William “Bill” Brungardt, age 79, of Branson, Missouri, passed away 
on December 22, 2020.&nbsp; Bill was born in Hays, Kansas, on October 30, 
1941, to H. F. “Ham” and Regina Brungardt. Preceded in death by his 
parents, brother H. James, and sister Joyce Ann.

Bill and Marcie were married for 56 years and had three children, 
Brenda, Michael, and Kurt.&nbsp; He was a devoted husband, father, papa, and 
great-grandfather.&nbsp; He was a member of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic 
Church.

He proudly served in the U.S. Army after attending Kansas University 
in Lawrence, Kansas.&nbsp; He graduated from Fort Hays State College with a 
degree in Business Administration.&nbsp; He owned and operated a Western Auto
 Hardware Store in Victoria, Kansas, until 1979 when he moved to Rogers,
 Arkansas, to spend time in the Ozarks enjoying the great outdoors with 
his family.&nbsp; He retired from Moser’s in 2007 after 28 years of service.&nbsp;
 After 38 years in Rogers, Bill, and his wife moved to Branson, 
Missouri.&nbsp; He enjoyed the local music shows, new friends from the area, 
and being close to his great-grandson.

Some of his favorite pastimes were restoring antique cars, boating, 
skiing, attending NASCAR races and football games with his family.&nbsp; He 
had a strong faith, sweet demeanor, a good sense of humor, and a loving 
smile.

He is survived by the love of his life, Marcie, and his children 
Brenda and Brian Hedrick, Mike and Jennifer Brungardt, and Kurt and 
Heidi Brungardt.&nbsp; He is also survived by his grandchildren Megan and 
fiancé Jacob Huckabey, Abby and Josh Smith, Matt and Alicia Brungardt, 
Luke and Jordan Brungardt, Sarah Brungardt, Rachel Brungardt, and 
great-grandson Jackson William Smith.

His memorial will be closed to the public. In lieu of flowers, please
 make a donation the Parkinson’s Foundation. Arrangements and cremation 
are under the direction of Cremations of the Ozarks.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1609089712401.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>William “Bill” Brungardt, age 79, of Branson, Missouri, passed away 
on December 22, 2020.&nbsp; Bill was born in Hays, Kansas, on October 30, 
1941, to H. F. “Ham” and Regina Brungardt. Preceded in death by his 
parents, brother H. James, and sister Joyce Ann.Bill and Marcie were married for 56 years and had three children, 
Brenda, Michael, and Kurt.&nbsp; He was a devoted husband, father, papa, and 
great-grandfather.&nbsp; He was a member of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic 
Church.He proudly served in the U.S. Army after attending Kansas University 
in Lawrence, Kansas.&nbsp; He graduated from Fort Hays State College with a 
degree in Business Administration.&nbsp; He owned and operated a Western Auto
 Hardware Store in Victoria, Kansas, until 1979 when he moved to Rogers,
 Arkansas, to spend time in the Ozarks enjoying the great outdoors with 
his family.&nbsp; He retired from Moser’s in 2007 after 28 years of service.&nbsp;
 After 38 years in Rogers, Bill, and his wife moved to Branson, 
Missouri.&nbsp; He enjoyed the local music shows, new friends from the area, 
and being close to his great-grandson.Some of his favorite pastimes were restoring antique cars, boating, 
skiing, attending NASCAR races and football games with his family.&nbsp; He 
had a strong faith, sweet demeanor, a good sense of humor, and a loving 
smile.He is survived by the love of his life, Marcie, and his children 
Brenda and Brian Hedrick, Mike and Jennifer Brungardt, and Kurt and 
Heidi Brungardt.&nbsp; He is also survived by his grandchildren Megan and 
fiancé Jacob Huckabey, Abby and Josh Smith, Matt and Alicia Brungardt, 
Luke and Jordan Brungardt, Sarah Brungardt, Rachel Brungardt, and 
great-grandson Jackson William Smith.His memorial will be closed to the public. In lieu of flowers, please
 make a donation the Parkinson’s Foundation. Arrangements and cremation 
are under the direction of Cremations of the Ozarks.

William 'Bill' Brungardt

Anthony Benedict “Tony” Malsom, 99, died December 24, 2020, at Hays 
Medical Center, Hays.&nbsp; He was born October 16, 1921 at Hays, to Fred and
 Mary (Keller) Malsom.&nbsp; Tony married Beata (Dinkel) Sept. 27, 1944, in 
Collyer.&nbsp; Beata died June 18, 2000.&nbsp; He then married Flossie (Meyeres) 
Ptacek Oct. 28, 2006, in Great Bend.&nbsp; She survives.

Tony, a Great Bend resident and retired farmer moving from Collyer, 
proudly served his country during WW II, in the U.S. Army.&nbsp; After 
returning home at the end of the war he and his wife, Bea, began to 
build their life in Collyer, KS. Initially he opened a small welding 
shop, then a general repair shop, a liquor store and eventually took on 
the Ford Tractor Implement dealership. Tony was currently a member of 
Prince of Peace Parish and life member of American Legion Argonne Post 
180, both of Great Bend, and former member of the V.F.W. and St. Michael
 Catholic Church,&nbsp; both in Collyer.&nbsp; Over the years, he has enjoyed 
dancing, flying, midget and stock car racing, boating, skydiving, and 
zip lining.

He was fortunate to have a very full life filled with family and 
friends that he dearly cherished, and that cherished him as well. He was
 preceded in death by his parents Fred and Mary (Keller) Malsom, his 
step mother, Kate (Richmeier) Malsom, his first wife, Beata, grandson, 
Eric; brothers, George, Larry, Frank, Carl, Ted, John, Steve, Laverne, 
and Richard. His surviving family is his wife, Florence “Flossie”; four 
children Dwayne Malsom of Ellis, Karen Jones (Roger) of Aurora, Col., 
Darlene Malsom, The Woodlands, Texas and Keith Malsom (Donna) of Ft. 
Collins, Col.; five step children, Karen Bond (Greg) of Sylvan Grove, 
Duane Ptacek of Yutan, Neb., Ron Ptacek (Virginia) of Russell, Rick 
Ptacek (Kim) of Victoria and Keith Ptecek of the home; siblings, 
Katherine Reitmayer of Quinter, Jim Yanda (Gwen) of White Salmon, Wash.,
 Barbara Kinderknecht (Tom) of Park, Carol McIntosh (Allen) of Quinter 
and Rita Mader (Kirby) of Quinter; five grand children, eight great 
grandchildren, 20 step grandchildren and 36 step great grandchildren; 
and a host of nieces and nephews all across the country.

Vigil services will be 9:00 a.m., with visitation starting at 8:30 
a.m.,&nbsp; Wednesday, December 30, 2020, followed by a Mass of Christian 
Services at 10:30, both at St. Michael Catholic Church,&nbsp; Collyer.&nbsp; 
Father Justin Palmer will preside.&nbsp; Interment will follow at 11:30 a.m. 
at St. Michael Catholic Cemetery, Collyer, with military honors 
conducted by Ft. Riley Honor Guard.&nbsp; Visitation will be Noon to 9:00 
p.m., Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at Bryant Funeral Home, Great Bend.&nbsp; 
Memorials may be made to Kansas for Life, in care of Bryant Funeral 
Home.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1609089039178.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Anthony Benedict “Tony” Malsom, 99, died December 24, 2020, at Hays 
Medical Center, Hays.&nbsp; He was born October 16, 1921 at Hays, to Fred and
 Mary (Keller) Malsom.&nbsp; Tony married Beata (Dinkel) Sept. 27, 1944, in 
Collyer.&nbsp; Beata died June 18, 2000.&nbsp; He then married Flossie (Meyeres) 
Ptacek Oct. 28, 2006, in Great Bend.&nbsp; She survives.Tony, a Great Bend resident and retired farmer moving from Collyer, 
proudly served his country during WW II, in the U.S. Army.&nbsp; After 
returning home at the end of the war he and his wife, Bea, began to 
build their life in Collyer, KS. Initially he opened a small welding 
shop, then a general repair shop, a liquor store and eventually took on 
the Ford Tractor Implement dealership. Tony was currently a member of 
Prince of Peace Parish and life member of American Legion Argonne Post 
180, both of Great Bend, and former member of the V.F.W. and St. Michael
 Catholic Church,&nbsp; both in Collyer.&nbsp; Over the years, he has enjoyed 
dancing, flying, midget and stock car racing, boating, skydiving, and 
zip lining.He was fortunate to have a very full life filled with family and 
friends that he dearly cherished, and that cherished him as well. He was
 preceded in death by his parents Fred and Mary (Keller) Malsom, his 
step mother, Kate (Richmeier) Malsom, his first wife, Beata, grandson, 
Eric; brothers, George, Larry, Frank, Carl, Ted, John, Steve, Laverne, 
and Richard. His surviving family is his wife, Florence “Flossie”; four 
children Dwayne Malsom of Ellis, Karen Jones (Roger) of Aurora, Col., 
Darlene Malsom, The Woodlands, Texas and Keith Malsom (Donna) of Ft. 
Collins, Col.; five step children, Karen Bond (Greg) of Sylvan Grove, 
Duane Ptacek of Yutan, Neb., Ron Ptacek (Virginia) of Russell, Rick 
Ptacek (Kim) of Victoria and Keith Ptecek of the home; siblings, 
Katherine Reitmayer of Quinter, Jim Yanda (Gwen) of White Salmon, Wash.,
 Barbara Kinderknecht (Tom) of Park, Carol McIntosh (Allen) of Quinter 
and Rita Mader (Kirby) of Quinter; five grand children, eight great 
grandchildren, 20 step grandchildren and 36 step great grandchildren; 
and a host of nieces and nephews all across the country.Vigil services will be 9:00 a.m., with visitation starting at 8:30 
a.m.,&nbsp; Wednesday, December 30, 2020, followed by a Mass of Christian 
Services at 10:30, both at St. Michael Catholic Church,&nbsp; Collyer.&nbsp; 
Father Justin Palmer will preside.&nbsp; Interment will follow at 11:30 a.m. 
at St. Michael Catholic Cemetery, Collyer, with military honors 
conducted by Ft. Riley Honor Guard.&nbsp; Visitation will be Noon to 9:00 
p.m., Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at Bryant Funeral Home, Great Bend.&nbsp; 
Memorials may be made to Kansas for Life, in care of Bryant Funeral 
Home.

Anthony Benedict 'Tony' Malsom

Dale Francis Pfannenstiel, age 58, of Hays, Kansas died Thursday, December 24, 2020, at Hays Medical Center, Hays, Kansas.&nbsp; He was born on November 24, 1962, in Hays, Kansas to Francis J. and Mildred Louise (Karlin) Pfannenstiel.&nbsp; He married Julie Ann (Mermis) on October 21, 1989, at Ellis, Kansas.

He worked a number of years at Eagle Cable TV in Hays, and the last few years at HESS Services.&nbsp; He also worked at Pepsi and Coors in Hays.&nbsp; Dale grew up in Antonino and Hays, attended Antonino Grade School, Thomas More Prep High, and was a 1982 graduate of Hays High School.&nbsp; He enjoyed camping, the Andy Griffith Show, and his dogs.&nbsp;

Survivors include his wife, Julie Pfannenstiel, of the home; six daughters, Cassandra Davied and husband, Scott; Rachel Klaus and husband, Luke; Rebecca Brady and husband, Aaron, all of Hays, KS; Amanda Pfannenstiel, Wichita, KS; Lacey Pfannenstiel and Lindsey Pfannenstiel, both of Kansas City, KS; one sister, Denise Becker and husband, Mark, Plainville, KS; his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Frank B. and Mary (Rupp) Mermis, Hays, KS; one brother-in-law, Jerry Mermis, Hays, KS; two sisters-in-law, Charlene Mermis; Benita Meyers and husband, Steve, both of Hays, KS; his cousin, James Leiker and wife, Cherie, Shawnee, KS; five grandchildren, Evan, Levi and Adam Brady; DeShon Williams-Shepherd and Timothy Smith; and his four dogs, Malea, Alex, Sadie and Aussie.

&nbsp;He was preceded in death by his parents; one grandson, Zachary Davied; one brother, David Pfannenstiel; one sister, Donna Steckline; his aunt, Rita Pfannenstiel, who raised him after his mother died.

&nbsp;A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 A.M. Wednesday, December 30, 2020, at&nbsp;Our Lady Help of Christian Catholic Church, Antonino, Kansas.&nbsp; Burial will be in Our Lady Help of Christian Cemetery, Antonino.

A vigil service and rosary will be at 7:00 P.M. Tuesday, at Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary of Hays, 1919 East 22nd Street, Hays, Kansas 67601.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Visitation will be from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. Tuesday, at Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary of Hays, and from 9:00 to 10:00 A.M. Wednesday, at the church.&nbsp; &nbsp;

The family suggests memorials to the family in care of the mortuary.

