&nbsp;algae&nbsp;when the agency receives reports of potential&nbsp;algae&nbsp;blooms in Kansas lakes. Based on credible field observation and sampling results, KDHE reports on potentially harmful conditions.&nbsp;If you observe a scum or paint-like surface on the water, small floating blue-green clumps or filaments in the water, or if the water is an opaque green, avoid contact and keep pets away. These are indications that a harmful bloom may be present. Pet owners should be aware that animals that swim in or drink water affected by a harmful algal bloom or eat dried&nbsp;algae&nbsp;along the shore may become seriously ill or die.For information on blue-green&nbsp;algae&nbsp;and reporting potential harmful algal blooms, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.O-iii8EecI9RCmUQhjTnWcsWU8a48BBlP23Z7wAksSg/s/1305913623/br/244975152642-l">kdhe.ks.gov/HAB</a>&nbsp;and check out our&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.BaXTO6dRhb2dyo1a1gvSOAGz9mT9i-HnJQTvtXERzHk/s/1305913623/br/244975152642-l">interactive story</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.sdMj1mXAb7hEIHpl1c7_3nZsc3kUE4A6wmwHnx4s3Vk/s/1305913623/br/244975152642-l">informative video</a>.

Public health advisories for NW Kansas lakes due to blue-green algae

ATLANTA (AP) — Above all,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">Joe Biden's</a>&nbsp;allies wanted him to demonstrate strength and energy on the debate stage to help put to rest&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-age-poll-trump-2024-620e0a5cfa0039a6448f607c17c7f23e">questions</a>&nbsp;about the 81-year-old Democrat's physical and mental acuity.

But on the biggest stage in U.S. politics on Thursday night, Biden did not meet their modest expectations.

And by the end of the 90-minute&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bidentrumppresidentialdebate-0e7577e9a354a69f50675494fea54ca9">showdown</a>, the Democratic president's allies — party strategists and rank-and-file voters alike — descended into all-out panic following a debate performance punctuated by repeated stumbles, uncomfortable pauses, and a quiet speaking style that was often difficult to understand. Publicly and privately, Democrats questioned whether the party&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-replacement-democratic-ballot-dnc-rules-7aa836b0ae642a68eec86cc0bebd3772">could or should replace him</a>&nbsp;as the party's presidential nominee against the 78-year-old Republican former President Donald Trump this fall.

“I’m not the only one whose heart is breaking right now. There’s a lot of people who watched this tonight and felt terribly for Joe Biden,” former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill said on MSNBC. "I don’t know if things can be done to fix this.”

For now, the biggest question for Biden is whether the damage is permanent. Many voters have not yet tuned into an election that's still more than four months away. The president and his allies are sitting on millions of dollars that have yet to be spent on advertising and swing state infrastructure. And there's precedent for recovering from rough debate performances, including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/barack-obama">Barack Obama's</a>&nbsp;rebound from an uneven encounter with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/mitt-romney">Mitt Romney</a>&nbsp;in 2012. Democrat&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/john-fetterman">John Fetterman</a>&nbsp;went on to defeat a Republican rival in 2022 after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-mehmet-oz-biden-health-john-fetterman-a89f9aff7d89efe43f2c40a74bbc9250">struggling through a debate</a>&nbsp;several months after experiencing a stroke.

Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign was always based on a gamble that voters would ultimately support an 81-year-old lifelong politician with weak approval ratings in a rematch that few Americans want. Despite such liabilities, Biden's team insisted that he was uniquely positioned to stop Trump from returning to the White House — just as he did four years ago.

They have long predicted that Biden's winning political coalition would eventually embrace the Democratic president after being sufficiently reminded of Trump's chaotic leadership. But there were little signs of such confidence in the wake of Biden's underwhelming debate performance.

“It was a slow start. That’s obvious to everyone. I’m not going to debate that point,” Vice President Kamala Harris&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-debate-performance-biden-cnn-ee90f73e2b879f6f711b901e398d861d">said on CNN after the debate</a>. “I’m talking about the choice in November. I’m talking about one of the most important elections in our collective lifetime.”

Biden's surrogates were slow to enter the post-debate spin room in Atlanta. And when they finally emerged, they largely avoided questions from the press. Instead, they railed against Trump's long list of falsehoods during the debate. Among other things, Trump didn't disavow those&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">who attacked the Capitol</a>&nbsp;on Jan. 6, 2021.

California Gov.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/gavin-newsom">Gavin Newsom</a>, a potential future presidential candidate who was Biden's most prominent surrogate in the Atlanta spin room, urged Democrats not to panic.

“I think it’s unhelpful. And I think it’s unnecessary. We’ve got to go in, we’ve got to keep our heads high," Newsom said in an interview on MSNBC. "We’ve got to have the back of this president. You don’t turn back because of one performance. What kind of party does that?”

Still, signs of anxiety were apparent as Democrats began to openly encourage the party to find an alternative to Biden. Some party officials pointed to a social media post from former Obama campaign aide Ravi Gupta.

“Every Democrat I know is texting that this is bad,” Gupta wrote on X. “Just say it publicly and begin the hard work of creating space in the convention for a selection process. I’ll vote for a corpse over Trump, but this is a suicide mission.”

Under current Democratic Party rules, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to replace Biden as the party's nominee without his cooperation or without the party officials being willing to rewrite its rules at the August national convention.

The president won the overwhelming majority of Democratic delegates during the state-by-state primary process. And party rules state, “Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.”