Due to the coronavirus if you have a cough, fever or are not feeling well, please use our e-mail or online guestbook.&nbsp; Social distancing and wearing masks will be required at the visitation and funeral services.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Condolences can be sent via e-mail to <a href="mailto:clinesmortuary@eaglecom.net">clinesmortuary@eaglecom.net</a> or can be left at guest book at <a href="http://www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com">www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608997234197.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Dale Francis Pfannenstiel, age 58, of Hays, Kansas died Thursday, December 24, 2020, at Hays Medical Center, Hays, Kansas.&nbsp; He was born on November 24, 1962, in Hays, Kansas to Francis J. and Mildred Louise (Karlin) Pfannenstiel.&nbsp; He married Julie Ann (Mermis) on October 21, 1989, at Ellis, Kansas.He worked a number of years at Eagle Cable TV in Hays, and the last few years at HESS Services.&nbsp; He also worked at Pepsi and Coors in Hays.&nbsp; Dale grew up in Antonino and Hays, attended Antonino Grade School, Thomas More Prep High, and was a 1982 graduate of Hays High School.&nbsp; He enjoyed camping, the Andy Griffith Show, and his dogs.&nbsp;Survivors include his wife, Julie Pfannenstiel, of the home; six daughters, Cassandra Davied and husband, Scott; Rachel Klaus and husband, Luke; Rebecca Brady and husband, Aaron, all of Hays, KS; Amanda Pfannenstiel, Wichita, KS; Lacey Pfannenstiel and Lindsey Pfannenstiel, both of Kansas City, KS; one sister, Denise Becker and husband, Mark, Plainville, KS; his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Frank B. and Mary (Rupp) Mermis, Hays, KS; one brother-in-law, Jerry Mermis, Hays, KS; two sisters-in-law, Charlene Mermis; Benita Meyers and husband, Steve, both of Hays, KS; his cousin, James Leiker and wife, Cherie, Shawnee, KS; five grandchildren, Evan, Levi and Adam Brady; DeShon Williams-Shepherd and Timothy Smith; and his four dogs, Malea, Alex, Sadie and Aussie.&nbsp;He was preceded in death by his parents; one grandson, Zachary Davied; one brother, David Pfannenstiel; one sister, Donna Steckline; his aunt, Rita Pfannenstiel, who raised him after his mother died.&nbsp;A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 A.M. Wednesday, December 30, 2020, at&nbsp;Our Lady Help of Christian Catholic Church, Antonino, Kansas.&nbsp; Burial will be in Our Lady Help of Christian Cemetery, Antonino.A vigil service and rosary will be at 7:00 P.M. Tuesday, at Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary of Hays, 1919 East 22nd Street, Hays, Kansas 67601.&nbsp; &nbsp;Visitation will be from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. Tuesday, at Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary of Hays, and from 9:00 to 10:00 A.M. Wednesday, at the church.&nbsp; &nbsp;The family suggests memorials to the family in care of the mortuary.Due to the coronavirus if you have a cough, fever or are not feeling well, please use our e-mail or online guestbook.&nbsp; Social distancing and wearing masks will be required at the visitation and funeral services.&nbsp; &nbsp;Condolences can be sent via e-mail to <a href="mailto:clinesmortuary@eaglecom.net">clinesmortuary@eaglecom.net</a> or can be left at guest book at <a href="http://www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com">www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com</a>

Dale Francis Pfannenstiel

By C.J. JANOVY <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/23/here-are-wishes-of-comfort-for-kansas-when-goodwill-toward-men-is-hard-to-find/">Kansas Reflector</a>

I’m not much for 
Christmas. I’ve spent more than half a century hoping each December’s 
wishes of peace on earth and goodwill to men would come true, only to be
 eternally disappointed.

But I still wish joy to 
those who can find it in these darkest days of the year. And this year I
 wish comfort to some people in particular.

I wish comfort to county health officers and other public health workers who, as thanks for <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/08/31/meet-the-epis-at-the-center-of-kansas-effort-to-manage-covid-19-and-all-scary-diseases/">their expertise in trying to keep people safe</a>, have been overruled by incompetent politicians and <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/11/12/kansas-public-health-workers-are-not-your-enemies-theyre-your-neighbors/">threatened with violence</a>.

Go ahead and test Kansas’ 
level of Christmas spirit by sitting for four minutes with this NBC News
 story about Jennifer Bacani McKenney, of Fredonia:

A couple of weeks after her segment on NBC, McKenney was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/12/16/public-health-workers-kansas-cuomo-cpt-vpx.cnn">interviewed on CNN</a> with Gianfranco Pezzino, just after <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/14/high-risk-health-care-workers-in-kansas-get-first-doses-of-covid-19-vaccine/">Pezzino resigned as the Shawnee County health director</a>.

“We know that 
commissioners and legislators, they don’t have a medical background but 
we do,” McKenney told Chris Cuomo. “And we’ve been training for this 
kind of thing for years, and so we hope that we could advise our elected
 officials and help them to make the best decisions possible. But that’s
 not always happening.”

I wish comfort to those 
elected officials who are trying to do the right thing, like Dodge City 
Mayor Joyce Warshaw, who submitted her immediate resignation 10 days 
before Christmas.

“Warshaw’s heavy decision 
was made with concerns for her safety after being met with aggression, 
including threats via phone and email from Dodge City citizens, 
following extreme backlash due to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2020/12/11/small-town-dragged-its-feet-mask-mandates-thousands-got-sick/6481416002/">an article by USA Today</a> published on Dec. 11, regarding the mask mandate,” according to the <a href="https://www.dodgeglobe.com/story/news/local/2020/12/15/dodge-city-mayor-joyce-warshaw-resigns-effective-immediately/3913222001/">Dodge City Daily Globe</a>.

Dodge City detectives <a href="https://www.dodgeglobe.com/story/news/2020/12/17/joyce-warshaw-relieved-outcome-but-points-troubling-incidents/3943676001/">soon determined</a>
 the most frightening emails weren’t direct threats to Warshaw but 
instead were more likely generic blasts from a man in Kentucky who told 
police he’d sent the emails “due to his frustrations and after having 
‘had a few beers.’ ”

But it’s hard to blame Warshaw for quitting, considering the toxicity of these times.

“Prosecutors accused a man in Wichita, Kan., of <a href="https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article246513655.html" target="_blank">threatening to kidnap and kill that city’s mayor </a>over a mask ordinance,” the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/us/after-personal-threats-over-a-local-mask-mandate-the-dodge-city-kansas-mayor-resigns.html">reminded us in its recap</a>
 of Dodge City developments. “And the mayor of Kansas City, Mo., 
received a text message that referred to him using a racial slur <a href="https://twitter.com/QuintonLucasKC/status/1277628265851686912/photo/1" target="_blank">and suggested he should be lynched</a> for requiring masks.”

USA Today’s stories from western Kansas were powerful if not what a lot of Kansans wanted to hear.

Its Dec. 12 report from “<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/12/coronavirus-deaths-highest-us-rural-republican-leaning-county/3828902001/">The Deadliest Place in America</a>” — Gove County — serves as a kind of memorial to all that we’ve lost: our people and our humanity.

When the story ran, Gove 
County Sheriff Allan Weber was in a Denver hospital, where he’d been 
“flown by a medical plane” in October. “Weber, 64, was reelected to his 
post from his hospital bed at Swedish Medical Center in Denver on Nov. 
3.,” USA Today reported. “He first tested positive Sept. 28.”

On Dec. 18, the Facebook page for the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Gove-County-Sheriffs-Office-1109472199078950/">Gove County Sheriff’s Office</a> remembered him in words befitting the season.

One more time in the 
spirit of the season: “In an extension of the ties that bind us as a 
community, let us also settle into a mindset of peace and wellbeing for 
one another to honor his memory.”

May this wish from the 
Gove County Sheriff’s Office come true, and may it be a comfort to the 
families of 2,448 Kansans who aren’t around this Christmas.

C.J. Janovy is a veteran journalist with deep roots in the Midwest. Before joining the Kansas Reflector, she was an editor and reporter at Kansas City’s NPR affiliate, KCUR. Before that, she edited the city’s alt-weekly newspaper, The Pitch.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608742446687.png" alt="Jennifer Bacani McKenney of Fredonia spoke with NBC News for a Dec. 4 story about McKenney's difficulties as a county health officer during COVID-19. (Screen capture by Kansas Reflector) " />
 <figcaption>Jennifer Bacani McKenney of Fredonia spoke with NBC News for a Dec. 4 story about McKenney's difficulties as a county health officer during COVID-19. (Screen capture by Kansas Reflector) </figcaption>
 </figure>By C.J. JANOVY <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/23/here-are-wishes-of-comfort-for-kansas-when-goodwill-toward-men-is-hard-to-find/">Kansas Reflector</a>I’m not much for 
Christmas. I’ve spent more than half a century hoping each December’s 
wishes of peace on earth and goodwill to men would come true, only to be
 eternally disappointed.But I still wish joy to 
those who can find it in these darkest days of the year. And this year I
 wish comfort to some people in particular.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>I wish comfort to county health officers and other public health workers who, as thanks for <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/08/31/meet-the-epis-at-the-center-of-kansas-effort-to-manage-covid-19-and-all-scary-diseases/">their expertise in trying to keep people safe</a>, have been overruled by incompetent politicians and <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/11/12/kansas-public-health-workers-are-not-your-enemies-theyre-your-neighbors/">threatened with violence</a>.Go ahead and test Kansas’ 
level of Christmas spirit by sitting for four minutes with this NBC News
 story about Jennifer Bacani McKenney, of Fredonia:<figure>
 <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RX8pYps1Hag"></iframe>
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>A couple of weeks after her segment on NBC, McKenney was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/12/16/public-health-workers-kansas-cuomo-cpt-vpx.cnn">interviewed on CNN</a> with Gianfranco Pezzino, just after <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/14/high-risk-health-care-workers-in-kansas-get-first-doses-of-covid-19-vaccine/">Pezzino resigned as the Shawnee County health director</a>.“We know that 
commissioners and legislators, they don’t have a medical background but 
we do,” McKenney told Chris Cuomo. “And we’ve been training for this 
kind of thing for years, and so we hope that we could advise our elected
 officials and help them to make the best decisions possible. But that’s
 not always happening.”I wish comfort to those 
elected officials who are trying to do the right thing, like Dodge City 
Mayor Joyce Warshaw, who submitted her immediate resignation 10 days 
before Christmas.“Warshaw’s heavy decision 
was made with concerns for her safety after being met with aggression, 
including threats via phone and email from Dodge City citizens, 
following extreme backlash due to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2020/12/11/small-town-dragged-its-feet-mask-mandates-thousands-got-sick/6481416002/">an article by USA Today</a> published on Dec. 11, regarding the mask mandate,” according to the <a href="https://www.dodgeglobe.com/story/news/local/2020/12/15/dodge-city-mayor-joyce-warshaw-resigns-effective-immediately/3913222001/">Dodge City Daily Globe</a>.Dodge City detectives <a href="https://www.dodgeglobe.com/story/news/2020/12/17/joyce-warshaw-relieved-outcome-but-points-troubling-incidents/3943676001/">soon determined</a>
 the most frightening emails weren’t direct threats to Warshaw but 
instead were more likely generic blasts from a man in Kentucky who told 
police he’d sent the emails “due to his frustrations and after having 
‘had a few beers.’ ”But it’s hard to blame Warshaw for quitting, considering the toxicity of these times.“Prosecutors accused a man in Wichita, Kan., of <a href="https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article246513655.html" target="_blank">threatening to kidnap and kill that city’s mayor </a>over a mask ordinance,” the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/us/after-personal-threats-over-a-local-mask-mandate-the-dodge-city-kansas-mayor-resigns.html">reminded us in its recap</a>
 of Dodge City developments. “And the mayor of Kansas City, Mo., 
received a text message that referred to him using a racial slur <a href="https://twitter.com/QuintonLucasKC/status/1277628265851686912/photo/1" target="_blank">and suggested he should be lynched</a> for requiring masks.”USA Today’s stories from western Kansas were powerful if not what a lot of Kansans wanted to hear.Its Dec. 12 report from “<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/12/coronavirus-deaths-highest-us-rural-republican-leaning-county/3828902001/">The Deadliest Place in America</a>” — Gove County — serves as a kind of memorial to all that we’ve lost: our people and our humanity.When the story ran, Gove 
County Sheriff Allan Weber was in a Denver hospital, where he’d been 
“flown by a medical plane” in October. “Weber, 64, was reelected to his 
post from his hospital bed at Swedish Medical Center in Denver on Nov. 
3.,” USA Today reported. “He first tested positive Sept. 28.”Sheriff Weber didn’t make it.On Dec. 18, the Facebook page for the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Gove-County-Sheriffs-Office-1109472199078950/">Gove County Sheriff’s Office</a> remembered him in words befitting the season.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608742593186.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>One more time in the 
spirit of the season: “In an extension of the ties that bind us as a 
community, let us also settle into a mindset of peace and wellbeing for 
one another to honor his memory.”May this wish from the 
Gove County Sheriff’s Office come true, and may it be a comfort to the 
families of 2,448 Kansans who aren’t around this Christmas.C.J. Janovy is a veteran journalist with deep roots in the Midwest. Before joining the Kansas Reflector, she was an editor and reporter at Kansas City’s NPR affiliate, KCUR. Before that, she edited the city’s alt-weekly newspaper, The Pitch.

OPINION: Wishes of comfort for Kan. when goodwill toward men is hard to find

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly said Wednesday that Kansas should stop giving local officials the final say over the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic because experience has shown “a patchwork approach” does not work.

Kelly made the comments during an Associated Press interview a day after she and her top health administrator argued that Kansas is now controlling the spread of COVID-19 despite its high case numbers. They argued that the state is seeing the benefits of a “unified” state strategy to boost testing and an increased willingness by the state’s 105 counties to require people to wear masks, which she has pushed for months.

The governor also said she would like legislators to rewrite a law that allows people exposed to COVID-19 to avoid providing information that would allow health officials to trace their close contacts. The law was enacted to protect people’s privacy, but health officials said it hinders disease tracking.

The Republican-controlled Legislature already has committed to considering changes in emergency management laws after opening its annual 90-day session Jan. 11. Lawmakers enacted&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li_2020s/b2020s/measures/documents/summary_hb_2016_2020special" target="_blank">a law</a>&nbsp;in June covering the current pandemic, but its provisions and a state of emergency for the pandemic expire Jan. 26 if lawmakers do nothing.

“I would hope that rather than look at this through a political lens, that they would really look at it through lessons learned,” she said. “Well, if they look back, one of the things we learned is that a patchwork approach to a pandemic does not work.”

Kelly is likely to face strong resistance from Republicans for returning power to manage a pandemic to the governor’s office, particularly the authority to close businesses or impose statewide restrictions such as mask mandates. GOP leaders have argued repeatedly that local officials are best positioned to decide what works.

A top Republican in the GOP-controlled Legislature suggested Wednesday that the state is seeing success now in battling COVID-19 because Kelly adopted a softer, GOP-backed approach to dealing with the pandemic. In late October, Kelly contemplated forcing out-of-session legislators to reconvene to impose a statewide mask mandate, but top lawmakers pushed her instead to work with local officials. Efforts since have included a pro-mask public relations campaign.

“We asked the governor to take a new approach — one that appealed to Kansans to take care of each other instead of invoking fear and mandates,” House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., an Olathe Republican, said in a text to The Associated Press. “We’re optimistic that this new approach is working.”

Data released by the state health department showed that Kansas averaged 2,160 new cases a day, along with 53 new COVID-19 hospitalizations and 36 deaths a day for the seven days ending Wednesday. But Kansas’ new case counts have been trending lower since peaking at an average of 2,767 for the seven days that ended Nov. 18.

Kansas added 5,089 confirmed and probable coronavirus cases since Monday, pushing its pandemic total to 209,689. It added another 59 deaths, raising its COVID-19 death toll to 2,507.

Kelly and Dr. Lee Norman, head of the state health department, are now citing another statistic that relies on complex data and the accuracy of reported case numbers. It is seeks to measure how many other people an infected person is infecting in turn. Kelly and Norman said for Kansas, it has dropped to a statewide figure low enough to keep new case rates dropping if it is sustained over time. Norman acknowledged there are still virus hotspots generating new cases, though.

Kelly kept a statewide stay-at-home order in place for five weeks in the spring to check the spread of COVID-19. Top Republican lawmakers thought she was too slow to reopen the economy and later forced her to accept local control over mask rules and restrictions on businesses.

“If they look back and they’re honest about what worked and what didn’t work, I think they’ll take a different approach,” Kelly said.

Her comments came as doses of coronavirus vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna are being given to front-line health care workers.

Kelly’s staff has said the 70-year-old governor won’t get her first dose until it’s her turn. But she said Wednesday that the state is looking at giving shots to some officials for “continuity of operations.”

The health care workers who’ve received shots include Kelly’s 71-year-old husband, first gentleman Dr. Ted Daughety. He had retired as a pulmonary and sleep specialist, Kelly said, but he started working part-time again Friday at a respiratory clinic, screening patients with potential flu, pneumonia or COVID-19 symptoms before surgeries.

“Ted is extremely cautious, and you know, he’s worked in ICUs for years and understands what he needs to do,” she said. “He’s got full PPE on. He’s double-gloved. He’s got booties on. He’s got the mask and shield.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1593901245395.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly said Wednesday that Kansas should stop giving local officials the final say over the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic because experience has shown “a patchwork approach” does not work.Kelly made the comments during an Associated Press interview a day after she and her top health administrator argued that Kansas is now controlling the spread of COVID-19 despite its high case numbers. They argued that the state is seeing the benefits of a “unified” state strategy to boost testing and an increased willingness by the state’s 105 counties to require people to wear masks, which she has pushed for months.The governor also said she would like legislators to rewrite a law that allows people exposed to COVID-19 to avoid providing information that would allow health officials to trace their close contacts. The law was enacted to protect people’s privacy, but health officials said it hinders disease tracking.The Republican-controlled Legislature already has committed to considering changes in emergency management laws after opening its annual 90-day session Jan. 11. Lawmakers enacted&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li_2020s/b2020s/measures/documents/summary_hb_2016_2020special" target="_blank">a law</a>&nbsp;in June covering the current pandemic, but its provisions and a state of emergency for the pandemic expire Jan. 26 if lawmakers do nothing.“I would hope that rather than look at this through a political lens, that they would really look at it through lessons learned,” she said. “Well, if they look back, one of the things we learned is that a patchwork approach to a pandemic does not work.”Kelly is likely to face strong resistance from Republicans for returning power to manage a pandemic to the governor’s office, particularly the authority to close businesses or impose statewide restrictions such as mask mandates. GOP leaders have argued repeatedly that local officials are best positioned to decide what works.A top Republican in the GOP-controlled Legislature suggested Wednesday that the state is seeing success now in battling COVID-19 because Kelly adopted a softer, GOP-backed approach to dealing with the pandemic. In late October, Kelly contemplated forcing out-of-session legislators to reconvene to impose a statewide mask mandate, but top lawmakers pushed her instead to work with local officials. Efforts since have included a pro-mask public relations campaign.“We asked the governor to take a new approach — one that appealed to Kansans to take care of each other instead of invoking fear and mandates,” House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., an Olathe Republican, said in a text to The Associated Press. “We’re optimistic that this new approach is working.”Data released by the state health department showed that Kansas averaged 2,160 new cases a day, along with 53 new COVID-19 hospitalizations and 36 deaths a day for the seven days ending Wednesday. But Kansas’ new case counts have been trending lower since peaking at an average of 2,767 for the seven days that ended Nov. 18.Kansas added 5,089 confirmed and probable coronavirus cases since Monday, pushing its pandemic total to 209,689. It added another 59 deaths, raising its COVID-19 death toll to 2,507.Kelly and Dr. Lee Norman, head of the state health department, are now citing another statistic that relies on complex data and the accuracy of reported case numbers. It is seeks to measure how many other people an infected person is infecting in turn. Kelly and Norman said for Kansas, it has dropped to a statewide figure low enough to keep new case rates dropping if it is sustained over time. Norman acknowledged there are still virus hotspots generating new cases, though.Kelly kept a statewide stay-at-home order in place for five weeks in the spring to check the spread of COVID-19. Top Republican lawmakers thought she was too slow to reopen the economy and later forced her to accept local control over mask rules and restrictions on businesses.“If they look back and they’re honest about what worked and what didn’t work, I think they’ll take a different approach,” Kelly said.Her comments came as doses of coronavirus vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna are being given to front-line health care workers.Kelly’s staff has said the 70-year-old governor won’t get her first dose until it’s her turn. But she said Wednesday that the state is looking at giving shots to some officials for “continuity of operations.”The health care workers who’ve received shots include Kelly’s 71-year-old husband, first gentleman Dr. Ted Daughety. He had retired as a pulmonary and sleep specialist, Kelly said, but he started working part-time again Friday at a respiratory clinic, screening patients with potential flu, pneumonia or COVID-19 symptoms before surgeries.“Ted is extremely cautious, and you know, he’s worked in ICUs for years and understands what he needs to do,” she said. “He’s got full PPE on. He’s double-gloved. He’s got booties on. He’s got the mask and shield.”___

Governor: Kansas should drop local control of COVID-19 rules

Eleanor Louise Miller, 102, passed away December 22, 2020, at 
Brookdale Senior Living, Great Bend. She was born October 5, 1918, at 
Alden, to Willis L. &amp; Chloe G. (Johnson) Hamilton. She married 
Harold Robert Thomas. He died November 14, 1982. She then married Robert
 Earl Miller in Grand Junction, Colo. He died December 22, 2002.

A lifetime Great Bend resident, Eleanor was a teacher. She was a 
founding member of the Tuesday Prayer Group. Eleanor enjoyed bingo and 
playing the card game Kings on the Corner, but she especially loved 
spending time with her family.

Survivors include, a son, David Thomas and wife Dawn of Great Bend; a
 daughter, Carolyn Huslig and husband David of Grand Junction, Colo.; 
nine grandchildren, Joshua Huslig, Jennifer West and husband Mike, 
Jordan Huslig and wife Lindsey, Brandon Thomas and wife Chelsi, Tina 
Thomas, Meisha Zimmerman and husband Jonathan, Lucas Herl and wife 
Lindsey, Heather Thomas, and Darin Thomas; and thirteen great 
grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, 
Harold Robert Thomas, and Robert Earl Miller; a son, Stephen Thomas; a 
brother, Charles Hamilton; and a sister, Edith Bartoo.

Visitation will be held from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., Sunday, December 27, 
2020 at Bryant Funeral Home. Due to COVID19, a private family services 
with be held at 10:30 a.m., Monday, December 28, 2020, at Bryant Funeral
 Home, with Pastor David Huslig and Pastor Mike West presiding. A public
 livestream of the service will be available under Eleanor’s obituary at
 <a href="http://www.bryantfh.net">www.bryantfh.net</a>. Interment will 
be in the Great Bend Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to the Great Bend
 Senior Center or Golden Belt Humane Society, in care of Bryant Funeral 
Home.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608743749031.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Eleanor Louise Miller, 102, passed away December 22, 2020, at 
Brookdale Senior Living, Great Bend. She was born October 5, 1918, at 
Alden, to Willis L. &amp; Chloe G. (Johnson) Hamilton. She married 
Harold Robert Thomas. He died November 14, 1982. She then married Robert
 Earl Miller in Grand Junction, Colo. He died December 22, 2002.A lifetime Great Bend resident, Eleanor was a teacher. She was a 
founding member of the Tuesday Prayer Group. Eleanor enjoyed bingo and 
playing the card game Kings on the Corner, but she especially loved 
spending time with her family.Survivors include, a son, David Thomas and wife Dawn of Great Bend; a
 daughter, Carolyn Huslig and husband David of Grand Junction, Colo.; 
nine grandchildren, Joshua Huslig, Jennifer West and husband Mike, 
Jordan Huslig and wife Lindsey, Brandon Thomas and wife Chelsi, Tina 
Thomas, Meisha Zimmerman and husband Jonathan, Lucas Herl and wife 
Lindsey, Heather Thomas, and Darin Thomas; and thirteen great 
grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, 
Harold Robert Thomas, and Robert Earl Miller; a son, Stephen Thomas; a 
brother, Charles Hamilton; and a sister, Edith Bartoo.Visitation will be held from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., Sunday, December 27, 
2020 at Bryant Funeral Home. Due to COVID19, a private family services 
with be held at 10:30 a.m., Monday, December 28, 2020, at Bryant Funeral
 Home, with Pastor David Huslig and Pastor Mike West presiding. A public
 livestream of the service will be available under Eleanor’s obituary at
 <a href="http://www.bryantfh.net">www.bryantfh.net</a>. Interment will 
be in the Great Bend Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to the Great Bend
 Senior Center or Golden Belt Humane Society, in care of Bryant Funeral 
Home.

Eleanor Louise Miller

Armella M. Schmidt, 94, Hays, died Sunday, December 20, 2020 at her daughter’s home in Hays surrounded by her family.

She was born July 4, 1926 on the family
 farm in Vincent the daughter of Henry M. and Catherine E. (Dechant) 
Huser.&nbsp; She graduated from Victoria High School in 1946 and received 
certification in nutrition and health.&nbsp; Armella worked in the pet 
department at Woolworths and was a cook at Alafern Nursing Home in 
Russell, Gorham Schools, and at Cedar View Assisted Living, retiring at 
the age of 83.&nbsp; On November 23, 1948 she was united in marriage to 
Severin Riedel, and they celebrated nearly 31 years of marriage before 
he preceded her in death on October 15, 1979.&nbsp; She married Roy Nuss on 
June 5, 1982, and he preceded her in death.&nbsp; On July 3, 2000 she was 
united in marriage to Marcellus V. Schmidt, and they celebrated 13 years
 of marriage before he preceded her in death on February 24, 2014.&nbsp; She 
was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, American Legion Auxiliary 
#173, and a former member of the Hays VFW Auxiliary.&nbsp; Armella loved her 
home and family, enjoyed reading, cooking and baking, and was a strong, 
faith-filled Catholic woman.&nbsp; She had a huge capacity to love and always
 appreciated the help of others.&nbsp; Her friends and family always looked 
forward to 3:00 coffee and snacks at Armella’s, her cinnamon rolls, and 
Thanksgiving dinners, which she helped cook even at age 91.