But DNC rules don’t have the same strict “faithless delegate” rules that the RNC does, which ignore votes against in violation of a delegate’s pledged position.

Republicans, meanwhile, were giddy about Biden's lackluster performance. But Trump's co-campaign chief dismissed chatter about whether Democrats would try to nominate someone other than Biden.

“There’s so many political experts on X, so we’ll hear a lot from them, I’m sure, in the next few days because they’ve all run so many campaigns,” Chris LaCivita said sarcastically. “But the only way that happens is if Joe Biden voluntarily steps down, and he’s not going to do that.”

Thursday’s debate may be imprinted on voters' minds for the foreseeable future with Biden and Trump not scheduled to meet on the debate stage again for another 75 days.

LaCavita said Trump would be at the next debate “with bells on.” Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz confirmed that Biden would also attend the rematch.

But privately, Biden advisers suggested that the campaign was never going to be won or lost in one rally, conversation or debate. They pointed to plans to maintain an aggressive schedule in the weeks and months ahead.

On Friday, Biden was scheduled to campaign in North Carolina while Harris was in Nevada.

Still, Biden supporters struggled to find any hope in the immediate aftermath of the debate.

“That was the worst performance in the history of televised presidential debates,” Tim Miller, a former Republican strategist-turned ardent Biden supporter, said in the spin room, shaking his head in disbelief.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719578338232.png" alt="Image from the CNN debate courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Image from the CNN debate courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>ATLANTA (AP) — Above all,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">Joe Biden's</a>&nbsp;allies wanted him to demonstrate strength and energy on the debate stage to help put to rest&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-age-poll-trump-2024-620e0a5cfa0039a6448f607c17c7f23e">questions</a>&nbsp;about the 81-year-old Democrat's physical and mental acuity.But on the biggest stage in U.S. politics on Thursday night, Biden did not meet their modest expectations.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">CLIP: President Biden and former President Trump respond to question on abortion during CNN Presidential Debate. <a href="https://t.co/xsJ1ATvlTP">pic.twitter.com/xsJ1ATvlTP</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1806500194055311622?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>And by the end of the 90-minute&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bidentrumppresidentialdebate-0e7577e9a354a69f50675494fea54ca9">showdown</a>, the Democratic president's allies — party strategists and rank-and-file voters alike — descended into all-out panic following a debate performance punctuated by repeated stumbles, uncomfortable pauses, and a quiet speaking style that was often difficult to understand. Publicly and privately, Democrats questioned whether the party&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-replacement-democratic-ballot-dnc-rules-7aa836b0ae642a68eec86cc0bebd3772">could or should replace him</a>&nbsp;as the party's presidential nominee against the 78-year-old Republican former President Donald Trump this fall.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President Biden: &quot;I don&#39;t walk as easy as I used to. I don&#39;t speak as smoothly as I used to... I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. I know how to do this job...I know like millions of Americans know; when you get knocked down you get back up!&quot; <a href="https://t.co/V9EdtTeDGC">pic.twitter.com/V9EdtTeDGC</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1806744269752811928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>“I’m not the only one whose heart is breaking right now. There’s a lot of people who watched this tonight and felt terribly for Joe Biden,” former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill said on MSNBC. "I don’t know if things can be done to fix this.”For now, the biggest question for Biden is whether the damage is permanent. Many voters have not yet tuned into an election that's still more than four months away. The president and his allies are sitting on millions of dollars that have yet to be spent on advertising and swing state infrastructure. And there's precedent for recovering from rough debate performances, including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/barack-obama">Barack Obama's</a>&nbsp;rebound from an uneven encounter with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/mitt-romney">Mitt Romney</a>&nbsp;in 2012. Democrat&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/john-fetterman">John Fetterman</a>&nbsp;went on to defeat a Republican rival in 2022 after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-mehmet-oz-biden-health-john-fetterman-a89f9aff7d89efe43f2c40a74bbc9250">struggling through a debate</a>&nbsp;several months after experiencing a stroke.<h2>Biden's gamble</h2>Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign was always based on a gamble that voters would ultimately support an 81-year-old lifelong politician with weak approval ratings in a rematch that few Americans want. Despite such liabilities, Biden's team insisted that he was uniquely positioned to stop Trump from returning to the White House — just as he did four years ago.They have long predicted that Biden's winning political coalition would eventually embrace the Democratic president after being sufficiently reminded of Trump's chaotic leadership. But there were little signs of such confidence in the wake of Biden's underwhelming debate performance.“It was a slow start. That’s obvious to everyone. I’m not going to debate that point,” Vice President Kamala Harris&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-debate-performance-biden-cnn-ee90f73e2b879f6f711b901e398d861d">said on CNN after the debate</a>. “I’m talking about the choice in November. I’m talking about one of the most important elections in our collective lifetime.”Biden's surrogates were slow to enter the post-debate spin room in Atlanta. And when they finally emerged, they largely avoided questions from the press. Instead, they railed against Trump's long list of falsehoods during the debate. Among other things, Trump didn't disavow those&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">who attacked the Capitol</a>&nbsp;on Jan. 6, 2021.California Gov.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/gavin-newsom">Gavin Newsom</a>, a potential future presidential candidate who was Biden's most prominent surrogate in the Atlanta spin room, urged Democrats not to panic.“I think it’s unhelpful. And I think it’s unnecessary. We’ve got to go in, we’ve got to keep our heads high," Newsom said in an interview on MSNBC. "We’ve got to have the back of this president. You don’t turn back because of one performance. What kind of party does that?”<h2>Signs of anxiety</h2>Still, signs of anxiety were apparent as Democrats began to openly encourage the party to find an alternative to Biden. Some party officials pointed to a social media post from former Obama campaign aide Ravi Gupta.“Every Democrat I know is texting that this is bad,” Gupta wrote on X. “Just say it publicly and begin the hard work of creating space in the convention for a selection process. I’ll vote for a corpse over Trump, but this is a suicide mission.”Under current Democratic Party rules, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to replace Biden as the party's nominee without his cooperation or without the party officials being willing to rewrite its rules at the August national convention.The president won the overwhelming majority of Democratic delegates during the state-by-state primary process. And party rules state, “Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.”But DNC rules don’t have the same strict “faithless delegate” rules that the RNC does, which ignore votes against in violation of a delegate’s pledged position.Republicans, meanwhile, were giddy about Biden's lackluster performance. But Trump's co-campaign chief dismissed chatter about whether Democrats would try to nominate someone other than Biden.“There’s so many political experts on X, so we’ll hear a lot from them, I’m sure, in the next few days because they’ve all run so many campaigns,” Chris LaCivita said sarcastically. “But the only way that happens is if Joe Biden voluntarily steps down, and he’s not going to do that.”Thursday’s debate may be imprinted on voters' minds for the foreseeable future with Biden and Trump not scheduled to meet on the debate stage again for another 75 days.LaCavita said Trump would be at the next debate “with bells on.” Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz confirmed that Biden would also attend the rematch.But privately, Biden advisers suggested that the campaign was never going to be won or lost in one rally, conversation or debate. They pointed to plans to maintain an aggressive schedule in the weeks and months ahead.On Friday, Biden was scheduled to campaign in North Carolina while Harris was in Nevada.Still, Biden supporters struggled to find any hope in the immediate aftermath of the debate.“That was the worst performance in the history of televised presidential debates,” Tim Miller, a former Republican strategist-turned ardent Biden supporter, said in the spin room, shaking his head in disbelief.