Survivors include two sons: Mark Riedel
 and wife Miechel’le of Whispering Pines, NC and Patrick Riedel and wife
 Diana of Russell, a daughter: Melesia Roberts and husband Daniel of 
Hays, two step-sons: Francis F. Schmidt and wife Miko of Mulvane and 
Marcellus E. Schmidt and wife Mary of Plainfield, IN, two 
step-daughters: JoAnn Braun and husband Leroy of Victoria, and Benita 
Quimby and husband Dean of Derby, a brother: Leon Huser of Vincent, 
three sisters: Stella Braun and Arlene Wittman and husband Warren, all 
of Victoria, and Henrietta Herl of Salina, two sisters-in-law: Norma 
Huser of Vincent and Lucille Knoll of Hays, eight grandchildren: Landon 
Kuhn and wife Gina, Katie Leikam and husband William, Kara Burkholder 
and husband Jarod, Severin Riedel, Dominic Riedel, Tyler Riedel, Casey 
Maguire and Morgan Galbicek, and Jarrod Riedel, five great 
grandchildren: Riley, Dax, Cruz, Wrenlee, and Ronan, and numerous nieces
 and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her 
parents, her husbands, four brothers: Gregory, Earl, Julian G. and 
Julian R. Huser, four sisters: Lenora F. Thomas, Maxiline Kisner, Mary 
Huser, and Katherine Mermis.

Mass of Christian Burial will be at 
10:00 am on Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in 
Hays with Fr. Brian Lager officiating.&nbsp; Burial will follow at St. Ann’s 
Cemetery in Walker.&nbsp; Visitation will be from 5:00 pm until 8:00 on 
Monday at Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home and from 9:00 am until 
service time on Tuesday at the Church.&nbsp; A vigil service and rosary will 
be at 7:00 pm on Monday at the funeral home.&nbsp; Memorials are suggested to
 St. Boniface Catholic Church.&nbsp; Condolences and memories of Armella may 
be shared with the family at www.haysmemorial.com

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608735120671.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Armella M. Schmidt, 94, Hays, died Sunday, December 20, 2020 at her daughter’s home in Hays surrounded by her family.She was born July 4, 1926 on the family
 farm in Vincent the daughter of Henry M. and Catherine E. (Dechant) 
Huser.&nbsp; She graduated from Victoria High School in 1946 and received 
certification in nutrition and health.&nbsp; Armella worked in the pet 
department at Woolworths and was a cook at Alafern Nursing Home in 
Russell, Gorham Schools, and at Cedar View Assisted Living, retiring at 
the age of 83.&nbsp; On November 23, 1948 she was united in marriage to 
Severin Riedel, and they celebrated nearly 31 years of marriage before 
he preceded her in death on October 15, 1979.&nbsp; She married Roy Nuss on 
June 5, 1982, and he preceded her in death.&nbsp; On July 3, 2000 she was 
united in marriage to Marcellus V. Schmidt, and they celebrated 13 years
 of marriage before he preceded her in death on February 24, 2014.&nbsp; She 
was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, American Legion Auxiliary 
#173, and a former member of the Hays VFW Auxiliary.&nbsp; Armella loved her 
home and family, enjoyed reading, cooking and baking, and was a strong, 
faith-filled Catholic woman.&nbsp; She had a huge capacity to love and always
 appreciated the help of others.&nbsp; Her friends and family always looked 
forward to 3:00 coffee and snacks at Armella’s, her cinnamon rolls, and 
Thanksgiving dinners, which she helped cook even at age 91.Survivors include two sons: Mark Riedel
 and wife Miechel’le of Whispering Pines, NC and Patrick Riedel and wife
 Diana of Russell, a daughter: Melesia Roberts and husband Daniel of 
Hays, two step-sons: Francis F. Schmidt and wife Miko of Mulvane and 
Marcellus E. Schmidt and wife Mary of Plainfield, IN, two 
step-daughters: JoAnn Braun and husband Leroy of Victoria, and Benita 
Quimby and husband Dean of Derby, a brother: Leon Huser of Vincent, 
three sisters: Stella Braun and Arlene Wittman and husband Warren, all 
of Victoria, and Henrietta Herl of Salina, two sisters-in-law: Norma 
Huser of Vincent and Lucille Knoll of Hays, eight grandchildren: Landon 
Kuhn and wife Gina, Katie Leikam and husband William, Kara Burkholder 
and husband Jarod, Severin Riedel, Dominic Riedel, Tyler Riedel, Casey 
Maguire and Morgan Galbicek, and Jarrod Riedel, five great 
grandchildren: Riley, Dax, Cruz, Wrenlee, and Ronan, and numerous nieces
 and nephews.She was preceded in death by her 
parents, her husbands, four brothers: Gregory, Earl, Julian G. and 
Julian R. Huser, four sisters: Lenora F. Thomas, Maxiline Kisner, Mary 
Huser, and Katherine Mermis.Mass of Christian Burial will be at 
10:00 am on Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in 
Hays with Fr. Brian Lager officiating.&nbsp; Burial will follow at St. Ann’s 
Cemetery in Walker.&nbsp; Visitation will be from 5:00 pm until 8:00 on 
Monday at Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home and from 9:00 am until 
service time on Tuesday at the Church.&nbsp; A vigil service and rosary will 
be at 7:00 pm on Monday at the funeral home.&nbsp; Memorials are suggested to
 St. Boniface Catholic Church.&nbsp; Condolences and memories of Armella may 
be shared with the family at www.haysmemorial.com

Armella M. Schmidt

By SHERMAN SMITH <a href="http://kansasreflector.com">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — The former CEO of Saint Francis Ministries says he charged thousands of dollars to the organization’s credit cards because of the job’s travel and fundraising demands.

And, he said, the $65,000 purchase of Cubs tickets was just an opportunity to flip them for a profit on the secondary market.

Robert Smith, known as Father Bobby, released&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/FatherBobbyStatement.pdf">a statement</a>&nbsp;Tuesday through a public relations firm in which he lamented the “inaccurate and uninformed reporting” that followed his departure from Saint Francis. The nonprofit foster care provider severed ties with Smith and other leadership in November following&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/20/kansas-foster-care-leader-charged-469k-to-credit-cards-hid-financial-losses/">an investigation into Smith’s financial dealings</a>.

Kansas Reflector on Sunday reported on the results of an investigation that substantiated allegations of financial misconduct by Smith. The story revealed Smith from 2018 to 2020 charged $469,000 to credit cards for expenses that included first-class upgrades on airlines, five-star restaurants and hotels, luxury men’s clothing and Apple iTunes purchases. He didn’t respond to Kansas Reflector inquires for comment.

“To transform an organization requires tireless effort and commitment,” Smith said in the statement he released Tuesday. “I accepted the demand of being on the road for days and weeks every month — travel that incurred thousands of dollars spent on airlines, hotels, meals and donor development activities.”

Smith said he purchased $65,000 worth of Chicago Cubs playoffs tickets in 2019 as part of “a unique fundraising opportunity” offered by an unnamed benefactor. If the Cubs had made the playoffs, Smith said, Saint Francis could have sold the tickets for “far more than the face value of the tickets alone.” When the Cubs failed to make the playoffs, the $65,000 was refunded to Saint Francis.

“This was strictly a revenue opportunity, formalized by a legal contract between Saint Francis and the benefactor,” Smith said.

Saint Francis hired a Kansas City, Kansas, attorney to investigate Smith after a newly hired chief financial officer brought concerns about the organization’s financial problems to the board of directors in October. The investigator concluded that Smith hid financial losses from the board, authorized $11 million in payments to a company operated by Bill Whymark for software that crashed and destroyed financial records, and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on operations in El Salvador that included the harvest of a “miracle” food and credit cards requested for the purpose of bribing local officials.

Greg Meissen, chairman of the Saint Francis board, said Smith had justified investments on the premise that the software and miracle food would eventually generate profits. Those profits never materialized, and Meissen said the board was unaware of the true costs of the endeavors.

An earlier whistleblower report, delivered to the Kansas Department for Children and Families in November 2019, objected to the dealings between Saint Francis and Whymark. The anonymous author of the report identified Whymark and Smith as business partners.

Whymark operates WMK Research and SFW Technologies, both registered to an address in Mount Kisco, New York. At one point, the website for SFW Technologies identified Smith as a senior principal and executive director of social services. The photo and biography of Smith was removed from the website after staff questioned him about the relationship.

The investigation into Smith included an interview with an accountant who wondered if the level of spending on Whymark’s company amounted to embezzlement. A review of invoices and emails showed Smith spent little time reviewing the invoices before approving them, even though they reflected an improbable amount of time billed by Whymark.

“Let me correct one of many gross errors that has been repeated in media reports,” Smith said in his statement. “While I grew to respect and admire the depth of his intellect and expertise, I was never a personal, business partner with WMK Research president Bill Whymark.”

Saint Francis hired Smith as CEO in 2014. He became a canonical resident in the Diocese of Chicago in 2012.

Smith said he was sincere in his efforts to transform Saint Francis into a nationally and internationally respected organization. The Salina-based foster care provider serves 3,100 children in Kansas and is celebrating its 75th year as a social welfare agency.

“I am proud of what our team of incredibly big-thinking and dedicated professionals accomplished in my 6.5 years at Saint Francis,” Smith said. “I regret that with my resignation, the mission we started will not be fulfilled as originally envisioned.”

The above story is republished with permission from Kansas Reflector.

Sherman Smith has written award-winning news stories about the instability of the Kansas foster care system, misconduct by government officials, sexual abuse, technology, education, and the Legislature. He spent 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal, where he started on the copy desk, then oversaw digital operations, was the managing editor and reported from the Statehouse.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608730328801.jpeg" alt="Saint Francis Ministries in November severed ties with CEO Robert Smith, chief operating officer Tom Blythe and general counsel David Schafer following an investigation into financial mismanagement. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Saint Francis Ministries in November severed ties with CEO Robert Smith, chief operating officer Tom Blythe and general counsel David Schafer following an investigation into financial mismanagement. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By SHERMAN SMITH <a href="http://kansasreflector.com">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — The former CEO of Saint Francis Ministries says he charged thousands of dollars to the organization’s credit cards because of the job’s travel and fundraising demands.And, he said, the $65,000 purchase of Cubs tickets was just an opportunity to flip them for a profit on the secondary market.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608474220984.jpeg" alt="Saint Francis Ministries hired Robert Smith, known as Father Bobby, as president and CEO in 2014. He became a canonical resident in the Diocese of Chicago in 2012. (Saint Francis Ministries)" />
 <figcaption>Saint Francis Ministries hired Robert Smith, known as Father Bobby, as president and CEO in 2014. He became a canonical resident in the Diocese of Chicago in 2012. (Saint Francis Ministries)</figcaption>
 </figure>Robert Smith, known as Father Bobby, released&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/FatherBobbyStatement.pdf">a statement</a>&nbsp;Tuesday through a public relations firm in which he lamented the “inaccurate and uninformed reporting” that followed his departure from Saint Francis. The nonprofit foster care provider severed ties with Smith and other leadership in November following&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/12/20/kansas-foster-care-leader-charged-469k-to-credit-cards-hid-financial-losses/">an investigation into Smith’s financial dealings</a>.Kansas Reflector on Sunday reported on the results of an investigation that substantiated allegations of financial misconduct by Smith. The story revealed Smith from 2018 to 2020 charged $469,000 to credit cards for expenses that included first-class upgrades on airlines, five-star restaurants and hotels, luxury men’s clothing and Apple iTunes purchases. He didn’t respond to Kansas Reflector inquires for comment.“To transform an organization requires tireless effort and commitment,” Smith said in the statement he released Tuesday. “I accepted the demand of being on the road for days and weeks every month — travel that incurred thousands of dollars spent on airlines, hotels, meals and donor development activities.”Smith said he purchased $65,000 worth of Chicago Cubs playoffs tickets in 2019 as part of “a unique fundraising opportunity” offered by an unnamed benefactor. If the Cubs had made the playoffs, Smith said, Saint Francis could have sold the tickets for “far more than the face value of the tickets alone.” When the Cubs failed to make the playoffs, the $65,000 was refunded to Saint Francis.“This was strictly a revenue opportunity, formalized by a legal contract between Saint Francis and the benefactor,” Smith said.Saint Francis hired a Kansas City, Kansas, attorney to investigate Smith after a newly hired chief financial officer brought concerns about the organization’s financial problems to the board of directors in October. The investigator concluded that Smith hid financial losses from the board, authorized $11 million in payments to a company operated by Bill Whymark for software that crashed and destroyed financial records, and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on operations in El Salvador that included the harvest of a “miracle” food and credit cards requested for the purpose of bribing local officials.Greg Meissen, chairman of the Saint Francis board, said Smith had justified investments on the premise that the software and miracle food would eventually generate profits. Those profits never materialized, and Meissen said the board was unaware of the true costs of the endeavors.An earlier whistleblower report, delivered to the Kansas Department for Children and Families in November 2019, objected to the dealings between Saint Francis and Whymark. The anonymous author of the report identified Whymark and Smith as business partners.Whymark operates WMK Research and SFW Technologies, both registered to an address in Mount Kisco, New York. At one point, the website for SFW Technologies identified Smith as a senior principal and executive director of social services. The photo and biography of Smith was removed from the website after staff questioned him about the relationship.The investigation into Smith included an interview with an accountant who wondered if the level of spending on Whymark’s company amounted to embezzlement. A review of invoices and emails showed Smith spent little time reviewing the invoices before approving them, even though they reflected an improbable amount of time billed by Whymark.“Let me correct one of many gross errors that has been repeated in media reports,” Smith said in his statement. “While I grew to respect and admire the depth of his intellect and expertise, I was never a personal, business partner with WMK Research president Bill Whymark.”Saint Francis hired Smith as CEO in 2014. He became a canonical resident in the Diocese of Chicago in 2012.Smith said he was sincere in his efforts to transform Saint Francis into a nationally and internationally respected organization. The Salina-based foster care provider serves 3,100 children in Kansas and is celebrating its 75th year as a social welfare agency.“I am proud of what our team of incredibly big-thinking and dedicated professionals accomplished in my 6.5 years at Saint Francis,” Smith said. “I regret that with my resignation, the mission we started will not be fulfilled as originally envisioned.”The above story is republished with permission from Kansas Reflector.Sherman Smith has written award-winning news stories about the instability of the Kansas foster care system, misconduct by government officials, sexual abuse, technology, education, and the Legislature. He spent 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal, where he started on the copy desk, then oversaw digital operations, was the managing editor and reported from the Statehouse.

Former CEO of Kan. foster care firm defends financial mismanagement

LaRue Horton, 86, died on Tuesday, December 22,2020 at her son’s home in
 Wichita County. She was born on July 30, 1934 at Cimarron the daughter
 of Earl &amp; Eva (Sultz) Allison. She married Dick Horton on October 
5, 1952 at Cimarron. He died on November 23, 2016. 
LaRue graduated from Cimarron High School. She and her husband were 
lifelong farmers in northern Kearny County. She enjoyed water aerobics,
 yoga, volunteering at the Budget Shop and her many church activities. 
Her special love was being with her kids, grandkids &amp; 
great-grandkids. She was a member of the United Methodist Church of 
Deerfield. 
She is survived by 3 Sons- Jim (Laurel) Horton of Deerfield, Ken (Toni) 
Horton of Leoti and Mark Horton of Wyoming, Sister- Mary Ellen (Glen) 
Woods of Garden City, Grandchildren- Stephanie (Brian) Fox, T.J. (Cassy)
 Horton, Maegan (Clayton) Berry, Rick (Ashley) Horton, Matt (Aubrey) 
Horton, Alec (Molly) Horton &amp; Malia Carr and 12 Great-Grandchildren 
 She is preceded in death by her Parents, Brother- Richard Allison and 
Grandson- Nick Horton. 
Funeral Service will be at 2:00 PM Saturday at United Methodist Church 
in Deerfield with Rev Heureuse Kaj officiating. The service will be on 
Facebook Live on the Garnand Funeral Home facebook. Burial will be in 
Deerfield Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to United Methodist Church 
in care of Garnand Funeral Home. Condolences may be posted at 
www.garnandfuneralhomes.com&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608735312206.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>LaRue Horton, 86, died on Tuesday, December 22,2020 at her son’s home in
 Wichita County. She was born on July 30, 1934 at Cimarron the daughter
 of Earl &amp; Eva (Sultz) Allison. She married Dick Horton on October 
5, 1952 at Cimarron. He died on November 23, 2016. 
LaRue graduated from Cimarron High School. She and her husband were 
lifelong farmers in northern Kearny County. She enjoyed water aerobics,
 yoga, volunteering at the Budget Shop and her many church activities. 
Her special love was being with her kids, grandkids &amp; 
great-grandkids. She was a member of the United Methodist Church of 
Deerfield. 
She is survived by 3 Sons- Jim (Laurel) Horton of Deerfield, Ken (Toni) 
Horton of Leoti and Mark Horton of Wyoming, Sister- Mary Ellen (Glen) 
Woods of Garden City, Grandchildren- Stephanie (Brian) Fox, T.J. (Cassy)
 Horton, Maegan (Clayton) Berry, Rick (Ashley) Horton, Matt (Aubrey) 
Horton, Alec (Molly) Horton &amp; Malia Carr and 12 Great-Grandchildren 
 She is preceded in death by her Parents, Brother- Richard Allison and 
Grandson- Nick Horton. 
Funeral Service will be at 2:00 PM Saturday at United Methodist Church 
in Deerfield with Rev Heureuse Kaj officiating. The service will be on 
Facebook Live on the Garnand Funeral Home facebook. Burial will be in 
Deerfield Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to United Methodist Church 
in care of Garnand Funeral Home. Condolences may be posted at 
www.garnandfuneralhomes.com&nbsp;

LaRue Horton

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A commission established by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly in response to the mass civil unrest over racial injustice earlier this year is urging state lawmakers to ban officers from entering a home without announcing their presence, but it’s unclear how aggressively the Legislature will pursue it.

The recommendation by the Governor’s Commission on Racial Justice and Equity is modeled after federal legislation proposed this year by Democrats in Congress amid a growing call to ban “no-knock” search warrants after Breonna Taylor was killed in her Louisville home by officers in March.

The practice has since been banned in several cities, including Louisville. In October, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed a statewide ban against the use of no-knock warrants, joining Oregon and Florida.

Activists seeking to ban no-knock warrants argue that they can prompt police to use excessive or deadly force, often against minorities, while also violating people’s constitutional protection against unreasonable searches. Police are wary of banning them, fearing that requiring them to knock and announce themselves allows criminals time to flee or destroy evidence.

Two Kansas lawmakers who studied criminal justice reform on a panel of legislators and others said they had misgivings about the recommendation on no-knock warrants, and it’s unclear where legislative leadership stands.

Kelly is a Democrat and Republicans maintained their supermajorities in both chambers in November’s elections after hitting Democrats on criminal justice issues, suggesting they would “defund” the police.

Mike Pirner, a spokesman for incoming Senate President Ty Masterson, said Masterson had yet to study the issue. House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr. said criminal justice issues will be addressed in 2021, and Kelly’s commission’s had ideas “that deserve to be vetted,” though he didn’t specifically mention a ban on no-knock warrants.

Rep. Stephen Owens, a Republican from Hesston and vice chairman of the legislative Criminal Justice Reform Commission, said he doesn’t support a ban. The state Legislature created the commission in 2019 to make recommendations on topics such as diversion programs and sentencing.

“I’m always hesitant to take a tool out of the toolbox for law enforcement,” he said, adding that officers may need to enter a property without warning to arrest armed gang members involved in drug trafficking.

Sen. David Haley, a Kansas City Democrat also on the criminal justice reform committee, is hesitant too. He said he wants to “evaluate how and when a no-knock warrant would be used” before supporting a ban.

Several top Republicans said the proposal will get a look from lawmakers, though they aren’t committing to a schedule or votes in the House and Senate.

But incoming Senate Vice President Rick Wilborn, a McPherson Republican also on the criminal justice reform committee, said: “If there ever was a time to look at it seriously, now is the time because criminal justice reform, in general, is at the forefront, has been for the last couple of years.”

Wyandotte County Sheriff Donald Ash said he does not recall his agency conducting a no-knock warrant in his 11 years as sheriff. Still, he doesn’t support a ban in drug cases.

He said police need the element of surprise in drug cases, when they’ve received reports that a suspect is armed and has a criminal history involving a firearm.

But executing the warrants can be dangerous for officers. Topeka police stopped the practice in 1995 after an officer was shot and killed conducting a drug raid, said Police Chief Bill Cochran. This summer, the Topeka City Council adopted an ordinance banning no-knock warrants, ensuring the agency doesn’t reintroduce the practice under a different chief.

Cochran said serving no-knock warrants is “inherently very dangerous” to officers. People inside become startled, which makes them more edgy and increases the possibility that their reactions will endanger officers, Cochran said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1594415416015.png" alt="Governor Laura Kelly and members of her Commission on Racial Equality held their first meeting online in July." />
 <figcaption>Governor Laura Kelly and members of her Commission on Racial Equality held their first meeting online in July.</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A commission established by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly in response to the mass civil unrest over racial injustice earlier this year is urging state lawmakers to ban officers from entering a home without announcing their presence, but it’s unclear how aggressively the Legislature will pursue it.The recommendation by the Governor’s Commission on Racial Justice and Equity is modeled after federal legislation proposed this year by Democrats in Congress amid a growing call to ban “no-knock” search warrants after Breonna Taylor was killed in her Louisville home by officers in March.The practice has since been banned in several cities, including Louisville. In October, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed a statewide ban against the use of no-knock warrants, joining Oregon and Florida.Activists seeking to ban no-knock warrants argue that they can prompt police to use excessive or deadly force, often against minorities, while also violating people’s constitutional protection against unreasonable searches. Police are wary of banning them, fearing that requiring them to knock and announce themselves allows criminals time to flee or destroy evidence.Two Kansas lawmakers who studied criminal justice reform on a panel of legislators and others said they had misgivings about the recommendation on no-knock warrants, and it’s unclear where legislative leadership stands.Kelly is a Democrat and Republicans maintained their supermajorities in both chambers in November’s elections after hitting Democrats on criminal justice issues, suggesting they would “defund” the police.Mike Pirner, a spokesman for incoming Senate President Ty Masterson, said Masterson had yet to study the issue. House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr. said criminal justice issues will be addressed in 2021, and Kelly’s commission’s had ideas “that deserve to be vetted,” though he didn’t specifically mention a ban on no-knock warrants.Rep. Stephen Owens, a Republican from Hesston and vice chairman of the legislative Criminal Justice Reform Commission, said he doesn’t support a ban. The state Legislature created the commission in 2019 to make recommendations on topics such as diversion programs and sentencing.“I’m always hesitant to take a tool out of the toolbox for law enforcement,” he said, adding that officers may need to enter a property without warning to arrest armed gang members involved in drug trafficking.Sen. David Haley, a Kansas City Democrat also on the criminal justice reform committee, is hesitant too. He said he wants to “evaluate how and when a no-knock warrant would be used” before supporting a ban.Several top Republicans said the proposal will get a look from lawmakers, though they aren’t committing to a schedule or votes in the House and Senate.But incoming Senate Vice President Rick Wilborn, a McPherson Republican also on the criminal justice reform committee, said: “If there ever was a time to look at it seriously, now is the time because criminal justice reform, in general, is at the forefront, has been for the last couple of years.”Wyandotte County Sheriff Donald Ash said he does not recall his agency conducting a no-knock warrant in his 11 years as sheriff. Still, he doesn’t support a ban in drug cases.He said police need the element of surprise in drug cases, when they’ve received reports that a suspect is armed and has a criminal history involving a firearm.But executing the warrants can be dangerous for officers. Topeka police stopped the practice in 1995 after an officer was shot and killed conducting a drug raid, said Police Chief Bill Cochran. This summer, the Topeka City Council adopted an ordinance banning no-knock warrants, ensuring the agency doesn’t reintroduce the practice under a different chief.Cochran said serving no-knock warrants is “inherently very dangerous” to officers. People inside become startled, which makes them more edgy and increases the possibility that their reactions will endanger officers, Cochran said.__

Kansas equity, justice panel wants end to no-knock raids

Preliminary estimates reported by the Labor Market Information Services division of the Kansas Department of Labor and the Bureau 
of Labor Statistics show a&nbsp;<a href="https://klic.dol.ks.gov/admin/gsipub/htmlarea/uploads/LR%20Nov2020%20SA%20Rate%20Chart%20File.pdf">seasonally adjusted unemployment rate</a>&nbsp;of 5.6 percent in November. This was an increase from 5.0 percent in October and an increase from 3.1 percent in November 2019. 
			“Following months of decline, the unemployment rate in Kansas 
increased to 5.6 percent in November with over 86,000 unemployed,” said 
Acting Secretary Ryan Wright. “The Extended Benefits (EB) program ended 
on December 12th in Kansas. In addition, two federally funded CARES Act 
programs, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program and 
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, are 
currently scheduled to end on December 26th, unless Congress acts to 
extend them."&nbsp;