🎥Biden's debate performance spurs Democratic panic 

By BECKY KISER Hays Post

All 8,500 water meters in Hays will be replaced during the next year&nbsp;with radio frequency advanced infrastructure metering.&nbsp; &nbsp;

The $4.5 million project will not require increased rates for city water customers.

"We have a bond rolling off," said Toby Dougherty, city manager.

The city will take advantage of an expiring 2009 utility system bond payment this year. A new 20-year bond is anticipated.

City commissioners voted Thursday to approve the bid from Core &amp; Main, McPherson, for the Sensus-brand equipment and hire a project manager with Tyler Technologies to integrate the software with the city's system.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Sensus AMI system can read water usage from a water meter every 15 minutes and alert customers to any anomalies that could indicate an unknown leak. Right now, meters are read every 30 days. Customers can also access their real-time information.&nbsp;

The new system will help conserve water by identifying leaks more quickly and free up at least five city employees for other work.&nbsp;

"We are the leaders in water conservation in Kansas and beyond. We need to continue to evolve. This is an important tool to add to our water conservation program," said Jeff Crispin, director of water resources.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The commission also voted to renew its 2024/2025 property/liability insurance coverage package with&nbsp;Midwest Public Risk for $454,221. The premium is a 22.6% increase.&nbsp;

The city's new fire station is covered in the policy, said Finance Director Kim Rupp.

Grow Hays' request of the city to formalize an intent to issue industrial revenue bonds for The Grove community center was approved.&nbsp;

The industrial revenue bonds, to be issued once the project is complete,&nbsp; will allow the developer to obtain a sales tax exemption for all construction-related purchases.

A groundbreaking for the new community center, part of a planned residential housing development, will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 11, at the site north of Hays Medical Center.

Hays Lions Club members requested to change the name of the Hays Lions Club Park,&nbsp;33rd and Skyline Drive, from the&nbsp;Daniel G. Rupp Memorial Park sponsored by the Hays Lions Club to the Hays Lions Club Park in remembrance of Daniel G. Rupp. Rupp was the longest-serving Hays mayor. Commissioners will discuss the request at an upcoming work session.

Commissioner Alaina Cunningham was absent from the meeting.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719328646306.jpeg" alt="Hays water meters will be replaced with new radio frequency&nbsp;advanced infrastructure metering during the next year. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Hays water meters will be replaced with new radio frequency&nbsp;advanced infrastructure metering during the next year. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>By BECKY KISER Hays PostAll 8,500 water meters in Hays will be replaced during the next year&nbsp;with radio frequency advanced infrastructure metering.&nbsp; &nbsp;The $4.5 million project will not require increased rates for city water customers."We have a bond rolling off," said Toby Dougherty, city manager.The city will take advantage of an expiring 2009 utility system bond payment this year. A new 20-year bond is anticipated.City commissioners voted Thursday to approve the bid from Core &amp; Main, McPherson, for the Sensus-brand equipment and hire a project manager with Tyler Technologies to integrate the software with the city's system.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719591637277.jpeg" alt="Jeff Crispin, director of water resources for the city of Hays. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Jeff Crispin, director of water resources for the city of Hays. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>The Sensus AMI system can read water usage from a water meter every 15 minutes and alert customers to any anomalies that could indicate an unknown leak. Right now, meters are read every 30 days. Customers can also access their real-time information.&nbsp;The new system will help conserve water by identifying leaks more quickly and free up at least five city employees for other work.&nbsp;"We are the leaders in water conservation in Kansas and beyond. We need to continue to evolve. This is an important tool to add to our water conservation program," said Jeff Crispin, director of water resources.&nbsp;&nbsp;The commission also voted to renew its 2024/2025 property/liability insurance coverage package with&nbsp;Midwest Public Risk for $454,221. The premium is a 22.6% increase.&nbsp;The city's new fire station is covered in the policy, said Finance Director Kim Rupp.Grow Hays' request of the city to formalize an intent to issue industrial revenue bonds for The Grove community center was approved.&nbsp;The industrial revenue bonds, to be issued once the project is complete,&nbsp; will allow the developer to obtain a sales tax exemption for all construction-related purchases.No property tax abatement is requested.A groundbreaking for the new community center, part of a planned residential housing development, will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 11, at the site north of Hays Medical Center.Hays Lions Club members requested to change the name of the Hays Lions Club Park,&nbsp;33rd and Skyline Drive, from the&nbsp;Daniel G. Rupp Memorial Park sponsored by the Hays Lions Club to the Hays Lions Club Park in remembrance of Daniel G. Rupp. Rupp was the longest-serving Hays mayor. Commissioners will discuss the request at an upcoming work session.Commissioner Alaina Cunningham was absent from the meeting.

Hays City Commission approves $4.5M water meter replacement project

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s top education official ordered public schools Thursday to incorporate the Bible into lessons for grades 5 through 12, the latest effort by conservatives to incorporate religion into classrooms.

The directive sent Thursday to superintendents across the state by Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters says adherence to the mandate is compulsory and “immediate and strict compliance is expected.”

“The Bible is an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone,” Walters said in a statement. “Without basic knowledge of it, Oklahoma students are unable to properly contextualize the foundation of our nation which is why Oklahoma educational standards provide for its instruction."

The directive is the latest effort by conservative-led states to target public schools: Louisiana required them to post the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/louisiana-ten-commandments-displayed-classrooms-571a2447906f7bbd5a166d53db005a62">Ten Commandments in classrooms</a>, while others are under pressure to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/indiana-lifewise-public-school-religion-d7cf2b67b2ae3b7919e0a21f89ce80c0">teach the Bible</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lgbtq-book-bans-91b2d4c086eb082cbecfdda2800ef29a">ban books</a>&nbsp;and lessons about race, sexual orientation and gender identity. Earlier this week the Oklahoma Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/public-religious-catholic-charter-school-unconstitutional-oklahoma-e4ef414605094313331a39cc645ede8a">blocked an attempt</a>&nbsp;by the state to have the first publicly funded religious charter school in the country.

A former public school teacher who was elected to his post in 2022, Walters ran on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/oklahoma-education-teachers-superintendent-walters-c5c55e473eaeb0c94545c8ae5753149a">a platform of fighting “woke ideology,”</a>&nbsp;banning books from school libraries and getting rid of “radical leftists” who he claims are indoctrinating children in classrooms.

He has clashed with leaders in both parties for his focus on culture-war issues including transgender rights and banning books, and in January he faced criticism for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/oklahoma-education-superintendent-walters-libs-tiktok-raichik-4db2bcb9d8e0582f67329f6879bdf6ba">appointing a right-wing social media influencer</a>&nbsp;from New York to a state library committee.

Walters’ directive immediately came under fire from civil rights groups and supporters of the separation of church and state.

“Public schools are not Sunday schools,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, in a statement. “This is textbook Christian Nationalism: Walters is abusing the power of his public office to impose his religious beliefs on everyone else’s children. Not on our watch.”

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s top education official ordered public schools Thursday to incorporate the Bible into lessons for grades 5 through 12, the latest effort by conservatives to incorporate religion into classrooms.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Oklahoma kids will learn that the Bible and the Ten Commandments are foundational for western civilization. The left is upset, but one cannot rewrite history. <a href="https://t.co/iZKhv9tKoc">pic.twitter.com/iZKhv9tKoc</a>&mdash; Superintendent Ryan Walters (@RyanWaltersSupt) <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanWaltersSupt/status/1806365533605929163?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The directive sent Thursday to superintendents across the state by Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters says adherence to the mandate is compulsory and “immediate and strict compliance is expected.”“The Bible is an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone,” Walters said in a statement. “Without basic knowledge of it, Oklahoma students are unable to properly contextualize the foundation of our nation which is why Oklahoma educational standards provide for its instruction."The directive is the latest effort by conservative-led states to target public schools: Louisiana required them to post the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/louisiana-ten-commandments-displayed-classrooms-571a2447906f7bbd5a166d53db005a62">Ten Commandments in classrooms</a>, while others are under pressure to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/indiana-lifewise-public-school-religion-d7cf2b67b2ae3b7919e0a21f89ce80c0">teach the Bible</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lgbtq-book-bans-91b2d4c086eb082cbecfdda2800ef29a">ban books</a>&nbsp;and lessons about race, sexual orientation and gender identity. Earlier this week the Oklahoma Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/public-religious-catholic-charter-school-unconstitutional-oklahoma-e4ef414605094313331a39cc645ede8a">blocked an attempt</a>&nbsp;by the state to have the first publicly funded religious charter school in the country.A former public school teacher who was elected to his post in 2022, Walters ran on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/oklahoma-education-teachers-superintendent-walters-c5c55e473eaeb0c94545c8ae5753149a">a platform of fighting “woke ideology,”</a>&nbsp;banning books from school libraries and getting rid of “radical leftists” who he claims are indoctrinating children in classrooms.He has clashed with leaders in both parties for his focus on culture-war issues including transgender rights and banning books, and in January he faced criticism for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/oklahoma-education-superintendent-walters-libs-tiktok-raichik-4db2bcb9d8e0582f67329f6879bdf6ba">appointing a right-wing social media influencer</a>&nbsp;from New York to a state library committee.Walters’ directive immediately came under fire from civil rights groups and supporters of the separation of church and state.“Public schools are not Sunday schools,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, in a statement. “This is textbook Christian Nationalism: Walters is abusing the power of his public office to impose his religious beliefs on everyone else’s children. Not on our watch.”