The unemployment rate in Ellis County jumped more than a full percentage point — from 2.9 percent in October to 4 percent in November. 
			Seasonally adjusted job estimates indicate total Kansas nonfarm jobs decreased by 2,900 from October.&nbsp;<a href="https://klic.dol.ks.gov/admin/gsipub/htmlarea/uploads/LR%20Nov2020%20SA%20PrivateEmpl%20Chart%20File.pdf">Private sector jobs</a>, a subset of total nonfarm jobs, decreased by 2,600 from the previous month, while government decreased by 300. 
			“Nonfarm job growth has slowed in Kansas in recent months,” said 
Labor Economist Emilie Doerksen. “In November, total nonfarm jobs 
declined by 2,900, with the majority of this decline in the leisure and 
hospitality and professional and business services industries. The U.S. 
has also seen a slower rate of job growth." 
			Since November 2019, Kansas <a href="https://klic.dol.ks.gov/admin/gsipub/htmlarea/uploads/LR%20Nov2020%20Seasonally%20Adj%20PR%20Packet.pdf">seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs</a>&nbsp;have declined by 58,300. This change is due to a decrease of 45,800&nbsp;private sector jobs and 12,500 government jobs.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608566490509.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Preliminary estimates reported by the Labor Market Information Services division of the Kansas Department of Labor and the Bureau 
of Labor Statistics show a&nbsp;<a href="https://klic.dol.ks.gov/admin/gsipub/htmlarea/uploads/LR%20Nov2020%20SA%20Rate%20Chart%20File.pdf">seasonally adjusted unemployment rate</a>&nbsp;of 5.6 percent in November. This was an increase from 5.0 percent in October and an increase from 3.1 percent in November 2019. 
			“Following months of decline, the unemployment rate in Kansas 
increased to 5.6 percent in November with over 86,000 unemployed,” said 
Acting Secretary Ryan Wright. “The Extended Benefits (EB) program ended 
on December 12th in Kansas. In addition, two federally funded CARES Act 
programs, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program and 
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, are 
currently scheduled to end on December 26th, unless Congress acts to 
extend them."&nbsp;The unemployment rate in Ellis County jumped more than a full percentage point — from 2.9 percent in October to 4 percent in November. 
			Seasonally adjusted job estimates indicate total Kansas nonfarm jobs decreased by 2,900 from October.&nbsp;<a href="https://klic.dol.ks.gov/admin/gsipub/htmlarea/uploads/LR%20Nov2020%20SA%20PrivateEmpl%20Chart%20File.pdf">Private sector jobs</a>, a subset of total nonfarm jobs, decreased by 2,600 from the previous month, while government decreased by 300. 
			“Nonfarm job growth has slowed in Kansas in recent months,” said 
Labor Economist Emilie Doerksen. “In November, total nonfarm jobs 
declined by 2,900, with the majority of this decline in the leisure and 
hospitality and professional and business services industries. The U.S. 
has also seen a slower rate of job growth." 
			Since November 2019, Kansas <a href="https://klic.dol.ks.gov/admin/gsipub/htmlarea/uploads/LR%20Nov2020%20Seasonally%20Adj%20PR%20Packet.pdf">seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs</a>&nbsp;have declined by 58,300. This change is due to a decrease of 45,800&nbsp;private sector jobs and 12,500 government jobs.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608566508570.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>

Jobless rate jumps to 4 percent in Ellis Co. 

Crude oil prices settled above $49 on Friday, but reversed course on Monday on news that a new strain of the coronavirus could once again stop a lot of international travel. In late morning trading Monday, the benchmark Nymex contract was down nearly four percent to $47.31 per barrel. Kansas Common crude at CHS in McPherson was fetching $39.25 per barrel. Independent Oil &amp; Gas Service reports the rig count is up slightly in eastern Kansas, where there were eleven active rigs, and down slightly in Western Kansas, where there were eight rigs on the active list. Baker Hughes reported 346 active drilling rigs across the U.S. last week. The count in New Mexico was up six rigs, while Texas was up three. Regulators in Kansas approved 20 new drilling permits in Kansas last week. Eighteen of them were in eastern Kansas. There have been 468 new permits filed so far this year. Operators completed eleven wells in Kansas last week including two in Barton County. Independent Oil &amp; Gas Service says the total so far this year is 776 completed wells. Contrary inventory reports highlighted an unusual week in the oil patch. The Energy Information Administration reported a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories, even as the American Petroleum Institute reported increasing stockpiles. API on Tuesday reported an increase in U.S. crude-oil inventories of nearly two million barrels. Analysts had expected a drawdown of nearly two million barrels. But EIA on Wednesday said U.S. stockpiles dropped by more than three million barrels to just over five hundred million. EIA says inventories are about ten percent above the five year average for this time of year. U.S. crude production is slowing down, but remained above 11 million barrels per day for a third straight week. For the week ending December 11, output was down more than 100,000 barrels from the week before at 11.1 million barrels per day. The government reported U.S. crude imports of 5.4 million barrels per day, down more than a million barrels from the week before. Average imports for the last four weeks were 12 percent lower than the same four weeks last year. Tribal leaders in Oklahoma are sending out a slew of new tax bills to oil-and-gas operators in the state, and the Attorney General is not happy about it. Members of the so-called "Five Tribes" are asserting civil jurisdiction in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling which held that the Creek Reservation was never disestablished. The territory in dispute covers about one third of Oklahoma. One local lawmaker says the tribes are asking for what amounts to another eight percent gross production tax. AG Mike Hunter says the tribes have no jurisdiction to levy taxes and fees, and is urging tribal leaders to stop. A state judge in Texas says the state's oil regulator cannot waive environmental rules and fees. In a rare rebuke, the Railroad Commission of Texas was barred from enforcing a series of emergency rule-waivers announced in May to help Texas drillers cope with low prices. A District Court Judge faulted the agency for failing to give adequate public notice.&nbsp; A sporting-goods company is taking heat in the Lone Star State for refusing to produce jackets for an oil-and-gas company. Innovex Downhole Solutions says it was recently denied an order of jackets by The North Face because they are in the oil and gas business, even though they've done business in the past. The story is escalating statewide on the air and online. Some are comparing the state's largest industry to porn or tobacco. Others are pointing out the irony of a recreation company badmouthing the industry that creates and delivers their products. Production in America's number-two crude-producing state has declined slightly. The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources reports output of over 1.2 million barrels per day in October, the latest numbers available. The tally is down 236 barrels per day from the September total. The state continues to exceed its gas-capture goals, topping 93% for the second month in a row. That means operators are burning or venting only seven percent of the natural gas produced at oil wells. The government says total fuel consumption for the week of Thanksgiving was down 11 percent from the holiday period a year earlier. Jet fuel use was down by about half. The Energy Information Administration says we used two million barrels per day of jet fuel for the holiday week in 2019, but that dropped by more than 900,000 barrels per day this year. Analysts say the number of flights departing U.S. airports dropped 37% compared to Thanksgiving week 2019. Weekly oil-by-rail shipments are down. The Association of American Railroads reports 11,485 tanker cars hauling petroleum and petroleum products during the week that ended December 12th. That's down 225 cars from a week earlier, and a decline of more than 16 percent year-over-year. Year-to-date totals indicate a decline of about 14% in total U.S. oil-by-rail shipments.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/6/1592847975802.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By JOHN P. TRETBARCrude oil prices settled above $49 on Friday, but reversed course on Monday on news that a new strain of the coronavirus could once again stop a lot of international travel. In late morning trading Monday, the benchmark Nymex contract was down nearly four percent to $47.31 per barrel. Kansas Common crude at CHS in McPherson was fetching $39.25 per barrel. Independent Oil &amp; Gas Service reports the rig count is up slightly in eastern Kansas, where there were eleven active rigs, and down slightly in Western Kansas, where there were eight rigs on the active list. Baker Hughes reported 346 active drilling rigs across the U.S. last week. The count in New Mexico was up six rigs, while Texas was up three. Regulators in Kansas approved 20 new drilling permits in Kansas last week. Eighteen of them were in eastern Kansas. There have been 468 new permits filed so far this year. Operators completed eleven wells in Kansas last week including two in Barton County. Independent Oil &amp; Gas Service says the total so far this year is 776 completed wells. Contrary inventory reports highlighted an unusual week in the oil patch. The Energy Information Administration reported a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories, even as the American Petroleum Institute reported increasing stockpiles. API on Tuesday reported an increase in U.S. crude-oil inventories of nearly two million barrels. Analysts had expected a drawdown of nearly two million barrels. But EIA on Wednesday said U.S. stockpiles dropped by more than three million barrels to just over five hundred million. EIA says inventories are about ten percent above the five year average for this time of year. U.S. crude production is slowing down, but remained above 11 million barrels per day for a third straight week. For the week ending December 11, output was down more than 100,000 barrels from the week before at 11.1 million barrels per day. The government reported U.S. crude imports of 5.4 million barrels per day, down more than a million barrels from the week before. Average imports for the last four weeks were 12 percent lower than the same four weeks last year. Tribal leaders in Oklahoma are sending out a slew of new tax bills to oil-and-gas operators in the state, and the Attorney General is not happy about it. Members of the so-called "Five Tribes" are asserting civil jurisdiction in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling which held that the Creek Reservation was never disestablished. The territory in dispute covers about one third of Oklahoma. One local lawmaker says the tribes are asking for what amounts to another eight percent gross production tax. AG Mike Hunter says the tribes have no jurisdiction to levy taxes and fees, and is urging tribal leaders to stop. A state judge in Texas says the state's oil regulator cannot waive environmental rules and fees. In a rare rebuke, the Railroad Commission of Texas was barred from enforcing a series of emergency rule-waivers announced in May to help Texas drillers cope with low prices. A District Court Judge faulted the agency for failing to give adequate public notice.&nbsp; A sporting-goods company is taking heat in the Lone Star State for refusing to produce jackets for an oil-and-gas company. Innovex Downhole Solutions says it was recently denied an order of jackets by The North Face because they are in the oil and gas business, even though they've done business in the past. The story is escalating statewide on the air and online. Some are comparing the state's largest industry to porn or tobacco. Others are pointing out the irony of a recreation company badmouthing the industry that creates and delivers their products. Production in America's number-two crude-producing state has declined slightly. The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources reports output of over 1.2 million barrels per day in October, the latest numbers available. The tally is down 236 barrels per day from the September total. The state continues to exceed its gas-capture goals, topping 93% for the second month in a row. That means operators are burning or venting only seven percent of the natural gas produced at oil wells. The government says total fuel consumption for the week of Thanksgiving was down 11 percent from the holiday period a year earlier. Jet fuel use was down by about half. The Energy Information Administration says we used two million barrels per day of jet fuel for the holiday week in 2019, but that dropped by more than 900,000 barrels per day this year. Analysts say the number of flights departing U.S. airports dropped 37% compared to Thanksgiving week 2019. Weekly oil-by-rail shipments are down. The Association of American Railroads reports 11,485 tanker cars hauling petroleum and petroleum products during the week that ended December 12th. That's down 225 cars from a week earlier, and a decline of more than 16 percent year-over-year. Year-to-date totals indicate a decline of about 14% in total U.S. oil-by-rail shipments.

News From the Oil Patch: New virus strain halts oil price rally

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — One in every five state and federal prisoners in the United States has tested positive for the coronavirus, a rate more than four times higher than the general population. In some states, more than half of prisoners have been infected, according to data collected by The Associated Press and The Marshall Project.

As the pandemic enters its 10th month — and as the first Americans begin to receive a long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine — at least 275,000 prisoners have been infected, more than 1,700 have died and the spread of the virus behind bars shows no sign of slowing. New cases in prisons this week reached their highest level since testing began in the spring, far outstripping previous peaks in April and August.

“That number is a vast undercount,” said Homer Venters, the former chief medical officer at New York’s Rikers Island jail complex.

Venters has conducted more than a dozen court-ordered COVID-19 prison inspections around the country. “I still encounter prisons and jails where, when people get sick, not only are they not tested but they don’t receive care. So they get much sicker than need be,” he said.

Now the rollout of vaccines poses difficult decisions for politicians and policymakers. As the virus spreads largely unchecked behind bars, prisoners can’t social distance and are dependent on the state for their safety and well-being.

Donte Westmoreland, 26, was recently released from Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas, where he caught the virus while serving time on a marijuana charge. Some 5,100 prisoners have become infected in Kansas prisons, the third-highest COVID-19 rate in the country, behind only South Dakota and Arkansas.

“It was like I was sentenced to death,” Westmoreland said.

Westmoreland lived with more than 100 virus-infected men in an open dorm, where he woke up regularly to find men sick on the floor, unable to get up on their own, he said.

“People are actually dying in front of me off of this virus,” he said. “It’s the scariest sight.” Westmoreland said he sweated it out, shivering in his bunk until, six weeks later, he finally recovered.

Half of the prisoners in Kansas have been infected with COVID-19 — eight times the rate of cases among the state’s overall population. Eleven prisoners have died, including five at the prison where Westmoreland was held. Of the three prison employees who have died in Kansas, two worked at Lansing Correctional Facility.

In Arkansas, where more than 9,700 prisoners have tested positive and 50 have died, four of every seven have had the virus, the second-highest prison infection rate in the U.S.

Among the dead was 29-year-old Derick Coley, who was serving a 20-year sentence at the Cummins Unit maximum security prison. Cece Tate, Coley’s girlfriend, said she last talked with him on April 10 when he said he was sick and showing symptoms of the virus.