🎥Official explains why all Okla. schools will now have Bible instruction

There may be dangerous lead water pipes in the city of Hays.&nbsp;A contractor has been hired to determine how many and where they are.

In late November, the Environmental Protection Agency announced utilities or cities would have to pull and replace lead pipes within 10 years as part of a&nbsp;national initiative spearheaded by the Biden administration.&nbsp;

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains there is no safe level of lead exposure for children.

In&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/04/11/known-to-be-toxic-for-a-century-lead-still-poisons-thousands-of-midwestern-kids/">Kansas, the EPA estimates</a>&nbsp;54,107 lead pipes remain, while the&nbsp;Natural Resources Defense Council believes there are more than 160,000, the third-highest number per capita among all the states.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Hays is working with Burns &amp; McDonnell Engineers and <a href="https://blueconduit.com/">BlueConduit</a>, which does predictive modeling to identify areas where the city might need to investigate for lead pipe.

BlueConduit is a national company that has been approved by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to locate pipes in communities across the state. 

The deadline to identify the pipes is October, said Jeff Crispin, director of water resources for Hays. The city has more than 8,000 service lines.

"What we're working on now is data,"&nbsp;Crispin said, "including partial data in our GIS system of&nbsp;dates when homes were built in which parts of town.&nbsp;

"Then they'll recommend sites where we'll go out and do some inspection."&nbsp;

Crispin expects about 150 sites will be inspected initially.

"We'll soon go out and visually identify meter locations for any lead or copper service lines," he said. "We'll go back and look at previous installations, what year something was installed.

"After 1986, lead was removed basically ... You cannot install anything lead. That's a pretty good indicator anything built after 1986 — a newer part of town — would not have any possibility of lead in the system."

<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/eb8542e2-3db5-43d1-91a6-5ca28c1671fe">For much of the 20th century, utilities were permitted to install lead service lines, the pipes that carry water from water mains under the street into homes. The EPA banned them in 1986, but utilities have never been required to remove existing pipes, according to a story published&nbsp; on the Hays Post from the Kansas Reflector.</a>

Based on work done in other municipalities, Crispin has been told that about 400-450 sites will need to be examined in Hays.&nbsp;

He said there are not many records of contractors running into lead lines when installing water infrastructure, "so that's good."

In February, <a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/5c7beb87-0fe6-4b1b-95aa-88e0a904cf2b">Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach led a coalition of state attorneys general in opposition to the </a>EPA's requirement that&nbsp;more than 9 million lead pipes across the country be replaced.

A joint news release contends the rule "is unworkable, underfunded, and unnecessary and should be withdrawn."

In May, the <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/05/06/federal-law-delivers-28-6-million-to-kansas-for-replacing-lead-pipes-for-drinking-water/">EPA allocated $26.8 million to Kansas to replace lead water pipes</a> through a program funded by the federal infrastructure law.

The funds will be made available to municipalities for line replacements as needed for the next 10 years.&nbsp;

"There's still a lot of uncertainty out there about what may or may not happen," Crispin said.

"Every indication I'm getting is that the due date of October this year is still going to hold true. I understand there's a lot of states out there fighting the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-04/Final_DWINSA%20Public%20Factsheet%204.4.23.pdf">EPA</a> on this, but I don't see it going away."&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719504666434.png" alt="Photo by Pixabay" />
 <figcaption>Photo by Pixabay</figcaption>
 </figure>By BECKY KISER Hays PostThere may be dangerous lead water pipes in the city of Hays.&nbsp;A contractor has been hired to determine how many and where they are.In late November, the Environmental Protection Agency announced utilities or cities would have to pull and replace lead pipes within 10 years as part of a&nbsp;national initiative spearheaded by the Biden administration.&nbsp;The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains there is no safe level of lead exposure for children.In&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/04/11/known-to-be-toxic-for-a-century-lead-still-poisons-thousands-of-midwestern-kids/">Kansas, the EPA estimates</a>&nbsp;54,107 lead pipes remain, while the&nbsp;Natural Resources Defense Council believes there are more than 160,000, the third-highest number per capita among all the states.&nbsp;&nbsp;Hays is working with Burns &amp; McDonnell Engineers and <a href="https://blueconduit.com/">BlueConduit</a>, which does predictive modeling to identify areas where the city might need to investigate for lead pipe. BlueConduit is a national company that has been approved by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to locate pipes in communities across the state. KDHE is paying for the Hays project.The deadline to identify the pipes is October, said Jeff Crispin, director of water resources for Hays. The city has more than 8,000 service lines."What we're working on now is data,"&nbsp;Crispin said, "including partial data in our GIS system of&nbsp;dates when homes were built in which parts of town.&nbsp;"Then they'll recommend sites where we'll go out and do some inspection."&nbsp;Crispin expects about 150 sites will be inspected initially."We'll soon go out and visually identify meter locations for any lead or copper service lines," he said. "We'll go back and look at previous installations, what year something was installed."After 1986, lead was removed basically ... You cannot install anything lead. That's a pretty good indicator anything built after 1986 — a newer part of town — would not have any possibility of lead in the system."<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/eb8542e2-3db5-43d1-91a6-5ca28c1671fe">For much of the 20th century, utilities were permitted to install lead service lines, the pipes that carry water from water mains under the street into homes. The EPA banned them in 1986, but utilities have never been required to remove existing pipes, according to a story published&nbsp; on the Hays Post from the Kansas Reflector.</a>Based on work done in other municipalities, Crispin has been told that about 400-450 sites will need to be examined in Hays.&nbsp;He said there are not many records of contractors running into lead lines when installing water infrastructure, "so that's good."In February, <a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/5c7beb87-0fe6-4b1b-95aa-88e0a904cf2b">Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach led a coalition of state attorneys general in opposition to the </a>EPA's requirement that&nbsp;more than 9 million lead pipes across the country be replaced.A joint news release contends the rule "is unworkable, underfunded, and unnecessary and should be withdrawn."In May, the <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/05/06/federal-law-delivers-28-6-million-to-kansas-for-replacing-lead-pipes-for-drinking-water/">EPA allocated $26.8 million to Kansas to replace lead water pipes</a> through a program funded by the federal infrastructure law.The funds will be made available to municipalities for line replacements as needed for the next 10 years.&nbsp;"There's still a lot of uncertainty out there about what may or may not happen," Crispin said."Every indication I'm getting is that the due date of October this year is still going to hold true. I understand there's a lot of states out there fighting the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-04/Final_DWINSA%20Public%20Factsheet%204.4.23.pdf">EPA</a> on this, but I don't see it going away."&nbsp;

Hays' search for lead water pipes continues despite Kansas Attorney General opposition

ATLANTA (AP) — A raspy and sometimes halting President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;tried repeatedly to confront&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;in their first debate ahead of the November election, as his Republican rival countered Biden's criticism by leaning into falsehoods about the economy, illegal immigration and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.

Biden’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/debate-trump-biden-presidential-campaign-44e71c900a1c4af2bed93041fdfe923d">uneven performance</a>, particularly early in the debate, crystallized the concerns of many Americans that, at 81, he is too old to serve as president. It sparked a fresh round of calls for the Democrat to consider stepping aside as the party's nominee as members of his party fear a return of Trump to the White House.

Biden repeatedly tore into Trump in an apparent effort to provoke him, bringing up everything from the former president's recent felony conviction to his alleged insult of World War I veterans to his weight. The 78-year-old Trump declined to clearly state he would accept the results of the November election, four years after he promoted conspiracy theories about his loss that culminated in the Jan. 6 insurrection, and repeatedly misstated the record from his time in office.

But Biden's delivery from the beginning of the debate drew the most attention afterward. Trump's allies immediately declared victory while prominent Democrats publicly questioned whether Biden could move forward.

"I think the panic had set in,” said David Axelrod, a longtime advisor to former President Barack Obama on CNN, immediately after the debate about Biden's performance. “And I think you’re going to hear discussions that, I don’t know will lead to anything, but there are going to be discussions about whether he should continue.”

Said Van Jones, another Democratic strategist, on CNN: “He did not do well at all.”

Rosemarie DeAngelis, a Democrat who watched the debate at a party in South Portland, Maine, said she felt Biden gave the right answers to Trump but “didn’t have the spark that we needed tonight.”

“That’s going to be the challenge going forward. This is only June, this is the first, but can he sustain?” she said. "That is going to be the challenge.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking on CNN afterward, sought to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-debate-performance-biden-cnn-ee90f73e2b879f6f711b901e398d861d">defend</a>&nbsp;the president's performance while acknowledging the criticism.

“There was a slow start, but there was a strong finish,” she said.

Asked about his performance in the debate, Biden told reporters early Friday that “I think we did well,” but said he has a “sore throat.” Pressed about Democratic concerns with his showing that he should consider stepping aside, Biden said, "No, it's hard to debate a liar.”

Biden repeatedly lost his train of thought

Biden began the night with a hoarse voice as he tried to defend his economic record and criticize Trump. A person familiar with the matter said Biden was suffering from a cold during the debate, adding that he tested negative for COVID-19.

Biden appeared to lose his train of thought while giving one answer, drifting from an answer on tax policy to health policy, at one point using the word “COVID,” and then saying, “excuse me, with, dealing with,” and he trailed off again.

“Look, we finally beat Medicare,” Biden said, as his time ran out on his answer.

He also fumbled on abortion rights, one of the most important issues for Democrats in this year’s election. He was unable to explain Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. A conservative Supreme Court with three justices nominated by Trump overturned Roe two years ago.

When asked if he supports some restrictions on abortion, Biden said he “supports Roe v. Wade, which had three trimesters. The first time is between a woman and a doctor. Second time is between a doctor and an extreme situation. A third time is between the doctor, I mean, between the women and the state.”

He added that he thought doctors, not politicians, should make decisions about “women’s health.”