“It took forever for me to get information,” she said. The prison finally told her on April 20 that Coley had tested positive for the virus. Less than two weeks later, a prison chaplain called on May 2 to tell her Coley had died.

The couple had a daughter who turned 9 in July. “She cried and was like, ‘My daddy can’t send me a birthday card,’” Tate said. “She was like, ‘Momma, my Christmas ain’t going to be the same.’”

Nearly every prison system in the country has seen infection rates significantly higher than the communities around them. In facilities run by the federal Bureau of Prisons, one of every five prisoners has had coronavirus. Twenty-four state prison systems have had even higher rates.

Prison workers have also been disproportionately affected. In North Dakota, four of every five prison staff has gotten coronavirus. Nationwide, it’s one in five.

Not all states release how many prisoners they’ve tested, but states that test prisoners broadly and regularly may appear to have higher case rates than states that don’t.

<a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/05/01/a-state-by-state-look-at-coronavirus-in-prisons" target="_blank">Infection rates as of Tuesday were calculated by the AP and The Marshall Project,&nbsp;</a>a nonprofit news organization covering the criminal justice system,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/12/18/1-in-5-prisoners-in-the-u-s-has-had-covid-19" target="_blank">based on data collected weekly in prisons since March.</a>&nbsp;Infection and mortality rates may be even higher, since&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-understanding-the-outbreak-prisons-health-lifestyle-9899b08a66a60f3106b563eb07c92c40">nearly every prison system has significantly fewer prisoners today</a>&nbsp;than when the pandemic began, so rates represent a conservative estimate based on the largest known population.

Yet, as vaccine campaigns get underway, there has been pushback in some states against giving the shots to people in prisons early.

“There’s no way it’s going to go to prisoners ... before it goes to the people who haven’t committed any crime,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told reporters earlier this month after his state’s initial vaccine priority plans put prisoners before the general public.

Like more than a dozen states, Kansas’s vaccination plan does not mention prisoners or corrections staff, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, a non-partisan prison data think tank. Seven states put prisoners near the front of the line, along with others living in crowded settings like nursing homes and long-term care facilities. An additional 19 states have placed prisoners in the second phase of their vaccine rollouts.

Racial disparities in the nation’s criminal justice system compound the disproportionate toll the pandemic has taken on communities of color. Black Americans are incarcerated at five times the rate of whites. They are also disproportionately&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/mounting-u-s-deaths-reveal-an-outsize-toll-on-people-of-color#:~:text=As%20many%20as%20215%2C000%20more,higher%20than%20the%20official%20toll." target="_blank">likely to be infected and hospitalized with COVID-19,</a>&nbsp;and are more likely than other races to have a family member or close friend who has died of the virus.

The pandemic “increases risk for those who are already at risk,” said David J. Harris, managing director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School.

This week, a Council on Criminal Justice task force headed by former attorneys general Alberto Gonzalez and Loretta Lynch released a report calling for scaling back prison populations, improving communication with public health departments and reporting better data.

Prison facilities are often overcrowded and poorly ventilated. Dormitory-style housing, cafeterias and open-bar cell doors make it nearly impossible to quarantine. Prison populations are sicker, on average, than the general population and health care behind bars is notoriously substandard. Nationwide, the mortality rate for COVID-19 among prisoners is 45% higher than the overall rate.

From the earliest days of the pandemic, public health experts called for widespread prison releases as the best way to curb virus spread behind bars. In October, the National Academies of Science, Medicine, and Engineering released a report urging states to empty their prisons of anyone who was medically vulnerable, nearing the end of their sentence or of low risk to public safety.

But releases have been slow and uneven. In the first three months of the pandemic, more than 10,000 federal prisoners applied for compassionate release. Wardens denied or did not respond to almost all those requests, approving only 156 — less than 2%.

A plan to thin the state prison population in New Jersey, first introduced in June, was held up in the Legislature because of inadequate funding to help those who were released. About 2,200 prisoners with less than a year left to serve were ultimately released in November, eight months after the pandemic began.

California used a similar strategy to release 11,000 people since March. But state prisons stopped accepting new prisoners from county jails at several points during the pandemic, which simply shifted the burden to the jails. According to the state corrections agency, more than 8,000 people are now waiting in California’s county jails, which are also coronavirus hot spots.

“We call that ‘screwing county,’” said John Wetzel, Pennsylvania’s secretary of corrections, whose prison system has one of the lower COVID-19 case rates in the country, with one in every seven prisoners infected. But that’s still more than three times the statewide rate.

Prison walls are porous even during a pandemic, with corrections officers and other employees traveling in and out each day.

“The interchange between communities and prisons and jails has always been there, but in the context of COVID-19 it’s never been more clear,” said Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein, a professor of social medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill who studies incarceration and health. “We have to stop thinking about them as a place apart.”

Wetzel said Pennsylvania’s prisons have kept virus rates relatively low by widely distributing masks in mid-March — weeks before even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began recommending them for everyday use in public — and demanding that staff and prisoners use them properly and consistently. But prisoners and advocates say prevention measures on the ground are uneven, regardless of Wetzel’s good intentions.

As the country heads into winter with virus infections on the rise, experts caution that unless COVID-19 is brought under control behind bars, the country will not get it under control in the population at large.

“If we are going to end this pandemic — bring down infection rates, bring down death rates, bring down ICU occupancy rates — we have to address infection rates in correctional facilities,” said Emily Wang, professor at Yale School of Medicine and co-author of the recent National Academies report.

“Infections and deaths are extraordinarily high. These are wards of the state, and we have to contend with it.”

This story is a collaboration between The Associated Press and The Marshall Project exploring the state of the prison system in the coronavirus pandemic.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585707946815.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — One in every five state and federal prisoners in the United States has tested positive for the coronavirus, a rate more than four times higher than the general population. In some states, more than half of prisoners have been infected, according to data collected by The Associated Press and The Marshall Project.As the pandemic enters its 10th month — and as the first Americans begin to receive a long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine — at least 275,000 prisoners have been infected, more than 1,700 have died and the spread of the virus behind bars shows no sign of slowing. New cases in prisons this week reached their highest level since testing began in the spring, far outstripping previous peaks in April and August.“That number is a vast undercount,” said Homer Venters, the former chief medical officer at New York’s Rikers Island jail complex.Venters has conducted more than a dozen court-ordered COVID-19 prison inspections around the country. “I still encounter prisons and jails where, when people get sick, not only are they not tested but they don’t receive care. So they get much sicker than need be,” he said.Now the rollout of vaccines poses difficult decisions for politicians and policymakers. As the virus spreads largely unchecked behind bars, prisoners can’t social distance and are dependent on the state for their safety and well-being.Donte Westmoreland, 26, was recently released from Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas, where he caught the virus while serving time on a marijuana charge. Some 5,100 prisoners have become infected in Kansas prisons, the third-highest COVID-19 rate in the country, behind only South Dakota and Arkansas.“It was like I was sentenced to death,” Westmoreland said.Westmoreland lived with more than 100 virus-infected men in an open dorm, where he woke up regularly to find men sick on the floor, unable to get up on their own, he said.“People are actually dying in front of me off of this virus,” he said. “It’s the scariest sight.” Westmoreland said he sweated it out, shivering in his bunk until, six weeks later, he finally recovered.Half of the prisoners in Kansas have been infected with COVID-19 — eight times the rate of cases among the state’s overall population. Eleven prisoners have died, including five at the prison where Westmoreland was held. Of the three prison employees who have died in Kansas, two worked at Lansing Correctional Facility.In Arkansas, where more than 9,700 prisoners have tested positive and 50 have died, four of every seven have had the virus, the second-highest prison infection rate in the U.S.Among the dead was 29-year-old Derick Coley, who was serving a 20-year sentence at the Cummins Unit maximum security prison. Cece Tate, Coley’s girlfriend, said she last talked with him on April 10 when he said he was sick and showing symptoms of the virus.“It took forever for me to get information,” she said. The prison finally told her on April 20 that Coley had tested positive for the virus. Less than two weeks later, a prison chaplain called on May 2 to tell her Coley had died.The couple had a daughter who turned 9 in July. “She cried and was like, ‘My daddy can’t send me a birthday card,’” Tate said. “She was like, ‘Momma, my Christmas ain’t going to be the same.’”Nearly every prison system in the country has seen infection rates significantly higher than the communities around them. In facilities run by the federal Bureau of Prisons, one of every five prisoners has had coronavirus. Twenty-four state prison systems have had even higher rates.Prison workers have also been disproportionately affected. In North Dakota, four of every five prison staff has gotten coronavirus. Nationwide, it’s one in five.Not all states release how many prisoners they’ve tested, but states that test prisoners broadly and regularly may appear to have higher case rates than states that don’t.<a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/05/01/a-state-by-state-look-at-coronavirus-in-prisons" target="_blank">Infection rates as of Tuesday were calculated by the AP and The Marshall Project,&nbsp;</a>a nonprofit news organization covering the criminal justice system,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/12/18/1-in-5-prisoners-in-the-u-s-has-had-covid-19" target="_blank">based on data collected weekly in prisons since March.</a>&nbsp;Infection and mortality rates may be even higher, since&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-understanding-the-outbreak-prisons-health-lifestyle-9899b08a66a60f3106b563eb07c92c40">nearly every prison system has significantly fewer prisoners today</a>&nbsp;than when the pandemic began, so rates represent a conservative estimate based on the largest known population.Yet, as vaccine campaigns get underway, there has been pushback in some states against giving the shots to people in prisons early.“There’s no way it’s going to go to prisoners ... before it goes to the people who haven’t committed any crime,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told reporters earlier this month after his state’s initial vaccine priority plans put prisoners before the general public.Like more than a dozen states, Kansas’s vaccination plan does not mention prisoners or corrections staff, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, a non-partisan prison data think tank. Seven states put prisoners near the front of the line, along with others living in crowded settings like nursing homes and long-term care facilities. An additional 19 states have placed prisoners in the second phase of their vaccine rollouts.Racial disparities in the nation’s criminal justice system compound the disproportionate toll the pandemic has taken on communities of color. Black Americans are incarcerated at five times the rate of whites. They are also disproportionately&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/mounting-u-s-deaths-reveal-an-outsize-toll-on-people-of-color#:~:text=As%20many%20as%20215%2C000%20more,higher%20than%20the%20official%20toll." target="_blank">likely to be infected and hospitalized with COVID-19,</a>&nbsp;and are more likely than other races to have a family member or close friend who has died of the virus.The pandemic “increases risk for those who are already at risk,” said David J. Harris, managing director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School.This week, a Council on Criminal Justice task force headed by former attorneys general Alberto Gonzalez and Loretta Lynch released a report calling for scaling back prison populations, improving communication with public health departments and reporting better data.Prison facilities are often overcrowded and poorly ventilated. Dormitory-style housing, cafeterias and open-bar cell doors make it nearly impossible to quarantine. Prison populations are sicker, on average, than the general population and health care behind bars is notoriously substandard. Nationwide, the mortality rate for COVID-19 among prisoners is 45% higher than the overall rate.From the earliest days of the pandemic, public health experts called for widespread prison releases as the best way to curb virus spread behind bars. In October, the National Academies of Science, Medicine, and Engineering released a report urging states to empty their prisons of anyone who was medically vulnerable, nearing the end of their sentence or of low risk to public safety.But releases have been slow and uneven. In the first three months of the pandemic, more than 10,000 federal prisoners applied for compassionate release. Wardens denied or did not respond to almost all those requests, approving only 156 — less than 2%.A plan to thin the state prison population in New Jersey, first introduced in June, was held up in the Legislature because of inadequate funding to help those who were released. About 2,200 prisoners with less than a year left to serve were ultimately released in November, eight months after the pandemic began.California used a similar strategy to release 11,000 people since March. But state prisons stopped accepting new prisoners from county jails at several points during the pandemic, which simply shifted the burden to the jails. According to the state corrections agency, more than 8,000 people are now waiting in California’s county jails, which are also coronavirus hot spots.“We call that ‘screwing county,’” said John Wetzel, Pennsylvania’s secretary of corrections, whose prison system has one of the lower COVID-19 case rates in the country, with one in every seven prisoners infected. But that’s still more than three times the statewide rate.Prison walls are porous even during a pandemic, with corrections officers and other employees traveling in and out each day.“The interchange between communities and prisons and jails has always been there, but in the context of COVID-19 it’s never been more clear,” said Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein, a professor of social medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill who studies incarceration and health. “We have to stop thinking about them as a place apart.”Wetzel said Pennsylvania’s prisons have kept virus rates relatively low by widely distributing masks in mid-March — weeks before even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began recommending them for everyday use in public — and demanding that staff and prisoners use them properly and consistently. But prisoners and advocates say prevention measures on the ground are uneven, regardless of Wetzel’s good intentions.As the country heads into winter with virus infections on the rise, experts caution that unless COVID-19 is brought under control behind bars, the country will not get it under control in the population at large.“If we are going to end this pandemic — bring down infection rates, bring down death rates, bring down ICU occupancy rates — we have to address infection rates in correctional facilities,” said Emily Wang, professor at Yale School of Medicine and co-author of the recent National Academies report.“Infections and deaths are extraordinarily high. These are wards of the state, and we have to contend with it.”------This story is a collaboration between The Associated Press and The Marshall Project exploring the state of the prison system in the coronavirus pandemic.___

1 in 5 prisoners in the US has had COVID-19, 1,700 have died

NEWARK, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden on Monday received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on live television as part of a growing effort to convince the American public the inoculations are safe.

<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?507490-1/president-elect-biden-receives-covid-19-vaccine">Click here to</a> watch Joe Biden get his vaccination

The president-elect took a dose of Pfizer vaccine at a hospital not far from his Delaware home, hours after his wife, Jill Biden, did the same. The injections came the same day that a second vaccine, produced by Moderna, will start arriving in states. It joins Pfizer’s in the nation’s arsenal against the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now killed more than 317,000 people in the United States and upended life around the globe.

“I’m ready,” said Biden, who was administered the dose at a hospital in Newark, Delaware, and declined the option to count to three before the needle was inserted into his left arm. “I’m doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it’s available to take the vaccine. There’s nothing to worry about.”

The president-elect praised the health care workers and said President Donald Trump’s administration “deserves some credit getting this off the ground.” And Biden urged Americans to wear masks during the upcoming Christmas holiday and not travel unless necessary.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband are expected to receive their first shots next week.

Other top government officials have been in the first wave of Americans to be inoculated against COVID-19 as part of the largest largest vaccination campaign in the nation’s history.

Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other lawmakers&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michael-pence-wife-coronavirus-vaccine-0489a0b64d4353bc693ad1691ff5de1d">were given doses Friday.&nbsp;</a>They chose to publicize their injections as part of a campaign to convince Americans that the vaccines are safe and effective amid skepticism, especially among Republicans.

President Donald Trump is discussing with his doctors the timing for taking the vaccine, the White House has said. He tweeted earlier this month that he was “not scheduled” to take the vaccine but that he looked “forward to doing so at the appropriate time.”

The White House has offered another reason for waiting, saying Trump was showing support for the most vulnerable to get the vaccine first.

Trump was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October and given an experimental monoclonal antibody treatment that he credited for his swift recovery. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory board has said people who received that treatment should wait at least 90 days to be vaccinated to avoid any potential interference.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, and other experts have recommended that Trump be vaccinated without delay as a precaution.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608585518239.png" alt="President-elect Joe Biden and&nbsp; Dr. Jill Biden took the Pfizer vaccine Monday afternoon-image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>President-elect Joe Biden and&nbsp; Dr. Jill Biden took the Pfizer vaccine Monday afternoon-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>NEWARK, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden on Monday received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on live television as part of a growing effort to convince the American public the inoculations are safe.<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?507490-1/president-elect-biden-receives-covid-19-vaccine">Click here to</a> watch Joe Biden get his vaccinationThe president-elect took a dose of Pfizer vaccine at a hospital not far from his Delaware home, hours after his wife, Jill Biden, did the same. The injections came the same day that a second vaccine, produced by Moderna, will start arriving in states. It joins Pfizer’s in the nation’s arsenal against the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now killed more than 317,000 people in the United States and upended life around the globe.“I’m ready,” said Biden, who was administered the dose at a hospital in Newark, Delaware, and declined the option to count to three before the needle was inserted into his left arm. “I’m doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it’s available to take the vaccine. There’s nothing to worry about.”The president-elect praised the health care workers and said President Donald Trump’s administration “deserves some credit getting this off the ground.” And Biden urged Americans to wear masks during the upcoming Christmas holiday and not travel unless necessary.Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband are expected to receive their first shots next week.Other top government officials have been in the first wave of Americans to be inoculated against COVID-19 as part of the largest largest vaccination campaign in the nation’s history.Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other lawmakers&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michael-pence-wife-coronavirus-vaccine-0489a0b64d4353bc693ad1691ff5de1d">were given doses Friday.&nbsp;</a>They chose to publicize their injections as part of a campaign to convince Americans that the vaccines are safe and effective amid skepticism, especially among Republicans.President Donald Trump is discussing with his doctors the timing for taking the vaccine, the White House has said. He tweeted earlier this month that he was “not scheduled” to take the vaccine but that he looked “forward to doing so at the appropriate time.”The White House has offered another reason for waiting, saying Trump was showing support for the most vulnerable to get the vaccine first.Trump was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October and given an experimental monoclonal antibody treatment that he credited for his swift recovery. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory board has said people who received that treatment should wait at least 90 days to be vaccinated to avoid any potential interference.Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, and other experts have recommended that Trump be vaccinated without delay as a precaution.___

🎥  Pres.-elect, wife gets virus vaccinations

SALINE COUNTY —The Rolling Hills Zoo (RHZ) family is mourning the loss of Darius, their 18 year old Amur leopard.

According to a media release from the zoo, Darius has been treated for renal failure over the past year and while his kidney function was declining, it was within the last week that his blood work indicated he was in stage 4 kidney failure. 

Unfortunately kidney failure is relatively common in big cats as part of the aging process, as it is in domestic cats. While one can only “buy” a little more time with supportive care, chronic kidney failure is not reversible.

Once Darius became more lethargic and stopped eating, combined with the lab findings, it was decided that humanely euthanizing him was the kindest option available. Darius’ body has been transported to K-State for a necropsy.

Born at the Erie Zoo, Erie, Pa., on June 30, 2002, Darius moved to Roosevelt Park Zoo in Minot, N.D., in October 2003. Then in June 2011, due to the floods in Minot, Darius was transferred to the Tanganyika Wild Animal Park before coming to Rolling Hills Zoo in December 2011.

At RHZ, Darius was a master artist who loved to play with the keepers. Darius did take his time in warming up to the keepers though, but once they earned his trust they saw a very different side of him. Since he was also a bit camera shy and didn’t like to be watched when eating or getting enrichment, he made getting great photos that much more special.

“Being solitary by nature, it was always a highlight of my day when Darius would come over and lay down in front of me or roll over and show me his stomach and reach his paws out toward me,” said Head Keeper Devney Olson-Bowen. “Many saw what they thought was a grumpy old man, but I saw a very sweet and good natured handsome boy. I will miss him running up to meet me, and his calls out to the other animals in the park every day. He always let everyone know he was there. He will forever hold a very dear place in my heart, and I am a better keeper and a better person for having worked with him."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608523925714.jpeg" alt="Photo courtesy Rolling Hills Zoo" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Rolling Hills Zoo</figcaption>
 </figure>SALINE COUNTY —The Rolling Hills Zoo (RHZ) family is mourning the loss of Darius, their 18 year old Amur leopard.According to a media release from the zoo, Darius has been treated for renal failure over the past year and while his kidney function was declining, it was within the last week that his blood work indicated he was in stage 4 kidney failure. Unfortunately kidney failure is relatively common in big cats as part of the aging process, as it is in domestic cats. While one can only “buy” a little more time with supportive care, chronic kidney failure is not reversible.Once Darius became more lethargic and stopped eating, combined with the lab findings, it was decided that humanely euthanizing him was the kindest option available. Darius’ body has been transported to K-State for a necropsy.Born at the Erie Zoo, Erie, Pa., on June 30, 2002, Darius moved to Roosevelt Park Zoo in Minot, N.D., in October 2003. Then in June 2011, due to the floods in Minot, Darius was transferred to the Tanganyika Wild Animal Park before coming to Rolling Hills Zoo in December 2011.At RHZ, Darius was a master artist who loved to play with the keepers. Darius did take his time in warming up to the keepers though, but once they earned his trust they saw a very different side of him. Since he was also a bit camera shy and didn’t like to be watched when eating or getting enrichment, he made getting great photos that much more special.“Being solitary by nature, it was always a highlight of my day when Darius would come over and lay down in front of me or roll over and show me his stomach and reach his paws out toward me,” said Head Keeper Devney Olson-Bowen. “Many saw what they thought was a grumpy old man, but I saw a very sweet and good natured handsome boy. I will miss him running up to meet me, and his calls out to the other animals in the park every day. He always let everyone know he was there. He will forever hold a very dear place in my heart, and I am a better keeper and a better person for having worked with him."

Rolling Hills Zoo mourns loss of Amur leopard

Rudolph DeWain Bergquist, age 78, passed away on Monday, December 14, 2020, at Heritage Gardens Nursing Home in Oskaloosa, KS. &nbsp;

DeWain was born on April 9th, 1942, in rural Greeley County, Kansas to E.R. “Rudy” Bergquist and Viola Rebecca Foos Bergquist.&nbsp; He attended school through the 12th grade in Greeley County and graduated from Greeley County High School in 1960.

After serving in the Army, he married Patricia Kay Donnelly on October 29, 1966, in Cheyenne Wells, CO.&nbsp; To this union, three children were born; Erick, Erin and Jodi.&nbsp; DeWain was a farmer in Greeley County, Kansas, and served as Post Commander in 1977 and 1978 at the Tribune VFW Post #7521.&nbsp; He was also a life member of the VFW.&nbsp; Dewain also had a love for horses, being outdoors, hunting and fishing, as well as going to his children’s and grandchildren’s sporting events.

He was preceded in death by his parents Rudy and Viola Bergquist, his wife Pat, a brother Walt Bergquist, a sister Dorothy Randel, a nephew Kit Randel and a great niece Anna Bergquist.

Surviving family members include his son Erick and wife Connie Bergquist of Weskan, KS, son Erin and wife Jessie Bergquist of Cheyenne Wells, CO, a daughter Jodi and husband Mark Lackey of McLouth, KS, a brother Donnie and wife Deanna Bergquist of McCracken, KS, and a sister Karla and husband Mike Olds of Hudson, FL.&nbsp; He is also survived by 6 grandchildren; Alexia and husband Zach Hoobler of Grandview, MO, Evin Bergquist of Weskan, KS, Addie and husband Danny Hodge of Overland Park, KS and Thatcher, Jasper and Jaci Lackey of McLouth, KS.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, December 23, 2020, at 10:30 AM MT at the Tribune United Methodist Church in Tribune, KS.&nbsp; Visitation will be held on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM MT at Koons-Russell Funeral Home in Sharon Springs, KS.

Memorial contributions may be designated to the DeWain Bergquist Memorial Fund and may be left at the services or mailed to Koons-Russell Funeral Home, 211 N. Main Ave., Goodland, KS 67735.

Online condolences for the family may be left at <a href="http://www.koonsrussellfuneralhome.com">www.koonsrussellfuneralhome.com</a>.

Funeral services have been entrusted to Koons-Russell Funeral Home in Sharon Springs, KS.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608479020143.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Rudolph DeWain Bergquist, age 78, passed away on Monday, December 14, 2020, at Heritage Gardens Nursing Home in Oskaloosa, KS. &nbsp;DeWain was born on April 9th, 1942, in rural Greeley County, Kansas to E.R. “Rudy” Bergquist and Viola Rebecca Foos Bergquist.&nbsp; He attended school through the 12th grade in Greeley County and graduated from Greeley County High School in 1960.After serving in the Army, he married Patricia Kay Donnelly on October 29, 1966, in Cheyenne Wells, CO.&nbsp; To this union, three children were born; Erick, Erin and Jodi.&nbsp; DeWain was a farmer in Greeley County, Kansas, and served as Post Commander in 1977 and 1978 at the Tribune VFW Post #7521.&nbsp; He was also a life member of the VFW.&nbsp; Dewain also had a love for horses, being outdoors, hunting and fishing, as well as going to his children’s and grandchildren’s sporting events.He was preceded in death by his parents Rudy and Viola Bergquist, his wife Pat, a brother Walt Bergquist, a sister Dorothy Randel, a nephew Kit Randel and a great niece Anna Bergquist.Surviving family members include his son Erick and wife Connie Bergquist of Weskan, KS, son Erin and wife Jessie Bergquist of Cheyenne Wells, CO, a daughter Jodi and husband Mark Lackey of McLouth, KS, a brother Donnie and wife Deanna Bergquist of McCracken, KS, and a sister Karla and husband Mike Olds of Hudson, FL.&nbsp; He is also survived by 6 grandchildren; Alexia and husband Zach Hoobler of Grandview, MO, Evin Bergquist of Weskan, KS, Addie and husband Danny Hodge of Overland Park, KS and Thatcher, Jasper and Jaci Lackey of McLouth, KS.Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, December 23, 2020, at 10:30 AM MT at the Tribune United Methodist Church in Tribune, KS.&nbsp; Visitation will be held on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM MT at Koons-Russell Funeral Home in Sharon Springs, KS.Memorial contributions may be designated to the DeWain Bergquist Memorial Fund and may be left at the services or mailed to Koons-Russell Funeral Home, 211 N. Main Ave., Goodland, KS 67735.Online condolences for the family may be left at <a href="http://www.koonsrussellfuneralhome.com">www.koonsrussellfuneralhome.com</a>.Funeral services have been entrusted to Koons-Russell Funeral Home in Sharon Springs, KS.