Biden began to give clearer answers as the debate progressed, still with a rasp, and attacked Trump’s record on issues like fighting climate change.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719539849536.png" alt="President Joe Biden, right, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, left, during a presidential debate hosted by CNN, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. On the far right is CNN moderator Dana Bash. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)" />
 <figcaption>President Joe Biden, right, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, left, during a presidential debate hosted by CNN, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. On the far right is CNN moderator Dana Bash. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)</figcaption>
 </figure>ATLANTA (AP) — A raspy and sometimes halting President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;tried repeatedly to confront&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;in their first debate ahead of the November election, as his Republican rival countered Biden's criticism by leaning into falsehoods about the economy, illegal immigration and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">CLIP: President Biden and former President Trump respond to question on abortion during CNN Presidential Debate. <a href="https://t.co/xsJ1ATvlTP">pic.twitter.com/xsJ1ATvlTP</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1806500194055311622?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Former President Trump: &quot;I really don&#39;t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don&#39;t think he knows what he said either.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/V106E98OSy">pic.twitter.com/V106E98OSy</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1806500264200851728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President Biden on January 6th: &quot;He didn&#39;t do a damn thing.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/cVb3vIaD5r">pic.twitter.com/cVb3vIaD5r</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1806506398454288835?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Trump: &quot;On January 6th we had a great border...On January 6th we were energy independent...On January 6th we had the lowest taxes ever. We had the lowest regulations ever...On January 6th we were respected all over the world...and then he comes in and we&#39;re now laughed at...&quot; <a href="https://t.co/mWxQEAwyFL">pic.twitter.com/mWxQEAwyFL</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1806506179574579401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">CLIP: CNN Presidential Debate segment on federal convictions and the right to go after political opponents. President Biden: &quot;You have the morals of an alley cat.&quot; Former President Trump: &quot;I didn&#39;t have sex with a porn star.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Gt3j4CzNXY">pic.twitter.com/Gt3j4CzNXY</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1806509416331497560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Fmr President Trump: &quot;He is the worst president...he&#39;s destroyed our country...If he wins this election our country doesn&#39;t have a chance.&quot; President Biden: &quot;We are the most admired country in the world. We are the United States of America. There&#39;s nothing beyond our capacity.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/osHgAAdEx2">pic.twitter.com/osHgAAdEx2</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1806513139694895174?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Former President Trump on his age: &quot;Well, I took two tests, cognitive tests. I aced them. Both of them as you know. We made it public. He took none. I&#39;d like to see him take one. Just one...I just won two club championships, not even senior...he can&#39;t hit a ball 50 yards.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/j60qKGNe2h">pic.twitter.com/j60qKGNe2h</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1806516579305214145?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President Biden on concerns about his age: &quot;This guys three years younger and a lot less competent.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/AqsSPReXlj">pic.twitter.com/AqsSPReXlj</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1806515692549652812?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Former President Trump on if he&#39;ll accept the results of the presidential election and say that political violence is unacceptable: &quot;I shouldn&#39;t have to say that, but of course I&#39;ll believe that. It&#39;s totally unacceptable.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Jxy3OHlnZW">pic.twitter.com/Jxy3OHlnZW</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1806517240168325546?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Biden’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/debate-trump-biden-presidential-campaign-44e71c900a1c4af2bed93041fdfe923d">uneven performance</a>, particularly early in the debate, crystallized the concerns of many Americans that, at 81, he is too old to serve as president. It sparked a fresh round of calls for the Democrat to consider stepping aside as the party's nominee as members of his party fear a return of Trump to the White House.Biden repeatedly tore into Trump in an apparent effort to provoke him, bringing up everything from the former president's recent felony conviction to his alleged insult of World War I veterans to his weight. The 78-year-old Trump declined to clearly state he would accept the results of the November election, four years after he promoted conspiracy theories about his loss that culminated in the Jan. 6 insurrection, and repeatedly misstated the record from his time in office.But Biden's delivery from the beginning of the debate drew the most attention afterward. Trump's allies immediately declared victory while prominent Democrats publicly questioned whether Biden could move forward."I think the panic had set in,” said David Axelrod, a longtime advisor to former President Barack Obama on CNN, immediately after the debate about Biden's performance. “And I think you’re going to hear discussions that, I don’t know will lead to anything, but there are going to be discussions about whether he should continue.”Said Van Jones, another Democratic strategist, on CNN: “He did not do well at all.”Rosemarie DeAngelis, a Democrat who watched the debate at a party in South Portland, Maine, said she felt Biden gave the right answers to Trump but “didn’t have the spark that we needed tonight.”“That’s going to be the challenge going forward. This is only June, this is the first, but can he sustain?” she said. "That is going to be the challenge.”Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking on CNN afterward, sought to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-debate-performance-biden-cnn-ee90f73e2b879f6f711b901e398d861d">defend</a>&nbsp;the president's performance while acknowledging the criticism.“There was a slow start, but there was a strong finish,” she said.Asked about his performance in the debate, Biden told reporters early Friday that “I think we did well,” but said he has a “sore throat.” Pressed about Democratic concerns with his showing that he should consider stepping aside, Biden said, "No, it's hard to debate a liar.”<h2>Biden repeatedly lost his train of thought</h2>Biden began the night with a hoarse voice as he tried to defend his economic record and criticize Trump. A person familiar with the matter said Biden was suffering from a cold during the debate, adding that he tested negative for COVID-19.Biden appeared to lose his train of thought while giving one answer, drifting from an answer on tax policy to health policy, at one point using the word “COVID,” and then saying, “excuse me, with, dealing with,” and he trailed off again.“Look, we finally beat Medicare,” Biden said, as his time ran out on his answer.He also fumbled on abortion rights, one of the most important issues for Democrats in this year’s election. He was unable to explain Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. A conservative Supreme Court with three justices nominated by Trump overturned Roe two years ago.When asked if he supports some restrictions on abortion, Biden said he “supports Roe v. Wade, which had three trimesters. The first time is between a woman and a doctor. Second time is between a doctor and an extreme situation. A third time is between the doctor, I mean, between the women and the state.”He added that he thought doctors, not politicians, should make decisions about “women’s health.”Biden began to give clearer answers as the debate progressed, still with a rasp, and attacked Trump’s record on issues like fighting climate change.“The only existential threat to humanity is climate change, and he didn’t do a damn thing about it,” he said.<h2>Trump sought to deflect blame for Jan. 6</h2>The current president and his predecessor hadn’t spoken&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/debate-joe-biden-donald-trump-nbc-final-ea9fa49aa1ccf238d3004eb39ed9d8db">since their last debate</a>&nbsp;weeks before the 2020 presidential election. Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-inaugurations-302e242646b2bec9838b5e8d9950d164">skipped Biden’s inauguration</a>&nbsp;after leading an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-election-2020-judiciary-presidential-elections-elections-2fec942d0c09bc31858190afbb5d8e42">unprecedented and unsuccessful effort</a>&nbsp;to overturn his loss that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-panel-hearing-3e3dc618ed8cee37147cf6a792c0c0fa">culminated in the Capitol riot</a>&nbsp;by his supporters.Trump equivocated on whether he would accept the results of the November election, saying he would accept them if the vote was “fair” and “legal,” repeating his baseless claims of widespread fraud and misconduct in his 2020 loss to Biden that he still denies.Pressed on his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump was unapologetic.“On Jan. 6, we were respected all over the world, all over the world we were respected. And then he comes in and we’re now laughed at,” Trump said.After he was prompted by a moderator to answer whether he violated his oath of office that day by rallying his supporters seeking to block the certification of Biden's Electoral College victory and not acting for hours to call them off as they raided the Capitol, Trump sought to blame then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.Biden said Trump encouraged the supporters to go to the Capitol and sat in the White House without taking action as they fought with police officers.“He didn’t do a damn thing and these people should be in jail,” Biden said. “They should be the ones that are being held accountable. And he wants to let them all out. And now he says that if he loses again, such a whiner that he is, that this could be a ‘bloodbath’?”Trump then defended the people convicted and imprisoned for their role in the insurrection, saying to Biden, “What they’ve done to some people that are so innocent, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.”Trump and Biden entered the night facing stiff headwinds, including a public weary of the tumult of partisan politics and broadly dissatisfied with both, according to polling. But the debate was highlighting how they have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-misinformation-election-debate-trump-biden-577507522762aa10f6ee5be3a0ced2bb">sharply different visions</a>&nbsp;on virtually every core issue — abortion, the economy and foreign policy — and deep hostility toward each other.Their personal animus quickly came to the surface. Biden got personal in evoking his son, Beau, who served in Iraq before dying of brain cancer. The president criticized Trump for reportedly calling Americans killed in battle “suckers and losers.” Biden told Trump, “My son was not a loser, was not a sucker. You’re the sucker. You’re the loser.”Trump said he never said that — a line attributed to Trump by his former chief of staff — and slammed Biden for the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, calling it “the most embarrassing day in the history of our country’s life.”<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-middle-east-taliban-doha-e6f48507848aef2ee849154604aa11be">Trump himself agreed to the withdrawal with the Taliban</a>&nbsp;a year before he left office.Biden directly mentioned Trump’s conviction in the New York hush money trial, saying, “You have the morals of an alley cat," and referencing the allegations in the case that Trump had sex with a porn actress.“I did not have sex with a porn star," replied Trump, who chose not to testify at his trial.Pressed to defend rising inflation since he took office, Biden pinned it on the situation he inherited from Trump amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Biden said that when Trump left office, “things were in chaos.” Trump disagreed, declaring that during his term in the White House, “Everything was rocking good.”By the time Trump left office, America was still grappling with the pandemic and during his final hours in office, the death toll eclipsed 400,000. The virus continued to ravage the country and the death toll hit 1 million over a year later.Trump was asked what he would do to make childcare more affordable. He used his answer to instead boast about how many people he fired during his term, including former FBI Director James Comey, and criticized Biden for not firing people from his administration.<h2>The age question roars back</h2>Prior to the debate, about 6 in 10 U.S. adults (59%) said they were “very concerned” that Biden is too old to be president,&nbsp;<a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/646547/age-issues-working-trump-advantage-pre-debate.aspx">according to Gallup data collected in June</a>. Only 18% had the same level of concern about Trump. The poll found Biden’s age was also causing alarm among some Democrats: 31% said they were very concerned.Trump allies entered the post-debate spin room triumphant. Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita called it “the most lopsided win in debate history” and mocked the Biden campaign for saying the president had a cold.California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a high-profile Democratic supporter of Biden, was pressed on whether he would consider stepping in for Biden. He dismissed the questions, saying, “I will never turn my back on him.”He said he knows Biden and what he’s capable of and said, “I have no trepidation.”Biden spent nearly a week at the Camp David presidential retreat preparing for the debate. Shortly before the debate, Biden started selling cans of water labeled, “Dark Brandon’s Secret Sauce,” on his campaign website, mocking the suggestions from Trump and his advisors that he would use drugs to enhance his performance.Addressing supporters briefly at a watch party near the debate venue, Biden didn’t address his performance directly, but said, “let’s keep going,” and indicated he has no plans to leave the race.“See you at the next one,” he said.___